The Nation August 04, 2012

Lagos bars NURTW from motor parks, roads PAGE

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Emir escapes death as suicide bomber kills orderly PAGE

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL.07 N0. 2207

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012 N150.00

Budget row: Reps reject offer of foreign trips PAGE

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House haunted by member’s experience with SEC

No ill-motive, says Aviation Minister Ondo PDP laments LP’s attack on 5 opposition members

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Flood disaster PAGE

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Winner of MTN’s Jeep dies on motorcycle

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Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare (centre) crosses the finish line ahead of United States' Tianna Madison, left, and Germany's Tatjana Pinto in a women's 100-metre heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London... yesterday

Two commit 6 suicide over inability to repay bank loans

2 News

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Why Jonathan can’t tackle Boko Haram, Jos crises –Mantu Linus OBOGO

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•Some members of the Nigerian community during their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in Kingston, Jamaica.

Budget row: Reps reject offer of foreign trips T HE House of Representatives appears to be learning fast in being wary of curious gifts or offers from external quarters.

It has just rejected a 10-day trip being packaged for some of its members by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah.

The House is still smarting from the blow of the alleged $620,000 bribe said to have been received by its suspended member, Alhaji Farouk Lawan, from oil magnate, Mr. Femi Otedola, and is currently locked in a faceoff with the executive arm over what it calls poor implementation of the 2012 budget.

Just before proceeding on recess last month, the House gave the government up till September 30 to effect 100 per cent implementation of the budget, failing which it threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan.

Finance Minister, Ngonzi Okonjo-Iweala, at first blamed the situation on Reps’ injection of constituency projects into the budget, saying the budget implementation had reached 56 per cent.

But when the Reps shot back with figures to discredit her claim, she met with Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on Thursday, pleading with him to prevail on the House to resolve the issue in dispute.

Top government officials and functionaries of the ruling PDP have also been piling pressure on the Reps to soft pedal.

Given the foregoing, many Reps see the Aviation minister’s foreign trip offer as an attempt to compromise their principled stance on the way the budget is being handled by the executive.

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal has already slammed an embargo on such trips by members.

Besides, the House may also set new rules for members on foreign trips designed to broaden their legislative and oversight functions.

It was gathered that the House is determined to assume responsibility for financing vital foreign trips independent of the Executive.

The Minister of Aviation, according to sources, had arranged a three-nation tour for members of the Senate and House Aviation Committees to keep them abreast of latest trends in the sector.

The tour would have taken them to the USA, China and

•House haunted by member’s experience with SEC •No ill-motive, says Aviation Minister

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Canada where they were expected to do a comparative study of the three nations to appreciate why Nigeria’s airspace and airports should be upgraded.

Although the cost of the trip is kept under wraps, the House is not comfortable with the timing in view of the current row between it and the Executive over budget implementation.

A reliable source said: “When the Speaker returned from the UK on Tuesday, the House leadership overruled participation in the exercise by some members, going by a similar experience with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The concern of the House leadership is the footing of the bill by the Ministry in a system in which the legislature should serve as check and balance.

“The House leadership is also being careful to prevent another scandal whereby in the next few months the Executive may take advantage of the trip to insinuate allegations of corruption against members.”

It was gathered that the House had contemplated funding the trip from its budget but it has lean resources to accommodate such.

Another source said: “The House may, from the 2013 budget, come out with new guidelines on foreign trips and make provision for funding of such trips. We have agreed that this will insulate the National Assembly from going cap in hand to the Executive or being at the mercy of the Executive.

“We will go on foreign trips with relevant MDAs, but we have reached a level that we want to finance such to make our independence meaningful.

“It only requires careful planning for a pool account for lawmakers for necessary oversight trips abroad.”

A high-ranking lawmaker explained why the House is becoming circumspect of the offer from the Aviation Ministry.

He added: ”The House has its reservations because some of those slated for the trip had been

critical of the Executive on budget implementation. Therefore, he who seeks equity must come with clean hands.

“The Minister may mean well, but at a critical bend, she has to be loyal to the system. This gesture may be hijacked from her to get at National Assembly members.

“We have got to a stage of mutual suspicion and it is proper for the House to stick to its role as the conscience of the nation than to allow itself to be rubbished.”

The Special Adviser to the Minister of Aviation on Media, Mr. Joe Obi, who spoke with our correspondent said: “There is no malicious intent about this trip at all. We are going on an investment drive. We had investment road show where we opened a basket of opportunities for investors whom we are going to meet during the tour.

“We intend to visit a few countries and meet some investors we have had contact with. We are going to woo them to tell them that we are ready for their investments.

“It is not a trip for leisure at all; it is a working tour. We decided to invite members of the committees in the two chambers because they are critical stakeholders whose experience and input could help our investment drive.

“The lawmakers have always been part of our programmes.

They participated in our recent conference on aviation development in Africa . We need to carry them along so that if we come back to Nigeria, they will be in the full picture of the investments we have attracted and assist us with the appropriate legal framework.

“So, it can never be a curious trip. We are not persuading the lawmakers to go abroad.”

Asked to confirm if the trip was projected to cost the taxpayer about N250 million, Obi said: “I am not aware of the figures, but it is not a jamboree at all.

“One thing is clear; each of the lawmakers can afford to travel abroad on his or her own. It is not as if we are persuading them to go. We have no ill-motive.

Truck kills two students Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta

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TRUCK carrying granite yesterday rammed into a group of students at the Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta, Ogun State, crushing two of them to death.

The students were waiting for vehicles by the College gate at the close of classes when the truck skidded off the road and ran over them.

The incident soon sparked a protest by the student population.

They took over the Abeokuta-Ibadan Road and moved into Osiele town, threatening to vandalise any truck within their reach.

The protest was, however, hijacked by street urchins who began to attack innocent people and their property.

The National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) threatened more action by Monday by occupying all quarry sites in the area over “recurrent killing of innocent students and residents of Osiele” by their trucks.

President of NAOSS, Mr Olatunbosun Nurain, said he was informed that two of the students died when the truck veered off its track.

He said the injured were receiving treatments in hospitals around Abeokuta.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Ikemefuna Okoye, despatched anti-riot policemen and armoured personnel carriers (APC), to prevent the rioters from marching on a major truck garage in the area ostensibly to set them ablaze.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the situation had been brought under control.

N what could be described as playing the devil’s advocate, former Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu has offered an insight into President Goodluck Jonathan’s seeming helplessness in tackling the menace of Boko Haram as well as the Jos crises.

Defending the charge of cluelessness and a lack of political will against President Jonathan in putting down the pockets of insurgency in the country, Mantu said the President is handicapped by constitutional interpretation with regard to the declaration of emergency in flashpoint areas.

Speaking to The Nation on Saturday during the week, Mantu said: “I do not think that President Jonathan is clueless or lacks the political will to deal with the pocket of insurgencies in the North as well as the Jos crises. I have heard him say that he does not have the constitutional power to declare a state of emergency.”

According to Mantu, “What I can understand from what is happening now and what obtained during former President Obasanjo’s regime is the different ways the Constitution has been interpreted.”

Explaining how emergency rule worked during Obasanjo’s time, and why the same section (305) of the Constitution has suddenly become inapplicable for President Jonathan, Mantu offered: “There were those who said he (Obasanjo) had no constitutional power to impose a state of emergency, and there were others who said he did have constitutional power. But for the good of the country, his chief law officer then said he had the power and he went ahead and imposed a state of emergency and there was peace in Ekiti and Plateau States.

So, for President Jonathan, his chief law officer may have told him that he does not have the constitutional power, which might explain why he does not want to go against the law. But that is not to say that he lacks the political will or that he is clueless.”

Mantu argued that “every well-meaning leader will always want to go with the advice of those he appointed to advise him. The advisers are the experts and that is why the President appointed them. President Jonathan may not want to act with impunity, which is what has led to people concluding that he lacks the political will.

We should always bear in mind that what worked for a particular president may not work for another. That is my honest understanding of the situation on ground.”

Court orders OGSIEC to recognise de-listed PDP candidates Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta

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N Ogun State High Court sitting in Ilaro yesterday nullified the list of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidates, including nine persons, who won councillorship seats in last month’s polls.

The affected candidates are those whose names the State Caretaker Committee of the PDP led by Chief Ireti Oniyide submitted to the state Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) which enabled them to participate as contestants in the said polls.

However, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu ruled that the OGSIEC, in accepting the list of PDP candidates submitted by Chief Oniyide, wrongfully excluded the 276 other candidates of the PDP from the Engr. Adebayo Dayo - led Executive Committee from participating as contestants in the same elections.

Justice Dipeolu held that the PDP candidates from the camp of Adebayo Dayo should be accorded recognition as the authentic candidates for that elections.

Adebayo Dayo (State Chairman,PDP) and Alhaji Semiu Shodipo(Secretary) on behalf of themselves and the Executive Committee of the party had approached the court, complaining that despite being identified as the authentic organ of the PDP to submit candidates’ list for council polls, the OGSIEC kept relating with some purported PDP candidates unknown to them.

The duo also initiated contempt proceeding against the OGSIEC and Chief Ireti Oniyide, Hon. Fasiu Bakenne and Ambassador Oladunjoye for holding the court out as “irrelevant” on issues pertaining to authentic PDP candidates for council polls in Ogun.

But Justice Dipeolu struck out the contempt proceeding and ordered that the list of PDP candidates from Adebayo Dayo be recognised and acted upon.

Reacting, the OGSIEC Commissioner 111, Mr Mutiu Agboke, said the election had been conducted and concluded, stressing whatever aspect of the ruling the commission considered unsatisfactory, it would appeal.

Retraction of publications on Professor Biyi Afonja (rtd) OUR attention has been drawn to two publications on page 46 of The Nation On Saturday, May 29, 2010, headlined “Protests as Governor Daniel’s man emerges PDP front runner”, and on page 4 of The Nation,Monday, May 31, 2010, headlined “Protest as Daniel’s man emerges Ogun PDP flagbearer”. In these publications, it was said that Professor Afonja attended high level political meeting of a certain ‘Apex Committee’ of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).with the aim of appointing gubernatorial candidate for the PDP. We have since discovered that the stories are not true because Professor Afonja did not attend the meeting as reported by us. As a matter of fact Professor Afonja was not and is not a member of the PDP let alone its Apex Committee, neither has Professor Afonja ever been a member of any political party..

We deeply regret the embarrassment and inconveniences which the said publications might have caused the highly respected, revered and distinguished professor of international repute.

The story is hereby unequivocally retracted.

Editor

News 3

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Obakpolor Committee Report: ANPP seeks prosecution of culprits over diversion of N300bn aviation fund

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HE All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) yesterday asked the Federal Government to prosecute those who diverted the N300 billion Aviation Industry Intervention Fund.

Last week, the Technical and Administrative Review Panel, led by Air Commodore John Obakpolor (rtd), set up by the Federal Government to investigate the June 3, 2012 Dana plane crash in Lagos, submitted its report to Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah.

Among the 59 findings and 41 recommendations the committee came up with as measures to check disasters in the aviation industry and re-energise the sector, the most salient was an urgent call on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the aviation sector, by implementing an Aviation Sector Emergency Programme (ASEP).

However, the ANPP in a statement asserted that “the first line of action to make our airspace safe is in the prosecution of the culprits who diverted the N300 billion Aviation Industry Intervention Fund.”

The opposition party called on the Federal Government to urgently institute an investigation into how the intervention fund was used and urged the implementation of the aspects of the Obakpolor committee report that would make it less burdensome to do business in

Gbenga OMOKHUNU, Abuja the Nigerian airspace, “a downward review of all taxes and the reduction of price of aviation fuel, as this would effectively discourage scrounging and cutting of corners by operators and investors.”

According to the statement issued in Abuja by ANPP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Emma Eneukwu, “Every Nigerian was traumatised by the Dana Airline plane crash of June 3, not basically because all are affected, but because all are depressed by the seeming cul-de-sac that previous investigations into past crashes ultimately ended up in.

“Naturally, for the good people of this great nation to be healed of pervading angst and unwarranted psychological distress accompanying worries over a critical sub-sector as aviation, they need to know in clear terms the state of infrastructure and the airworthiness of the aircraft.

“Our great party believes that the first port of call is the probe of the Aviation Industry Intervention Fund and the immediate prosecution of the individuals and companies found wanting. To start with, the Obakpolor Committee primarily blamed the nonconformity of the Dana Airline’s technical log book to standard and recommended practices.

Aviation Minister, officials embark on foreign investment drive •To stage roadshow in China, US, Canada Kelvin OSA-OKUNBOR

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AVIATION Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, alongside few select officials of the Ministry and some CEOs of parastatals under the ministry will on Saturday, August 4, 2012 embark on a foreign investment drive to wow foreign investors to key into the transformation and infrastructural development of the aviation sector in Nigeria.

The foreign roadshow is coming on the heels of the one held in Abuja, the FCT for potential local investors shortly after the conclusion of the International Conference on Aviation Safety in Africa.

The Abuja Roadshow is already generating interest from local investors, bankers and other financial institutions who are willing and ready to commence construction/ develpoment at the conclusion of all negotiations and due process certification.

During the foreign trip, Investors’ Roadshows will be staged in some selected cities across China, the United States of America and Canada where ‘’Investment Baskets’’ will be opened to reveal the huge investment potential that abounds in the Nigerian aviation industry.

The idea behind the roadshow is premised on the dire need to urgently tackle and redress the huge infrastructural deficit in the sector by attracting foreign direct investment in the development of facilities and infrastructure that meet international standards and best practices.

The huge capital outlay required to carry out any significant transformation of the sector cannot be funded from statutory appropriations alone, hence the need to woo both local and foreign investors to make up the deficit.

Investors would particularly be wooed to key into the development of the proposed four new international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano as well as the development of aerotroplis around the major airports across the country.

The proposed aerotropolis model holds immense benefits to Nigeria, the citizenry and the economy as they would promote regional transformation and economic growth, open up other sectors to reduce over-reliance on oil revenues, promote culture and tourism, enhance safety and drive the rapid transformation of the industry as a whole.

Already, the Roadshow is also generating huge interest abroad and is expected to attract not only potential foreign investors but also aviation experts and professionals from Africa, Asia and America.

Also expected to attend are senior officials of international aviation organisations, including IATA and ICAO, among others.

“According to the Central Bank of Nigeria ’s Director of Communication, Ugochukwu Okorafor, at the National Assembly during the joint committee on Aviation four-day public hearing recently, 20 percent of the loan was meant for operation.

“Therefore, considering the cash crunch in the sector that initially inspired government’s intervention, one is wont to wonder if the air crash would have been averted were the fund meant to improve the airlines’ operations used for the purpose it was meant without cutting corners in an area as sensitive and vital as airline maintenance practices.

“Also during the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee investigating the Dana airline crash, airline operators complained that the N300 billion provided by the Federal Government, domiciled with the Bank of Industry and co-managed by the commercial banks, has been misappropriated.

“To be candid, this is a serious statement by professionals who know the workings of the industry, and immediately raises a worry over the long term damage this dynamic would spiral into when viewed from the point of view of the rot the nation’s oil sector witnessed unnoticed in the unbri-

dled squandering of the nation’s commonwealth through the fuel subsidy regime.

“It will be noted that the funds were to be dedicated to the airlines meeting the International Civil Aviation Origination’s certifications, and address all the issues of technical standards and planes’ airworthiness.

“It is regrettable that the Federal Government’s fiscal regime response to the wavering global economy and our domestic recession through intervention monies to a number of sectors like textiles, aviation, agriculture, cement, music and the arts, have proved not to have added any

visible value in the sector environment, measureable in capacity upgrade, services rendered and accruing fiscal protuberance.

“According to revelations from the aviation industry probe, there were stringent claims` that airline operators diverted intervention funds to other businesses.

“It is therefore glaring that what is now revealed in the aviation industry because of the unfortunate crash of Dana plane and the death of more than a hundred Nigerian lives, could also be present in the other sectors endowed with the government intervention funds.”

•From left: The Secretary to the State Government Mrs. Oluranti Adebule; Minister/Deputy Chairman National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, CON; Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze, at the flag-off ceremony of the Lagos State GDP Computation in Nigeria held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Alausa, Ikeja... yesterday PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

Mpape demolition: Court warns FCDA, residents against lawlessness

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FEDERAL Capital Territory High Court sitting in Bwari, Abuja, yesterday refused to grant an injunction against the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) on the proposed demolition of houses in Mpape, Bwari Area Council of Abuja.

Five residents, Messrs Jacob Obor, Olasogba John, Israel Awoyemi, Young Okeugo and Macos Gabriel, are sueing the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) on behalf of themselves and other residents of the community.

Other defendants are FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, and the Department of Development Control.

The Plaintiffs had asked the court to restrain the FCDA from going ahead with the proposed demolition.

Delivering ruling on the application yesterday, Justice Abubakar Kutigi noted that the applicant did not plead any evidence of their legal right to the properties they were seeking to protect.

He also observed that the layout map before the court by the applicants did not indicate the positions of the houses in the map. Besides, he pointed out that street names were not included to enable the court know specifically the relationship of the properties to the layout map.

Justice Kutigi said granting the injunction would be an order in vain as “injunctions are not granted on the basis of grace or routine.”

Kamarudeen OGUNDELE, Abuja He said: “To grant the order is to create confusion and uncertainty.”

Although the Judge did not grant the injunction, he warned parties not to take any step that would affect the res (subject matter) of the case.

He adjourned the substantive suit till October 11 for hearing.

At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the Plaintiffs, through their counsel, Messrs.

Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, SAN and Femi Falana, SAN urged the court to restrain the defendants from demolishing the houses pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The applicants asked the court to declare the marking and proposed demolition of their houses as illegal on the grounds that it violates section 44 of the 1999 Constitution since the defendants have failed to compensate or resettle them elsewhere.

They held that both the FCDA and its minister cannot claim to be unaware that they have been carrying out improvement and living/occupying the said Mpape land for the last 30 years.

Consequently, they asked the court to give perpetual injunction to restrain the defendants from taking further steps prejudicial to them in respect of their houses since they have failed to give them adequate

and reasonable time or notice to quit.

The plaintiffs also asked the court to order the defendants to pay them N5 million as special damages for instituting and prosecuting this suit and another N10 million for each occupant as general damages for embarrassment, psychological trauma and sundry additional expenses the defendants’ action had caused them.

Opposing the application, the Defence Counsel, Dr. Ameche Nwaiwu , SAN urged the court to discountenance the argument.

He argued that the applicants are illegal occupants who are not indigenes and have not been allocated any land in the area concerned.

FG won’t relent in fight against terrorism, HE Federal Government is determined more than ever before to address the menace of says Sambo terrorism in the country, Vice President Mo-

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hammed Namadi Sambo said yesterday in Abuja.

Sambo, who stood in for President Goodluck Jonathan at the 20th graduation of the National Defence College (NDC), said: “Insecurity remains a front burner national issue due to the activities of a misguided few… and the military is reinforcing its collaboration with the police and other security agencies to checkmate these unpatriotic activities within our national borders.

“This administration is committed to a rebirth of our national values and is resolved to tackle corruption and other related vices which continue to retard our development efforts frontally.

“As a responsive government dedicated to meeting the expectations of the people, we are strengthening the military, police and other anti-corruption agencies, to enable them rekindle the war against

Vincent IKUOMOLA, Abuja

corruption in all its ramifications.”

Vice President Sambo was delighted that the Armed Forces have proved to be a highly strategic national institution, not only as protectors of our territorial integrity but also as a unifying factor in our national development efforts.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, had expressed appreciation to the Federal Government on the premium it places on the training and welfare of the members of the Armed Forces and spoke of the desire of the NDC to key into the ongoing Transformation Agenda.

One hundred and thirty military officers, including foreigners, participated in the course.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

News 4

Oyerinde: Investigation exposes weak security, says ANEEJ Osagie OTABOR, Benin

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HE African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), said yesterday that investigations into the murder of Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde, Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole have exposed the underbelly of the nation’s security system.

ANEEJ which is headed by Reverend David Ugolor, the man the police in Benin are questioning for alleged involvement in Oyerinde’s murder said the confusion arising from the different suspects held by the police and the State Security Services shows there is no coordination among the security agencies. While the police claim they have arrested four suspected hired assassins over the matter, the State Security Service (SSS) paraded a different set of six suspects in Abuja for Oyerinde’s murder. But the SSS said three of the six are robbers and the remaining three are receivers of stolen goods.

Deputy Director of ANEEJ, Comrade Leo Atakpu told The Nationon Saturday yesterday that the SSS investigation showed the weaknesses of the police.

Comrade Atakpu said it was wrong of the police to keep holding on to Ugolor after the SSS had presented the killers to the world.

He said: “It is clear that somebody is behind the scene that has encouraged him to implicate David. Where is the evidence of his involvement beyond the mere allegation?

Ugolor cannot kill a fly.

“The suspects SSS paraded spoke out. They admitted to the crime of which they are being held. None of them said they were being framed up and explained how they committed the crime. The instruments they used in killing the man were displayed.”

Boko Haram insurgency: ‘Army won’t be intimidated’ Jide ORINTUNSIN ,Minna HE General Officer Commanding (GOC) One Division of the Army, Major General Garba O. Wahab said yesterday that the army will not give in to intimidation, regardless of the strains caused by the Boko Haram insurgency and other acts of terrorism in the country.

General Wahab vowed that the army and other security agencies, including the Police will continue to protect the territorial integrity of the country as well as the lives and property of the citizens.

He spoke to reporters in Minna after paying a courtesy call on Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State.

The armed forces, according to him, are always ready to crush terriorism in any form and in any part of the country.

He said: “Yes, we (armed forces) but not stretched beyond performing our role of protecting the Nigerian as well as lives and property.

He said most of the states in his jurisdiction, apart from Kano and Kogi are not volatile.

He cited Hotoro Quarters of Kano and Okene, Kogi State as areas deserving of special attention in view of terrorist attacks there.

The GOC solicited the support of the public in tackling the state of insecurity in the country, saying: ‘’We (army) cannot do it alone and without the support of the civil populace, it is going to be difficult because we need information to perform our duties.’’

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NERDC ends two-day workshop in South East Nwanosike ONU, Awka

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HE Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has ended its two-day workshop in Anambra State with a call for quick implementaion of new Senior Secondary curriculum in the South East.

The workshop was flagged off at the Community Education Centre (CERC) in Awka two days ago by Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike.

During the event, the Executive Secretary of the NERDC, Prof. Godswill Obioma, told the South East teachers that the implementation of the new senior secondary school education structure was a task for all of them to tackle.

He said it was organised for 150 senior secondary teachers in the state which had taken the agency to other South East state.

Wike was represented by Dr. Solomon Ebobra from the Niger Delta University who equally was the chairman of the occasion.

Prof. Obioma, who was represented by Dr Dada Olu Shonibare, said the workshop was designed to inform and sensitize the teachers in the zone on the structure and mode of implementation of the new education curriculum.

He said it was to further consolidate the gains of the new Basic Education Programme as well as ensure the actualization of government’s transformation agenda for national development, especially in the area of human capital development.

Furthermore, he said the NERDC developed the new curriculum structure for senior secondary schools in Nigeria which he said was approved by the National Council on Education (NCE) in 2007.

“In addition to this, the curriculum is learner centred, thematic and activity based. The high points of the new curriculum structure are, amongst others, the inclusion of trade/entrepreneurship and civic education as compulsory cross cutting subjects” he said.”

•The Honourable Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide (middle) handing over a 50kg bag of grains to one of the buyers, during the flag-off ceremony of the sale of Buffer Stock Grains at 50% subsidy at the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, Garki, Abuja yesterday

Emir escapes death as suicide bomber kills orderly A TTEMPT by a suicide bomber to blow up the Emir of Fika, Yobe State Dr. Muhammadu Abali Ibn Muhammadu Idrissa, failed yesterday after worshippers and the emir’s orderly pushed the terrorist away from his target.

The suspect was, however, killed as the explosive he strapped to his body went off.

The jumat prayers had just ended and worshippers, including the emir were dispersing, when the suicide bomber said to be in his 40s started running in the direction of the traditional ruler.

His conduct immediately aroused suspicion and as he advanced towards the emir, the worshippers formed a cordon round the traditional ruler while the orderly made to push him away.

As he fell to the ground, the explosive went off ripping him apart.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Patrick Egbuniwe confirmed the incident.

He said: “Apart from the

Duku JOEL, Damaturu bomber who was blown into pieces, three policemen and two civilians were wounded but no death was recorded.”

An eye witness said: “During our Friday prayers at the Central Mosque located in front of the Emir’s Palace here in Potiskum, we sighted a man sitting near the Emir’s car and he was asked to relocate.

“Immediately after the prayers, the same person was sighted rushing towards the Emir, the Emir’s Police orderly quickly pushed him away. The bomb exploded tearing the policeman’s arm and injuring dozens of people,” he said.

“I saw the body of the suicide bomber torn apart. He wore a yellow gown with a cap and sandals.”

Another witness said: “A man who looked in his 40s approached the Emir and tried to embrace him, but people

around pushed him away and at that moment, a bomb concealed under his caftan went off.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Potiskum has been hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.

“My brother and I were leaving the mosque through a different gate when I heard an explosion followed by a commotion as worshippers tried to flee,” another resident said.

“I fled the mosque, but some minutes later when the news of what happened spread, I came back to the mosque and I saw a large crowd watching the dismembered body of the attacker.”

A similar attack was carried out three weeks ago in Maiduguri with the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Umar Garbai elKanemi, as the main target.

He too escaped death in that attack.

The injured were all rushed

to the emergency unit of General Hospital, Potiskum for treatmen.

Security checks have been intensified in the town by soldiers and policemen.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Potiskum has been hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.

On Wednesday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for suicide blasts at two police posts in the country’s Northwest and a separate attack at a home belonging to Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Twin bombings on Monday in Sokoto, the historic seat of Islam in the country, killed two people and wounded 30 others. The bombers also died in the blasts.

Gunmen had fired on Sambo’s home in the northern town of Zaria on Monday. One civilian was killed in the assault.

Jonathan vows to work with Jamaica on security, economy P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, who is on a visit to Jamaica, yesterday challenged the black race to direct attention to the fight against poverty, diseases, ethnic conflicts and underdevelopment.

Addressing the Jamaican parliament on the occasion of that country’s 50th Independence anniversary in Kingston, President Jonathan said the black race now has its destiny in its hands and must take the best advantage of the situation.

He said Nigeria was prepared to join forces with other black nations particularly Jamaica to get a better deal for the black people.

He said if past African leaders and blacks in the diaspora took it upon themselves to break the shackles of colonialism in the continent and other places, the present generation of leaders should consider it “a duty and a responsibility to create, nurture and sustain an environment under which future generations have no other option but to prosper and excel.”

This, according to him, can only be achieved through the consolidation of democracy and good governance.

He said: “Africa is free of colonialism but not totally free because of its economic dependence on others. We, therefore, still have our work well-defined for us: we must be committed not only to liberating ourselves from economic woes but also to work with other counterparts, the developing nations of the world, to achieve economically what we have achieved politically.

“In a highly globalized and competitive world, states are forming strong regional economic blocs. To promote trade and investments, boundaries are beginning to get narrower and narrower everyday. It is for the same reason that we must support

one another in tackling the scourge of imbalances in the prevailing global order. As black people, with a common ancestry, we must unite.

“We must unite to fight poverty. “ We must unite to fight hunger “We must unite to fight diseases “We must unite to fight illiteracy “We must unite to fight bad governance and electoral malpractices “We must unite to fight ethnic conflicts “We must unite to fight dictatorial regimes in Africa “We must unite to fight terrorism.

“We must unite to secure a place of pride for the black man in a modern and technology-driven world.”

He said Nigeria is willing to work with Jamaica on “new trends of global economic slowdown and security concerns,” adding: “ These are global issues of our time. Our roles must be complementary. Nigeria and Jamaica must work together to make a difference and increase the fortunes of our people. As leaders, we cannot afford to disappoint our people and future generations.

“There is a unifying vision that Nigeria and Jamaica share.

There is ample scope for even greater and more functional cooperation between our two countries. The opportunities for increased trade and investments are immense. We must take advantage of them to build and strengthen our ties. Jamaica was one of the first countries to which Nigeria sent her first set of Technical Aid Volunteers in 1989.

5 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY,AUGUST 4, 2012

Lagos bars NURTW from motor parks, roads

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T is now an offence for the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to operate at motor parks or on roads across Lagos State, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa,announced yesterday.

Members of the union are also barred from collecting transport fares from commuters on behalf of drivers.

Mr.Opeifa ,briefing reporters alongside his Justice and Information/Strategy counterparts, Mr. Ade Ipaye and Aderemi Ibirogba re-

Miriam NDIKANWU and Jude ISIGUZO spectively, on the newly signed Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012, said the union could only function from its offices, like other unions.

He said “while government recognises the NURTW members’ right to associate, the motor parks should be made safe for those who want to carry out their business of commuting in the state.”

He said: “Henceforth, union activities are no

longer allowed in all the motor parks in the state.

What they need to do now is to operate the way other unions in the state operate from recognised offices.

“No union member should be seen on the road collecting money on transport operators. It is illegal and this is how it is contained in the white paper adopted by the state government.”

The new dispensation also stipulates that bus drivers and conductors should wear uniforms, while only vehicles registered for com-

mercial operation will be allowed to function as such.

“Government will soon commence the re-registration of motor parks across the state. The situation where people just park vehicles in a certain area converting it to a motor park is now illegal,” he said.

Motor parks, garages and bus stops will be differentiated, he explained.

His words: “The operation of commercial buses is now fully regulated under the new law signed by the governor yesterday. The law stipulates that no one can put any vehicle on the road for commercial purpose without proper registration.

“Before anyone paints his

vehicle into yellow, he must obtain approval from the state Ministry of Transportation. With this, the state government will easily identify owners of vehicles.”

On the okada operation, the commissioner said: “The activities will be done within 30 days and during the certification process, all their biometric datas would be recorded to show that their owners reside in the state.”

The law restricts activities of okada operators to only 470 of the 9100 roads in the state.

The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General said though the law came into effect on Thursday, “the enforcement will not commence until the law is gazet-

ted.”

“We do not have enough men for the enforcement of the law, but we will require the assistance of the residents by complying with the new Lagos State Road Traffic Law. The fact that none of our men is on ground does not give residents the opportunity of taking law into their hand,” he said.

He said that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, “the law is not designed as a means of generating revenue for government as money so generated is not even enough to cover the expenses incurred in enforcing the law.”

Akeredolu’s promise to create 30,000 jobs is real, says spokesman

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L-R: Deputy Controller of Prisons, Ogun State, Mr. Noel Alewon; wife of the state governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun; and wife of the Speaker, state House of Assembly, Mrs. Oluwaseun Adekunbi, during Mrs. Amosun’s assessment visit to Ibara Prison in Abeokuta...yesterday

HE Media Assistant to Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for the Ondo State gubernatorial election in October, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, has reiterated the resolve of Akeredolu to create 30,000 jobs 100 days in the state if elected governor.

He was reacting to a comment by the Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West, Mr. Kayode Babade. Babade had said Akeredolu’s promise was only meant to deceive the people of the state.

Ondo PDP laments LP's attack on opposition members

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has condemned the alleged spate of violence on opposition parties’ members by the ruling Labour Party (LP) hoodlums.

The party particularly criticized the recent mopping of a local newspaper, Drocket News, by some suspected LP thugs and officials of the State Security Service (SSS).

Besides, it called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar to transfer the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bayo Fadairo, whom they accused of acting the script of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

The PDP noted that Governor Mimiko’s administration had constituted some groups to unleash terror on opposition members in their houses and other places in the state.

At a press briefing in Akure, the state capital, yesterday,

Damisi OJO, Akure the state Chairman of the party, Hon. Ebenezer Alabi, alleged that the recent programme organised by the party to welcome some LP members to its party at the Irele Local Government Area could not hold successfully following the attack of LP thugs on his members.

He said: “The PDP, as required by convention, duly applied for a permit to hold the rally and this was promptly granted by the Divisional Police Officer in the local government area and we began preparations for the rally in earnest.

“However, on the rally day, to our amazement, we encountered a group of LP leaders and thugs led by the Caretaker Chairman of the local government area, Nicholas Tobi Akinbiola, who came out on a mission to fore-

stall the rally and cause its disruption. Fortunately, they failed in this regard as we were able to hold the rally and receive the members into our party.

“To our amazement, on Monday, July 30, the policemen and soldiers started arresting members of our party.

Some of those arrested were taken to the Army Barrack in Okitipupa where they were interrogated and eventually made statements. One of them was Hon. Albert Akintoye, a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Okitipupa/ Irele Federal Constituency.

“The others were taken to Police Headquarters, Akure where they were detained and tortured for two days before being arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court, Akure on Wednesday, August 1 and subsequently remanded at Olokuta Prison,

Osun to give 136 senior citizens medical care

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BOUT 136 critically ill elderly persons across Osun State are to benefit from the state government urgent medical attention programme for the vulnerable in the society.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Hon. Biyi Odunlade, yesterday made the disclosure while speaking with reporters in Osogbo, the state capital.

Odunlade, who said some of the critically ill elderly persons were suffering from diabetes, hypertension and acute

Adesoji ADENIYI, Osogbo arthritis, disclose that the state government would tomorrow inaugurate a welfare package allowance to take care of all the elderly registered with the government.

According to him, the welfare package scheme targeting all elderly in Osun State is tagged “Agba Osun Programme.”

He said the state government was able to discover the critically ill elderly persons through the enumeration it

did recently and which is the basis for planning welfare packages for the senior citizens in the state.

He further disclosed that the governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, had mandated the paramedics in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) to take the sick elderly persons to the nearest hospitals where they could receive medical attention.

The special adviser also said the state Hospital Management Board would supervise the OYES paramedics to move the sick to hospitals.

Akure.

“It is embarrassing to note that the Attorney-General hurriedly took over the prosecution without allowing the police to conclude their investigation. This act of the office of the Attorney-General smacks of a hidden agenda, an overt intention to pervert the course of justice.

“It is instructive to quickly elucidate here that since that development on Monday, we wrote a petition to the Commissioner of Police that in spite of our permit to hold the rally, Mr. Akinbiola and his agents still came out to attack our members.

“As at the time of this press conference, the Commissioner of Police is yet to respond to our complaint whereas he has acted promptly on the petition of the Labour Party. This action is not only curious, but absolutely unethical and unprofessional.

“It portrays the present leadership of the police in the state as lacking the required morality to partake and operate during the election and as such it is time for us as stakeholders to let the whole world know that the Commissioner of Police and his men have a curious operational guideline that is not altruistic but informed by extraneous factors that we believe are self-seeking.

“Again we want to underscore our earlier demand that the Police High Command must explain whatever reason that is responsible for the retention of Deputy Commissioner of Police Fadairo in this state.”

But in his response, Ajanaku said the ACN gubernatorial candidate meant all what he said.

He said it was indeed a statement of honesty of purpose from a man of honour.

He referred to the fulfilled promises made by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Senator Abiola Ajumobi of Oyo State to create 20,000 jobs each within the first 100 days in office all under the platform of the ACN. “On his part, Akeredolu promised 30,000 jobs for the teeming jobless youths because, of all the South-Western states, Ondo is the only oil-producing one,” Ajanaku said.

Ajanaku said with the satisfaction of the people’s crying needs as the ACN watchword, their candidate would

achieve success unlike those of the PDP. “The PDP ruled most of the South-West states for between eight and ten years without creating a single job. It is also on record that the erstwhile governors of Oyo and Osun, Alao-Akala and Olagunsoye Oyinlola respectively, failed the people woefully as none of them could commission a single major road during their tenure in office.

“It was not surprising that an independent survey carried out during that infamous period showed that the South-West had the lowest Human Development Index (HDI),” he said.

Akeredolu’s spokesman went further to state that even outside the corridors of political power, Akeredolu has been able to champion the cause of the down-trodden youths.

I never criticised my party on its stance on PDP Chairman —Ojudu

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ENATOR Babafemi Ojudu has denied reports of claims by an online news site that he granted an interview to criticise calls of his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), for the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, over the prosecution of his son for the oil subsidy theft.

Noting the allegation is sheer false, Ojudu said “it is a twisting of facts and a mischievous attempt to set me against my party.”

Ojudu, through a press statement issued by his media aide, Dimeji Daniels, clarified that he only said in the interview that Alhaji

Sulaiman SALAWUDEEN, Ado Ekiti Bamanga Tukur should be prosecuted, if it is discovered that he, rather than his son, was the actual figure behind the fraud.

The senator noted that “there was no time that I described the call for Tukur’s resignation by his party as ‘illogical’ or ‘irrational’ as being peddled around.”

