The Nation April 28, 2013

Blame Boko Haram for Baga killings –DHQ

UTME: Over one million students to be denied admission

INSECURITY: FG to erect wall along Chad border

Real death toll 228, Senator Lawan claims Military: figures are exaggerated; says no soldier arrested –Page 4

–Page 6

–Page 5

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2475

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

APRIL 28, 2013

N200.00

Zimbabwean BBA contestant, Vimbai Mutinhiri,

On Nigerian men Candidates participating in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) at a centre in Lagos yesterday.

Photo: NAN

–Page 39

Amaechi’s plane barred from flying NCAA says plane engaged in “illegal operations”

There’s more to grounding of my aircraft –Governor

NAMA insists absence of manifest caused Akure airport delay –Page 2

APC: Northern leaders hold secret talks with Shekarau, others –Page 4

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NEWS Anambra accident: Three more victims die •Survivors recount "miraculous" escape From Nwanosike Onu

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HE death toll in the Awka accident at the weekend has risen to 15.

Twelve persons died on the spot when a trailer rammed into four other vehicles.

Most of the victims were candidates travelling to participate in the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examinations, which held in various centres across the country yesterday.

Though their identities remained sketchy, our correspondent gathered that some who sustained injuries have been released on the request of their families.

Others seen during a visit were in stable conditions.

The Casualty Officer of the Anambra State University Teaching Hospital Awka, Dr Azugo Kingsley, told our correspondent yesterday some of the victims had been taken to Nnewi, Asaba and Enugu based on family requests.

He said they were released to their families after it was confirmed their conditions had stabilised for closer proximity.

Kingsley said: "When I was called yesterday by the hospital management, 17 victims were brought in but I inherited 11patients when I took over this (yesterday's) morning.

"Because of those people who their families had taken away, right now, we are having only five victims and they are already stable.”

Three of the survivors, Henry Joseph, Obinna Ibeke and Nwauwa Amarachukwu, praised God for their escape.

Amarachukwu, a first year Accountancy Student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka, said the incident was like a Nollywood act.

"I cannot narrate what happened; the only thing I can remember now is that when I recovered at midnight, I saw myself in this hospital. The people are telling me stories that they know," he said.

Reeling in pain, 19-year-old Henry Joseph, who was billed to write JAMB yesterday, was seen moved into a Peugeot 504 Nnewi mass transit vehicle by his people out of the hospital.

The mother of another survivor, 20- year- old Obinna Ibeke, a building Technology student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Mrs. Ngozi Ibeke, said the escape was miraculous.

She said: "We were expecting him at the weekend at Onitsha as agreed. He had entered the school bus and dropped at Aroma junction where he joined another vehicle for Onitsha.

"All thanks should go to God. I don't know what I would have done if the work of Satan was completed on my son. For now, I lack words to express my happiness."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Amaechi’s plane barred from flying T

HE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday ordered Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s controversial aircraft off the country’s air space.

The aircraft is said to be operating illegally with expired documents.

The no-fly order came 24 hours after the Bombardier BD 700, Global Express aircraft with registration number N565RS was grounded for two hours at the Akure Airport in Ondo State because its pilot failed to produce the manifest.

The story, however, changed last night with the Director, Airworthiness Standards, Benedict Adeyileka, saying the plane’s clearance approval expired on April 2, 2013.

He spoke to reporters just hours after Governor Amaechi insinuated that the grounding of his plane at the Akure Airport on Friday had political undertones, a veiled reference to the ongoing cold war between him and the Presidency over the 2015 presidential race.

The National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in a separate statement yesterday restated its position that the refusal of the pilot to submit the passengers manifest as required by the new safety regulations caused the Akure Airport saga.

It said, contrary to reports, the plane was given clearance to fly within 10 minutes of seeking approval.

The governor’s office dismissed the agency’s position as a cock and bull story, blatant lie and monumental embarrassment.

Adeyileka, at the press conference, said the plane had been sighted flying in and out of several places including Owerri and Akure with expired documents.

He said:”The controversial aircraft on the service of Governor Rotimi Amaechi is operating illegally in the country.

By our records the last flight clearance for this aircraft was approved for operations on Thursday, March 28, 2013 on Accra/Port Harcourt and Accra to terminate on April 2, 2013.

With this development, the aircraft has exceeded the extra two days or 48 hours leeway for it to leave the country.

“While still operating illegally, the aircraft has been sighted in several places, including Owerri and Akure, the owner of this aircraft according to the certificate of registration is Bank of Utah Trustees of Salt Lake City, Utah United States of America.

“The clearance for the aircraft was sought by Caverton Helicopters on March 27,2013.NCAA did not ground the aircraft prior to request for start up in Akure on Friday 26, April 2013.Consequently, this aircraft in reference is hereby grounded at any airport that is located right now in the country.”

Prior to the ban order, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, had, in a statement in Port Harcourt, said the Friday action of NAMA was premeditated.

His words: “We had set out

• NCAA says documents expired April 2, 2013 • There’s more to grounding of my aircraft –Governor • NAMA insists absence of manifest caused Akure airport delay

• The controversial Rivers State Government owned-Bombadier aircraft grounded by the NCAA yesterday.

By Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Kelvin Osa Okunbor from Abuja in the morning of Friday April 26, 2013 to Imo State to attend the funeral rites of the younger sister of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha. Our plane, a Bombardier jet owned by the Rivers State Government, landed at the airport in Owerri. It was in Owerri that the pilot of our plane was first tipped off that there was a plot to ground our plane in Owerri that Friday.

“Fortunately for us, we took off from Owerri airport and arrived at Akure airport en-route to Ekiti for the burial of the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka without any incident. On the flight to Akure was the Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal who we met in Imo State and was also heading to Ekiti for the burial of Mrs Olayinka. Also on the flight were the Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Director-General Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Asishana Bayo Okauru, Kalabari prince and politician Prince Tonye Princewill, some aides of the Governor and me.

“Once our party left the Akure airport for Ekiti, our pilot went to the airport offices to make statutory airport payments and fees, file his flight plan and declare his manifest.

After filing his fight plan and declaring his manifest, our pilot was told to go and see the Controller. The Controller bluntly told him that the Rivers Government plane would not be allowed to leave the airport. In other words, the plane had been grounded! He said that the plane should have been grounded in Owerri. The Con-

troller on duty at the airport in Akure mentioned some vague issues relating to the customs papers of the plane, which has been flying in Nigeria for many months? That didn’t make any sense to the pilot. He enquired on whose orders the plane was being grounded, he was told that it was the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA). And that he should reach the NAMA MD. “By the time our party, which now included four House of Representatives members- Mohammed Sani Idris Kutigi, Daniel Rayeineju, Idris Ahmed Wase and Ifedayo Abegunde- returned to the Akure airport, there was confusion everywhere. Speaker Tambuwal, the members and Governor Amaechi and his team, were all stranded at the airport. The plane that brought Speaker Tambuwal and Governor Amaechi to Akure could not leave Akure airport. Calls were being made as these two democratically elected leaders, furious and perplexed, tried to fathom what could have caused this monumental embarrassment to them and their offices.

“After trying fruitlessly for some time to get the plane released, Speaker Tambuwal then offered to fly Governor Amaechi to Port Harcourt with the plane(another small aircraft) that brought the other four Honourable members to Akure. To accommodate Governor Amaechi in the small aircraft, one of the House of Representatives members offered his seat to the Governor .

“The pilot of the Rivers State Government plane was already locking up the aircraft for us to leave for Lagos by road when a call eventually came through that the plane could now leave. The Controller received a directive to al-

low the plane fly out of Akure.

The decision to let us go, we later learnt, was due to the pressure brought on the aviation authorities by Speaker Tambuwal.

“It is indeed most shameful and ludicrous that NAMA and the Aviation authorities are now saying that they grounded the Rivers State Government plane because the pilot did not file a flight plan and declare a manifest. That’s a blatant lie. A big fat one at that.

The pilot filed the flight plan and manifest, and paid all the statutory airport fees and charges shortly after the plane arrived at the Akure airport in the afternoon. If the pilot filed a flight plan and manifest at the airports in Abuja and Owerri, where he flew from same day, why won’t he then do the same in Akure? It is instructive to note that all through the traumatic time we spent in Akure, no official of the airport or aviation staff came to tell Governor Amaechi that we were grounded because our pilot “refused to file a flight plan and manifest.” All they kept saying was that they were just obeying directives, it was beyond them and we should call Abuja. Speaker Tambuwal and the other four members of the House of Representatives are living witnesses to that charade.

“NAMA and the aviation authorities should explain to Nigerians why an aircraft owned by a State government, that flew the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and a democratically elected Governor of a State who also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, would be grounded at an airport for no just cause? “ Iyofor, contacted last night to react to the no fly order said there was nothing new to say for now.

However, NAMA in a statement gave its own side of the story and insisted that it was only enforcing the regulations on air safety.

According to the Managing Director, Nnamdi Udoh, the plane was delayed by the failure of the crew to submit declaration including passengers’ manifest.

This, he said, is part of the mandatory requirement for operators of non scheduled flight including charter operations.

He explained that for the Akure Airport, which operates only during day time, there are restrictions on operations that extend beyond the approved time, which would require approval from authorities concerned.

The NAMA boss said:” You are all aware of the incident involving the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi alleging that his aircraft was grounded to take from the airport in reference.

“The aircraft the governor came with is with registration number 5N565RS- Global Express. The pilot called for air traffic controllers clearance at 6.35 pm, he got clearance same time and started taxing by 6.45 pm and departed 6.51 pm.

“By regulations the manager has no power of to clear any aircraft at this period, except an approval given from the authorities concerned.

“After due clearance and the provision of the needed logistics, the aircraft in reference was cleared for take- off.

“But, we need to stress this that we operate by rules and regulations .

“Aviation is not political and we do not play politics in this industry . We appeal that pilots and operators should comply with the operating rules at all the airports in the country.”

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

FEEDBACK This week, ‘Snooping Around with Tatalo Alamu’ publishes some reactions to three recent columns

Re: Salvation on earth: Two exemplary paradigms (1) Y OUR concluding part makes you sound like a man in confusion. The Pentecostals in Nigeria are nothing but a bunch of docile elements being marooned by opportunist charismatic leaders. The tragedy therein is that the congregations are becoming so docile to a dangerous point of imbecility, to the extent that a Rev King could resort to burning members for submitting to his order though the law has taken its course.

They pay tithes and sow countless seeds willingly even when they live below poverty line which is antithesis to the American model.

And yet, the GOs and pastors display affluence and fly in private jets. It is tragic. - Omooba In contention, I hold that the revolutionary ferment of the Americas cannot be ascribed to being a reaction to the brutality of their conquest. My thesis: Iberia in its earlier incarnation as Al Andalus was a melting point per the all inclusiveness of Islam. The conquistadores, driven by greed and Christian fanaticism, didn’t hold themselves as a race apart, mixing sexually with Indian and Negro alike. To wit, the Umayyad era had accustomed the Iberian to unity of race. No such mixing occurred in the Anglosphere where the Aryan Briton held himself to be culturally and racially superior.

The effects of which are to persuade the non- Briton about the inferiority highlighted and terminally dissuade him from seeking parity. Second refutation: the Caliphate and Borno were empires recognising that they had been

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OKO HARAM are quite known but they only operate under disguise. Since Nigeria’s security apparatus is not able to control and terminate Boko Haram in its entirety, they have graduated from snipers to wanton killers of fellow Nigerians. The offer of state amnesty has been largely drummed to their hearing, hence they have resorted to escalated killing to justify the need for state amnesty or as usual state pardon. In total submission to the will of wanton killers before turning some states into graveyards, please grant them what they want! - Olutayo Bros Tatalo. I have been reading you for a very long time and I thought you will never be wrong. I am so flabbergasted today because you are wrong - there are no ghosts in this country at all. Let check your four types of ghosts one after another: 1. BOKO HARAM MEMBERS: Boko Haram members are not ghosts because they hold meetings with eminent politicians in the North and even take photographs with them. Various pictures they took with the Borno State Governor, for example, were published by the press. Oga Tatalo, ghosts don’t hold meetings with humans and take pictures!

2. GHOST WORKERS? No! There are no ghost workers in Nigeria at all. Names Like Nelson Mandela, Ahmadu Bello, Abraham Lincoln, Fela Kuti, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, Murtala Ramat, Ramat Muhammed and many others that are on LGA council pay rolls all over the coun-

•Pope Francis

vanquished by a more powerful empire, the protagonists of which they merely thought of as clever.

How is it that since they had not taken on the hobbling baggage of religious and cultural inferiority

they did not emerge as leading lights of modernisation in postcolonial Nigeria if your thesis holds? - Obinnna75 Brilliant piece and the reason

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu that I supplement my reading of the good book with the works of intellectual men of God from the early Christian intellectuals like St Augustine of Hippo (An African), his confessions, which I’ve just read, is brilliant reading and quite innovative thinking for its age; St Augustine of Canterbury, then fast forward to the reformation age, the two Martin Luthers, Martin Bucer, Jonathan Edwards, our own very Ajayi Crowther, Dientrich Boinheoffer to mention but a few. Unfortunately, apart from Bolaji Idowu no other contemporary clergy in Nigeria comes close in intellect, though credit must be given to Bakare, Akinola, Okogie and others in their application of the gospel to challenges in our society. However, the new age preachers, the bane of this article, don’t even come any close in intellectual rigour in how they preach the gospel - those described paraphasing MLK as intellectually light and failing to relay a consistent, constant message in the face of societal challenges where the church is in mission. As we learn from the history of the church our good leaders from whom we draw inspiration were never in the art of leadership for cheap popularity contests. In fact, they were renowned mainly for their vision, intellect, courage, bravery and the ability to recognise and articulate issues from a high ethical and moral compass supported actively and sustained by the Gospel. This unfortunately is what is lacking in the church in Nigeria today. Omoba Oladele Osinuga Esq. Religion, especially the Pentecostal hue, has come to replace

Re: The census of ghosts try and on the federal parastatal pay rolls are not ghost workers at all because they have managers, supervisors, offices, co-workers, accountants, bank accounts, employers and they are well known by all these and their agents. Some of them even sign

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MO IYA…all dis grammar because we ask you to convert to Islam. If you do not want virgins you can pass them along to Okon and the rest of us.

We know what to do with, and to them. - Iska Countryman Na wa o. Are you trying to be funny or what? This is a serious piece and here you are trying to make light of it. The rational civilisation of the West will always and for all time have the victory over your anachronistic religion of hatred. Please you need to be careful with your comments. - Axelrod

The Nigeria as we know it would survive your ‘rational civilisation’ crap. - Iska Countryman The Nigeria Army (NA) - all eyes on the NA. As long it coheres, those Yusufiyya remain a mere irritant. If the army splinters, kyrie eleison. - Obinnna75 The eboes are holding on to the army hot potato. Trust me, history will not repeat itself. - Iska Countryman Great article as ever. But why does Prof. never mention Achebe.

attendance register twice every working day. Oga Tatalo, ghosts don’t get employed by mere mortals and then sign attendance registers!

3. THE GHOSTS OF PENSIONERS WHO HAVE DIED WAITING FOR THEIR PENSIONS? No sir, you

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are wrong again! Nigerian pensioners don’t die like that. Some will live up to 200 years and many that were employed by Lord Lugard are still receiving their pensions regularly (as at when due). Tatalo sir, if you doubt me ask the chairman of the

everything political independence promised and failed to deliver. It now fills the void left by the incapacity of the post-colonial state to fulfil its social contract to the people and so, in the words of Pius Adesanmi, “Religion has become the second great euphoria after the first euphoria of Independence.” Unfortunately, this euphoria too has not yielded the promised result of prosperity.

Like Tatalo has eruditely outlined, organised religion whether it is the Judeo-Christian hue or the Trans-Saharan Islamic variant, form part of those social formation imported and inserted into the African milieu, but were emptied of the moral and philosophical content and foundation in this new environment. Coupled with their close dalliance and flirtation with the state, they have been unable to play the transformative role like we witnessed in Latin America. Like their counterpart in the various state houses, most leaders of religious houses have also cashed in on the misery and wretchedness of the mass of the people to feather their personal nest. For the suffering masses therefore, it is an unpleasant scenario of head you lose, tail you lose. - Ashindorbe Kelvin What bothers me most is the gentleman – in tie and ironed pants, chanting some personal liberation ryhme of “It is well”, “God bless you” – thief that adherents of the Pentecostal/ prosperity doctrine has become. To me, they destroy the country more than Boko Haram. They say “if I don’t take it, others will”. Paying tithe from the stolen money will sanctify the money. - Sola Task Force on Pension Reform, Dr. Abdulrasheed Maina.

4. GHOSTWRITERS? Noooh!

Oga Tatalo! Just take the write ups and leave the ghosts. - Idahosa Osagie Ojo GEJ can’t talk with ghosts in Nigeria, but talks with them through “back channels” in foreign lands. Fula

Re: Nationals against the nation You kept quiet when he released his last book, and now that the man is dead, Prof still prefers silence. Is Prof afraid of anything? – Pjay Vintage Tatalo doesn’t paint the portrait of he who has just departed to join the pantheons in a hasty manner. Doing so will cause him so much anguish never so fathomable by us mere mortals. RealityCheck So much grammar and long story. Snooper, if and when you and your APC people get there, leave the subsidy, in fact reduce the price of fuel to show your love for the people. Life is so easy from the computer’s keyboard or the Ipad. Kooldealer I would love to rightly assume that conversion to any religion should not be through force. If any religion or doctrine has what it takes to convince and it has inherent in it such things that, a person desires, then it is should be a matter of personal choice and not something that you impose on anybody.

Interestingly, as humans, we have the will to choose whosoever we desire - and even if a person was born into a family with high level of religion connotations - and grew up therein, that does not, hinder such , as he/she becomes an adult from deciding whatever he wants, based on personal preference and decision, and yet such must be in accordance with acceptable conduct and the rule of law.

However, genuine thirst and real craving for true knowledge becomes necessary. In fact, when you come to look at it, if you don’t pass or succeed, in elementary school, how can you proceed to secondary- and hence, how can such a person proceed, to all the other levels of secular education! In addition to that, if you can’t as easy as that, get, a virgin here on earth to marryand, I guess, you must be somehow, in the right place and at the right time, and must have lived that sort of life, to get anywhere near that, particularly if you are not one of the discerning- then where are you going to get that from- on the other

side, where there are no marriages!

If it was, in the sixties, seventies, and perhaps eighties, then that may have been possible, in some communities and also in some part of the world. Genuinely speaking, it does not add up! I mean what virgin- in fact, only few men perhaps have got anywhere near that in the natural.

Therefore, please don’t let anybody fool you- if your grammar is not in place in secondary school and also through A levels, then except you get into adult education somewhere or, a personal tutor teaches you or you simply teache yourself and learn it, then your grammar is likely to be out of place.

Why is that? It is because there are rules and regulations that you must comply with.

Therefore, based on these, we must never forget that the natural man will no matter, what manifest the things of the natural man - and except he becomes a new creature and then craving and hunger for such things - would rule him. Idoniss Ando

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

News

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ORTHERN leaders are in talks with the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC) on plan by the party to pick its presidential flag bearer for the 2015 election from the region.

Several meetings have been held between northern stakeholders and key promoters of the APC to explore possible areas of co-operation ahead of the election.

The Northern leaders are drawn mainly from the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Northern Union (NU) and others, according to sources familiar with the development.

One of such discussions, a source said, took place recently at the Kano home of the immediate past former governor of Kano State and 2011 presidential candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau.

Shekarau is one of the promoters of the APC. He currently chairs the ANPP merger committee.

The Nation learnt that some northern governors and prominent traditional rulers in the region are also involved in the talks aimed at securing an alternative platform to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for northern presidential aspirants ahead of 2015.

It was gathered that the region’s power brokers are convinced that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to defeat President Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP national convention where the party’s presidential candidate will be picked.

This informs the search for a virile alternative.

The source said:”The North is still very determined in its quest to produce the President in 2015 not minding the ongoing attempt by some politicians to hoodwink the region. Efforts

APC: Northern leaders hold secret talks with Shekarau, others

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor are ongoing and in fact lots of moves are being made to further position the region in good stead for the contest.

“While we all know that the current level of insecurity is one of the political ploys to destabilise the region ahead of 2015, we are undeterred. Series of meetings are being held within and outside the region as part of efforts to prepare us for the next presidential election.

“One thing is clear: we will not subsume our aspi-

ration for anybody or group this time around. Nothing will stop the return of power to the North in 2015. Not even the ongoing criminal activities within the PDP denying us the party’s ticket in 2015.

“We are aware of the plot to ‘dash’ Jonathan the presidential ticket once again.

This time, we are looking beyond the PDP. Lots of talks are ongoing with other political groups. Our leaders across various organisations within the North are meeting with other stakeholders to find an alternative platform should Jonathan suc-

ceed in pushing us out of PDP. “Just recently, our leaders met with Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau of the ANPP. The meeting discussed the possibility of a working arrangement between the region and his political group.

“Far-reaching decisions are to be taken soon and at the end of it all, the bottom line will be that the North is better positioned to stake a serious claim for the Presidency in 2015.”

The Nation also learnt that some prominent traditional rulers recently made their position on the 2015 presi-

dential election known to stakeholders during a parley to discuss the state of the region.

The source added:”Some prominent traditional rulers largely made up of first class emirs and Chiefs in the region, recently told stakeholders that they are solidly behind the move for a northern President come 2015.

“When the issue of 2015 propped up, the body of emirs said they are in support of the stakeholders’ call for a northern president in 2015.”

• At the end of their two-day retreat in Lagos on Saturday, members of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution were hosted to a dinner by Senator Oluremi Tinubu at is her residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Blame Boko Haram for Baga killings –DHQ

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HE Defence Headquarters yesterday blamed the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, for the recent mayhem in Baga, Borno State, during which 185 people were allegedly killed.

It accused some vested interests of attributing the killings to the Multi-national Joint Task Force (MNTF) in a very unfair and dangerous dimension.

It also claimed that reports at its disposal have shown that the death toll figures were incorrect and inaccurate.

However, the Senator representing Borno North including Baga, Alhaji Maina Maaji Lawan says 228 people died in the attack.

But the Defence Headquarters said it was not prepared to join issues with anyone on the casualty figure.

DHQ in a statement by its Director of Information, Brigadier Gen. Chris Olukolade, said no soldier is either being interrogated or detained over the incident.

He said: “The Defence Headquarters reaffirms its stand that all lives are precious in the conduct of all operations and the loss of human lives should not be taken with levity or unnecessary sensationalism as some interest groups appear bent on doing.

“The military has there-

Real death toll 228, Senator Lawan claims Military: figures are exaggerated; says no soldier arrested From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

fore refrained from joining issues on figures being so vociferously presented and believed in certain quarters even when the reports on the ground are indicating otherwise. “ The untiring efforts by some persons and groups to unduly attribute the killings in Baga to the troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force are, however, assuming a very unfair and dangerous dimension indeed.

“It is surprising that the atrocities of Boko Haram terrorists are being desperately blamed on the troops even without any meaningful investigations by those promoting these allegations locally and internationally.

“This tendency is clearly in line with the orchestrated effort by a vested interest, using the press, to whip up public resentment against the necessary military operations in defence and security of the nation.

“The series of false claims on the incident in Baga should, however, not be forced down the throat of well-meaning people of Ni-

geria and beyond. The DHQ once more wishes to urge the press to desist from playing into the hands of those who do not mean well for the country in times like this.”

The DHQ said no soldier is either being interrogated or detained over the incident.

The statement added: “The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) wishes to declare that no soldier has been arrested or detained on account of the incident that happened in Baga last week as reported in certain newspapers today (yesterday) Saturday, April 27. The report, which claimed that 15 soldiers have been arrested in connection with their alleged role in what the medium referred to as “Borno Bloodbath,” is indeed false in its entirety.

“The newspaper report which quoted so-called ‘reliable security sources’ claimed that “some soldiers have been arrested and detained over the Baga killings…more than 15 of them have been implicated in the massacre” is a complete fabrication.

“At no point did the DHQ or any of the Services of the Nigerian Armed Forces order the arrest of any of its sol-

diers in connection with the incident in Baga.”

On the MNTF, the DHQ said it was established 35 years ago to flush out rebels and undesirable elements in Lake Chad Basin.

A separate note made available to our correspondent by Brig-Gen. Olukolade reads: “The Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) was established in September 1988 as a joint operation among three African nations – Nigeria, Niger and Chad to ensure security within their common borders and engender international cooperation.

“The operation commenced in July 1988 after a tripartite agreement was reached by the Heads of State of the three countries.

“The mandate of Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is to conduct joint military operations with the Lake Chad Region. “ It was to flush out rebels and other undesirable elements and to facilitate free movement of the citizens of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) member states across their common borders. The mandate was however expanded in April

2012 at the 14th Summit of LCBC in Ndjamena to include the fight against the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.

“The force, which comprises of troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad was tasked to achieve the following: ( a) Ensure that there are no activities of Chadian and Nigerien rebels in that area (b)Assist Nigerian Immigration Services in intercepting aliens in the region ( c)Checkmate influx of illegal weapons into Nigeria through the borders; and ( d) Establish Forward Operating Bases (FOB) from where Quick Response Force is launched.”

Meanwhile, Senator Lawan has said 228 people died in the mayhem.

The figure is six times higher than the one put out by the government.

“I personally visited three graveyards in Baga and counted 228 graves where victims had been buried,” said Senator Lawan.

He told reporters that 4,000 homes were also destroyed and without significant relief materials there could be a humanitarian disaster.

Rivers PDP crisis: Obuah’s people deny him From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

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INSMEN of Chief Felix Obuah, the new Chairman of the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in his native Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area have said they are pitching their tent with the Godspower Ake faction.

Ake and his executive council were sacked by a Federal High Court in Abuja which also ordered that Obuah be sworn in as chairman.

PDP stakeholders from the local government area said yesterday that Ake was duly elected as Chairman at the March 17, 2012 Congress at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt.

The PDP stakeholders comprise “all serving and former elected and appointed political office holders at the federal, state, and local government levels, all members of the Elders Forum of the party, all PDP ward executives, members of the 17 wards of the LGA, all women and youth leaders of the party in the LGA and indeed all political activists from the six geopolitical zones of the LGA.” They expressed support for Ake, Governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan and asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria to “expeditiously salvage the image of the nation’s judiciary which has been so brutally battered by Justice Ishaq Bello of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.”

The court ruling has polarised the party down the line in the state with members from the various local government areas identifying with one faction or the other.

Experts seek increased health funding From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

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HE Federal Government budget for the health sector is between four to six percent contrary to the 15 percent agreed by African leaders during the Abuja Declaration in 2001, experts in the sector have lamented.

They spoke at a stakeholders' engagement forum on sustainable Health Financing in Nigeria by Access Bank Plc. The stakeholders decried inadequate funding of the sector and called on government to reverse the trend.

The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Professor John Idoko, noted that over 75 percent of HIV spending came from foreign donors while only 25 percent are from domestic sources.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Global Fund, Dr. Mark Dybul, announced his organisation's readiness to work with Nigeria to improve its health sector.

He said: "We are ready to build a strong partnership with you if you lead the process. We will bring companies to work with you on health insurance."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

2015 poll: PDP Governors demand N46b compensation from Jonathan From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

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OVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are demanding N46billion worth of projects for their states for voting for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

They claim that the 23 states being controlled by the party deserve special treatment for standing by the President.

However, the Chairman of the party's Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, has pleaded with the Governors to avoid divisive tendencies.

The Governors, according to party sources, resolved to seek project concessions from the President at a recent meeting.

The idea was said to have been broached by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, who stressed the need for the Governors to approach the President to "site at least one federal project ranging between N1billion-N2billion (at the President's discretion) in each PDP state."

He said the projects would be regarded as compensation for their support for the federal government.

A delegation of the governors is expected to table the request to thePresident in due course.

Party sources also said Anenih, at a separate meeting with the Governors, advised them to shun divisive tendencies.

He told them to develop the spirit of give and take and forgiveness and to remain loyal to the party at all levels.

He urged them to cooperate with the federal government in the bid to deal with the security challenges in the country.

Boko Haram commander killed in Maiduguri

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HE Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) yesterday confirmed the killing of a suspected Boko Haram commander, Mohammed Chad, during a special operation in Maiduguri.

JTF's spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, made this known via a statement in Maiduguri.

He said ``A special operation was conducted at Ruwan-Zafi area of Maiduguri by troops of the JTF and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) last Friday. ``The operation led to the death of a notorious terrorist commander, a.k.a. Mohammed Chad, an indigene of Marte, Borno, who had been on the wanted list of the JTF.'' It said that the late Chad was linked to many terrorist attacks in Borno and other states in the recent past.

News

Insecurity: FG to erect wall along Chad border T HE Federal Government may be forced into erecting a fence along the country's border with Chad if the current level of insecurity in the Northeast persists, The Nation has learnt.

The fence is to be erected along the corridors considered "easily accessible" to foreigners who come in to cause mayhem.

A source from the Presidency who does not want his name in print said government is considering the border fence option as a way of curbing the infiltration of the country's borders by "unwanted and troublesome foreign elements."

According to the source,

By Olayinka Oyegbile

the planned fence is exploratory and meant to curb the international dimensions of the criminality in area.

The source said government has been considering the issue for some time and has now been necessitated by the recent massacre in Baga, Borno State, which pitched soldiers from Nigeria, Niger and Chad against terrorists who have turned the area into a base to attack civilians across northern Nigeria.

The source said:"The truth is the security situation

along the border with Chad has worsened considerably and we might need to take some radical measures to restore normalcy to the area and protect our people from these foreign criminals."

It was gathered that intelligence reports from North-East have shown that Nigerians along the borders with Niger and Chad are exposed to frequent attacks from criminals from these countries, who are in the habit of rustling livestock of Nigerian farmers, stealing their farm produce and attacking the women.

The raid, which dates back to the Chadian civil war

in the 80s, has since snowballed into terrorism, as foreign militants and arms dealers are now believed to be using these routes to foment trouble in Nigeria. It is widely believed that the Al-Queda in the Maghreb use this route to enter the country and perhaps aid Boko Haram in its operations.

Two weeks ago, a military operation in Baga was reported to have led to the death of at least 185 civilians and the destruction of the entire community.

However, the Nigerian Army has denied that casualty figure. According to it, only 37 persons died in the clash, including six civilians, one soldier and 30

•PAKISTAN, Karachi : Pakistani men wheel an injured blast victim on a stretcher in a hospital following a bomb explosion in Karachi on April 27, 2013. Three bomb explosions killed two people including a young girl in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on April 27, police and hospital officials said, the latest violence ahead of polls next month. The blasts, two of which targeted secular political parties and another close to a Shiite mosque, came a day after a car bomb at a political meeting in the same city killed at least 10 people. AFP PHOTO / ASIF HASSAN

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WO associates of the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, have described the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, as an ingrate for dumping the governor.

Emma Chinda, the Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture and Victor Amadi, a member of the state House of Assembly, representing Etche I constituency say call for the governor's resignation on account of the crisis plaguing the party in the state is unfortunate.

The duo insist that Chief Godspower Ake, who was sacked by an Abuja High Court on April 15, remains the duly-elected Chairman of the PDP in Rivers, having been so elected at the March 17, 2012 state congress, which took place at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt.

Chinda and Amadi spoke yesterday on Rhythm 93.7 FM, Port Harcourt's phone-in programme, Viewpoint.

They faulted, in particular, the call by a chieftain of the PDP, Prince Emma Anyanwu, for Amaechi's resignation, saying that Anyanwu's son currently serves as a Special Assistant to the Governor.

They asked Anyanwu to advise his son to resign first.

Anyanwu, at a press conference, had said: "It is unfortunate that the Rivers State Governor has allowed the issues in the state to degenerate to the level of the dissolution of the leadership

5

members of the Boko Haram sect.

The commander of the JTF in the area, Brig Gen Austin Edokpaye, had told reporters last week that the force was surprised by the array of sophisticated and heavy weapons deployed by the terrorists, including rocket-propelled grenades.

He said the military action had led to the arrest of several Boko Haram members and the capture of heavy weapons.

It is believed that with the huge number of civilian casualties, which some independent bodies have said are much higher than what the military released, the federal government may be looking beyond military options to secure the area.

These include the deployment of surveillance equipment and erecting a wall across portions of the border.

"We are studying the example of the United States along its southern border with Mexico, which has been demarcated by fence and walls to stop the flow of guns, drugs and unwanted persons from crossing the border. The situation in the area (North East) is unsustainable and we cannot continue to expose our people to these dangerous elements. Everything is on the table. We are willing to do anything to secure the lives and property of our citizens."

At the height of the smuggling of drugs and arms across the border from Mexico to the United States, the US had built what it called "border fence, rotted fence or border wall" between the two countries to reduce the nefarious activities and aid border control.

xxx

Wike is an ingrate, say Amaechi's associates •Amaechi's supporters are frustrated, Obuah remains Rivers PDP chair - Wike From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

and councillors of Obio/Akpor LG council.

"After careful consideration and review of events in the past one week in Rivers State PDP, leading to the April 15 judgment and inauguration of Chief Felix Obuah as the chairman of PDP and his executive in Abuja the entry and reception of over 500,000 persons at the Port Harcourt International Airport and party's state secretariat along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, indicate the acceptance of the change in leadership.

"Governor Amaechi has definitely lost control of and the management of the state. He has lost the heart of the party, on which he was elected into office. This situation has also resulted in the illegal dissolution of Obio/Akpor LG council's elected Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the seventeen councillors.

"Based on all these and other issues on the ground, I am calling on him (Amaechi) to immediately resign as the governor in order to allow peace to reign.

"I made efforts to resolve the differences between Amaechi and Wike to no avail.

I blame the failure of the efforts on Amaechi, who should, as the

leader of the party in the state, reach out to the people."

However, Chinda said: "Wike was nominated by Governor Amaechi to become a Minister. He also made him the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011. He is an ingrate.

"Wike also lied that he was not aware of the March 17, 2012 state congress of PDP, where Chief Ake was elected as the Chairman. The Minister of State for education again lied that he was not aware of the judgment of the Rivers High Court, Okehi in Etche LGA, which confirms Chief Ake as the duly-elected chairman of the party.

"I am an Ikwerre man.

Governor Amaechi earlier stated that it would not be proper for another Ikwerre person to succeed him in 2015, when he would have been Governor for eight years, bearing in mind that he was the Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly for eight years (1999 to 2007).

"We should allow another ethnic group in Rivers State to produce the Governor in 2015.

Wike, an Ikwerre man, should do away with personal interest of wanting to succeed Amaechi in 2015. We should all be

concerned about the development of Rivers State and not personal ambition.

"No doubt about the fact that Chief Ake remains the duly-elected Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State. We will never recognise Obuah. Chief Ake has appealed the April 15 judgment. Judiciary will rise to the occasion again. We have confidence in the judiciary. We will accept the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

"We should not return to the era of lawlessness in Rivers State, where people walk on the streets of Port Harcourt with

their hands raised. Rivers State has become a huge construction yard. Governor Amaechi is developing the state and ensuring good governance."

While also speaking yesterday on the radio station's current affairs programme, the lawmaker (Amadi), insisted that due process was followed in the April 22 suspension of the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, Timothy Nsirim, his vice and 17 councillors, loyal to Wike, as well as the inauguration the following day of a seven-member caretaker committee.

'Intervention in Mali to dislodge Boko Haram sect members'

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HE General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Abel Umahi, has said that Nigeria's military intervention in Mali was designed to forestall the implications of Arab Spring filtrating into the country.

Another reason was to pre-empt the activities of Boko Haram in the country, according to the GOC who spoke at the closing of a week-long First Commanding Officers' Workshop in Lagos.

Umahi said the intervention had become

imperative since "it has been established that Boko Haram elements are being trained in Mali and they are also using Mali as a sanctuary." ``Our operation in Mali is a robust and sound approach to pre- emptying Boko Haram activities in Nigeria.

One of the security implications, as you may have identified, was the insurgency in Mali and the strategic aim behind the deployment of Nigerian troops there is to forestall the implications of Arab Spring filtrating into Nigeria."

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

News

Osun’s intervention reduces incidences of malaria From: Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo.

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SUN State Commissioner for Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Temitope Ilori, has disclosed the latest survey from the Federal Ministry of Health ranked the state among those with the lowest incidences of malaria.

Speaking during activities to mark the 2013 World Malaria Day in Osogbo, Ilori attributed the feat to the Aregbesola administration’s intervention on diagnosis and treatment.

She disclosed the government has spent over N200 million for control of malaria in the first quarter of 2013.

Some of the malaria control strategies employed, she stated further include prompt diagnosis and treatment with effective medicine, distribution of insecticide- treated net to achieve coverage of population at risk, especially children below 5 years and pregnant women and indoor residual spraying to curtail transmission.

UTME: Over one million will be denied admission - Minister O

NLY 520,000 of the 1.7 million that wrote the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) can gain admission, the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa'I, disclosed yesterday.

Rufai expressed sadness over the fate of the remaining 1.2 million candidates whom she said cannot be accommodated.

The Minister spoke after monitoring conduct of the UTME within schools in Abuja and Suleja, Niger State alongside the Regis-

From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

trar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation (JAMB), Prof.

Dibu Ojerinde.

She called for Private Pubic Partnership (PPP) to resolve the crisis despite Federal Government's effort in building more universities.

The Minister also solicited for assistance of state governments in building more universities.

A total of 1, 629, 102 candidates applied for the Paper-Pencil Test (PPT) while 15, 008 candidates applied

for the Dual Based Test (DBT).

91, 610 candidates applied for the Computer Based Test (CBT).

The Minister called for acceptance of CBT because Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in development.

She said: "The education sector being part of the transformation agenda has to move forward. What we have just seen today is a simple transformation from Paper Pencil Test (PPT) to the dual examination.

"If other countries are moving or developing, there

is no way Nigeria cannot also move forward.

"It doesn't mean that if some students cannot sit for computer examination then all students in Nigeria cannot do it.

She added: "There are some who are good in that and other should learn that way. We should be advanced like other countries.

"We have started with the dual examination where we have taken the Paper Pencil Test (PPT) and the Computer Test.

She assured thatresults

•L-R: Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; his wife Florence and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III at the Ajumorin fitness walk in Oyo town… yesterday

will be out in the next 10 days.

On carrying capacity, she said: "Our major concern is that a country like Nigeria having over 1.7 million that have sat for today's examination and those that will sit for that of May to gain entrance into the university and the space that we have is 520 thousand for University, Polytechnic and Colleges of Education.

"Assuming that we have 1.7 million that have sat for the examination and we have 520 thousand spaces, what are we going to do with the remaining 1.2 million candidates?

"We cannot expand our carrying capacity simply to accommodate the remaining students without the expansion of our facilities.

"Our facilities as of today are basically for the 520 thousand students and that we are calling for the improvement in access and we are calling for the Public Private Partnership (PPP)."

A male candidate, Isaac Okebe, was arrested for impersonation and handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for further interrogation.

The candidate refused to answer questions from newsmen.

Ojerinde said the rightful owner of the examination number was found to be in Enugu State after verification.

60 Anambra royal fathers in trouble G over visit to Ifeanyi Ubah OVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State yesterday charged traditional rulers to be good ambassadors of the state.

He charged them to avoid making speeches, taking actions and attending occasions that may put their character in question.

He was speaking while declaring open a seminar for traditional rulers in the state at their secretariat near the Government House, Awka.

Coming shortly after one of the governorship hopefuls in the state, Dr. Ifeanyi Uba, played host to some of the traditional rulers in Lagos, insiders said the governor was making reference to the alleged visit, which he allegedly disapproved.

Obi had told the royal fathers that by the virtue of their positions as the custodians of the culture of the people and the primus inter pares (first among equals) among their subjects, the people look up to them for inspiration, guidance and direction.

Obi, who, however, said he was not against traditional rulers attending social functions, said they should always try to inform the Special Adviser on Chieftaincy Matters or him whenever they are travelling out of the state. His words: “Today, I cannot travel out of Nigeria without in-

•Be good ambassadors, Obi tells traditional rulers From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

forming the President. If anything happens to me, the President should know my whereabouts. Likewise, it is not good for you to travel out of the state without informing me.

“In spite of their stature and prominence, traditional rulers such as Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe and the Igwe of Ikelionwu, Igwe Peter Ezenwa of Oba, Prof.

Chukwuemeka Ike, still inform me whenever they travel out of the state. If anything, which we pray against, happens, they will ask me as the governor about you,” Obi said, adding: “Before me, Anambra had cases of traditional rulers that did not agree with the government of the day being removed, but under me, nothing like that has happened and will not happen. All I ask of you is for us all to work together in the interest of peace and development of Anambra State,” Obi said.

As a mark of the good relationship with the traditional institution and to elevate their

pride among their people, Obi added that the government would soon provide SUVs to all of them at no cost, at all.

Inside sources however, told The Nation that the visit of some of the royal fathers to Uba in Lagos is already the cause of quarrel between them and Obi. The sources alleged that trouble started when some traditional rulers reported to Obi that the royal fathers who visited Ifeanyi Uba in Lagos came home with 3,000 Dollars each.

They were there to attend the marriage ceremony of Miss Vivian Uju, younger sister of Uba. The traditional rulers, about 60 in number, as well as President-Generals and other professional bodies, attended the wedding at Catholic Church of the Assumption, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Saturday, April 20.

But sources alleged that Obi was not happy with the manner the royal fathers left Anambra State for Lagos and allegedly directed the chairman of the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers

and the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, to find out from his colleagues who embarked on the trip the rationale behind such journeys.

They also alleged that the royal fathers have been advised to return the money given to them by their host in Lagos.

Close aides to the governor, however, denied this claim, explaining that the governor never asked any royal father to refund any money.

“He only advised them to inform him whenever they want to travel out of the state.”

Reacting to the allegation, however, the traditional ruler of Igbariam community in Anambra East, Igwe Kelly Nzekwe, currently in India for medical check-up, said the state government was getting involved in what he described as an “unhealthy politics,” which would not stand the test of time.

“The state government, through the Obi of Onitsha, who is our chairman, threatened to sanction us for attending wedding in Lagos. Any-

way, I am not scared of their threat. But let me tell them that Obi of Onitsha equally went for a wedding in Lagos not long ago. Has he also returned the money he collected from there?

“We also visited Prof Dora Akunyili, why didn’t they threaten to sanction us.

What the government is doing is very wrong. The media should help the traditional rulers; this is an unhealthy politics being played by the state government. We only went for a wedding and we were given money for colanut, which is customary. Peter did not give us money; it was Uba that gave us money, why must we return it to the council?

“This is a clear case of intimidation and we don’t like it, my colleagues have reported to me. We were accused of collecting stolen money. This is not how to play politics,” the traditional ruler said.

As at press time, Igwe Achebe could not be reached for his reaction as his phone was not picked.

Meanwhile, the trouble may have extended to the State House of Assembly as about 26 lawmakers, who were also allegedly hosted at the Golden Tulip Hotel Lagos

by Uba, were alleged to have held a crucial meeting with him aimed at impeaching Obi to make way for Uba’s emergence.

Though the rumour all over the state is that they discussed impeachment of Gov. Peter Obi, an insider said that nothing of such was discussed, adding that Uba only told them that he would contest the next gubernatorial election in the state. He earlier took them round his facilities in Lagos and declared that he makes more money in a month than Anambra’s monthly allocation.

But Hon Idu Emeka, representing Onitsha North and House Committee Chairman on Works confirmed that 24 House members were in Lagos on the invitation of Chief Uba but said it was not about governorship of Anambra in 2014 or issues relating to it.

Speaking on the development, Chief Anthony Okeke, a well-known community leader, said there was nothing wrong with attending Uba’s younger sister’s wedding. He, however, condemned the aspect of secret meetings and any move to subvert the government of Peter Obi.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Why insecurity will persist, by criminologist From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

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PROFESSOR of Criminology, Femi Odekunle, has said unless development challenges are seriously addressed through genuine people-oriented development ethos and strategy, an enduring optimum security will remain elusive in the country.

Odekunle stated this in his lecture titled ‘Science Education and contemporary issues in national security,” delivered at the 4th National Conference of the School of Science, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo. He said: “On the political level, the concept of democracy has become, in practice, ‘government of the greedy, by the greedy, for the greedy’ and governance has become oligarchy and corruption-ridden with contents of the National Anthem and pledge being turned into mere nominal mouthing, while the electionprocess itself has become usually tainted with observable manipulations and in some cases heart-rending violence with able-bodied youths “employed’’ as armed thugs.’’

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HE Federal Government has raised the alarm on the danger of indiscriminate drilling of boreholes in the country.

It said it could have devastating effects on the environment if the practice is not checked.

