The Nation Aug 11, 2013

Biafra did not surrender – Achuzia

Tonto

Dikeh

–Page 2

NDLEA yet to contact me Page 44

–Pages 24-25

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.08, No. 2574

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

AUGUST 11, 2013

N200.00

Governors Forum: Jang, Amaechi resume battle Plateau governor an impostor, says Amaechi Ignore Jang, five northern governors tell colleagues –Page 2

El-Rufai slams Jonathan on religion Says fear of Buhari killing PDP –Page 2

•L-R: Glo's Head of Youth Segment, Mr Sola Arowogbadamu, Chairman of Faculty Presidents, UNILAG, Nelson Fisayo, SUG President,Yaba Tech, Azeez Babalola, ex President LASU, Agbomeji Ibrahim and Glo's GM, Consumer Marketing, Ashutosh Tiwary at the launch of Glo Bounce, a unique product which allows youths to call freely at 5k/sec with free data, yesterday.

‘PRESIDENCY NOT FOR KINDERGARTEN’

–Page 4

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FRESH muscle-flexing has ensued between the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State over the leadership of the group.

Although Jang, whose claim to the NGF chair is disputed by 18 of the 36 governors, sparked the fire on Friday after inviting all the governors to a meeting of his faction of the Forum, Amaechi stoked it yesterday.

He asked his colleagues to ignore Jang’s invitation.

He said Jang remains an impostor and cannot convene the meeting slated for today.

There were indications yesterday that the five Northern governors who are trying to salvage the nation’s democracy had joined Amaechi to dissuade their fellow Northern governors from attending the meeting.

The Jang faction, backed by the Presidency, is determined to go ahead with the Abuja deliberation.

The summoning of the meeting created fresh tension yesterday following suggestions that security agencies had been mobilised to provide security at the meeting.

Some mobile policemen were sighted on guard at the Maitama, Abuja office of the Jang faction.

More policemen and plaincloth security men are likely to be deployed at the venue today.

It was gathered that some elements in the presidency encouraged Jang to convene the meeting as part of the moves to whittle down Amaechi’s alleged grip on the Forum.

NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

NGF crisis: Amaechi, Jang renew battle •Rivers Gov asks members to shun rival’s meeting today •Five northern govs back Amaechi

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (middle) during his inspection visit to the on-going Ilo-Awela Road project in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area, with him at his left are APC Chieftains, Alhaji Roqeeb Adeniji and Chief Wole Adesiji while Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, and SSA on Social Development, Mr. Tunde Sanusi, are at his right...at the weekend.

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

A source said: “The forces in the presidency backing Jang believe that this time around, they will be able to secure the confidence of the majority of the governors.

“They are after a simple

majority of 19 or 20. They have spent the last few weeks to lobby governors to see reasons why they must dump Amaechi.

“You know, Jang had failed twice to earn the backing of more governors than the 16 following him. The anti-

Amaechi forces want to use this third attempt to demonstrate that Jang is now in control of the NGF.” But to serve as bait for the governors, Jang in a notice claimed that the Forum would discuss input into the ongoing constitution amendment.

The notice for the meeting reads: “The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau State has summoned an emergency meeting of members of the forum.

“The meeting will be held on Sunday, August 11, 2013

El-Rufai accuses Jonathan of playing ethnic, religious politics

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FORMER Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of playing ethnic and religious politics as a way of diverting Nigerians’ attention from alleged bad governance going on in the country.

El-Rufai, who is now Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), also accused the President of lacking the capacity to call to order all those beating the war drum across the country.

He spoke on the Kadunabased Liberty Radio. The former minister warned that the country having fought a civil war would find it difficult surviving another war.

He said that the ruling PDP is afraid of former military ruler, General Mohammadu Buhari and therefore will do everything possible to destroy him and brand him an ethnic and religious bigot.

He said: “There are many agents confronting the Nigerian nation. What is very worrying is the kind of rhetoric going on in this country, a lot of which are being sanctioned by the government. For example, whenever Asari Dokubo speaks, just know that a week earlier, he had been

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

called to the Villa and whenever E.K Clark speaks, you know it is arranged.

“How can one ethnic group, the Ijaw, threaten the rest of us?

We have 170 million people, I don’t know how many of that population make up the Ijaw nation, but I don’t think they are more than five million.

“How can five million people threaten us saying unless their son becomes President, there will be no Nigeria?

Who are they to do that? The government keeps quiet when somebody says that. Of course, the expected reaction is that you have people from the North also threatening similar thing.

“What type of country do we have where there is no one to call people to order? It is sad.

Again, it is this political strategy of Jonathan to always use ethnicity and religion whenever there is a problem.

“Whenever there is a big issue about Excess Crude account or subsidy issue, they bring this issue of ethnicity and religion.

But I have not lost hope because I know that Nigerians can see through their pranks and their game and will vote them out in the next election. The challenge for the next President is to build trust among the various ethnic

groups so that Nigeria can walk towards one direction.

“This country has gone through one civil war. I don’t know of any country that can survive two civil wars and those that are stealing crude oil; buying and stockpiling arms should know it is not the amount of arms you have that decides who wins a war. Otherwise, the USA would have won in Iraq, but they couldn’t and at the end they had to leave the Iraqi to solve their problems.

“So, they should think very deeply about what they are doing and learn from history. I know that Nigeria will survive these bad and incompetent leaders who steal during the day and drink and womanise at night instead of working for the Nigerian people”.

The former Minister described the PDP as a toxic party which must be destroyed. His words: “a party that has earned the highest oil revenue in Nigeria`s history, but has converted this oil revenue to personal wealth when our schools have remained closed and our educational system collapsing, our hospitals not functioning and fly abroad for medical treatment and send their children to school abroad, is a danger to the Nigerian nation.

“PDP has become a virus that

is infesting and destroying the country and because they are not doing anything productive, they have changed our politics to that of ethnicity and religion to divert attention from their incompetence, lack of capacity and their looting of the treasury. So, PDP has become a clear and perfect danger to the existence of Nigeria as a nation and the prosperity of its people. So, it is toxic party and should be destroyed.

“The PDP has evolved from a party that was trying to be democratic in its practices and to have decency in its governance to one that has become a danger to the people of Nigeria and the only person they are afraid of, who is their nightmare, is Gen. Buhari.

“So, anytime Buhari makes a statement or does anything, the PDP machine will be at work to twist whatever he says in order to destroy his character and give the impression that he is a religious and ethnic zealot.

“There is nothing by way of fact that shows that Gen. Buhari is that kind of person. Buhari has been in public life for so long that if he was a religious bigot, or ethnic surrogate, it would have been clear. There is no way a man will rise to the position of a Major General in the Army and people will not know that he is preference for his ethnicity or re-

ligion or attained the position he has attained in life without people knowing he has all these qualities.”

He accused the PDP of trying to paint Buhari in bad light, adding, “They have tried everything possible to paint the man black and they are not even afraid that one day, they will stand before God and defend their action. That is why I say they are afraid of him more than God…” He expressed concern about the future of the country, saying, “Nigeria has a population of about 170 million and every year, about six million babies are born. What this means as far as policy making is concerned is that within the next 20 years, those babies will need at least three million jobs because from the six million, one million will die from avoidable illnesses.

“Any responsible government should be thinking of these challenges. My concern is that not much is being done and the environment is not conducive at all. Electricity supply is going down and industries are dying while competition from China is killing the little industrial base that we have and our leaders are not making the environment attractive for investors.”

at the NGF Secretariat, 2 Nana Close, off Erie Crescent, Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja at 7.30 PM. “The agenda for the meeting is: Constitution Amendment.”

Amaechi and his supporters were invited to the meeting

by Jang.

It was learnt that the agenda would cover autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country, oil theft in the Niger Delta, local government financial autonomy that was killed by the Senate but endorsed by the House of Representatives and dwindling oil revenue which may affect revenue allocation to states and LGAs. Governor Amaechi, in a terse message last night, said: “I have not convened any emergency meeting. Again, I want Nigerians to know that Jang is an impostor, having tried to steal my victory. He was not elected by the majority of governors, who were in attendance during the election on May 24.

“On what basis does he summon a meeting of the NGF? Nigerians should tell Jang to respect himself and desist from impersonating me.

“I am already in touch with the National Assembly leadership on constitution amendment and at the appropriate time, we will take position on some of their recommendations.”

Information available to The Nation at press time suggested that most members of the Progressive Governors Forum would boycott Jang’s session.

Also, some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by the five Northern governors trying to salvage the nation’s democracy, seem unlikely to attend today’s meeting.

A governor from the NorthWest said: “Why will Jang call a meeting at a time some of our colleagues are trying to facilitate peace and reconciliation between President Goodluck Jonathan and Amaechi.

“We have always suspected that some of our colleagues do not want this cold war between the President and Amaechi to end.

“Is it in the interest of any Nigerian to heat up the polity again? This is why some of us are opposed to Jang’s leadership.

“The last discussion the five Northern governors had with the President was that he would convene a meeting of the 36 governors to resolve the NGF crisis amicably.”

One of the five governors, Admiral Murtala Nyako (Adamawa State), who spoke through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmed Sajoh, said he won’t attend Jang’s meeting.

Nyako said: “As far as we are concerned, Jang cannot call a meeting of the NGF because he is not the chairman and there was no time that we elected him as such. That is our position.”

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (25)

BY BIODUN JEYIFO

The omoluabi professor as a revolutionary democrat: Ropo Sekoni (aka RS) @ 70

If we are not careful, another struggle is going to come. This is because the contradictions will blow up the country again, maybe before 2015 or by 2015. We have not addressed the fundamentals of our politics. As I said earlier, breaking of Nigeria is not going to pay anybody. As a Yoruba man who loves his people, I am clear in my mind that a good Nigeria will be good for the Yoruba.

Ropo Sekoni, Premium Times (Online), August 7, 2013

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HERE is no place on earth that I would have loved to be earlier this week on Wednesday, August 7, than in Lagos when the family, relatives, friends and colleagues of RS gathered to mark his 70th birthday with a festivity that I am told, was as intellectually stimulating as it was also a rousing social function. RS, as he is universally known, is of course none other than Ropo Sekoni. Unfortunately, I could not be present as I am far away in China. To make things worse, because right now I am traveling in that vast country, I could not even carry out a promise I had made to some co-conspirators that I would record and send an audiovisual message that was to have been played at the gathering. Given this background, in writing this tribute in my column this week, I am turning an opportunity missed to a rare chance to say in this forum some things that need to be said about one of our country’s most prominent and progressive public intellectuals.

In Yoruba culture and language, there is probably no higher form of social approbation that could be paid to an adult person than to say that he or she is an omoluabi. I personally cannot think of a single word in the English language that could serve as a satisfactory translation of this Yoruba term. In essence, it encapsulates the social identity of a person that is both self-respecting and highly respected in the community, a person in whom one can repose the complete confidence that she or he can be expected to always do that which is considerate, just and honourable.

Now the really wonderful thing about this omoluabi appellation is that, as far as class and social status are concerned, it is completely neutral. Though it does not preclude women and men of wealth and power, one does not have to be rich, highly educated or famous to be deemed an omoluabi. This is because it is manifested in your character, in how people not only perceive but also experience you. Thus, an omoluabis are neither more nor less in number among our university teachers than you will find in any other occupational group in our society, including farmers, tradesmen, market women and artisans like mechanics and welders. In other words, it is a great boon to find an omoluabi in any social or occupational group; for me, it is even more gratifying to find one among professors and progressive activists.

Among friends and colleagues with whom I have ever worked professionally as an academic and politically as an intellectual activist, RS is among the few who is not only generally regarded as a first rate omoluabi but is also eminently deserving of the honorific connotations of the term.

At this point, I would like to ask the reader to please note that I have not said that an omoluabi cannot also be a person with an irreverent sense of humor or a very keen sense of the absurdities and inanities of social existence.

Indeed, among progressive academics, RS is almost in a class by himself in the ways in which he never takes either himself or others so seriously that he moves beyond the pale of reasonableness to the excesses of haughty selfrighteousness. When we were together at OAU, Ife, the only person who had a more wicked but good-natured sense of humor and a more infectious, ringing laughter than RS was the late Professor Oyin Ogunba. And about the only person who could recount anecdotes and tell

•Sekoni

ribald jokes more exquisitely than RS was Professor Akin Isola, aka “Honestman”. Thus, the last thing I would want the reader to take away from my application of this term, omoluabi, to RS is the suggestion that he is a sentimentalist, a person whose natural inclination to do that which is just and decent prevents from him perceiving and responding with energy to the horrific social wrongs and evils that make life so miserable for the great majority of our peoples at the present point in time. In other words, RS is no sentimentalist, no stargazer hedging his bets on the probability of positive and progressive transformation in Nigeria on a naïve hope that an innate predilection for fairness and decency is all that is needed to bring more equitable and humane conditions to a multiethnic, multicultural society that is as deeply divided and misgoverned as our country is at the present time.

It is remarkable that I not only remember but cannot recall exactly how RS and I became close personal friends and intellectual and political comrades. With all my other close, intimate friends I can recall precisely when and how we became friends: Yemi Ogunbiyi, Femi Osofisan, Eddie Madunagu, John Ohiorhenuan, Niyi Osundare, Chima Anyadike, Yomi Durotoye, Olu Ademulegun, and Kole Omotoso. With RS, there is in my mind and recollection no signal moment of a beginning, almost as if we have always been friends. Of course, certain milestones of extraordinary intellectual and political collaboration do stand out in my mind, especially after he left the University of Ilorin in 1982 to join us at OAU, Ife. I will never forget the work we put in together, with some input by G.G. Darah, to draft the first advanced courses in postgraduate literary

and cultural studies in any Nigerian and African university. Before this momentous step, no postgraduate courses were offered in Nigerian and African universities for M.A. and Ph D. candidates; following the Oxbridge British tradition, graduate students took any courses beyond the ones they had taken during their undergraduate years; all they did was read as much and as widely as they could under the guidance of one supervisor who completely controlled the fate of the student.

The collaboration and comradeship in political activism is too numerous, too eventful to enumerate: ASUU; the Socialist Forum at OAU; the work done with workers and their trade unions; the epic struggles against the Abacha dictatorship as part of the external opposition to that regime. In a deliberately very restrictive use of the term, much of this work of collaborative political activism is “classified” and cannot be told now, although inevitably, all will be told some day. But I can reveal here that as much as anyone in the movement, RS always tried to make his personal, professional and political lives and activities connected with one another and also consistent with his deepest political and ideological beliefs. I do not know if he will agree with this characterisation, but I would note here that he tended to stay a step away from the extreme left, without however blurring his philosophical beliefs and practical engagements with centrist positions as a sort of left-of-centre rather than centre-left.

But I am sure that he will not mind my saying here that I can think of only one or two of all the comrades and collaborators I have ever worked closely with who are the equal of RS in the practice of gender equality in his relations with his wife, Banke. All of this composite profile is what I have tried to communicate in that part of the title of this piece containing the phrase “the omoluabi professor as a revolutionary democrat”. Let me attempt to clarify what this entails by a brief discussion of RS’s area of scholarly research and publication, semiotics.

It so happens that RS was the first major scholar of semiotics that Nigeria produced. [A case could be made for the late Sunday Anozie as the first, but his emphasis was more on a highly idiosyncratic form of structuralist aesthetics and poetics than on semiotics proper] Add to this the fact that in his active professional life before his retirement in 2009, RS made the intricacies and ambiguities of Yoruba and African oral traditions his main areas of sustained scholarly attention. In this, he focused on two particular arrears of semi-

“The collaboration and comradeship in political activism is too numerous, too eventful to enumerate: ASUU; the Socialist Forum at OAU; the work done with workers and their trade unions; the epic struggles against the Abacha dictatorship as part of the external opposition to that regime. In a deliberately very restrictive use of the term, much of this work of collaborative political activism is “classified” and cannot be told now, although inevitably, all will be told some day. But I can reveal here that as much as anyone in the movement, RS always tried to make his personal, professional and political lives and activities connected with one another and also consistent with his deepest political and ideological beliefs”

otic study that tell us much about his brand of political and intellectual activism. These are, respectively, the gnostic-animist tradition of Ifa poetic chants and traditions of West African trickster tales with their emphasis on moral ambiguity and epistemological indeterminacy.

What semiotics entails can be both relatively easily described and incredibly tough to understand. On the “easy” side, semiotics is the study of the signs by or through which a culture can be “read” and understood, first by the owners or bearers of the culture themselves and secondly, by outsiders. On this account, anyone and everyone that speaks a language and achieves functional adulthood in the culture of the language is a “semiotician” since their fluency in the given language and culture implies that they are able to competently read the signs of the culture.

The “tough” side consists of the fact that you need rigorous and exacting study to grasp the tools or the “code” by which the signs of the constitutive elements of a culture can be read or “decoded”. To get at this code, you must stand outside the culture and critically study it; and you must be a comparatist and a universalist of sorts, with a deep interest in how signs and their codes work within and between the diversity of human languages and cultures. It is the possession or deep awareness of this code that separates the naïve or lay “semiotician” from the professional and rigorous expert in semiotics. On the basis of this distinction, we can get at the fundamental theoretical and methodological assumption of semiotics which is that it is one thing to live in and be immersed in a language and culture; it is another thing entirely to study it rigorously and unceasingly in order to have ever deeper understanding of it. The two are not mutually exclusive, but to cross from one to the other, or to move productively back and forth from one to the other, you must be aware of this distinction.

RS is one of a handful of Yoruba scholars of Yoruba culture and traditions who are not only aware of this distinction but actually embody and live it, knowing only too well that the survival of Yoruba language and culture, of indeed any Nigerian and African language and culture, depends on making and living this distinction. Like these other scholars and writers, RS is an unabashed defender of the Yoruba language and culture, especially with regard to threats posed from without by the zealotry of the Abrahamic religions and from within by those who, seeing no credible or usable cultural resources with which to successfully engage the powerful currents of modernity and its products and promises, blame their language and culture for lagging behind the richer and more technologically advanced nations and regions of the world. On this account, what is peculiar in RS is the fact that, perhaps more than any other scholar-activist, he has made this distinction between being totally immersed in your language and culture and standing athwart it in the wider context of other languages and cultures with whom your language and culture must not only coexist but also necessarily and inevitably commingle the basis of his political activism. It is now our common experience that any time that ethnicity or the so-called national question comes up in Nigerian political discourse, images and thoughts of reactionary irredentism and tribal chauvinism are conjured in our minds.

This is not unjustified. But I would like to suggest that there are scholars and activists like RS in whom ethnicity or the national question is completely coextensive with revolutionary democracy. Listen to the man himself in the epigraph to this tribute: “If we are not careful, another struggle is going to come. This is because the contradictions will blow up the country again, maybe before 2015 or by 2015. We have not addressed the fundamentals of our politics.

As I said earlier, breaking of Nigeria is not going to pay anybody. As a Yoruba man who loves his people, I am clear in my mind that a good Nigeria will be good for the Yoruba.”

Congrats on making it this far, RS. “Iwo ati Banke maa lo’ra yin dale ni o’!

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

SNOOPING AROUND IS ON VACATION

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HE Interim National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief Adebisi Akande, yesterday said only a thinking leader can take Nigeria to the Promised Land.

He declared that President Goodluck Jonathan has proved to be incapable of ruling the nation, saying the presidency is not for kindergarten.

Akande spoke with reporters at his Ila-Orangun country home.

He also dismissed newspaper reports that Jonathan was welcome to contest the 2015 Presidential election as the standard bearer of the newly registered mega party.

According to Akande: "What the country needs is a thinking leader not a kindergarten president with no solution to the myriad of problems plaguing the nation.''

He accused Jonathan of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to chase perceived enemies rather than concentrating on good governance.

Akande said he had spoken and written several proposals to Jonathan on solutions to national issues without the president acknowledging any.

A serious leader, he noted, would rather be passionate about solutions to the nation's problems rather than fighting perceived enemies.

Describing Jonathan as the nation's problem, Akande said his government was reactionary rather than being progressive and visionary.

Jonathan, he said, had

Power generation drops to 2,628.6mw From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11 , 2013

News

FRESH round of power load shedding began yesterday nationwide after the total generation level dropped to 2,628.6mega watts.

Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, attributed the problem to the low gas supply to the generation plants in the area.

His Special Assistant on Media, Kande Daniel, said in a statement that government has already set machinery in motion to reverse the situation.

Olorunsogo Power station, according to the Minister,has lost 89megawatts while low head water elevation has limited generation at the Kainji and Jebba hydro stations to one unit each.

In addition, the East, Afam IV, Afam VI power plants as well as Rivers Independent Power Plant (IPP), were shut down on Friday night with a combined loss of 624MW. The ministry "is currently assembling a crack team of experts across the oil industry to investigate in particular the cause of the severe leaks in the gas supply channels in the Eastern part of the country and determine measures to be taken to ameliorate the situation."

Nebo, according to the spokesman, said it was painful that this is happening when a large proportion of Nigerians are already rejoicing and celebrating over the stabilisation of power nationally. He said that as soon as the cause of the leakage is established, measures will be taken to fix the problem.

Presidency is not for kindergarten, says Akande From: Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo.

shown lacking courage and strong will on most national issues.

"When we say progressives are not in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties what we mean is

that progressive politics is a matter of political environment.

The All Progressive Congress is a platform for many politicians to learn what it means to play progressive politics. We don't encourage you to think of yourself but about the people. The PDP is a

reactionary party and not progressive. So, you can flock with those who think only of self and say you are progressive.''

He added: "Look across the south west and beyond now, you will see progressive politics of Fashola, Aregbesola, Fayemi,

•Scene of the accident at Stadium Bus-stop, Surulere, Lagos... yesterday

Ajimobi, Oshiomole, Amosun and others.

"They think more of the people than anything else. They are busy rebuilding infrastructure abandoned by previous governments for many years. But look at Jonathan and his men, they

PHOTO: David Adejo

would rather remain reactionary than being visionary, courageous and progressive.

"They prefer to abuse and witch hunt non existing perceived enemies. So many times we had tried to help him on national challenges but he was never ready. They are riggers.''

On insinuations that the APC is willing to adopt Jonathan as its presidential candidate, the APC chieftain said: "I only said the doors of our party are open to all interested people, including President Jonathan to join if so they wish.

"I said what pre-occupy us as a party is to build a formidable structure ahead of the forthcoming general elections. We are ever ready to welcome defectors but we will use our political platform to afford them to learn democratic principles."

Akande said the APC, more than any parties in merger or alliance, is ready to help the nation out of comatose.

He said the lack of trust and political education was the bane of successful merger, stating that APC had overcome such challenges.

Akande added: "Obasanjo, by those who know him well, described him as a cowardly soldier and undemocratic politician.

"He is a rough politician.

But those who know Buhari said he was fine soldier, a man of few words. Buhari was once a leader of military junta who today freely chooses to be in politics and today he is learning fast all the democratic principles. Today, Buhari is getting used to debate and dialogue on issues."

Two die in Lagos accident T WO people were burnt beyond r e c o g n i t i o n yesterday at Stadium bus stop, Surulere, Lagos in a motor accident.

The accident involved a commercial bus which left Mushim for CMS Marina. It was gathered

By David Adejo

that the driver of the bus who was said to be an habitual drunk was driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to an eye witness, the tyre of the bus pulled out while the bus

was on top speed. It crashed and went up in flames. Two bodies were seen at the incident scene, while an eye witness said that a woman who lost her right hand was trying to rescue her child and was caught by the fire. Some of the wounded passengers

were taken to Randle Hospital Surulere.

A source close to the police said four other people in the bus including the driver were taken to Lagos Island for treatment. Surulere Unit Commander of FRSC, Olu Afolabi, confirmed that

some of the victims were taken to a hospital in Lagos Island. He said a woman and a child died while others sustained injuries. At the time of filing this report, the PPRO Lagos State Command said she was yet to be briefed.

Eight die in fire, auto accident

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IGHT persons have been confirmed dead while 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries in a fire accident that occurred in Birni Maza along Lapai-Lambata-Abuja road in Niger State.

The fire accident which occurred on Friday night involved a petroleum tanker and two Toyota cars.

The six occupants of the Toyota cars including the drivers were instantly burnt beyond recognition while the driver and the conductor of the tanker sustained high degree of injuries.

The fire started when the two Toyota cars trailing the tanker, whose fuel was leaking, scratched their bottom plates on the trail where the fuel had poured on.

The bottom plates then ignited and caught fire.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened very fast and did not give the occupants of the vehicles a chance to escape.

The fire was so intense that even the villagers who

From Jide Orintunsin

came to rescue the accident victims were also affected in the accident as they sustained various degrees of injuries.

The Director General,

Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NISEMA), Mohammed Shaba confirmed the incident stating that the dead victims were buried at the spot of the accident while all injured victims were rushed to the

Federal Medical Centre Bida and the rural hospital in Lapai.

He, however, said that two of the injured victims died on Saturday morning.

According to him, eight deaths have already been recorded while twenty others

Killer policemen arrested in Ondo

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OLICEMEN attached to the Ondo State Police Command who were allegedly involved in the killing of the driver of an unregistered truck along the Benin/Ore road have been arrested.

The State Commissioner of Police, Patrick Dokumor,

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

disclosed this while speaking with reporters in Akure, the state capital.

He said the corpse of the deceased identified as Friday Igbinedion, who was allegedly shot in the early hours of Friday has

been deposited at the mortuary.

The CP explained that the corpse would remain in the mortuary pending the outcome of the command’s investigation According to him, the killer cops would be prosecuted according to the law.

Volcanic eruption kills five in Indonesia

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NDONESIA’S National Disaster Mitigation Agency says a volcano has erupted in eastern Indonesia, killing five people and shooting smoke and ash up to 2,000 meters into the air.

The agency confirmed the eruption in a Tweet,

saying Mount Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted early Saturday morning and that the five were killed by lava flow.

Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated from the area on Palue island.

The volcano has been

rumbling since October 2012.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 240 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.

sustained various degrees of injuries.

Shaba said, "As I am talking to you now I am on my way from Lapai to Bida where some of the victims with various degree of injuries are hospitalized."

He then attributed the cause of the accident to the poor state of the road leading to Abuja, "I can tell you the cause of the accident is the dilapidated nature of the road, it is unfortunate the road that links the Federal Capital Abuja and the Southwest is in that shape, we appeal to the federal government to do something about the road."

In a similar vein, the Emir of Lapai, Alhaji Umar Bago has commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives in the accident while praying for those who sustained injuries to have quick recovery.

He commended the prompt response of the state government and NISEMA on emergencies in the state while calling on government to ensure the repairs are done on the roads to prevent future accidents.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Confusion as INC postpones IYC elections

By Mike Odiegwu

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HE crisis rocking the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) took a new twist yesterday following the decision of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) to intervene in the affairs of its youth wing.

It was learnt that INC’s intervention led to indefinite postponement of IYC’s elections after reports indicated that allowing the poll to hold could result in violent clashes within the council.

The cancellation which came after about 62 aspirants had been accredited by two factions to participate in the exercise had generated confusion among the youths INC was said to have taken the decision after holding a meeting with the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

The factional Chairman and Secretary of the 2013 IYC Electoral Committee, Ankio Briggs and Akpos Mezeh, the former INC President, Joshua Fumodor, and Senator Diffagh were said to have attended the meeting.

They were said to have attributed the postponement of the exercise to several protests, petitions and appeals from members of the IYC. A statement by the INC signed by its President, Senator Tari Sekibo, after the meeting, said the intervention was necessary.

It said: “After careful deliberations on the issues in contention and in view of the prevailing circumstances, the National Executive Council of the INC has resolved to intervene in accordance with article 16 section 1 and 2 of the IYC constitution.

“Accordingly, the activities of all electoral bodies are suspended immediately. That NEC commences full scale efforts to expeditiously resolve the crisis and has set up a National Committee led by the Vice President of the Congress for appropriate action and that the Mieabiye Kuromiema-led executive council subsist in office until elections are concluded.”

Fear of violence had gripped the Niger Delta region following unresolved controversies unsettling the IYC, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths in the region.

Trouble was said to have started after the council scheduled an election to change its leadership.

A faction of the council was said to have insisted that it would not allow the government to impose candidates on IYC. The situation, it was learnt got messier, after warring factions established two electoral committees to organise the election.

Adefuye, Diya condole with Fashola

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ENATOR Anthony Adefuye and former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya (rtd), have sent messages of condolence to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, over the death of his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola.

They both prayed for God to grant him eternal rest. They described the late Alhaji Fashola who died at 80 as a disciplined father worthy of emulation and an exemplary role model.

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Elephants take revenge on village after herd member is struck by train

Boko Haram: Army admits 12 soldiers, 7 policemen killed I

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HE commander of the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in the North East, Maj. Gen. Jah Ewansiah, has admitted that 12 soldiers and seven police officers were killed in recent attacks.

Earlier, the military had said only two soldiers and one police officer were killed when suspected members of Boko Haram attacked a military base and police outpost near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon on August 4.

Gen. Ewansiah, on a visit to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State in Maiduguri,

By Isma’il Alfa Abdulrahim, Maiduguri

said that despite the losses the task force is “resolute and committed to ensure that peace is completely restored in the state, even if it means losing our lives.”

The governor assured that with the gradual return to peace, his administration is determined to transform the state. He made the declaration yesterday while receiving the members of the Borno Elders Forum and Leaders of Thought led by Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari who paid him

Sallah homage at the Government House in Maiduguri.

He emphasised that education, health and agriculture if properly harnessed can provide job opportunities for the teeming youths.

According to him, the government would not mind paying parents in order to send their wards to schools emphasising that very soon himself and the Deputy Governor will relocate to all parts of the state, particularly northern Borno to ensure that parents enrol their wards into schools.

Earlier in a remark, the Chairman, Borno Elders and Leaders of Thought, Ambassador Galtimari, acknowledged that the success recorded by the security operatives and the Civilian JTF in their set objectives was as a result of the governor’s support, commitment and dedication.

He thanked him for providing good leadership for the state, stressing that if all political leaders will emulate his leadership qualities, Borno would have been a better place than it.

•A funeral convoy carrying the bodies of four Egyptian militants, drives through the small Sinai village of Sheikh Zuweid and several border towns in the north of the Sinai peninsula yesterday. The Egyptian militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, said four of its members belonging to Sinai tribes had been killed by Israeli drones on August 9. There have been conflicting reports about the source of the attack.

AFP PHOTO

Wike wrong to aspire to succeed Amaechi, says Rep •‘He’s drowning man’, minister’s supporter replies

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HREE-term member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, Chief Andrew Uchendu, said yesterday that it was wrong for the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike to aspire to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2015.

Uchendu (Emohua/ Ikwerre Fed Constituency) in an interview also condemned the recent threat by Wike to make life more uncomfortable for the governor until he begged him (Wike).

He described the minister as a rascal and an ingrate, who should not be taken seriously or allowed to succeed Amaechi since the two of them are from the same part of the state.

However, an ally of Wike, Mr Samuel Nwanosike, dismissed Uchendu as a politically-drowning grandpa whose views on Rivers politics carry no weight.

He said Uchendu should be the last person to talk about zoning, having ‘monopolised’ the seat he is currently occupying for the third term.

But the Rep charged back, saying: “You can imagine the level of ignorance displayed

by Wike and his foot soldiers.

Don’t they know that legislators can go for as many times as possible?”

“The allegations levelled against me are mere hearsay and untrue. All the roads have

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

been completed.”

However, Nwanosike said although Wike had not declared his intention to vie for the governorship, Uchendu should point to any section of the 1999 Constitution criminalising an ambition by any qualified person, including Wike, to be governor of his state.

He said: “Chief Uchendu is the wrong person to talk about zoning of elective office, because he has not lived by example. If he did, why did he not relinquish the House of Representatives slot to Ikwerre LG, the way his predecessor, Appolos Amadi, did after one term in office?

“Instead, Uchendu kept the office to himself for three solid terms. At that time, he saw nothing wrong with one man from one section of the constituency holding on to office for 12 years, to the exclusion of all others.

“By jumping to the arena in order to please his master, Governor Amaechi, on Wike’s statement that he would make life uncomfortable for persons who want to destroy Obio/ Akpor LG, Uchendu has merely admitted that he is one of those who want to destroy Obio/Akpor LG. “By that admission, does Uchendu expect the Obio/ Akpor people to fold their arms and watch him and his collaborators destroy the LGA? Those who have no intention

to destroy Obio/Akpor LG have nothing to worry about what the minister of state for education said.

“Uchendu is a man who is looking for soft-landing, so that he can escape the wrath of the people of Emohua and Ikwerre LGAs, who he has cheated by poor representation in the House of Representatives for 12 years.

“He should address the press on his record of achievements for 12 years and say which of the road projects given to him by the Amaechi government that he executed or failed to execute. Has he forgotten the ElibradaOduoha Road that he abandoned, after collecting so much money from his master, Chibuike Amaechi?”

Uchendu said he has fixed all the roads in question.

T’S said that elephants never forget.

Apparently it’s especially true when a herd suffers a loss.

Last week near the village of Matari in eastern India, a train struck and killed an elephant — an accident that is unfortunately commonplace in that region.

The response by the herd is more surprising.

About 15 elephants appear to be mourning the loss of one of their own and have returned to the site of the incident, the Times of India said.

The elephants have refused to move the last several days, causing train disruptions.

The elephants also appear to be grieving in a more destructive way: They’ve damaged surrounding houses and even demolished part of a schoolhouse.

Efforts to disperse the elephants using firecrackers have been unsuccessful. The elephants have persisted in their vigil.

“Elephants often try to return to the site of such accidents as they believe that their mate has only been injured and could be rescued by them,” wildlife activist D S Srivastava told the Times of India. “Even when an elephant dies a natural death, their friends cover the body with bushes and small tree branches.”

According to Srivastava, the herd’s bond means the elephants will continue to try to return to place where their fellow herd member died, again and again.

Group prays for Tinubu

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HE World Christian Council Association (Chambers of all Churches) said it is praying for a ‘divine-will-operation’ for former governor of Lagos State Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is away for a knee surgery abroad.

The leader of the church, Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, in a statement, praised what he described as Tinubu’s selfless, adding that the church is praying heartily for him.

VCs lobby Suswam Committee over projects

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OME vice chancellors of the Federal Governmentowned universities are lobbying members of the University Needs Implementation Committee headed by Governor Gabriel Suswam in the bid to get the favour of the committee in the sighting of projects.

The committee was recently set up by government to identify priority projects for each federal university with a view to addressing the lack of infrastructure in the ivory towers.

Sources disclosed that shortly after the committee was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federa-

Remi Adelowo

tion, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, about two weeks, some of the VCs immediately began to reach out to some members of the committee on the need to consider their universities under the first phase of these project allocation.

About N6 billion has been earmarked for the first phase of the programme, with one federal university in each of the six geo-political zones to be considered.

Mostly involved in the lobby, according to sources, are VCs in zones where there are two or more federal universities.

They include the South West,

which boasts of the University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Federal University of Science and Technology, Akure, and the new Federal University in Oye Ekiti.

In the South East are the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State and the Federal University of Agriculture, Umuduke, Abia State.

Sources revealed that while the VCs of the first, second and third generation of federal universities are claiming that their institutions should be considered

first, their counterparts in the new universities set up by the current administration are said to have argued that their institutions’ newness and lack of basic structures, among other reasons, are enough to be accorded priority by the Suswam committee.

Though the modalities on the selection of the universities that will emerge as the first set of beneficiaries are still being worked out, sources revealed that the VCs are not leaving anything to chance, including reaching out to top government officials, to influence the decision of the committee in favour of their institutions.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

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Pray for peace, Omobude urges Muslims From: Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

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ATIONAL President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Rev. (Dr) Felix Omobude, has felicitated with the Muslim community in Nigeria on the occasion of this year’s Eid-elFitri celebration.

He congratulated them for their devotion, self-restraint and sacrifices during the month-long Ramadan fast.

While hoping that the teachings of Ramadan will translate into greater peace, security and progress in Nigeria, Omobude prayed for greater unity and love among Muslim faithful and their counterparts in other religions.He enjoined Muslims to always create an atmosphere that promotes unity in diversity across the country.

Omobude charged Nigerians to promote attributes that unite rather than emphasising divisive tendencies among various ethnic, religious and political groups in the country.

He appealed to leaders to close ranks and work for the unity and progress of the nation.

Tension as Fulani herdsmen attack Imo community

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HERE was palpable tension yesterday in Umuekune village of Irete community in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, when armed Fulani herdsmen opened fire on villagers who attempted to stop their cattle from grazing their farmlands.

Several people were wounded in the ensuing stampede with two of the injured on danger list.

The situation was worsened by a gun duel between the herdsmen and youths of the community, who came to rescue the farmers.

Many of the youths, it was learnt, were ambushed by the rampaging herdsmen.

One of the victims, Chibuzor Okorie, was shot in

•Two victims on danger list, as protest rocks village From: Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

the stomach with machette cuts all over his body.

Another victim, simply identified as John, had his hands severed while others narrowly escaped with various degrees of injuries.

The incident, according to eyewitnesses, took place last Friday.

Economic trees and farm corps worth millions were reportedly destroyed during the cattle invasion of the farmlands.

It was reported the farmers ordered the herdsmen to take away the cattle, which they resisted.

Irked by the resistance, some of the youths, number-

ing over 13, forced the cattle out of the farms.

Eyewitnesses said that they were attacked with dangerous weapons, leading to heavy gun battle that left some of the youths with severe injuries.

One of the youth leaders, Kyria Okeh, who witnessed the melee, said: “They (the youths) were surprised when the herdsmen started pursuing them with guns and daggers and other dangerous weapons.”

He said the unarmed youths ran for their dear lives, unable to withstand the superior fireworks of the marauders.

It took the intervention of a team of policemen to rescue the villagers and stop the Fulanis

who had overrun the village.

Two of the victims are currently in critical conditions at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri and Solid Rock Hospital in Owerri.

Aggrieved youths of the community protested the situation with a rally to the paramount ruler, Eze Ethelbert Ekwelibe.

They disrupted vehicular and human movements along the ever busy Onitsha\Owerri road, displaying photographs of the victims.

They also bore placards with various inscriptions like: “We need help” and “We strongly believe Governor Rochas Okorocha is anti-agriculture”, among others.

Coalition kicks against local govt’s autonomy From: Uja Emmanurl, Makurdi

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From: Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

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suspected hideout of insurgents at Gidan Igwai area in Sokoto was raided yesterday by officers and men of the 1 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Sokoto.

The Brigade spokesman, Captain Yahaya Musa, confirmed the raid to newsmen.

According to him: “The operation was conducted as part of the ongoing efforts to rid Sokoto State of the fleeing insurgents from volatile areas like Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, among others.”

Musa explained the operation followed tip-offs from some good Samaritans in the city and its environs.

He maintained that it was part of the routine operations of the army to cleanse Nigeria of insurgency and other criminal activities.

According to him: “Sokoto is peaceful, but unfortunately insurgents from other parts of the country are fast making it a safe haven and we are battleready to dislodge them.

“The operation by the army would be sustained and intensified just like our sister security organisations are also doing theirs, nationwide.

“I cannot, however, confirm any fatalities as at now but scores of arrests had been made whose details would be made available later”.

Musa commended residents for their support and cooperation, urging them to sustain the trend.

2015: Face your job, cleric tells politicians

•Honours Suswam’s aide HE Coalition of Civil Society Organisation For Transparency in Governance (CCSOTG) has kicked against local government autonomy, saying it is against the principle of check and balance.