Urging journalists to strive to respect the ethics of journalism by crosschecking facts and figures before rushing to press, Ojudu noted that “feeding the public with blatant lies and half-truths does no one any good.”

Holy Flock Church of Christ celebrates

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HE Holy Flock Church of Christ, Odogbolu 1, Ogun State will be celebrating its 80th anniversary and award presentation today.

As part of the activities to mark the anniversary, the church will be dedicating its newly built cathedral in honour of Deaconess L.T. Onagoruwa, the wife renowned lawyer and former Minister of Justice, Dr. Gabriel Olu Onagoruwa.

The church, according to one of its leaders, Prince Gbenga

Oshinowo, was an offshoot of the Cherubim and Seraphim, Odogbolu which was founded in 1926 in Ogunyemi’s house at Oke-Olu quarters of the town.

He said: “In 1929, there was a division within members and a faction left to worship at Ifemade’s house and other members remained with the Saint Abiodun Babatunde faction. In 1932, when God gave the name the Holy Flock of Christ to the founder in a vision, the faction was renamed.”

6 NEWS

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Tension in Imo over plot to end tenure of reinstated LG chairmen

HE political impasse in Imo State is far from over as tension is already mounting ahead of alleged plot by the state government to officially dissolve the tenure of the reinstated local government chairmen next week.

The state government, it was gathered had perfected plans to announce the termination of the tenure of the chairmen to pave way for the conduct of fresh council elections in the state.

Although the government in the last one week had made frantic efforts to solicit the support and understanding of the council chairmen in a bid to arrive at a compromise over the lingering crisis, but the meetings were inconclusive as both parties were not ready to shift ground.

In his address during one of the meetings, Governor Rochas Okorocha, had said that the plan to conduct fresh council elections in the state was in line with the law of the state which pegged the tenure of elected LG chairmen at two years.

However, the secretary of the Imo State chapter of the All Local Government Association Of Nigeria (ALGON), Enyinna Onuegbu, a legal practitioner, told The Nation in a telephone chat that the chairmen will complete the fourteen months that was stolen from their

Police rescue ex-NNPC staff from kidnappers in Rivers Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

OLICE in Rivers State yesterday rescued a retired official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Felix, an engineer, from kidnappers in Port Harcourt, with one of the four hoodlums shot dead.

Felix is the owner of a thriving hotel business in Port Harcourt.

The four armed hoodlums, including a woman, operated in a blue Volkswagen Passat saloon car and seized Felix, while he was driving into his house along RD Road, Rumuodara, Port Harcourt. He was taken away to an unknown destination.

Rivers Police spokesman, Ben Ugwuegbulam, who confirmed the incident, said following immediate response by men of the police special checkpoint, commander of Swift Operation Squad (SOS), the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) and other police patrol teams, accosted the hoodlums along Aluu Road in Port Harcourt and gave them hot chase.

Ugwuegbulam said: "After exchange of fire, one of the hoodlums was fatally wounded and the rest members of the gang were forced to abandon the victim and escaped towards the Aluu former ex-militants' training camp.

"Victim was finally rescued and their operating vehicle recovered. Intensive search still in progress for possible arrest of hoodlums."

Okodili NDIDI, Owerri mandate and additional one year that will terminate by August 2013.

He further said that they were not aware of any plot to end their tenure, stating that the several meetings they held with the state governor were inconclusive. “We are not aware of any such plan as we

are entitled to a three-year tenure which will end by August 2013 and we exhaust all legal means to protect our mandate.”

The ALGON scribe who noted that they were still functioning as chairmen in their respective council areas, however, disclosed that the Director of Administrations has refused to resume work in line

with the governor’s directive in their last meeting, “we are yet to have the full cooperation of the council staff but our meetings with the governor is still inconclusive.”

In their position, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through the National Vice Chairman, Southeast zone, Col Austin Akobundu (rtd), warned that it will not accept

any arrangement by the Imo State government to reduce the tenure of the elected LG chairmen.

Accusing the governor of playing hide and seek game with the decision of the court, the PDP chieftain , argued that the chairmen and councilors were democratically elected and should be allowed to complete their tenure.

•Governor Peter Obi (second right) and Prof. Dora Akunyili (second left), flanked by P Square brothers, Peter (left) and Paul Okoye,who were at the Governor's Lodge after the burial of their mother... yesterday.

MOSOP expresses shock on declaration of Ogoni Autonomy Day, says no faction in umbrella organisation

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he leadership of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) yesterday expressed shock on the declaration of Ogoni Autonomy Day, insisting that Ogoni people were not for sovereignty, with no faction in the umbrella organisation of Ogoni people.

The Chairman of MOSOP Provisional Council, Ben Naanen, who is also of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), in company with the organisation's Secretary, Dr. Meshach Karanwi, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said Ogoni people recognise one MOSOP, led by Naanen.

An Ogoni, Mr. Goodluck Diigbo, who is claiming to be the President of MOSOP, said Ogoni people on Thursday (August 2) declared political autonomy, which was faulted by the authentic leaders of MOSOP. Ogoni's real leaders stated that it was necessary to correct the erroneous impression that Diigbo is a factional president of MOSOP, declaring that

Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt Ogoni people recognise one MOSOP, currently under the interim leadership of MOSOP Provisional Council, headed

by Naanen.

Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland, had been put under tension since July 31, 2012 by groups of young men, armed with automatic and other dangerous weapons, with the young men allegedly connected to Diigbo and attacked the Peace and Freedom Centre (MOSOP Complex) in Bori, causing considerable destruction, while the staff of the centre suffered varying degrees of injury.

The attack was a prelude to Thursday's celebration of the "so-called" Ogoni Autonomy Day, while Diigbo earlier sent messages that businesses and offices in Bori be shut in observance of the day.

Rampaging gangs of misled youths tried to enforce Diigbo's order through violence, but they were successfully engaged by law enforce-

ment agencies, which ensured that law-abiding citizens and property were protected.

These armed youths were mostly cult members, who hail from Diigbo's community, which is close to Bori, making it easy for them to operate in the town.

Naaanen and Karanwi said: "MOSOP has received with dismay, the purported declaration of Ogoni Autonomy Day by Mr. Goodluck Diigbo. He had earlier this year falsely claimed that the Ogoni people had voted for autonomy in a referendum. At no time did the Ogoni people take any decision to establish a sovereign nationhood.

"The Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) is clear on the aspiration of Ogoni people in Nigeria. The Ogoni, according to OBR, want adequate representation in all the institutions of the Nigerian state as a matter of right. They want their economic, social and political rights to be protected in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A people aspiring to sovereignty cannot also be asking

for representation at the same time.

"Ogoni people are dissatisfied with their condition in our country, Nigeria. But they do not believe the sovereign option is the answer. They are convinced that their non-violent struggle and the support of the international community will eventually make the Nigerian government respond positively to Ogoni's legitimate demands.

"One of these key demands is the creation of Bori State.

Another is the effective implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni. Mr. Goodluck Diigbo is able to mobilise youths from his community mainly because they are jobless, poor and unable to go to school.

"This is the general plight of Ogoni youths more than fifty years after oil production began in Ogoni, making the area to contribute significantly to the national economy. Yet Ogoni remains one of the poorest areas of this country.”

Minister lauds free education policy in Bayelsa

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INISTER for Education, Professor Rukuyatu Rufai in Yenagoa lauded Governor Seriake Dickson’s policy on free education, even as Bayelsa State expressed its preparedness to partner with Federal Government to boost education in the state.

Rufai who was at the state capital en-route the University of Science and Technology Otuoke, the Presicent Jonathan’s home town to assess the extent of work so far on the take off of the institution which has commenced admission processes, but yet to have formidable structures for its take off noted that Governor Dickson’s decision to

Isaac OMBE,Yenagoa make education free from primary to secondary school levels will serve as a source of encouragement to parents and children.

The Minister who was accompanied on the visit by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okojie and the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Otuoke, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko explained that the visit to the State was part of efforts to ascertain the level of preparedness and facilities on ground to enable the ministry formally announce the take off of

academic activities in the nine universities, including the Federal University, Otuoke.

She further informed that all the new nine universities will start academic activities by September except Kogi State that will commence operations in December, this year but did not advance reasons.

The universities will run courses that will be relevant to their localities, saying, this was the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Responding to the Minster’s address, Governor Seriake Dickson said the state was prepared to ‘work closely with the Federal Government to ensure the commencement of academic activities at the Federal

University of Otuoke by September, this year.”

Dickson, who described the Federal Government’s decision on the establishment of nine new universities in the country as nationalistic, noted that it the gesture will go a long way to give a sense of belonging to states where such academic institutions had hitherto been non-existent.

He also identified and attributed the current security problem plaguing Nigeria to the neglect of the education subsector by successive administrations in the country, and identified human capital development as the greatest challenge confronting the state and the nation at large.

Flood disaster: Two commit suicide in Anambra Nwanosike ONU, Awka

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WO farmers in Orom and Mmiata-Anam, both in Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State are reported to have committed suicide following the destruction of their crops by the recent floods in the area.

The men whose names were not immediately available, were said to have taken bank loan ahead of the current farming season but after watching their efforts swept away by the flood and sensing that they might be unable to repay the loan, decided to commit suicide.

Other communities ravaged by the flood are Orom Etiti, Iyiora, Umueze Anam, Umuoba Anam and Umuenwelum.

About two hundred and eighty (280) buildings were submerged by the flood.

Many residents are also understood to have relocated to neighbouring communities to save their lives, while some have suspended farming.

Some residents attributed the flood to sudden surge of the River Niger and its tributary Anambra River.

Victor Okoye who represents Anambra West in the state House of Assembly confirmed the incident and said scores of his constituents now live in fear.

The lawmaker told The Nation yesterday in Awka that the flood was not good for farming.

A community leader, Mr Nwabunwanne Chife said over N25milliom worth of crops have been lost to the disaster.

Street trading Court jails 21 Osemwengie Ben OGBEMUDIA, Benin

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O fewer than 21 persons have been sentenced to 21 days imprisonment or an option of fine of N10,000 to N20,000 each by a mobile court in Benin City.

The offences ranged from street trading, obstruction of government officials in the discharge of their duties and the obstruction of walkways.

The mobile court located at the Urhokpota Hall King Square was presided over by Magistrate Frank Idiakhe. The offenders were convicted for violating Edo State Sanitation and Waste Management Law No. 5 of 2010, Section 7 sub-section land 2.

Speaking to newsmen at the mobile court, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Public Utilities, Alhaji Alhasan Ikhelowa noted that street traders were given a series of warning which some of them failed to heed, but continue to spread their wares on the walkways.

The Executive Director of Environmental Protection and Regulatory unit, Major Lawrence Loye (Rtd) stated that some street traders have vehemently refused to heed government warnings.

He said some of those arraigned had been charged to court before now, adding that the street traders have continued to flout government directive for them to relocate to the market.

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

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Suspected terrorist dies in bomb explosion

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SUSPECTED terrorist was on Thursday night killed in Mahuta area, Kaduna State when the bomb he and his gang carried exploded.

The Nation learnt that the deceased suicide bomber, along with some others had entered the Afaka district in that area, allegedly to kill the District Head, Abduwahab Aliyu.

Residents were said to have suspected the movement of

Tony AKOWE, Kaduna the intruders and decided to challenge them.

Sensing that the game was up, the intruders tried to flee.

The deceased was overpowered only for the bomb on another member of the gang to explode killing the one arrested.

A resident said: “The youths were able to disarm one of them who admitted

that they were on a mission to kill the village head, for allegedly exposing their members.

“The other suspects escaped and it was when the people were pursuing them that a bomb exploded on the one who had been apprehended and he died instantly.”

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State Police Coimmand, DSP

Abdulrazaq Balteh confirmed the incident but said that no arrests has been made.

The Police spokesman said: “To the best of our knowledge, the only person killed was the one carrying the explosive device and we have started investigation into the matter.”

Meanwhile, the Retired Army Navy and Airforce Officers Association has asked

the Kaduna State government to take steps to sustain the current gains in the process of ensuring peaceful coexistence in the state.

The body said while on a visit to Governor Patrick Yakowa that the security challenge and other negative threats to the peaceful co-existence in the state are on the decline.

Chairman of the Association, Rear Admiral Nuhu

Pfizer: ‘Kano may convert diagnostic centre to hospital’

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ANO State Government may convert the diagnostic centre constructed by Pfizer Incorporated at Kwanar Dawaki, as part of the settlement agreement reached with the firm in respect of the Kano Trovan victims, to a teaching hospital for its proposed second university.

Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso who dropped the hint while receiving progress report from the committee on the construction of the centre, said the proposed Northwest University stands to benefit immensely from the project by way of research and training.

He also said government was working with the Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil on the possible conversion of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital into a teaching hospital for the institution.

Governor Kwankwaso expressed gratitude to the diagnostic center committee for overseeing the construction of the edifice which, according to him, would help in alleviating the health problems of the citizens, especially now that the existing public medical facilities have been overstretched.

Presenting the report, the

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OLLOWING a vacuum created with the recent appointment of the state former Justice Commissioner as Minister, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto on Friday swore in Alhaji Nuhu Adamu as the new Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the immediate past Commissioner for Justice is now the Minister for Youths Development.

Adamu was appointed into the same position in 1999 by the then APP–led administration of the former Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa.

However, this is the first time in the history of the state that an individual was appointed as a Commissioner of Justice for the second time.

Speaking at the brief ceremony, Wamakko said that the appointment was based on merit as the appointee has a wealth of experience in jurisprudence. ‘’He is a legal luminary of repute who has carved a

Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano committee chairma, Professor S.A.S. Galadanci said the centre would be completed and fully equipped over the next few weeks.

It is designed for disease

control and treatment as well as research and training of medical students.

The state government has also reiterated its commitment to working in partnership with the Federal Government in exploiting the state’s vast agricultural potentials.

Governor Kwankwaso, while receiving a delegation from the Special Intervention Fund on Agriculture, SIFA in Kano, stressed the need for the Federal Government to do more toward utilizing the 23 dams across the state for irrigation and power generation.

The leader of the delegation, Alhaji Nazifi Darma, said they were in the state to inspect projects funded by SIFA and tasked the state government to assist in mobilizing the citizens to understand the relevance of the projects to their wellbeing.

•The Governor of Niger State Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu with The GOC1div of the Nigerian Army Maj-Gen. Garba Ayodeji Wahab, during a courtesy visit on the Governor at his residence in Minna... yesterday.

Wyom stressed the need to check the influx of illegal aliens to the state as security information has shown that 70 to 80 percent of those apprehended in connection with security breaches were not Nigerians.

Responding, Governor Yakowa said the retired officers were resource persons that the nation must utilise, adding that his administration was determined to resolve the security problem in the state.

Dutse varsity matriculates students Kolade ADEYEMI, Dutse

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HE newly established Federal University, Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State, yesterday matriculated its first set of students.

The university Vice Chancellor, Professor Jibrilla Dahiru Amin congratulated the 202 pioneers students and charged them to adhere to their matriculation oath.

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State who witnessed the ceremony was all praise for President Goodluck Jonathan for siting the institution in the state and was optimistic that it would go a long way in boosting the standard of education in the state and satisfy students’ thirst for knowledge.

Lamido pledged his administration’s support for the university to enable it achieve the goal for which it was set up. The university, one of the nine established last year by the federal authorities, is taking off with four faculties: Agriculture , Arts, Social Sciences and Science. Education Minister Ahmed Rufai, in a goodwill message, said government plans to spend N1.5 billion as take off grant and N2 billion for capital projects in each of the new universities.

Wamakko appoints Justice Commissioner •Condemns bomb attacks, calls for prayers Adamu SULEIMAN, Sokoto niche for himself in the efficient and diligent administration of justice. ‘’He earns respect from both the members of the bar and the bench and he has an impeccable integrity,’’ Wamakko said.

The governor charged the appointee not to be complacent. ‘’You should serve with the utmost fear of God and strive to make the required

difference in the state, especially in the judiciary. ‘’Your appointment is critical, especially when taken into note that, a vibrant judiciary under a democratic dispensation is indispensable, coupled with the required ingredients of human rights and the rule of law,” Wamakko said.

The governor who arrived on Thursday evening from Saudi Arabia where he performed the lesser hajj, condemned in strong terms

last Monday suicide bomb attacks on police formations in the state capital.

The governor described the attacks and shootings as unfortunate and sad.

Wamakko spoke in Sokoto Friday, when he paid official visit to the office of the AIG Zone 10, one of the affected police stations hit by the attack to commiserate with him and officers on the loss of their colleague as well other victims.

"I vehemently condemn

the attack in strong terms on the two police stations in the metropolis, " the governor was quoted as saying.

Last Monday, twin suicide bomb attacks were launched separately on the office of AIG Ibrahim Muktari and Unguwar Rogo Police Station which led to the death of four persons with another attack on the Arkilla police station by gunmen hours after an earlier one.

The governor called for prayers by all and sundry across the country against such ugly incidents, add-

ing that “we need to keep praying for the peace and security of the country.”

Wamakko said he was optimistic that with prayers, the country would overcome the current security challenges.

"It is through devine intervention that we can build the necessary security will that can be instrumental to our secondary efforts towards ensuring security of lives and property of the citizenry" He said the state government has more proactive measures to use the available security network.

Illegal weapons: Police arrest herdsmen in Nasarawa

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OUR herdsmen have been arrested by the police in Nasarawa State said to be in possession of illegal weapons including a PMSG Sub-Machine gun, one locally made automatic riffle and nine rounds of live ammunition.

Two suspects who were earlier arrested in Lafia were said to have given information that led to the

Johnny DANJUMA, Lafia arrest of the remaining two.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Michael Ada who confirmed the arrest of the four suspects said they were picked up by men of the State Intelligence Bureau and are currently with the CID department as investi-

gation into the matter continues.

He gave the names of the earlier arrested two suspects as Usman Adamu and Ali Bamaiye, both of Kwala village in Quanpan Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Their confessional statements led to the arrest of the two, Tukur Usman and Hamza Tukur from Gada-

Gwari village in Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Usman and Hamza were said to have owned up to possessing two riffles, which they buried in a farm located at the boundary between Nasarawa and Plateau States.

Calling on members of the public to always cooperate with the police to fight

crimes, DSP Adah said that people should endeavour to report any suspicious movements around their neighborhood to the the police so as to ensure quick intervention.

He said the suspects would remain in the custody of the police until the force is able to interrogate them and ascertain the source of the said weapons.

8

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

9

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

U

NDOUBTEDLY Afghani stan is the most violent na tion on earth right now – a land where suicide bombers attend marriages, hug the father of the bride and detonate their bombs turning a scene of joy into one of murder and mayhem. On the surface therefore there may not be much to learn from Afghanistan in terms of today’s topic and one can confidently say that no good can come out of Afghanistan in terms of infrastructure, culture and development as we know it in the world today. However such confidence can be quite misplaced as the just released report of the US Inspector General’s Office on the US Afghanistan policy has shown.

The Inspector General’s – IG Report criticised the American Afghan policy and called it a failure. The policy has been focused on a strategy of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The strategy was based on the premise that if the US constructed highly expensive roads and infrastructure fast enough together with power plants it will win the hearts of the Afghan people and turn them against the Taliban which is the enemy the US had gone to Afghanistan to uproot and destroy in its war on terrorism after 9/11. The IG’s Report noted that things had not worked out as planned and the objectives had not been achieved as envisaged as US troops are due to move out of Afghanistan by 2014 and the expensive roads and plants are not in place and billions of dollars have passed under the bridge of the failed strategy literally going down the drain.

The Report criticized former US Afghanistan military boss now CIA Director General David Petraeus for promoting the policy on the ground that Cash can be used as a strategy to buy over the Afghan people instead of guns.

Instead what has happened according to the Report is that the infrastructure had not been put in place fast enough and where they have been built there is great fear that the Afghans people and government lack the funds, skills and will to maintain them.

Consequently according to the Report, the juicy cash policy for which an extra budget Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund emerged to allow the US Defence Department and Pentagon a free hand to spend money without hindrance, failed because it had created hostility amongst the Afghan people who feel saddled with infrastructure that drain their scarce and future resources in terms of prohibitive costs of maintenance.

This criticism forms the basis of our discussion of this topic today, not in terms of its merits or demerits, but in terms of its lessons globally for diplomacy, infrastructural development, budget management and economic growth. It also makes for vintage comparative analysis when we dwell on the recent utterances of a US presidential candidate Mitt Romney on his recent trip to Israel when he made a statement that has been branded as racist. Romney had gone out of his way to woo the Israelis and assure them that he will protect them more than his opponent in the November US presidential elections President Barak Obama, in preventing Iran from acquiring the nuclear bomb.

He called Jerusalem the capital of Israel to the consternation of Palestinians and sounded more like Menachem Begin, the late Israeli Prime Minister who attacked and destroyed Iraq’s nuclear facility under the late Saddam Hussein.

Romney however overreached himself when he said that on visiting Israel he now knows that cul-

Infrastructure, culture and development

ture lies at the heart of the Israelis being much better off economically that their Palestinian neighbors.

By saying that Mitt Romney was being more catholic than the Pope and practicing ethnocentricism on behalf of Israel against the Palestinians. That was not only wrong but extremely partisan and does not serve the cause of world peace for which a potential US president should be seen to be promoting especially in a volatile region like the Middle East which is the root of most conflicts in the world as we know it today.

The third leg of the tripod of our analysis today revolves around the issue of infrastructure and its use for development and there is no where that this is better illustrated than in the superlative performance of the Chinese contingent to the 2012 London Olympics where for the first few days China led the gold medals haul followed by the US while the hosts Great Britain which has the largest contingent took days to have its first couple of gold medals. Chinese success in London had its root in infrastructure planning construction and maintenance for the2008 Beijing Olympics which even critics admitted worked like clockwork. The Chinese probably used a Cash Policy like Afghan Infrastructure Fund for the Beijing Olympics but the difference is that the

Chinese maintained and used the existing facilities thereafter and that has made a huge difference in terms of the high quality of their performance and the surprising and enviable medal haul in London 2012 Olympics.

In effect then the US policy on Afghanistan that some would call ‘money miss road‘ in Nigeria , Mitt Romney’s misgauge of cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians and China’s bold use of sporting infrastructure to gain international respectability provide food for thought today; especially with respect to Nigeria and its budget disputes between the legislature and the executive as well as Nigeria’s role as ECOWAS Coordinator in sending troops to embattled Mali. While the US Afghan Policy was a lesson in fiscal arrogance and misuse of funds ,the utterances of Mitt Romney in Israel is like singing out of tune while the Chinese use of Beijing Olympics experience is a good example of fiscal discipline and focus in achieving budget objectives.

All these provide hard lessons to be learnt by Nigeria with regard to its budget utilization and control in the on going budget utilisation figures disputes of both the Coordinating Minister of Finance and the National Assembly.

Arguing whether budget utiliza-

tion is 56% or 34% is not the issue and indeed that begs the question on budget management, the essence of which is fiscal discipline and cost control. In fact the Minister is right to condemn the legislature for adding its own fringe benefits and ballooning the budget that was sent by the executive when all that was required of it was to vet and approve as required by law.

The Legislature too is right on the surface in calling on the Coordinating Minister to ensure that money is released for capital expenditure, which under the present dispensation remains largely unutilized.

The statement by NACCIMA, the Association of Nigeria’s Chambers of Commerce that only 14% of its members have access to CBN air marked Development Funds seem to buttress the complaint of the Legislature against the Coordinating Minister of the Economy. Yet, two wrongs do not make a right and as the law says – he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

Both sides must purge themselves of arrogance and assume a realistic sense of responsibility if budget management and control are to drive the Nigerian economy- as the Chinese are doing so well in all aspects of human endeavor even though they are not practicing elective democracy the way we do here.

On the diplomatic front it is indeed a tall order for ECOWAS to ask Nigeria to coordinate the contribution of troops to oust Desert Islamic Extremists that have taken over the Northern part of Mali. Yet, Nigeria is not unfamiliar with such assignments and by its military culture , pedigree and antecedents had performed similar assignment quite well in the past for ECOWAS through its military wing ECOMOG. The problem now, however, is the present. This is because Nige-

ria at home is beset with a problem which it has so far found intractable and unsolvable and that is the Boko Haram religious insurgency that aims to make Nigeria a Sharia governed state just as the Militant Islamists that invaded Northern Mali have done. Can Nigeria lead ECOWAS to dislodge in Mali what it has found elusive at home in the same Northern part of Nigeria as in Mali? No less a person than former military ruler, retired General Ibrahim Babangida said at a military graduation recently that there can be no coups in Nigeria because military education nowadays inculcates in the new leadership of the military a culture of discipline to protect and promote democracy.

Babangida asked the political class to team up with the new military in providing democracy especially now that he said Nigerians are living in fear and insecurity.

Wise advice I would say, except that I too have some fears that the bickering for which the National Assembly is noted might pollute the discipline and democratic education of the new military and that can pose another danger of unexpected and unplanned intervention not unlike the present prevarication and avoidable disputes over budget implementation. That really would pose a problem that would create a hiatus at home that would make foreign intervention abroad, especially in Mali such an uphill task .

I think it is apt to suggest a preventive medicine on that score and that should be a course on the theme –Charity begins at home in the curriculum of the leadership of the new military to reinforce the new or second IBB doctrine that the military are so educated that they cannot intervene in politics in Nigeria again.

10 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

How not to compound a President’s woes Knucklehead

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IRST the good news: the conference room of the Presiden tial Villa came alive with convivial banter last Wednesday when the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told other cabinet members that the nation’s economic module has been endorsed by an impressive number of foreign investors at the London Investment Conference organised by the Bank of Industry in conjunction with other financial institutions. To assure us that it was not another jamboree, the government’s chief town crier, Mr. Labaran Maku, excitedly told State House reporters that the ‘huge interest’ shown in the way and manner the Jonathan administration has handled its fiscal and monetary policies should be a pointer to the global confidence in the government’s drive to transform Nigeria. Maku predicted that in few years’ time, the Nigerian market would be saturated with these investors in all sectors of the economy. Ordinarily, we would have been glad to pop the champagne with the President if he had not jetted out to Trinidad and Tobago to attend an ‘ important’ cultural festival with a stop-over in Jamaica. Anyway, this notso-new story was the only cheery news item in a week where the headlines were soaked with rage and blood.

Interestingly, this fairy tale of investors’ confidence in the government’s macro-economic policies was coming at a time when a pall of doubt hangs ominously on the true state of our economy and actual compliance by government with the implementation of the 2012 Budget at the home front. We may not know the details of what the several ministers who were at the London conference presented to the ‘leading international investors’ to ignite such passion about this country. What we do know is that what we see here does not represent the kind of progress we expect. Today, a simple process of accessing the performance of the 2012 Appropriation Act has become a jigsaw puzzle. It is at the heart of the latest squabble between the legislature and the executive. Unfortunately, different figures and percentages are being bandied to expand the scope of the confusion. And with the way things are going, we may need to send those figures abroad for proper vetting before arriving at an acceptable figure if there is any.

In the real sense, the spat between the legislature and the executive has exposed the grand deception that goes on in the name of governance. When Maku, or any other minister for that matter, speaks glowingly about the engrained positives in our budget implementation, those who truly feel the heat of the spasmodic gyrations of the shoddy performance can’t help but to wonder if these persons live among us. For the avoidance of doubt, the 2012 budget was, in Okonjo Iweala’s words, “crafted to consolidate growth through four policy thrusts macroeconomic stability; structural reforms; governance institutions and actively investing in priority sectors.” It was also high on job creation and the diversification of the economy which was said to be “critical to the attainment of inclusive

growth, sustain food security and create gainful employment.” It was also one budget that appropriated almost a trillion Naira to security while accommodating a huge bill to address the tasteful appetite of the men of power.

The reality is that Nigerians are yet to see any shred of the acclaimed positives. Instead, they are confronted daily with the negatives. The billions earmarked for security is yet to work any magic as many lives continue to be lost to the needless crises across the nation. They practically live with crime and insecurity.

They grapple with poverty. There is a growing tribe of the unemployed and the thoroughly disenchanted. The roads are not being fixed as promised. Most ‘infrastructural projects’ merely exist on paper as they are not backed by the required cash. The Ministries, Departments and Agencies that are expected to push the transformation agenda are being starved of funds. The system is annoyingly stagnant.

Where the people had expected Jonathan and his team to devise a way out of the problem, the President has been quick in offering excuses for his non-performance. At a recent meeting with his party men, he blamed it all on the Boko Haram insurgence in the Northern part of the country. Yet that singular excuse cannot justify the glaring impotence in governance. Was it not the same Jonathan that said government should be seen to be on its toes at all times despite the spate of terrorist attacks! If such attacks and related ethnic crises in other parts of the country have not stopped him from hugging the skies whenever he wishes, why should it be difficult to address the simple needs of the masses in a budget that appropriates almost a billion Naira for presidential food, choice wines and spirits? It is either that he is completely overwhelmed by the challenges of the office or that he is utterly clueless.

Whatever it is, those in the President’s economic team should take the responsibility for compounding his woes and the utterly disappointing governance under which millions of citizens continue to endure countless yokes. Ever since the House of Representatives handed down the impeachment threat should he fail to attain 100 per cent implementation of the 2012 Budget by September, the Presidency has been running from pillar to post in a spirited attempt to pad up the figures. Unfortunately, that fire brigade measure has thrown up more confusion. The Senate has equally joined the fray in the battle of percentages and budget implementation. While the government insists that it has attained about 56 per cent out of the N401bn capital allocation released as at July 20, the House of Representatives has accused Okonjo Iweala of lying through her gleaming World Bank teeth as her figures indicated that only 34 per cent implementation has been attained as at July. But the Senate threw spanners in the works as the percentage came to an all-time low of 21.56 per cent performance level against the backdrop of the N1.5 trillion capital budget.

Quite honestly, I cannot understand how the government’s spin doctors came up with an impressive 56 per cent per cent performance level after declaring that only N184 billion had been utilised

With

Yomi Odunuga E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913 out of the N324 cash-backed figure as at July. The confusion is endless.

But no one is confused about the salient points. This ‘people’s budget’ has simply failed to address the needs of the people!

Exactly why one is tempted to align with the opinion of a civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which questioned Okonjo-Iweala’s claim that the 2012 budget was being carefully implemented to “protect and enhance the best interests of Nigerians.” This argument simply can’t represent the stark realities on the streets. The statement, SERAP said, could not be “supported in the face of the increasing poverty and suffering that millions of Nigerians experience almost on a daily basis. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the allocation of resources and expenditure by this government through the 2012 budget satisfy the human rights obligations generated by ICESCR. The result is that the government has not been able to provide the minimum core of essential health care, basic shelter and housing, water and sanitation, foodstuffs, and the most basic forms of education for millions of our people. This leads to discrimination and vulnerability which causes further human rights violations.”

These are the core issues that should guide the debates on the facts behind the figures. Not the needless tantrums and the political shenanigan going on between the legislature and the executive. It is amusing to listen to the cacophony of voices and the hot air being blown about impeaching the President. But common sense should tell us that it is nothing but one of those gallery shows that is bound to fizzle out as soon as some releases are made to address some pecuniary interests in the hallowed chambers.

But while the whimsical drama unfolds and interested parties look out for the settlement terms, it would do the Presidency a world of good if it heeds SERAP’s advice about coming out clean on how much it has spent so far on “providing essential health care, water, electricity, and basic education for Nigerians.” A troubled Presidency need not attract the wrath of the people by playing games with vital figures that do not correspond with the harsh realities of quotidian living. Or don’t they give a damn about this, too?

Subsidy probe: Now that the bubble has burst

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INCE the last month when the ‘secret deal’ between billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola and members of the ad-hoc committee on oil subsidy probe, especially its Chairman, Hon. Farouk Lawal, became a public discourse, my mind has not been at rest.

I’m particularly touched because the scandal or allegation, in a way, had vindicated millions of Nigerians, who have always maintained that no arm of government or individual at the helm of affairs at both private and public sectors can be exonerated from the stigma of corruption, which has entered our system like cankerworms.

However, if there is anything that spurred me to write this piece, it was the article I first wrote on the subject matter titled; ‘Where Are the Cabals?’ when I drew the attention of the public to the behind-the-scene drama going on over the probe. Imbued with a clear understanding of the Nigerian system, I had dismissed the whole exercise and predicted with confidence that the report of the probe would either be doctored or dumped into the dustbin of history like others before it. Among other observations, I made it known in the said writeup that I was aware that the big players, who had money to throw around had started lobbying the who is who in the President Jonathan administration, including members of the National Assembly, to make sure their names didn’t appear in the report.

While this was going on, people, who had strong hope that Nigeria would one day get it right and probably saw the probe as one of the ways through which the administration would show to the world that it was serious about fighting against corruption, didn’t see any sense in the alarm. One of such people who reacted to what I published in Punch newspaper sent his reaction to my mailbox. The writer, like many optimists, had cited the pedigree of some of the members of the committee as his major reason why he was sure the composition would do wonders. As a result of this, he discarded me and my opinion as a pessimist and armchair analyst, who probably didn’t like the face of the administration. But with the revelation that his cherished Hon. Farouk Lawal collected $620,000 as bribe, the writer and others in his class, who

•Otedola

•Lawan Ayodeji SERIKI

believed the probe would bring positive report must have known better by now.

Much as the outcome of the whole exercise bothers me, my major problem is whether the new twist would frustrate the good intention the House had in mind before embarking on the probe. Also, as is being rumoured in some quarters, does it mean that the big players in the oil and gas industry—tthe so called cabal, had actually settled their way out? Whichever way, major actors in this new drama have again opened Nigeria to ridicule before the international community. And for the upcoming companies, whose names have suddenly jumped to the prominent positions in the report, the report will go down into record as a major onslaught against entrepreneurship spirit of investors. I conclude this way because there is no sign of fairness in the way the small oil concerns were treated, compared to the unnecessary respect being accorded the giants of the industry. Though I am not in a position to speak on behalf of either the cabal or others, my argument is that all the indicted firms must be treated equally without fear or favour.

The story became interesting when it was stipulated in some quarters that the party at the centre, must have sponsored Otedola and his co-travellers to nail the Farouk committee in order to discredit the report. Two reports have

so far lay credence to this. One, media reports claim that a police source has established that Mr. Lawan initiated the contact with Mr. Otedola and demanded a bribe in exchange for removing two of Otedola’s firms from adverse reports that would beam an investigative searchlight on the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in oil subsidy funds. The police also confirmed that the SSS worked with Mr. Otedola to videotape the bribe and also snooped on several phone conversations between the Zenon Oil executive and the legislator. The police went further to state that they believed Mr. Lawan contacted them to report that he was in possession of bribe money only after he realised that the currencies were marked.

Following Otedola’s statement, the Police authorities, have tagged Lawan as the ‘prime suspect’ in their investigations and are expected to make their move anytime soon. Otedola said he can’t be accused of being a bribe giver because the money in question was handed to him in its entirety by the State Security Service (SSS).

In what looked like more troubles for Hon Lawan and his committee members, Police investigators had revealed that the honourable member and some of his colleagues were suspected of soliciting and receiving bribes from oil marketers amounting to over N11 billion.

This amount is not part of the $620,000 Hon. Lawan received from Mr. Femi Odetola. Details on this report came in as reactions pour in on the

$620,000 bribery scandal.

The Police said recently that it had launched a new investigation into a fresh allegation that an additional N11 billion in bribes had changed hands. Though information was still sketchy at the time of putting this together, a source from the Police had revealed to the media that a member of the committee had told police investigators that some members of the committee solicited bribes totalling N11 billion from some oil marketing firms.

Before the drama ends, Nigerians will be interested in knowing why companies not indicted by Farouk have now been indicted by Aig-Imoukhuede-led committee. From any angle one chooses to look at it, this has clearly shown that there was no transparency ab initio. The recent findings and the fallout from the bribery saga spoke volumes of the insincerity of Hon. Farouk.

It shows that he did not do justice to the issues he was assigned to. Rather, his focus was on the amount of bribe he could get from operators who are guilty.

If this is the situation, one can then conclude that it is clear that Farouk and other members of the committee did not set out to do what was expected of them and that they were a bunch of people with no iota of integrity because the new revelation had shown that the names of organisations that paid were removed cleverly from the report. Everything becomes a thing of concern to members of the public because millions of Nigerians watched the sitting of the probe and saw how some operators could not say anything reasonable to defend their involvement in the entire misappropriation.

From any angle one chooses to look at the whole scenario, this latest corruption saga has drawn the attention away from the initial fuel subsidy probe into the behind the scene of how money changed hands, especially issues related to the whereabouts of the money involved and the controversial recorded conversation between lawmaker Farouk Lawan and billionaire businessman Otedola.