The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe, made this known at the weekend during a courtesy visit to her office by members of the Association of Water Well Drilling Ring Owners and Practitioners in Abuja.

She stated that the indiscriminate drilling of borehole may result in over abstraction of ground water, which effects include land subsidence, salt intrusion, aquifer depletion and water quality degradation amongst other environmental hazards.

The Minister explained: “The need for proper and effective regulation of groundwater abstraction is of utmost importance. The pub-

News

Infrastructure Development Bank raises capital to N29b

FG raises alarm over indiscriminate T drilling of boreholes From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

lic needs to be sensitised on this.

“The construction of boreholes indiscriminately is capable of causing earth tremor, because underground water is linked, and if there is contamination in one borehole, it will contaminate other boreholes within the area with devastating effects on human health.

“The government agrees that public water supply needs to be improved upon, even though budgetary provision is not enough to put in place all

the necessary infrastructures to provide potable water. That is why government has initiated discussion with states and local governments to ensure adequate water supply to the citizens.”

The Minister also spoke on plans to collaborate with the private sector in the provision of water.

She disclosed: “The Federal Government is opening up the sector to promote Public-Private partnership, as discussions are being strengthened with Donor Agencies. It is expected

that all efforts will attract additional funding to the sector, thereby fast tracking adequate access to water.”

The Minister called for close interaction between the ministry and the association to ensure borehole drillers in the country observe the standardised code of practice being put in place by government to check the indiscriminate drilling of boreholes.

She advised the association to avail itself of the services of NIWR for the capacity building of its members.

Parents warned against child abuse

By Hannah Ojo

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HE director, Office of the Public Defender (OPD) Lagos State, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, has warned parents and guardians to stop abusing their children or face court action.

She made the call during a visit to the Children Centre at Idi-Araba, Lagos.

Three orphanages in the vicinity were visited by staff of the OPD who interacted with the principals of the homes and also the children.

Instances of delayed court cases involving some of the children were immediately assigned to lawyers while food and other items were donated.

Fielding questions from journalists, Mrs Rotimi said the OPD is a member of the world wide Children Protection Unit and works with the ministry of women affairs, ministry of youth and social development. On the rampant cases of child abuse in the country, she pointed out that most parents and guardians abuse their children out of ignorance and poverty.

‘Dialogue with Boko Haram’

By Adeola Ogunlade

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HE Executive Director, Voice of Christian Martyrs, Nigeria, Rev. Isaac Newton, has appealed to the Federal Government to stop the killings of members of Boko Haram sect as that would lead to further loss of lives and properties in parts of the North.

Newton spoke in Lagos after a recent visit to the European Parliament.

He condemned the recent massacre of over 185 persons in a raid by the Nigeria Army in Baga, Borno State.

Newton advised government to toe the path of dialogue and peaceful means in solving the Boko Haram menace, while urging it to place the security of lives and property as utmost priority.

•L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Mr. Jim O’Neill and Managing Director, Investment Banking Division, Goldman Sachs lnternational, Mr. China Danforth Onyemelukwe, at a special interactive session with the Governor on the theme ‘Delivering Nigeria’s growth promise’ at the Goldman Sachs Growth Markets summit in New York… at the weekend

How PDP tried to frustrate council polls,

by Oshiomhole G OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of doing everything possible to stop the recentlyheld Local Government election in the state last weekend.

Oshiomhole added that the party has also stopped the conduct of the election twice in Esan North East Local government area by using federal might to harass and intimidate voters.

Speaking during the inauguration of the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Esan West Local Government Areas in Benin City yesterday, the governor said: “Twice, the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC ) tried to conduct election in Esan North East and twice the PDP disrupted it.

“When I swore in the first set of local government chairmen, I made the point about how the Minister of Works (Mike Onolememen) used armed mobile policemen, over a dozen, to intimidate the voters in Esan North East and subsequently compelled the DPO and the Electoral Officer to announce the cancellation of the election and also went on television to say how could he have disturbed an

7

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

election that was not held.

“Let me repeat: I did not accuse him of undermining an election that was held; we accused him of illegally using the police, conniving with the DPO to order the postponement of the election. He caused the election to be postponed because he had no chance of winning.

“The evidence was clear on that Saturday in Esan land. In Uromi, you had canopies belonging to ACN, the other canopy for PDP supporters and just looking at the canopies, you can see where the majority are and that was why he insisted that election must be postponed and he misused federal instrument to force that postponement in clear breach of the Electoral Act,” the governor noted.

He added: “Today, we could have sworn in a candidate from the local government but again, he used hired thugs to confiscate election materials, carry fake result sheets and even detained people at Uromi police station.”

The Governor appealed to the opposition to allow the

sanctity of the ballot to prevail, because primordial sentiments will not work in the state again.

The Governor, who urged the local government chairmen to sustain and build on the record of service of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), stated: “the voters believe in us and they expect that every promise made will be delivered.”

Responding on behalf of others, the Chairman of Oredo Local Government Area, Mr. Osaro Obazee, disclosed that they have resolved to tow the developmental strides of the Comrade Governor and to be prudent in the management of resources.

The Chairmen of Ikpoba Okha and Esan West, Mrs. Itohan Ogbeide and Mr. Henry Irumundomon respectively, also took the oath of office along with their vice chairmen.

New Attah Igala takes staff of office

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HE ancient city of Idah went agog yesterday when the new Attah of Igala, Idakwo Micheal Oboni, received the staff of office as President, Kogi State traditional council.

The ceremony, which witnessed visitors including sons and daughters of Igala kingdom, took place at the Attah’s palace in Idah Local government area of Kogi State.

President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated the new Attah Igala on his successful transition to the throne of his forefathers.

Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abbah Moro, urged the traditional ruler to use his reign to unite the peo-

From Muhammad Bashir, Lokoja

ple of Igala Kingdom.

The President canvassed support for the Igala nation, describing it as occupying a vital place in the country.

Governor Idris Wada expressed delight with the historic installation.

He called on the Attah to see to the several crises bedeviling the Igala chieftaincy institution, which he noted is on the increase.

The Governor assured the monarch of his support, praising the peaceful emergence of the new Attah Igala.

Oboni promised to unite the people of Igala kingdom and called on the people to join hands with him in moving the kingdom forward.

HE board of Infrastructure Development Bank has approved the recapitalisation of the bank to the tune of N29 billion.

Its Managing Director, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, disclosed this to journalists after the bank’s board meeting in Lagos last week.

Oyinloye said that the board had agreed to raise new funds both in equity and debt capital to meet the recapitalisation exercise.

He said that the board members had agreed to raise three to four billion naira as equity among themselves, while the rest would be raised from the capital market.

The Managing Director also said that the bank would in future raise municipal bond for community-based projects.

He said: “We believe that based on our five-year capital plan, that this will be far more than adequate to address our capital requirement for our projects.

“This is not limited to what we raised on specific bases. We will also be raising what we called municipal bond and will soon be in the capital market for that.”

Oyinloye said that the bank might also be in the market for a transport fund.

“This is to tell you that by the nature of business, there will be focus on each sector of the economy.”

He said that the bank might raise as much as the demand required and as much as the market appetite could meet.

Mr Johan Kruger, the Vice Chairman of the bank, said that the bank was handling a Redline Transit Project to aid transportation system in Lagos and its environs.

Kruger said that the bank had since 2009 been meeting with a consortium of banks on the Redline Transit Project in response to the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority’s request to solve transportation problem in Lagos.

He said that the bank had been able to resolve the issue of right of way for the project.

Kruger said that the board had appointed 14 advisors and had spent 400 million dollars of its own money on the technical works on the project.

Ogbomoso old students meet

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HE monthly meeting of Ogbomoso Grammar School Old Students’ Association (OGSOSA), Lagos branch comes up on May 5 at the Nigerian Army Cantonment Officers Mess, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos by 3pm.

The talk for the month is “Will, a compelling need.”

It will be delivered by Olumide Fatogun, a lawyer.

At the last meeting new executives were elected.

They were Col. Edward Ladoye (Rtd) Chairman; ACP Supo Ajani-Vice Chairman; Mr Femi Ojo-Secretary; Mr Gabriel Ladeji-Asst Secretary and Alhaji Musibau Ishola-Financial Secretary, among others.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

PDP gives condition to re-contest in Esan North East

DO State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has given conditions for it to re-contest in the local government election in Esan North East Local Government Area.

The rescheduled elections in Esan North East were cancelled by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission over alleged violence and thuggery.

Esan North East is the local government where Chief Tony Anenih and Mike Onolenememen hail from.

Chairman of EDSIEC, Solomon Ogoh, had, at a press briefing, said, “In spite of the large presence of police and other security agencies, the thugs succeeded in snatching result sheets and other sensitive materials.”

“In many places, EDSIEC officials were chased away and the EO was holed up in the police station. The activities of

•ACN wins Ikpoba-Okha, Oredo

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

thugs and some law enforcement agencies made it impossible for EDSIEC officials to perform their duties,” he said.

Ogoh said a new date for the conduct of the election would be announced later.

The State Chairman of PDP, Dan Orbih, said the present leadership of EDSIEC must be sacked and the state government must tell the people what happened during the election before the party would consider contesting in any rescheduled election in the area.

Orbih said it was illogical for results to be accepted in some local government and results rejected from Esan North East The PDP chairman said elections were only free and fair in Ward 4, Estako Central

and Ward 10, Estako West across the entire state.

According to him, “The present EDSIEC must be sacked. They have shown clearly that they are not in control of the elections in the state.

They must come out and tell Nigerians what happened.

“The Commissioner of Police was on ground. Elections were conducted. The results are known, government must tell us why they have annulled the election. He should give us enough reasons why the elections were annulled. He went ahead to announce results in 17 local governments when it was clear there was no election in those places.

“The entire election must be cancelled. Oshiomhole asked EDSIEC to apologise.

The only reasonable thing for Oshiomhole was to cancel the election.”

•Former Minister of Industries , Chief Mrs Nike Akande, being welcomed as a matron of the Church by the Baba Ijo and the retired Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya (RTD) at the dedication and the opening of the United African Methodist Evangelical Church, Abule Ijesha Yaba, Lagos.

Akwa Ibom varsity to be equipped for NUC accreditation –Akpabio

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OVERNOR Godswill Akpabio yesterday assured management of the stated-owned institution, Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), that it would be equipped adequately for the accreditation visit of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Already, the institution had earlier scaled through NUC’s verification exercise which culminated in the approval of three new faculties and 17 additional academic programmes for the university during the 2011/2012 academic session.

Speaking during the 3rd matriculation ceremony of the school in Ikot Akpadem, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area campus of the institution,

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

Akpabio said the level of success attained by the institution would not have been possible without the support of highly qualified professionals in different fields of knowledge.

The Governor explained that when he came in 2007, he introduced free and compulsory policy which was to be implemented by a conventional tertiary educational system to absorb most of the graduates of the scheme.

Akpabio also stated that he sent a bill to the State House of Assembly changing the name of the institution from Akwa Ibom State University of Technology (AKUTECH) to Akwa Ibom

State University (AKSU).

Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Chrysantus Asuka, the governor informed the gathering that government had already awarded contract for the construction of four 650 bed spaces capacity hostels, two each for Ikot Akpaden and Obio Akpa campuses.

His words: “I want to say unequivocally that we are satisfied with the Management of the University over the efforts of scaling through the National Universities Commission’s verification exercise which culminated in the approval of three new faculties and 17 additional academic programmes for the university.

Woman denies selling baby girl for N.9m

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HE Proprietress of My Mummy Orphange, Mrs. Osayi Lato, has denied collecting N.9m from a couple based in America for a two month old baby girl.

Mrs. Osayi said she was aware of the Child Right Law and Child Adoption Procedure and could not resolve to selling babies in her orphanage.

She spoke after officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs sealed up her orphanage and took the remaining children to other orphanage homes.

Mrs. Osayi explained that

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

she was contacted by the couple from the USA that they needed a baby girl for adoption.

She said she told them that adoption was free and that the couple took the baby girl away for medical examination but never came back.

According to her, “They later went to the Ministry of Women Affairs to allege that I was paid N900,000 for the baby and demanded a letter of replacement from the ministry.”

“I challenge the adopters to come out with proof of sale

of the baby”. She threatened to institute legal action to secure release of the baby back to the orphanage home.

Mrs. Osayi, however, begged the Edo State to reopen her orphanage and release her children, especially one that is HIV- positive.

“The orphans were obtained from different sources such as the police, abandoned site, while some were dumped at the gate. They were brought with varying degrees of health conditions.”

Officials of the ministry could not be reached for comments as at press time.

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NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

• Jonathan

•C h i l d r e n w a l k o u t s i d e a charrred house in the remote northeast town of Baga on April 21, 2013 after two days of clashes between officers of the Joint Task Force and members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram on April 19 in the town near Lake Chad, 200 kms north of Maiduguri, in Borno State. AFP PHOTO • Shettima S Borno State was savouring the gradual return of peace to Central Senatorial District and consolidating on the peaceful nature of the Southern axis, the troubled Northern Senatorial District went on the boil last weekend with a deadly clash between the Multinational Task Force and Boko Haram in the border town of Baga.

Arguably, Baga is rated by the locals as the largest fish market in the country and in Borno State in particular.

The clash left 185 dead, 2000 houses destroyed, more than 50 motorcycles burnt and the fish town razed. Although, the military hunt for Boko Haram was designed to be an isolated campaign, it assumed a massacre dimension following the killing of innocent civilians especially the aged, women and children.

Since the massacre took place at a border town, which is about 196kilometres to Maiduguri- the state capital, the impact of the killings was not felt until 72 hours after when Governor Kashim Shettima braved all odds to visit the town for first hand stocktaking. Yet, the question which has defied intelligence analysis is: How did Baga massacre happen? Why was the casualty figure high? Who were those behind it?

The unending versions /genesis of the crisis Following the international outrage over the killings, there had been different versions of how the border town was shelled by the military for 48 hours without mercy for the civilian populace.

According to a security source, the military action was allegedly provoked

by Boko Haram sect which had established many cells and a base in Baga. The source said: "Tactically, the military action was designed to fish out Boko Haram members alleged to be using the fish town as a base to launch attacks.

"Baga is in Kukawa Local Government Area which is one of the 10 LGAs already overrun by Boko Haram in Borno State. The others are Marte, Magumeri, Mobbar, Gubio, Guzamala, Abadamin, Kaga, Nganzai and Monguno.

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What went wrong at Baga?

In the last one week, Baga in Borno State has been in the news following the alleged massacre of 185 people by angry soldiers serving in the Multinational Task Force. The purported abuse of international standards of rules of engagement for such conflicts has attracted global outrage. Despite the announcement by the presidency of a probe of the incident, the last has not been heard of the matter. YUSUF ALLI, MANAGING EDITOR, NORTHERN OPERATION examines the issues surrounding the tragic event.

"It has been difficult for the Joint Task Force or Multinational Task Force to regain the control of these 10 LGAs. As part of the manhunt for the sect members, the Multinational Task Force troops allegedly initiated a house-tohouse search leading to violent attacks not only against Boko Haram but even defenceless civilians."

Another source attributed Baga killings to the "usual" espirit de corps among troops when any of their own is killed. The source said: "I think the killing of an officer allegedly by Boko Haram made soldiers to go on rampage and unleash mayhem on Baga.

"The attacks showed the usual pattern of mass attacks on innocent ones each time a soldier is hurt or killed in any environment. I think they were just angry that they lost an officer. It was this type of thing that made the late business mogul, Chief M.K.O. Abiola to describe military personnel as 'mad dogs' some years ago."

According to report, a local in Baga said the soldiers were going from house-

to-house, chasing residents and setting their abodes on fire. He said: "Only God can understand what we have done to deserve this. But the soldiers were mindless that night in their approach; they killed and burnt our houses, chased everyone into the bush, including women and children.

"So far, we have buried 185 corpses.

Some were burnt beyond recognition; others are hospitalized, with various degrees of burn." But the Commander of the Multi-national Task Force, Brigadier General Austin Edokpaye attributed the Baga massacre to an attack on troops on routine patrol by a 'mob suspected to be members of Boko Haram.' He said: "Multinational Joint Task Force troops on routine patrol" had an encounter with Boko Haram terrorists in Baga. The event occurred on Tuesday, April 16 at about 7.30 pm.

"During the encounter, one soldier was killed, and five other soldiers were injured. While 30 Boko Haram terrorists lost their lives, five were arrested, and many escaped with bullet wounds.

Unfortunately, six civilians lost their lives and 10 other civilians were injured in the cross fire."

"We lost an officer during the attack on our men on patrol. We had received an intelligence report that some suspected Boko Haram members usually pray and hide arms at a particular mosque in the town. It was around that mosque that our men were attacked, with several of them injured, and an officer died.

"When we reinforced and returned to the scene, the terrorists came out with heavy firepower, including rocketpropelled grenades), which usually has a conflagration effect that caused houses with thatched roofs or fencing to catch fire."

Furore over death toll The ongoing investigation of Baga killings is expected to determine seven questions: *Did the incident happen on April 16 or 19 *Was it provoked or masterminded?

*Is it true that there was a distress call from the people of Baga to the Multinational Task Force? *What is the actual death toll and extent of loss? *Where is the location of the mass grave where the victims were buried? * Do Boko Haram members have a base in Baga or not? *And was there any breach of international standards on rules of engagement by the Multinational Task Force.

Typical of Nigerian attitude to crises, there had been conflicting figures on when the Baga killings occurred and the death toll. Even the military was culpable as both the Defence Headquarters and the Joint Task Force contradicted themselves on the number of insurgents killed and the civilian casualties. Based on preliminary security reports, President Goodluck Jonathan also rushed to assert that the casualty figure was exaggerated. Yet, the outlook has been a bit cloudy, a week after the bloodbath. The nation grapples with casualty figures ranging from 185 to 195.

A statement by the commander of the Multinational Task Force, Brig. Gen Austin Edokpaye, said: "Multinational Joint Task Force troops on routine patrol" had an encounter with Boko Haram terrorists in Baga. The event occurred on Tuesday, April 16 at about 7.30 pm.

"During the encounter, one soldier was killed, and five other soldiers were injured. While 30 Boko Haram terrorists lost their lives, five were arrested, and many escaped with bullet wounds.

"Unfortunately, six civilians lost their lives and 10 other civilians were injured in the cross fire." The Defence spokesman Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade told journalists in Abuja: "Distressed people in Baga called the JTF informing it of the attack on the town by gunmen. The military intervened immediately and the only casualty we had as at yesterday were just 25 insurgents and then we lost a soldier.

Actually it was the soldier who was in a team to go and rescue villagers that was killed."

•Contd. on page 10

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

News Review

•Contd. from page 9 Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, also expressed scepticism about the reported toll. He said: "I can tell you...that the death toll was terribly inflated."

The Borno State Government admitted that over 100 people were killed. But in a motion on the floor of the Senate, Senator Maina Lawan emotionally said more than 180 people were killed. He said: "My hometown of Baga is today in ruins, with 180 to 200 human lives lost and numerous others unaccounted for. About 2000 homes, 62 cars and 284 motorcycles and tons and tons of foodstuffs were also destroyed.

"At this stage, I do not want to immerse myself in the blame game of whether it is the multinational task force or not. The task force or the insurgents carried out the atrocities that bear the hallmark of the Odi massacre.

"Whoever did it, that level of atrocity is condemnable and is hereby condemned. I call for a full scale investigation to unearth the truth as this has become a recurring decimal in all such past instances in Borno State."

Responding to a question from newsmen, Lawan added: "It is true that the insurgents provoked the event. One soldier was shot, but the military went back and came back reinforced and Baga was levelled."

On his part, a member of the House from Borno State, Mohammed Mungono, said on the floor that about 195 civilians and one soldier were killed in the incident.

He told his colleagues that the crisis started when Boko Haram members attacked the soldiers and then infiltrated the civilian population.

But the Red Cross said besides the "187 people feared killed, 77 were injured and 300 homes destroyed."

Who owns the amorphous multinational task force?

Immediately the crisis became public knowledge, it was attributed to a Multinational Task Force (MNTF) instead of the Joint Task Force managing the security challenges in Borno State.

The question on many lips is: What is MNTF again? But findings by our correspondent revealed that the MNTF was established by Lake Chad Basin Commission to defend and protect the territorial integrity of its seven members, which are Cameroun, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Libya.

Although the MNTF was established about 20 years ago, the upsurge in terrorism in Africa as being championed by Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb has reinforced and expanded the mandate of the Task Force because all member nations are vulnerable to insurgency. At the 14th Summit of the Heads of State of Lake Chad Basin Commission on May 1, 2012 in N'Djamena, President Goodluck Jonathan said: "Let us therefore restrategize to ensure that our security plans include the border areas of the Lake Chad region in a robust and holistic manner. It has become urgent to give a new mandate to the Multinational Joint Task Force to include cooperation in dealing with such crossborder insurgency within its area of coverage."

The Lake Chad basin, located in Northern Central Africa, covers almost 8% of the continent and spreads over seven countries. According to Wikipedia, "The Lake Chad Basin Commission is an intergovernmental organization of the countries nearest to Lake Chad which coordinates actions that might affect the waters of Lake Chad. The organization's secretariat is located in N'Djamena Chad. On May 22, 1964, the four riparians Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad signed the Fort Lamy (today N'Djamena) Convention, creating the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). In March 1994 the CAR became the fifth member of this intergovernmental institution.

In July 2000 Sudan was also granted membership; Sudan, however, has yet to ratify the founding convention and therefore has only observer status. Since April 2007 Libya is a member of the Commission. The LCBC is Africa's oldest river-/lake-basin organization.

In its founding document (the Convention and Statutes relating to the Development of the Chad Basin) the parties commit themselves to a shared

Another Odi or Zaki Biam?

•A satellite dish sits in front of a burnt house in the remote northeast town of Baga on April 21, 2013 after two days of clashes between officers of the Joint Task Force and members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram on April 19 in the town near Lake Chad, 200 kms north of Maiduguri, in Borno State. use of the basin's natural resources.

About 20% of the total area of the Lake Chad basin, or 427500 km2, is called the Conventional Basin (42% in Chad, 28% in Niger, 21% in Nigeria and 9% in Cameroun), which is under the mandate of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. This commission was created in 1964 by the four member states with the objective of ensuring the most rational use of water, land and other natural resources and to coordinate regional development. The member countries make contributions to the commission's funding based on an agreed-upon key. At present the contributions are assigned as follows: Nigeria 52%, Cameroon 26%, Chad 11%, Niger 7%, and the Central African Republic 4% of the commission's US$ 1 million annual budget."

The Beegeagle's Blogger said: "Baga has always been a remote flashpoint at the crossroads. Nearly 20 years ago and as a manifestation of insecurity witnessed in northern Borno where straying guerrillas from the Chadian wars were preying on innocent citizens, the governments of Chad, Niger and Nigeria established a tripartite Multinational Joint Task Force with a view to controlling the porous and anarchical frontier intersection and keeping the activities of arms traffickers and marauding Chadian guerrillas in check. The MJTF continues to exist to this day."

Is Baga a Boko Haram enclave?

Prior to the sack of the town last weekend, Baga has never witnessed any Boko Haram crisis. Rather it has been a peaceful town supplying fish to Borno, the North-East and the nation in general. It is also noted for livestock trade attracting buyers from Chad, Niger and Cameroun. A source from the area said: "It is true that it is a border town but it is not a route for Boko Haram because it is closer to Chad than Niger, Mali and Cameroun. This is why it is baffling." A government official in Borno State added: "The attacks on Baga have defied all logic because it has no history of either religious violence or sectarian clash. We are aware that Boko Haram has paralyzed activities in 10 LGAs in Northern Borno but Baga was not affected." According to Wikipedia, "Baga is a town in the north eastern Nigerian state of Borno close to Lake Chad, and lying northeast of the town of Kukawa. It is located within the Kukawa Local Government Area.

The town is approximately 196km from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. The "Doron Baga" fish market, as of 2000, was located about six kilometres from the town. Baga used to lie on the border of Lake Chad and was a fishing centre itself in the 1960s and 1970s, but the diminishing size of the lake has caused fishermen to move, and others have turned to subsistence farming."

The Beegeagle's Blogger, who is conversant with the terrain of Northern Borno and the atrocities of Boko Haram,

said: "Now for a town like Baga, the number of 185 people killed in a battle is a massive lot of people to have died.

Baga might be a thriving commercial town in northern Borno which is situated on the cusp of the Sahara to the north and the receding shores of Lake Chad to the east but throwing up casualty figures on that scale is entirely out of it.

"Baga cannot be described as a big town by Nigerian standards, since the thriving commercial town where fish traders from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun, the CAR and Sudan converge for business, cannot be home to anything more than 50,000 persons.

"The town is accessible by the popular 1980s vintage Toyota Land cruiser 4WDs on account of its loose sands typical of desert-fringe communities. It is situated 167km to the northeast of Maiduguri (Maiduguri itself is 1675km by road from Lagos).

"Now in January 2012, the commercial city of Kano which has an estimated population of five million persons was invaded in mega-scale gun, IED and suicide attacks. In one weekend of fighting, 185 persons were killed and hundreds more injured. That was a massive city - Kano. The same 185 persons killed in small Baga? This scale of casualties has never even been recorded even in much larger towns and cities such as Maiduguri, Potiskum, Damaturu and Biu. "Like some of us have posited before now, the Far Northeast is experiencing a deluge of arms and major infiltration by foreign fighters. Stepped-up surveillance by security forces and by the military in places such as Geidam, Gashua, Monguno, Baga, Damasak, Gamboru-Ngala etc is of the essence."

Outrage There had been public outrage on over the Baga massacre from the National Assembly, political and sociocultural groups, and foreign nations led by the UN and the United States. The acting deputy spokesperson, State Department in Washington DC, Patrick Ventrell, said the US government would support the Nigerian authorities in their efforts to bring the perpetrators of violent acts to justice.

"The United States does condemn the violence that took the lives of so many innocent civilians in Baga, Borno State. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who died or were injured as a result of these attacks. "We support the Nigerian authorities in their efforts to bring the perpetrators of violent acts to justice, and stress the importance of respecting human rights and protecting civilians in all security responses. So we urge all parties to refrain from reprisal attacks," he said.

"I do not have any particular information on the munitions that were used. But clearly, we're concerned about the context of them trying to have deeper ties with other violent extremists

throughout the region, and that's something that we're very focused on and watching very closely.

"But really the context here is that we've been very clear that we want them to respond - Nigerian authorities - but want them to do so respecting human rights and in that broader context.

"So they have to address these vulnerable communities' concerns.

They have to do so in not necessarily a heavy-handed way, but in one that is effective and focused on their legitimate economic and political needs in the north as well," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that he was "shocked and saddened at the reports of the high numbers of civilians killed." The President of the Senate, David Mark, who mandated the Committees on Defence, Police and National Security and Intelligence to probe the genocide within two weeks, said: "There are standard rules of engagement and that do not include mass and extrajudicial killings. The level of death is just too high and we cannot accept that." The Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal led the House to condemn the high civilian casualties.

The Northern Elders Forum through its spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said, "We advised against it much earlier than now. The fact that the President is saying there should be a probe means he is not saying more than he had said before. There have been so many people who were mercilessly killed in their sleep and their houses ransacked in the name of searching for Boko Haram members.

"This certainly is not the way an operation like this should be conducted.

That is why we believe the President needs not order a probe. We need a judicial commission of inquiry to unravel what has happened in Baga.

The commission of inquiry should have expanded terms of reference for people to come before it to raise issues that have been happening in Borno and Yobe states."

Spain in a statement made available by its Embassy in Abuja, said: "Spain expresses its serious concern on the use on this occasion of heavy artillery which indicates a qualitative increase in the escalation of tension on the part of the insurgents causing at the time more damage and pain among the population.

"Spain expresses its solidarity and support to the victims and their families and hopes that those responsible for these terrorist attacks are brought to justice according to the law.

"In the same vein Spain supports the Nigerian government in its flight against the terrorist challenge and maintains its commitment to the fight against any form of terrorism." In Lagos, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said

the security agencies must respect the relevant rules of engagement in their onslaught against the sect. The CPC through its spokesman, Rotimi Fashakin demanded a thorough investigation of the incident.

Where do we go from here?

As temporary measures, President Goodluck has ordered a probe of the incident and read the Riot Act to security agencies foisting destruction on communities in the name of peacekeeping. While inaugurating the Amnesty Committee on Wednesday, Jonathan said: "Let me use this opportunity to charge the security agencies that while doing their work, they must be mindful of innocent citizens of this country. In attempting to bring peace to any part of the country, they should do so in a manner that will not bring destruction to the third party.

"The issues in some parts of Borno State that are in the media today are being investigated. I will tell Nigerians and indeed members of the international community that government will take steps to make sure that if errors were made, people behind them are cautioned and treated in line with our laws and regulations."

On his part, the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima has started a reconstruction programme of burnt houses in Baga while the victims are awaiting justice, even in death. At a meeting between the President and Shetttima on Friday in Abuja, the leaders discussed how to avert reoccurrence of such attacks.

But the ACN upped the ante on Thursday when, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, it asked the International Criminal Court to probe the massacre.

The ACN said: "The killings in Baga, like previous ones in the areas where Boko Haram and the military Joint Task Force (JTF) have been engaged in clashes, are undoubtedly a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population - the definition of crimes against humanity, which is one of the four groups of crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC. "Those engaged in the killings, including the Boko Haram sect cannot and must not get away with these heinous crimes. The only reasons that the killing and maiming of innocent citizens have continued unabated in Nigeria is because such killings in the past, either in Odi, Bayelsa State, or in Zaki-Biam, Benue State, under the watch of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, went unpunished.

"Enough is enough! Even in countries at war, innocent citizens are not being daily mowed to death either by insurgents or state forces, as we are experiencing in Nigeria. It is clear that the Nigerian government is either unwilling or unable to prosecute these crimes, despite the deceptive assurances by those at the helm; hence the ICC must immediately beam its search-light on the situation in Nigeria.

"While we are aware that the killings in Odi and Zaki Biam occurred before July 1, 2002, when the Rome Statute setting up the ICC came into force, the killings in the North, especially at Baga, fall within the temporal jurisdiction of the global court."

The Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, however, said: "Must ACN play politics with everything?

Reducing Baga incident to another opportunity for name-calling and the politics of blame and abuse is irresponsible to say the least. In no manner can President Goodluck Jonathan be accused of having incited the security agencies or the insurgents against the people of Baga during his visit to Yobe and Borno states."

The crux of the matter The challenges before the nation are how Baga will rise from its rubbles into a modern town; punishing the culprits behind the massacre; reorienting the military, whether those of the JTF or MNTF, to respect the rules of engagement; and fighting terrorism to a standstill on our soil. Again, will there be justice for Baga people?

Already, some soldiers have been detained as part of the ongoing investigation but Nigerians are curious to know what really transpired in Baga.

For Jonathan, it is an acid test to prove that he is determined to address the bloodletting in the North-East by insurgents.

11

WORLD NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Bomb blast destroys Pakistan election office

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bomb blast has destroyed an election office in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said yesterday, the latest violence ahead of historic polls next month.

No deaths were reported following the explosion which took place late on Friday in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal region, also known as a strong bastion of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The attack came hours after a car bomb exploded outside the election office of a candidate for the Pashtun-dominated Awami National Party (ANP) in Pakistan's commercial hub Karachi, killing 10 people and wounding 17 others.

"A time device, which was planted near the office of Aqal Khan, an independent candidate contesting the May 11 polls, went off but did not cause any loss of life because it was late in the night," a local security official told AFP. The blast however destroyed Khan's election office and a few near-by shops.

Another official, who confirmed the bombing, said nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the incident.

The May 11 polls are due to mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full, five-year term in a country that has been ruled by generals for half its life.

At least 36 people have been killed by bombers and gunmen since April 11 in different parts of the country including Karachi and Peshawar, according to an AFP tally.

Bangladesh building collapse: Five in custody

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OLICE in Bangladesh have arrested two clothing factory bosses based at the eight-storey building near the capital, Dhaka that collapsed killing 348 people.

Two engineers Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali - involved in approving the design of the structure have also been detained for questioning.

Junior home minister, Shamsul Haque Tuku, said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, Managing Director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, the company chairman. It is the largest of the five factories in the complex.

Police have filed a case against them for "death due to negligence", after Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, said the owners forced the workers to return to work after cracks appeared in the building.

The wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana - the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building who has not been seen since the tragedy - has also been detained.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked the factories based in the structure to shut down on Wednesday morning, hours before the building came down.

Four NATO officers die in plane crash

plane crash in s o u t h e r n Afghanistan has killed four members of the international military coalition, NATO has said.

Zabul province police chief, Rogh Lewanai, said the aircraft crashed due to bad weather.

Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, deputy governor

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of the southern province of Zabul, said the plane had crashed in the Shah Joy district of the province.

He said the site had been surrounded by international forces.

Most international soldiers in southern Afghanistan are from the US, but the nationalities of the victims have not been

disclosed.

A NATO statement said, "The cause of the crash is under investigation, however, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash."

On Saturday, the Taliban announced the start of their annual "spring offensive" vowing a

nationwide series of attacks as NATO troops withdraw from the country.

Earlier this month, two US troops were killed when a NATO helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, while five US troops died in the southern province of Kandahar in May when their helicopter came down during a heavy rainstorm.

•Bangladeshi garment workers protest the collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza compound in Savar yesterday. Bangladesh Saturday made a series of arrests over the collapse of a factory complex which killed at least 346 as rescuers braved the stench of rotting corpses to detect further signs of life. AFP PHOTO

Stalemate over, as Italy's Letta names new government I TALIAN centre-left politician, Enrico Letta, named a coalition government on Saturday, making one of Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies deputy prime minister and ending two months of damaging political stalemate.

Letta has said his priorities would be the economy, unemployment and restoring faith in Italy's discredited political institutions as well as trying to turn Europe away from austerity to focus more on growth and investment.

An inconclusive general election in February left Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, without effective government, threatening investor confidence and holding up efforts to end a recession set to become the longest since World War Two. Letta, the 46-year-old deputy head of the Democratic Party (PD), said he felt "sober satisfaction" after three days of talks with rival parties produced a government that included a record number of women ministers but few political big hitters.

"I hope that this government can get to work quickly in the spirit of fervent cooperation and without any prejudice or conflict," President Giorgio Napolitano said.

The anti-establishment 5Star Movement has refused to join a government which party leader, Beppe Grillo, said "bordered on incestuous" given the relationship between Letta and his uncle Gianni Letta, Berlusconi's long-time chief of staff.

Angelino Alfano, secretary of Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party, will be deputy prime

minister and interior minister, giving the centre-right a strong voice.

But otherwise, the big ministries were dominated by lower profile politicians or technocrats, which could limit their power to pass unpopular measures and leave a powerful backstage role for Berlusconi, who will not be joining the

government.

The cabinet, which Letta said would contain a record number of women, will be sworn in at 10:30 a.m. British time today before a parliamentary vote of confidence, expected on tomorrow.

Napolitano asked Letta, a career politician on the right of the PD, to try to form a government after a dramatic week in which party leader Pier Luigi Bersani was forced out by a factional mutiny.

Las Vegas shooting: Suspect may face death

T

HE suspect in the fatal shooting and fiery crash that killed three people on the Las Vegas Strip has been indicted on charges that could carry the death penalty.

A Clark County District Court grand jury indicted 27year-old Ammar Harris on three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and seven counts of discharging a weapon.

Harris, a self-confessed pimp, is accused of shooting from a black Range Rover into a Maserati sports car that then slammed into a taxi that burst into flames in February.

Taxi driver, Michael Boldon, 62, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, were killed. The Maserati

driver, 27-year-old rapper Kenny Clutch died in hospital.

In an unexpected move, the grand jury also indicted Harris on a charge of robbery and three felony sex assault counts in a 2010 rape case that had been dismissed last year when the alleged victim refused to testify.

Prosecutor David Stanton said the second indictment did not represent doublejeopardy under Nevada law, because the earlier case was dismissed without prejudice before a preliminary hearing.

That let prosecutors seek new charges when the alleged victim, who now lives in Texas, testified before the grand jury in Las Vegas.

The rape charges could

put Harris in prison for a minimum of 10 years. He could get two to 15 years on the robbery charge if convicted.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said he is considering the death penalty in the Las Vegas Strip incident but has not made a decision.

Harris is expected to plead not guilty in both cases at a court hearing on May 6.

The shooting, which was described by witnesses as being like something from a Hollywood film, happened at the busy intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, which is flanked by Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo.

Idris Deby accuses Libya of harbouring Chadian mercenaries

C

HAD's President, Idriss Deby, said yesterday that Chadian mercenaries had set up a training camp in neighbouring Libya from where they could seek to destabilise his country, an accusation Libyan authorities denied.

Deby said during a radio interview that the mercenaries were free to roam around the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, hundreds of kilometres (miles) north of the Chadian border.

"I do not want the new Libya to serve as the source of any plot to destabilise Chad," Deby said. "I am asking Libyan authorities to take steps to ensure that Chad does not fall prey to another Libyan misadventure."

But Saleh Gaouda, deputy president of the National Security Committee in Libya's General National Congress who also represents Benghazi, denied any such camps existed.

"Libya does not permit military camps where foreigners can find shelter, and will not interfere in the internal politics of our neighbours," Saleh said.

"As a deputy for the city of Benghazi, I can say categorically that there are no such camps in the city."

Chad has had rocky relations with its northern neighbour, going to war with Libya in the 1970s and 1980s when former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, tried to seize the Aouzou Strip.

Ties improved after Deby, backed by Gaddafi, seized power in a 1990 military coup.

Deby condemned NATO strikes against Gaddafi and was one of the last leaders in region to recognise the new Libyan authorities.

Russia says reports of chemical weapons no grounds for invasion

M

OSCOW demands proof that nonconventional weapons were used in the wake of US intelligence claims that Syria possesses chemical weapons.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said yesterday that reports of chemical weapons used by the Syrian army do not constitute sufficient grounds for military intervention in the war-torn country.

"We must check the information immediately and in conformity with international criteria, and not use it to achieve other objectives. It must not be a pretext for an intervention in Syria," Bogdanov said during a visit to Beirut. Bogdanov also expressed doubts that the chemical weapons attacks ever took place, calling for proof that such events actually occurred.

"If there is serious evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, it should be presented immediately and not concealed," he said.

12

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World News

OVE and leadership. Rarely do these words appear in tandem. Conventional scholarship treats them as if one is fatally allergic to the other. This error visits at our peril.

A quick survey of the world reveals a smoldering planet. Boiling hatred and cold indifference strut triumphantly. War, strife, economic crises, food shortage, resource battles reveal that life will be less inviting for most people ten years hence than it now is. Old antagonisms remain while new ones become quickly invested with a disturbing permanence.

Leaders may opt to use the unprecedented reach of the state to change their nations for the better or to impose themselves upon populations in ways dictators of the past would die for and did die for. Unfortunately, most modern leaders have not used the vast instrumentality called government to accomplish much that is great. Generally, they have scarred their people or turned their backs against them.

Progress in science, technology and economic knowledge has been perverted to segregate global and national societies into extremes of wealth and poverty. The complex apparatus of governance empowers and alienates at the same time. As a leader, a person occupies a world immensely different than the world he is tasked to lead. Unless possessed of keen perception and focus, he becomes trapped in his small but powerful orbit while being alienated from the larger one he must govern. Most leaders are both prisoner in and warden of their unique ambit. They act upon but are not participants in that prosaic world occupied by common man.

As such, they no longer lead.

Leading requires an organic connection with the led. This connection is lacking. They make policies and order things but do not lead people.

They are like angry, amoral scientists conducting experiments. The more elaborate and frequent the experimentation, the less empathy they have for the subjects of their tests. Should the subjects deign to wince or moan, the angrier and more amoral the experimenters become. Sadly, these subjects are the decent people you see at work, on the bus, in the store, and in the mirror.

Leadership has become barren because it has lost humanitarian drive. Few modern leaders talk with passion. Fewer act with it. Yet great passion is needed to overcome the inert, vapid meanness of modern bureaucracy. To counterbalance the dull vastness and expanse of government, leadership must be inspired and be capable of inspiring both the unwieldy government apparatus and a numbed public. Unfortunately, today's leaders are more driven by political calculation than by conviction or compassion for the people. Lacking the spirit to attempt the noble, they bask in what is base. They do what is palatable for those who inhabit their elite realm yet little ponder how their decisions affect the vast numbers who live in the larger, less stately world. Elitism has become so strong and shameless that it can now be spoken of as bordering on something evil.

Adversity is said to reveal the character of a person. This is partially true. Adversity may unveil the strength of a person's character. If you really want to know a person, don't pound him with adversity.

Laurel him with success. Nothing reveals the soul of a man more than acquisition of money or power. The poor and weak must behave meekly lest they be crushed for contending with the stronger. The weak must appeal to morality and justice for they lack other weapons with which to fight. Turn an average man into a powerful one; he often severs his pursuit of justice and the sense of proportion that comes with it. He joins the behavior he once criticized.

In reality, he never believed in justice and morality. They were sur-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Love and leadership •A wise leader is ointment unto a wound but the uncaring ruler is like sharpened glass in the eye.

• David Cameron and George Osborne

BRIAN BROWNE

vival tools employed to help move him toward his immoral objective.

In short, the poor and weak do as they must. The rich and powerful do as they wish. With money and power at easy disposal, a man reveals his true self; the unbecoming revelation of his vice is no longer a liability because no one dare challenge him. Thus, most politicians cannot remain true to their public word because they prefer to keep fidelity with their selfish designs.

Most leaders in the western world and in their former colonial playgrounds are more ambitious than compassionate. Nowhere is this imbalance magnified than in economic policy. Few leaders primarily consider the plight of the working class and the poor although the majority of the people. Instead of thinking how they may accommodate the interests of the elite and rentiers of the world within the context of advancing the interests of the common and lowly, they first cater to those who already consider themselves the masters of all. If the concerns of the hoi polloi can be squeezed into a small corner of that large box, they will do the squeeze, lauding it as a populist achievement knowing full well the great herd of people has been dreadfully shortchanged. If they cannot fit in the people's interests, so be it as well.

All you have to do is tell the poor they must suffer because government gave them too much in the past. The price for the past generosity has matured and must be paid.

Conditioned to suffering and inching by, the people accept this mean, superfluous austerity as the natural order of things. With a nearly reli-

gious conviction born of ignorance, they believe they must suffer because this evil japery is what is preached by those in high positions.

But many in high positions are possessed of the lowest social morals.

Yet this tale has been told so long and convincingly both the liar and victim are deceived by it.

The poor thus willingly exchange the unfair smallness of their lives for something even less. If you press them, they cannot even remember what precious thing government gave them that they must now recompense at such a cost. They cannot say because there is nothing requiring the steep toll. They have been duped by the misplaced application of the morality of individual frugality to national governance.

Yes, individuals cannot long spend more than they earn without falling into bankrupting disaster. However, national governments don't suffer the same restrictions as individuals since national governments have the unique ability to issue currency. A currency issuer can "earn" as much money as they like. However, the elite have succeeded in imposing a Spartan penalty on those already suffering a Spartan life.

Meanwhile the elite gain a libertine's reward for their already libertine ways. In effect, the elite tell the masses they are politically and morally liable to pay for the excesses of the elite. The common and poor accept the unjust surcharge.

Nowhere is this imbalance more on display than in the United Kingdom. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the Cameron government embarked on a severe austerity program. They treated the

nation and its population as villains in a crude morality play wherein the profligate must pay for their errant ways by donning a coarse hair shirt after having endured prolonged and severe economic flagellation. Thus, Cameron and his smug Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, forced austerity upon a weakened economy.

They slashed the government's budget claiming growth would ensue. What they wrought is recession upon recession. Millions of lives have been impaired. Even the global champion of financialism, the conservative IMF, warned the bumbling Brits that they have gone too far off the ledge. The heartless IMF was forced to complain that Cameron's knife wielding had become so draconian that it imperiled other nations as well the UK. Yet, Cameron and his sidekick stubbornly continued their painful imposition. All evidence substantiates the folly of their actions. In that fine Tory tradition, the two insisted they were right and that objective fact was never a good measure of economic policy.

The fallacy of this brand of economics has long ago been exposed.

The intellectual justification for clinging to this old rag has vanished. Yet, Cameron and his ilk across the world cling nonetheless.

Their adherence is not based on rationality. It is based more in the strength of their bile and not on the content of their brains. They did not come to elitist economics as the logical conclusion of an intellectual journey. They embraced ugly economics because it fit their inhumanity, the low opinion they hold of their fellow man. Conservative economics mirages itself as an objective school of thought. It is an intellectual mask used to conceal mean, misanthropic sentiment.

Most of those who adhere to classical economics care little about the general public.