President of the coaliation, Jacobs Osaji, argued that granting autonomy to local councils will exacerbate corruption at the grassroots.

He spoke while presenting the Transparency Watch Award to Prince Solomon Tor-Wombo, the Special Adviser Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam.

Osaji said existing laws should be strengthened for local councils to live up to their responsibilities.

He called on the National Assembly to reject the proposed local council autonomy to prevent abuse.

The group stated that the “Prince of Sankera”, who is the head of the local government administration in Benue State, deserved the award having distinguished himself in office and lived above board.

Tor-Womb noted that payment of salaries in councils in Benue State remains a top priority, insisting that chairmen in the state have been up and doing because it is no longer business as usual.

Soldiers raid terrorists’ hideout

From: Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki •Minister for Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadir; Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shagari; National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; Governor Aliyu Wamakko at the Eid-El-Fitri praying ground in Sokoto...at the weekend

Why IoCs are against PIB, by expert •Allays fear over falling demand for Nigerian oil

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HE Executive Director, A-Z Petroleum Products Kenya Limited, Prof Charles Ofoegbu, yesterday noted that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) are fighting the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law because of local content.

He stressed that the foreign players are kicking against the bill because of their concerns on local content.

Ofoegbu, a geophysist and the former Director General, Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), also attributed the dwindling demand for Nigerian barite to cash calls as against quality.

He said: “As far as they are concerned, we must not encourage the mining of barite in Nigeria.

“No local content should be in our petroleum industry.

That is why they are fighting even the PIB.”On local content, he said that creating the Nigerian Content Monitoring and Development Board is different from getting the board to regulate the industry.According to him: “The board is one thing and another thing is to get the board to control the industry.

“There are so many boards in this country and so many

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

decrees and so many acts. One thing is even to enforce it. ”You first create an enabling environment to ensure that if it is material need, that material is locally available.

“If it is human resources need, you must provide a base that you don’t need to depend on anybody.”Ofoegbu submit-

ted that government must inject funds into the industry for local players to assert their authority.

He, however, said that the major challenge in the upstream oil sub-sector is funding, since oil is a capital intensive business with a high risk.Ofoegbu stressed the needs for banks to support indigenous oil firms.

He dismissed fears over a declining demand for

Nigeria’s crude oil, saying there can never be a substitute to oil.

Reacting to the United States energy policy to stop oil import for a substitute commodity, Ofoegbu said: “Let me be frank with you, there will never be a substitute to oil because of the technology.

“It can never be a substitute to the present oil that is being used now. It will only accommodate some minor components of the domestic needs.”

We’ve forgiven Al Mustapha, others, says Abiola’s son

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HE family of the acclaimed winner of the 1993 Presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, has forgiven those involved in the murder of his wife, Kudirat, one of his sons, Lekan, has declared.

He spoke at the weekend during at the Ikeja Lagos residence of the late business mogul.

Family members and children of the late Abiola observed the Sallah celebration with laughter and music.

The atmosphere was brightened by the birthday ceremony organised by Abiola’s second son from late Kudirat, Alhaji Jamiu Abiola.

Two of Jamiu’s children, Amne and Assydeen, turned five and one respectively.

By Paul Ukpabio

Lekan Abiola, the eldest son from the late Kudirat reacted to the July 12 acquittal of former Chief Security Officer (CS0) to General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza alMustapha and a former Protocol Officer to the late MKO, Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, from the death sentence earlier proclaimed on them for killing his mother.

He said: “We have forgiven them though the judgment goes a long way to show that this country needs a lot of help and divine intervention.

There is not much we can do except pray that God comes to the aid of this country.”

He added: “As Muslims, we have to accept whatever

happens to us, the good and the bad. My mother was killed, she has gone, she is not going to come back for any reason again, whoever was involved would receive their punishment one day no doubt about that.

“We have, however, left the judgment to God; we do not have any animosity towards anybody. If according to human law, the Nigerian law, they are said not to be guilty, then so be it.

“One may escape human judgment but the judgment of God is still there. We harbour no anger any longer.

“When we first heard the judgment, we felt bad, but with the passing of days and then the fasting period, we have left everything to God.”

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HE Prelate and Moderator of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Emele Uka, has advised political office holders not to allow the frenzy of 2015 general election to distract them from tackling the critical problems facing the nation.He spoke during the meeting of members of the General Assembly Executive Committee,(GAEC) at St. Peter’s Presbyterian Cathedral, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki.He told politicians to acknowledge that only God can determine what would happen tomorrow and not man.Uka prayed that evil men in the country would not gain access to political power in 2015.

He called on the federal government to honour its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), saying the ongoing industrial action will further drag the nation’s educational sector backward.

According to Uka: “For issues surrounding 2015 election, I want politicians to know that the future is controlled by God and not man. Let them be concerned with the problems of this country and leave 2015 alone.

“We are tired of corrupt practices in Nigeria and it seems to be coming from top to bottom. We hear of High Court Judges engaging in bribery, and members of the House engaging in bribery and it doesn’t seem that those people are punished properly, because those persons who engage in corrupt practices are freed in Nigeria but jailed overseas.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Anambra LG polls: PDP youths seek cancellation From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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OUTH Transformation Movement, South East zone of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) to cancel the scheduled October 5 local government election in the state.

The youths also urged the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to dissolve all the PDP factions in Anambra.

The movement made the call at Nnewi at a function to honour Chief Sam Ebeku as its patron. They said Ebeku had made meaningful contributions to ensure peace and unity of the party.

According to the South East zonal co-ordinator of the movement, Mr Ikechukwu Sunday, the scheduled October 5 council polls should be deferred to take place after the governorship election. He said that allowing the local government election to hold as planned, prior to the gubernatorial election, would deal a major blow to any attempt to take real control of the governorship race in Anambra.

The stand of the youths is that the PDP NWC should dissolve all the PDP factions in the state and convene a caretaker committee with universal representation, to oversee the up-coming guberbatorial election in the state as reconciliation of the factions continued.

Reacting, Ebeku assured the youths that he would continue to contribute his quota in ensuring the desired peace in the state PDP and called on the leaders of all factions to listen to the voice of reason.

Louis Carter Foundation debuts in Nnewi From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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CTIVITIES marking the 60th birthday ceremony of Chief Louis Izuchukwu Onwugbenu , Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of Louis Carter Group Limited slated for this Thursday have commenced with compilation of names of various patients who could not pay their hospital bills in various hospitals in and around Nnewi.

Onwugbenu, who disclosed this while briefing newsmen at his country home yesterday, announced that they would all get their bills paid, adding that it is regrettable that some of the patients have stayed over one year in hospitals because lack of funds to pay their bills.

He stated that his foundation, Louis Carter Foundation, will be unveilled on Thursday, adding that the foundation would help alleviate poverty and empower people without discrimination but with a special bias in education of children and youths for a better tomorrow.

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trouble Enugu ‘APGA-APC’ members flay More for deposed Ondo chiefs Umeh over comments on merger A T GROUP of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has chided the party’s National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, for demanding that Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State should retract an advert in which he inserted APGA’s logo in celebrating the registration of All Progressive Congress (APC).

The aggrieved party members, at a meeting tagged “APGA-APC meeting” in Enugu at the weekend, described Umeh’s actions and comments as mere politicking, saying, “APGA is part of the merger and Governor Babatunde Fashola should not be held for any lapses on the part of Chief Victor Umeh.”

Umeh had last week asked

From Adewinle Adegoke, Akure

From Chris Oji, Enugu

Fashola to retract the advert and pay the party N2billion, or risk a lawsuit. He said that APGA was not part of the APC formation, so its logo had no business on the advert.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change, All Nigeria Peoples Party, Democratic Peoples Party and a faction of APGA were believed to have merged into the APC. Leader of the APGA-APC formation in Enugu State, Mr. Ndubuisi Enechionyia, told reporters that the process of the merger commenced at the point where the other parties were holding congresses to ratify the merger.

He said, “APGA was in a self induced crisis where courts had sacked the National Executive Committees of both the Governor Peter Obi and Umeh factions. There was no leadership to run the party. One of the two governors, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, decided to join the merger with a large part of the party.”

According to him, “In every state, particularly of the SouthEast, a large chunk of the old pre 2011 APGA are with APC. Even many of those who were misled by the Obi team have their hearts in APC and are beginning to retrace their steps.”

He said, “We just finished a meeting of the Enugu State APGA - APC and pre 2011 executives of APGA represented in

all the local governments. Anyone who says APGA is not in APC is speaking for himself only.”

Asked why they were meeting as APGA since they had collapsed into the APC, Enechionyia explained that the reason was to sensitise members on the changes that must happen in APC. “One is that now the party is registered, we should know that all the other parties that make up APC, cease to exist and changes must be made to transmit seamlessly,” he said.

The APC leader in Enugu noted that those changes would affect individual positions already held, modify ambitions and review alliances.

•L-R: Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin; Deputy Governor Osun State, Otunba Grace Laoye-Tomori; Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Interim National Chairman, All Progressive Congress (APC),Chief Bisi Akande and Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi during a courtesy call on the APC leader at his home town, Ila Orangun, Osun State... at the weekend

APC will favour Imo, says Madumere

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MO State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, yesterday commented on the political development in the state, pointing out that the state governor’s decision to be part of the foundation team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will benefit the state and the South-East.

It would be recalled that the registration of APC and the subsequent face-off between Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is now in the new party, and the leaders of his former party, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has generated debate on the politics of Okorocha and how it would impact on the

fortunes of the state.

Assuring that the development would favour the state, Madumere said, “In my view, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, is one person who is in politics to better the lot of suffering masses. This could account for his activities in Rochas foundation even before becoming a Governor.”

Alaafin counsels police on native intelligence

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HE ALAAFIN of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, has urged the police to employ ‘native intelligence services to effectively tackle critical security challenges confronting the country.’

Oba Adeyemi stated this when a monitoring team from the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, led

by Mr. Patrick Agbambu, visited in his palace.

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From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo The mission of the team was to find out from security stakeholders how the current IG is faring.

ALAAFIN affirmed that the security of any country is critical to its development and economic prosperity.

He said: “Nigeria is not the only country facing security challenges today. The fundamental thing is how you deal with these challenges.

“We can sustain national security operations or options by using native intelligencegathering as a response to national security threat.”

The paramount ruler pointed out that the Old Oyo Empire lasted 60years because of effective native internal security.

“It is important for government to take a holistic view on information gathering as a system for addressing insecurity. “

Killer policemen arrested in Ondo

OLICEMEN attached to the Ondo State police command who were allegedly involved in the killing of the driver of an unregistered truck along the Benin/Ore road have been arrested.

The State Commissioner of Police, Patrick Dokumor,

From Damisi Ojo, Akure disclosed this while speaking with reporters in Akure, the state capital.

He said the corpse of the deceased identified as Friday Igbinedion, who was allegedly shot in the early hours of Friday

has been deposited at the mortuary.

The CP explained that the corpse would remain in the mortuary pending the outcome of the command’s investigation According to him, the killer cops would be prosecuted according to the law.

“So, what is happening in Imo State today is due to courage, sacrifice, prudence and vision. Owelle Rochas Okorocha will always be seen around those places where progressive minds go to and where they bother themselves on how to make it easier and create a better living standard for the people.

“Remember, this was a man who had contested Presidential primaries with all the resources involved but that did not deter him from doing what he has for humanity.

Since becoming the governor of Imo State, he has proved that it is not about power, it is all about the people.”

Explaining why his boss, opted for APC, he said: “In his love for Ndigbo and for the survival of Nigeria as a nation, he is in APC. “PDP has ruled for over fourteen years but we have little or nothing to show for it.

“Again, as Ndigbo, what have we got from PDP other than relegating the Igbo to the background.? It is unacceptable.

“Again, it is courageous to call it bluff when every other person is comfortable. There is no comfort zone for every good leader.”

HE crisis over the deposition of three chiefs in Mahin Kingdom in the coastal area of Ondo State has taken a new twist with the constitution of a new Olojain-Council for Kofawe community by the Alapetu of Mahin kingdom.

The new Oloja-inCouncil has Prince Oluwole Omowole as its chairman, Hon. Kolawole Ogoh and Prince Omowole Kehinde as members.

The Amapetu said his decision to constitute a new Oloja-in-Council followed the deposition of Chief Juwon Shemudara as the Oloja of Kofawe community by the Mahin Council of chiefs Explaining the rationale behind his action, the monarch said it was imperative to constitute an interim Oloja-in-Council to fill the vacuum created by the deposition of Chief Shemudara as the head of the community.

He explained that the new Oloja-in-Council will oversee the affairs of the community pending when a substantive Oloja will be put in place.

The monarch added that he had no regret for deposing the Chiefs, who he alleged had ascribed undue authorities to themselves.

The deposed Chiefs are the Oloja of Kofawe, Chief Juwon Shemudara; Baale of Agbeni community, Chief Estrome Agbeni and the Baale of Lerenren community, Chief Charles Temitan.

The Amapetu warned the deposed chiefs to steer clear of their communities in order not to incur the wrath of the law.

Don’t jettison politics , Muslims urge Obi From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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NAMBRA state Muslim Council yesterday urged Governor Peter Obi to jettison the idea of retiring from politics after handing over next year.

In his Eid’l Fitr message to the state, Anambra State Secretary General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs , Alhaji Sanni Ejoh, said Obi is still very much relevant to the political and economic development of Anambra State and Nigeria.

Ejoh said, “Governor Peter Obi should jettison the idea of retiring from politics after handing over next year because he is still very much relevant to the political and economic development of Anambra State and Nigeria going by his unparalleled achievements in Anambra State so far.”

He added that ‘’Muslims should intensify prayers for the successful conduct of the 2013 local government and governorship elections in the state.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

News

Group lauds Ajimobi, Aregbesola over LAUTECH

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GROUP which it calls itself Amalgamation of Citizens, Concerned with Development of Education in Yorubaland (ACCDEY) has lauded Governors Rauf Aregbesola and Abiola Ajimobi of Osun and Oyo states respectively for coming together to inaugurate a first-class Governing Council for the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.

A statement jointly signed on behalf of the group by Aaron Olajiire Adewuni and Muhib Gbolagunte, Chairman and Secretary General respectively, described members of the Council headed by erudite Professor of Animal Science and twotime Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Wale Omole, as eminently qualified for the onerous task of repositioning LAUTECH. ACCDEY noted, among others, that the individuals making up the 8th governing council have what it takes both academically and administratively, to govern

any university in any part of the world, adding that "we believe strongly that with the choice of these men of high repute, the future of education in Yorubaland and particularly in LAUTECH is bright and purposeful.”

The group stated that a petition sent to the governors, who are covisitors to the University, insinuating that Omole was not fit to govern the citadel of learning, is to say the least misguided, laughable and ridiculous.

Insisting that the decision of the visitors to LAUTECHGovernors Aregbesola and Ajimobi - in appointing Omole as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the forward-looking citadel of learning couldn't have come at a more auspicious time, the group said further, "We believe it is his (Omole) intimidating credentials and the fact that he would thrive where they have failed that is sending shivers to the sponsors of this spurious attacks on this man. We see in his appointment, a clear situation where education in this region picks up again. "

NYSC may withdraw corps members from Ondo riverine areas

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MAJORITY of National Youth Service Corps members serving in the coastal area of Ondo State may be redeployed to other parts of the state anytime soon.

The Coordinator of NYSC in the state, Mr. Kuoye Isiaka Olanrewaju, disclosed this in a telephone interview with The Nation.

He added that NYSC in the state had started compiling names of all corps members serving in the riverine area of the state.

The decision for the mass redeployment of the corps members may not be unconnected with the mysterious death of a corps member serving in the area, Miss Irorohboje Juliet, in a boat mishap some days ago.

Isiaka also said the correct name of the late corps member is Juliet Irorohboje and not Juliet Okorocha as widely reported in the media.

From Adewinle Adegoke, Akure The compilation of the names of corps members, according to sources, is to reduce their percentage in the area and ensure their effective monitoring Isiaka explained that the corps member would not have died if the life jacket given to her had not been forcefully taken from her by a copassenger.

The sad incident occurred when the boat operator was trying to refill the boat without switching off the engine which suddenly caught fire in the process.

Both the deceased and her fiancé who came to visit her from their town were inside the boat when the incident occurred.

The late Irorohboje, according to an eye witness, reportedly jumped into the river

to avoid being burnt by the resultant fire but got drowned and died in the process.

Her corpse was later recovered the following day by marine policemen at Igbokoda.

The death of Irorohboje is now a source of concern to other corps members in the area, as they have declared three days, mourning for their colleague from the day of her burial.

The deceased, who hailed from Delta State, served at Ilepete in Ilaje local government.

Speaking to The Nation, a corps member who pleaded anonymity said the deceased had lodged several complaints at the NYSC office in Akure about her phobia for river and consequently asked for redeployment all to no avail.

But the NYSC coordinator denied this claim.

Isiaka, who described the death of the corps member as

unfortunate, said the NYSC had got in touch with her family and finalised arrangements for her burial.

According to him, the deceased will be buried at the bank of the river where she died on the order of her father.

Isiaka disclosed that the NYSC and Ondo State Petroleum Agency and Development Commission (OSPADEC) have secured a piece of land at the bank of the river through the traditional rulers in the area where the deceased will be buried.

Speaking on this method of burial, Isiaka said, "That is the instruction of the father. I think they are doing that in conformity with their tradition and belief that whoever dies in the river shall be buried at the bank of the river. It is not our wish but the wish of the family.

We have secured a piece of land there through the efforts of the monarchs in the area.”

Lam Adesina’s son condemns UK Visa Bond Policy

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R. Ayo Lam Adesina, son of the former governor of Oyo State, the late Alhaji Lamidi Adesina, has condemned the visa regime proposed by the United Kingdom seeking to compel Nigerian visitors to deposit 3,000 pounds bond.

Urging the government to take a reciprocal action against British citizens once it received a formal notification of the policy from the U.K. immigration authorities, Adesina, who is also a medical expert in the U.K, noted, “I know U.K has an issue with immigration policy and some countries like Greece, Romania, Spain, Georgia and others are rushing to U.K due to the economic recession over there. But if they want to regulate immigrants’

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan population, they should have spared this country because we have a lot we are benefitting from one another.”

He appealed to the Senate to deploy necessary legislative action to ensure that Nigerian immigration authorities embark on action that is commensurate with the “obnoxious U.K. policy.”

He also urged the Federal Government to find out the rationale for the policy, while admonishing Nigerians who planned to travel to the U.K. to seek for alternative destinations.

“If the policy comes into effect, it is left for Nigerians also to begin to find alternative travel destinations,” he reiterated.

Community tasks Amosun over collapsed bridge

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BOUT a year ago, residents of IkenOgbo-Ijebu in Odogbolu Local Government Area, Ogun State woke up to find out that the only bridge linking the town to other neighbouring towns had collapsed.

The collapse, which was caused by a heavy flood that ravaged the area, also affected movement of school children, market women, businessmen and women to neighbouring towns.

A year after, the bridge is yet to be repaired causing untold hardship to the people.

The bridge, according to the residents, serves as the only gateway to other towns such as Okelamuren-Ogbo, IbidoOgbo, Isanya-Ogbo, IjagunOgbo, to mention but a few.

The CDA Chairman of

By Muyiwa Omobulejo

the Iken-Ogbo-Ijebu, Comrade Gabriel Adenrele Odulaja, the traditional ruler, Oba Lawrence Oguntayo and Baale of Iken-OgboIjebu, Otunba Olalekan Odunfejo, were said to have intimated the state Ministry of Works of the development, but nothing has been done so far to address the problem.

In the same vein, the people are also calling on the state government to provide electricity for the town, adding that the only transformer for the area had packed up since over a year ago.

The residents said they are now at the mercy of criminals who hide under the cover of darkness to perpetrate crime in the area.

• Father Francis Omoataman of St. Peters Catholic Church, Ota, Ogun State declaring open the Iyana-Ipaja Lagos branch of Justrite Superstore. With him are (from left): Mrs Tosin Aderinwale, Managing Director, Justrite Superstore; Bishop Oladunjoye Adeyemo of Latter Glory Church, Mangoro, Lagos and Mr Ayodele Aderinwale, Chairman, Justrite Superstore... yesterday.

Why justice eludes rape victims -Fayemi's wife

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ACK of strict forensic and physical evidence account for ninety-five percent of rape cases in the country, resulting in their shoddy prosecution by the police.

Wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, said this at the weekend during a visit to the state Ministry of Health when she led members of the state's Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law (GBVL) Management Committee on advocacy.

Fayemi lamented a situation in which "the perpetrators of rape in most cases still enjoy their full freedom."

As part of a stop-gap measure, the governor's wife advocated for the establishment of rape crisis centres across the sixteen local government areas of the state, while also promising to institute the move to ensure their establishment as soon possible.

Erelu Fayemi said such centres would give opportunity to victims of sexual assault to receive succour in an atmosphere of confidentiality, adding that when established, the ministry should deploy requisite professionals to man the

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

centres.

According to her, the centres would equally ensure that information and data gathered from victims were meticulously preserved to assist the police and other law enforcement officers to bring offenders to justice.

Fayemi, who is the chairperson of the management committee, said the members had paid similar advocacy visits to critical stakeholders to stem the tide of violence against women and girls in the state.

According to her, the team had visited the Ekiti State University, the state judiciary,

Ministry of Justice and state police command headquarters in an effort aimed at promoting the GBVL. She stressed the need to have forensic and physical evidence that would enable the police and the courts to diligently prosecute rape and other cases of assault against women.

NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

From political contest to murder

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N Tuesday 23rd of July, the Ebonyi State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its councillorship primaries to elect the party's flag bearers for the forthcoming local government elections fixed for September 29, 2013.

The primaries turned out bloody in many local government areas in the state with at least one person confirmed dead and scores of others injured and hospitalised.

At least, one member of the State House of Assembly allegedly escaped death by the whiskers in the outbreak of violence that marred the conduct of the primaries. Cars, a house and other valuables were also torched in one of the LGAs while many more were vandalised in the violence which took place in over eight local government areas.

The outbreak of violence also led to the cancellation of the results of the primaries in Afikpo South and some wards in Onicha and Ohaukwu LGAs by the party.

Briefing journalists in Abakaliki, police spokesman, DSP Sylvester Igbo, said one Kalu Ogbu Awu, 38, was killed by gunshot while another party faithful, Ibom Agwu Kama, sustained gunshot injuries and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Violence unlimited Igbo said initial report gathered by the police indicated that the outbreak of violence in the local government area was due to a clash between supporters of the two councillorship aspirants in the ward.

The spokesman gave the name of those alleged to have carried out the shooting as Nnachi K.C. and Onyemachi Dick.

The Police, according to Igbo, also foiled an attempt by one of the factions to burn down the house of Collinius Orji, the Development Centre Coordinator of Edda East Development Centre.

But the member representing Afikpo South West Constituency, Eni Uduma Chima disagreed with the police report on the killing accusing them of trying to protect the real killers (names withheld) of Kalu Ogbu.

According to him, "The police as usual are conniving with the people that have been terrorising our people to cover up the truth behind the killing, they have received inducement. The man they are accusing, Nnachi KC, was with me when the incident happened in another ward, he never left his ward to the ward where the incident happened."

In Ezza North LGA, according to the police spokesman, a Mercedes Benz truck with registration number XJ182NSH belonging to one Mr Sunday Ogbuagu, a Supervisory Councillor in the council and a house nearby was set ablaze by a faction said to be unhappy with the outcome of the primaries.

In Ohaozara Local Government Area, it was reliably gathered that the PDP Chairman of the LGA, Okechukwu Mark, was accosted by thugs on his way to submit the result of the primaries for Amichi Ward to the Council Headquarters in Obiozara and allegedly beaten and the result snatched from him.

The result was, however, recovered from the thugs after the Council Chairman, Enekwachi Akpa, ordered security operatives and officials of the party to recover the results.

Confirming the incident, the

A simple matter of holding primaries for election of a councillorship candidate turns bloody, Ogochukwu Anioke in Abakaliki reports.

•The women protesting in Abakaliki

•Uduma: councillor representing Amichi ward told our reporter that the Ward recorded a successful poll except that the result was snatched from the chairman of the party who was on his way to submit the result at the council headquarters.

During the fracas, one of the state PDP executives in the area (popularly known as Apostle) sustained minor injuries. Contacted, Akpa who reluctantly spoke to reporters denied any knowledge of violence in the area saying: "I don't know of any violence.

We had a successful election."

It was completely an ugly scenario at the council headquarters of Onicha LGA as a serving councillor in the area, (names withheld) was beaten and arrested by the police for allegedly bringing in a dagger into the hall where electoral materials for the election were being distributed.

Trouble started when electoral materials meant for Ishinkwor Ukawu Ward was handed over to a wrong representative of the area for the conduct of the councillorship election. This was resisted by the incumbent councillor.

Attempt to foil the delivery of the material to the ward through protest led to fracas as he (the councillor) was besieged by some youths and beaten up in the process.

A member of the House of Assembly, Odefa Obasi Odefa representing Onicha East Constituency, allegedly escaped being stabbed by the councillor in the ensuing melee which happened right inside the council headquarters.

Also, the Commissioner of

Finance and Economic Development, Timothy Odaah who is from the area narrowly escaped being attacked by thugs during the incident.

The commissioner who accused the House of Representatives member of Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency, Linus Okorie, for allegedly making inciting statements regarding the incident, added that such remarks were tantamount to instigating youths towards violence and destruction of lives and properties.

But in a quick reaction, the House of Representative member denied making any inciting statements, stressing that what he did was to ensure that materials for the election were peacefully distributed. He described the allegation as a case of mistaken identity by the commissioner.

The situation degenerated to an extent that the PDP South East Publicity Secretary, Ali Odefa and a brother to Obasi Odefa engaged in verbal exchanges with the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Finance, Timothy Odaa over the incident, with both men accusing each other of being responsible for the incident and attempting to manipulate the electoral process to favour their candidates.

In Izzi Local Government Area, a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to the chairman of the council was vandalised while the driver, Godwin Obasi, was admitted at the hospital with machete cuts all over his body after thugs loyal to a party stalwart in the area descended on him in the wake of conveying policemen and electoral materials to Igbeagu Ward 1 of the council.

In Ohaukwu, violence erupted in the wake of the elections after one of the factions that lost the primaries attacked electoral officers of the party and carted away the electoral results.

It was also gathered that the crises led to the hospitalisation of at least two persons with varying degrees of injuries from machete cuts even though they are not believed to be in critical condition.

The State Working Committee of the party cancelled all the primaries held in Afikpo Local Government Area of the state and some wards in Onicha and Ohaukwu Local Government Area.

•The late Ogbu A statement by the state chairman of the party, Prince Ugorji Ama-Oti gave the list of wards to include Obegu Ward in Onicha Local Government Area, Effium wards two and three in Ohaukwu Local Government Area.

Protest over alleged police cover up Two days later, over 500 indigenes of Ekoli Edda, Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, protested the alleged killing of the youth, Ogbu, during the PDP councillorship primaries in the state.

The protesters who were mainly aged women and men, were seen outside the state police headquarters carrying placards.

Some of them read: "Police stop covering up the truth", "Punish Stanley and Etta for killing Kalu Ogbu", "Let the truth prevail, arrest the killers now - Stanley", "Stanley should be held responsible", "Murder is crime, police should arrest Stanley", "killer shouldn't be given opportunities to head and rule", "Stop playing politics with the life of our people", among others.

The victim, who hails from Amaeke Ward1, was killed on July 22nd, as he came out to be part of the councillorship election in Ekoli Edda.

The protesters, who cried out for justice, alleged that one Stanley was the person who killed Ogbu during the PDP councillorship primaries.

They also accused the police of arresting innocent persons who had nothing to do with the ugly incident.

But the Command’s spokesman, Igbo, charged the people to desist from making statements they could not substantiate.

He said the police arrested and released the alleged suspect because

nobody from the community came to the police station to indict him (the suspect).

"It is not good for people to make a statement which they cannot prove.

Somebody was shot at the venue of the PDP primaries, but nobody came to tell the police that the person arrested was the person who committed the crime. We are still investigating the matter and as we get overwhelming evidence on the suspect, we can agree with them."

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mrs. Ugo Nnachi and Nze Nnachi Nkamaiye called on the police to make effort and arrest the alleged suspect to avoid crisis in Ekoli Edda community.

"The brother of the victim took the lifeless body of his brother to their compound and later retrieved it because some stakeholders decided to offer him N2 million and also make him the next councillor of his ward," she further alleged.

Despite the protest, the police seem not interested in bringing the culprits to book.

Speaking with The Nation, Eni Uduma alleged that the Police is still holding an innocent member of the community as suspect in the matter which he alleged has nothing to do with the case.

He also alleged that the Police refused to take the statement of the women and other witnesses who were present at the scene of the shooting.

He therefore called on the Inspector General of Police to take over the matter, adding that some top police officers handling the matter have been compromised, hence the cat and mouse game the police is playing to a murder investigation.

"I call on the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar to take over the matter and assign it to officers who are honest and have their integrity intact; who will look at issues dispassionately, make arrest, conduct investigation and charge the prime suspect to court for murder.

"I'm not satisfied with the investigation being carried out by the police. They are covering up the suspect. The actual person who did the shooting is not in police custody. We are talking about the shooting and killing of Kalu Ogbu in Ogbaja Ward on 23rd July 2013 in broad day light witnessed by a thousand people who have come to volunteer their statement to the police. The police are sweeping it under the carpet. I keep saying, you can bend the truth, twist it, distort it but you can never destroy it. The truth will always surface", he concluded.

A source at the police headquarters in Abakaliki, denied the allegations adding that the police is doing a thorough investigation. The source noted that the suspect in custody was fingered by some eye witnesses in the matter in their statements. He denied that the police refused to take statement of the women who came to protest at the station.

"The women protested at the gate and left, they did not come into the station to give statement. We will be happy to take their statement and others because that is very important in solving the matter,"' the source added.

The report of the investigation is expected to be out by next week, said the source.

It was also gathered that the lawmaker has petitioned the Inspector General of Police to take over the case because he was not satisfied with the way the police is handling it.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

World/Commenatry

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Revisiting the economic battle (ahead) I

WRITE this from the United States. My brief visit here has been instructive. Despite those who say American power now swoons, Washington remains the world’s most influential capital. The mindset controlling Washington eventually colours other nations. The world has become a discordant rush partly because an increasingly plutocratic America remains the closest thing the dismal orchestra has to a conductor. Yet, a conductor who insists all things must be done to place him in maximum fettle, is one incapable of directing us toward music of greater harmony and equity.

American society moves with a foul mood. Claims that the economy is improving seem to be merely that: Claims. People stew in uncertainty.

This alleged land of plenty is the abode of plenty of new poverty. Income inequality has reached a peak last witnessed before the Great Depression nine decades ago. High numbers of people remain unemployed. Most new jobs are described by low wages and abbreviated hours.

Black people are doubly compressed by the hard times. A young Black man has as much of a chance to be on the streets jobless or incarcerated for petty crime as he has to be employed or enrolled in higher education. Detroit, the once proud capital of the American car industry and of soul music, no longer hums with the sound of machinery of car manufacturing. This once fine city had been a symbol of Black progress; it now does nothing but sing the blues. The city is bankrupt and at the prey of creditors seeking public assets on the cheap. The Black population in Detroit is shell-shocked like an illequipped platoon finding itself suddenly on a battlefield. Once robust neighbourhoods are blighted by vacant and ramshackle houses. The scene evokes the feeling that a plague has swept the place, consuming people as well as savaging brick, mortar, building and even the spirit of those who remain behind in the desolate town.

Against this backdrop, President Obama toured several cities touting his plans to revive the American economy by protecting the endangered middle class. Although not a great admirer of the President, I hoped this signaled he would hew a different course.

His tour produced high-sounding speeches before enthusiastic, often cheering crowds. The purportedly liberal corporate media lauded his every word. For my part, I dropped my head, wept dry tears and cried a silent cry.

First, the President pulled from the mothballs his threadbare plan for 50 billion dollars on infrastructural improvements. To the average person, the amount seems so vast as to impress. To those more knowledgeable, the amount is so paltry as to insult. America’s ruling crowd has become so selfish that it channels the bulk of the national wealth down its collective gullet. Because of lack of investment, the world’s greatest national infrastructural grid 40 years ago is now the worst among developed nations.

Obama’s 50 billion dollar scheme is a complete feign. It is akin to adorning a Chihuahua with a horse’s saddle then insisting the ill-fitted combination is primed to compete in a thoroughbred race. It is all farce but one the public’s ignorance and media’s connivance have given a hero’s welcome. The leading organisation of America’s civil engineers estimated the nation must spend over one trillion dollars to place its vital infrastructure in respectable order.

The White House knows this. Its policy statement was empty theatre, the slick tossing of saccharine but hollow words at a populace too ig-

Economic Policy is made by the rich and done to the poor

•Obama

BRIAN BROWNE

norant to realise the speaker ridicules rather than respects them. The fund President Obama seeks will minimally improve the overall state of the nation’s infrastructure. It will be like giving a pedicure to a tuberculin patient. However, it presents a golden opportunity for a few large construction firms to make a real fortune based on expenditures giving the public false hope. Welcome to the feast where only the fat can eat their fill. It gets worse.

President Obama also unveiled a mortgage reform policy. Again, he declared the reform had the middle class in mind. If that were the case, he then has the mind of a prowler.

His plan abolishes the two government-sponsored agencies responsible for broadening the mortgage market so middle and working-class people could own homes over the past several decades. With a broad smile, shut the door to future home ownership for many average people. He claimed this was required to allow the private sector and free market to work their magic. Someone forgot to tell the man the agencies were established because the unfettered, unregulated mortgage market had ill-served the nation’s needs even when working class wages were rising and the overall economy was robust. If such agencies were needed when the economy brimmed with vitality, they are of vital utility during the current period of economic flaccidity.

The two corporations are to be replaced by a curious scheme. Private firms engaged in melding individual mortgages together to form bundles of financial instruments secured by the real estate underlying the mortgages can now buy a government guarantee of repayment of these financial instruments. What he

has taken from the common man, the president gives to the financial speculator in multiple portion. Valuation of these financial instruments is so subjective as to be more conjecture than precision. Enacting this policy will grant investors the open door to pay a nominal fee guaranteeing these instruments then claim outrageous values for the assets. If the market works, the investor gets paid via the market. If the market falters, he collects on the guarantee.

Either way, he gets paid, meaning his reward comes not for taking a risk but simply because he had money in the first instance. The common man must fight life’s vicissitudes to earn his quotidian bread and keep. Meanwhile, the rich are protected on all sides; their bounty is promised and secured by the sweat of the poor.

In all of this, President Obama either is devoid of an economic bone in his body or he is as cynical as a man can be. I cannot believe he is so naïve as not to apprehend the ramifications of what he advocates. Thus, I am left to conclude he remains the loyal steward of deeply-pocketed interests who have little interest in the average person.

We approach the crux of this tale.

We must be careful about the leaven we eat. The yeast of understanding is in a sparse plate on a small table.

On the other side is the feast of fools.

It is served in large, open halls upon wide, ample tables. The latest Obama escapades are instructive in that they reveal what is to come to much of the rest of the world. Just as there seems to be a dictator’s manual that authoritarians religiously apply to thwart democracy, there is a financialist handbook the economic elite applies to keep people poor.

Given the imperfection of our so-

cial arrangements, some poverty is unavoidable. However, due again to the flaws of the human character, the larger portion of human misery is the unnecessary byproduct of man’s greed. We live in an age of rank elite conservatism as virulent as any time in the past four centuries. Today’s elite believe they are entitled to life in the fullest; this entails owning and possessing as much as possible, including people. For this to occur, they need people to grow poorer so they can purchase more of them, more cheaply.

Knowing we know little economics, they hire honey-throated mouthpieces like Obama to tell us all is being done for our welfare. In fact, what they have in mind will harm us. However, we believe them and thus keeping playing the roles set for us, little realising the hard work we do will gain us little more than a victim’s status. We become dumb accomplices in setting our lifetime trap of penury, struggle and debt.

They tell us to look at economics as a collaborative venture where all parties cooperate to maximise output and production. They demand we believe what they know to be a lie.

He who believes that this is the nature of economics is a charter citizen in a fool’s paradise balances on the edge of calamity. They need us to think this way so that we blind ourselves from seeing who they truly are and how they actually think.

They see economics as competition. If too many average people have all they need, the rich are afraid that the people will no longer work extra hard and will drive up wages. If masses don’t place their nose to the grindstone, there will be insufficient surplus and too much wealth among the common people to give the elite the lavish wealth upon which they have come to rely. They must keep you poor, grasping and so afraid that you willingly work your fingers to the bare bone in order for them to luxuriate at their desired level. In the current system, the average person works to indebt himself to an elite whom his work has already profanely enriched.

This is how capitalism was born.

In 18th century England, architects of economic thought and policy lamented how the rural farmer and peasant were too happy for their own good. Because these people had small plots of land and recourse to common land to graze small herds, they were mostly self-sufficient in their bucolic simplicity. The aggressive captains of industry bristled at this waste of human fodder. They needed people to work their factories. To fuel their new way of life, they instituted legislation that would bar the theretofore self sufficient, life of the peasant. They willfully killed an entire social structure and imposed misery on the unwitting farmer and bumpkin just so their capitalist elite could reap the benefits of the forced labor.

Laws were enacted dispossessing small farmers of their meager holdings. Common pasture land was abolished. Effectively chased from the land and their means of livelihood, the peasant drifted to the city. They formed a pool of surplus labor competing against each other for the meager wages of nonstop work amidst a dreary, wretched urban poverty as has ever existed.

This is how capitalism was born.

Clearly, the global economy has expanded and evolved. It is more sophisticated and nuanced but its basic nature remains unchanged. The cardinal principle upon which this edifice is built remains that the vast majority of the people must run the ceaseless treadmill so they have little time to question things or fight to change them.

In initial years of capitalism, peo-

ple were dispossessed of their lands.

Today, the people can now own land their ancestors once freely walked.

However, they must now pay a high price. Given their low wages, paying such a price consigns them to a lifetime of debt. By nature of the obligation hovering over him, a debtor is willing to work for a wage below what he is due. In this perverted system, to strive to own a home is to acquire a debt that forces you to accept unjust wages which makes it more difficult to redeem the debt.

In the formative stage of capitalism, only landed wealthy men held the political franchise. Now, everyone can vote but voting matters little. Today, big money decides the candidates of the major parties. The average person votes but his franchise is of no avail. Money Power presents its choice of candidates from which he must select. Usually, all this does is present to the people a choice between bad and worse.

Africa, you have suffered greatly because of this. Led by America, Western nations suppress the bulk of their populations in order to meet elite demands. If Western nations willingly turn their own people into modern indentured servants, they have no compulsion about keeping African states and their peoples in a place of economic weakness. A vital instrument abetting this unfairness is the nature of many of the continent’s governmental structures. Too many nations have kept the warped values and ways that characterised the colonial political economy. In a profound way, Africa suffers under the weight of excessive capitalist practice shorn even of the false regard the Western elite must feign for its citizens. As such, colonialism bequeathed to Africa a political economy described as rawest form of exploitative capitalism accentuated by racism.

More than the populations of Western nations, the people of Africa have their work cut out for them. Most of today’s African leaders belong to the same elitist club as President Obama. They talk sweetly but act sourly toward the people’s interests.