However, Nigerians and indeed, the international community are eagerly watching to see what would be the outcome of this and the effort the Jonathan administration will make to ensure justice.

•Seriki wrote in from Lagos

on i s i c De y m t i to qu riage ar m t s la gh u o t was desanya A o y A s s e r Page 23 –Act

‘How my 70-yr-old mother was humiliated, tortured to death’ Page 18

THE NATION, Saturday, AUGUST 4, 2012

I w o ‘H ith w e l batt sa a m racis wyer la k c a bl d’ n a l e in Ir Page 44

11

Nostalgia for yesterday’s stars as Nigerian Olympians fumble

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

12 All the hopes for medals have so far been dashed by the Nigerian contingent to the London 2012 Olympics. Indeed, the number of Team Nigeria stars worth their weight in gold can be counted on the finger tips. JULIUS OKORIE and INNOCENT AMOMMAH recall the good old days Nigeria boasted stars, some of whom could have lit up the games.

PETER KONYEGWACHIE Olympian boxer, Peter Konyegwachie, was a silver medallist at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics in the featherweight division. He hails from Ogwashi-Uku, in Delta State, the town that also produced another sport (football) great, Austin "Jay Jay"Okocha. He attended Adaigbo Secondary School, where he picked interest in the pugilist sport.

Konyegwachie turned pro in 1986 and won his first 15 fights prior to getting stopped by a journeyman in 1990. He retired after the bout at 15-1-0. His younger sibling, Anthony Konyegwachi, is the current national boxing coach to the London Olympics. Reports say that Peter is married with children and works with the British Rail Station.

ATANDA MUSA Atanda Ganiyu Musa is a former table tennis player for Nigeria in the 80’s. Born February 3, 1960, he was adjudged one of the most exciting and active players of the ping pong game the world. Atanda Musa, known for his acrobatic two-winged looping, is arguably the best player ever to come out of Africa. He became the model for players all over the world who wanted to emulate his spectacular game. With his stay in the national team of Nigeria spanning 15 years, he was 10-times African Men’s Singles Champion and even won Singles & Doubles at the Commonwealth Games in one year.

A professional player since 1979, Musa is now more into coaching the younger generation the rudiments of the game. He led the Nigerian Skypower Team to victory several times at the U.S. Open Team Championships in the early 1980s. In 1985, he made the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, but lost to Cheng, who would go on to win the Open in his first trip to the U.S. According to findings, Musa started out when he was eight or nine years old. Known to many for his spectacular backhand loop, he can run down any ball and either loop or lob it back. He also has a blocking game that surprises opponents who don’t think of him as a close-to-the-table blocker. Yet it was mostly his forehand block that won him the Garden State Open.

He was simply an all-around player with a powerful looping game, who always seems to find a way to win. Besides playing, Musa has always liked coaching. In 1992, he became a full-time coach in Saudi Arabia for three years. In 1995, he was hired to coach in Qatar at the Ali club. In 1997, he returned to Nigeria, where he continued to play and coach. In 1999, Musa came to the U.S., at first to play in tournaments. He ended up staying, along with his family – a wife and three kids.

JERRY OKORODUDU He represented Nigeria in the boxing event at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Though he lost out in the quarter-finals, Jeremiah Okorodudu put up a good performance. Born May 24, 1959, Okorodudu became a professional immediately and retired in 1992.

Engaged in talent hunt and bringing up budding talents in Lagos, in his home country Nigeria, Okorodudu has been having issues with the ministry of sports as his salary was running into arrears after many months of waiting.

HENRY AMIKE An Olympian in his own right, Henry Amike is adjudged one of the best 400 metres hurdlers to ever surface on the African continent. He won laurels for Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games, and Athletics World Cup in Barcelona, Spain and a host of other championships. He flew Nigeria’s flag at several Olympics, including the Moscow, Los Angeles and Seoul Games.

Currently the president of Nigerian Olympians Association, Amike will remain sad by the disaster that hit him at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, where, after winning the second fastest time before the final, he fell out in the final.

•Atanda Musa

•Ogunkoya

•Aliu

Nostalgic feelings for others as Nigerian His love for athletics started as a student of St. Finbars College, Akoka, Lagos, where he ran 400 and 800 metres races and represented Lagos State. He won the National Collegiate Championships, popularly tagged Oluyole ’79. Amike was subsequently called to the national camp as an invited junior athlete. In 1980, he became the national champion in the hurdles. The same year, he proceeded to represent Nigeria at the Moscow Olympics.

Amike ran alongside the likes of Daniel Okide, who broke the national record at the World Universities Games in Canada, Dele Udoh, Felix Madi, Nwosu, Ojo, and the late Asagba.

He applied to the University of Texas, El Paso, passed the SAT exams and travelled to the US in 1981. After his first degree in Sports Administration and Management and a master’s programme, Amike returned to Nigeria in 1990. He became the Commonwealth hurdles champion the same year at the Games in Christ Church, New Zealand. After COJA 2003, Amike left athletics to take interest in rugby, becoming the Nigerian Rugby Association Vice President, an office he held for four years. Thereafter, he left and started to run his own company; Momentum Nigeria Limited, a sports management company. Amike also engages in fish farming and does church work. He works presently with Mondol, a company that deals in facilities management.

CHIOMA AJUNWA-OKPARA The Imo State-born Olympic gold medallist at the Atlanta ’96 edition in the long jump event represented Nigeria well in so many events across the globe. Ajunwa, who started as a football player, rising to the point of featuring for the senior women national team, the Super Falcons at the 1991 Women's World Cup in China, made a transition to athletics where she performed notably as a track and field athlete at the African Games and African Championships between 1989 and 1991, before she was banned from the sport for four years after failing a drug test in 1992.

Born some 42 years ago, Ajunwa, after following the completion of her drug-related ban from competitions, went on to become the first West African woman, as well as the first Nigerian to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. To win the gold, she lipped a length of 7.12 metres (first attempt).

The Chief Superintendent of Police with the Nigerian Police Force was promoted two ranks ahead of her contemporaries immediately she returned from the games.

With the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), Ajunwa is happily married and is based in Nigeria.

NDUKA ODIZOR: He made what could be described as a super impact on the game of tennis in Nigeria. Born in Lagos in 1958, Odizor represented Nigeria at the 1988 Summer

Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the first round by American lucky loser Robert Seguso.

The right-hander won one career title in singles (Taipei, 1983) and seven doubles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP ranking on 11 June 1984, when he became number 52 in the world. His impact at the Grand Slams was equally remarkable.

Although he failed to reach the final of any Grand Slam, he nonetheless proved that he did not come to the arena as a spectator. He made his exits in the 3rd round of the Austrialian Open in 1985, 1st round of the French Open in 1986, 3rd round of the US Open in 1985 and 1987, with his highest impact being getting to the 4th round of the 1983 Wimbledon Open.

Odizor played in the Davis Cup for Nigeria, competing in the Euro/Africa Group II in 1991 and 1993 respectively. He had the honour of playing on grass, clay and carpet surfaces. He currently lives in Houston, Texas where he runs his own business aside from promoting tennis, the game of his love.

SADIQ ABDULLAHI Another Nigerian tennis great who also represented Nigeria at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the first round by Spain's Javier Sánchez. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATPranking on October 14, 1985, when he became the number 262 of the world. The 52-year-old also played in the Davis Cup when Nigeria was competing in the EuroAfrica Group 1 in 1988 and 1989, winning four matches and losing seven. He has since delved into coaching in his base in the United States, seeking ways of joining forces with the Nigerian Tennis Federation (NTF) to arrest the dwindling standard of the game in the country.

Recently, he visited the country and worked with the students of International Sports Academy and other young players and coaches in in Ogun State, in conjuction with the state’s sports council at a two-day clinic.

The clinic was also extended to Kaduna with plans to extend it also to Lagos and other parts of the country.

Sadiq is retired from tennis, but he is not tired about teaching the game and seeking ways of getting Nigeria back to relevance.

THOMPSON ONIBOKUN

He was one of the tennis players that made waves in the country and beyond in the 1970s.

He played in the Davis Cup in 1973. Now above 70, Onibokun partnered Lawrence Awopegba in the doubles of European quarterfinal in 1973. Although he is not based abroad like a few others that made waves with him in the game, Onibokun has remained relevant in the development of the game in the country, providing technical support to local championships like the annual CBN Senior Open Tennis Championship, the Governor’s Cup in Lagos and the defunct Ogbe Hard Court championship in Benin.

He agrees that the standard of tennis has fallen, compared to what it used to be when he played. As a panacea, he advocates stakeholders joining forces to ginger younger ones to make an impact in the game of glamour.

The absence of regular circuits, he noted, remains a major drawback to the development of the game. "There is no way young players can reach the peak of their careers without playing circuits and move around the world. If these are not done, I am afraid the future looks bleak, not only for the players but the game in the country," he said.

EZINWA BROTHERS The Nigerian twin sprinters, Osmond Ezinwa and Davidson Ezinwa, otherwise called the Ezinwa Brothers, represented Nigeria in several competitions on the global stage. Osmond and Davidson were a household name as far as athletics is

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

13 world.

•Ajunwa

•Okorodudu

•Odizor

Odizor, Egbunike, Olympians fumble Championship.

They are happily married with children, and are based in the United States of America.

concerned, both in Nigeria and on the world stage.

Fate played a major role in their choice of athletics as a career, as they had both started out as footballers and wanted to make a name in the round leather game, but the coaching skills of an athletic coach, Tobias Igwe, way back in the days changed all that.

They grew up in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, Nsukka precisely, and had a lovely childhood experience.

Their quest for stardom started when they realised they could further their education without actually paying for it. Born on November 22, 1971, they both attended the Christian university, Azusa Pacific University, in the United States. They, however, both tested positive to banned drugs on different occasions. Davidson Ezinwa tested positive for doping twice—ephedrine in February 1996 and HCG together with Osmond in 1999.

Davidson established a new world junior record in the 100-metre dash in 1990 (10.05), breaking Stanley Floyd's 10-year-old record of (10.07). His record was not broken until 2003, when Darrel Brown ran a 10.01 in the 100-metre dash.

They attended their first Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, where they won a silver medal in the 400x100 metres relay, competing alongside notable athletes like Frankie Fredericks, Carl Lewis, Donovan Bailey, Jamaican Ray Stewart and others. They won several medals for Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games, the All Africa Games and the World Athletic

INNOCENT EGBUNIKE Currently the national athletic coach of Nigeria, Innocent Egbunike represented Nigeria in the 80’s, winning a remarkable bronze medal in the men’s 4X400 metres relay of the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984.

After retirement from the tracks, Egbunike spent a better part of his life in the United States before he returned to take up the plum job of tutoring the athletes currently vying for honours at the London Olympics. in his heyday, Egbunike’s record was not only gargantuan but intimidating in Nigeria, the African continent and the world at large. Having reigned as national and Africa’s champion in the 400 metres race for several years, Egbunike also served as 2008 head, Track & Field coach for Nigeria in the Beijing Olympics in China and also as coach of the Nigerian Track & Field contingents in 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, with the accomplishment of a gold medal for the 4x400 relay team, the first in the history of the country.

He finished sixth in the final of the individual 400 metres contest. Four years later at the Seoul Olympics, he placed fifth. In addition, he won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1987 world championship and other laurels for Nigeria.

He studied at Azusa Pacific University, where he still holds the school record for 400 metres and the automatically timed NAIA meet record for 200 metres. Born November 30, 1961, from being a street soccer player at the Government Reservation Area (GRA), Enugu, in the early ’70s, Innocent Egbunike grew to become Nigeria’s most successful track and field athlete of the 1980s. He started his elementary education at St. Michael Primary School in the coal city, where he spent part of his time playing football. In 1979, Egbunike had his greatest moment as a school athlete when he was named in the state’s athletics team to the Arugo ’79 National Sports Festival, in Imo State. He emerged one of the festival’s star athletes after winning gold and silver in the 100 and 200 metres respectively. That performance prompted officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to include the lad in the country’s athletics team to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He etched himself in the memory of African athletics buffs with an incredible performance at the fourth All Africa Games

in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1987, where President Daniel Arap Moi was so stunned that he named the Nigerian runner Innocent of Africa.

DEJI ALIU Though growing up for him was tough like any other Nigerian child, he fell in love with athletics along the line. Deji Aliu was one athlete who was able to combine education with sports. His Athens 2004 bronze medal winning feat in the 4x100m relay was the high point of his career. He was invited into the Mobil Classic in 1992 as the junior champion. Born November 22, 1975, Aliu won the 100 metres event at the 2003 All-Africa Games. He also took fourth place in the event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Together with Innocent Asonze, Francis Obikwelu and Daniel, he won a bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics. He also won the gold medal in the 100 metres of the 2003 All Africa Games hosted by Nigeria in 2003.

FALILAT OGUNKOYA-OMOTAYO Born December 5, 1968, Falilat OgunkoyaOmotayo is a household name in Nigeria in terms of athletics. The retired quarter-miler surpassed popular expectation when she became the first Nigerian to win two medals, a silver and bronze in the same Olympics for Nigeria at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 in the 4x400 metre relay and 400-metre races respectively.

She was married for several years to her former Coach, Anthony Osheku, and they have a son, Osheku Jnr who is making waves in the United States of America where he has garnered rave reviews among his peers in Highland High School, Utah. She is currently married to Prof. Seun Omotayo.

Falilat attended Mississippi State University from 1987-1992 and graduated with a degree in Education. She was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 1998 after she became the first person in school history to win an Olympic medal. In her collegiate years at MSU, she made All-American honours several times in the 100, 200 and 400 metres.

During her reign as Africa’s best in the 400 metres dash, Falilat has won a number of laurels for Nigeria from championships all over the world. For doing Nigeria and Africa proud in the world of sports, Falilat Ogunkoya was honoured with the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON). The Traditional Ruler of her hometown in Ogun State honoured her with a chieftaincy title for her service to Nigerians.

Now a member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Falilat has set up the Falilat Ogunkoya Sport Foundation, her pet programme directed at contributing her quota to the development of the young sports persons in Nigeria, Africa and the entire

MARY ONYALI-OMAGBEMI One of the world’s popular sprints stars, retired Nigerian athlete, Mary Onyeali Omagbemi, popularly known as the queen of Nigeria sprints, has truly made a name for herself in the track and field world, establishing several prestigious marks on the way. Born February 3, 1968, in Gongola, Adamawa, Nigeria, Onyali-Omagbemi saw the track and field as the spot she could do best as a matter of talent.

After losing her father at a tender age, her mother took over the responsibility of catering for Mary and her siblings, a girl and two boys. As the eldest of the four children, much of the responsibility was on Mary whose love for sport, especially the track and field, was her number one priority. Every attempt made by her mother to stop her was to no avail.

Mary, inspired by her high school coach who quickly recognized her phenomenal talent, became stronger in the pursuit of her goal. She, however, started by competing and representing her school, in what was then known as inter-house sport. In 1983, Mary was chosen to represent Nigeria in Ghana as her first international competition. But this time, she was denied the opportunity with the excuse that she was too young and did not have much experience. Between 1985 and 1990, she became a popular female athlete all over Africa and beyond. She went as far as competing in the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea and also went to Europe as well as other countries. A bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 4x100 metre relay and another bronze medal at the Atlanta ’96 edition in the 200 metres, OnyaliOmagbemi performed especially well in the All-Africa Games, winning a total of seven individual medals in the short sprints. She won 100 metres in 1991, 1995 and 2003 and took a bronze medal in 1987. She also took gold medals in 200 metres in 1987, 1995 and 2003.

Furthermore, the Nigerian 4x100m relay team won all the races at the All Africa Games between 1987 and 2003. Her consecutive Olympic appearances from 1988 to 2004 made her the first Nigerian to compete at five Olympics. This feat was equalled by table tennis players, Bose Kaffo and Segun Toriola, four years later in Beijing, PR China. She is no doubt Nigeria’s most decorated female sprinter with a career spanning more than 18 years, winning many medals and doing her country proud. She is based in the United State of America with her husband and children.

CHIDI IMOH Born on August 27, 1963, Chidi Imoh is a retired Nigerian sprinter, who represented the country in various competitions within and outside the country. Winning an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain was the height of his career.

Before then, he had represented Nigeria in two Olympics, 1984 and 1988 respectively.

Now based in the United States of America, Imoh held the African men's 100m record in 1984 and ‘85, and also won a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in 60 metres. He won several gold medals for Nigeria at the African Athletic Championship and the All African Games (AAG).

Imoh is also a former runner for the University of Missouri in Columbia. He holds the records there in the 200 metres outdoor with a time of 19.9, the 100 metres outdoor with a time of 10.00, and in the 55 m indoor with a time of 6.10.

KASALI LASISI He represented Nigeria in the 70s and the 80s, winning laurels in table tennis nationally and on the African continent. Kasali Lasisi is presently the national table tennis coach in far away Congo Brazzaville, after a fulfilling career as a player. Kasali won laurels representing Nigeria in the All Africa Games (AAG), the Commonwealth Games and others. He has since joined the Congo table tennis Association and as a coach, has performed beyond expectation. This may be due to the inclusion of some Nigerian players who had jettisoned their country of birth to feature for the central African country. He was tipped to take over as coach of the Nigerian team after the retirement of erstwhile coach, Babatunde Obisanya. But when the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation decided to seed the position to Nosiru Bello, Kasali returned to Congo.

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

14

‘Our ordeal as coffin E interacts with dead bodies more than most people of his age. And unlike the myths that many people attach to them, he believes there is nothing to a dead body beyond the fact that it no longer breathes.

It is a world of different strokes for different folks. The death of a loved one is a source of grief for the bereaved, yet a development that brings food to the boss of D’Cross, Adewale Senbore’s table. Talk of one man’s meat being another man’s poison.

But much more than being a source of livelihood, managing dead bodies has also shot Senbore up the social ladder. Today, he is the Chairman of the National Working Committee of the Lagos State Association of Funeral Directors (LAFD).

He said: “I handle funeral from A to Z. I am involved in taking the corpse from the point of death to the mortuary, arranging for the pallbearers, the lie-in-state and so on.

For me, there is nothing extraordinary about touching or carrying dead bodies from one place to another. It is something I do constantly.

“There is no how I can avoid touching dead bodies when I have to embalm them or move them from one place to the other.”

Many would shudder at the suggestion that they should go into his kind of business, but Senbore says it is a job that gives him joy.”I feel good when I am told to come and manage dead bodies, because it is my job. Each time I get such an invitation, it means the jobs I had done previously are attracting new ones,” he reasoned While it is believed in many quarters that the spirit of the dead

H

•Adeagboola

W

I Innocent DURU I ask: 'How much do you sell this thing?’ If you jokingly say that they should be specific about what they want, some of them get angry. They ask if there are other things you sell apart from what you have displayed. More often, they threaten to go elsewhere if you are not ready for them.

"Then there are customers who would mention coffin but would never touch it, just as there are others who would neither call the name nor touch it. This last category of customers would stay at a distance and point to the casket they want. If you ask them to come nearer to check the quality, they would ask if there is something you stand to gain if they touched it.”

Okiki added that in spite of the economic hardship in the country, some customers would never haggle when they come to buy coffins.

He said: "There are customers who would never haggle when you give them the price. When such customers come, they say you should just tell them the last price for the one they have chosen. They tell you that they would not haggle, but if it is beyond the sum they have budgeted, they would go to another showroom.

“They believe it is a taboo to haggle the price of coffin. But that does not mean that they would pay whatever price you give

,

HEN people go out to buy goods, the usual practice is to check thoroughly to ensure that the goods are of good quality. Where an edible item is involved, some people go to the extent of tasting it to be sure that it is not adulterated.

The foregoing, however, is not the case when bereaved people go out to acquire coffins for the burial of their loved ones.

This, some casket marketers in Lagos say, has to do with the myths many of them attach to the dead and the people involved in casket business.

Okiki, a coffin maker based in Ikorodu, Lagos told our correspondent that many customers who visit his showroom dread his products and only have to buy because their departed loved ones have to be buried.

He said some customers dread the coffin so much that they don’t even call it by its name or touch it for fear that something unpleasant could happen to them if they do. He said:"There are lots of misconceptions about this business. But the truth is that all the misconceptions are borne out of fear and unfounded cultural beliefs.

"When some customers come to our showroom to buy coffins, they would not call it by its name. Instead, they would

When some customers come to our showroom to buy coffins, they would not call it by its name. Instead, they would ask: 'How much do you sell this thing?’ If you jokingly say that they should be specific about what they want, some of them get angry. They ask if there are other things you sell apart from what you have displayed. More often, they threaten to go elsewhere if you are not ready for them

,

them. Rather than haggle, they would keep moving from one showroom to another until they get one that falls within their budget.”

Apart from the myths surrounding the making and sales of coffins, some of the traders told our correspondent that some members of the society often stigmatise them because of the nature of their business.

Ajani, a coffin seller in Agege area, recalled that it took a long time before his wife accepted to marry him because of the fears she had about coffin business.

He said:"It is unfortunate that many people have reservation about coffin

making and sales. I did not get to know about this until I wanted to marry. I had dated many girls without any of them complaining about my job. But when I made up my mind to settle down, I started hearing all manner of unpleasant things about my business from almost all the ladies. One of them bluntly told me that she loved me but that she did not know how to tell her parents that the man she wanted to marry was a coffin maker.

"At a point, I felt like quitting the job.

But on second thought, I stayed back because that is my only source of livelihood. If I should quit what people have known me for over the years

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

15

makers, marketers’ ‘My life as a corpse manager’ Gbenga ADERANTI roams, Senbore, a graduate of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, says that impression is this far from the truth. “There is nothing like the ghost of dead person going about,” he argued. “But traditionally, if a person is dead and there is a need to find out the cause, they might wake up its spirit. But I have never encountered the ghost of a dead person since I started this job.”

Ask him whether he frets at the thought that he would die one day and he responds: “I know there is death biblically, but I’m not afraid of death, just as I am not afraid of touching dead bodies. That is my field.

“Death is an inevitable. So, I know that I will die one day.

That is what my Bible tells me. So, whatever you do, do it well. Don’t think about doing something that could jeopardise another person’s life.”

Ironically, his foray into the business was more of accident than design. He said he had begun by playing with wood in his father’s workshop as a boy before he honed his skill in carpentry. Then all the businesses he ventured into as an adult failed. He later ventured into coffin making, which metamorphosed into the management of dead bodies.

Married with three children, Senbore says his wife does not see anything wrong with in his line of business. “My wife feels great and very supportive. The only thing is that Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, I’m always at one burial outing or the other. But she copes well and has always been supportive because she understands the nature of my business,” he said.

•Adedayo

because of a woman, where would I start from?

"It was at this point that I made up my mind that any lady that loved me would marry me without bothering about the

nature of my job, particularly because it is not criminal or against the law. I later got a lady who accepted to marry me after I had spent a lot of time disabusing her mind about my job."

•Senbore

Ajani further said he had a colleague who was ejected by his landlord because he drives a hearse.

The landlord, according to him, was not comfortable with a tenant that carried corpses from one place to another almost on a daily basis.

He said: "I have a friend who was stylishly ejected by the landlord because he is a hearse driver. The landlord was an old man. I am sure he did not know the nature of my friend's job until some people in the neighbourhood, who knew his job, called him to carry the corpse of their late one.

"After doing the job, the landlord became restless. He started telling people that he was not sure that my friend would continue to live in his house. He said that living with a tenant whose job is to convey dead bodies was capable of attracting strange spirits to the house.

“It even got to a point that he started avoiding my friend. When he was tired of running from my friend, he gave him a quit notice, saying his (landlord’s) children needed the apartment.

"What I have deduced from all this is that people are afraid of death and do not want to associate with anybody whose job reminds them of it," he said.

The Chairman of Hearse and Ambulance Drivers Association in Ikeja,

Pastor Pentecost, said it is not easy to carry corpses. He said it is a business for men with lion hearts.

He also debunked the belief that coffin sellers and hearse drivers pray for people to die, saying people should begin to see them as good Samaritans who render essential services to humanity.

He said: "I have heard many people asking if our prayer every day is for people to be dying regularly so that we can be making money. This is an erroneous thought. How can we be praying for people to be dying when we have wives, children and relations?

“The truth is that if people stop dying today, it will take a very long time before all dead bodies in the mortuaries are moved out.

"Instead of seeing us as collaborators with death, people should begin to see us as good Samaritans because we render crucial services to humanity. Sometimes, when our people are returning from a trip and come across accident victims, they stop and assist them. We deserve commendation and not stigmatisation from members of the public because the job of carrying corpses is not an easy one.

It is not a task for babies.

Our job is not limited to carrying dead bodies. We also carry sick people. When we carry a sick person and he dies on the way, we simply take him back to the hospital for coroner inquest. We have no liability whatsoever in that regard.”

Another coffin maker and marketer, Adewale Agboola, whose business is based in Ikorodu, Lagos State, corroborated Pastor Pentecost's statement, saying they do not pray that people should die for their business to thrive. He allayed the fears occasioned by the fact that coffin sellers usually build their showrooms close to hospitals because they wish that patients should die.

He said: "It is not true that our wish is for people to be dying. If you say that about us, then what do you have to say about lawyers and doctors or people who work in mortuaries? What we are doing is service to humanity.

"It is also wrong to think that we locate our showrooms close to hospitals because we want patients to die. We don't locate our showrooms just anywhere there is hospital. If you take a careful look at the locations of many coffin showrooms, you will find that they are usually very close to mortuaries. Coffin business cannot thrive where there are no mortuaries.

This tells you that our business is for people that are already dead and not those that may die.

“There are thousands of dead bodies in various mortuaries, and it makes sense that we do business around such areas, because when people want to carry their corpses, they don't have to travel to distant places to buy coffins.

On his part, Olayinka Adeagboola advised that people should desist from attaching unfounded beliefs to coffin making and driving of hearse. He said: "It is important for our people to begin to do away with these baseless beliefs. Coffin making and sales do not involve any form of ritual. The coffin is a mere wood and it does not need any form of sacrifice to put it together.

“That might be the practice in primitive times, but not in our time. Virtually all of us go to church or mosque without anybody asking anyone to do any ritual before he can do his business."

16

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

52-yr-old winner of MTN’s jeep dies on okada ‘

He was riding a motorcycle with one of his aides when a car hit them from behind and they both fell.

Unfortunately, they were crushed to death by a sewage disposal truck

F

OR many years Tajudeen Opeyemi a.k.a Takulaya toiled to make ends meet. He traversed the distance between Lagos and Ilorin, Kwara State, working as security guard, among other menial jobs.

Luck, however, smiled on him recently when he took part in a promo organised by communication giant, MTN, and won a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

The feat was said to have attracted a deluge of congratulatory messages from his friends and well wishers.

But just when it appeared as if his penurious life would witness a complete turnaround, tragedy struck. In one of the bizarre incidents of life, the proud owner of a brand new SUV died riding a commercial motorcycle popularly called okada.

The 52-year-old indigene of Kwara State was said to have abandoned his car at home and opted for okada to beat traffic congestion because he was already running late for an appointment. The decision however cost him his life. The okada on which he rode fell on the road after it was hit by a car from behind and a truck ran over him.

He died before he could be rushed to the hospital.

The deceased was buried in his village, Fanto in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State on July 7, amid tears by family members, friends and colleagues who described his death as a great loss Takulay was said to have been a member of the Oodua People’s Congress until his death. A colleague of the deceased, Dr. Ibrahim Afonja, explained how met his untimely death. He said:

,

•Opeyemi

Kunle AKINRINADE “He was one of our zonal coordinators in Apapa, Lagos State and a national officer. He recently won a jeep in one of the promos organised by MTN and

we were all happy for him. On the day of the unfortunate incident, he abandoned his jeep with some of his friends somewhere in Apapa so he could make it to the general state meeting of our faction in Agodo, Egbe, near Ikotun, a Lagos suburb. He feared

there might be traffic gridlock on the road and he wanted to avoid it.

“He was riding a motorcycle with one of his aides when a car hit them from behind and they both fell. Unfortunately, they were crushed to death by a sewage disposal truck.”

Takulaya’s friends were said to be oblivious of the incident until several calls to his telephone lines yielded no response. News of his death only got to them later in the night.

An acquaintance of the

deceased, who pleaded anonymity, said: “His friends had no inkling that something terrible had happened to him until he did not show up to pick his jeep where he had parked it. It however dawned on them that all was not well with him when they did not get any response after making repeated calls to his telephone lines.”

“When the news of his death was broken, chieftains of OPC in Lagos State quickly arranged for his body to be conveyed to his home town in Kwara State. But there was a confrontation between OPC members conveying his remains to his home town and some soldiers who were also traveling on the road, and it took mature intervention of members of the OPC to calm the frayed nerves of the soldiers.

“Tajudeen was fearless and fiery when it comes to activism and that is why he was nicknamed ‘Takulaya” (the one that dares death), such that none of us knew his surname. I believed that his death was natural because he was not someone who could be fallen or killed by juju.

“I wouldn’t know why he abandoned his car and instead settled for okada, but I guess he was destined to end his life that way.

“He is survived by wives and children. He died when we needed him most because of his immense contributions to the operations and growth of our organisation in Lagos State and the federation.”

A family friend, who also asked not to be named, told our reporter that there was more to Takulaya’s death than meets the eye.

He said: “I feel a sense of personal loss because of Takulaya’s closeness to my family. He was such an nice person who will be missed by those who knew him. As for me, I believe that his death was beyond the ordinary. But then, such is the fate of the valiant; they are usually killed by little things.”

How Ogun PDP candidate died 24 hours to election

T

HE sleepy town of the Igbesa in Ado-Odo Local Governemnt Area of Ogun State was thrown into mourning following the death of a Peoples‘Democratic Party (PDP) councillorship candidate, Mr Olarotimi Alabi, aka Alembe, on the eve of the July 21 council election.

The late politician, according to findings by our correspondent, was said to be among the favourite contenders for the councillorhip slot of the Igbesa Ward before his untimely death.

He was said to have left his Idomo residence to visit some of his friends in the Debasco area of the community to perfect the arrangement for the next day’s council poll. He was said to have held a long discussion with some members of his team in the area and even allocated responsibilities to some of his aides.

A resident, Mr. Segun Ojugbele, told our correspondent that the deceased politician slumped and died shortly after complaining of severe headache.

He said: “Alembe’s death was like a child play. He came here to see some of his friends and members of his campaign team at about 6:30 pm on Friday, July 20. And he had a lengthy discussion with them in order to ensure that they carry out their responsibilities.

“Not long after that, some of his

Kunle AKINRINADE friends numbering three arrived and he was even calling on members of his campaign organisation to thank one of the three men who had donated twenty thousand naira towards his campaign.”

It was gathered that the 43-yearold politician later left his visitors to also attend to some people nearby, and when he was through with the discussion, he wanted to go back to his seat when he raised the alarm about a severe headache. He had barely finished shouting for help when he slumped while those around made futile efforts to revive him.

“Alembe had left his visitors to have a discussion with another set of youths nearby on how to ensure his victory at the poll. He was trying to go back to his seat when he suddenly held his head and shouted loudly, asking for help over severe headache. At first, we thought it was a minor thing borne out of accumulated stress because he had campaigned vigorously despite being the “preferred” choice of the people.

Before we knew it, he had slumped while futile efforts were made to bring him back to life. It even got to a stage some Muslim clerics were summoned from a nearby mosque to pray for his survival, but it was all fruitless,” Ojugbele added.

•Alabi

Some aggrieved youths of the community then decided to prevent the conduct of the election on Saturday, July 21, alleging that Alabi’s death was more than the ordinary. Their protest against the conduct of the election in the area, however, failed as members of other political parties insisted the election must hold notwithstanding Alabi’s death.

A community leader who simply

gave his name as Elder Biliaminu recalled the protest that greeted Alabi’s strange death and the partial disruption of the election.

“Following Alembe’s death, aggrieved youths of the community embarked on a protest, alleging that his death was mysterious and that there was more to it than meet the eyes. They tried in vain to frustrate the election from holding, but some members of other political parties resisted their plan. “ “However, the youths succeeded in preventing the conduct of the election in one of the wards by chasing away officials of the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) who were there to superintend over the election..

“He was such a nice and caring person in his life time. His good disposition to life had endeared him to many of the residents. And with his emergence as the PDP candidate, everyone was looking forward to the day of the election to vote him into office. He was such a respectful youth leader with a lot of promises and a likeable person in this community; we will miss him for a very long time to come,” Elder Biliaminu said.

One of the youth leaders of the community, who asked for anonymity, explained that the reason for the protest and demand for the cancellation of the election by aggrieved

youths was to honour the late politician.

“We had no option but to protest Alembe’s mysterious death because we suspected foul play in this case.

The deceased politician was one of us and he had played an active role in youth activities in this town. We were looking forward to electing him into office as our representative at the council when he suddenly slumped to death.”

“We protested against the conduct of the election in our community so as to honour him because he truly deserved to be honoured for his commitment toward youth development in our community. It was, however, a painful thing to note that some unfeeling politicians who largely belong to opposition parties supported the conduct of the election despite the unfortunate incident. We all contributed money towards Alembe’s campaign because we believed in his vision to transform the lives of people in our community. The youths of this community would surely miss him for his little but lofty contributions towards the uplift of youths and welfare of peasants in the last few years.”

The late politician is survived by a wife, a child, among other dependants, and he was buried on the day of the election, according to Islamic rites.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

17 •The garden where he was shot

•Daniel

H

IS was a case of another dream shattered by police bullets. Daniel Ohien dreamt of becoming a graduate and was working hard to fulfill it. As a final year Ordinary National Diploma (OND) student of Accounting at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), he also worked as a horticulturist before he was cut down by a mobile policeman identified simply as Corporal Danjuma.

The tragic killing of the 30-yearold horticulturist occurred on April 30, 2012 moments after he reported for duty at Iriakoms Green, a horticulture outfit owned by one Mrs. Iriabo Iketubosin, located on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway near the old toll gate. Alausa, Ikeja.

Four months after he was allegedly murdered in cold blood, Ohien’s siblings, fiancé and landlord are asking that the police authorities bring his killer to justice.

Elder brother of the deceased horticulturist, Mr Michael Ohien, recalled that Daniel was already in the middle of his routine chores at the garden when some bullets fired by a policeman from a nearby office of a telecoms firm sent him into early grave.

He said: “We learnt that my brother had just resumed for work at the gardens and that he was already cleaning up the place when two mobile policemen from a nearby telecommunication company opened fire on him. He was shot in the head several times and he died instantly.

“Men of the Alausa Police Station had claimed that some people had burgled the office of a telecommunication company through Daniel’s garden and that the policemen that shot him claimed he had engaged them in a gun duel.”

In their quest for justice, the family of the slain horticulturist have petitioned the Lagos State Police

Kunle AKINRINADE Command, the Zone 2 Police headquarters and the Inspector General of Police (IGP..

Michael said: “When we noticed that men of the Alausa Police Station were dilly-dallying on proper investigation of the matter, we petitioned the police hierarchy so that those responsible for my brother’s death could be brought to book. We had to petition the police authorities when we discovered that men of the Alausa Police Station were not willing to arrest and detain the errant policeman.

Since then, we have been to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti Street, Yaba, Lagos, from where the matter was transferred to Zone 2 Police headquarters, Onikan, Lagos.

“Just a few days ago, some detectives from Zone 2 led the policeman who allegedly shot my brother to his garden, and we saw splashes of his blood on the floor while a bottle of non-alcoholic drink he was taking before he was killed lay in a corner of the garden.

“We also saw a sport newspaper he was said to have bought shortly before the incident. And contrary to what the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Alausa had told us, that it was a case of robbery, Corporal Danjuma, who allegedly shot him, was pleading with the detectives, saying that he mistakenly shot Daniel and that he was not an armed robber.

“It is quite unfortunate that Daniel was gruesomely killed by heartless

We planned to get married in December, says fiancee of horticulturist shot dead by trigger-happy policeman policemen while working in his garden, even when they knew he was harmless. We had just lost our mother on January 16 and she was buried on February 3, only for a trigger-happy policeman to sniff life out of Daniel on April 30.

“Although the matter is now being handled by a female detective attached to Zone 2, and she is handling the matter relatively well, we want the police to expedite action by conducting an autopsy on his body so we can give him a befitting burial.”

The deceased horticulturist, according to his bereaved fiancé, Blessing Akpan, was planning to wed in December. He was also said to have missed out on the convocation of his mates at LASPOTECH, which took place in June.

Speaking with our correspondent at No 8, Onikewunla Street, Shogunle residence of the deceased, she explained how Ohien had left home on the day of the incident without any premonition that it would be their last moment together.