The world remains locked in a contest of good versus evil. Enslavement fights enlightenment.

Poverty contests prosperity. Indifference opposes compassion.

Odium battles love. Evil's most effective weapon is subterfuge. It

seeks to make you believe it is good and that good is evil. Thus, purveyors of this mean economics tells you what they do is morally sound and the only practical alternative. They lie a great lie.

Their entire edifice of intellectual thought is founded on an ancient hatred. They believe the poor and humble are inherently inferior.

Thus, anything done to better their lot is quixotic and wastrel. The poor are as they are because that is who they are.

This brings us to a most basic point. Those who embrace this conservative philosophy can never mold or reshape modern society for the better. Their brand of conservatism may have served some utility two centuries ago.

Now it manacles human progress.

Although we live in an era of born-again conservatism, the challenges we face -- those of poverty and inequality -- call for enlightened and compassionate leadership. We need visionary leadership. To be a visionary leader, one must love the people such that he considers their plight night and day. Upon awaking, the first thought is of them. Retiring at night, the last thought is what to do on their behalf the next morning.

A leader must love something greater than himself be it a nation, a company, a church or his family.

The love of that thing must also be greater and more intense than the leader's love of self.

Those who think more about themselves than about other things and people should forget the quest to lead. One's thoughts reflect the abundance of one's heart. A person who thinks more about his narrow interest is not a fit leader. That person will devote the people and institution he leads toward his ambitions instead of devoting himself to the collective good.

Conversely, love of others begets problem solving because love compels a leader to improve the lot of those for whom he deeply cares. Without love, the poor are perceived as inherently wretched, grubby and ignorant. With love, the wheelbarrow boy becomes a potential CEO. One can see a groundbreaking inventor in the young man constructing toys from discarded wood for his younger siblings. The girl walking along the side of the road in tattered school clothes becomes a future president.

Leaders must never be satisfied with seeing the people as they are. A leader must believe in them more than they do themselves. If a leader is satisfied with people as they are, that leader will never do enough to exhort them toward what they can become. Nations enter their golden era when they convince even the people of the most humble social station to strive toward their better selves and to pursue their better dreams.

The blossoming of a nation requires faith. A leader must believe in and act in reliance upon the inherent goodness of the people. He must believe they can improve. Given the chance to work at decent jobs with decent wages, the unemployed will apply themselves with verve and dedication.

Given the chance, the homeless would live in a home and the ignorant would love to learn. Given the chance, the poor would seek to prosper and the hopeless would find in their heart a way to rekindle hope.

In the end, the sun shines on the good and evil, the just and unjust.

However, because God is kind to all does not mean we should treat all brands of leadership as equal. The conservative, classical brand seeks to define your place and then confine you to it. Enlightened leadership seeks to identify your better destiny, and then encourage you toward it. I see no close contest between the two.

08060340825 (sms only)

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (10)

No infrastructures, no hardware? Don’t worry, software will sustain you! (1)

BY BIODUN JEYIFO

S

INCE, as the saying goes, charity begins at home, let me start the reflections in this two-part series with some experiences from my own personal and professional life that bear directly on the subject of the series. This subject is none other than the individual, national and global effects and ramifications of living in what I choose to call a software civilisation, the very first of its kind in the history of the world. As we shall see, our exploration of this topic will enable us to get a grasp, perhaps even to get an understanding of some of the most important aspects of modernity, especially with regard to our place in it in Nigeria, Africa and most of the developing world.

The facts from my personal and professional life that I wish to use as illustrations for my topic in this series are three. One: I never succeeded in having my application for landline telephone installed in my house at Oke-Bola, Ibadan. My application, together with the fees I paid, was never rejected outright; it was just a case of happenstance that no one ever came to lay the lines that would have connected me to the grid. To this I may as well add the fact that those whose houses had landline telephone were only a little more fortunate than those of us who didn’t. This was because, generally speaking, the landline telephone system in our country worked so erratically, so fitfully that it could be compared to the way a car with dead batteries constantly has to be jump-started to get it to move.

Two: I never succeeded in learning how to type fast enough on a typewriter to be able to use the machine to produce my articles, monographs and books by myself. Consequently, I always wrote in longhand which I then handed to typists to turn into typescripts for me. When I look back now, I am stupefied by my memory of how long, how laborious and tedious it took to produce all the articles and books I wrote in the period, apart from the fact that it was also a very expensive process too. [Francis Akhabue, where are you today? You made a small fortune typing for me when I taught at OAU, Ife, but I did not complain then and I am not complaining now].

Three: When the computer emerged as an absolutely indispensable equipment for professional academic life, it took me a long, long time to adjust to this epochal development. This was so hopeless a case that for sometime when I was at Cornell University, I was one of three professors out of about sixty in the English Department that didn’t use computers and therefore could not be integrated fully into the department’s computer-driven records and communication listserve. It was only when the department decided to “bribe” me and the other two holdouts from the computer revolution by buying us the most expensive, state-of-the-art computers complete with the most sophisticated software and apps that I relented. And even after that and for a long time, the computer sat unused in my office. That is until one day when Femi Osofisan arrived at Cornell on a visit and more or less shamed and coerced me into taking my first faltering steps at mastering the use of the computer.

Readers of this piece would have by now, I hope, sensed that there is a happy ending to this small narrative from the past of my personal and professional experience. And indeed, there is. Today, like all the other denizens of planet earth, I am the deeply gratified possessor of unbelievably cheap landless and wireless handsets that easily connect me to both the closest and the farthest quarters and regions of the world. As a result, these cheap handsets have enormously compensated for all the years and decades when I languished as an unsuccessful and frustrated applicant for a landline phone. And needless to say, I do not miss the disappearance of typewriters; gone forever is the infernally laborious task

•Bad roads everywhere but saved by software of writing in longhand before having it transformed into a typescript. With the disappearance of longhand writing in my professional and creative life, writing has become infinitely easier, more pleasurable and more fulfilling than my experience of it before I became an unabashed and grateful beneficiary of our global software civilisation. [Femi Osofisan, who among the two of us is laughing now?

You got me going on computers and I shall forever remain indebted to you for it, but you are still transfixed in that prehistory of textual production in which longhand writing necessarily comes before conversion to electronic typescripts!]

On that note, let me tarry a while longer in these reflections on the good, “happy-ending” side of the story – or stories – that I wish to tell in this series before we get to the notso happy and perhaps even tragic narratives.

Perhaps the most affecting “happy-ending” story of all is the fact that fellow beneficiaries of the software civilization are numbered in their billions. And significantly, they include some of the poorest and the most economically and socially marginalised members of our global community. The list and the range of these “talakawa” beneficiaries are almost limitless. Indeed, this is so significant that in my opinion, it ranks as one of the greatest success stories of modern life, this story that tells of how millions and even billions of the poorest people in our world, some of whose economic and social capital is far below the absolute poverty line, are nonetheless able to participate in many of the productive, communicative and recreational processes of national, regional and global economies. What am I referring to here?

Today, the poorest people of the world can, thanks to our software civilisation, speak and text people across the length and breadth of both national communities and our collective global community. With their cheap handsets, roadside mechanics, barbers, tailors, welders, hair dressers and even vendors and hawkers can reach present and potential customers without leaving their shops, or shacks or their homes if these also serve as workplaces from which they earn their livelihood. Similarly, the poorest nations on the planet with very bad roads, with failed or failing factories and ever decreasing industrial productive capacities, with desperately poor and inadequate municipal services and amenities can, thanks to computers and software engineers and technicians, participate in every aspect of global economic processes, with special regard to the financial services sector, currently the driving engine of the

global economy. Indeed, on this account, I can testify from direct personal experience that some of the services offered through online banking and e-marketing by Nigerian banks and financial services corporate enterprises are ahead of similar services offered

by U.S. banks!

To place these observations and claims in a historical perspective, consider this fact: Some 20 to 30 years ago, all of these unprecedented developments affecting the poorest peoples and nations on the planet were simply unthinkable, let alone being realisable.

This is because the infrastructures, the hardware were simply either not there at all or were grossly inadequate. I mean, which barbers, welders and roadside mechanics could have had landline telephones when I, a senior academic, couldn’t? Rich and poor, who could text anybody in Nigeria and the wider world without using telegrams which only the post offices could transmit, and that with very severe limitations on the number of words that you could cram into a telegram?

Which bank or financial services operator in the country could remit funds for you to relatives or friends in any part of Nigeria in a matter of minutes, not to talk of relatives and friends in the wider world? Who had any inkling that one could actually watch live broadcasts of sporting events taking place anywhere in the world when all that we knew then in terms of live broadcasts of sporting events were radio broadcasts that only rich people who had shortwave radios could tune into?

I think nothing reveals the unprecedented impact of our current software civilisation than the fact that in many parts of our country and continent, our infrastructures are still as bad, still as inadequate as they were 20 to 30 years ago. As a matter of fact, some infrastructures are in worse conditions now than twenty years ago! But in spite of these realities, we are still able to participate as consumers of all that the world can offer though the software revolution. In other words, if we were still completely at the tender mercies of our greatly inadequate and inferior infrastructures - the physical and technological hardware of our production and communicative processes - all the amenities and services now enjoyed by everybody including the very poor among us, thanks to the software revolution, would still be a dream, a fantasy far beyond anybody’s reach. This, I confess, is what made me give this series its intriguing title: “No infrastructures, no hardware?

Have no worry, software will sustain you!”

But are these the last words on this covert morality tale of modernity and its

satisfactions and contradictions? Far, far from it!

Let us deal with this topic carefully, rationally. If you take the simple and globally ubiquitous handset, the bulk that constitutes the physical reality of the phone is the hardware, the “infrastructure”. The SIM card and all the micro-processes preprogrammed into the phone that enable it to be used as phone, radio, calculator, torchlight and computer screen for sending and receiving emails are the combined software. For the most part, nearly all of us take the “hardware”, the physical object for granted and instead concentrate on our enjoyment of all the facilities and services enabled by the software. But without the ‘hardware”, without the compact physical object itself that serves as both housing and enabler for the work of the software, we would be unable to get from the handset all the things that we have come to associate with it. This is the enigma, the paradox that the software civilisation confronts everyone, every society and every nation in the world at the current time. Let me express this dilemma, this conundrum as succinctly as I can: You can take the infrastructures for granted as much as you like because the software revolution enables you to do a great amount of things that all the denizens of our planet now uniformly enjoy, but if your region of the world and your nation lack the basic infrastructures of modernity, you are condemned to an experience of modern life that will be filled with great contradictions, acute frustrations and seemingly unending insecurities.

In next week’s column we shall see how this enigma plays out in our specific national and continental context. Here is a preview of this context: on the one hand, death-trap roads, inadequate and fitful power supply, crumbling public utilities and amenities, and hospitals and health clinics that are so bad that they serve more as waiting rooms for the mortuary than temporary shelters from ill health and diseases; on the other hand, banking and financial services facilities and global phone and communication access that are in the front ranks of 21st century hightech developments. Meanwhile, compatriots, text your friends and relatives all you want; talk to four people all at once as you shuttle from one to another of your four expensive handsets. But go carefully as you drive on our roads and highways. [KK, I swear that I am not thinking of you here!]

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

14

I

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Comment & Analysis

N the first part of this series, we outlined the achievements and contribution of Nana Asma’u as a forerunner to the contemporary feminist movement in Nigeria and Africa whose insights enable us to come to grip with how the national project can benefit from a critical mass of individuals whose contributions are sorely needed to enhance the greatness of the national project. In this second part, we turn our searchlight to another personality whose reputation is unquestionable not only in the northern part of Nigeria, but equally in academics and the national scheme of things.

Like Dudley, Kenneth Dike, Soyinka, Awojobi, Bolanle Awe and others that we have critically showcased, he constitutes a formidable part of the intellectual capital required to fast-track the national project into reckoning.

It was Hussein al-Attas, the Malaysian philosopher, who categorised intellectuals into two: the functioning and non-functioning. For him, functioning intellectuals are repository of the hopes and potentials of their nation. They are constantly burdened by the malaise, the disjuncture and fissures in their society. The irony, however, is that such an intellectual, according to Chinua Achebe, “lives on the fringe of society—wearing a beard and a peculiar dress and generally behaving in strange way. He is in revolt against society which in turn looks on him with suspicion if not hostility. The last thing the society would do is to put him charge of anything.”

The North, like other regions, has always been a real test of diversity and unity in Nigeria. It is made up of several ethnic components and diverse cultural manifestations that the term “North” seems to cover up. In Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman, we have a blend of northernness and Nigerianness that facilitates the making of an enlarged and enlightened mind ready to perceive through the prism of historical and radical interpretation the trouble with Nigeria and how to get out of our national wood. Like most scholars of his time, Bala Usman came to scholarship from a Marxian perspective. He strongly held on to Marx’s retort that philosophers have hitherto interpreted the world whereas the point is to change it.

Transforming the world ranges from aligning scholarship to the amelioration of the human condition, subordinating knowledge to human progress and making theories socially respon-

Bala Usman and the project of radical historical renewal

By Tunji Olaopa

sible to human needs.

The dynamics of Marxism was, in his case, confronted with the rampant injustice of his society. The justice which Dr Usman pursues is not only that which, in Anatole France’s words, “forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread,” but also an egalitarianism that is yoked to the necessity of national and democratic unity. Injustice and inequality represent for him two issues that uniquely define the incapacitation of national development in Nigeria. “National injustice,” Bala Usman would agree with William Gladstone, the British statesman, “is the surest road to national downfall.” It would have been easy for the “North” in Bala Usman to twist the course of justice into an ethnic template. However, it is part of the genius of this historian to forge a unique political and scholarly identity that defines his progressive orientation in terms of a broad national ideology that holds both the northern and southern political elites responsible for the degeneration of the polity. He was motivated by the vision that Nigeria could be rescued from the mercantilist political class which constantly sought to benchmark its material prosperity against the existential austerity of the ordinary masses.

What is needed is an alternative governance space that affords intellectuals the possibility of exposing not only enormity of elites crimes but also the recipe that could bring about national transformation.

Being a progressive therefore does not translate into merely lifting the radical cudgel of criticism against power without also applying the balm of recommendations that could point at the right direction that resolves the identified problems. Bala Usman was therefore not only functional as an intellectual who speaks truth to power, but also one who insinuates himself into social and national responsibilities. He

was not only a seasoned administrator at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he also accepted to participate in the national Constitution Drafting Committee which was set-up by the federal government in 1975. However, his radical thought on the preconditions for national unity could only be aired through a minority report he wrote with other progressives like Dr. Segun Osoba.

Dr Bala Usman came to his nuanced critique of the trajectory of mal-development in Nigeria from a radical understanding of the methodology and role of historiography in national development. Understanding the nature of the national question requires a deep understanding of history and how it ought to be done. Bala Usman, together with his teacher, Professor Abdullahi Smith, pioneered a rethinking of postcolonial historiography and the teaching of history in Nigeria. This effort followed in the step of the Ibadan School of History masterminded by Prof. Kenneth Dike in the 60s and 70s. After its decline, the Ahmadu Bello University School of History took up the challenge of rethinking African history that had hitherto been circumscribed by colonial methodology and its emphasis on written sources as the only objective means for writing history. This methodology automatically leads to the disparagement of oral tradition and other sources as a veritable useful means of historical reconstruction.

The implication of this historical methodology for the reconstruction of African and Nigerian history becomes immediately obvious: the largely oral basis of African history would ensure that we would never be liberated from the “victor’s history” written by the West. The colonial historical methodology essentially distils a conqueror’s worldview that is inimical to a true understanding of the achievements, values and possibilities inherent in a people’s history. Thus, as a contrary perspective, Bala Usman and others fabricated a radical historical template that ensures not only that historical reconstruction

must involve a vast array of sources—written, oral, linguistic, ethnographic and archeological—but these sources must equally be subjected to strict critical and evaluative standards to authenticate their provenance and reliability.

The radical nature of Usman’s historiography manifests in his insistence that history must be consulted to answer the question of the formation and possibilities of nation-states. The lessons of history, in other words, points at the capacities of nationalities and nations to emerge out of the multiplicities of cultural and ethnic energies available to it.

Thus, the critical assessment of history from its many sources confirms that nation-building, or what Kenneth Dike called “an experiment in polytechnic state formation”, is a fact of history.

In a lecture dedicated to the memory of Kenneth Dike and the Ibadan School of History, Bala Usman insisted that contrary to the European myth of a primordial and indissoluble racial and ethnic groupings that make up the state, “not only nations, nationalities and ethnic groups, but even racial groups, are products of the historical process and are formed, unformed and transformed in the course of historical development.” History therefore undermines our pessimism about the national project by confirming the possibility of mosaic of ethnic and cultural synergy that would make Nigeria an enduring dream.

The legacy of Dr. Bala Usman is therefore that we can learn and unlearn our own histories as a nation, and from its insights take up arms against the centrifugal forces of disintegration and injustices. This legacy alone is enough to make Yusufu Bala Usman a world-historical intellectual, according to Hegel, the German philosopher. And the singular honour required for such men is to incorporate their thoughts into national action.

Dr. Olaopa is a Federal Permanent Secretary, Abuja.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

15

Comment & Analysis

Baga inferno In view of claims and counter claims, Federal Government should probe the incident

F

ROM frightening media reports, it looked somewhat like a present day replication of Dante’s Inferno, a 14th century epic poem by Italian Dante Aligheri – the sheer hell of Baga, a North-East Nigerian border town, in which a Nigerian-led multinational military force and Boko Haram anarchists clashed.

A reported 185 lost their lives in gory circumstances; another estimated 10, 000 lost their homes en route to the whole town being reportedly levelled; not to talk of luckless refugees fleeing across the border into Cameroun, Chad and Niger. Baga is in Kukawa Local Government of Borno State. The border town lies some 180 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.

A local, quoted by Daily Trust, could not have put the tragedy more chillingly: “We have joined the comity of the disenfranchised ... our wealth is gone, our people massacred and our merchandise burnt. In fact, we have little hope for a prosperous future again.”

For an insurrection powered basically by poverty and hopelessness, it is no comfort that Baga may have birthed another band of the hopeless and bitter, primed perhaps to join the Boko Haram anarchy.

Baga was an unmitigated human tragedy and grave humanitarian crisis which must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Any country that sits over regular spilling of blood, as it has been since the Boko Haram insurrection started – Baga being only the latest but not likely the last – must re-think its essence. It is a most intolerable situation.

Yet, there appears to be no easy way out of the quagmire right now.

A wave of opinion is rising: that the Nigerian military, with its Chadian and Nigerien collaborators in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), commanded by Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye , was responsible for the massacre. Indeed, many natives were reported to have sworn they saw soldiers chase Baga locals out of their houses and set their homes on fire, aside from allegedly firing and mowing down fleeing civilians.

To the extent that the Nigerian military, in crisis situations, sometimes morph into uniformed outlaws, they probably had it coming being blamed for this one. Each time army personnel had some trouble with some

N

IGERIA is a complex entity and sometimes I just pity our leaders’ helplessness in a system where people who are in positions and are expected to be very objective in state matters do otherwise. I am referring to the call by the highly respected Sultan of Sokoto, that Boko Haram should be granted amnesty.

Without mincing words, I have great respect for the Sultan because from the little I have known and followed about him, he is a detribalised Nigerian. But on this issue of giving amnesty to Boko Haram, I wish

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BRAHAM Lincoln got it right when he said “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves and under a just God cannot retain it.” Nigeria is now home to the world most despicable ogres that kill in the name of religion & education.

Young boys and girls, men and women who congregate in places of worship in part of northern Nigeria transit in pieces to the grave beyond.

While others end up being victims of permanent disability.

It is in the news that those merchant of sudden death who specialise in transmuting birth certificates into death certificates via weapons of ‘mass destruction’ are on the verge of getting amnesty. Oh what a country!

Even if they get the so-

civilians, or even weaker security agencies like the police, the soldiers just remobilise and flatten out the area of urban combat. It happened in Ojuelegba, Lagos, not too long ago, when soldiers sacked the local police station with the adjoining police barracks – and heavens didn’t fall.

In the Baga case, however, despite the intolerable human toll, the military would appear a victim of their own name (pitched against phantom Boko Haram insurgents) and bad reputation. Boko Haram has logged a fearsome record for irrational killing, bordering on the insane. Yet, hardly anyone is mentioning the sect’s part in the tragic stand-off.

It is true, the army personnel involved in the dastardly operation should strictly stick to their terms of engagement.

And indeed, the tragedy should be probed; and anyone found culpable on this score should be punished – and publicly and resoundingly so. This is important since the military has denied that the casuality figure was exaggerated.

Still, in Boko Haram cases, the army deserves some sensitivity, if not understanding.

Let us review the “facts” as reported. The crisis started when some Boko Haram insurgents shot at and killed an officer on patrol, as a result of a tip-off. The base of initial conflict was a local mosque in which, intelligence said, Boko Haram operatives were holed up. From the military’s account, it was from this mosque, and in any case its environs, that the Boko Haram fighters launched their rocket-propelled grenades, the reported retaliation to which caused all the mayhem. Many of the victims reportedly

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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died as Boko Haram’s enforced human shields.

But even before the first shot was fired, there had been a total collapse of the concept of citizenship and civic duties and responsibilities. The people that lived in the vicinity of the mosque: did they know of the Boko Haram activities around it? If they did, who did they inform? Of course, a valid point could be made that torn between the devil of Boko Haram and the deep blue sea of a toothless Nigerian state, they had little choice but to hold their peace. That is not unreasonable.

However, keeping mum made the people themselves somewhat complicit in the disaster that later befell the town.

Perhaps if there had been earlier whistle-blowing, the Boko Haram threat would have been punctured; and the Baga tragedy averted. So entrenched, indeed was Boko Haram, according to a media report, that the insurgents even wrote a taunting letter threatening to dislodge the military from the locale!

But in the vociferous military blame game to follow, nobody even remembers this civic anomaly. Northern elders (as would be expected of elders of any place involved in such massacres) trenchantly blame the military. The media too has come down heavily on the army. Partisan voices have also slipped, one on the fumbling and bungling President Goodluck Jonathan, showing that many a partisan foe would not mind playing to the partisan gallery on security matters – and a dire one at that.

Still, for this problem to be solved, a national consensus is required – a consensus that must start from the Northern elders themselves. The surest point against Boko Haram – and even mail-fisted military reaction – is intelligence. But how do you ferret intelligence from a populace that fears Boko Haram and hates the Federal Government? Layers of authority in the North must therefore abandon what looks like closet sympathy for Boko Haram, totally renounce its dubious cause and somehow persuade and embolden the people to give useful information to rein in the sect’s murderous activities.

Thereafter, everyone must key into collectively solving a menacing national crisis that threatens to make bestiality and eternal slaughter a sickening national ethos. It is a period of national emergency; and everyone must come together to save the grave security situation.

LETTERS

The Boko Haram menace to say, he goofed.

On the other hand, my thinking tells me, going by his precedence, that he may have been under pressure from some unknown forces, or is this call a cry of helplessness? If the issue of Boko Haram is politicised then the end will not be close. You can only grant amnesty to a known offender. The quescalled amnesty from man, I doubt if they will ever get the real amnesty that cometh from God alone. To kill a man in the presence of his God in the mode of worship is not an expression of strength but of weakness and cowardice.

I think the solution is not amnesty but a genuine renouncement of violence

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SUGGEST that there should be youth assemblies in the three tiers of government which include, the local, state, and federal levels.

Let’s make use of the upcoming review and amendment of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and give the youth their constitutional role to play in piloting the affairs of this na-

tion now is that who are the representatives or leaders of Boko Haram, what are their grievances, what are the objects of their rebellion? For me, we are shying away from the root of the crises staring glaringly at us.

My worry is the daily emasculation of socioeconomic life of northern Nigeria and by extension the

whole nation by the actions of Boko Haram.These are trying times for our nation, but we must all stand for what is right regardless of whose ox is gored. I can still remember during the critical days of militancy in the Niger Delta, that the militant groups and their leaders were known. That was why elders from the region, like Chief

E.K. Clark, went to the creek several times to negotiate with them. Can you negotiate with spirits? Let’s face the fact, Boko Haram is faceless and have not been able to state categorically what their grievances are except that western education is forbidden according to them. If that premise is anything to go by, then it will be safe to conclude

....And amnesty is not the answer against citizen’s regardless of their faith. Granting amnesty to men who operate under the mask is nothing but an abuse of amnesty. Even the Lord, our God, identifies sinners before he forgives them of their sin.

As at today, no body has come

out to say he is a member, leader or sponsor of the deadly sect yet they claim they need amnesty. Amnesty from who?

God, the devil or from Mr. President? All we know is that men in masks give press release threatening violence

against innocent souls with religious inclination.

Those who are calling for amnesty for men who kill in the name of religion and education should be courageous and fearless to also compel the group to lay down their

The youth as engines of democracy tion (Nigeria). This is because youths in any society constitute the major breakthrough which the success or failure of any kind of developmental initiatives by the government, corporate organisation or philanthropist gestures can be adequately rated or utilised.

The Nigerian youth asso-

ciation should, therefore, wake up to their dreams and visions of discovering, catching, arresting and transforming a better future for the present and future Nigerian youths through ensuring that the proposed constitutional review and amendment by the national assembly in Nigeria

provides for vital roles for their assembly to effectively play their various roles as regarding youth development in Nigeria democracy.

The youth assembly of Nigeria has recognised individuals between the classified ages of 12-40 for a common aim and objective geared towards

that Boko Haram is an ideology. Even at that, let the leaders come out and identify themselves. It is at this juncture that I call on the elders from the north to stand up to the situation, after all what are elders for? Granting amnesty to Boko Haram is like running around the issue. We must rise up collectively to fight against this crippling phenomenon. If we must see the end of this ugly trend, the north has a major role to play.

May God keep and strengthen our nation.

Alexander Ighoro Warri, Delta State. weapons and embrace dialogue. They should be admonished to respect others, right to freedom of worship. We must learn to resist the temptation of using force to expand the boundaries of our faith.

God bless Nigeria.

G. O. Ehi Benin City. achieving a positive development and transforming influence on them. If this particular age group is developed in this county it will certainly stand for a better chance for the future of democracy in Nigeria.

Muhammed Bala Musa, Dept of Mass Comm.

IBB University, Lapai, Niger State

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Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

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HO says that Boko Haram has not changed the lifestyle of Nigerians? That person should ask car owners, not only those that look tense when they are on a bridge or Nigerian Christians that are afraid to go to church on Sundays and their liberal Islamic counterparts who are no longer enthusiastic about going to pray in public mosques on Fridays. Ask young graduates who are no eager to avoid the unemployment line by rushing into NYSC camps in the North where there is more need for such graduates? The latest group to ask this question is Nigerians who own new and used cars that manufacturers in other parts of the world created from innovative thinking and research.

Such doubting Thomases should ask managers of the country's security who do not want to be called losers

by Boko Haram warriors and have thus unearthed a law created under military dictators to assist police in fighting Western Education is Sin terrorists.

Terrorism is a major challenge for governments all over the world.

It has led to creation of special agencies in some parts of the technologically advanced world. There was nothing like Homeland Security in the United States in the years before September 11, 2001. Air travelers and their non-travelling family members could go as far as the boarding

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

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Comment & Analysis

N a way, the Book of Revelation, in its apocalyptic Chapter 7: 9, must have had the late Mrs Funmilayo Adunni Olayinka, in view when it says: ‘after these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one can number, of all nations (states), tribes, peoples and tongues standing before the throne …’

Callers at the Ekiti State House, at her family house or at the Olayinka’s in Osborne, Lagos we can count but there is hardly anybody that is somebody in the public life of this country that has not visited, personally, or sent an emissary, to pay his/her last respects to the departed Ekiti State Deputy Governor as well as commiserate with the families she left behind. It has been a complete outpouring of love and emotions for a woman that lived a dedicated life of service and in her very short stay left her mark on the sands of time.

William Shakespeare could not have been more apt when he wrote in MACBETH: “Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more’.

Above is how the bard of Stratford-upon-Avon described the illusory nature of life; here today, gone tomorrow; but all thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, death has, forever, lost its sting. And so, like Goke Omidiran, in a poem specially crafted for the occasion, we can mock death and enthuse: ‘DEATH, WHERE ART THY STING?

Terrorism and tinted glass phobia How many terrorists have been nabbed operating from vehicles with tinted glass?

gateuntil terrorists made it mandatory for security officers to create new policies to restrict non-passengers to the ticketing area of the airport. Hundreds of air travelers have learnt how to leave their belts at home when they need to go through security checks in all airports of the world.

Even women obsessed with their femininity have had to live with small volume of face powder, small amount of perfume, and sometimes without toothpaste if they want to travel without hassles. It is therefore not strange that Nigeria's security managers have gone into the archive of laws created during the era of military dictatorship in the country, in their search for what to do to assist them in frustrating Islamic terrorists, and unintentionally, the citizens whose cooperation they need direly.

What is strange is that the archaeologists of military laws have not given citizens good reasons to believe that they are not just being capricious or arbitrary. No data have been provided to show any link between terrorist acts in the North and vehicles with tinted glass. Smokers did not have to complain about being prevented from carrying their matches or firelighters with them on the plane, after the experience of shoe bombers or the botched attempt of young Nigerian international terrorist to light the bomb under his underwear a few years ago. Air passengers all over the world who are lovers of peace and order have not complained about ordinances that forbid them to carry machetes, knives, and bows and arrows into

aircrafts. The connection between these dangerous items and in-flight terrorism had been made clear to passengers and non-passengers.

What has not been made clear to Nigerians is the connection between tinted glass on the two rear sides of cars and the killing of innocent people by Boko Haram bombing of the UN office in Abuja, churches, motor parks, and police stations. How many terrorists have been nabbed operating from vehicles with tinted glass?

How many explosive devices have been recovered by police from cars with tinted glass? How many guns have been shot and how many bombs have been thrown from moving cars with tinted glass since the advent of Boko Haram? It is necessary for the police to use data obtained from such heinous crimes to enlist the support of innocent Nigerians that had taken loans to buy cars with tinted glass made by their manufacturers abroad.

Reports have indicated that Islamic terrorists had thrown bombs from motor cycles while some had shot innocent citizens from moving bicycles. Is the change in our security protocols going to ban motorcycles and bicycles? Nigerians have been told that Boko Haram bombers have used empty houses and occupied houses to store explosive devices and powerful assault guns.

What is the attitude of the InspectorGeneral of Police to thousands of such houses in the north and south of the country, board them up? Invoking an obsolete law in the books against owners of cars with tinted glass is

reminiscent of erecting road blocks as a means of fighting crimes. It is obsolete and may be counterproductive.

In a war that requires cooperation of civilian population, policymakers in the security sector need to know how to cultivate citizens. They should not create policies that anger or antagonize citizens unnecessarily. Asking car owners to obtain special permit for using cars that they had duly registered and for which they had paid duties to Customs is similar to punishing or blaming the victim. Anyone that drives an unregistered car in the country has committed a punishable crime.

It should not be criminal for citizens who have paid customs on their vehicles and paid for registration with their local government or the Federal Road Safety Commission to use those vehicles. It should be safely assumed that Customs department, FRSC, and the NPF are interlinked and are agencies that share common interest in the country's security. For the law retrieved from the archive to be fair to citizens, it must include reimbursement of customs duties and registration fees already paid by owners of cars with tinted glass.

In the fight against Boko Haram, our rulers need to learn from best practices from other countries that have security challenges from Islamic terrorists or any other category of terrorists: Ensure that cars do not carry tinted glass that is in excess of what is allowed in other parts of the world and ensure that security officers are given gadgets

that can see through tinted glass from a distance. It will be less expensive for the federal government to acquire such devices than to have to face litigations seeking refund of huge sums of money to citizens who own duly registered vehicles. It is instructive to know that when the law being excavated by the police was made, it was to give special protection to military governments without mandate to rule. Even in those days when civilians were prevented from buying cars with green and jet black colors, and owning cars with tinted glass, military rulers were exempted from the rule, an indication that the law was not to fight crime but to accentuate privileges of new class of rulers.

Thomas Paine and David Thoreau at different times had warned makers of bad and oppressive laws about the danger in making such laws. They had argued that human beings have the capacity to resist or disobey unjust laws. The National Assembly should not engage in panel beating an unjust and unreasonable law inherited from decades of military dictatorship.

What senators need to do is to jettison the law against the use of cars with tinted glass. It is absurd that, at a timethe president, governors, emirs, obas, obis, and obongs across the country are making a case for unsolicited amnesty for Boko Haram terrorists, the police is excavating laws to rattle citizens in all parts of the country or using vehicles duly registered with law enforcement agencies.

Adieu Moremi Ekiti It has been a complete outpouring for the late Funmi Olayinka

If you can take a beauty out in a flash And able to cause pain untold here to a living soul But failed to stop the joy in heaven of a child come home A darling daughter standing in the warm embrace of her king Then death where art thy sting?”

Rather than mourn therefore, we have been celebrating the life of this God’s special gift to us all, emboldened by the cocksureness of Apostle Paul when he said in 1 Cor.15: 12- 22:” 12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. 14. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. . 15.Yea and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He raised not up; if so be that the dead rise not. 16. For if the dead rise not, and then is Christ not raised. 17.And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in sins. 18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive?”

It has been tributes galore and overwhelming crowd at all the activities lined up for her rites of passage. For instance, the wake keep event in Lagos was slated for 5 pm at the huge THE HAVEN Events Centre, Ikeja, but an hour before commencement, it had become near

impossible to find a parking space on the humongous parking lot.

Of the hundreds of tributes to our dearly departed, space will permit us touch on only two: the first, by an old man on the line to receive her remains: “I believe this woman was great. I doubt if anyone has ever been this honoured in the state. I have been here since 1.30 pm”.

The second is the 2,269 -word tribute by her boss and Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi which I will try my utmost to compress into about 500 words. Wrote the man with whom she spared nothing in the effort to make poverty history in Ekiti: ‘I was already seated when she walked into the busy Chinese restaurant in Ikeja that fateful evening end of January 2007. We had spoken on the phone twice but never met. I instinctively stood up and beckoned her to my table - ‘Mrs Olayinka’, I called out. She was that recognisable in the crowd. ‘Good evening, you must be Dr Fayemi.’ I answered in the affirmative and we greeted warmly. The meeting was to explore the possibility of her joining my ticket as the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Action Congress in Ekiti State and my friend, Femi Ojudu and our Leader, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, had broached the subject matter with her already but the feedback from them was: sceptical but not out-rightly negative.

“She asked pointed questions based on her Google search of my name, wanted to know about the campaign agenda and was worried about political violence, given what she knew of the recent past. She had also read about my wife and was keen to know more about her work.

I too asked about her experience in the corporate world, her family and

her worldview. It became clear that she was bold, driven, deeply religious, and very concerned about entrenching good governance in her home state as elsewhere. Her earlier discussion with Femi Ojudu and Otunba Adebayo had clearly helped but she was still not ready to commit.

“To my relief, she phoned few days later to say she had given it extensive thought, prayed about it and consulted widely and was ready to give it a shot. Thus began a journey that I could only describe as Godordained until the cold claws of death snatched her away from us on April 6, 2013.

“And was the journey rough and tough!

“Had she been faint-hearted, she would’ve thrown in the towel when she arrived Ewi’s palace in Ado-Ekiti shortly after to all manner of unimaginable expletives. But her steely resolve manifested early as she simply waved off the incident promising to win over the naysayers , which she did.

“Fortunately, Bisi and Funmi got on very well from the minute they met. And the relationship grew from strength to strength despite the common tendency of people to try to generate conflict between two strong, principled women. Indeed, in many ways, they became inseparable – till the end.

“I cannot now recall the exact date she gave me the worrisome news about the lump she had felt in her breast but it was after the re-run election in 2009. She kept me in the picture from that moment – right from the first wrong diagnosis that gave an all clear to the second diagnosis later in the year that confirmed there was a problem – leading to surgery in the United Kingdom, late 2009. To our great relief, from now till early 2011

when another check indicated that the cells had metastasized to another part of the body the cancer was in remission following chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as regular checks in the UK and at home in Nigeria. And so she renewed the battle with the dreaded disease with some of the world’s most renowned oncologists in Nigeria, America, Canada and the UK. All through, Bisi was at hand with her in the UK from September 2009 till her last visit in February 2013. We did everything and refused to accept that the situation could not be saved. Funmi was also a source of inspiration. She never gave up on recovery from cancer. She kept hope alive and refused to stay off work – no matter my admonition.

“Funmi Olayinka was indeed the Moremi Ekiti. In the true tradition of the legendary Moremi, she gave her all in defence of our people.

Indeed, there are bound to be many people who will insist that had she stayed away from politics and Ekiti, she probably would be alive today.

But not Funmi who, as a devout Christian, believed we all have an appointed time with our Maker. She was never given to regrets. Pleasant in disposition, Funmi was always business-like. With extra-ordinary dedication, she was focused on our goal of bringing succour to our people in Ekiti and at no point, whatever, did I have a reason to doubt her commitment, loyalty or integrity. She was stellar in the performance of the tasks assigned to her and she was clearly central to the success of our administration to date.” Fayemi concluded: ‘your family is now my family. Bisi and I will forever remain grateful to you for being part of the Collective Rescue Mission and you’d remain my sister, my friend even in death.”

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Tunji

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

OVERNOR Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State is a human being, and can therefore do wrong. Only God is infallible.

But one thing that no one can deny, friend or foe, is that the governor is working hard in the right direction to improve the lot of his people.

I was in Port Harcourt with a colleague in August 2011 to interview him. The governor has left no one in doubt that he knows where the shoe pinches and is prepared to apply the needed soothing balm. Some of his policies may be unpopular, like the banning of 'Okada' in the state, but then, many other states have followed suit, a confirmation that 'Okada' not only demeans our people but has sent too many to the grave prematurely, just as it has rendered many invalid.

For sure, I did not agree entirely with some of the views the governor expressed during the interview. For instance, I disagreed with his view on the contentious fuel subsidy, which was the view of many of his colleagues (that subsidy must go and all that). But you could notice in him the passion of a man in a hurry to bring development to his state.

Rivers State, like most other Niger Delta states is oil rich; but unlike most of those states, the richness is only beginning to translate into physical development in the state, years after the people last witnessed such development in the Diette Spiff administration. Without doubt, Amaechi's achievements in the areas of education, road construction, power

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Postscript, Unlimited!

By

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

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DON’T know about you but any time I have watched the Senate President march in sedately behind the mace, I must admit that an emotion closely resembling envy always seems to pass through me. Seeing how big, strong and well-made the mace appears to be, I find myself wondering how well it can adapt to being used to pound yam for me on a Sunday, seeing as my pestle is no longer what it used to be. You thought I would be after the senate president’s seat? You! You! No thanks – you know, too hot and all that. Besides, I don’t think I like problems as such.

I don’t think the country would like it very much if I were to solve senate problems with the mace, you know, like, sort of, using it to knock some sense into people’s heads during sessions. No, the country would definitely not like that and that would give me all kinds of problems, — (the country not liking it, that is, not the knocking bit). Anyway, I think we have all come to associate the mace with the amount of authority the leader has over the floor. It is his staff of office. So, every senate leader tries as much as possible to make sure it is the last thing he sees before going to sleep at night and when he wakes up in the morning. Just ask Okadigbo if you don’t believe me.

So, every one of us needs one staff

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Amaechi in the eye of the storm The question is: Who is afraid of one of PDP’s leading lights supply and even security, have stood him out as a beacon of hope in the south-south. It has been said often that human memory is too short. This may be true; but not so with the people of Rivers State who cannot easily forget how they used to raise their hands in Port Harcourt streets to show that they were not bearing arms. That was when armed robbers and other criminals held sway. All that is now history, with Amaechi partnering with the state police command to nib in the bud their illegal activities.

Many of us who still remember the story of how he became governor would realise that he is governor because it had been so ordained. Left to the powers-that-be then, to wit, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Amaechi would not have been governor. As a matter of fact, his file had been closed

by President Obasanjo who then acted God and declared Amaechi's candidacy as having 'k-leg'. It was by divine intervention that Amaechi met with favour in the courts and he was pronounced governor, thus becoming the first governor in the country who never contested any election!

The same Amaechi before whom President Obasanjo built a wall of Jericho on his path to the State House in Port Harcourt is now midway into his

second term. This should be instructive. Interestingly, he is in the midst of a fresh turbulence. Although the governor keeps giving the impression that all is well between him and President Goodluck Jonathan (that is the way it is in Nigeria; here, you don't even disagree with the president, not to talk of fight him), that does not agree with public perception.

However, while both of them are entitled to the phony jolly good fellow relations, the question that readily begs for answer in the public domain is: why would any political party want to rubbish one of its best? Before our very eyes, we have seen the ruling party (in particular) in cozy relations with all kinds of characters, even granting presidential pardon to a common thief; yet, that party is having a running battle with one of its best. Why? Before we know what is happening, that party would throw its ‘Worst 11’ forward and expect Nigerians to vote for them. That has been our problem since God-knowswhen. Alhaji Shehu Shagari was forced on us when there were better candidates in the north that could have worn the presidential shoes. Obasanjo imposed an ailing Umaru Yar'Adua on us, and supported him with Goodluck Jonathan. See where we are.

“Governor Amaechi should know that no weapon is prohibited, provided there is the 'federal might' cover. As it happened in Bayelsa State with former Governor Timipre Sylva, the war might be fought from all fronts on land, on air, on the sea, etc. It is the kind of fight in which anything, anything, not excluding deploying the teeth (biting) if that is what would make him capitulate”

Will Obasanjo in retrospect and in good conscience say he has done the best for this country in this regard?

Amaechi's brush with the president has not just begun. As a matter of fact, as far back as August 2010, he has had a brush with the President's wife, Patience Jonathan over the primary school being built in Okrika by the Amaechi administration. The governor told her that he had asked the local government chairman to contact owners of land around the school so the houses would be bought and demolished to enable children learn in a conducive environment, without distraction. Mrs. Jonathan was angry that the governor was using 'must' when he should be having dialogue with the Okrika people because land is a serious matter in Okrikaland. She may have a point there about consultation, but where is land not a serious issue in Nigeria?

But madam was too annoyed over this issue that affects her people that she forgot she is First Lady of the country and not that of Okrikaland; she left the state which she was visiting in annoyance, leading to the cancellation of other engagements. Obviously, the president could not have been happy over such a development.

There was also the issue of the Soku/Oluasiri oil fields that caused friction between the Presidency and the governor late last year. Although the Presidency quickly intervened to make the matter look like one between Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and Governor Amaechi, it was clear that the hands could have been those of Esau, but the voice was Jacob's. If anyone was in doubt that the Presidency was involved, a press statement by the Bayelsa State Com-

missioner for Information, Markson Fefegha, dispelled an earlier statement by the Rivers State government that accused the Presidency of mischief as disrespectful, insulting and smacks of arrogance. So, who is fooling whom?

As far as I am concerned, there is but one mind in the President and the PDP chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and it is bent against Amaechi. In this kind of struggle, Governor Amaechi should know that no weapon is prohibited, provided there is the 'federal might' cover. As it happened in Bayelsa State with former Governor Timipre Sylva, the war might be fought from all fronts - on land, on air, on the sea, etc. It is the kind of fight in which anything, anything, not excluding deploying the teeth (biting) if that is what would make him capitulate. That was why, a few months back, the party leadership tried to whittle down his power as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), by sponsoring the PDP Governors Forum headed by their anointed Godswill Akpabio.

We must, without doubt, be having some idea about the kind of candidates that the ruling party would throw forward for the 2015 elections. One would have thought that a President Jonathan who has directed his party to bring in more states in the 2015 elections would put forward the party's 'First 11' and showcase some of its best, because, bad as the PDP is, it still has a few persons that know what they are doing. But we have always had the misfortune of having governors and other leaders who met treasuries empty and left them empty.

Why does strike have to be the labourer’s staff of office?

The welfare of workers should not be an annoying interruption of the government’s jollification programme; it should be taken seriously of office or the other. Have you noticed that teachers get handed chalk, duster (modernised now as marker and dust cloth) and a loud voice; and most of us think that nurses are born holding syringes, needles, and a sneering attitude, eh, have you? Your mechanic would tell you to bring the bolts and nuts (the kind that fits into your car, mind, not the kind that fits into Aro) and he would supply the spanner.

Have you ever seen a new brideto-be excitedly prepare herself for her nuptials? Phew! As a tribe, they make me want to whistle between my teeth. You see a bride go flitting in and out ordering and commissioning, purchasing and buying, comparing and judging, arranging and gathering and generally making sure that even if all else is forgotten or left behind in her parent’s house, the spoon and blender are not left behind. Then she clenches her teeth on those tools because they will be needed when the honeymoon is over and more importantly, they are, you guessed it, her staff of office. Me, I think I have bigger problems: how to find the words to tell her that she would need a great deal more than the spoon and blender to get the right mix of happiness.