Instead of being genuine leaders of the people, many leaders are emissaries of the global elite to the people. Thus, instead of demanding from the global elite what Africa needs, these leaders are more apt to instruct the people about what the world says they should sacrifice or forfeit to maintain a good credit rating.

Breaking this age-old bondage falls on the people themselves. First, we must earnestly begin to learn more about economics and finance.

The more you know is the less you can be fooled. The most important point to remember is that economic policy is rarely a completely collaborative venture. Few policies are class neutral. Policy is a subjective determination of who benefits and who losses in relative and absolute measure. Policy is the balancing of competing interests. You must know enough about your interests and those of other economic classes within your nation and of other nations so that you protect and promote what is vital to you.

Most importantly, we must envision a world free from the exploitation inherent to classical and now modern capitalism. There is a better road available. Adhering to this new path first starts with asking ourselves do we strive for a more just, equitable society for all or do we labor to win the individual lottery – that slim, desperate chance to escape the terse, bare confines of average existence so that we may join the lush elite. If we strive for the former, there is a chance.

If all we do is individually labour for the latter, then our children and their children shall be the hand servants of a global system that seeks their harm.

08060340825 (sms only)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

News

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Waka musician, Batile Alake, dead

SETF spent N72 million Jonathan consoles in a year, says Shagari Nwodo on wife’s death F P RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with the former Minister of Information, Chief John Nwodo, and his family on the death of his wife, Justice Regina Nwodo, in London.

A statement by his media aide, Reuben Abati, yesterday said: “By her demise,

your family has lost a dutiful wife and a devoted mother; Enugu State has lost one of her finest; our nation has lost an accomplished jurist and a veritable epitome of excellence in service.”

The President added: “As you mourn, I wish, on behalf of my family, the government

and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to express our heartfelt commiseration with you at this time.

“May Almighty God grant her soul eternal rest, even as He succours you and imbues you with the strength to cope with the pain of this irredeemable loss.”

• Late Alake

By Victor Akande

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RECURSOR of Waka, an Islamic-inspired Yoruba music genre, Alhaja Batile Alake, is dead.

She was 78.

Alake died in her home town, Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State in the early hours of yesterday while preparing for the Subhi (daybreak) Muslim prayer.

Her manager, Alhaji Kunle Halidu, confirmed the development.

Halidu added she was buried at about 4pm in her home town according to Islamic rites.

Halidu, who is also the manager to Waka queen, Salawa Abeni, said she could not attend the burial because she was not in town.

Alake popularised Waka, during her active days in the 50s and 60s, by playing at concerts and parties throughout Yorubaland.

She was touted as the first waka singer to wax an album.

ORMER President and Chairman, Sokoto Education Trust Fund(SETF), Alhaji Shehu Shagari, at the weekend said that the Fund has spent over N72 million in the last one year on its activities.

He spoke during the Fund’s annual general meeting.

Shagari informed that the Fund is maintaining a reserve of N95million to sustain its activities.

He explained some of these activities include women empowerment, girl and boy-child education, free ICT training and assistance to students at various

From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

levels of education, among others.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, commended the government for its giant strides in resuscitating the education sector.

He assured that ‘’The Sokoto Sultanate council would continue to partner the State Government, individuals and organisations to ensure the success of the Fund’s activities.”

Governor Aliyu Wamakko assured of his administration’s determination to support the activities of the Fund.

NDDC: Group makes case for Delta

A

•Representative of the Minister of FCT, Dr Mulam Godit (l), presenting a certified International Managers Certificate to Mr Zeph Agwu (r) during the inauguration of the board of Directors of African Project and Programme Management Board ( Nigerian chapter) in Abuja at the weekend.

With them is President, Direct Leadership Institute in Ghana, Dr Donald Agumenu. PHOTO: NAN

GROUP, Concerned Communities of Oil Producing Areas (CCOOPA), has stated that it is the turn of Delta State to produce the next Executive Director (Projects) in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

It argued that Bayelsa and Ondo states have already taken their respective turns.

A statement by its chairman, Akporuerho Okameh, said: “CCOOPA is aware that Akwa-Ibom had produced chairman, Executive

Director (Projects) and is now to produce the Managing Director.

“Rivers had produced the Managing Director and Executive Director (Projects). Delta had produced the Managing Director and Executive Director, (Finance and Administration) and Bayelsa had produced the Managing Director, the Chairman and the Executive Director (Finance and Administration).

“So, it is now the turn of Delta State to produce the Executive Director (projects).”

WORLD NEWS

Mandela's health improving - daughter

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ORMER South African President Nelson Mandela's health is improving daily and he is now able to sit up for minutes at a time, his youngest daughter told state broadcaster SABC. The 95-year-old has been in a Pretoria hospital for two months for treatment of a recurrent lung infection. The government said late last month his condition remained critical but was showing improvement.

Zindzi Mandela told SABC on Friday her father was becoming increasingly alert.

"He's fine. Tata now manages to sit up, like now he sits up in a chair for a few minutes in a day, every day you know he becomes more alert and responsive. Tata is determined not to go anywhere anytime soon, I cannot stress this enough," she said, referring to him by the Xhosa word for father.

"He just doesn't have the strength of a man, he has the strength that is beyond anything that can be explained. Because even now with the challenges to his health, he somehow manages to bounce back when everyone assumes this is the end."

Mandela's victory in the first multiracial elections in 1994 marked the end of the apartheid system. Four years earlier, he was released after 27 years in prison under white minority rule, 18 of them at the notorious Robben Island penal colony.

Six African migrants drown in sea off Sicily

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IX migrants drowned off the Italian island of Sicily yesterday after attempting a dangerous passage from Africa in a fishing boat, according to the Italian coastguard.

The 18-metre-long boat carrying some 120 migrants ran aground at dawn some 40 meters (132 feet) from a beach near the city of Catania, its coastguard captain Roberto D'Arrigo said.

While most of the passengers reached the shore, the six who drowned were apparently unable to swim.

The 120 migrants were mainly from Syria and Egypt, D'Arrigo told Sky Italia television, with an adolescent boy among the victims, who were all under age 30. Egypt has suffered prolonged political and economic turmoil. Syria

Three Chinese murdered in Afghan capital

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HREE Chinese citizens were found murdered in an apartment in Afghanistan's capital, according to a statement issued by China's embassy in Kabul carried on a Chinese state-run news agency.

The report said the three were killed on Thursday but did not say the whether the victims were men or women.

It said the statement was issued by the embassy late on Friday.

The identity of the victims and motive for the killings were also unclear.

is shattered by civil war.

D'Arrigo said he did not believe there were other victims in what he described as an "absolutely anomalous event".

African migrants normally reach Sicily's more southern coast or the island of Lampedusa to the south, only 110 km (70 miles) from Tunisia in North Africa. D'Arrigo said a migrant boat had never

previously put into Catania halfway up Sicily's eastern coast, leading him to believe the boat had lost its way.

Thousands of immigrants seek the southern shores of Italy every summer, when Mediterranean waters in the Strait of Sicily calm sufficiently for small boats to make the crossing, usually from Libya or Tunisia.

They come looking for work in the European Union

and many do not remain in Italy. Those who do, or who are taken into Italian custody, can be sent home.

Another boat carrying around 90 migrants arrived safely on Sicily's southeast shore yesterday, near the town of Syracuse.

Last month Pope Francis, in his first official trip outside Rome, celebrated mass on Lampedusa to commemorate

the thousands of migrants who have died at sea.

According to United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, almost 8,000 migrants and asylum seekers landed on the coasts of southern Italy in the first half of the year. The vast majority were from North Africa, mainly Libya, which has been in turmoil since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

20 people killed in Syrian air raid

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YRIAN government warplanes bombed a predominantly Sunni village and killed at least 20 people, opposition activists said yesterday, as government forces pushed to retake territory in the western heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect.

The rebel capture last week of 11 villages in the regime stronghold of Latakia province was a symbolic blow to Assad, whose troops have otherwise been making gains in central Syria and around the capital Damascus.

Assad's forces are now trying to retake those villages, predominantly populated by Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam.

The mountainous region near the Mediterranean Sea is also home to villages populated by Sunni Muslims, who dominate the rebel ranks. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighter jets struck one Sunni village, Salma, late Friday, and that at least half of the dead

were fighters.

The group heavy clashes troops and rebels rounding Jabal

reported between in the sural-Akrad

mountains yesterday. It had no reports of casualties in the fighting.

The state media said yesterday that government

troops recaptured three of the 11 villages. Activists confirmed the fall of one village but said fighting was continuing in the other two.

Hundreds protest in London over Russian anti-gay law

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UNDREDS of people protested in London yesterday against a Russian anti-gay propaganda law that has attracted international condemnation as the world athletics championships kick off in Moscow.

Gathering in the British capital near the residence of Prime Minister David Cameron and the foreign ministry, demonstrators called for the government to push Russia to repeal the laws.

"Putin is the 'Czar of Homophobia'," veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell wrote on his website ahead of the protests.

"His regime has outlawed the public expression of LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) iden-

tity and affection - and prohibited the advocacy of LGBT human rights - in circumstances where a person under 18 might see it."

Clutching banners bearing slogans such as "Love Russia. Hate Homophobia" and rainbow flags, protesters called for a change in the policy that has attracted criticism from world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama.

Critics of the anti-propaganda law have said it effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals.

The law, as well as a ban on adoptions of children by same-sex couples, are part of a more conservative course taken by President Vladimir

Putin on social issues since his return to the Kremlin in May, 2012.

On Friday, Olympic president Jacques Rogge asked Russia to explain how the country will implement the law in detail ahead of next year's Sochi Winter Olympics.

Cameron tweeted yesterday that Britain would not boycott the Games over the issue, in response to a letter from comedian Stephen Fry who said British athletes should stay away.

"I share your deep concern about the abuse of gay people in Russia," Cameron wrote.

"However, I believe we can better challenge prejudice as we attend, rather than boycotting the Winter Olympics."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Comment & Analysis

12 hours to get a driver’s licence

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OME weeks back the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) played a fast one on Nigerians. In a perfectly simulated photo operation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s application for the so-called new driver’s licence was processed and he was issued one within minutes as shown on television. The Corps Marshal, Osita Chidoka, was the perfect host on that day, beaming with smiles and the pictures of the drama splashed on newspaper pages the second day.

If, however, you believe that show, I feel for you, as my experience on Friday, August 2, at the Ojodu, Lagos office of the FRSC confirmed that it was a drama. Truly we’ve been conned and still being deceived. It took me just 12 hours, yes 12 hours, to be “captured”, pardon the bad grammar as though one was an escapee from a maximum security prison. I went through the painful and macabre show simply because of my decision to go through the normal route and refusal to use any backdoor arrangement as I have enough contacts and friends made over the years as a journalist who are high in the FRSC hierarchy. But I wanted to see what ordinary Nigerians with nobody to smoothen their ways go through in the hands of state agents.

My horrific journey began on February 26 this year when I commenced the application process for the renewal of my driver’s licence which was about to expire. Go online and pay the required money, the numerous adverts and leaflets proclaimed with gusto. As a law abiding citizen, I followed the steps meticulously, paid the stipulated charges, and went through the tests. Thereafter, I took all the documents to the FRSC unit at Ojodu and that was where I knew it was not going to be an easy application. In the wisdom of the officials, they gave me a date that was six good months away, August 2, stamped “Valid & Physical Capture Date, Ojodu Processing Station”.

It was comical and all my pleas for a new date fell on deaf ears, but since I had a paper which shows that my application was being processed I was not bothered and as long as I can drive without being waylaid or molested

by FRSC officials or policemen, all is well. Sur-

By Wale Fatade

prisingly, no law enforcement agent stopped me to ask for my driver’s licence during the period. An officer was kind enough to give me his number and I kept on calling just to be in touch with the process, he continually reassured me that nothing will shift my “capture” date.

I returned to Lagos on the evening of Thursday, August 1, so as to be able to partake in the exercise the next day. Friends and family members who have been “captured” told me that the 7am time for the exercise is sacrosanct and so I should not miss it for anything. One actually told me that I stand the risk of being asked to come back in three months’ time if I did not get to Ojodu by 7am. And so I joined the bankers and Lagos Island workers’ train of early commuters and fortunately got to Ojodu at 7:05 am. Morning shows the day, the English say.

My first shock was the sheer number of people I met at the office at that early period so much that someone was already arguing with a FRSC man at the gate in order to be allowed to park inside the compound and not outside.

Sensibly, I drove ahead and turned back to pack at the bus stop directly in front of the office but I was not comfortable with the place I parked. As I kept thinking about this, another car parked behind me. Perhaps the driver saw my discomfort at where I parked and as he locked his car after his wife and a child disembarked, he said to me, “Nobody will tow your car away from this place, just relax.” We went in together and there we were met by a crowd that reminds one of the January 2012 fuel subsidy protests. Confusion and bedlam were the hallmarks of the gathering with no signs or direction to point those of us who were there for the exercise to where we should go.

Questions, questions, and more questions led us to a hall where a woman FRSC officer was addressing applicants. Unsurprisingly, there was no electric supply, meaning no amplifier and so we all strained our ears to hear her properly. Time was 7:30am and the odour emanating from the hall reminds one of putrefying bacteria feasting on a decomposing corpse. As I stood at the entrance, I surveyed

the crowd, I saw women with their kids, husbands and wives, young and old all waiting to be “captured.” We all clutched our application documents tightly like refugees waiting to hear if their application for asylum will be granted by the host countries.

“Move back, move back, you are suffocating us,” the woman whose name tag reads Babasanya intoned. Pleading with the applicants, she threatened to stop the process if we kept pressing against her and the three other FRSC officers sitting down. Trust Nigerians, “Why don’t you move back too,” they asked as if they did not know why people had to press closer. Babasanya done, a gentleman started reading out the names of those of us scheduled for that day. Nothing suggested that he was a FRSC personnel as he was in mufti, he called people asking us to answer “present” just the same way teachers taught us in elementary schools.

Things got rowdy at this point as many could not hear their names, but somehow the process continued. I thought it was not going to be my turn until I heard my name, “you’re 228", the class teacher told me. I memorised it as Officer Babasanya wrote the number and signed on my application. I stepped outside to catch my breath; time was 8:45 am. An hour after, we were summoned into the hall again where those of us from number 120 upwards were asked to come back by 1pm. Meanwhile, all pregnant women and parents with children were given preference of being attended to first and everyone agreed.

That was when I discovered that my case could be classified as neither good nor bad.

Not good because some started the process in May and some in June. Bad because some were there for the second or third time having missed earlier appointments due to lateness or inability to respond when their names were called on those days. There were people from Sango Ota, a border town in Ogun State, Agbara, Badagry, Ijanikin, and other far-flung places.

Some have been victims of the system having patronised touts who gave them fake licence culminating in their arrest. Further, we saw some waltzing in and being attended to before

those of us whose names were called in the morning.

On my return in the afternoon, the process was moving slowly that less than 60 people have been attended to. Another officer with name tag Aduloju, was the courier walking the distance from the data room to the hall.

“Number 60 to 70,” he summoned as I arrived.

By 3pm, tempers have risen that there was apprehension if the 300 people whose names were called will be “captured”. By the way, those who came late or missed their names were given March 2014 as the next appointment. Optometrists were around to conduct eye tests and some applicants were turned back due to bad eyesight. It was shocking that some were teaching them how to beat the system next time. “But they cannot see, how will they drive?” I asked. My opinion was an unpopular one and I wisely walked away.

Fortunately, the generator started working and with the population reducing, the hall became more habitable. Forces of demand and supply took over with sellers providing drinks for people to quench their thirst. At 5:30 pm, I was called to be “captured” and led to a canopy in front of the data centre where we waited again. Thirty minutes later, four of us entered the powerful room where only two computers were working and the two officers, a man and woman, thoroughly overworked, were slaving away. Officers Babasanya and Aduloju, however, deserve accolades for doing a great job under the kind of suffocating conditions they work.

Two machines for 300 people! My fingerprints were taken and photo too, “Go to room 28 to pick it up,” we were told. Room 28 was in darkness as there was no bulb, it was 6:30pm and our names were entered into another log book. Time now 7pm, a temporary driver’s licence was given to me after parting with N100 for lamination without a receipt. I stepped out of the premises at 7:12 pm.

Mr. Osita Chidoka, this system is not working, please dismantle it.

Mr. Fatade is a Lagos-based journalist

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

15

Agenda for APC

The new party must differentiate itself from the pack with its vision and mission statement

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HE euphoria over the successful merger of some political parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) is understandable, considering that it is the first time such an effort has been consummated in the history of Nigeria. For such a feat, the leaders of the defunct parties that merged the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) deserve the commendation of all democrats for their sacrifices that hopefully will enhance our democratic enterprise. Having achieved the current success, the next step is for the leaders to stir the new party to fulfill the potential of an enduring democratic Nigeria.

We have no doubt that every democratic Nigerian nurses the hope that the APC will signal the organic emergence of a two dominant party structure in Nigeria. As the history of political parties in Nigeria will show, there have been several failed attempts by disparate parties to coalesce into two major parties as national elections approached; unfortunately, such attempts were usually bogged down by parochial interests. In the First Republic, two broad-based political alliances were formed to fight for elections, but they were unable to consolidate as soon as the election successes were achieved or proved unrealisable. The same fate bedevilled the political accords entered into by the substantially regionally based parties during the Second Republic; and of course they all collapsed as soon as the objective proved a forlorn hope.

Ironically, it was through a military fiat that a two-party structure emerged in the still-born Third Republic. But even with their birth defects, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP)

D

EMOCRACY as a form of government has its inherent demerits among which the majority wins is chief. The beauty of democracy as the most popular form of government in the world today that there’s hardly any leader who does not wish to be described or seen as a democrat or a regime that does not seek to be described as democratic.

Democracy exists where the principal leaders of a political system are selected by competitive elections which the bulk of population has the opportunity to participate in. It is therefore clear that we can not talk about democracy without mentioning participation and representation. At the centre of the democratic ideas is the notion of participation which describes the extent to which individual members of society share, take part, or get involved in the life of that society.

It is at this point that the concept of the majority wins becomes albatross on the neck of democracy in this part of the world. In the scheming and permutation for control of political power that allocates scarce

were able to provide a virile two-party structure that potentially dealt a blow to religious and regional-based political party structure in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the military which created the two parties also summarily executed them with the same fiat as they had decreed them into existence. With the birth of the current republic, the reemergence of atomised ethnic-based parties resurfaced, and several efforts to come together had failed until the registration of APC. So, the emergence of APC brings hope to Nigerians that ethnic and religiously biased parties in the country, may eventually disappear. But there is enormous work to be done to achieve this Eldorado. Towards this, it is hoped that the leadership of the new party will work towards expanding its membership, to enable Nigerians of all ethnic and economic backgrounds gain access to the party. If such expansion is achieved, the APC will join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form the two broad parties to act as viable alternatives for the Nigerian electorate.

In working to achieve a national spread, the new party must also seek to distinguish itself from the existing lot, in character and content. To achieve such prospect, there is the immediate need for the party to clearly define its vision and mission in a way that will appeal to Nigerians across ethnic and TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

religious divides. The party must also work hard to instill internal democracy and discipline among its members, to ensure that it attracts quality membership, instead of the vagabonds that populate most political parties. Such a vision must also be founded on patriotic principles to help guide its members, to work for a better country.

It will indeed be exciting to see the new party move in a direction that will inspire confidence in Nigerians. Its members must not pretend that they are insulated from the unfortunate vagaries of our modern day partisan politics, such as the type that has turned the ruling PDP into a constant war front. Part of the cause of the internal wrangling within the PDP and most other parties is the lack of any guiding ideology, as the parties are seen as mere avenues for power and economic aggrandisement.

Regrettably for most politicians, party politics in Nigeria are mere outposts for exploiting the economy and people of Nigeria, without any regards whatsoever to the sustainability of the system.

So, Nigerians will be utterly disappointed if for any reason, the APC turns into a cult or aggregation of the alternative exploiters of the country. As we celebrate the possibilities that the party portends, it is fitting to commend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for sticking to the provisions of the constitution and the electoral act in this matter.

We also commend Nigerians and the national institutions, like the courts, and urge them to maintain eternal vigilance to ensure that the gains of this merger are not truncated by antidemocratic forces.

Once again we wish the All Progressives Congress a fruitful life in the service of our country.

LETTERS

Is Benue governorship exclusive to the Tiv people? rights to produce a president until recently when circumstance prevailed the Doctrine of Necessity to change the status quo ante.

From the above hypothesis, it cold be understood why it is not different at the component units.

Every state plays the majority ethnic card as a lev-

erage to cling to the control of political power.

Where the former is not enough, they resort to religion or bare-faced primitive tendencies such as rigging, thuggery, ethnic cleansing and total anarchy.

This has been the reason why every political

resources and values, primordial fault lines are exploited by un-altruistic politicians against each other. The political actors in connivance with their parties as platforms which essentially are the pursuit , capture and retention of power as long as democratically feasible of gov-

ernment and its offices equally work against democracy when it deepens ethnic, religious, class or racial cleavages in society.

Against this background, it is apparent how the Nigerian state had been held captive by the three major ethnic groups as owners of the exclusive

STRONGLY believe there’s a grand conspiracy by the world powers to force-feed the world with the gay bug before the turn of the new decade.

It’s no mere coincidence that two of the world’s most revered religious leaders, the Pope and Desmond Tutu, made ‘disturbing’ statements in support of ‘Gayness’ in a space of three days. While the Pope’s was veiled, Desmond Tutu’s was brash; the Nobel laureate threatening not to go to heaven if he finds out

The Pope and Desmond Tutu

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God is homophobic. Now, if God was in support of homosexuals, why did he destroy Sodom and Gomorrah as written in the Bible? This is in addition to the aggressive pro-gay campaign the leaders of both the United States of America and Britain have embarked on in recent months.

I see no reason why the people of the world shouldn’t clamour for the legalisation

of present day sexual vices such as incest, child marriage, bestiality etc. After all, homosexuality was once seen as a crime by the same people at the forefront of the campaign for its acceptance.

What is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Gay rights activists should henceforth include the aforementioned ‘sex crimes’ in their checklist of rights to be fought for.

I still insist that homosexuality is an abnormality that can be corrected, either medically, through psychological therapy or through exorcism. It’s important to note that I don’t and can never hate gays; it’s only the act I detest.

I pray God heals the world.

Simon Utsu 08094982226

party in its permutation has to present a candidate from the majority ethnic group in the state. If this is a reasonable criterion then internal democracy has been blatantly compromised. What then is the place of competence in the general leadership quality of the candidate? When veritable leadership qualities are compromised on the altar of majority wins then we must not expect any meaningful change in the quality of leadership foisted on us. Majority wins can be redefined and understood in a new dimension and seen from a different perspective for us to live as witnesses to an egalitarian democracy. For a state like Benue since the second republic until now not to have a governor from another ethnic group except the majority Tiv ethnic group goes a long way to show the extent of the demerits of the concept of majority wins and the attendant ethnic sentiment attached to it.

By Comrade Ogbu Ameh, onwaters2011@gmail.com

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Comment & Analysis

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

I

N the last two days, leading politicians in our country have been reacting to predictions that Nigeria stands the chance of internal combustion. In 2013 (a few weeks ago), the United States' Army College suggested that nothing in recent times has changed the prediction in 2003 by the US Intelligence community that Nigeria might break by 2015. Local geopolitical forecasters have also been worrying that Boko Haram also has the capacity to accelerate Nigeria's disintegration. But in response to the end of Ramadan celebration (Eid-el Fitr), President Jonathan and one of the founding leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC), have taken their time to reassure Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm, despite the country's appearance of flammability.

In his own message to the country's Muslims, President Jonathan reassures citizens of the country's stability and 'unbreakability': "We are not even exploiting our diversity because of the myopic views about situations. Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters and we must live together. Those who are predicting that this country will separate based on our fault-lines as at the time of amalgamation by 2015, they will know that these predictions will not be true." Correspondingly, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu called

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

‘C

ORRUPTION in Nigeria diverts financial resources from building roads, and bridges, curtailing the development of infrastructure that is needed to make Nigeria more competitive. It drains the federal treasury of funds that could do wonders in expanding and improving the education provided to millions of Nigerian children which, in turn, would enhance Nigeria's economic future. Corruption forestalls additional spending on medical clinics and preventive health-care spending that countless studies have shown reap long-term economic rewards for a country when properly implemented. In short, corruption is a scourge that undermines virtually everything that could move Nigeria towards a brighter economic future.'

- Jeffrey Hawkins -U.S Consul-General For its frailties, which I define as inherent moral turpitude leading to inability to resist evil, top of which is corruption, of both material and the entire Nigerian governmental apparatus, the Peoples Democratic Party ought to have been dead a thousand times and more. That the party, consisting of an amalgam of those elder statesman Tunji Braithwaite described as 'rats and cockroaches' during the Second Republic, is still alive and kicking is due, not to the patronage and racketeers which cohere it, but the in-explainable inability of the opposition political parties to have massed against it when that was the earnest wishes of a majority of Nigerians.

One thing that needs be emphasised from the very beginning is that this has little or nothing to do with the person of President Jonathan, a decent gentleman, as corruption is ingrained in the party's DNA. Nobody

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

How flammable is Nigeria?

Nobody wants to leave Nigeria for as long as the oil continues to flow, regardless of predictions from prophets inside and scientists outside the country. for prayers to ensure that "the predictions of doom, hardship, political instability and religious intolerance will not come to fruition," adding: "Nigeria is not a broken case. It is redeemable and only the people can make this change happen by voting right and wisely." Nigerians must feel encouraged that two of the country's leading politicians are not cowed by predictions about the country's break-up.

A recent book by John-Andrew McNeish and Owen Logan, titled Flammable Societies: Studies on the socio-economics of Oil and Gas includes an essay by Femi Folorunso: "A country without a State?: Governmentality, Knowledge and Labour in Nigeria." Flammable is used in the book to refer to the socioeconomics of oil and gas. But Folorunso in his own essay uses flammable in two senses: metonymic and metaphoric. He addresses the metonymic dimension by underscoring the impact of exploitation of oil and gas on the life of the average Nigerian. He also uses 'flammable' connotatively when he addresses the theme of a country without a state, a political space that appears bound to failure because of bad governance.

Predictions cannot break a country. It is the action or inaction of those charged to govern a country that can cause its disintegration. Nigerians have no reason to be afraid of predictions coming from home or abroad about the future of the country. Several soothsayers and prophets in Nigeria have predicted

doom for too long, without any of their predictions coming to pass, particularly predictions by religious prophets who are wont to laying claims to prescience and clairvoyance. Nigerians have gotten used to local Cassandras whose forecasts of doom for politicians and the polity have generally come to naught.

What Nigerians have not gotten used to are predictions from outside the country by professional analysts who attempt to bring the predictive power of science on their forecasts.

The prediction in 2003 from the U.S. Intelligence community and the latest one from the U.S. Army College must have gotten the attention of Nigeria's leaders. When the 2003 prediction first came out, General Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed it as nothing for anyone to worry about.

Again, the recent one from the U.S. Army College seems to have gotten to our leaders. This explains why two of the country's most important politicians, Jonathan and Tinubu, have chosen to use this year's end of Ramadan festivities to reassure citizens not to panic and to remain as optimistic about the territorial integrity of their country as they have always been since 1960.

Citizens ought to know by now that Nigeria cannot disintegrate, despite the recurrence of political, social, and economic storms the country experiences intermittently. The reasons are not far to fathom. oil and gas, natural causes of combustion, serve as lubricants to oil and grease the creaky joints of the Nigerian State-nation. There are two

sides to the coin of greasing of the engine of the Nigerian State. On the one hand, members of the ruling class derive too much benefit from oil and proceeds of oil for them to want to push the country into the sea. Those from various parts of the country who own oil blocks and have acquired property in prime lands in different parts of the country from oil and gas know better than they show when they threaten fire and brimstone. The saying that Nigeria knows how to avoid disaster and disintegration is not an exaggeration. Most of the country's political and cultural leaders know where their bread is buttered. Many of them will even be afraid to want to rule a Nigeria without petroleum.

On the other hand, the average Nigerian is able to live on just one dollar per day, not because of efforts by the government, but as a result of the existence of oil and gas in the country! Without oil and with the kind of government the country has been saddled with since the 1970s, it would not have been possible for any Nigerian to eat on a daily basis a loaf of bread or a plate of rice without any form of protein.

The little that trickles down from the class that perceives itself as the owner of Nigeria is another thing that has prevented disintegration.

It is not surprising when scholars raise the issue of Resource Curse in relation to Nigeria's petroleum and mismanagement of the country that both leaders and followers retort with: "Thank God there is oil." Nobody wants to leave Nigeria for as

long as the oil continues to flow, regardless of predictions from prophets inside and scientists outside the country. And no matter how hard the polity is heated or security is challenged by Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants, and even the country's Kidnappers Incorporated, nothing untoward is likely to happen to our republic of petroleum. Nigerians have reasons to believe their president when he says there is no cause for alarm. They should know that it is a waste of intellectual and emotional energy to think or write that Nigeria is on the brink, on account of its many crises of bad governance and under-development.

The country's political rulers and their cultural counterparts know that it does not matter what they do or not do, the country has come to stay, for as long as oil flows from the wombs of the land and its adjoining sea. Our leaders know that they do not need to respond to what Femi Folorunso characterises as the impact of governance on sovereignty, citizenship, and development in a country troubled by resource curse.

Even citizens themselves have been numbed or dumbed down by the manna from petroleum and gas. It appears that nobody needs to worry about anything, for as long as Nigeria is able to sell enough oil to lubricate the engine of its continuity as a state-nation. The country's (taken for granted) territorial integrity will be further guaranteed by free and fair election in 2015, if only to give citizens unfettered choice to choose those to govern them.

Some PDP’s frailties that should leapfrog APC to power

Billions, no longer millions at which eyes used to pop and for which a distinguished FEDECO Chairman said he would have collapsed, now reads like pennies in Edwin Clark and his son,the wannabe within PDP today can tame it. It curPDP's corruption odyssey. governor, Godsday Orubebe, two rently has very experienced octogenarians at its policy-making levels which should ordinarily translate to a more nuanced party management but what do we have? As the Yoruba would say:'kaka ki ewe agbon de, lile lo nle si', meaning that, rather than the coconut leaf getting softer, it's getting tougher by the day. Corruption has become the party's raison d'etre and this manifests in every segment of our national life.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), under the lead of a very forthright Nigerian attorney, Ledum Mitee who, but for God's mercy, would have long been consumed by the forebears of these roaches, has again presented its Audit Reports in compliance with the requirement of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) covering the period 2009-2011.

It reeks of nothing but corruption.

And as is usual, the culpable government agencies, NNPC and PPRA, the latter in particular, have been fighting to the death to salvage what remains of their integrity coming on the heels of the massive oil subsidy scam in which scions of PDP leaders turned out the major culprits. Meanwhile, as has become the norm, both the EFCC and the judiciary are playing poker over that serious matter such that by the time they came up with their slaps on the wrist, Nigerians, weighed down by their daily gruelling toils, would have forgotten all about it.

The report covered physical and process issues that characterise business activities in the industry with a view to establishing if companies actually paid what they were expected to pay and if government indeed received what it ought to receive. The report recommends that the NNPC should: ·'settle domestic crude liability of N842.7 billion adhere to due process in accessing subsidy deduc-

tions out of crude oil proceeds;. carry out a comprehensive documentation system of the records and reconciliation of volumes and value of PSCs and Carry transactions; design a system that suitably controls gas income to the Federation; confirm remittance of $3.789billion (dividends from NLNG) to the Federation Account; strengthen controls over product importation and distribution and specify a unique methodology for managing crude sales during a Trial Marketing Period'.

It should be noted that some of the above, where they are not direct thefts, are wonky systems put in place to facilitate stealing from the national treasury. PPRA is to remit N4.423 billion to the Federation Account for the period in review; a report which Reginald Ibe, its Executive Secretary, as should be expected, has disputed as if Nigerians do not know that agency enough.

As is now well known, the PDP, for purposes of 2015, will never have the political will to deal appropriately with these well documented acts of non-transparency. As with the pension fund and the humongous oil subsidy fraud, so shall it be with the NEITI Audited Report.

Nor is corruption the only issue APC should leverage on to send PDP to where it rightly belongs in historical infamy.

The other day I laughed my heart out at the spectacle of our dear President at the wheel of a Land Rover besotted by a swooning array of well decorated PDP women in a scene so reminiscent of Mr Bode George's court days. A few questions immediately crossed my mind about this 'Sagamu road-show', as my brother, and colleague columnist, Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan, has described it: Don't these otherwise innocent women know that their zone of the party has long been forgotten by the powers that

be in Abuja? I also wondered what became of then President Obasanjo's no less imaginative 'road show' as he flagged off the Ibadan-Ilorin road as Baba Adedibu held court in Ibadan and elsewhere? Is the road now completed a decade after? Then I remembered the delectable and hard-working Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke then of the Works Ministry who, overcome by her lachrymal glands, cried like a baby whose milk was snatched, bemoaning the sorry state of the Ore-Benin Road post N300Bllion.

Honestly, in 'Mummy land' apologies music impresario Lagbaja, I think our 'mumu e don do.'

Worse though is the fact that nothing suggests,given PDP's track record, that the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way project will ever be competed even if it rules for its chimerical 60 years. I quote Oluwajuyitan, again,to buttress this view point. Wrote Jide in his column in The Nation of Thursday , August 8: 'The Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC), set up in March 2011 to look into cases of abandoned federal government projects claimed that there were 11,886 abandoned projects that will cost an estimated N778 trillion to complete…'

More interesting is the fact that many of these abandoned projects are located within the really favoured territories of the PDP , namely: the 400 metre long Utor bridge along Asaba-EbuUromi road awarded in 2006, the 36 kilometre Bodo-Bonny road in Rivers state, awarded in 2002, the abandoned 285 NNDC projects not to mention the never- never East-West road which has not only pitted the Rivers State governor against the Niger Delta Affairs Minister but has ensured that foot soldiers have already been conscripted in Burutu, Warri, Ughelli, Ozoro and Asaba, in what should be the mother of all wars between respected Chief

unmatchable supporters of Mr President.

If all these are happening in the President's geo-political zone, I do not think the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway stands a ghost of a chance of completion. After all,morning, they say, shows the day, and we already saw enough ruckus on that road. What that expansive ceremony and project would most probably achieve will be easy campaign funds, nor would that be the first time.

If the above are material and measurable damages to our common wealth, the PDP had also ensured they damaged Nigeria so morally that an international pariah like Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean owner, could, with a wave of the hand, reject the African Union's appointment of PDP's one-time Chairman, Board of Trustees, and Nigeria's, unarguably, most remarkable living statesman Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to lead its observer team to that country's recent election. Mugabe did not have to think twice - no thanks to PDP's record of ignominious election charades.

The above are obviously only a small fraction of the multitude of PDP's infractions which the new party should adroitly exploit in getting rid of PDP; a party which inner peace has long deserted as there is no moral authority within it any longer. Billions, no longer millions at which eyes used to pop and for which a distinguished FEDECO Chairman said he would have collapsed, now reads like pennies in PDP's corruption odyssey.

APC leaders, officials, members and Nigerians in general, must rise up like one man/woman, as has been elegantly canvassed by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila,leader of opposition in the House of Representatives, and take ownership of this party which is destined to re brand Nigeria.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Tunji

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

M

ANY journalists readily agree, in defining the concept 'news', that when dog bites man, it is no news; but when man bites dog, then that is news. Of course, this makes sense because, what they are trying to say in essence is that 'news' properly so-called is usually about the bad and the ugly. Bad news is therefore good news. It is common to see dogs bite man but it is unusual for man to bite dog. Here, we are not talking about the Ondo people who see 'lokili' (dog) as a delicacy and the Calabar people who also enjoy its meat that they fondly call '404'.

To eat something is not necessarily the same as biting it.

This analogy came about in view of what is happening in Rivers State. That state has not known peace in the last few months and it is not likely to know it anytime soon. One of the major actors in the crisis has only recently boasted that he would make the governor uncomfortable, and perhaps the state, ungovernable. That tells us the extent that people can go when seeking political power in the country. In sane environments, the man would have been invited by the security agencies because his statement is self-explanatory. I have said it often, and it bears repeating, that this country would have been a far better place if those seeking public offices put in half of the energy they put into the struggle for the offices into governance when they eventually get into those offices.

Imagine all the resources that have been wasted in the efforts to

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

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

W

HAT is with men and wars, I’ll never know, but records show that over ninety per cent of wars in this world have been initiated and executed by men. No, no, I am not starting an argument, just stating a fact. Just think, in the lifetime of any given male, the chances that he would initiate or help to execute a war is close to fifty per cent. Imagine that! I know that when they were little, my children initiated many wars against each other, mostly over nothing, but that doesn’t even count. The fighting gene nevertheless appears to run true and deep in all men.

Most worrisome, however, is the fact that somehow, the fighting genes running loose in men are now being transfused into women and other things. Women, knowing no better and no different, proudly don the togas of war, supposedly for love and country and head out, leaving behind tearful babies, crying children and baffled husbands. Tch, tch. If those women only knew the truth – that they have been infected by the blood running in men’s veins – they would know better where to direct their heaving chests of indignation. All together, mankind has become like a couple of pigeons which seems to do nothing but flap their wings in real antagonism towards each other three mornings a week behind

17

Impeachment without quorum

Legislators involved in the RiversAssembly fracas should face sanctions too 'overthrow' the Rivers State governor just because of the personal ambitions of a few persons. A serving minister of state for education, Nyesom Wike, who should be overseeing the crucial sector is rather busy doing unimaginable things while thousands of our youths in the universities are on the streets when they should be in the lecture rooms, due to strike by their lecturers.

Their colleagues in the polytechnics went on strike for weeks while Mr. Wike was in the forefront of the battle to remove the state governor by hook or crook. I wonder why it has not occurred to those who appointed Wike that something is bound to suffer when a man in such a crucial sector abandons his beat to lead a campaign just because he wants to become governor. In saner climes, it is only people who performed creditably in lower capacities that get promoted in government. This is a minister without any clear achievements already eyeing a higher office, putting his hopes on some benevolent cleavages. Again, in countries where the government is serious, it would have seen such a person as a liability rather than an asset and promptly shown him the door.

But this is not where I am going today, it is nonetheless useful though in bringing into

perspective the unfortunate developments in Rivers State.

Chinua Achebe says in his celebrated Things Fall Apart that “if a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do?

Shut my eyes and pretend not to see him?” He says that cannot be; he will rather carry a stick and break his head! Well, I may not necessarily be talking about physical retaliation. But, Achebe's novels, as is the Igbo culture generally, are replete with proverbs which are like oil with which yam is eaten (again, apologies to Achebe).

What happened in the Rivers State House of Assembly on Tuesday July 9 falls into the category of the defecation that I have in mind. But I must stress that I am also not talking about someone in whose house another man has defecated carrying a physical stick (as it were) to break the intruder's head. But the man who has been wronged deserves some pacification. Now, when only five of a 32-member House of Assembly attempted to impeach the speaker, Otelemaba Amachree, whereas the constitution stipulates that at least two-thirds of the members is required for such to be legal, what did they expect? Did they expect to be pecked or kissed and warmly embraced by their colleagues who are in the

“When only five of a 32-member House of Assembly attempted to impeach the speaker, … whereas the constitution stipulates that at least two-thirds of the members is required for such to be legal, what did they expect? Did they expect to be pecked or kissed and warmly embraced by their colleagues who are in the majority?”

majority?