Recalling their last moments together, the 29-year-old student of the University of Ibadan said: “I never thought it could be our last conversation. That day, he left for work at about 8 am. We were so fond of each other that we would talk on the telephone while at work.

But that day was very unusual because I did not call him and he too did not call me. I had thought that all was well with him. I became worried that he might have fallen victim to ‘one chance’ robbers when

he did not return around 7 pm as usual. I informed his elder sister who lived nearby and our landlord called Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh.

“The next day, we visited Daniel’s boss and he broke the news of his encounter with some policemen.

He said the matter was being handled by the Alausa Police Station. The policemen at the station later told us that there was an armed robbery in the area and that Daniel was shot by some “unidentified” mobile policemen who had thought that he was a robber.

“He (Daniel) had left his garden on Friday April 27 and because Saturday April 28 was the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, he did not go to work until that Monday April 30 when he was killed by policemen on duty at a nearby company.

“One of the people who were close to the scene of the incident had confided in us that Daniel was cleaning the garden when two mobile policemen on guard at a nearby company stormed his garden and shot him in the head at about 9 am.

“He was said to have fallen into a pool of blood and died while his killers ran back to their duty post.

We were told that the policemen had claimed that there was a case of burglary at the company three days earlier and that Daniel must have been the mastermind. But that can never be true.”

“He had been working at the garden, owned by a woman, for about nine years and he had planned to change his job upon graduation this year. Unfortunately, that dream

‘

That day, he left for work at about 8 am. We were so fond of each other that we would talk on the telephone while at work. But that day was very unusual because I did not call him and he too did not call me.

I had thought that all was well with him. I became worried that he might have fallen victim to ‘one chance’ robbers when he did not return around 7 pm as usual

,

was dashed two months to his graduation and just a few months to our wedding.

“Daniel was such a nice person with a lot of prospects. We had been dating for about four years before he was gruesomely killed. I am awaiting the release of his body for burial before I can consider moving on with my life. But there is no doubt that it will take a very long time for me to forget about him because of the affection we shared.

“However, I want his killers to be punished to serve as a deterrent to blood-thirsty policemen who think that policing is all about killing innocent citizens to prove that they are working.”

Other occupants of the building who spoke with our correspondent described the late Ohien as an easy going and honest man. The landlord, High Chief Adebayo Jimoh, who is the Baale of Imedu-Nla, Mowe, Ogun State, said Ohien was one of his favourite tenants because of his good deeds.

He said:” Daniel had been living in my house for 11 years and he was diligent and honest. He was in charge of practically everything, including collection and payment of electricity bills. He was my representative at landlords’ meetings.

In fact, it would not be incorrect to say that he was my adopted brother. That was why I accused the DPO of Alausa Police Station of complacency when I noticed that he was not willing to arrest those who murdered Daniel in cold blood.

“A few hours before he was killed, he had complained to me about the refusal of some tenants to defray their electricity bill. When I had called the errant tenants to order, I met him on the staircase as he was going out and he confirmed that the affected tenants had paid up. I did not know that it would be our last conversation.

“I was shocked when I returned to find that his whereabouts were unknown. That made me to organise search parties for him. But what pained me most was the attitude of the DPO of Alausa who, instead of apprehending the culprits, became unfeeling by refusing to arrest the policeman that shot Daniel.

“He had even harassed us, fuelling suspicion that he might try to frustrate justice in the matter. It was the same problem we encountered at SCID, Panti, where nothing came out of their so called investigation after several weeks of delay. That was why I asked my lawyer to forward petitions to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Inspector-General of Police and the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2.”

“The matter was later transferred to SCID, Panti, but there was no fruitful outcome. Hence, it was transferred to Zone 2, following a petition sent to the office of the IGP. I am glad about the relative success achieved so far, as men of Zone 2 have arrested the mobile policeman who allegedly killed Daniel. He is now being detained.

“The policeman called Corporal Danjuma had confessed in my presence that he killed Daniel in error and that he (Daniel) was not a robber. I want to believe that the police will do the needful by ensuring justice in this matter because cases of extra-judicial killing in recent times have been giving our country a bad image in the comity of nations.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Ms Ngosi Braide, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, confirmed the arrest of the killer policeman, adding that investigation was ongoing.

“Yes, I am aware of the incident and the policeman who allegedly killed Daniel Ohien has been arrested and detained. At the moment, the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, and investigation is still in progress.”

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

18

‘How my 70-yr-old mother was humiliated at monarch’s palace and tortured to death over alleged witchcraft’

•Mrs Orojo, her sibling

•Mrs Smith, deceased’s daughter

T sounds like a scene from Thomas Hobbs’ state of nature; a primitive society where men lived like wild animals. Life in that setting, said the famous British philosopher, was based on the rule of survival of the fittest and was nasty, brutish and short.

But Omuo-Ekiti is not a jungle. And it is not only a modern Nigerian community; it is located in one of the states believed to have the largest concentration of highly educated people. Yet, that was where an irate mob of youths, allegedly encouraged by the traditional ruler, descended on a hapless 70year-old woman and subjected her to series of heart-rending torture that culminated in her death.

The traditional ruler and the errant youths were said to have accused the deceased woman, Madam Rebecca Adewunmi, of witchcraft and regarded her as the unseen hand beyond the strange ailment afflicting her 33-year-old stepson, Ola Adewunmi.

Recalling the circumstances that surrounded Rebecca’s death in a chat with journalists last Saturday, her daughter, Mrs Grace Smith, said she had gone to OmuoEkiti from her base in Lagos on May 8, 2012 to see her mother. On getting there, her mother told her that Ola, her stepbrother, was sick and had been taken to a church in neighbouring Omuo-Oke community for healing. She then decided to pay a visit to Ola the following day. On getting there, she prayed for Ola’s quick recovery and even gave him some money.

But she said she had not left the church when Ola’s mother, Mrs. Adesola Adewumi, confronted her and said her mother (Rebecca) was the unseen hand behind her son's ailment. She said she knew so because of the dreams her own daughter named Feranmi had. Adesola’s allegation infuriated Smith and resulted in a verbal exchange between the two.

Later that day, the monarch of OmuoEkiti, Oba Noah Omonigbehin, summoned the warring parties to his palace where he allegedly confronted Rebecca with the allegation of witchcraft and incited the entire community against her. "I was also surprised to see a mammoth crowd at the palace and wondered what could have brought them there," Smith said. But she said she later realised that the crowd had been mobilised to the palace to witness her mother’s confession.

She said in spite of her mother’s spirited denial of the allegation of witchcraft levelled against her, the monarch pointedly accused

I

that occurred while she travelled home on a visit and the part played by Oba Omonigbehin.

He said as a friend of the Oba and younger brother to the deceased woman, he made several calls and texted messages to the monarch, seeking his intervention. He recalled that he received positive and assuring responses from the monarch and did not suspect that he (monarch) was at the vanguard of the scheme to kill his sister.

When reporters contacted him on the phone from Ado-Ekiti for his own side of the story, Oba Omonigbehin demanded that reporters who wanted his comments should come to his palace in Omuo-Ekiti with those who claimed to have witnessed the incident.

The following day, however, he sent one of his high chiefs and head of the Olisa Quarters, Chief Dayo Orojo, who told reporters that Rebecca “died after confessing to being a witch and one of those behind the stubborn ailment of spoons, were scattered Ola Adewumi, her on the ground outside stepson.” the house.

Chief Orojo said a “I managed to take lady called Feranmi another cloth for her had rushed to the because she was naked palace of the at the palace. I Olomuo, Oba Noah remember telling the Omonigbehin, Kabiyesi the condition sometime in May to in which I met my complain that she mother’s room and the and some other fear I nursed about her members of the safety in a room community; without a door. He said including the late there was no cause for Rebecca, were fear as the matter had responsible for the been resolved. strange illness that “We were eventually had afflicted Ola allowed to return home because he dared to after about eight hours preach the gospel in in the palace, without the community.

•Oba Omonigbehin my mother confessing He said: “We to witchcraft.” invited Rebecca She said she had Adewumi and planned to take her mother with her to confronted her with the allegation, but she Lagos for treatment, but she was warned by denied it. After much pressure from the some of the chiefs not to do so.

Imekula (the youth group), the woman Asked if she made any effort to report the confessed. But before the confession, she matter to the police, she said she did not, said if she did, she would die. You know, saying she believed that the police must have according to Yoruba tradition, if as a got wind of the incident considering the member of a cult you decide to expose them, noise it generated. you will die.”

She added: "Although I continued to He bluntly denied the involvement of the receive reports of taunts and curses from monarch and himself in the death of Ola’s mother, exactly after three weeks I left Rebecca. He, however, admitted that they Omuo, on June 26, 2012 to be precise, I got a seized the woman’s clothes and made her to call that the youth in the town had gathered drink a concoction prepared by a pastor in again and brought my mother out of her the community. He also he was aware that room in the night, stripped her naked and the youth vandalised the woman’s property started flogging her in the rain. After before she died. tormenting her for six days, they brought her Lamenting the fate of the community in out again at about 8.30 pm on Friday, June 29 the hands of ‘witches’, Chief Orojo recalled and shaved her head with broken bottle. that many progressive and promising They stripped her naked again and youths had been killed allegedly by witches sprinkled her bare body with esisi, a and wizards in the town. powder-like plant that burns like hot water.

Asked why the deceased woman was not After that, they forced her to drink a handed over to the police, Orojo said: “The poisonous solution meant for treating law does not recognise witches and wizards, wounds. hence the treatment the deceased received “Sensing that she could die, they put her from the youths was the same with what on a motorcycle and rode to the palace of the obtains in every community in Yorubaland.”

Olomuo. A few minutes later, they took her Meanwhile, the Adewumi family through back to her house and lay her on her bed their counsel, Messrs Dele Omotoso, has where she died the following day, Saturday, petitioned the Ekiti State Commissioner of June 30, 2012.”

Police, Mr. Sotonye Wakama, through a Corroborating Smith’s claims, one of her petition dated July 5, 2012, demanding the relations and retired school principal based arrest and prosecution of the people in Ado-Ekiti, Mr Gabriel Abiodun responsible for Rebecca’s death. The Omokanju, said he received several calls Commissioner of Police has since invited the from Smith on the phone during the incident monarch for questioning..

•She died after confessing she was a witch —Community leader

I Sulaiman SALAWUDEEN I her of being a member of a group of witches who were bent on terminating Ola’s life. Oba Omonigbehin was said to have insisted that Ola himself had told him and his chiefs that he was always seeing the deceased woman in his dreams, threatening to kill him. He also said that Feranmi, Ola’s younger sister, had confessed to being a witch and that she belonged to the same group as Rebecca.

Among the chiefs at the palace on that day, according to Smith, were Chief Olatunbosun Orojo; Chief Folorunso Idiowo; Chief Oyedokun Adeyemo; Chief Adeyeye Ogunjobi and Chief Adewale Olowoyo.

Reeling out the details of the horrific treatments meted out to her mother at the palace, Smith said she was forced to drink obo, a bitter concoction meant to force her to confess her involvement in witchcraft.

She added: "The Kabiyesi (monarch) chanted incantation upon incantation for more than one hour simultaneously as he pointed the Bible, a horse tail and a strange object at Ola and my mother in turns, saying ‘you live’ to Ola and ‘you die’ to my mother.

This he did for more than 200 times while the crowd chorused ‘amen!’

“At a point, the Oba stopped and said, ‘Eleyi ju agbara mi lo,’ meaning, ‘This is more than I can handle.’ After all this, my mother was kept at a section of the palace for hours, but she still did not confess to witchcraft.

"I remember that one of the young men called Ilesanmi Fasiku aka Arime kicked my mother in the chest in the full glare of the Kabiyesi and the other chiefs, sending her reeling on the floor and writhing in pains.

But none of them condemned the act except Chief Folorunso Idiowo, the Ojomu, who, seeing the Kabiyesi’s and other chiefs’ partial posture, called for impartiality in the matter, saying whatever was done to one party ought to apply to the other. His counsel was ignored.

"After a long while at the palace, I went home to get another dress for my mother because she had been stripped naked when she was taken into the inner chamber of the palace for one of the several rounds of disgraceful interrogations. I had asked about her clothes but I was told be patient. Her loin cloth has been with them since then. I learnt they are using it to cover the ailing boy.

"I was taken aback when I got to her house and found that the door to her room had been removed and everything, including her clothes, bed, stove, serving plates and

•Mr Omokanju, her sibling

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Saturday

THRILLER

Aviation The N87 billion make-over Stakeholders fear diversion of funds released by government to aviation sector

19

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

20

Stakeholders fear diversion of funds released by government T to aviation sector HE inferno is quenched and the corpses have disappeared with the blur of burnt and scorching blackness but residents of House Number 41, Akande Street, off Popoola Street, Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, won’t forget Sunday, June 3, 2012 in a hurry. It was the day Dana aircraft, McDonnell Douglas, MD-83, crashed into their homes as they savoured the rest of their evening.

The plane which was cruising flight 9J997 plummeted into the two-storey building killing 153 passengers on board and about seven residents of the building.

Its 62 days since the fatal crash and survivors and relatives of the deceased are yet to overcome the interminable grief wrought on their families as a result of the disaster.

Nigeria however, battles to evolve adequate measures at checkmating similar crashes in future.

But it was not as if the government has been sitting on its hands while the sector was rotting away. It has, in fact, released some funds to some airline operators with a view to ensuring safety and enhance operation. According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Aviation, Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, the sum of N87 billion was from the N300 billion Presidential Intervention Funds for the aviation sector.

Faulting claims made by some airline operators that the N300bn fund was aimed at helping the disbursing banks rather than operators of commercial airlines, Iyal, disclosed that the disbursement was made to the affected airlines with the aim of boosting their operations and ensuring safety in the sector. All the funds were released under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Iyal, in a paper submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives’ joint sitting on the Dana Air crash of June 3, 2012, noted that some of the major airlines operating in the country had made a formal request for assistance to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The airlines, he observed, had complained that the global economic recession was having adverse effect on their operations as they were being bogged down by debt burden with very high interest rates, absence of medium and long term funding, custom duties, VAT and other taxes.

Iyal said the former President directed his

•Scene of the Dana plane crash

Olatunji OLOLADE, Assistant Editor office to organize a stakeholders’ forum and take a holistic view of the sector in order to “find out how best the government could assist the airlines.” After the forum, he said Yar’Adua approved most of the recommendations and directed the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria to assist the airlines in injecting funds at generous rates to the airlines.

Following Yar’Adua’s demise after a protracted illness, his successor, President Goodluck Jonathan, he disclosed, ensured that the funding was provided to the airlines through the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the airlines’ sponsoring banks.

Though the funds were distributed through different banks, Iyal explained that the "funds were disbursed at a generous rate between two per cent to seven per cent as against the 18 per cent to 20 per cent that were the going market rate. There was also a moratorium of six months with extended repayment term of between 10 to 15 years," he said.

"Some of the airlines were granted the a working capital of between N500m and N1bn which represents 20 per cent of the previous year's turnover of each airline," he said adding that it was wrong to accuse the Federal Government of failing to assist the operators to ensure safety. According to him, the government has continued to upgrade facilities at the airports through the relevant agencies hence "It is quite possible that other extraneous factors outside funding could be at the heart of the crisis in the sector as funding is just one aspect out of several other factors as far as safety in the aviation sector is concerned," he said.

Iyal identified problems affecting airline operations in Nigeria to include, lack of cooperation from the agencies and supervising ministry; lack of transparency and accountability in funds management; dilapidated infrastructures and equipment; poor and inadequate facilities; and weak and compromising supervision by the supervising ministry.

"What is required is prudent management and monitoring of the funds for maximum benefits to the aviation industry. Pumping money into the aviation sector, or any other sector for that matter, without close monitoring on what the funds are being used for may not yield the expected result. A specialised sector like aviation requires this process", Iyal noted.

Who got what?

A breakdown of the airline chart, which was attached to Iyal’s submission, is as follows:

Aviation's can of worms Indeed, the public sitting over the issue has been revealing.

Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation, who appeared before the Hope Uzodinma-led National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation investigating the June 3 DANA Aircraft crash in Lagos that killed about 160 people claimed that she inherited an aviation sector in distress and

in need of urgent revivification. It was the first time the minister would be admitting publicly that the sector was in crisis.

However, what alarmed her, she claimed, was the discovery that the intervention fund provided by the government was being badly managed. This prompted her to seek a review of the aviation fund. "The intervention fund was in existence before I came…I knew that the fund was not helping the industry and, therefore, I went to CBN to ask for a review.

The aviation sector was about to die except we do something urgently and that is why we developed a template to rescue the industry," she said.

Aside Oduah, Harold Demuren, DirectorGeneral of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) also appeared at the sitting. Demuren, who prior to the commencement of the public hearing on the DANA air crash, was reported to have been suspended following the resolution of the National Assembly asking him to step aside, rebuffed all attempts by the committee to commit him into delving into issues bordering on technicalities.

He told the committee that NCAA had submitted all documents relating to the crash of the DANA aircraft to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) as required. He, however, refused to confirm whether the ill-fated DANA aircraft was air worthy before it took off for its last flight from Abuja to Lagos on June 3. According to him, the investigations were in the hands of the AIB which is an independent body.

He told the committee that the agency always sanctioned airlines that flouted regulations and had conducted air worthy tests on all aircrafts.

"I stand here before you devastated. It should have been six years by October that the country was free of big aircraft accidents. Nigeria became a case study for other African countries and the world, but under one night, the whole thing burst. There were two accidents. I cannot walk away. I cannot jump ship. When the going was good and Nigeria was being celebrated I was there. I cannot now jump ship," he lamented even as he dispelled fears about the subsequent safety of air travel. According to him, in spite of the air mishaps, Nigerian airspace is still very secure for air travel.

Among other things, the recent public hearing revealed the fact that seven years after the Bellview plane crash in which 117 people perished and the ADC crash which claimed 90 lives or thereabouts, investigations into the causes of the fatal crashes are yet to be completed.

Charles Adakole, the South-West zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), disclosed that the

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

•Abandoned aircrafts currently pose serious threat to aviation safety according to FAAN

•Aircrafts of major airline operators are at the heart of conscious attempts at attaining best aviation practices

•Iyal

‘

What is required is prudent management and monitoring of the funds for maximum benefits to the aviation industry. Pumping money into the aviation sector, or any other sector for that matter, without close monitoring on what the funds are being used for may not yield the expected result

agency has only one helicopter which is in Abuja; this, he explained caused the delay in rescue operations which started four hours after the DANA air crash occurred.

The presence of a large number of officials who were busy just taking pictures of the scene, according to Adakole, prevented the agency from embarking on rescue efforts early enough. The agency, he claimed, received a call at two minutes past four and got to the site 18 minutes past four, but was hampered by an unwieldy crowd of officials and spectators taking pictures. He lamented the absence of co-ordination adding that Nigerians to be enlightened, particularly on the need for them not to venture into disaster zones as they could compromise search and rescue efforts.

Jacky Hathiramani, managing director of DANA Air, told the investigating committee that the airline had five aircraft in its fleet out of which two were undergoing mandatory checks. He said the ill-fated aircraft which was insured to the tune of $350 million by Prestige Insurance, Lyiod of London and Global Aviation had operated five flights the previous day and two flights that day before the crash.

According to him, the NCAA came to DANA to conduct unscheduled inspection, about a week before the crash but could not furnish the committee with any evidence of the unscheduled visit. He also denied the claim that a female station manager alerted DANA management on the poor state of the aircraft.

The committee, however, disagreed with DANA on the age of the aircraft. Nkiruka Onyejiocha, Chairman, House committee on Aviation, said findings revealed that the aircraft which DANA purchased from Alaska Airline in February 2009 was manufactured

’

in 1980 contrary to the claim by DANA that it was manufactured in 1990.

A stakeholder's defense In the wake of government's disbursement of the fund to airline operators, stakeholders have expressed fears over possible diversion of the fund to other means by the beneficiaries with accusing fingers being pointed at the management of Air Nigeria which got the largest share of N36bn from the N87bn so far disbursed.

There was an allegation against Air Nigeria that the sum of N35.5 billion it benefited from the aviation intervention fund was used to buy properties in Dubai and Sao Tome and Principe.

The allegation was a product of a petition from John Nnorom, former director of Finance of the airline who was sacked for allegedly embezzling $100,000.

But Jimoh Ibrahim, chairman of the airline, was on hand to debunk the allegation. Ibrahim, who tendered documentary evidence to back his evidence, explained that the airline which was having only three aircraft at the time he acquired it with an inherited debt of N1.8 billion is presently having 13 airworthy aircraft.

Ibrahim told the hearing that he met a total debt of $275 million and the loan facility obtained from the Bank of Industry was used to offset debts he met on ground, saying he never enjoyed any grants from the fund.

According to him, he upgraded the standard of the airline from two aircrafts that he met on ground and today Air Nigeria boasts of 13 functional aircrafts. Ibrahim maintained that his investment in Air Nigeria was purely based on national interest and the patriotic zeal to contribute to the development of the nation's economy.

He informed the committee that he invests N28 million monthly in the airline for purposes of maintenance of personnel and the 13 aircrafts in the fleet. "Suffice it to say that sometimes it could be very painful when you are working for national interest and some people try to bring some phony information. As at the time we took over, Virgin Atlantic owed $275 million which I know the regulators are aware of. So nobody collected one kobo. In other words, the loan we met on ground was what Bank of Industry, BOI, refinanced. I have never got any transfer of funds from BOI. BOI never gave me any money. The loan is not even between us and BOI, it is between UBA and BOI and the purpose is clearly stated there and that is to refinance an existing facility," Ibrahim said.

Abandoned aircrafts, brain drain and other sad stories Worried by the scourge of 65 abandoned aircrafts plaguing eight airports in the country, the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) on Monday, July 24, issued an ultimatum to owners of the abandoned aircrafts to remove them by the end of the month. According to FAAN's General Manager, Public Affairs, Akin Olukunle, the presence of the disused planes could attract to the airport environment, shady characters angling to pirate the planes and sell them as scrap.

George Uriesi, Managing Director of FAAN, had earlier noted that "the abandoned aircrafts pose potential safety hazard to airport operations and have over the years constituted an eyesore at our airports." According to him, the ultimatum is to ensure that the airport is further secured, particularly at a period when the country is grappling with grievous insecurity concerns.

FAAN is at the moment, dissatisfied by the high number of abandoned aircrafts within the country's airports. A significant number of old aircrafts, belonging to moribund airline operators, create awful scenery, several metres along the runway of many domestic airports across the country. At the last count, the agency puts the number of abandoned aircrafts at over 100 adding that the rickety planes, most of which are unserviceable, currently obscure airspace and posee serious threat to routine and emergency operations at the local airports.

The issue of brain drain in the nation's aviation sector also constitutes a major source of worries to aviation stakeholders in the country. Recently, African transport ministers, at a two-day "African Ministerial Conference on

•Oduah

Aviation Safety in Africa," pointed out that the issue of brain drain in the continent's aviation industry has assumed a worrisome dimension, as Africa continues to lose aviation skilled hands to other regions, particularly the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The ministers unanimously called on their leaders to tackle the challenge claiming it contributes immensely to some of Nigeria's aviation challenges as some of the nation's best engineers, pilots, and administrators have been poached by richer Middle East nations with bigger pay packets and better conditions of service. Recently, Chinese airlines made audacious order of over 200 wide body and regional aircraft after they had recruited personnel from Nigeria among other African countries.

The body recognised that the loss of skilled and qualified manpower, if not addressed timely, would affect the safe operation of air transport in Africa.

President Goodluck Jonathan, at the opening of the conference, said it has become necessary for the continent to salvage its aviation industry. The President, represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, assured that the Nigerian government would continue to collaborate and partner with other African states and international stakeholders to enhance air travel safety in Africa.

He said: "The story of Nigeria attests to the fact that the present safety situation in Africa can be changed through collaborative and cooperative action among Africa States. We must pursue the achievement of this goal with determination, commitment, hard work and focus. In this vein, Nigeria remains committed to collaborate and partner with other African states and international stakeholders toward enhancing safety in Africa. The establishment of the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organisation (BAGASOO) with headquarters in Abuja is a success story worthy of emulation by other regions in Africa."

President Jonathan said that Nigeria had since resolved to improve on its aviation safety infrastructure, implement rigorous oversight functions and ensure that global best practices in safety culture of the air operators and travelers were institutionalized.

One such measure was his recent disbursement of the aviation fund. Although the move has been widely applauded as a remarkable fillip and breath of fresh air to the sector, fears abound amongst aviation stakeholders of possible misappropriation of the fund.

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SOCIETY

THE NATION SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Senator Babafemi Ojudu has held an empowerment programme for women in Ekiti Central Senatorial District and commissioned the Raliat Ojudu Women Development Centre (ROWDEC) named after his mother in Ado-Ekiti, writes SULAIMAN SALAWUDEEN.

Pomp as Senator Ojudu lifts 570 women T was an awesome gathering at Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State.

Smiles lit up the faces 570 women, accompanied by relations and friends, who sat in the hall.

They adorned the traditional Iro and Buba with head ties to match. It looked like an end of year party of a social club. But it was not.

It was an empowerment programme by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial Distrct in the Senate. The sprawling Adetiloye Hall in the ancient town was filled to capacity.

Senator Ojudu had invited the women; 10 each from the 57 wards in the district; for the historic event.

Each of them smiled home with N200, 000. The senator said that the gesture would boost their trading activities in the towns and villages.

Before presenting the cheques to them, Ojudu reflected on the plight of womanhood. He said women have the dual burden of child upbringing and fending for their families in many homes.

In a voice laced with emotion, he recalled how his mother hawked garri to sponsor all her six children including himself to school. He said, if her poor mother could accomplish that task, the beneficiaries of the empowerment scheme could also thread the path and survive.

The beneficiaries are expected to utilize the amount as members of a pseudo- cooperative society. The loan is payable with marginal interest, which will return to the pool for distribution to another set of women in the future. The senator said any group that emerges as best manager of its loan would be rewarded with an additional N500, 000. Also, there is an element of competition in the yearly scheme.

Ojudu said the best performing woman, out of 570 women, would get N50, 000 as gift.

The senator urged the women not to spend the money on social parties and other unprofitable ventures.

The initiative received commendation from Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who observed that Ojudu had extended a duty of care to the poor. She advised other politicians in public office to emulate the senator.

Mrs. Tinubu however, corrected the erroneous impression that National Assembly members were misusing constituency allowances.

She clarified that money meant for constituency projects are handled by appropriate agencies outside the legislature, adding that senators do not collect constituency allowance.

Senator Tinubu added: "I want to say that no senator is today taking any constituency allowances for constituency projects. Project execution is a task of the executive arm of government and that is what it should be."

The Senator urged public spirited individuals to join the campaign for poverty eradication in the society, noting that 570 beneficiaries out of thousands of women was like a drop in the ocean.

Mrs. Tinubu commended the urban renewal efforts of Fayemi Administration, saying that Ado is now a beautiful capital. She said, with the "massive overhaul of the

I

• Senator Tinubu (second right)assisted by Mrs Olayinka (middle); Senator Ojudu and his wife Omotola (right) to commission the ROWDEC

‘

I want to say that no senator is today taking any constituency allowance for constituency projects.

Project execution is a task of the executive arm of government and that is what it should be

‘

’

Any group that emerges as best manager of its loan be rewarded with an additional N500, 000.

Also, there is an element of competition in the yearly scheme. Ojudu said the best performing woman, out of 570 women, would get N50, 000 as gift.

’

• Cross section of the beneficiaries

•The Centre

entire road infrastructure in the state, Governor Kayode Fayemi has secured automatic ticket for a second term'.

She stressed: 'When I came into Ado-Ekiti today and saw the construction works and the newly completed roads, I felt sincerely I was in London. There is no gainsaying the fact that Governor Fayemi has worked for and earned second term in office."

The deputy governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, who chaired the ceremony, said the task of poverty eradication has assumed prominence in the activities of

political functionaries in the state because of the awareness of the enormity of the problem.

She urged women to send their children to school in their own interest. Olayinka said: "You should all know now that education up to the senior classes in the secondary school is not only free but compulsory in Ekiti State. It is therefore a serious offence to tell your child to hawk about the roads while other children are in school."

A motivational speaker, Mrs. Patricia Omoqui from the United States of America, urged men to allow women to flourish in politics.

• Mrs Omoiqui

• Commissioner for Women Affairs, social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola RichieAdewusi

Omoqui, who is married to a Nigerian, also urged people to sustain the time-tested family values of trust and cooperation at home.

While the distribution of the cheques was going on, the dignitaries drove down to Raliat Ojudu Women Development Centre (ROWDEC) along Ado-Iworoko road for the commissioning of the building. It was performed by Senator Tinubu.

Ojudu explained that, ROWDEC, which was built in memory of his mother, would serve as a vocational training centre for women.

Other dignitaries at the event

included the Chief of Staff to the governor, Chief Yemi Adaramodu; Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Chairman, Prof. Dupe Adelabu; Commissioner for Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola-Richie Adewusi; House of Representatives member Oyetunde Ojo; former chairman of Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Developemt Area, Lagos State, Otunba Yetunde Arobieke and wife of the chairman of Mainland Local Government, Lagos State, Mrs. Anike Adekanye.

LOCATION

BACKSTAGE

SNAPSHOT

REEL NEWS

MUSIC

SCREEN

Edited by: VICTOR AKANDE

Tel: 08077408676

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

ntertainment

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

23

SEE PAGE 28 - 37

Decision to quit my last marriage was tough —Ayo Adesanya

24

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

STAND BY! h

Wit

VICTOR AKANDE E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com Tel: 08077408676 (SMS only)

THINK

nt part of An importa s of any the succes is its civilisation late the mu ability to e t led to the a th factors ther success of o Eric .— s civilisation rt Reine

SNAPSHOTS Ini Edo floats shoe line

Umpiring the judges of reality TV

•Ini Edo

CB is a wizard. I think he is qualified to be a judge of a music talent show.

You need to see how shallow some of the guys that are used for similar shows are...

Imagine Joke Silva on Project Fame for example, it doesn't matter what role she was meant to play

WRITE TO US!

Do you watch Nollywood movies? What do you think of the Nigerian motion picture industry? Send your review of any movie or short essay on any topic of your choice about the film industry in not more than 200 words. Send entries by e-mail to: victor_akande@yahoo.com or SMS your short comments to 08077408676

Jim Iyke takes a break

Funke Etti's dilemma

25

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

RE ELNEW S

Kunle Afolayan gets Africa’s recognition

Big Brother Stargame

Jannette’s off the race

Artistes grace Charity Lounge induction

•Kunle Afolayan

Culture Ministry stages fashion show

•Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Edem Duke

26

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

, s s e n s s e l d l i Ch n i e u s s i n a not e g a i r r a m my —Gospel singer, Liza C Elizabeth Moses, aka Liza C is a rising gospel artiste. In this interview with DUPE AYINLAOLASUKANMI, she talks about her passion for showbiz and the reason behind her concert tagged Liza C and Friends.

I have been married over eight years and by the grace of God I have peace in my home.

We've learned that there are no challenges too difficult for us to handle as long as we are determined to remain faithful to God. We know that God will surely reward us with children. It is only a matter of time

27

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Winnie Mandela comes on MTV Base…

N-tyce lights up Karimu Kotun

Capital Records takes Chidynma to the ‘hills’

Naeto C, Davido on Amstel Malta Showtime in Benin

2face 2face,, ElDee, W4 go on Spinlet

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R R R R R R R E E E E E E R V V V V V V E E O O O O O O V C C C C C C V O O C C THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

COVER

COVER

Beautiful cross over actress, Ayo Adesanya, has sure come a long way. Starting off with a waka pass role in Zeb Ejiro's 'Mortal Inheritance' in the mid-90s, Ayo has gradually moved up the ladder with roles that have made her a household name. She, however, shot into limelight with chart-bursting flick, 'Out of Bounds'. And from that point, the University of Ibadan Communication and Language graduate has never looked back. Today, Ayo has made a successful cross over from the English language genre to become an A-list actress in the Yoruba genre of the Nigerian movie industry. The overtly daring actress was in the news for the wrong reason few years back, when she parted ways with her husband, movie producer, Omogoriola Hassan, after eight years of marriage. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE and MERCY MICHAEL, the mother of one narrated her experience, why she endured the union for eight years, her eventual decision to quit the marriage and her resolve to put behind her the experience of her crashed marriage among other issues.

‘I can’t date a man in my industry anymore’

I was like 'girl, what are you doing wasting away?' I lost a lot in those eight years. However, in the few years that I have come back to the mainstream, I have recovered most of those things that I lost

•Ayo Adesanya

•Ayo Adesanya on set

•Ayo Adesanya

37

Pg 30

LONDONOLYMPIC... LONDONOLYMPIC...

LONDONOLYMPIC... LONDONOLYMPIC...

with

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Culkin not hooked on heroin •Culkin

•Houston with Ray J

Tom Cruise spends daddy time with Suri

Yvonne Nelson's out with Single & Married

•Tom with Suri

Crane over Ghollywood Hot ladies take over Germain's birthday party

Sarkodie, DJ Champagne to thrill at BBA Stargame finals

Jackie Appiah, Majid Michel highest paid Ghana stars

•Sarkodie

39

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Hearts With Adeola Agoro E-mail: libranadeola@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 08023162609

Re: Get the knives away from our markets Get the Knives Away From Our Markets, The Nation of July 28, 2012, page 39. What a beautiful piece. It made the day for me.

In fact, I have gone through it many times because it keeps me laughing. Keep it up. You will make a good script-writer. – Hil from Abuja.

P.S: Thanks Hil. Without being

immodest, I am indeed a good scriptwriter. Wish you could watch my first film, Pencil ni Kadara to attest to that. The problem is that it is not yet in the market because marketers would rather buy stories with some funny characters in them and also films that are two hours long but with no sense than buy a well-written story that is short but touching.

My boy’s best topic is sex and that is making me uncomfortable God we continue to bless you for us Aunty. Please I want you to enlighten me on this but please protect my image.

There’s this guy I met a few years ago at the NYSC camp during our serving year. I turned down his proposal because he looked like a flirt to me due to what I saw in his eyes. We never saw each other again till our passing-out day, but we were communicating once in a while just as friends during the service year because we were posted to different towns. After serving, he continued to ask me about our discussion in camp once in a while when we talk on phone.

But recently, we met online during the period I had a misunderstanding with my boyfriend who is not ready to be committed so I decided to give him a try. Though were in different states now but whenever we chat his topic normally ends on sex which is alarming to me. So I asked him the kind of relationship he wants from me that his topic all the time is sex. I’m not comfortable with it and he said it depends on me and what I want to offer. He said he is just imagining how sexy and romantic I am and that he can’t be asking me out for that long time if he is just after my body, but I don’t agreed to his own proofs anyway because many men don’t mind spending their time and money to get what a lady ‘has down her’ We are supposed to arrange in order to meet but I am trying to avoid that because of this his best topic.

Some people are incurable flirts.

They offer the same treatment to every woman they come into contact with no matter what age and no matter whether or not they are attracted to them. Again, observe how the man who has caught your eye behaves with others. Is it only you he flirts with or are you one of many? People flirt in different ways especially if they are not particularly skilled practitioners. As strange as it sounds some men will poke fun at the person they

are attracted to. It is a way of getting their attention and singling out the person they like. Admittedly this isn’t always flattering but don’t dismiss derision as dislike. Of course it depends on the level of ribbing involved and only you can be the judge on how you accept and react to this type of treatment.

Since you’re suspicious of his intentions, you may arrange to meet him at a safe place like a restaurant and if he tries to talk you

into going out to try out his imaginations, take an excuse to use the restroom and get away from the place. Such a guy may not be the serious type. Don’t forget that you left a relationship because the guy was not going to commit. If a guy shows too early that he wants to quickly get in-between your legs, it is an indication that that he values sex more than your person.

Yes, it is natural for a man to get sexually attracted to the woman he likes, but most good men will build trust first. Of course

there have been cases where a man goes to bed with a woman the very next day after meeting her, but such actions are rather spontaneous not planned. You may for instance have a date and you find yourselves getting cozy after the desert and it happens. That can be understandable. But when the guy makes it so obvious that he wants to see you naked even before you have had the opportunity of knowing each other well, I have my doubts about him.

My child’s father is a rapist yet he says I will beg him one day Hello Sister, I am a very good fan of your column because I learn a lot from many of the stories i see and the suggestions, keep up the good work.