Anyway, I think that labourers seem to have been handed only one staff of office: no, not the shovel, anyone can handle that. It’s the strike. In the hands of labour, the strike is not only a work tool, it is also a work-to-

rule tool. It is used to oil labour matters and also disrupt it. All things considered, strike is held in such esteem in labour relations that it appears to be the labourer’s only recognised staff of office. Just listen.

Most men do not know the value of the food they eat at their tables until labour relations break down at home. Once, a man and his wife had a misunderstanding that resulted in the woman deciding not to cook again. In short, she declared a strike.

Sounds familiar? Well, not particularly versed in the culinary art, our man was left stranded food wise.

After unsuccessfully performing experiments with salt, spices and so on, and being forced to swallow the rather unsavoury results of those experiments, he quickly sued for peace, ‘for the sake of the children’, he said, but his friends contended that. Another friend once said he grew used to eating garri and dried fish whenever his mother declared her strike, which she often did.

The causes and costs of strikes are best left to the industrial labour specialist to calculate, but let’s hazard a few guesses here. I have found that whenever my dog has been given a particular kind of food, he has declared an eating strike which has often been met with a counter strike: if he does not finish that food, he does not get anything else’. When strike meets strike, it’s quite a battle. A little like the government declaring that if workers do not return to work, they

do not get paid. So, the dog lets the food rot, and the owner, not willing to allow the dog die for love or conscience, gives in, feeds the dog and all is well again.

Is strike a simple matter of will versus will? I don’t think so, even if it appears to be a matter of who blinks first. Too often though, the government (the largest employer of labour in most third world countries such as Nigeria) thinks that a striking body of workers simply wants to test its (the government’s, that is, not the strikers’) resolve and responds with more will – leading to zero tolerance. ‘They are not returning to work? Then sack them!’

This simply causes more digging in.

Can strike also be a matter of testing out who really holds the power in a labour relationship? That would be a little like the dog trying to find out how much he can make everyone in the house dance around just to please him. My dog tried to do that once. He rejected every kind of food placed before him for no reason and that had us worried. But when the vet gave him a quick run over and declared there was nothing wrong with him, everyone hissed and left him alone. Chagrined, he went back to eating again.

The burgher.

Often, money and conditions of service are at the heart of most strike actions. I have not yet met any employee who would claim that he is paid enough for what he does or is

fully satisfied with his/her work conditions. Indeed, most employees believe, I think, that there is no reason why their employer cannot daily double the wages they are paid, and then triple it the next day.

While most employees know that this is not feasible, nevertheless, I believe what most of them want really is a little respect. I think they would like to be acknowledged, not threatened.

As we celebrate another May Day, I prefer to think that strike declaration should continue to be a sort of last resort tool. True, many labour conditions world over are simply deplorable, and most people are barely coping. It is even more annoying when you look at the Nigerian situation where the people of affluence are the unqualified who have gained unmerited access to governmental coffers and have proceeded to flaunt their privileges in the face of everyone. It indeed boggles the mind and stuns the heart into inaction. Nevertheless, considering that those who suffer from strikes are very often the innocent and those meant to be served and protected, there is a need to continue to use it minimally, cautiously and humanely. On the other hand, the welfare of Nigerian workers should not be an annoying interruption of the government’s jollification programme. It should be taken seriously so that strike will really be a rarely used implement of war.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Comment & Analysis

Ogbeni and his Lekan Otufodunrin CANJAB headache S

USPICION is what is causing the Tom and Jerry game between the Christians and the Muslims in Osun State and it is not likely to die down anytime soon for as long as the two groups do not trust each other and the Christians keep raising the ante over every action of the government that seems to favour the Muslims in the state.

This is why the Christian Association of Nigeria in the State is expanding the frontiers of its suspicion. The Muslim group is also trying to expand the frontiers of its operations. The Osun CAN is protesting the attempt by the Muslim group to influence the government in legislating the wearing of hijab by all female Muslim students in public schools in Osun irrespective of the missionary status of such schools. Osun State is therefore about to be consumed or swallowed by what the revered Yoruba historian Samuel Johnson would call “Ogun kanjabu’.

I admit that the cassock and the hijab we fight over are garments of strong spiritual significance complimenting our dress code but for sure they are not a true reflection of what and who we are before God who deals more with our inner character than our outward appearance.

Most of the so-called religious groups have developed and enunciated their own doctrines to create the impression that our inner piety is secondary to our outward hypocrisy. Coming up with the hijabwearing demand in less than a year of being granted the hijra holiday by the state government is nothing but sheer opportunism by the Muslim group who wanted to leverage on Government generosity to get some other things they failed to get from previous administrations.

The Muslim group should not indulge themselves in any form of selfcongratulatory ecstasy because they have one of their own in power. It is sheer abuse of goodwill. The idea of animating issues that had already been resolved by previous administrations simply because Ogbeni is now the Governor is very hypocritical, opportunistic and provocative. Because the government acceded to their request for an hijra holiday is not a license to come up with other irreverent ideas and requests that can set the State on fire.

This oliver Twist style is quite unfortunate because each time they come with some of these requests, the Christian group, knowing Aregbe’s passion for Islam before he became the Governor of the state, tend to suspect that it was the government that was flying a kite. Though it is not a crime for the Ogbeni to show passion for his faith, the best thing for him to do now is to moderate the tone and aggression of his love for his religion. The office he occupies does not encourage any form of extremism or excessiveness on his part irrespective of his personal desires. He is the father of the state and all religious groups including the traditional worshippers have become his responsibility. In my own view, I think the Ogbeni has achieved this balancing since he came to office. Henceforth, he should let all requests for any policy on religion be legislated upon by the State House of Assembly. The direct intervention of the government especially as it did on the hijra holiday would not do any credit to the Governor whose every action is now being misconstrued as part of his hidden agenda for the Islamisation of Osun State. The Governor needs the support and cooperation of all the religious groups. I believe the Ogbeni is too wise not to know that it is not politically expedient for him to risk general popularity and support for sectarian glorification and Nasfatorial martyrdom.

CAN seem to believe that some of the actions and activities of the government have given Muslims undue advantage in the state. But even at that CAN must show or prove that these actions and activities

• Ogbeni Aregbesola

By Dapo Thomas

have influenced government policies to warrant any serious insinuation. However, I find it ridiculous when people are suggesting that the Governor’s mode of dressing (he wears jalamiya very often) and the beards that he keeps are offensive to the Christians. Haba, why must it be a crime for a man to wear clothes or uniforms that he finds convenient? Or why must a man sacrifice the beards he has been nurturing for a number of years for citizens atonement?

Supposing this is what his wife finds attractive in him, should he now disfigure his look and risk marital squabbles in order to pacify intolerant citizens?

I will not under any circumstance advise the Governor to succumb to the pressure of his “adversaries” (whoever they may be), that he should delete his beards in order to look more cosmopolitan. It is taking public service too far to compel him to reconfigure the essentials of his person as a sacrifice for canpopic appeasement or electoral benevolence.

Saying that the Sultan of Sokoto had visited the governor two times in two years is as good as raising the same query about Pastor E. A. Adeboye who I am sure had visited the Governor of the state on equal counts or more. One‘s political office or position should not be a hindrance to free association and meeting with people of substance whose influence in the state or in the country can be of tremendous advantage to the development of the state, socially, economically and politically. Afterall, all the so-called visits are not nocturnal, they have been conducted in the full glare of the public and Television cameras. It should not be a crime for the Governor to fraternise with the Muslims anytime he so desires so far the same gesture is extended to the Christian group.

And I think the governor has been very fair in this regard.

As the father of the state, the governor identifies with the Christians very actively during the Easter festivals, Christmas and New Year celebrations. Likewise he takes part in El-del Fitri, Maulud Nabiyyu, El-del kabir and now the hijra. I have seen him on many occasions attending wedding and funeral services in church holding hymn book and singing the hymns with pulsating staccato. I am sure that his attendance at these Christian gatherings is not just for political pacification but also for soul edification.

The claim by CAN that the Governor wants to Islamise the state is reckless and unfounded. If indeed he had such an agenda, he is too intelligent not to know how to go about it. He would not have allowed the Christians to dominate his cabinet nor would he have conceded a higher number

to the Christians in the appointment of the permanent secretaries in the state civil service. These are the elite corps of the policymaking caucus. Neither would he have allowed the Christians to also be dominant in the House of assembly. Even most of the aides that he personally appointed are Christians. The Islamisation of a state cannot be done if there is no structure to support and accommodate its legislation and legitimisation. And the major structure that can begin the process of such a radical change in people’s faith in a state is none other than the Executive council or even the state house of assembly. As it is presently constituted, the Christians are dominant in Osun government and it is surprising that CAN still feel uncomfortable with this present advantage.

I do not want to believe that CAN is acting the opposition script not because I am stupid to the point of believing that we do not have corrupt Christians but because I think it is shameful and sinful that men of God are encouraging and conspiring with men in agbada to discredit and disparage a progressive and hardworking government that they have in Osun. Besides, religious bodies should not limit their intervention in the polity to only religious matters or policies. They should speak out on other issues that are germane to nation-building.

The kind of activism which the likes of Dr. Olubunmi Okogie , Reverend Gbonigi and Reverend Abiodun Adetiloye displayed during the inglorious era of the military seems to have gone down significantly.

While it may be true that the evils of the military provoked the kind of resistance and opposition put up by these people, are we saying such evils are still not with us even under this democratic dispensation?

Recently the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi raised an alarm that Nigeria is sliding towards dictatorship yet our spiritual fathers are fighting over cassock and hijab as if it is more important than a nation under siege. Let our spiritual leaders speak out on kidnapping, armed robbery, unemployment , bad governance, bad roads, pensions crisis , decline in education, vanishing national values, corruption, poverty, election rigging, police killing of innocent souls and a lot of evils that still abound.

I may not be familiar with the Quran as I am with the Bible but I am sure the ultimate objective of every religion is to win lost souls that may be heading towards hell. However, here we engage in conflict, riots and wars in a bid to win these lost souls. In the process we kill ourselves. Is it not intriguing that instead of winning souls, we are killing souls.

I am now confused and disturbed that if we kill all the souls that we are supposed to win over, what do we now take to God to justify our compliance with and obedience to his soul- winning injunction?

Each time we kill ourselves or go to war with one another over issues of religion or God, we create in the minds of those we call infidels or unbelievers, a very weak God that is incapable of defending himself. It is laughable that man who is yet to unravel and resolve the mystery of his own mortality is trying to defend a God that we all acknowledge is immortal. Is it not God himself who says in the holy books that the battle is his? Show me that man who feels he can defend God or fight God’s war for him and I will show you a fool in the abattoir of the reprobates.

Both CAN and the “hijab group” of the “Land of the Virtuous” must be guided by the creed of the land that enjoins them to distance themselves from any form of iniquities. The land that harbours the virtuous should not at the same time spew profanities, shenanigans and territorial desecration.

Thomas, former special aide to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, teaches History and International Studies at the Lagos State University.

Otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net 08050498530 (SMS only)

How to influence the world

N

OT many Nigerians will agree with Time Magazine that Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde aptly described as Queen of Nollywood named among the magazine’s 2013 edition of The 100 Most Influential People in the World is the most influential person in the country.

Some people have wondered what she has done to deserve such global recognition. We are all entitled to our opinion but what cannot be denied is the fact that she is indeed an accomplished Nigerian in her own right with her contributions to the movie industry in Nigeria.

For a mother of four who has played leading roles in about 300 movies and has no scandal associated with her in an industry known for all kinds of sleaze, JoladeEkeinde is a role model.

Richard Corliss, Time’s movie critic who profiled OmoSexy as the actress is called by her fans noted that Jalade-Ekeinde brings a juggler’s grace to her roles as actress, singer, reality-show star, mother of four and philanthropist. “Success hasn’t spoiled Africa’s most renowned leading lady. Rather than going Hollywood, Omotola wants to stay Nollywood” Corliss wrote.

To be sure, the list always generates controversies worldwide with observers always wondering what the basis of selection by the TIME editors are. Bill James, inventor of modern baseball statistics who was named in the 2006 was told by a friend that he was not even one of the 100 most influential people with the Rex Sox, a professional baseball team based in Boston, where he worked.

In the 2007 Time 100 list, managing editor Richard Strengel according to Wikipedia explained that the Time 100 was not a list of the hottest, most popular or most powerful people, but rather the most influential.

“Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in. Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example,” he stated.

Instead of engaging in needless arguments about who should make the list or not, I prefer to note what they are being acknowledged for. I am interested in how whatever they have done, however little has contributed to making the world a better place.

There is a lot to learn from the lives of most of the people on the list which anyone who wants to influence the world should emulate.

Valerie Jarrett, 56, an adviser of US President, Barrack Obama was described as first among equals. “ She brings clarity of thought and purpose to her work. She is a good listener who comes to the table not with some preset notion of distrust but rather an open mind; she asks tough questions and tries to find solutions,” Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman of the board and CEO of General Electric wrote about Jarrett.

Indian Finance Minister, 67, Palaniappan Chidambaram listed in the Titan category according to Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley is detail-oriented. “He works from 8- 8 and has a reputation of getting a lot of things done.”

On Basketball star, LeBron James, 28, Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees wrote, “He never takes a rest, on any play. His all-out effort is what stands out when you watch him. He is someone anyone, in any profession, can look up to. Set the bar high for yourself, like LeBron does.”

POLITICS Who is Aisha Wakil?

19

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

She stood out when President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the committee on amnesty for Boko Haram last Wednesday in Abuja, covered from head to toe in her burqa. The mystery of the woman behind the veil extends to her origins. Tony Akowe in Kaduna profiles the woman Boko Haram insurgents call “Mama.”

I

N a region where women are given little attention, the announcement of the name of Aisha Wakil as a member of the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the northern part of the country came to many as a surprise.

Even though not much is known about her, her name has consistently appeared on the list of people allegedly released by the Boko Haram insurgents as one of those to represent them in any form of dialogue or negotiation with the government.

In November last year, when the insurgents announced the names of prominent northerners who they wanted to represent them in negotiations with the Federal Government, Aisha Wakil and her husband, Justice Zanna Wakil of the Borno State judiciary, were on the list headed by former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari.

When the leader of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Sheikh Datti Ahmed, rejected his nomination into the committee, many Nigerians felt disappointed - especially in view of the fact that he is one of those that may have had any form of contact with members of the group.

Ahmed was part of the botched peace deal and he believed that the government was not serious about peace with the insurgents.

Alongside her husband, Justice Wakil, Aisha, a practicing lawyer was nominated by the government to help resolve the problem. Even though she was called the mystery lady, many Nigerians may not be aware of the fact that she has been in touch with some members of Boko Haram and was even instrumental to a ceasefire declaration announced by the group at a time which was later denied by another faction of the group.

During one peace march by women in Borno State, she was quoted as asking them to come out and state their grievances. “My sons,

I have been begging you since in silence to come out and state your grievances and stop destroying your homeland. Please come out and state your grievances and stop these killings,” she allegedly said amidst

tears.

One Mohammed Amin Abdullahi, who said Aisha was a friend to his sister, claimed on his Facebook page that Aisha Wakil actually hails from the South-East, but converted to Islam when verses of the Holy Qur’an started appearing on her skin and blended well with the Borno Muslim community.

He wrote “Barr. Aisha Wakil, I would say, is a mysterious woman. She is Igbo by tribe and was a Christian during her education in University of Maiduguri many years ago. She converted to Islam when inscriptions of verses from the Holy Qur’an started appearing on her skin. Members of the sect became so close to her that they even called her mummy.

“They visited her house at will.

She even sold her valuables to feed them, just to convince them to drop their weapons. There was a time she seized from them and burnt a note book containing the lists of people killed and those to be killed.

“A lot of them confessed to her that they were fed up with the sect activities. She has been trying to convince members to stop their insurgency long before the issue of dialogue and amnesty started. I got to know all these because she is a close

friend of my sister’s, who is also a human rights activist. I once drove my sister, whose name I don’t want to mention here, to Aisha’s house and had the opportunity of seeing the sect members.”

Barrister Wakil, who works with the National Human Rights Commission, told Peoples Daily, an Abujabased newspaper that largely covers the north, that her relationship with members of the sect dates back to a time before the conflict began and before the death of the spiritual leader of the group.

She also alluded to the insinuation that she was an Igbo lady. She was quoted as saying that she “started the dialogue process since

2009, even before the major crisis erupted, because I knew their slain spiritual leader, Muhammad Yusuf.

His father in-law, late Alhaji Baba Fugu Mohammed, was my spiritual father in Islam, and I used to visit his home.

“In fact, Mohammed Yusuf almost married my younger sister Amina, but Almighty Allah did not make it possible. So that was how I got closer to the duo. It went even to the extent that I was cooking food and taking it to the house of late Alhaji Fugu, to the pupils of the Qur’anic school, (almajari).

“And because I am from the southern part of the country, I normally prepared southern dishes,

which Yusuf had always come to eat.

In fact he liked my egusi soup very much and we became very close when his father-in-law told him that I was the one who cooked the food.

So anytime we met, he expressed delight and prayed that Almighty Allah would reward me, for he was eating from my pot and that was how I established a strong relationship with him.

“Though I did not know where he lived at that time, but whenever I visited Fugu’s house, I saw many people trooping to the area and they would later gather behind a particular compound, so I asked Fugu who these people were. He replied that they were the followers of his sonin-law and that they had come for a preaching session conducted by the late Boko Haram leader. When they finished the preaching and were offering closing prayers, I would sometimes walk across to get the blessings of the prayers.”

Wakil admits knowing some members of the sect saying, “I reside in Shehuri North Ward, the epicentre of the insurgency and I know majority of the insurgents, so I sat down and made up my mind, that how could I just watch them continue like that?”

“When this thing was about to start in 2009, late Yusuf had been detained severally and when he came out after one of the detentions, I went to his house to greet him, but his followers refused to allow me access to him. I was angry and said I would never go to greet him again.

“On hearing that, he rushed to his father-in-law and asked him to plead with me that I should forgive him, saying he was not around when I came. But three weeks to this problem, I started hearing rumours that they would launch deadly attacks. So, I called him (Yusuf) to my house and when he came, I learnt that Abubakar Shekau and other followers had escorted him, but they stayed outside.

“When he entered my house, he didn’t even look directly at my face.

He put his two hands behind him and I said to him, “my son, I’m hearing something. These rumours I’m hearing, I beg you in the name of Allah, don’t do it. He said that he was betrayed; I said by whom, he said by government, I said can I come into it, he said. Alright, if you can intervene and settle it, we are ready.’

“But I was unable to do so due to the protocol involved in government, especially when it entails meeting governors. I tried all I could to get to the former governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, to discuss the issue, but wasn’t able to get to him. But I later spoke to Yusuf’s in-law, telling him that I was not comfortable with these rumours I was hearing but he said there was nothing he could do, as he was a man of over 70 years and that he had written a letter to the government but he didn’t tell me precisely the content of the said letter.

“I continued talking to Yusuf and he kept giving me instances of the betrayal as his followers were shot over the use of crash helmet for instance. Then when they carried their dead bodies for burial they shot them again despite the fact that there was an agreement between them, they were betrayed.

“In fact he had seriously lamented this betrayal as I’m talking to you now I don’t know the betrayal he was referring to and nobody has told me about it up till now. And another issue is, I didn’t know the problem will degenerate into mayhem like we have seen, otherwise I would have contacted some of the elders in the state so that they can come into the matter with a view to finding a solution to it.”

•Continue on Page 21

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Politics

‘ABSU alumni align with Senate on Uzor Kalu’ Abia State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Umeh Kalu, asserts that the Abia State University was right in withdrawing the certificate awarded former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu following his admission in the 2001/2002 academic session, insisting the entire Alumni Association of the university was in support of the cancellation to correct what has been an obvious embarrassment to its members.

He spoke with Eddie Onuzuruike and Agamnetochi Onoh

A

BIA State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Umeh Kalu, is a man of many parts and was probably prepared for public life as a students’ union activist right from his days at Imo State University, later Abia State University, where he was a pioneer student and first Secretary General. Kalu must have cut his teeth in politics right from then while going ahead to practice and distinguish himself in the process. Even then, just like many radical lawyers in the mold of Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana and Olisa Agbakoba, Kalu formed and was involved in associations and movements that fought the cause of the masses.

It was therefore not unexpected that when Governor Theodore Orji needed young radical minds to work with him, he recruited Kalu into his team and he has not disappointed ever since. Kalu more importantly has remained involved in matters affecting his alma mater where he doubles as the incumbent president of the alumni association. In that capacity, plus his current position as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kalu was caught in the cross fire of taking a position on the issue of certificate withdrawal of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu by the Abia State University.

In his interview with a select section of the media, Kalu placed it on record there was no way he was going to remain indifferent to what almost amounts to a scandal going by the controversy it was generating, insisting it was the right thing to do irrespective of when it was done not minding whose ox was gored. According to him, it was sad that the matter was being blown out of proportion when ordinarily it should have been headline news for the institution’s campus bulletin.

“The disposition of the dramatis personae in the matter, who would want to play politics with every issue, especially through the instrumentality of his newspaper which is always available to him to use as he wishes, appears to be the reason for all these,” Kalu said,

referring to Orji Uzor Kalu, again insisting it was the prerogative of every university to issue its certificates to its graduates and deserving persons “on the condition that the awardees have met all conditions in character and learning for the award of such certificates and that the awarding authority could, when it became necessary, review its decision, including that of withdrawing such certificates, especially in circumstances where the certificate was either issued in error or obtained by fraud, undue influence or deceit.”

Kalu said when the issue came up, he did an independent inquiry and discovered there were series of petitions bordered on the irregularity of the admission: “The petitions bordered on the fact of irregularity in his admission and non- attainment of the mandatory minimum semester work load for the award of a first degree of the university. Let me quickly state here too that this issue of the impropriety of the award of our university degree to Orji Uzor Kalu came up in 2006 during the Alumni First Homecoming at the university auditorium, Uturu in the course of our proceedings.”

According to him one of the top guns of the alumni association, whom he refused to name,

“

A court action may not be in his interest in this matter as the university will not only join issues with him but may be forced to adduce and produce more damaging evidence that may lie in the realm of criminality in the process.”

”

queried the degree awarded by those in charge of the university administration at the time but it was obvious they probably acted to keep their jobs.

This alumnus, Kalu said, condemned the decision to admit and graduate a sitting governor in the circumstances in which they did. “I am informed that Orji Uzor Kalu did not meet the university’s basic conditions for admission. Secondly, he did not put up minimum academic workload of six semesters for the award of a first degree but only has on record two academic semesters and thirdly, Orji Uzor Kalu did not meet the basic academic requirements on time limit for re-admission into the university for students on transfer as he was alleged to have sought re-admission into Abia State University after having been out of school for over fifteen years, having left the University of Maiduguri in 1984 as against the university’s out of school period of not more than three years.”

Reminded that this scandal could taint the image of the university if not properly handled, Kalu nodded in the affirmative. According to him, the bulk of the issue rested on the former governor, who he said should prove ABSU wrong by going to another university, meet its requirements, sit for the exams and pass out in flying colours and put to shame those who have decided otherwise regarding his admission irregularities. “Orji Uzor Kalu himself should realise that the Abia State University, being an institution, is bigger than all of us as individuals and will surely outlive us

all. There are standards for everything and if one must possess a university degree, he must justify it. Everyone that has gone through universities will vividly recall the workload, deprivations and sleepless nights that are attendant to such acquisition.

He said a situation where someone will create an atmosphere of glitz, put up one or two appearances in lecture halls for the cameras in a bid to acquire a university degree for whatever purpose is unacceptable, condemnable and even reprehensible,” insisting that pointing fingers in the direction of the Abia State Government was not the solution to the image issue. Kalu added: “We will not allow Orji Uzor Kalu to cheapen the degree of our university.”

Kalu went ahead to reel out the distinguished members of the alumni association who will not allow this smear of the university’s image to hold. “This is the university that • Continued on Page 26

Ladoja and Oyo marriage of convenience I

t is true that the history of political alliances in the country had never been pleasant to human memory. But while that is true, however, what is even truer is that never in the history of political alliances in the country had the spirit of such coalition been betrayed or abused in anyway near the contempt and disdain to which Rasidi Ladoja had subjected the recent or current working relationship between his Accord Party and Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

I deliberately avoid the dragging of the ACN into the deal because it was a personal risk taken by Abiola Ajimobi.

On the part of the ACN leadership, although it was circumspect enough about the unreliability and unpredictability of the so-called ally, going by his political antecedent, it was, however, magnanimous enough to have conceded some level of executive discretion to the governor on the administration of his government. It was in the exercise of that discretion that Ajimobi entered into that deal with Ladoja. So the question of him disobeying his party on the accord does not arise.

In the case of the NPC/NCNC alliance of 1959, which was the first in the country, the two parties remained faithful until the alliance was voluntarily collapsed by the two parties on the approach of another general election in 1964. The collapse of that alliance, caused by the new radical leadership of the NCNC under Michael Okpara, who felt more at home and comfortable with the progressive forces in the

• Ladoja

By Agboola Sanni country, especially the Action Group against the conservative nature of the NPC, the senior partner of the alliance. Even at that level of the

political ineptitude of the NPC, Okpara never spoke openly against the seeming pedestrian style of Balewa until his party formally pulled out of the alliance.

Coming nearer home, in the case of the UPP/NCNC marriage of convenience in the old western region between Akintola and Fani Kayode, individual members of the alliance like Adeoye Adisa, who was not comfortable with the merger plan, who was Minister for Information, pulled out of the government before the coalition metamorphosed into NNDP. I have read in some social media, some feeble defence based on Ladoja’s right of expression in spite of his rapport with Ajimobi.

But where such postulates missed the point is that the rapport is not personal affairs between ‘two brothers’. Rather, the product which both agreed to sell on coming together is the government. It is on this basis that Ladoja nominated his men, which included his younger brother into that government. By virtue of the position, some of them as Commissioners and Special Advisers are in the highest decision making organ of government, which is the State Executive Council, which by both convention and statute is guided by top secrecy in its deliberations.

Given the importance of that organ in governance, it is not supposed to be or even safe to be peopled by anybody of suspected loyalty. In view of the prevailing scenario, anybody keeping supporters of Ladoja in that sensitive body should submit his brain for

psychiatric examination.

Still on Ladoja, if he is now criticising the government because Ajimobi is derailing in governance, does he want his people to be consumed by the ‘impending’ doom. It is unethical of him to adopt an ‘eat and have cake’ strategy. The path of honour for him is to first ‘rescue’ his men by pulling them out of the ship ahead of the doom of his imagination and dream.

That he did not do that can only be attributed to the fact that he knows within himself that the government is popular among the people; and will want his team to benefit from the gain of that popularity. The truth, however, is that to Ladoja, the 2015 campaign had begun in earnest. The main obstacle he sees on his way, rightly speaking, is Ajimobi and the ACN. Hence he cannot see anything good in the government of that party and especially the governor. As an astute politician and former governor himself, he should not have waited until the avoidable disgrace to which he and his party were subjected.

With the exit of the fifth columnist in his government, what is left for Ajimobi is to remain focussed and consolidate on the success so far. The only way to do that is to put his house in order by ensuring that the ACN under his leadership remain well organised and united. He should remain purposeful and unshaking in his current will to move the state forward.

• Sanni wrote in from Ibadan

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Politics

21

APC’s growing influence in South-East Since leading progressives political parties met in Lagos and resolved to merge into a mega party, All Progressives Congress, the politics of South-East zone has become more revitalised as the new party is spreading like harmattan fire there. In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, takes a look at the political leaders behind the party ‘s growing influence in the zone.

EFORE the emergence of the mega party, All Progressive Congress ( APC), the politics of the South-East geo-political zone had suffered greatly and it has become certain that a majority of the electorate and political leaders there were in search of change.

The primary allegation for the quest for change has remained that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which has dominated the politics of the zone since 1999, has been unable to resolve, satisfactorily, the deep feeling of marginalisation amongst the people.

Even the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which many of the people saw as their own, had been stalled by continuous internal crises and intrigues, thus leaving the zone largely naked, politically.

Given this reality, a majority of South-Easterners, especially those dissatisfied with the status quo, see the emergence of APC as the long awaited opportunity for political deliverance.

The Nation’s investigation reveals that such electorate and political stalwarts have enthusiastically embraced the new party even before the conclusion of the registration process.

Besides the people’s dissatisfaction with the status quo and the need for a more viable change, our investigation shows that the growing influence of APC in the geo- political zone is also attributable to the influence and acceptability of most of the politicians that are leading the new party in the zone.

In most of the South-East states, APC seems to have a lot of political figures, who are comparatively adjudged, by the electorates, as both progressives and radical and therefore more welfarist in ideology.

This, according to Chief Iheanacho Ukandu, a community leader and politician in Abia State, “has helped the mega party to enjoy instant popularity and acceptability here,” he said.

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Imo State: Leading the APC in Imo State and other parts of the South-East zone today is Governor Rochas Okorocha.

Not encumbered by the disagreement over his party’s participation in the merger, Okorocha has remained steadfast in the new political process.

Apart from Okorocha, there are also other political heavyweights in the state, whose association with APC has served as a major boost for the party in the state. They include former CPC governorship candidate, Chief Mike Ahamba, who recently decamped to ACN in a grand style and with many supporters, put by some report, as numbering over 3000.

Even before the emergence of APC, ACN, led in the state by Chief Charles Ubah, has attracted powerful politicians.

It would be recalled that in 2011, some of the major politicians from the state, who were associated with ACN, included Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, former governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa and Chief Cosmas Iwu. Anambra State In Anambra State, former state governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, the leader of ACN, is the leading force of the mega party in the state.

Since his brazen kidnap as a serving state governor, his popularity has continued to soar. To concretise his reputation, Ngige, within the short period he survived in office as governor, gave a good account of

• Okorocha

• Ngige

himself as a people’s leader and a firm believer in provision of dividends of democracy.

As various political parties commence preparation for this year’s governorship election, our finding is that the image has continued to pay off for Ngige, as many of his admirers, including some still within the PDP, are daily signifying interest to join him in the APC. Also the recent killing of former deputy governor of the state, Dr. Chudi Nwike, who served between 1991 and 1993, under former Gover-

nor Chukwuemeka Ezeife, though not declared political, is another factor that may favour the new party in his zone during this year’s elections.

The Nation learnt that Dr. Chudi Nwike, a chieftain of ACN, was until his kidnap and brutal killing, an important force in Anambra State APC. Ebonyi State In Ebonyi State, the National Chairman of All Nigeria People’s Party ( ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who is one of the principal founders

• Onu of APC, will most likely lead the campaign for APC in the state henceforth. A former governor of old Abia State, Onu will be walking with other leaders of his party in the state, the leaders of ACN in the state and that of other opposition parties, who are participating in the merger to battle the ruling People’s Democratic Party.

With the merger, it is believed that the progressives will work as one to effectively challenge PDP in the state.

Even before the merger, opposition political parties in the state have

share common ambition of uprooting PDP in the state.

Abia State In Abia State, APC is also poised to uproot the PDP government. The Nation learnt that the new party will be led mainly by young but radical politicians. Asides the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate in the 2011 gubernatorial election in the state, Prince Paul Ikonne, ANPP member of Board of Trustees, Dr. Francis Egu, had, according to some sources, been pencilled down to play leading roles in the APC 2015 campaigns in the state.

Enugu State In Enugu State, where it was once reported that the incumbent governor, Sullivan Chime, a PDP member, may soon join APC, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Maj.-Gen. Josef Okoloagu (retd.), has been involved in the original coordination of the activities of the progressives ahead of 2015.

As far back as February 25, 2013, when about 1,000 Peoples Democratic Party members reportedly defected to the ACN in the state, Okoloagu had said the defection would further embolden the ACN to wrest power from the PDP in the 2015 general elections in the state.

Since then, so much has happened in the state as more political heavyweights have indicated interest to join the mega party.

With these coordinated moves to ensure victory for APC in the SouthEast zone, starting from this year’s Anambra State govenorship election, it remains to be seen how far the new party can go. Considering the way the party has been received so far, it may not be a difficult task to claim the zone for the progressives. It all depends on how the PDP and others will respond to the challenge.

Who is Aisha Wakil?

•Continued from Page 19

But how was she able to convince the sect members to lay down their arms, she was asked. She said “it was not easy, it was hell. It was horrifying, scary, because when I spoke with one of them, he directed me to come to a particular place.

When I reached the location, I found him with an AK 47 rifle and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“Afterwards, he said, ‘Mama, why did you risk your life to come here? I said because we are killing ourselves and I want to put a stop to the bloodshed. He said ‘you know I’m not alone’. I replied that yes, I know and I said but you can talk to others and that was how the whole thing started. I was able to persuade them to come out from their hideouts in the forest and show their faces, promising that they will not be harmed or arrested. I was able to do so because I’m fully involved in the dialogue procedure.

“After succeeding in convincing some of the insurgents to show up as their safety was guaranteed, I was linked with someone and I contacted the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, who welcomed the development and facilitated several meetings between myself and the insurgents who accepted the dialogue on one hand with the top officials of the state government as well as the Borno Elders Forum, after which the dialogue process was mapped out resulting in the present ceasefire.”

They, however, gave conditions, which include the need for absolute confidence from government that

•Wakil and President Goodluck Jonathan during the inauguration of the committee on amnesty for Boko Haram.

they would not be arrested, all their members in detention should be freed, compensation should be paid to the families and relations of all those killed in the violence.

Others were, rebuilding of the enclave of their leader and houses of some members destroyed in the conflicts, they should also be empowered to be self-reliant, and that all those involved in the extra-judicial killing of late Yusuf should be prosecuted.”

She was not unmindful of the fact

that some members of the sect denied ever agreeing to a ceasefire, but said that the denial could not have come from Abubakar Shekau, leader of the sect. She noted that the leaflets denying the ceasefire did not “emanate from Shekau, because he was in support of the truce and in fact was the one who directed Ibn Abdul-Aziz to represent the sect in the agreement.”

Moreover, why did it take long before the purported Shekau denied

the ceasefire? She replied: “You would recall that before the ceasefire was reached, Shekau was always hasty to react on any particular issue that didn’t emanate from him. I also want to dismiss the recent video footage of the person who claimed to be Shekau, because the insurgents’ spiritual leader does not cover his face in all his appearances as that man did. But even with the ceasefire, killings and bombings have continued. Actually all these attacks were the handiwork of some faceless enemies of peace and progress of the state. Whether they are politicians or ordinary citizens, all I know is that there are some individuals who are not at all happy with the ongoing peace process that the state has started enjoying.”

But she is not happy with the statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan, calling the sect members ghosts. She said, “it is quite unfortunate that the president made this statement at a time when dialogue is still going on, Boko Haram is not a faceless group because we have seen them and sat with them. The president’s position will not in any way jeopardise our peace initiative because we are doing it for the benefit of women, children and elderly people, who are at the receiving end.”

This mystery woman may be the key to solving the insecurity that has continued to destroy the north and the economies of some of the most vibrant cities of the north. It is apparent that a lot will be expected from her if the peace initiative is to work.

22

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Politics

Okadigbo vs Igbeke: An end i As the nation awaits the ruling of the Supreme Court on the rightful occupant of Anambra North Senatorial seat, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, recalls the intrigues that have trailed the election.

T

HE Supreme Court has fixed May 31, 2013, for its judgment in an appeal filed

by Alphonsus Igbeke, seeking to reclaim the Anambra North Senatorial seat from Margery Okadigbo.

With that announcement, the apex court has given an indication that the legal tussle over the Anambra North senatorial seat, which started even before a winner was declared by the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC) in May 2011, may soon be over.

Although Mrs. Margery Okadigbo currently occupies the position, political observers argue that the lingering legal tussle has robbed the people of the district of good representation.

The court fixed the date after both parties had adopted their briefs of arguments in the appeal, in which Igbeke is seeking to set-aside the verdict of the Court of Appeal, which unseated him and declared Lady Okadigbo as the rightful occupant of the seat.

The Appeal Court had declared Okadigbo the lawful nominee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s primaries held on January 8, 2011.

Consequently, Igbeke approached the Supreme Court, seeking some reprieve.

The legal tussle didn’t start with the Appeal Court judgement, rather it started in 2011, when Igbeke contested and was declared winner of the PDP senatorial primaries for Anambra North district.

However, his victory in the primary was challenged in court by two other contestants; Prince John Emeka and Mrs. Margery

Okadigbo. In spite of several efforts by the PDP in Anambra State to resolve the matter amicably, the battle raged on in court until reprieve came the way of Igbeke through a Federal High Court judgement on March 17, 2011.

Justice Kafarati of the Federal High Court confirmed Igbeke the authentic candidate of PDP for the election, having won the highest number of votes. With this judgment, Igbeke contested the senatorial election, won and was issued a Certificate of Return by the INEC as the PDP senator-elect for Anambra North zone.

But Igbeke’s return to the Senate was once again stalled as the Senate leadership said it was in receipt of a letter from INEC saying that Igbeke was issued Certificate of Return without consideration of a notice of appeal and stay of execution.

This was the situation until Friday, 16th December 2011, when the matter became more complicated with the Court of Appeal in Abuja and Enugu divisions reportedly delivering conflicting judgments on the matter.

The Abuja division of the court declared Lady Margery Okadigbo as the authentic candidate, while the Enugu division dismissed her appeal seeking to be declared as the party’s candidate for the April election into the Senate.

While a three-man panel, headed by Justice Samuel Oseji, alongside Justices Amina Augie and Abdu Aboki of the Enugu division of the court, dismissed the case brought by Okadigbo, the Abuja division of the court, headed by Justice M. U Mukhtar, held that Okadigbo was the candidate of the party.

• Okadigbo The court’s judgments emanated from appeals against the judgment of a Federal High Court which declared Senator Alphonsus Igbeke as the winner of the election into the senatorial district.

Okadigbo and another claimant, Prince

John Emeka, had challenged the high court judgment at the Court of Appeal in Abuja and Enugu respectively. It was in the midst of this judicial confusion that all the claimants, Igbeke inclusive, approached the Supreme Court for reprieves.

Anambra 2014: The Ifeanyi Uba factor R ECENTLY, Dr Ifeanyi Uba hosted some traditional rulers and president-generals of town unions in Anambra State to a grand reception at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Lagos.

Transported all the way from the state to Lagos, it was a rare opportunity for the natural leaders to join other Anambriarians in Lagos to relate closely with Uba, whose governorship ambition is no longer a secret.

The occasion afforded Uba the opportunity to discuss one on one with the stakeholders in Anambra State. In the process, he was apprised of the problems in the state and the aspirations of the people of the state.

He asked questions. He received answers.

The people also asked him questions and his answers were informed and candid. It was a pretty long town hall meeting of sorts which lasted from 8pm till 7am the following day.

This shows that Uba is a man who listens and likes to receive ideas from the people. This cross fertilization of ideas is what drives democracy and leads to good governance.

As would be expected, in the course of the visit, Uba also took his guests, made up of a wide spectrum of Anambrarians from all walks of life, including the traditional rulers, presidentsgenerals of town unions, opinion molders and ordinary people, on a facility tour of his companies and business offices. The aim, it seems, was for the people, who he is planning to lead, to see his investments and achievements in Lagos.

The facilities included ships, jetties, depots, filling stations, tankers, and a host of other hightech facilities on ground. It became apparent from findings from the tour that Uba’s Capital and Gas Oil Limited is one of the biggest distributors of petroleum products in Nigeria.

Of great importance is the fact that Capital Oil and Gas has been a major player in the downstream sector ever before the subsidy regime. The company has tankers which supply fuel all over the country. In fact, the activities of the company in the area of supply of petroleum products is one of the reasons why fuel is available everywhere today. This is because while other companies horde fuel in order to make huge profit, Dr. Uba’s companies are only interested in making the products available to all and sundry. Profit is not the driving force for the company.

At the end of it all, most of the guests agreed that Uba knows his onions in his chosen field of

• Uba

By Prince Oliver Okpala endeavour and is therefore a good candidate for the governorship seat of Anambra State.

This concenssus, according to the guests, was because Uba, through that unique visit, “allowed his people to have a holistic eye-view and make a total appraisal of him as a businessman and a major player in the downstream sector of the oil economy. He was not afraid to let his people know him inside out. He has nothing to hide. He proved to us that he has no skeleton in his cup board. He laid all the cards on the table. After the visit, we can attest he is not a pretender. He showed us and the good people of Anambra State, who we represent, what he is doing in Lagos and his means of livelihood.”

It should be mentioned here that this is the first time a business mogul from Anambra State who is interested in the governorship of the state has conducted his people round his business facilities, investments and activities, to prove that he has the capacity to govern a state like Anambra.

He proved that he does clean business.

This effort, to me, is commendable of an aspirant that wants to serve his people. I believe that Nigeria will be a great nation the day those who aspire to control the reins of power have the confidence and grace to take their constituents to their places of business and offices for an on-thespot assessment of who and what they are.

The Nigeria political landscape is littered with jobless, unemployed and hungry men and women who are in politics simply as a means of livelihood. Some politicians engage in politics not because they love their people and seek to advance their welfare. On the contrary, these politicians are only seeking the means to ek out a living, to survive and to make ends meet.

No wonder, then, that as soon as such people secure power, they embark on monumental looting and plundering of the coffers as government allocation, meant for the provision of dividends of democracy are pocketed and embezzled with impunity. White elephant projects are kick-started here and there as a ploy to siphon public funds. To a large extent, the crippling corruption, fraud, embezzlement and widespread pilfering prevalent in Nigeria today is from hungry men who suffered great poverty, want and deprivation and who view public office as an opportunity to recoup what had been eaten by the locust.

There are politicians who cannot fight elections on their own either because of lack of influence or resources or absolute poverty of ideas. This, they rely on godless godfathers who help and assist them to grab power on the understanding that they will use public funds to settle them back. This is the bane of Nigerian politics.

We need a statesman, outspoken, confident, able and ready men who have no psychological problems and other inadequacies to join the political train so as to turn around the economy of this country. For such leadership offices, we do not need people who are merely looking for employment. We need men and women of reason who have made it in their chosen fields of endeavor and who cannot be swayed by financial considerations if they find themselves in the corridors of power.

We need men like Uba, who are rich and will thereore not likely to misappropriate public funds but will augment the same with their own resources. We need patriots in power. We need statesmen. We need goodmen.

The eve of godfatherism should be over. The

godsons have ruined many states and governments. A distinguished personality and wealthy businessman like Uba will not likely dip hands into the coffers of government to help himself. Uba is not coming to government to make money. He is not seeking political office to acquire wealth or buy private jet which he already has. From what we have seen so far, it is certain that Uba is coming to create wealth in Anambra State, to reinvigorate the economy, resuscitate ailing infrastructures, provide employment and give hope to the people.

The leaders in Anambra State have seen it all.

They are in a position to assess Uba and his pedigree. For long, Anambra State has been held by the jugular by a group of never-do-wells and political tin-gods. Anambra State has been in neocolonial bondage of sorts. The state has been in ruins. It has been unable to rise above mediocrity.

The state lies comatose. This is a state where godfathers arrested a sitting governor and detained him. It is the state where ascendancy to governorship has been a function of who you know and how connected you are and not what you know and what you can offer.

So, Dr. Uba, to progressive minded people of Anambra State, is a Daniel come to judgment. He is coming to wipe out the tears of helpless and hapless Anambrarians who have been suffering in silence and praying that a Messiah will come to save them from their bondage and incapacitation.

The tour of his facilities in Lagos has opened the eyes of many. It is a testimony to Uba’s capacity and willingness to liberate Anambra from the shackles of poverty, penury and deprivation, once he becomes governor.

In fact, the good people of Anambra State, the leaders and the common people like, are now convinced that Uba is a fit and proper person to be the Governor of Anambra State.

This style, adopted by Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Uba, to say the least, is revolutionary, it is the first time a public office seeker has arranged to meet the people at close quarters to interact with them and share ideas on how to move the state forward.

After the interaction, the people were not only impressed but they were of the firm view that Uba is the man whom God has prepared and positioned to save Anambra State from the ruin and maladministration of yester-years. * Okpala, a political analyst, wrote in from Awka, Anambra State

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Politics

d in sight?

• Igbeke In July 2012, the Supreme Court declared Okadigbo, who is the wife of the former senate president, the late Chuba Okadigbo, the duly nominated candidate of the PDP and the winner of the April 16, 2011 senatorial election for Anambra North zone. Consequently, on July 16, 2012 she was sworn in as the senator representing Anambra North senatorial district.

But her stay in the upper chamber is far from being a peaceful one as she continued to be faced with legal obstacles.