Certainly not. But the five must have been that audacious because of the ubiquitous 'federal might' that they thought they had behind them. With the police merely playing the role of observers, they had thought they would just carry out their illegality while Nigerians would make the usual noise over a period and the result of the illegality of impeachment without the requisite two-thirds majority would have stood, until a time when the courts will declare the action illegal and order a return to status quo ante. And, in Nigeria, that could take as long as the usurpers want and that is understandable; they have nothing to lose; it is only the person that has been cheated out of the office that has everything to lose. And, as we all know, justice travels at a snail speed in the country. Injustice travels faster!

However, the miscalculation of the misguided five legislators led to (probably) unanticipated violence and now, we are talking about one of those involved in the illegal impeachment saga, Michael Chinda, lying critically injured in hospital. Interestingly, the same police that have been partial since the crisis started promptly ensured that the majority leader in the state house of assembly, Mr. Chidi Lloyd, was promptly arraigned for attempted murder.

This is the kind of thing that happens in a country where might determines right. If legislators who did what the 'Rivers Five' attempted in the past had been made to face the full wrath of the law, it would have served as a deterrent to others. Unfortunately, they did not pay for it because the then President Olusegun Obasanjo was solidly behind them. This was

despite the fact that fortunately, the judiciary in that era reversed almost all the illegalities, in Oyo, Anambra, Plateau where the governors were said to have been impeached without the required quorum in the houses of assembly.

Perhaps it was because the 'Rivers 27' in the house of assembly did not want to take any chances that things went awry on July 9. This underscores the need for people to respect the sanctity of the law and due process. I am not opposed to justice for the injured legislator but I am also strongly of the view that something triggered the violence in the house. In my view, this too should be of concern to us. In the light of this, someone should also test the judicial waters to see if any case can be established; that is, if under any circumstance people can try what the 'Rivers Five' did without facing judicial sanctions.

If we saw such in the Obasanjo era, it does not make it right.

Whoever goes to equity must go with clean hands, remains the usual refrain. When someone causes rain to fall, it doesn't seem right to me for that person to complain if the rain is eventually accompanied with thunderstorm.

If sustaining of injury during an illegal legislative process is newsy, then, getting justice for those cheated by the illegality should be newsier. If five legislators decided to impeach a governor when between 20 and 21 members are legally required, they should know that whoever their godfather is, that action is illegal.

I therefore see nothing wrong in their paying for it through the judicial process. It is high time Nigerians challenged such illegalities in court.

Wars without end... Victims without end...

Nothing succeeds like good governance, fairness and justice. A good mixture of those elements can his aides in the path of a herd of ramgive us a world without wars my fence. What the bone of contenpaging elephants? Again, should that tion is exactly, no one can tell, but all we seem to get from them are their emotions all flapped up.

Actually, nothing excuses mankind’s behaviour which seems to stem from the belief that only the fisticuffs can settle any and all matters. This is why we now have community, civil, international, cyber, psychological and, most worrisome of all, domestic wars. And with the match of science, those simple fisticuffs have been translated into the rat-ta-tat-at-tat of machine guns or the booms of cannons aimed at other human beings just like them. I don’t know about you but anytime I have stumbled across TV programmes depicting war scenes, I have been struck by one question: to what purpose?

Just recently, I read the story of a soldier who was shot at the war front but instead of falling and dying quickly, he got caught on the barbed wire that separated the two sides in the war. The war continued around him however with shots from the guns but now punctuated by his own groans of pain as he slowly bled. His own friends could not come to his rescue for fear of being hit. Finally, a soldier from the side which had hit him in the first place could stand the groans no longer so he put down his gun and ran towards the dying man. Both sides, seeming to realise what he was going to do, ceased firing at each other and watched him in disbelief as he gently disentangled the wounded man and carried him across to the enemy line and gave him to his friends. As he

turned to go back to his side of the war, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the commanding officer of the enemy troop who removed a bravery medal from his own uniform and pinned it on the rescuer and saluted.

Both sides then waited for him to run back to his side before they resumed their insane game.

Today, the world remembers the millions and millions of victims of the World War 2 Holocaust but we are expanding it here to include all victims of the insane thing called war all over the world. Sources say that presently, there are one hundred and fortysix wars being fought and from these, over one thousand people are dying yearly. This gives us a very frightening picture indeed considering that it shows a considerable build-up of victims of war who are mostly women, children and the aged. The worst part is that these victims, and the wounded and dead soldiers, have no clear understanding of what caused the war in the first place.

So, who declares a war and why?

As a member of the human race, and a national of a country located somewhere on this planet, I think I have the right to know. Who the deuce feels he is obliged to declare a war where he does not often go to fight but only the young and able-bodied men (and now women) are obliged to go and be killed? I ask this because our lives, planet, children, and whether or not we wake up tomorrow depend on the answer. I believe that, and you can check this out, whoever declares a war

must have a very little brain indeed, even tinier than mine, and he would be the kind of person that cannot even get along with his neighbour. Just watch out, next time someone declares a war around you, first interview his neighbour.

There is a line that says that ‘Love has no religion, only God’. I don’t know exactly what that means but I can extrapolate that humans can choose the Christian, Muslim, Animist, Atheist, or the Love religion. Clearly, most people have not been choosing the Love religion because all wars in history have been started by someone from the other religions. This is quite different from the poster that reads ‘Make Love, not War.’ Again, I don’t know what that means either but I would guess that it still borders on what choices we make.

I honestly don’t know what warmongers are really after: plunder, fame or power. Whatever it is, I think we should all accept right now that none of that stays if built on the sacrificed blood of innocent men and women. One can get better plunder by raiding a rat’s hide-out. They are the only creatures I know who gather what they don’t need. Fame can come from a variety of other activities. Try calling the press to witness as you jump down from a ten-story building unto a bed of hot coals and sharp nails. I tell you, you will be toasted at every gathering in the country for years without end. And power? Why, have you tried to imagine a king testing his power by standing without

king survive, he will be toasted for ever as a very powerful man indeed.

That takes me to a second line I found: ‘We should realise that we have not been put here to rule the world – God does’. Anyone who feels compelled to test that theory is free to because my third line has the answer for them: ‘Those who thought they did had to leave it’.

Most people agree that wars have never solved any problem; they are only indulgences for old men looking for their manhood. They do not consider that wars without end only create victims without end. They also do not consider that the only things that wars leave behind are victims who do not even understand why they are being called on to be victims.

They are helpless against the insatiate appetites of men to seek and create drama everywhere. This column commiserates with all victims of war today; they are the ones who have to deal with, and pick up pieces of lives shattered by, the insanity of war.

The long and short of it is that wars are not good; let us stop them. Only God himself can put out the flame of domestic wars, but we can try our best with the rest. Those do nothing but point to the failure of human intelligence. Nothing succeeds as much as good governance, fairness and justice.

A good mixture of those elements can give us a world without wars, Amen.

- This piece was first published on 27 January, 2013

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I

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Osun leads in Nigeria’s school enrolment

F there is any sector Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has made salient and loudest impact since his assumption of office, it is in the area of basic education. This, however is not to deduct from the other laudable transformational projects and programmes going on across the length and breadth of the State of Osun. However, his education policy is by far more rewarding and enduring. It’s obvious that the governor’s primary role in governance is to address the debilitating problem of education which is central to the fight against extreme poverty.

The reason be that all other things, as it were, may perish or decay, depending on who Governor Aregbesola took over the mantle of leadership from or who takes over from him after he must have climbed down from the saddle. The same cannot be said of the knowledge acquired which inculcates values, attitudes, competence and skills that are capable of transforming individuals and turning them to self-regenerative, recreative and rebounding agents of change.

A case in point is the virtual aptness of a junior school student, Miss Yetunde Ojo, who came third in dancing competition held at Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo during the Tree Planting Programme which attracted students from schools in Osun-Central Senatorial District. Miss Yetunde who was asked to name her three trees in order to nurture them with tenderness to maturity gave their names as follows: (1) Yetunde (2) Ojo and Top-casts. To the astonishment of the mammoth crowd she told the audience that Top-casts is the name of her future company, when the moderator demanded to know who is Top-casts! That is the imponderability and imperishability of education.

So, one is not surprised to know that the State of Osun is taking the lead in the number of students, enrolment in Nigeria, including female student, across the country. A report by the National Bureau of Statistics in Wikipedia puts Osun children’s in primary school enrolment between 70 and 80 percent. The report by Wikipedia was posted on July 8, 2013. According to the report, no other state in the country falls within Osun’s category while Ekiti, Delta, Cross River, Enugu states rank between 60 and 70 per cent. Ondo, Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia rank between 50 and 60 per cent, while Kebbi and Yobe states were on the lower rung of the ladder, with 10 per cent enrolment.

Commenting on the enrolment feat in a parley with some journalists, Governor Rauf Aregbesola attributed the grand-breaking achievement to God and commitment. He said: “We thank God that our efforts are being recognised and appreciated. The Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics has published in its July, 2013 edition that Osun tops in primary school enrolment across the country.”

The governor is of the view that the role of education in poverty eradication, in close co-operation with other social sectors, is crucial. He said no country has succeeded if it has not educated its people. He posited that not only is education important in reducing poverty, it is also a key to

•Aregbesola

By Biodun Eyinola

wealth creation. The governor submitted that the only way for Nigeria to realise her full potential is “to promote EFA policies within a sustainable and well-integrated sector framework clearly linked to poverty elimination and development strategies.”

The success story is largely attributed to the Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (a.k.a O’MEALS), the brain child programme of the governor. The governor elected on the well thought out programme so as to reverse the very low academic performance of pupils in both internal and externals, and the realization that good nutrition is necessary for proper cognitive development of pupils. The school feeding of the O’MEALS programme which commenced on Monday, 30th April 2012 has increased the number of school pupils in public primary schools astronomically. So far, O’MEALS School Feeding Programme is being implemented in a total of 1,375 Primary Schools across the State of Osun.

The daily feeding allowance for each pupil has been increased to an amount of N 50. 00, totalling N 250. 00 (equivalent to $ 1. 56) per school week. For effective service, a total number of 3,007 food vendors/cooks were trained and are currently employed to serve midday meals for pupils of classes 1, 2, 3 and 4 in all primary schools in the State of Osun. All food items being utilised for feeding pupils are available locally and this is to boost the income of local farmers and others on the supply chain. Nutrition experts developed a menu-table of foods to be served to school pupils.

The cheery news is coming at a time most Africa’s education systems are failing to meet the brave targets of Millennium Development Goals projected towards Education For All (EFA) in 2015.

President Goodluck Jonathan attested to this fact a few weeks ago that Nigeria cannot meet the MDGs target of (EFA) by 2015. Though the President acknowledged the fact that Nigeria cannot meet the target, he came short of telling Nigerians what efforts his administration is making or planning to make to boost enrolment in both public and private primary schools.

Before now, Osun has witnessed low enrolment turn out in primary schools until the debut of Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme of the current administration. The programme, no doubt, spurs a great deal of parents and pupils into enrolling in public school in large numbers and this explains why the state towers above other states across the country. Fortunately, the pace-setter State of Osun with a middle income status is reaching the world’s full school attendance benchmark, thanks to a ruthless focus on primary school enrolment policy of the governor.

The development goals, which Nigeria and other poverty-stricken countries will fail to meet in two years, are in the areas of basic education, childcare, maternal health, hunger, gender equality, environment etc. With at least 10 million children out of school in 2013, Nigeria is far from meeting the goal of universal primary education.

Education For All (EFA) in 2015 is clearly not one of the issues on the national agenda. The statistics on infant and maternal mortality remain as grim as ever. Extreme poverty is globally defined as living below $1.25 dollars a day; millions of Nigerians still fall below this baseline.

It is useful to think about what 2015 means to power-seekers in Nigeria and the significance of the year to the global movement against excruciating poverty. The lesson of the failure in meeting the 2015 MDGs is that the aim of policy should henceforth be education and poverty eradication.

At a time when the global attention is on education and poverty reduction is most appropriate for such a debate. The debate is important and urgent. Any administration that fails to acknowledge the failure of our educational system, the unacceptable degree of human misery there on the streets is not only unfair to the people, it is also a disservice to that administration.

Nigeria governments at all level should think big in matters of making poverty history in the land. But relative to the resources available and the growing potentials, there is a lot more that can be done about stamping out poverty through training and retraining in Nigeria. For the avoidance of doubt, there is nothing utopian about this proposition. China is reputed to have moved 680 million people out of poverty in two decades. That is more than four times the population of Nigeria.

Brazil under President Lula achieved significant poverty reduction through education with other aggressive people-centred policies to a global acclaim. India has recorded a success story of moving millions out of poverty.

The progress Governor Aregbesola is making in the area of education should serve as a clarion call to the federal government and other state governors to have a second look at their education policy. The unprecedented impact his education policy thrust has made in less than three years in office is a pointer to the fact that it is not too late to engage in programmes that bring happiness to the greater number of the populace.

Eyinola, a social commentator writes from Osogbo.

Two years after the UNEP Report: Ogoni still groans

T

WO whole years after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a damning assessment of the Ogoni environment, the Ogoni people are forced to continue wallowing in the toxic broth that their lands and waters have been made to become.

Ogoniland was once a land that supported productive farming, fishing and related activities.

That was so up till the moment the oilrigs began to puncture holes in the land and crude oil began to be spilled on lands, forests and rivers. The air was clean but that changed when gas flares belched like dragons out for the kill.

Today, twenty years after Shell got excommunicated from Ogoni, thick hydrocarbon fumes from sundry pollutions hang in the air.

From the late 1980s, the Ogoni people raised alarm over the wholesale destruction of their environment. They followed this by careful and robustly peaceful organising.

With the Ogoni Bill of Rights of 1990 they catalogued their demands for environmental, socio-economic and political justice. Although the Bill of Rights was presented to the Nigerian government, till date there has not been a whisper by way of response to, or engagement with, the document.

By Nnimmo Bassey

The Bill of Rights became an organising document for the Ogoni people and also eventually inspired other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta to produce similar charters as a peaceful way of prodding the government into dialogue and action.

The Bill noted that although crude oil had been extracted from Ogoniland from 1958 they had received NOTHING in return. We reproduce articles 15-18 of the Bill to illustrate some of the complaints of the people: 15. That the search for oil has caused severe land and food shortages in Ogoni – one of the most densely populated areas of Africa (average: 1,500 per square mile; national average: 300 per square mile.)

16. That neglectful environmental pollution laws and sub-standard inspection techniques of the Federal authorities have led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning our homeland into an ecological disaster.

17. That the Ogoni people lack education, health and other social facilities.

18. That it is intolerable that one of the richest areas of Nigeria should wallow in abject poverty and destitution.

This Bill of Rights was the precursor to the Kaiama Declaration of the Ijaws, Ogoni Bill of Rights, lkwerre Rescue Charter, Aklaka Declaration for the Egi, the Urhobo Economic Summit Resolution, Oron Bill of Rights and other demands of peoples’ organisations in the Niger Delta.

The UNEP report of presented to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 4 August 2011 completely confirmed the claims of the Ogoni people “That neglectful environmental pollution laws and sub-standard inspection techniques of the federal authorities have led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning our homeland into an ecological disaster.”

The report found that, without exception, all the water bodies in Ogoni was polluted by the activities of oil companies - Shell Petroleum Development Company (Shell) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Indeed the report stated that some of what the people took as potable water had carcinogens, such as benzene, up to 900 times above World Health Organisation standards. The report also revealed that at some places in Ogoniland, the soil is polluted with hydrocarbons to a depth of five (5) Continued on page 62

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

Zuriel, Nigeria’s wonder kid

M

ONDAY, August 12 is Daniel, my last child’s tenth birthday. He is indeed a special child for my family in many ways among which is the fact that he is what some people call the ‘extra or bonus’ child - the unexpected child when you think you are through with having babies.

He was born seven years after my third born. His coming-however, caused some panic as I was barely managing to survive with my family. No thanks to my failed attempts to be self, employed, I didn’t have enough to pay my bills.

I had disposed of my problematic car and the future was really bleak. However I had a revelation to name the expected child, Korede, which in Yoruba means bring fortune,.

Thankfully, the young man that turns ten tomorrow true to his name, fortune,. I miraculously bought a car shortly before he was born.

I later got a top editorial job I was not expecting, moved to a better accommodation and the story of my family has been from one level of glory to glory.

So much for Korede, who is really not the focus of this piece. My real focus is another ten year-old; a Nigerian girl, Zuriel Oduwole who last week made history as the youngest person ever to be interviewed in Forbes, the global iconic magazine title, in its almost hundred years of publication.

Zuriel the award winning documentary film maker, conference speaker and writer who featured in the August 2013 edition of Forbes Africa is touted by some as the next Larry King, considering her record of interviewing leading African business, political, and sports personalities, including eight current African Presidents, Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, and Tennis super stars – Venus and Serena Williams.

Zuriel is committed to Rebrand Africa by showing the positive things about the continent, and making the case for education the girl -child in Africa and Emerging Markets.

For her age and notwithstanding that she lives in America, Zuriel’s story sounds like a fairy tale but it is true. She is not only a whizkid but a rare gem that has proved that accomplishment in life is not about how far but how well.

Her responses to my questions during an online interview I had with her which will be published on Tuesday confirms her incredible understanding of issues many of her age cannot comprehend and boldness not expected of a ten -year- old.

She recalled that during her interview with President Goodluck Jonathan, she asked him how much goodluck his name has brought to Nigeria. All the heads of states she interviewed must have been expecting some ‘childlike’ questions from her, but she shocked them with her very articulate questions.

Though as a girl-child living in the comfort of America she could have chosen not to be bothered about the plight of the African girl-child, but Zuriel’s campaign is commendable and deserves all the support she can get to get her message through to all who need to hear and do something about it.

Africa must have many other Zuriels waiting to be discovered and encouraged to fulfill their visions. The challenge is that we need to provide an enabling environment for them to thrive and accomplish their goals in record time.

Zuriel should be an inspiration to all, not only kids of her age, including my Korede, but all youths who desire to impact on the present and coming generation.

POLITICS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

The politics of Okorocha T

O some observers, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is a political puzzle, a riddle that needs to be solved. This is because, while his political rivals criticize what they call his unpredictable style, he has remained on the high beat since he first made appearance in the intriguing Nigerian political theatre, some 14 years ago.

What is more, the Imo State governor has consistently drawn attention to himself and his style of governance, both because of his sheer speed and his seeming love to walk where Angels are afraid to thread.

This trait has seen him involved in one political controversy after the other.

The latest being his reported suspension from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for being involved in the formation of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Close examination of Okorocha’s political history shows that in joining APC, in spite of the disapproval of some of his close political associates from APGA and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is hardly out of character.

Born September 22, 1962 in Ogboko, Ideato South, Imo State, Okorocha’s political career can be traced back to pre- 1999 return to civilian democracy, when he served

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, who was last weekend suspended by All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for joining the All Progressives Congress, has become one of the most talked about politician in Nigeria. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, takes a look at his politics since 1999, wondering what it holds for his state and the South-East. as a Commissioner on the Federal Character Commission and when he served as a member of the National Constitutional Conference.

He began active political contest in 1999, when he competed in the primaries to be People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the governor’s seat in Imo State. He lost to Achike Udenwa and not satisfied with the circumstances that led to his loss, moved to the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). A source, very lose to the governor said top PDP leaders then tried hard to convince Okorocha to remain in the big family but he resisted what he allegedly described as undemocratic ways of selecting party candidates in PDP then.

His political career got a huge boost in the then leading opposition party, ANPP, for in 2003, he emerged the party’s presidential candidate.

He returned to the PDP and was appointed a Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Not satisfied again, he formed the Action Alliance (AA) party in 2005, a party some alleged he floated just to fly the presidential flag again in the 2007 elections.

However, he again returned to the PDP, and in September 2007 was one of the aspirants for the seat of the party’s National Chairman.

But the local politics in Imo State, especially the high wire intrigues that characterized his political face-off with former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, culminated in his final exit from the PDP, in spite of interventions from PDP leaders like Obasanjo. He flew APGA’s flag in the April 2011 national elections and after the prolonged intrigues became the state governor.

In APGA, the political battle

continued, as many insiders resented what one of them described as Okorocha’s “excess independence of mind.” As a result of his refusal to be controlled they soon evolved alleged leadership rivalry between Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Okorocha. The Nation learnt that this rivalry at a time pitched the party’s National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, inbetween the two governors. “ Okorocha’s flamboyant style, said one APGA official in Anambra did not help matters, as Obi’s camp accused Umeh of ceding the national leadership of the party to Okorocha.”

It was at this stage that the merger challenge to form APC began. According to the source, the others were confused following what he described as Okorocha’s speed at joining the new party.

He alleged that the governor

was suspended not only because he left but because he couldn’t wait for an agreement.

Explaining why Okorocha did not hesitate before embracing the option, one of his political associates, who said he was not asked to talk, said “ Okorocha hates delays.

To him, what needs to be done must be done with the speed of light if possible.”

But Okorocha, who reacted to his suspension, maintained that he joined APC because the future of Ndigbo was bright in the new party.

So, he said he was not perturbed by his suspension. According to him, “APC remains the best vehicle to promote the interest of our people. PDP has marginalised the South-East and has nothing to show for all its years in power.”

He urged all Igbos to join the APC, which he noted guarantees equity and political opportunities denied by the ruling party.

“The purported action of a faction of APGA is of little political consequence as the party lacks the national spread to ensure the Igbo make significant headway in the political leadership of the nation,” Okorocha said.

He explained that before the emergence of APC, the politics of the South-East geo-political zone •Continue on Page 26

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Politics

Akwa Ibom 2015: Umana’s new game plan The fall-out between Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, and his close political associate, Umana Okon Umana, though resolved on the surface, may rear its ugly head again in the run-up to the 2015 general elections. Remi Adelowo reports

U

NTIL the unexpected sack (or resignation) of Umana Okon Umana as the Secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government, a few weeks ago, his relationship with the state governor, Godswill Akpabio, could be described as near-perfect.

This was quite understandable. Both men had struck a bond over 14 years ago while serving as commissioners in the administration of ex-Governor Victor Obong Attah, who ruled the state from 1999 to 2007.

The relationship moved on to another level following Akpabio’s election as Attah’s successor in 2007.

Umana was one of the few aides of Attah who stood by Akpabio in the acrimonious battle for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While Attah allegedly favoured his sonin-law, Dr. Udoma Bob Ekarika, who served as the Commissioner for Health, to succeed him, other stakeholders, including Umana, threw their weight behind Akpabio.

No one gave Akpabio any chance in the 2007 PDP governorship primaries. But banking on the support of powerful forces both within and outside the state, particularly in the Presidency, Akpabio coasted to victory beating over 20 aspirants to the exalted seat.

As compensation for his role in Akpabio’s emergence as governor, Umana was appointed as SSG, a position he held until recently when he unexpectedly threw in the towel.

So unceremonious was Umana’s exit from the cabinet that he was reportedly locked out of his office by security operatives, who allegedly acted on the governor’s directive.

The ugly episode occurred less than 48hours after Umana formally announced his intention to contest the 2015 governorship election. His statement, which did not come as a surprise to stakeholders in the politics of the state, however, did not go down well with his boss, who was then on a trip outside the country.

Before he formally declared his governorship ambition a few weeks ago, Umana had, in the last one year, kept sealed lips on this issue, preferring his supporters to do the subtle campaign for him.

But in spite of his stance, not a few people in the state believed he was Akpabio’s anointed candidate as the next governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Sources say so entrenched was Umana’s influence in the government that he was referred to as the de facto deputy governor of the state, who largely determined who got what and how in the administration.

But his statement to contest the 2015 race without allegedly taking the governor into confidence exposed his vulnerability.

The Nation gathered that Umana’s reported lock-out from his office, leading to his resignation, caused a major crisis within government circles, most especially among commissioners, special advisers and other

• Akpabio

top government officials, most of who felt he (Umana) does not deserve the ill treatment.

Worried that the crisis could cause a major crack in his government if not quickly nipped in the bud, the governor was alleged to have cut short his trip to embark on a rapprochement with Umana by heading straight to the latter’s residence on his arrival in Uyo, the state capital.

At the end of their closed-door meeting, the two men agreed to bury the hatchet, citing a breakdown in communication as the reason for their feud.

It was based on this reconciliation that Umana accepted the governor’s invitation at the inauguration of the new SSG, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, a former Executive Director of Zenith Bank.

Zoning controversy still raging The controversy over the unwritten zoning policy, which will ensure the rotation of the governorship seat among the three senatorial districts in the state, is still raging despite Umana’s exit from the government.

For the people of Eket Senatorial Zone, the general consensus is that 2015 is their turn to produce the governor of the state after the tenure of Victor Attah from Uyo, who served for two terms (1999-2007) and Akpabio from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial Zone serving out his two terms in office in 2015.

Umana’s declaration for the governorship, if allowed to stand, would have

• Okon

rubbished the zoning arrangement as he hails from Uyo zone, which has had its taste of the plum position from 1999 to 2007.

Up until recently, the governor had consistently advocated for a merit-based process to determine who emerges as his successor without recourse to the zoning formula.

But sources disclosed that the governor may have had a change of mind on the issue following tremendous pressures on him by some forces within the state, the leadership of the PDP and the Presidency.

Other side of the argument Another reason cited as to why Akpabio dumped Umana may not be unconnected to the argument of certain individuals close to him that Umana, when he becomes governor, will be too difficult to control.

This school of thought was also alleged to have convinced the governor that Umana is too rich and independent-minded to keep deferring to his (Akpabio’s) leadership with the reins of power firmly in his grips.

Before his appointment as the Commissioner for Finance in 1999 (a position he held for eight years), Umana retired as a director in the state budget office. He also served as SSG for six years and is widely perceived as very wealthy.

Other sources in the state revealed that Umana’s refusal of an offer to become the next Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), while

insisting on the governorship, is another source of controversy over his next agenda.

Umana’s new game plan Unconfirmed speculations have it that in spite of his well-publicised reconciliation with the governor, Umana may likely go ahead with his plan to contest for the 2015 governorship race.

Already, emissaries are being sent to the former SSG by prominent figures of opposition parties in the state to dump the PDP and join them.

The possibility of leaving PDP, revealed sources, may have informed Akpabio’s visit to Umana where he allegedly apologised to the former, while he also appealed to his former SSG not to leave the PDP. The fear in government circles in the state is that Umana knows too much about Akpabio, which has necessitated the need to keep him within the PDP at all cost.

Promises are being made to the former SSG, one of which is a ministerial appointment in 2015.

If this plan remains unchanged, the political configuration of the state, post-2015, will have the incumbent governor as a senator, while a candidate from Eket will emerge as governor, with the ministerial slot ceded to Uyo Senatorial Zone.

All of these permutations, no doubt, indicate interesting times ahead in the politics of the oil-rich South South state.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Politics

In this interview with Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Senator Anthony Ogungbemi Adefuye, an All Progressives Congress (APC), chieftain, assesses Nigeria’s political dilemma and reveals how the late MKO Abiola was betrayed.

Excepts

A

S you celebrate your 69th birthday this weekend, what would you say has changed between the time you were young and now, especially the way politics is played?

When I was younger, I would not say I understood clearly the way politics was played then. But all I can remember is that people were godly, kind and honest then and so we had good time growing up. We went to school and were taught by good and dedicated teachers. We were happy growing up. It coincided with the time politics had become part of Nigeria.

So, we grew into democracy and people thought there would be a change for the better. But unfortunately, the first democracy we had, during the Shehu Shagari era, was a bad era. Since then, each time there was a military take over and we all hoped for a change for a new beginning.

But unfortunately, each of the new beginning had always been worse and worse.

The military only wanted to change uniform.

Where did we miss it as a nation? Can you pinpoint where we missed it?

If I want to talk about where we missed it, it will take a whole day. I will therefore prefer to talk about some new and positive developments in Nigeria.

One of it is the registration of the new mega party, All Progressives Congress (APC), which we believe will challenge the PDP. With this development, we are moving towards two party system as happened in Europe and America, where there are just two major political parties.

Also in recent time, we are witnessing a situation where some northern governors are supporting southern presidential aspirants and some southern governors are supporting northern presidential aspiarnts.

That is also a new development that I consider positive. It shows that people are beginning to see beyond boundaries. Very soon, Nigerians will begin to emphasise the need for good people to emerge as elected leaders But it seems the National Assembly itself is not performing it’s functions properly. As a former senator, do you think this National Assembly is doing what it should do in our present our present circumstance?

There are a lot of cash and carry at the National Assembly now. When we were in the National Assembly, the civil servants paid our salaries. They just pay it into your account. We didn’t discuss salaries on the floor of the House. We had nothing to do with contracts. We just dealt with the law. But the National Assembly members are now involved with many oversight functions, which include awarding of contracts, which include what they call constituency projects. You cannot be awarding contracts and also be making laws at the same time. If you ask a lawmaker today he would tell you he must do it to deliver dividends of democracy, and after taking, say N40million in a quarter, he would go and buy two sewing machines and two pepper grinder and call in newsmen to record his delivery of dividends of democracy to the people. So, we are a sinking nation. I won’t say a condemned people.

This problem, does it not have something to do with the law, the constitution?

I do not accept the claim that it is the problem of existing laws because we were using almost the same laws when things were going on well. The problem now is that we have put the wrong people to operate the constitution.

Talking about wrong leaders, don’t you think it starts from the way party prima-

•Adefuye

How Abiola was betrayed —Adefuye ries are conducted here?

Yes, hardly do political parties conduct primaries now. That is one of the major problems we have and that is what is destroying PDP now. Since Chief Tony Anenih announced that the president, senators etc would return automatically, that was the beginning of the uproar. You don’t do such things. Anenih who announced it did not win his Edo constituency, did not win even his ward.

Do you think the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Attahiru Jega, has the capacity to bring in the new political era we are all expecting?

Well, if you had asked this question two weeks ago, I would have said yes. But two weeks ago, I saw Jega in Aso Rock. What was he doing there? A neutral umpire should not be going to Aso Rock up and down. They should come to him if they need anything. I am sure that INEC has enough independence now. Even funding, it has almost direct access to its funds. So, what was he looking for in Aso Rock? We have to be very careful. He is a respected Nigerian, who people expect to deliver and he has improved on the past. But we still need a lot of improvements. Nigerians really believe in Jega and I hope he would not disappoint us.

What specific reforms would you want in INEC? I believe Nigerians should vote for whoever should lead INEC. He should not be an appointee of one man. The same thing should be applicable to the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

He should be elected by Nigerians. That way, they will know they were elected just like Mr. President. Their loyalty will then be to the people and not to the almighty president.

So, you admit part of the problem is the law?

Yes, part of the problem is the law. The INEC must be completely neutral and if I were Jega, I would have laid off most people because most of the people in INEC have soiled their hands. Ordinary registration of a party has taken so long to announce that the party has been registered.

What is the solution to Nigeria’s political dilemma? Which structure will help the country to develop?

We have always craved to regionalize the Nigerian body. Before we had, the west, the east and the north. Now we have six zones.

We can really have these six regional governments and have a weak centre, where what would connect us at the centre would be immigration, customs, military, currency and such like. This will work because it has worked before when we had the three regions. The earlier we do this, the better for Nigeria. The reason is this, these states are so independent that sometimes they go out of control. That is why there is Boko Haram in most of the states in the North-East. When Nasarawa State started this, we did not clip it in time. When the then Zanfara State governor, Yerima, said he wanted to Islamize his state, talking about Sharia, they would have declared a state of emergency in that state at

21

that time and that would have checked everybody. Instead, some were saying every state has independence, they can do whatever they like. No, you cannot do whatever you like! They must be some limits on what you can do and what you cannot do. We are also saying local governments can do whatever they want. No! There must be some control somewhere. You cannot just tell the 778 local governments that they are on their own. No, it is not possible.

Somebody must be in control. So, we need to, where necessary, amend the constitution.

Which specific areas do we need to amend?

I think we should create a Nigerian federation, and these six zones should become the federating units. Each of the six zones should have a Prime Minister and then we should have the President at the centre. If you like, you can create as many states and local governments as you like in your zone.

It will reduce overhead and let each zone concentrate on the things they believe will favour them. You will also have a better union that way.

Haven said that, the ultimate is to have a unitary government as they have in America, where each federating unit will be encouraged to develop their areas of economic advantage: mining here, industry there, and agriculture the other place.

That is the best form of government which our forefathers wanted to do at that time, the unitary government, but because of fear of tribalism, nepotism, etc, it could not survive. But a unitary government at the centre, with six regions should be our best system now.

With the registration of APC, there is the belief that Nigeria may be heading to a two party state. What do you think would be the effect of APC’s emergence to the polity?

I think the registration of APC is one of the best things that has happened to Nigerian politics in recent times. Now, we have two giant political parties, APC and PDP. These two parties envelope the whole of Nigeria, cut across the whole of Nigeria and so there would be healthy competition between the two parties. You now have alternative unlike before when it was just PDP and all the others were just regional parties. It is now as it was when we had SDP and NRC. It is a good development for Nigeria and it will improve our politics.

Talking about APC, there is fear by its critics as to whether the top leaders of the party, like General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will agree on issues like presidential candidate and topmost leadership of the party?

You narrowed it down to two people: General Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

I can assure you that APC is more than that. APC is beyond those two leaders. Of course, we must acknowledge that those two were the two major people that brought about the fusion that gave birth to APC. Once there is a fusion, the party is beyond them. APC is now a very big party.

It is not Buhari or Asiwaju’s party anymore. But people look up to them for good leadership, having brought about this fusion and I am sure they all have their good sides and we hope to tap those good sides from two of them to make a better party.

But Buhari has always wanted to be a civilian president. Is it possible for him to let go?

There is nothing that is impossible. He has said it several times that it is not a do or die affair but I think if Buhari says he doesn’t want to be president, Nigerians should start weeping.

Why? Because we are going to have a good president in Buhari. I am convinced. He has demonstrated it before. He was chairman of Petroleum Trust Funds, we did not see any form of corruption or embezzlement, etc. He has shown himself as a good leader.

There is this impression that you are working for President Jonathan?

Who, me? I am an ACN, now APC man!

Critics said your plans for Jonathan was behind the Southern Leaders Forum project?

Southern Leaders Forum is an apoliti-

•Continue on Page 26

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Politics

Genesis of Adamawa’s political feud

T

HE internal feud rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State may not abate for now until a meaningful dialogue with the emergent forces of the two combatant factions is held. Investigation shows that if this is not done, PDP’s continuous control of the state in 2015 will not be certain, as Governor Murtala Nyako’s political strategists are already making alternative plans to join a vibrant opposition party ahead of 2015.

The state governor, Murtala Nyako, since his inauguration in 2007, has employed various tactics to contain rampaging forces from outside, and even within his cabinet and his party, the PDP. Although skirmishes are normal features in any democratic practice, the Adamawa case study has, however, lingered to a worrisome dimension in the past, due largely to the hate campaign that characterised the last governorship election in the state.

Interestingly, Nyako happens to be the only governor in recent history to have contested for the same office three times and winning same without incumbency advantage, having been a victim of judicial pronouncements on his seat many times over. This, according to sources, was the genesis of the political feud, because the judicial fireworks were handiworks of anti-Nyako elements in the PDP. Fascinatingly, a deliberate political scenario was created by top echelons, which has pitched one ethnic group against the other, all for political gains. The self-serving intrigues remotely guiding the hate campaign against Nyako and his government are, however, glaring for those who see with prescient and lucid views.

To a large extent, there appears to be some kind of advantage that accrues to those bent on perpetrating the dissensions, not taking into cognisance the collateral damage the entire state is facing or its citizenry stands to incur as a result of their actions. It is hoped that peace will subsist in Adamawa State, at least before the next round of elections. But, right now, the PDP remains a house in disarray, judging by many internal battles and high profile sabotage being masterminded by some of its chieftains. To say the least, the PDP under Nyako has had to contend more with fifth columnists from within its fold than defending itself from opposition parties in the state.

Looking back, soon after election in 2007 and later after the elections in 2008 due to a tribunal ruling, Nyako had to draw

Barnabas Manyam in Yola traces the roots of the current political crisis in Adamawa State and reports that the embattled governor may join a vibrant opposition party ahead of 2015 if his reconciliation efforts fail more from his military experience to survive and to remain the landlord of the Dougirei Government House.

As the state continues to grapple with the intense fighting within the party, the reasons for the deep-seated in-fighting remains a mirage, at least, to the common people of the state. To the masses, the feud could be on account of anything but service delivery. This is because Nyako’s new government is held in high esteem by the masses on the premise of infrastructural development; water supply, health care delivery and education development, which led the Nyako government to win prestigious prizes as the overall best performing state in Nigeria in the educational sector.

Despite that, some PDP top echelon, said to be Abuja-based, insisted that the government is a misnomer.

They accused Nyako of selective empowerment and of running an exclusive government, with social services and development programmes not equitably distributed. Thus, to these critics, his administration was designated as government of “family and friends.”

However, Nyako’s admirers and the teeming populace have always queried the allegation that any social service or development programme was not equitably distributed. “Are there some people who were denied the use of roads constructed by this government, or are there those who were denied access to hospitals, schools or pipe-borne water that runs through homes across the state,” an associate of the governor asked?

He further cited Nyako’ s many feats to include what he described as “the first of its kind,” in area of skills acquisition programme in Nigeria, where young people drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state are imparted with technical skills in strict compliance with German technical standard to boost technology transfer and special skills resource of the state.

Fate of the opposition While the in-house battle rages within the PDP, the opposition could best be described as docile, as they are rarely heard

coming hard on any government policy, which prompted a conclusion by supporters of “Baba Mai Mangoro”, as vice Admiral Nyako is fondly called, that the ship of state is in the capable hands of a com-

•Nyako

petent navigator who happens to be an experienced seaman.

The passivity of the opposition, argues Nyako supporters, speaks volume of their endorsement of this government. This view has to a reasonable extent been corroborated by political commentators in the state who hold that in a few cases where a row ensued between the government and any of the opposition parties in the state, one or some PDP characters were fingered as masterminds.

In the past, a socio-cultural group, Adamawa United Forum (AUF), came hard on the way and manner Nyako was running the state. AUF accused the retired seaman of nepotism, accusing the governor of hoisting himself up as the alpha and omega in the state.

Nyako’s sins The question many observers are asking today is, what are Nyako’s sins that most of those who fought for his victory have turned around to cripple his government?

This question is what the cabal that was formed as soon as Tukur became the national chairman of the PDP could not find answers to, but now appears the public may need to wear its thinking cap to get to the root of the matter as what we gathered may not be palatable to all.

Alhaji Umaru Mijinyawa

Kugama, state chairman of the PDP, once described the internal wrangling within the party as a fight over bounties of a political victory.”Believe me, Governor Nyako is just grappling with an age-long tradition of sharing state resources among the upper echelon after a political victory like this. What he met on ground was a ‘come, let us chop’ kind of a situation, but he said ‘no, it must not continue.’ That is all I can tell you,” Kugama stated.

While this argument seems to douse curiosity, Dr Umar Ardo, governorship aspirant with a vibrant opposition voice, on the other hand, has grabbed the judiciary by the jugular to chase the Kugama-led Exco of the PDP out.

Ardo argued that the Kugama-led Executive Committee was constituted in breach of the party’s constitution.

However, political commentators say Kugama, having been duly elected to serve for a period, should be allowed to complete his tenure. This argument is premised on the fact that Kugama should not suffer for a wrong he has no hands in, seeing he was elected state chairman of the party by delegates of the party.