I will appreciate it if my name is not published because the story I want to share is sensitive but i want others to learn. I am E by name, a secretary by profession, and a single Mom. I was raped while in school by a neighbour and I didn’t tell anyone because I was scared of the implications, I was just 20 years old then and I was a virgin. The guy in question apologized and promised to make it up to me but he eloped when the pregnancy was five months old after which I called my parents to inform them. We traced his family house and told his mum what ensued between me and her son. His mom felt sorry for me and promised to visit my parents as soon as possible and she collected my mother’s mobile number and our residential address. A week later the guy called to warn my mum not to come anywhere near his family because he is not responsible for the baby i am carrying, I stopped school then because my parents were devastated by the incident and my father also threw me out of his house, my mum had to take me to her friend’s house where I stayed till I put to bed, my baby happened to be a girl and after a few days my father brought me back home and I started living with my parents again.

A few months later the guy’s father called and started apologizing with an excuse that he was

out of the country when the incident happened and he came back recently. I accepted his apology and his son started calling me then, they both promised to visit my family as the biological parents of my baby. I told my Mum and she was excited too but they didn’t show up. They kept promising; as time went on they stopped calling me.

Recently the guy started calling me again just to say hi and ask of his baby, I tried to challenge him one day and he threatened that he won’t listen to whatever I say because he knows that his baby will ask of him someday and I will come begging him to accept here. I don’t seem to understand the kind of game he is trying to play with me, I have been taking care of this child single-handedly for the past five years and there he is not feeling guilty at all. Please advise me, what do I do?

My dear sister, let me say here that I am indeed proud of you. May God take care of you and the child and may He in His infinite mercy elevate your rank and set you high very soon. You deserve a crown for being a good mother to your baby. Many others in your shoes would have hinted in their mail that they regret having the baby in the face of all you have been through, but not you. You’re concerned about the future of the baby and I tell you, her future will be great.

Not all men are useless. In fact, most men are good. Unfortunately, you came across

one of the bad ones. What else would you have expected from a man who raped you and ran away… a man who lied against you to his mother and wanted you to be shamed?

He must be enjoying making you feel miserable. My dear, do not give him that pleasure. Block him completely away from you and that baby until he shows through his words and actions that he is responsible. Not only that, he must show penitence and swallow his pride.

You do not need to tell him this, but know within yourself that you do not need a rude man as the father of your baby and so, you will never go begging him. Okay, he must be fast forwarding to the little girl’s future and thinking that he would be needed on her wedding day to save your face.

I tell you my dear, a man who wasn’t there to share in your joys and pains over this girl will not deserve to share in her future joy except he comes on bended knees. A man who doesn’t care today about how you pay hospital bills when she’s sick, how you gather money to pay school fees, how you make food available, how you watch her play, how you nurse her wounds, how you pray or her to grow up into a good person and how you invest your love on her WILL not deserve any honour on the day you watch her become a woman.

From the Courts ‘I don’t know any of my husband’s relatives’ Stories Toyin AGBEBI MRS. Olabisi Abdulsalam, 42, a fashion designer, has taken her husband, Mr. Kamarudeen Abdulsalam, 46, a native doctor, to Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, Agege for the dissolution of their 10-year marriage.

In her evidence, Olabisi said: “We did not marry because he did not introduce me to any of his relatives. All he wants is just a woman to have sex with”.

Olabisi said he was not responsible enough to cater for a family and that he was not ready to have any child.

She further said: “When I was pregnant for him, he advised me to have an abortion which I did. When I was pregnant the second time, he said he was not ready to have a child. He, therefore, advised me to have another abortion.

“I refused to do his wish. I later left Lagos for Ekiti. After having the child, I returned to Lagos. He was not happy with the child, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Since my return from Ekiti, he has been using condom any time we make love.”

Kamarudeen said: “My wife is lair. She is a bad woman.

Her child is now in Ibadan attending one of the best schools in the town.”.

Mr. E.B Shokunle, the President of the court, dissolved the marriage and advised the couple to maintain the peace.

I don’t love my wife anymore, says hubby Alhaji Fasiu Ayinde has dragged his heartthrob, Mrs. Ganiyatu Ayinde, to the Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, Agege, Lagos for the dissolution of their marriage because of the irreconcilable differences between them.

The petitioner told the court that his wife was too troublesome and that she had no respect for his family members.

He added that there was no love between them anymore.

But on the other hand, the respondent pleaded not guilty and said that her husband’s family members were the cause of her problems with her husband.

She said since she got married, she had not been able to give birth and her husband did not show concern.

She further stated that the petitioner had three children from his late wife before he married her. “We went through many tests, but l was still unable to have a child of my own.

We also consulted spiritualists to help us, but all their efforts were to no avail.”

According to her, things became worst when she found a juju in front of her room and her husband’s sister, who was at that time living with them, claimed to be the owner and she explained to her that it was not meant for her, but was made to help her son in his business.

“Any time there is a quarrel between us, he will call his family members, especially his sisters, and when I am trying to draw his attention to make love with me, he will call his children into the bedroom in order to distract us and destroy my plan of having a baby futile”, she said.

She said that on July 24, her husband’s sisters came to send her out of her home. “I was brutally beaten up by them in my husband’s presence. One of the sisters used the Holy Quran to hit me on my head.”

Her husband said he left the house for the fight to continue because of the bad behaviour his wife.

He said immediately he filed for divorce, he packed out his home with his three children.

Counsel to the respondent, Mrs. I.G. Taboroh, pleaded that the honourable court should give them time to settle the disputes between them, especially the issue of the juju.

The President of the court, Mr. E.B. Shokunle, adjourned the case till August 13.

Book presentation

Retired Legal Adviser, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Dame Olufemi Sonola (left) with the immediate past Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sir Remi Omotoso, at the book presentation entitled: ‘39 expositions for a deeper bible knowledge’ written by a cleric of the Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo Lagos, the Revd Michael Femi Adebanjo held at the church premises

The Circuit steward, Araromi Wesley church Circuit, Lagos, the retired Senior Executive, Chevron oil Nig. Plc, Sis Tunde Adenuga (left) with the author of ‘39 Expositions for a Deeper Bible Knowledge’ a cleric of the Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo Lagos, the Revd Michael Femi Adebanjo

40

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

I

T was a Monday morning and I was on my way to work when I ran into Harry again. We had been friends for years and had lived in the same neighbourhood in Festac. I had stopped at a filling station to get some fuel when someone called my name.

I turned and it was my old friend. He was in a yellow cab.

“Harry!” I shouted excitedly and rushed to embrace him.

“When did you return to the country?” I enquired. Harry had left Nigeria a few years after we graduated and we had lost touch for some years.

“I came in last week and I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said.

We stood for a while chatting, with him asking after some of our old friends most of whom lived in different parts of the country and abroad.

We had to part after a while as I was running late for work.

But we exchanged numbers and I promised to call him later that day.

That weekend, I visited him at the hotel where he was staying and we got talking again about old times.

Then turning to me, a mischievous look in his eyes, he asked: “So, how’s your sweetheart Sophie? When are we hearing wedding bells?”

At the mention of that name, I grew silent.

“Come on, man! When are you two getting married?

You’ve been together like forever!” he stated.

I sighed and said quietly: “She’s married.”

“Married? You mean, you guys got married without letting me know? Lawrence, how could you?” he asked petulantly.

I shook my head and said.

“She’s married. But not to me.”

He looked at me, confusion registering in his eyes.

“Sophie married someone else? I can’t believe this! What happened?” he enquired.

I sighed again. He wasn’t the only one. It took me a long time to believe it too, that Sophie, the girl I had planned to spend my life with had been taken away by someone else.

“My brother, it’s a long story,” I stated dolefully.

“Tell me, please. I want to know what happened. Men, this is shocking news to me!”

Harry exclaimed.

He went to the fridge in the room and served me some cold wine. He then settled down in a chair, took a little sip from his drink and looked at me ex-

Shadows from the past (1) pectantly.

I then told him the story of what caused the breakup between Sophie and I, the heartache I went through at the time and how it took me time to pick up the pieces of my life. He listened quietly, hardly interrupting me till the end.

“That’s a really sad tale,” he remarked when I finished speaking. “I could never have guessed that this could happen to your relationship. You two were so much in love. I used to envy you for having someone like Sophie. It’s sad,” he said.

Harry was not alone as most of our friends had been envious of me because of Sophie. To understand this, I need to go back to the beginning, to the period when Sophie and I first met and our love story began...

Star of the street Sophie and I lived in the same neighbourhood, on adjoining streets. I had just graduated then and was teaching in a private school not too far from my home.

The job didn’t pay well but I needed something to do while I continued the search for a better job. At that time, I didn’t know Sophie that well though I had heard about her.

She had moved into our area while I was still doing my Youth Corps programme and I had returned to hear all my friends raving about her.

“You need to see this babe, Lawrence. She’s cute!” Tom, a friend and neighbour had said one day. We were at a joint near my house having some drinks and fresh fish pepper-soup.

“So, what’s new about that? You always say that about every girl that you want to date even if she looks like a ‘gagool’,” I said sarcastically. The others laughed.

They were all aware of his womanising ways and how he had chased nearly all the girls in our neighbourhood and even beyond.

Tom shook his head.

“Guy, this one is different.

You need to see her. She’s sweet!” he enthused, kissing his fingertips at the same time.

John, another member of our group spoke up then.

“Tom is right. The babe is fine.” And he went on to explain that anytime she was walking past, most of the guys on her street would come out just to look at her. “I no go lie.

Meself dey look o!” he added in pidgin and we all laughed.

“Coward. All you can do is look and fantasize. Can’t you ‘toast’ her?” I asked him teasingly.

It was Tom who spoke.

“You think a girl like that will have time for someone like him? One who is always broke and borrowing money all the time? He hasn’t even paid me the N2000 he borrowed two months ago o!”

We laughed again while John playfully hit Tom on the head.

The way they all spoke about her piqued my interest and I was keen to see this paragon of beauty and elegance myself.

That opportunity came a short while later. There was a day I was returning home after dropping my mother at the church. I was driving on the street next to ours when I almost hit a little boy of about three. He had run out of the open gate of a walled compound and I had to quickly apply the breaks to avoid crushing him. I got down from the car and ran to where he sat on the ground, crying.

“Where’s your mummy?”

I asked, picking him up. Just then, a girl came out of the compound.

“Tobi! What are you doing here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!!” she said. She took the boy from me, looking at me curiously.

When she explained that the little boy was her brother, I scolded her for not keeping a sharper eye on him, a carelessness that almost resulted in my car running over him.

“I’m sorry. I was in the kitchen cooking and I didn’t

know he had left the house,” she stated contritely.

“It’s ok. Just be more careful with him,” I said as I got back into the car after ascertaining that the boy was alright.

She came up to the car window and asked: “Do you stay around here?” she asked curiously. I told her I lived on the next street. It was then she introduced herself.

“Thanks for taking care of my brother. The name’s Sophie, by the way.”

I looked up quickly when I heard that name. So, this was the ‘famous’ Sophie all my friends had been raving about, I thought as I studied her closely. I had to admit that for once they had been right.

The girl was really lovely with a kind of luminous beauty that attracted men to her like flies to honey.

Shortly after that first meeting, I traveled out of town for a job interview. I was away for nearly two weeks and it was on my return that I saw Sophie again.

I was going out one weekend to visit a friend when I saw her at the bus-stop. I gave

her a ride to her destination and we got talking. She told me she was still waiting for admission into a higher institution after leaving school about four years earlier.

“I’ve written JAMB so many times, I’m getting tired of the whole thing,” she grumbled, a slight frown on her face.

I told her not to be discouraged, to keep trying till she succeeded.

From that brief interaction with her, she seemed to me like a cool-headed and modest girl who did not allow her beauty to go to her head.

That was the beginning. We kept running into each other from time and time and it wasn’t long before I began to develop feelings for her. I wanted to take her out but didn’t know if she would agree to a date with me.

Then a member of our group, Phillip was relocating abroad and all our friends organised a send-forth party for him. I decided to invite Sophie as my date. To my surprise and joy, she accepted.

When I got to the party venue with Sophie, my friends could not believe their eyes.

“How did you do it?”

“Did you use jazz (juju) on her or what?”

“You are a bad boy o! You were eyeing her all this while and you didn’t tell us!” They all said when she was out of earshot.

I didn’t say anything but smiled smugly like one that had won a million naira at the lottery.

That was the beginning of our relationship. After that day, Sophie and I grew closer and we started seeing regularly. She became my girlfriend, a situation that made me the envy of all my friends.

I didn’t care. I was in love and I felt on top of the world.

Before Sophie, I had dated lots of other girls especially while I was on campus. But this was different. Within six months of being with her, I knew I had found my soulmate. I left the other girls I was seeing then and decided to focus solely on her.

My friends thought I was a fool for doing so, saying it was unwise to put all one’s hopes on one lady.

“Girls of today are unreliable. What if she dumps you for someone else? What will you do then?” asked Tom and John.

I gave an enigmatic smile and said: “Sophie is not like that so you guys shouldn’t stress yourselves over that.”

Our relationship waxed stronger and with time, I in-

troduced her to my parents as my fiancée. We planned to marry in the future probably after she had graduated from school. With my encouragement, she took JAMB again and I advised her to choose my former school which was in another town as her first choice so I could use my contacts there to help with her admission.

This time around, she did quite well, scoring enough marks to guarantee admission. After the results came out, I gave her a letter to take to a former lecturer of mine to help in facilitating her admission.

She was lucky as she got admitted. I was very happy for her, glad that she had got her heart’s desire after trying for so long.

Things were also looking up for me as well. I got another job, a better-paying one in a multi-national company.

It was a happy time for both of us. Before she left to resume at school, I sat her down and had a serious discussion about school life.

I told her about life on campus, and all the temptations that can come the way of unwary students, of the freedom from parental control and how some students misuse it and get into trouble.

“You have to be careful, Sophie so you don’t fall into temptation. Avoid bad company and focus on your studies. And remember, you have a fiancé back home so no messing around!”

“Ah! Lawrence! Don’t you trust me? You know I can never cheat on you!” she stated emphatically.

“I know, my darling. But you are very pretty and I know those randy campus boys will not let you be. And those lecturers too are something else…”

She started laughing then.

“You are funny! You think I will have time for those people when I have you?” she asked. She came up to me then and hugged me. I kissed her then, holding her tightly as if afraid to let her go.

The following week, Sophie went to school and I started work in my new company. As things turned out, her leaving for campus started a chain of events that changed the course of our relationship…

To be continued.

Names have been changed for privacy’s sake.

What happened to Sophie at school? Details next Saturday!

L-R: Director Zero Tolerance, Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Sunday Soyinka, Executive chairman of Ifelodun LCDA, Hon. Fatai Ajidagba and Chief Environmental officer of the council area, Mr. Adeyemi Fella during the tree planting exercise held recently

&

LIFE

Society Profile

THE NATION, Saturday, AUGUST 4, 2012

STYLE Gossip Interviews

41

I want to be the funkiest grandma that ever lived -Celia Otubu,

first black woman r a B h is Ir e th to d e ll ca

44

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

My battles with racism as a black lawyer in Ireland — Celia Otubu, first black woman called to the Irish Bar Nigeria’s Celia Otubu, is the first female black woman to be called to the Irish Bar in 150 years. She studied International Relations at the United States International University, Watford, United Kingdom and later studied Law at the University of East London before proceeding to the University of Kent at Canterbury for her masters.

She currently manages a law firm in Dublin, Ireland in partnership with a colleague of hers. Now at the Law School, Abuja, preparatory to her return to Nigeria, Otubu told some journalists, including GBENGA ADERANTI, the story of her battles with racism, her fashion sense and passion for the law profession.

•Otubu

W

HAT was the experience like as a black woman to operate a law firm in a foreign country like Ireland?

The challenges had to do with the problems the first ethnic minority law firm in Dublin would face. We encountered the police, the government, the community. It was a challenge to see such a firm in a country that had not seen such before. It altered the status quo. For example, there were instances where I was standing in the court

in front of a judge who had not seen a black woman solicitor before. The judge presumed that I was a plaintiff or defendant. I experienced this in the County Court, Circuit Court, High Court, and even at the Supreme Court. It meant that I had to fight with all the energy I had inside me to be recognised and treated like my peers who were white. I had to fight harder. What other lawyers get easily I had to strive for. I feel fulfilled that I made my mark such

that in Europe, you see my cases as reference points in Law Reports. I give glory to God. What informed your decision to embrace law?

Growing up as a young girl, I saw things happening to women the way I did not expect. I said to myself, ‘this is not for me’.

Women got married too early. Most of them sat down doing nothing, and I said that would not happen to me at all.

Marriage was never in my own calculation at my early years because I wanted to go to the university, get a career and move on. I used to tell everyone as a young girl that I would make money and marry the man that I want. People laughed about it. As a young girl, I refused several suitors who were referred to my family.

My parents held such referral meetings for marriage and would subsequently tell me about them, but I told my parents that the suitors were not for me because I wanted to go to school. My name rang in the entire community as one who wanted so much, so they left me alone. I attended Etche Girls Secondary School in River State where I had my secondary education. I worked briefly at the Rivers State Ministry of Finance, after which I left for Lagos and did my first diploma in Secretarial Studies and Administration at the YWCA institute in Lagos.

Once, over 25,000 parents of different nationalities, including Ni-

gerians, got their residency because of the birth of their children in Ireland. They went straight to work and crime involving Nigerians dropped drastically in the country. I am not supporting or advocating that jobless people should get into crime, but human nature dictates that humans do what they can to survive. So, if a level playing field is created, the game would change for good.

That Nigerians have a bad name is a reaction to the adverse condition they find themselves. Those who are permitted to work rarely get into crime. Irish hospitals are filled up with Nigerian doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers. A young Nigerian wrote medical qualifier exams and passed them at a sitting, wining accolades. His European counterparts were asking him how he did it. This story is similar in other professions and walks of life. These are Nigerians for you. I am glad to be a Nigerian.

How are we following as followers? All we need to do is contribute our resources and ideas to see that things get better in Nigeria; complain when we need to, say no when we need to, particularly to our leaders who are not doing well, and applaud when things are well done. We were happy with the last election in Nigeria because some people who hoped to win elections on a platter without doing good works and carrying the people along failed woefully. My observation is that it was a step ahead. The election was fairly free and fair.

Above all, we must look at the bright side of life as there are millions of Nigerians who are making our nation proud.

You are planning to return to Nigeria. What are you likely to do when you return?

When I return, I will face my profession. But I have always loved working in the community, charting the paths of progress. And I think I will continue with that. It is politics, if you want to say so.

So, I am leaving this option open until then. I am from Rivers State and by marriage I am from Delta State. I am open to every call.

Are there basic differences between law practice in Ireland and Nigeria?

It is all common law, so there is similarity in the practice. What difference I notice may be in the controlling bodies. The Law Society of

Ireland, England and Wales rigidly control practising lawyers and hold the law to the highest standard to prevent lawyers from bringing the legal profession into disrepute. The regulation is high.

Clients are entitled to complain about a lawyer’s attitude and excessive charges. This is somewhat different in Nigeria where things are different in terms of interpersonal relationships. Though the practice is similar in common law countries, it is not uncommon for procedure to differ.

I realised after I moved to Ireland that the UK legal procedure moves faster from filing a case in the court to the hearing, as well as other areas of practice. For example, in the UK, I could finish a conveyance matter in just 30 days. But in Ireland, it takes several months to conclude. When I send letters to the departments and offices, it takes a while before I receive acknowledgements. I would usually write several reminders before someone responds to me.

Earlier on in my practice, I was invited to an Irish television programme where I was asked about my experience in Ireland in comparison to practice in the UK. I told them about the slower tempo. The departments and the offices concerned were not happy about my comments on the national television, but things greatly improved thereafter. So, I would get used to method of practice in Nigeria with time when I return.

Do you think Nigerian leaders are doing well for their people?

I was in Port Harcourt sometime ago. I would say that Governor Amaechi is doing a good job. I have seen new primary schools, new health centre in every community, more roads and other infrastructure are being constructed.

Amaechi seems to be tackling all the problems that touch the society. I mean the root of it all—the children, the youth, the welfare of the community and all.

What do you think should be done to curb militancy in the Niger Delta?

Continuous hearing about kidnapping and youth militancy makes me weak, concerned and worried. Having been in Europe for a long time and seeing what mighty corporations do in terms of corporate social responsibility, I cry when I see that it is non-existent in Nigeria. My master’s degree

45

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012 programme in Law was partly on environmental law. I discovered during my research that when any of these companies wished to set up a site in the community, the first consideration by the government is the environmental impact assessment before the planning is approved. So, these companies are required to give consideration to the community in which they are planning to establish. I am not supporting militancy or kidnapping, but at the same time, let the foreign companies carry out their due corporate social responsibility in the community where they are operating from. If this is done, I am sure that militancy will die a natural death.

The oil companies go to a community where their mainstay is farming and fishing and pollute the entire farmland and waters, and they wish the community do not say a word. Years back, I travelled home and had to attend a ceremony at my mother’s village.

When we got to the wooden bridge leading into the village, we saw some young men stationed at the wooden bridge in protest. They said they were there to stop a particular oil company’s trucks and heavy duty vehicles from passing through. They informed us that the bridge had been broken by the heavy vehicles belonging to the oil company which regularly ply the bridge. And when it broke down, the oil company refused to repair the bridge, claiming they were not responsible. They told us that the villagers contributed money and repaired the wooden bridge.

I can only presume that the oil company got information about the protest and the vehicles did not pass the bridge that day. If they had come on that day, the anger of the young men would have been vented on them. Then news would have gone out that some men from that village butchered oil workers.

Of course, people would have condemned the villagers’ action without knowing how and why it happened. Our government and community leaders should not wait till the youths get into militancy before they begin to demand for corporate social responsibility from the oil corporations operating in Nigeria.

Often in defence, the oil corporations claim that they give money to the community leaders which they share among themselves. In my opinion, this serves the oil corporations’ purpose. This way, they smartly avoid their social responsibility to the community. Why offer community leaders money?

Why don’t they tell the community leaders to convene village or town meetings, go in there and tell the entire community that as they are about to commence business in their village or town, they would build roads, schools, health centres, hospitals, houses, markets, water boreholes, electricity, community centres, town halls, create jobs, and so on, and watch to see which community leader would say ‘no, give me money’. Nigerians are not fools. It is about time the situation began to change for the better for these communities.

At what point did you start thinking about marriage?

As time went by and I had gone through secondary school and got a diploma and started work, I met a man who became a mentor, a supporter, a friend, an encourager in my life. Whatever I said about not having to get married yet at the time, he was not listening. He said, ‘You are wasting your time because you are a woman and so must get married now.’ He was highly spiritual, so he also took the matter to the spiritual level. He said if there was any spiritual issue that was making me feel the way I felt, he must break it. And he did.

Don’t forget that at that time again, I had come to a position

where I had got myself some education. I had a job, a flat and drove a car. So, somehow, I felt the time was ripe. I felt that at that stage, even if I had a child or had a man who was not very comfortable, I could help out and was not going to be a liability. So, he finally convinced me. The marriage produced children. He is late now. May God bless his soul.

And how have you coped since he died?

God has been so good and I am grateful that He allowed me to pursue and be successful with my legal career, which has helped greatly in sustaining and maintaining us. Also, my husband was a man who did all he could for his family, and we still enjoy his legacy. We thank God for what he was able to do.

Do you sometimes remember him?

All my children remind me of him. I see in my last son Matthew resemblance of him in spiritualism.

He is very close to God from his youthful age. I have seen manifestations of spiritualism in him.

You look trendy. Would you consider yourself elegant?

People who know me will attest to the fact that I am always exhibiting signs of elegance. This started from my youth. I always tell my parents from my early years as long as I can remember to give me money to buy what I loved to wear. I had developed the sense of coordination to dress well. I would always look at my fellow women who are not looking their best and wonder. For some women, it gets worse after child birth. When the issue arose and we were discussing the subject, some of these women would tell me, ‘Celia, wait until you start having children and you will see how difficult it is to maintain an elegant appearance.’

So, I stopped discussing the issue and waited to have children. I started having my own kids and finished. To date, these women, some of whom are my friends, are still talking about my elegance.

I remember my husband complaining about my drastic weight loss after giving birth. He said if I didn’t feed well, I would not produce sufficient breast milk. Well, there is always baby food to supplement. I eat when I am hungry; not because there is food to eat. So, I don’t eat unnecessarily. I exercise as much as I can. I often tell my friends and my children that I would like to be the funkiest grandma that ever lived. Looking good, for me, is an every minute issue.

People who know me already understand my style. Every day of my life, I dress up and wear my accessories to match. I would love to have a TV programme where I would talk to both women and men about aging gracefully someday. You don’t have to look old because you are over 40. Potbelly and obesity affects the health.

Years back, as a result of pressure from work, I started adding some pounds. I hushed myself and asked, ‘Celia, is this how you are going to do this funky grandma stuff?’ I then asked myself what would happen to my high-heel shoes, elegant clothes and bags. So, I started working on myself and made it better.

What factors determine what you wear?

I just make up my mind about what I want to wear to an event and I go in search of it. My professional dress code of black has not deterred me. I still get into the courtroom looking quite elegant and completely made up in black clothes. What will it cost you to take some time to prepare for an occasion? My passion is in fashion and style. I like to look good. I dress up in the mood required of me. I am dressed in native when I am involved in community service, but at other occasions, I dress

‘

I would love to have a TV programme where I would talk to both women and men about aging gracefully someday. You don’t have to look old because you are over 40. Potbelly and obesity affects the health. Years back, as a result of pressure from work, I started adding some pounds. I hushed myself and asked, ‘Celia, is this how you are going to do this funky grandma stuff?’ I then asked myself what would happen to my high-heel shoes, elegant clothes and bags

,

English and formal with hats. And you know I also love my high-heel shoes, bags and jewellery.

What is your philosophy of life?

It is simple. I am someone who has a very strong relationship with God. I am not without fault, and so I do not pontificate for people. I do not condemn peoples’ character or actions. I am not wearing their shoes, so I do not know where it pinches them. That is not to say that I do not condemn blatantly unacceptable behaviour. I see God’s manifestation in my life and the lives of my children and family. I pray God always to continue to guide me and my children and family’s footsteps.

How do you feel having knowledge of law of three different countries?

I do not feel any way. As far as I am concerned, it is just circumstantial and not planned. I got called to the English Bar because I studied there and planned to practice law in London. I later moved to Ireland and got called into the Irish Bar because I needed to practice in Dublin. Now I am plotting to return to Nigeria after many years of practising abroad. It is also required of me to be called to the Nigerian Bar. That is why I am at the Law School, Abuja.

How have you been coping?

I am coping just fine. I do not see any difference except in the character and world view of the people which appear in their ways of doing things. It is interesting to be in school again after several years.

However, the law is the law everywhere. Moreover, as the colony of the British, there is a strong relationship between the three systems. I decided to get accommodation in the school hostel so I can concentrate on the studies and not be encumbered by different kinds of distractions.

What were you doing in Nigeria before you travelled abroad?

I worked as an administrative manager with various companies, including prime organisations, in advanced communication, consultancy corporations and legal chambers all in Lagos. After several years of working in Lagos, I decided it was time to move ahead towards higher academia. And so

my journey to Europe was born. I went to get a BA in International Relations in the United States International University in Watford, UK. After graduating, I started thinking about returning to Nigeria to apply for a job in the Ministry of External Affairs. But I had a second thought. I thought to myself I had young children and I could be posted around different countries. So, I decided to think of a professional work which would keep me in one base at a time. Then Law came to my mind because I noticed my flair for counselling people from secondary school to the university. I told myself that if it was not Medicine, it should be Law. I worked in London for a while before going to read Law at the University of East London. I decided to do a Masters at the University of Kent at Canterbury and got an LLM degree. I also did a post graduate diploma in professional legal studies at the College of Law, London before I got admitted to the English Bar. What do you consider your most impressive career move?

My work became more prominent when I moved to Dublin because I set up my own law firm, Ceemex and Company Solicitors.

While in London, I worked in another law chambers. The chambers took all the credit for whatever we, employed solicitors, did. However, in Dublin, because I worked in my own legal chambers, the credits for my work were attributed to me. I got involved in human rights cases and activities because most of the cases and issues I found myself handling were those concerning people’s lives being trampled upon. I went to court to challenge flagrant abuse of the rights of immigrants. Such cases like the IBC case, EU Treaty Rights case, cases where people were discriminated against at places of work or elsewhere, and cases involving racism within the community. Some of those cases even went to the European Court of Justice.

Since you were doing well in London, why did you leave?

While living in London, I had gone on a visit to Ireland and found that there were prospects for the growth of a law firm to defend the huge population of immigrants.

It also happened at the same time that I was planning to set up a law office in London. So, I saw the Dublin visit as an intervention by the Almighty God. So, I went back, returned and set up my law firm in

Dublin.

Before then, I had told myself that if I left the United Kingdom, it would be to head for Nigeria. But I have been in Dublin since then. The good Lord had His own plans for me. I had to go through the process of being admitted into the Supreme Court of Ireland and call to Irish Bar, after which I set up Ceemex and Company Solicitors in 2002 on Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Tell me about your great moments in law practice.

One of the major successes of CEEMEX was the Irish-born child (IBC) cases. The Irish in their constitution before 2005 stated that any child born in the Island of Ireland was an Irish citizen, and the policy was that the parents could seek residency based on the birth of such a child. Then there was a case in 2002 referred to as I & O where the judge ruled that the Minister for Justice had a right to allow or deny such parents stay on the Irish citizenship of the children. The Minister for Justice interpreted the ruling to mean that he would no longer give residence to such parents. The Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform subsequently stopped processing residency application claims of the parents of Irish-born children in February 2003.

We took the matter up and went to court to challenge the Minister for Justice’s refusal decision. Our view was that the entitlement of citizenship for Irish-born children would become meaningless if their parents were not permitted to reside with them in Ireland for them to enjoy the benefits of their Irish citizenship.

We were ready to take the cases to any length, even to the European Court. In 2004, we won the first of the cases we took to court. Other similar cases we filed in the High Court were getting ready to be heard, and then suddenly, in December 2004, the Minister for Justice announced that he would put a reverse procedure in place from January 2005 to allow the parents of the IBC to re-apply for residence.

•Continued on Page 56

•Otubu

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGSUT 4, 2012

Shoe addicts:

Time to go wild

UGONNA OMERUO

Wumi OGUNTUASE

T NSE IKPE ETIM

RUKI SANDER

HIS is not a season to wear dull shoes with no character. Be in vogue with classic loud and crazy shoes. Either it is the plain design or even our own ankara shoes, you have to get them. There is nothing like finishing your chic look with a pair of wild shoes. Wedges and platform heeled shoes are coming out in different designs that would make your addictive eyes pop and you cannot let them pass you by. Even flat shoes are in so many feral designs that make your legs be of their own personality. You can choose to blend in or stand out with these shoes. Whichever way, keep the remaining part of our outfit very simple so as to draw attention to your legs.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGSUT 4, 2012

French beauty brand Black Up Paris berths

d the l, Alausa, Lagos people witnesse On July 22 at the Ikeja City Mald-alone shop outside Paris. stan p ther launch of the first Black|U black|Up store and gathered toge The launch took place at the new unique event featured live make-up special guests and celebrities. Thise-up artists headed by international demonstrations by a team of maktive ambassador of black|Up, David celebrity make-up artist and crea Coranson. special beauty presentations by Highlights of the day included sts being treated to beauty professional models as well as gue makeovers.

•David coransoninternational celebrity makeup artist & creative ambassador of black-up with some models

SUSAN EYOHONESTY

ISI ATAGAMEN

NKIRU ANUMUDU

‘Mandela has nothing to do with fashion line named after his prisoner number’

N

ELSON Mandela has nothing to do with that fashion line named after his prisoner number 466/64 (466 was his Robben Island prisoner number in 1964) debuted in New York on Nelson Mandela International Day earlier this month at the South African Consulate.

WWD attended the preview, writing, “the brand ... was founded by Nelson Mandela” — which was apparently printed on press materials and that 7 to 9 per cent of its sales are given to the 46664 Foundation. We wouldn’t have pegged Mandela as the type of person designing gingham button-downs in his spare time, but who knows. Everybody needs a hobby.

However, James Cecil, who represents the Nelson Mandela Foundation in North America, e-mailed the newspaper with the following: 466/64 Fashion is making false claims that it is tied to Nelson Mandela — it is not, nor does it benefit him or his foundations. They are deliberately misleading people in the fashion industry; the name Nelson Mandela is not to be used in conjunction with any commercial products. They cleverly use his quotes in their advertising, but this is not his line of clothing; he did not launch it, nor is he associated with it.

ABIOLA OTUFALE

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

48 INTERVIEW

‘There’ll be economic boom with Osun’s renewal programme’

•Prof Agbola

Recently, the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, saddled the Director of Physical Planning at the University of Ibadan, Prof. Samuel Babatunde Agbola, with the task of rebuilding nine urban cities in the state through a programme called O-RENEWAL, in order to give the state a befitting look. GBENGA ADERANTI spoke with the don on his new assignment and why many states are now embracing the concept of urban renewal. He also explained why Nigeria needs more universities.

How have you managed to combine your job as a lecturer with your new assignment in Osun State?

T has been very tough. It is like keeping three jobs. From my office as the Director of Physical Planning, I still go to lecture. It has been challenging. Honestly, I don’t know how I have been coping. The only thing I know is that I have been coping and I cope well. The only thing that has suffered is my research work. At this level, you do a lot of international consulting and international writing and so on. You need to meet your colleagues from other countries. Many of these I have turned down.

Male lecturers do complain about being harassed by female students. Have you at any time being harassed?

Luckily, like I told you, I never handled undergraduates. So, the people that come to us are relatively mature. As time passes, the age bracket of the people that come for postgraduate studies is dropping. Also, so some of the things you see at the undergraduate level are manifesting at postgraduate level. I think harassment depends on the comportment of the person you are dealing with. I would have told you in class, ‘You don’t waste my time; I will not waste your time.’ That means before you come to me, do your home work very well. The only thing I want to know is how you have tried and the areas where you have not succeeded. I don’t mix pleasure with my academics work, and they know.

I

How true is the saying that the standards in private universities are generally higher than those of government-owned ones?

It depends on perception. In terms of facilities, you know that very few private universities can boast of better facilities because they do not depend on government for subvention. They depend on school fees. They can charge whatever fee they want. Most of them, I do know now, charge as much as N500, 000 per annum. In this university (University of Ibadan) today, to even ask students to pay for accommodation is a problem. And you want the same accommodation to be at per with those who are paying through their noses?

It is getting to the stage now where the sons and daughters of rich people go to these universities that are well funded while the sons and daughters of those that are poor are coming to this school. A hood does not make a monk. The fact that these schools have the facilities does not mean they have the personnel to teach these students. In this university, we have more than 200 professors. Experience cannot be bought.

Why does it take so much time to obtain a doctoral degree in Nigerian universities?

I don’t know, and I am not sure that assertion is correct. I have turned out PhD holders from my department. The first one was within four years.

Ideally, it should finish in three years. The last year is essentially bureaucratic. If, for instance, you have a

student strike, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) crisis or anything like that, you cannot attribute that to the teachers or the students, but at the end of the day, you are going to count the number of years the person has spent. It not as if people deliberately delay.

As far as any department is concerned, there are certain things you must do. If a student does not do it at the time he was supposed to do it, can you attribute that to the system or the lecturer? No. There are other things you must do. If you come to my department for PhD, you must first of all have one year of lecturing, because there are certain things that might have constituted cobwebs in your brain and which I think must be brushed up even if you are a graduate from that department. Only a mischievous and non-God-fearing person will wittingly delay a student. If you know that you also have kids and you don’t know where they are going to land, it is not godly for you to delay a student.

Are you comfortable with the number of universities we have in Nigeria?

If you go by the population, we are going to have more private universities. You are aware that about seven of them were just delisted.

Why would that be? There are some courses that would have no lecturers. The facilities would not be there, and so on. That does not mean we have enough universities. All you need to do is to take the census of the number of people that are seeking university education and the number of people that we have. However, what we are trying to say is that instead of increasing the number, in which case you appoint new VCs, new registrars and new officers, why don’t you increase the capacity of the existing ones, especially the federal government-owned ones?

Many states in Nigeria are now embracing the concept of urban renewal. Why is this so?

In Osun State, we have the O’Renewal programme, which covers nine cities. The reason why everybody is doing it is that prior to now, we were not living well. The way we live in the cities is worse than the way village dwellers live. And those who go out and come back know that things cannot go on like this. And now, cities are the engine of nations’ growth. And if cities are the engine national growth, it means that the economies of cities do matter. And if it must matter, it must be planned well to get the very best out of it, and it takes a visionary leader to do this. Those who cannot think far ahead may not know what these things are about. They go to different countries; but applying this to their own country has become a difficult thing. These things we are talking about are essentially government because government owns the land. And if government does not do what is appropriate, either in terms of legislation or whatever, it cannot work.