While Igbeke unrelentingly filed an appeal against her election at the Supreme Court, allegation of forgery was soon brought against Okadigbo.

Accused of forging the documents with which she convinced the court to declare her as the senator-elect, Okadigbo was

invited by the police and dragged to court by a coalition of human rights organisations. Thus began fresh rounds of legal tussle over the same Anambra north senatorial seat.

And nearly two years into the life of the current senate, the matter of who is the rightful occupant of the senate seat in Anambra north remains unresolved. This explains why many people are interested in what the Supreme Court will be saying on May 31, 2013.

While adopting their brief of argument in the appeal, Igbeke’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), prayed the five-man panel of the apex court to hold that his client is the valid candidate of the PDP in the said primary election.

However, Senator Okadigbo’s lawyer, Yusuf Ali (SAN), opposed the appeal as he contended that the apex court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it, as it is not a trial court, therefore it cannot admit fresh exhibits from the appellant.

He further argued that the apex court lacked jurisdiction in the matter because, according to the learned counsel, it would amount to the apex court reversing itself if it gave verdict contrary to its earlier judgment of July 6, 2012, where in Prince John Emeka Vs Lady Margery Okadigbo & Ors, the apex court declared Okadigbo as the proper candidate and senator-elect for the Anambra North Senatorial election of April 16, 2011.

But Olanipekun says in the face of existing circumstances, it is doubtful if Ali’s arguement can suffice to preclude Igbeke’s appeal. He argues that the argument is standing on broken legs and as such, will not survive for long.

“It must be pointed out that the matter before the apex court for judgment on July, 6, 2012 was between John Emeka and Margery Okadigbo and interestingly, Igbeke was not a party in the matter.

As a matter of fact, before the judgment of July 6, 2012, Igbeke had competently filed his own appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which declared Okadigbo winner of the PDP primaries of January 8, 2011.

It becomes necessary to recall here that Igbeke’s appeal came up at the apex court on July 5, 2012, a day before the said judgment was delivered,” Igbeke’s counsels submitted.

With Igbeke still asking the apex court to declare him winner of the election in the senatorial zone because he contested and won it as acknowledged by the Chairman of the Electoral Panel of the NWC in the person of Senator Waku on January 5, 2011, the pronouncement of the Court on May 31, 2013 will either make or mar Senator Okadigbo’s sojourn at the National Assembly.

Political

ripples Aloysius Etuk on the firing line Uche Ekwunife

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UST weeks after Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State announced that Senator Aloysius Etuk will be the campaign coordinator for his (Akpabio) election into the senate in 2015, latest reports indicate that some lawmakers and local government chairman in Etuk’s constituency have initiated a process to recall the senator from the National Assembly.

Sources revealed that Etuk may have incurred the wrath of the governor over some undisclosed issues, which necessitated the action of Etuk’s constituents. Unconfirmed report indicates that the senator is allegedly not comfortable with ceding his seat to the governor in 2015 and may re-contest on another party’s platform.

set for governorship

N

OT many people in Anambra State were surprised when reports filtered out that House of Representatives member, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, is oiling her political machinery to contest the 2014 governorship election next year. A member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), it is, however, not clear if the lawmaker has sought the blessing of Governor Peter Obi to contest for the party’s ticket, even as there are speculations that the governor has another person in mind as his would-be successor.

23

Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Bamidele and the Akintola option

P

RIOR to the indication of his interest to contest a Senate seat in the 2011 general elections, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele was considered an activist, one who would at any point put the society and general interest before the personal. He had graduated from the Ife School of Radical Politics and was considered well groomed for the task at hand.

He had been an aide of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the nineties and later served under him in the Lagos State executive council.

Bamidele had all needed to represent Ekiti Central in the Senate.

However, different conditions have ways of testing men to separate opportunists from genuine servants of the people.

Opeyemi had to run in a packed race. His opponents included the irrepressible Dele Alake and another seasoned journalist and activist, Babafemi Ojudu. It was a clash of titans. All the men were senior members of the same political tendency and some had thought that leaders of the group would have no problem wading in and deciding on what to do.

Though controversially, the leaders acted as expected of them; they decided on Ojudu as the fit and proper candidate for the seat. But, Bamidele would hear nothing of it. He was offered a seat in the House of Representatives, but thought it infra dig. He was willing to risk all his ostensibly altruistic contributions to the resistance movement by storming out and starting afresh.

Eventually, reason prevailed, or so it seemed at the time.

Opeyemi agreed to take the House option, contested on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria and won. Many did not have the opportunity; they lost the ticket and crashed out. Opeyemi who had been a major beneficiary of the Tinubu tendency in the progressive circle, however continued to nurse a a grudge against the Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who was accused of sabotaging MOB’s interest, the party in the state and the entire movement.

MOB is today a privileged member of the party by virtue of his membership of the House, but he has indicated interest in treading the same path that the late Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola trod in the First Republic. Akintola was the stormy petrol of Action Group politics. He was well regarded in and by the party as a great mobiliser. He had a word or anecdote for every constituency and could do anything to remain relevant in national politics.

Akintola had served as a member of the Federal Parliament, Minister of Labour and succeeded Chief Bode Thomas, a successful and brilliant advocate, as Deputy Leader of the group.

He was well placed. However, the character of a man comes out only the sail turns rough. Until party leader Obafemi Awolowo decided to bid for the Prime Ministership, all was well in the party. And, following Awo’s decision, Akintola thought it his right to logically step into the big shoes as Western Region premier. On account of administrative acumen, Awo had reservations about his deputy’s ambition.

But, other party leaders prevailed on the leader who acquiesced in the interest of peace.

But, that was a grave mistake. Akintola had already crossed the Rubicon. He had seen an opening to move off tangent and do in his leader. He started fraternizing with enemies of the party and would gladly play Pontius Pilate. Inordinate ambition and love for power or material things could only blind a man to realities. Akintola entered into an elaborate plan to destroy Awo and his political enterprise. In the process, he prepared himself as an ally of the Northern People’s Congress in the South West. Between 1962 and 1966, Akintola played whatever role was assigned him by Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa. In the process, there was conflagration in the West. Awo was herded to jail, his followers restricted to furlong places in the region and the AG decimated.

But, at last, truth prevailed; Awo was vindicated and the house built on sand crashed. Akintola, his cohorts and the new political tendency died in the giddy days of January 1966, while the God of restoration looked in Awo’s direction. He was released from jail and installed Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council.

In Ekiti, Bamidele seems to have decided to leave the ACN or whatever new platform the tendency may decide to erect towards contesting the 2015 elections. It is his inalienable right to make plans and do whatever suits him. However, he appears not to have read the situation well. A number of men are being prepared to do the dirty job of forcing a political party on the South West. As was done with Akintola’s NNDP in the First Republic, the Labour Party (probably an ally of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party) has secured Ondo State. Would the PDP be willing to use Accord in Oyo, empower LP in Ekiti to weaken the ACN and move cash and logistics support heavily to subvert the Aregbesola bold moves in Osun?

Other men like Fasehun and Falae are playing well choreographed roles in the coming tragedy. Now, the jigsaw puzzle is falling in place as Opeyemi prepares to join the orchestra. My advice, as a student of Nigeria’s political history, to both the old and young hands hired for the task is that they should commission a good study of their terrain. There is no room for a second chance for those considered betrayers of the Yoruba cause.

24

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

‘There is nothing sacrosanct about Nigeria’s unity’ As the country prepares to celebrate the centenary of its amalgamation next year, the Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev Emele Uka tells Nicholas Kalu the celebration is in self-deceit. Emele who is also a professor speaks on amnesty for the perpetrators of the Boko Haram atrocities, among other issues.

•Uka

called on the President to renounce his faith and become a Muslim because they believe it is a contradiction in terms for a Christian to lead a Muslim country. It should be understood that Nigeria was registered as a member of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and D8, an organisation of Islamic countries made up of Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and now Nigeria. Obasanjo endorsed it. He attended the D8 Summit in Egypt on February 24, 2001 and since then, they took it for granted Nigeria has become an Islamic country and Jonathan followed his footsteps by attending their meetings. These are efforts made by the Muslims to Islamise Nigeria and there is no doubt about that. When they failed to gain the leadership of the presidency, they came up with Boko Haram which we have not heard of before. With Boko Haram, they are making no pretences that because we are registered with OIC and D8, they feel that Nigeria is a Muslim country and therefore it is a contradiction in terms for a Christian to lead a Muslim country. This is being supported tacitly by some northern leaders who are financially buying the cars, weapons and are paying compensation to the families and those engaged in suicide bombing of Christian churches and business centres. Otherwise how could young men with no visible means of livelihood finance these Islamisation programmes of the Boko Haram?

That is the problem we are facing as a Christian church, both under the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), the deliberate effort by Muslims to Islamise this country. The issue of Boko Haram is a front burner and we Christians are saying they must

“

The issue of Boko Haram is a front burner and we Christians are saying they must not be given any amnesty.

That would be to celebrate criminality if you do that. That these people are shedding innocent blood of people who have not done them any wrong for no just cause and if government is unable to check this insurgency, our members in the North should be empowered to acquire arms to protect themselves.

“

W

HAT is your position as a Christian leader on amnesty for Boko Haram?

Let us first of all trace the history of the emergence of Boko Haram. It claims that Nigeria is an Islamic country and even

not be given any amnesty. That would be to celebrate criminality if you do that. That these people are shedding innocent blood of people who have not done them any wrong for no just cause and if government is unable to check this insurgency, our members in the North should be empowered to acquire arms to protect themselves. It is only a tree that would see that it is going to be cut down and it would stand. And that is why for us to check the insurgency of the Boko Haram, Nigeria must remove its name from OIC and D8. We have no business being part of those arrangements.

Also the issue of Sharia in Nigeria must be dealt with. There

is no need operating two legal systems in one country – one Sharia and the other secular. It is this system of running Sharia in the North and secular in the South that is creating problems. We are not really a nation in actual fact.

We are a nation on paper. In actual practice, we are nation divided against itself. We are a colonial construct, a geographical expression and not a nation. So it is high time Nigeria begins to tell the truth to itself that since we came together as a nation without our consent as a people, it is high time that the people given their histories thus far should meet in national conference and see if we can continue as a nation. I pray that Boko Haram should be stopped otherwise they would compel other sections of the country to show them that no one has a monopoly of violence. That would not augur well for this nation. Let nobody think that anyone has the birth right to rule this nation. President Jonathan should call a state of emergency to check the menace, it is within his right. The premise for amnesty to Boko Haram does not even arise. There is no way you can grant amnesty to murderers who spilt innocent blood for no just cause. It will be celebrating criminality. It is not part of our culture to glorify criminals. If it is done out of fear, then it is unfortunate. In fact, I think elections should not hold in 2015 except the issue of Boko Haram is resolved.

The fall out of this is the issue of corruption. Transparency International has rated Nigeria very low, which means we are highly corrupt and unfortunately we are not doing anything to check the corruption in the country. Also the way the rich are treating the poor is extremely ungodly and very unfortunate. Democracy in Nigeria is government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. The issue of corruption has to be checked.

How do you feel about government’s arrangement to celebrate 100 years of amalgamation?

•Continued on Page 25

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

•Continued from Page 24 That is part of our arrangement in self-deceit. I say we are a colonial construct. I say we are operating a constitution we do not practice. I say that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. This 100 years, rather than celebrate it, it should afford us the opportunity to come together as nation states to We are not really a see how we can forge an arrangement within the nation in actual fact. six geopolitical zones We are a nation on on whether they want to be one or not. paper. In actual History tells us practice, we are when the United Nations called for nation divided decolonisation some against itself. We are federations put together by the British colonial a colonial construct, a power were broken up, geographical for example, the East African Federation became expression and not a Uganda, Kenya and nation. So it is high Uganda.

Nigeria should not time Nigeria begins consider the unity conto tell the truth to cept as sacrosanct. There is nothing sacrosanct itself that since we about its unity. We are came together as a being sentimental about the reality of unity. It nation without our does not exist. Those consent as a people, who are doing it are just doing so out of self-interest.

“

History tells us that the federations put together by the British when the United Nations called for decolonisation, include the Federation of West Indies, East African Federation, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the Federation of Nigeria. So far, the East African Federation failed and dissolved into Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Federation of Tanzania and Nyasaland failed and dissolved into Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Only the Federation of Nigeria is standing and the British fought tooth and nail to make sure it did not disintegrate during the Biafran /Nigerian war. So in celebrating our centenary, we are celebrating a colonial construct, a geographical expression and not a nation. In celebrating our centenary we should know we have a problem of not being one nation and we use the occasion to call for a national conference to see if we can remain as one or dissolve into six geographical zones as have been muted.

Also I feel that so far northerners have ruled, and westerners have ruled, it is now time for the South-East to rule.

Do you think they (South East) are prepared, especially in light of crisis within Ohaneze group?

What do you mean by being prepared? Crisis or no crisis, Israel has crisis, but when it comes to issue of security they come together. When it is agreed that the Igbo must produce the next President, then they would sink their differences to produce a credible candidate irrespective of the political party from where the candidate emerges.

All we are saying is that it is the turn of the Igbo in this country to produce the next president.

With Jonathan likely to run in 2015, how realisable is this for the Igbo?

Well, he has not said categorically that he wants to run. But if he wants to run, we should give him a chance because we cannot be cutting our noses to spite our faces.

One thing we have to note is that we must not take God for

granted in this country. We have been taking God for granted thinking we have the capacity to do this and that and plan.

We don’t have that. We are not God and after all our permutations and planning, God will still have to do his will.

Nobody’s blood in this nation has been spilt as that of the Igbo.

What is your assessment of President Jonathan’s administration?

It is an unfortunate thing that Jonathan says he is not a Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar. He is a humble man trying to run a very complex nation and he is having teething problems arising from the nature of Nigeria’s politics. He came on board at an unfortunate time where he inherited all these accumulation of corrupt practices. So we have sympathy for his leadership and pray that God would sustain him.

But I think those working with him should cooperate more than trying to run him down. The advice I have for Jonathan is to review the membership of his advisers. Also we would encourage him to be firm in addressing national issues that pertain to corruption. We also plead that he cooperates with those that are fighting corruption at several levels. It is unfortunate that even in his cabinet, Boko Haram infiltrated them. These are some of the complex things he is facing. He does not know who to trust. It is unfortunate but only God can help us in this very delicate situation. It is a very delicate situation.

People should leave him alone to run his government instead of trying to push him around. I don’t like the idea that people who should be behind bars are parading themselves as former heads of state, when they came in through the barrel of the gun. They should stop making uncomplimentary remarks about the presidency. They did not come in through democratic process. They were unknown quantities before the military coup and now they have come in and made so much money from sources I don’t know where and are seeing themselves as paragons in this nation.

“

Human trafficking: Nigerian girls sold into sex slavery in Italy N

APLES mafiosi were convicted last week of forcing a Nigerian cancer patient into prostitution. Barbie Latza Nadeau on the African girls trapped in Italy’s sex-slave trade.

The Domitiana highway was built in 95 A.D. as a thoroughfare, leading north up the boot of Italy from the bay of Naples. Now it is something like a one-stop sex supermarket where up to 600 Nigerian prostitutes can be found at a time along a 30-kilometer stretch of the pot-holed road.

Across Italy, Nigerian women are forced into the sex trade, essentially kept as slaves who are bought and sold and moved according to a moribund supply and demand. Some of the prostitutes are young girls, just 13 or 14 years old. Others are in their 20s or 30s. Many have children. Some are still married to men in Nigeria. They usually sit on white plastic chairs under umbrellas to protect them from the rain in the winter and the harsh sun in the summer. The highest concentration of Nigerian forced sex workers is in and around Naples, but they are not limited to the southern reaches. On Thursday, in the central region of Abruzzo, four Nigerian gang members and an Italian taxi driver who allegedly procured prostitutes across the country were sentenced to between nine and 15 years in prison for making 23-year-old Nigerian Lilian Solomon prostitute herself even though she was in the late stages of lymphoma cancer. The court in Teramo ruled that the Nigerian band prohibited the young woman from seeking treatment and should be held responsible for her death.

She was represented in court by members of “On the Road” association against sex trafficking, which alerted authorities about her plight. Solomon testified under oath against the band before she died in 2009. The sentence, four years after her death, won’t bring her back, but it is one small step to-

ward holding the sex traffickers accountable.

According to Renato Natale, a local Neapolitan doctor who is a former anti-mafia mayor of Casal di Principe, the majority of the Nigerian girls and women who are sex slaves were sold for around $50,000 by their parents or husbands in Nigeria, often to pay loan sharks or to get families out of debt. Some women paid sums of more than $13,000 out of their own pockets in exchange for the promise to find legitimate work in Italy with the goal of sending money home or even eventually bringing their entire families over. Natale says when they arrive in Italy, they are often raped into submission and plied with drugs and turned into prostitutes. Many of the women have scars on their bodies from a voodoo-style initiation ritual where they pledge allegiance to their pimps out of fear of torture. “Frida,” 26, is a former prostitute who now works at a shelter for abused women in Rome. She says her initiation included vaginal penetration with a hot candle. She has scars on her inner thighs from the hot wax. She worked on the Via Domitiana for three years before she ran away with one of her clients who she befriended. She said many of the women on the Neapolitan highway try to convince the clients to take them away, but they often get caught and the men are threatened never to return.

“Even the police sometimes pay for sex,” she told The Daily Beast. “There is no protection there from anyone. There is no one you can trust.”

She says she was required to pay the Nigerian mafia dons $400 a month for one-square-meter of highway to work off the $50,000 investment. Natale says the Nigerians, in turn, pay a fee to the Casalesi clan of the Camorra organized-crime syndicate, who run the sex trade around Naples. Natale says the women are not allowed to charge more than $13 a trick—the market rate for street sex in the impoverished south—and they

25

are not allowed to refuse customers. Frida says they were afraid to charge more. “They watched us all the time,” she says. “They would drive by or send spies to make sure we stayed in line.”

Prostitution is not illegal in Italy as long as the sex workers are over 18, but it is illegal to pick up a prostitute on the street. Recently, police have been enforcing the client crackdown on roadside prostitution by fining the clients, so the mob has started buying up apartment blocks along the Via Domitiana and in other parts of the country. They have started moving the women off the streets and into the villas where drugs are sold in the basement and sex is sold upstairs. Natale used to visit the women on the streets and give them medications for STDs. He says the move to put the women in the houses is far more dangerous and life-threatening. “These people are treated like merchandise,” he says. “Now they are being kept in these houses that are protected by armed guards.

They were somewhat safer on the streets because at least there we could check on them.”

There is little hope to stop the illegal sex-trafficking racket, says Natale, because most of the women are illegal immigrants and do not have documents and are not in the Italian state system and therefore “nonexistent” in the eyes of the authorities. But there is also a bigger problem in that there is no authoritative government entity currently involved in stopping sex trafficking in Italy. All the work is done by non-governmental organizations with limited funds and virtually no power. “We are like ghosts,” says Frida, who recently legalized her living status in Italy and wants to help other Nigerians get off the street. “We are literally shadows on the highway.”

• Source: The Daily Beast

26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

Politics

Mohammed, Ningi head race for Bauchi governorship mosity against him by many PDP members in the state and is already mending fences with the aggrieved party members.”

The scheming in the race to succeed Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State in 2015 is on with three candidates in the lead, reports Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo

N

OT even his closest aides can accurately read his mind on his plans for succession. For the Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, he has kept this agenda close to his chest and only waiting for an auspicious time to make his move.

In the last few months, opinions have been divided in the North East state among major political stakeholders over who succeeds Yuguda, whose second term in office lapses in 2015.

And from all indications, the next governorship race in the state would likely be a reenactment of the election in 2007, which brought in Yuguda. Full of drama and intense political maneuverings, the climax of the election was the defeat of the governorship candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Nadada Umar, by the candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Yuguda.

The then governor, Adamu Muazu Umar, had backed his Secretary to State Government, Umar, who defeated Yuguda in the PDP primaries. Not satisfied with this outcome, Yuguda defected to the ANPP and was handed the governorship ticket on a platter of gold.

He further proved his political worth by defeating Umar in the 2007 general elections.

It was a fatal blow to the Muazu’s assumed larger-than-life political image in the state.

Though Yuguda has since returned to PDP, the question many stakeholders in the state are asking is, will the 2007 scenario repeat itself in 2015?

At the last count, three prominent politicians, Abdul Ningi, the Senate Deputy Leader, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed and Nadada Umar, Chairman of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises of Nigeria (SMEDAN), are reportedly interested in taking over from Yuguda in 2015.

The general consensus in the state is that the central zone should produce the next governor in 2015. If this unwritten policy is followed, the coast seems clear for Ningi and Mohammed, who both hail from the zone.

Ningi leads the race He has been a major player in the politics of Bauchi State since 1999 when he was elected into the House of Representatives, culminating into his election as the Deputy Leader of the lower House in 2007.

For Ningi, his election as governor will be a fitting climax to a political career that has seen him rising from relative obscurity to national prominence.

• Yuguda In the last one year, sources revealed that the senator has been intimating important stakeholders in the state of his intention to succeed Yuguda. The positive responses he reportedly got, according to a source, prompted Ningi to set up an interim organisation to coordinate his governorship campaign.

For now, there are strong indications that the lawmaker stands out among the other aspirants in the race to succeed Yuguda in 2015.

It’s dicey for Mohammed The minister has not formally announced his interest in the race, but sources disclosed that he has embarked on a surreptitious campaign to win the support of those that matter in the state.

An elected senator until he was appointed

by President Goodluck Jonathan to run the Federal Capital Territory in 2010, a cold war had reportedly ensued between Mohammed and Yuguda over sundry issues, ranging from the former’s alleged subtle moves to undermine the governor’s hold on the state chapter of the PDP. Mohammed was also accused by the governor’s associates of discreetly dispensing patronage to certain influential indigenes of the

Yuguda and Muazu yet to reconcile Until they fell apart in 2007, Yuguda and Muazu, according to sources, were quite close. The incumbent governor had taken Muazu, then the governor, into confidence of his governorship ambition, but felt betrayed that Muazu, after assuring him of his support, decided to back Umar.

Reports had it that Muazu threw his support behind his erstwhile SSG on the premise that Yuguda, who had served at the federal level as a twotime minister, should concede the governorship seat to another candidate.

Till this moment, both Muazu and Yuguda have avoided each other like a plague.

Attempts by influential elders in the state to reconcile the two men in the past have

• Muazu state, including traditional rulers and religious clerics, in order to curry their favour ahead of the 2015 elections.

But reason soon prevailed following a reconciliation between the two political gladiators some months ago. Many of the minister’s supporters viewed the development as a signal that the governor may be favourably disposed to Mohammed’s governorship aspiration.

also come to naught.

One of these efforts involved the late Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, who reportedly made several concerted efforts in this regard but failed. His successor and son, Ibrahim Adamu, has also tried and failed in this regard.

So frosty is the relationship between the two men that since 2007, they have not seen eye-to-eye, according to sources in Bauchi.

Umar’s albatross His emergence as the PDP governorship candidate in 2007 left in its wake controversies and divisions in the party, which has remained unresolved till date.

This albatross, it was learnt, continues to be a major handicap for Umar in his ambition to govern the North East state.

The Nation gathered that many PDP members in the state, for fear of getting into the bad book of Yuguda, have not bought into Umar’s governorship project. What has further made Umar a hard sell is his close links with ex-governor Muazu, whose influence in the politics of the state has allegedly waned considerably in the last six years.

Sources close to Umar, however, told The Nation, “He (Umar) knows the deep seated ani-

Yuguda holds the ace While the governor has reportedly told close aides interested in the 2015 governorship race to wait until next year before starting their campaign, aspirants already touted as frontrunners are said to be aware that the governor holds the ace on who succeeds him.

Besides the fact that Yuguda is perceived to have performed, a factor that has put him in a good stead to have a huge say in who succeeds him, he is also in the good books of the Presidency and the leaders of the party at the national level.

For now, the governor has not given any hint on his preference for succession, but there are strong indications that he may not back any of those already touted as front-runners in the race.

‘ABSU alumni align with Senate on Uzor Kalu’ • Continued from Page 20 produced Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, present SSG to the Federal Government who is a 1987 set, Barrister Emeka Wogu, present Minister for Labour and Productivity (1986 set), Barrister Chuka Odom, immediate past Minister of State for the FCT (1985 set), Professor Anslem Odinkalu (1987 set), Barrister Chris Okewelonu, former SSG, Imo State (1985 set), Sir Greyne Anosike, Director in the Federal Ministry of Information (1985 set) and so many other distinguished Nigerians including myself who is the present Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Abia State. We align ourselves with the decision of the Senate.”

Is Umeh Kalu also fighting to protect the image of the Abia State Government, which has been in a running battle with Uzor Kalu since he lost his stranglehold on it? He disa-

greed but was quick to add that there was no correlation between the university’s decision and Uzor Kalu’s political war with the state government. “The university is an independent body from the Government of Abia State.

Although a state university, it has a law setting it up, which it must follow and guidelines regulating all activities in the university. There is a University Council that is charged with the general administration of the institution, headed by Senator (General) Ike Nwachukwu as chairman. All academic matters are statutorily regulated by the Senate, which is made up of seasoned academicians.

If there are political battles to be fought between Orji Uzor Kalu and the present government of Abia State, the terrain for such battles is wide and definitely cannot be the university environment,” he argued.

Kalu, who acknowledged that the Nigerian

media wrote extensively on this subject in 2002, insisted it was not possible for a serving governor to gain a full time admission and pass his examinations because of the burden and demand of governance. He said that if the speculation is true that the Abia State Government had a hand in the withdrawal of the certificate, “it could equally be assumed that Orji Uzor Kalu used undue influence on the authorities to admit him without the requisite qualifications and awarded him a degree of the university without meeting the basic requirements.”

The Abia State Attorney-General rose to the height of a disciplinarian the way a high court judge would, warning that public officers should be made to know the limits of their powers and that they are accountable for their deeds when in office and even when they are out of office. He stressed: “The best time for him to have sought the said admission either

in Abia State University or elsewhere would have been after leaving office just like Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe did at the University of Lagos.”

And what prevents Orji Uzor Kalu from challenging this matter in a competent court of law? Umeh Kalu said it was not unexpected but advised the ex-governor against listening to those seeking to profit from what looks like a good case. “A court action may not be in his interest in this matter as the university will not only join issues with him but may be forced to adduce and produce more damaging evidence that may lie in the realm of criminality in the process. So many persons who played one role or the other from the point of admission till the end game, which is the award of the supposed degree, may be culpable. It is therefore better to rest the matter and not to resurrect it.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

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Glamour

Social

ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: crownkool@yahoo.com, Tel: 08023849036)

•Ladipo

•Akinwunmi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Glamour

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46

Glamour

By: Olusegun Rapheal

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

&

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

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with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

?

Princess

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

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With Joe Agbro Jr. 08056745268

WORD WHEEL Hello children, Hope you enjoyed your holiday and are prepared to start a new term at school. Do ensure you continue to study hard and learn something new everyday

How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We've found 22, including one nine-letter words.

PUZZLE Four children have different last names. Find out everyone's full name.

Smith •Some young girls posing for a photograph with mentors after attending a one-day conference organised by Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) to mark the Inernational Girls in ICT day on Thursday, at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos.

PHOTO:DAVID ADEJO

JOKE

POEM

States of the federation

Jobless Nigerian graduates

A

MAN was angry with his son for poor performance in Geography tests in school and tried to reprimand his son’s poor performance. He added “In my school days, I know all the states and capitals by heart.”

The son replied ‘Dad, there were only 12 states in your days at school.”

By Tioluwani Dosunmu

.

SAM LIL DAN. BARB

Lee

.

.

. .

.

1. Barb's last name does not have a "z" in it.

2. Sam's last name does not end with an "s"..

3. Lil's last name has 5 letters in it.

4. Sam's last name is not the shortest one here.

I ACHE without pain I shiver without cold I’m troubled day and night Troubled by a ghost Trailing me everywhere I got A ghost, called UNEMPLOYMENT Oh! What a pity Walking through the streets With broken shoes and a broken spirit Where is the white collar job I’ve always dreamt of I walked to and fro the messy streets all to no avail Where is the white collar job I’ve always dreamt of?

Jones Gonzales

SUDOKU

•Dosunmu is a primary six pupils of MayDay School, Isolo, Lagos

To play Sudoku: Fill the box with the numbers 1 to 9 in a way that •Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each row must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •No two numbers in the same column, row, or block can be the same.

9

3 7

1

2

8

6

4

9 1

8

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

4

3

2

7

9

8

9

7

3

3

5

6

9

6 4 5

6

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Young Nation

51

WEIRD FACTS • Rhinoceros

.

•Kangaroos walk backwards

cannot

•Owls can rotate their head up to 270 degrees •Of all living cat species, tigers are the best swimmers * Children playing during the TANG Family FunDay held at Tickle Bay, Victoria Island, Lagos, to mark the launch of Tang by Cadbury Nigeria Plc. Tang is a fruit-flavoured powdered beverage made from a 100% natural flavour base and formulated to include many vitamins and minerals

SHARK SHARKS have been around for some 350 million years. Shark livers are big, fat, and oily, and help sharks float.

Baby sharks are on their own right from the start, and their mother may see them only as prey. At birth the baby shark (Pup) is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long already.

Adult great white sharks can swim up to speeds of 69 kilometers an hour. Some great white sharks can weigh more than 2,000 kilograms.

•The great white shark's scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias

Shark attacks on humans

are rare. However, the species of shark that tend to be most dangerous to humans include great white sharks, tiger sharks, and bull sharks.

•Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system •A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.

history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896.

Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

•Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.

•TYPEWRITER, is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.

•A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

•The shortest war in

A great white shark's teeth can measure more than 2.5 inches (5.7 centimeters) long.

•The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw AN and O-Z, hence "Oz."

Sharks are cartilaginous fish, which means that their skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone.

Shark skin is so rough that people have sometimes used it as sandpaper.

Sharks have acute hearing, good eyesight, and a keen sense of smell. They use all of these senses for hunting.

WORD SEARCH

WORD GAME Fill in the spaces to get the correct word using the clue below

1. - M - E - H -

Subjects

•Governor of a Southeastern Nigerian State

2. -

O K -

J

-

•A major confluence town in Nigeria

3.

B

D

• A popular tourist resort in Southeast Nigeria •Find subjects listed below in the wordsearch on the left AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE BIOLOGY CHEMISTRY COMMERCE ECONOMICS ENGLISH FINE ARTS FRENCH GEOGRAPHY GOVERNMENT HISTORY MATHEMATICS MUSIC PHYSICS TECHNICAL DRAWING

Write for The Nation!

Do you fancy yourself as a writer someday? Stop dreaming and start writing. A topic will be presented here every week and you’re encouraged to send in entries in not more than 150 words. The best original story will be published from time to time, so get cracking!

Entries should be sent to sundaynation@yahoo.com and should be accompanied by the writer’s name, age, school and class.

This week’s topic is : “What will you like to be when you grow up?”

4. - O -

- C - O

•A North African country

5. - U - E - M •A place where artefacts are kept

6. G - R - F -

-

•An animal that has a long neck

7. -

- U - P - T

• A wind musical instrument

8. -

I

- M - N -

•A valuable precious stone

9. - T -

-

I

- M

•A place where sports is played

10. L -

- A - D

•The first Governor General of Nigeria

52

Etcetera

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

Harmless yarn The writer warns that the following account – true or not – contains humour that may be mild or trite, depending on viewpoint, but intends nonetheless, in serving fare lighter than recently usual, to cause a smile or two beside further caveat: by its harmless consumption, readers are liable to live long.

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

HOW did Kologba Mensa’s penchant for the absurd emerge early in life?

Village folks said that as a child, he erased notes from his book when the Primary One teacher erased the blackboard during lessons. And in his teens, the round-faced, lanky lad was once found walking with a glove on one hand and nothing on the other. Asked to explain his appearance, he said that he merely responded to ‘undecided’ weather. “The weather forecast on TV said that on one hand it would be cold and on the other hand it would be hot.”

Jobless for some time after leaving secondary school, Kologba worked on a farm, but found the constant tilling, planting and weeding tedious.

Convinced that his previous experience with crops would stand him in good stead, he left to undertake livestock farming, beginning with poultry. After raising capital from concerned family and friends, he went out and bought 50 chicks to start.

Three weeks after, he returned to the dealer for another 50 because the first set died. Three weeks after that, he was back at the dealer’s for yet another 50 as the second batch also died.

“I think I know where I got it wrong,” said Kologba when the dealer wanted to know how he handled the birds, “I think I planted them too deep.”

Hungry for some success after his fruitless efforts, Kologba applied for a job at the local supermarket. He collected an employment form on a Monday and duly filled it until he got to the column ‘Salary Expected’. After much thought he wrote: ‘Yes’.

Realising soon that a 9-to-5 job would scarcely make him rich, Kologba gave the local lottery serious thought. After playing for a month, he won 5, 000 naira from a 500 naira lottery ticket and the agent gave him N3, 500 after deducting tax.

Kologba wasn’t amused. The agent was. “Give me N5, 000 or else return my N500 back!” said Kologba.

Kologba would get rich or die trying. He fairly bristled with business ideas but lacked requisite finance. How about a loan? Someone heard that one could apply for government aid with a feasible business plan. Kologba latched on. But he needed to sort out his tax papers upon further enquiry, so he travelled to the city where he stayed with a friend.

The next morning, Kologba borrowed the friend’s car and, parrying his host’s scepticism on competence – of loan policy and the guest’s driving –, drove himself to the tax office, promising to return in an hour. But the friend didn’t see his visitor until late evening.

When Kologba finally drove in, the distraught friend naturally demanded the cause of delay. Said Kologba: “These foreign car manufacturers are mad.

They have four gears for going forward, but only one for going back!”

The following day, he persuaded the friend to release the car for a necessary trip to a relative’s. The relation lived on a busy street at the city centre and Kologba tried as best as he could to find parking space. After filing his loan application, he returned to the car and found a note from the police on the windscreen.

He picked it up and drove happily to his friend’s. “Your city police are so efficient that they even commend members of the public,” he said as he revealed the note with a title: ‘Parking Fine’.

Following weeks of waiting for the result of his loan application, the postman arrived at Kologba’s rural doorstep one day and said: “I walked over five kilometres just to deliver this package to you.”

Kologba evinced surprise. “Why did you come so far? You could have posted it instead!”

The mode of delivery hardly mattered, for Kologba was destined for a second visit to the city. The package yielded a signed letter with the words “Loan Approved” in bold. Kologba’s mind instantly invoked the image of a successful businessman – a livestock materials dealer, specifically.

QUOTE If you’re going through hell, keep going.

—Winston Churchill

Jokes Humour Student Rule TEACHER: “Correct the sentence, ‘A bull and a cow is grazing in the field.’”

Student: “’A cow and a bull is grazing in the field.’”

Teacher: “How?” Student: “Ladies first.”

Deliberate Error PRANKSTER: “If I post this letter tonight, will it get to New York in two days time?”

Post Master: “Yes sir, it definitely will.”

Prankster: “I bet you, it won’t.”

Post Master: “Why not?”

Prankster: “It’s addressed to London.”

Practical Theft FIRST thief: “The police are here. Quick!

Jump out of the window!”

Second thief: “But this is the 13th floor.”

First thief: “Hurry! This is no time for superstitions!”

From Riches INTERVIEWER to millionaire: “To whom do you owe your success as a

millionaire?”

Millionaire: “I owe everything to my wife.”

Interviewer: “Wow, she must be some woman. What were you before you married her?”

Millionaire: “A billionaire.”

Photo Power WIFE: “You always carry my photograph in your handbag to the office. Why?” Darling: “When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears.”

Wife: “You see how miraculous and powerful I am for you?”

Darling: “Yes, I see your picture and say to myself, ‘what other problem can be greater than this one?’”

Small Wisdom TEACHER: “How old is your father?”

Little Johnny: “As old as me.”

Teacher: “How can that be?”

Little Johnny: “He became a father only when I was born.”

•Adapted from the Internet

F

ICTION Writer ’s Fountain WRITING: Creative interweave of stakes. Some author replaces the stake with another dilemma stakes may be resolved immediately. that threatens the protagonist’s happiness.

Authors often use a sort of nesting technique, ‘Character is hungry. Character eats fast food’.

The stake is thus resolved before it gets serious. in which the stakes are introduced in an But a stake may be resolved only to be replaced ascending order – they keep getting raised – with another, more urgent stake. Just as the and they are resolved in a descending order. A reader thinks he can exhale and relax, the story may be arranged thus: Character tries to teach his dog, Giro, to relieve itself outside. The Behind the taste: gas tank is in danger of exploding and character •Beer has a bitter taste and slightly pungent works to prevent it. The tank explodes (not a aroma because of lupulin, a substance found happy ending, but perhaps character got all the in the ingredient hops. people away).

•Coffee is the most popular beverage Then, Giro, terrified by the noise, relieves worldwide with over 400 billion cups itself outside. It is great when the stakes interact consumed each year. Coffee lends its with each other, bringing the disparate threads popularity to the fact that just about all of your story together. flavours mix well with it.

The second stake in the example has an •Coffee, as a world commodity, is second unintended but positive impact on the first stake, only to oil. that is, the gas explosion makes the dog obey a •Chocolate contains phenylethylamine command. In other stories, it will be impossible (PEA), a natural substance that is reputed to for two stakes to have a happy ending without stimulate the same reaction in the body as some interesting creativity on the part of the falling in love. author.

•Chocolate melts in your mouth because In the end, your story will have many stakes, cocoa butter has a melting point of just below happily resolved or not. The order in which 35 degrees Centigrade, a little under body you put them and how you go about resolving temperature. them largely defines your story.

53

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Call to the ministry

I

WAS formerly a contractor and lived in a place called Alagbado Kollington in Lagos. That was where I started my building and block supply business. I also had a block- fabricating factory. I was also a transporter with vehicles that carry sand.

Those were the things I did but I was told from the beginning that I would work for God because I wasn’t like this before.

I didn’t accept the call because I had no problem.

My business was running smoothly and nothing was wrong with me. Like I told you, I had companies and boys who worked for me.

But I did not want to be a full-time pastor. I was under Pastor Adebiyi of Pentecostal Mission before I left.

I would just operate there and go back to my office. I was doing this until I lost my sight and couldn’t see anything. Then God told me to move to the North. God later sent somebody to me to leave for the northern parts that He would tell me what to do.

That was how I came down to Abuja.

I have been here for 13 years now. When I got to Abuja, I knew nobody. I lived at Airport Road for complete seven years. The Express was where I slept all through the period. Five of my workers that came with me and I did not sleep in a house. We used iron sheets to build a makeshift house by the roadside before demolition came and we were sent packing. Because there was no money to secure an apartment, we started sleeping in Federal Housing Authority (FHA) uncompleted building.

I used to go to the mountain to pray. My people would walk me there to pray until God revealed to me to come to Kaduna Road

‘Boko Haram will outlive Jonathan’s govt’ The founder of Mountain of Blessing Miracle Centre (Oke Ibukun), Abuja, Pastor Akintunde Elijah, is a 54-year-old blind cleric. He spoke with Olugbenga Adanikin on his ministry and the nation. Excerpts: and that led us here. We have been here for over five years now.

On miracles in the church We just offer fervent prayers because we do all night here from January to December. There is no rest except for Saturdays and Sundays. The Spirit of God leads us. In some situations, we are asked to pray into water and give to people. Barren women may be anointed with oil and by the special grace of God they conceive. There are many that we can’t start counting but we are being led by the Holy Spirit.

Causes of rifts among churches What caused this is that not everyone called is chosen by God. I must not deceive you, if God did not call me with my sight I wouldn’t have been a pastor. I can’t deceive myself.

Before I was called, I was using four vehicles: a Land Rover Jeep, Volvo and Toyota Hiace. That jeep is now N11million, the Hiace was 1.7million and I had a trailer. But God collected everything from me.

So, most who call themselves men of God are not called by God. At times when we go to the mountains to pray, the offering could be just N400 to N500 and we have about 80

•Elijah

members in attendance.

What can we do with N500? That is why most Christians deviate. It is not every Christian that can endure. The only thing I can say is anyone who is willing to work for God must

be ready to bear the pains.

I wore rags for complete seven years and I was working for God. Apart from that, most people don’t have the boldness to stand firm in the journey of Christianity because they

NEWS

ECWA rejects amnesty for Boko Haram

E

VANGELICAL Church Winning All (ECWA) has kicked against the proposed amnesty offer for members of the Boko Haram sect.

It's President, Rev Dr. Jeremiah Gado, described the move as an "insult to the sensibilities of Nigeria and a great betrayal of our trust."

Stating that government is playing with fire by going ahead with the proposal, Gado argued Boko Haram members are unrepentant terrorists who do not deserve sympathy.

He spoke last week in Lagos during the dedication of ECWA Mushin auditorium and installation of new District Church Council (DCC) executives.

Gado said considering amnesty for Boko Haram whose members have not seen anything wrong in their destructive activities amounts

By Sunday Oguntola to "rewarding violence and punishing restraint on the part of Christians."

On whether members of the sect should be forgiven in line with biblical injunctions, Gado wondered: "Does God grant forgiveness w i t h o u t repentance?"

He added: "They have not admitted they are wrong and so we should not be talking about forgiveness now."

The cleric called for immediate compensations of all victims of the Boko Haram attacks in churches, stating justice must never

be sacrificed on the altar of forgiveness.

He said: "We should compensate the victims and not reward the perpetrators of the insurgency.”

The ultra-modern auditorium estimated to have

cost N70million took congregation 16 years to complete.

The 1,500-seater boasts of an administrative block, teenage church, children auditorium, board room and media room, among others.

•Gado cutting the tape to commission the auditorium

don’t want to stand for spiritual battles. They battle and lust for money. I’ve been working for God for the 24 years and as I speak no one has ever given me N20, 000. So, lack of endurance, love of money and lack of humility are causes of deviation among Christian leaders.

On Boko Haram Sorry to say, but the end of Boko Haram insurgency is in the hands of the Federal Government. If government wants it to end today they will, because already it is Boko Haram that is ruling this country. You see before the insurgency will end we need to be filled with prayers and fasting.

A bigger storm is coming.

Even after the 2015 election, we won’t see the end of Boko Haram. This is what God has shown.

Those who call themselves Boko Haram, according to the vision I am seeing, are not poor. They do not lack money. Government can only preach truce to them by trying to give them money but that is not their problem. The issue is that they don’t want the person currently

in power.

That is why we can’t say it will end this year or it will end in the next election. The only solution to Boko Haram is when the President repents. But that it will end? God has not revealed that. He should repent in the sense that he should do the will of God and quit doing the will of man. He is doing the will of man. God gave me the grace to tell him when he was newly elected into office but the people I sent didn’t see him to tell him that his government will shed blood.

For example now, a suicide bomber must have been given a huge amount of money. And it is not just one, two or three suicide bombers like that. The amount these people have spent on bombs run into billions. And you know there are many other things happening which are not caused by Boko Haram but in the name of politics, some now commit atrocities.

Advice to men of God If we want this country to prosper, influential pastors should quit from the love of money. Let’s not deceive ourselves, Nigeria is where it is because of our pastors. Pastors are the ones destroying this country. Inability to preach the truth is destroying Nigeria.

Every person in power has pastors they go to for prayers who do not tell them the truth because of what they stand to gain. So the challenges we all face in Nigeria are caused by those who call themselves religious leaders. So if we want these tribulations to die down, it is in the hands of the government and religious leaders.

xxx

READ T S U M 50 N NIGERIAAN I CHRIST R S AUTHO Are you a Christian author? Are you bothered about poor exposure at bookshops and limited patronage?

The Nation is offering you an unbeatable opportunity to showcase your books and talk about your passion.

The 2-in-1 project involves an advert supplement backed with a profile story on each participant.

Kindly contact Sunday Oguntola on 08034309265 or shinystarontop@gmail.com for advert details and participation.

You will be glad you did!

54

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Worship NEWS

COLUMN

'Old public office holders should give way

T

HE Senior Pastor of Christ Living Spring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM) Ojodu, Lagos, Apostle Wole Oladiyun, has called on all septuagenarians and octogenarians in public office to step aside for younger elements.

He said it is a national shame that many of them are still in boards, parastatals and government institutions after putting in over 40 years in active service.

Such development, he reasoned, has given rise to gerontocracy, which he said is drawing the country back.

Oladiyun spoke with reporters last Thursday on the 15th anniversary of the church, which ends today.

He said: "If you are a 80something-year-old and you

By Sunday Oguntola

are still board chairman or a public office holder, you are killing the nation.

•Oladiyun

"Such people should go and rest at home for youths who can drive the nation forward with more energies and ideas."

The church, he said, has contributed so much in terms of crusades, medical outreaches, scholarship and business empowerment for youths.