While the battle rages on, the Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) suspended Kugama and a caretaker chairman in the person of Damagun, who was appointed soon after a

controversial state congress was conducted, leaving out the Nyako-led PDP in the cold. It was that congress that produced Chief Joel Hammanjoda Madaki.

Soon after Madaki’s emergence, the litmus test of who becomes the member representing Jereng constituency in the State Assembly was hovering on the blink menacingly. Two congresses were conducted by Madaki and Kugama, but later the INEC, which had supervised the two congresses, rejected that of Kugama and accepted that of Madaki.

The election was allegedly conducted in the sitting governor’s home local government area of Mayo Belwa and PDP won, but the victory left a bitter test in the mouth of the two PDP factions.

Today, the relationship between these two factions has become so irreconcilable that it is certain the state and the citizenry would be the worse for it.

The stakeholders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, especially those loyal to Governor Murtala Nyako, have finally resolved to dump the party in Adamawa State.

This fresh development, we exclusively uncovered, will be implemented if all the current efforts by Nyako at reconciliation fail.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

ripples

Is Suntai returning soon?

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HE recent publication of the pictures in some newspapers of the ailing Governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Suntai, has raised expectations among his supporters that he will return soon to the country to reclaim his seat. But there are other politicians in the state who think otherwise. Their argument is that the governor’s pictures being churned out in recent times is a ploy to keep buying time and to prevent the acting governor of the state, Alhaji Garba Umar, from further consolidating on the seat. Umar, in the last few months, has fired about two commssioners, the SSG and the Chief of Staff, who are all staunch supporters of Suntai.

New twist in Akinlabi’s feud with godfather

•Akinlabi

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FEW weeks ago, Ripples broke the story of a feud between member representing Oyo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Kamil Akinlabi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi. A new twist has been added to the unfolding scenario. Last week, Akinlabi’s supporters staged a protest against the plan to thwart his re-election. But the protest soon turned violent when his opponents, who were rooting for one of Alaafin’s sons, Akeem, the Atiba LG boss, organised a counter-protest, which degenerated into a fracas. Sources say Akinlabi has allegedly vowed to contest for another term with or without Alaafin’s support with speculations rife that he may move to the PDP.

Oboh’s stay as NDDC boss shaky

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HE crisis of confidence between the Presidency and the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, may soon consume certain government officials believed to be close to Amaechi. One of them is the MD of Niger Delta Development Comission (NDDC), Dr. Christian Oboh. The youthful NDDC boss was nominated for the position by Amaechi, who has since fallen out with the powers that be.

•Oboh

•Suntai

Has Obi endorsed Obiano?

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•Obi

NAMBRA State Governor, Peter Obi, may have finally revealed his plan on who succeeds him in 2015. The recent entry of a banker, Willy Obiano, to contest the governorship is said to be causing ripples within the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Obiano, a former Executive Director of Fidelity Bank (where Obi allegedly controls the majority stake), is alleged to be Obi’s long time confidant and financial advisor and a man whom he can trust to watch his back when he vacates the government house next year.

•Obiano

Politics

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Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

APC: The real hurdles

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has finally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration. This marks the attainment of a high degree of preparation for contesting the 2015 election. Hopefully, with that move and the consequent INEC decision, the controversy over which is the real APC would be resolved and a higher gear engaged by the political association.

By this, I am not being simplistic. I am not unaware that issues could always crop up requiring attention and impeding movement. But, it is my contention that registration represents only one real hurdle: fulfilling the legal requirement. The party has already done what is expected of it at this stage. It has painstakingly gone through the process of agreeing on a name, a logo and flag. The issue of officers and how they are to be picked has, also, been presumably settled. The ball is now in INEC's court to prove if it is indeed an extension of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. Thereafter, the matter could be tackled.

However, the registration hurdle is the lowest. The real hurdles are political. The requirements to make APC a potent political force and an alternative to the PDP are legion and more difficult to handle. It pushes the political association (that is what it is until it is formally registered) to a terrain laced with landmines.

First, it is faced with the challenge of bonding with the people.

The only concrete antidote to rigging and manipulations by the dominant ruling party is obtaining the confidence of the people.

It is not a feat to be attained overnight in a country where cynicism is a religion. Many, and there is merit in the argument, believe that there is little to distinguish one set of politicians from another.

After all, many of those in the APC have traversed the entire party corridor. Many were pioneer members of the ruling party and only left when handed the short end of the stick. It is an uphill task convincing the electorate that the APC is any different.

Second, the people need assurance that the APC stands a ghost of a chance to displace the PDP. Otherwise, some of those who may be sympathetic to its cause could decide to be apathetic to the process. All that the PDP strategists have to do is drum up the message that the party controls the federal executive, the federal legislature, 23 of the state governments and more than two-thirds of the local government councils and put up a nice argument that no other party could possible stand the PDP might in the run up to 2015. Again, it is left for the APC captains to prove that the battle is not for the mighty and there have been cases when such giants fell; if not in this clime in others around us.

Third, there is one question to be answered: is there a real difference between APC and PDP? This can only be answered in action. The campaign must be shifted to issues. Up till now, save regular rancor and acrimony, no one knows what the PDP stands for. Its governments cannot be held to anything. This is the common feature of the current party system. The APC needs to toe the line of the Action Group and Northern Elements Progressive Union in the period leading to independence. Both canvassed support based on a social ideology that located the people, the governed at the heart of policy. The AG that was reputed as the best organized in Africa had a policy paper on every issue. When it was coming up with the free education programme in 1955, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Dr. Awosika and Professor Sanya Onabamiro and others had to work to produce a blueprint with the tiniest of details. It had similar policy frameworks on the Justice, economic, agriculture, industrial and health sectors, among others. The Unity Party of Nigeria built on that in the Second Republic with the famous four cardinal principles. This is a difficult but inescapable precedence for the APC. Fourth, the cost of maintaining a solid structure required by a mass party must be staggering and enormous. But it is the only road to travel. The branches, chapters and cells of the APC must be visible and working. Its federal and state organs must function and the impression must not be given that it is owned and run by one or a few oligarchs.

One responsibility that the aspiring party can take up immediately is exposing the hollowness of the PDP government.

Its men must take up the party on major issues of the day. Alhaji Lai Mohammed of the ACN has been doing a lot for the party, so has Rotimi Fashakin of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), but this is not substitute for structured responses and expert analysis. At best, the public sees Mohammed's and Fashakin's views as partisan responses, not detailed analysis on social issues.

On national development, where does the APC government stand? On federalism and restructuring, would an APC government convoke a national conference- within what period?

Would an APC government introduce free education or insist that qualitative education must cost parents money? How would education be funded? What about scholarship schemes? What about state police? These are issues that the people deserve to know and should know.

The APC stands at a vantage point now. This is a unique opportunity to arrest the rudderless and inept leadership of the country. But the party needs to assure us th at it is dependable and the future of the country could be entrusted to it.

Otherwise, the search has to continue.

This article was first published in this column on June 16, 2013

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THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Biafra did not surrender - Achuzia

Col. Joe Achuzia was one of the major figures that held Biafra together while the Nigerian Civil war lasted. He commanded almost all the major sectors in the Biafran Army and also ensured that discipline was enforced throughout the duration of the war. Before the war ended, he was in charge of operations in the whole enclave called Biafra. This position made it possible for him to begin the necessary overtures to end the war. While Ojukwu was away, he took over control of the forces and then made the appropriate contacts to bring the war to an end. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he debunks some of the claims made

by Gen. Alabi Isama and Gen. Alani Akinrinade in their recent interviews.

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EN. Alabi Isama in his latest book on the war alleged that Mid-western officers were alienated. Is it really true that as the Commander-in-Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, Chukwuemeka

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said yes. Anything? He said no, just to discuss for old time sake.

And I said okay, you can go ahead with him.

So, they went out to discuss. It was Col. Anwuna who called my attention and said why did you allow Effiong and Obasanjo to meet alone and I said well, they are old friends. He said no, you better intervene. Obasanjo said ah, I am not eating your officer; we were just talking about old times. But the I wouldn’t take damage had already been Alabi’s document as a done. On our way back to Uga, because that was where serious one. The only we took off from, it was then that Effiong told me and the aspect of his statement rest of the people that he had that really deserves promised Obasanjo that we comment and which would be going to Lagos to see Gowon. I said no, you shows his inability to don’t play a record we didn’t participate in crafting. He appreciate the war said it was necessary that we situation and senior officers go with him; that they would provide the reporting it as it were, flight so that we and Gowon was his reporting could see, that he had the final say for them. I said okay what did not happen if we must go, all of you must in his presence. He go and put on your uniforms. Then he turned talked about the end around and told me he also of the war, promised him we should go in mufty. So, I said in that mentioning the case, I will not go. That was why I wasn’t in the entouparticipants. He is not rage that went to Lagos. He in the position to say said that it was important that I should go; that he even what he said about mentioned the names of the officers to go. I said, I will the end of the war. He not go, I will not leave my wasn’t there. troops undefended.

Col. Ogunewe, he was of the same stature with me, •Continued on Page 25 said please colonel you have

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Odumegwu Ojukwu, did not trust some of the Midwestern Igbo officers while the war lasted?

It is not true. Why I say it is not true is that for Biafra to have lasted so long, it was as a result of the efforts of the Mid-western officers. This was because Biafra was really being hard pushed until the midwest operation began.

And the Midwest officers that were supposed to go across, Alabi-Isama was one of them. Even then my own journey into the mid west when Banjo crossed into Mid west, Alabi too was one of those that I contacted. But somewhere along the line, after our meeting, after we gave him some instructions to follow across, Alabi defected. And he didn’t come back. So, for him to say that Ojukwu didn’t like some Mid west officers couldn’t be true. This was so because it was the Mid-west officers, all the way to the lower ranks, that really held Murtala from crossing over the bridge thereby entering Biafra.

This was when Murtala started his so-called operation to cross the Niger. It was mid western officers who fought and sustained the momentum. These were the 52 and 57 brigades that are also manned by the Mid west officers. It is unfortunate that many people from hindsight now after over 40 years of the war are writing books on the war. This is an after-thought after having read over other people’s works on the war, reading newspaper comments and other people’s statements and interviewing people. Now, they have got themselves in the position as being authority on the war.

I wouldn’t take Alabi’s document as a serious one. The only aspect of his statement that really deserves comment and which shows his inability to appreciate the war situation and reporting it as it were, was his reporting what did not happen in his presence. He talked about the end of the war, mentioning the participants. He is not in the position to say what he said about the end of the war. He wasn’t there.

The first person who was there was General Alani Akinrinade. Also Tomoye. Then Tomoye was not a substantive colonel. The command that reached Orlu •Achuzia was Tomoye’s command. And it was Tomoye’s officer that my men and in a night operation and captured them that made it possible for me to take the fice in Igbo-ukwu. As a result, it wasn’t proper for me to claim that step I took by declaring that evI went to Owerri looking for who to surrender to. Surrender who or erybody should lay down their what to who? After all, it was in my house while discussing with arms. Then I said we could be Akinrinade that we decided that in that instance we were bringing announcing it until I was able to the war to an end. There was indeed no winner, no vanquished. The bring Akinrinade into my headhad deteriorated into a state of stalemate, whereby we were quarters. The narrative by Alabi It is unfortunate war trading one bullet for another. shows ignorance of what haptime our men were crisis-crossing the war front because that many people bothBythethis pened that day. That’s what I can Nigerian soldiers and our soldiers were tired of the whole say about that. The only person that many a time I look at and from hindsight now thing; the whole episode.

Could you please elaborate more on the last days of the war? say let sleeping dogs lie is GenLet me also elaborate more on the events of the last days… eral Akinrinade. This was be- after over 40 years of I read in the internet Akinrinade’s rejoinder. So I asked for it to cause of his behaviour from the the war are writing be printed out. Akinrinade is the last person I expected to sanction moment we met was officerAlabi-Isama wrote or said about the end of the war. Isama like. books on the war. what wasn’t there. Akinrinade was there. Tomoye was there. The rest And he conducted himself This is an after- were just junior officers. Those collected that night of 11th were junin a way that endeared him to ior officers and they were in charge of a battalion which made it me that up till date, we are still friends. Alabi, however, was thought after having possible for us to move. It was almost a disaster. We could have on it but we were on the quest to bring the war to an end. right in one thing that the war read over other capitalised Hence, we detained them at the DMI office in Igbo-ukwu, got them had already ended before Gensend a message to their commander, Tomoye. Tomoye replied eral Obasanjo came into the picpeople’s works on to that he would contact Owerri. The officer at Owerri tactical headture. And he came on the scene Col. Oni who replied that Obasanjo said he would send his the war, reading quarters, after I allowed General chief-of-staff, Akinrinade, to come and negotiate with us.

Akinrinade to make a call to him.

That was how Akinrinade came to the scene. And we asked newspaper And he told him that if he didn’t when would this be? He said that myself and himself should meet at come, he might stand to lose his officers who were under my comments and other Orlu. Hence, I left, heading to Orlu with my own escort, while he coming with his own escort. We met at Orlu, greeted one ancontrol then. When Akinrinade people’s statements was other and I asked that he follows me to Igbo-ukwu. If it was a war came, he came with only a few and they had the advantage they would have arrested me soldiers. We met at Orlu, I didn’t and interviewing situation and held me hostage. But we were already holding their men hosgo to Owerri to look for any of people. Now, they tage. That was how we came to my home and I am glad that Alabi them. confirmed that because Akinrinade told him.

Now, we told Tomoye to So, I had to do what I did because I was in full control of the phone him because Tomoye have got themselves situation. There was no way Akinrinade could have reached me in stood to lose all his officers and in the position as a hostile manner. I was the one who would have shown hostility but in Brigade they ventured into was to bring the war to an end. our territory near Orlu. being authority on my Imission would have handed over to Bisala. Bisala’s men were at Awka, We assured Tomoye that we as you know, is closer to my headquarters. When we conthe war. which had already started to take steps cluded no winner, no vanquished affair with Obasanjo, treachery to bring the war to an end. His came into it. While we were all celebrating at Owerri, Obasanjo officers that were collected were came to me and said whether he could talk to General Effiong and I already deposited near my of-

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done so much. Give me your French suit, we are of the same size.

So, he went in my place and that was why he was part of the team. I escorted them all the way to Owerri with reinforced company of soldiers. When we got to Owerri, Obasanjo and his men, with Col. Oni took over. They left from Port Harcourt. Instead, as they left from Port Harcourt, I continued with my company of soldiers all the way to Port Harcourt. Akinrinade will attest to this.

When we got to Port Harcourt, I reported to Col. Oluleye who was the war commander. We booked in at the Presidential Hotel with my men surrounding me. It was in the morning, they had gone to Lagos, finished and Obasanjo brought them back and I was quite sure Obasanjo was monitoring what was happening and had been told by Akinrinade that I was in Port Harcourt with my troops. So, he arrived early hours in the morning with Effiong and the rest and they left for Owerri. Then he sent Akinrinade to call me. He came to the hotel and told me that Obasanjo was back and wanted to see me.

I went with my troops to Owerri and we met and greeted. So, he said to me, was there any need for me to come with my troops?.

And I said no. it was necessary for me because it was the cream of my men that you collected. Then we saluted and they escorted me across the Imo River at Owerri Nta. From there, I proceeded back to my home. Now, is that the position of a defeated army? If they want us to They said Ojukwu tell the truth about what left because the war happened, we’ll tell the truth. But for a group of was closing in on him people trying to make it look as if Biafra looked and the entire Biafra. like a lily-livered army That also is not true. or a rag-tag army, no. No We had several rag-tag army at all could hold a well-equipped options then. One of army like Nigerian army the options was to to ransom for three years.

The only thing, I rebreak out of the peat, is that the ground strategy adopted by Biafra enclave to Biafra made it possible cause confusion. But for Nigeria to remain till today. we had studiously In the face of all this, maintained that we how did you warm your way into Ojukwu’s were not trying to heart to become his create a civil war but favourite among other officers from the Midwe were still being west?

I don’t know about attacked based on the being anybody’s perceived situation favourite. All I know is that each time Ojukwu that brought about gave me order I obeyed the pogrom. it. That people consider me his favourite, well why should a commander-in-chief, have a favourite? All his officers were his favourites. For anybody to consider himself not to be a favourite of the commanderin-chief he must have been harbouring some disloyalty attitude in his mind towards the commander-in-chief.

But was Alabi-Isama fighting on the side of Biafra initially?

No! He was one of the Mid-west officers in Benin. He was in Benin at the beginning.

Now, let us look at another issue. Is it really correct to assert that while the federal troops had prisoners of war, Biafran soldiers were busy killing indiscriminately?

Let me ask you, when Nigeria claimed that they won the war, were there any exchange of prisoners of war? Because that would have been the situation. There wasn’t. By the time the matter got to Lagos to Gowon, the war had been over. It was more of war of attrition at a point and so as it was on the Federal side so it was on the Biafran side.

But why did you call for an end to the war when you did?

We did so because of the situation we found ourselves. Certain things were happening at the time which up till now we haven’t told our people. For instance, they said Ojukwu left because the war was closing in on him and the entire Biafra. That also is not true. We had several options then. One of the options was to break out of the Biafra enclave to cause confusion. But we had studiously maintained that we were not trying to create a civil war but we were still being attacked based on the perceived situation that brought about the pogrom.

Good enough, it was the pogrom that chased people out of the North. And when our people left the North, the pogrom continued and this made it impossible for our people to find relief in the West.

There was no other alternative than to say, ‘to your tents oh Israel.’

So, our people left and came home. And even when organising the military defensive activity we still had it in mind that we couldn’t abandon a country we helped to build.

But we couldn’t in trying to maintain the status quo we helped to build allowed ourselves to be exterminated. No. Consequently, we retreated. By retreating, regrouping, we said we will not carry our military exploits beyond our shores. Otherwise, as it were, we had several options. Take a brigade and break into Nigeria and cause havoc. That would have made the war total, but instead under the counsel of our commander-in-chief and our elders, we maintained an operational balance.

It was for us to defend ourselves within our soil so that nobody could accuse us of either precipitating the war or as they try to accuse us that the coup was tailored against the North, an Igbo coup. If such a coup that had a universal acclaim could later change into an Igbo coup, what then would have happened if we had carried the war right into the North. The possibility was there and we didn’t do that.

But then when Igbo officers and men crossed into the West why were they not coordinated, allowing soldiers scatter into different directions?

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

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No! No!! You see the war,… Every war produces certain actions and reactions. When it became clear after the second division of Nigerian army crossed over and attacked Biafra, we already heard that they were going to use the Mid-west whom we thought was the buffer zone between us and them. But the rampaging Nigerian army did not honour that. We were not prepared to allow them because once they did, it meant that they had three-quarters of the totality of the land in Nigeria. And that would have been very difficult for us.

We were also mindful of the fact that during the pogrom in the North, the majority of the soldiers as far as the North was concerned, Midwest was an Igbo land. It was in fact an afterthought when they tried to woo the Benins, the Urhobo’s and so on, forgetting that the Benins and Urhobos were some of those they killed during the pogrom.

So, ranging them against us by pacifying them as they did when they created Cross-River and Rivers States, it was not done to appease the North. No. it was done to range them against the Igbo people by telling them that they were sufficient to be on their own as states. And that they should not be an appendage of the Igbos.

They even forgot that we could have done the same by moving into the North, bringing the Middlebelt against the Fulanis.

But we didn’t do that. So, that was what it was like.

Okay, were all these part of the blunders that prolonged the war?

Of course, yes. If we had played the game the way Nigeria played it, we would still be in the battle field today. But our people have a saying that the hen with so many chicks doesn’t know how to run in a battle situation.

At what point did the Biafran high command begin to consider some of the officers as saboteurs and what did it take one to be so considered?

In many war situations, the word sabotage is a constant and recurrent decimal. This is so because not all believe in the cause that brought about the war situation. People have different ideas and ideals. And some people, according to their belief, put themselves in the position where they were either the loyalists or considered anti-war efforts. This was what gave rise to the word saboteur. So it happens everywhere and it occurs everywhere.

You have nicknamed the Air Raid. How did this name come about?

Oh, no, no. I can’t continue to dwell on this.

But you’ve not told it to us before?

Okay, why I say so is that soldiers, especially in a conflict situation have the tendency for giving one name or the other to their

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officers, depending on the situation they find themselves. So, they did that when they wanted.

You didn’t start out as a commissioned officer, but rose to be a force to reckon with. How did it happen?

No, no. you see, people don’t seem to understand that soldiering is an art. Just like engineering or medicine, when a doctor is made to be so. You cannot just go into an operating room, pick up your instruments and begin to work, if you haven’t been trained. So also in a war situation. You cannot go into battle field and carry out all the norms necessary for an officer who had been trained over the years.

A civilian cannot plan war and execute war. It requires a trained military officer to confuse and configure the situation and operate.

That is why many a time people say what they like and I don’t care.

It doesn’t affect people like me; I am not interested. The situation occured within the purview of my duty and I operated just to show what I was trained for. After that I retired into a civilian life.

What really happened – did you actually kill Haliday, the owner of Silver Valley Hotel in the presence of his wife and daughter as alleged by General Alani Akinrinade?

That’s a lie. You see, when the war ended, Nigerian officers didn’t know what to do about me. First, they couldn’t reach me.

Every effort made to kill me did not succeed. Haliday was a friend.

My house, before the war started, was a stone’s throw from Chief Haliday’s house. If such a thing happened, why was it only at the end of the war that we started hearing that I was the one that killed him?

I commanded; I took over in Port Harcourt, when Port Harcourt was falling. And all that participated there will give testimony that I never picked a gun and shot him. I never picked my gun and shot at somebody. Why should I? I had soldiers who could do that. But instead, they tried to foist the death of Haliday on me. That exactly was what they’ve been saying; that I had been killing people indiscriminately while the war lasted. That also is not true. It took the way the war ended for most Biafrans to realise that it was really a lie that whenever I saw somebody I’d shoot. Shoot for what? For what purpose? And if that was the case, would I lay my life on the line to bring the war to an end? After all, the people who asked that the war be brought to an end are still alive. People like P.K. Nwokedi, a former justice of Enugu. Louis Mbanefo too. These were the people who came to my house and pleaded that I should try to stop the war.

Normally, I would have called for their arrest, because they were members of Biafran Exco. They were party to the last meeting we held with Ojukwu to ask Ojukwu to go to the conference that was to hold in Monrovia, Liberia. That conference was engineered by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

It was this meeting that we arranged laboriously for where Ojukwu could stay so that there won’t be any sabotage against us.

Hence, Felix Houphet- Boigny was one of those that recognised Biafran efforts. And the French were also partially assisting us.

So, from Liberia, it was planned to move Ojukwu to Gabon and then to Ivory Coast. But we hadn’t settled down in Ivory Coast in readiness for the meeting when members of the EXco came requesting that I should bring the war to an end.

How come then you were the man everybody wanted to see to end the war?

I was the person in charge of operations. I was also visible. Yes, I was.

Do you think because the Yoruba officers were the ones that saw to the end of the war, it has caused any friction between them and the Igbo people?

No, because a day after my declaration, I started the announcement from 9a.m.

The people who asked Every 15 minutes, my broadcast was on. Sir Louis Mbanefo that the war be brought to crafted the statement that we an end are still alive. gave Philip Effiong to read.

After it was read, it became People like P.K. necessary because in my we said we had sent Nwokedi, a former justice broadcast, emissaries to various Nigerian of Enugu. Louis Mbanefo military formations to inform that we had decided to too. These were the them end the war.

It is only people with aupeople who came to my who could do that. Any house and pleaded that I thority army on the run will not make should try to stop the war. such statement. So, we did it on a friendly basis. Today Akin Normally, I would is still my friend. We meet have called for their arrest, from time to time. He visits me here too. No, it has not because they were caused any friction at all.

Why was it possible for members of Biafran Exco. the Owerri battle front to be They were party to the last inclusive as it were? and foremost, to take meeting we held with overFirst Owerri was impossible.

Ojukwu to ask Ojukwu Owerri is the heartland of the nation. The heart land of to go to the conference Igbo our domain. Enugu is our forethat was to hold in most town which was prepared by the colonial masters Monrovia, Liberia. That as an administrative headconference was quarters. Just as Lagos is to the West, even though Ibadan was engineered by Dr. the heartland of the Yoruba. also in the North, they have Nnamdi Azikiwe. So, Kaduna State, which now they have Abuja, even though they

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

have Sokoto, Maiduguiri and those other places.

Nigeria is centered on a tripod, whichever way you push it, all that come to the surface are the Hausa nation, the Yoruba nation and the Igbo nation. Each of these nations has minorities. Today, all that people talk about are the minorities within the East, within the Igbo nation because of economic interest. If oil has not been the main source of income for the totality of Nigerians, nobody would care how the Ijaws, how the Itsekiris, the Ibibios, Kalabairis, the Efiks and so on, are faring. This is so because they’ve been in existence before the arrival of the Europeans.

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Politics

Okorocha’s politics

•Continued from Page 19

has suffered greatly and it has become certain that majority of the electorates and political leaders there, were in search of change.

The Nation’s investigation confirms that the primary allegation for the growing quest for change in the zone was, as the governor said, that the 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, Okorocha’s supporters said majority of Ndigbo, especially those dissatisfied with the status quo, see the emergence of APC as the long awaited opportunity for political deliverance, adding that such electorates and political stalwarts enthusiastically embraced the new party even before the conclusion of the registration process.

Not impressed by the claims, APGA last weekend suspended Okorocha “for engaging in antiparty activities.”

Notice of the suspension was contained in a communiqué signed by the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, at the end of the party’s National Executive Meeting last week’s Saturday

in Abuja.

The communiqué noted that “rising from an emergency NEC meeting in Abuja, APGA unanimously resolved to dissolve the

Imo executive committee of the party.

“The party’s NEC has also resolved to appoint a 21-man caretaker committee to oversee its af-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

fairs in Imo until a congress is held.”

It regretted that a governor on the platform of APGA could decide to act contrary to the constitution of the party that voted him into power.”

APC in South East, in support of Okorocha, described his suspension from APGA as “the final phase of a possible merger of the party (APGA) with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

In a statement issued by APC South East Zonal Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, the party alleged that “the first phase to merge APGA with PDP started with the South-East Zonal Rally of the PDP before the 2011 general elections, where APGA publicly declared support for the PDP.” APC lamented that “APGA National Chairman, Victor Umeh, who fought gallantly against this unholy merger, has finally capitulated.”

As Okorocha spreads his new found gospel that APC will serve Ndigbo better than PDP and APGA, it seems the South-East political theatre has become more complicated, electrified and intriguing.

More politicl land mines have just been planted and the actor’s survival antenna must be more sensitive to ensure victory.

The question now is, how far can Okorocha and other APC leaders in the zone go, ahead this years’s elections in Anambra and the general elections in Imo State and other South-East states in 2015? The game has just begun!

Moment of redemption for Anambra

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ITHERTO, Anambra State has consistently represented a failed state. Created since 1991, the state’s development, socially, infrastructurally, and wholistically, has been completely stunted on account of poverty of leadership, poverty of ideas, entrenched anti-democratic practices and selfishness.

The main ills of Anambra State’s political life are money politics, godfatherism, naked bid for power, do-or-die politicking, political gangterism and vendetta, thuggery, ceaseless desecration of the ballot box through high wire rigging and gerrymandering, economic plunder, financial rascality, selfish and self-serving leaders and the premium placed on politics as an avenue for self-enrichment and personal aggrandizement.

All the leaders produced by Anambra State since the return of democratic republicanism in 1999 have been nothing short of abysmal failures and tragic disappointment. All of them failed in building social harmony in the state.

They failed in providing infrastructural facilities. They failed in the physical development of the state. For a long time, the state was in a state of social, political and economic anomie and it became the butt of beer parlour jokes as a place where the people are enmeshed in a continual war for leadership and control of affairs of government because of the spoils of office.

The state was held and bugged down by a wicked, mindless, predatory and mischievous cabal who continued to suck and milk her dry.

At a time, it was as if the state was going to die. In fact, metaphorically, the state was dead from the pillage and economic plundering of these predatory godfathers who saw it as no more than an extension of their business empires.

There was disorder, brigandage, looting, stealing, burglary, ar-

By Ikechukwu Okoye son, murder, treasonable felony, destruction of government property and lawlessness in the state. This spate of gangterism came to a head when an erstwhile governor of the state was arrested and detained by the police in a hotel on the instruction of a godfather who had links with the Presidency then.

I have taken pains to recount, in a nutshell, the historical and political malaise in the state to enable us know from where we are coming and the positive way forward as the next round of elections, particularly the Gubernatorial election, beckons.

Now, enter Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Uba, the Nnewi, Anambra Stateborn business mogul. His entry into the gubernatorial race in the state is, in my view, the best thing to have happened to Anambra State politics.

The political platform under which Uba is seeking to serve Anambrarians is not important.

What is of utmost importance is the man himself.

It is unfortunate and disgraceful that the same politicians who bled Anambra State to a state of nausea and coma, who inflicted grievous injuries on the state, who plundered her resources in the past, who ordered and supported destruction of public property as vendetta for not being allowed to milk the state dry, who sponsored brigandage, mayhem and anarchy, are the ones on the blocks again with intent to continue from where they stopped.

Given his precedence as a selfless philanthropist, the common people in Anambra State, especially the youths, see Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Uba’s entry into the race as important. This is because it is easy to agree that he is not in politics to make money like the known vultures parading themselves as gubernatorial aspirants who have

nothing to show for their aspiration.

Apart from the fact that some of them are old, discredited politicians who compounded the problems in Anambra State, some of them have no pedigree. They do not have any vocation or profession.

They cannot point at any philanthropic work they have done. They have not empowered any body from their families, let alone Anambrarians. Most of them are selfish and self-serving. They have not lifted anybody before and so we think they cannot lift Anambra State.

On the other hand, Dr. Uba, who, as a private citizen has chains of businesses that offered employment to Nigerian youths numbering more than 4,000, also has a scholarship scheme with which he assists indigent students.

These, added to his well known contribution in the oil distribution chain in Nigeria paint a picture of a man capable and willing to serve the people and just another opportunist looking forward to clean the state’s treasury.

Also, Uba has been able to show that he does not joke with the affairs of the youths. When Igbo Youths, especially Anambrarians, were displaced in Balogun Market in Lagos, none of these politicians struggling to run the affairs of Anambra State said a word. They all felt unconcerned because they were not involved. Only Dr. Uba had the courage and milk of human kindness to visit the market and address the traders most of whom hail from Anambra State. He comforted them, intervened in their plight and proceeded to hold discussion with Governor Fashola of Lagos State on the matter. Following Uba’s intervention, meaningful support and contributions, the issue was resolved.

Of all the aspirants to the seat of Governor of Anambra State, only Dr. Ifeanyi Uba has had the

courage to showcase to Anambrarians his work and his means of livelihood. It is on record that he brought Anambra State stakeholders, including traditional rulers and Presidents-General of town unions to Lagos and took them to a facility tour of his vast business empire in Lagos. It became obvious that Dr. Uba’s Oil business is the most public-friendly in the whole of the country.

Though up there, Uba enjoys great support of common traders and petty traders. When he visited Alaba Market, Lagos the other day, he was welcomed by a tumultuous crowd of cheering supporters. Traffic came to a standstill. The same happened when he visited Coker Building Materials Market.

Already, some of his opponents are afraid that his acceptance by the youths and the common people is the current headache political godfathers do not know how to tackle.

The fear is because many have sworn that the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra State is an opportunity for the state to start all over again on a clean slate.

The people are tired of political profiteers and electoral fraudsters who rely on rigging or jaded technical legal principles to manipulate themselves to power.

Anambrarians finest moment is now.

Dr. Ifeanyi Uba’s victory is a forgone conclusion. For everybody – young and old, men and women, the rich and the poor, the lettered and the unlettered, rural and urban dwellers are all rooting for his peculiar type of leadership and amazing style which transforms into excellence and success.

Governorship of Anambra State is the target. Transformation of Anambra is the goal and the man to deliver the goods is Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Uba, the man of the moment and modern day Moses.

— Okoye, a political analyst, wrote from Lagos.

‘How Abiola was betrayed’ •Continued from Page 21 cal group. We are only interested in what happens in our region. If you have a president who is from your region, definitely, you will have sympathy for that person. Our Yoruba people say no matter how flat the bottom of your child is, you don’t put the chain on the bottom of another child. You wear the chain on your child. What we have said in Southern Nigerian People Assembly is that the constitution allows him to run again if his party allows him to run again, then he could be allowed to run, that was what we said.

In other words, you endorsed him for 2015 presidency?

No, we did not.

Your role in the negotiations for late MKO Abiola’s release from prison is still an issue. Did the Yoruba elders handle the matter well enough?

They were negotiating with MKO behind bars. When they were supposed to demand for his release and for the validation of June 12, they requested for the military to remain in power for three months and then organise a proper election. That was when they killed MKO and when we got to MKO’s house when he died, they attacked us because they were afraid we were going to talk.

Was that what happened sir?

Because the rumour then was that you were attacked because you compromised?

How would I have compromised? I was not in government, I did not take any board appointment. In fact, General Diya is alive today, you ask him what happened and who they dreaded most? I was the most dreaded. I was the one they could not talk to. I was the one they wanted to kill. Compromised? They ruined my business.

Aresco was classified as MKO’s company. The British government came to my house and gave me a visa and said they would give me asylum I did not leave. Compromised? I can show you a picture of those who went to Aso Rock receiving gratis, when their booths were being loaded with money. It is not yet time to talk. I didn’t want to talk at that time because I felt the Yoruba people have gone through a lot of troubles. I want to say to you that most of them did not want MKO to be president.

So, why were they after you?

You know that most of them went to the central party and I remained in UNCP and UNCP won most of the seats in the west. That was the anger. They thought my profile was rising above theirs.

That was all and they wanted to kill me there. It was inside MKO’s house that I was attacked, not even outside. They were angry about the uproar and reception that greeted me when I arrived. So, when I got in, they asked Shofolowan to throw me out. Where have you seen older people arranging the burial of a younger person? Most of them sitting down there were older than Abiola. When Abiola sent s letters from prison, he sent to me and not to most of them. He listed the names of the 50 people he sent it to. They even refused to release my copy. I don’t want to talk yet. People were not just honest with MKO.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Social REMI ADELOWO

(E-mail: remi21stcentury@yahoo.com

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Laolu Mudashiru takes over family estate

Kardashian sisters 'at war' over North West

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

'Pen Down' for Mrs. Ronke Awe

?

Princess

with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

• Artistic impression of professional outsources

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IKE most new concepts, the term ‘outsourcing’ literally crept into our lexicon recently and has since become a new fad, or if you may, a corporate culture of some sort.

Outsourcing demystified Outsourcing is the process by which companies and organisations contract out all or some aspects of their services to third parties.

Several related terms have emerged to refer to various aspects of the complex relationship between economic organisations or networks, such as nearshoring, crowdsourcing, multisourcing and strategic outsourcing.

Shedding more light, Mr. Ade Awonaike, an executive member of the Outsourcing Professionals Association of Nigeria (AOPN), which is the umbrella body of outsourcing practitioners, said contracting is a totally deferent phenomenon from management practice of outsourcing.

A strong proponent of outsourcing, Awonaike said: “In outsourcing, your engagement with an organisation is not fixed, even though the outsourcing company engages you fully as their staff, they will attach you to a client and when you are with a client and the client needs to downsize, you will not lose your job, the client will only have to send you back to your outsourcing company, who is your employer and with whom as an outsourcing staff, you enjoy all the benefits that the staff enjoy.”

Outsourcing Professionals Association of Nigeria was registered in 2009 and is the only duly recognised association of outsourcers in Nigeria and is affiliated to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP), which is a US-based organisation.

Reasons for outsourcing Companies outsource to avoid certain types of costs. They outsource the noncore activities. Among the reasons companies elect to outsource include the avoidance of regulations, high taxes, high energy costs, and costs associated with defined benefits in labour-union contracts and taxes for government-mandated benefits.

Perceived or actual gross margin in

INSIGHT 47

Good, bad, ugly

face of outsourcing There is a bourgeoning trade in outsourcing, with many businesses built around it. But there are fears that this otherwise booming industry is shockingly harmful to Nigeria’s fragile economy, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf the short-run incentivises a company to outsource. With reduced short-run costs, executive management sees the opportunity for short-run profits, while the income growth of the consumer base is strained. This motivates companies to outsource for lower labour costs. However, the company may or may not incur unexpected costs to train these overseas workers. Lower regulatory costs are an addition to companies saving money when outsourcing.

Businesses increasingly outsourced to suppliers outside their own country are sometimes referred to as offshoring or offshore outsourcing.

Experience abroad On comparative costs, a U.S. employer typically incurs higher defined benefit costs associated with taxes to account for social security, medicare, safety protection (OSHA regulations) and FICA taxes etc. than in other countries.

Benefits of outsourcing Outsourcing can offer greater budget flexibility and control. Outsourcing lets organisations pay for only the services they need, when they need them. It also reduces the need to hire and train specialised staff, brings in fresh engineering expertise, and reduces capital and operating expenses.

According to Wikipedia, outsourcing became a globalised phenomenon follow-

•Wogu ing the growth of groups of people using online technologies to use outsourcing as a way to build a viable service delivery business that can be run from virtually anywhere in the world.

Expatiating, Wikipedia noted that; “The preferential contract rates that can be obtained by temporarily employing ex-

perts in specific areas to deliver elements of a project purely online means that there is a growing number of small businesses that operate entirely online using offshore contractors to deliver the work before repackaging it to deliver to the end user.”

One common area where this business model thrives is in providing website creation, analysis and marketing services.

All elements can be done remotely and delivered digitally, and service providers can leverage the scale and economy of outsourcing to deliver high-value services at reduced end-customer prices.

Awonaike also shares the same sentiments. According to him, there are enormous benefits to be derived from outsourcing, whether in terms of saving running costs, downtime, among others.

Mr. David Onu, an ICT expert, is on the same page with Awonaike.

To him, outsourcing has the potential to generate over 500,000 jobs in Nigeria within a very short time if fully embraced by public and private companies.

Outsourcing, Onu recalled, “Generated over 20milllion jobs in India in just a few years and could also solve the problem of unemployment in Nigeria if the country bought into it.”

Expatiating, he said: “outsourcing has been discovered as the fastest way to create demand-driven jobs in the emerging economies all over the world.”

He said most Nigerian public and private companies would have their annual revenues increased if they contract out some of their non-core functions, like complaint centre, to outsourcing companies.

Onu, who is the CEO of an Abuja based IT/outsourcing company, Interranetworks, said most companies do not maintain a point of interaction with their customers, adding that this often makes them not to retain their customers for a long time.

He said his company which was set up just two years ago, already had a staff strength of over 200, adding that many are likely to join before the end of the year.

“Outsourcing industry has been discovered as the fastest way to create jobs in the world, especially where unemployment is the problem. In India alone this industry generated over 20million jobs in Continued on page 48

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

INSIGHT Continued from page 47

• Experts for hire

“

•Oursourcing as a global phenomenon

Outsourcing industry has been discovered as the fastest way to create jobs in the world, especially where unemployment is the problem.

In India alone this industry generated over 20million jobs in just few years. In Nigeria, conservatively, it could generate over 500,000 jobs within a very short time if fully embraced by all—the government and the private sector

“

just few years. In Nigeria, conservatively, it could generate over 500,000 jobs within a very short time if fully embraced by all— the government and the private sector.