That is why everybody is doing it. Indeed, Ondo State is starting it own urban renewal strategy.

You tagged yours O’Renewal. What is this all about?

O’Renewal is about actualising the vision of the executive governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. When he was young, he was not happy with the way the centre of the city where he lived with his dad and family at that time was. During the pre-primary school, primary school, secondary school, post-secondary school and university, the same old story was what he met. He decided that things could not continue like this and asked, ‘Is there nobody thinking about redoing these things and make people live better?’ There was nobody who could listen to him and he couldn’t figure it out why this? He promised himself and God that ‘If I have the opportunity of holding the reins of power, I will do something about it.’ That is why he is doing something about it. He is revitalising nine major cities in Osun State as the first step towards revitalising as many cities in the state as possible. They are Osogbo, Ikirun, Ede, Ejigbo, Ila-Orangun, Ife, Ilesha, Ikirun and Ikire..

Since your urban renewal will involve demolition of houses, people are likely to resist this. How are you going to handle this?

In planning, there is something we call planning with and planning for people. When you have this vision, you ask, ‘How do I achieve this vision? I must have a mission. What are these missions and how do I achieve them?’ The first way to do it is to sensitise the people. So, after the inauguration of the Urban Renewal Committee on June 7, 2011, the first thing we did was what we called a reconnection visit to all the nine cities. Here, we took the message to the people that the Rauf Aregbesola government wanted to revitalise the core of these cities. We went round, met the traditional ruler in each town with their chiefs and local government chairmen and their officers. They were enthusiastically in support of all of these. They were happy. They were asking when we were going to start. After we had collected the primary data, we generated alternative plans; that is, how these towns will look like in the next five to ten years.

We thought that the only way these people could know these things was by presenting it to them. We held city consultation in each town, where we showed them what their cities are presently. We showed them pictorially what each city would be in the future and we told them, ‘You know these cities more than we do; are there areas you want us to add?’ You can’t imagine the level of enthusiasm and support we got. The question was when are you going to start? And

Continued on page 49

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012 Continued from page 48 there were, of course, the natural question: ‘If you are going to demolish (we wouldn’t use the word demolish) my house or if my house is going to be affected by this real development, what would you do for me?’

Two issues: those who have legal papers have no problems. But those who do not, in any case, since most of the houses we are talking about are pre-colonial or immediate colonial, when town planning as formal activities were not in vogue. How do you take care of those ones? When the governor was talking to me during the inauguration of the committee, he said, ‘Whether they have papers or they don’t have papers, they will be adequately compensated.’ He said he could not afford to have anybody suffer under any circumstance. And we told them it makes it easier for us to know when those papers are there. But just because you do not have papers do not mean that you will not be compensated; meaning that everybody will be adequately compensated.

And you know, the development is in different categories. There is what we call total clearance; that you demolish every house. That means you must have built an estate somewhere where you first of all take these people before you demolish their houses. The one we’re doing is called real development of some parts, where we are going to build the facilities that are deficient in those areas—their recreation areas, modern markets, modern schools, modern hospitals, good drains. Because these buildings have more massive cluster, we have to disengage them. Roads will have to pass though some. Water will have to pass through some. Transformers will have to stay in some places. Schools will have to stay there. Hospitals will have to stay there.

Definitely, some buildings will have to go for that. If that happens, those that will be enumerated will definitely be compensated.

There are historical places it will be challenging to demolish. How are you going to handle this?

Let me refer to the brief Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola gave me. He said he was not looking for the design of Washington, New York, Moscow or anywhere. He said homegrown designs that would take care of the

INTERVIEW 49

‘Why female students can’t harass me ’ artifacts that we have. What we go to look government is committed. I am sure it is for in the developed countries; I remember going to worth its while.

Philadelphia where I schooled, Benjamin How is the common man going to Franklin, one of the progenitors, was the benefit from this project? first postmaster-general. He was the person The common man will gain a lot from this that invented thunder catcher, so many in terms of so many things. Perhaps the things. All of these were there. That most is employment. Now, we was what we all trooped to go know there are lots who have and see every summer. In gone through schools and front of the Ataoja palace is have earned degrees but a small building. That is have no employment. where the traditional That is the type of chiefs meet. What do thing I’m talking we do with that? about. By the next Ibokun Road is stage of this job, where Suzan in terms of living Wenger’s house is, well, healthand so many wise, they will historical places. benefit. They Those ones will be will benefit in preserved. terms of access Osun is not in roads. People the class of Rivers will benefit in terms of and Lagos states health. It is financially. How going to be one are you going to massive get the funds to do economic boom. this?

How long will Ordinarily, you it take to would have thought complete these nine cities are too projects? many. But in those Within a year from cities, you have bankable now, all these should projects; viable projects.

•Agbola come to completion.

There are some cities that are naturally viable. Osogbo has The question is will a been the commercial capital of that professor have time to do this region for so long. Ife and Ilesha, these are job? some of them that are bankable. And in What we have in mind in terms of addition to what the government will do, implementation is that we are going to have there are some that have Public Private an implementation team/committee.

Partnership (PPP), and so you will find a Presently, all the professionals in building synergy between the efforts of public and and the allied fields are represented there. private and so on, especially in the areas I’m a town planner. We have a quantity where things can work. It is not a difficult surveyor, we have a structural engineer, we thing at all. The money is there and the have an architect. We have parallel people

from the civil service, lands ministry, works ministry and legal unit. All of these work to complement one other, such that we have a robust team. It is not theory. The only part of it that is theoretical is the plans preparation. Having finished the plans preparation, all others are what you see.

If another government comes, will this not be an exercise in futility?

That is why I said we are in a hurry to get to the stage of implementation. We’re positive that by the grace of God, Ogbeni Rauf will have a second term. That is why we are moving. We don’t want to leave any albatross. By the grace of God, all that we chose to do in all the cities will be completed before the end of this term.

What are the challenges you have faced so far in the project?

We have had a lot of challenges. I’ve got to situations one or two times where I wanted to resign and the adviser to the committee, Barrister Fagboungbe, urged me on. The first thing was the bureaucratic system. When you are starting a new programme and you are alien to that culture; I’ve worked in the civil service before, but coming to it at the high level, you will ruffle feathers. There are some who, even if they like your programme, they will want to see how they can situate themselves into it without adding value. A worthy leader will not allow that.

For six months, I was going from office to office from Ibadan. In fact, only yesterday, I was trying to take a census of how many times I travelled to Osogbo per month, and I found that between June when the committee was inaugurated and December 2011, they were uncountable. Many times, I would get to Osogbo only to be told that the meeting I was going for had been postponed. Sometimes I get to Gbongan, sometimes I would get to Akoda, only for me to be told that the meeting had been postponed. I would still drive there and get to my office and see how things were.

Indeed, on one of the occasions, the governor had to sit me down with one of the senior officials and say today, you have to settle so that the programme can commence. It was that bad. But we thank God things smoothened out. And by the grace of God, we will soon finish the first phase of the work.

When Rivers honoured philantropist clergy N Tuesday, April 10, 2012, the Rivers State Government, through its Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, organised a public forum to, once more, arouse the consciousness of the human spirit to the plight of thousands of people living with disabilities in our society. The event was titled: ìCapacity Building Forum For Persons with Disability,î under the chairmanship of a clergyman and philanthropist, Apostle Eugene Egwuatu Ogu, the General Overseer of the Abundant Life Evangelical Mission (ALEM), a pioneer pentecostal church in Rivers State.

The ultimate vision of the project is to create a society where everyone is capable of functioning and seizing practical opportunities in the face of any disadvantage. Unfortunately, many believe it is an aspiration that is easier said than done.

They argue that it only takes the spirit of God and love for man and humanity be able to do this in the kind of society we have today. Our governments and the people at the helm of affairs, they argue, hardly remember that physically challenged persons among us are stakeholders and co-owners of the resources they are mismanaging.

We have a society where a few live in opulence while majority of the people are starving and dying of curable ailments because of inability to pay for hospital bills, cannot go to school or learn any skill on account of poverty and manageable deformities.

In his address on the occasion, the Rivers State Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Joe Poroma, noted the efforts of the administration of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governorsí Forum (NGF), to improve the fortunes of those living with disability in Rivers State. These, according to him, range from provision of local and overseas scholarships, establishment of taxi schemes, to the provision of mobility and other aids.

Good but salient in his speech was the observation that government has not done enough in this regard and cannot do it alone, presupposing that a life of philanthropy is a clarion call on all and sundry and not just government. He therefore called on public-spirited individuals, groups, churches and corporate organisations to see to it that they have a role to play to realise this common dream.

It was on this note that the wife of the Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi, and Apostle Eugene Ogu were singled out for recognition and honour for their individual roles in giving succour to the hopeless, orphans, widows and the needy in general through personal donations, life sustaining projects and endowments, including offer of employments.

While talking about these personal demonstration of living

O

•Ogu

I Chris KONKWO I a life for others through sacrifice, it must be pointed out that there is no exception, not even churches, whose mandate is and should be to win souls for God, as demonstrated by Apostle Eugene Ogu. After all, the souls won for God must be healthy and happy souls not sad, crying and suffering ones.

Apostle Ogu has been able to prove that you do not just need to be in government or be a politician or businessman to be able to assist others, especially those in need. Even Dame Judith Amaechi could not hide this fact and boldly admitted before the audience that Apostle Ogu has done for the state what government can hardly contemplate. The First Lady of Rivers State, who was also honoured for her philanthropic gestures, could not help pouring encomiums on the unassuming man of God. She recalled the numerous sacrifices made by this indigene without borders, especially the recent procurement of artificial legs for 15 indigenes of the state, whose legs were amputated as a result of accidents and who had lost hope of ever walking again.

Realising the limitations of personally reaching out to as many as he would wish to assist, Apostle Ogu set up a

foundation, The Arm of Hope World Outreach, through which he renders assistance to various categories of the needy ñ the less privileged, widows, the motherless, prisoners, displaced persons, especially victims of religious and communal crisis in the northern parts of the country.

On several occasions, he has personally visited the flashpoints in the North with relief materials and money, placing his life on the line, just to save souls. What about employment to some jobless but talented persons, scholarships at various levels of academic pursuits and even championing the cause of the downtrodden and the innocent intimidated to have justice from the courts and the police; an effort that has earned him more enemies and made him an object of attacks.

The decision of the Rivers State Government to confer an honour on is seen by many as timely and worthwhile. Heaven, says Henry W. Beecher, will be inherited by everyman who has heaven in his soul.

Apostle Eugene Ogu is a conference speaker, a philanthropist, a resource manager, a prophet, a political analyst and the General Overseer of one of the largest pentecostal churches in Nigeria, based in Port Harcourt, yet he says he never had the opportunity of completing the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC), let alone seeing the four walls of any secondary school or tertiary institution.

Apart from being the General Overseer of ALEM, Apostle Ogu had been the deputy and Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Rivers and Bayelsa States, and was unarguably the lone voice that metamorphosed to the great PFN, as presently constituted in Rivers State, giving it a sense of direction, upon which it has become a force to reckon with.

He is presently PFNís National Security Chairman; the National Co-ordinator, Evangelistic Messengers International (EMAI) Nigeria, with headquarters in the United States of America; the National Co-ordinator, GMEN Strategy, Nigerian chapter; Chairman, Board of Governors, More Than Conquerors School of Theology, Nigeria; the President, Obowo Believers Association; National Patron, Chaplain Corps, SouthSouth Region; Former State Adjudicator of the International Ministerial Council of Great Britain and Nigeria (IMCGBN) and not the least, President, Arm of Hope World Outreach.

Born on July 22, 1962 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Boniface and Eunice Ogu of Ndiuhu Amuzi in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State, there has been no dull moment for Apostle Eugene Ogu. •Chris Konkwo is a practising journalist based in Port Harcourt.

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

50 INTERVIEW

Senator Ibrahim Mantu is a former Deputy Senate President. He was Chairman, Senate Committee on Pension Funds, Chairman, National Assembly Constitution Review Committee and alleged arrowhead of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjoís botched ëThird Term Projectí. In this interview with LINUS OBOGO, the Plateau State-born former lawmaker speaks on the endemic corruption that has literally crippled the country, Jos crisis, 2015 presidential election and the position of the 19 northern governors, the ongoing constitution review by the Senate and sundry issues he 19 Northern governors last week rose from their meeting and issued a communiquÈ, which stated, among other issues, their rejection of state police. Why the sudden U-turn, despite their persistent clamour for a state police in the past?What I can say to that is that they are the ones wearing the shoes at the moment, and it is said that he who wears the shoes knows where they pinch.

Whatever informed their current position is best known to them and their current position may have been based on new developments. While I do not have an opinion at this point in time on their current position, I am quite aware that the governors had in the past been the ones clamouring for state police. If they are the same people saying they no longer want states to have their police, they must have weighed the pros and cons of having it.

One of the highpoints of the Northern governorsí meeting was their collective stance on 2015 and the need for the presidency to go back to the North. Do you think we still have such cleavages as the north and south in Nigerian politics, given the current six geo-political configurations?

Well, it depends on which of the parties is talking about the presidency going back to the North in 2015, because some parties have zoning in their constitution while some do not have. So, we cannot be talking about zoning in a party that does not recognise the policy. It will amount to taking a blanket position on the issue of zoning in a situation where we have over 60 political parties in the country.

Depending on which platform a candidate wishes to contest, if it is on a platform that recognises zoning, then the policy will apply.

But if it is on a party that does not recognise zoning, there is no way zoning can apply to that party. So, it all depends on which platform someone wants to contest for an election. Notwithstanding the position of the 19 Northern governors, it is worth reminding that it is not all of them that are in the same party. There are those in the PDP, there are others in the ANPP and others in the CPC. These three parties do not have the same constitution, programmes and manifestoes. So, again, it depends on what basis they arrived at their decision.

In the light of the declaration by the 19 northern governors, do you see this as an attempt to shut the incumbent President out of the race in 2015 were he to exercise his constitutional right to re-contest?

Already, lawyers are trying to look at the issue of his constitutional qualification, whether he can stand for a re-election or not. But I am not a lawyer. So, I am not competent to speak on the issue. However, whichever way it goes, what is more important is the peace and stability of the country. I am particularly worried about the insecurity in the country, which is threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Having said that, I think people should be more worried about good governance than who the personality is or where the presidency should go.

Speaking of the state of insecurity in the country, you will recall that it was during your time as Deputy Senate President that some of you caused a state of emergency to be declared in states like Plateau and Ekiti.

What exactly would you say has gone wrong and what do you think has made the declaration of a state emergency impossible, despite the near state of anarchy in some of parts of the North?

I really cannot say what has gone wrong.

But the state of insecurity is a major source of concern to everyone. Everywhere in the North, no one can move about freely anymore. There is no peace in the city, on the streets and in the markets. We have got to a

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•Mantu

suggestions for the Plateau conundrum?

It is most unfortunate that what was seen as exclusively Plateau State affair has now become a national problem. Today, we have the Boko Haram, which is worse than the Plateau crisis. We also have crises all over the country. There is no particular part of the country that can be regarded as safe.

Therefore, we should be more concerned with the fundamental issues that led to the security crises throughout the nation.

As for Plateau State, I feel there is need for the government to genuinely bring all the stakeholders and sit down together and talk.

We have had so many panels in the past, which looked at the problems and submitted reports. But as I speak with you, none of the reports has been implemented. The people committing the crimes are not living in the sky. They live among us. They have fathers and mothers and their parents are living in the community. The crisis in Plateau is easier to resolve than the Boko Haram menace because the Boko Haram sect wants to die for what they believe in. But the same cannot be said of Plateau. The crisis is more ethnic and religious than Boko Haramís, and it is easier to contain and curtail than the Boko Haram issue. What needs to be done is for all the traditional rulers, the government and the people to sit down together and talk.

After all, the different elements in the crisis had lived peacefully together in the past and there is no reason why they cannot do so now.

If you ask me if the people killing others are true Moslems and true Christians, my answer will be no! Both the Bible and the Koran forbid the spilling of blood. Every human being came from the same source, and that is God. It was the love of God for human beings that made Him to create us in the first place. So, why canít we live together as one?

On the issue of ethnicity, I have continued to maintain that it does not matter whether you are a Berom or Angas or Fulani.

Whatever ethnic group you belong, that is who you are till the end of time.

Nothing is going to change and nobody is going to take that away from you. So, there is no gain killing in the name of ethnicity.

How do you react to the allegation that the crisis in Plateau State was actually started by people like you who are regarded as settlers, using your Fulani kin against the indigenes for whatever reason?

Well, I sympathise with anybody that is making such a wild allegation. If you must allege, then you must also have the onus to prove your allegation. But for those accusing me of being behind the crisis in Plateau State, may the good Lord forgive them because they do not know what they are talking about. For those who know me, they know that I am a man of peace and I have laboured to promote peace all my life.

President Goodluck Jonathan has several times been accused of being clueless and lacking the political will to deal with the crisis in Plateau and other insurgencies in the North. What is your take on this?

I do not think that President Jonathan is clueless or lacks the political will to deal with the pockets of insurgency in the North as well as the Jos crisis. I have heard him say that he does not have the constitutional power to declare a state of emergency. What I can understand from what is happening now and what obtained during former

May God forgive those who say I have a hand in Jos crises

–Ibrahim Mantu, exdeputy Senate President point where we should bother more about what we can do to end the state of insecurity and return Nigeria to what it was before now than what went wrong or how it all started.

This is the question that really should agitate the minds of every one of us. It is not a question of where it started from or who started it.

That was why I am gladdened by the position of the two former heads of state, Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida a few days ago on the way out of the security logjam in the country.

Their position is worth trying, and I think we should go back to the grassroots and start restoring peace at that level. The people behind the current situation do not live on trees, sky or in the water; they live among us.

So, if we should take it upon ourselves to go to the grassroots and sensitise them, we can achieve result. They should be sensitised on the need to be good and patriotic citizens of this country and contribute their quota to the

development of their country. The earlier we go back to the grassroots and tell the communities to assist the law enforcement agencies in identifying the people making life more difficult for the rest of us, the better for the communities and the country. The recommendation of Obasanjo and Babangida should be explored. We need to toe that path to bring about peace in the country.

So, what would be your own remedy to the simmering insecurity or carnage in the North?

My remedy or suggestion is that we should embrace the suggestions canvassed

by Obasanjo and Babangida as reported in your paper on Monday this week. We should go back to the grassroots and start preaching peace at that level upward. Their suggestion is worth trying, and I urge the government to embrace the process as a panacea to lasting peace in the country.

Do you foresee the workability of similar

Continued on page 51

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

INTERVIEW 51

‘Why Jonathan can’t act on Jos, Boko Haram crises‘ Continued from page 50 President Obasanjoís regime is the different ways the Constitution has been interpreted.

During Obasanjoís time, there were those who said he had no constitutional power to impose a state of emergency, and there were others who said he did have the constitutional power. But for the good of the country, his chief law officer then said he had the power and he went ahead to impose a state of emergency and there was peace in Ekiti and Plateau states.

But every case has its own peculiarity. And in a case where there are two or more lawyers involved, they are bound to argue in different ways. So, for President Jonathan, his chief law officer may have told him that he does not have the constitutional power, which might explain why he does not want to go against the law. But that is not to say that he lacks the political will or that he is clueless. Every well meaning leader will always want to go with the advice of those he appointed to advise him. The advisers are the experts, and that is why the President appointed them. President Jonathan may not want to act with impunity, which is what has led to people concluding that he lacks the political will. We should always bear in mind that what worked for a particular president may not work for another. That is my honest understanding of the situation on ground.

Your inability to make it back to the Senate and a slump into a seeming political obscurity has been seen by many as a statement of gradual loss of relevance. How true is this?

I must not necessarily be in the Senate, hold political office or be in a position of authority to be considered relevant politically. There are various ways somebody can make his own contribution to the development of his country. I never knew you before; not until this interview. So, whatever position I canvass that will move this country forward through this medium you have offered me is still my contribution to the development of Nigeria. I do not need to be in the Senate to do that.

So, anyone who says I have become politically irrelevant simply because I am no IS mannerisms put him across as a typical Ondo man. Until he tells you that he is an Isoko prince and perhaps supply a proof, you would find it difficult to believe that Prince Isaac Emakaran Emiyede, South-South leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos indeed hails from the Niger Delta region.

“I was born and bred in Yorubaland, that was in Okitipupa, Ondo State. I also had my education in Yorubaland, that is my relationship with Yoruba people,” he said.

It was like going against the tradition of his people when this future ovie (traditional ruler) of Iyede Kingdom, Isoko North Local Government man was made the Otunba Gbobaniyi of Ibeju-Lekki Kingdom by the Onibeju of Ibeju Lekki, Oba Olusegun Salami.

Many people wondered why a prince would take a chieftaincy title. Tradition forbids him as a future ovie from taking a traditional title. So, making him an Otunba could be seen as an insult to the tradition and culture of his people. But Emiyede says it is far from it.

He said: “It does not contradict my position as a prince. I cannot take a chieftaincy title in my kingdom. But outside my kingdom, I can take a chieftaincy title to boost my profile. In fact, my people were very happy that their son was being recognised for a big position outside our domain.

“In this world, life is about impartation; it is not about you and you alone. It is the impact I’m making outside this domain that brought about this honour. It is nothing else.

My people are so happy about this honour,” he said.

Emiyede is a direct descendant of Ekeboh, the first Ovie of Iyede Kingdom, and has lived all his life in Yorubaland, specifically Ondo and Lagos states. He said the only thing that could make him go home is if he is called to become the ovie in the near future.

But even at that, he said, “becoming something in this world is God’s doing. For example, the chieftaincy thing had been prophesied many years ago, that I would be crowned. Most of the time, I link it with the

H

longer in the Senate is not being fair to me. In prevalence of corruption during our time, any case, I am very happy where I am, but I want to tell you that there were probe making my contribution without panels established to probe even the complaining.

National Assembly members. The public The National Assembly in your time as was able to judge for themselves whether Deputy Senate President was believed to those who were accused of corruption were be neck-deep in corruption. Today, the guilty or not. But this openness cannot be House of Representatives appears to have said of the executive or the judicial arms of borrowed a leaf from that era, with government where files are treated allegations of corruption overshadowing confidentially. the activities of the lower legislative As Nigerians, we must all go down on our chamber. Given this sorry knees and beg God for deliverance scenario, who do you think because Nigeria is in dire need of will bell the cat? deliverance in all aspects of our There is no denying the lives, the media inclusive. fact that corruption is The present government today the biggest has variously been accused problem of Nigeria as a of being rather too nation. This is not complacent, weak and restricted to just one slow in tackling arm of government. I corruption. How would want to tell you that you assess President there is also Jonathan on this issue? corruption in the I believe strongly that media, just as a nation gets the kind of everywhere. We are government it deserves. all part of the society A society also gets the like the National kind of leader it deserves.

Assembly. And until If all of us are corrupt, we are able to deal what can anybody do to with corruption in every make a difference? So, we aspect of our lives, there must start by cleansing the will be corruption entire society by going back to everywhere. For instance, if God. •Mantu you cleanse the National The National Assembly is Assembly of corruption without currently working on reviewing or cleansing the executive, there will still be amending some sections of our corruption. And if you take care of the Constitution. What, in your mind, should executive without addressing the corruption they address more seriously? in the judiciary, the situation will remain the The most important aspect of the same. constitution that needs amendment urgently What is required of us today as a nation is is that which deals with oneís state of origin. for all hands to be on deck to fight First and foremost, we must bear in mind corruption. But using the National Assembly that we are all Nigerians, irrespective of as a scapegoat is not going to solve the where we are coming from. And that is why problem. I feel that the National Assembly when we step outside the shores of Nigeria should rather be commended because it is and we are asked where we come from, we the only arm of government that does its say we are Nigerians. We say this without business in the open and its activities are minding whether we are from the North, always subjected to public scrutiny.

South, East or West of Nigeria.

For example, you mentioned the I feel we should lay more emphasis on

being Nigerians than the individual communities we come from. What we should be concerned about is to try and do away with those things that tend to dehumanise us as human beings and those we cannot change, we should learn to live with them.

As Nigerians, we must learn to recognise the right of everyone to live and practise what they want and what they believe in.

Irrespective of where you live, you should be allowed the right to join the political group of your choice and seek elective office. After all, democracy is all about people. It does not matter where you may come from, once the people you have been living among accept you as good enough to represent them, you should be allowed to represent them in a democracy. A level playing field should be created for everybody. People should be free to live in any part of Nigeria they desire and pursue their means of livelihood without any fear of molestation.

You have been out of the Senate and, in a way, the spotlight for a while now. How much of you do you think your constituency has missed?

Let me tell you this, in life, no one is indispensable. And I believe that the more opportunity you give to others, the more talent you discover. That some of us bowed out of the Senate was an opportunity for others to showcase their lawmaking talent. I can tell you today, without any fear of contradiction, that some of the people who succeeded us in the Senate have performed excellently well and even better than some of us did. And that is because we gave them the opportunity to do so. So, I do not think I have any regrets at all not making it back to the Senate. If today I have any contribution to make, I can simply channel that through a serving senator to sponsor as a bill. One does not necessarily need to be in the Senate before contributing to the development of his society. That I am lending my voice through this medium on issues of national concern is also a contribution to national development.

Any Nigerian can make his or her contribution to the nation, whether in or outside the government.

I Gbenga ADERANTI I crown at home.

“It was recently that it was point out that the crown will actually not come from my kingdom but outside, which has come to pass.

“Actually, I have every criterion to become the ovie of my place because my forefathers were on that throne. But one thing I don’t do is to fight for any position.”

The trained engineer said he had been invited to most of the positions he had occupied in his life. He became the Chairman of the South South people in Lagos by invitation, among other positions he had held. “If the issue of kingship comes up in Iyede Kingdom and they call me, I will not reject it. But if they say I should come and drag it with anyone, I will not,” he declared.

His house is boasts a babel of languages, despite having spent his whole life in Yorubaland, the Isoko prince makes sure that his children speak his native tongue. “We speak Isoko in my house.

We speak Yoruba and we speak English.

So, do his children speak Isoko? “It depends on their age.

Like the senior ones, the first two, they have two years difference. Those ones understand very well. They speak little. The third one, there was a time my mum was staying with us, he also speaks well and understands. The last one, I cannot boast of his ability to speak it, but he understands when we speak to him,“ he said.

He hardly puts on his traditional Isoko attire. Asked why, he said: “I put on normal Yoruba dress most of the time. The buba and sokoto, even my people at home wear them, which is now acceptable to everybody. I only

a situation where the party will recognise the leaders of the ethnic groups in it. I mean myself, Chris Ikwilo, Ahmed Kabir Abdullahi and Patako. These are the leaders of the ethnic groups in the party. Let our people know that their leaders are recognised.

“The South-South that I’m leading in the party is like a party within a party. Whatever the party is expected to have is what we have in the South-South group. We have the structure. We have the group in all the local governments and LCDAs. We mobilise our group for the party to win elections,” he said.

As a South-South man, one would expect him to have a soft spot for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who also hails from the region. But Emiyede has a different view: “In life, we have freedom of association. As a politician and at my age, I should be able to know the government that is progressive. I have studied the PDP since they started. I know they are not progressives, I’m a progressive. I see the ACN as the only party that is progressive in their action. But that does not mean I hate the individuals that are in PDP,” he explained.

Like his peers who are retired, this retired engineer takes time to relax and catch fun.

On Saturdays, according to him, he goes out for engagement. And whenever there is none, he stays indoors and sometimes hangs out with friends.

One other thing that occupies his time is the work of the gospel. Currently, he concentrates more on his pastoral job, having bagged a diploma in Theology from God’s Army Bible College of the The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

Other than his kinsman who ‘conscripted’ him into the Isoko union in Lagos, he said “my friends are mostly Yoruba. If I speak Yoruba, you will never sense an iota of South South or Isoko in me. The only thing you will say is ‘this must be an Ondo man,’” he said.

Why I accepted Yoruba traditional title –Isoko

•Emiyede

put on Isoko dress when I’m going out for a big function or the South-South.”

The stylish SouthSouth man does not joke with his wrist watch when going out.

“There is no time I go out without a wristwatch. It is not possible. If I forget it, I will still go back and go and put it on,” the retiree disclosed.

Having served his party, the ACN, since the days it was known as Alliance for Democracy (AD), Emiyede thinks the people from the South-South should be given a responsibility in the cabinet of Governor Fashola. “With all our input, we don’t even have an SA in the state government. Besides that, I think I’m happy with the party. I want

prince Emiyede

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

52

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Embrace wisdom in your home

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EAR Reader, I count it a great privilege to share God’s Word with you in this column. It is a great month!

This month, I will be sharing with you on how you can embrace wisdom in your home, for a great family ever.

It is important to know that God’s wisdom is the principal tool for exploit and relevance in the school of life.

Without the wisdom of God in a man’s life, his fulfillment of destiny is at stake. The wisdom of God bailed Joseph out of eternal imprisonment. This same wisdom brought Daniel out of the slaughter to the throne of life. These are few examples of those who have obtained a good report by the operation of the wisdom of God in their lives.

I want you to know that there is a wisdom solution to

every issue of life. As you go through this teaching this month, may you connect to the wisdom of God that will announce you to your world in Jesus’ name!

What is wisdom? Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. Wisdom, as defined scripturally, is knowing the scriptural way to go, the scriptural steps to take and the scriptural things to do. Also, wisdom is the application of biblical knowledge to everyday life.

From God’s Word, we discover that there is earthly wisdom, which is the accumulation of man’s tricks to preserve himself (without God).

There is intellectual wisdom (it stops at book knowledge).

It includes all technological, scientific and intellectual efforts.

We also have divine wisdom, which is God’s kind of wis-

dom. It is from above. God’s Word says: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:17). Divine wisdom is the work of the Holy Spirit revealed through the Word of God; it also produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

The third is devilish wisdom, which is the type of wisdom that operates in the occult realm. God’s Word says: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish (James 3:15).

How then can you connect to God’s (divine) wisdom, which is the principal thing?

You can get connected to God’s wisdom through the following ways: New Birth: Every encounter with God’s wisdom starts with a relationship with God, the only wise God. God’s Word says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding (Proverbs 9:10). Without salvation, you don’t have access to the wisdom of God. You can only operate in earthly wisdom and common sense. So, to op-

erate the wisdom of God, you need to be born again. You need to have the mind of Christ, and this can only come by surrendering your life to Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Prayer: To have access to God’s wisdom, you need to ask God in prayer. God is ever ready to give to those who ask Him in faith (James 1:5-6).

Soul Winning: To acquire God’s wisdom, you need to attend to the heartbeat of God, which is soul-winning. You need to tell others about Christ. As you do, divine wisdom is then released to you.

God’s Word says: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30, Daniel 12:3).

Knowledge: The devil plays on the ignorance of men. Ignorance, they say, is a disease.

So many people, today, are in one problem or the other because they don’t have what it takes to come out of that problem (Hosea 4:6). Start by reading anointed books, listening to tapes, etc., to increase your knowledge of what is needful (Proverbs 24:5). May the Lord give you understanding.

Right Company: Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are. The company

Control of sleep

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ODAY was one of those rare days when I went to work after only a few hours of sleep at night. I usually try to get six to eight hours but it happened that electricity (NEPA) came at 12:45 am and I had a lot of laundry to do.

Therefore I imposed a night shift on myself and got most of my laundry done. Sorry to my neighbours if they heard the noise of the washing machine though it is not half as loud as that of numerous generators when there is no electricity (NEPA).

For some people, the night shift is their usual life. Nurses, doctors, and other hospital workers, airport workers, cleaners and building maintenance workers, and truck drivers are amongst those that may have to work on permanent night shifts. They need to try and get a good sleep during the day. The rest of us need to try and get a good sleep during the night.

Sleep is part of a biological rhythm controlled by an internal or “biological clock” in our brain. People who work on night shifts have an altered biological clock. We have many other biological rhythms involving hormones and other factors. Some of them are tied to the 24h day and night cycle (the circadian rhythms). Others have shorter periods and still others last longer (e.g. 28 days for the menstrual cycle). Therefore, although many components of our bodies are kept “static” by homeostatic mechanisms, others fluctuate to control particular rhythms of life. The part of the brain called the hypothalamus is known to be involved in controlling many of these rhythms. In particular, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is known to be a master clock and an automatic timer of many control centres of our body functions. The SCN itself is ultimately controlled by the pineal gland in the brain.

Sleep involves different stages of brain activity. There is a stage called the rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. If you sleep with your spouse or someone else you might have observed this some time. This is the stage during which one dreams. The other stages of sleep, including the stage of deep sleep, form the non-rapid eye movement sleep. The long night’s sleep occurs in many cycles of non-REM and REM sleep. Early in the night the proportion of non-REM is greater. Towards morning, the proportion of REM sleep is greater.

Natural awakening generally arises from light sleep, early in the morning. Waking people up from deep sleep is not a

healthy habit. This is because it is an abrupt disruption of the functions of sleep which include anabolic or body building, body restoring, and mind relaxing processes. During sleep various systems of our bodies including the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems undergo recovery and strengthening. When such processes are abruptly interrupted we wake up feeling groggy and unrested. Sleep is also important for memory. Sleep deprivation affects our working memory and our ability to think, reason, calculate, and make decisions. It is believed that during sleep some important structural organization of brain nerve cells that hold information and memory takes place.

The biological clock that controls sleep is affected by the environment. We thus need a healthy environment for good sleep. This is not just in terms of physical comfort but is also in terms of social and psychological modulators that are manageable. Mosquitoes whining and biting, lying on a hard surface, heat and stuffiness, and excessive noise are examples of physical discomforts. There are people who cannot sleep when their mother-in-law is visiting. Others cannot sleep when they are thinking of a rival, an enemy, or a threat. Dysregulation of brain activity affects the ability to sleep.

A good night’s sleep takes an average of 8 hours for adults.

Newborn babies need about 18h-sleep a day. Sleep deprivation of infants is known to lead to abnormalities later in life.

The development of the brain especially needs the long hours that the infant sleeps (a significant proportion of it being REM-sleep therefore care should be taken not to disturb sleeping infants). School children need about 10-hr sleep each night.

It is not only the length of sleep that matters. The ability to sleep well is also important. If one sleeps long enough but wakes up tired, this is unhealthy sleep. It means the interior environment of the body is not efficient. If you are routinely like this, check if your nutrition and diet are good and adequate. In a poor economy, there are people who go to bed with skipped evening meals. They may suffer sleep disturbances not only from hunger pangs but also from the inability of the body to perform its normal functions during sleep.

When we sleep for a shorter period than necessary we enter into sleep debt. In this condition, we experience mental, emotional, or physical fatigue. The ability to sleep well is partly dependent on our genetic make-up. Some people are slumberous and others just manage to sleep enough. We know if we have slept well because like other functions needed to preserve life (eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, etc.), sleep is enjoyable and satisfying. If your sleep lacks these qualities, you should try to see how you can improve your sleeping habits.

Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910

you keep determines the level of wisdom you can operate, and your level of wisdom determines your worth in life.

God’s Word says: He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20).

Every encounter with God’s wisdom starts with a relationship with Him, the only wise God. God’s Word says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).

Without salvation, you don’t have access to the wisdom of God. This only comes by surrendering your life to Christ by saying this prayer of faith: Dear Lord, I come to You to-

day. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am born again!

Congratulations! Till I come your way again next week, call or write, and share your testimonies with me through: E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 234-1-7747546-8; 07026385437, 07094254102 For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all the Living Faith Churches, and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work and Building a Successful Family.

Medical experts raise alarm ?????????????????????? on ischemic heart disease

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EDICAL experts and practitioners in Car diovascular Medicine convened in Lagos at the 5th edition of the Cardiovascular Summit organised by Pfizer Near (Nigeria and East Africa Region) to raise awareness on the rising incidence of Ischemic heart diseases in Nigeria and seek cohesive preventive measures as well as actionable recommendations for the government.

Tagged ‘Ischemic Heart Disease’, the summit provided an elaborate platform for healthcare practitioners to engage in a robust discussion on the current trends in Ischemic heart disease and its management.

Declaring the summit open, Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe in his remarks described Ischemic Heart Disease as the ‘Next Epidemic’ in Nigeria if drastic measures are not put in place to mitigate it.

Also known as Coronary Artery Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease is a condition that affects the ability to provide adequate oxygen to heart muscle resulting in damage to the heart muscle or heart attack (Myocardial Infarction).