He disclosed that a 500hectare land has been acquired in Ogunmakin Village, Ogun State, for a world-class farm settlement.

The settlement, he hinted, will initially focus on production of tomatoes and pepper, while offering jobs to thousands of unemployed youths.

He added that plans are on to construct an e-library to boost scholastic efforts among youths.

Fanfare as Apostolic Church dedicates auditorium

S

WEET, good memories!

That just about describes the lasting impression in the minds of those who witnessed the ordination service as well as grand commissioning of the corporate headquarters of the Apostolic Church (Mount of Zion), Maryland, Lagos, penultimate Sunday.

The twin event, which drew crowds from far and near, was the first of its kind in the annals of the church.

A cursory look at the auditorium, decorated in turquoise blue and laced with white apparels, complemented by the galaxy of faces including church officials and guests decked in an all-white attire all vivaciously gyrating to the melodious hymns churned out by the choir, said

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf it all: A ceremony was indeed in the offing!

The officiating minister, Apostle (Dr.) Isaac Enoch, expressed gratitude to God for crowning the efforts of his congregation with success thus far.

He said there was every cause for the congregation to bring out their drums and cymbals to celebrate their successes because the journey has been anything but smooth.

"This whole thing started nearly over 23 years ago. This church you see standing magnificent here today can be described as a child of circumstance.

"We faced a lot of persecution from different quarters as our members became the butt of derisive jokes, violent at-

tacks, among other untoward sufferings.

"But our faith remained unshaken. From a humble congregation of only three, we soon rose to tens of thousands.

Today, what the Lord has done is marvelous in our eyes and we shall rejoice and be glad in it. From our experience, you can see that it is good to serve the Lord in truth."

The cutting of the tape to formally declare the church open was conducted by the presiding bishop, assisted by other elders in the church.

The highpoint of the occasion was the ordination of some members including: Evangelist Imoh Stephen, Pastor Gabriel Ufot, Savior Ufot, Aniekan Akpan, Samuel Akpan, and Ekomobong Umosoh respectively.

By Sunday Oguntola

Haram members are not Muslims because Islam preaches peace and holds life sacred.”

He added: “If they have the fear of God, which Islam advocates and love towards their fellow human beings, they would not be killing innocent Nigerians because of religious differences.”

We must avoid religious war, says Atilade

T

HE chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has called on Nigerians not to plunge the nation into an avoidable religious war.

He spoke during his investiture as the life grand patron of the Peace Vision & Care Foundation, an interreligious organisation in Lagos.

He challenged Nigerians to demonstrate and not just speak about religious tolerance by offering hands of fellowship to those from other faiths.

According to him: “Religion is not the problem; the actual culprit is the lack of affection among the component units that make up the nation.”

Since the two major religions in Nigeria embrace love and peace, Atilade said kill-

ing in the name of God is an abnormality that must be condemned.

Spokesperson for Shamsideen Alislameen Worldwide, a Muslim group that attended the event, Imam Ahmed Oladiran, said: “Boko

•Atilade with members of the group after the event... last week .

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Fulfilling your glorious destiny

E

EVERYONE that is redeemed is to be glorified as Christ; so we become heir of God and joint heirs with Jesus. Our lives should not be a question mark, but an exclamation!

That is God’s intention for you and me.

No one can come unto Jesus, except the Father draws him. So, everyone that is born again today, was drawn by the Father to be justified and justified to be glorified (Romans 8:2930). So, redemption that does not culminate in glorification is questionable. The ultimate of our redemption is our glorification.

The Word of God says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So, when our sins are forgiven, then the glory is restored.

First, recognize that redemption makes you a child of destiny. Your redemption is a product of God’s pre-destination.

God’s Word says: For whom, He did foreknow, them, He also did predestinate... (Romans 8:29-30).

Second, you are a particular child on a particular mission. Jeremiah 1:5 says: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. So, before each of us came, God knew us and He has separated us with particular tasks. Paul said, “God who separated me, from my mother’s womb” (Galatians 1:15).

So, everyone in the Kingdom today, is a child of glorious destiny.

Second Peter 1:3 says: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. So, your call is to glory, not to shame. Re-

demption is the gateway to your glorification. It is not just being a child of destiny; you have a glorious destiny.

Remember, the Bible says: “Where there is no vision, the people perish...”

(Proverbs 29:18). What is vision? The word ‘vision’ has been so grossly misunderstood today in the church that virtually every dream of the night is mistaken for a vision. That is why multitudes today, are chasing after shadows! The question then is: What is vision?

Vision is the unfolding of God’s plan, as it relates to you in person. That plan is in place, but it is our duty to discover our Godassigned task, our God-ordained place, the God-ordained approach to our task and the timing of His plans as it relates to us.

We have both natural and spiritual destiny with God; there is our assignment on earth, and there is our spiritual place on earth.

The two together, guarantee our inheritance in glory.

For every child of God, there is a pastor set over your life and it is for you to discover (Jeremiah 3:15-16). So, there is a spiritual platform for your destiny to flourish and it is your duty to discover it. It is correct positioning in your spiritual destiny that empowers your overall destiny to deliver.

Who is the custodian of God’s plan on earth? The Holy Ghost is the custodian of God’s plan on earth (Acts 14:1-4). So, the outpouring of the Spirit of God, is the platform for visions and revelations (Joel 2:28).

How does the Holy Ghost unveil God’s plan?

He unveils God’s plan in two ways – He speaks and He shows. John 16:13 says: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall

What and where?

Church celebrates at 50 Baptist Church holds outreach

CTIVITIES marking the 50th anniversary of the Sacred Cherubim & Seraphim Church of Nigeria and Overseas Incorporated will begin with a 3-day power

A

packed revival.

The revival holds from May 6th - 9th by 5pm daily.

The grand celebration

and thanksgiving come up on Sunday 12th May, at the 211 Ikorodu Road, Ilupeju auditorium of the church.

The chief host, Apostle Babatunde Odele JP, a.k.a.

(Pawpaw), said "to attain 50 is not a joke in the face

of bastardisation, devil attacks and other challenges in ministry."

C

touched no one with the theme “He can do more in Lagos State, He can do more in your community, He can do more in your house" today.

It ends on May 2.

The outreach is designed to commemorate the petroleum pipeline leakage on April 3-6, 2006 at Abule Egba without any explo-

sion.

The Conference President, Lagos West Baptist Conference, Rev Dr Julius Adeniji and Evangelist Agboola will minister at the event.

ALVARY Generation Baptist Church, Abule Egba Lagos, will commence its annual open-air programme tagged The storm that

he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

So, He speaks and He shows. Divine plan is unveiled through the voice of the Spirit and through the visions of heaven. Remember the Holy Ghost went to Peter and showed him a casket from heaven that had all manner of beasts on it. He told Peter, “Kill and eat.” Peter said, “No! We don’t eat this in Israel, it is unclean.” While that vision was over, the Holy Ghost told him that four men were waiting for him. The Holy Ghost showed him and spoke to him!

Also, on May 1-2, 1981, the Holy Ghost showed me in an 18-hour vision, an array of afflicted humanity. I was crying, “God what’s happening?” He said, “But from the beginning it was not so.” He showed me and then He spoke to me. He is still doing that today. He shows us and He interprets what He shows us to deliver God’s ultimate plan.

Why Do We Need Vision? The Word of God says: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). One of the greatest mishaps that can happen to a man is to lack an idea of where he is going, and how to get there.

Many have rushed into certain open doors, only to discover that they were traps in disguise. Others have been deceived by the glitter of certain business plans, and have come to realize that not all that glitter is gold. That is why we need vision.

We need God’s direction because often, the decisions we make in life are based on our assessment, which may not be absolutely correct. Everything may seem right and appear satisfactory to the human eye, but at the end of it is frustration, stagnation and untimely death (Proverbs 16:25).

One can have a satanic encounter and mistake it for a divine encounter (2 Cor.11:14). God will only back up His plan, not our plan. We have a future in His plan; there is no future in our plan (Jeremiah 29:11). This is why we need vision.

Friend, the power to be led by God is the privilege of children of God. You become a child of God as you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. You can be His child now, if you have not been, by saying this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins.

Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for saving me!

Now I know I am born again! I will continue this teaching next week.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with us through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

Worship

56

50 MUST-READ NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHORS (I)

Akinadewo: The prophetic voice with a golden pen

H

E is of the firm belief that knowledge is power. Having benefitted massively from the power of knowledge, Superintendent (Dr) Israel Akinadewo wants other Christians to reap the same dividends. This is the major inspiration behind his publishing ministry. The supervising head of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide International SubHeadquarters, Dalemo, Lagos says book-writing, for him, is simply a vehicle for propagating the gospel.

“I can tell you I have not even made one-tenths of what it costs me to publish these books. I have been giving out free copies to win souls and enrich knowledge among people about God. I can assure you that most proceeds go back to God’s works. The inspiration really for me is not to make money but for the knowledge of God to spread on earth,” he explained.

So far, he boasts of two volumes of the Sanctuary message, a compendium of his weekly newspaper col-

Deola Ojo: The irresistible story teller

H

ER book, Give me a spouse or I die, has sold several thousand with many reprints.

Countless people have testified the book worked for them as singles. Till date, the testimonies keep abounding from within and outside the country.

Yet Pastor Deola Ojo does not consider it her best. She loves to simply regard the title as a classic “because my best is yet to come.”

Full of powerful and irresistible stories, her books remain largely consulted on marital issues. Ojo attributes this to several factors. One, she does not write outside of divine inspiration. “I write inspired.

If I am not inspired, I don’t write. I wait on God for inspiration. I have tried doing some works without inspiration and you can really tell. And I believe that is what makes testimonies abound. That is why a book people read years later keep inspiring them,” she explained.

Then, she carefully builds real life illustrations into her books, making it difficult for readers to put

them down. This, she said, is an art and talent. She has a knack for listening to people’s stories and finding some others out. “I will just say I pay more attention than others and I don’t forget things. If you tell me something that happens in your life, I can recall 15 years even if you have forgotten. Also, if I read a story, I remember it. Let’s not forget that even after people have forgotten facts, they don’t forget,” she stressed.

Her passion for marital issues is borne out of the conviction that everything revolves round a good home. “I am passionate because I know that a lot of things revolve round families and if we can get it right at the family level, then the society at large will be fine.

Churches doing well always have more families doing well.

“Many achievers we have today, you wonder how much more they would have performed if they had better home upbringing. If you look at crimes, you find it boils down to bad home support. Those who do bet-

ter always have good home support and upbringing.”

But she does not write only on marriage and homes.

Ojo has produced equally well-received titles such as Wisdom at work, Frog in a kettle, Are you ready to fall in love? What is the big deal about love? What is the big deal about church? Are you in love forever?

Does she have any targeted number of titles to publish? “No, I don’t have any target. I write based on inspirations. So, I don’t know if God wants me to write 100 or 200. Once the inspiration comes, I keep writing.”

How does she feel after a book is published? “I feel accomplished seeing the books, knowing that God wanted me to work on them.

I feel much accomplished when I hear of testimonies from the books.”

When is her best time for writing? “I will say early in the morning. You know when the body is well rested, the mind and the spirit work better. Early in the morning works best for me. When I take a snap, I also write better.”

umns. Easy as it appears to publish compendiums, Akinadewo, a chartered accountant, said it is a rigorous process, which he is, however, glad to go through.

His write-ups are laden with prophetic insights, addressing every facet of life. According to him: “I write on whatever you want to see in Christianity. I offer inspirational, prophetic ideas that can help people out.

For example, if someone is seeking the fruit of the womb, just looking at those who went through that in the Bible and how they encountered God will give me inspiration after prayers.”

Coming this far comes at very high costs. Many times, he stays awake all nights to write. He also secludes himself to receive enough inspirations and divine instructions on write-ups. He believes such demands are unavoidable for a rewarding output. “To write prophetic books, you must concentrate spiritually, physically and mentally,” he stated.

How long does it take him to complete a book?

“To write a column, it takes me like three days. So, the compendium in a book might be for like a year. A chapter takes like three days and each of my books has like 86 chapters. You are talking about 258 hours on a book,” he disclosed.

A thorough, highly meticulous writer, Akinadewo is of the opinion books must be carefully scripted because of the reading public. “You have to be sure of what you are writing,” he began. “Books are published for criticism and if you are not careful, you will be publishing rubbish that will annoy men and God.” Coming from a denomination that emphasises prophecies, Akinadewo believes it is best to bolster such inclination with deep biblical knowledge for maximum impact in life. “I am challenging Christians that we must have knowledge, which is power. We must be able to apply Christ’s right morals to succeed in life and make heaven,” he opined.

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COLUMN 50 MUST-READ NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHORS (I)

Dele Johnson: The dream writer W

HEN God instructed Apostle Dele Johnson to pray for the gift of interpretation of “dreams, riddle, proverbs and enigmas” during a 7-day dry fast in 1998, little did it know it would set him on the path to greatness. Johnson embarked from the mountain a changed man. He suddenly could interpret dreams for people. Much like biblical Joseph, his interpretations turn true.

By another divine instruction, Johnson wrote his first book on dreams in 1998. It was titled divine revelations. He has gone on to author four more titles on the subject of dreams.

Called Apostle of dreams, Johnson loves to call his books instructional manuals. “They are not books you read and drop; you will always have to refer back to them,” he began.

“You will keep highlighting points because the gems there are not just theo-

T

Yinka Ojo: Discipling nations through books

HOUGH Rev. Yinka Ojo grew up a voracious reader, he never really considered publishing a book until members of his then fledging church heard him publish a series on freedom from fear.

Many approached him after the series, suggesting the impressive teaching should be turned to a book.

Having grown up with books, it was easy for the Geology graduate to get done. That effort led to his first book titled freedom from fear. Since then, there has been no looking back for Ojo. He has since published close to 20 titles on several areas of life.

His books offer deep biblical insights presented in an easy-to-read approach for faster practicability. Ojo, the senior pastor of Grace Family Church Lagos, is careful to keep issues addressed in his books short and simple. According to him, this is to foster easy comprehension and application. He believes there is no point reading a book without taking commensurable practical steps.

“A person who gets saved today can pick them and find them helpful. I

believe they are also easy to read and not voluminous so that people can get through them in no time. Most of them can be read through in 40-45 minutes and people will take away valuable lessons that will stay with them for life,” he stressed.

These simplicity and applicability have endeared his books to readers. They are widely read within and outside the nation. Recently, Ojo began an apostolic tour to Latin America, taking him to Mexico, Colombia and others. The Christian community there has found his books very appealing and helpful, leading to plans to translate them to Spanish.

The books are also making waves in Francophone African countries. Plans have been concluded also to translate many of them to French. This way, Ojo is silently discipling nations through books.

Though he ministers vigorously, he is convinced publishing is the easiest way of reaching nations.

According to him: “I believe that the printed page is still the best way of reaching people and discipling the nations. We may use TV, Radio and internet but how many

people have access to them?

Books are the most veritable ways of preaching the gospel.”

His life attests very much to this. “Certainly, a large part of what I am today is through books. I did not go to a formal bible school. I got born again on campus and we were inundated with good Christian books. We were voracious leaders; we did not know that God was taking us through his own bible school.

“So, I will say my own bible school was during the four years I was studying Geology. I also studied Theology in the process. I read hundreds of good Christian books in just four years,” he recounted.

He wants to replicate the same experience with millions of Christians through books. “By the grace and will of God, I wish God can use my books to disciple nations. I will be grateful to Him for that.”

Any target of published books? “No, I just want to write as I am led by the Spirit of God. I have maybe another ten uncompleted works on my laptop. Time is my main constraint and I just need to take a little sabbatical to get them out.”

ries for mental exertion or exercise. Once you run into situations of life, you will remember one of the books address them and refer back. I call them instructional manuals in prayer and prophetic formats.”

There are also prayer points after each chapter of his books. This, he explained, is because “the issue of dreams is not sorted out without prayers. You must cry out to God. You must arrest the forces working against.”

This do-it-yourself approach to solving problems caused through dreams is because Johnson does not fancy queuing to see a man of God. But when things really become tough, he said “he would be here to offer assistance”.

So, what makes his books stand out? “When people read my books and apply the capsules through prayers, there will be testimonies,” he assured. Johnson, general

overseer of Jesus Liberation Squad Lagos, said he will never get tired of writing on dreams.

“You see dreams cut across. Every man dreams: kings, paupers, rich, poor, young and old. God does not limit who he talks to through dreams. We cannot exhaust the subject of dreams because dreams are so, so important though it does not stop me for writing on other subjects of life.”

And to underscore this fact, his books sell out during conferences and programmes where he speaks. He is poised to publish more of such books because of high demands and the willingness of people to get interpretation to their dreams.

The banker-turnedpreacher is relying on more divine inspirations and revelations to publish even better books that will offer insightful interpretations and arrest problems caused by dreams.

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50 MUST-READ NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHORS (I)

Daniel Olukoya: Waging deliverance through books T sounds incredible.

But truth is he is Nigeria’s most prolific author with over 1,000 titles and still counting. Many easily identify him as general overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry (MFM) but Dr Daniel Olukoya is more of a writer than a preacher.

He has written several bestsellers on varying issues such as salvation, healing, deliverance, prosperity, destiny, faith, marriage, restoration to mention but a few. Yet, his anointed pen remains active determined to liberate mankind from every form of bondage.

His bulletins and the best-selling prayer rain series also remain in high demands within the country but even

I

much more outside Nigeria. A first-class researcher with over 70 scientific publications to his credit, Olukoya scholastic mind continues to churn out incredible books for the benefit of mankind.

He is also breaking grounds in the industry, making him easily the best-selling Nigerian Christian author.

Some of his well-received titles include: Violence against negative voices, when your destiny is under attack, dealing with defilement, 30 things the anointing can do for you, I need a miracle, Kill your Goliath by fire, medicine for winners, can God trust you, Criminals in the house of God, the holy cry, passing through the valley of the

shadow of death, among others.

Olukoya’s books are laden with deep prophetic prayers for warfare and divine principles for all-round success in life. These have made the titles mustread for every Christian and person determined to succeed in life and make heaven. The incredible requests for his books online and the mass followership they enjoy overseas affirm this.

Plans are on already to hold exhibitions in South Africa and America, all in a bid to meet the reading appetites of the international community on his books. If deliverance and success in life bother you, Olukoya’s books are certainly why the answers lie.

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50 MUST-READ NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHORS (I)

I’ll keep writing until I die -Ojigiri W

RITING has always been his first love. While in secondary school, he would write beautiful stories and share them with his mates.

They would read through and applaud his efforts, requesting for much more.

This not only buoyed him but fired his love for writing.

That first love has remained with him. Till date, Rev. Solomon Ojigiri has authored several titles with a regular monthly devotional, Milk and Honey, which is gaining many grounds among Christians.

The lawyer-turnedpreacher believes he is up to a great work in the Lord’s vineyard. “I believe writing is very powerful. It takes the gospel beyond the four walls of the church. I read widely. This year alone, I have bought and read many titles of Kenneth

Hagin who died in 2003.

“He was never in Nigeria, yet I am buying his books in 2013. That shows how much books can reach out to even the unborn generations. I think it is a big challenge that gospel ministers must take up,” he explained.

He writes mostly on marriage for couples and singles as well as issues bordering on effective prayers, obedience, discovering purpose and life management. He gets so much positive feedbacks from readers that he is convinced this is what he wants all his life.

“I want to write for as long as I live. I don’t plan to stop writing. As long as God keeps giving me inspiration and ideas, I will keep writing.” And the inspiration keeps coming without ado. “I have too many titles God has given me. Every year, I try to see how many I

can write. When we started our devotionals, it limited the number of titles we can write. I just keep writing without looking at the numbers and figures,” he shared.

On what stands his books out, he said: “My approach is very practical. I don’t write as a theologian.

I also write from the word and not from my experiences. I am always downto-heart. So, for me, it is about practicality and applicability.”

The general overseer of Ever-winning Faith Church Ikeja Lagos disagrees Nigerians do not read. He argued they read but only prefer good books that offer useable insights with strong personal touches. “We read but we are very selective because of the economic realities. The fact that our books sell is a reminder people read, but only good books get read.”

I live by books -Akin-John I

T all started for him in 1997. That year, he published Church growth is possible. But it was almost marred by many setbacks.

The printer did not bring the copies until the launching day. The author himself was not pleased with the contents and finishing. He just knew he could do better. To worsen matters, the 350 printed copies took him years to sell out.

Though he considered the first experience a drawback, God has used the book to amaze church growth expert, Dr Francis Bola AkinJohn. Now out of circulation, the few who laid hands on the book have not stopped recounting how it changed their lives. “God has amazed me with that book. People have kept telling me it blessed them,” the president of Church Growth International Ministries stated.

Those testimonies made him soldier on. He has since bounced back from those setbacks to publish nearly 50 titles with over 30 reprinted.

Many of his books have been translated into French language. Easily Nigeria’s lead-

ing author on church growth and leadership, Akin-John has had to wait for ten long years to come this far.

According to him: “It used to take me seven or eight years to sell a thousand copies for each title. But in the last four, five years, in a year, I easily sell a thousand copies of an edition. Sometimes, I do it in six or one month. I have had to reprint many editions.”

The turnaround, for him, is attributable to extensive research on books that address germane burning issues in the church. His books, he revealed, are written only after thorough experiments with the materials subjected to extensive teaching and field works, for not than less two years.

He explained: “In the course of teaching, I get more light and enrichment.

People ask questions and relate events that happen in their churches on those issues. That way, my materials are enriched and deepened. I get bigger insights and mastery of the issues. I get free illustrations and depth of insights.

“That is why my books are laden with stories that I hear from people. I investigate and find them true. They are not figments of imagination but illustrations, people tell me. I also ask people to test out our prognosis on churches and they return with a report, which is why our books are conceptualised to African and European churches.”

The widely-travelled church growth expert said books have opened unimaginable doors for him. Readers request for copies from countries he has not been to.

Besides, he said book-writing has become his mainstay in ministry.

“By the grace of God, I am made by books. These books have been opening doors for me. I live by books.

I don’t have a church or any other product. God has been faithful and people keep saying how much they have been blessed,” he stressed.

He initially targeted publishing 100 titles but now that he is half-way, he has upped the game. “I have raised it to 200 books. I want to write on issues,” he shared.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

How to make your kitchen a safer place

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—PAGE 66

W

HEN you reflect on your journey through life so far, how do you feel?

By the grace of God, by any definition, I feel fulfilled. I thank God. When we were young, we had teachers, who bring you out of your shell; teachers who encourage you to fashion a life for yourself.

I will not forget my principal, A. K. Onadipe. He was a disciplinarian. He helped us to be focused. He helped us to really aim for the best. In those days, when you go to Government Colleges, you feel proud relative to those in other less known schools. But, our principal will always tell us that we can also make it like those in Government Colleges; that success is not only meant for people in Government Colleges.

When you made up your mind to go to the university, what were you interested in?

When I started, I wanted to be a Political Scientist. In fact, when I was admitted at the University of Ibadan, I was admitted for Politics. Politics was called Government then. After the first year, something told me to change. In the second year, I went straight and registered for Economics. I felt it would be more flexible and versatile and that there are more opportunities for employment.

What informed your interest in Political Science at first?

I was interested in politics because I just wanted to understand the act of governance. I was a good debater, so people believed I would be a good politician. But with time, I changed my orientation totally. I was to be a politician being a very good speaker. But I will not be a good politician, because I do not know how to tell lies and play games.

As a former Vice Chancellor of one of the nation’s foremost universities, how would you assess country’s educational development?

If you are talking of the university level, we are making some progress.

With the introduction of private universities, things are getting better, because there is choice. Before now the federal and state governments -owned universities were dominating the scene.

And, you will discover that a number of potentially good students were denied admission because there was not enough space in those institutions. But right now, it is highly competitive, even among government universities. They all compete. There is relatively enough room now.

Do you agree with the argument that the standard of education in the country is declining?

Once you are producing and putting in more goods, if you are not careful, the quality may be sacrificed. I think there is need for the society to realise that much as you are expanding opportunity, setting up new institutions, you should back it up with the development of those who will man those institutions.

The existing institutions are only competing among themselves for the little manpower and personnel that we have now. That should not be.

What they should have done was to create enough infrastructure and human capacity development to be able to generate enough people, particularly in the area of academia and subject matterspecialist, who will man those institutions. We got it the other way round. We started the institutions as institutions, without giving adequate attention to the development of the

What life has taught me,

by Osuntogun • Osuntogun

Professor Adeniyi Osuntogun, a former Vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, is a member of the Governing Council of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo. A professor of Agricultural Economy, he was also the first African Programme Director, Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International, a Rockefeller Foundation initiative. In this interview with Eric Ikhilae, the professor, who turned 70 on April 14 reflects on his life. required human resource.

How do we address this identified inadequacy?

You need to retrain those who are training. Some of the personnel, who are manning those institutions, like lecturers, professors and so on, also require some retraining because things are dynamic.

Subject-matter specialisation is not just enough.

They have to update themselves on recent developments in their different areas of disciplines. In fact, there used to be sabbatical leave. But sabbatical may not be enough. There should be short-term exposure and trainings to upgrade their knowledge.

Do not forget that knowledge is now moving fast. It is now a global issue.

Some have argued that the decay in the education sector results, partly from inadequate funding by successive administrations. Do you share this position?

I will argue that the inadequate budgetary allocation to the sector is caused mainly by competing demands. You see, security is now a major issue in the country.

So, a lot of money will now be directed at security. In other words, the priority of government differs from time to time. It is not that government has not been paying attention to education in the past. It just happens that it appears that the size of the cake is getting smaller and smaller every day.

What is your view on the argument that the government should first reduce the size of government and cost of running it, if it actually wishes to save cost and save

money for development purpose?

You see, there is politics in government. There are some decisions that are taken solely to satisfy political desire.

Some of the political decisions may look unreasonable to the ordinary man, but it makes a lot of meaning to members of the inner caucus in politics.

I quite agree with you that we have a large number of people in government. I think one of the reasons the government did this was to curb corruption among government officials and politicians.

Whether we are achieving that now is left for use to see.

I think the government still needs to streamline the cost of governance and the carrying capacity of the budget. Right now, I think the cost is overblown and it places heavy burden on the revenue, which now affects the state’s capacity to meet other needs, particularly the developmental needs.

How can the country effectively combine its clement weather and arable land to achieve abundant self sufficiency in food production?

What we need to do is to encourage people to go into farming. We have been on this for a long time. Let me be honest with you, the youths can be turned into a land army. There should be opportunity for the youths to be encouraged. We need to make farming attractive to the youths.

We must give agriculture the emphasis it requires.

Government must put in place policies to achieve these. The transformation agenda of the federal government must be re-examined. The government should pay attention to small scale farmers and those

in the processing sector, who process farm produce. The government must make it easier for them to get farming inputs.

Efforts should be directed at encouraging value added agriculture.

And in doing this, the small scale farmers should be carried along. We cannot just move to commercial agriculture and abandon the small scale farmers.

Most Nigerian cities are over populated. What can be done to reverse the trend of rural-urban migration?

Government should promote the development of what I call middle size cities and towns. In Lagos for instance, areas like Ikorodu should be able to pull people towards that area. It is not everyone that should reside in the city centre.

There is something particularly funny in Lagos. Everybody wakes in the morning and heads towards the Island.

By evening, they are all moving back. It should not be so. If you go to other countries, what they do is to diversify, engage in strategic development. They do not over concentrate structures and institutions in a place.

So, to prevent over migration into the cities, government should make deliberate effort to develop other places.

It should encourage what they call, periurban agriculture. In Lagos for instance, encourage pre-urban agriculture in Ikorodu, Epe and in other outskirts of the city.

The problem of concentration of institution exists in Abuja too.

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CBN: Toing and froing over polymer notes -- Pages 62 - 63

M

INERS of barites in Nigeria have been at the edge in recent times. The situation got worsened last year when the International Oil Companies (IOCs) applied for a lift of the ban on the importation of the product into the country. The oil giants’ excuses for seeking to import barite into Nigeria, was simply that the quality of the Nigerian-made barite was a far cry from international standard.

Perhaps Federal Government granted the waiver because the local processors could not counter the stand of the oil companies with an evidence of quality barite.

But the monopoly that foreigners enjoy in the industry is now under threat. The looming threat is not that of litigation or application for policy reversal that would favour the local industry. It is a threat from a consortium that has an insight of the sources of quality barite across the

Importers to lose monopoly on quality barite From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

country.

The emerging player in the industry, (A-Z Petroleum Products Limited) is diversifying from the manufacturing, oil, lubricants and plastic industries into mainstream processing of barite.

The Managing Director, Engr.

Linus Ilozue, who made this disclosure to journalists in Nnewi, Anambra State added that the firm has procured the right technology that can produce the acceptable Specific Gravity (SG), remove the grits and produce the pure white colour in line with international best practice.

While fielding questions from

journalists recently, Ilozue said that most barites produced in Nigeria are rejected because of the artisanal and small miners involved in the business who lack the wherewithal for the production of the quality product required in the oil, pharmaceutical, and paint industries.

“Our market is the oil industry. Barite is heavy chemical that is used for drilling mud in the oil industry to avoid explosion. It is also used by the paint industry, pharmaceuticals for drugs. We have gone through all this and we

have collected the quality they want. In the oil industry, they are interested in the one that should not have grits so that it does not start breaking the drilling beats .Number two, it should have a certain specific gravity (SG ) if it is lower than that they will not accept it. In paint industry, it has to be pure and some of them want it pure white. So, we know. We have got the technology that can transform the raw material to these qualities: the right SG, the right colour, the right size, grit free and as pure as possible. “

Don’t personalise PIB bill, group urges

T

HE Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has frowned at provisions of the draft Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which unduly bestows discretionary powers on the President and the Minister of Petroleum, saying a PIB with the mandate of the people must be built around institutions and not individuals for it to be impactful.

ERA/FoEN suggested that such provisions be totally expunged from the draft PIB while issues such as award of oil blocks be made open to transparent and competitive bidding processes.

The call is coming on the heels of the Public Hearing on the Draft PIB organised by the House of Representatives in Lagos and Port Harcourt recently which was conducted in such manner that community and civil society groups were not adequately sensitised to be part of.

In a release over the weekend, ERA/FoEN wondered why information about the public hearing and date of the sittings were carefully shielded from community people, civil society groups, and other critical stakeholders while oil multinationals, petroleum marketers and their consultants had adequate information and were prominently represented at the sittings.

“While we applaud the House for organising the hearing, we are not satisfied that community groups impacted by the activities of the oil industry and in whose interest the PIB is being fashioned were not duly notified so as to make their observations known,” said.

ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, who delivered a memorandum on behalf of ERA/ FoEN and civil society groups at the Lagos hearing, specifically listed certain critical areas of the PIB that civil society and community groups want reviewed before it is finally passed into law.

“The absence of community groups at the hearings seems to justify our call for a redefinition of Section 2 of the PIB 2012 which deals with the question of Sovereignty and Ownership. As against the proposal which vests ownership and control of all petroleum resources in Nigeria on the government of the federation, we propose that it be amended to reflect that ‘it is vested in the People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

• From left: Mr. Abel Asein, Deputy Registrar, ICAN; Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu, 1st Deputy Vice President, ICAN; Alhaji Kabir Mohammed, Vice President, ICAN; Mr. Stephen Lamdin, Specialist Consultant, Education & Training, Institute of Chartered Accountants, England and Wales (ICAEW), Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi, President,ICAN; Mr. Mark Campbell, Head International Capacity Building, ICAEW; Mr. Tayo Philips, Council Member, ICAN and Mr. Olusoji Odukoya, Acting Registrar/Chief Executive, ICAN at the ICAN/ICAEW twining arrangement meeting under the World Bank Project

Why Nigeria has the highest interest rate

A

COMBINATION of factors bordering on the complex to the superficial is responsible for the soaring interest rate regime in the country compared to other parts of the world, experts have said.

The benchmark interest rate retained currently is 12 percent, which experts have argued, is the highest in the world.

Interest rate in Nigeria is reported by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Historically, from 2007 until 2013, the interest rate averaged 8.98 percent reaching an all time high of 12 percent in October of 2011 and a record low of 6 percent in July of 2009. The official interest rate is the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).

It would be recalled that the International Monetary Fund, (IMF), one of the Brentwood institute had carried out a survey among where it noted that Nigeria ranks among countries with the highest interest rate.

Dr. Austin Nweze, a political economist and senior lecturer at the Pan African University, said the growing interest rate being witnessed in the country, is as a result of using the foreign exchange as a basis for the nation’s monetary policy rate by the CBN.

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

According to him, “The projection of the CBN is that with a stable exchange rate, it would not appreciate so much against the naira. But without doubt, this has implication on the economy generally to the extent that manufacturing and business have to risk borrowing at outrageously high interest rate in order to remain in business.”

Expatiating, he said, “Unlike in the past when the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) easily bought over non-performing loans, it has frozen asset acquisition such that the banks are no longer prepared to take moral hazards, a situation where it can give out loans with the hope that someone would cover its back. So, the result is that the few banks that are willing to borrow don’t have any choice but to borrow at highly exorbitant interest rate.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Charles Iyore, a financial analyst, attributed the escalating interest rate to the problem of weak price discovery mechanism, non-performing assets as well as an efficient capital market.

“The price discovery mechanism is very weak and that is what trans-

lates to the unstable price regime”, he stressed.

Besides, he said, “There are many non-performing assets which are where they are not supposed to be.

Take for instance, the pension fund, they are simply chasing after government bonds coupled with an inefficient capital market, in which the dividends are not attractive thus the credit being reserved for liability by the banks are based on high interest rate.”

Henry Boyo, an economist, is also on the same page with Nweze and Iyore.

According to him, “High interest rate destroys production because of the high cost of production. So, don’t be surprised when houses are being converted to mosques, churches. As a result of high interest rate and we have uncompetitive local products.”

The apex bank has never hidden its disdain for double-digit inflation, which is one of the reasons while it has left interest rate and other tools at the current level in the past one year. Latest figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that inflation dropped to 12 per cent in December, from 12.3 per cent in December.

Briefs Kalu in India to perfect deal on steel rolling mill

T

HE President of Slok Group, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, will, between today and May 7, 2013, visit India to finalise the deal for the establishment of a steel rolling mill in Abia State by Prime Group, India, the owners of Prime Electric Company.

The steel rolling mill is to be cited in Kalu’s hometown, Igbere in Abia State.

Slok Group, a dominant name in the Nigerian and international business environment, has interests in different sectors of the economy.

In January 2013, Rohan Mehta, the Managing Director of Prime Group, India and a strong business partner of Slok Group, had, on the invitation of Kalu, visited Igbere to conduct a preliminary and investment analysis for the proposed multimillion dollar steel rolling mill.

Kalu will thus be visiting India to conclude the deal.

Among those on his entourage to India, a statement by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi, said, will be Chief David Uche, Engineer.

J. Raju, Engineer Sali Abba, and Engineer Peter Nwosu.

The team is expected in India today to follow up discussions with Prime Electric Company and other top leading companies in New Delhi, Punjab, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Kalu and his team will also use the opportunity to hold discussions with the Bank of India, financial partners of the proposed project, the Tata Group and the Renaissance Group.

Mehta will host a dinner in honour of Kalu at the Tata Majal Hotel, New Delhi on April 29, 2013.

The dinner will be attended by Nigeria’s Ambassador to India, leading Indian investors and top Indian Government officials among others.

Dr. Kalu is also expected to pay courtesy calls on the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Manmohan Singh and the Gandi family before leaving India on May 7, 2013.

Second Digital Marketing Confab holds May

S

IMON Page Business School, a leading provider of professional business education in Nigeria is set to host the second edition of the Digital Marketing Conference and Exhibition.

Tagged: “Deploying Digital Marketing for Competitive Advantage”, it will hold in May 23-24th, 2013, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island Lagos.

According to Princewill Omorogiuwa, CEO of the business school, “the conference last year was very impactful as we got very good feedback from delegates and from companies who had sent their staff to attend the conference and the learning were directly transferable to work and that is what we want it to be, because digital skills are very transferrable.”

Further justifying the need for the conference, Omorogiuwa said, “one of the reasons why digital is poorly practiced is a lack of understanding of how it works and this is what we are seeking to address through our training programmes as well as the digital marketing conferences. ”

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BUSINESS

•Polymer notes

CBN: Toing and froing over polymer notes The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s apex bank, has stirred another controversy with its proposed scrapping of polymer notes in favour of paper for some of the nation’s local currency, reports Bukola Afolabi “So, part of ‘Project cure’ actually was to move away from polymer substrate to paper. Unfortunately, we had a push-back because of the issues around N5000 note and coins. The entire programme was put in abeyance, otherwise by now we should have stopped producing polymer.”

Expatiating, Lemo said that as a result of the monopoly of Securency in the production of polymer notes, the bank was always forced to pay whatever amount the firm charges; adding that there are also a lot of “environmental issues” surrounding the polymer notes.

“Securency is the only producer of polymer currency in the world and so the CBN has been resorting to single sorting for bank note, adding, “This, we think, is not good for the country.

Even though the plan is to coin N5, N10 and N20, the N50 note will be converted to paper currency. However, if Nigerians show preference for retaining the N5, N10 and N20 in banknotes instead of coins, it shall no longer be in polymer,” he noted.

The destruction of banknotes made of polymer, Lemo stressed, “Has proved

to be a challenge in Nigeria from an environmental perspective. Findings revealed that briquetting (destruction of unfit banknotes) of polymer is not always easy because it is made of polythene and emits substances that are not environmentallyfriendly.”

Lemo also stated that another reason to do away with polymer notes was as a result of the scandal that involved Securency. This, according to him, casts doubt on the integrity of the Australian firm.

In the beginning…

The CBN then, under Professor Chukwuma Soludo, on February 28, 2007,

launched the first polymer note, the N20, on a trial basis.

In October 2008, the CBN obtained presidential approval to convert the other lower naira denominations, N5, N10, and N50, from paper to polymer notes.

In launching the new currencies, the Bank said in a statement that “printing the N20 note on polymer was a test case. The essence of the experiment was to determine the advantages and demerits of the polymer substrate and its acceptance by Nigerians.

Justifying the introduction of polymer, Mr. Abdullahi Mohammed, former spokesman of the

“

So, part of ‘Project cure’ actually was to move away from polymer substrate to paper. Unfortunately, we had a push-back because of the issues around N5000 note and coins. The entire programme was put in abeyance, otherwise by now we should have stopped producing polymer

“

H

ONEYMOON, no matter the exhilarating benefits, hardly lasts forever. This has been proved in the case of polymer notes, which was hitherto favoured by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex regulatory body, but now considered a bad choice.

Bombshell Barely six years after the polymer notes were introduced with billions of naira committed to the project, the apex bank through one of its Deputy Governors, Mr. Tunde Lemo, announced that the bank will, by the middle of this year, begin the production of lower denomination notes in paper.

Lemo, made the disclosure at the recently held World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) forum in Washington, United States.

“My plea is that Nigerians should exercise patience with us; it wasn’t the fault of the CBN; it was just because we had to go back to the drawing board to rethink ‘Project Cure’ in the light of the wish of the public that we should not go ahead with the N5000 notes and lower denomination,” Lemo began.

“We will correct that in the course of the year. Polymer certainly will be phased out. In fact, we are phasing out polymer. No new note is being printed in polymer now.

•Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor

apex bank, said then that the polymer note proved to be more economical than the paper notes, hence the change. “Research in the last two years has shown that polymer notes are more durable than the paper notes. In the long run, there is a 50% cut in costs when we use the polymer notes,” he said.

But about three years later in far away Australia, crack detectives began investigations on how some top Nigerian officials allegedly shared about N750 million bribe from an Australian polymer company, Securency, to secure the contract to supply the polymer notes to the Nigerian government.

Investigations had revealed that Securency paid out bribes to some Nigerian officials in order to win the contract which enabled the company to supply at least 1.9 billion pieces of polymer notes so far.

A report about possible misdemeanour by Securency, a joint venture company between the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Innovia Films, indicated that the money was paid between

2006 and 2008 to some CBN officials and other influential Nigerians using two UKbased businessmen, Benoy Berry and Michael Harvey as fronts.

The currency restructuring programme Securency’s interests in the country started around the year 2006. Before the end of that year, the company had clinched a deal to print the polymer note as a result of the decision of CBN to carry out a Currency Restructuring Programme.

From the start Securency produces the press ready polymer substrate, Guardian®, on which bank notes are printed. This breakthrough patent was first used in Australia in 1988. Since then, the Australian company has penetrated other countries, selling to them its patented product and urging a shift from the traditional paper money. The polymer note’s selling point is in its advertised toughness, security features, and resistance to soiling, thus, its durability.

Continued on page 63

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

CBN: Toing and froing over polymer notes Continued from page 62 In 20 years, Securency has succeeded in spreading to over 20 countries. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the company thrives on foreign contracts and claims that ‘90% of Securency’s revenue comes from exports’.

Curiously, almost all these countries have been classified by the Australian Foreign Ministry as developing countries. Securency’s Guardian may be selling in developing countries but more than this, a report published by an Australian newspaper, The Age, deduced that these countries are also some of the most corruption-prone.

“It [Securency] excels at doing business not only in Vietnam but in some of the most corruption-prone countries in the world,” the paper said.

Mr. Berry heads Contec Global, a company with diversified interests in Energy, Security Technologies, hospitality, and construction.

The Security Technologies unit of the group is concerned with Biometrics, Smart Cards, e-passports, and currency. There are claims that 40% of Africa’s population, including Nigeria, use passports designed, processed, printed, and delivered by Contec Global.

Continental Transfer Technology Limited is another company which Mr. Berry sits on its board, along with some Nigerians; Hassan Ibeto, Adam Ali Biu, and his brother, Roheen Berry.

Mr. Berry, who has considerable influence in security prints and has previously been investigated in Uganda, allegedly had at least $5 million paid into an offshore account which belongs to him.

He is said to have worked with Mr. Harvey to give Securency’s African office access to the Nigerian market.

Mr. Harvey claims he was only called into the deal after the supply contracts had been completed.

“My job was to create demand for Securency to countries; we are a group of marketing companies that seek business and access markets,” he said.

The CBN, however, claimed ignorance of the existence of a bribery scheme in the Securency deal.

The past CBN governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was, however, quizzed in connection with the alleged contract scandal by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja early January, even as there were hints that may be charged to court by the commission.

Currency change as a fait accompli Ugochukwu Okoroafor, the apex bank’s spokesperson, had said last week that unlike in the past where printing firms held the patent and right to produce the naira, the currency restruc-

turing would make the CBN hold the patent of the new set of currencies that would emerge from the process.

“We need to take back all our patents and right,” he said. “Right now, some of the patents and rights do not belong to Nigeria or the CBN. We had a rude shock when that became an issue when we wanted to print a particular set of notes. So we are using this exercise to take back that right. If it belongs to Nigeria, nobody will hold us to ransom.”

Justifying the move, Okoroafor said the proposed introduction of a higher denomination of banknote would enable the apex bank save about N7 billion out of its annual cost of printing currency. “Every currency gets reviewed once in a while,” he explains, adding, “Right now, the United Kingdom is reviewing its currency. So currency review is something that we must do.

As a monetary authority, it is our responsibility enshrined in the CBN Act 2007.”

Mixed reactions greet new policy Commenting on the new policy, some labour leaders in the financial sector urged the CBN to always carry out appropriate research on any issue before making it a public policy.

Leaders of the Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) and the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) argued that proper research would help to forestall adverse implications of any

Countries where polymer note are in use Australia Bangladesh Brazil Brunei Chile China Guatemala Hong Kong Indonesia Kuwait Malaysia Mexico Nepal New Zealand Nigeria N. Ireland (UK) Papua N. G. Romania Samoa Singapore Solomon Island Sri Lanka Taiwan R.O.C. Thailand Vietnam Zambia TYVEK® Costa Rica Haiti Isle of Man HYBRID Bulgaria Fiji Kazakhstan Latvia

BUSINESS policy.

Sunday Salako, ASSBIFI’s President, argued that the apex bank should have done enough research to ensure that the polymer currency would last longer than ordinary paper notes.

Mr. Salako observed that since the polymer notes were not durable, there was need for them to be changed.

“It is good that the CBN has realised its mistakes and want to change the notes. Let us give them the opportunity to ensure that we have durable money.

“I advice the apex body to do its home work well before the implementation of any of its policies,” he said.

Mohammed Sheikh, NUBIFIE’s General Secretary, also said that the CBN would have achieved its desired result if they had subjected the changes in currency notes to public debate.

“If the CBN had subjected the first change to a public scrutiny, this reverse from polymer to paper notes will not take place and the country would not have spent huge funds in printing polymer.