“Everyday, consumers complain about one thing or the other from their service providers without getting appropriate redress. This often makes many consumers to either sue or leave their service providers in protest. This is because most companies do not bother to set up a point of interaction between them and their customers. But what they don’t know is that instead of losing customers they can simply outsource this non-core duty to an outside company and the relationship between them and their customers would be maintained through this call centre interaction,” the Interranetworks CEO said.

Adverse effect on the economy According to analysts, outsourcing which is more a global phenomenon is manifesting all its ugliness in Nigeria, and is worsening the already precarious unemployment challenge in the country.

In the view of Mr. Stanley Okeke, a legal practitioner, “When companies offshore products and services, those jobs may leave the home country for foreign countries at the expense of the wealthproducing sectors, just as outsourcing may increase the risk of leakage and reduce confidentiality, as well as introduce additional privacy and security concerns.”

Besides, he said, companies may make short-run profits from cheaper overseas labour and currency mainly in wealthconsuming sectors at the long-run expense of an economy’s wealth-producing sectors, thus straining the home country’s tax base, income growth, and increasing the debt burden.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that not much was known about how Nigerian workers in the employ of outsourcing firms were treated until the recent unprovoked controversial sacking of 3000 workers in the Call Centre Service of Airtel Nigeria recently.

The Nation findings showed that the arbitrary termination of employment of workers recruited to man the Call Centres by Spanco Channel BPO and Tech Mahindra, two Indian firms, gave useful insight on the quality of existing labour relations in many organisations in the country.

That most of these companies engage in sharp labour practices that they dare not contemplate in their home countries, brings to the fore their disdain for Nigeria.

It was learnt that Airtel initially disowned the disengaged workers, claiming that they were ‘agency employees’ with expired contracts.

This, according to analysts, goes a long way to demonstrate how poorly workers recruited under such an arrangement, who labour daily to offer services to the establishment, are treated.

Media reports are awash with harrowing tales of other telecoms operators, and several international organisations also make use of such firms and their conditions of services are equally deplorable.

“The rate at which blue chip companies are outsourcing some critical parts of their services to agencies who subject their workforce to harrowing experiences all in the pretext that there is high unemployment calls for serious investigations,” stressed Okereke.

Many of these outsourcing firms, he emphasised, “In the name of cutting corners to make huge profits, employ several backhand means, turning Nigeria into labour camps. These companies are posting high turn-over annually, and thus have now developed preference for casual workforce.”

Reports abound of how job recruitment firms hire qualified Nigerians on behalf of multi-national firms operating in the country and outsource them to agencies working for these multi-nationals under manipulative contracts that neither guarantee the prospective employee job security nor the promised lucrative pay-package.

Unregulated industry According to available information, there is no statistics about the actual

population of firms involved in outsourcing.

For instance, the issuance of licences to 298 outsourcing firms in the last one year alone, there is a need for greater scrutiny of these firms’ activities.

Curiously, the federal government has maintained a studied silence over the issue of irregularity involving these outsourcing firms.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Nwogu, had reportedly said that the government is determined to ensure that the rights of the Nigerian workers are protected but it is not clear how he wants this to be achieved,

thus fuelling fears that the government is at a quandary as to how to resolve the situation.

According to a recent report by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), for every fulltime oil worker in Nigeria there are four casual workers. This should be unacceptable to any nation. Similar development is also unfolding in other sectors of the economy.

For example, almost all the banks today make use of poorly paid contract staff in most of their operations. Just recently,

Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) divested, selling off its oil blocs, flow stations, well heads as well as assets to other oil companies without regard to the workers that man these equipment.

Saddening too are reports of accidents in factories owned by the Chinese and Indians in Nigeria, where workers disfigured by machines are simply fired with no benefits.

While we appreciate the role played by the organised labour and the National Assembly, as well as Lagos State lawmakers in facilitating the reinstatement of the Airtel Call Centre workers, we believe that the entire practice of outsourcing should be properly looked into to ensure that workers engaged through the process do not lose value or suffer arbitrarily.

Equally welcomed is the promise by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity that a Technical Committee would be set up on the regulation of outsourcing and their labour-related issues in the telecommunications sector.

Also, there is need for the National Assembly to enact employment legislation that would protect employees’ rights at such work places. There is a growing understanding that the current labour laws do not significantly protect employees from abuse by their employers in Nigeria, and foreign firms have exploited the loopholes to ‘maltreat’ Nigerian labourers. A situation where workers are easily dispensed of at the flimsiest of excuses dampens productivity with its attendant reduction of potential national output.

That Nigerian workers who offer same services or shoulder even more responsibilities in most foreign firms in the country receive lower wages than their expatriate colleagues is antithetical to national development.

Besides, government should match words with action and implement the local content law across all sectors of the economy to ensure that Nigerian job-seekers are not displaced by foreign expatriates, who often are not better skilled.

Even as we support the ongoing efforts of the federal government to provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youths, we believe that the efforts, which include attracting foreign investors into the country, would not yield the expected fruits if the citizens are short changed through unfair labour practices.

Thus, we call for an urgent review of relevant laws relating to expatriate quota, hiring and firing, workers’ welfare, remuneration and working conditions.

Above all, foreign firms operating in Nigeria should be compelled to avoid labour practices that cannot be permitted in their home countries. International best practices should equally be extended to Nigeria’s labour sector.

Differing views Opinions are divided as to whether outsourcing is risky or not.

A cross-section of experts, including human resource managers who spoke on the vexed issue of identity crisis involving outsourcing, noted that there is no reason why people should panic or express any worry over outsourcing because it delivers more benefits than expected.

Firing the first salvo, Mr. Lawal Mobolaji, a member of the Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, argued matter-of-factly: “I will not agree with that because outsourcing really is meant for non-core staff of an organisation. Ask people that work in the HR department about the categories of workers outsourced. They are factory workers, drivers, cleaners etc. those are the people that are non-core to you. And mainly in Nigeria these categories of people are usually hired on contract basis but we are promoting it as a management practice.”

Continuing, he said: “We have quite a large number of staff in the bank today who are bank tellers. So you see a bank teller that is a graduate, you see a bank teller that has a master degree doing bank tellering and by the way what is bank tellering? It is something an OND or a school certificate holder can do if well trained. So we are telling you that you don’t need to employ graduates to handle those kinds of jobs, graduates should be more challenged with other things. Most banks are realising this right now and they are outsourcing their tellering functions.”

BUSINESS

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‘Bad policy killed cocoa industry’

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

-- Page 52

Oil communities threaten mass action over oil revenue

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OLLOWING the footsteps of their compatriots in Edo State, oil producing communities in Ondo State have written to President Goodluck Jonathan and threatened to embark on mass action if their request for the direct payment of 13 per cent derivation funds is ignored.

The signatories to the Ondo State oil producing communities letter to President Goodluck Jonathan include Elder Thompson Shawana, Chief Adewale Omojuwa, Comr.

Samuel Ebiwanno, Chief Mrs. Funke Oyekanmi, High Chief A.O Sofiyea (Regent and Tarabiritorhu of Arogbo-Ibe), Chief T.O Ikuesan Dr Soji Omowole, Dr Roju Malumi Hon. Tunde Aiyemo, High Chief R.A Bekewe (Ibe-pereatorhu of Arogbo-Ibe).

The Ondo group stated in their letter that the 13 per cent derivation fund belongs exclusively to the oil and gas producing communities which are the sources of the derivation.

In the letter which reads in part, they argued that “the oil facilities,

•Edo urges Jonathan to compel RMAFC to discontinue payment of 13% derivation to states From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor) Abuja

flow stations etc are located in the oil and gas producing communities where oil exploration, exploitation and production are being carried out leading to monumental degradation, pollution, health hazards among others causing abject poverty in these communities.”

As a result the letter noted that the current handling of the “13 per cent derivation fund is illegal, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the principles of derivation to continue paying the funds to the governors”, while it is supposed to be compensation and reparation for loss of fishing rights and loss of productive farmlands.

The 13 per cent being managed by the governors in the oil and gas producing states they wrote “is an

aberration. Thus it is clearly an implementation tragedy to pay the funds to any of the state governments’ accounts.”

The Ondo State oil producing communities further stated in their letter that in pursuance of their cause, they have written to “the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), and the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on the consequences of any further payment of the 13 per cent fund other than the rightful and legitimate beneficiaries.”

In order to avert crisis, they urged the President to direct the chairman of RMAFC, to commence the process of consultation with the leaders and youth representatives from the

oil and gas producing communities of across the country with a view to constitute the National Derivation board.

It would be recalled that oil producing communities from Edo State had written to President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to discontinue forthwith, the payment of the fund to the state governors.

The letter to the President was signed by Mrs. Nowan Uhunmwangho, Elder Peter Agbonkoko, Donyegha Ben, Chief Mrs V. Potoki, Mr. Edwin Ikinbor, Pastor Reuben Milton, Pastor A. B. Imafidon, Brasana Ekomiyenyefa, Olu Oyeh, Comader Segun Imafidon, Karaki Ebi, Victor Omoruyi, Hon. Jackson Ikinbor and Mrs. Queen Donyegha.

Nigeria can become technology hub in Africa - Chairman, Memmcol Nig. Ltd

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IGERIA has the potential to become the technology hub in sub-Sahara Africa and beyond, Mr. Kola Balogun, chairman, Memmcol Nigeria Limited, has said.

Balogun expressed this optimism during his acceptance speech shortly after receiving the prestigious Gold Service Merit Award by the Centre for Democratic Governance in Africa (CDGA) and Excellence Awards by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at his company’s corporate headquarters in Ibafo, Ogun State.

According to Balogun, who boast of over two decades experience in the field of engineering, what Nigeria needs to take its rightful place in the comity of technologically advanced nations of the world, is good policy framework to support local expertise as well as commitment by all tiers of government.

Going down memory lane, Balogun recalled that he had to endure a lot of humiliation and disappoints from major technology incubation companies across the world in his quest to build the first metering manufacturing company in subSahara Africa.

“Most of the so-called technologically advanced countries of the world like Germany, USA and a host of others want to keep third world countries like Nigeria perpetual technology slaves. That is why they refused to allow technology transfer from their base to other countries. But I refused to bow in the face of this challenge and at the end of it all; we were able to build the first metering manufacturing plant in sub-Sahara Africa,” he recalled.

Expatiating, he said it was heartening to note that his company has been able to improve on the metering technology available in the world by building a template which allows for seamless payment among other upgrades.

An elated Balogun who reiterated the need for government support, said his company has also de-

Stories by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

veloped a seamless technology for the production of computer motherboards, sim cards, electronic panels, among others.

Speaking earlier, Dr. Dafe Akpocha, Director-General, Centre for Democratic Governance in Africa (CDGA), while presenting the award to Balogun, said the centre was persuaded by the selfless service demonstrated by the recipient, who he described as “A silent achiever and good ambassador of Nigeria and indeed Africa.”

In her remarks, Ms. Esther Gbonkumor, Chief Executive Officer, ST Global Resources Limited, shortly after embarking on a facility tour of the company, said she was impressed with the level of work of going on and assured that she would do everything humanly possible to pull the right strings in order to further develop the company.

“I can see the future of Nigeria here. Memmcol Nigeria Ltd is a manifestation of the can-do spirit only common to Nigerians. The company needs to be supported in every way possible,” said Ms. Gbonkumor, who is related to the Nigeria’s First Lady.

•Chairman, Memmcol Nig. Ltd., Kola Balogun being congratulated by Managing Director/CEO, ST Global Resources, Ms. Esther Gbonkumor, during the investiture and presentation of award to Balogun by the Centre for Democratic Governance in Africa recently.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Group canvasses public private partnership

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GROUP under the aegis of the Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LASCOP) has urged the need for public private partnership, stressing that it is a veritable tool for sustainable socioeconomic development.

The group made the call at a public policy forum in Lagos recently.

The forum, facilitated by the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI), a DFID-funded initiative according to Mr. Felix Obanubi, State Team Leader, SAVI, was to provide an integrated framework for public and private sector in Lagos

state.

Obanubi who said SAVI recognises the tremendous impact of the organised private sector has on socio-economic development, declared that the private sector was the engine of economic growth and development in creating jobs, goods and services and also generating revenues essential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).

Speaking further, Obanubi said the issue of partnership was a collective responsibility which requires the cooperation and support of all.

Speaking earlier, Dede Kadiri of

LASCOP, said the essence of the forum was to engage the civil society, the organised private sector and Lagos State to build a synergy of cooperation aimed at accelerating development across all frontiers of the society.

Also speaking on the occasion, Emilia Asim-Ita, Senior Consultant, Strategy and External Relations, ThistlePraxis Consulting, emphasised the need for effective collaboration between the organised private sector and the civil society, stressing that such mutual understanding was necessary for sustainable socio-economic growth.

Briefs Uduaghan woos foreign investors

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ELTA State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and his economic team, once again displayed their commitment to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil and gas, as the state, in collaboration with Heartlink Ventures, successfully organised a two-day “Corporate Nigeria Stakeholders’ and Investors Forum” at the United Nations Headquatres in New York, United States of America, recently.

The forum largely concentrated on economic opportunities in the state, in areas such as agriculture, tourism, telecommunication, transportation and power generation, through a public private partnership initiative.

The government is wooing investors in the Diaspora, especially from the United States of America and other developed economies in the world. According to the Delta team,it will equally help to foster wealth creation, capacity building and ultimately expansion of human capital development.

Delta state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr Kingsley Emu, who represented the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in presenting a key note address, entitled, “Harnessing Investment Opportunities in Delta State”, affirmed that Delta State is not just an investment destination, but that the state has also created enabling environment, which has afforded investors to get value for their money.

The commissioner also emphasized that “Delta Beyond Oil” initiative has recorded many milestones in the overall interest of the good people of Delta, especially the less privilege.

“Where we are now in terms of policy direction is Delta Beyond Oil. What we are saying is that, when the oil wells eventually run dry, what are those things we should do with the revenue from oil in the decades while the oil wells lasted. How can we diversify our economy using our areas of comparative advantage? The major ones are the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs).

The success of the MSMEs underscores what we have always believed; that is, Delta is a land of limitless possibilities in terms of human capital and natural resources.

“Out of all these possibilities, we thought the one we could advance to the next level would be the MSMEs. This is because this happens to be where we have been doing very well.

To our credit we have won four consecutive Central Bank of Nigeria awards. When you talk about MSMEs, you must involve agriculture whether it is agrarian farming or aquaculture, Delta State is 60 percent riverine and we are maximizing this advantage very well for the economic good of the state. There are two ministries that are coordinating these MSMEs; the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation which incubates them and brings them to life before they are passed to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry which takes them to medium and possibly big industries. This is one of the initiatives driving our Delta Beyond Oil vision.”

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HERE are obvious threats to the country’s territorial waters judging by the absence of accurate data on the number of port facilities currently existing in the country.

It would be recalled that the United States Coast Guard report noted that Nigeria as a contracting government to the convention does not know the total number of facilities where the code applies.

According to the report, Nigeria has not been able to set security levels for its port facilities due to the fact that it does not know the number of these facilities.

Some of the deficiencies noted by the U S Coast Guard team in some of the terminals visited include inadequate training programmes, inadequate access control measures, and the failure to ensure that effective drills and exercises are carried out at several terminals.

It is unclear as to whether the contracting government is aware of the total number of port facilities to which ISPS applies and that requires approved Port Facility Security Assessment and Plans (PFSA) and (PFSP).

Report card In the report which reads in part, the US said: “The embassy of the United States of America presents its compliment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the honour to request that the Ministry forward this message to and the attached Aide Memoire to the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, Honourable Minister of Transport, Idris A. Umar, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Maritime Affairs, Mr. Leke Oyewole, Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi.

“The embassy has the honour to note that the government of the United States of America appreciates the willingness of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to host the visit by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) team to Nigeria to assess the effectiveness of antiterrorism measures at ports and continued efforts to comply with the International Ship and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

“Overall, with some noteworthy exceptions noted in the attached Aide Memoir, the United States Coast Guard team determined that Nigerian Ports did not have in place effective anti-terrorism measures. Based on such observations during these visits to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the government of the United States of America would like to communicate several areas of concern.

“The visiting team noted the lack of clarity regarding which agency in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the overall responsibility for overseeing anti-terrorism measures at these ports, as well as the uneven quality and consistency of oversight. As a result, the United States Coast Guard identified areas for improvement regarding antiterrorism measures in Nigerian ports.

“The government of the

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Clear and present dangers at Nigeria’s seaports

•Establishing shot of Roro Port, Tincan, Lagos

United States of America respectfully request corrections of issues identified in the attached Aide Memoir within 90 days of receipt of this notification. Correction of such issues would allow the United Sates Coast Guard to refrain from implementing additional conditions of entry on all vessels sailing to United States ports that have called at non-exempted ports in the Federal Republic of Nigeria within five port calls of arrival in the United States of America.

“The Embassy has the further honour to note that the United States Coast Guard must provide public notice of such changes in condition of entry. The Embassy adds that vessels arriving from Nigerian port facilities assessed as having effective anti-terrorism measures, as listed in the attached Aide Memoir, will remain exempt. The Embassy respectfully notes that these additional conditions of entry, when implemented, would slow down maritime trade between our two countries and increase costs for Nigerian and other regional exporters using Nigerian ports.”

The US Coast Guard report further said “The Embassy has the honour to note that International Port Security Liaison Officer Commander, David Gates, remains prepared to assist the government of the Federal

Recent report by the United States Coast Guard on Nigeria’s sloppiness towards compliance with the International Ship and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code has been considered in some quarters as a recipe for anarchy with the nation’s seaport at the receiving end, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf Republic of Nigeria in addressing these issues so that the United States Coast Guard can change this determination as soon as possible.”

The Embassy respectfully requests that the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria identify a point of contact for future dialogue on this issue. The United States government, however, noted and commended some individual terminals and port facilities who are currently maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures.”

Meanwhile, the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority has prepared both

Port Facility Security Plans (PFSP) and Port Facility Security Assessment (PFSA) on every terminal and facilities across the country. In the report, the American government also expressed concern over the ability of NIMASA to midwife and implement the Code.

Crux of the matter Giving fresh insights on the issue, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello, said that security one is the normal security measures that are put in place to guard against breaches.

Security level two, according to Bello, is putting addi-

“

tional measures to wade off any likely breaches around such facilities while level three is a situation when you are aware of a security breach and a facility is expected to put measures in place that will either stop the breach or minimise the effect.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Ona Ekhomu, spoke on the implication of Nigeria’s lack of preparedness, saying that the country continues to play politics to the detriment of good governance.

Ekhomu explained that there was too much reliance on the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety

You need to be able to monitor your facilities and operators of these facilities so that people can play by the rule. Nigeria has suddenly become oil theft capital of the world and this development has given the Americans something to worry about

”

Agency to implement the ISPS Code adding that the agency is not serious about the issue.

He said that there has been an increase in the number of attacks on vessels in and around Nigeria’s territorial waters adding that because of how porous some of these facilities are terrorism can occur or be facilitated.

The security expert noted that ineffective patrolling, enforcement and prosecution seem to be a major problem working against the nation’s effort to implement to ISPS Code.

He said: “You need to be able to monitor your facilities and operators of these facilities so that people can play by the rule.

“Nigeria has suddenly become oil theft capital of the world and this development has given the Americans something to worry about.”

The United States of America Coast Guard has indicted the Nigerian government over the confusion at the nation’s ports, as to who has the authority to implement the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code in the country among the various government agencies.

This is coming as the 90 days ultimatum on port security issued by the United

Continued on page 51

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

Dangers at seaports

•Customs Comptroller General, Abdullahi Dikko Inde

T

HE Federal Government has hinted of plans to partner with BUA Sugar Refinery Limited in order to achieve backward integration in sugar refinery in the country.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga made this disclosure during facility tour to BUA. While commending BUA Sugar Refinery Limited, for their increased investments and commitment towards making Nigeria self-sufficient in sugar production, Aganga said the government is ready to partner with the company towards promoting backward integration.

He said BUA has been steadfast in their operations despite the harsh business terrain in the manufacturing sector of the economy, adding that the Federal Government is committed to supporting sugar production by providing the enabling environment

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Fed Govt, BUA partner on backward integration in order to ensure economic growth and development. ‘‘BUA has done extremely well in terms of sugar refinery processing. It is a long and sophisticated process because I have visited these factories myself and have seen that it requires a lot of investments and equipment. Our intention is to work closely and to continue to provide the enabling environment to ensure economic growth and development but more importantly, job creation,” he said.

He, however, urged BUA to continue to be committed to the backward integration policy, maintaining that the policy has the capacity of doubling job employment oppor-

tunities they currently offer to the teeming unemployed youths in the country.

“This is why the Federal Government introduced the backward integration policy and for this to be successful, we all have to work together as partners, our job is to provide the enabling environment and policies for you to do well and yours is to work with us to achieve this,” he said.

Chief Operating Officer for BUA Group, Mr. Chimaobi Madukwe, said the minister’s visit to BUA Group is an indication of government’s enormous support for industrial growth in the country, through the National Sugar Development Council

(NSDC) and other relevant agencies.

As part of strategic plans to reduce the importation of raw sugar and ensure the effective implementation of the Federal Government Policy on Backward Integration, Lafiagi Sugar Company in Kwara State was acquired by BUA in the year 2008 through the Federal Government Privatisation exercise.

The purpose of this acquisition is to establish a standard vacuum pan factory and 50,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation. The project is to process 5,000,000 tons of cane during a 166 day grinding season to produce 500,000 metric tons of refined sugar annually.

•NPA MD, Mallam Habib Abdullahi

•From left: Managing Director, Intercontinental Distillers Limited (IDL), Engr. Patrick Anegbe; his wife, Dorothy; Members, Board of Directors, IDL, Professor Samuel Odeyemi and Michael Murray-Bruce, during the 2013 IDL Distributors' Award Ceremony, held in Lagos

•NIMASA DG, Patrick Akpobolokemi

Continued from page 50 States government to Nigeria expires in about two weeks. The United States Coast Guard is again set for another visit with a view to auditing the level of Nigeria’s compliance with the ISPS Code. The US Coast Guard team is expected in Nigeria on the 26th of August just as plans to receive them have been concluded.

Since the threat to withdraw shipping services from Nigeria was issued by the American government, both the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, have been making frantic efforts to ensure that all is set for the US Coast Guard inspection. Should Nigeria fail to pass the audit exercise, it will spell doom for the nation’s economy as the American government and its allies will stop their vessels from sailing to Nigeria.

It was after the absence of a designated authority at the nation’s maritime service was brought to the notice of the Nigerian government that NIMASA was asked to take up the responsibility of Designated Authority, DA. In the report, the American government through its Coast Guard expressed con-

cern over the fact that even NIMASA as presently constituted has not developed any form of expertise to tackle the issue of terrorism in the maritime industry.

The US government also expressed concern that there is no anti-terrorism measure in place in Nigerian ports and threatened to impose sanctions on Nigeria if measures are not put in place within 90 days.

Right of reply Reacting to the report, NIMASA’s spokesman, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi, said that the agency is working hard to ensure that Nigeria as a country is compliant to the ISPS Code.

It would be recalled that the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security and Safety (PICOMSS) was responsible for the ISPS Code until NIMASA became uncomfortable with its presence and moved against it to be scrapped.

Even after PICOMSS was scrapped, NIMASA was still at a loss as to what to do until the government directed it to oversee the implementation of the Code in Nigeria.

As at the time of filling this report, the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority was making arrangement to acquire trained dogs that will be distributed to every port across the country.

NCC to reduce 90-day porting process

T

HREE months after launching the mobile number portability scheme for telecoms consumers in Nigeria, the Nigerian Communication Commission is considering reducing the time a subscriber must stay on a network after porting from 90 days.

The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Eugene Juwah, disclosed this during a forum orgainsed by the ICT Publishers Alliance in Lagos.

He said the mobile portability service would be subjected to constant reviews to see how it can be improved for the benefit of subscribers.

Juwah, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Technical Services, Edoyemi Ogoh, said “the whole objective of mobile portability is to ensure that it keeps improving every day to benefit the subscribers.

Already, we have been getting feedbacks and these feedbacks we are getting from subscribers would be incorporated into the porting process to improve the scheme.”

Commenting on the 48hour time frame to complete the porting process, the EVC noted “that though the porting window is 48 hours, but from information from the operators, the porting process is now being completed within one day maximum.”

The forum revealed that, though the exercise is recording slow but successful

By Bukola Afolabi

progress in terms of the processing of porting requests by interested subscribers, a lot of bottlenecks, which had earlier been pointed out by the stakeholders, have now been acknowledged by the commission.

Our correspondent learnt that other key areas for review

include: the level of public education by the NCC; and also how to checkmate alleged denial of quick process of porting request by some operators.

Also speaking at the forum, the Chief Operating Officer, Interconnect Clearing House Limited, Uche Onwediwe, agreed on the need to regularly review the

porting process, stressing that “already, we are getting feedbacks and the information we are getting from the subscribers is about making the service easy to migrate from the comfort of their home without necessarily going to an operator’s service centre before porting can be done.”

key problems in Nigeria, five of these have topped the list, we have regional security, transparency and democracy in government, energy and investment, agriculture and food security and the Niger delta region.”

He said that America has so much at stake in Nigeria, as Nigeria is the 2nd largest investment destination in Africa and Nigeria’s success is tied to America’s.

He added that three million dollars has been spent every year to assist law enforcement agencies like EFCC and NDLEA. Mr. Hawkins maintained that Nigeria is very important to the USA and whether the president makes a stop at Nigeria on his African visits or not is not important to the relationship they have already established.

phone interview from Beirut, Lebanon’s capital.

“We have funding available for various opportunities that we are currently analyzing,” he said. The Lagosbased company said in July it raised $522 million in new capital, $280 million in debt and $242 million in equity in the preceding year to fund its expansion across Africa.

Nigeria has Africa’s highest number of mobile-phone users, with 109 million subscribers at the end of 2012, ac-

cording to the regulator Nigerian Communications Commission NCC. MTN Group Ltd.’s Nigerian unit was the market leader with 47.4 million customers, followed by Nigeria’s Globacom Ltd. with 24.1 million, New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel (BHARTI) with 23.1 million, and Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT), known as Etisalat, with 14.9 million, according to data on the NCC’s website.

US invests $5 million to strengthen Nigeria’s private sector

T

HE US Consul General, Jeffrey Hawkins, said the US government has invested a total sum of $5 million to strengthen the Nigerian private sector, especially the energy sector in recent times.

Hawkins made this disclosure while speaking as a guest in a television magazine programme in Lagos.

According to him, “The idea is to address some of the

IHS Nigeria projects $1bn rise in assets

I

HS Nigeria Plc, which operates telecommunications infrastructure in three African countries, is set to more than double its assets after raising $1 billion for investment, Chief Executive Officer Issam Darwish said.

IHS wants to increase the number of telecommunications towers under its management to 20,000 by 2016 from the 8,500 towers it currently runs in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, Darwish said recently in a

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

‘Bad policy killed cocoa industry’ Beyond Dr. Victor Iyama chairman, Board of trustees, Cocoa B Talent Association of Nigeria and President, Federation of Ag-

EFORE the oil boom, can you tell us how many metric tonnes of cocoa Nigeria grew compared to what we are growing now?

Before the oil boom, actually, we were growing up to 400 or 410, 000 tonnes but as that time, the consumption level was not as high as this all over the world and even at that time, we were number two. As at that time too, Ghana was producing less, Ghana was producing about 300 and something tonnes; Cote d’ivoire was producing about 400 and something tonnes. They were only a little bit higher. Today, Cote d’ivoire is on 1.5, 1.6 million tonnes, Ghana is on about I million, 1.1 million tonnes, we are going to 300,000 tonnes. But, I will tell you why it was like that. You know when cocoa board was introduced; the board was making all the money while the farmers were suffering.

They were dictating prices, cheating the farmers, so it got to a stage where the farmers said what the heck, if I have to waste all my time like this and I get this peanut, why don’t I cut off this tree and leave it and grow maize, yam, cassava, crops that will be useful to me because of course, cocoa is not beans, it is not rice, you can only export it so the man concentrated growing arable crops that people will eat and that was what happened to cocoa. So, when they scrapped the cocoa board, infact, cocoa in Nigeria then to a level of about 81,000 tonnes per annum. So, when they scrapped the cocoa board and cocoa association came online, it was free enterprise, free entry, you can do your cocoa, quote your price, follow the world price, quote whatever you wanted to quote, sell your cocoa the way you want it and we were overseeing it, the farmers started getting back.

So how much did we generate from cocoa?

It is not too much of a difficult question to answer but I can tell you that in Nigeria today, we generate about $900million. You know that cocoa price fluctuates. Cocoa price is determined by what they call the London terminal market and the New York terminal market. So, it goes up and down. But presently, we are generating between, $900million. At times, it could be $800million because out of non-oil export in this country today, cocoa bean is still the second largest earner of the foreign exchange. Even the way we are even talking that cocoa has gone down, it is still the second largest foreign earner of the country today, it is only second to oil, even as we speak. So, you can now imagine if we concentrate our efforts in developing it further, cocoa can easily compete with oil.

What do you think is the problem of the cocoa production in Nigeria?

Naturally, if you talk of farming, cocoa has its own peculiar problem. I will show you some pictures of some

ricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria, is very passionate about cocoa business. In this interview with Bukola Afolabi he speaks on the problems and prospects of the cocoa industry

•Iyama.

INTERVIEW farms that were devastated by natural attacks. At first, we thought it was normal caterpillar, within one month, they have cleared the farm, I will show you some pictures.

Cocoa has its own natural disease and natural hazards that come from time to time.

But many of the challenges stem from lack of funds to invest in farming. To invest in farming, for example, is a difficult thing. Some people who are clamouring for processing, I told them it is because it is easier to go and borrow money, to put it in buying machine, you know fully well that put off the machines and buy cocoa beans and put it through the machines, it is easy but you go and farm. Ideally, I have so much countries where there is cocoa, I visited Epadom, Victoria company; it is a company which I am looking towards too. From their farms, they have established large farms. From their farms, they take it to their factory, they process it to chocolate and sell but here, people will go and borrow huge money, a factory that is not supposed to cost more than $1.9 billion. Something, he will go borrow like 2.5 billion naira for a factory that will not be more than 1 billion or 1.2 billion, you have already created trouble for yourself and then you will start lying to government that it is because you are not getting cocoa to buy that is why your factory is not making money.

Do you know what government has done, I must be sin-

PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

cere, I am not part of the people who just blame government, in cocoa in export, and government has tried a lot. Do you know that if you are an exporter in this country, especially if you processed or manufactured goods, do you know that government gives you 30%, 25% of your turnover as grant, which government does that. The only government which does something similar is the Chinese government, 30% and tell me all of us went to school. If you are getting 30% as turnover and you are not making money, won’t you close that thing? Do we continue to use our money to help foreign countries, 30%, 25% of your turnover, government gives you as grant as long as you can prove that you have shipped and CBN can confirm that the money came in, what else you want this government to do in terms of that What is your relationship with government agencies, especially NEXIM which is the saddled with the responsibility providing capital for export trade?

Well, NEXIM is a bank like every other bank. The relationship is always cordial.

If you want to take money from NEXIM, you go to NEXIM, their interest rate they claim is about 14%, but by the time, you take it through banks, it is more than that.

I have not finished with this farming issue. You see, funding of farming, you cannot continue to say farmers should bring collateral, the collateral should be the farms that is what is been done in the develop countries, you will involve the insurance

company to insure it and you give them money against that. At the very worse, you involve the association to guarantee their members, you cannot tell a farmer to go and bring a house at Victoria Island or Ikoyi to come and take money, it is not done, if we really want to grow that is the way to go You’re saying that government is planning to…

(Cuts in) It is not that government is planning, some people that called themselves (COPAN) Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria, and we’ve been at logger heads with them. I use to process and use to take tones of cocoa to the factory since I have a buyer. I wanted to set up my own processing but when I realised that it is a drainpipe that is why I put it on hold for now. I have gone for so many training, from processing to chocolate manufacturing in Malaysia.

So many people in our association went for training for grafty because those cocoa farms that have been abandoned, we want to resuscitate it through grafty and distribute to the youths.

What we are saying here is that these are the people going behind and they just want to cause unnecessary problem in the cocoa economy of this country because if we say like Babaginda did though he quickly rescind his decision because then too he was deceived to believe that it is processing and it wasn’t.

You process something and you can’t sell it you will be begging somebody to come and buy it and he will tell you it has the stanzas, he will be giving you almost half the price. Many people who set up factory because of 30%, they have forgotten that for you to get 30%. You will have to process that thing and you would have brought in the money before you can get 30%. They also give to people who seek other commodities; even cocoa beans should get up to 5 to 10%. The cocoa processors now are even trying to tell them that they shouldn’t even give cocoa beans anything, whereas who does the work, is it the person processing cocoa or the person producing the cocoa beans?

But this people, are they an association, are they part of you to form their own association?

No, from day one, what my elders handed over to me, we have a new president right from time. You know I’m the chairman of board of trustees but I’m the president of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria. So I’m overseeing about 42 different commodity associations.

By Adetayo Okusanya

Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

Professional development options: How to grow into success

Y

OU have heard me say over and over again that sustainable career success is achieved through careful design and purpose-driven choice. Oftentimes, the way that news is reported gives us the false impression that many of the successful people in our organization, industry and society tripped and fell intoinstant success. There is no overnight success. What I have learned from listening to success stories across the globe is that most times we, the audience, are brought into the story when the plot is at an advanced stage. We do not have the privilegeof following the story from the beginning and watching successful people “GROW” into their success.

Career success,to a lot of professionals, has come to mean how quickly one gets promoted and moves up the corporate ladder.

This has become the most preferred and prevalent measure of career growth, and understandably so, since it comes with higher status in the organization, greater perquisites and more pay. Today, the challenge with promotion is that vertical or upward career movements are no longer readily available and easily accessible to employees. With the global recession, many organizations are struggling to grow and maintain profitability and some have had to retrench large numbers of staff or declare insolvency.Organizations now reserve their limited promotion budgetsfor employees who are, in their view, high performers, have long term potential and are capable of delivering results in critical business areas.

Besides promotion, there are other ways to develop yourself within your organization to enhance your employability and marketability, and sometimes these alternatives can be more impactful and fulfilling.

Job enrichment Job enrichment is a great development opportunity for you if you who want to achieve mastery in your current role, by acquiring a higher level of knowledge, know-how and capabilities. Or, if you simply like your current position and location and you do not desire higher levels of responsibilities at the present time.

The goal of job enrichment is to make your job more interesting, challenging and intellectually stimulating. Although your pay, status and level remain the same, this development option can provide you with a tremendous opportunity to achieve personal growth, fulfillment and expert status. One of the job enrichments strategies that helped me in my career was the expansion of my role to include people management responsibilities.

Lateral move There are two types of lateral moves that you can explore.

Both options involve a change in job description and the development of new marketable skills, but do not necessarily involve a change in pay, status or level of responsibility. The first option can be likened to a job rotation within the same function or department. This option is a good fit for you, if you are interested in broadening your functional expertise by developing a robust understanding of the end to end processes or activities within a department. The second is a cross functional move that involves a change in departments. This option is great, if you are interested in broadening your business expertise by developing a robust understanding of the various functions within your enterprise or if you simply want to change careers.

A lateral move can be an especially useful development option if you are interested in expanding your experiences, acquiring new skills, working internationally, changing teams or if your organization is growing slowly or down-sizing.

Exploratory research This is an ideal development option for you if you are seeking a change in your role, but you are either not sure of what is appropriate for you or you are unwilling to make a permanent move before “test-driving”. This development option gives you the opportunity to research and work on short term projects that expose you to new areas. It is a great way to discover new interests, experiences, abilities and networks byinvestigating other functions, business units and career paths. It could involve a temporary change in your job description but not your pay, status or level of responsibility. Examples of exploratory research strategies include job shadowing, task force assignments, short term “secondments” and “loaned staff” programs.

At this half way point of the year, I urge you to consider which of the three development options outlined above is right for you.

Please note that there are more development options available to you, however, I have chosen to focus on vertical, lateral, job enrichment and exploratory research in this article. Discuss your options with key stakeholders such as your spouse, mentor, executive sponsor, coach and manager. Solicit their advice/perspective and enroll them in your development efforts. Remember to focus more on acquiring the right career experiences, knowledge and capabilities that will drive future success in your career.

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Y

OUR Inside Business article under the heading: “Scramble for power plants” published on Sunday, July 21, 2013, provided a lot of insider details if not useful insights on the issues besetting the nation’s power sector and at best the renewed vigour with which the government is pursuing development in the sector.

To be sure, the writer also provided a lot of arsenal with which any discerning public can attempt a post mortem at the end of the much touted privatisation.

But pray, is it time to bring out our drums and cymbals yet to celebrate? I think not.

For the avoidance of doubt, here’s a recap of the article, which would suffice.

From the report, we are made to understand that the power plants designed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) are selling like hotcakes judging by the heightened interests expressed by 110 prospective investors for the 10 thermal stations. The NDPHC is currently offering for sale 80 per cent stakes in the 10 gasfired power generating stations it built from the scratch on behalf of the three tiers of government.

Specifically, the transactions, to be conducted through International Competitive Bidding is supposed to cover the following generation companies namely: Alaoji Generation Company Nigeria Limited, situated near Aba in Abia State of Nigeria with total gross installed capacity of 831.3 MW (at ISO); Benin Generation Company Limited, situated near Benin City

BUSINESS

Re: Scramble for power plants

By Yesufu Abdullahi

in Edo State and with total gross installed capacity of 507.6 MW (at ISO); Calabar Generation Company Limited - situated near Calabar city in Cross River State, with a total gross installed capacity of 634.5MW (at ISO); Egbema Generation Company Limited - situated near Owerri in Imo State with a total gross installed capacity of 380.7 MW (at ISO); and Gbarain Generation Company Limited, situated near Yenegoa in Bayelsa State with total gross installed capacity of 253.8 MW (at ISO).

Others are Geregu Generation Company Limited in Ajaokuta, Kogi State with total gross installed capacity of 506.1 MW (at ISO); Ogorode Generation Company Limited, Sapele Delta State with total gross installed capacity of 507.6 MW (at ISO); Olorunsogo Generation Company Limited, situated in Olorunsogo in Ogun State with total gross installed capacity of 754 MW (at ISO); Omoku Generation Company Limited, near Port Harcourt in Rivers State of Nigeria with total gross installed capacity of 264.71 MW (at ISO); and Omotosho Generation Company Limited in Okitipupa local government area of Ondo State, with total gross installed capacity of 512.82 MW (at ISO).

Besides, in order to handle the sale of the power plants in line with due proc-

•Olotu

ess and laid down procedure, the three tiers of government reportedly set up three committees namely, the Joint Evaluation Committee, with the mandate to evaluate the expression of interest for the power plants.

The Joint Transaction Committee of the NDPHC headed by Managing Director, NDPHC, Mr. James Olotu; and the Joint Technical Committee, headed by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam.

Also towards this, the NDPHC, alongside the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and other stakeholders in the power sector, recently launched a road-show in Lagos, London in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and New York in the United States, to provide needed information to potential investors on the 10

power plants.

Expectedly, a great scramble is under way for the NDPHC plants. With Nigeria’s population of over 160 million people, the country is without doubt the largest market for investors in Africa. It is against this backdrop that over 200 investors have indicated interests in acquiring the NDPHC plants.