Speaking on the Nigerian Perspective on Ischemic Heart Disease, Emeritus Professor of Cardiology of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayodele Falase, stated that previous studies in Nigeria revealed insignificant incidence of Ischemic Heart Disease compared with the developed countries.

Attributing the rise in the cases of Ischemic heart disease in Nigeria to increase in the standard of living which, enhanced adoption of western dietary habits especially amongst urban elites, Prof.

Falase, urged the promotion of our local diets which con-

Risikat RAMONI tain less saturated fat as well as increased physical activity.

He said, “like all things in Nigeria we tend to deride our local diet and regard the diet of advanced countries as superior and healthier. We do not have the infrastructural capability to adequately cater for it. The key is to stick to our local diets and exercise.”

On his part, Consultant Cardiologist, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Prof. Osaretin Odia, identified the modifiable risk factors as; hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia, cigarette smoking and obesity, sedentary living, age and gender as the non modifiable risk factors.

Prof. Odia, who also suggested that Sub- Saharan Africa may be at the early phase of the epidemiological transition of the disease, recommended the following preventive strategies including: increased attention of health officials on the primary prevention of ischemic disease, community–based control of the major risk factors, control of hyper-cholesteronaemia through the modification of dietary habits and government‘s support especially in the discouragement of western dietary habits through its food and health regulatory agencies.

Emphasizing the objective of the summit, The Medical Director, Pfizer NEAR, Dr. Kodjo Soroh said, ‘We need to get prepared for this prevailing CHD incidents and that is the essence of this summit, to come up with some recommendations for government on how to stop the further rise of CHD because when the epidemic happens we do not have the capacity to control it.

•L-R: Professor A.O Falase, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe, Dr. Adeyemi Johnson, Enrico Liggeri and Dr. Kodjo Soroh at the summit

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

53 Coping with diseases with Prof. Dayo Oyekole

Post-operative diet for quick recovery

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OOD nutrition is a very important factor when recovering from any operation not just appendicitis. This is because you need to give your body all the help possible to rebuild and regenerate. After an appendectomy, the patient is usually allowed to drink only clear liquid such as water and light broth for one day following the operation.

Clear broth is a bland and safe food the patient can sip slowly to help him regain strength without causing nausea or vomiting. Take few sips of broth at a time and gradually increase how much he eats at one time as he feels stronger and the appetite begins to return.

Later, he can start taking soft and easy to digest food that can also promote healing of the surgery wound. These include cornmeal (pap), oats and soft fruits and vegetables like water-melon, oranges, ripe pawpaw and steamed carrots among others.

Carrots are a good source of beta-carotene which the body needs to make vitamin A, a nutrient that helps encourage proper healing. Cooked and pureed carrots can be added to the diet shortly after surgery and as soon as your appetite begins to return.

Other food sources of betacarotene include leafy greens.

Make sure to cook the carrots

From my mailbox Dear Patience, My dad had a successful operation for appendicitis last year. Is he free to eat any kind of food he likes or are there particular ones that are recommended?

-Ogunfowokan Adekoya (by email)

and greens so they are softer and easier for the body to digest.

After a while, he should switch on to healthy food items (including solid foods) and drink an ample quantity of water. This can apply to your dad as his operation was done last year (though you did not state the date).

Ensure that his diet is healthy and packed with immunity boosting vitamins and minerals. Foods rich in Vitamin C are essential during recuperation as they strengthen the immune system and assist the healing of the skin. Also important are those with beta-carotene or vitamin A which promote healthy scar tissue.

During the period of recovery, alcohol and heavy foods that slow down digestion are strictly not recommended. Expect a few weeks of recovery from an appendectomy. During this recovery time, there are other steps to take that can help the body heal quickly.

No strenuous activities The golden rule after any surgery is to get as much rest as possible. During the first few weeks after surgery, you must avoid strenuous activities. If you have had an open appendectomy, the time frame, for recovery, in this regard is the first 10 to 14 days after surgery. If you feel exceptionally well in a few days time, consult your doctor before you resume normal activity.

A very important step to hasten recovery is to support your abdomen every time you cough. During the appendectomy recovery time, you are likely to experience abdominal pain whenever you laugh, cough, or move.

To support the area operated

Liquids such as water and soft fruits are suitable for the patient recovering from an operation upon and minimize pain, place a pillow on your abdomen and gently apply pressure before you move.

While recovering from any surgery, everyone encounters some amount of pain. However, if you experience excess pain it will hamper your progress. This kind of pain will increase the stress the body is under and may slow down the healing process. Thus, if you find that the pain is more than slight discomfort or persists despite prescribed pain medications, let your doctor know.

Call your doctor if your pain medications aren’t helping.

Being in pain puts extra stress on your body and slows the healing process. If you’re still in pain despite your pain medications, consult your doctor.

Sleep when you feel tired.

As your body heals, you may find you feel sleepier than usual. Take it easy and rest when you need to.

Get up and move when you’re ready. One can start doing mild exercises such as walking after about 3 weeks of open surgery. Start slowly and increase your activity as you

feel up to it. Start with short walks.

Similar to other surgeries, infection is a probable complication of appendectomy. If there are any signs of soreness and infection at the incision site, one should immediately call the doctor.

Discuss returning to work or school with your doctor.

You can return to work when you feel up to it. Children may be able to return to school less than a week after surgery, though strenuous activity, such as sports, should be limited for two to four weeks after surgery.

Most importantly, follow your surgeon’s instructions thoroughly to avoid post-surgery complications. Be regular with your follow-ups with your doctor.

Preventing burn-out (2)

•Hobbies are good for relieving stress and burn-out

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OW can you avoid burnout and stay in a productive rhythm?

Here are some ways you can start safeguarding your life against burnout: *Pursue a hobby: Pick a hobby that has little or nothing to do with what you spend most of your week doing and pursue it with passion! A hobby that uses an entirely different skill set can provide your heart and mind with a satisfying break from the weekly grind and set you on a good path for increased productivity. You probably won’t even need to worry about picking a new hobby out. The one you abandoned when you

sold your soul to the work week is waiting for you to return. Shine up those golf clubs, get out the tennis rackets, or buy a new pair of boxing gloves and get moving!

•Schedule regular social activities. Remember when you used to spend time with people you were not working with? You watched movies, ate meals, played games, and went on trips. You were active and you had fun!

You can regain some of that emotional fulfilment by contacting some of your old pals and scheduling regular activities. It doesn’t need to be anything crazy. Sure, rafting in Alaska would be fun

but a monthly brunch with people you don’t see every day will do just fine. The point of this exercise is to expand your social horizon and crush the feeling that you’re stuck doing the same thing every day.

•Volunteer. Nothing brightens the soul or warms the senses like giving to another for no reason other than to give. If you’re feeling run down by life, I implore you to seek out somebody less fortunate than yourself and work to help them.

Reach out to your local charity, church, mosque or professional organization and ask for referrals to local places that need your help. They’ll be glad to get you started and you’ll soon forget about badly you thought you had it in life!

•Follow a fitness plan: If you want to avoid burnout, resurrect that New Year’s Resolution and figure out what it takes to get you exercising on a regular basis. Apart from all the physical benefits of exercise, you’ll enjoy the mental satisfaction of knowing that you’re taking good care of yourself again.

•Write a manifesto: Have you forgotten what you want

out of life? It’s easy to lose track of time and even easier to forget about what makes us glad to be alive. What can you do to bring back that focus? Take a day or perhaps an entire weekend and write a manifesto, a declaration of purpose, for yourself. The process will give you focus as you put your intentions into writing. You’ll also discover that stepping back and looking at your life as a whole has a way of putting the stresses of the moment into perspective.

•Make others laugh: Humor keeps us sane even through the most stressful of circumstances.

Laughter is fun and a great way to reduce stress. Even better, finding ways to make others laugh doesn’t just reduce stress for all involved. It allows you to begin viewing yourself as a source of fun and laughter in your social or work group.

You’ll find it hard to be glum and entertain unhappy thoughts when the people around you are excited and happy to be near you. There’s no need to be a genius comedian. Start out by learning a few good jokes and add as you go!

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Fibroids

IBROIDS are tumors of the womb, consisting of muscle and some fibrous tissue. They are benign and are the most com mon of all uterine tumors. It is called fibroma when the growth or tumor is composed chiefly of connective tissue, while it is called myoma when the growth is composed of muscle element. Its other names are fibromyoma and leiomyofibroma when it consists of mixed tissues. However, myoma is most appropriate, since they rarely contain much fibrous material and consist almost entirely of smooth muscle.

It is usually discrete, round, firm and often multiple. They can be as small as an orange seed or as big as the head of a newly born baby. They can be totally symptomless or can be so worrisome as to become an emergency. Based on its anatomical location, it may be classified as intramural (within uterine muscle), submucous (within the inner lining of the womb), subserous (in the outer lining) intraligamentous (within the ligaments holding the uterus), or cervical (in the cervix).

The disease occurs three times more frequent in black women than white. Fibroid has been a major cause of infertility and the various pregnancy related deaths in Nigerian women. It may grow silently and progressively over a period of 5 to 10 years; and may be so big in the abdomen that it may be mistaken for normal pregnancy. Many women have carried such fibroid for many years, regarding it as pregnancy and seeking for help in spiritual and instant healing homes!

However, some women with fibroid still get pregnant and some even deliver successfully with the fibroid.

Clinical evidence suggests that the development of fibroid is related to the action of estrogen, a hormone produced by the ovary. Fibroids arise during the period of menstrual activity.

They do not originate as a new growth once menstruation has ceased (menopause). Non-utilized and under-utilized uterus in the productive age, as well as use of oestrogenic contraceptive pills would enhance the occurrence of fibroids.

Smptoms of myomas include; increased abdomen, frequent urination, painful menstruation (dysmenorrhoea) and heavy bleeding (often with anaemia and fainting). They can give rise to severe lower abdominal pains and headaches.

There may be multiple menstruations in one month, which may be accompanied by the passage of blood clots. Fibroids can be detected accidentally by the physician either during physical examination or via ultrasound scan for infertility or related abdominal ailments.

In Holistic Lifecare, it is strongly advised that women (or ladies) should avoid the abuse of contraceptives and unnecessary delay of pregnancy for too long a period during the reproductive age. They should take proper care of venereal diseases and avoid frequent and excessive abortion (especially with D and C). The use of phytoestrogenic contraceptives (plant-derived oestrogens) is highly recommended, as may be prescribed by experienced herbal scientists.

Actually, with the use of safe and potent herbal remedies, through the oral route, it has been confirmed that the fibroid tissues dissolve gradually. They are absorbed by the body and finally eliminated through the various excretory routes. However, it is necessary to ensure that the remedies come from a very good and dependable source. A good ultrasound scan detailing the site(s), size(s) and number(s) of the fibroids should be done before treatment. This should be repeated 3 months later, to determine if the remedies are working or not.

The holistic natural remedy being advanced for the control and total cure of fibroids is a combination of natural extracts of Ricinus communis, Aframomum melegueta, Cocos nucifera and Xylopia aethiopica.

For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Journey to Refugee Island Refugee Island used to be a place of refuge for those experiencing the menace of slave raiders. It is currently a simple island surrounded by the lagoon. The natives are contented in their subsistent life of fishing and basket making.

However, this island, with its rich history and beautiful landscape, hosts much in terms of tourism endowment. OKORIE UGURU visited the island recently and reports.

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HE Ibeju-Lekki Council Area would definitely be a fertile hunting ground for slave trade relic hunters. The beachfronts of the council overlook the Atlantic Ocean and lagoons.

They are strewn with such artifacts ranging from ruins of slave baracoons to other relics that are tell tale signs of the once busy coast.

Far from the white foamy sandy beach and tucked at the back of the peninsula is the Refugee Island. The island is one that is yet to discard the yoke of its perpetual quest for anonymity.

It was an island of refuge to natives looking for escape from the claws of slave raiders who, hundreds of years ago, used to prowl the coastal town in search of slaves. Initially it was domestic slaves. But with the advent of European merchants to the coasts, the slave trade took a more sinister dimension. The slave raiders were more persistent in their quest to ensnare and capture slaves for shipment to the new world. At that stage, even the Refugee Island was no longer safe for those in search of safe haven. The slave merchants

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It was an island of refuge to natives looking for escape from the claws of slave raiders who hundreds of years ago used to prowl the coastal town in search of slaves

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overran the island which is twice the size of Lagos Island.

The island is still nondescript, even the sole jetty that leads into the island can easily be mistaken for a simple fishing outpost. Inside the Refugee Island, there are no signs of what might have happened there hundreds of years ago.

However, unlike other islands that have been taken over by mangrove forests , the Refugee Island has economic trees like coconut, mango and many others.

The inhabitants are mostly fishermen and craftmen. There are about five villages scattered all over the island. Ide is the biggest; it is also the entry point to the island.

Having these historical sites in mind and shoreline that boasts of one of the best beaches, not just in the West Coast, but in Africa, Lekki has much to offer in terms of tourism. The council has finally woken up to this, and is now racing against time to put the facilities in the peninsula in good shape to become a prime destination.

The council chairman of Ibeju-Lekki, Mr. Olaitan Ogidan, said the current efforts on tourism development was not by chance. He said it had always been on the card since the creation of the council.

His words: “When we were defending the creation of the local government area before the late Justice Arthur Mbanefo, which I did, the question was with what resources would you rule the council. I told him the council would come to stay based on the natural endowments that we have.

“Ibeju-Lekki council is facing the Atlantic by the south and the lagoon in the north. It is located in a peninsula that has brilliant weather, beautiful beaches

•The jetty at the entrance to Refugees’ Island

•The Lekki council and La Campagne team on a fact finding trip to the island and, of course, numerous lakes, about 15. We have so many islands that surround our creeks here. Some of them are twice the size of Lagos Island and we are blessed with beautiful beaches. With all these, I have no doubt that this local government will be the best in Nigeria, if not in Africa.”

He said on assuming office as the council chairman, the first thing he did was to employ 500 nonpensionable staff to clear the beaches. There were three category of workers he employed: beach keepers, some beach guards and then the grass weeders. All these were to make the beachfronts tourism friendly so that any tourists visiting the beaches would

want to stay there and enjoy.

He said further: “Besides we are partnering the owner of La Campagne. We are going on a massive investment in tourism. By the time we finish here, this council will be the best in tourism. We have bought ferry boats to take people to the islands and also ferry people across the lagoon to the Refugee Island. By the time we fully actualize our vision, this council will be the best in tourism.

“The Refugee Island is an island that has been in existence as far back as 1441AD. You know slavery was part of the societal life of the people then, but by the 16th century, it took a different dimension. Before then, people rushed here to

come and catch slaves and when these slave raiders were coming, the people would rush to the island.

The invaders would not know that people were living on the island. But by the time the European came, they named that place Refugee Island. When the intercontinental slave trading started, the slave merchants turned it into an island were they kept slaves, while they awaited the ships that would transport the slaves to the New World.”

Mr. Abdulkarim Lekki, the council’s Tourism Business Development Committee chairman, who, in company with Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, the La Campagne Tropicana boss, were on a tour of the Refugee Island, said the council

•Mr. Ogidan was making efforts to identify all its viable tourism sites which would form the nucleus of their tourism development projects. He said in the foreseeable future, everything the council would embark upon would be geared towards tourism development.

Lamidi Quadri, the council’s Work Supervisor, said outside the cleaning the beaches, the council had also employed lifeguards to stay at the beachfronts to ensure the safety of the tourists.

Lekki council, with the efforts it is making in the area of leisure tourism and the large investment in the Export Protecting Zone (EPZ), might just turn out to be the new face in tourism development in the country.

55

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

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OURISM practitio ners in Cross River State, Nigeria’s prime destination, are beginning to realise the challenge of moving a destination from a seasonal wonder to an all-year round destination that continually sees the influx of tourists. This has become necessary in the light of the giant leap the state has made using the Christmas and, of course, the led product which is Carnival Calabar.

It is in the light of this that the Cross State Hoteliers’ Association in partnership with Remlords Tours and Car Hire Services and the Naija Seven Wonders put together Experience Cross River, an initiative that offers packaged tours to Cross River from airline booking, accommodation to visiting tourism sites at very affordable prices.

The event to unfold this initiative was recently held at the Transcorp Metroplitan Hotel, Calabar.

The wife of the executive governor of Cross River State, Barrister Obioma Liyel Imoke, who was speaking at the event, charged hotel proprietors in the state to make their hotel rates dynamic in other to attract more patronage.

This, she said, through her able representative, Elena Osima-Dokubo, the executive secretary of Cross River State Carnival Commission.

The First Lady said: “You need to make the prices of your hotels to comply with the various seasons of the year. If you do this, your hotels will receive more patronage, and so you make more profits”.

Speaking also at the event, Mr Nkereuwen Onung, the president of the NATOP, explained that partnership is the needed ingredient to move the hotel and hospitality industry in the state to the next level.

“What brought us together is partnership”, he said. “And this is a partnership to package and promote the foremost and most peaceful tourism destination in Nigeria.

“We are the ones to drive the business forward; and so we have created a platform where people can access and book easily hotels in Cross River State online”,Mr Onunga said.

The NATOP president went on to hint on the driving vision for which they created the Experience Cross River brand and website.

“Experience Cross River brings to light the best tourism asset in Nigeria-the Obudu Ranch Resortwhich is the foremost of the 7 wonders of Nigeria, and at the same time the most developed tourism destination in Nigeria and Africa as a whole,”he said.

Mr Onung concluded his speech by asserting that,”We are building upon this platform because we want to make hotel business dynamic in the state”.

Mr Ikechi Uko, the Project Coordinator for the Naija 7 Wonders eventually stole

Experience Cross River: Make your hotel Hadur offers executive rates dynamic, says Obioma Liyel Imoke pilgrimage to Israel

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ADUR Travel and Tour Limited has put together an executive packaged tour to Israel. The tour is for No vember this year.

According to a release by the travel agency, the package is aimed as a solution to private individuals that may not want go through the hassle of the general pilgrimage as packaged by the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC).

The agency, on why it is packaging private Christian pilgrimage to Israel, said: “Every year, many people like you dream of visiting the holy land of Israel exploring Jerusalem, Mount Sinai, walking the land Jesus and the faithful prophets walked, see different Bible locations and sights, say your prayers at these holy places and become a ‘JP’.

“But you have been scared , simply because you really don’t know how to go about the holy pilgrimage.You don’t want to join the bandwagon or the ever stressful, overcrowded and rush- rush state government arrangement.You can now have your executive dream pilgrimage without breaking the bank.

“Yes, you can enjoy your pilgrimage and get world-class service without spending excessively. We promise you won’t spend a kobo more than you should.”

Hadur Travel said some of the benefits of the trip for Chrisitians include: enriching and deepening your spiritual life by taking a sacred tour to Israel; walk in the same footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ and other prophets of old like Moses, Abraham, Elijah and connect to the root of your faith;visit all the important places you have always dreamt and read about in the Bible, get real life experience.”

•Mrs. Dokubo (middle) switching on the Experience Cross River portal on behalf of the Mrs. Imoke

the afternoon with his insightful lecture on “The Role of Hotels in Tourism Marketing and Development.”

It was a paper which he masterfully presented in a vivacious manner that left no one in the audience in doubt about his pedigree as a foremost travel expert in Nigeria.

“Hotels in Gambia were only working during the peak periods of the year. After those periods, the hotels would go on long breaks until another festival period when they would reopen, repaint the hotels and the workers would go back to work.

“The situation continued until I proposed an alternative marketing plan to them.

I advised the hotels in Gambia to market themselves to Nigerians. They were reluctant. So I began to open their eyes to the potential in Nigeria.

“So I explained to them that Nigerians are the third largest shoppers in UK, and that they shop at every level of the system. Nigerians love class and love to enjoy life, and that Gambia has about the best hotels in West Africa.

“After much persuasion,

the managers of Sheraton Hotel in Gambia decided to try it out, since patronage was not improving”.

The president of the Gambia Hotel Association, Mr. Aliu Secka, initiated the regional marketing.

Mr Uko explained that that was the break-even point of those hotels in which coincided with the Sheraton Gambia Sales Trip.

Mr Uko, who is also the publisher of the Africa Travel Quarterly Magazine (ATQ), drew the attention of the hoteliers’ association to the need to adopt the example and strategy of the hotels in Gambia and so transform the fortunes of their hotels.

Mr Uko, who is the initiator of Africa Travel Award, brilliantly refocused his lecture to his Cross River audience, and motivated them to change their marketing perspective and priority by showing them the path to follow.

“In every project, you need to discover the risk owners- who own the risk?

Who are the risk owners in Cross River State hotel business? The hotel owners!

The more the risk involved in a business, the greater the profit.

“Your statistics has shown that there are over 260 hotels with 4000 rooms.

With what is on the ground, from where would the visitors come to fill 4000 beds?

“Considering that only three flights come into Cross River daily, how many people do the airline carry, and how many of those would lodge in a hotel? Most modern travellers come by air, and these are the class of people who are most likely going to lodge in hotels,”he said.

Hitting the nail on its head, he told the audience, “The hoteliers’ association needs to sit down and find out how to stimulate and increase the number of people coming into Cross River State and to their various hotels.

“This is the only way that you can make the hotels more efficient. Yes 150, 000 Nigerians can fly into Cross River State every year.

“And about one of the most effective ways to do this is for you to market your corporate brand.”

•L-R: Taiwo and Kehinde Oluwafunso, PANAFEST (Nigeria) reps, Ghanaian Consul, Alhaji Abukari, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham during the PANAFEST team’s condolence visit to the Ghana High Commission to commiserate with the country on the death of ex-president Attah-Mills

‘Tourism not given pride of place in Nigeria’

T

OURISM, one of the means of the generating funds the world over, is sadly not given the desired attention by successive governments at all levels in Nigeria.

Besides, corporate organizations have not been living up to their billing in boosting tourist attractions in the country. In spite of the proliferation of tourist centres like Yankari and Borgu Game Reserves in Bauchi and Niger states, Owu Falls and Patigi Regatta, both in Kwara State, old Oyo Wild Life Park and so on, tourism potential has unfortunately not been fully tapped in the country.

Therefore, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Boogie Event and Tourism Support Company Limited (BEATS), Mr. Ayotunde Mohammed, has urged the both public and private sectors to woo investors to the sector.

He specifically tasked government to embark on aggressive public campaigns on the advantages inherent in tourism, adding that tourism potential, if wellharnessed is capable of placing Nigeria on the world map of tourist nations.

The chief executive officer disclosed that BEATS was established in 2008 with offices in Nigeria and Essex, United Kingdom.

As a result of the lacklustre approach to tourism in the country, the Kogi State-born geology graduate-turned tourist promoter, said BEATS would honour outstanding women next month in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

The award is dubbed “State of Harmony Iconic Recognition Award for Women (SHIRAW) 2012.”

He added that 28 names of women who had distinguished themselves in their chosen fields have been penciled down for the event which comes up on the 11th of next month.

Other programmes of the organization for the year, he said include “Ramadan party for kids in motherless homes

•Mr. Ayotunde Mohammed Adekunle JIMOH, Ilorin in Kwara State and we shall be adopting a motherless home here in Ilorin. We shall, from time to time, channel our human and financial resources to uplift and bring succour to the kids that are housed in this home.”

He expressed the organisation’s preparedness to partner corporate organizations in recognizing women of excellence in the state.

In Mohammed’s words: “The award was conceived to reward the womenfolk on noteworthy contributions to the society as well as give ample recognition to societal role models of toady and tomorrow. Over the years, the state has witnessed the emergence of women of excellence that have bestridden the landscape from the public, private to the political arena.

“We shall be using Kwara State as a societal focus to honour and reward the best in their different spheres of endeavour. The award is open to women who have enhanced educational, humanitarian and social, economic and political development of the state in the last three years.”

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

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Robbers or victims of circumstances?

•Two men arrested by irate mob and handed over to police as robbery suspects insist they are innocent WO robbery suspects believed to be members of a gang that terrorises motorists and pedestrians in traffic jams in parts of Lagos are being interrogated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command with the aim of tracking down the remaining members of the gang and bringing the menace of traffic jam robbery in the city to an end.

The two arrested suspects, however, insist they are innocent. Micheal Olafemiwa (23), a native of Ondo town in Ondo State, claims he is a bus conductor while Akinfemi Owolabi (23), a native of Owode near Idiroko, Ogun State says he doubles as a cobbler and okada (commercial motorcycle) rider.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, said the two suspects were arrested by motorists and other concerned citizens, who handed them over to policemen before they were transferred to SARS for investigation.

Some of the motorists, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, said the two suspects were arrested by an irate mob, who later handed them over to the police. They said the two suspects were robbing motorists and commuters at gun point in a traffic jam on a major road. As they made to escape on a motorcycle after the operation, a motorist deliberately knocked them down. Other motorists and passersby immediately gathered and nearly lynched them before they decided to hand them over to the police in the belief that further investigation could lead to the arrest of other members of the gang who had escaped.

Recalling the robbery suspects’ mode of operation, some of the motorists said the moment they sighted a car with door glasses wound down, they would move near the vehicle to see whether there was something of value they could easily pick and run away.

Their targets included expensive mobile phones and handbags or suitcases suspected to contain money.

T

Continued from page 45 A lot of these parents put in the residence applications, but many of the applications were refused because of differential clauses attached to the application. For example, those who had criminal cases, even traffic offence; those who had temporarily left the state at one point or the other; those who did not make the application within the 30/03/05 deadline; and parents who did not meet other categories of clauses were all considered not eligible. We had no choice but to return to court the second time to challenge these unfair conditions. We felt it was not good enough because such issues should not disqualify the parents for residence in Ireland.

We won those cases in the High Court and the State appealed the cases to the Supreme Court and we won some of them.

It was a major achievement because it is on record that over 25,000 parents of Irish-born children got their residency in Ireland, and it made us popular within the Irish society and beyond, as we got instructions from all over. It was a major landmark for CEEMEX. Long after the end of slave trade, some foreigners still complain about racial discrimination in European countries. What has been your experience?

I would speak for myself and not for everyone. The way a racist treats one is determined by the way the victim perceives and reacts to it. For me, I wouldn’t say I have not suffered racism, but I have not taken it as an act that inhibits me from doing my work or relating with diverse people. Whenever I encounter racism, I give it back to the perpetrator and the person becomes embarrassed. I will give you an example, because I was the first black woman to be admitted to the Law Society of Ireland in the 150 years of its existence in 2002, I began practice as the first black woman solicitor in the courts and the judges usually thought I was either the plaintiff or a defendant. But one look at my assertiveness made them quickly change their mind. So, it is your attitude that would

Ebele BONIFACE At times, they would merely stretch their hands and pick whatever item they spotted in the car. Before the owner of the car could raise the alarm, the suspects would run to the other side of the road and then into a nearby street.

At other times, they used shot guns, mostly locally made pistols and toy guns, which they would point at the driver of a vehicle they intended to rob of money, jewellery and other valuable items, threatening to blow off his head if he did not wound down the door glass.

Where the door glass is already wound down, one of the gang members would simply point a gun at the driver and order him and other occupants of the car to surrender their money, jewellery, suitcases or mobile phones. On a few occasions, they actually shot the driver if he wasted time in complying.

Their most violent approach was to point a gun at a driver the moment they get near his vehicle. Once the driver complies with the order to hand over the car key to them, they would push him down after covering a distance and escape with the car and everything in it. Such victims, it was said, usually die after landing with their heads.

The parts of Lagos most affected, according to the sources, include the section of LagosAbeokuta Expressway between Cement Bus Stop and Iyana Ipaja. Some policemen drafted to the area in the past to check the menace were said to have nearly lost their lives. Some of the policemen were said to have received various degrees of bullet wounds. Other policemen who had to pass through the area had to cover their uniform with plain clothes for fear of being attacked by the hoodlums, particularly because it is dangerous to engage them in a shoot out in the usually congested area.

Other parts of Lagos that suffer the menace are said to include Charity Bus Stop on Airport Road, Mile 2 Junction, Trade Fair area along Badagry Road, Emmanuel Bus Stop in Agege, Fatai Atere junction near Oshodi as well as

•Suspects some parts of Surulere and Apapa areas.

But Olafemiwa and Owolabi said they were arrested in error. They said they were probably mistaken for members of a robbery gang that had just operated in the area because one of them (suspects) appeared drunk and unkempt.

Explaining how he was arrested, Olafemiwa said: “I swear in the name of God who created me and who I serve daily in spirit and in truth, that I am not an armed robber. I did not do what the mob alleged that I did.

“Ask Owolabi. I had never met him before that day. I saw him riding okada and called him to take me to where I was going. I am a bus conductor. I closed at about 6 pm on that day and went to smoke and take some ogogoro (local gin). I had only N1, 500 left on me from the N3, 500 I made on that day.

“I wanted to go to Ojuelegba and saw this okada rider. I asked him to take me there for N300. There was a heavy traffic jam when we got to the spot where we were arrested and were trying to manoeuvre our way out of the traffic jam. Unfortunately, a robbery operation was going on at the other side of the road.

“Another thing I knew before I was beaten into unconsciousness by the irate mob was that as we were going, the okada man rode in front of a car that was trying to avoid a pothole.

Apparently, the driver of the car did not see us, so he hit us and we fell down, sustaining various degrees of injuries “Surprisingly, rather than apologise to us, the driver of the car came out and was just looking at us without any sign of regret or sympathy. Rather than admit that he was wrong, he said we were members of the gang that were robbing motorists. On hearing that, the people descended on us and nearly beat us to death.

“They later handed us over to the police after some of them had pleaded that we should not be killed. They had already gathered condemned tyres to set us ablaze. We were later transferred to SARS’ office. Let the will of God be done in our lives.”

Owolabi also vowed that he had never stolen another man’s dime, not to talk of engaging in armed robbery.

“Which gun did they find on us?” he queried. “To tell you the truth, I have never robbed in my life. I work in order to eat. I am not an armed robber. I have never stolen a dime belonging to another person since I came to Lagos. I would rather do any work that would give me money for food, no matter how hard. But not armed robbery. God forbid.

“What happened was that this guy (Olafemiwa) called me and asked me to take him to Yaba. When we got to the spot, the car driver hit us as I was trying to avoid a deep pothole. Everybody was in a hurry to get away from the area due to a robbery operation that was going on there.

“But, as I got to the pothole and slowed down, the driver suddenly hit us with his car and we fell on the road and sustained serious injuries. We expected the driver to show sympathy and find a way to give us at least a first aid treatment for the injuries we sustained, but he started shouting, calling us armed robbers.

“His voice attracted other people because a robbery operation was going on at the other end of the traffic jam. They formed an irate mob and took us to be members of the gang that was operating in the area. They gave us the beating of our lives and even gathered condemned tyres in order to set us ablaze. But they changed their minds and handed us over to the nearest police station. The mob did not give us any chance to defend ourselves.”

‘My battle with racism as a black lawyer in Ireland‘ empower or deter the racist who wants to intimidate you.

Another racist incident that I experienced was at a Prison in Dublin. I used to go to the prisons to see my clients. Every time I went to this particular prison, the prison officers would ask me for my ID. Whilst I was standing at their front desk and my ID was being vetted, my white colleagues would be milling through to the visiting areas to consult with their clients with mere casual greetings to the prison officers who answered without giving them a second look.

So, on this eventful day, I met this racist prison officer who asked for my ID and I showed him my UK driver’s licence. He then wanted to know if I was a solicitor qualified to practice in Ireland. I showed him my complimentary card. He said it was not enough.

I showed him a photocopy of my practice certificate which I had in my bag. He looked at it and sarcastically asked me for the original. At this juncture, it dawned on me that this prison officer was not thinking about prison security protocol but was discriminating against me because of my colour. Well, needless to say that day was the last day I went through such ordeal in that prison, as I took the matter up with the Prison Governor and Authority and the Law Society of Ireland. From then on, I was greeted, ‘Welcome Celia,’ whenever I walked into that prison without any form of intimidation or harassment. So, racism is there, but one must stand up against it.

I recall another incident involving a young African who is well educated but was working in a restaurant in Dublin. The supervisor would give him job after job, task after task outside the agreed work load without commensurate remuneration. He kept complaining to the restaurant management but nothing was done to remedy his situation. He came to me for assistance and I took up the matter. When the

restaurant received a letter from me, the situation changed for the better for my client.

Basically, racism is rampant. But the way it is dealt with determines what happens next. The attitude of the victim helps to bring it down. I would not stand and allow people to bully or harass me or my clients because of race, religion, colour or gender.

People like you are professionals and are doing well. When you hear negative stories about Nigerians, how do you feel?

It can be disheartening to hear people say you are a never-do-well or that you are a scammer or 419 and so on. Before I travelled abroad, I believed that oyinbo (white men) were better in every way. But I have seen it all and feel differently. I have seen the wise, the high and mighty oyinbo and the lowly and the poor, the stupid and the foolish. I know if we have good leadership in Nigeria, they are nowhere near what could happen here. You see, there are bad Nigerians, but it is everywhere. But what the oyinbo does is to say, hang on a minute, what can we do to make life good for the less privileged in our society so that they could become easily controlled and crime is minimised so that the well-to-do would have peace of mind and enjoy their riches and wealth in relatively calm ambience?

So, what do they do? They introduce the social welfare system. Every week, the government give these people €150 or so and provide them with housing, so that these levels of individuals wake up with roof over their heads and are able to feed themselves and their families and thereby feel settled. Of course with such a set up, crime level is minimised. Statistics show that the tendency to get into crime is lowered when people have their daily basic needs. The day African countries and Nigeria in particular adopt the system of taking care of the less privileged in our society; life will become

easier for everyone. People would not become needlessly involved in scams, 419 and crimes when they wake up every day and find food on their tables and houses to lay their heads.

Do not get me wrong; I am not saying that this would make our nation a complete egalitarian society. But it will definitely turn living situation around for the better. In all, I am not saying that I support the few Nigerians who are exhibiting unacceptable behaviour, because it embarrasses me and I am very sad about it. But where there is a level playing field, people generally enhance themselves positively.

I have never gone anywhere and people ask me where I come from and I mention any other country. I am a full-blooded Nigerian and nothing will change that. I am not ashamed to be a Nigerian. I believe by God’s grace, Nigeria will be at par with Europe in years to come.

Nothing is impossible where people are determined. And with God on our side, better Nigeria is achievable. If things are better in Nigeria, people would not go to Europe and live perpetually.

Before now, most people who travelled from Nigeria for education and greener pastures returned home to impact on the people and society. But now, the case is different. I am planning to return to Nigeria. I do not want to grow old in Europe. I do not wish to spend my old age there. I do not want to live a life of misery at old age. In Europe, children who are grown up set up their own families and throw their aged parents into care homes where they may not even have another loving family life before they die.

A few months ago, the Irish government was considering closing an old people’s home for lack of care for the elderly inmates. So, it is not what I want for my life. Even if Nigeria is now not as developed as Europe, it will get better some day.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

H

E SERVED his boss for years as a sales boy, thinking he was working for a man who imported goods from the neighbouring Benin Republic.

Unknown to Wale Adeniyi, the goods he sold for Tunde Fatai were products of armed robbery he and his gang carried out against traders whose goods and money were hijacked.

Fatai aka Bullet met his death in a shootout with policemen last year. But that was not before the 13-man he led had shot dead a heavily pregnant woman and two police officers during a robbery operation at a shopping complex in Oshodi, Lagos.

Adeniyi stepped into his late boss’ shoes but luck ran out on him and he is now a guest of the Lagos State Police Command.

Confessing his involvement in a recent plan to carry out attacks in Lagos with members of his gang before their move was checkmated by the Lagos State Police Command, Adeniyi, a 28-year-old indigene of Akure, Ondo State, said he was introduced to armed robbery by his late boss, even though he did not operate with his boss’ gang before he died.

He said it was easy for him to fall into the temptation of armed robbery because of the financial predicament he faced after the death of both his father and his boss. “My father is late while my mother sells palm oil in Ibadan,” he said. “I relocated to AdoOdo town in Ogun State where I helped my late master, Tunde Fatai, to smuggle apple, rice, clothes, spirits and wines from Cotonou, Benin Republic. We used to sell the items in Sango-Otta while we sold the clothing items at Katangua market in Abule Egba, Lagos each time we returned from Cotonou.

“I used to follow him to Cotonou. But one day, I asked him why he never went inside Cotonou Market to buy his goods and he told me that he snatched most of the goods from traders on their way from Cotonou to Nigeria or rob them of money on their way from Nigeria to Benin Republic.

“He asked whether I liked the business and I said yes. He then promised to reveal other secrets to me, including car-snatching jobs and illegal land deals, which he said would fetch me a lot of money.

“Although I was very happy about it, he never allowed me to participate in any operation throughout his life time, saying I had to be matured and smart to become a member of the gang. But the money they gave me each time they returned from an operation helped me live well and take care of my mother.

“When he died as a result of fatal bullet wounds he sustained during an exchange of gunfire with the police at a robbery scene, I confronted the members of his gang and retrieved his guns from them. Therefore, I joined the gang not only to survive the hard economic realities caused by his absence, but also to be rich like him control the gang he left behind.

“But my dream was cut short when one Akin, my late master’s second-in-command, took over the leadership of the gang.

I could not form my own gang because Akin’s gang was the most organised and the strongest of the splinter gangs occasioned by my master’s sudden death. Akin was also a very close friend of my late master and he has a lot of experience, intelligence and smartness that could not be matched by any of his competitors in gang leadership, at least those within my knowledge.

“I participated in four operations before I became a guest of the special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) here in Lagos. The first operation was at Ibadan. It was along the expressway. We were seven, including Akin, Seyi, Paul, Tao, Ihilago and Dada. We used our car to double-cross traders who were going to the market. There were about five of them, but we did not shoot anyone. We only collectedN3 million from them. We the removed money for fuel and maintenance of our operational vehicles and shared the balance equally because everybody took the same risk.

“The second operation was at Surulere, Lagos where the Bureau de Change people were operating. We did not see much money to collect; only N400,000. We used our standing formula to share the money.

But this time, we decided to bring out groundnut money. We call live bullets groundnut or seeds.

“The third operation I participated in was at Egbeda area, inside somebody’s apart-

I don’t take alcohol and I don’t smoke. I have a wife with two lovely children. But I like making friends with people who do smuggling. But I did not know that some of them were armed robbers until they lured me into their gang

‘

,

•Suspect

‘How my boss initiated me into armed robbery’ Ebele BONIFACE ment. We stormed the place between 7.30 and 8.30pm, pointed a gun at him and ordered him to bring out all the cash with

him. We told him that we were not after his handsets or laptop because we were not hungry men. Unfortunately, the man swore that he was a businessman but he had no single kobo in the house. He said he would have kept some money for us if he knew

that we would come.

“It was during the fourth one we were planning to do in Lagos that SARS operatives took us unawares. They collected all our guns and ammunition. They arrested three of us while Akin and the rest are still at large.”

Asked how much money he had made from armed robbery before he was arrested, he said: “The first was N350,000.

The second was N70,000 while the third was zero. The total money I made was N420,000.”

The second suspect, Taoffik Bukola (27), said he worked in his father’s bakery before he joined the robbery gang. Resident at No. 52, Matthew Street, Ifo, Ogun State, he said he was married with two children but his father did not know that he had joined a robbery gang.

Said he: “It was Wale (Adeniyi) who lured me into the gang. I operated four times with him. Let me start with the last operation, which caused my arrest. It was a guy named Chicago in Ibadan who brought the information he had received from one Wasiu to the gang. He said there was a woman who wanted to go to the market with N2 million cash.

“He passed the information to Akin, who in turn informed other members of the gang. I am the owner of the Mazda car I was driving. They told me to assist them to carry a bag to Ibadan. The other members were Dada, Muta and Aluko. I carried the three with their bag to Ibadan.

“When I got to Ibadan, I opened the bag and found that what they had in it were guns. Akin asked me what I saw inside the bag and I said guns, but he said he would fire me if I constituted myself into any nuisance and would not seal my mouth and behave like a full grown man. They did not succeed on that day and they ordered me to take them back to Ado Odo in Ogun State, because they did not see the woman and Akin had no other job for us to execute on that day.

“The following day, Wasiu brought another job to Chicago and called us to come to Ibadan. They said one woman who wanted to go to Aswani Market in Lagos in two days time would be going to the bank to collect N3.5 million, preparatory to her trip to Aswani Market.

We waited under the bridge at Academy in Ibadan. As soon as we sighted her in a taxi, we blocked her with our Mazda car and jeep, fired some shots in the air and collected the N3.5 million. That was at

THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

Turkish Ufuk Dialogue Foundation gives out free food Dialogue Foundation is organizing Ramadan Iftar in colUIt isFUK laboration with mosques in Lagos. a programme whereby 1000 people are fed on a daily basis.

The Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC), association of investors and businessmen of Nigeria and Turkey are supporting the event.

According to the organisers, 105.000 people are expected to benefit from the pieces of iftar package that are given out on a daily basis. The packages are prepared between 15:00-16.00 in NTIC and delivered between 16.00 and 17.00 after the Asr prayer. People can take their packages to their home and eat with their families.

The foundation said that at the beginning of the Ramadan, management tickets were distributed to people in order for them to collect their packages.

This is the second year of this organisation. Ufuk Dialogue Foundation is also giving Iftar dinners in other states in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Yobe in collaboration with NTIC.

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THE NATION, Saturday, August 4, 2012

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Schadenfreude Continued from back page euphoria or not. Unfortunately this moral turpitude is not unique to Chief Clark and if one needed coaching on exactly how to immorally and dangerously rile up the populace in the propaganda of fighting for a regional or ethnic interest, one had plenty of options to choose from, most especially from Northern Hausa/Fulani leaders who often use that card to propel their personal interests at the detriment of the masses.

When Chief Clark shadowed the opinion of the former National Security Advisor to give the impression that government is aware of the politicians orchestrating terrorism in Nigeria, it was quite shocking. Yes, quite shocking! Because it is shocking for those within the kitchen cabinet of President Jonathan to continue putting out, in not so cryptic terms, messages about their knowledge of those behind the mass murders of hundreds of Nigerians while government does absolutely nothing to expose and indict these criminals.

Lest the government forget, innocent people are being murdered and targeted daily and it’s about time the government does something to put a stop to it. Whenever members of the kitchen cabinet make these statements and are queried on who the sponsors of Nigerian terrorism are and why the government is doing nothing to prosecute these apostates, they respond with an almost catatonic “We don’t know”. This has now become somewhat of a national refrain; “We don’t know who they are, but we really do know who they are… We are just not doing anything about it!” Call me leery but this, to me, seems like a rather incriminating thing to be boasting about.

It really is quite ridiculous and in case Chief Edwin Clark failed to grasp the point, it takes certain aplomb to accuse specific people of trying to destabilise a whole government. And it takes even more aplomb to admit that a whole administration actually knows the exact people destabilising the country and committing mass murder yet the government is either too afraid or too inept to do anything about it.

No matter what bond or loyalty Chief Clark has with President Jonathan, even he must realise that every failing of the Jonathan administration is the responsibility of the Jonathan administration and the Jonathan administration alone. You don’t see leaders like Barak Obama blaming every one of their government failures and terrorist attacks on Al-Qaeda. You see them taking responsibility for their people’s safety and going out to ameliorate those who persecute their people. When every government and every interest in Nigeria continue to hide behind the shadowy world of maybe or maybe not’s and blaming every one of their failings on bogey men, on opposite interests, on anyone except themselves, the only real thing it does is it saves them the trouble of confronting reality. It shamelessly saves them the trouble of having to take responsibility. It quickly saves them from taking accountability. And when feckless rulers, with the same charmish and gormless shrug of shoulders, take this stance, it saves them from the burden of having their populace demand better from them. It may save them from all this and more, but it certainly does nothing to save the country.

If members of the kitchen cabinet really want to help President Jonathan in the long term, they need to drop the self-indulgence, the arrogance, look beyond their exclusive contracts and see the absurdities happening within the unstructured set up of this administration.

Only then will they be able to objectively advise the President that almost 90% of Nigerians are gravely suffering and can barely survive. That he has been inconsistent on all fronts and cuts the silhouette of a weak and ineffective leader. That he has failed in his responsibility to protect Nigerians and bring those responsible for slaughtering Nigerians to book. That he needs to start using his powers in the interest of Nigeria as a whole.

In his privileged position, Chief Edwin Clark should really know better. He should know that standing up against the discrimination, disunity, oppression, domination, terrorism, corruption, social degradation and lack of human rights in Nigeria is much more important than improperly standing up for President Jonathan. He knows that the main factor that constitutes our failing in Nigeria and the failing of the Jonathan administration is corruption and the denial of justice and that it cuts across all our religious, regional and tribal differences.

From the interview that Chief Edwin Clark gave, it would be fair to say that his best intentions were reserved solely for the Jonathan administration as opposed to Nigeria as a whole. And as I learned from my new word, when people do not have the best intention for you, you must not give them the devices with which they can destroy you. Here’s hoping that like-minded Nigerians don’t give such people such power. So even though one read Chief Clark’s enthusiasm in making shallow excuses for President Jonathan’s ineffective administration, one took his sense of Schadenfreude away by holding the Jonathan administration accountable for everything that the administration is actually accountable for.

Train Nigerians on emergency responses, govt urged HE Chairman of Emergency Response International (ERI), Dr. Nnnamdi Nwauma, has advised the Nigerian government to invest in the training of people in safety and basic emergency response.

According to Nwauma, there is global explosion all over the world to train all adults in the basic emergency response. Consequently, many countries have made it mandatory for all corporate bodies to train their staff in safety and basic emergency response. Many countries have introduced this in their schools’ curriculum.

He said agencies such as Federal Road Safety, Police, Civil Defence, Customs, Prisons, Immigrations, military and other paramilitary bodies should mandatory be trained and equipped for emergencies.

“Communities need to have the capacity to respond to disasters/emergencies before external help comes by regular emergency simulations and training. In Nigeria, a survey shows that over 90% of Nigerians do not know what to do in emergencies, “ he said.

He disclosed that NEMA has started GrassRoots Emergency Volunteer Corps (GREVC)

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aimed at raising a reasonable number of trained volunteer group in each LGA. “Furthermore, our survey in the course of training shows that of about 22, 000 practicing doctors and 147, 226 & 99, 799 registered nurses & midwives respectively, only less than 5% have undergone these trainings. In all developed countries, these programs have become mandatory in order to be in clinical practice. Even in Nigeria, multinationals, especially the oil industries insist on this as a pre-employment requirement,” he said.

ERI boss said Nigeria has been extremely slow to start emergency medicine residency and recognize Emergency Medicine as a discipline despite all our pressure. Therefore, “this failure has a serious negative impact on our emergency preparedness. Just like what India did with ATLS, governments should embark on massive human capacity building of healthcare providers in all the public health institutions and should extend this to selected private health institutions that may be mobilized in disaster/emergencies. It should not be seen as a wasted fund.

Gov. Aliyu Wamakko, right in complete white with AIG Zone 10, headquarters, Sokoto Alhaji Mukhtar Ibrahim when the governor paid a visit to Commiserate and sympathise with the later on the last Monday bomb attacks on the office and two othe stations.

Alaafin urges govt to involve private school proprietors in policy making ORRIED by the dwindling rate of education standard in Nigeria, coupled with the mass failures of students in public examinations, the Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi has advised governments at all levels to incorporate proprietors of private schools in policy formulation to reverse the ugly trend.

The monarch gave the advice at the weekend in Ibadan in view of the brilliant performances being recorded by students in much privately-run school as against the appalling records in public schools.

Alaafin gave the advice while commissioning a hall and library built and named after him by the proprietor of Atorise

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Comprehensive College, along Olounda Aba in Ibadan, in recognition of his ardent support for education and acquisition of knowledge.

He identified the following as some of the major factors responsible for fall in standard of education in many government-run public schools: sharp drop in disciplinary measures, insufficient infrastructural facilities and dearth of moral values expected to be instilled on students by teachers, whose morale has fallen because of late salary payment or non payment at all for months, among others.

"Available statistics has confirmed that students of well managed private schools per-

form better in public examinations, thus lending credence to the need for people to invest more in education.

In his words, the Alaafin said, "fall in standard of education cannot be said of private institutions but basically peculiar to public and particularly, government schools.

"The government should look inward and conduct a thorough research into factors responsible for the alarming trend. Performances in examinations at privately-run schools are sterling and the products of such schools are having upper hand in public examinations like the JAMB, UTME, SSCE, NECO and so on", he said.

Group assists children, lessprivileged

School rolls out scholarship scheme

new foundation to cater for the interest of the underprivileged and abused children in the country has been floated.

The foundation, Audrey Allen Foundation(AAF), was conceived by a leading Abujabased events management company, Allen Touch Events Limited, and seeks to pool resources for the numerous affiliated Non-governmental Organisations, NGOs in the quest to better the lot of the children.

According to the foundation, it will be saddled with the burden of sourcing for funds for its partners to execute projects designed to help children and the less-privileged in the society.

According to the founder, Tosin Allen, the foundation’s major tool of raising fund is woven around entertainment, which include movies, music and comedy, hence the choice of the slogan “saving lives through entertainment.”

A Lagos State school , Lagooz College, Agege has designed a scholarship programme for public and private schools in the state.

Explaining the details of the programme, the Chief Executive Officer of the school, Otunba Yomi Otubela, “Those who qualify for the scholarship scheme must have the option of becoming day or boarding pupils while other documents like birth certificate, originals of report cards must be submitted to the head teachers office” he said.

According to him, candidates will have written examinations in English Language, Mathematics, General Paper, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Accounts and Literature amongst others.

The objectives of the scheme, he claimed is to contribute towards the development of the education sector in Lagos state and the country in general, stressing that he also aimed at addressing the spirit of academic competition among primary and secondary school children.

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OOU gets Ag. VC/ Registrar I Adegunle OLUGBAMILA I professor of Pharmacognosy, Saburi AdeJimi Adesanya, has been appointed the Acting Vice- Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, AgoIwoye, Ogun State. The appointment takes immediate effect.

Adesanya who bagged his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Ibadan in 1976 also obtained his Masters of Philosophy, (M.Phil), in Bio-Chemistry in 1980 before proceeding to the School of Pharmacy, University of London where he eventually acquired his ,Ph.D In a release signed by the OOU Public Relations Officer,OOU, Sam Oyeleye,Adesanya became a professor in 1996 and was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife between 2009 and 2012 with over 40 publications in international and local journals to his credit In a related development, Mrs Omolara Adeyinka Osunsanya , a Deputy Registrar, now functions as the Acting Registrar of Olabisi Onabanjo University .She holds a bachelor and masters degrees in Education from University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and University of Ibadan in History and Teacher Education (Early Childhood Education) respectively, joined the services of OOU in April 1991 as Administrative Officer 1. She is married with children

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GKS woman dies at 52 RS. Beatrice Akpoteni Oburoh, aged 52 is dead. She was born on July 16, 1959, in Accra, Ghana, to Chief Ambrose Erigha and Mrs. Victoria Erigha of Kokori Inland, in Ethiope East Local Government of Delta State.

Beatrice was a graduate of English and Theatre arts from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. A product of the famous Hussey College, Warri, Delta State.

One attribute her husband, Sam, would forever treasure, was Beatrice's understanding of the needs of the children.

She was the Financial Secretary of the GKS Women Fellowship Committee of the Lagos Island Branch of the Church as well as some charity groups in the Church, including the Urhobo Sisters Group, the Charity Sisters and the League of Freedomites' Wives of whom she was, until her death, their Secretary.

Late Oburoh will be burid today.

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Mrs Oburoh

THE NATION SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

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EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 4-8-12

NSE resolves technical problem

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HE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday attributed the breakdown in data services witnessed on Thursday to complex technical problem.

Deputy General Manager and Head, Market Operations, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr Ikponmwosa Obaseki, said that technology staff and hardware engineers were deployed and were able to resolve all issues to ensure that market transactions continued with minimum delay.

He explained that the market closed at the normal time of 2.30 pm but as a result of the interruption, it took longer to ensure integrity of the end of day transaction data prior to its release. Obaseki mentioned that the Exchange has a robust preventive maintenance plan in place with processes designed to forestall and reduce the impact of such unpredictable technical glitches when they occur.

Obaseki further said that upon transition to the new NASDAQ OMX Trading Platform, there will be a significant reduction in downtime as the new tech-

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

nology has more resilient features.

The Exchange is already working at upgrading its Trading Platform to the cutting-edge NASDAQ XStream which is a high performance, robust and scalable, multi-asset, multi-market matching trading engine. The bourse signed on multinational financial services powerhouse, NASDAQ OMX for the upgrading of its current Trading Platform early in the year.

Meanwhile, transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE ) closed in an upbeat mood on Friday as investors renewed their confidence in some quoted companies.

The key indicators of the NSE moved up by 0.15 per cent each. The All-Share Index added 34.37 basis points to close at 23,523.15 points while the Market capitalisation of all listed securities rose by N11 billion to close at N7.487 trillion.

Responsible for the performances in the market were low capitalised stocks traded in the mar-

ket. Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) led the gainers’ chart, adding N0.21 to close at N4.41per share.

Eterna share price followed with N0.10 to close at N2.12 while GlaxoSmithKline gained 39k to close at N28.50 per share.

Ashaka Cement gained 25k to close at N9.75 per share, while UPL share price grew by N0.19 to close at N4.13 per share.

Other stocks on the list of 22 gainers list were Cutix, UTC, Dangote Sugar, Skye Bank, Fidson, Honeywell Flour and Transcorp.

On the other hand, FCMB led the price losers, shedding N0.16 to close at N3.04 per unit. Mobil share price dipped by N6.25 to close at N118.75 per share, while Arbico lost N0.90 to close at N17.29 per share.

Beta Glass share price fell by N0.52 to close N10.03 while Berger Paint lost N0.38 to close at N7.33 per share.

Overall, investors traded 207.428 million shares worth N2.355 billion traded in 3,738 deals. The Financial Services sector was the most sought after with 164.020 million shares worth N1.425 billion in 2,191 deals.

Consumer Goods followed with 24.068 million shares worth N732.449 million while Conglomerates, Oil & Gas, Health Care, Services and Industrial Goods recorded 4.272 million shares, 4.050 million shares, 3.356 million shares, 2.762 million shares and 2.173 million shares.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 4-8-12

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

THE NATION SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

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SPORT EXTRA

Edun presents boxing gym to community

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N a bid to further enhance participation in boxing competitions at the grassroots, the Chairman of the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame (LBHF), Olawale Edun yesterday presented to the Ikate community, in Surulere, Lagos, the first standard boxing gymnasium in Nigeria.

The gym situated at Olatilewa Street, of the Lawanson area, is nearing completion, however,the former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos, Edun said it has become necessary to do a formal presentation of the facility to the leadership of the community so as to carry them along.

“We at the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame feel t will not be proper to erect such an edifice in your community without informing, the youths, members of the neighbourhood watch, the leadership of the Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), and the elders. We also have one of you with us, who facilitated this by

•Says facility can serve as training camp •Bemoans Nigeria’s early exit in Olympic boxing event

By Innocent Amomoh providing us with the structure, Mr Sheyi Ogunmuyiwa.

“This facility is yours, and belongs to you. This is the first LBHF boxing gymnasium, it was not situated here because the government asked us to, but we are sure this is where it will be secured,” he said.

Bemoaning the poor performance of the Nigerian boxers to the ongoing London Olympics, Muideen Akanji and Lukman Lawal, who both got eliminated in their first outing, Edun said a facility of this magnitude will bring to an end the days of shoddy preparations for major competitions that has characterised Nigerian sports.

“I felt bad when I read a report that said Muideen Akanji got the beating of his life. Another report said he was beaten mercilessly with a barrage of punches that is not

good enough. We are not happy about it, and it is medallists to be proud of.

“We realise Olympic medalists and top sports men and women are made from the gymnasiums. We as leaders know we have the responsibility to provide facilities that will assist these youths to achieve their dreams. This is the first worldclass boxing gymnasium and it is mainly for the youths of Ikate, Surulere, so that they can have the opportunity to pursue their dreams,” he stressed.

He said membership of the gymnasium will be encouraged, to give them a sense of belonging, a usage of the facility will be near commercial bases.

“All users of this gymnasium will be encouraged to part with a little fee. The youths will be encouraged to be members of the gym and that will entail that they will be financially

committed to the maintenance and sustainability of the facility.

But for outsiders it will be strictly commercial.

“We expect that the youths and everybody involved will join hands to ensure that the facility is secured. It is well equipped with dressing rooms, shower and standard accommodation that can serve as camp for the national team before any major championship, instead of traveling out for training tours,” Edun declared.

He said though the project was not made possible by government funding, but lovers of the pugilist sport, the goodwill and support of the Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration went a long way to encourage its near completion stage.

Edun called on all and sundry, especially parents to encourage their children to take up sports as a career, adding that everyone in the community have a role to play in ensuring the smooth running of the gym.

“We intend to also create job opportunities for the youths inside the gym when it starts running. I want to state that you are the host community and as such, you have the responsibility to provide security and hospitality for your guests, that are those that will be coming from different places to use this facility,” Edun advised.

18TH NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL

Lagos volleyball team intensifies build up for Eko 2012 FTER its male team missed out from the last National Sports Festival held in Port Harcourt, the Lagos State volleyball team has heightened preparation for this year’s edition tagged Eko 2012.

Head coach of the Lagos State Volleyball Association (LSVA), Oladipupo Taiwo is also hopeful that the female team would go beyond the quarterfinal stage it reached at last festival.

To ensure that the state presents formidable teams, Taiwo revealed that they had started the recruitment of the players from the para-military teams as well as reputable clubs in the state, while the positive response to training has been encouraging.

Taiwo said: “I do stand by it that the Team Lagos Volleyball teams will clinch gold medals.

We have a big plan of getting the gold medals because all the players are eager for gold. They are responding positively to training and this is a signal that they are willing to clinch the top medal come November.”

In readiness for the zonal eliminations holding in Ibadan,

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the Oyo State Capital, Taiwo said that they are planning to play a friendly against the Kwara team.

Taiwo, who is also the association's technical director, said the 12 players each in the male and female categories would make the final list for the festival.

To him, no volleyball team in the country would pose any threat to their determination to grab the gold medals as stake. "No state in Nigeria can pose a threat to the team even the Rivers State that are fond of poaching athletes across the nation,” he boasted.

At the maiden Anthony Adefuye Secondary School Championship, Taiwo, said that 28 players have been discovered as plans are in top gear to nurture them to stardom through the association's grassroots developmental programmes.

"We have discovered over 20 boys and eight girls that could be nurtured to stardom. The schools are now at holiday, very soon, we would invite them for camping to train with the established players to share knowledge with the festival bound squad"

Etuhu signs for Rovers

ULHAM midfielder Dickson Etuhu has signed for Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee, his new club confirmed on Friday.

The 30-year-old Nigerian has agreed a four-year deal with the Championship club, joining former Fulham team-mate Danny Murphy at Ewood Park.

Etuhu becomes Rovers’ boss

Steve Kean's seventh signing of the summer as they prepare for life in the second tier following relegation from the Premier League.

"Dickson is a player I have admired for a long time and he will be a fantastic addition to the squad," Kean told the club's official website, www.rovers.co.uk.

Olympic Nightmare • Countinued from Back

• Mr Wale Edun (c), flanked by Vice Chairman, Ikate LCDA, Alhaja Mulikat Ajala (immediate left), and other members of the community during the presentation. PHOTO: Bola Omilabu

Federer, Serena make Olympic finals

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N a tennis match that lasted about as long as the opening ceremonies at the London Olympics, the irrepressible Roger Federer of Switzerland made his way into the match for the gold medal that he so desperately covets.

Federer overcame a magnificent effort by Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro by being just a tab more magnificent. The final score was 3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17. It was the longest three-set men's singles match in the modern era, beating the 4 hours and 3 minutes that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battled in a semifinals match in Madrid in 2009. Federer and Del Potro went 4 hours, 26 minutes.

Federer finally broke through at 17-all -- his second service break of the final set, but the first was matched immediately by Del Potro -and when the Argentine hit a tired backhand into the net, it was over. It had started shortly after noon in London and ended at 4:50 p.m.

Meanwhile, America's Serena Williams clinched at least a silver medal and earned a berth in the Olympic final,

beating the No1-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1, 6-2 in Friday's semifinal match at Wimbledon.

On Saturday, Williams will face a first-time Olympian, Maria Sharapova, who beat her Russian teammate Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3.

Williams has lost only 16 games through five rounds and has won 12 consecutive matches this summer at the

•Federer

All England Club, including her fifth Wimbledon title a month ago.

She teamed up with sister Venus to win the gold medal in doubles in 2000 and 2008.

They have a chance to clinch at least a silver this year, with a semifinal match scheduled for later on Friday.

Williams has won 14 Grand Slam singles championships, the most of any active woman.

•Serena

Designated schools are built by the communities and the government for those kids who, because of the demands of sports, cannot compete with their mates in the regimented schools.

These colligate schools allow for such kids to do their sports competitions at the appointed periods and return to the school to face their studies or write examinations that others had written whilst they were attending sports competitions.

These are blocks that serious-minded countries lay for talents to emerge and grow into some of the biggest names in sports that are benefitting from bucks from big firms globally. Need I waste space with celebrated sportsmen and women (the Williams sisters, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Lebrom James, Lionel Messi, Lewis Hamilton et al) who earn big bucks from sponsorship deals.

Under this setting, prominent people invest in sports by financing clubs or influencing their firms to embrace sports through the clubs’ system. Those firms and wealthy individuals who don’t want to own clubs provide the cash to run most of the big competitions that we have today, globally.

Today, it is very attractive for talents in developing countries to sneak into developed nations to seek greener pastures in sports because the template is there. Most times, school in such nations come to these places to scout for relatively cheap talents for training.

With buoyant economies, it is easy to tempt these kids with good cash or cajole them with incentives that will ensure that they are educated whilst doing sports. This is the bait that civilised countries flaunt to talents to improve on their lives.

Today, in Nigeria, we are being represented by talents who utilised some of the wind of growth through sports that one has highlighted here. Our London 2012 Olympic Games medals prospects are trainees of developed countries’ template and this development comes with its disadvantages in such competitions. The coaches from these developed countries where our athletes are undergoing programmes already know their strength and weakness before major competitions and train their wards on how to exploit them to their advantage.

In Nigeria, we don’t have a sports calendar that would effectively engage our nationals in sports annually. The absence of a discerning sports calendar makes it difficult for the blue-chip firms here to identify with sports. Does the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) have a sports policy that would challenge firms to put their cash into sports because of the government’s juicy incentives? Of course, the corporate world won’t touch sports because the bulk of the cash that they would have ploughed into sports is being used to offset bills from running their businesses on power generating sets.

Most schools in Nigeria don’t have playgrounds; they don’t have sports included in their curriculum.

The few that have pay lip service to it, making it impossible for us to have the nurseries to groom talents to stardom.

Playgrounds and parks where sports facilities were located for neighbourhoods have become points of social vices or converted to business concerns of politicians and top government officials.

The few sports that have attracted sponsorships from the blue-chip companies have failed to be sincere in the disbursement of the cash, forcing some of these firms to run away. No company will commit its stakeholders’ cash into corrupt sports federations or federations that will associate its brands with tales of sharp practices.

A government that cannot provide food, health and shelter for its citizenry will never be able to appreciate the advantages inherent in sports as the biggest employer of labour; the biggest public relations tool (imagine if Blessing Okagbare emerges as the fastest woman in the 100 metres at the London 2012 Olympic Games today); the biggest revenue generator (again, imagine the volume of cash and businesses in England for accepting to host the Olympic Games); the largest platform to take kids away from social vices etc.

A holistic approach towards organising sports properly in Nigeria, reminiscent of what we have in civilised climes is the only way forward for the industry in Nigeria. Anything short of this will amount to running in circles as we are doing in London. Of course, anyone who continuously runs in circles will stagger and fall flat with ignominy, like we are doing in sports.

Our Olympic and other sports’ nightmares will continue if we have administrators who think through their pockets. As a first step, the sports minister should disband all the sports federations, including the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), to stop the rot.

The minister should then ensure that business-minded people are encouraged to run elections into sports federations of their choice. He should visit companies that sponsored sports in the past to find out why they pulled out. The minister should get the Federal Executive Council (FEC) members to see sports from the business prism, not the conduit pipe to siphon tax-payers money.

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.7, NO. 2207

Many patriotic Nigerians are already tired of hearing about the imperative to sustain our unity without giving consideration to the purpose that such unity is to serve —Ropo Sekoni

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OU may love or loathe her. You may adore or abjure her. You may hate or honour her. You may vilify or venerate her. You may detest or deify her.

What you surely cannot do is to ignore Nigeria’s current First Lady, Dame Patience Faka Jonathan. Those who should know intimate that you can only ignore or take the Dame for granted to your own peril.

There is no doubt that the personality and style of Dame Patience Jonathan have generated renewed interest in the position of First Lady both in the governance process and the polity generally. At least two major strands of thought can be identified in this regard. The first, are those who see absolutely no use for a purported ‘office’ that has no basis in the constitution. As far as this school is concerned, First Ladies should at best confine themselves to taking care of the home front while completely distancing themselves from affairs of state.

The second school argues vehemently for the inclusion of the status of the First Lady in the constitution since they have a vital and indispensable role to play in supporting their spouses in achieving good and balanced governance. It is nothing short of self-delusion, adherents of this view contend, for anyone to imagine that First Ladies can be wished away or that they will not, in one way or the other, exert tremendous influence by virtue of their husbands’ offices.

I believe that the realistic position lies somewhere between the two views. Before we proceed, however, let us try to situate the First Lady question within some theoretical context. There are several theories that seek to account for the origin and development of the state.

Among these are the force, economic, divine rights or social contract explanatory schemas for the emergence of the state. For our purpose here, we shall have recourse to the genetic theory of the state. Based largely on sociological facts, it argues essen-

The good first ladies can do tially that the state is an eventual extension of the family.

As one theorist succinctly put it, “The first group of collective human life is the family or the household, the last is the state”. In other words, the family is the state in miniature and the state is the family writ large.

The implication of the genetic theory of the origin of the state for the current issue of concern is that the person – man or womanelected as head of a state or a subunit of a state does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, he or she is an individual embedded in a family. If the family is the basic defining element of the state, it follows that the higher the number of dysfunctional and unhappy families, the greater will be the degree of unhappiness and moral depravity in the society at large and vice versa.

We can thus understand why modern statesmen and women go the extra length to portray their family lives as stable, harmonious and wholesome. They believe that it is not enough to offer exemplary political leadership based on legal-rational authority; it is equally vital that they show moral example by presenting their family lives as being balanced and above reproach. It is within this context that the ‘first family’ and the First Lady in particular come to occupy a central place in the daily schedule of the elected office holder.

Am I then making a case for the constitutional recog-

•Patience Jonathan nition of First spouses as Dame Patience Jonathan has so boldly suggested? That certainly is not the case. The President and Governors derive their offices from the constitution, which confers legitimacy and authority on their decisions. The First Lady has no such constitutionally sanctioned office.

Yet, she undeniably plays a highly influential supportive role that can simply not be wished away. It is certainly not so easy simply inserting a role for First Ladies in the constitution. The implication would be that First Ladies must not just join the campaign train and canvass for votes like their husbands; they must face debates alongside spouses of other candidates so that the electorate can make an informed decision on which

combination of spouses will best serve their interests.

But the point really is that First Ladies can still make much impact without their roles necessarily enshrined in the constitution. Let’s take the example of Laura Bush for instance. Described as one of the most beloved and private First Ladies in the history of the United States, education and health were her central areas of focus.

During her husband’s tenure, she travelled to all 50 states and over 75 countries including five African countries soliciting support for President Bush’s life –saving initiatives such as the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief.

Some of her enduring legacies include the establishment of the National Book Festival in conjunction with the Library of Congress, the hosting of a conference on Global Literacy in September, 2006 and her fervent support for the National Heart, Lung and Blood institutes.

On her part, the current US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, also made indelible contributions as First Lady, first in Arkansas when her husband was Governor and later when Bill Clinton became President.

In Arkansas, Hillary successfully led a task force to reform the state’s education system. As First Lady in the White House, her first initiative, the Clinton Health Care Plan, was rejected by the US congress but she went on to

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Olympic nightmare

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PORTS serve as a vehicle for social reforms. Be sides, it could be used as the biggest public relations tool to re-shape people’s perception of countries.

Indeed, sports build bridges among nations. It is also used to create jobs for people, culminating in the new direction that businessminded nations have taken it to. The ripple effect of the business angle today is that most international sports competitions are bankrolled by blue-chip companies who use this platform to locate

the masses with their goods and services.

Given the volume of people at the stands in sports competitions, developed countries have created the enabling environment for sports to connect with the people through schools, providing the facilities close to them.

Sports form part of schools’ curricula, setting the stage for their nationals to embrace games of their choices at an early age.

Schools are encouraged to have at least four sports where pupils are taught the rudiments of games.

Besides, the local districts and communities connect

with sports through the government’s sitting of facilities in parks and designated areas for the locals to train. Neighbourhood competitions are financed by the communities who are assisted by willing parent of kids who want them to become big stars, depending on who such kids’ models are.

In developed countries, the government sets the templates for the communities to exploit. They also encourage blue-chip companies to connect with sports by instituting incentives, such as tax rebates, to sustain the interest of such firms in sports. Little wonder when

such kids attain international stardom, everything comes to a halt in the communities where these emerging stars were discovered.

The consequence of this neighbourhood setting is that kids in such environments are challenged to embrace sports having seen how it has raised other children to the international stage. Besides, the new stars are able to grow because there is an unbroken run, with the games are available in their schools and communities.

Less emphasis is paid to government funding beyond the fact that the presence of facilities around the country form part of its social responsibility to the people.

•Continued on Page 63

play a key role in the adoption of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Foster Care Independent Act. We can see that all these initiatives in which Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton were involved were well thought out and designed to add value to the society.

Now, what then is responsible for the national sense of outrage that tends to greet Dame Jonathan’s attempts to add some value to our society through her role as First Lady? It is certainly not that Nigerians love to hate the First Lady. Indeed, she is eminently likeable – always her naturally vivacious, ebullient, boisterous and ever lively self.

But for some inexplicable reason, there is always something to distract attention from some of her well intentioned innovations. Let us take her peace crusades across the country for instance. This is undoubtedly a noble idea at a time when the country is so much in need of that scarce commodity. But what lingers in the mind after such peace missions are the blazing sirens, rampaging convoys and the traffic chaos that cripples cities for hours. Surely, that cannot generate the needed goodwill for the First Lady.

Another very good idea is the African First Ladies Peace Mission, which Dame Jonathan now leads. But how can we explain the insensitive lavishness amidst wide-

spread hunger that characterized the last summit of African First Ladies in Abuja? Was there any rationality in hiring over 200 brand new vehicles for the event even if the presidency explains, rather strangely, that the vehicles would be returned to the company from which they were leased?

And the icing on the cake is the appointment of Dame Jonathan as a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State – an appointment she clearly does not need. There will be at least one anguished soul in Bayelsa now who has been working diligently over the years but whose hope of rising to the pinnacle of the Civil Service has been thwarted as a slot has been given to a First Lady who has apparently done no civil service work since 1999.

To make matters worse, Dame Jonathan argued that the role of First Lady be enshrined in the constitution so that they can receive retirement benefits like their husbands and “enjoy their careers”. The truth is that neither the Presidency nor the First Lady roles are careers.

A career is a long term or life –long job. Dame Jonathan can still be a great First Lady if she gets these albatrosses off her back. If she continues this way, she will create the impression that Dame Patience Jonathan is so lucky only because President Goodluck Jonathan is infinitely so patient.

Schadenfreude

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AST week while read ing a blog on one of my favourite reality shows, I learned a new word, schadenfreude: A malicious satisfaction derived from the misfortunes of others. From this German word, I learned that when people do not have the best intention for you, you must not give them the devices with which they can destroy you.

A few days ago elder statesman and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, attended a symposium organised by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, where he went on the offensive and made a number of statements and accusations blaming the woes and tribulations of the Jonathan administration on everyone and everything from the man on the moon down to King Kong. He called opposition party members rude and referred to the governors of the ruling party as an extension of that opposition.

Bordering on the acutely defamatory, he indicted people for treachery and con-

spiracy to destabilize President Jonathan’s administration. The accusations coming from Chief Clark himself really are quite rich considering that fact that some months back he did his fair share to stirring to destabilise the country.

When he assembled a number of ex-militants in Lagos to assert that President Jonathan must contest and win the presidential election in 2015 at all costs, did he not realise that his kind of rhetoric and actions also have the potential of destabilising the future of the nation, given the fact that the vast majority of Nigerians may not want President Jonathan to have a second or is it third term? He ranted and raved about the rights of President Jonathan and the injustices meted out to his administration. And in perhaps the grossest pronouncement of haughtiness and triumphalism, he veiled his message with a regional cloak suggesting that people had to be either with President Jonathan is celebratory

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