“Various stakeholders would have debated the polymer issue and there would have been better options, instead of employing international consultant who do not understand how things work in Nigeria to make decisions,” Mr. Sheikh said.

He advised the Central Bank to focus more on improving the macro-economic policies for the development and growth of the country.

Economists have expressed divergent views on the decision to withdraw polymer notes from circulation soon and replace them with paper notes.

While some experts agreed with the decision, others blamed the CBN for performing experiments with the country’s economy.

For instance, Lagosbased economist and monetary analyst, Mr. Henry Boyo, said the monetary authorities were confused.

“There is no doubt that Nigerians are being taken for a ride. Some of us told them then that the coins and polymer notes would not work, because they would have little acceptance due to its value,” he said.

Boyo said the authorities should concentrate on value of the denominations rather than types of currency.

“The N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes are doing the job that coins should do. The N50 is equivalent to 30 cents.

Can you imagine 30 cents in notes in any serious minded economy?” he asked.

However, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said the move to revert to paper notes would have little or no effect on the economy.

“We are moving to a cashless economy and the denominations are low; so, they are irrelevant. Total money supply in circulation is around N1.5tn and a large percentage of total transactions are done in Lagos and the other states that will be joining the pilot scheme, so, I don’t see any problem with the change,” he said.

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•From left: former Head of State and Patron, The Bible Society of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon [rtd], Secretary to Taraba State Government, Amb. Emmanuel Njuwon representing the Acting Governor of the State, Alhaji Garba Umar and General Secretary/CEO of The Bible Society of Nigeria, Rev. (Dr.) Fred Odutola at the Divine Service/Formal Opening of the Society's 46th National Board Meeting at Christ Church Cathedral, Jalingo, Taraba State, recently

SMEs can now list on Nigerian Stock The NSE has in the past had MALL businesses now Exchange the Second Tier Securities Exhave every course to change Market which has smile with the approval

S

by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to trade on the floor of the Exchange.

With the inauguration of the Alternative Securities Market (ASEM) a trading platform for small businesses, promoters of SMEs can now trade their equities on the floor of the stock exchange.

To stakeholders, this is definitely a game changer, as the Small Businesses and MidCap’s will be listed on the trad-

ing board of the NSE will give them an opportunity to access the capital market for equity funding.

An upbeat Mr. Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive, NSE, while justifying the innovative SMEs window, stressed that: “Unlike equities on the main board of the NSE, companies who intend to list on the ASEM will not need the kind of stringent requirements that is fulfilled by the former.

largely failed to attract investor money.”

The companies currently listed on the ASEM include Adswitch plc, Afrik Pharmaceuticals plc, Anino International plc, Capital Oil plc, Juli plc, McNichols Consolidated plc, Rak Unity Petroleum plc, Rokana Industries plc, Smart Products Nigeria plc, Union Venture & Petroleum plc, and West Africa Aluminum Products plc.

World leaders commit $5.5bn to tackle polio A WHOPPING $5.5billion is required to make the world polio free in 2018, renowned professor of virology and President, Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, has said.

He disclosed this at a Media Round Table on Vaccines organised by the African Health Journalists Association (AHJA), in Lagos, recently.

According to Tomori, the Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan was shared at the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi, where world leaders showed their support through a series of historic commitments, including: the UK’s Department for International Development committed GBP£300 million to eradication.

The Gates Foundation pledged US$1.8 billion, and a new group of philanthropists committed an additional total US$335 million.

His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, pledged US$120 million. Qatar Charity and the Gates Foundation signed a co-operation agreement in support of the eradication effort.

The commitments bring the world almost three-quarters of the way to the US$5.5 billion needed to fully fund the plan.

According to him, “a total of $3billion has so far being raised leaving a shortfall of $2.5billion.”

While noting that the Global Vaccine Action Plan by the World Health Assembly had set 2018 as the new target for

the global eradication of polio, Nigeria’s eradication campaign faces substantial challenges, this year’s remarkable progress - a nearly 50% drop in cases in 2013 compared to last year, stressing that Nigeria must ensure that no single case of polio is reported anywhere in the country by 2014.

“The hope is that by the year 2014, the world will have the last country with the last case of polio and by 2018, the world will be declared free of polio. We are taking a gamble because the year 2014 is only subject to the fact that Nigeria, Afghanistan or Pakistan (the only three remaining endemic countries) will not have any case of polio in 2014. If we do have any of these countries having one case by 2014 it means we have to shift the year

of eradication by an extra year.

It is thus very important that we, as a country, must play our role otherwise we will be holding the world back,” he declared.

Miffed by what he described as the lip-service paid to the polio campaign, Prof.

Tomori warned that all levels of government must gird up their loins to ensure a poliofree Nigeria. “Has our president ever said anything on polio without stimulation from outside? The only time we’ve heard him make pronouncements are when he was invited by the Commonwealth, the United Nations or when Bill Gate came. We are not putting enough into polio (eradication.),” he further stated, adding that the nation must also involve and engage the communities to win the polio war.”

Lee Follender expected in Nigeria for training

T

HE Purpose Power and Lifestyle Design (PPLD) International would hold its first certified intensive training tagged: “T3” from May 13 – 25 at its training centre in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

The training for potential trainers is specifically designed for success driven individuals who truly desire to distinguish themselves in their businesses, careers and lives.

It would have renowned leadership and management training expert and CEO of Aware Consulting Services Texas, USA, Lee Follender as guest trainer.

As a powerful and dynamic coach, trainer, and business consultant, Follender has worked with thousands of in-

dividuals and organizations over the past 18 years.

She has worked as a coach and curriculum writer for, and with, internet gurus like Joe Vitale, Bob Doyle, Marci Shimoff and others; coaching their clients and delivering coaching on the specifics of their principles and has trained leaders of organizations like Time Warner Cable and Dell Computer Corporation.

According to PPLD”s founder and visioner in Nigeria, Mr.Tunde Makun, ‘’it is a pleasure and rare privilege to have Lee Follender at the training programme as she would bring her wealth of over 18 years experience in leadership and management training expertise to bear.’’

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BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

‘We can generate Beyond Talent over N 1 trillion from mining’ Life is like a grapefruit

By Adetayo Okusanya

Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

•Ekozin

Mr Sunday Ekozin, is president Progressive Miners Association of Nigeria.

He has been in the vanguard of those urging the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to reform the nation’s mining sector. In this interview Ekozin speaks on the prospects and problems of the sector. He spoke with Assistant Editor Nduka Chiejina and Nike Adebowale in Abuja

H

OW long have you been in mining and why are you championing the reform in the mining sector?

I have been in this sector for well over two decades and I have been in the leadership seat of the miners association in Nigeria for almost ten years.

But recently, because of politicking, we had to come up with a different body known as progressive miners association, to differentiate from orthodox miners association of Nigeria. Of course I was the president of the miners association of Nigeria before now but I presently the president of the Progressive Miners Association.

Ghana has been able to harness its resources, which is about 30 per cent of Nigeria’s mineral wealth. The current situation of the sector is just 0.3 per cent of the GDP contribution. This is solely from the sale of papers in the name of mining licenses which is about 7,000 mining licenses in the country. With less than one per cent of those mining licenses actually operating in the country or what you can call operational mines in the country.

We believe that mining is an antidote to all of these insurgencies that are taking place particularly across the Northern parts of the country. Our appeal is basically to Mr. President to set up a standing presidential committee otherwise we would just be dumping N15billion annually as budget to the ministry of mines and steel with nothing to contribute to the nation or to the sector. So if the sector must contribute to the national GDP, for us as operator we said 2 million jobs annually but to them in the ministry they said 3million jobs which is okay if they can create 3million jobs by their own record, the generation of employment thus far up to date since their establishment in 1995 of the ministry is less than 300,000 so what are we talking about, so we just need the political will and the patriotic drive to really amend these huge potentials. It is too massive and time will fail me to give you statistics.

Can you give us a little explanation on the proposed presidential committee on solid minerals?

Yes, the presidential com-

INTERVIEW mittee, most of my colleagues in other professions like in the steel sector for example, the Nigeria society of engineers, the mineral raw material processing department of that society also are in the same page with us that there should be a presidential committee because the conventional ministry that is set up with tax payer money, that were having N50billion sunk into them year after year. This is accumulating just like a pool all manner of fund from both local and foreign intervention are consuming the whole thing without any impact being felt in mining and without actual development taking place in the mining sector. So, with all of these frustrations the option left is to have a standing committee that is responsible, patriot in Nigeria, stakeholders in the sector who will drive the system, reporting directly to Mr president, all what we need from our own point as operators, we don’t even need the government giving us 50billion to take off, just create a platform for us. We will galvanize the fund from international donors to drive the sector and we will generate between now and 2015 at least a trillion naira as revenue for the nation.

How? We will generate this from royalties, we will generate all of these from taxes because once you create an economic stimulus as a government, mean the private sector will strive and when the private sector is striving to pay royalties and taxes and rents ensuing from mining and off course licenses and all other things will not be a problem.

All we need do is just to create a platform and once that platform is there, we have assured him based on position papers we have presented that we will create on monthly basis an average of a 100,000 job monthly and we will report to the state government, we will ensure that all of these issues that we are experiencing in Zamfara where you have issues of infant deaths resulting from unethical mining, unprofessional mining due to lack of basic mining implement with less than N10million equip-

ment that you can fabricate locally or import it to the country to do this. People are scratching the earth, using mortar used in pounding yam to engage in mining, I mean that is inhuman. We just need all of this, we know exactly what to do and if the platform is created to generate this money. Let me reiterate, as per jobs, we say as a group, we can generate about 2 million jobs, and an average of 100,000 jobs on monthly basis. But when they came up, when they modified the paper, they said they would generate 3 million jobs.

3 million jobs? By the same ministry that has generated so far about 300,000 jobs from 1995. I mean, it is laudable.

When you talked about two million jobs, what are the categories of jobs you are referring to? Is it artisanal or unskilled miners?

No, that’s what we are fighting against. What we are doing currently is just slavery in mining. Where the slave masters – the Chinese come with their pockets loaded and say, my friend, jump into that hole, get me anything you can get there, money is ready if you finish the job, I will give you money. That is the situation we are in currently, and our people are dying. So long as they want to escape poverty and they are seeing the money, they want to die doing it. So we want to stop that. And the way to stop that is to raise new and modern plants that will not cost more than N10 million. In fact, in some cases, for mining purposes, all you need is a pole and a drill and that’s enough, and those things are less than N5million for the artisanal families who are in villages and all that. And that’s nothing because these are monies you can get back within a month. The resources are just there and local market is massive. Our importation of raw materials is ridiculous.

You said miners are buried under earth regularly, why are they not reported?

You know in cases like this, they are often termed illegal miners. If they are illegal miners, are they not Nigerians? Are you not to protect the lives of Nigerians? Must you say because somebody is involved in illegal mining, he should just perish like that? If

it is so, why is the federal government setting up amnesty for Boko Haram that is destroying lives of human beings? So we should be concerned about them.

There is an ecological fund but we have been hearing that the fund has been diverted.

With your call for a presidential committee do you want the money transferred to that committee?

Last month we made a paper position when we saw the National Assembly discussing the natural recourses development fund, now by the funding there is eight hundred and seventy three billion naira (N873 billion) in that account, is deductions made from incomes of 1.75 per cent from the sale of oil and gas now that fund is there, you know Nigerians we never talk about issues like this issue of development how do we get there nobody want to talk about it they only talk about money when money is involve that is when the National Assembly are interested and what happen is this is another conspiracy theory.

The ministry for mine and steel, set up the solid mineral development funds purportedly approved by Mr. president but with no single dime from that fund to take off by the board there was no allocation whether as a budget or a direct fund sent to that and of cause we as the operators have completely rejected the constitution of that board we have made it known publicly and we have made it known privately that the constitution of that board is illegal because the head and the people that make up that board to operate that solid mineral development fund are people with questionable character and Mr president has been mislead by approving that board and so we have asked that the board be reconstituted to be made up of the actual stakeholders to manage that solid mineral fund, what they now did was the board and the beneficiaries now went to National Assembly to blackmail the presidency into pushing part of that fund into solid mineral development fund that was why it came up recently so when I was then president of the National Association of Nigeria Miners in 2009 not now that I am now the president of Progressive Miners, we took up the matter then to the National Assembly as at that time it was N400 billion and requested that a N100 billion be given as a loan to banks with conditions spelt out, not as a grant, so that miners can have access to the fund and develop the sector it was never supported.

Do you think the president will listen to and agree with you to set up this standing committee?

We hope he will, and we have no personal agenda, and we want to see development in this sector, and that is why we are not involved in any government contract. We told them that if you don’t do the right thing we are not interested.

I

HATE being disappointedand I have had my fair share of those; unrequited love, broken heart, visa rejection, denied promotions, unfulfilled promises, etc. I hate the crushed feeling that follows in the aftermath of a major disappointment; the unrealized expectations, the self-recrimination and self-doubt. This week I was disappointed when a prospective client that I had pitched a learning and development solution to decided to go with another service provider. It was a big letdown for me and I waited for two days before I finally read what I rightly perceived as a rejection email, albeit a nicely worded on.

This experience made me think about a time in my life when I suffered a major setback and how I dealt with the disappointment. It happened five years after graduating from college. I had secured admission to a foreign university to pursue a Master’s degree in Business Administration and was in the process of applying for a visa. After queuing for several hours in the rain, I finally made it into the embassy only to have my student visa application summarily rejected by a consular officer. To make matters worse, he cancelled my existing visitors’ visa and ruined my chance of attending my sister’s wedding abroad. What a double whammy!

When I got home that evening, all I could do was crawl into my bed, under the covers, with the lights off. I was numb with disbelief as my mind grappled with the unfairness of what I had just experienced. I thought about all the time, energy and money invested over the past twelve months. I thought about the pitying looks from friends and colleagues who I would have to recount my rejection to. A sense of shame slowly washed over me.

Others had applied for this same visa and were successful. What was wrong with me? Why was I rejected? What was I going to do next?

If you have recently experienced a major disappointment in your professional or personal life, here are steps you can take to effectively deal with it. These steps helped me get over the hurdles disappointments can create, and move on to an even stronger finish. (i) Don’t take it personal:You don’t have a monopoly on disappointment. Everyone gets disappointed several times in their lifetime. Disappointment happens in your mind and is determined by your perception. Separate the event from your feelings. If your perception causes you to be disappointed, then you have the power to overcome disappointment by changing your perception. Disappointment is a wayfaring visitor, looking for a place in your mind to dwell. It can’t come in unless you invite it in and it will only leave when you ask it to. (ii) Have a good cry or put your fist through a wall: There is nothing wrong with feeling let down, hurt or disappointed. The challenge is choosing to stay that way and letting the experience color your outlook on life. Crying or venting is a way of releasing pent up feelings and can be therapeutic for a season, after that it becomes downright destructive. Take a moment to acknowledge your disappointment, then move on. Face it and deal with it. I faced my disappointment by daring to show up at work the next day instead of calling in sick. (iii) Put things in Perspective: Suffering a disappointment may be a major setback, but is it really the end of the world? Our plans don’t always play out the way we expect them to and adaptability is required for moving forward. Most of the time what we perceive as the denial of a desired outcome, is simply a delay. Achieving our goals sometimes means navigating around obstacles and unforeseen detoursin our way. Today I have my MBA. (iv) Identify lessons learned and coursecorrect:Failure is nothing but future success masquerading in the present. Sometimes disappointment is an indication that we need to reevaluate our expectation, options or plans and possibly make changes. I thought I was prepared for my first visa interview but I was obviously not. During the next twelve months I was coached to become adept at answering the tricky questions of consular officers and I aced my interview the second time around. (v) Refocus your energy on actions within your control: There is truth in the saying that one should not cry over spilled milk. What is done, is done. It can’t be undone, it can only be redone. You must take all that energy and let it fuel your drive to succeed. I focused my energy on getting the school to defer my admission for a year and continuing to work and live my life in spite of the setback, until the time came for me to reapply for the visa.

Read more of Adetayo’s readinessedge.wordpress.com/

articles

athttp://

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

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HE sterling performance of most quoted companies in the last few months is an indication that the nation’s capital market is not just on the rebound but is a morale booster for prospective investors in the sector, analysts have said.

One of those who holds this view and very strongly too is Alhaji Atiku Kafaru, a capital market analyst.

Kafaru, who sits atop as Managing Director, Camry Securities Limited, is, however, persuaded that a lot can be done to get the market where it is supposed to be: at the very top.

In Kafaru’s view, this can be done in one of three ways.

He said “One way to fully restore investors’ confidence is to carry out continuous sensitisation/investors education. The second thing will be timely and accurate release of information from companies and stakeholders, and thirdly these companies where these investors had their money should also be kind enough to give good returns to their investors.,”, .

Continuing, he said “It is just very unfortunate that the problem between the Na-

BUSINESS

Capital market on rebound MARKET FLASH Bukola Afolabi

tional Assembly has not been resolved. I know every year that investors education budget is put together to let them know how their capital market will work; to let them know that it is a market for long-term investments, the benefits, the pros and cons because you need to be familiar with the terrain where you are working so that you don’t fall into leakage.

“This investor’s education is very important. It has been done in the past. I remember in those days when we travelled abroad to look for investors, especially in the United State, United Kingdom and all that, and you are seeing the benefits, and that is why our market has been dominated by foreign investors, as a result of their effort of the pasts.

These efforts should also be continued because there are lots of potentials these foreign investors are seeing in our market, that we that are here as local investors are not seeing and they are making money in our market. So we need to sensitise and educate our investors and let them see

those opportunities,” he stressed.

On the issue of timely information, the analyst said, “The information we get serves a lot of benefits. For instance, it tells us the results generated by the company, its projections, and what are they doing currently. All these information, when you collate them together, it will defininately make or mar the price of such a stock. But where all these information are not available, goods will be traded on rumour, and rumours can have negative impact. So the company should be ready to give information to the market as at when due. When you give that information as at when due, people will now analyse these information based on other things that are on ground, and this will affect the company and the goods. If good information about the money that is available to stakeholders is not made known to the market, people will not know the money that is available to them. But if people are now well informed that this is why this is like

GTbank rewards shareholders •Presents new chairman at annual general meeting

G

UARANTY Trust Bank plc has demonstrated the immense value it places on its shareholders by declaring a total dividend payment for the financial year of N45.62 billion. The outstanding profit figure of the Bank at N103bn at the end of December, 2012 is a reflection of the huge patronage of its customers based on exceptional service offerings.

The payment which was approved by shareholders at the Bank’s 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) translates into a dividend of N1.30 per 50 kobo share held and brings total shareholder receipts for the year to N1.55 per share, when added to the interim dividend payout of N0.25 per share the Bank made last year.

Key highlights of the AGM which took place in Lagos on Thursday, April 25, 2013 were the announcement of the retirement of the incumbent Chairman of the Bank, Mr. Oluwole Oduyemi in compliance with the Central Bank’s code of corporate governance which stipulates

65

a retirement age of 70 years for Non-Executive Directors of the Bank and the presentation of Mr. Egbert Imomoh as the new Chairman of the Bank. The shareholders applauded the strong corporate governance of the bank and expressed optimism over the ability of the management team to position GTBank as the ‘preferred bank’ within the country and continue to generate positive returns for shareholders in the future.

The Group’s financials for the 2012 financial year show Gross Earnings of N221.9 billion and a Profit Before Tax of N103 billion, the highest in the industry. In addition, the Bank’s Total Assets and Contingents increased by 6% to N2.26 trillion (2011: N2.14 trillion), and it closed the year with an On-Balance Sheet size of N1.73 trillion.

Profit After Tax for the period was N87.3 billion (2011: N51.7 billion) representing a 69% improvement.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Mr. Segun Agbaje, Managing Director of Guaranty

Trust Bank plc said “we have declared the best results in the industry in the last few years and provided shareholders the best return on equity for any financial institution in Africa”. We intend to continuously reward our shareholders for the confidence they have in us and remain committed to teamwork, integrity and customer satisfaction as a bank.

He further stated that the bank intends to consolidate its position in 2013 by pioneering service innovations, developing alternate banking channels, promoting excellence and creating role models for society.

Guaranty Trust Bank plc was established in 1990 and has within the last 22 years come to be recognized as one of the most innovative and service focused banks in the Nigerian financial market space. The Bank operates from over 200 business locations in Nigeria and has banking subsidiaries in Cote D’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom.

this.”

Commenting on the tendency by quoted companies filing false results in order to show that they have a clean bill of health, he said this is against the principle of good corporate governance.

“We also need to let these companies know that part of their duty is to be fair, and just to their investors in the sense that you try at all cost so that at least our bottom line can be ok. If the bottom line is ok, you will have enough to give to your stakeholders as return on their investments, either in dividends in terms of money or in terms of shares, bonuses.

But if a company is not doing well, there is nothing to give.

When you make money as a company, share this money with your investors so that they can have more confidence in your company. But if you are not giving them anything they may look for other ways.

If companies yield to these three points, they may bring back that desired company back to the market.”

Expatiating, he said, there is an extent to which a company can manipulate the investing public.

Citing the case of Cadbury, where some of the top hierarchies of the management were involved in some shady deals, Kafaru said at the end poetic justice prevailed.

“The issue of Cadbury the matter has been discussed extensively in the areas that are really concern and appropriate steps have been taken if they were sanctioned, the state sanctioned them and directors involved were punished up to the registrar. So I don’t think that there is any other way they can do better than that. On the issue of A.P, I think it was maybe because of change of management or whatever that really affected them but I think for now AP has return to profitability and I think we need to also give more information to the market regarding what they are doing. You see like I told you earlier you are doing something and you don’t allow people to know what you are doing, it will definitely affect the performance. Information is very key, and the issue of manipulation, there are mechanisms and appropriate sanctions for everything you do in the market, if you err they are there to punish you, and if you do it right, there is a way of saying. There is a bank in this country that people still trust till tomorrow, come rain come sunshine people trust them because they know they will not do anything wrong.

And there are some companies, if people want to go and invest, they will say they should not go and put their money there. So these are issues, if you are doing it right, definitely something good is awaiting you, but you should continue to do what is right and just. So the issue of manipulation I don’t foresee it in this market, because all the necessary regulatory sanctions are in place. Even there is something in the stock exchange they call the whistle blower, before you even do it, you will be caught so the issue of manipulation do not need to arise, so there are lots of innovations that have been done.

So the issue of fraud I don’t foresee it in our market.”

obrijo4u@gmail.com

Financial sector investors transact N10.502 b security

I

NVESTORS in the Financial Services Sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) transacted deals worth N10.502 billion to close the week Friday April 26, 2013.

Stock Market Report from the Nigeria’s Exchange made available shows that at the close of trading activities for the week, the Financial Services sector (measured by turnover volume) came top and accounted for 1.443 billion shares valued at N10.502 billion transacted by investors in 14,600 deals.

A review of this shows that the Banking subsector of the Financial Services sector was the most active during the week (measured by turnover volume) with 1.061 billion shares worth N8.432 billion traded in 10,546 deals.

Volume in the Banking subsector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Unity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc. “Trading in the shares of the three banks accounted for 587.557 million shares worth N4.230 billion exchanged by investors in 3,163 deals contributing 33.43% to the total equity turnover volume recorded during the week” the NSE weekly report said.

However, the Consumer Goods sector followed the Financial Services in the activity chart with 69.691 million shares valued at N5.130 billion traded in 4,100 deals.

The NSE’s stock market report shows that a turnover of 1.758 billion shares worth N17.898 billion in 23,958 deals were transacted this week by investors on the floor of the Nigerian Bourse compared to a total of 2.114 billion shares valued at N26.678 billion that exchanged hands last week in 27,624 deals.

In terms of Index movement, the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 165.11 basis points or 0.50% to close at 33,159.08, while the market capitalisation of the listed equities on the mainboard advanced by 0.52% to close at N10.602 trillion.

Also, the NSE 30 Index appreciated by 8.72 points or 0.55% to close at 1,583.57 while NSE Banking Index inched up by 8.65 points or 2.28% to close at 388.09.

The report affirmed that other NSE sectoral indices that depreciated during the week include; NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Insurance, NSE Oil and Gas, NSE-Lotus II and NSE Industrial Goods by 1.20%, 5.53%, 6.35%, 1.41% and 2.03% respectively.

Meanwhile, the newly launched NSE-ASeM Index closed flat.

On bond market review and outlook, 1,420 units of Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds valued at N173,253.00 were traded during the week in eight (8) deals compared to 4,140 units valued at N4.471 million transacted last week in 30 deals.

According to Afrinvest weekly update, the FGN bond market witnessed mixed sentiments as yields swayed in both directions to close upwards at the end of the week.

The Afrinvest weekly update further affirmed the current trend shows the participation of retail investors in the bond market remains very low.

Chevron reports $6.2 billion Q1 net income

C

HEVRON Corporation has reported earnings of $6.2 billion ($3.18 per share - diluted) for the first quarter 2013, compared with $6.5 billion ($3.27 per share diluted) in the 2012 first quarter. Sales and other operating revenues in the first quarter 2013 were $54 billion, down from $59 billion in the year-ago period, mainly due to lower prices for crude oil. “Our first quarter earnings were strong,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Our consistent financial performance has enabled us to significantly increase the dividend again, and fund major development projects that are the foundation of the company’s future growth in production, earnings and cash flows.” “Our key development projects remain on track,” Watson added. “Construction is progressing well on the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia. Important milestones have been reached recently for our Jack/St. Malo and Big Foot deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico, and both remain on schedule for start-up in 2014.” Other recent upstream milestones include: Australia •Signed binding long-term Sales and Purchase Agreements with Chubu Electric Power Company for Wheatstone LNG. More than 80 percent of Chevron’s equity LNG offtake from Wheatstone is covered under long-term agreements.

•Reached agreement to acquire interests in two onshore natural gas blocks in the Cooper Basin.

•Announced a natural gas discovery, Elfin-1, in the Carnarvon Basin in 50 percent-owned Block WA-268-P. Republic of the Congo •Reached final investment decision on the deepwater Moho Nord joint development.

United States •Announced a crude oil discovery at the Coronado prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

•Announced a successful production test of a St. Malo well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The company’s Board of Directors approved an 11.1 percent increase in the quarterly dividend, to $1.00 per share, payable in June 2013. The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in the first quarter 2013 under its share repurchase program.

66

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013 CHANGE OF NAME CHANGE OF NAME OLOSUNDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olosunde Oluwaseunfunmi Monisola, now wish to be known as Mrs. Abolarinwa Oluwaseunfunmi Monisola. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

MUSA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Hamdallah Abeo Musa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Hamdallah Abeo Ajani. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

AKANNI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akanni Saidat Alaba, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olugbemi, Felicia Alaba. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that Yusuf, Sulaimon Abidemi is the same person as Abudu, Sulaimon Oluwagbenga. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public please take note.

ZIGHADINA

OPARA

I formerly known and addressed as Miranda Onyebuchi Opara, now wish to be known and addressed as Miranda Onyebuchi Onyedum. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Tonbra Maudeline Zighadina, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tonbra Maudeline Adeyemi Williams. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

SANUSI

AJAO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajao Olubunmi Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeyanju Olubunmi Adenike.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Sanusi, Hannah Abimbola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeoti, Hannah Abimbola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OKORO

ADENOWO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adenowo, Aisha Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal, Aisha Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid. Ogun State Teaching Service Commission and general public please take note.

ENIAFE

I formerly known and addressed as Eniafe Rukayat Abiodun, now wish to be known and addressed as Akinyemi, Abiodun Eniafe. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

HASSAN

I formerly known and addressed as Hassan Fatimat Olaide, now wish to be known and addressed as Yusuf Fatimat Hassan. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLOGUNTUYI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ologuntuyi, Adebisi Seyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olubunmi, Adebisi Seyi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AKINSOROTAN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinsorotan, Iyadunni Omobolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. SantosAlimi, Iyadunni Omobolanle. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ADEGOKE

I formerly known and addressed as Dr. Oluwatoyin Oluwaremilekun Adegoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. Oluwatoyin Oluwaremilekun Oluwaniyi. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

AKINROTIMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinrotimi Olu Esther Temitope, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyewole Esther Temitope. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OYELAMI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyelami Kehinde Olanike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odeyale, Kehinde Olanike. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Yarhere Peter Obukohwo is the same person as Yarape Obukhwo Peter. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. NECO, WAEC and general public please take note.

SOARES

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mojisola Henrietta Soares, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mojisola Henrietta Wewe. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IJOGUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoro Juliet Chinwendu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Juliet Chinwendu Emurigho.

All former documents remain valid.

Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and general public please take note.

IMARO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Imaro Osariyekemwen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osayoboyi Osariyekemwen.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

NNADI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing Nkiruka Nnadi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Blessing Nkiruka Orji. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ONIYIDE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Abimbola Oniyide, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abimbola Ige. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

LAWAL

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Lawal Ololade Doris, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi Ololade Doris. All former documents remain valid.

America and British Embassies and general public please take note.

BABATUNDE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Bamitale Eyitayo C. Babatunde, now wish to be known as Mrs. Bamitale Eyitayo C. Agboola-Ajayi. All former documents remain valid.

UNILORIN, FUTA, Enterprise Bank Plc. and general public please take note.

OJINI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojini Joy Chidiebere, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ushieagu Joy Chidiebere. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UGWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ugwu Dortthy Nneka, now wish to be known as Barr. (Mrs.) Eziokwu Nneka Obinna. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UWAKE

CHANGE OF NAME FASASI-ABAYOMI I formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Olufunmilayo Sade Fasasi-Abayomi, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Olufunmilayo Sade Omoba. All former documents remain valid.

Federal University of Technology, Akure and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME AYANDELE

ERHABOR

I formely know and address as Miss Nenbammun Istifanus Gowok ,now wish to be known as Mrs Nenbammun Sunday Danladi Bangkas.All former documents remain valid. General Public please take note.

GOWOK I formerly known and addressed as Miss Erhabor Kate Blessing, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Anizor Kate Blessing. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

MAKINSUN

AKINMOLASERE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Makinsun Feyiyemi Oladunni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinkuehin Feyiyemi Oladunni. All former documents remain valid. Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and general public please take note.

OLOWONUBI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olowonubi Josephine Omolola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abayomi Josephine Omolola. All former documents remain valid.

Engineering Materials Development Institution (EMD) and general public please take note.

AKINOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinola Oluwabunmi Iyadunni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Familola Olubunmi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

KUMOLU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Kumolu Adebusola Grace, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AyomideSuccess Adebusola Grace. All former documents remain valid.

Nigeria Immigration Service and general public please take note.

ADEBAYO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo, Kudirat Adewumi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyedele Adewumi Kudirat. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ISOLA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Modupe Rafat Isola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Modupe Racheal Daramola.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ATOKI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Atoki Dorcas Olayemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ale Dorcas Olayemi. All former documents remain valid.

Ekiti State TESCOM and general public please take note.

ESOMONU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Esomonu Ndidiamaka Nkiruka, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ekeleme Ndidiamaka Nkiruka. All former documents remain valid.ESUT, NYSC and general public please take note.

GREGORY

ADESINA

I, formerly known as MISS KALEJAIYE MOSUNMOLA IYABO now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. TUNDEADEYEMO MOSUNMOLA IYABO. All documents with my former name remain valid. First Bank PLC, Insourcing Limited, Lagos State Polytechnic and General Public to take note.

ALABA

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,Balogun Iyabo Yetunde Adejumoke Oluwakemi Morufat is one and the same person and now wish to be known and addressed as Balogun Iyabo Adejumoke Oluwakemi all documents bearing the above names remain valid. Osun State polythenic Iree and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ahmed Mariam Temidara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akewusola Mariam Temidara. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OSOBA

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS MARGARET ADENIKE ADESINA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS MARGARET ADENIKE LAWAL. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

EKWUONU

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OLUBUNMI CICILLIA OLABIMPE ALABA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BELLO BASIRAT OLABIMPE ALABA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Osoba Olutayo Olupinre, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs) OsobaOladiran Olutayo Olupinre. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Ekwuonu Ngozi Immaculata, now wish to be known and addressed as Ekemezie Ngozi Immaculate. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

UDOH I formerly known and addressed as Saluki Effiong Udoh, now wish to be known and addressed as Edok Effiong Udoh. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AGBO

I formerly known and addressed as AGBO JONATHAN LOVE , now wish to be known and addressed as AGBO GOODLUCK JONATHAN CHIJIEKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EBUBE

I formerly known and addressed as MISS EBUBE ANGELA CHIBUZOR, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BURBULLA ANGELA CHIBUZOR. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ALABI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Alabi Kehinde Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olawumi Kehinde Esther. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

UKAOGO I formerly known and addressed as DR (MISS) Ukaogo Ezinneamaka Anne, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Erhirhie Ezinneamaka Anne. All former documents remain valid.

M.D.C.N,U P T H, FIRST BANK PLC and general public please take note.

OKHUAKHUA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okhuakhua Omo Saadet, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osayi Omo Saadet. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NNADI

IDOWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Negedu Ojochele Victoria, now wish to be known as Mrs. Amego Ojochele Victoria. All former documents remain valid.General public please take note.

NEGEDU

OGU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluronke Olufunmilayo Ijogun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluronke Olufunmilayo Seymour. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ETU

IRUO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Hilda Iruo, now wish to be known as Mrs. Hilda Faithful Dengiyefa Kpun. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

BENSON

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Elizabeth Benson, now wish to be known as Mrs. Elizabeth Chris Nnawuhe. All former documents remain valid. Immigration, University of Calabar, NYSC and general public please take note.

MUSTAPHA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mustapha Adenike Abolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ekefre Adenike Aniekan. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONYEOCHA

I, formerly known as MISS ONYEOCHA CHISARA VERA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. LOUIS VERA CHISARA. All former documents remain valid NYSC, ESUT, FCVMLT (Jos) and general public should please take note.

AHMED

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nnadi Beatrice Chinunyelum, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogbozor Beatrice Chinunyelum. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADEDEJI

OGHALE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. OJENIMA OGHALE BRIDGETTE, now wish to be known as Mrs. BRIDGETTE OGHALE AUSTIN-AKUGBENO. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Akinmolasere Yetunde Olasunbo, now wish to be known and addressed as Akinmolasere Opeyemi Olasunbo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Ozoude Nnanna Gregory, now wish to be known as Augustine Ozoude Nnanna. All former documents remain valid.General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Idowu Funke Fayoke, now wish to be known as Mrs. Osagunna Funke Fayoke. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I GABRIEL JOSEPH is the same person with GABRIEL O N O R O R A K P A N E AKPOJIVI.That all document bearing the two names ramain valid.That henceforth,i shall be know and called as GABRIEL ONORORAKPANE AKPOJIVI. General publi please take note.

BADIRUDEEN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Maimuna Iyanu Badirudeen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Iyanu Mary Daramola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLASANOYE

I, formerly known as Olasanoye Anuoluwa Titilola wish to be now known as Oluwafemi Anuoluwa.

Titilola. All former documents remain valid. Federal college of education Akoka and the general public should take note.

AFOLABI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Afolabi Folake, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obeka Folake. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Police Force and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ayandele Janet Oluwaseunm, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adedokun Janet Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Henry Chukwuma Uwakwe, now wish to be known as Henry Chukwuma Oguchukwu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Adedeji Oluwabunmi Folasade, now wish to be known as Akomolafe Oluwabunmi Folasade.

All former documents remain valid.

Kwara State Teaching Service Commission and general public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Etu Sarah Belkisu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Imafidon Etu Sarah Belkisu. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

67

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Helen Ogu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Helen Onyinyechi Agbaeze (nee Ogu). All former documents remain valid.

Umuahia South Local government Apumiri Ubakala Umuahia Abia State and general public should take note.

DADDAH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Daddah Ganiyat Olabisi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Yinusa Ganiyat Olabisi. All former documents remain valid.General public please take note.

OSUNDARA

I formerly known and addressed as Maryam Oluwaseyi Osundara, now wish to be known as Maryam Oluwaseyi Eshinlokun-Sanni. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

AGWAZA

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AGWAZA MARY, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ABUR MARY. All former documents remain valid. State Universal Basic Education Board, Markudi, Benue State and general public should please take note.

ADEREMI

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEREMI KEHINDE ADEFUNKE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BOLORUNDE KEHINDE ADEFUNKE. All former documents remain valid. Kwara & Ekiti L.G.A and the general public should please take note.

ONUOHA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Onuoha Ngozi Gloria now wish to be know and addressed as Mrs Gloria Ngozi Nduka. All former documents remain valid.

Arochukwu College of Education Abia State and general public should take note.

ADAUGO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adaugo Agape Nwokedi, now wish to be know and addressed as Mrs Adaugo Agape Williams. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

AGU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. PRINCESS LINDA NGOZIKA AGU. Now wish to be known as Mrs. PRINCESS NGOZIKA MADUABUCCHI-IBEKWE. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OKORO I formerly known and addressed as Miss. OKORO BERNADINE UCHECHI now wish to be known as Mrs. UKEJE BERNADINE UCHECHI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

KALU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. NNENNA KALU now wish to be known as Mrs. NNENNA FRANK. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

EGBOKA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. CHINYERE SERAPHINA EGBOKA, now wish to be known as Mrs. OZOR CHINYERE SERAPHINA. All former documents remain valid Nigeria Prison Service, general public please take note.

OKON I formerly known and addressed as Miss IMMACULATA UNWANA OKON now wish to be known as Mrs. IMMACULATA TUBOTAMUNO JOSEPH. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

IKPOKU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss.

UYOYOU-OGHENE EMAMUSI IKPOKU, now wish to be known as Mrs. UYOYOUOGHENE EMANUSI OGBONDA. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

BABAJIDE

I formerly known as Miss Mojisola Oyenike Babajide, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs Mojisola Oyenike Ogbekhilu. All other documents remain valid.

University of Benin, NYSC and the general public, please take note.

KALEJAIYE

NWOSU I, MR. MADUABUCHI CHINONSO NWOSU and Mr. MADUABUCHI CHINONSO IBEKWE refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known as Mr. MADUABUCHI CHINONSO IBEKWE. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

RAYMOND

I, formerly known and addressed as Ifeanyi Raymond, now wish to be known and addressed as Ifeanyi Eze Raymond. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UMEJONU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Umejonu Chizoba J., now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oduchukwuma Chizoba J. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

UCHE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Uche Nkiruka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ifeanyi Eze Nkiruka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500. The payment can be made through - FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or thenation.advert @hotmail.com.

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Note this! Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2013

68

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

A cog in the wheel N

NATIONAL Mirror Views of April 25 committed many juvenile infractions: “…non-performing leaders that have constituted clog (a cog) in the nation’s wheel of progress.”

“Avoidable deaths resulting from negligence or absent (absence) of requisite facilities are the lot of the people.”

“In the midst of this mess (a comma) members of the ruling elite live in their fool paradise.” Political choice: live in a fool’s paradise.” “…he must ask what the person has (had) done in the past and….”

“That is why the judiciary must wake up from its present slumber and plays (play) its noble and….”

Lastly from National Mirror under review: “The recent commissioning (inauguration) of a single service portal by the….”

The Guardian Front Page of April 23 inadvertently backed Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in endorsing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP): “APC better alternative, Buhari, Tinubu insist” This, in effect, means that the ruling party (PDP) is good! I disagree. There is no basis for comparison between PDP and APC because darkness and light cannot be equated.

So, the headline should have read: “APC: The only alternative, Buhari, Tinubu insist” Members of the distinguished lexical parliament, what do you think?

THISDAY of April 22 disseminated just three mistakes: “The financial services sector came top (tops) and accounted for 1.759 billion shares valued at N14.642 billion….” “…in what appeared as if police was (the police were) winning the war on tinted glasses….”

Last week’s edition of this medium served its readers a few school-boy slips: “The Nigerian Communications Commission cordially invites stakeholders to the flag-off (launch/inauguration/ take-off/presentation/ kick-off/commencement…) of Mobile Number Portability Scheme” (Full-page advertisement by the NCC) There is no phrasal verb or noun phrase known as ‘flag-off’ in Formal/Official/Standard English—except in global sports colloquial-

ism!

“The initial optimism that the solution to the crisis bedeviling the Adamawa State chapter of the PDP was at (in) sight may be a forlorn hope if….”

THISDAY of April 20 disrespected the English language right from its Front Page: “…at the funeral service for late Chief Oluwole Awolowo at Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne-Remo in Ogun State…yesterday.”

My own last respects: funeral service for Chief Oluwole Awolowo. You do not hold a funeral service for a living person! If the obvious has to be awkwardly stated, at all, then it should be: for the late Chief….

“Rivers PDP crisis: We’ll enforce Abuja court order, says (say) police” “Task force arrest (arrests) informant, three other pipeline vandals” “With the injury which report says will knocked (sic) him out for between six to (and) nine months.”

Is this a phrase or a loose sentence?

The last contribution

by THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER of April 20 under review: “The Federal Government said they (it) will (would) demolish our homes but….”

National Mirror of April 18 circulated multifarious improprieties: “…the driver of the vehicle used for the kidnap took to his heel (heels).” “…Mrs. Abimbola Fashola visited the home of the abducted chairman to condole (condole with) his wife….” “…was being driven in his parents’ Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV, when he was abducted with the driver.” News: SportUtility (adjectival) Vehicle. “…after the governor’s executive phone-in programme at (on) the station’s premises, yesterday.”

“These are strong words, and indeed a ‘vote of no confidence’ on (in) judicial officers by the head of that institution.”

“Meanwhile the level of crimes and the unbridled looting of the public treasury are in (on) the ascendancy.”

“Our constitution happily (how?) guarantee (guarantees) fair hearing at all times in all cases….”

From NATIONAL MIRROR Editorial of April 19 come the next rot

and other blunders that follow: “…both the spirit and letters of the law in any way.” All the Fact, All the Sides: the spirit and the letter of the law.

“The vicious circle is literarily complete…..”

Education as I see it: The vicious circle is literally complete…. I hope you know that ‘vicious circle’ and ‘vicious cycle’ are both correct.

“New FUTA students’ leaders sworn-in” Campus News: sworn in (phrasal verb—no hyphenation).

“Against the backdrop of the 2nd All African Junior Golf Tournament in Abuja….” Sport: 2nd AllAfrica Junior Golf Tournament in Abuja “PENGASSAN charges government on oil theft vandalisation” Business & Finance: vandalism (not ‘vandalisation’)!

FEEDBACK “MY dear Ebere, lest you forget, ‘at present,’ meaning ‘now’. ‘currently,’ is a formal (fixed) idiom. Example: I am busy at present, can I phone you later? ‘At present’ and ‘presently’ are not synonymous. In fact, they are antonymous.

‘At present’/’presently’ always means now (or soon) in British English (BE). If we are speaking of a near and immediate future time, we must use ‘presently’ or soon. Example: ’He will come back presently’ means ‘He will come back soon.’

More power to your elbow.”

(Baba Bayo Oguntunase/Language Activist/Ikorodu/ Lagos/08029442508) “DEAR Mr. Wabara, your response to Dr. Ufot’s observation was quite satisfactory, but the correct expression is ‘hive (not beehive) of activity/ industry or just a ‘beehive.’ See page 834 of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English for Advanced Learners and other standard dictionaries, too.” (Kola Danisa/ Abuja/07068074257) “HELLO Ebere, I discovered your column just last week and was thrilled to see it. Keep up the good work. That said, I will like you to allow charity begin at home, especially with your columnists and writers! Do you know that THISDAY contains some of the most unforgiveable slips in print media today! God bless you.” (Anonymous; 08033019836)

What life has taught me, by Osuntogun •Continue from Page 60

With the growing impact of climate change and the attendant global warming on human existence, do you think Nigerians are sufficiently educated to appreciate the impact of their actions and decisions on the environment, and how to cope?

Relative to what used to be, an average Nigerian is aware. This is not because of the awareness programmes of government agencies and foundations, but because of bitter experience. Whoever has witnessed flooding does not need to be told it is wrong to block water channels.

The effect of global warming and climate change is being felt everywhere. Look at the northern part of the country, where constant rain is gradually becoming a problem. It was not like that before. They used to pray for rain or in some cases, and seek the assistance of rain makers.

Do you think governments, at the state and federal levels, have done enough in addressing the impact of climate change and other environment challenges being experienced in the country?

To some extent the federal government has put some measures in place. For instance, they have just enacted the environmental policy, although it is too late, because they ought to have done it long time ago.

Again, what is limiting government is funding. It is not until recently, when we begun to experience different calamities as a result of climate change, people thought issues about climate change and global warming were too abstract and remote. People did not appreciate the dangers and challenges they pose to the environment until now. I think more things need to be done.

The case of environment ministry is not helped because of interministry, inter-agency competition in government.

There ought to be interministerial cooperation and collaboration, because environment issues cut across most other sectors/ ministries.