Also, these investors are seeking to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the Nigerian electricity market where demand far outstrip current supply and the potential for strong economic growth is high.

Moreover, some foreign investors are interested in the plants because they want to establish a strong presence in West Africa, using Nigeria as a platform for acquiring further assets in

the region.

The NDPHC plants are also being sought after since they are all newly constructed and as such offer the best fuel efficiency and lowest operating costs, thereby relieving investors of pressure from construction cum commissioning costs.

Investors are also excited by the NDPHC plants because they are assets that can be further developed, as all but one of the open cycle gas turbine power plants have the potential for expansion and growth.

In addition, these investors relish the opportunity to partner with the three tiers of government who have shown a strong commitment to the country’s power sector reforms, including taking several measures to support the creditworthiness of investments in the country.

The power plants have also attracted mammoth investors’ interest because their buyers-operator would benefit from a Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) designed to be cost-reflective tariff that accounts for operating cost and capital recovery, incentivising efficient operations based on best new entrant capabilities and technology. The MYTO also brings certainty to the tariff regime.

Potential operators are also scrambling for the NDPHC power plants because they would benefit from a Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the Federal Government owned

53

entity – the Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET) – which will act as the bulk buyer of electricity in the early stages of market liberalisation.

And, the opportunity to benefit from the 10-year term Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreements with Nigerian oil producers makes the NDPHC’s power plants a good buy for private sector investors.

At the Hong Kong roadshow, Suswam disclosed that the three tiers of government have thus invested well over $8 billion in building 10 power plants and expect over $6 billion (about N936 billion) in revenue from their sale.

The revenue receipt, according to Mr. Olotu, would be ploughed back into the sustained capacity development in the power sector, specifically to build a number of hydropower dams across Northern Nigeria.

But what remains to be seen is how the government will provide the gas supply need to energise these systems. What is the state of our gas turbines? Are they adequate enough? Can they serve the purpose?

These are questions which require urgent and quick answers by Nigerians who are more than desirous of seeing a giant leap in the power sector. Before the euphoria over the power plants dies, it is trite to say that government must be seen to be proactive and not reactive on these score.

Abdullahi, a public affairs analyst, wrote in from Awka, Anambra State

Expert decries experimentation with deep HE Federal Governsea ports topoint be chosen as a transit ment has been urged or hub is the effi-

T

•From left: Annie Odo-Effiong, Dell Client Product Marketing Manager ; Ade Ewuosho, Nigerian Stock Exchange,(NSE), Programme Director Market Operations & Technology; Favour Oyewole Nigerian Stock Exchange,(NSE), Head Information Systems Security; Ololade Olotu, Dell Solutions Executive; Damilola Shaba, Dell Account Executive at the Nigerian Stock Exchange X-Gen Expo at Civic Center VI, Lagos.

Lagos trade fair to promote SMEs

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HE Lagos State Government has concluded plans to host the year 2013 Domestic Trade Fair tagged Eko Expo, aimed at promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and locally made products in the country.

Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Commerce and Industry, Mr. Oluseye Oladejo, who disclosed this in Ikeja, said foreign exhibitors from Indonesia and China were among the various organisations that have indicated interest to par-

ticipate in the fair billed to hold at Lekki Free Trade Zone.

Oladejo explained that the government is organising the coming expo in collaboration with the Lekki Free Zone Development Company, as a result of the successes recorded with last year’s fair, where a total of 175 investors participated. He said the fair would further promote investment opportunities available at the zone, as well as provide platform for operators in small and medium scale industries to showcase

what they do.

According to him, “the choice of Lekki Free Zone as the venue for this year’s fair is to familiarise the business community with the peculiar incentives offered by the zone and the need to invest therein.”

He listed such incentives to include, complete tax holiday from all federal, State and Local governments, taxes, rates, customs duties and levies; one-stop approval for all permits, operating license and incorporation papers.

to stop further experimentation with projects that will be detrimental to the much needed growth in the nation’s maritime sector. A maritime stakeholder and the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Prince Olayiwola Shuittu who gave the advice said the current plans by the government to establish several deep sea ports apart from the ones already planned for Lekki in Lagos and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State which implementation has stated in stages, is nothing but a white elephant project that will not yield the nation any good result.

According to the ANCLA boss, there are enough seaports already in the country with most of them not functioning optimally like the Calabar, Warri and Onne ports.

He said: “Our problem is always that of promoting and implementing wrong policies for political considerations. Citing the case of Inland Container Depots (ICDs) established across the country seven years ago that has not yielded any result, he said: “The ICDs will not work because at the end of the day, it is more expensive to the importer because he will have to pay to bring his cargo to the port, pay the numerous handling charges in the port, pay for

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

transportation of the cargo to the ICD and still pay to clear his cargo at the ICD.” The ANCLA President said more than 30 percent of the goods that come into Nigeria still pass through the land borders meaning that Nigerians prefer using the neighbouring ports because they are more efficient.

He said Nigeria should rather strive to be a transit nation for port operations in the sub-region so that other countries around us would rely on us for their maritime cargo operations describing the rush for deep sea ports as untimely.

“What makes a country

ciency in the ports operations in the country and not merely on the number of deep seaports available and this efficiency is lacking in Nigeria,” he said, adding that what determines whether an importer will use a particular port is the function of efficiency obtained in the port.

He also blames the woes confronting the sector on the manner the Federal Government concessioned all our ports in 2006, adding that Nigeria is the only country that concessioned her ports and gave it away completely.

PSN seeks improved funding for healthcare delivery

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HARMACISTS under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) have called for improved funding and radical innovations to boost healthcare delivery in the country.

This was the outcome of the just concluded 32nd CPN annual national conference held in Calabar, Cross River State.

Speaking at the occasion, President of PSN, Olumide Akintayo, in his address said: “Pharmacy as strategic profession in healthcare cannot

continue be an exception in its quest for relevance and survival and that is the reason we’ll continue to dig deep in search of radical innovations geared towards enhancing service delivery in the best interest of the public. Pharmacy has much to offer in helping to meet rising expectation, not only in promoting better health and preventing illness but also in contributing to the effective delivery of care closer to home and in the communities where people live, the very ideals of the National Primary Healthcare Agency.”

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WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

'Same-sex marriage is unbiblical'

Rev. Father Augustine Medaiyedu is the Parish Priest of St. Augustine Catholic Church, Ikorodu, Lagos. He spoke with Edozie Udeze on same-sex marriage, among other national issues. Excerpts:

•Medaiyedu

W

HAT is your view on the childmarriage bill before the National Assembly?

Yeah.

It is an unfortunate thing because the child bill is abnormal.

Even in our other African countries, an abnormal thing becomes nothing in Nigeria. One of the senators, Yerima, to be precise, picked a little girl to Nigeria and I think he is building on that foundation. I think the law has to do with those in the North. Most often, their kids are given out in

marriage at a tender age.

I happen to know one who was given out when she was barely three years old in Benue State. And when the lady grew to 18, her father promptly said to her 'go and meet your husband.’ And the lady ran out of the family house.

Somehow, she was nursing another dream, not even in marriage. She was nursing to go into a religious life. And she eventually found herself in Owerri in a monastery. I think it took about two to three years before the

family ever got to know she was in a monastery.

So, this started long ago and the climax is what we have now. Even though the Senate is trying to say they were misunderstood.

Even Yerima said he was misunderstood; that is not what he was saying. I think it is something that is giving us another side of the Senate. It means there is no hope even for the girlchild in Nigeria and this is not as it should be. And the Church is totally against that.

Has the Catholic Church actually taken a stand on gay marriage?

The Church respects individuals; the Church respects the rights of individuals and that if someone comes out as a gay person, who proclaims to be gay, the Church respects his rights as a human being. He should not be marginalised.

Going by the biblical accounts we have, the Church says no to it. That is the stand of the Catholic

Church because it is immoral and God descended hard on Sodom because of it.

That means the Church cannot wed them?

No, the Church cannot wed them because marriage, when we go by the book of Genesis, is clear. God started it. And so when we go biblical, marriage is between a man and a woman.

So, why is the Church not coming out to make a categorical statement on it?

Well, the stand of the Church… I think the Pope is taking his time. We are still waiting for him to simply make a comment.

One thing is that the Pope does not just come out to make a statement. The Pope has what is called his own theologians, who are supposed to work with him on issues like this.

They will brainstorm on it before the Pope can come out to make a categorical statement on it. Before the advent of Pope Francis, I think people were actually

waiting to see what the position of the Church will be. Before then Benedict the 16th had already said something. The stand of the Church remains what we have in the Bible.

Can the proposed amnesty solve the Boko Haram menace?

I want to speak as a person and not for the Church. I do not think amnesty is the best way to solve the problem. Judging even from the Niger Delta example, amnesty has not really solved the situation.

Resorting to Amnesty is just begging the question.

As I said sometime ago, and I stand to be corrected, we need a revolution in Nigeria. We are not getting it right at all in Nigeria. No, we are not.

Why are you asking for a pedestrian bridge at the bus stop close to your church?

Recently, we have just discovered that as a parish here, we have lost a lot of our members in the course of having to cross the road from the other side of

Okeriya to the church.

Most often, this is early in the morning from 5 o’clock or thereabout.

Some of the danfo drivers, because of the bad spots in Agric Bus stop, will not take their own route.

They take the route going out of Ikorodu - driving one way. In the process, they obstruct a lot of things on the road. Some of them don't even have headlamps and so they easily knock people down.

And we have just discovered that one of the primary functions of government is the preservation of lives. All our elected leaders swore by the constitution to save the life of the citizen. We discover that these are areas government can come in too. And we know that the government of Babatunde Fashola has a listening ear.

For us, it is right to have a pedestrian bridge on that spot to save more lives and property of the people who make use of that bus stop regularly.

xxx

NEWS

Thrive empowers business owners for leadership

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HOUSANDS of business owners and leaders recently gathered for Thrive, a business seminar organised by the Harvesters International Christian Church(HICC), Lagos.

The event was put together to address the information gap in the quest for profitable business ventures in Nigeria.

The clinic session featured a panel led by the Co-founder and Executive Director of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole; Jude Anele, a senior executive of Diamond Bank and Ope Filani, General Manager, Forbes Africa.

Others were serial entreprenuer, George Agbonlahor Jr., and an Agriculture entrepreneuer and former United Nations Environment Protection (UNEP) consultant, Shadrach Madlion.

The lead guest speaker, Dr. Sam Chand, author and leadership expert, capped the sessions with truly outstanding insights on how to grow and lead in business.

Chand charged business

By Sunday Oguntola

owners to increase their leadership capacity, pain capacity, exposure capacity and risk capacity.

He and other speakers pointed out that weak character, and not competence, is a

major reason why a lot of people fail in business.

They emphasised that risk takers gain the most in their generations and identified business owners must continuously seek knowledge of their immediate and extended

environments.

Participants shared their experiences, challenges and success stories during the interactive sessions, exchanging vital ideas on how to conquer the Nigerian business terrain.

AD E R T S U 50 M 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.

•R-L George Agbonlahor, Tonye Cole, Bolaji Idowu, Jude Anele & others after a session

Kindly contact Sunday Oguntola on 08034309265 or shinystarontop@gmail.com for advert details and participation.

You will be glad you did!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Worship

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COLUMNS

The prophetic Ministry of Isaiah(10)

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T is total obedience to God's commandments and instructions that fortifies the love He has for His chosen people and tribe.

In spite of the successive misbehaviour of the Israelites, God still kept the covenant made with Abraham, and the love and promise to king David, indicating the Messiah would come from that tribe.

Deviating a bit from the earlier chapters that was more of anger of God towards the recalcitrant Hebrews, here came a soothing message that fortified the eternal love of God to the tribe of Jesse. It was a situation a compassionate father, seeing the Israelites as prodigal sons that have come for forgiveness of their misconduct.

A prophesy came from Prophet Isaiah of the coming of a branch from the tribe of Jesse, who will be filled with Holy Spirit, and will stand as banner to His children, with the Gentiles equally seeking Him. In Isaiah 11:1-5 mentions some some qualities of the coming Branch: 1.Spirit of God will rest on Him. 2.Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding 3. Spirit of Counsel and Power 4. Spirit of Knowledge and fear of the Lord 5. He will not judge by what he sees or hears, but through righteousness.

Spirit of God will rest on Him: Without the Spirit of God, one is nothing, and that was the reason why Jesus Christ admonished the disciples that whenever they were brought before the authorities in synagogue, they should not be afraid for the Holy Spirit would guide them on what to say (Luke 12:1112). For us as Christians and in any capacity we find

Superintendent Israel Akinadewo

SANCTUARY MESSAGE ourselves, we should always seek the direction of the Spirit of God before taking decisions.

It is the lack of consultations with the Holy Spirit that make people to regret their actions and inactions, for consultations with the Holy Spirit will only lead to only one path Joyfulness.

Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding: When biblical Solomon was asked in his dream at Gibeon what he wanted on ascension of the throne, he requested for the wisdom to be able guide his subjects aright ( 1 Kings 3:515; 1 Kings 4:29; 2 Chronicles 9:22). Without the Spirit of Wisdom, man will just be behaving foolishly and will not be able to command respect. Where he is expected not to talk, he will talk loudly and carelessly and vice versa (Proverbs 8:11; Proverbs 16:16 and 22; Ecclesiastes 7:12; Ecclesiastes 9:16).

Spirit of Counsel and Power: Since all powers belong to God and should be ascribed only to Him (Psalm 68:34), and nobody can get it except from that source, which is God. Therefore, everybody that are in position of authority require the Spirit of

Counsel and Power to be able to take informed and godly decisions.

Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of God: The bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7), therefore whosoever in need of knowledge and wisdom must have the fear of God in him.

With the fear of God in us, we will be careful in destroying our fellow human, which will enable us to always take steps that will make the name of God to always be glorified.

He will not judge by what he sees or hears but through righteousness: It is scripturally said that righteousness exalt a nation (Proverbs 14:34), hence wherever there is righteousness, there will be liberty, fairness, justice, equity, and greatness. All these were what made our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to be exalted till tomorrow.

Leaders should not judge on hear-says but on sound facts and wisdom (reference Solomon in 1 Kings 3:16-28).

Meanwhile, God did not spare that idol-infected nation - Babylon and other known enemies of Israel like Egypt, Edom, Moab, Ammonite, and the brothers of Judah that have colluded with the enemies against his own people in the latter part of the chapter, saying there would all regret their actions, whilst the Israelites as said in Chapter 12 would rejoice and be glad in the restoration of their lost glory.

Prayer point Pray that God should restore back your captivity and fortune (Psalm 126).

Comments and enquiries: +2348060572904; motailatusanctuarychurch@yahoo.com

CCC factions seek unification

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HERE seems to be end in sight for the raging 27-year succession crisis in the Celestial Church of God(CCC).

The various factions laying claims to the leadership of the church last week agreed to bury the hatchets and chart a new course for the assembly.

The chairman of the church's unification committee, Gen. Ekundayo Opaleye(rtd.), confirmed this development during a parley with reporters.

Opaleye, a former Military Governor of Ondo State, spoke with reporters at the church's national headquarters in Makoko, Lagos Sate.

The 33-member committee was set up in 2010 with del-

By Sunday Oguntola egates from all the factions with a mandate to consult widely and proffer solutions to the crisis rocking the church.

Opaleye informed that the committee has proposed a unique model of sound ecclesiastic administration that would serve the peculiarities of the church, which has been well- received by the elders.

He added that the committee also decided to uphold the tenets and the liturgy of the church, which had been bastardised during the long years of conflict.

The CCC, once reputed as the fast-growing indigenious church, had been without an

acceptable central authority since its founder, Pastor Samuel Oshoffa, died from injuries sustained in an auto crash in 1985.

Efforts to reconcile the contending factions have yielded no positive fruits.

Opaleye, however, said said the committee's recommendations are attracting interests with factional leaders ready to embrace peace.

"I can confirm we are in touch with all of them. They are prepared to drop selfish ambitions for the church.

"We are working underground and sooner than people expect, the church will have an acceptable central authority again," he assured.

Kumuyi: We must fight compromises in the Church

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HURCH leaders have been charged to flee corruption, fight compromises and follow Christ with sincere hearts.

The General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bile Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, gave the charge at the annual Worker's Retreat of the church at its Conference Centre on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Kumuyi noted that churches in Nigeria are

By Adeola Ogunlade growing numerically but lamented members lack holiness and remain unconverted, unconnected and uncommitted to Christ.

According to him: "We will only be able to hand down the true gospel that is able to save and take us to heaven to the next generation when we make frantic efforts to remain uncompromising to the truth that our children can live and stand by no matter the odds

around them."

He added: "No matter the socio-economic changes in our world today, God will never change His standard to suit any individual or Church because He is a holy God and He requires that His Church be holy and without blemish."

The holiness preacher said though the world will seek to influence the Church, "we will need to always draw the lines so that we can keep ourselves unspotted in this perilous world."

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Enjoying Divine Visitation (2)

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AST week, I brought to you the introductory segment of this teaching. I showed you how you can enjoy divine visitations through your giving.

This week, I will be teaching on one of the ways that God blesses people - through divine ideas. I consider ideas as compound thoughts that stimulate moves. Ideas are thought products.

Ideas are mental virtues accessible mainly by thinkers.

They don't just drop on your laps from the sky; they are captured thoughts aimed at specific solutions. They come only to people who are given to the art of reasoning and people that engage their capacity for logical, rational and analytical thinking. Ideas are, therefore, the exclusive reserve of addicted thinkers.

Divine ideas are the ways through which God blesses a person. There is a story told of Bill Gates that fascinates me.

It was reported that one day, his mother kept calling for him around the house, "Bill, Bill, where are you?" He was down in the basement, doing what he knew best to do. The story went on to say that when his mother finally opened the door to where he was, he responded, reacting by reflex as it were, "I'm thinking! Don't you think?"

Today, Bill Gates can be classified as one of the greatest revolutionists of our days. His input in technology has changed the face of education globally. This, again, is a proof of what I have often postulated that every great star is a thinker, and every committed thinker is a potential star.

I believe it is the tasking of the senses that commands success. At the root of every gain

is the use of the brain. It is brainwork that makes things work!

I agree that wealth is indeed a product of man's capacity to think.

The good news here is that everyone has a "pound" of brain as gleaned from Christ's parable in Luke 19:11-27.

However, whereas some trade theirs, others trash theirs. Some task it; most people bury it. E.W. Kenyon is quoted as saying, "Make your brain work. It will sweat, but make it work. It will improve; it will develop, until you become the envy of those around you." The more you task your brain, the greater the ideas you generate, and the greater results you command. When you stop thinking, you star stinking!

Thinking is the only way to generate viable ideas, as ideas are communicated through thoughts-just a flash across the mind. Thoughts are mental treasures, but are highly volatile. If they are not quickly engraved on paper as they come, they go to the grave unhindered. They fast become dissipated, if not promptly documented.

So, don't go to bed without some paper near you. I believe those who think on paper think better, as paper is the most secure store for thoughts.

That is why every addicted thinker is a committed writer.

No wonder, God said: Write what thou seeth (Habakkuk 2:2).

He instructs us to become paper thinkers. Inspired ideas can come anytime, so, you are free to sit down even on the toilet seat and write.

I believe inspired ideas are the greatest assets of man.

They establish man's earthly relevance, or how else did Abraham become rich? A di-

vine idea came his way that made him the greatest farmer in his time. While others were going about in search of water courses for their cattle, Abraham received an idea to dig a well.

Whereas every animal farmer was driving his cattle and sheep long distances to streams for watering, Abraham got an idea on how to water his, with no stress to the cattle. He wondered where the rain that fell the previous year had gone. He decided that it must have gone into the ground. He, therefore, dug a well of water for watering his cattle. This made them fatter than the others, because they were not being moved about in search of drinking water. As a result, Abraham became the biggest animal farmer in his time. The Bible records that he became very rich in cattle, silver and gold (Genesis 13:2).

Think of Jacob. It took an inspired idea to free him from the oppressive hold of Laban.

He was able to dictate the colour and shade of his cattle by making the strong ones mate before the rods of polar he placed in front of them in the watering troughs (Genesis 30:37-43). Through an inspired idea, he was able to subdue his enemy. Nothing in the world compares with the potency of inspired ideas.

Friend, the power for inspired idea is available, if you are saved. You get saved by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. If you are set for it, please say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins.

Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again! I will continue next week.

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, you can get my books - Towards Empowerment For Change, Pillars Of Destiny, and Possessing Your Possession.

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6.30 a.m., 8.30 a.m., 10.30 a.m. and 12.30 noon respectively.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

Otuya consecrated bishop

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HE 34th President of the United Gospel Churches Organisation of Nigeria (UGGAN) and founder of the Christ Mega Church Nigeria and Overseas, Rev.(Mrs) Priscilla Otuya, has been consecrated a bishop.

The consecration was conducted by Bishop George Amu at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Lagos.

She said: "When the Lord called me and said that I should serve Him as an agent of salvation, I heeded. I am very happy that I took the call seriously and today I have every cause to thank the •Amu Lord."

By Olamide Akiode While urging women to wake up to their responsibilities in the home, Church and the larger society, Otuya noted that

success would not come on a platter of gold.

The event also featured presentation of men and women who bagged doctorate degrees in theology from different churches.

handing over the symbol of consecration to Otuya

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THE ARTS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

Something out of the heart

With one side of his body still paralysed due to stroke since eight years ago, artist and painter Uchechukwu Nwosu is still persevering in his doggedness and determination. Since his sickness began, he has done two solo exhibitions having learnt the use of his left hand with which he now paints and draws. Come October 25 this year, Uche will again be on song with about 40 works in an outing tagged old and new. Edozie Udeze takes a look at some of his works and the artist himself in this revealing encounter

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HIS is the symbolism of life.

Uchechukwu Nwosu has consistently shown that there’s no impossibility for the willing mind. About eight years ago, he was mowed down by stroke which paralysed the right side of his body. But Uche has risen from the ashes of that unfortunate development, or like most of his close pals would put it, he has refused to allow his brush and easel to rest or desert him.

Uche is an artist’s artist, a painter whose penchant for humour and satire is legendary. Once he picks his brush, his mind goes round the bend to invent ideas that are deeply symbolic and profoundly surrealistic, looking at issues that will put you in a sober mood.

Now, he has learnt to paint with his left hand, a change that surprised many of his pals when he began to do that shortly after he discovered he couldn’t regain the use of his right hand. Uche loves talking with his brush; his love for colours, often so beautifully awkward and outlandish, gives his works unique and passionate appeal.

Come October 25 to November 1, Uche Nwosu’s 40 works will be exhibited at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos. These works, coming barely two years after a well-celebrated solo exhibition titled Shadows, Mountains and Valleys, show a gifted painter whose resilient spirit defines him as a lion.

A man with a lion’s heart is that person who never says die or gives up easily in times of adversity.

With the theme of the new collection as old and new, a symbolism geared towards making an eloquent artistic statement, this artist whose speech is still impaired is poised to depict a paradigm; that life is full of meaningful innuendoes for those who give meaning to what they love and cherish so much.

In his sober moments, Uche is fond of recounting that “I turned out to be an artist because the arts excite discussions more than any other occupation under the sun. Just see how my love of life is married to my art. Now I am able to keep engendering discussions where they’re lacking or reviving them where their embers are growing cold. What more can I aspire to?” he asked in that his gentle mien that has come to redefine his whole essence.

To him, the climax of an art is in its ability to touch the heart; to say one or two things about the

state of man and nature in the universe where pollution is fast eroding the landscapes of most societies. In one instance, going through some of the works that constitute old and new with Uche, was somewhat Herculean. It was a bit harrowing because you have to be patient with him. He would use his fingers to trace some of the lines and contours in the paintings just for you to grasp the meaning of what he is trying to say.

Then he would smile into your face, saying, “oh, not that.” Then a snide little frown would follow as he insists that you follow him meticulously so as to get it right. Uche loves to allow his art speak to you, sort of appeal to your senses if you are someone who flows with the contours of the mixtures of colours.

In his somewhat mischievous recourse, he experiments with form, religion, sex and man’s excursion into the labyrinth of the world. In Rose, Morning and Night, a work that captures your attention with some kind of efficacious resonance, he juxtaposes it in a sort of interface. There’s this inter-connectivity between life and death, between darkness and light. To him, even when the roses blossom in winter, with the sizzling effect to win man over for love and compassion, nature bows to the dictates of man. Man can decide to cut the roses to pieces or trim it to sooth his caprices.

The moon, in the throes of all this, still shines brightly to show that love also, as delicate as it may appear in the night, can be enhanced by this brightness. But darkness and light can meet in the context of roses.

In other words, the divide between the two is not really difficult to discern. But then, Uche brings in God, the Omnipotent Maker of mankind as the final arbiter of the indices of life. This work clearly defines the height of creativity where the artist has the final word in terms of what colour to use to bring the totality of forms involved in this palette.

In another work, Seeker, he goes more philosophical in defining his form and style. Although, it is acrylic

•Uche Nwosu and his works

•Seeker by Uche Nwosu

on canvass which he gives a deeper insight into truth, man, in his quest to seek the truth, finds himself in a reflective momentous mood. He strolls off into a lonely place, walking leisurely with his face drawn and eyes focused to seek where and how he can discover who he is.

Seeker is a work meant to reappraise man’s hope in things he cannot see or give meaning to. In this wise, he has no choice but to continue to ask questions to be able to find out more about how and why he is here on earth.

As an artist, Uche’s ideas sometimes confirm the nuances of his inner self which do not easily come to the surface at the moment. But in writing that out sometime ago, he clarified thus: “In the course of my work, I often come to cross roads

when it comes to decision making .

Do I just take a sound swipe at the passing fancies or trap the fleeting essences and pin them down on time? The answer to this surreal question determines the materials and techniques I employ to explore varied themes.”

In his natural tendency to be explicit, Uche uses symbolisms to make caricature of issues and satirises subjects that are seen as taboos.

Whenever he is asked to explain or define such symbols, Uche would rather go practical, but in a funny and innovative way.

So whether the fleeting essences are bottled up or pinned down for artistic beauty, satire, love and romance rule Uche’s inner heart. “But in all that I do,” he found himself stating once again “the truth in me

“In his somewhat mischievous recourse, he experiments with form, religion, sex and man’s excursion into the labyrinth of the world. In Rose, Morning and Night, a work that captures your attention with some kind of efficacious resonance, he juxtaposes it in a sort of interface. There’s this inter-connectivity between life and death, between darkness and light”

sticks out. I can’t hide it no matter how I mask it. My faith is tomorrow, love of atmosphere and the search for the ultimate truth drive me to theme surreal. Therefore, irrespective of whether I use acrylic to express how together we are in our separateness or oil to smear the canvass of the forces of re-colonisation, it bears hearing that mercy and pity on the orphan, widow and vulnerable children cannot be drowned by form.”

Like the stark truth that strikes the soul at all times, the artist shows in Resurrection, Blossom and Beach, works that dwell in surrealism that penetrate the society and point out areas where man has erred. This was why some of his colleagues agree that Uche has gone through so much metamorphosis in this his endless quest to use form to dominate the world and draw attention to himself. Even when some of his contemporaries who are healthy and kicking have not done much, Uche has pushed out more works than anyone could ever imagine. He is purposeful, determined and zestful in a way only he can explain. He is just alive to his professional calling.

Often, he taps you on the shoulder and groans, “when…my speech.” Then he’d slur, pointing to his mouth to show you that it pains him so much that he cannot express himself freely anymore. This is the constant agony that befalls the artist which though does not limit his talent, but does hinder his full application of the issues he wants to say out to the people.

Uchechukwu Nwosu studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) between 1986 and 1991. Aside participating in several group exhibitions in different parts of the country, Uche says he finds solace in some of the teachers who formed him at the UNN. They included Professors Obiora Udechukwu, El- Anatsui, Ola Oloide, and Chike Aniakor.

These teachers not only serve as his models but also inculcated in him the discipline and knowledge that have been propelling him on in life.

Currently, he is a staff of the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Lagos.

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R

OAD is a very important resource ingredient of infrastructure for various important reasons. As a basic factor, it is a crucial part of resource system essential for collective development. Apart from its primary benefits of transportation, it is a key element in global economic rating of nations, as a measure of economic growth and development. Economic development experts' worldwide, have remained consistent in pushingfor aggressive economic development of nations through diversification, industrialization, human capacity development, careful resources allocation and innovativeness. Despite the wonderful achievements in technology and internet-enabled communication technology/ system, ROAD has seen no replacement, as a driver of the much-needed economic growth and development, for its role as a facilitator of transportation. President OlusegunObasanjo, in his inaugural address of May 1999, stated: "… Transport is the lifeline of the economy and social interactions. An inefficient transport system implies stagnation in all sectors. Our priorities in this sector will be the design and implementing a new policy on road maintenance …"

One can only imagine the extent of dependence on ROAD for transportation in Nigeria of approximately 150-160 million people.

Expectedly, therefore, the interests and concern are as engaging, vast and expressive, for reasons of economic benefits, social interaction, ease of simple/common movement of people and goods, community development….So the extent of general concern is understood. Personal experience will immediately include the Apapa Oshodi Express Way and the 3rd Mainland Bridge, Makurdi-Gboko-Yandev road and Ife-IjebuJesa road in Osun State. Reports have thrown up other road users' experiences with Ekparakwa- Azumini road in Akwa-Ibom State, Lalin Bridge along Langtang- Lalin - Tunkus - Shendam road in Plateau State. Nation-wide, the concerns, experiences and comments are as widely inclusive. These experiences are swayed sharply between sadness and joy, in line with the state and condition of these roads and bridges (so many others that have been rehabilitated along the over 35,00km long federal roads across Nigeria, in the last three years).

The extent of Federal government's concern and investment on roads - construction, maintenance and rehabilitation - is open to individual interpretation. Records have consistently shown inadequacy in this regard, and to that extent, the general perception has been negative. Understandably however,resource allocation and investment on roads is a function of determination and commitment, especially among developing nations such as ours. The pattern of federal government investment from immediately postindependenceNigeria has been selective, based on urbanization and satellite allocation, economic viability, social impact and population. With the post-military political era, this pattern became tainted with political calculations - the need for representatives to report political gains and ben-

Continued from page 18 metres.

The UNEP report revealed that the Ogoni homeland had indeed been turned into an “ecological disaster,” as the Bill of Rights asserted. We remind ourselves that the UNEP report made recommendations that most of us saw as low hanging fruits that government could easily have responded to assuage the pains of the people and commence a process of restoring the territory to an acceptable state. The apparent inaction is nothing but a squandering of opportunities to rescue a people and for impactful political action.

A total clean up of Ogoni land will take a life time or about thirty years at the least. That is the length of time UNEP estimates it would require to clean up the water bodies in the territory. And it would require an additional five (5) years to clean up the land. How is that a lifetime? Well, life expectancy in the Niger Delta stands at approximately forty-one years.

At the eve of the first anniversary of the presentation of the UNEP report, the Federal Government hurriedly cobbled up an outfit incongruously named Hydrocarbons Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP). The project was set up basically to hoodwink the Ogoni people into thinking that

FERMA: A convergence of intent, engagement & perception

efits.

Notwithstanding the method of resource allocation for ROAD as a component of infrastructural development, it became evident that for meaningful impact, emphasis should shift from road construction to road maintenance (and rehabilitation). Road usage increased as a direct consequence of population explosion and growth in economic activities,exerting excessive pressure on the 'few' roads available. It was only a matter of time before the shift in emphasis. There needed to be a deliberate effort to maintain existing roads.

In year 2002, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency - FERMA - was borne(Federal Government Act Number 7, 2002). The Act stipulated the Agency's mandate: To MONITOR AND MAINTAIN all existing Federal roads in the country, EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY.As a policy shift of direct consequence, FERMA inherited enormous responsibility. In its ten years of operation since it started operation in 2003, the critical issues of impact assessment and perception have lingered.

In line with its mandate, however, FERMA can be credited with good measure of remarkable success. Especially within the last three years,the Agency achieved about 80% of its achievements since inception. On the whole, 67% of Federal roads (about 35,000 km nationwide), have been put back use as a result of FERMA's efficient and effective maintenance. This effective intervention includes bridges that had hitherto been in state of neardamage. From between 2003 to date, FERMA has reduced the bad portion of Federal road across the country from 29,750km to 11,900km, representing over 66% ofthe entire federal road network nation-wide(and still counting).

The big test of FERMA's character came, when

it became expedient upon the Federal government, to move power turbines, generators and other heavy power equipment from Onne port, in Rivers State, to Kaduna, in the drive towards increased power generation. The critical issue was deciding between the options of road and air transportation, considering attendant cost implication, convenience at handling and safety. At the end when the federal government made the tough choice of road transportation, Engineer Gabriel C. Amuchi (the MD/CEO of FERMA) and his management team had to prove themselves. As the Agency charged with road maintenance, FERMA had to deliver on good roads strong enough to carry the weight of the turbines and its component equipment, over the distance. As we know, nothing damages roads as much as excessive weight. It was amazing, the amount of competence demonstrated by the FERMA team, to ensure the turbines, batteries and other equipment went through the 950 km road distance between Onne Port in Rivers State and Kudenda Industrial district in Kaduna State. That impressive feat was a result of FERMA's direct involvement and engagement.

While we commend FERMA's good showing, it is important to articulate the critical issues that must be addressed, being essentials in complement of FERMA's efforts atensuring usable or good federal roads, and the gains recorded so far. We must set our goals at optimizing the returns on our collective investment on road infrastructure as a nation. Constant in international economic rating of nations, is the extent of economic growth and development, based on resource allocation.

For comparative advantage, therefore, individual nations make deliberate efforts to channel invest-

Two years after the UNEP Report: Ogoni still groans action was being taken to implement the UNEP report. A year after the setting up of HYPREP under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources – a major polluter of Ogoni land - the only visible acts of implementation of the UNEP report has been the planting of sign posts at some places informing the people that their environment is contaminated and that they should keep off. You could almost laugh, but this is sad and serious. Keep off your environment! No options given. The people still drink the polluted waters and farm the polluted lands. Seafood is still being scrounged from the polluted waters and community people still process their foods in the crude-coated creeks.

Two years after the UNEP report, we believe that it is not too late for the government to act.

President Jonathan can: • Declare Ogoni land an ecological disaster zone and invest resources to tackle the deep environmental disaster here.

• Urgently provide potable drinking water across Ogoni land • Commission an assessment of the entire Niger Delta environment. An assessment or audit of the environment of the entire nation should equally

be on the cards urgently.

• Those found guilty of crimes against the people and the environment should be brought to book and made to pay for their misdeeds. Blame for oil thefts must go beyond the diversionary focus on the miniscule volumes taken up by bush refiners.

• The major crude oil stealing mafias must be uncovered. Crude oil and gas volumes must also be metred as demanded by groups such as the Environmental Rights Action (ERA).

• Engage in dialogue with the Ogoni people as to the time-scale and scope of actions to be taken to restore the environment. Issues raised in the Ogoni Bills of Rights and the UNEP report provide good bases for dialogue. Extend this all over the Niger Delta.

• Ensure that the actions to tackle the ecological disaster that the Niger Delta has become are not seen as opportunity for patronage or jobs for the boys.

• UNEP should play a key oversight role, to ensure quality and to build confidence in the process.

• The body to tackle the problem should be domiciled in the Ministry of Environment and should

ment into sectors with greater potentials to propel their over-all economic growth and development.

Nigeria must be pragmatic in this regard, carefully articulating investment policies and decisions, based on comparatively better reward potentials. With the present team at FERMA, it will cost Nigeria less per kilometer of road over time, to appreciably increase funding of FERMA, for better performance. Let us put in proper perspective the recent successful transportation of those turbines and the other equipment in the face of cost and convenience, as we appreciate FERMA's relevance in our development efforts as a nation.

Add to that is the Agency's proactivity and expanded scope of engagement. Today, the Agency has engaged in the production of cold asphalt, to make up for the hitherto persistent shortfall in its supply. Shortage of cold asphalt is largely responsible for most of the portion of roads that should have been patched and covered up. The Agency had to commit its expertise and material resources into producing this very important material for adequate nation-wide distribution, to enable contractors' efficient discharge of their duty of intervention on surface failure.

As we count FERMA's gains, however, there is, clearly, a need for attitude adjustment on the part ofroad users, if we must continue on the path of improvement. The average roads user is guilty of road abuse. Apart from excessive vehicular weight on our roads, dumping of refuse, leaking sewage/pipe, cutting across road for purposes of laying pipes and cables, street trading and all such negative practices, combine to pressure our roads towards damage and short life-span. We need to contribute to ensuring good roads, by adjusting our attitude.

That leads us to the convergence point for all stakeholders - the federal government,roads maintenance Agency and the road users: we are almost equally indebted to ensuring usable roads, as we are entitled to the benefits of a network of good roads. Road users must adopt the right attitude, appreciate the common investments we all make to have good roads and commit our collective efforts towards protecting our investment. On the part of government (federal, states and local government), investment decision/policy on roads, must be carefully considered for the common good of all, in the face of scarce resources. Policy on roads must amply be supportive of continuous maintenance, as in the case of FERMA. The last line: FERMA's gains can be easily replicated in all the states of the federation if similar agencies are established to complement its role at the state level. Such move will speed up the actualization of FERMA'sOPERATION ZERO POTHOLE campaign on federal government roads, nationwide.

not by any means be under the polluting Petroleum Resources Ministry.

• Shell should be ordered to urgently dismantle whatever remains of their facilities in Ogoni land along with toxic wastes they dumped in the territory.

• Shell should also be required to replace the Trans Niger Delta pipeline that carries crude oil from other parts of the region across Ogoni territory.

• Clean up the polluted lands and waters.

These are just some of the steps that must be taken urgently. The UNEP report gives a good list of several things that need to be done. The time has come to halt the ostrich posture and to face the national environmental challenges squarely. Two years is long enough. Our peoples have patiently lined up to fall into early graves.

Twenty-three years ago several Ogoni people were sacrificed because they dared to speak up concerning the state of their homeland.

A stanza of the Nigerian National Anthem urges, “The Labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain.” We cannot continue to sing those lines mindlessly while the ecological disaster persists and our heroes groan in their graves.

Bassey is Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)

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Low selfesteem and overweight —PAGE 57

‘It’s unfair not to honour authors of the national anthem’

Professor Babatunde Ogunnaike, Dean, College of Engineering, University of Delaware, USA, is one of the five authors of the national anthem who have remained unacknowledged for their work. In continuation of our series on the writers of the words of the anthem, Prof Ogunnaike, a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, in this interview with Lekan Otufodunrin recalls his involvement in the writing of the, anthem and the state of the nation.

C

AN you recall your involvement in contributing to the national anthem?

I recall being on my national service (NYSC) in 1977 (in Port Harcourt) when the announcement came out for contributions to the new National Anthem. And I recall reading some of the submissions because they were then routinely published in the Evening Times (this was the evening version of the Daily Times).

I recall thinking that I might be able to submit something that might be just as good, if not better, than the ones I had read. So I did.

What lines of the national anthem are yours?

I believe that most of the second verse of the national anthem (if not the entire thing itself) was the second verse of the poem that I submitted. My first verse had a line similar to “The labours of our heroes past” which ended up in the anthem; I am also sure that many of the other submissions had lines similar to this one.

I think that my line emphasised “sacrifice” instead of labour and I don’t think I used heroes. I do not have the original submission with me, alas; and that was some 36 years ago now, so it is difficult for me to recall precisely what was in the first verse.