Having been part of a body that promotes good leadership globally, how would you assess the quality of leadership in the country?

One cannot engage in generalisation in assessing the nation’s political leaders. Some are doing well.

Examples of performance cut across all the parties. Performance has nothing to do with the party you are in. It depends on the individual.

People should look beyond the parties in making electoral choices.

We should start now to analyse those being

•Osuntogun

presented by parties for elections. So, the new crop of politicians must be monitored. People must assess and reassess them.

People must not wait until the next election.

The problem with Nigerians is that they wait until the next election. You don’t wait till the next election before you let anybody you voted into office knows that he is not performing.

There must be consistent evaluation from the people.

There must be people’s parliament where their voices could be heard.

Nigerians should not fold their hands again like they used to do.

Do you agree with the argument that the absence of a mentoring/grooming process for would-be leaders accounts for why the rate of failure is high among political leaders in the country?

Some 20 years ago, the Britons decided that they needed new crops of leaders. So, they took John Mayor and a host of others.

They started to train and groom them. They even sent them to the United States and other countries to expose them. So, when the time came, they started taking from those crops of leaders that have been mentored.

Similar thing happened in the United States Obama (Barack) did not just emerge overnight. There is need for grooming. You have to groom leaders. We have to groom our leaders. Until recently, the opportunity for young ones to take up position of leadership was very difficult. It is the same iroko that sits.

I think things are improving now. So, the system is gradually evolving. But there should be emphasis on bringing up young leaders. There should be more emphasis on improving their skills.

There should be more emphasis on improving their exposure. They need exposure.

When I say exposure, I mean that they need to be taken out of the country to

learn the way things are done in other societies.

You are on the board of some philanthropic organisations. It has been argued that the wealthy in Africa hardly engage in philanthropy, which informs why most organisations look up to foreign donors for assistance. Why is it so?

Let me explain. There is what they call the principle of development. I think it is as a result of the fact that most rich people here belong to the first generation.

Those in the first generation have the tendency to think first, of themselves, their immediate and extended families, before considering whether not to give to those they do not know or are not related to.

Secondly, some prefer to remain in the background.

They do not want to be known or identified as being wealthy. You must have enough to be able to start and sustain a foundation.

How does it feel being 70?

I am just also enthused to say I am 70. In those days, we look at people, who are seventy as old. It is an achievement. One looks forward to being 70. At 70 you are no longer young.

You now belong to what you call the elders. In every society, any 70 year old man is regarded as an elder. So, it is quite interesting to reach that age. What makes me happier is that I am 70 with my wife; we are both 70.

How do you plan to spend the rest of your years?

I retired from active service some years ago. I left the university 22 years ago. Since then, I have been engaged in managing my personal office, from where I offer expert advice and consultancy services.

I do that at my pace, not as vigorously as I used to do.

As a professor, I do some writings as a way of putting my knowledge into written form. I still have a lot to occupy me. At 70 I will continue to do what I do, but not to go about seeking for jobs.

Miscellany

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

W

HEN the transworld Airbus began its final descent, trepidation trailed human expectancy.

Then the Luxury Qartar Plane en-route Doha, Landed safely at Heathrow Airport, ending the second trunk of a 14-hour flight that started in Lagos on a warm bright Saturday, 7:45pm.

Tired but excited, I seized the moment in my first step on British soil.

The mind wandered in random thoughts. London and the Queen. Ancient history and ethereal Royalty. Two phenomena Interlaced in mythic destiny.

I remembered colonialism, that eerie word that sounds like a poem. I first heard of it from my village headmaster. As little pupils fascinated by moonlight tales and nursery rhymes, our teacher’s story of British colonialism was always awe inspiring.

He thought us to sing at special occasions like independence anniversary or visit of a VIP from the city: “1960 Nigeria Nwelu Independence (x2). Ada Oyibo ana, Ochi chi oyibo ana.

Anyi Ekene Azikiwe” This translates in English: “1960 Nigeria gained independence (x2) The Queen has gone. Colonialism has gone.

We salute Azikiwe” Some times when our bespectacled head teacher disappeared from school, he would return days later to announce to a captive audience. “I travelled to London to see the Queen.”

Fourty years after I left Ikeke Primary School in my Idumuje-Unor homeland, here I am in London! Will I see the Queen? I mused, recalling in evergreen memory, the earthy fun of Oyibundu, my good old elementary teacher (God bless his soul).

Samuel, a calm Indian

London, queen and a journalist

By Norbert Chiazor

mini bus driver was our guide on my first day in London.

As he ferried me along with some of my colleagues from Delta State, he appeared too busy on the wheels of his gleaming Roomy Volkswagen.

All through our over half an hour drive from the Airport, he was generally taciturn to my restive enquiries.

We stayed at Britannia International Hotel, an iconic resort that stood shoulders high beside JP Morgan Towers, controversial financial firm touted to be the managers of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

Ten minutes walk from Britannia sat O2 Arena, a magnificent theatre, where legendary Michael Jackson was billed to have his last dance. But death cancelled all that. A shouting distance from the Hotel lies Canary Wharf Train station, London’s busiest underground terminal, conveying over one million commuters to various destinations daily. Directly opposite Canary Wharf Train Station stand in majestic splendour, the object of my London trip.

Welcome to Reuters!

The Reuters building is shaped like SilverBird Galleria, in Victoria Island, Lagos but far bigger in size and grandeur.

Reuters is a tall beautiful dome of polished steel and the finest of glass architecture, almost kissing the skyline.

With its stunning outlook, Reuters London headquarters sat delicately by the scenic courtyard of Docklands Canary Wharf Station, like the Egyptian goddess Cleopatra on the doting embrace of Roman Emperor, Julius Ceaser. When I eventually set my foot one cold Monday morning on the largest news room in the world, with 12 other Nigerian journalists, a life long feeling of fulfill-

•London bridge

ment welled up my entire being. With all modesty, I have travelled the world as a Journalist and pageant connoisseur; Norway, Cayman Island, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Kenya, Ghana, Gambia…

Save for South Africa, where I had nurtured enduring acquaintances and deep personal attachment to inimitable Madiba (Nelson Mandela), no journey would fascinate me like the Reuters experience. Established by a British entrepreneur, Paul Julius Reuter, it has a 160 year history trailed by landmarks.

With age old reputation for excellent journalism, most of the defining moments in global news break came through Reuters. The Titanic shipwreck of 1912, assassination of America’s Abraham Lincoln and America in Orbit, 1968 were delivered first to the world by Reuters.

Also it broke the news of 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, capture of Saddan Hussein in 2003 and killing of Libya’s Muamah Gadaffi in 2011, among other more recent events.

Every news story that shook the world since the past

100 years had the signature of Reuters.

In a briefing by Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters editorial Training Director, we were told that the organisation is the biggest news media in the world employing “over 60,000 with 2, 900 Journalists reporting from over 200 countries”.

Two veteran journalists who had worked for Reuters, Mathieu Robbins and Andrew Dobbie led us as programme instructors into the “trust principles” of the world famous news agency.

The one week engagement was open, frank and interactive as the duo joined us to share revealing individual experiences in the world of journalism.

While we proudly informed our London hosts about the vibrant character of the Nigerian press, even in the face of socioeconomic and political odds, their lessons on ethical journalism was a bitter pill to swallow.

A Reuters Reporter is not permitted to take favours in whatever guise not even a bag of Christmas rice. Brown Envelope is a non issue.

Pecuniary benefits no matter the intention of the giver could spell compromise with

the consequence of dismissal for a Reuters journalist. A story laced with falsehood or mischief can send you to jail. News must be presented with balance and dispassionate objectivity. Ethics is everything. A Reuters Reporter has no reason to cut corners. The salary is comparable to the pay of a Bank executive or a legislator in Nigeria. But every one works hard to earn a living in the organization typical of London. The work culture has zero tolerance for indiscipline of any sort. Fortune brought us to London.I met Belen Baccera, (Reuters Staff who facilitated the training) via cyber space. After about 70 email exchanges, spanning almost a year, the caring and attentive lady pulled the course through.

We learnt useful but different lessons in England.

London is too cosmopolitan and less communal. The residents generally do not have time for greetings or pleasantries. Everyone is in a cocoon.

The bohemian spirit and humanity back home are rare here.

You are on your own. No brother’s keeper. Your closest neighbor is a distant stranger.

He does not exist. But there is an exception to every human circumstance. Everyone at Britannia Hotels: manger, porter and waiter proved quite hospitable. Like every capitalist setting, they were strictly business minded without being impolite.

They complimented the warm courtesies of Reuters staff who were always willing to guide us in and out of the office.

If you love tea or coffee, you will indulge yourself with abandon at Reuters. We drank buckets. Maybe because of the cold weather or sheer appetite for the beverage, which was tempt-

69

ing. At break intervals between hours, no one guzzled less than 3 cups, an average of 15 cups a day.

Perhaps too tired from the rigours of class work and random shopping in London, not many of my fellow journalists were ready to visit key places of interest. I had to persuade Michael Ikeogwu and his co Pointer reporter Dennis Otu, Chido Okafor (The Guardian) Shola O Neil (The Nation) and the only female journalist on the trip, Mercy Muemufo of DBS Asaba to come with me to popular sites in London, especially Buckingham Palace. I saw Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus Olympic City in Stratford, River Thames and the famed London Tower Bridge among others.

But did I see the queen? We arrived there to meet thousands of tourists from across the world.

We came right on time to watch the royal sentries change guard in a solemn but lavish parade. The atmosphere was glorious in the sprawling Buckingham Palace arena. The amazingly colourful spectacle I saw on TV years back during the elaborate wedding of Lady Diana to Prince Charles was unfolding before my very eyes. A dense sea of human heads swarmed the surroundings. I had to stretch my neck to catch a glimpse of the proceedings with animated concentration. Every now and then, my camera was clicking away. Oh no!. I was disappointed to learn shortly that Queen Elizabeth II had retired into her royal chambers and would not be coming out any longer for that day.

Then it suddenly dawned on me that I had to move on briskly, to prepare for a long flight home ward bound.

Chiazor is the chairman Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ Delta State Council.

A toast to the Grand Commander at 60

T

OMORROW (Monday, April 29, 2013), one of the legends of our time will clock 60 years. Expectedly, the media, especially the print will be agog with congratulatory messages to celebrate this unique Nigerian who has made a success of his socio-economic endeavours. Otunba Mike Ishola Adeniyi Adenuga (Jr.) has become a business colossus and the barometer for benchmarking the country’s economic and philanthropic landscape, and indeed, those of the West African sub-region.

A cerebral business mogul, Otunba Mike Adenuga entry into the economic arena became noticeable in the 1980’s and in quick succession he founded and nurtured Devcom Merchant Bank Limited, Equitorial Trust Bank Limited and Conoil Limited to enviable heights. The advent of the Global System for Mobile Communications (hitherto known as Groupe Special Mobile), in Nigeria saw the enigmatic Mike Adenuga (Jr.) floating what is up to the present, the only indigenous and private telecommunications company, Globacom Limited to challenge the earlier three entrantsZain (now Airtel), MTN, and NITEL. Ever since, the industry has never been the same, as Globacom brought with it innovation, patriotism, and zeal yet to be matched by any other

By Fassy Adetokunboh Yusuf

telecommunications company.

The auspicious event of Adenuga’s diamond birthday is a consequential and monumental moment to celebrate success, resilience, excellence, generosity and kindness, humility, optimism, patriotism, corporate social responsibility, and many more as exemplified and personified by this thoroughbred Ijebu.

How do we define or determine success? To paraphrase Bessie Stanley, to achieve success is to live well, to gain the respect of those around us, to fill our niche and accomplish our task, to leave the world better than it was met, to look for the best in others and give them the best one could, for one’s life to be an inspiration to others, and for one’s memory to be a benediction. The cumulation of all these point to the fact that Adenuga (Jr.) is a success story in every material sense.

A resilient entrepreneur, his achievement in life has been built on concrete personal achievement and damning the challenges of failure. No doubt, business has not been a bed of roses. He once made an attempt to acquire the moribund and defunct NITEL, but for some inexplicable reasons, this did not materialise. Restrategising, he launched

Globacom, which introduced what was then said to be impossibility, the Per Second billing regime that has now become the vogue in the mobile telecommunications community.

According to Rick Pitino, ‘excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer’, while Booker T. Washington, said that ‘excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way; Adenuga (Jr.) is a man of rare and consummate excellence. He does not belong to the wasted or wasting generation. Rather, he dazzles us with his virtue and outstanding qualities, and above all, his commitment to achieve the best for his race.

Talking about his generosity reminds this writer about the quotation from Albert Pike that “what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; and what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal”. Equally true is that “those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves”.

These two statements exemplify the spirit of Adenuga (Jr.).

He has done much for Nigeria and Africa. He has also brought fame, honour and prestige to the black race.

A leader among men, he has always avoided putting himself above others. To some’

he is elusive or evasive, but those who know him attest to his uncommon humility and shyness. Humility, according to George Arliss “is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life”. The transformation of Adenuga (Jr.) to one of the richest men of our time can surely not have been achieved without a good dose of humility.

It is no gainsaying that “no pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit (Helen Keller)”. The achievements of Adenuga (Jr.) have been built on optimism- seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. His life is telling us that we can conquer our nightmares because of our dreams, and that there are possibilities in impossibilities. Indeed, it is possible to operate from a higher level of consciousness if and when we identify the opportunities in any good, bad and ugly environment. The dream in us will die if we are pessimistic.

A patriot of no mean order, his business empire attests to his commitment to and belief in the country. Directly and indirectly employing over 500,000 workers, he is a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project. The queuing into the philosophy of corporate social

responsibility has been a great uniqueness of Mike Adenuga (Jr.). Every part of the country has benefitted from his tremendous spirit of giving to charity, sports, culture, education and many more.

Recently, he was conferred with the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). He is the greatest ambassador of Ijebuland in the socio-economic sphere and an indefatigable pillar of sports and youth development in Nigeria. Adenuga (Jr.) is an indomitable employer of labour and the economic generalissimo of our time.

On a personal level, when the Awujale of Ijebuland appointed this writer the Coordinator of the centuries’ old Annual Ojude Oba of Ijebuland some seven years ago, the involvement of his company, Globacom has changed the face of the festival. The festival, through the instrumentality of Adenuga (Jr.) has become a global event playing host to millions of people annually including Presidents, Governors, National and State legislators, diplomats and foreign tourists.

He is undoubtedly, the foremost benefactor of our Ijebu’s cultural heritage- the Annual Ojude Oba Festival.

In conclusion, the diamond jubilee of the Otunba Apesin of Ijebuland, Mike Adenuga

•Adenuga (Jr.)

(Jr.), is indeed, a unique opportunity to salute his selfless and unwavering commitment to humanity and astonishing accomplishments in life. May his Diamond Jubilee usher in more grace to his glory as he continues to further manifest his destined greatness.

Happy Birthday to a quintessential and an amazing son of Ijebuland. May his mega vision, octopus mission and unassailable journey of purposeful and selfless service to humanity continue to magnify.

•Yusuf is former Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Culture .

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THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

Bayern set new points record

B

AYERN Munich, already crowned Bundesliga champions, set a new points record for a season in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Freiburg on Saturday.

Xherdan Shaqiri's first-half goal left them with 84 points, three more than the previous record set by Borussia Dortmund last season, with three games of the 34-match campaign still to play.

Werder Bremen were sucked closer to the danger zone when they lost to a controversial penalty, converted by Stefan Kiessling, at third-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

Augsburg, who are in the relegation playoff place, beat VfB Stuttgart 3-0 and are only two points behind Werder.

Hoffenheim, one place off the bottom, beat Nuremberg 2-1.

Wenger: Van Persie left Arsenal for trophies

A

RSENE Wenger believes that Robin van Persie's decision to leave Arsenal for Manchester United was motivated by a desire to win trophies The Dutchman makes his first return to the Emirates since the move on Sunday and Wenger has admitted that he was entirely unable to convince Van Persie his future was in London.

"There's a kind of timescale - like for a woman who has no baby at 39. She starts to think I have not much time left now," the Arsenal boss said.

"It is difficult for all the players when a player does not want to be here, to force him to be here and know that at the end of the season the club does not get anything with knowing that he might not contribute as well. So you are twice a loser.

"We have lost some other big players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, they had won with the club and they were around 30 or 31. He could help us to win because we haven't won for a few years.

That he left before that, was frustrating for us."

The Dutchman has been nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Award in recognition of his campaign, but the Arsenal boss revealed his selection would be another of United's stars on the shortlist.

"I would choose [Michael] Carrick," Wenger said.

"He is a quality passer. He could play for Barcelona, he would be perfectly suited to their game. He has a good vision and is an intelligent player, and it is for what he has achieved in his whole career as well. It is this year or never for him, just because he is 31 and after, they go down.

Messi magic in vain as Bilbao hold Barca

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HE Argentine superstar turned the game on its head following his introduction, but a late goal from the Basque midfielder means that the title will not be decided this weekend After the 4-0 mauling at the hands of Bayern Munich in midweek, Lionel Messi began from the bench but Tito Vilanova still selected a strong team.

However, the Basque side began the game impressively and deservedly took the lead into half-time with a goal from Markel Susaeta.

Messi was let loose after the break and after equalising with a sublime individual effort he assisted Alexis Sanchez for what looked like the winner, only for Ander Herrera to level the game in the final minute of normal time.

Bilbao pressed high from the outset and with six minutes played Gerard Pique was caught in possession on the right, deep in his own half. Herrera subsequently drifted into the box but his low cross was narrowly missed by the stretching Aritz Aduriz as he slid in at the back post.

The Blaugrana kept cool heads, though, and came agonisingly close to taking the lead in the 16th minute. Cesc Fabregas' delightful reverse pass fed straight into the path of Alexis' run, but his cross-goal shot from 20 yards came back off the frame of the goal.

ARSENAL VS MAN UNITED

RVP eyes glorious return at Emirates R OBIN van Persie will be the centre of attention when Premier League champions Manchester United make the trip to Arsenal on Sunday.

Van Persie departed Emirates Stadium in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in the summer when he was sold to the Red Devils for a reported ÂŁ22.5million after telling the Gunners he did not want to extend his contract after an eightyear stay.

The Holland international's goals have helped United wrestle the title back from bitter rivals Manchester City with four games to spare, with his hat-trick in the trophy-clinching 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Monday night taking him to 24 for the season in the Premier League.

Arsenal will form a guard of honour for the new champions and their former captain on Sunday, with Arsene Wenger calling on the home supporters to show respect for the striker they idolised until his summer departure.

There is always a possibility that Sir Alex Ferguson will take Van Persie out of the firing line this weekend with a 20th top-flight title

now in the bag, and he admitted on Thursday that fellow forwards Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck could feature.

United's only remaining target this season is surpassing the Premier League record points haul of 95 secured by Chelsea under Jose Mourinho in 2005, while Arsenal remain locked in the battle for fourth place with the Blues and Tottenham hot on their heels.

Wenger's men have a one-point advantage over the Stamford Bridge side and are two ahead of North London rivals Spurs heading into the home straight, but both of their foes have the advantage of a game in hand.

Cazorla is key to Arsenal's passing game and believes that they can trouble United on Sunday, if they can keep the ball from their opponents.

He told Arsenal's official website: "If we have the ball, we're definitely going to hurt them. We're a team that keeps possession well and knows how to hurt the opposition.

"If we don't, it'll be the reverse.

They'll cause us problems because they have a lot of quality and when given space they can threaten us.

Wenger's side continue to face a battle with Tottenham and Chelsea for a top four spot at the end of the season and they are in excellent IGAN Athletic missed form with just four games to play. out on the chance to move out of the relegation zone when they were held 2-2 by Tottenham Hotspur.

WO high-quality goals Wigan were a minute away from Sergio Aguero and from a victory that would have Yaya Toure gave taken them above Aston Villa and out of the bottom three, but an Manchester City a 2-1 home win own goal from Emerson Boyce, over West Ham in the Premier his second goal of the day, gave League, but a disastrous piece of goalkeeping from Joe Hart denied Spurs a point.

It is not the result manager them a clean sheet in injury time.

City's title was snatched away Andre Villas-Boas would have hoped for and is a major blow to from them on Monday but their UEFA Champions League Roberto Mancini's side are still aiming to approach the FA Cup qualification hopes.

The day started well for Spurs final in top form and produced a as they took the lead through stylish performance at the Etihad Gareth Bale. Maynor Figueroa's Stadium.

Aguero put City in front after 28 poor back-pass for goalkeeper Joel forced a rushed clearance m i n u t e s w h e n c o n v e r t i n g from the keeper that Bale charged following a flowing team move down. He then had the easiest of that included contributions from tasks in putting the ball into an Toure, David Silva and Samir Nasri, who pulled the ball back for empty net.

The lead lasted just two the striker to score his 11th m i n u t e s t h o u g h a s B o y c e Premier League goal of the powered home a header from a season.

Nasri also supplied the second corner to make it 1-1.

Callum McManaman stunned assist after 83 minutes as he the visitors with a fantastic strike knocked a pass square for Toure, from the edge of the box on 49 who lashed a brilliant effort into minutes to give Wigan the lead the top corner. and it looked as though they However, after sustaining a would hold on. back injury, Hart was guilty of a B u t w i t h j u s t a m i n u t e shocking lapse deep into added remaining on the clock a free-kick time as a shot from Andy Carroll was not dealt with by the Wigan trundled straight through the legs defence and the ensuing goal- of the England number one. mouth scramble saw Boyce turn City's attack, rich in quality, the ball into his own net. almost clicked inside 10 seconds.

Spurs grab later equaliser

W

Hart's gaffe mars City win

T

Giggs revels in 13th title

R

YAN Giggs insists his 13th Premier League titlewinning campaign has been one of his best.

The Welshman, who was labelled a "unique freak" by Sir Alex Ferguson following the championship-sealing victory over Aston Villa on Monday, has now extended his own record in lifting the most English titles.

Giggs is not one to spend too long reflecting on such matters.

However, given the gutwrenching manner of last season's demise, the team who took their coveted trophy away and the overwhelming manner of this term's success, the 39-year-old has

Van Persie

no hesitation in declaring this year as one of the finest ahead of their clash with Arsenal on Sunday.

"If you look at the amount of wins we have had, you have to recognise it has been a brilliant season in the league," he said.

"Some of the performances have been superb. Whenever you win the Premier League it is something special.

"Obviously, if you look at the end of last season that was a huge disappointment.

"To come back the following year and perform so strongly means it must rank really high.

"Overall, we have to be happy with the way it has worked out."

From kick-off, Nasri embarked on a thrilling run and poked a pass through for Carlos Tevez, but the striker was well offside as he fired a shot at Jussi Jaaskelainen. A former hero at Upton Park, Tevez was in lively form against his former side, with the Argentinian striker rifling a 20-yard effort right at the West Ham keeper and then sending another effort over the bar.

It was City who controlled the first half, with Aguero striking the post with a scuffed effort from a deflected Silva pass, and on 28 minutes they equalled a club

record for scoring in 48 consecutive home games - the previous mark being set between November 1927 and February 1930.

The move was supremely well-worked, with Toure, Silva and Nasri all involved in a quick interchange of passes before the Frenchman cut back for Aguero, who squeezed his shot under Jaaskelainen. And only a smart save from the keeper prevented a second before the break as he blocked from Pablo Zabaleta after spilling Nasri's initial effort from the edge of the box.

Pienaar inspires Everton win

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TEVEN Pienaar scored the only goal of the match as Everton defeated Fulham at Goodison Park in a Premier League match on Saturday.

The result sees the Toffees remain fifth on the log, but keeps alive their slim hopes of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League preliminaries next season.

Everton threatened a goal as early as the third minute when Marouane Fellaini powered a header on target from a corner kick, but Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made a fine block to keep it out.

However, the Toffees went ahead on 16 minutes through Pienaar, with the former Bafana Bafana captain shooting home from about 10 metres out after a good assist from the right flank by Seamus Coleman.

Fulham suffered a further blow just before the half hour mark when they were forced to substitute injured talisman Dimitar Berbatov. Mladen Petric came off the bench to replace the Bulgarian forward.

Both sides created chances in what remained of the first half, but the break saw Everton still 1-0 ahead and worthy of their lead.

The second half saw Fulham introduce both Damien Duff and

Hugo Rodallega in a bid to boost their attacking impetus, but Everton remained in the lead and in charge of the match, though they lacked the incision in the final third to extend their advantage.

Both Nikica Jelavic, who was replaced midway through the second half by youngster Ross Barkley, and Victor Anichebe had frustrating games in terms of scoring opportunities, but their defence at the other end ensured that they remained ahead.

Fellaini and Barkley had chances to add to Everton's lead in the dying minutes of the match, but they failed to capitalise. Nevertheless, the Merseysiders held out for a 1-0 win.

EPL Results Man City 2 - 1 West Ham Everton 1 - 0 Fulham S'thampton 0 - 3 WestBrom Stoke 1 0 Norwich Wigan 2 2 Tottenham Newcastle 0-6 Liverpool SUNDAY FIXTURES Reading v QPR Chelsea v Swansea Arsenal v Man Utd MONDAY FIXTURE Aston Villa v Sunderland

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THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

NTDC drags golf star Fowler to Nigeria

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ORLD number 29, Rickie Fowler, is currently considering an invitation to Nigeria on the bill of the Nigerian Tourism Development Commission, NTDC, to take part in a golf exhibition.

Director General of NTDC, Olusegun Runsewe, who was at the recently concluded US Masters at the Augusta National, said that his commission had initiated such moves to aid its future promotion of the game in the country.

“Rickie Fowler is an icon of the game and is one of the youth ambassadors of the game of golf the world over. And we would be delighted to have him come over to Nigeria for an exhibition game we are working on,” he said.

Runsewe who has been in the vanguard of using the game of golf as a key sport- tourism driver in the country said: “it is high time we positioned Nigeria to partake in the multi-billion dollar golf tourism industry. We have good response already from necessary sources and once we perfect it, we will make details of the event public.”

Dolphins Club hosts Dei Remembrance Tournament

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ORE than fifty golfers gathered for a one-day golf tournament in honour of late professional player Franklin Dei at the Dolphin Golf Club in Lagos last Saturday.

Former captain of the Club, Francis Olo, said that the event was a way of paying tribute to his immense contribution at the club.

“Franklin was a professional here when the club was still developing, there are lots of amateur players here who credit all that they have learnt to him. He is a humble player that we learnt a great deal from and we believe he cannot just pass away like that. Frank was one of us before he relocated to Port Harcourt (where he died), Dolphin was unquestionable his home and that is why all of us here have decided to honour him with this event,” said Olo. A huge number of professional players had turned up for the event from different parts of the country, including Victor Enaigbe, UBTH Golf Club in Edo State, Nojeem Shofela from MicCom Golf Club in Ada, Osun State, among others.

At the event, former Dei's colleague at Ikoyi Golf Club, Olusegun Daniel, beat the field by one shot to carry the day. He raked in 73, one over par at the nine-hole course. Ikeja-based Chidi Tobias tied Francis Ugbong Dolphin's resident professional to finish in the runner-up place.

Elated Ugbong said: “You can see here that a lot of our members turned up and stayed long at the club even after their game. It was a way of saying a 'big thank you' to the player many believed was one of the foundational members of this club.”

Ugbong added that many of the pros were playing as a mark of respect for their late colleague.

In another development, the general manager of the Professional Golfers' Association of Nigeria, Mike Alika, who swung club at the one-day event hinted that the life insurance claim for the late player was ready and would soon he handed to his next of kin.

Cote d'Ivoire pip Eaglets to U-17 title

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ote d'Ivoire clinched a first-ever CAF U-17 Championship Sunday when they defeated Nigeria 5-4 on penalties after fulltime scores were 1-1.

Chidiebere Nwakali failed to convert Nigeria's second penalty during the shootout to deny the Eaglets a third continental trophy.

It will be the second time the Ivorians will defeat the Nigeria U17s as they also stopped them 1-0 in a Group B match.

The Eaglets looked like they would avenge this loss when they took the lead after eight minutes through central defender Izu Omego.

Omego shot home off a corner by Nwakali.

However, the Ivorians fought back to draw level in the 27th minute through Francebased Bile Bedia.

Omego turned from hero to zero when he was sent off in the 74th minute for a deliberate elbow and the Eaglets were forced to play a man short for the rest of the game.

Kelechi Iheanacho failed to connect Nwakali's free kick deep inside the Ivorian box in the 38th minute as Nigeria tried to regain their lead.

At the restart of the game, Musa Yahaya drove right into the Baby Elephants vital area only to crash his shot against the side netting.

Eaglets goalkeeper Adeyinka Adewale was forced to make a big saved after Chelsea youth player Bekanty Angban produced a goal-bound glancing header in the 52nd minute.

Tournament top scorer with seven goals Isaac Success then failed to make the most of substitute Ahmed Umar's corner in 87th minute, when he had only the goalkeeper to beat.

The contest could not provide a winner and it was left to a penalty shoot-out to settle the matter and the Ivorians scored all their five penalties through Kessie, Diallo Ismael, Angban, Keita and Dogbole Niangbo who scored the winning penalty after Chidiebere Nwakali has missed for Nigeria. Success, Ifeanyi Mathew, Yahaya and Musa Muhammed spot kicks for Nigeria.

Tunisia also beat hosts Morocco after a penalty shootout to finish third at the biennial championship.

All four teams will represent Africa at the FIFA U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October.

.Tunisia deny hosts Morocco

Golden Eaglets line-up

KANO STADIUM VIOLENCE

Heartland file protest, demand three points

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EARTLAND FC of Owerri have protested the encroachment on and the invasion of the field of play by angry Kano Pillars supporters during last Wednesday's Week Eight league encounter between both teams at Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano which forced the players and match officials to abandon the match.

In a protest letter to the League Management Committee on Thursday, Heartland FC claimed that a fight broke out between the security men and a group of armed supporters belonging to the home team when the latter tried to force their way on to the pitch 30 minutes after the game had gone on without a goal from either sides.

The fight resulted in the firing of gunshots which left about three Kano Pillars supporters known as the 'Kofarmata Maisugidan' boys with bullet wounds while the policeman

accused of carrying out the shooting was stabbed to death by the angry supporters who also sacked the players and officials from the pitch. Several other supporters were also feared dead from injuries suffered while trying to jump out of the stadium.

Citing the relevant law guiding the league, the Naze Millionaires, as Heartland FC are known, demanded the LMC to award them the three points and three goals available in the match (see copy of the protest letter below).

Media Officer of Heartland FC, Cajetan Nkwopara, who confirmed that the protest was lodged within the mandatory 48hours required by the law, said they were disappointed by rumours making the round that both the match commissioner's report and the police report of the violence may have compromised by failing to state in totality, the facts of the incident.

Sokan, new NUGA president, plans big

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ONY Sokan has emerged as the third president of the Nigeria-UK Golfing Association (NUGA.) He was appointed by the Board of Directors last month to steer the association.

NUGA was founded by a group of passionate Nigerian professionals in 2004.

Sokan is a foundation member of NUGA and served as the

By Taiwo Alimi

captain in 2008/2009. He had earlier served for two years as its social secretary, and as captain was the publisher of the NUGA magazine.

Speaking in his office, the new NUGA President spoke about his visions for the association where he noted that the body would be celebrating its 10th anniversary in July next year.

CMCL Golf Tours tees new season from Abuja

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N its desire to continually support the development of the game of golf at all levels in the country, Consolidated Management Consultants Limited, (CMCL) Golf Tours, have announced its programme of activities for the year 2013.

The events which are already generating lots of interest within the golf circuit are expected to begin in May with the annual CMCL Open Golf Championship, which enters its 15th edition this year. CMCL is a week-long professional and amateur event and has been scheduled to take

“We are worried by these rumours, but we believe the Match Commissioner is a man of integrity and that the Nigeria Police, Kano State command, cannot deny justice to their colleague who was a victim and who hails from the same Kofarmata area as the wounded supporters, by failing to acknowledge simple the truth that was witnessed by more than 400 hundred people at the stadium, “ Nkwopara said.

“We hold the Match Commissioner, Mr. Usman Zumami, in high esteem. We have great respect and regard for the referee, Mr. Sylvester Okungbowa, and his assistants, J.N. Ekundolor and Osumah Ajiboye. Most especially, we have trust and regard for the Nigeria Police, and so are persuaded to dismiss and disregard the rumours against them,” he added.

place at the famed IBB International Golf and Country Club in Abuja.

The PRO/AM will be held from Tuesday May, 28th to June 2nd, 2013 with the professionals playing for 4 days while the Amateurs/Guest play Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June, respectively.

The CMCL Open will be followed closely by International Pairs Competition which last held in Lagos. CMCL Tour season will be rounded off with the Transatlantic Golf Team Challenge which is also scheduled to hold in Lagos.

Speaking ahead of the official teeoff of its event, the newly appointed

Chief Executive Officer of CMCL Golf Tours Limited, Frank Igbene, says the Tour will continue its effort in creating awareness of the game of golf, sponsorship and sourcing for support for the game across the country.

“CMCL will not rest in its determination to grow golf at all levels in Nigeria and that is why we are doing all we can in the area of sponsorship of the game and we are also sourcing for sponsors for our other events. These efforts are geared towards engendering the growth of the game in the country,” Igbene explained.

He said part of his plans were to see that NUGA owns its own golf course and he will be effective in the area of fund raising for its numerous projects. “It is my strong desire that NUGA owns its own golf course in the United Kingdom.

This is going to be one of the main thrusts of my tenure,” he noted.

“We shall embark upon a sponsorship drive towards establishing new corporate sponsors and reinforcing our relationship with existing ones.

A campaign towards the effective corporate branding of NUGA shall also be embarked upon,” he added.

On NUGA's membership, Sokan explained that anybody is eligible to be a member - both golfers and aspiring golfers.

Sokan is a Wealth Management Consultant with over 23 years of experience. He is a Principal Partner of a top FTSE 250 company in the UK.

QUOTABLE

SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2475

"This is a country where excellence is no longer obvious; a country where dignity of labour is no longer appreciated. It is a country where honesty has vacated its shores; a country where accountability is no longer important; a country where those who laboured faithfully till retirement are denied their entitlement… yet the government has laid down an elaborate programme and has indeed begun to celebrate a century of retrogression and woes."

- Retiring Anglican Bishop of Lagos West, Rt. Rev. Peter Adebiyi, lamenting on the state of the nation.

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HORTLY before the inauguration of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, I travelled by public transport to Ilorin. Somewhere in Ibadan, we came upon a band of Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) toughs wielding various weapons including automatic guns, short machetes and axes. Their leaders/commanders wore various specially embroidered clothes that harked back to the era of the Yoruba wars.

Apart from small gourds strapped to their jumpers, they also wore red wrist or head bands with cowries stitched to them. They stopped traffic majestically and defiantly, and strolled across the road with not a care in the world. A few kilometres down the main road to Ilorin, we again encountered another band, this time in a convoy of beat-up cars and perhaps a pick-up van, if my memory serves me well. They drove fiercely and menacingly, some sitting on top of their cars, and others popping their heads out of the windows as their vehicles bobbed and weaved through the choked traffic.

This was in the late 1990s, barely a few years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide raged in all its atavistic and sanguinary fury. Using the autocratic regime of Gen Sani Abacha as pretext, Yorubaland began to regress into anomie and idolatry. While still in traffic, and as OPC militants were strutting their stuff, I became both troubled and humiliated. Was this what the Southwest had become? Was the region’s civilisation so tenuous that it took just one destabilising incidence to demolish its accomplishments and send the region lumbering abjectly into the embrace of undemocratic and impulsive bands of area toughies? The OPC may no longer be brazen and daring as it was, but it has kept its structure fairly intact, and continues to attract mainly those who, like cultists, want a sense of adventure and meaning to life.

The Southwest was somewhat lucky to have understood very early the pitfalls of putting its hopes and trust in an ethnic militia.

Given the cold shoulder in polite circles, the OPC quietly morphed into a militia of local enforcers and security consultants. These jobs were needed to keep them busy in place of the revolution they, and many people, believed loomed in the 1990s and early 2000s. After reading about the Rwandan genocide and watching a documentary on it, not to talk of the postTito Yugoslavia that dissolved into civil war, it was easy to make up my mind about the dangers of indulging ethnic militias, whether among the Yoruba or in Boko Haram territory. The Yoruba were lucky the OPC experienced considerable attenuation over the years; the North is not so lucky in the hands of Boko Haram, which they at first indulged, then lamely opposed, and finally watched with quiet dismay and resignation from afar.

For those who naively put their trust in the OPC as the saviour, backbone and standby militia of the Yoruba, the ongoing struggle for pipeline security contracts and leadership supremacy between Frederick Fasehun and Gani Adams can be very disillusioning. Sometime

ACN, UPN, pipeline contracts and OPC

•Frederick Fasehun

•Gani Adams

in April, Dr Fasehun had delivered a broadside on Mr Adams for attempting to match him wit for wit and brawn for brawn. But he also acknowledged that he had bidden for a pipeline security contract because the six million youths in his militia deserved the federal government’s economic patronage, just as Niger Delta youths are beneficiaries of very lucrative federal government contracts. No one knows where he got the outlandish figures of OPC membership. But responding to the ACN spokesman’s criticisms that he bade for the contract in order to fund a political party and turn it into a destabilising counterpoise to the region’s dominant party, Fasehun offered a most peremptory and nonideological argument indicating that in his political world everything boiled down to money.

That this materialism subverts the lofty principles of the Southwest, especially the lodestar of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) he is presumptuously trying to revive, is immaterial to him.

I have read many opinions on the contract bid by the OPC leaders, and find them humbling. In defending Fasehun, most of the views quite illogically ignore the contradictions between propping up oneself as a saviour or defender of the Yoruba and being a federal government contractor. The Tompolos, Boyloaf and Dokubos of the Niger Delta have never tried to sound principled or ideological. From their antecedents and their current standing, they give the firm impression they need financial empow-

erment more for its own sake than for any esoteric reasons. They are not driven by any principle of democracy, federalism, human rights, or any other lofty values that ennoble humanity.

If the right contracts are dispensed to them, it becomes an incentive to work with and give support to the government of the day. In this they are at least honest, for they do not attempt the disingenuousness their OPC counterparts have now become famous for. How Mr Adams and Fasehun, for instance, hope to get pipeline protection contracts from the Jonathan presidency and in the same breath defend the values that have characterised the Yoruba for centuries is a puzzle. More puzzling is the fact that they do not see the tragedy of outsourcing security to ethnic militants and repentant bigots.

But the dishonesty of the OPC leaders and their self-serving philosophy do not end there.

They are not squabbling over ideology, or over political orientation, or even over societal reengineering. These self-appointed defenders of the Yoruba race are squabbling over two things only: contract from the government, and leadership position in the OPC. It is a surprise that it has taken so long for many Yoruba elites to see through the gimmickry of the militia.

While the contracts have not yet been awarded, Fasehun has spoken condescendingly of subletting less than one-third of the contract’s value to Mr Adams’ faction of the OPC. The latter, in-

Baga massacre: Jonathan’s words return to haunt him

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WO Fridays ago, soldiers of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) swooped on Baga, a fishing town on the shores of Lake Chad, Borno State, leaving in their wake some 185 people dead, many of them, according to locals, women and children. The casualty figures are disputed, with the MJTF arguing that not more than 35 people or so died, and the locals insisting that in fact more than 200 people perished in the military assault. The military have given very colourful but hard-to-believe story of the assault. They insist they got intelligence information that Boko Haram militants were massing in a mosque in the town. A patrol was sent to assess the threat, but the patrol was met with extraordinary firepower during which an officer was killed, in fact beheaded. The MJTF reinforced and descended on the town, but was again met with great firepower. This time, however, said the military authorities, they were ready, and scores of civilians and militants were killed.

Going by the worldwide condemnation of the excessive firepower deployed by the soldiers, the Jonathan presidency has ordered full-

scale investigation into the assault, with a promise that offending soldiers who breached the military rules of engagement would be punished. Not only are we not told what would happen to the Chadian and Nigerien troops in the MJTF, there may be nothing to indicate by what proficiency the MJTF managed to sustain only slight injuries. No soldier died in the reprisal raid itself.

Baga locals, however, gave a different account. They insisted the problem actually began at a cinema house where a misunderstanding between cinema goers led to some shootings that drew the attention of a nearby patrol.

Unfortunately, an officer was killed, hence the reinforcement and the savage reprisal. When the reprisals began, said the locals, the militants had long gone, while most residents of the town who bore the brunt of the MJTF revenge were not even aware of the severity of the commotion at the cinema.

Whether the government and National Assembly inquiries will reveal the truth, including accurate casualty figures, is difficult to say.

But many people suspect that the reprisal was inspired by Jonathan’s intemperate remarks in

Borno and Yobe States when he visited both places in March. (See right). This column had warned at the time that the president’s undignified remarks could return to haunt him in the months ahead. The suspicion is that that has now happened, a fact that has prompted calls for the president and offending soldiers to be dragged before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Palladium had on March 10 concluded: “So, now, will the president begin applying the Odi method perfected by Chief Olusgeun Obasanjo, and which he himself condemned as ineffective?

If anyone still holds out hope that Jonathan has the depth and judgement to rule a complex nation, especially one facing dire ethnic and religious challenges, I offer to the optimist the president’s view on the consequences of killing security agents. And if anyone thinks we are not in even deeper trouble than we imagine, I offer the same presidential remark as an example. Let every community in the country beware; even their deviants cannot afford to bite a soldier, protest against police tyranny, or fight a security official to the death.”

ured to the paradox of Yoruba defenders fighting for crumbs from a potential enemy, is asking for nothing less than half of the total value of the contract. This, he says, is because he leads about 90 percent of the membership of the OPC. The dissembling duo already has projects in the pipeline. While Dr Fasehun is attempting to revive the defunct UPN, Mr Adams, less pretentious, less ambitious, but perhaps more practical and self-important, simply wants to keep his boys engaged and happy. Both suggest that the Southwest deserves it, for the ACN, according to them has proved incapable of taking care of the welfare of the region. On April 18, Fasehun published a rambling and innuendo-ridden advertorial in which he attempted to rationalise the revival of the UPN. The best in the advert is his exaggerated affectations on democracy.

But it would have been better if he had not published anything, for it is clear that in spite of his activist years, he lacks both the depth and character to preach democracy to anyone or offer leadership to any group.

Fasehun assumes that merely invoking the name of UPN is enough to bring back the glory of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo era. He forgets that it was not the party that ennobled Awo; on the contrary it was Awo through his brilliance, depth, passion and discipline, not to say contempt for federal handouts, that ennobled the party. What virtue will Fasehun bring to the party he seeks so cavalierly and comically to resuscitate? I can see none. And what on earth has come over opinion writers and analysts that they give Fasehun a hearing, he that recently asked for Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to be pardoned, he of doubtful ideology and of hidden motives? Had the ferment in the country graduated into a revolution and any of the two OPC leaders assumed prominence, imagine what terrors, poor judgement and mediocrity would have been unleashed on the region.

As Mr Adams said in his provocative response to Fasehun’s angry and disrespecting characterisation of his rival, the two OPCs are perfectly irreconcilable. But much more than the struggle for leadership of the ethnic militia, the pipeline contract controversy has exposed the superciliousness of the older man and the superficiality of the younger claimant. The elites and opinion moulders in the Southwest must surely have taken the measure of the two pretenders to the Yoruba throne. They are first and foremost contractors, a duo of self-serving and ambitious leaders without the farsightedness, discipline, sacrifice and competence to interpret the past and decipher the tangled skein of Nigeria’s future, let alone embody the values and virtues that have stood the Southwest out for centuries.

What Jonathan said when he visited Borno, Yobe (March 7-8, 2013) “…LET me be very frank, because the analogy that oh, when one soldier is killed the soldiers come and kill scores of people, we have always been admonishing that. We always tell the soldiers to conduct themselves because they are doing internal security job that ordinarily soldiers are supposed not to be involved in.

But because of the calibre of weapons the militants are using, the police alone cannot stand.

And government will never sit down quietly and wait for insurgents, for some people to take up arms and take a part of this country.

Never.

“Whether it is in the Niger Delta, and I have given the directive to security services, I don’t want to hear that one soldier is killed in the Niger Delta, I don’t want to hear that one security officer is killed in the South East kidnapping, I don’t want to hear that one soldier is killed in Borno State or any part of this country. I cannot preside over this country as a president and my security officers are killed. This people leave their families, stay on the roads and the bush so that we will sleep, and I will not want to hear that one of them is killed.

“We will not allow it and I will not celebrate death of one security officer anywhere in this country, whether it is in Bayelsa State, whether it is in the Niger Delta, Anambra State, South East, South West, North West, North Central, anywhere. We will not, and I repeat, will not accommodate it...”

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