What informed your composition?

A sense that Nigeria had a lot of potential that was untapped; and that we needed good and selfless leadership; and that with divine guidance and dedication to national progress, we can become a great nation.

Were you compensated or acknowledged in any way for your contribution?

A telegram was sent to my home address in Ibadan, but I had left for graduate school in the United States by the time it arrived. My father forwarded a copy to me. I did not

receive any compensation.

Has the country been fair to the authors of the anthem by not honouring them with a national award like it did to the composer of the music, the late Pa Odiase?

Of course it is unfair not to honour someone for such major contributions.

What should be done about honouring you and other co-authors?

I am not sure what should be done, but most other nations acknowledge the authors of their national anthem in some way or other. I have lived in the US now for about 25 years and everyone knows that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the national anthem (even I, a recent immigrant, know this). At the very least, the people of Nigeria should be told who wrote their national anthem.

You were quoted in a previous interview that you usually feel a sense of pride and sadness when you hear the national anthem. Can you expatiate on this?

A sense of pride to have been involved in writing the words, but sadness because 50something years after independence we still have not realised even the very basic aspects of what a modern nation should be. That is sad.

The message of the national anthem seems not to have been imbibed by Nigerians, how can this be done?

That takes leadership modelling for the nation what our collective values should be; it takes parents modelling it to their children, and elders in the villages showing examples to the younger folks. People who take pride in their nation, people who have reason to be proud of their nation, are often inspired by the lyrics of their national anthem. People who are struggling to put food on the table; who feel like their leaders do not care about them; who are disconnected from the fabric of society—

such people have no time to imbibe any message in any anthem—they are too busy with the task of surviving.

Why has the country not been able to accomplish the dreams of our founding fathers considering the abundant resources we have?

This is very simple: extremely poor—and incredibly selfish—leadership. It is not “politically correct” to say this, but we have not been blessed with inspirational or selfless leaders with vision and the moral strength and courage not only to do the right thing, but also to challenge the nation to be the best that it can be.

Our leaders have mostly failed miserably.

The only leader that was anything close to being inspirational was Murtala Mohammed and he was gunned down before he could do much.

You and Dr Sota, a co-author of the national anthem, are among many accomplished Nigerians outside the country.

How we can limit the high rate of the brain drain we have been experiencing?

You may or may not know this, but I lived and worked in Nigeria from 1982 to 1988 as an assistant professor at the University of Lagos. I had to leave in 1988 when I could no longer support my family! The salary of a senior lecturer was paltry; I was not corrupt; I don’t know how to sell cement and rice—the only thing I knew how to do was to teach and do research.

I could not do any of that and still make a living in Nigeria at the time. I had no option but to leave if I wanted a decent life for my children. In addition, the entire system (people in the customs, and the police, NEPA, tax office, even the banks) all made life difficult. I couldn’t clear my things through the customs after I arrived because everyone wanted a bribe, but I was a poor graduate student coming back home after finishing my PhD.

The entire Nigerian system is hostile to people like us. Not sure what else can be done, but if Nigeria wants people to stay (and many of us truly want to be in Nigeria), perhaps some of these artificial barriers can be removed.

Also, it is difficult to function in a country where there is no rule of law, and where the government is essentially not very competent. I do not want to go on complaining about the government, but it really has a significant role to play in keeping its resources at home instead of literally forcing them away (as they did for many of us).

Tell me more about yourself and your involvement back home.

I come back to Nigeria as often as I can, mostly to help with a relatively new WorldBank sponsored University in Abuja (The African University of Science and Technology).

I am now involved with the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, having been fortunate enough to have been inducted with the class of 2012.

I love Nigeria and would love nothing more than to be able to put something back into the system that gave me a great foundation. It pains me that I can be successful in another country and do many things for that country, but I do not have much of an opportunity to do the same for my own country of birth. I am grateful to the US for providing me the opportunity to study for my PhD here, and in a sense, it is proper for me also to put something back into the US system for what they gave to me.

But I would also love the opportunity to be able to do the same for my country of birth, where my education foundation was laid. I just do not want to have to sacrifice my family in the process.

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Life

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013

•Oba Momoh

T

HE designed crown on the arch entrance into the expansive palace is conspicuous as it adds to the aesthetics of the palace.

Engraved on the arch is Olukare’s Palace. The leaves on the big baobab tree at the centre of the market serve as a shade, protecting people from the scorching sun. According to the monarch, Oba Akadiri Momoh, the tree has been there since 1923. The dark in complexion monarch looks younger than his age: Simple and humble with his fly whisk, the royal father appeared in immaculate flowing white gown (agbada) as he walked majestically with his beaded royal staff. He spoke using anecdotes and punctuating them with nuances on how he unexpectedly became the king on his arrival from America in 1978!

According to him, he never thought he would become a monarch, because when other contestants were warming up, it never crossed his mind until he was invited to come and contest by the “elders” who had consulted the Ifa oracle and asked God to choose the best. “ I did not have the notion, the idea wasn’t in my mind.

People just told me sometime before then that if there was a chieftaincy vacancy I would be the one to pick. I didn’t believe that until when I returned from the United States in 1978, people were approaching me from my royal family for the royal stool saying ‘this vacant stool in your royal house why can’t you join them in the contest,?. But I said I did not have the energy, I did not have the capability of struggling, of running up and down. All my people continued advising me.

I had a sister who is now late, she financed all the running around from Lagos to Ikare.”

His growing up The Economics graduate of Ohio University, USA said he was brought up by his aunt, a disciplinarian. This, according to him, helped him in life later.

“My aunt brought me up. She was a very serious

PHOTOS: TAIWO ABIODUN

•Olukare of Ikare palace entrance

‘I never thought I’d be king’ Oba Akadiri Momoh, the Olukare of Ikare turned 75 recently. Taiwo Abiodun met him and he talked about his life on the throne and friendship with the late Gani Fawehinmi. disciplinarian, she was called Mama ‘Deoti, and was junior to my father. She made me.

Anytime I was going to school she would give me money for my feeding and warn me not to go to anybody’s house to eat. I was always the first to get home when we finished from the school because if I was late mama was ready to discipline me. Much later, I discovered something. The first salary I got, I brought it to her in Ikare.

I told her, “Mama this is my first salary, if you want you can take all. She did not say anything but prayed on the money and gave it back to me. They all liked me in all the places I’ve worked and that is the work of mama.”

Forced to be baptised Though, he was born into a Muslim family, he was forced to become a Christian while at Victory College, Ikare. “When I was in secondary school, I became a Christian, though I was born into a Muslim family.

My original name was Akadiri.

I was named Saliu Momoh Akadiri. But when we went to Victory College, our principal, Rev. Akinrinle, said we must be baptised, and very many of us were. The baptismal name appeared in my certificate but when I became the Olukare I

had to go back to my original Muslim name because we are originally Muslims. We have a soft spot for Christianity.

When Babalola, the CAC founder, came here, it was the Olukare who housed him and helped him to establish. When Isaac Lenor came, it was Kabiyesi who first assisted him too.”

Friendship with the late Fawehinmi Oba Momoh during his school days was a friend of the late radical lawyer Chief Gani Fawehinmi, “Yes, I’ knew Gani Fawehinmi, we were friends, we were boys together, and he was a good company at Victory College.” According to the monarch, the late human rights activist, “although was a little bit rascally but sharp. Gani had a friend, two of them were very rascally and they were very good in the class. I think the other boy is also a SAN now. He practised law in Kano.

They were good boys. You know when you are in school, when you are young you would say if I had known I would have done this, or done that, it happened to everyone, almost everybody.,” Why he broke his marriage vow

While many monarchs have harem of wives, Oba Momoh did not pray for such.

However, due to circumstances he had to bend the rule of one man one wife. “I have two wives now. Before, I had only one but when I became the Oba they said it is untraditional for an Oba to have one wife. I said I was not so much interested in having plenty women. I only married one more just to obey my parents,” he declared.

Asked to look back and check whether he had made any mistake or the other with his years on the earth, he declared, “I am 75 years old and I can’t remember if I made any mistake because if my parents told me something I obeyed except when as a small boy I went to school to watch football and when I’m back my aunties will spank me.”

The first day to wear a crown On how he felt the first time he wore the royal crown, Oba Momoh exclaimed: “I was firstly uncomfortable. But by and by, I got used to it and it was no more a new thing.”

When he assumed office a new palace had to be built because the old palace was

built in 1900. “When I came to the throne I had no place to entertain my visitors, and it was during the military era when one of our sons who was an Ambassador died in Ikare.

The President sent somebody to come and commiserate with us, so the governor came with him to Ikare. They came with an entourage, we sat down for 10 minutes and the place became very hot and I felt very, very uncomfortable. I came out, went in and was disturbed.

After all said and done, they left. I now sat down and thought of how I would get money to improve the palace. I prayed and got help. Many good people assisted. And I was able to build a big one where I entertain visitors. Then I had a very small mosque but I said ‘no, we’re Muslims and my grandfather brought Islam to Ikare. I had a sister who was very rich, I talked to her and to some people, and told friends that if I have visitors where would they go and sleep or stay for the night? That was how the new building was erected.”

On how he manages the town Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, the saying goes. While the monarch did not deny it, he said he leads his community with comfort and with simplicity and with a cool mind. “I always listen before I pronounce my verdict. I soft pedal to carry the whole people along. If somebody has come to lodge a complaint, I would ask him to state his own case and if any one of them is wrong I will say he was wrong and that is one thing I do. The truth is bitter but at the same time I will have to tell it.”

The monarch said he listens to radio and read newspapers to know what is going on.

“When I was young my hobbies were playing football and I used to run. They gave me a nickname. I enjoyed my youth.

I don’t harbour any ill-feelings against anybody. I look simple and happy. I don’t put things in mind.

I am very straightforward. Whether you abuse my simplicity or not, I take things easy.”

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CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

LAWANI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Patricia Bosede Lawani, now wish to be known as Mrs. Patricia Bosede Onuda. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AKANDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akande, Tawakaltu Abiodun, now wish to be known as Mrs. Abioye-Akande, Tawakaltu Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, University of Ilorin and general public please take note.

AWOFADEJU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Awofadeju, Olamide Tosin, now wish to be known as Mrs. Oyesiji, Olamide Oluwatosin. All former documents remain valid.

OAUTH and general public please take note.

NWALAOCHA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwalaocha, Ijeoma Blessing, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ijeoma Blessing Michael Ezebuiro.

All former documents remain valid.

Abia State government, Isiala Ngwa South LGA and general public please take note.

LEGO I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Keziah N. Lego, now wish to be known as Mrs. Jacobs S. Gana.

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SOBAYO I formerly known and addressed as Sobayo Sophie Adeboun, now wish to be known as Olanrewaju Sophie Adebodun. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UMUKORO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Umukoro, Ufuoma Henrieta, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ufuoma Henrieta Oseghe. All former documents remain valid.

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EDEM I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mfon (Afiong) Edet Edem, now wish to be known as Mrs. Mfon Etim Umoh. All former documents remain valid. National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and general public please take note.

OKOTETE I formerly known and addressed as Okotete Gladys Efeoghene, now wish to be known as Peters Rachel Efe. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ALLIU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Alliu Adewunmi Fatiat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abiagom Adewunmi Omobonike. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

MBAH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mbah Aniekan Ani, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Kwentoh Aniekan Ani. All former documents remain valid.

LASPOTECH and general public take note.

BALOGUN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Balogun, Adedoyin Folasade now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ogunbode, Adedoyin Folasade. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ITA I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Geraldine Ama Ita, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Geraldine Ama Asim-Ita. All former documents remain valid.

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ABIOYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Abioye, Eniola Motemilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Elegushi, Eniola Motemilayo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ABIODUN I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Coker Raliat Abiodun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Coker Rachael Anuoluwaposimi. All former documents remain valid. Covenant University, University of Lagos and general public should please take note.

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General public please take note.

AKINYEMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinyemi, Omolola Adedolapo, now wish to be known as Mrs. Akosile, Omolola Adedolapo All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Judiciary and general public please take note.

OLAKUNMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olakunmi, Abiose Abidemi, now wish to be known as Mrs. David, Abiose Abidemi All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NWOLISA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ebele Angela Nwolisa, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ebele Angela Nwodo All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ARIYIBI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ariyibi, Rasidat Adenike, now wish to be known as Mrs. Oyewole, Rasidat Adenike. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADEDINI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adedini, Olusola Dorcas, now wish to be known as Mrs. Iyanda Olusola Dorcas. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EGBERUARE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Egberuare, Cordelia, now wish to be known as Mrs. Dada Olakunle Cordelia. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AJEWOLE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajewole, Anike Victoria, now wish to be known as Mrs. Dada Olakunle Cordelia. All former documents remain valid. Hospital Management Board, Ado-Ekiti and general public please take note.

BARASEIBAL I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. FAITH TONYE BARASEIBAI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FAITH TONYE OPARA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BEN-WHYTE I formerly known and addressed as MISS. INE BEN-WHYTE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS.INE WICHE. All former documents remain valid. General Public take note.

OLANIYAN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaniyan, Margaret Seyi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Aladetohun Margaret Seyi. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

TEMEWEIGHAN I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Mail Temeweighan, now wish to be known as Mr. Mail OgoOluwa. All former documents remain valid. Ministry of Education, Akure, Ese-Odo Local government and general public please take note.

OLANIYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaniyi, Temitope Rosemary, now wish to be known as Mrs. Funmilayo Temitope Rosemary.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

SALAMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ROSELINE IZE SALAMI, now wish to be known as Mrs. ROSELINE IZE NDU. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

AKPAN I formerly known and addressed as FRANCES UCHE ETUKN AKPAN. Now wish to be known as FRANCES UCHE OGBECHIE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

SAHEED I formerly known and addressed as Saheed, Baba Olanrewaju, now wish to be known and addressed as Shaheed Baba Yahaya Olanrewaju. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

MEYANBE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Meyanbe Oluwayemisi Omolola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oreh, Oluwayemisi Omolola. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OMOTUENMHEN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Omotuenmhen Violet Iwanehi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Violet Iwanehi Oyarekua. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AJIEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ONYEKA AJIEH, now wish to be known as Mrs. ONYEKA UKANDU. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OKPOSIO I formerly known and addressed as Miss. OKPOSIO GBUBEMI OGHENERUEMU, now wish to be known as Mrs. HADOME GBUBEMI OGHENERUEMU. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

ABDULSALAM I formerly known and addressed as Abdulsalam Qudirat Bolanle, now wish to be known as Soretire Qudirat Bolanle. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UROWU I formerly known and addressed as Urowu, Juliet Oyindefa, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adiatu Juliet Oyindefa. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ALUKO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Yetunde Adeola Aluko, now wish to be known as Mrs. Yetunde Adeola Adelusi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ISMAIL I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Yusuf Ismail, now wish to be known as Mr. Yusuf Olalekan Ismail. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ABHUKHEGBE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Amina Omhangimente Abhokhegbe, now wish to be known as Mrs. Amina Omhangimente Yusuf. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGUNWEMIMO I formerly known and addressed as Ogunwemimo Adebisi Ololade, now wish to be known as Owoju Adebisi Ololade. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Local government Service Commission and general public please take note.

ABABALU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Anthonia Onyinyechukwu Ababalu, now wish to be known as Mrs. Anthonia Onyinyechukwu Madu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLANIYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaniyi, Adeola, now wish to be known as Mrs. Orifowomo Adeola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

APESIN I formerly known and addressed as Apesin, Oluwayemisi Abeni, now wish to be known as Ajayi, Oluwayemisi Abeni. All former documents remain valid. Teaching Service Commission, Ogun State and general public please take note.

OGUNDARE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogundare, Oluwafunmilayo Anthonia, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss OgundareCallisto Oluwafunmilayo Anthonia. All former documents remain valid. UNIOSUN and general public take note.

OWORU I formerly known and addressed as Akinboboye Oyeyinka Oworu, now wish to be known and addressed as Akinboboye Ifeoluwa Oyeyinka Oworu. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

ITA I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Geraldine Ama Ita, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Geraldine Ama Asim-Ita. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

OWOKONIRAN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Owokoniran, Temitope Aminat, now wish to be known and addressed as Akinwale, Temitope Aminat. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OKONJI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okonji, Hilda Ofunne, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sasere, Hilda Ofunne. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

ENEMA

I formerly known and addressed as Enema Abel Edokpaigbe, now wish to be known and addressed as Osarenmwinda Abel Edokpaigbe.

All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME IBANIBO NGOJI FRANK-BRIGGS and Dr. JOSEPH IBANIBO NGOJI FRANK – BRIGGS is the same person. Now wish to be known as Dr. JOSEPH IBANIBO NGOJI FRANK-BRIGGS. All documents bearing the above names remain valid general public please take note.

ONUEGBU I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ONUEGBU CHINWENDU, now wish to be known as Mrs. NWABUISI CHINWENDU JESSICA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

EJORYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. PATIENCE ANIKPEH EJORYE, now wish to be known as Mrs. PATIENCE ANIKPEH KENNEDY ENYIA. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

UNAMBIA I formerly known and addressed as Miss. UNAMBA IFEOMA GOODNESS, now wish to be known as Mrs. ONYEJIEGBU IFEOMA GOODNESS. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

EBAHOR I formerly known and addressed as Miss. BLESSING OGHALE EBAHOR, now wish to be known as Mrs. BLESSING OGHALE NWOKO, all former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

MADU I formerly known and addressed as Miss. LAETITIA OLUCHI MADU, now wish to be known as Mrs. LAETITIA OLUCHI BLESSING. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

DINNE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ANGELA IHEAKAGHINWA DINNE, now wish to be known as Mrs. ANGELA LOVEDAY OLUJI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

JONAH I formerly known and addressed as Miss.

CHRISTIANA CHINONYEREM JONAH. Now wish to be known as Mrs. CHRISTIANA CHINONYEREM DINNE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Kpiliboh Simeon Silvanus oyerigha is the same person as Kpiliboh Simeon Oyerigha and Kpiliboh Silvanus Oyerigha. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. UNN and general Public take note.

HALLIDAY I formerly known and addressed as Miss Charity Uwalaka, now wish to be known as Mrs. Charity Halliday. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADAJE

I formerly known and addressed as Adaje Temitope Oluwatosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Victor Temitope Oluwatosin. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

INUNG I formerly known and addressed as Miss Elizabeth Undelika Inung, now wish to be known as Mrs. Elizabeth Undelika Adieagba. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

MBAH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Patience Nkechinyere Mbah, now wish to be known as Mrs. Patience Nkechinyere Bassey. All former documents remain valid.

PHCN, ECO Bank, GTBank, Calabar and general public please take note.

OGUMELU I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OGUMELU CHINWENDU PEACE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ARINZE CHINWENDU PEACE. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic Oko, NYSC and general public take note.

BOLANLE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Suliyat Bolanle now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Ogunniyi Oluwumi Grace. All former documents remain valid general public take note DAUDA I formerly known and addressed as Dauda Mufutau now wish to be known and addressed as Dauda Mufutau Adesina. All former documents remain valid general public take note JACOB I formerly known and addressed as Jacob Mary now wish to be known and addressed as Jacob Mary Oluwaranti. All former documents remain valid general public take note

66

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

67

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

68

Paedophiles in power Continued from last week

P

ERHAPS they could also learn one or two things from the following press report in a newspaper just last week which reflects the views of one of the most respected leaders and islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia. The report reads as follows‘’A member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body has said that Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to a nine-year-old girl does not justify marrying minor children today because circumstances have changed in the intervening 14 centuries. The comments by Sheikh Abdullah al Manie, who sits on the Council of Senior Ulema, follow other recent public criticisms of child marriage, suggesting the government may be preparing public opinion for legislation setting a minimum marriage age.

“They want to prepare the public to understand that the old days are not like today,” said Mekhlef al Shammary, a human rights advocate in Dammam. “It’s a crime to give a 12-year-old to be a mother and wife. “This is ridiculous. Even in Islam it’s not acceptable because the girl is not mature enough.

She’s a child - she’s not ready for sexual relations.” The marriage of young girls, often to much older men, has been at the forefront of public debate in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years. It escalated early last year after it was reported that a man had contracted to give his eight-yearold daughter in marriage to a 47-year-old man in order to pay a financial debt. The contract was annulled after a public outcry.

Sheikh al Manie is believed to be the most senior cleric to unequivocally denounce the practice of child marriage.

Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to young Aisha “cannot be equated with child marriages today because the conditions and circumstances are not the same”, he said in remarks published in the Saudi Gazette and Okaz newspapers on Thursday. “It is a grave error to burden a child with responsibilities beyond her years,” the sheikh said. “Marriage should be put off until the wife is of a mentally and physically mature age and can care for both herself and her family.”

Sheikh al Manie’s comments came a few days after Sheikh Abdul Mohsen al Obaikan urged legislation making marriage illegal for girls under 18.

Waivers might be given in some cases by judges or the royal court, he added, according to reports in the same newspapers. Sheikh al Obaikan said the marriage of minors was a “grave error” and cautioned parents to “fear Allah and not marry their daughters by force” to men they do not want to wed’’.

Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, Professor Ishaq Akintola and all those that continuosly give the impression that child marriage is acceptable in islam and who erroneously believe that the honest criticism of such an abominable practice is an attack on their faith surely have

•Yerima

By Femi Fani-Kayode

much to learn from the contribution of this erudite Saudi Arabian leader and scholar. As a matter of fact, we all do and it is contributions like that that make the rest of us appreciate what a beautiful religion Islam really is when its tenets are properly understood and applied. Permit me to end this essay by sharing a few poignant words that my dear sister, Mrs. Toyin FaniKayode-Bajela wrote in a moving piece titled ‘’You Who Support Child Marriage’’ from London just last week. She wrote‘’You who for whatever ‘solid and noble’ reason have chosen to agree with legitimised child slavery, sexual abuse, psychological, emotional, physical and financial abuse under the guise of marriage. You who are silent about it or couldn’t care less as it’s not a topic worthy of inclusion in the constitutional review. All of you have freedom to choose your position on this issue- the freedom to wax lyrical, or not so lyrical, as is most often the case, on this issue. You enjoy the freedom to hold and have your own opinion. The freedom to air your opinion irrespective of whether l care for that opinion or not.

“A girl child has no choice.

A girl child has no opinion that anyone will listen to - a girl child learns quickly the horrific consequences of her unwanted opinion and her only goal is silent survival or only choice suicide. There is no point in appealing to an iota of empathy in you that agree with child marriage for whatever ‘noble’, ‘altruistic’ or patriarchal ‘reason’ as time and time again, on issue after issue, day after day, we are reminded that you have none.

Everything is reduced to politics, religion and gain - financially or otherwise. For those of you who think we have spoken-’too much grammar’ on this isssue- you are darn right. I have just enough (grammar ) to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves or those for whom the consequences of speaking out would be unspeakable, but not too little grammar that l might be tempted to stay silent.’’

My heart missed a beat and a tear came to my eye when I read this and I commend Toyin for her admonitions to us all and for her touching words.

I also commend Roz Ben Okagbue, Hanatu Musawa, Maryam Uwais, Stella Damasus, Aisha Osori, Helen Oviagbele, Oby Ezekwezile, Josephine Anenih,

Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, Linda Ikeji, Bisi Fayemi, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Gbemisola Saraki, Nana Nwanchukwu, Modupe Debbie Ariyo and the many other leading women that have stood up and made their voices heard through their articles, actions, c o n c e r n s a n d various commentries on the girl-child and child marriage issue in what is essentially a deeply conservative, insensitive, antiprogressive and male-dominated country and society which really does not offer much sympathy or hope to the plight of women generally let alone that of the girlchild and infant bride.

Let me give a couple of examples of that insensitivity and our misplaced priorities.

In Yerima’s own northern region no less than 93 per cent of girls do not complete secondry school education and 70 per cent of women between the ages of 20 and 29 cannot read or write. Worst still the region has the largest per centage a n d n u m b e r of recorded vesico vagina fistula (VVF) cases in the entire world. VVF is a terrible and very painful diesease which causes it’s victims to urinate and defecate uncontrollably and which is caused by childsex, child marriage and childpregnancies. According to our Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Zainab Maina, Nigeria has 800,000 cases of VVF today and we are adding 20,000 cases each year. All these cases are situated in the northern part of the country.

Such a diseases, such suffering, such illiteracy and such high levels of poverty of the mind and soul should have no place in any part of our great nation in this day and age. Our people, whether they be from the North or the South, Christian or Muslim, young or old and men or women, surely deserve better than that. After all, we are living in the 21st century and not the 6th.

Yet sadly these vices are more rampant in Yerima’s own northern region and constituency than anywhere else in the country and instead of attempting to improve on the lot, the education and quality of lives of the good people of the North all he thinks about is marrying little girls and bedding them. What a man and what a country. Outside of this contribution I have nothing more to say on this vexed and contentious issue of the horrendous plight of the girlchild and child marriage in Nigeria.

Concluded

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2013

69

With Hannah Ojo 08062952262

HOW I AM SPENDING MY HOLIDAY

Hello Children, It is a delight to be here week after week to handle this page aimed at enlightening young brilliant minds across the nation. I got reactions from people regarding the personalities featured on the female pioneers' piece published last week. Margaret Ekpo is from Cross River State and not Rivers State. Kids, please, take note. As the holiday continues, this is wishing you more bliss, fun and of course adventures.

GRADUATION

•Pupils of Summit Spring Academy, Igando, Lagos at its first graduation and end of year party.

PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID

CAREER GUIDE HAVE YOU ever heard the word action photography? Being a photographer goes beyond clicking the camera lens to take pictures of people on the red carpet or at special celebrations. According to Microsoft Encarta, Photography is a method of picture making developed in the early 19th century, based on principles of light, optics, and chemistry. The word photography comes from Greek words and means “drawing with light.” Photographs serve as scientific evidence, conveyers of news, historical documents, works of art, and records of family life. Other aspects of photography include landscapes, wildlife and nature, photography, head shots and portfolios, portraits and more.

Photography is a vocation that has come to assume a new dimension in the dig-

grees aren’t as important as good eye, a quality product and self-discipline. This means ital age. It is an excellent career after earning your degrees in choice for anyone who wants institutions of higher learnto get paid for using their crea- ing irrespective of the course tive talents. Another fascinat- studied, one can learn the ing aspect is that it is one of the techniques within months. areas where age or college de- Being a good photographer also has to do with knowing the ins and outs of camera basics. One may need to seek training in this •Award-winning regard. Another Nigerian photographer way to enhance Kelechi Amadi-Obi one’s prospect is to build a portfolio which should comprise of multiple shoots with different subject matters drawn from scenes in everyday life.

Photography

DEAN Isin Udoetuk, age 7, Grade 2 pupil of Tower of Ivory Elementary School, Abak, Akwa Ibom.

My school went on vacation on Wednesday 17th of July 2013.

I had spent most of the time playing basketball, table tennis and badminton at home.

I also make sure I join my parents in their r e g u l a r morning exercise and participate in the family prayers.

Starting from this week, I shall a t t e n d s u m m e r classes and also take music classes on weekends to learn how to play the keyboard, guitar, piano and other musical instruments.

I shall also find time to visit my grandma, aunts and uncles.

I shall also go to Silverbird Cinema to watch kiddies’ movies and play games. Also, I shall go to fast food joints with my parents and siblings, especially on Sundays after church service.

I shall be obedient to my parents and take part in house chores also. I wish to pay visits to motherless babies homes to extend love to the children. I pray God help me to have a wonderful holiday.

WORD WHEEL

CHRISTOPHER Isin Udoetuk, age 5, Transition pupil of Tower of Ivory Elementary School, Abak, Akwa Ibom State.

I have been enjoying my holiday by playing tennis and basketball at home with my brothers and my daddy. I have also been watching cartoon network. I had a very good result last term so my parents have allowed me to play around the house.

Starting from this week, I shall attend summer and music classes. I shall go to fast food restaurants and movies with my family. I shall also write short stories and read to my younger ones. I pray to have a meaningful holiday.

SUDOKU 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.

5 3

1 6 7 8 4 9 2

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 31, including one nine-letter word

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

6

3 5 8

2 8 6

2 3 4 1 5 9 3 8 7

1 TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY

Write to us; let your friends know about how you have been spending the holiday and your subsequent plans for the rest of the season.

Articles are welcomed from pupils in secondary and primary schools across Nigeria. Please note that your article should be between 200-250 words and sent to sundaynation@yahoo.com with the subject as ‘Young Nation’. Please include your name, age, school and picture.

Waiting to hear from you!

QUOTABLE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 8, NO. 2574

"Nigeria has had over 50 years of independence and of this period, Southern Nigeria has only ruled Nigeria for six months by the late Aguiyi Ironsi, by Olusegun Obasanjo as a military man and Obasanjo again as a civilian and three years by Jonathan. The North has ruled the country for over three decades. Ideally, what happens in a true democracy is for a president to be elected from anywhere based on his personal merit. But Nigeria is not an ideal country, so where the president comes from is still a very potent factor in governance and peace of the country, so the North should hold their peace for now.”

— Elderstatesman and former Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, kicking against power shift to the North in 2015.

I

T had been expected that given the demonstrable lack of professional detachment by Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu in the Rivers State political crisis, the police authorities in Abuja would be embarrassed into redeploying him as soon as the chance presented itself. Instead, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has unabashedly attested to Mr Mbu’s professionalism and earnestly underscored the police commissioner’s aloofness from politics. Mr Mbu may be aloof alright, but it seems more accurately that he is aloof from the constitution of the Federal Republic rather than from Rivers State politics. What is clear now is that the police will stand pat on the Mbu affair, and the anomalies evident in the Rivers crisis, no matter how galling and humiliating, will endure for much longer than our patience can bear.

Mr Mbu himself has been giddy with excitement over the Rivers crisis in which the bullish Governor Rotimi Amaechi has locked horns with an Abuja cabal led by the portly Nyesom Wike, a minister of state, his surrogates from Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, and increasingly unruly rented militant crowds. The cabal is in turn beholden to the presidency, and is indeed indirectly propagating and executing an agenda not at all disagreeable to President Goodluck Jonathan. The police commissioner has not only walked gingerly around the Abuja emissaries and their excitable and mostly violent proxies, as if on thin ice, he has also either waffled when it comes to tackling their malfeasances or become strangely tongue-tied when it comes to denouncing their lawlessness and provocations.

The IGP’s endorsement of Mr Mbu is, however, not unexpected, though deplorable.

While the crisis lasts, Mr Mbu will continue to prattle endlessly and, if need be, meet the defiance of the governor inch by inch, grammar for grammar, and eyeball to eyeball.

This is because he is smart enough to know which way the cats are jumping in Abuja. He knows that while the president and his aides struggle to distance the presidency from the Rivers crisis, the truth is much more sobering. His long years in the Force, not to say his boastful baccalaureate from the University of Lagos, and his own innate predilection for loud and excited talk, have armed him to secondguess his superiors and fawn all over them. If the presidency says it is uninterested in and unconnected with the crisis in Rivers, his skilful use of quantitative methods teaches him to turn the statement into a null hypothesis and test it. Every such test he has made has repeatedly confirmed that Abuja would rather gladly bring the house down on everyone than tolerate Mr Amaechi for one day longer, irrespective of what the constitution says.

And if Mr Mbu is foxy enough to indulge

Mbu’s style symptomatic of deeper national malaise

•Abubakar

•Mbu

Abuja and wink and embrace its mischief, the more accomplished and experienced IGP could not be any less artful and indulgent. The IGP may protest that his assessment of Mr Mbu is honest, sincere and practical, and not coloured by any consideration of the whims of the presidency; however, it must be recognised that no one gets to the top of the police profession by being moralistic, principled and dogmatic. Both the IGP and Mr Mbu will continue to accommodate the presidency as long as it is required, and pussyfoot on lawlessness when it is safe to do so, whether orders come to them directly, indirectly or in whispers.

Both the IGP and Mr Mbu rely on constitutional provisions to defend what they term as necessary aloofness and depoliticisation of the Force. The provisions, they argue, insulate the police from politics, and no one would be allowed to drag them into politics’ murky waters. In other words, they insinuate into the spirit of the constitution such loftiness and grandeur that neither the letter nor commonsensical interpretation of the constitution ever pretended to grant. The police ordinarily ought to be above politics, neither beholden to the money power nor to the lumpen. And this should be in spite of whether constitutional provisions put the police in the power of governors or the

president. If this were so, it would indeed be a very lofty pedestal to occupy, and the police would be able to earn respect and the awe they crave.

The reality is, however, different. First, no one, certainly not a visionless and fearful presidency, nor yet an unimaginative and backwardlooking legislature, has been able to appreciate the need for state police or squirm at the contradictions of a federal constitution providing for a unitary police system. The proponents of unitary police argue that if police powers were conferred on states, they could be abused. This is of course nonsense. Do we not have the common sense to know that if you manufacture a car, you must put brakes in it?

Second, every black man must feel humiliated that Nigerians have become so immobilised by fear of the unknown that they are unable to grasp how to make a decentralised police system work. Surely, we are not so lacking in gumption or so self-deprecating that we think only developed countries can run a decentralised police system.

The police of course do not blame themselves for both the shortcomings in the 1999 constitution and its clear inadequacy in providing for the safety of Nigerians and their properties. However, it is beguiling but

Meeting 2015 breakup prediction with presidential chutzpah

E

VEN if by his actions he manages to consistently undermine his own public optimism for a great society, President Goodluck Jonathan must still rank as one of the most sanguine leaders the world has ever known. While speaking with Muslim leaders who paid him the traditional Sallah homage last Thursday, Dr Jonathan as usual made a few memorable statements. He couldn’t imagine a Nigeria without Christians and Muslims, he said wistfully, as if the religious polarisation of the country conferred special advantages on all of us, and almost as if we should become inured to the pains they have caused us and even begin to enjoy them. If we were retrogressing, he suggested implausibly, it was because we failed to exploit the possibilities of our religious diversity. Once we found a way to harness the diversities, the country would enjoy peace and development.

Never mind that in his nearly four years in office, his presidency never issued even one tested idea as to how that elixir would be brewed.

Moving away from his strange theology, the president revealed he had observed the Ramadan like any other Muslim. His waist had trimmed down, he announced joyously, and he would perhaps in the short term need new pairs of trousers. If his visitors thought he would explain why he felt compelled to

fast, or prove the relevance of his fasting to national development and policy purity, they were mistaken, for he wasn’t forthcoming at all.

But perhaps the most memorable statement he made was in connection with the ballyhooed prediction of Nigeria’s breakup in 2015, a prediction authored by some United States military analysts many years ago. Those who made the prediction, said the president in reference not to the original authors but to Nigerians parroting it, would be disappointed. We must not assume that the president has not read the details of the prediction, or that when it was made, the intense religious, ethnic and social conflicts wracking the body politic had not even assumed dangerous dimensions. If he read the prediction, he should have seized the opportunity of speaking with his visitors to address two or three major factors raised by the analysts, and of course debunk them. Instead, the president met the prediction with his usual presidential bravado. It won’t happen, he thundered, and that was all.

If structural problems anywhere, whether in a country or organisation, had shown a tendency to respond well to positive thinking, countries and enterprises would be easy to govern. Given the president’s logic, the more chutzpah you summon against a problem, the more likely your triumph. What is

Dr Jonathan’s appreciation of the social revolt undermining the Northeast? It hardly matters; for the problem to him is one of law and order. What does he think of the great heist stymying oil exports in the Niger Delta? Just pay thieves to watch over the oil.

What does he think about the collapse of education? Why, agreements, to him, are neither worth keeping, nor the huge education bill worth the trouble of addressing.

What of unemployment? He has passed on that nuisance to the Minister of Finance and to the centenary committee.

And what about the most important question of all – democracy? Its problem, he deadpans like the workaholic but yet cavalier Obasanjo, is that the opposition is too troublesome and unpatriotic. If everybody would cooperate with him, and critics practiced their sorcery softly, and the media were less sanctimonious, and on and on to getting God to be less fussy and rigid about principles and moral standards, Nigeria would be a great, united, peaceful and developed country. Perhaps, someday, we would pin the president down to telling us what he thinks of the complex problems besetting the country, and what bright ideas can be coerced from his vast kitchen midden, which he passes off as personal philosophy from a complex mind.

nonetheless futile that both the IGP and Mr Mbu, irrespective of the limitations in the letter of the constitution, are ascribing a nobility of spirit to a constitution whose shackled and defective spirit can simply not soar above the letter.

Even if we find a solution to the Rivers impasse, it will doubtless be tentative, as everything is tentative in and about Nigeria.

But now no such solution is near, for the Mbu conundrum – in which an appointed police officer looms larger than an elected governor – is symptomatic of the malaise undermining the peace, development and unity of the country. However, Mr Mbu, I think, is not the problem: he is simply exploiting the lacunae in the system to hold tightly to his position, and may in fact be privately galled by his own compelled volubility and indiscrete and ludicrous posturing. The IGP, who strikes many of us as urbane and thoughtful, is also not the problem. Against his better judgement, he may have found it inescapable to defend and endorse his police commissioner. As I once said in this place, his success as IGP, sadly, would not depend on his brilliance or wisdom, but on the vision, intelligence, detachment and patriotism of the president. If the president lacked these attributes, the IGP would be hamstrung, I had concluded.

This, therefore, is the crux of the matter.

It is unhelpful to lampoon Mr Mbu, even if he sometimes gave impression (some say proof) of his eager duplicity. It is unhelpful to castigate the IGP for feigning ignorance of his subordinate chiselling away at the democratic basis of governance in Rivers. And it is easy to blame the National Assembly for being so trusting of the presidency, so retrogressive in lawmaking and so protective of the powers of the centre, when in fact they have apparently never contemplated a country in the mould of the Nordic countries, and may never envision anything better for Nigeria than its dismal position in Africa. Who then is to blame?

Let us pose the problem in a different way. Even if the presidency was not behind both the excesses of the police in Rivers and the lawlessness of Mr Wike, and in addition knew nothing of the madness that convulsed the House of Assembly recently with the predetermined aim of unnerving the president’s opponents, what lofty statements has the president made on the long-running crisis, and what noble deeds has he undertaken to cure Rivers and the system in general of the disgraceful and childish resort to undemocratic practices? Absolutely none. The president was not just silent on Rivers; he selfeffacingly lunched into a declamation on democracy and the rule of law in his usual engaging but nugatory style. But it is not declamations the country needs. Even though we exaggerated his leadership qualities, it was hoped he would at inauguration avail us a fairly deep and logical insight into the content of his vision for Nigeria and, perhaps too, Africa.

In the end, he proved as spectacularly distracted and specious as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Worse, he finds it difficult to appreciate the import of many of his actions, not to say his statements. Leadership is not simply about firmness or setting upon a line of action flowing from the advice of cabinet members and aides. It is about something deeper and variegated; something rich, luscious and instinctive; something great, coherent and noble – all going into the leader’s mind like dross, but coming out purged and processed into something much richer and more enduring, something festooned with crystal clear ideas of what to do and when, and something that transforms into pure and almost infallible judgement that emphasises the long view, and that creates and forges a great and incomparable society far better than any. However, ability must match ambition in order for a leader to be worth the title. Alas, as the Rivers crisis and many other challenging issues of the times have shown, and as the chasm between sense and nonsense denoted by the Mbu indiscretion shows, there is no indication whatsoever that we have a leader with a grasp of the moral imperatives of these times, let alone one suited for the complexities and hard choices of this age.

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ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE