August 07, 2015

Newspaper of the Year

•Ex-bank officials get 91 years for N114.6m fraud P5 •Troops kill eight, arrest Boko Haram’s fuel supplier P4 •Fayose ejects Fayemi’s aides, others from estate P7 •Dasuki: we bought advanced arms to fight Boko Haram P59 •Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 10, NO. 3299 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NEWS Page 5

How we spent N11b,

by PDP chair Secondus

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

Two firms to audit NNPC, Customs, FIRS, others From Tony Akowe and Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

T

WO auditors who are to examine the books of all revenue generating agencies will be named next Thursday.

Their job is to ascertain the level of compliance with established regulations on the remittance of revenues to the treasury.

For audit are: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and others.

The National Economic Council (NEC) ad-Hoc Committee on the Management of Excess Crude Account Proceeds and Accruals into the Federation Account took the decision yesterday at its first meeting in Abuja.

Edo State Governor and Chairman of the committee Adams Oshiomhole said at the end of its fourth meeting with the revenue agencies that the decision to appoint reputable audit firms would Continued on page 4

•TRA GED Y: Migrants stand on the Irish military vessel Naimh as it arrives in the port of Palermo with 367 survivors aboard and 25 coffins, after rescuing them at sea where •TRAGED GEDY a boat carrying over 600 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast…yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP

200 migrants die in Libya boat accident

PAGE 60

•INSIDE: HOW CORRUPTION, LEADERSHIP HAMPER NDLEA’S DRUG WAR (2) PAGES 2&3

$2.1m cash: I’m ready for EFCC, says ex-NHIS boss APC, PDP senators clash over anti-graft war

EFCC investigates N990m land deal From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

HE man the Economic and Fiancial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is seeking to question over the $2.1 million cash seized at the Lagos Airport yesterday denied that he was on the run.

A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Olufemi Thomas, said he was ready to be at the EFCC whenever he is invited.

His media aide, Mr. Sola Adeyemi, in a statement in WILL THE Lagos, said: “Dr. Femi ThoCHIBOK mas is a law-abiding public GIRLS EVER RETURN? Continued on page 4

ENATORS were yesterday divided over President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade.

To All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, the crusade is in order.

But, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus, at a news conference in Abuja, described the antigraft battle as selective.

Besides, it called on President Muhammadu Buhari

T

S

?

•Dr. Thomas

•The cash said to have been found on Ibiteye

•Ibiteye after his arrest...on July 3

Continued on page 4

•POLITICS P10 •BRAND P13 •SPORTS P24 •SOCIETY P43 •INDUSTRY P47 •FOREIGN P60

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

2

NEWS

How corruption, lea In this second part of the series on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF, who has kept a tab on the agency for more than two years, examines how leadership, favourtism and others have contributed to robbing operatives the teeth to properly bite drug barons and couriers

B • Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Atedo Peterside speaking at the extra-ordinary general meeting of the bank in Abuja...yesterday.

With him are the Chief Executive, Sola David-Borha (centre) and non-Executive Director, Mr Dominic Bruynseels.

•From left: Managing Director, SLOT, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeigbe, Head Retail Banking, Diamond Bank, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, MD/ CEO, One Centre Produce, Mrs. Ogechi Chuma-Otteh and Regional Manager, Diamond bank, Festac Branch, Mr. Nkem Okoro at PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE a seminar organised by the bank in Lagos.

•From left: Director, African Artists' Foundation, Mr Azu Nwagbogu, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc.,Mr Kufre Ekanem, Past winner, Mr Dudu Emmanuel , and CSR/Sustainability Manager NB, Mrs Emete Tonukari, during the Eight Annual National Art Competition organised by Nigerian Breweries in Lagos... yesterday.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

•From left: Executive Director, Cowbell Mrs. Funmi Oladipe, MD and CEO Mr. Thiry Olivier, Head Marketing Mr. Festus Tettey and Head, Legal/ Public Relations Mr. Andren Enahoro at the unveiling of Cowbellpedia in Lagos.

PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA

ENJAMIN Salihu Ikani, a lawyer, joined the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as a pioneer officer in 1990. Today, he is unhappy. After rising through the ranks in the Directorate of Prosecution to Assistant Director before he was made Director of Inspectorate, he was granted leave of absence in 2003, when he was appointed Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Kogi State.

However, upon his return to the agency in 2005, things started assuming a gruesome dimension for this officer. His offence: he was made secretary of the Justice Obayan Presidential Committee for the Reorganisation of NDLEA, which came up with far-reaching recommendations on how to reposition the agency. Perhaps because the committee submitted a scathing report about the mindboggling malfeasances rocking the agency, Ikani was said to have been singled out for reprisal attacks.

After concluding the national assignment, he was promptly transferred to Ekiti State as Commander, a position lower than that of a Director that he was before his leave of absence.

Not done yet, he was transferred to Yobe State as Commander before he was further, once again, demoted to Assistant Commander in Borno State in 2009, where he has remained till date after surviving two attempts to ease him out of service prematurely. Sadly for Ikani, he was last promoted in 2001, with several of his juniors having left him behind by at least three ranks.

In the same boat with Ikani is Paul Audu, a chief superintendent of narcotics whose predicament is a public knowledge. Besides the fact that he was last promoted in 2006, this officer who is said to be a loyal and hardworking operative was posted to Yobe State in June 2007 as a prosecutor, and has remained there ever since. Not only that, he has been stagnated on a rank for almost ten years, with many of his former juniors now his superiors. It is so bad for him that he now works under an assistant commander (operations and intelligence) who used to be his junior officer. His offence: Daring to come up with an operational strategy to rake in some of the barons, leading to the arrest of Akindele Akimuluyi, an elusive drug baron, who was later convicted. In his petitions, Audu claimed that he was in the process of uncovering Akindele’s litany of assets, which would have led to the arrest of several other barons and dismantling of drug networks when Giade, fully aware of the efforts, directed that he be posted outside Lagos, first Adamawa and later Taraba State.

But Ikani and Audu are not alone.

Also in the league of unhappy officers is Anthony Ohanyere, a lawyer and alumnus of the elite Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies who is reputed to be one of the doyens of anti-money laundering laws in Nigeria. Despite his experience, Ohanyere has been stagnated on the same rank for the last 13 years. He is “languishing” in Enugu State as Commander whereas those junior to him are now directors at the agency headquarters. So is Wale Ige, a pioneer officer and holder of a PhD of many years, who is also an alumnus of the National Institute for Strategic Studies. Not only is this well-read officer stagnated, he now serves under a far junior officer in Adamawa State.

•Giade

The favoured ones Since Giade took over the leadership of the agency in 2005, tongues have never stopped wagging about his style of leadership. Many serving officers have alleged in their various petitions to the Presidency and the National Assembly that he thrives on sentiments. It is alleged that some operatives from a section of the country are being recycled within ‘juicy’ commands of their choice, while others not so favoured are stagnated in far-flung places.

For example, there is a longstanding general practice in the NDLEA, which encourages constant redeployment of officers after four years in a command, be it juicy or dry.

The aim is to ensure safety of operatives, among other things.

However, this has been observed in the breach over the last ten years under Giade. That is why it is possible for Hamza Umar from Katsina State, an officer recruited into the agency in 1993, to remain as commander for seven years at Muritala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), which is regarded as one of the busiest gateways for drug trafficking into and from Nigeria. Despite having several other officers senior to him, especially those who joined the agency in 1990, Umar still calls the shots at MMIA. He is not alone in the league of beneficiaries of Giade’s alleged favouritism. Hamise Lawan, commander at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, is also from the North and has been there for eight years. Petitioners also complain that other cronies of Giade are recycled around Tin Can Island, Apapa Sea Ports, Kano and Enugu airports.

Among the directors in the agency, there is one called Hussein Baba from Kebbi State, who has been director for the past ten years under Giade. He was said to have performed shamefully as director of Investigation and Operations, but he is redeployed as director in charge of Drug Demand Reduction unit where has been for the past three years without any meaningful impact on the agency and the war on narcotics.

Unfortunately, like Baba, none of the officers that are alleged to be in Giade’s good book is known for any spectacular or extraordinary service delivery that is deserving of preferential treatment being meted out to them.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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NEWS

on, leadership hamper NDLEA’s drug war (2) Convicts who evaded jail term in 2006 No 1.

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Name of Suspect Ejike Matins David Sunday Ojo Adewale Osato Okuomimose Offor Alex Etuchukwu Frank Obidimalor Jubril Kazeem Adebanjo A. Saheed Glaymua Mady Ogbu E. Nnolum Hillary Uzor Ononiba V. Uchenna Ezendenna C John John Ekemegie Adeleke A. Abiodun Fred Chikason Abbe Dalington Osahon Akinrinwale R. Olatunde Emmanuel O. Chike Amakok A. Amaobi Yohanna D. Yisa Minister Amadin Olapade O. Olatidebe Oluwo a. Olaniru Ebenezer Nwayanwu Ann A Onye Emmanuel Obinna Joseph Osamudiamen Augustine N. Anukwe Obi Emmanuel Anagwu A. Cukwukelu Ojumu M. Oluwole Arinze Ezeamma Omobolanle O. Kafilat Echomuna Pascal Matthew Adimekwa Higbogu Joseph Okedokun S. K. Ololade Shittu Sani Onung A. Okon Opara O. Barnabas Ekene C. Dozie Okafor Augustine Okoye Hycenth Arama S. Christopher Obianigwe Chamberlain Chukwuebuka Emmanuel

Drug Type Quantity

Sentence

Date of Conviction

Judge

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Cocaine Cannabis Cannabis Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine

2½ Years 1 year 7 months 6 months 6 months 1 Year 2½ Years 6 Months 1 Year 4 Months 3 Monrhs 4 Months 4 Months 4 months 3 Months 4 Months 4 Months 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 2 Years 1½ Years 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 2 Years 2 Years 4 Months 1 Year 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years 3 Months 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years 6 Months 6 Months 7 Months 4 Months 1 Year 6 Months 1 Year 1 Year 1½ Years 2 Years 2 ½ Years

6/6/06 12/7/06 13/7/06 9/2/06 14/2/06 14/2/06 9/3/06 16/3/06 6/4/06 6/6/06 7/6/06 7/6/06 7/6/06 7/6/06 6/6/06 15/5/06 5/6/06 14/7/06 11/7/06 17/7/06 17/7/06 31/7/06 31/7/06 10/2/06 14/2/06 20/7/07 20/7/06 23/2/06 9/3/06 4/4/06 25/4/06 19/6/06 13/6/06 25/7/06 2 Years 14/7/06 7/2/06 24/5/06 7/2/06 19/1/06 12/4/06 12/4/06 3/5/06 3/5/06 3/5/06 30/5/06 31/5/06

Ogie Auta Ogie Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed Tijani Tijani Tijani Ttijani Tijani Tijani Tijjani Tijjani Tijanni Tijanni Tijanni Tijanni ijanni Kafarati Kafarati Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie

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1.2 kgs 2.5 kgs 25 kgs 3 kgs 1.490 kgs 8.5 kgs 995 grams 1.215 kgs 1.330 kgs 1.125 kgs 1.550 kgs 1.410 kgds 2.0 kgs 100 grams 2.4 kgs 1.150 kgs 110 grams 1,280 kgs 1,280 kgs 1,560 grams 475 grams 1,410 Kgs 1,400 Kgs 870 Grams 1.11 Kgs 575 gms 1.77 kgs 1.130 Kgs 970 Grams 1.255 Kgs 1.530 Kgs 1390 Kgs 1.575 Kgs 940 Grams 1.015 Kgs 1.56 Kgs 1.020 Kgs 1.820 Kgs 1.230 Kgs 1.595 Kgs 1.070 Kgs 1.079 Kgs 1.0 Kg 1.550 Kgs 1.020 Kgs 1.300 Kgs 1.1 Kgs

Name of Suspect Ugbo Emmanuel Chidozie Oguine Iyke A. Damian Nwokoro Emmanuel Christian Okoye Maduba C. Stephen Sodehinde Ernest Francis O. Chukwura Anucha Amayor Anukam Nancy Ogonna A. Onyeka Joel Charles Lateef Usman Onuchukwu Innocent Okoye O. Okoye Sylvester O. Chima Oijangbe J. Andy Chikwem Joseph Ogunkunle T. Adewale Atako C. Junior Ejiofor P. Chiagoze Okorocha Casmir Ngozi Ude Ugo Okafor J. Elochukwu Anyiyede J, Taiwo Paul Ekpensi Ighoyioubi Omokaro Mike Shekoni Ahmed Batsu Oseni Sanusi Madu Kingsley Ramoni Yusuf Kolawole Ramoni Daniel Onuenika Ibrahim Adamu Adebowale Aransiola Bubu Kpou Julius Michael Collins Ademola Yakubu Shehu Lawal Doris Osakuni Osita Chukwuma Hamba Fatai Adisa Adeniyi Helen Onyemanua Murtala Ajileye Ojo Ayodele Felicia Stephen Lukman Awoberu

Drug Type Quantity

Sentence

Cocaine Cannabis Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Heroine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine Heroin Cocaine Cannabis Cannabis 500 Gms Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cocaine Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis

1 Year 3 Months 1½ Years 1 Year 1 Year 1½ Years 1 Year 15 Months 18 Months 3 Years 36 Months 30 Months 2 Years 2 Years 3 Years 2½ Years 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years 3 Years 12 Months 12 Months 2 Years 12 Months 2 Years 5 Years 1 Year 1 Year 2 Years 2 Years 1 Year 9 Months 15 Months 9 Months 6 Months 6 Months 12 Months 3 Months 6 Months 6 Months 2 Years 15 Months 18 Months 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years 2 Years

1.550 Kg 230 Grams 1.80 Kgs 1.689 Kgs 1.465 Kgs 990 Grams 1.250 Kgs 200 Grams 1.420 Kgs 1.150 Kgs 1.395 Kgs 1.120 Kgs 1.210 Kgs 820 Grams 2.250 Kgs 1.480 Kgs 1.530 Kgs 1.200 kg 1.150 kgs 955 Grams 2.1 Kgs 1.660 Kgs 1.330 Kgs 1.570 Kgs 1.00 Kgs 1.350 Kgs 1.490 Kgs 1.490 Kgs 649 Gms 880 Gms 16.2 Gms 2.7 Kgs 67 Kgs 500 Gms 1.2 Kgs 7.8 Kgs 1 Kg 0.475 Kgs 250 Grams 29 Kgs 4 Grms 8 Kgs 1.3 Kgs 19.4 Kgs 236.6 Kgs 236.6 Kgs 1.2 Kgs 3 Kgs

Date of Conviction 13/6/06 30/6/06 4/7/06 25/7/06 25/7/06 17/7/06 17/7/06 14/2/06 27/2/06 9/2/06 16/3/06 1/2/06 15/3/06 6/4/06 30/5/06 5/6/06 22/2/06 13/6/06 28/6/06 2/5/06 31/5/06 12/6/06 28/6/06 17/7/06 25/7/06 5/6/06 25/7/06 25/7/06 14/2/06 4/7/06 29/3/06 3/5/06 2/2/06 19/6/06 20/4/06 11/7/06 20/3/06 27/7/06 11/7/06 13/4/06 13/6/06 30/6/06 9/6/06 28/6/06 26/7/06 26/7/06 13/7/06 13/7/06

Judge Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Ogie Olomojobi Olomojobi Olomojobi Ejiofor Ejiofor Ejiofor Ejiofor Ejiofor Ejiofor Auta Auta Auta Allagoa Okeke Okeke Okeke Okeke Okeke Shakarau Shakarau Shakarau Sanusi Shuaibu Tijjani Tijjani Tijjani Tijjani Olomojobi Olomojobi Okeke Mohammed Mohammed Aliyu Aliyu Aliyu Ejiofor Shakarau Shakarau Shakarau Shuaibu Shuaibu

‘Those writing petitions against Giade are insignificant’ In this interview, Mitchell Ofoyeju, head of public affairs at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, defends the current leadership of the agency. He spoke with ADEKUNLE YUSUF

W

HAT do you think is responsible for terms of imprisonment below six months. incessant petitions by serving offic- Some notable convictions and sentences ers about Giade’s leadership of the handed over by the courts include recently include the following: Bukhari Syed agency?

If you conduct an opinion poll among offic- Wassem, a Pakistani was sentenced to 10 ers, you will appreciate the fact that those years imprisonment for the importation of writing (petitions) are either non-existent or 13kg of heroin into Nigeria; Lanre Salami at best insignificant. Let me say this, nobody was sentenced to 10 years for dealing in 400 that loves the country will write against this grammes of cannabis; Chukwukelu Sunday leadership. I will leave you to investigate that Calistus was sentenced to life imprisonment so as to have a first-hand assessment in con- at the Federal High Court Abuja for importation of 1.59kg of cocaine; Dominic firmation of what I have told you.

Looking at your convictions, it is appar- Fabunmi got 15 years imprisonment at the ent that most sentences are so light that they Federal High Court Ekiti for unlawful poscannot dissuade offenders from indulging session of 273.8kg of cannabis; Andrew in the heinous crimes. Yet the NDLEA Act is Nwachukwu got 15 years imprisonment at quite explicit in terms of stipulated punish- the Federal High Court Lafia for dealing in ments for offences. Who or what do you 5kg of cannabis; Joseph Moses also got 15 think should be blamed for the light sen- years imprisonment at Port Harcourt for dealing in 172.5kg of cannabis. Interestingly tences?

Note that NDLEA is only empowered by the Court of Appeal, Lagos also affirmed the law to arrest and prosecute. We have no the sentences of Richard Wang and Chiusen power to adjudicate. However, there is a re- Fung who were earlier sentenced to 15 years markable improvement in drug sentences imprisonment each by the Federal High unlike in the past. The conviction of 2,054 drug Court Lagos. The sentencing has tremenoffenders in 2014 is an improvement over the dously improved.

It is generally believed that funding for 1,865 and 1,718 recorded in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Apart from the improvement in the the agency is poor. Does the agency enjoy number of convictions recorded in 2013, there any funding from any other source apart is equally an improvement in sentencing by from government?

We don’t get funding but we get assistthe courts over the years. There is a decline in the sentences involving options of fine and ance in form of training and donation of Although the NDLEA boss, in the exercise of his powers, may reward exceptional hard work, devotion to duty and honesty by promotion, but this power is not without limitations.

Under Giade, some officers alleged that this power has been confused with the unrestrained powers to award special promotion in addition to promotion to higher rank at the same time – which is seen as a blatant overkill. It is alleged further that not

fewer than ninety percent of the beneficiaries of Giade’s special promotions are individuals who have done nothing special at all. That is why some officers are taunting the special promotions showered on Hamza Umar, Ahmed Suleiman Ningi, Sunday Drambi Zirangey, Okafor Olisaemeka, Usman Ali Wadar, Aweda Mathew, Osifuye Femi Johnson, Grace Badung, among others, which catapulted them over

equipment from our international collaborators.

In 2008, the US government donated four scanning machines to the Agency for use at the international airports. The German government has organized training for our dog handlers. They also donated sniffer dogs and two buses to convey them to operational areas. We are optimistic that the funding will improve in the days ahead. The importance of funding cannot be ignored. Drug trafficking globally is becoming sophisticated and it is pertinent therefore that funding should also increase. Last year, we got some operational funds that were judiciously applied and this was reflected in our cannabis farm destruction scorecard.

For the first time, the Agency conducted unprecedented cannabis farm destruction. A total of 4,529.15 hectares of farmland representing 53,719,342.32 kilogrammes of cannabis was destroyed and prevented from getting to the end users.

What do you think is limiting efficiency in the war against drugs and how can these be remedied?

I think most people do not know the significance of drug control and the link between drugs and crime. If they do, the Agency will enjoy more public support and goodwill. Drug control is key to national security and public health. Criminals need drugs to perpetrate heinous crimes. Drug trafficking affects the image of a country. Marriages have broken on account of drug trafficking and abuse, students who are addicted to drugs are suscepti-

three grade levels in four years.

As one unhappy senior officer asked, why will an “officer with a doctorate degree and a product of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies be pegged on GL 14 for well over ten years while officers with first degree and have barely spent three years on GL 14 have been promoted to GL 16 by Giade’s special promotion?” As things stand, some allege that over 95 per cent of the officers on GL15 and GL16, as

• Ofoyeju

ble to dropping out of school. Unfortunately, many have become mentally deranged even as others die prematurely. The Agency needs money for advocacy and sensitisation. We also need to do more in the area of drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation. We just introduced the online counselling platforms. The answer to the drug problem today is public enlightenment, education and sensitisation. The need for an elaborate campaign cannot be ignored.

contained in Giade’s last promotion exercise, are manifestly junior to a good number of officers on GL14 who have been on this level since January 2000, 2001 and 2002, while most of the officers on Grade Level 15 and 16 now were barely due for promotion between 2004, 2005 and now. Those that are long due for promotion but still stagnated on GL14 for no fault of theirs are now being made to report to and carry out orders and instructions from those who

are ordinarily their junior. This is breeding discontent in the agency, with an avalanche of petitions before the Presidency.

Another issue which gets some mention in many of the petitions on the agency centres around how men who are supposed to ensure drug couriers and barons get maximum punishment now conspire to help them escape with light sentences.

•To be continued

4

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NEWS

•Front row: President Muhammadu Buhari (middle) and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (fourth left) with members of African Diplomats among whom are (from right) Dean of Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mr. Oubi Bashir, Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Alhassan Conteh, Equatorial Guinea Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Job Obiang, Niger Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ma’An Sour Mamanhadj Dado during a meeting at the Presidential Villa Abuja...yesterday.

Two firms to audit NNPC, Customs, FIRS, others Continued from page 1

rid the process of any political undertone and also ensure the handling of the matter by professionals.

Oshiomhole also announced that the NNPC, NPDC, DPR and NIMASA will be appearing before the committee next Thursday.

Some of the agencies that appeared yesterday include: Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), NCS, FIRS and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) among others.

The meeting of the committee with the revenue generating agencies which started at about 11.00am lasted till about 8.30pm at the Imo Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

The four-man committee which was set up after the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), headed

by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, has Oshiomhole as chairman and governors Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) as members.

The committee was given a mandated, to, among others, investigate claims by the NNPC to have earned N8.1 trillion (about $40 billion or 36 billion euros), with only N4.3 trillion paid into the Federation Account, while withholding and spending N3.8 trillion.

They have also been mandated to investigate massive dip in the Excess Crude Account, into which the difference between government-set oil prices and the international rate is deposited.

He said the “rainy day” account had plunged to $2 billion from $4.1 billion in November last year.

Oshiomhole said that the

whole idea was to hear from the agencies what they have been doing and to find out whether the revenues generated were properly remitted for onward distribution to the three tiers of government.

He noted that the committee decided to extend its scope to other agencies because it is not only the NNPC that generates revenues for the government which are supposed to be remitted to the Federation Account, even though the major attention of Nigerians has been on the Excess Crude Account.

He said: “We decided to have a holistic view of the entire process and we are convinced that by appointing reputable audit firms to handle the process, it will be devoid of any form of politics and at the end, the outcome will earn the confidence of all agencies involved and Nigerians.”

He said further that some of

the agencies that appeared before his committee yesterday have more information to provide and they have been told to do so, pointing out that in line with the present administration’s policy, it will no longer be business as usual.

Oshiomhole argued that while Nigerians will be wondering why another forensic audit when PricewaterCoopers (PwC) had already audited the NNPC, he said: “You will agree with me that even PwC complained about the frustrations it had in carrying out its job as the informations it needed were not provided.

“You cannot carry out a successful audit without adequate information. There was no instrument to compel the NNPC to open their books. But with Buhari, the agencies must open their books or be ready to confront the government”, he said.

Continued on page 59

Troops kill eight, arrest Boko Haram’s fuel supplier

T

ROOPS gained upperhand yesterday in their counter-insurgency campaign in Borno and Yobe states when they killed eight suspected Boko Haram insurgents and arrested the sect’s fuel and food items coordinator.

The troops also recovered 15 cows, 174 goats and a donkey

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

from rustlers.

But two members of a vigilante group were wounded by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) fragments.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, who made the disclosure, said in a state-

ment: “The Nigerian troops yesterday made startling discovery while combing and clearing terrorists in and around Dikwa, Borno State.

“During the painstaking operation, the troops discovered pile of street lamps poles cut into pieces by Boko Haram terrorists which they use in making Improvised Explosives

Devices (IEDs).

“In another development, during a cordon and search operation in Jakana village, the troops of 7 Division Garrison recovered 15 cows, 174 goats and a donkey from rustlers.

“The animals have since been handed over to their Continued on page 59

APC, PDP senators clash Continued from page 1

to urgently intervene in alleged meddlesmeness of the Department of State Security (DSS) operatives in petitions pending at various Election Petitions Tribunals.

The Caucus, made up of all 49 senators elected on the platform of the PDP, condemned alleged harassment, intimidation and arrest of PDP members in some PDP-controlled states by DSS operatives.

Minority Leader Godswill Akpabio raised the issues at a news conference at the National Assembly.

But the Chairman of the Senate ad-Hoc Committee on Information and Publicity, Dino Melaye, dismissed the claims of the opposition, accusing the PDP Caucus of crying wolf where there was none.

Melaye said: “It is surprising and shocking that this is coming from the PDP. We were in this country when we saw the DSS apparently becoming a parastatal of the PDP.” He urged the PDP to brace for the change that the APC has introduced to governance, saying the era of impunity was gone for good.

Melaye said: “We are coming from an era where you hardly separated the spokesperson of PDP from that of the DSS. Now that President Buhari is trying to change the order, there has been a lot of cry and noise-making. But, I want to assure you

that no sinner shall go unpunished.

“If you are not guilty, you have nothing to fear but there is a popular Yoruba saying, when a witch exclaims in the night and in the morning the child dies, you know who killed the child.

“So, if people who have committed atrocities are now being either investigated or questioned, we should not politicise the issue.

“I am not the spokesman of DSS but I want to say that Nigerians suffered what I will call interference by the DSS in the past and it is too early for anybody to cry foul if an investigation is going on.

“As I speak to you, the wife of the Senate President is being investigated and there are senators (not of the PDP extraction) who are being investigated.

“So, should we now say that there are PDP agents in APC government? Let everybody carry his cross.”

Akpabio said President Buhari’s immediate intervention in the matter was of essence to prevent what could affect the growth of democracy.

He noted that the DSS alleged meddlesomeness was more noticeable in three PDP-controlled states of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia.

Akpabio said: “The PDP Continued on page 59

$2.1m cash: I’m ready for EFCC, says ex-NHIS boss Continued from page 1

individual that has traceable addresses in Lagos and Ekiti.

He is a man that I work with and I know him for his words and actions. As I speak, we are yet to receive any formal invitation from any quarter on the allegation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, my boss is not on the run, he is in Nigeria, he is available and ready to present himself to the EFCC as soon as he is invited.”

But an EFCC source yesterday said investigators were awaiting Thomas, who re-

portedly could not be located in the last three weeks.

It was gathered that the EFCC was considering calling on the International Police (INTERPOL) to arrest him, after watch-listing the former Executive Secretary of NHIS. Even as the EFCC seeks to quizz Thomas, there is a fresh revelation that the NHIS bought a plot of land for N990 million.

The seized cash is suspected to be part of the inflated land deal, The Nation learnt.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “There is pressure on the former Executive

Secretary of NHIS to surrender to EFCC. I think he has decided to go to the anti-graft commission voluntarily to ‘protect his name and family.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on July 3, 2015 arrested a bureau de change operator, Ibiteye John Bamidele, at MMA Terminal 2 (MMA2) Lagos with the $2.1 million.

The Head of Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mitchel Ofoyeju, said Bamidele was arrested by anti-narcotic officials, who suspected that the cash was for money laundering.

The NDLEA handed over the suspect to the EFCC on July 8, 2015, following his “confession” that he was on a money laundering errand for the ex-NHIS boss.

Besides the $2.1 million, the EFCC is said to be probing how NHIS bought a plot of land for more space at its headquarters in Abuja for N990 million.

A source said: “When a former Executive Secretary, Mr. Waziri Dogo-Muhammed, was in charge be-

fore Thomas came on board, he refused to buy the same plot at N350million.

“In order to evade scrutiny by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), NHIS bought the land at N990 million. Any expenditure from N1 billion upward goes to FEC for consideration.

“This is still a major accountability challenge facing NHIS. The anti-graft commission has received complaint on this too.”

Dr. Thomas, speaking through his aide on July 26, said the land near the NIHS’ Abuja Head Office was acquired to solve the acute accommodation challenges facing the scheme, the need to have enough space for future expansion and the appreciating value of land in the highbrow Cadastral Zone.

Besides, he described “as total falsehood that due diligence was not followed in the acquisition of the landed property”, pointing out that NHIS’ supervising Health Ministry approved it.

His words: ‘’When the management wanted to buy

the land, as it is the practice, we called the Federal Ministry of Works, and they sent their evaluation department to evaluate the property and the report by the ministry put the value of the property at N1.5 billion. ‘’Beyond that level of due process, the purchase was approved by the Ministerial Tenders’ Board because it was beyond the approving power of the NHIS Tenders Management Committee. ‘’The negotiation was so tight that we could not pay agency fee. The evaluation report by the Federal Ministry of Works showed that the landed property, which is about 4000 square metres, has a piled foundation for the development of a seven-storey building valued at N300 million.”

Adeyemi said it was news to the former NHIS chief that the management before his turned down offers.

The allegation, Adeyemi said, was a calculated attempt to discredit his boss and tarnish his image.

“My boss was not aware of

previous offers made to his two predecessors at N300 million and N450 million,’’ he noted, adding that “the need to purchase the land was necessitated by the acute shortage of space for staff. In the office, two or more staff were sharing a desk and we realised this may hamper operation and efficiency. ‘’We also know it made a sense of economic of scale to buy this parcel of land, which has two plots beside our head office than having another headquarters extension in Gudu. We were also conscious of the rate at which the value of land in Abuja appreciates. So, we believe it is not a bad investment for the scheme’’.

The statement described as “unfounded” that N49.5 million was paid as agency fee to a firm believed to be owned

by Thomas’ associate, saying no agency fee was paid on the property.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

5

NEWS Reps: we’ve powers to confirm Service chiefs

Ex-bank officials get 91 years for N114.6m fraud

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HE Kebbi State High Court has jailed three former bank workers for 91 years over N114.6 million fraud.

The convicts, who were jailed by Justice Ibrahim Mairiga, include Suleiman Ibrahim Musa, Bilyaminu Usman and Lawal Suleiman.

They were jailed on a 16count charge of conspiracy, forgery, theft and criminal breach of trust brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The convicts, who were former officials of FinBank Plc (acquired by First City Monument Bank Plc in 2011), Birnin-Kebbi branch in Kebbi State, were first arraigned on

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern

July 21, 2010, and had pleaded not guilty.

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: “Musa, who was then the head of Operations, defrauded the bank of N101, 707,000; Usman and Suleiman, both tellers, connived to defraud the bank of N6, 627,500 and N6, 267,500.

“The crimes were committed between 2008 and 2010.

They had at different times debited the bank’s customers by carrying out unauthorized withdrawals.

“They were arrested by EFCC operatives following a petition by the bank’s man-

agement, after several customers lodged complaints alleging fraudulent deductions from their bank accounts.

They had backed up their claims with various documentary evidence - stamped deposits and investment certificates.

“After five years of trial, Justice Mairiga, having been convinced by the evidence brought before him by the prosecuting counsel, Aisha Habib, found them guilty of the charges.”

The judge said: “By considering the amount involved and weight of evidence presented before the court by the prosecution, which was never challenged by the defence, it shows that their wrongful

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

T •Musa and Usman

act caused a great injury to the bank.

“I therefore, find the accused persons guilty as charged, and so convict and sentence them to 55 years, seven years and 29 years imprisonment without an option of fine, with the jail term to serve concurrently.”

The judge also ordered the convicts to return the stolen money to the bank.

•Suleiman

How PDP spent N11b forms proceeds, by Secondus

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HE leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday gave account of how the controversial N12 billion generated by the party during the last general elections was spent.

The money was the proceeds from sale of nomination and expression of interest forms from various elective office seekers across the federation.

At a briefing in Abuja, the party’s Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said the actual amount was not N12 billion but a little over N11b.

According to him, “10 percent of the money went to the state chapters, five percent to the zonal chapters and another five percent to local government chapters of the party.

“Another 15 percent was expended on assignments by various party functionaries

•Party leaders allege EFCC’s persecution of ex-governors From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

and the rest was used to fund our campaigns. We raised money and we used the money for elections. We don’t need to go into details”.

Protesting workers at the party secretariat have been at war with the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) following the alleged embezzlement of the money, which they said was partly responsible for the poor outing of the PDP in the general election.

The NWC had threatened to sack half of the workers and reduce their pay by 50 per cent, a development that further infuriated the aggrieved workers.

Senate Minority Leader Godswill Akpabio, who led the PDP Senate caucus to the briefing, explained why the party must reduce the secre-

tariat workers.

Akpabio said: “We can no longer run to the Villa for cash so we don’t have the wherewithal to maintain that large number of secretariat workers.

“The workers should understand that they are in a master-servant relationship in which you cannot force an unwilling master to keep a recalcitrant servant. We are definitely going to downsize”.

Akpabio and Secondus complained about what they described as “harassment and intimidation” of the party’s ex-governors and

former ministers who served under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

According to them, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were singling out ex PDP public office holders for investigation.

They urged the anti grant and security agencies to prove that only ex-PDP public office holders were corrupt and that those that were elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) were saints.

“We have been reading in

the papers about corrupt practices in Rivers and Lagos State under the control of the APC. But the EFCC has not deemed it fit to invite the immediate past governors of these states,” Secondus said.

The party leaders also complained about what they termed the arrest and intimidation of electoral officials in Rivers, Akwa Inom and Abia states by the DSS, saying the trend was limited to states under the control of the PDP. They cautioned the Federal Government against selective application of the law, saying the process must be seen to be holistic.

Pharmacists okay national drug guidelines •Allays fear of manufacturers

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HE Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has allayed the fear of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) on the new national drug distribution guidelines agreed on by pharmaceutical experts and approved by the Federal Government.

Its National Secretary, Adeoye Afuye, said yesterday that the greatest fear of any human globally “is the fear of change” and asserted that the guidelines would bring sanity to the nation’s “chaotic drug distribution channels”.

He noted that the ACPN, as an important stakeholder in the pharmaceutical health care delivery system”, deemed it fit to educate the public and other critical members of the pharmaceutical professions on the issue.

The guidelines, he explained, were formulated by the Federal Government through a committee comprising all stakeholders in the pharmaceutical section with PMG-MAN inclusive.

Afuye added that members of the committee included

By Bola Olajuwon

experts from the Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), World Health Organisation (WHO), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), and Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN).

Others were National agency for food, Drug, Administration and control (NAFDAC), ACPN and PMG-MAN. He said after thorough deliberation, the guideline was produced and the implementation date was fixed for July 2014 and was later shifted to July 1, 2015.

Afuye noted that it was agreed that the guidelines be implemented by the Federal Government as contained in the policy document and that any short-comings or challenges would be addressed as it occurs.

“It was a big surprise to hear from one of the originator of the document after two years of suspended implementation that the document, if implemented, would hand over the pharmaceutical industry to cartels and syndicates,” ACPN official said.

•Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu and his wife Omolara, flying out in Abuja...yesterday

HE House of Representatives yesterday said it had powers to confirm Service chiefs.

The House condemned the impression that only the Senate was empowered to screen and confirm the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Service chiefs.

The House said it had the constitutional power to screen and confirm the appointment of the military chiefs as well.

Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee set up by the House to screen and confirm the military chiefs, Garba Datti, while presenting the report of the Committee on the floor yesterday said Section 18 (1) of Armed Forces Act empowers the National Assembly and not the Senate alone to carry out that particular functuon.

He said the confirmation of the appointment of the military Chiefs was not in the same category as the confirmation of Ministers and others that concerns only the Senate.

The single resolution of the Committee was approved at the Committee of the Whole House chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Lasun Yussuf.

In a related development, the Speaker urged members to disregard messages making the round about the activities of Selection Committee of the House.

A member of the majority party in the House All Progressives Congress (APC) from Imo State, Austine Chukwukere yesterday asked the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara to revisit the issue.

He complained that the Southeast geo-political zone was excluded from the leadership positions in contravention of the federal character principle as recognized by the constitution.

The crisis was resolved last week following a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the party.

Chukwukere, who raised the issue in a point of order said, “For the first time, federal character was neglected in the selection of Principal officers.

The Speaker sustained the point of order, while ruling that a Committee of the leadership of the House would examine the complaints to see if any law was breached concerning the issue.

Danbatta yet to resume at NCC

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HE Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, is yet to resume work.

Senior Officials of the Public Affairs Department of the NCC are keeping sealed lips on the resumption date of the newly appointed Executive Vice Chairman.

The Nation gathered that the appointment of Prof.

Danbatta, which was announced Tuesday by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina caught the top offi-

From Blessing Olaifa, Abuja

cials of the commission unaware and has created anxiety among them.

When The Nation visited the NCC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, senior officials in the Public Affairs Department declined to comment on the sudden sack of the former EVC, Dr Eugene Juwah and his replacement

by Prof. Danbatta.

The Director of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, was said to be busy. His Deputy, Mr Sonny Aragba, said: “There is no information yet on the resumption date for

the new EVC. We will communicate you as soon as we get information on when he will resume work,” Aragba added.

Born in Danbatta Local Government Council of Kano State, Prof. Danbatta obtained his BEng, MSc and PhD degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology UK. He had served as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology of Bayero University Kano for 28 years, where he taught courses in telecommu-

nication engineering and electronics and held academic positions of Dean of the Faculty and Head of Department at different times.

His main administrative responsibilities, in the university, included Deputy and Acting Dean of Students’ Affairs, Administrator of the Works Department and later, Director of the Centre for Information Technology (CIT).

Prof. Danbatta, who recently served as a member of the Implementation Committee of the Northwest University Kano, is the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Kano University of Science & Technology, Wudil.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

6

NEWS ‘Reserve 30 per cent of budget for education’

NAFDAC uncovers factory with expired condiments

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

C

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HE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered an illegal factory within the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos, loaded with various expired food condiments worth millions of naira.

It arrested a 24–year-old, Mr. Victor Ebuka Okeke, in connection with the expired products.

The factory, which was originally a one- shop, was said to have been used to stock, re-validate and distribute expired products. Some of the expired products discovered in the factory include expired Maggi Sauce with manufacturing dates: 15/08/ 2011 and expiry dates: 15/08/ 2014, Amoy Dark Soy Sauce, Costa Corned Beef and Exeter Corned beef, among others.

For the Costa Corned Beef, whether expired or not, the 24year -old suspect, changed their labels to Exeter Corned Beef, which, according to him, was to attract patronage because it was a fast moving brand in the market.

Addressing reporters shortly after the exercise, the leader of the NAFDAC team and Assistant Director, Enforcement Operations, Mr. Shaba Mohammed, said the agency had been on the trail of the alleged owner of the factory, following intelligence report.

He said the suspect, who also claimed to be the managing director of the factory, was caught re-validating the expiry dates of Maggi Arome sauce and Amoy Soy sauce, smuggled into the country from Ghana, from 2014 to August 2016.

According to him, the products expired in August 15, last year.

“The suspect was also caught

•Mohammed displaying one of the fake products

•The fake product

•Arrests managing director

By Wale Adepoju

changing labels of Costa corned beef to Exeter corned beef,” he added Mohammed, who said the suspect had refused to provide information regarding the whereabouts of over 902 cartons of expired Maggi sauce, said the agency would charge him to court for counterfeiting.

“We have arrested the suspect

and evacuated the remaining products in the illegal factory. We are also charging him for counterfeiting. Some of the products were not registered by NAFDAC. The products were smuggled in from Ghana. What we found cannot be consumed. We saw two drums filled with ordinary water which he used to immerse the products and the labels will remove without any trace and are replaced with re-

validated labels.”

He added that most of the revalidated products had been pushed into the market.

Mohammed said consuming such products could lead to terminal diseases, such as liver and kidney ailments, which are on the rise in the country.

He said the sauces are sodiumbased products that could cause hypertension, if consumed.

The assistant director also said the suspect would be arraigned in court.

“Every single thing that is here is dangerous to human health.”

Okeke, who claimed to hail from Njikoka in Anambra State, said he was forced to re-validate the dates to recover the money he spent in importing the products.

“The goods expired after I have sold over 100 cartons. I don’t supply but people come and buy from me.”

Asked why he was changing their labels, he said: “When the

products got expired in my hands , in order to recoup my money, I decided to change the products’ details.”

On the people he supplies the products to, he said retailers come to his shop to buy them.

“It is not a factory or a warehouse. All my products are from Ghana. I bought the labels from somewhere,” he said.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the current law, which stipulates a fine of N500,000 or 15-year jail term upon conviction, was inadequate.

He stated that the new law sought life jail term and confiscation of assets upon conviction and compensation for victims where the counterfeit product was found to be the proximate cause of severe bodily injury.

Orhii said the new law would also make counterfeiting a nonbailable offence, adding that a whistle-blower clause was also included in the new law.

Resign now, OPC faction tells Gani Adams

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FACTION opposed to the leadership style of the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, has called for his resignation with immediate effect.

The National Coordinating Council of OPC, accused Adams of political partisanship, gross misconduct, abuse of power

From Jeremiah Oke, Ibadan

and high-handedness.

The faction made the call after its meeting held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, shortly after a congratulatory visit to the state chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) over the election of Alhaji Waheed Odusile as the National President.

The acting President, of the group Alhaji Razak Balogun, said the call become imperative in view of the vote of no-confidence passed in Adams, stating that he has derailed from the ideals and vision of the OPC to liberate the Yoruba nation at large.

Balogun and the other aggrieved leaders also hinted that their faction was not out to discredit Gani Adams but to

set the records straight that members of OPC had passed a vote of no confidence in him thereby calling for his immediate resignation before it is too late for him, adding that, Adams is “only using the name of OPC to enrich himself.”

But Otunba Adams dismissed their allegation, saying they are all expelled members.

Adams, who spoke

through his Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Yinka Oguntimehin, a lawyer said: “They are faceless group and expelled members of OPC. All their allegations are baseless and empty.

“The National Coordinating Council under Otunba Gani Adams remains intact and solid... People should ignore them and not take them serious.

ARNEGIE African Diaspora Fellow and Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College United States of America, Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to allocate 30 per cent of the budgetary allocation to education.

Okome called on the Federal Government to subsidise education so that children of the poor would have access to qualitative education.

She warned Buhari to be wary of countries offering to help Nigeria, saying only committed Nigerians at home and abroad must be used to fashion out policies to turn around the fortunes of the country.

Prof. Okome, who delivered the 65th Interdisciplinary discourse of the Postgraduate School University of Ibadan organised by the Dean , Prof.

Adeyinka Aderinto entitled: ‘Globalization and the political economy of Higher education in Nigeria’, said public universities are still subsidised in the United States.

She said: “Education ought not be left to pure market forces. Government should fund education very well. It should also not be handed over even to our good friends.

There are many people who want to help us now. I was horrified when I heard that DFID has people in the Federal Ministry of Education helping us to write policy.

“What kind of policy is that Does any Nigerian go to the UK to write policies for them?

We should be weary of our friends and we should be the vanguard in strengthening our institutions. We should become more excited about what we are doing inspite of the challenges of underfunding, and infrastructure decay that we face.

We need to strengthen our system and educational institutions to meet the demands of the present and future and these efforts must be spearheaded by indigenes at home and in the Diaspora.”

Alleged N17m bribe: ICPC invites Onyeka Onwenu, Internal Auditor

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HE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has invited the Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Ms Onyeka Onwenu, and an internal auditor for interrogation on the alleged N17million bribe-for-contract at

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

the centre.

Prior to the appearance of the songstress today, three key officials of the NCWD were yesterday grilled by the anti-graft agency.

They are Mukhtar Usman, Jauro Jibrin and Sadeeq Umar.

But a Deputy Director in NWCD, who doubles as Personal Assistant to Onwenu, Chika Abazu, has been remanded in prison following the alleged N17million bribery.

A source in ICPC said: “Our investigation into the bribery scam has reached an appreciable level of interaction with Ms

Onyeka Onwenu.

“Actually, this invitation predated this new administration.

But each time we summoned her during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, she used to tell ICPC that she was either running one errand for the former First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, or on her entourage.

Peterside urges peace

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LL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State Dakuku Peterside has described indigenous people as unsung heroes of the modern world.

Peterside, in his message to mark the International Day for Indigenous Peoples, also called for greater understanding and cooperation among citizens of the world.

According to him, “it would have been almost impossible for the world to

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

record today’s great advancement in different spheres of life without the support and cooperation of indigenous peoples. They are found all over the world with their unique and distinct cultures and traditions. These identities, no doubt, continue to add value to our world.

“Approximately, 400 million indigenous peoples are scattered all over the world, according to the United Na-

tions. Evidently, the world cannot afford the dire consequences of any form of illtreatment or infringement on their rights to self-determination, dignity, decent employment and good life.

“The world and those in authority all over the globe fully appreciate the fact that most indigenous peoples are mainly victims of colonising and expansionary activities of others but this obviously, should not rob them of their right to life.

“Therefore as we mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, let us reflect and advance those great ideals that are capable of uniting people of the world, irrespective of colour and creed. And as we live together in a changing world, let us also remember to live in mutual respect.

“In a global world as ours, we must strive always to support indigenous communities and ensure that their rights and privileges are protected”.

“Now that we have arraigned her PA in court, we need to complete the other leg of our investigation because findings have shown that some officials of NCWD were also implicated in the bribery scandal.

“Fairness demands that we should hear from these officials whether or not they were involved as alleged.”

Abazu, who was charged to court on July 10, 2015 before Justice Chukwu Ndukwe of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, is facing a six-count charge of bribery and gratification.

Although he pleaded not guilty, he was denied bail and remanded in Kuje Prison.

A contractor, Joseph Nwakama, who is also an architect with Solidmark Associates Limited, petitioned ICPC that he paid N17million bribe to NCWD top officials through Abazu.

The petitioner said: “I was called by Abazu, a deputy director at the NCWD and PA to Onwenu, early in April 2014 and

asked to submit a bid for the renovation of rooms at the centre’s guest house.

“After two days he called me and told me that the centre would like me to do the job because my bill was the lowest, and that I should come and see the DG. “When I came, the DG asked me to start work, that I should work day and night (and) that they would give me an award letter, agreement and advance,” the contractor stated.

The contract was awarded on April 28, 2014 at N33 million for 25 rooms.

“He told me that the DG wanted me to give them N23million out of the money for the 55 rooms. I told him that it was too much (but) he told me that if I was not going to give them, the DG would ask me to pay back the money (N22, 619, 047.62) and the other contractor would do the job.”

He said he later gave N17million to Abazu.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

7

NEWS

Four die in Oyo multiple road accidents

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OR several hours yesterday, traffic was halted following multiple auto crashes that led to the death of four commuters on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State.

Three different accidents occurred in close succession between 50 and 60 metres.

It was gathered that the accidents occurred around 9am.

Witnesses said an accident involving a petrol tanker happened first.

The source added that the

From Tayo Johnson and Sikiru Akinola, Ibadan

tanker driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a hitch.

The petrol-laden tanker went up in flames.

Also, a container-laden truck on its way to Oyo collided with a commercial bus while trying to avoid the burning tanker.

Some occupants of the vehicles were said to have died.

Others were badly injured.

On the other side of the road, three commercial vehicles driving towards Ibadan also

crashed, leaving some of the passengers badly injured.

A witness, Kunle Alao, while commenting on the multiple accidents, said they occurred “like bomb explosions in a split-second”.

“We heard the loud bang and ran away. Then another crash happened and then the third crash,” he said.

Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and policemen were deployed to the sites to rescue victims trapped in one of the damaged vehicles.

Another tragedy struck in

•A bulldozer demolishing a building at the estate...yesterday.

Ibadan yesterday as a tenant in a flat lost his possessions to an afternoon fire, which occurred on Ayetoro Street at Oke-Itunu, Ibadan.

The flat, which is one of the four in the one-storey building, was completely razed, except for a Bible.

Furniture, television set, a digital compact decoder, refrigerator, clothes, a laptop, and other valuables were burnt.

It was gathered that the inferno, which started around 3pm, was prevented from spreading to the other flats

through the combined efforts of the men of the state Fire Service and residents.

Though the cause of the fire was unknown, some residents claimed it might be due to power surge.

“It happened a few minutes after light was restored,” a resident told The Nation.

The victim, who was visibly shaking and in his late 60s, could only answer: “I have lost everything I laboured for. I don’t know where to start again. We are just grateful that we did not lose anybody, except our properties.”

•A locked gate...yesterday.

Suspect shot in failed bid to escape from Ondo court From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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SUSPECT arraigned for contravention of Ondo State government’s ban on commercial motorcycle operation was shot yesterday after attempting to escape at a Chief Magistrate’s Court located at Olukayode House, Akure.

The suspect was granted bail by the court, but could not perfect the bail conditions. He attempted to escape as he was about to be conveyed to Olokuta Prisons.

The suspect ran towards Oshinle quarters in the state capital.

Prison wardens shot sporadically to foil his bid, a situation which made lawyers and judges to scamper for safety.

The accused person was re-arrested and brought back to the court.

But in another round of sporadic shooting by the prison guards, the suspect was allegedly shot.

He was hurriedly pushed into the prison van and taken to the prison.

Sources at the prison said the suspect had been taken into solitary confinement in the “Prison Guard room” as a punishment for attempting to escape.

A lawyer, Charles Titiloye, who was in court during the incident, condemned the excessive use of force by the prison guards.

Panic as Ekiti’s task force evicts estate’s residents

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KITI State Governor Ayo Fayose-led government yesterday forcibly evicted owners of houses in Irewolede Estate in Ado-Ekiti, who were yet to complete payment of their mortgages.

The task force’s team stormed the estate as early as 7am, backed by armed policemen and bulldozers, with padlocks and chains.

The action caused panic among the residents, especially women and children.

A mother and her threeday-old baby, belonging to the Chairman of Estate Landlords Association, Ayo Orebe, were locked inside his house.

The action followed a twomonth ultimatum issued to those yet to complete their payments to do so or face eviction.

The government announced on the state media its intent to move into the estate at the expiration of the deadline on August 5.

The demolished and sealed buildings belong to some former political appointees of the state’s immediate past administration.

A resident, Bolaji Fasanmi, alleged that the state government was biased in its mode of operation, asserting that only buildings belonging to the executive members of the estate were locked.

He added that those belonging to other residents, who were owing heavily, were left unsealed.

Orebe described the gov-

APC, govt trade words over action

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KITI State government and the state All Progressives Congress (APC) traded words yesterday on the forceful eviction of residents and demolition of buildings.

The government justified its action, claiming that the residents, who were yet to complete their payments, were owing over N800 million.

It maintained that the sealing of the houses of defaulters had no political undertone, alleging that the affected persons “have bluntly refused to meet their contractual obligations to the government”.

In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Idowu Adelusi, in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the government said of the 254 allocated houses in the estate, only 37 allottees had paid fully.

He added that 217 allottees were yet to complete payment.

“The total amount being owed by the allottees as at the time Governor Ayo Fayose assumed office was N904,635,556.57.

“Total amount recovered since the governor assumed office was N82 million. Some of the allottees have sold or rented out the houses allocated to them.

“The allottees cut across political parties, as there are notable leaders of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and APC among them. It is, therefore, not political. Over N800 million is being owed by the allottees as at today.

“Today alone, over N5 million was paid by some of the allottees. The government is insisting that allottees, who have declined to pay for the houses allocated to them, must pay. Those who are not defaulting did not have their houses sealed.”

But the APC alleged that the action was primarily targeted at its leaders, members, innocent civil servants and the public perceived to have sympathy for the party.

In a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC described the action as “barbaric, heartless and brut-

ish, as a four-day-old baby and her mother were locked inside the house”.

The APC said: “The action was like a movie from the blues as dangerous-looking thugs and some policemen from the Government House invaded the estate and started harassing residents, sealing off their houses.

“This caused panic among residents, including women and children, some of whom suffered shock,” he explained.

Olatunbosun regretted that the governor behaved “in this reckless manner”, even though there were subsisting mortgage agreements, which allowed the residents to pay over five to 10 years, “but Fayose insisted that all the money must be paid within one month”.

“As if this harassment was not enough, bulldozers have been moved into the estate to demolish structures, which they claimed were constructed without approval in an apparent move to inflict pain on our members.

“If approval was not obtained, the right thing to do is to ask such people to pay the required amount and not to resort to demolition, which is in bad faith,” he said.

Olatunbosun added that the governor earlier impounded monetised vehicles to political appointees, who served in Fayemi’s administration.

Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to save APC members from the governor’s iron rule, Olatunbosun warned that further harassment of APC members would be resisted.

“Fayose should be called to order by all men and women of goodwill, as his reign of impunity is becoming embarrassing to all citizens of the state. His continuous trampling on the fundamental rights of citizens should be checked without further delay,” Olatunbosun said.

•Govt’s agents demolish buildings, shops •Three-day-old baby, mother locked inside house From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

ernment’s action as unwarranted and witch-hunting.

He added that the residents signed mortgage agreements ranging between 10 to 25 years for civil servants and five to 10 years for politicians, which, he said, the state government had

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

contravened.

Orebe, who displayed evidence of his payment before reporters, explained that he had fulfilled his obligations through the primary mortgage institution and his house was still locked with a three-day old baby inside.

He said some of them had been living in the estate since

2008 and others in 2011.

The chairman noted that it would be wrong for them to be pushed out “in a disastrous way” after contributing immensely to the estate’s development.

“Some of the landlords bought their houses through mortgage arrangements and outright purchase, which will

last for a period of between 10 and five years for the payment of the full money.

“Some of us have renovated our residences, spending several thousands of naira. Some of the landladies are widows, whose husbands bought the house and died few months after they got here.

“These widows have no

•Fayose

means of livelihood and there is no way they can continue with the payments. Should we now ask those people to vacate for their inabilities to pay?” he queried.

Orebe added: “My people are aware of their indebtedness and we have even confirmed that to the government when the deputy governor met with us. But it will be difficult for us to pay this huge amount within a spate of short time.

“But if proper arrangement is worked out, the government will get its money and it will at the same time be easy for us to pay. We shall be grateful, if the state government could grant us this opportunity.”

The General Manager, Ekiti State Housing Corporation, Soji Awe, refused to comment on the development.

For now, many residents do not know their fate. Whether they would be thrown out of their homes completely or be given the grace to pay up as some of the buildings have been demolished by the task force.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

8

NEWS ‘Rites of passage’ for Sijuwade continue at Oduduwa shrine

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ITES of passage for the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Olubuse II, continued yesterday.

Members of an unidentified fraternity group, which he belonged, went to the Oduduwa Shrine in the ancient town as well as other sacred forests in the early hours to perform further sacrifices.

It was gathered that the heads of the fraternity groups in the town were mandated to start invoking their different gods and embarking on “the necessary rituals for the late monarch”.

It was gathered that the traditionalists at the shrines and forests of the deities had been assigned specific duties that must be proportionate with the

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

sacrifices suitable for the transition of Oba Sijuwade.

Some of the deities’ heads picked for the assignments, include Osogun, Obalara, Lana and Emese, who were all operating under Isoro Deity - the father of deities in Ife. The head of the Isoro Deity, known as Obadio, was said to be in charge of the dialects and languages of the gods and goddesses of the ancient town.

It was gathered that Obalara is in charge of Obalufon Shrine and Emese, who is to spread the news of event as it unfolds, had been reportedly urged to be on the alert to perform their duties in accordance with the town’s culture and tradition.

Don’t be deterred, Aregbesola told From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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N All Progressives Congress (APC) leader in Canada, Prince Adewale Akanbi, has advised the Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola not to be deterred by the economic challenges facing the state.

Speaking with reporters in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, he said the governor needed to be focused and not distracted by the “antics of the opposition”, which he maintained were aimed “at frustrating his government from taking the state out of the woods”.

Akanbi, who noted that Aregbesola should be praised for his administration’s lofty and people-oriented policies and programmes, said the economic climate nationwide was not favourable and “it requires ingenious and visionary leadership to manage scarce and available resources”.

The APC chieftain, a contestant to the vacant Oluwo stool, urged Aregbesola to ensure that the people were properly briefed about the state poor financial condition as well as his efforts at finding solution to it.

On a petition by a judge of the state High Court, Justice Folaranmi Oloyede - who called for the impeachment of the governor and his deputy, Chief Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori the APC chieftain said it was meant to destabilise the state.

He hailed the courage of the governor and his deputy in steering the ship of the state in the face of provocation from the opposition.

Adeboye advises citizens to be righteous always •38 women delivered of babies at RCCG convention

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HE General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged the citizenry to embrace righteousness in all they do.

He spoke at the Opening Plenary of the 63rd Annual Convention of RCCG at the Arena, Redemption Camp, Km 46 on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The programme, entitled: “All Sufficient God”, brought together millions of Christian faithful from 188 countries.

It featured bible teachings, business seminar, prophetic ministration, melody hour, prayer and ordinations of new deacons, assistant pastors, pastors and graduation ceremony of Bible students.

The arena was filled to ca-

By Adeola Ogunlade

pacity and security operatives were on ground.

Environmental sanitation volunteers from each of the provinces of the church, in their thousands, worked at different areas of the 1.1 km land mass to make it clean.

Commercial activities also picked up, as traders, who were properly positioned, make the camp a non-stop business haven.

Calendars, books, tee-shirts and caps with the inscription of theme of the convention were made available for sale.

Over 38 women gave birth to 21 girls and 17 boys.

No fewer than 9,170 deacons, 2007 assistant pastors and 1,184 pastors were ordained at the session led by the Pastor Adeboye.

The cleric said God is the father of light and every of His children must make frantic effort to beam the light of Jesus in every corner they find themselves as true sons and daughters of the Father.

He noted that there were two forces controlling the world the forces of light and that of darkness.

He insisted that everyone must choose each of the forces with their implications.

Pastor Adeboye added that the forces of darkness were devils, demons, liars, fraudsters, idolaters, fighters and other evil appellations.

The forces of light, he said, “are glory, joy, peace, success, progress, gain, life and breakthrough”.

The general overseer added that “all sufficient God is the

•Pastor Adeboye

Father of light and anyone who is a child of God must represent Him in its entirety”.

Pastor Adeboye asserted that for anyone to see God in the last day or to become the bride of Jesus or dwell continually in His presence, absolute purity was imperative.

“We will attract sickness, attacks, disease, backwardness and failure, when we play with sin no matter how small they may be because God is angry with the wicked every day,” he said.

Lawyer counsels student leaders on education

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GUN State-based philanthropist and legal practitioner, Atanda Ibrahim, yesterday advised officials of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) not to allow “students unionism or activism” to stand in the way of their education.

Ibrahim, who advocated that NANS could diligently champion whatever legitimate cause it has, said the drivers of such cause should know that “education is paramount and key to the future.”

The former President, National Association of Kwara State Students, spoke in Abeokuta, the state capital, while being presented with the NANS’ Philanthropist of Our Time Award by officials of the students union.

He not that activism has its merits, but said “students’ education comes first and

Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

should not be made victim of unionism or activism”.

He noted that in his time as union leader, he did not allow the office to constitute an “impediment or clog” to his studies.

Ibrahim lauded NANS for recognising his little contributions towards giving indigent ones in the society access to education and rewarding same with the award.

He urged them to be lawabiding and persevere, saying with hard work and prayer, they would become better and successful members of the society. The NANS’ National Vice President, Esinrogunjo Musbau, who led the fourman award delegation, said the awardee was honoured because of his “commitment to service, magnanimity, humility and students-friendly inclinations.”

•From left: Regional Business Manager, Lagos Region, Grand Oak Limited Gibson Akiojano; Managing Director, Mofal Stores Olagoke Oluwafemi; Manager, Latidoes Hotel Moji Eyinfe and Senior Brand Manager, Mainstream Brands, Grand Oak Limited Oluwafemi Afolabi Falomo, at the Regal Afrobeat Party at the Afrika Shrine, Ikeja.

Police arraign suspected killer of Iyaloja of Ijebuland

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OMMISSIONER of Police Abdulmajid Ali said yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, that one person has been arrested and arraigned in court in connection with the murder of Iyaloja of Ijebuland, Chief Sadia Elewuju.

Ali, who spoke at Eleweran, the state Police Command Headquarters while parading no fewer than 23 suspected criminals, said the suspected killer of the 82-year-old woman, was the last person, who saw the Iyaloja before her death.

The octogenarian was hacked to death at her residence at Sabo area of Ijebu-

•Threaten to shoot armed cultists, others From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Ode on Wednesday, July 8.

Though the police chief declined to say the identity of the suspect, he said investigations led to the conclusion that he carried out the killing.

He said: “We didn’t want to parade him because it’s a case that we have already charged to court. From all the available information and the investigation conducted, the boy is a very close person to the woman. He was the person that saw the Iyaloja last and he was also the one that

took care of her.”

Ali urged his men to come out hard on armed cultists and ritualists, adding that it would not amount to extrajudicial killing.

He said: “I want to inform you that the issue of cultism and rituals will not be treated with levity any longer.

We will not tolerate any nonsense again because treating them as cult members is giving them some opportunity to continue to involve in these activities.

“These people are murderers and armed robbers. If you see an armed robber in action

, what do you do? We will confront them and that’s exactly what should be done. These people are no longer cultists; they are maiming people, killing people, kidnapping people and you are calling them cultists.

“They are not cultists; it’s a serious offence and so we should treat them as such. So, it’s not issue of extra-judicial killing. No. These acts should not be treated with kidgloves; it should be treated with seriousness and that’s what I intend to do in the state.

We are being covered by the police force order.”

Oyo chief alleges threat over selection of monarch

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HE head of kingmakers in AgoAre in Atisbo Local Government Area of Oyo State, Chief Jonathan Kehinde Adetoro, has alleged that he is being threatened by some people, who want to force the kingmakers to falsify documents on the selection of the town’s monarch.

Calling on the aggrieved parties to seek redress in court, Adetoro vowed that no threat would make the

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

kingmakers change the result of the election in which a kingdesignate was picked.

The Agoro of Ago-Are also warned against any attempt to disturb the peace of the community.

He gave the warning yesterday while addressing reporters on the processes the kingmakers took to elect a new traditional ruler following the

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

demise of Oba Oladoke Jubril Gbadewolu.

Some men, numbering about 20, led by one of the 15 applicants for the stool, were said to have stormed the home of Adetoro in protest against the election.

Though the matter was promptly reported to the town’s elders, he said the process to produce the next oba was done under a free and fair atmosphere.

He further explained that

after the presentation of 15 applicants to the kingmakers by the head of the Edu Ruling House, Alhaji Lawal Oyebisi, an election was held, where one of the applicants scored four votes, another polled two votes and the remaining ones had none.

“Before the election, the kingmakers ensured that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ago Are, the official of the Directorate of State Services (DSS), the officials of

the local government and all the applicants were present.

We also invited other observers and there was video recording. At the end of the election, all the applicants signed the result indicating that they accepted the outcome of the election, and we have forwarded the documents to the appropriate authorities.

“So, if anyone now is complaining, I will advise that such a person should seek redress in the court and we will

present all the facts and evidence in our disposal. No one can intimidate us. They want us (the kingmakers) to forge the document, and this we cannot do,” he said.

A community leader and former Chairman of Atisbo Local Government, Mr. Josiah Makanjuola, reiterated that “no person or group of persons can drag the community backward”.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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10

FRIDAY AUGUST 7, 2015

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Can Ikpeazu fulfill his campaign promises?

These are challenging times for Abia State. The infrastructure battle cannot be abandoned. There is much work to do. But, the resources are depleting. How will Governor Okezie Ikpeazu navigate the difficult ship of state? Asks Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

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OR EIGHT years, Abia State was bogged down by some predecessor-successor tension, which degenerated into a protracted crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The state is poor. But, being a commercial nerve centre, it has prospects. But, the potential was not fully tapped. During the last election, the people voted for the former university don, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, to run the state.

The governor swung into action immediately. Although his attention is being diverted by the post-election litigation, he remains focused. Ikpeazu, who was a member of the previous administration, is conversant with its strengths and weaknesses. However, the governor, like his counterparts in many states, is constrained by the cash crunch.

Ikpeazu embarked on value engineering.

He introduced a frugal approach to management. Leading by example, he cut his salary by half. That singular move was meant to send the signal that he planned to run a prudent government that gives no room for wastages. But, according to stakeholders, slashing of salary is not the only solution. All the drain pipes and loopholes exploited by government officials should be blocked.

The governor has also taken some steps to cut the cost of governance. In his view, governance is not a tea-party or about showmanship. He said he would only embark on few trips as demanded by his work. But, during those trips, he has demonstrated discipline by travelling with not more than three aides, thereby cutting significantly, the cost of foreign trips by officials.

Ikpeazu has ordered a comprehensive staff audit in the civil service to enable government determine its actual staff strength. The goal is to weed out ghost workers through an Integrated Payroll Verification System. Addressing workers, he said: “I promise to pay salary every 24th of each month”.

The infrastructure battle is a priority. Thus, the governor kicked off with the silted Aba drainage. To succeed, many people believe that the cooperation of Aba residents is important. Aba holds the ace to the economic

prosperity of Abia. The two markets-Ariare and Aregua-are in bad shape. But, the bulk of the internally generated revenue comes from the commercial ventures there. When the governor was inspecting of projects in the commercial town, residents told him that “once government is able to get Aba right, Abia will be alright.”

In Ikpeazu’s view, the IGR should be jerked up, if any tangible project is to be implemented.

He has set up the Abia State Economic Advancement Team, of which he is the chairman, to drive the state’s economic growth. “It is the task of this team to drive the IGR of the state from an average of N350 million to N1.5billion within our first year in office,” he said.

The governor has also established the Office of Aba Urban Renewal. The aim is to develop the state by making Aba the launch pad and ensure that Aba becomes the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Capital of Nigeria. As he promised during his campaigns, he has awarded the construction of seven roads in Aba .

The roads have streetlights. Work has already started on site. The governor plans to commission them in his first 100 days in office. He has directed that the relevant tax collection agencies should stop the collection of taxes and levies so that the system can be automated and harmonised by the Economic Advancement Team.

Ikpeazu’s vision to transform the state into a centre of commerce, where business is conducted seamlessly, and in a secure and clean environment, ,may become a reality. In his projection, Abia is billed to be one of the cleanest states and biggest contributors to the nation’s treasury by virtue of its increased IGR. To meet the new IGR benchmark of N1.5billion, there are existing structures to build upon. For example, when the new Umuahia City, with modern malls, recreational parks, housing estates, and an International Conference Centre capable of boosting the states revenue through tourism is amplified with the rapid rebuilding of Aba, the state would wear a new look.

The bulk of the internally generated revenue comes from the commercial ventures there. When the governor was inspecting projects in the commercial town, residents told him that “once government is able to get Aba right, Abia will be alright

•Ikpeazu The centre will accommodate about 9,000 persons. It has a main hall, four conference halls and a banquet hall. It also has with a VIP lounge, gallery, offices and a huge parking lot. A huge revenue is expected to be generated by the government from the building when the centre begins to host big events. The centre will serve the entire Southsouth region.

It will only be rivaled by the Calabar International Convention Centre in Cross River State.

The centre is aided by an advanced information technology. Events can be recorded and the signal beamed live for people to watch anywhere in the world. When completed, it will boost tourism.

Aba is the seat of cottage industries. The governor has promised to develop the sector. “It will generate employment and contribute to our drive for self-sufficiency,” the governor said.

According to sources, the move would enjoy the support of local financial organisations and international organisations, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Recently, the African Development Bank

(AfDB) approved a $200 million facility for the state to tackle the challenges of water, sanitation and road construction. With this fund, which Ikpeazu said would be judiciously used for the construction of Port-Harcourt Road and other roads, the challenges of refuse dumping and deplorable roads may be a thing of the past. The Office of Aba Urban Renewal has commenced work on the drainage system in Aba. Another critical issue is security. Former Governor Theodore Orji started the battle to rid the state of crime. The onus is on Ikpeazu to build on the foundation.

This, perhaps, explains why the government has immediately taken over the security of Enyimba Hotel. The hotel was reportedly bought some 20 years ago by the Aba Chambers of Commerce. Later, it became the hiding place for criminals. However, the hotel is now wearing a new look.

Investment opportunities abound in Abia State for genuine and serious investors. The governor has assured the investors of a safe environment.

The governor said he will defend all sectors-education, health, transport, and social welfare. He described himself as a tested and trusted administrator. But, the members of the opposition do not believe him. To them, he is an impostor in power.

The governor’s victory is still being challenged in court. His challenger is Dr. Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Will he survive at the tribunal and court? If he survives, he will focus on his programmes and work hard to fulfill his campaign promises. If he does not survive, a new government will take over from him.

Kogi polls: Bello unfolds manifesto

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OGI STATE All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant Yahaya Bello has unfolded his manifesto at a party meeting in Lokoja, the state capital, urging the people to vote for power shift.

He told party followers that Kogi can only move forward, if it is led by a progressive governor.

Bello lamented that the state remained poor because its resources are not fully tapped.

He said: “Created in 1991, Kogi State boasts about 29 of the 34 internationally recognised mineral resources in Nigeria. But what do we have to show for this rich natural endowment? Absolutely nothing! Kogi State is, sadly enough, one of the poorest in Nigeria.”

Bello said the next APC government will break the shackles of retardation, retrogression, stagnation, and underdevelopment., if the people vote for change.

Bello will fight for the APC ticket at the primaries along with Prince Abubakar Audu, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed and Senator AbatemiUsman.

Bello began his career in 2001 at

By Enitan Seriki

the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member. He rose to the position of Chief Accounting Officer. He ventured into stock trading with portfolio spanning oil and gas, and finance.

He explained that he entered the race to salvage the Northcentral state.

Unfolding his five-point agenda, he said: “Education is not a luxury but a right. There will be education for all. I will overhaul the health system. I will create jobs, develop infrastructure and reform the pension system.

He said: “Education equips people with the required skills to become self-reliant and therefore, rescue themselves from poverty. We will give conditional cash grants to indigent students, school meal vouchers, full and partial scholarships. We will foster early childhood/youth leadership development, school-based child health intervention, including free and subsidized healthcare. We will provide new school infrastructures and educational aids and materials, teaching

resources, incentives for vocational and apprenticeship schemes, and continuous training of teachers.”

He added: “An idle hand is the devils tool and idle minds his workshop. The battle against unemployment will be waged through strategies to enhance both employability and employment opportunities for the people of Kogi State. I feel the pains of my fellow Kogi youths who cannot find gainful employment.”

Bello promised “industry-specific training schemes that will work hand-in-hand with our proposed incentivized vocational and apprenticeship schemes under our educational action plans.” He said, without formal education, every Kogi youth will have the opportunity to get into a profitable venture through “training and support that will guarantee a decent livelihood.”

He said: “Opportunities will be created in agriculture, mining, trade and commerce, artisanship.”

On tourism, he said: “A vibrant tourism industry is a sine-quanon for a revitalised Kogi State in view of its historical and strategic vantage position as a meeting point of the diverse cultural heritage of the rich

nation of Nigeria. Specifically, amusement parks, horticultural gardens, zoos, arcades, boat regattas, festival and cultural venues, among many more, are in the work.”

He added: “”Kogi State is the solid minerals capital of Nigeria.

The most strategic minerals are buried in the bowels of our dear state, but the lackluster successive administrations have been blind to these jewels of nature all around us. Of the thirty-four (34) most important minerals in Nigeria, 29 are in Kogi State. We have a master-plan to partner with the Federal Government and ensure that these blessings no longer lie fallow in our land while our people go hungry and unemployed”.

Bello promised to develop agriculture, adding that “by the time we are two years in office, the sector would be employing at least 100,000 Kogi indigenes in diverse capacities.”

He also promised to defend the health sector by refurbishing and equipping existing health facilities to international standards.

Reiterating his determination to fight infrastructure battle, he said: “Investors are generally drawn to

•Bello developing the economy when there is availability of basic infrastructure and an enabling environment such as accessibility through a good road network, power, piped water and other utilities. We intend to open up our economic space by focusing on revenue-generating infrastructure ranging from rural roads, water supply by extending the reach of the Greater Lokoja Water works to adjoining towns while building from the scratch many independent rural water projects.”

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

‘When modular refineries are operated, they would be refining smaller quantities of crude oil, create jobs, and help grow the economy’ •Former Commander of JTF, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe

FAAN boss seeks central quality control for Aviation fuel

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• Vice President, Trust & Safety, Emeka Ajene, Konga (middle),presenting a N20,000 free shopping voucher/cheque to Senior Manager, Traumacare International Foundation, Ena Tobor (second leftt) as part of Konga’s Customer Appreciation Programme to mark its 3rd anniversary in Lagos. With them from left, are Head, Dispute Resolution, Ruby Chuka, Head of PR & Brand Management, Olatomiwa Akande and Head, General Merchandise, Ore Odusanya

Commission urges Fed Govt to fix debt limit for MDAs, states

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HE Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Victor Muruako yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to fix debt limit for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the state governments.

He said although the FRC Act stipulates that 90 days after the commencement of the Act, governments should fix debt limit, steps have not been taken to fix the limit of how much governments and agencies can borrow or owe.

This has given the states and MDAs the liberty to borrow endlessly, pointing out that the lacuna, has made it impossible for the commission to hold the establishment accountable for exceeding any debt limit Muruako, who spoke at the meeting on modalities for Fiscal Responsibility Index in Abuja, said the states and federal government’s MDAs have always hidden under the belief that there is no prescribed constitutional limit to how much they can borrow or owe, hence, they cannot be controlled in this regard.

“The Act provides that 90 days

From John Ofikhenua and Hope Ayorinde, Abuja

after its commencement, the federal government should take the bold step to fix the debt limit As we speak, no step has been taken along that line to fix the debt limit so that leaves the door open that even when you accuse some agencies and some states of over borrowing they will ask you what is their limit. Of course, we don’t have it. So, we are appealling that at this stage the debt limit should be fixed,”Muruako said.

He revealed that the Commission succeeded in getting the MDAs to remit over N350billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) as at May 2015.

He said that all the MDAs and the scheduled corporations are required to supply accurate and reliable data and information to the commission on request, failing which the commission is empowered by Section 2(1) of the FRA to compel the defaulting person or agency to comply.

He called on the Federal Government, the MDAs, parastatals and the National Assembly to cooperate and ensure that the budget planning starts in April

and the Appropriation Act is signed latest by the end of December in the year preceding the budget year so that the implementation of the budget can commence from January of the budget year.

According to Muruako, “government has since 2009 not kept to the provisions of Section 12 of the FRA which puts the fiscal deficit threshold at three per cent of the GDP. This violation is a major threat to the objectives of the Act. On operating surplus and general reserve fund of schedules corporations, the he said that section 22 of the Act provides that one-fifth (20%) of the operating surplus is to be retained by each of the scheduled corporation at the end of each financial year, while four-fifth (80%) of the operating surplus is to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

Some MDAs, said Muruako, use different accounting methods and practices in arriving at the operation surplus.

He added that : “In order to standardize the practice, the commission has come up with an operating surplus template that will soon be presented for

Nigeria, Benin Customs take steps to eradicate smuggling

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CRACKDOWN on smuggling is being intensified after the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Customs Service of the Republic of Benin Customs Service, yesterday took delivery of five Nissan Frontier Vehicles donated by the Nigeria Customs Service as logistics support to increase cross border survelliance.

Receiving the vehicles in Seme, the Director-General, Customs Administration of Benin Republic, Brigadier Charles Sezan, said the donation was one of the major pledges made by the Comptroller-General of NCS, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko to support the Benin Customs in the move to strengthen survelliance of control points to prevent the entry of contraband or prohibited ar-

By Daniel Essiet

ticles.

Considering the porousity at the borders of both countries, Sezan said Benin is ready to step up surveillance and inspection at the control points to prevent smuggling and that the NCS has demonstrated its readiness for the further crackdown on smuggling by supporting her with logistics vehicles.

He said both customs administration have national and moral responsibilities to ensure that trans-border traders get the best of support and protection while transacting their businesses and traveling through its operational areas.

He explained that both countries customs were partnering to operate as what he called ‘sister customs,’ which he believes has to impact on the social and

economic lives of the people, including in the area of security, which he noted is creating a challenge that must be dealt with through collaborative efforts.

NCS Area Conmtroller (CAC), Seme Border Command, Comptroller Ndalati Garb, who represented Dikko at the event, assured that the NCS would do everything within its powers to sustain the existing trade co-operation between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin for the mutual benefits of the citizens of both countries.

He said Nigeria identified inter agency and inter customs rapport between NCS and the Benin Republic Customs and Police as a strategy that will not only facilitate legitimate trade but also enhance regional security.

discussion and possible adoption.”

Speaking, Barrister Eze Onyekpere of Centre for Social Justice and Fiscal Responsibility Index (FRI) sought for the review, inputs and critique of the FRI process so as to make it responsive to the needs of MDAs and the service delivery process.

HE managing director of Federal Airports Au thority of Nigeria ( FAAN) Saleh Dunoma has advocated a central quality control procedure for aviation fuel supplied by independent marketers to domestic and foreign carriers operating in Nigeria.

Dunoma said the central quality control measure has become imperative to ensure that aviation fuel supplied complied with the required standards by the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO).

Towards this end, he said FAAN, fuel suppliers and airlines would meet soon to arrive at the best quality of the product to be certified by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Organization ( NCAA).

He also urged aviation agencies to initiate quality control procedures to strenghten controls over Jet A1, otherwise known as aviation fuel .

Dunoma stated this while delivering a keynote address at the 2015 Annual public lecture organised by the Aeronautical Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).

He commended the enginers for contributing

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

positively to the development of the aviation sector. Dunoma advocated strict adherence to the Public Procurement act so as to safeguard the integrity of the profession.

The FAAN boss revealed that his Authority has all engineering drawings and manuals for all facilities at the airport to facilitate easy repairs of airport facilities.

He assured that FAAN will continue to comply with all procurement requirements, to enable it run an efficient air transport system.

The Director General of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Emeka Ezeh ,at the lecture, implored stakeholders to adhere strictly to provisions in the Public Procurement Act. He charged engineers to checkmate corrupt tendencies that could hamper the intergrity of the process.

Earlier in their separate remarks, the chairman of the occassion, Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, and host of the lecture Group Capt John Obakpolor enjoined engineers to live up to the ethics of the profession.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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BUSINESS NEWS

Lafarge-Holcim merger to produce 14mtpa

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HE completion of on going Lafarge-Holcim merger is expected to produce about 14 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of cement.

Already, the merger has increased the production capacity of the firm to 8.5 mtpa.

Additional 5.5metric tons (Mt) is expected from the cement giant by the time it begins full operation. This bring the total capacity to 14 Mtpa. The country’s total demand last year was 21 Mtpa.

Lafarge-Holcim Ltd, was borne out of the merger of equals between Lafarge and Holcim has made its debut on the Swiss and Paris stock exchanges.

In a statement, the firm said the merger created a company with combined sales of

By Toba Agboola

$42 billion and operations in 90 countries.

The firm which operates in Nigeria under the brand name of Lafarge Africa, emerged last year through the combination of Lafarge’s Nigerian and South African assets.

Lafarge Africa Plc is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), rather than Johannesburg, a sign of Lafarge’s growing confidence in the strength of the Nigerian economy, which is Africa’s largest.

Head, Macro Economics and Fixed Income Research at FBN Capital, Gregory Kronsten, said at the time of the listing, the proposal to list on the NSE would have been unthinkable

five years ago.

LafargeHolcim through its Nigerian listed arm Lafarge Africa Plc is the leading company in building materials in sub-Saharan Africa and has grown into a diversified building solutions group with broad product portfolio and various iconic brands.

Its presence in Nigeria has helped to shake up the entrenched market by bringing competition, best practices and more choices for consumers.

In accordance with the Group’s strategic vision to create a leading Sub-Saharan Africa building materials company, last year, Lafarge Africa concluded all regulatory processes for the acquisition of Lafarge S.A’s interests in Lafarge affiliate companies.

The affiliate companies and

interests held by Lafarge SA and acquired by Lafarge Africa Plc are: AshakaCem Plc 58.61 per cent of the equity shareholding held by Lafarge Nigeria (UK) Limited; and Atlas Cement Company Limited 100 percent of the equity shareholding, held by Lafarge Nigeria (UK) Limited; Others are Lafarge South Africa Holdings (Pty) Limited 100 percent of the equity shareholding held by Financière Lafarge S.A. Limited; and Egyptian Cement Holding B.V., 50 percent of the equity shareholding representing an indirect holding of 35.00 percent of the equity shareholding of United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited held by Lafarge Cement International B.V.

IPMAN raises committee to curb sharp practices at Capital Oil

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HE Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas In dustry, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah yesterday said the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has raised a sevenman committee to curb the irregularities in the lifting of petroleum products from his terminal.

Ubah, who addressed journalists in Abuja, yesterday, said that the committee has signed a Memoradum of Understanding (MoU) with his firm.

He said: “Their representative in Capital Oil today is signing a MoU with our management that they will set up a seven-man committee among IPMAN. I think that will be the only thing. I

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

think we are getting out of it. IPMAN to set up a seven man committee to curb the menaces of marketers who are selling products in my terminal.”

The firm had last week placed a ban on some marketers from lifting petroleum products from the terminal until they comply with the directive to deliver product at designated locations and sell at government approved prices.

The firm also noted that some marketers loaded petroleum products from its tank farm and resold the allocated product at unreasonable high prices far above prices approved by the Federal Government.

IPMAN had told reporters in Abuja last week that it had written to President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from storing petrol in Capital Oil tank farm.

Its factional President, Elder Chindu Okoronkwo alleged that over N2billion fuel belonging to IPMAN had been trapped in Capital Oil tank farm in the last eight weeks.

According to him, 60 percent of its allocation comes through Capital Oil tank farm, lamenting that the firm had refused to distribute it to the marketers.

The association also accused the firm of withholding petroleum products worth 700 tickets paid for in NNPC. But commenting on the issue yesterday, Ubah noted that the marketers were at liberty to load products from other NNPC depots but preferred his tank farm because of its efficiency in loading.

Uba said marketers were warned that unless they change from their sharp practices, Capital Oil would stop loading their trucks.

He said: “There are about six or seven depots in Lagos.

They are at liberty to go and load from any NNPC depots.

It is not about Capital Oil. “If they are keeping tickets in Capital Oil they can as well take the tickets. But Capital Oil loads everyday.

We are the only facility that loads everyday from morning to morning in Lagos. We are loading NNPC; we are loading major marketers. But we told them we will stop loading them if they continue the act.”

He, however, denied playing any role in the leadership crisis rocking the association, saying he did not influence the recognition of the Lawson Obason faction by the Federal Ministry of Labour this year.

“I have no business with them. They have their issues. I only came in to reconcile them four years ago. And that is the only thing I think I can say about that.”

According to him, in his business there is no selective sale of petroleum products to any marketers since they all pay money, irrespective of their association.

Ubah said: “We had last week indicated that we are banning some marketers from our facilities. Actually we have no problem with IPMAN. IPMAN remains our customer and we have good mutual business relationship.“

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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THE NATION

BUSINESS BRANDS & MARKETING

e-mail: adedejiademigbuji@yahoo.com /mobile line: 08131075667

Stakeholders have canvassed for collaboration among advertising professionals to develop the industry, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

Wanted: Collaboration among advertisers A

LL is not well with the advertising industry. The instability in local and international market, caused by the drop in oil prices and nose-diving naira value, among others, keep forcing clients to demand extra efforts from advertisers in the face of marketing budget cuts and inability of agencies to meet clients’ expectations.

But for stakeholders at the 42nd AGM/Congress of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, the theme of the event, Nigerian Advertising, what next?, appeared to be a call for action to foster collaboration among them.

The two key speakers were the Chief Executive Officer of Noah’s Ark, Lanre Adisa, and General Manager, Marketing, Airtel, Dele Anifowoshe.

Adisa emphasised the importance of collaboration with foreign agencies, Anifowoshe talked about the need for marketing communication agencies and clients to partner if things must get better.

Anifowoshe said the challenging business environment was driving clients’ decision making and defining relationships with its partners. This is why businesses are managed weekly, rather than waiting for the end of a quarter, which is too late to respond to fastchanging market and competition, he added.

He wondered if agencies appreciatedtheir efforts because, among other things, clients have to deliver more with less and are seeking a better, faster and cheaper attitude from agencies.

Chief marketing officers, Anifowoshe said, must account for returns on their advertising investment, and agencies must continue to struggle to prove their value.

He listed what clients are looking for in agencies to include greater knowledge of the digital

• Aregbesola

space; more use of pull interactions; agencies that understand consumer behaviour and demonstrate strategic thinking; branding and creative capabilities in conventional and digital marketing and ability to measure success.

While a former AAAN President, Funmi Onabolu disagreed on the business model, it was noted that clients dictated the economic model because they do not see and treat agencies as business partners.

•Nwosu

Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Mr. Udeme Ufot, said though the council put reform in place, it did not yeid the desired result.

Meanwhile, Adisa said the new APCON reform should be reviewed, adding that the 25 per cent stake for foreign agencies willing to startup or invest in local agencies should be increased to 49 per cent.

President of the association, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, said the car-

FirstBank, Lork Enterprise to promote arts, culture F IRSTBANK of Nigeria and Lork Enterprise LLP are partnering to support creative arts to boost the tourism industry and the economy.

The First@arts initiative is aimed at promoting entertainment as a vehicle for cohesion among families and friends and it demonstrates the bank’s dynamism as a provider of services that meet the needs of its customers.

Addressing reporters on the initiative, FirstBank’s Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Folake AniMumuney, represented by Bridget Oyefeso Odusami, Head of Sponsorship and Events, said the initiative would provide a platform to drive various arts and theatrical performances, television programmes and explore new avenues to create entertainment and value for its teaming audience across the globe.

By Adedeji Ademigbuji

According to her, the bank’s partnership with Lork Enterprise LLP, managers of Freedom Park, British Council and Ebony Life Television, is based on their rich pedigree to deliver credible performances as well as drive arts and culture over the years.

She explained that Freedom Park and British Council Nigeria have become rallying points for arts and theatre performances in Lagos and Nigeria and have captured the attention of the local and international community, arts-loving Nigerians locally and in the diaspora.

Ani-Mumuney also said: “FirstBank is, particularly, interested in arts and culture and has established First@arts initiative as a platform dedicated to promoting arts and culture events.

The bank has supported several theatrical performances, dance

and drama events as well as carnivals under this platform and would through our new partnerships drive further engagements for our esteemed customers, promote creativity and enterprise.”

She said for many years, the bank has influenced the history of the country through the sponsorship of various arts’ initiatives across diverse cultures and has supported the yearly Calabar festival, Enugu Carnival, Thespian Theatre and the drama and dance group, Umoja from South Africa, among others.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lork Enterprise LLP, Theo Lawson, said: “The partnership with FirstBank will change our capacity to engage and promote the bountiful latent talent we regularly come across as well as provide a rich menu of entertainment and experience for our visitors.”

dinal objective of the AGM is to evolve policies, articulate options and identify strategies for addressing national issues, particularly those that affect the advertising industry and the economy.

“Our members create experi-

ences, feelings and engagement that elevate brands, using traditional and new media to drive innovation and creative solutions. We are actually the bastion of the creative industries sometimes creating monster brands out of nothing. We stimulate demand and support industry.

“Apart from our significant contributions to oiling the economy through fueling choices to consumers, advertising, has under the auspices of AAAN, continued to act as a catalyst in promoting development in Nigeria.

“Advertising also serves to educate the public on economic opportunities and creatively promote our rich cultural heritage to achieve market relevance.

He listed the areas the association wants the Buhari administration to consider to include national re-orientation; innovation, entrepreneurship and production; local content and affirmation and management of government communication.

“Apart from our significant contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), advertising under the auspices of AAAN has continued to act as catalyst to national economic growth as well as improve the quality of life. This, we ensure by adding value to goods and services and offering informed choices to consumers.”

Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, said the advert industry has contributed tremendously to the economy by being a major employer and by a driver of trade and commerce.

ACTV launches first CableTV multi-room viewership

A

FRICAN Cable Television (ACTV) has launched the first multi-room and independent viewership on cable TV. In a statement, the Pay TV’s Director of Content (ACTV), Mr. Jide Lawrence, said: “The innovative ACTV Multi-room TV solution gives subscribers the expanded comfort and experience of viewing television contents in as much as four different rooms simultaneously and independently of each other.”

He said this was made possible with the use of one satellite dish in the homes, hotels or offices and a better four-way signal connector that feeds four rooms simultaneously and allows the use of four independent remote control units.

Before now, the market was used for the dual view decoder with viewership of channels depending on the person holding the decoder’s remote control.

But with the ACTV multi-room channel offering, subscribers can enjoy their favourite TV shows without stress.

Lawrence said: “With the ACTV Multi-room television bouquet, our subscribers can do every-

thing they wish in any of the rooms with TV without disturbing anyone else watching in other rooms. The kids can watch their cartoons, mummies can watch their soaps and daddies can watch their news or movies without the usual struggles for the remote control. Ours is a multi-independent view, meaning freedom for everyone to choose and enjoy TV content anywhere in their home.”

According to Lawrence, ACTV has carved a niche in providing cutting edge technology, innovative content and top quality entertainment at affordable prices to every and all its subscribers.

He said: “We are committed to bringing Nigerians the best and nothing else irrespective of their social class,” adding: “It is in the spirit of providing the best that the company earlier introduced the PVR functions to all levels of subscribers at an unbelievably affordable price.”

Also, ACTV has introduced its offerings at promo prices believed to be “unbeatably low for subscribers to take advantage and enjoy the innovative multiroom viewership solution”.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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Brandnews

‘Lack of substance, credibility threaten CSR’ C

REDIBILITY and lack of substance are the major challenges of some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects and programmes, the Chairman, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Chief Keith Richards, has said.

Richards spoke at the 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Public Relations Week of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos State Chapter.

The theme was CSR: Prospects and challenges in a growing economy.

He said many companies, especially, multinationals, produced glossy brochures on their CSR activities yet take decisions that have negative effect on the millions of people living in the community.

To him, if consistency, sustainability, relevance, credibility and affordability are tackled, promoters are on the path to developing a CSR programme.

Stories by Adedeji Ademigbuji

Richards affirmed that if an organisation has more than one CSR platforms, efforts should be made to ensure that they communicate consistent messages besides adopting the same approach.

He argued that mixed message could weaken impact and be less cost effective, which would make it harder to build relationships and partnerships.

The Special Guest of Honour, the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, acknowledged the leading role public relations has been playing in the development and growth of a society, ensuring not only a stable society but also one that grows in leaps and bounds economically, politically and culturally.

“The stability and growth of a society is measured by its public image and I want to say that public

relations practitioners in Lagos State have contributed in no small measure to the development and growth that makes our state a true Centre of Excellence.”

Obasa, represented by Hon, Tunde Buraimoh, said there was an urgent need for a robust partnership between the government and organised private sector anchored on the development of a virile CSR structure.

One of the discussants, Ken Egbas, also noted that CSR projects were not well-thought out as many organisations copy what other companies are doing without knowing the reasons those organisations are executing the CSR programmes.

The chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of the institute, Mr. Joseph Okonmah, said the lecture was not only apt and timely, but also worthy of discourse considering the importance of CSR in nation building.

•Keith

• Obasa

MTN gives out Modems, data

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TN Business has rolled out its enhanced broadband Internet service, MTN HyNetLTE, across Lagos.

The company said the promo was part of efforts to drive its ‘Bold New Digital World’ vision through the delivery of business-enabling solutions and technology, “Our objective is to continuously create new value for our customers. This is also part of our resolve to take small businesses to the next level through technology.

“The incredibly fast MTN HyNetLTE service is, indeed, positioned to help SMEs have an awesome broadband experience, do

business much better and ultimately turn into huge success stories,” the Acting Head of SME Segment, MTN Nigeria’s Enterprise Business Unit, Mr. Alexander Ibehre, said.

This means, he said, customers who have the old HyNet modems also have an opportunity to swap those modems FREE for the allnew LTE-enabled devices.

“All they need do is to simply visit any MTN Walk-In Centre, submit the old modem in exchange for the new one, switch on the new modem back in the office or at home – and they are ready to browse,” Ibehre said.

Chi unveils Chivita 100% campaign

C • Grenadine Homes winning team celebrating the OAAN award.

Grenadines Homes sweeps OAAN Creative Excellence Awards

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REAL estate development company, Grenadines Homes, has won the Outdoor Creative Excellence award at the Ninth Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) Awards.

The yearly OAAN Award is the industry’s gold standard which rewards and promotes creative excellence in outdoor advertising.

The panel of judges made up of very distinguished Nigerians was drawn the leading bodies in the practice of advertising in the country, including Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Brand Journalists and the Consumer Protection Council.

The ceremony, which held at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, saw Grenadines Homes win in the Public Services/Real Estate category with its ‘Shoe and the Watch’ creative outdoor advert, which was adjudged as unconventional and innovative in its communications approach.

According to the judges, ‘the Shoe and the Watch’ creative advert stood Grenadines out from other property adverts in the real estate

category.

The Director, Grenadines Homes, Mr. Adeyinka Adesope, said the award is significant for the company as it is organised by a reputable body - the OAAN. “The management of Grenadines Homes is pleased to receive the award, which is a testimony to the recognition of the silent revolution being championed by our company in the real estate sector. Grenadines stands for best in class real estate product. We want to do it in a different way hence we sought to distinguish ourselves through bold and imaginative advertising which clearly distinguishes us from the clutter,” he said.

He said he was elated that respected institutions and individuals were beginning to note and recognise the innovative role the company is playing in providing luxury and lifestyle homes in its attempt to reduce the housing deficit.

“We are encouraged by this award and we promise to continue to place innovation at the heart of our processes and products to support our customers. We want to do it in style and with a difference, that’s what Grenadines is all about; giving people beautiful homes, giving our children beautiful homes, giving people beautiful environment” he said.

The Acting Managing Director, Grenadines Homes, Mrs. Noimot Olatunji, said the award was a testament to the excellence service delivery that we wear as a badge of honour.

She explained: “This is the philosophy behind the creativity that we reflect in our home products, across board in terms of concept, design, architecture, aesthetics and finishing which has now enabled us clinch this award.

“It gives us so much joy to be associated with “Creative Excellence’ because we build estates that we, our customers and indeed the nation will be proud of in so many years to come,” she added Adesope said the award was a triumph for every member of the Grenadines team for their hard work and unflinching commitment to the vision of the company.

He also thanked the many loyal customers for believing in the company because they are the ones who have spurred them to think ahead in creative and architectural designs.

Adesope said managing a real estate firm was not difficult due to the various challenges that come with it, adding that it is also very rewarding if you put in the hard work and the dedication it demands.

HI Limited has unveiled its new marketing communication campaign tagged: “Chivita 100 per cent or Nothing” as part of effort to reinforce its flagship’s brand proposition and strengthen the credential of the brand in the marketplace.

The campaign, which is being deployed through TV, digital, Out of Home (OOH), consumer activation and Point of Sales (POS) initiatives, according to Chi Limited, is meant to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to quality and excellence.

Already, the commercial monitored

by The Nation, is generating buzz across the digital platform as visits to the Youtube page where the commercial has been uploaded has witnessed an upsurge in viewers.

The commercial, which is also airing on terrestrial as well as satellite television channels in Nigeria, has also created visibility and positive response from consumers.

The company’s Head of Marketing, Mr. Probal Bhattacharya, said the campaign highlights the association of Chivita 100 per cent with purity, commitment and nothing

but the best.

The television commercial has started running on major television channels, featuring top rated football stars, such as Robin Van Persie, Angel Di Maria, Antonio Valencia, Radamel Falcao, and Jonny Evans.

The advert opens with a glistening pack shot of Chivita 100 per cent fruit juice, condensation dripping the carton.

As the cap is opened, the camera zooms inside the pack into a world of juice, wherein superstars of football showcase their soccer skills with a “Juice Ball” on a football pitch filled with pure natural appetising juice.

The commercial goes on to show these football mega stars doing amazing things inside the juice pack with the voice over, saying “Chivita 100 per cent Juice-made from real natural fruits..with no preservative and no added sugar.” This is followed by a payoff line saying: “The best always believes in 100 per cent …100 per cent commitment ... 100 per cent quality ... 100 per cent achievement”, as we are treated with spectacular football skills from Angel Di Maria, Valnecia & finally a super goal by Van Persie.

Honeywell Excellence Programme holds graduation

H

ONEYWELL Group has graduated the Ninth Class of its Excellence Programme.

Inaugurated in 1993, the Honeywell Excellence Programme (HEP) has produced nine sets of trainees.

The programme was borne of the vision of the Group’s Chairman, Dr. Oba Otudeko, to provide a platform for young, intelligent graduates of tertiary institutions to hone their business management skills by providing them with a comprehensive and robust training in business management principles, over a year.

Speaking at the graduation in Lagos, Otudeko said: ‘’In Nigeria’s march towards economic greatness, the place of a smart, knowledgeable

and resourceful workforce cannot be over-emphasised. This all-important requirement is what Honeywell Group seeks to augment with the Honeywell Excellence Programme initiative. ‘’The programme is indeed a veritable platform to nurture and groom the next generation of business leaders as the programme’s content is targeted at bridging the wide gap between the standard university curriculum and the business world’s expectation of graduates. The group has built a solid track record in the business environment; successfully establishing thriving, world-class companies which are market leaders in their respective sectors.”

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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Faced with unpredictable weather conditions, many Nigerians are turning to greenhouse farming technology to increase food production and supplement their income. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Farmers explore greenhouse farming to T increase food security O boost food production, farmers have been in search of crops cultivation technologies that would help them control the climate for their plants 24 hours a day.

This will allow their plants grow strong, healthy and big. One of these is under net houses. Net houses are framed or inflated structures covered with transparent or translucent material large enough to grow crops under partial or full controlled environmental conditions to get optimum growth and productivity. Net house farming, also known as greenhouses is fast gaining popularity among farmers because it enables them grow exotic vegetables, flowers and fruits throughout the year and help to improve the depleting water table.

This means farmers can grow crops anytime of the year and make the most use of land. The technology gives plants exactly what they need – the perfect climate, the right amount of light, the right amount of nutrition, exact amounts of water and carbon dioxide and proper ventilation.

According to experts, the yield under greenhouse cultivation can be achieved to the level of 5-8 times as compared to the open crop cultivation which is two times.

Also, it is possible to harvest a single crop round year with minimum additional inputs and higher income can be generated.

Vegetables and flowers grown under greenhouses have given high returns and top quality produced. The potential of floriculture under protected cultivation is huge for global markets.

One of the companies that have adopted greenhouse farming is Vegefresh Company Limited, an indigenous producer of tomato paste. This is to help the company achieve the goals of its National Integrated Tomato Development Programme which has commenced in Ogun and other states of the federation.

The company farms and processes tomatoes. The addition of green houses enables it to produce tomatoes all year round.

Its Chairman, Mr. Samuel Johnson Samuel said the company acquired greenhouses to enable it produce tomato year round and provide raw materials for its tomato processing plants.

Under the net houses, the plants are protected from wind, precipitation, excess radiation and temperature. The other benefits are that crops of good quality and higher yield can be grown, water requirement is very less, while the low labour-intensive method helps in controlling pests and diseases.

Indeed, Samuel is excited about his tomato project having seen the potential of a year-long harvest to service his tomato processing business. Though acquiring it costs some few millions, the facilities provide atmosphere for growth that is unaffected by outside changes.

Due to very little sunlight access, humidity of the fertiliser is maintained, external insects and organisms that harm a plant don’t enter it and plant growth is even due to same climatic condition.

To date, greenhouse farming has proved popular with big farmers

• Low-cost greenhouse

• Okunoye

• Samuel

and investors, who find it suitable for labour-intensive food production. The facility providers believe greenhouses represent potential growth market for a variety of economical, environmentally technical and ecological reasons and they are taking advantage of this to grow their businesses.

An example is Dizengoff West Africa Nigeria, a member of the United Kingdom Balton CP Group and few of the organisations that have introduced greenhouse farming system into the market.

For the company, if Nigeria has to emerge as an economic power, agricultural productivity should equal those countries, which are currently rated as economic pow-

ers of the world.

To this end, the sector needs a new and effective technology which can improve continuously the productivity, profitability, sustainability of the farming system. One such technology is the greenhouse technology.

Consequently, the company is training farmers and entrepreneurs on the use of its greenhouse technology for fresh vegetable production.

The training focused on the production and post-harvest management of vegetables such as tomatoes, pepper and cucumber using the greenhouse technology.

Its Marketing Communications Manager, Humphrey Otalor said

the company has over 300 greenhouses across Nigeria.

His words: “Over the past one year, we have engaged well over 200 greenhouse owners through a systemic training, which are both in theory and practical with the aim of helping farmers grow fresh vegetables in season and out of season, as well as helping them understand the different soil topography. With our greenhouses, farmers are able to grow their income levels, by growing fresh vegetable all year round: such are tomatoes, pepper, cucumber and sweet-melon. Also, some use our greenhouse for research purposes.”

Dizengoff greenhouse technology otherwise called ‘Dizengoff Farmers Kit’ is aimed at providing farmers with an all year round technique to produce and increase the yields of greenhouse crops such as tomatoes, pepper, cucumber and sweet-melon as well as provide steady incomes for the farmers. It also involves transfer of knowledge to the farmers to improve the quality of their produce, reduce field losses and ensure higher profits.

Presently, a number of farmers who have adopted the Dizengoff Farmer’s Kit are already enjoying high productivity from the system and most of them believe that with the increased demand of such crops in the market, the Kit, which is now widely being adopted, will help meet the rising demand.

In terms of affordability, Otalor said the greenhouses are affordable and they are also talking to

‘To date, greenhouse farming has proved popular with big farmers and investors, who find it suitable for labour-intensive food production. The facility providers believe greenhouses represent potential growth market for a variety of economical, environmentally technical and ecological reasons and they are taking advantage of this to grow their businesses’

some banks, to provide loans for interested farmers on a single digit interest rate. While the technology has been associated with wealthy individuals, this is changing, thanks to many initiatives to produce low cost greenhouse to support small scale farms in urban and rural areas venturing into tomato and pepper growing.

One of the farmers driving this change is Adewale Okunoye. He is an agric engineer by training.

He is developing low- cost greenhouses. Okunoye, Chief Executive, Asher Ventures and Specialities, has successfully cultivated a variety of crops at his greenhouse set up at Ajah,Lagos.

Though cheap compared to others, Okunoye has been able to achieve the objective of cultivating vegetables under a locally made greenhouse which still offer controlled conditions for the growth of different varieties of vegetables. Before he went into farming, he was into building/ construction project management.

His greenhouse, made up of low materials can be used to grow tomato, sweet peppers,orange, cucumber and vegetables. Apart from these, it can be used to cultivate varieties of flowers.

Agricultural experts said cultivating fruits, flowers and vegetables in the greenhouse year-round requires maintaining a favourable temperature inside the greenhouse for the plants. He is happy he is able to achieve this.

People aware of advantages of greenhouses have been approaching him to set up greenhouses at their farms and fields.

Okunoye went into greenhouse constructing after quitting a career in building construction. Along the line, he thought of tomato cultivation. But he realised tomato farming is better done through greenhouse. With a greenhouse, he can extend tomato growing season to three crop cycles.

Although greenhouses were available outside the country when he was starting, they were too large and too expensive for rural farmers. He thought of a way out. His words: “I got the idea of using local materials partially from my trip to East Africa in my quest to acquire the capacity to deploy the greenhouse cultivation technology. I took extensive and expensive tours around tomato greenhouse operations and from what I saw, with my background as an engineer, and my experience in construction, I came to the conclusion that I could try something similar in Nigeria.”

After failed trials, Okunoye has produced a perfectly functional type. With all hardwares, it costs just N700,000. To produce for someone, he promised to do it for N800,000.

The area of the greenhouse is 200m2. He opted for improvised greenhouses with lower maintenance costs that uses water more efficiently and one that can be easily moved to cut on setup costs.

His dream is to produce a greenhouse for 400,000 naira.

To Okunoye, greenhouse farming has opened a new chapter in his life.

He is able to provide food for his family and educate his children. His passion and use of cheap materials is what has driven him to attain success so far.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

Women farmers lament inability to get bank loans

Nigeria tackles illegal fishing

T

HE Federal Government has taken steps to combat illegal fishing by implementing measures to ensure that only responsible fishing companies operate on the nation’s waters.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip between $10 billion and $23 billion from the global economy, and their impact undermine the way fish stocks are managed to make it a double concern around the world.

The Director, Department of Fisheries, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Aderemi Abioye, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the government was making efforts in collaboration between fishing companies to strengthen inspections and control procedures on vessels.

He said the government was ready to work with the industry to encourage responsible fishing and promote sustainable fisheries and food security, adding that every attempt is made towards developing

Stories by Daniel Essiet

the industry.

Abioye said the government was encouraging stakeholders to focus on fishery products that must be the result of appropriate trawling equipment and methods that do not harm the environment, use legal labour, and attain the required food safety standards.

Globally, he said United States and the European Union (EU) represent the largest market for Nigerian shrimp exports and that the government ensures shrimp and fish exporters comply with international regulations on country of origin to help US and EU consumers know where the shrimp and the fish they purchase was produced.

Under international Country of Origin Labeling Law, labels on fresh seafood are required to tell consumers where the fish was farmed or wild-caught.

He said the nation was making sure there were efficiencies at every stage of shrimp and fish export process to enable Nigeria enjoy a

reputation of being highly efficient, reliable and standing by their commitments.

Last year, a regional workshop on shrimp fisheries management plans for Cameroon, Gabon and Nigeria was held in Lagos to empower local companies, following foreign buyers demand that imported shrimps meet ecological and fair trade certification.

The programme was intended to educate farmers on best practices as the government had taken the problem seriously. The shrimp industry, according to experts, is worth over $18 billion yearly.

To be eligible for export, shipments must have certificates of origin, such as the name of the fishing vessel and the area. Under the regulations companies are required to put the samples of any export shrimp in testing for pathogen, antibiotics and other additives. The container will be held in quarantine cold storage until government representatives have come and got samples, then taken them to a lab for testing.

• From left: The ManagingDirector, BNL Nigeria,Pramad Samal; Abioye and Managing Director,Atlantic

Shrimpers Limited, Kamresh Kabra during the visit of the United States Turtle Extruder Devices (TED) inspection team to re-certify trawlers in Lagos.

Ogun to restore agric’s lost glory

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HE Ogun State government’s goal is to re-engineer the agricultural sector to boost its industrial base and restore its lost glory as the main source of the nation’s revenue base.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun stated this at the kick off and distribution of agro-input to the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF)-supported beneficiaries of the cassava project at the Ijebu North and Ijebu North East Local government areas of the state.

Amosun represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Lanre Bisiriyu, said it was in realisation of this that his adminis-

tration was providing adequate facilities, appropriate input, extension services and incentives which will greatly improve the level of agricultural production, productivity and well being of its citizens.

He praised the Foundation for supporting cassava a value chain which is one of the six priority crops of his administration with others been rice, cotton, cocoa, kola nut and oil-palm.

Earlier, the General Manager of the Foundation, Miss Abimbola Okoya, said the choice of the four beneficiaries - Ijebu Igbo, Ago Iwoye, Imewuro and Idode in the two local government - was as a result of extensive deliberations with their part-

ner, the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme.

She added that the aim was to strengthen the capacity of farmers, cooperatives and agro-enterprise associations to participate in innovative economic activities, adopt renewable and energy-efficient technology, and implement practices of soil health.

The farmers would also be supported with farmland preparation, provision of modern agricultural extension services, timely supply of improved agricultural input, provision of storage facilities and facilitation of access to open institutional markets.

Lagos to prosecute owners of stray animals

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O keep Lagos State safe, the government would prosecute the owners of stray animals.

In a statement by the Ministry of Agriculture, signed by its Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, the government said it would no longer fold its arms and allow the menace to persist.

It said: “In spite of the government’s concern and awareness campaign on the danger posed by these stray animals in the society, the menace is still on the rise. Apart from causing accidents on our roads, these stray animals could also spread contagious diseases

such as anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis and other ailments that could lead to death.”

Also, the statement reiterated that the state government was sending Agric-Marshals to local government areas and local council development areas as part of its stray animal control policy to end to the menace.

“The state government expressed concern and would no longer tolerate the culture of releasing cattle at night on major roads and highways in the metropolis” the statement warned.

It urged residents not to panic but move to a safe place when they meet stray animals, such as cows,

horses, dogs, pigs, rams, goats, and monkeys. Residents, according to the statement, are enjoined to cooperate with the authorities to rid the state of stray animals while owners of such animals are also advised to take adequate care of them to avoid confiscations.

Residents are, however, advised to call any of the following dedicated lines for immediate response if accosted with any of these stray animals; 08077775657, 08057761762, 07033348402 and 08023934920.

“Together, we can make Lagos a safe place if we all say no to stray animal on our road, and safe lives,’’ the statement added.

W

OMEN farmers have lamented their inability to access bank loans farming.

They listed like poor road networks and dearth of land as some of the hurdles confronting women in the sector.

The women farmers said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital at capacity building for small holders women farmers organised by Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), supported by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Kwara State Coordinator, Country Women Association of Nigeria, Alhaja Bosede Anifowose, said: “Women in agriculture have a lot of challenges. The challenges are lack of good roads, bringing the produce from the farm to the market is a big problem. Another is that some of the women farmers do not have their own land. They rent land.

In some cases, they need loans and they are unable to get loan.”

Anifowose urged President Muhammadu Buhari to recognise women in farming, adding that fertiliser distribution does not get to the grassroots.

She added: “We expect Buhari to bring some changes. The President should recognise women that are doing farming. We want Federal Government to recognise women in farming because some are doing poultry; fishery and even some are even cultivating crops. So there are some other problems like fertiliser.

It does not get to the grassroots; it does not get to the real farmers.”

The state Coordinator, Ifesuwapo Women Farmers Group, Mrs. Josephine Afolabi said: “We want President Buhari to make it possible for us to have agricultural inputs, fertiliser, seeds and farm machinery.

“Most of our farmers are core farm-

From Adekunle Jimoh

ers in the villages. They need good roads. They should be made to sell their produce directly to companies or final consumers. We need greater government commitment.”

Earlier, WARDC’s Director, Dr Abiola Afolabi, said in addressing huge burden of hunger and poverty, the government must recognise the efforts of women in the sector.

Her words: “It is reported that women small holder farmers constitute between 70 and 80 percent of the agriculture labour force. They produce the bulk of food for domestic consumption and they are the drivers of food processing, marketing and preservation.

“In spite of these enormous tasks, they have limited access to land, credit facilities, farm inputs, training and advice, technology and health insurance. Women small holders have just 14 percent holding rights on land where they farm.

“In spite of their strategic roles in food production, government agricultural policies hardly focus on supporting them. It is estimated that if women have had the same access to finance, land, technology, training and advice as men, they could contribute significantly to the achievement of the MDGs of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

“The issues of women small holder farmers cannot be separated from the broader issue of gender inequality and discrimination against women. Women are still voiceless in issues affecting their lives and they are yet to be involved in decisions that affect their livelihoods and survival. In this instance on influencing agricultural policies, there is little or no involvement of women small holder farmers in local, states and national decision making and policy issues.”

Committees on sector revitalisation submit report

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HE four National Committees on the revitalisation of the sector have submitted their reports.

The committees included the Resuscitation of Cotton, Textile and Garments, Strategic Action Plan for the Development of Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes Nationwide and Revitalisation of Agricultural Extension Services in Nigeria.

For instance, the Committee on the Resuscitation Cotton, Textile and Garments (CTG) called for the injection of N37.20 billion in the sector between 2016 and 2019 as well as the exploitation of the existing N100billion CTG fund domiciled with the Bank of Industry(BoI), which has been converted to equity.

This, the committee said, would support as working capital/ retooling of textile mills and resuscitation of about 80 closed mills as well as 23 closed ginneries.

The N37.20billion, the committee said, should be used to support all sections of the cotton, textile and garments sector.

It emphasised the improvement of cotton production through financial support for the Institute for Agriculture Research of the Ahmadu Bello University to upgrade its facilities and build the staff capacity.

It also recommended financial support for the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) to enable it deploy Biotechnology (BT) Cotton at confined

fields at trial level while the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Introgress BT Protein in varieties as well as produce of double haploid cotton.

On Cotton seed multiplication and seed supply, the Committee recommended a breeder foundation and certified seed regeneration system, mandating the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) to regulate the industry.

Part of the recommendation of the committee on ginnery development was for ginneries to work with the Nigeria Incentive Based Risk sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Bank of Agriculture (BOA) through the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) to boost seed cotton and lint.

On seed cotton marketing, the Agriculture Ministry (FMARD) and Ministry of Trade and Investment (FMITT) called for the establishment of the Cotton Corporation of Nigeria (CCN) to revive Cotton Production and Competitiveness.

The committee on Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes Nationwide observed the enormous challenges, including urbanisation, lack of right to land, increased livestock production activities which have limited the success envisaged from the various interventions, called for the establishment of a National Programme on Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes development; strengthening of existing conflict resolution and prevention mechanisms.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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THE NATION

BUSINESS LABOUR

NSITF disburses N267 million

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HE Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has disbursed N267 million under the Employees Compensation Act (ECA) in the last four years.

Its Managing Director, Alhaji Umar Munir, who was represented by the General Manager, Lagos Corporate Office, Mr. Ismail Agaka, disclosed this at a forum in Lagos. He said the figure covered 2,800 employees who have suffered injuries on duty.

“It is a scheme that is still growing, but not without its own challenges as the acceptance from the employers is still very low. We have those who are not contributing and those that registered for the scheme and still refused to contribute,” he said.

He said the compliance among the public sector was nothing to write home about, while that of the private sector was below average. He, however, noted that there is inprovement in the level of contribution.

He said: “We are working on the employers and the organised labour. It is a scheme for the future. In Nigeria, social protection scheme is still growing and we believe that it is sustainable.”

Agaka said part of the plan to encourage employers to join the scheme was the yearly reward given to the companies that have credible compliance status.

According to him, NSITF remained the only government agency that has been able to give appropriate account of its proceedings over the years.

He said: “Between 1961 and 1994, under National Pension Fund, we collected N900million, and when it was transformed to NSITF, between 1994 and 2004, we collected N44 billion. When the new pension scheme began, NSITF was able to transfer N65 billion to the Trust Fund. This shows that we are accountable, reliable and transparent.”

Prosecute corrupt public servants, T Buhari urged

HE Nigeria Labour Con gress (NLC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prosecute all corrupt public servants.

NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba told The Nation that over half of the states defaulted in the payment of salaries to their workerss underscored the extent to which the political elite had run the country aground.

He said: “Workers and the Nigerian people in general are expectant that President Buhari will have the magic wand to turn our country around and safe us from our political elites, who have taken maladministration and bad governance to new height.

“As organised labour, we are waiting to engage the President as he unfolds his programme. We await his promise to throw open the identities of public officers who participated in the massive looting of our commonwealth, which the

Stories by Toba Agboola

President had put at a conservative $150 billion over the last decade alone.’’

Wabba added that NLC was awaiting the arrest and persecution of the former Minister, who was alleged to have stolen $6 billion, adding that Labour would protest the massive corruption and bad governance of the past administration and push for all the stolen wealth be recovered and those involved sanctioned.

He said the fight against corruption must begin from somewhere, adding that the anti-corruption agencies and the National Assembly must support the government’s plan to deal with corruption.

Wabba said: “The feeling and

perception of Nigerians is that our anti-corruption agencies are either overwhelmed or do not have the requisite edge to respond to the renewed assault on our collective conscience by those taking advantage of their position to steal and loot our commonwealth without any qualms.”

He lamented that corruption cases being handled by the anticorruption agencies are taking too long –some having gone on for as long as seven to nine years – are often thrown out, not for lack of merit or points of law but on mere technicalities.

“For Nigerians to regain confidence in our anti-corruption agencies and the judicial process, high profile corruption cases need to be more diligently and competently

‘Benefits of ITF-UNIDO skills survey’

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•From left: The Treasurer, Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Dr. Batulu Isa-Mahammed; Wife of the Deputy Governor, Adamawa State, Mrs. Miracle Martins, and the Senior Brand Manager, Twinings Ovaltine Nigeria Ltd, Mrs. Taye Adewunmi, at the presentation of products by Ovaltine to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp, Yola, Adamawa Camp.

Workers to govt: don’t cut wages

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HE Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has urged the President Muhammadu Buhari administration not to reduce workers’ salaries in its bid to cut the cost of governance.

Addressing reporters in Lagos, the National President of the association, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, said it would be undesirable for the economy if anybody, or group of persons, contemplated reducing the salaries of civil servants who are already underpaid in a country where the government had reneged in its responsibilities to the citizenry.

The labour leader said any cut in salary in any guise would be an invitation to industrial crisis, recalling that many states owed civil servants arrears of salaries and

other rightful entitlements, yet these workers were expected to come to work, feed their families, stay healthy, pay children’s school fees and rent.

“It must be recognised that civil servants pay has lost its value since the last increment was done in 2010.

The subsidy removal, devaluation of the naira and the high rate of infrastructural decay has continued to rub innocent civil servants the value of their money despite being paid peanut,” he lamented.

According to labour, what is being contemplated as pay cut for political office holders cannot be extended to civil servants because the two pay structures cannot be compared. ”While a director in the civil serv-

ice goes home with less than N353, 996.94 monthly, a member of the National Assembly collects close to $181,973.75 or N40 million monthly, made up of basic salary, hardship allowance, constituency allowance, newspaper allowance, wardrobe allowance, accommodation allowance, recess allowance, utilities, domestic staff, entertainment, personal assistant, leave allowance, vehicle maintenance allowance, car allowance, and severance package of 300 per cent of basic salary,” Comrade Kaigama said.

Insisting that there was no basis to compare the two, he said while political office holders can make do with 75 per cent reduction in emolument, a one per cent cut in the salary of civil servants will end up

sending them to their untimely death through unwarranted hardships and miseries.

The union added that civil servants expectations from the new government were very high after many years of unfulfilled promises by past administrations, which have left them undervalued.

According to the union, if the government wants to deliver on its change promise, it must be recognised that the pay structure of civil servants has failed to reward them fairly and the new government must acknowledge that genuine engagement with its workforce can only produce a better and more efficient public service which will bring about the change Nigerians desire and require.

Unionists blame govts for continent’s woes

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FRICAN leaders must take the blame for the various socio-economic challenges limiting the continent’s emergence as an economic giant, unionists have said.

They spoke at the “Human and Trade Union Rights Network of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), African Region”,

handled and dispensed with more quickly and timely at the level of the courts. The NLC believes that the National Assembly has a key role to play in ensuring that justice is not only done but truly seen to have been done,” Wabba said.

According to him, one of the most credible ways of doing this is by strengthening the anti-corruption laws so that people who steal the nation’s collective wealth can be brought to justice far much quicker than is presently done.

He argued that corruption would reduce once people know that there is no hiding place for those who perpetuate it and that corrupt enrichment will not necessarily buy them freedom from the long arm of the law.

“Conviction of perpetrators of corrupt practices is how corruption is being tackled in other climes where they have fought it and brought it to a standstill,” the NLC President insisted.

hosted by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja.

The two-day event, which drew participants from some African countries, noted that the insecurity challenge, though a universal issue, overwhelmed African countries due to greed and corruption of the leaders.

NLC President Comrade Ayuba

Wabba, in his opening address, noted that corruption was at the heart of the problems in Africa and Nigeria.

“The problem of unemployment could not be isolated from the issue of insecurity, which has been a real threat to all of us, until recent time.

There is no doubt that we are sitting on a time bomb when we look at the rate of migration across borders,” he

warned.

He condemned the government’s position on privatisation, warning that it was only abandoning her responsibility.

He lamented that the government had mortgaged most of the achievements made by the past leaders who emerged just immediately after the nation’s independence.

HE ongoing Skills Gaps Survey by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) will place Nigeria at par with other developed nations, experts have said.

Experts said the survey would improve ITF’s plan to provide training for employment and job creation, as well as identify the challenges of mismatches between skills demands and supply, which the country is grappling with.

Expressing optimism that the skills gap survey by ITF would also lead to the production of entrepreneurs and job creators in the country, Industrial Relations Practitioner and Managing Director of Soreb Consulting International, Mr. Kunle Rotimi, said the exercise will help Nigeria produce evidence based industrial skills development policies that can contribute towards alleviation of skills gaps in the industrial sector, thereby increasing productivity.

Rotimi, the author of “Conceptual Framework in Human Resource Development”, noted that the skills gap survey is driven by the requirements of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which aims at providing baseline data that will guide government’s investment for skills development in Nigeria through identifying skills requirement, skills availability, skills gap, skills mismatch and skills supply.

According to him, the skills gap survey will further assist the nation in identifying the types of jobs that are available and the ease of filling such vacancies. It will also identify skills misallocation and skill gap within sectors and organisations.

Registrar/Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Mr. Sunday Adeyemi, expressed optimism that the skills gap survey by ITF and UNIDO would address remedial actions to be taken by companies to overcome difficulties in finding candidates for vacancies that are difficult to fill.

Adeyemi also said the survey would support enterprises’ investment plans in the next decade or more years, adding that it was encouraging that ITF and UNIDO engaged the services of indigenous experts that developed the survey instrument in collaboration with the research and development faculty of the ITF.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL

LETTER

Welcome apology •A well deserved closure to the grave injustice done Ajayi Crowther, Africa’s first bishop Y a public expression of repentance for its unjust treatment of the illustrious 19th century African cleric, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the Church of England demonstrated a capacity for self-examination and re-examination that deserves attention. The historic admission of guilt highlighted the long history of racism and the scope of racially inspired but misguided chauvinism. It was also a lesson in injustice of a colonial colour.

It is noteworthy that it took the Church well over a century to arrive at the point of public remorse. A June 30 ‘thanksgiving and repentance service’ to mark the 150th anniversary of Crowther’s historically significant ordination as the first African Anglican bishop in 1864 provided the stage for the moving show of self-purification.

It is a measure of the institutional regret that the apology came from none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who is the most important leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Welby’s words concerning Crowther, who is regarded as the father of Anglicanism in Nigeria: “We in the Church of England need to say sorry that someone was properly and rightly consecrated Bishop and then betrayed and let down and undermined. It was wrong.”

He also said in his sermon: “In spite of immense hardship and despite the racism of many whites, he evangelised

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so effectively that he was eventually ordained Bishop, over much protest. He led his missionary diocese brilliantly, but was in the end falsely accused and had to resign, not long before his death.”

It is relevant to observe that Crowther died of a stroke in Lagos in 1891, which was possibly connected with his desolation.

To openly admit that Crowther didn’t deserve the blow he suffered from fellow Anglicans, as Welby has done, reflects the virtue of acknowledging fallibility. In this context, it is worth noting that Welby further said: “We are sorry for his suffering at the hands of Anglicans in this country.

Learning from their foolishness and from his heroism, we seek to be a church that does not again exclude those whom God is calling. We seek new apostles, and the grace to recognise them when they come.”

Crowther, described as “extraordinary”, played an undeniably effective role in evangelism in the early days of Christianity in Nigeria. “Today, well over 70 million Christians in Nigeria are his spiritual heirs,” Welby said in tribute to his pioneering efforts.

Crowther’s achievements are remarkable, considering his path to priesthood. Born in Osogun in present-day Oyo State, Nigeria, and in 1821 seized in his village by Fulani slave raiders who sold him to Portuguese slave traders at the age of 12, the young Ajayi of Yoruba ancestry was rescued by the British navy and taken to Freetown,

Sierra Leone.

His conversion to Christianity and his baptism in 1825 led to his adoption of the name of a visible British clergyman of the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS). He studied in England and attended the Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, where he advanced his exceptional interest in languages, which became of immense use in evangelism.

Crowther made history when he was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church at a ceremony in England. It is a testimony to his quality that in the same year he was also given a Doctorate of Divinity by the prestigious University of Oxford.

To his credit, Crowther’s language skills produced the first Yoruba translation of the Bible, which was completed in the 1880s, and a Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. These projects illustrate how seriously Crowther took his Christianity. He also produced primers for the Igbo language and the Nupe language.

The apology of the Church of England is very welcome. It is good for Crowther’s name, which is protected by history.

‘The apology of the Church of England is very welcome. It is good for Crowther’s name, which is protected by history’

Killers on wheels

•FRSC’s Operation Scorpion is a good start. But much more should be done to save innocent road users from the menace of truck drivers

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T is good news that Operation Scorpion, a special patrol executed by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on the LagosIbadan Expressway between July 27 and 31 (just five days), recorded 537 arrests and convictions.

But it is not so good news that barely four days after the close of Operation Scorpion, a fuel-bearing tanker on Ikorodu Road, Lagos, smashed three other cars before spilling its diesel content on the road and subjecting other road users to a hideous six-hour gridlock.

The Scorpion success and the Lagos setback just underscore the menace of drivers of tankers and containerbearing trailers, and even unruly Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers to other road users. Indeed, drivers of articulated trucks appear to be on a reckless campaign to maul fellow citizens, perhaps for their temerity to use the roads. The government must call these irresponsible drivers to order.

The infractions of the arrested 537 truck drivers are instructive.

According to FRSC: trucks moving with unsecured containers, rickety trucks, overloading, battered tyres,

‘Operation Scorpion was a good wake-up call. Now is the time to go after the killer drivers on our roads’

lane indiscipline, reckless driving and over-speeding with wanton disregard of the weight for the heavy vehicles, and driver’s licence expiration.

If the operations had been carried out in the night, much more would have been nabbed for poor (almost suicidal) front and rear lighting (if any at all); and thick smoke emissions, coupled with no rearlighting, that temporarily blind other drivers. For that, many have rammed into stationary vehicles in fatal crashes, in which the few who escaped death copped horrendous injuries.

That has continued for too long, as if no one was in charge of regulating conduct on our roads. It should not be allowed to continue.

The FRSC should be commended for its successful patrol to make Nigerian roads safe for everyone. But instead of special operations, such patrols should be routine, an everyday affair — and duly publicised as such — so that errant drivers can have the consciousness that the road is not exclusively theirs to water with fellow citizens’ innocent blood.

Still, the most vital task is enforcing vehicular regulations, even before they hit the road. That would be travelling on the road of prevention, which is by far better than cure.

Those reckless drivers on the road, do they have valid drivers’ licences, granted after passing rigorous driving tests? Are they by any chance underaged? Did they get the right

education and training on how they must relate the weight of their vehicles, to speed, to achieve a harmonious balance? Do they even know the worth of weighbridges to gauge vehicular weights — and even, do the traffic authorities make weighbridges available these days?

And battered vehicles on the road: with smashed windscreens, battered front and rear lights, and worn-out tyres — is there anyone tasked with making sure these vehicles are roadworthy? And if suspect vehicles hit the roads, what are the mechanisms to get them off and promptly punish the offenders?

Then, the most notorious set of offenders: trailers with their containers falling off, often crushing smaller vehicles and their occupants — whose duty is it to ensure that no trailer is driven on Nigerian roads, which container is not firmly secured?

These are the troubling questions the FRSC, their state equivalent like the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), the Police traffic unit and other traffic-control and regulatory agencies must ponder and promptly answer. Besides, federal and state traffic agencies must so harmonise their operations such that each discharges its duties without any clash or friction.

Operation Scorpion was a good wake-up call. Now is the time to go after the killer drivers on our roads.

Bring Back Our Money

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IR: In my community, they say that when the big masquerade comes into the arena, the timid one scampers away. I say not so fast in the Nigerian context. The looters must return the money to the treasury. President Muhammadu Buhari from his motions seems bent on making the campaign on recovering Nigeria’s wealth his chief policy priority. It is a worthwhile venture looking at the drab picture of the country’s economy. The difficulty of the president’s task is that the spread of corruption is traditional and crosses all boundaries.

Suggestion by his administration to compartmentalize investigation to the past government, even that, is a mountainous endeavour. In a system where corruption is the way of running business, many hands are bound to be smeared, some inadvertently, perhaps. Though, it is no excuse to pocket stolen money in as much as the perpetrator is riding the bandwagon effect.

Nigerians are beginning to be reassured of what they believe to be the extent stream of abuse runs in politics. Judging from the number of politicians being interviewed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and how diverse their background, one can see that the deepness of malfeasance is catholic. News media is awash with stories of ex-governors, heads of agencies, former chief security officer and numerous other political office holders facing investigation by EFCC. This is just the beginning of the tornado because the list, so far, does not contain the names of notorious honchos.

There is enormous desire in the heart of many Nigerians to see these political exploiters stripped of the last kobo they stole and thrown away to rot in jail. The morbidity of their action put the country in a state of economic comatose.

Flair of their nonchalance traumatized citizens with civility. They elevated politics to the highest chamber for losers to celebrate ineptitude.

Be that as it may, reason must be called to the table of judgement. These breed of politicians did not fall from the sky. They are the offspring of a decadent society. There is a political saying that a country gets the leadership it deserves.

One is not lost to the political climate that metamorphosed to this undesirable condition. I believe that colonialism was not designed to pave way for Nigeria to succeed.

But to move forward, we must collectively work for. I attribute the welcome of change in the polity to the nation reaching a state of catharsis. The deplorable position of the system has not been enviable considering the frustration to the masses.

Sensibility is required to keep the momentum going. A situation where immense portion of the nation’s resources is diverted to chasing the looters of the treasury may shift the focus off course.

The president should go after corrupt politicians but plea bargain should not be off the table.

A culprit who agrees to return his or her loot should be given minimum penalty. This idea is not about tendering justice with mercy but acceptance of culpability of society.

• Pius Okaneme, Umuoji, Anambra State.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •General Manager (Abuja Press) Kehinde Olowu •AGM (PH Press) Tunde Olasogba

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness •Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) •Press Manager Yomi Odunuga Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Legal Counsel John Unachukwu •Group Business Editor Simeon Ebulu • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye •Group Sports Editor Ade Ojeikere •Acting Manager (sales) •Editorial Page Editor Olaribigbe Bello Sanya Oni

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: The foundation of our problems as a nation is our distorted political architecture; it sustains vested interests, rewards laziness and places premium on ethnicity over merit. This naturally breeds corruption!

However the direct and indirect beneficiaries of this flawed politicaleconomic structure, choose to turn a blind eye to the futility and stupidity of trying to maintain such a system, choosing at it were to postpone the evil day. But sooner or later, the chickens will come home to roost, and it is already beginning to happen as illustrated by the current economic misfortunes that have bedevilled our largely mono-product economy, amongst other more tragic nay violent examples of the unsuitability of this failed political and economic

EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Reconstructing Nigeria for progress theory imposed on us by our erstwhile military “overlords”.

President Muhammadu Buhari cannot succeed in his noble and desirous ambitions of changing Nigeria, under the current political architecture.

We need to amend our constitution and give Nigerians a federal constitution, and discard our current Unitary 1999 Constitution (as amended), which we inherited from the military if we

El-Rufai and the beggars’ revolt

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IR: The no nonsense governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has locked horns firmly with the “Beggars’ Empire” that has been striving militantly and vaingloriously in the old northern Nigeria capital. The governor announced the ban on hawking and street begging following the July 7 bomb blast at Sabon Gari Local Government Secretariat in the state that killed 25 people and left 32 others injured. A suspected female suicide bomber had sneaked into the secretariat and detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped to her body on that fateful Tuesday morning while civil servants were undergoing staff verification.

As expected, the ban was met with ferocious condemnation by the beggars’ colony. They alleged that they had used proceeds from begging to help join the movement that produced President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor El-Rufai and also pledged to bring down El-Rufai government if he insists on stopping their livelihood without providing them any alternative. The beggars’ spokesman, Abdullahi Jugunu, a visually impaired person, who is said to live in a decent accommodation, owns a car and speaks good English, told journalists in Hausa that the governor had stepped beyond his bound. A visibly angry Jugunu reportedly said: ”Apart

from feeling insulted, we will be seeking legal redress against the government, first for defamation of character . The ban which came only after the Zaria blast is a subtle way of calling us terrorists. Our right to life is now under threat becauseour existence is hinged on begging activities on the streets”.

Here is the full horror of the situation: More than 90% of the 10.8 million Nigeria children of school age, susceptible to all kinds of social manipulation who are out of school according the UNESCO statistics, are those hawking and begging on the streets of Nigeria, especially the northern part where you can find a veritable army of beggars.

Should they be left to wallow in the dysfunctional mess? Governor ElRufai should try as much as possible to create proper rehabilitation colony for the beggars who have simply become adrift or are institutionalised destitute as you have them in India and other destitute-ridden countries of the world. The rehabilitation will have to include training in specific trade for a period before ploughing them back into the society.

Will Governor Nasir El-Rufai save them?

•Erasmus Ikhide, Lagos.

are to succeed.

President Muhammadu Buhari is a good man, but his best efforts to eradicate corruption and place Nigeria on the path of greatness, no matter how concerted, will not succeed if he does not apply himself to the reconstruction of our national political-economic architecture. He must see to the amendment of our constitution, taking due cognizance of the feelings, and thinking of the over 250 distinct ethnic groups in Nigeria who sent in memoranda and representatives to the 2014 National Conference.

President Buhari’s seeming indifference to the Report and Recommendations of that conference, is to put it mildly, ill-advised and a great disservice to Nigeria and particularly to Nigeria’s ethnic minorities whose interests and welfare have been done the most disservice by our current convoluted and corruption-facilitating

unitary system of governance.

The President should as a matter of urgent nation-building set up a committee of trusted and patriotic Nigerians to review the Report and Recommendations of the 2014 National Conference and subject it to a referendum which will form the basis of a true and federal constitution for our beloved country.

The 1999 Constitution, being the product of an illegal and unconstitutional military government is to my mind an illegal document and a relic of military dictatorship, even in its amended form. More importantly it’s provisions, especially Section 162 of the same 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides for the maintenance of a “Federation Account” for monies collected by the “Federation”, which is to be “shared” nay distributed to the states and local governments is one of the corner

stones for our unitary and dysfunctional centralised system of governance. It is and has always been a major clog in the wheels of the development of Nigeria, by encouraging laziness on the part of state governments, falsification of census population figures (which forms the basis of the sharing) and the encouragement of an undiversified mono-product economy that continuously leaves us exposed to the epileptic vagaries of the international energy market.

If we as a nation are serious about making meaningful progress, we must revert to full fiscal federalism that served us well in the 60’s and 70’s, even if implemented in phases; this is the only just and sensible way Nigeria can move forward in peace, unity and prosperity. We need to ensure that the template and framework for a truly federal republic is created and thus ensure the maximisation of all our competitive edge as an economic entity, by giving the states or zones the power to grow their local economies and add value to the national economy.

We can not continue to run this unjust and unsustainable political system that oppresses minorities, serves corrupt vested interests; rewards incompetence and laziness.

• Ugochukwu Joseph Amasike Lagos.

Open letter to GMD-NNPC

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IR: Your appointment as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is a good thing to have happened in recent times. In fact, we give kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari to have fixed a square peg in a square hole at the right time. Accept our felicitations sir.

We have been patiently waiting for this moment as we are hopeful that we are going to, in the long run, find light at the end of our tunnel.

At this point, we crave your indulgence on a matter that mostly concerns us; this is the recruitment that had started since 2012 and which is presently on hook for a reason we cannot simply fathom.

It all started in the last quarter of 2012 when an advertisement was placed in the national dailies for entry level and experienced vacancies in the Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation (NNPC).

In December 2014, an aptitude test for the recruitment exercise was contracted to Phillips Consulting Limited, an organization reputed for unbiased processes and the aptitude test was conducted successfully on December 6, 2014 in some selected states across the federation.

In February, congratulatory text messages were sent out by Phillips Consulting Limited (PCL) to successful applicants who should await the details of the interview to be sent the following week.

While waiting and preparing for the interview, subsequent text messages were received by us that due to logistic reasons, the interview is on hold and that mails will be forwarded to us earnestly.

We have been waiting patiently hoping to receive the invitation mail for the interview which has since not

been forthcoming hence this letter.

We had endured the process for almost three years now and we believe you will use the power of your office to help us to bring the recruitment process to a reasonable conclusion.

Every positive development in the NNPC creates fresh hope in us; but then there is also the fear that the recruitment might be cancelled. We wish to be part of the changes that have come to the corporation; we wish to contribute our young, vibrant and experienced minds to turn things around in the petroleum power house.

We will be much appreciative if this long standing issue can be treated as a matter of urgency before our case get swept under the carpet and we become the forgotten ones.

• Agbongbon O.A, For NNPC OT/GT/EH Recruitment Hopefuls

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015 16

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COMMENTS

Banks, billionaires...as Nigeria’s Black Death Email: tunji_ololade@yahoo.co.uk 08038551123, 08111845040

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HE Nigerian bank is diseased; a contemptible ogre in the mould of the bubonic plague, or Black Death of 1348 if you like. Like the bubonic plague which killed up to 40 per cent of Europe’s population - banking operation in the country presage our gruesome death as a republic and careworn economy. It foreshadows the traumatic realities that ruined Europe by devastating every aspect of civilisation and vestige of humanity. Boccacio describes the breakdown of law and government, the desertion of child by parent and husband by wife in the wake of the Black Death. A noble woman who fell ill was nursed by a male servant: “Nor did she have any scruples about showing him every part of her body as freely as she would have displayed it to a woman...; and this explains why those women who recovered were possibly less chaste in the period that followed,” notes Boccacio. The Black Death apparently wore human will and weakened social controls. It had a glacial effect, pushing some toward debauchery and others, like the flagellants, towards religiosity.

Like the Black Death, Nigerian banks are out for the kill. However, unlike the bubonic plague that afflicted both rich and poor, nobleman and commoner, Nigerian banks by their operations, choose to discriminate. Banks in the country are smitten by a mad lust to obliterate or destroy those segments of their customers and the citizenry that are classifiable as ‘commoners.’ Ask Tejumade Adeyemi. The latter cried helplessly, as her account with Union Bank got pilfered and drained of all

her savings, on the bank’s watch.

Adeyemi accuses Union Bank of complicity in the alleged illegal withdrawal of the sum of N251, 447 from her account with the Oba Akran, Ikeja branch of the bank. Still smarting from the vileness of the attack carried out on her account, Adeyemi threatened to take legal action against the bank if it refuses to refund her money but the bank has called her bluff.

Union Bank persists in misdemeanour riding on a wave of presumed invincibility and disdain for customers that probably fall outside its classification of deeppockets. Union Bank has denied liability, blaming the victim for the fraud. According to the bank, Adeyemi’s savings got stolen because her account was used to make purchases online. Union Bank attributes the victim’s plight to possible compromise of her confidential card details.

Union Bank’s reluctance to admit culpability no doubt flies in the face of reason, in the estimation of the lawyer and his client. Why did the bank refuse to suspend further transactions on the account as instructed

by Adeyemi? Was it such a hard order to carry out?

Consider too, the on-going fraud perpetrated by Nigerian banks in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s directive that they publish the names of chronic debtors in a “name-them-and-shamethem” exercise; several bank chiefs, afflicted by terror of what misery may come in the wake of their shady liaisons with chronic billionaire debtors by whose bidding they plunged the financial sector in its current mess, have resorted to desperate measures.

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MONGST many others, one of the trending news items at the moment is that the Jonathanian contractor handling the N9.2billion contract to supply supposed clean cooking stoves and wonder bags, awarded by the administration of former President, Goodluck Jonathan has dragged the Federal Government to court. Again, a country that should be amongst the leading lights of the world, feeding and exporting billions of dollars worth of goods to all her neighbours along the West African coast and beyond, is caught pants down dealing in crumbs and running mediocre errands. In its longlist of many infamies, the Jonathan administration, perhaps in a last minute desperate move to retain power at all cost, had foreclosed all available options of right-thinking, and proceeded on November 26, 2014 to approve N9.2billion, inclusive of Value Added Tax, for the procurement of 750,000 units of these disgusting stoves and an accompanying 18,000 wonder bags. No one needs to ask whether these stoves would be made in Nigeria or imported; of course we all know the answer. The sad part is that if the stoves had surfaced, it would have been a case of a whopping N9.2Billion capital flight by way of procurement. Such is it that in an unending gloom of despair, a country that had gained independence more than 50years ago, continues to behave as if it is still in slavery.

The last government must be ashamed of itself (if it at all has the capacity to do so) for reducing this country to a kindergarten society where anything goes. In today’s fast-moving world where even smaller countries of the world are making giant strides in the areas of mind-blowing technological advancements and scientific breakthroughs, we are busy awarding contracts for the purchase of stoves, spoons and pots; stoves that if they were to be imported from China, they would most likely have been produced by the high school students of that country. One must feel sorry for those who once queued up behind that Presidency. President Jonathan (as he then was) and his now defunct Presidency, made it abundantly clear that the matters of the leadership and survival of our nation is too serious and sensitive to be left to him and his troops, who behaved as if it was too much to ask to ask him to display the average intelligence of the ordinary President. They bit the hands which fed them, soiled their stew-pot with faeces from

‘In their dynasty of failure, they sanctified corruption and imposed the worst form of impunity on the country, so much so that today lawyers are making a huge fortune from unending and staggering corruption cases, the same way a coffin maker makes money from death’

To protect themselves and their billionaire cohorts from shame and prosecution, bank chiefs in the country have severally scorned the CBN’s directive, publishing instead, fictitious lists of presumed chronic debtors in the media. There is no gainsaying the country’s bank chiefs are in cahoots with their billionaire friends and chronic debtors. And the reason is hardly farfetched; many of the country’s bank chiefs are on the leash of the country’s so-called superrich or ‘billionaires.’ In exchange for various goodies and freebies ranging from exotic automobiles to posh apartments in exclusive gated communities; membership of exclusive clubs for the rich and admittance into periodic orgies and other guilty pleasure fests, Nigerian bank chiefs facilitated the acquisition of several multibillion naira non-performing loans (NPLs) to the detriment of the financial sector and the country’s economy.

Consequently, banks in the country have been plunged in a financial crisis that has them contending with the scariest surge in bad loans since 2011. Economic pundits warn that the trend suggests banks in the country will eclipse the CBN’s minimum non-performing loan (NPL) ratio target of five percent at the backdrop of random fears that the NPL ratio could increase to seven per cent by the end of 2015. Another desperate tactic adopted by the banks is to arbitrarily increase the interest rate on lending by its struggling, less privileged customers.

For instance, a customer whose loan attracted an interest rate of 22 per cent at the time it was taken, is currently paying 25 per cent interest on the loan in the wake of his banker’s arbitrary hike in interest rate. Many banks afflict their helpless, loyal customers with such ridiculous charges in desperate bid

to raise money and make up for losses suffered by bad and non-performing loans they had granted their billionaire friends.

The decision to publish the names of serial bank debtors was taken at the 322nd meeting of the Bankers’ Committee in July. The conference set a deadline of August 1, for every bank to publish the names of its chronic debtors but the bank chiefs rather than comply with the directive, are collaborating with the culprits to avoiding repayment of the loans.

Tokunbo Martins, CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, claimed the measure is in response to mounting non-performing loans, which he said had risen to N490 billion sector-wide. The deteriorating macro – environment indicate that some loans may go sour for lenders. The uncertain macro – economic environment may lead to a rise in credit losses for banks in 2015, according to Standard and Poor’s analysis. Banks’ reduced profitability will consequently, lead to rapid loan growth in sectors where risks are not fully understood, including small and midsize enterprises.

Banking operations in the country, like the plague of 1348, certainly works in reverse; giving birth to a renaissance of poverty and ill bliss, by destroying the middle and lower classes to perpetuate the epoch of the Nigerian billionaire. This epoch of the contemporary billion-

aire is forged in the crucible of Nigeria’s equivalent of the Black Death.

The poor and the working class in the country know what it is to be afflicted by an equivalent of the Black Death. They what it is to be financially handicapped. They understand what it means to be so endangered. They know underemployment and unemployment.

They know what it is to live through each day without dependable livelihood. They know life without pension. They know existence on a few naira a day. They know getting their kids kicked out of school because of unpaid tuition.

They know the crippling weight of debt. They know being sick and unable to afford medical care. They know the profound despair and abandonment that come when schools, libraries, neighborhood health clinics, day care services, roads, bridges, public buildings and assistance programs are neglected or closed. They know the financial elites’ hijacking democratic institutions to impose widespread misery in the name of austerity. They, like the unfortunate Europeans of 1348, know what it is to be afflicted.

And they, not the rogue billionaires and banks, should inform the bedrock of humane and progressive palliatives proffered by the CBN and President Muhammadu Buhari to the country’s financial crisis.

‘The Nigerian bank is diseased; a contemptible ogre in the mould of the bubonic plague, or Black Death of 1348 if you like. Like the bubonic plague - which killed up to 40 per cent of Europe’s population - banking operation in the country presage our gruesome death as a republic and careworn economy’

GEJ’s wonder stoves

By Olusola Adegbite over-feeding, and ran the country into a state of immobility and decay.

They carried on behaving as if their politics of the belly, exotic country homes, cronyism, clientelism and primitive political bazaar will never come to an end. In their dynasty of failure, they sanctified corruption and imposed the worst form of impunity on the country, so much so that today lawyers are making a huge fortune from unending and staggering corruption cases, the same way a coffin maker makes money from death. Today if it is not corruption in NNPC, then it would be NIMASA; tomorrow if it is not the DSS, then it would be the military; next tomorrow if it is not the Office of the NSA, then it would be NAFDAC. The stench of the Jonathan rot is so convulsive that every corner and junction you turn, you hear of huge amounts of being stolen in one government agency or the other. One wonders what would have become of Nigeria, if that man had found his way back to power. For those complaining of a slow President Muhammadu Buhari today, but cynically and deliberately closing their eyes to his thus far steady, impressive and integrity-studded frontal attack on the scourge of corruption in the country, maybe they would have ferried themselves and their families to seek prosperity in Cameroon by now.

Under the masquerade of transformation, they pilfered the country to the bone. So nauseating was it then that it became a recurrent decimal for the people to be daily and consistently harassed on the TV stations of their media accomplices, with very mouth-watering, tantalizing and psychedelic graphics showing gargantuan projects lined up to be executed by the Jonathan government, for which billions of naira would have been appropriated, only for the money to suddenly develop wings and fly into private pockets. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it became a matter that never ended, for several trips to be made abroad, in an innumerable company of party faithfuls and other genuflecting jonathanians, with the pretension of going abroad to go and shop for foreign investors, only to return with some weather-beaten white-men posing as investors, but ending up to become mere briefcase consultants for the thieving government and later disappear to go and act as their fronts for their many businesses abroad. As a matter of fact, this disgraceful stove contract is about the least of the many underhand deal of the departed government.

Now and upon realising the new state of zero tolerance for

corruption in the air, their contractor has gone before the court, asking that the contract be not terminated. Wonders as usual shall never end. Perhaps, the contractor will have to tell Nigerians how much has been advanced to him from the total contract sum, how many stoves he has supplied so far, and who are the people to whom it has been shared. In addition, he will have to answer to Nigerians if the stoves in question were a part of the very many other souvenirs that were transported nationwide in hundreds of trailers, and shared during the build up to the April 14 Presidential elections, as stomach infrastructure to buy the votes of the people? If like I suspect, this contractor is unable to answer any of these questions, I should suppose that he must be made to pay a visit to the EFCC, give an account of all of the sordid details of the deal gone awry.

It is important to remind those in power that God has not changed his place on the throne and no man shall escape the fatal consequence of his own handiwork. In God’s eternal order, there will always be enough to meet the needs of all, except that in man’s mortal disorder, there will never be enough to meet the greed of some. Recent ugly deeds of the last government has helped further proved, that it was a good thing that Nigerians decided to throw away the baby and the bath water. With a new man at the helm of affairs, Nigeria obviously has turned the corner, but this turn must be maintained and guarded by the eternal vigilance of the people. For the first time, it has been proved that Nigeria can even run efficiently without the much media-hyped appointment of corrupt ministers. It took one man to show that that is possible.

Other would quickly have started rewarding their friends and cronies with juicy ministerial appointments.

Today, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has set out on a new journey, to re-chart the course of the near rickety Nigerian state. This journey he has brilliantly started without the usual motley crowd of greedy businessmen and a coterie of hungry political contractors who had in the time past fine-tuned their skills of manipulating the cluelessness in government and holding on feistly to the levers of power to meet their selfish ends. So Nigeria can function again? We are proud of this humble re-beginning and cannot but charge the President to carry on with the same vigour, energy and temperament. Nigeria must rise, irrespective of the unhappiness that this may bring to the apologists of the government of yesterday. After all, it has been said that “It is only a foolish cock that thinks that the sun will not rise, if it does not crow”.

• Adegbite, Esq. is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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COMMENTS “Why is it that those who want to destroy everything good about their country are the quickest to waive the national flag?” ¯ Ken Follett in: ‘Winter of the World’

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HE Punch newspaper of Monday August 3,2015, once again, put former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the spotlight by publishing a news analysis of his book titled: “My Watch: Political and Public Affairs,” where he purportedly addressed what he called his “Nigerianness and Yorubanness.” The analysis was titled: ‘No individual is Yoruba leader - Obasanjo.’

Though this column has not read the book and may not read it because of Obasanjo’s trademark proclivity for nauseating embellishment and outright historical lies in pursuit of self-glorification, the highlights published by The Punch is sufficient to provoke public discourse, if only to put the record straight. From The Punch, in Chapter 31, titled, “Campaigns and Elections,” Obasanjo reportedly said that Nigeria needs no tribal barons as leaders, since according to his jaded view, there is nothing like Yoruba leadership in Yoruba land. In the book, he said: “Just as there was no single Oba having sovereignty over the whole of Yorubaland, there was no individual as leader of the Yorubas in Yorubaland. As it was then, it remains till now.” He theatrically told us that among the Yoruba Obas “there is equality, but mutual respect.” He also moved further to state that: “no crown is subordinate to another.”

His claim that Obas never saw one another in the past, but sent messages through emissaries destroyed his argument because the demand for ‘isakole’ was usually made then by a superior crown to a subordinate one through messages. We have it in history of traditional rulership siblings that later became Obas in various settlements paying visits to each other in the true spirits of fraternity. Ranking has always been part of Yoruba traditional institution and contrary to Obasanjo’s claim, what the colonialist did was just to formalise and politicise it through the instrument of state laws and coercion.

It may be true that most northerners accept the Sultan, as claimed by him, as the topmost but it is wrong to assume that “The Yorubas did not have such a clear-cut and accepted hierarchy’ since ‘every Oba maintains sovereignty over his domain.” The fallacy in this Obasanjo position is that even the Sultan maintains sovereignty over his domain only and not others like Kano State where highranking Emir exists among others. The Sultan’s views can only be a northern view on Islamic matters because a largely Muslim northern region sees the occupier of that seat

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Obasanjo and Yoruba leadership question as their spiritual head. In the west, education and exposure might have changed traditional rulership relations but the issue of rankings, which is historical and hereditary, remains sacrosanct.

In his usual attempt at bringing down anything that he cannot control, Obasanjo minimized the significance of the title of Yoruba leader when he said that supporters of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, first Premier of the Western Region “fixed” the title of Yoruba leader on the late sage during the Civil War. Obasanjo might be right in pointing out that when different ethnic groups met separately to consider positions and issues for the future of Nigeria during the war and “in the course (of the meeting), Chief Awolowo presided… His supporters then fixed the title of Yoruba leader upon him” in Ibadan. What point is Obasanjo trying to make here and to achieve what goal other than mischief and pettiness against Awolowo? In Yorubaland and Nigeria today, Awolowo is seen as the best president Nigeria never had while Obasanjo is largely seen as the president that contributed to the leadership problems in the country through his bigoted and niggling inclination, and ravenousness. His purported allusion to Adisa Akinloye’s non-acceptance of Awolowo as Yoruba leader is akin to what Yoruba normally describe as ‘ajegbodo nwa enikunra.’

Obasanjo must be told that his falsified exultant claims about the civil war would not add to his touted claim to ‘Yorubaness’ and ‘Nigerianness’ that according to him must go pari passu without any standing in the way of the other. He was further quoted to have written in the book: “I bear Owu tribal marks…. I have always maintained and felt proud of my ‘Owunness’, ‘Yorubannes’ and

HE highest level of impunity and crass contempt of court order in the present administration happened in Katsina State a few weeks ago. Although Governor Aminu Bello Masari did not come to Government House through coup or colonial imperialism, he acted a scene reminiscent of military era when he announced that all the 34 elected local government councils of Katsina State “are hereby dissolved”.

Similar instance of executive malfeasance occurred in Abia State in 2006 when the then governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, dissolved elected council chairmen and their councillors. Describing Kalu’s action as “executive recklessness” in its judgement on the matter, the Supreme Court said the governor’s action was totally against law.

Reacting to the Supreme Court judgment, Professor Itse Sagay, said the decision of the apex court was “exactly in accordance with what is in the constitution. The constitution made provision for only democratically elected local governments. So, if the local government is democratically elected and they have a fixed tenure, then nobody can remove them. Just as nobody can remove the State House of Assembly, just as nobody can remove the National Assembly until their period lapses. So, what the state governors were doing was illegal. It was contrary to the constitution. They are exercising powers they don’t have. So, what the Supreme Court has said is absolutely correct.”

Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that “there shall be democratically elected Chairman of Local Government and the Chairman of Local Government can only be removed the same way which the President and Governors can be removed, that is through impeachment or conclusion of tenure.”

Masari’s impunity is one of the worst in Nigeria’s history of executive absurdities. If you tell me this level of impunity will happen under President Buhari, I will say it will never happen. The change Nigerians voted for does not only mean a change of leadership but a holistic change in the conduct of the executive, legislative and judicial officers.

But how can a governor wake up and dissolve elected officials without recourse to law? How can elected officials be removed from office by fiat before the expiration

‘Nigerianness’ in that order. They are all parts of my cherished identity. But I have always refused and I will always refuse to be constrained, diminished or reduced to the level of Yoruba leadership…. Without being immodest, I am a national leader, an African leader and a world leader in my own way.”

He stated, “I strongly believe that Nigeria needs nationalists to propel it forward. Myopic tribal barons and tendencies will not take us too far.”

The truth as it stands today is that Obasanjo has done more damage as an Owu man to his Owu-Abeokuta people; as a Yoruba man, he has contributed to crisis generation in the ethnic region and as a Nigerian, he has been a serious bane on the path to the nation’s attainment of leadership greatness. Whatever will not go the Obasanjo way is erroneously, to him, not right. As President of the country, he came to impose an Oba on his Owu people through illegal deployment of the paraphernalia of the presidency. Not many will easily forget that the Owu Kingmakers including a set of Kangaroo warrant kingmakers unknown to tradition but handpicked by Obasanjo through then Governor Gbenga Daniel voted and Prince Tayo Fadairo won against Prince Adegboyega Dosunmu.

Immediately the imperial Obasanjo realised his candidate who is the current Oba lost, he grabbed the ballot papers from the presiding electoral officers and tore them. The details will be published in your’s sincerely’s coming book on Owu Abeokuta’s stolen crown where the torn ballot papers’ bromide will be published with Obasanjo’s hand writing there for the world to see. And the question: Could this be the same Obasanjo that is globetrotting and talking about democracy that did this? Is it possible for a man that could

not foster democracy in his small Owu community to be seen as a true custodian of the nation’s constitutional government? What kind of self acclaimed perverse national, African or global leader is this unrepentant despot in flowing agbada?

Where is the Nigerianness in this man called Obasanjo who would pursue an illegal illfated Third Term ambition, allegedly spending billions of naira as bribe to national legislators in the process while masquerading to the world to be fighting corruption? It is the likes of Obasanjo who are beneficiaries of coups that denied the nation from having nationalists like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa and Awolowo nurture her to maturity unlike Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, and Cameroon that he mischievously alluded to in the book.

The fact that nobody is looking in the direction of Obasanjo whenever the issue of Yoruba leadership comes up does not mean that the ethnic group is lacking in leadership.

The retired general and farmer should engage on introspection to see whether he has done well for his ethnic group as much as he has benefitted from being a Yoruba man. It is by virtue of being a Yoruba that he was made head of state and ‘elected president’ twice.

This column still remembers that he could not even win elections in his ward and local government not to talk of his entire state and other states across Yoruba land. When he was losing these elections, someone was in charge at every point in time to direct the Yoruba to vote in a particular direction.

At the birth of democracy in 1999, it was late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin before Papa Abraham Adesanya later took over. The precedent is that whoever exercises political/ electoral influence in free and fair elections in Yoruba is, without gainsaying, the Yoruba leader. Obasanjo does not have any electoral value so he could not have been. Awolowo was and he became one; Papa Adefarati was and he became one and also Pa Adesanya.

May be Obasanjo is afraid of a likely popular pronouncement amongst Yoruba leadership collegiate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as one because of his influential political role in the southwest region and Nigeria in the past one decade, in his life time. Like his self-sponsored Yoruba Elders’ Council that he created as president to checkmate and destabilise Afenifere under Adesanya, Obasanjo might be preparing another soup of hate against Yoruba with his reported book as reported in the newspaper. It is, however, certain that nobody will take the ranting of this man seriously on the issue of Yoruba leadership, anti-corruption and democracy in general.

The impunity from Katsina

By Lawal Sani Chiranchi of their tenure? How can a governor, who is also a beneficiary of election mandate, scuttle the mandate of others who came through the process of election? Why will a governor flout court order restraining him from dissolving the councils?

The Katsina local government chairmen, who were sworn in on September 8, 2014 for a two-year term, were prematurely unseated by Governor Masari, perhaps because they are not members of the ruling APC. Most states across the federation have similar scenario of inheriting elected council chairmen and their councillors but they did not violate the law to dissolve them.

Even in Rivers State, where the local government council polls was conducted during the transition period, the state governor, Nyesom Wike, opted to go to court. Jigawa State governor also had a similar arrangement bequeathed to him but he let them be.

When the Katsina chairmen went to court to challenge the governor’s action, the court granted an interim injunction “restraining the defendants by themselves, servants, agents, officers or otherwise howsoever from dissolving, suspending or any other way removing all or any of the 34 local government councils of Katsina State pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiff/ applicant motion on notice dated 2nd July, 2015 in this suit.”

But against the foregoing unambiguous order, the governor went ahead to announce the dissolution of the council chairmen.

Governor Masari directed the heads of personnel in each of the 34 local government councils to take charge of the affairs of the councils. This is also a clear violation of the second injunction, which restrained “the defendants by themselves, servants, agents, officers or otherwise howsoever from appointing sole administrators, management committee, caretaker committee, transition committee or any other committee or body (by whatever

name or description) to replace all or any of the 34 elected local government councils of Katsina State pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiff/applicant’s motion on notice dated 2nd July, 2015 in this suit.”

It is both appalling and worrisome to note that some officials are now directed to take charge of the local government administration and are granted access to public funds without legal authority.

But Masari gave a flimsy excuse to cover the absurdity saying the local government chairmen had stolen the sum of N7.5 billion. It is however lamentable the new Katsina helmsman is not aware of the implication of his action.

In reality, the money was used to buy 40 Toyota Hilux vans for the police in order to improve security in the state, 34 fully-equipped ambulances for emergency services especially in the rural areas and 34 Kia vehicles for district heads in the state. Even if their action is wrong, or that they directly stole the money, it doesn’t not give the governor a license to “correct” their wrongdoing with a wrong action.

Much as President Buhari is strict on putting a check on corruption, he should also be firm in ensuring that rule of law is strictly adhered to.

Governor Masari’s action reflects the same colors that formed a rainbow of impunity, violation of rule of law and contempt of court order in the last 16 years.

• Chiranchi wrote from Katsina.

‘It is both appalling and worrisome to note that some officials are now directed to take charge of the local government administration and are granted access to public funds without legal authority’

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

23

Newspaper of the Year

AN 8-PAGE PULLOUT ON SOUTHEAST STATES

Community counts its blessings

Ebonyi governor’s wife launches project

•PAGE 27

•PAGE 28

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

PAGE 25

Quadruplets for couple, four years after •PAGE 40

After the horrors of 2011 floods, the Imo State government has taken measures to avert a repeat. OKODILI NDIDI reports

•The flood last time

Imo prepares for flood longed, heavy downpours, rain water finding no drains to flow out, overflows the gutters and other drains and pours into as many places it can find access.

Imo gutters and drains have been clogged because they are not regularly cleared, but the governor has other ways of doing the same thing.

He directed that everybody come out to clear the channels. The people obliged him. Besides, the state also provided trucks and other tools to aid the work.

The water channels hitherto blocked with illegal structures have been reopened and the drainage

,

T

HE warning was dire. The rains this year will be heavy, resulting in flooding, the experts said. Imo State has taken the hint and started preparing against the watery menace. In 2011, the year floods swept through much of the country, the state was considerably affected.

Several houses were submerged, farmlands washed off in Ohaji/ Egbema Local Government Area.

Parts of Owerri, the capital, and other areas were flooded too.

Many residents who were affected by that flood are still reeling from its effects. That is what the Rochas Okorocha administration wants to prevent this year.

What step is the state taking to avert the flood? It is by coming to terms with how flood causes havoc, in the first place. In pro-

Imo gutters and drains have been clogged because they are not regularly cleared, but the governor has other ways of doing the same thing. The governor directed that everybody come out to clear the channels and the people obliged

,

cleared of refuse to allow for easy flow of water.

The state, according the Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu, is

working to realise the Owerri Master Plan, which he maintained will mitigate environmental hazards.

As a result of the efforts, the state

capital is now wearing a brand new look, with the heaps of refuse that constituted eyesore in strategic locations across the city evacuated and properly disposed.

Imo state, which was among the states that experienced massive flood disaster in 2011, has not been participating in the traditional monthly environmental sanitation, because according to the Governor, Rochas Okorocha, it is not proper to wait for a given date to clean up one’s surrounding.

However to avert the impend•Continued on page 26

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

26

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

•Trucks provided for drain evacuation

•Residents clearing drains during the exercise

2011 flood disaster.

Most of them who commended the state government for the initiative, however advised that the exercise should be sustained to ensure that the heaps of refuse, which were almost becoming a source of concern for the residents does not return.

Chief Roland Ibekwere, a Landlord at Douglas Street, noted that, “we are grateful because the exercise has forced most of our tenants to stay at home and participate in the exercise. And the drainages that were blocked for a long time have been reopened again. The reason we are grateful is the participation of the state government in the ex-

,

ing disaster, the state held a compulsory cleanup exercise across the state, which in no small means yielded great results.

The exercise, which was supervised by the State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere and the Chief of Staff, witnessed massive turnout as traders, artisans, landlords and various trade associations came out in their numbers to clean up their business places and homes.

Movements were restricted between the hours of 7.30 in the morning to 10. 30am. At the end of the three hours exercise, mountains of refuse were mopped up and evacuated with lorries that were provided for the purpose.

The people worked with incomparable sense of commitment, apparently to forestall a repeat of the

ercise to clean up their environments and business centers.

He expressed satisfaction over the enthusiasm displayed by the residents of state to join hands to making it the cleanest State in the

Federation.

Madumere who described the exercise as a huge success said it was part of the vision of the Okorocha’s administration to avert all flood related disasters and make the State the most desired haven for tourists and investors.

He noted that the monthly Cleanup seeks to make the State the most friendly and healthiest environment with healthy and energetic work force.

The Deputy Governor therefore advised the people of the state to always “dispose their refuse at the right places and stop littering the environment”.

He warned against indiscriminate dumping of refuse in gutters and drainage, adding that “such unhealthy habit causes flooding and breeds mosquitoes, which causes malaria and other deadly diseases”.

ers to meet and agree on who will be the SA on Transport to the Governor, to open a channel of communication between you and the government.

“Enugu is one of the safest states in the country. I believe you will use your business to further enhance the security of this state by revealing any information that will be useful to the government in this regard”, the governor said.

In their separate remarks, the

chairman of the tricycle riders, Comrade Ikah Benjamin Ejiofor and his counterpart in the Road Transport Union, Chief Joseph Ugwu praised the governor for his leadership qualities and appealed to him to prevail on Vehicle Inspection Officers (V.I.O), other government agencies and the transport group, RTEAN, to stop the incessant harassment and illegal levies aimed at exploiting of the commercial road users in the state.

Imo prepares for flood

•Continued from page 25

Most of the people who praised the state government for the initiative, advised that the exercise should be sustained to ensure that the heaps of refuse, which were almost becoming a source of concern for the residents, do not return to the gutter

,

ercise by promptly evacuating the refuse, which had been our challenge in the past”.

The Deputy Governor, in his remarks, commended the people for coming out en mass during the ex-

Ugwuanyi woos transporters on crime-fighting Enugu is one of E the safest states in

,

NUGU State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has urged commercial tricycle operators and other transporters in the state to join his administration’s efforts against crime.

How can they help? They should gather information from criminals who board their vehicles and make it available to security agents.

The governor made the request while receiving delegations of the Enugu State Association of Tricycle Riders Transport Union, popularly known as Keke Napep and the State Executives of the National Union of Road Transport Workers at the Government House, Enugu.

The two unions were visiting the governor to pledge their support for his administration and inform him of their challenges.

Such challenges are administrative, they said, but there is also the unsavoury act of “a group of restive youths under the aegis of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria”.

Governor Ugwuanyi who thanked the unions for their continuous support and the peaceful manner they have conducted themselves in their dispute with the other transport group, assured them of his administration’s resolve not to tolerate any form of undue harassment or imposition of illegal levies on the people of the state by

the country. I believe you will use your business to further enhance the security of this state by revealing any information that will be useful to the government in this regard

,

From Chris Oji, Enugu

anyone or group in the guise of revenue collection.

He advised those perpetrating such acts to desist from them as the government will not hesitate to enforce the wrath of the law against them no matter who they may be.

On their request for appointment into his administration, the governor equally told the unions to meet

•The suspects with the Taxi Drivers’ Association to agree and nominate one of them for appointment as his Special Assistant on Transport, in order to give them a sense of belonging and ensure a smooth and effective relationship between them and the government, as part of his agenda for participatory democracy. “ It is important that I let you know that we have extended our hands of fellowship to the transport union, Keke Napep and Taxi driv-

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

27

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

Youths join Obiano’s anti-crime fight

Y

OUTHS in Anambra State under the auspices of the Association of Town Unions (ASATU) have inaugurated two committees to help in the fight against crime in the state.

Governor Willie Obiano has boosted security agencies to fight crime.

Already, the youth wing of the Town Unions in 177 communities in the state, under the leadership of Comrade Osita Ozalagba, is planning a summit with security agencies in the state.

This was made known in a communiqué issued by the group in Awka, the state capital, after a meeting at the ASATU office.

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

Reading out the communiqué, Ozalagba praised Governor Obiano for tackling security despite criticisms from certain quarters.

The group called for the implementation of its programme in order to curb crime in the communities.

“Already,” they said, “we are gearing up to hold a brainstorming security summit with security agencies.

“We call on the federal government to do the needful by relocating the alleged Boko Haram [prisoners] in Anambra State; their continuous stay is not acceptable to us and viewed as an

act of incitement.”

“We will resist, as demonstrated by the youth leaders of our communities, and we will continue to mount pressure on the federal government authorities, and international rights groups till they are repatriated back to their base of operation.”

“Also, the federal government should as a matter of necessity, accelerate work on the Second Niger Bridge, knowing the strategic position it occupies in the heart of every Nigerian.”

They youths also want the federal government to review the operations of the Ministry of Youth Development, adding that it had nothing valuable to offer the Nigerian youth.

T

HE police in Enugu State have arrested a gang of hoodlums said to specialise in hijacking fully loaded lorries and selling the goods before dismantling the vehicle and also selling the parts.

Information from the state police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu, identified the suspects as Nwabueze Ogbonna; Solomon Okafor; Igwenagu Ezenwa, Obiora Nebe and Fidelis Ozofor.

They are being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department where they are providing more information on the alleged crime.

The suspects, according to the police, made confessional statements, admitting to the crime.

The police said the suspects regretted their actions and revealed that they operate in Delta, Abia and Enugu states as well as any other place depending on where they can

Lorry hijackers arrested in Enugu From Chris Oji, Enugu

get their target.

They added that they hijack the slow-moving vehicles at gunpoint on hills and tie up the drivers and other passengers.

Thereafter they will move with the truck and the consignment to Kano State and sell off the goods and the parts.

One of the suspects, Solomon Okafor disclosed that he used be a lorry transporter.

He said he sold off his lorry as it was getting old and joined the business of hijacking of lorries parked at the expressway or finding it impossible to climb hills.

Community counts its blessings Once without any sign of growth, a community in Anambra State now boasts modern amenities.

NWANOSIKE ONU reports on the transformation, which started barely seven years ago

T

•The Town Hall built by the foundation

,

HERE used to be little to celebrate in Nkerehi, a 120year-old community in Anambra State nestling on its border with Abia. Its people had neither paved road nor healthy water nor electricity. The people quartered in Orumba South Local Government Area lived in the dark, if not in the past. There were, to be fair, only two noticeable industries: a stone quarry and traditional medicine.

That has changed. In 2008, they jettisoned their name, Nkerehi, and adopted another, Umuchukwu. The name-change was not without opposition. A few indigenes thought it wrong, almost a sacrilege, to throw away the name given by their forebears.

Some youths took up arms, reportedly sponsored by some wellheeled folk. Shots were fired and a few lives were lost. The community’s traditional leader, Igwe Michael Ukaegbu was abducted but has since been released.

Things have changed. Over 70 respectable homes for widows have sprouted in the community.

Anglican and Catholic worshippers also have decent auditoriums. There are computerequipped schools, accommodation for civil defence personnel, a market, police station, post office, high court, a befitting palace for the king, even monasteries for those dedicated to Christian service. Umuchukwu also has two smooth road, built by former governor Peter Obi. The community has Dr Godwin Maduka, a spine surgeon, to thanks for most of these facilities built by a foundation named after him.

Things have changed. Over 70 respectable homes for widows have sprouted in the community. Anglican and Catholic worshippers also have decent auditoriums.

There are computer-equipped schools, accommodation for civil defence personnel, a market, police station, post office, high court, a befitting palace for the king, even monasteries for those dedicated to Christian service

,

•Mr. Ezeji

•Mr. Omelazu

Fifty-eight-year-old Johnson Ezeji said Dr Maduka, who lives abroad, is a godsend. “Only few [elements] in the community who are also abroad and do not come home, are against the progress this community is making through this our illustrious son,” he said.

“They opposed the change of name from Nkerehi to Umuchukwu; nobody knew whether it was that name that was impeding progress in this area, while the community became a laughingstock to other communities.”

“We are happy today because

the name of the community was changed to Umuchukwu (God’s own land) to suit the revelation of God in the land; nobody knew the meaning of Nkerehi given to the place by our forefathers.”

Mr. Ikechukwu Omelazu, 48, a community leader, told The Nation that other communities are now yearning to have somebody like Maduka, adding that Umuchukwu has been blessed through him.

He urged the rich in the state to join forces and build their com-

munities. “If the politicians…go to their communities to invest, Anambra State would soon be like Dubai.

At the burial of the community’s traditional Prime Minister, Chief Sylvanus Maduka, the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor urged Ndigbo to reduce their expenses at funerals and emulate people like Dr •Continued on page 28

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

28

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

T

HE wife of Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs Rachel Umahi has kicked off a project aimed at providing skills for women and youths.

The project called “Family Succour and Uplift Programme,” focuses on health, education, economic empowerment of women and youths as well as women liberation.

She said, “On health the programme aims at achieving an effective and efficient primary healthcare…On education, the…programme has the mandate to achieve 100 per cent girlchild education in the state…which aims at giving the girl-child the deserved opportunities.

“The economic empowerment for women and youths aspect of the programme targets achieving sustained economic empowerment and creation of jobs for women and youths, through entrepreneurship and agriculture to put food on the tables of their families, in addition to addressing the problem of poverty”.

“In the area of liberation, the…programme intends to liberate Ebonyi women from all vices against the female folk and ensure the uplift and enhancement of their general living status. ”In view of the harsh economic realities of our time, it is pertinent to harp on the importance of the programme on entrepreneurship centre for women and youth empowerment.

“It is a well known fact that the major challenges facing families, especially women and children revolve around poverty. Statistics have shown that most of the social malaises prevalent in our society today are a result of poor or inadequate healthcare, school dropout syndrome, delinquency among youths, waywardness among our girl children such as prostitution and other anti-social behaviours all stem from poverty”.

“Economic empowerment is a solution to poverty and this informed my determination to improve upon the family income of our people through entrepreneurship and job creation for women and youths”.

She said the programme will utilize the entrepreneurship centre at the Women development Cengtre (WDC) ion Abakaliki to

•Mrs Umahi distributing the items to the women

Ebonyi governor’s wife launches project From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

achieve the goals.

“The centre provides such skills such as palm oil processing and palm kernel oil extraction, shoe

making, hair dressing, fabric weaving/weaving of cardigans, fish farm, soap making, IT-software development, and system maintenance for youth empowerment and entrepreneurship development training among others.

“The major activities of the centre includes; production /product development, processing and marketing, training retraining and capacity building as well as micro credit programme of the •Continued on page 37

Community counts its blessings

•Prince Madumere From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

•Continued from page 27

Maduka.

The burial of the late Prime Minister attracted the presence of former Governor Peter Obi, the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, his Deputy, Dr Nkem Okeke and Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, a philanthropist, among others.

Dr Maduka said, “I want to tell the people that this community is not cursed. I prayed God to give me the means to alleviate the sufferings of my people, and I thanked God He has given me small ammunition to fight poverty in this land.

“It was the desire to help the people at home after my education that made me to come up with a creative idea and I once

Okorocha’s deputy hails health workers

I

•The Catholic Church

more thank God again that it has started working in Anambra State.

“When I travelled out of the

country, I vowed and prayed to God that I was going to fight poverty in the land. The first time I came home after many years, I

cried because the people were looking sick. It was a town in decay without hope.”

That is changing.

MO State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere has praised health workers on the continent for their heroic role in ending the deadly Ebola scourge.

Madumere spoke while addressing members of the West African College of Physicians during their 39th Annual General and Scientific Meeting held in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

He particularly commended the efforts of the West African College of Physicians for their effort in solving the puzzle surrounding Ebola virus disease in Africa.

The deputy governor described those who fought to contain the scourge with all they had including their lives as heroes.

He said, “Let me use this forum to thank you and to salute the family members of these heroes espe•Continued on page 40

Newspaper of the Year

AN EIGHT-PAGE PULLOUT ON THE SOUTHSOUTH STATES

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

PAGE 29

Wanted! Messiah to expel 'evil spirits' from Stephen Keshi Stadium •Project remains uncompleted 14 years on

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INSIDE

ELTA State is blessed with prodigious talents who have excelled in various sports. Its sporting prowess has been showcased both nationally and internationally where Nigerians of Delta origin have brought glory to the nation.

But sporting infrastructure, which is key to grooming athletes, have received scant government attention. Many stadia scattered across the state have become a natural habitat for wild animals and a den for hoodlums.

The Chief James Ibori administration in 1999 invested millions of tax payers’ money into building stadiums across the state, but sadly, all have fallen into decay with all of the stadiums performing functions other than they were intended.

Among stadiums built are at JayJay Okocha Stadium, OgwashiUku, Aniocha South Local Government Area, Ughelli Township Stadium, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Warri Township Stadium, Warri, Oghara Township Stadium, Ethiope West Local Government Area, Oleh Township Stadium, Isoko South Local Government Area, Sapele Township Stadium, Sapele Local Government Area and Stephen Keshi Stadium, Oshimili South Local Government Area.

Aside the fact that a large majority are dilapidated, Sapele and Stephen Keshi stadiums have not been completed despite the fact that the contract sums have almost been fully paid for.

Particularly worrying is the 18,000 capacity multi-purpose Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, the Delta State capital, which has remained uncompleted 14 years after.

The Stephen Keshi Stadium whose foundation stone was laid by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 under Ibori’s administration has remained a project characterised by undue politicisation and mismanagement of funds.

Investigation by Niger Delta Report revealed that the edifice which dominates the Asaba skyline was originally designated by the Asaba community as an evil forest where

• The stadium: jinxed?

• Another view of the stadium

From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

the undesirables of the community are buried.

The stadium is a bleak hollow shell, discoloured by algae that have grown on the terraces and its walls cuts the picture of neglect and waste associated with the last administration.

Adorning the entire stadium are scaffolding left behind by the delinquent contractors. The main bowl of the stadium is a tangled mass of tall grasses providing a natural habitat to wild animals.

The blue long span roofing has been blown away in many sections into the compound of houses who have gratefully seized them to mend leaking roofs.

The outgone Uduaghan administration dilly-dallied with construction efforts with no meaningful work done until its tenure expired Ex Commissioner of Information, Mr Chike Ogeah blamed the lack of development of the stadium to the fact that the facility lacked sufficient space to accommodate necessary facilities for expansion.

The Delta State House of Assembly once probed the project but nothing came out of it.

Assurances that both stadiums would be completed by April and July 2011 have turned out unfulfilled.

The Uduaghan administration

Seadogs lifts kids with disabilities in Calabar PAGE 31

‘

I can assure you that the Okowa administration will not abandon any project that is aimed at adding value to the lives of Deltans. So, if anybody is coming with the impression that the stadium will be abandoned, that is not going to be true

‘

terminated the contract of the stadium in February 2013 with a promise to complete the stadium in six months’ time, but that was not to be.

Prominent Asaba indigenes have expressed their frustration at the manner successive administration have toyed with the construction of the stadium.

Former, Secretary to the defunct Bendel State Government, Chief Patrick Onyeobi lamented the state of the stadium, describing it as ‘pathetic and insulting to the people of Asaba’.

He accused the Uduaghan administration of using the stadium as a conduit to loot the state’s treasury.

Aside christening the stadium, the Uduaghan administration sought divine intervention in completing the stadium, hinging the slow pace of work on the spiritual manipulation by evil spirits.

His words: “l have told God that l am not going to leave any abandoned project in this state. We have been having challenges with the contractors in charge of this stadium. It was about becoming an abandoned project but this will not happen because it will be completed soon.”

He invited the founder of Our Daily Manna, Dr Chris Kwakpovwe, to pray against the spiritual inhibition stalling the progress of the project.

Uduaghan enjoined Dr Kwakpovwe to invoke the spirit of God on the stadium site to neutralise any negative spiritual inhibition.

Kwakpovwe grabbed a clump of earth from the Stephen Keshi’s Stadium and prayed against any negative force stalling the completion of the stadium.

Despite all the prayers, the Stephen Keshi Stadium has remained uncompleted. The battered edifice apparently jeering at the puny effort by government to remedy the situation.

But the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa administration has strenuously denied it will abandon any project that has the capacity to add value to the lives of Deltans.

Okowa’s Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, who spoke with Niger Delta Report, assured that the stadium would be built.

His words: “I can assure you that the Okowa administration will not abandon any project that is aimed at adding value to the lives of Deltans. So, if anybody is coming with the impression that the stadium will be abandoned, that is not going to be true. The stadium is going to be given the same priority as other project that have the capability of positively affecting the people of the State. So you can take it to the bank that I am saying that Okowa will not abandon the stadium.”

Knocks, kudos for Fear grips Ogwashi-Uku Dickson's state of residents over wave of emergency in education kidnapping PAGES 32-33

PAGES 34

• YOU HAVE STORIES FOR US? PLEASE CONTACT US ON 07066954441 OR 08123521990

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NIGER DELTA REPORT PERSPECTIVE

NIGER DELTA REPORT INTERVIEW

Green Police, Garment Factory and Cross River economy

B

ARELY 60 days into the administration of Governor Benedict Ayade, Cross River State is already at home with good governance. Hopes are very high and life is again full of optimism for the common man.

The handwriting is also clear that his 100 days in office will be a celebration of accomplishments and not disappointments. CrossRiver state is indeed promising to be the next hub of business activities.

Apparently because of his background, coming from a humble one that cherishes love for each other, Governor Ayade has passionately promised to focus on elevating the lives of the poor people. One of his strategies therefore is to generate employment for the common man so they could afford an averagely decent life.

In his words during his May 29 2015 inauguration, he promised that: “we would create a new agenda that is friendly to the people of Cross River state. We shall, with this opportunity given us by the people create a new agenda, that focuses on the poor by making the means of the production easy and affordable to move our people forward because of the moment has come for us to stop the poverty ravaging our people.”

Those who know him well say the governor, born •Ben-Ayade

helpless, bearing the brunt of climate change in spite of the fact that they are not the major contributors.”

as Benedict ‘Begioshuye’ Ayade, has a ‘midas touch’, which turns anything he laid his hands on, into gold.

His father, Mr Akinsheye Peter Ayade had prophetically named him ‘Begioshuye’ meaning, “we don’t know tomorrow” or better still, “Tomorrow is pregnant.”

His first step towards making the tomorrow of the Cross Riverians better and ending theircircle of perennial poverty and unemployment is the establishment of a state-owned Garment factory. The Governor has initiated the garment factory, added to the Green Police initiative. These schemes are promising to soothe the anxiety of unemployment in the state with over 3,000 jobs.

By the end of August 2015, when the Governor will be preparing to celebrate his first 100 days in office, the garment factory will also be getting ready for those whose lives will be saying ‘good bye’ to poverty and unemployment. That is a promise assured, as Ayade is putting finishing touches for the final take off of the new revolutionary factory.

The garment factory will echo a lot of economic sounds, even beyond Cross Rivers State. The nation as a whole will benefit from its success storysays Barrister Gerald Ike, a resident of Calabar, even as economists have started putting the likely value it will add to Nigeria’s GPA on paper.

The direction of the governor’s passion was clearly defined when he spoke with the representatives of the host communities at the project site along Goodluck Jonathan Bypass.

He told them; “upon completion, the Calabar garment factory is expected to generate about 1,000 jobs, the bulk of which would be women, particularly widows.”

Ayade also confided in the host communities that the inauguration of the factory was one of the projects he designed to celebrate his first 100 days in office with. The good news is that, the equipment for the fac-

ensure “cleanliness of the city centers, conducts environmental audits and patrols, ensures drains, streets, verges, open areas, markets, abattoirs are kept in standard state, promotes carbon sequestration efforts, ensures environmental sanitation, and implement urban afforestation and tree planting.”

Buttressing the importance of the scheme, Governor Ayade said: “Nigeria’s forests reserve is fast depleting with about 90% already lost to deforestation. Cross River State is proud to be home to over 50% of the country’s remaining rain forest. The Cross River State Forest has been adjudged as one of 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Therefore, the State Government is desirous of ensuring sustainable economic value from the forests.

“The State Government’s vision within the renewed partnership with the United Nations REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) programme is to create catalytic footprints in this space through a regimented afforestation initiative with a sustainable, community-based enforcement team - the Green Police.”

Some young Cross Riverians who are hoping to work as Green Policemen have hailed the governor for the initiative and expressed satisfaction that the scheme would be a very positive channel to addressing the increasing unemployment in the state.

Iyo Ita sees the green police as a very commendable initiative and it would add great value to the state and her young people. “It is a very interesting avenue to protecting our forestry.l am in total support of the program and encourage the governor one hundred percent.”

For Bassey Archibong, “Governor Ayade is also a man of tomorrow in today’s world.”

By Emmanuel Ulayi

tory has already been procured.

As an individual, the same way he defeated poverty using his God-given skills, intelligence and courage, he was also going to extinguish poverty for the state as Governor.

Today, the expectations of his late father; Mr. Akiasheye Peter Ayade, has fallen on the positive side of history as the Governor has proved that he was born to conquer.

Yakubu Ejemba, a taxi driver in Calabar and popularly called “Okadigbo” because of his eloquence in the vein of late Chuba Okadigbo, said: “We the masses are ready to follow this governor (Ayade) because each time he talks he gives we the commoners hope that one day, we will leave this poverty. And that is what he is doing with this garment company. The garment industry will provide new opportunities for me and my fellow taxi drivers in this state.”

For Madam Rose Uko, “the garment factory being a reality will be a great booster for the poor people of the state. It will alleviate the sufferings of those of us who don’t have people to cater for us.We are eager and excitedly looking forward to the factory taking off.l am particularly happy because the governor said we the poor women in Cross River will be the greatest beneficiaries.”

Another resident in the host community along Goodluck Jonathan Bypass, Agede Ushie, explained that the establishment of the garment factory would be a major avenue to empowering women in the state and reinventing the culture of cottoneconomy which Nigeria was known for in the past. Ushie however pleaded that the Federal Government should assisted the governor to make it a reality so that Nigeria can divest from oil economy.

While explaining his rationale for this project, Ayade said “Africa remains that little young child that is

“I can imagine the effort that we are putting with over 600,000 hectares of forest as a state. It is disturbing because we are forest-dependent; we are starting a Green Police.

We are putting in place so much to sustain the forest. We are starting a Green Festival and it has never happened before,” he added.

The Green Festival will be held on the 32-day of the popular Calabar Festival, with about 10,000 people carrying young plants, dressed in green which depicts a brand new forest of 10,000 trees and those who plant them will be encouraged to come back the following year to see they have grown after one year.

The Cross River State Government is seeking the services of young qualified personnel to fill the position of cadets in the newly established Cross River State Green Police with the mandates to enforce environmental sustainability laws and regulations, implements the Green Carnival and Ball, monitoring and controlling all environmental activities, refuse management and noise control.

The Green Police will also

•Ulayi is media aide to Governor Ben Ayade

‘Delta oil-bearing communities unhappy with Okowa over DESOPADEC’ Y

OU are a member of the EPZ committee. The siting of the project has been a source of problem between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws. Why has it been so?

It was not properly managed. That shouldn’t have brought any disagreement between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws because there has been a land case for the past 39 years. The case was started in 1976 and the Ugborodo won.

When the Ijaws went on appeal, the appeal court reversed the case to the lower court and the Ugborodo went to the Supreme Court. Right from when the first judgment was delivered, there was no crisis over the land.

We maintained the peace. Now that the EPZ project is sited there, what would have happened is to determine how to manage the economic gains. It is a question of coming together on how to manage the project. Based on the lower court judgment, Ugborodo people are the landlord while the other people are customary tenants.

Whichever way, we are all impacted as far the project is concern. That should not have brought up drums of war. The problem is not the land, it is how each ethnic group will benefit from the economic gains They are already doing the clearing. Itsekiris are doing their part of the clearing while the Ijaws are doing theirs. There is no fight.

EPZ issue was one of the problems of Jonathan’s administration based on which community it should be named after. What is your stand?

I didn’t see it as a problem but rather they brought in ethnicity. If Jonathan’s administration was serious, what they should have done is to look at the legality of the whole issue. We went to court in 1976 over this land. If this issue has been on for over 39 years and there was no fight, it shows you that the problem is not the land but the major issue bringing uprising is the financial benefits in terms of employment, contracts and other benefits. The Itsekiris and the Ijaws should reach sharing formula with other impacted communities so that everybody will benefit from it so that peace will be maintained.

Ayiri recently secure a court injunction which some Ugborodo chieftains saw as a hindrance to peace process…

I don’t see Ayiri as a troublemaker the way he is being painted. Ayiri’s stand is that Ugborodo people own the land. The matter is in court.

Sandys Omadeli-Uvwoh is a member of the EPZ committee which is to oversee peace process in the Deep Sea Project in the disputed land between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws in Delta State. In this interview with reporters in Benin City, Sandys said the fracas over the naming of the project was unnecessary. OSAGIE OTABOR was there Ayiri’s position is that it should not be named Gbaramatu in the first place. He has been against it. He has been publishing articles in favor of Ugborodo. When they were signing the memorandum for understanding, he said he was not part of it and that he would go to court.

He has every right to go to court.

He is an interested party. I supported his court processes. Ayiri is stopping the naming of the Deep Seaport after any community until the Supreme Court decides on who owns the land. He has gotten ruling from the lower court and that should not cause any problem because the ruling was not in favour of any of the parties involved.

My Ijaw brothers should wait for the Supreme Court decision and for now let us think of how to make the environment peaceful for the investor and the government will have confidence in all the parties.

Do you think going to court will solve the problem?

Ayiri did not sue the Gbaramatu people. He sued the Federal Government and all the agencies surrounding the EPZ to stop them from naming the project after any community to avert chaos. Anybody going to court wants peace and is a law abiding citizen.

A spokesman for the Ijaws said the naming of the project has been concluded.

It has not been concluded. The Ugborodo people have not said they are not the owner of the land while the Ijaws are saying they are the owner. If Ayiri had said the Ijaws should not be given anything, that is when I think it would bring problem.

What is the way forward as the Ijaws and Itsekiris have always fought wars? Will this not bring another war?

I will not go to war when I know that I am the legitimate owner of the property and also when the matter is in court. I do not think this will bring war. The

‘

If the bill is passed, DESOPADEC will become government agency that takes care of every part of the state and no longer that of the oil producing communities.

Okowa can decide to use 60 percent of the money to develop any area he likes. The bill is anti-oil producing communities.

‘

•Uvwoh

case in hand is like the biblical case solved by King Solomon over the ownership of a child. If the Ijaw believes that they own the land, they should wait for the Supreme Court to decide. The suggestion is that there should be a broad inter-

face committee that embraces all stakeholders whether you are landlord or customary tenants. The immediate issue is surface benefit of what is on ground. It can be settled by both parties reaching a compromised. They should use the formula

Akwa Ibom governor’s wife donates relief materials to VVF patients

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HE wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel, has visited the Pope John Paul 11 Family Life Centre, also known as the VVF Hospital, Mbribit Itam; she donated relief materials, such as mattresses, pillows as well as food items ranging from bags of rice, beans, garri and toiletries to patients in the hospital.

The governor’s wife, who was represented by her Special Assistant on Women Affairs , Rev. Mrs. Mercy Cephas, thanked the members of staff of the hospital for their commitment to service, noting that though God was the source of help for man, with human beings as the channel.

She promised that government would do everything possible to ameliorate the plight of patients. While interacting with patients in the wards, she also put smiles on their faces by giving each patient in the hospital cash for their upkeep The matron of the home, Rev. Sister, Sylvia Ndubuaku, thanked the governor’s wife for the visit, stating that it was a

From Uyoatta Eshiet, Uyo

confirmation of her love and compassion for the vulnerable in the society. She added that the government has supported the hospital in many ways, such as the provision of nurses and other members of staff.

She highlighted some of the needs of the hospital to include rehabilitation of inmates, firm hospital beds, surgical instrument as well as television set for the patients, while soliciting for governments’ support in this regard.

Also speaking, a patient in the hospital, Mrs. Mercy Exodus, thanked the governor’s wife for her humane disposition towards the needy and vulnerable in the state, praying that God would sustain and guide her and the governor in the discharge of their duties. She also thanked Mrs Emmanuel for giving them with gifts.

used for bush clearing to determine other benefits until Supreme Court determines the owner of the land.

They are doing clearing there and nobody is fighting each other.

Chairman of the EPZ committee has taken a decision on the issue. Why are you opposing him?

I am not opposing him but I am entitled to my opinion based on my experience and my age. The issue on ground is not about being edu-

cated with many degrees. When Ayiri was writing and putting paid advert, nobody called him to order.

Now that he has gone to court, they are making noise over it. In law, you don’t sleep over your rights because he wants peace. He has done the right thing as a civilized Itsekiris man by going to court instead of going to war as a committed patriotic son of Ugborodo. And he is taking after his maternal great grandfather, Olueh, who stood against late Chief Dore Numa over Ugborodo land. Any committed patriotic sons of Ugborodo should be proud of Chief Ayiri. That last meeting we held over this issue, Ayiri was invited and when he stated his own side of the story, he said he would consult his lawyers. The chairman was in court the day the injunction was granted that the place should not be named after any community.

When you look at Ayiri’s case, nothing has been done. If the Supreme Court decides to rule in favour of Ugborodo, will the chairman now say sorry, the place has been named after Gbaramatu or the ruling of the Supreme Court has no value because an agreement has been reached? Nobody should bring sentiments. The matter is in court and nobody should beat drums of war. The Itsekiris/Ijaw crisis was not based on ownership of land. The origin of that crisis started with bunkering.

It was bunkering that sparked the war before local government issue came up. The whole fighting was based on bunkering.

An Ijaw chieftain has said that the present DESOPADEC bill presented by Okowa will created crisis among oil producing communities.

Okrika is a friend and I have regard for him. Even if what Okrika is trying to say is right but he should not be the one because he started the illegality as pioneer chairman of DESOPADEC that Okowa is trying to legalize. He aided them because he was a pioneer chairman of DESOPADEC. I was a member of the host communities who fought for the establishment of DESOPADEC. We made Okrika our leader. Every ethnic nationality contributed to press for the 13 percent. The purpose is to douse tension in the oil communities. What Obasanjo agreed was for each oil producing community to get according to

what is produced from their areas.

This was to enable the communities protect their areas. That will put the communities to check pipeline vandalisation and bunkering. We felt we must be the ones to be appointed.

We asked Okrika to be the chairman and he instead abandoned us and connived with the government to do what Okowa is trying to legalize. For Okirika to be shouting now means he is seeking relevance.

He wants the government to negotiate with him. He is not shouting on behalf of the oil producing communities.

How would the change in the bill bring about crisis?

What Uduaghan tried to do was in line with the original concept which was for each ethnic nationality to have their person. People felt Uduaghan did not attempt to effect the changes during his eight years in office and wanted to bring it in in the dying days of his administration. Right now, what Okowa is trying to do is to legalize the illegalities they have been practicing. Okrika started the illegality. As far as I am concern, we will go to court. We are not going to fight. If they pass the law and it is not okay with the people, we will fight it in court.

Are the Itsekiris okay with the bill as proposed?

Not at all; unless you are not from oil producing areas. If the bill is passed, DESOPADEC will become government agency that takes care of every part of the state and no longer that of the oil producing communities. Okowa can decide to use 60 percent of the money to develop any area he likes. The bill is anti-oil producing communities.

They should not pass that bill. All the oil producing communities in the country should come together and take RMFC to court or a commission should be set up for the oil producing communities. They should demand that the 13 percent should be given to the host communities directly and not through the State Governments. House of Assembly members from oil producing communities should not pass that bill. By doing that, the government should ask those oil companies whom they acquired land from in 1970 before the Warri crisis.

Buhari committed to Niger Delta development, says NDPF •Hails appointment of Amnesty Programme chief

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HE Niger Delta Patriotic Front (NDPF) has said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to development of the Niger Delta with his appointment of Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd) as his Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

The group in a press release signed by its Patron, Maj-Gen. Appah (rtd), Chairman, Chief Topido Amanangha, and Secretary, Hon. Adolphus Owoupele, said Buhari proved “doubting Thomases” wrong by appointing a core professional with a track record of proven integrity to head the Amnesty Programme for former agitators in the Niger Delta.

“By this appointment of a core professional with a track record of proven integrity, Mr. President has once again consigned the doubting Thomases to the dustbin of history.

Indeed, it is better to go slow than hastily appointing persons who have no bearing in the corridors of government,” it said.

The group said it is becoming clearer that Buhari means

well for Nigeria and especially the Niger Delta as he has affirmed his promise during his inauguration speech that the achievements recorded so far by the Presidential Amnesty Programme shall be given a deeper face by way of investing heavily in the projects and programmes already in place.

“Furthermore, President Buhari has shown that he is ready to listen to all genuine grievances of fellow Nigerians, which he demonstrated by intervening appropriately and timely with the appointment of Brig-Gen. Boroh.”

It said the President has thus given hope to the stranded beneficiaries of the programme in foreign higher institutions, who can now return to their studies.

It advised trouble makers in the Niger Delta to give peace a chance and desist from such acts as their game was up with a nononsense man now in charge of the Amnesty Programme.

“We shall not hesitate to report criminal activities to the authorities irrespective of your position in the society,” it stated.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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NIGER DELTA REPORT FEATURE

Seadogs lifts kids with disabilities in Calabar

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AISING awareness and support for children with disabilities was the objective as members of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) convened at the fifth National Association of Seadogs (NAS) Charity Ball in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The NAS Charity Ball is an annual event organised by the association to raise funds for humanitarian causes, taking into consideration the prevalent issues of society at the time.

NAS Capone Prince Ifeanyi Onochie said the gesture was a quest to keep the dilemma and challenges confronting children with various learning disabilities on the front burner of people’s preoccupations and consciences.

According to him, the association are forsworn not to let off steam on this path, not just because of the huge legal and legislative challenges of protecting the rights of the child or the daunting logistical requirements or knowledge gaps but because of the high propensity there is for the faint voice of the weak and vulnerable, to be drowned out in the hustle and bustle that have characterized human existence.

Onochie said the NAS Charity Red Ball was conceived in 2005, for the purposes of interfacing with and further enlighten the general public on the aspect of NAS Charity/ Advocacy Work, to conduct peer review exercises with the aim of arriving at improved ways and means of collaborating with like-minded individuals and corporate organizations in articulating and implementing humanitarian and social advocacy programmes; and to raise funds for NAS Charity projects and to create a forum for social interaction between members and non-members.

He said this year’s edition of the NAS Charity Red Ball was the first reloaded version in the series, and its

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As a people we must improve our knowledge about the inherent abilities in all humans. No more should we allow any child be thrown away because he or she is born with a disability

‘

•Onochie presenting his address at the Charity Red Ball.

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

theme, Championing the Cause, Supporting Children with Disabilities aims to broaden the theme of their focus in the United States to include issues of mental health, special education and vocation/rehabilitation of

children with learning difficulties.

“Against this background it becomes even more imperative to keep abreast of current developments, especially for the purpose of closing knowledge gaps for families of these special children and the society in general. The power and benefits of

knowledge in making informed choices cannot be overemphasized.

This is the core objective of the NAS Charity Red Ball. We in NAS believe that both humanitarianism and rights to self-determination are given wings to take flight upon the moral significance of the dignity of the individual

Help! Calabar-Akpabuyo-Ikang Road needs attention

being.

NAS members also known as Seadogs or Pyrates are passionate about community services, development and voluntary work that there is no deck/chapter of the organisation that is not involved in more than one humanitarian project to uplift and improve the quality of lives in communities we live and work.

“NAS usually will work closely with the selected beneficiaries to identify areas of priorities and the intervention needed. Upon an agreed line of action, informed by the budget, engage in direct execution of projects from start to finish, ensure judicious and purposed application of every kobo raised by your kind benevolence and generosity.

“NAS will focus on these selected beneficiaries for one year, commencing from the date of the Charity Red Ball and lead collaborative efforts at making the public aware of the outstanding work these orgzations are doing to help the children and provide them with the necessary assistance and support.

“The three selected beneficiaries for 2015 NAS Charity Red Ball are Project Comfort (School for Children with Learning Disability), Amaudo Itumbauzor, Abia State; Special Education Centre, Nursery/Primary Schools, Calabar, Cross River State; and Vocational rehabilitation Centre, Ememe, Enugu State.

“As a people we must improve our knowledge about the inherent abilities in all humans. No more should we allow any child be thrown away because he or she is born with a disability. No more should we look away while children born with disability are treated as scums, demons or worse. The milk of kindness every human deserves must not be denied any child because of disability. The ability of the human mind to raise itself above any situation cannot be underestimated,” he said.

Criminals’ new tactics in Delta, by police HE Delta Police Command has issued security alert over the activities of a criminal syndicate disguising as disabled persons to rob unsuspecting members of the public.

The Command spokesperson, DSP Celestina Kalu, in a statement in Asaba, said the syndicate, which comprised of a man and a woman, operate by boarding commercial buses and robbing passengers at gunpoint.

“The Delta State Police Command wishes to alert the general public, particularly transport companies operating in the southern part of the country of the activities of a criminal syndicate.

“The syndicate comprised of a young man who uses clutches and a young woman. Their modus operandi is to charter commercial buses from any part of the region under the guise of coming to Agbor in Delta State.

“They pretend to be coming to Agbor to pack their belongings, only to end up robbing their unsuspecting victims/drivers,” Kalu said.

The police spokesperson said that information at the disposal of the command revealed that the criminal syndicate recently chartered a driver from Ilorin to Agbor and robbed him of his vehicle.

She urged the public to report to the nearest police station or security agency if they come in contact with the syndicate.

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•The Atimbo axis of the Calabar-Akpabuyo-Ikang Road in Cross River State is in a deplorable condition. It led to a protest by a group of youths on Wednesday.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NIGER DELTA REPORT FEATURE

NIGER DELTA REPORT FEATURE

Knocks, kudos for Dickson's State of emergency in education Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson comes under the searchlight over his inaugural promise to turn around the state's education sector, writes MIKE ODIEGWU

I

N his inaugural speech in 2012, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson made education a major thrust of his administration. Without mincing words, he declared a state of emergency in the educational sector.

In fact, before the declaration, there were disturbing concerns in the state's educational sector. Infrastructural decay and institutional neglect were the order of the day. Many school buildings were dilapidated and most communities could not boast of primary and secondary school structures. It was common to see pupils and students sitting on decrepit bare floors to receive tutorials from few demotivated teachers.

Indeed, Bayelsa was rated low in educational performance and standard. Teachers converted their classrooms to commercial centres and engaged in petty trading during school hours to make ends meet. Most children also abandoned schools to engage in hawking while others turned hobos, wallowing the streets like urchins. The general neglect affected the psyche of students who used to come last in national examinations.

No wonder when Dickson declared the state of emergency, Bayelsans jubilated. Stakeholders in the educational sector leaped up in joy and described it as a welcome development.

The governor had a bumper package for education. Infrastructure was to witness a total turnaround. Education was to be free and compulsory at least from primary to secondary schools and teachers were to be employed, trained and retrained.

Free and adequate supplies of instructional materials to schools; free school uniforms, sandals, bags, books to pupils and provision of desks, tables and computers for a conducive learning atmosphere were all components of the emergency in education declared by the governor.

But over three years after the pronouncement, how has the educational sector fared in the state? The Niger Delta Report visited critical stakeholders in the primary and secondary sub-sectors of education to gauge their experiences and their expectations in the sector.

All of them commended the motive behind the governor's emergency in education. They said the gesture has positively changed the face of education and added value to the sector.

They particularly appreciated the ongoing infrastructural turnaround of schools and the prompt payment of teachers' salaries by the Dickson's administration.

But they raised many concerns of challenges bedeviling the emergency.

Their experiences revealed that most of the components of the emergency are not working. They are of the opinions that the system is still fraught with many problems because the governor has not created an opportunity to have direct interactions with them.

In the primary schools, the state of emergency appears to be a partial success. The state Chairman, Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Mr. PPS Faafa, commended government's efforts in building, rebuilding and renovation of primary school teachers. Apart from new classrooms, he observed that the government built quarters for head teachers.

"The government has tried in providing physical infrastructure in some

of the primary schools. We believe that the project will be extended to other schools because there are schools that are still dilapidated. They have tried in building houses and quarters for teachers", he said.

He, however, said the schools are facing serious challenges with other components of the emergency. He said the schools are still expecting school materials promised them at the takeoff of the new regime. He said all the free items promised the pupils such as school uniforms, sandals, books and bags have yet to reach them.

He said: "If the state of emergency is declared, everything concerning primary school is supposed to be free. In 2012, some textbooks, exercise books and a few school uniforms were supplied.

"But from then till now, nothing has been supplied to schools and every year, we have new intakes. We don't know what to do about those coming newly. So, it is not running smoothly with us.

He further said that the government is yet to supply teaching and instructional materials to primary schools across the state.

"There is no teaching material. We buy chalk and markers. We improvise these things to teach in the schools.

But the supplies from the government is not forthcoming", he said.

He added: "We are finding it very difficult and we want the government to come to our aides to make sure these things are provided". He said the problem is compounded because the government has deactivated the ParentTeacher Associations (PTAs) which used to come to their aide.

"They said we shouldn't have anything to do with PTAs. If not so, sometimes the PTA helps to provide these things for us. But now we don't have support," he said.

According to him, the schools are also lacking enough teachers.

"For example in a school, we have over 600 pupils with only 17 teachers to attend to them which means a class of A, B and C will have only one teacher and they are all clustered in one classroom. We need teachers.

Many teachers have been retired and since they are retired, the government should come in and bring more teachers", he said.

Faafa said teachers are also lacking incentives. He observed that the government has yet to pay the 18 per cent minimum wage to primary school teachers and to promote teachers with increased salaries. He said the N15,000 monthly impress given to each head of primary school is too meagre to run the schools.

"When it is time for examination, no kobo is provided but we are asked not to collect a dime to enable us provide materials for children. Most of the new schools they are building don't have fictional water systems", he said.

He said: "The governor with his state of emergency means well for the state.

We believe that these challenges exist because he is not aware of them. We know him to be a listening governor.

He is not vindictive and as a man with passion for education and lover of Bayelsans, he will surely ensure that what we need to make the system work is provided to us".

In the secondary school sub-sector, the President, All Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Mr. Abbey Ayaegbemi,

•Faafa

•Dickson

highlighted some strong points scored by the government in its drive to implement its emergency.

He said the government has done well in the areas of physical infrastructure, payment of WAEC and NECO fees of students and payment of school fees of teachers. He said most of the challenges bugging the system arose from the high number of schools across the state.

For example, he said though the government has recorded a feat in building and renovation of schools, many secondary schools are still begging for their turn. "The structures cannot be generally complete. The government has tried in building and renovating but the schools are many.

Some are still yearning for their turns", he said.

He said secondary schools are also having problems with instructional materials adding, "Government has been promising and we are still expecting". He said the materials were in short supply in last session. According to him school uniforms were supposed to be supplied to students but were discontinued perhaps for logistic constraints.

He said: "The emergency covers a lot of areas. There are areas the government is performing and other areas requiring improvement. We are appealing that the renovation work should be extended to other schools.

The government should also try more in teachers' welfare.

"Teachers hold the key and if they are not happy, it will affect the working mood. We thank the government for its efforts but areas like the payment of emoluments are always dragging the teachers backward making them look as if they are not true civil servants.

"For the school system to operate maximally, we also require enough teachers. The last employment of

teachers was done in 2006. Since then, there hasn't been employment and within this period, some teachers have been dying, some have been retiring, some have joined active politics while others have converted to other professions creating a space. So, we need new teachers especially as the government has brought in new curriculum introducing new subject areas."

While appealing to the government to regularly supply instructional materials on time, Ayagbaami said ANCOPS is grateful to the governor for being behind the current re-articulation policy in the system. "The policy has helped to make the schools better.

Hitherto, we had junior and senior schools with two principals. In a school we had two levels of control and this created confusion.

"Students were not properly distributed. But the schools are now better and we thank the government for being behind the policy. But the process is not complete yet. We appeal that he should back up the proper completion of the reticulation policy", he said.

In his general assessment, the Principal State Secretary, Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr. Okechukwu Okoroafor, appreciated the governor's passion for qualitative education. He said the governor perceived some level of decadence in the sector which promoted him to declare the stage of emergency.

"The educational system was almost in a state of comma before the present governor came into office", he said noting that Dickson has displayed a high-level of purposeful ness and willingness to improve the sector and put it right.

He said in the spirits of the emergency, the governor has been promptly paying teachers' salaries.

He added: "The NUT as a trade union, is not mincing words, nor slacking in bringing to his notice the things that are to be done".

Okoroafor said some hiccups still exist in the system. He said: "There ought to be parity between the state's governing board and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) em-

•Ayaegbemi

ployees. The existing disparity tends to discourage the teachers in the junior secondary school sector", he said.

Commending the governor on the development of infrastructures, he said, "No one can take that away from Governor Seriake Dickson; from the primary school up to the tertiary institutions. Still, there are some of the schools awaiting their share of the development".

He further called for adequate and regular supplies of recurrent instructional material such as chalk, markers, diaries, registers and others at the beginning of every term. But he said the term "free education" must be properly defined to know who should provide the school uniforms, fund the examination materials, practical subjects.

He explained that the government should pay attention to sports activities and warned against undue interference of school programmes by community leaders. "Teachers should be left to do their job as doctors are granted free hands with the patients", he said.

Okoroafor, however, added that the governor will quickly resolve some of the hiccups in the educational sector if he can listen to them directly. "People try to be polite, and thereby disrupt flow of information. If we are allowed to meet with the governor, there will be a take-home. Something must be done; the school system needs to be salvaged; the re-articulation of schools must be revisited", he said.

When the Niger Delta Report visited the state Chairman, NUT, Mr. Bokolo Tonworio Tobin, he also appraised the emergency, commended the governor but raises some problems mitigating against the system.

He listed some of the challenges as non-promotion of teachers, unavailability of resources and amenities in the schools; harassment of teachers, neglect of teachers and paucity of funds.

He further said that the number of teachers was not enough and called on the government to empty more teachers and carry them along in policy formulation.

"Teachers should be protected

against parents' unwarranted interference in administrative measures", he said.

Though Niger Delta Report could not get the direct responses of the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Dein Benedourmene, it was learnt that the educational stakeholders had a close-door meeting with the commissioner on Monday in his office where the challenges bugging Dickson's emergency were discussed.

One of the teachers, who attended the meeting but spoke in confidence, said: "Like we earlier said, there are some high points of the demands of teachers. We reasoned together with the commissioner. He assured us that instructional materials will be supplied to all the schools within this holiday period, so that on resumption, they can now be put into effective use.

The source said: "Even, he underscored the importance of the schools being properly funded for the purposes of conducting exams; the JSS3 exams, promotion classes' exams, and the unified exams.

•Tobin

"It was a very fruitful discussion, and we are hopeful that, come September, the schools will function very well. He regretted that the ongoing payment of N18,000 minimum wage arrears which have not gotten to teachers.

"But he said that he will consult with the governor to make sure that they review the method of payment, to make sure that teachers are paid as at when due. He re-emphasized governor's interest in the educational sector saying it was why he declared the state of emergency in education.

"He also commented that they will improve upon what they have done on infrastructure. The area we harped on was provision of instructional materials, diaries, registers, books, chalk, papers, stationeries and others.

"These are areas where we felt we were in dire need. And, he assured us that they would not just be provided, but they will be provided before schools re-open, sothat when schools resume, they will function effectively.

By our own assessment of our interac-

tion with him, it was a very fruitful one, and we have high hopes that everything will be okay for both the pupils, students and teachers as well.

"The commissioner said it is still the policy of the government to operate free and compulsory primary and secondary education. In that case, parents and students ought not to pay anything; the government will fund everything.

"The true position is that, according to him, government is still willing to provide free uniforms, but it does not mean that parents should not buy uniforms for their children. A child could have uniforms in multiples.

"On the shortage of teachers, the commissioner said there is a rationalisation going on after which the vacancy will be determined, and then, recruitment can take place. He said emphatically that, it is only based on statistics that recruitment could be done, if not, it would be a haphazard recruitment. We are satisfied with our discussion with them."

Bayelsa celebrates Ijaw musicians, honours 17 T

HE late King Robert Ebizimor still sings and dances a year after his death. His images pop up on television and his voice regularly hits the radio. The airwaves still reverberates with his sounds and lyrics laced with Ijaw tradition. Ebizimor has remained a household name even after death.

Indeed, Ebizimor immortalized himself with his talent before kissing the world and the Ijaw nation goodbye. He was the most popular musical icon who promoted Ijaw culture and took it out of the shores of the Niger Delta region.

He died in a ghastly motor accident along the East-West Road on the 31 of July, 2014. But in 2015 the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, through the Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Dr. Felix Tuodolo, resurrected him. The governor became the first to celebrate the first anniversary of the late Ijaw musician’s demise.

At the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre in Yenagoa, Ijaw musicians, government officials and upcoming Ijaw artistes gathered to honour the legend of Ijaw music. The governor honoured the living and

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

departed Ijaw musicians. Dickson presented special awards to some of them in the state, in recognition of their various contributions to the preservation and promotion of Ijaw culture and tradition.

Dickson expressed government’s commitment to establish a studio at the Bayelsa State Musical School, after its inauguration. He said the studios when built will be used to record all songs, including that of late Rex Lawson. He said that proceeds from the sale of the albums will be made available to their families.

The governor described King Ebizimo as “the most gifted and prolific musician in Ijaw land”. He expressed regret that “he was not celebrated enough, while he was alive adding that the Ijaw nation will greatly miss him.”

He said: “We were sad that we lost him but we also thank God for his life. This is one man the Ijaw nation will miss for a very long time but we are happy because he gave us a lot to celebrate.”

“King Robert Ebizimo gave us so much music and a lot to celebrate.

Between last year and now, if he had been alive, he would have produced more albums so in that sense, we miss him.

“When the Bayelsa State School of Music is fully equipped and commissioned, my intention is to have all his songs; from the first to the last one before his death recorded.

“And, I will also direct the gentleman, who will administer the school to get the songs played by late Rex Lawson and others and the studio will wax their songs and sell them from time to time and the proceeds essentially would be given to their families because from generation to generation, we want to preserve their music as part of our heritage.”

Without mining words, the governor designated the 31st of every July as Ijaw Cultural and Musical Day to further project the identity and positive values of the people.

Persons who received awards are Chief Agbeotu Teinbo, General Alaska, Bestman Doupere, Orutugu Fubara, Skido Ozidi, Simple Boys of Okutukutu and White Eagles of Sabagreia.

In his welcome address, Tuodolo described Dickson as a lover of

culture and said a “society that fails to honour its heroes and achievers is not worth being proud of”. He praised the governor for honouring persons who made the state proud.

He said: “Those that have made Bayelsa State and the ijaw nation proud should be honoured so that we that younger ones should pick courage from them and also excel in our different endovours.

“I stand to authoritatively state that no government in Bayelsa State has honoured its heroes like the present restoration government. We have brought the celebration of Isaac Boro to international standard where people come all the way from America to grace the occasion here in Bayelsa.

“We have named the Cultural Centre after a great poet from Bayelsa State, Dr. Gabriel Okara, we have sponsored the memorial of our great hero, Late Melford Okilo we have built a structure and name it after streets after Late General Azazi. We have name Streets after elders like Lambert Eradiri, Isaac Boro all in honour of our people”.

34

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NIGER DELTA REPORT BRIEFS

INTERVIEW

I did menial jobs to survive, says Edo lawmaker Chris Okaeben represents Oredo West constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly. For eight years, he battled to contest election to the House of Assembly. During the past struggles, he was pressured to step down for former Speaker Uyi Igbe. A stout member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Okaeben spoke with OSAGIE OTABOR

H

OW was it when growing up?

I feel embarrassed when I see young girls hanging out as call girls and selling their bodies in the name of survival.

There was nothing I did not do to survive. I know this is not the desire of these innocent girls but if we can connect back to the society, we can do something to make them busy.

I have once done any work just to ensure I got money to buy books to take to school. I have washed clothes for people to be paid. I worked in people’s garden just to eat. I would go to UNIBEN to do any work for students just because I wanted to remain in secondary school.

This is because I was convinced that I can make something out of my life. This is why I want to give our people hope. We want to lay a foundation and encourage the people. I want to be part of them. I don’t want them to believe that they have laboured in vain. What has not worked well is that elected persons

come once in three years to distribute rice. We want to remain in the system where we grow up from.

What should your constituency expect from you?

We want to introduce soft loans for women. I will have a well functional campaign office and employ 12 persons from the six wards to serve as a means of link to the people. I want people to talk about what I did in my time and in defining what I did in my time, it is about how many people’s lives I affected. How many people I was able to bring to governance. It is only a foolish man who will not want any person to rise to his standard.

We are tired of hearing share the money. What we need are those who will feel the pain that the common man is facing. This nation under Buhari will take us to our destination.

There is so much to do in Oredo. The people don’t want to be in the dark. They want to be connected to what is happening in government. In

whether the people need it or not is over. There is so much to do. I have visited some skill acquisitions shops and I felt that we must identify people in various wards and give them a sense of belonging. Everybody cannot be elected but we can make them learn a trade. We are looking at a way of engaging young girls, who may not be lucky to go to tertiary institutions, to become entrepreneurs. We can prepare a future for our young girls.

Fear grips Ogwashi-Uku over wave of kidnapping

R

ESIDENTS of Ogwashi-Uku, headquarters of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta, now live in fears following the renewed wave of kidnapping there.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) investigations revealed that no fewer than five cases of kidnapping had been reported in the community in the last two months.

NAN recalls that the community had allegedly been hit by a wave of high-profile kidnappings and cult killings in the last one year.

A community youth leader and Port-Harcourt-based philanthropist, Chief Peter Osume, told NAN on Tuesday in OgwashiUku that the resurgence of violent crimes in the community was worrisome.

He called on the traditional institutions and security agents in the community to lived up to their responsibilities and address the security challenge that had bedeviled the community over the past two years.

“It is unfortunate that we are still where we are today. Kidnapping and secret cult killings in our community have left us perplexed and helpless.

“It is equally unfortunate that the traditional institutions and security agents in our community have failed to do what is expected of them.

“The time has come for all stakeholders in the community to do something urgent, because we cannot pretend to be safe in the face of this wind of destruction that is blowing our community,” Osume said.

Another indigene of the community, Mr Uwazu Ofordu, said that the situation there called for a proactive measure in dealing with it.

He called for the deployment of military personnel to the community to assist the police to stem the tide.

“The situation in Ogwashi-Uku calls for the presence of the military to checkmate this wave of violent crimes. Our community has not known peace over the past two years because of criminal gangs.

“Only recently, a relative called to say that I should consider relocating my aged mother away from the community, that is the irony of the situation we find ourselves,” Ofordu said.

NAN reports that the latest outcry by the community marked the peak of the tension that had gripped its residents following last week’s kidnapping of 90 year-old Madam Helen Ojeogwu.

The nonagenarian, alleged to have been forcefully abducted by a six-man armed gang from her family home in Azungwu Village on July 27, had since remained in the captivity of her abductors.

However, the state police command through its spokesman, DSP Celestina Kalu, allayed the fears of the residents of the community, adding that the situation was under control.

Kalu told NAN on phone that the command would rescue the old woman and apprehend the hoodlums terrorising the community.

She said that security operatives were on the heels of the kidnappers.

Akwa Ibom seeks USAID’s help to fight HIV/AIDS

A

KWA Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has appealed to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to expand its HIV/ AIDS intervention programme to all local government areas in the state.

The governor made the appeal on Tuesday in Uyo when the agency paid him an advocacy visit in line with its 2015 programme outline for the state.

Emmanuel, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Moses Ekpo, assured USAID of the government’s support in the

fight against deadly disease.

“The readiness of my administration to welcome efforts that will complement the goals and cardinal agenda of my leadership is not in doubt.

“We use this medium to appeal for necessary assistance from international donor agencies in combating menace of the dreaded disease.

“We will work with USAID through the ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare to ensure that the organisation achieves its objectives in the state,” he said.

The governor noted that the USAID had robust pro-

grammes that could bring succour to vulnerable children and women in the state.

He said that the state looked forward to having sufficient succour from the organisation.

Earlier, the USAID representative, Mrs Susan Coleman, said that they came to acquaint the governor with its programmes on HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.

“We are also here to introduce the newest project of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in the state as well as indicate effort to mitigate the impact of the virus,” she added.

T

HE Chief Press Secretary to Cross River Governor, Mr Christian Ita, said over 6,000 applicants applied for positions in Calabar Garment Factory and the state’s Green Police.

Ita disclosed this in a statement issued in Calabar on Wednesday.

According to him, most of the applicants are youths and widows of the state origin.

He said it was in line with Governor Ben Ayade’s promise to create employment opportunities for the people.

“Since the job vacancies for the two projects were advertised a few days ago, over 6,000 applicants have so far submitted their resume to the office of Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Forestry Commission.”

He said: “This is in line with Gov. Ayade’s promise during his inaugural speech on May 29th 2015, to rekindle hope by breaking the vicious cycle of

employment.”

The CPS stated that the garment factory and the Green Police were two of several projects designed to create over a thousand jobs for the teeming unemployed population to mark the governor’s first 100 days in office.

“Ahead of its commissioning in a couple of weeks, the garment factory is expected to absorb hundreds of women, mostly widows while the Green Police will employ about a thousand youths, ‘’ he said.

He said the Green Police was a non-arm bearing organisation established to protect the state’s vast forest reserve and the environment in general.

Ita said the governor, while conceiving the two projects, saw them as a more institutionalised way of empowering the people, rather than giving them handouts as empowerment which was basically unsustainable.

Rivers Deputy governor Banigo to doctors: be compassionate

•Okaeben

my campaigns, I said our people will enjoy the benefits of governance. What they expect is to reconnect them to government. I want my people to believe in themselves. I am convinced that good things are beginning to happen in my time. I will criticise, suggest and advise. The most important thing is to add value and in adding value, there must be a connection between you and your people. The era of sinking boreholes without bothering

Official: 6,000 applicants jostle for garment factory jobs in Cross River

•Udom

R

IVERS Deputy Governor Ipalibo Banigo has urged medical practitioners to be more compassionate in discharging their duties.

Banigo spoke on Wednesday when members of the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) association called on her in Port Harcourt.

She called on the association to revive the ethics of their practice as medical doctors and Christians as Christ demonstrated in his encounter with the sick while on earth.

“It’s is important we practice with love as believers in this profession to save lives,” she said.

Banigo advised the group to bring healthcare closer to the rural dwellers through their medical outreach programmes.

She commended the doctors for keeping the vision of the founding fathers of the association and urged them not to relent in their service to God and humanity.

Banigo noted that the State Government was determined to provide quality and affordable healthcare service to the people.

“The State Government will soon embark on the training and retraining of medical personnel to update their knowledge on current practices in the profession,” she said.

Dr Friday Aaron, the State Chairman of CMDA, said that they had been on special medical mission to attend to medical, physical and spiritual needs of patients.

Dr Chima Onoka, Chief Executive Officer of CMDA in Nigeria, said the association was currently providing succour to 1,500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) through its manpower.

Onoka called for financial assistance from the state government to touch more lives in the rural areas of the state.

NGO to partner Cross River agency to tackle environmental hazards

T

HE Nigerian Environmental Society, Cross River Chapter, has expressed its readiness to collaborate with Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) to tackle environmental hazards in the state.

Dr Udeme Udofia, the president of the state chapter, made the pledge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Udofia said the organisation took the decision in its drive to effectively manage environmental related challenges, as part of its objective for sustainable development in the state. ‘’We pledge to work with the state basin authority as part of our objectives to foster partnership in areas of environmental management, pollution control and capacity building,’’ he said.

The president also stressed the need for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before embarking on any project in the state.

According to him, such assessment would g a long way to helps in sustaining the en-

vironment and the authority’s projects. ‘’EIA is just an information gathering exercise carried out by the developer and other bodies. ‘’This enables a local planning authority to understand the environmental effects of a project before deciding whether or not it should go ahead. ‘’Such consideration will serve as protection and conservation of the environment for sustainable development,’’ Udofia said.

He said environmental management was everybody’s business; saying that every society or organisation should be proactive in environmental related issues before embark on any project.

Udofia advocated enlightenment campaign to sensitise the public on environmental sustainability.

Meanwhile, the president urged Nigerians to contribute their quota in enhancing the environment by clearing drains and planting trees to control erosion.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

36

NIGER DELTA REPORT COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

T

HE serenity of the environment is beyond query. There are trees everywhere. Birds can be heard chirping away. It is rural splendour at its best.

The big building, which houses the Writers’ Haven, is quaint. Its red brick walls glitter under the sunny day. Many, who have been there, mostly writers who need to escape the madness of the city to have quiet moments with the muse, have described it as ‘paradise in the forest’.

A writer-in-residence, Solomon Uhakheme, has made this paradise his home in the last two weeks. He is there to commune with the gods of writing. He has vowed not to leave until he is through with the manuscript of his debut novel which he has been working on for the past three years.

At the moment, Solomon buries his head in a collection of short stories. The story he is reading is about a once great empire known as Igodomigodo. It was a pre-colonial empire whose capital was known as Ode. It was perhaps the oldest and most highly developed state in the coastal hinterland of what is now known as West Africa. The British Empire’s invasion, which came to a head in 1897, ensured things fell apart.

In those days, its rulers were addressed as Osigo, whose rough translation means ‘sky king’.

The kings wielded so much influence that they were seen as not human. In a single day, the Osigo can make a million men ready for war.

He was first among equals.

The description of the Osigo’s square fascinated Solomon.

“It is as large as a town and is surrounded by a special wall similar to the one which encircles the town. It is divided into many magnificent palaces, homes and apartments. It comprises beautiful and long square galleries resting on wooden pillars,” the writer observed.

Solomon was close to tears when he got to the aspect where the ‘sky king’ was rendered impotent by the colonial masters. Though the kingdom continued in a way, that era was gone for good.

On concluding this aspect, Solomon loses interest in the story and abandons it. Somehow he becomes disturbed. He leaves the living room for the balcony and gazes into the horizon. His thoughts are blank. Nothing is really taking shape. He wonders how something so great can become easily eroded.

His phone soon rings. He checks the caller identity. It is Ikponwosa, his friend calling from Ibinu. They have not seen or spoken for some time now. His first instinct is to answer it at once.

But he queries his readiness to engage in meaningful conversation at the moment.

The phone rings out and Ikponwosa calls back.

Still he ignores it, but Ikponwosa calls back the third time.

“Something must be bothering him,” Solomon concludes and picks the call.

“Hello Solo,” Ikponwosa says.

“Long time,” Solomon replies.

“I have been trying your number in the last one week and could not get through to you…”

Solomon cuts in to explain that he has been away in the Writers’ Haven and that he only has

OLUKOREDE YISHAU

ABOVE WHISPERS

•A weekly intervention on Southsouth people and matters

olukoredeyishau@gmail.com

The leopard in Savanna bush (1)

•A leopard in its habitat

‘

The Oba has neither been seen nor heard in public and we dare not speculate about the Oba. We the people of Ibinu have held religiously to our tradition. Our king's passing is made public only when we want to network when he is in his room, but the network disappears when he is in the Muse Chamber, where he works on his manuscript.

“We are leaving in fear in Ibinu now,” he says.

“Why?” asks Solomon.

“It is feared that the Oba has gone into the penthouse…”

Solomon laughs at the metaphor. He understands the culture of the Ibinu people. Even in the 21st century, no one dare say the King of Kings is dead. He never dies. He either enters the ceiling or goes into the penthouse.

“There are fears that the rituals will soon begin and like you know, goats are not used for this sort of sacrifice.”

Solomon cannot but think at this moment. Is it really true that the Oba must be accompanied on the last sojourn by men whose time has not come? Must blood be shed for the sojourn to be worth the while? He has no answer to these ques-

‘

tions. But, those are the beliefs out there.

“Many non-indigenes who teach in our school have run out of town. Thank God the schools are on holidays. I actually called you thinking I could escape to your house too, even though I should not really be afraid since I am an indigene…”

Solomon cuts in: “Are these fears really justifiable?”

“It is better to be pre-emptive that wait for evil to come first. Ours is a society shielded in so many myths and secrecy. For instance, our King of Kings is regarded as God’s representatives on earth. He is even the leader of a church which is located at the spot where our people had direct contact with God long before the coming of the European explorers and missionaries.

“A folklore I read somewhere said a powerful spiritual leader offered to take the peoples’ plea to God as a result of drought and pestilence in the land. He gave up his life during one of the

LAST WORD

prayer sessions. He was expected to return and bring succour to the people. While waiting for him, the people continued their prayers but rather than his return, they got a huge fireball that descended from the sky. At the point where the ball of fire dropped, a huge black stone was found and a place of worship was built there. It was destroyed when the invaders came in 1897.

But, it was rebuilt by the father of King of Kings, who is now believed to have gone to the penthouse.

“Service at the church is conducted in our language. Baptism of new converts is done with the white chalk. The sayings of the ancient belief written by the wise men are used to teach the people.”

Solomon bursts out laughing as Ikponwosa concludes his folklore about the mightiness of the King of Kings.

“Is there an official confirmation of the king joining his ancestors?”

“No,” answers Ikponwosa, “It is never done that way. Certain things must be done before such an announcement is made. The only thing we have been told is that he will not engage in any public engagement for the time being. Such public engagements include courtesy visits, hearing of complaints from individuals, families and communities, and in particular, complaints over inheritance and land disputes, are therefore suspended until further notice. So, they are denying that the Oba was in dialogue with his ancestors. ”It has been more than four months now since we are told that. The Oba has neither been seen nor heard in public and we dare not speculate about the Oba. We the people of Ibinu have held religiously to our tradition. Our king's passing is made public only when we want to. Modernity has tried to affect it, but still you can't compare it to what happens in other places. We all just have to wait for the chiefs to tell us when they are ready. For now, we can only talk in silence. Our Oba is like no other. There lies our dilemma and the fear pervading our land over what may be done or not if indeed our Oba has truly gone to the penthouse.”

There is a brief silence between the two of them. Solomon soon breaks it.

“I will just advise that you should be careful.”

“Thanks,” Ikponwosa says, “I’ll keep in touch.”

Solomon returns to the bedroom, jumps on the bed and sleep soon comes visiting. Within minutes, he is woken up by a nightmare.

All he can remember is a voice screaming: “The leopard is ill in the savannah bush. The leopard is ill in the savannah bush. The leopard is ill in the savannah bush.”

There is sweat all over him and he keeps wondering: “What is the meaning of the leopard is ill in the savannah bush?”

He knows his time is up in the Writers’ Haven? He will be back to complete his novel. For now, he needs to seek answer to this question: What is the meaning of the leopard is ill in the savannah bush?

And to Lagos, he returns.

•To be continued next week

KAZEEM IBRAHYM

Better days ahead for Akwa Ibom rural dwellers?

D

ESPITE the widely celebrated uncommon transformation in Akwa Ibom State, about 80 per cent of the people still live in the rural areas. And in abject poverty. They lack infrastructure and other good things of life.

The roads in the urban centre are smooth, but coarse in the rural areas.

The Ministry of Rural Development says it is interested in making life more meaningful for the rural dwellers.

During an inspection tour of the rural areas by the ministry, the first point of call was the Ikot Abia-Enyie in Nsit Atai Local Government Area where a bridge measuring about 20 meters had been abandoned due to shortage of funds.

The bridge is instrumental and strategic to the wellbeing and the development of the people because if completed it will connect several villages together with the help of a nearby river.

The river, popularly called “Atang River”, is also useful. It is the main source of water to the people but not without its demerits. For instance, in the last one year, the river had claimed the lives of eight pupils.

The chairman of the village council, Chief Etop Umanah, said the pupils drowned in the water following the downpour which led to the river

overflowing its bank while returning from school.

Atang River divides Ikot Abia-Enyie village into two; with all the facilities in the area - a health centre, a primary and a secondary school, located at the other side of the river.

Umanah stated that it was the custom of the village to wait for the pupils and women at the bank of the river during the schools’ closing hours whenever there was downpour.

He explained that it was unfortunate that before the men from the village could get to the river to rescue the pupils, the water had already carried them away.

According to Umanah, the bodies of the pupils were recovered three days after.

He revealed that in the preceding year three pupils and a pregnant woman died in the same river, noting that as the pupils tried to come back from school, the pregnant woman was trying to make her way back from the health centre.

His words: “This village, Abia-Enyie lost eight children to Atang River this year as they were returning from school following a downpour which aided the river to overflow its bank. Last year, we lost three pupils and a pregnant woman in the same manner.

“The village is one village; it is split by this

river. All the facilities of this village – a health centre, a primary and a secondary school are all sited at the other side of the river. We cannot stop the children from going to school.”

But speaking during the inspection of some facilities in the rural area, the State’s Commissioner of Rural Development, Mr. Ekong Sampson, told reporters that the Akwa Ibom State government was ready to end not only the pupils’ death, but all the deaths associated with Atang River.

According to him, it pained the government to see Akwa Ibom children perishing in river as he assured the people that government would embark on remedial measures to end the carnage before work on the bridge was started and completed.

He words: “That is why I have chosen to come here by myself. I am really touched by what I have seen. We will make every effort to ensure that infrastructure is brought to this community and to every other rural space in the state. And our approach is to go there and see things by ourselves in order to have a first-hand purview of their problems.

“The state government is committed to transforming our rural space because we all come from villages. The state government is committed

to recreating the villages; we are committed to making lives better for those who live in our villages. We shall give government an update about what we have seen here.”

The representative of the company handling the bridge project, MT & G International Services Limited, Mrs. Tukubor Okpoyo, said the project has been running for three years.

Even when there is still so much work to be done at the project site, Mrs. Okpoyo said the company had received 50 per cent funding and 90 per cent of work already completed.

Her words: “I can only tell you we have the will and the expertise to complete this project.

The issue of why it has not been completed is strictly an issue of funding. Unfortunately funding has been interrupted. We hope and we are looking forward to resuming project here as soon as we are funded.”

To enhance the living condition of the people living in the rural area, the Ministry of rural development, according to Commissioner Sampson, has put forward a Rural Development Master Plan (RDMP) which if adopted would serve as a compass for sustainable rural development.

The RDMP embodies five critical components, namely: rural electrification; rural water supply;

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

37

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

,

Abia holds women empowerment meeting T

HE Abia State government has kicked off a meeting where women are not only educated on their rights but expected to educate others.

It is a forum for self-education as well as educating humanity.

Speaking with reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, wife of the state Deputy Governor Mrs Vivian Oko-Chukwu, who is the chairman of the committee for this year’s meeting, said the theme is ‘Empower Women and Empower Humanity’.

Mrs Oko-Chukwu said the conference is used to usher in another fuller meeting across the state and the entire country later in the month.

At that expanded meeting, the women would deliver lectures.

She explained that before now people looked down on the August meeting, saying it was scarcely more than a platform for vanity.

She said people dismissed the meeting as a forum “where women... come to exhibit their new wears and affluence, which

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

is not so, as many things are discussed for the benefit of women”.

The wife of the deputy governor said that women will be celebrating their own as lectures will be held in the area of education, health, women empowerment, politics and child trafficking, among others.

She said that it is on that basis that the wife of the governor, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu is organising this year’s August meeting to educate women on their rights and things they are expected to do.

Mrs Oko-Chukwu said that the meeting will be attended by 31 women groups from all parts of the state, while 50 women will be coming from each of the 17 council areas in the state.

She said that after the lectures, the women will be expected to go back home and educate their col-

The meeting will be attended by 31 women groups from all parts of the state, while 50 women will be coming from each of the 17 council .... the women will be expected to go back home and educate their colleagues in the rural areas

,

•Mrs Vivian Oko-Chukwu

leagues in the rural areas.

“This conference is mainly for the the rural women for their development.

The wife of the deputy governor said that three lectures will be delivered by Dr (Mrs) Elizabeth Esochaghi, who will lecture on

empowering women through education, while Dr Victoria Uwadilachi will talk about diabetes, Grace Ukeje will lecture on women empowerment rights.

She said that the highlight of the conference will be the award of honours (Nne Abia) to three distinguished women of the state for their contributions to the development of the state.

They are Dame Eunice Nwankwo, Dr Rose Ekeleme and Prof Okpete Kanu.

‘Imo INEC, PDP frustrating APC at tribunal’

•Senator Uzodinma

T

HE Imo State chapter of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been accused of conniving with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to frustrate the All Progressives Congress (APC) at

the election tribunal.

The Director General of the Campaign Organisation of the APC Senatorial candidate for Imo West in the last election, Hon. Charles Ubah, who briefed journalists about the “partisan” stance of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), noted that the refusal of INEC to allow them inspect the electoral materials after the Court had granted their prayers was most undemocratic.

He said, “It is the right of the petitioner to inspect electoral materials, but the Imo State INEC refused to allow us inspect sensitive materials. It was after we petitioned the Acting Chairman of the Commission that we were allowed access to the non-sensitive materials. They have refused to show us the result sheets because according to them the records

,

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

It is obvious that the APC won the Imo West Senatorial election, having won nine out of 12 Local Government Areas but the PDP is still playing pranks with the tribunal to scuttle the chances of the APC

,

were mutilated”.

Ubah also condemned the alleged bias of members of the Tribunal Panel, who he noted were applying delay tactics to frustrate their petition.

In his words, “after about sit-

ting for many days, the members of the Tribunal decided to split it into three and we were moved from Panel 1 to Panel 2. At first

we thought it was done to accelerate the process but the recent plot to return us back to the first Tribunal after we had lost two weeks as a result of the first transfer, clearly show that there is a sinister motive behind the action of the Panel members”.

He maintained further that, “it is obvious that the APC won the Imo West Senatorial election, having won nine out of 12 Local Government Areas but the PDP is still playing pranks with the Tribunal to scuttle the chances of the APC. But we are seizing this opportunity to warn that we will resist any attempt to recruit INEC again to complete the fraud it perpetrated by declaring the PDP candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma as the winner of the election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary”.

Ebonyi governor’s wife launches project •Continued from page 28

•The President of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Malam Murtala M. Aliyu fielding quesPHOTO: CLETUS OBI tions from reporters during a workshop in Enugu

state government, it will provide graduates of the centre with micro credit to establish their micro credit programmes outside the ones provided by the state government, and other government agencies such as the Central Bank”.

“It is pertinent to note that this programme is part of my effort at using my position as wife of the governor to mainstream certain issues that will improve upon the productivity of our women and youths; so as to reduce the burden of poverty among our people’.

Representatives of various international agencies at the occasion promised to partner with Mrs Umahi to achieve the aims and objectives of the programme.

The partners include IFAD, UNIDO, USAID, UNICEF, WHO, FAO, Un-Habitat, SFH. The Governor of the state, Dave Umahi assured of both personal and governmental support to the initiative adding that the project will bring succor to Ebonyi people.

He noted that the programme is a prayer answered as it will assist the state government to cater for Ebonyi women, and youths as promised by his administration.

The wife of the governor later distributed 464 bags of fertilizers, and other agro products to Ebonyi farmers. The other product includes cartons of vespamil plus chemical for clearing weeds from the farms, philo-16 sprayers and other agro chemicals.

The hugely subsidized products were procured and distributed in conjunction with IFAD one of the partners of the programme.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

38

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

•The police van

Residents urge bank to decongest van-induced traffic

R

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

The road which is busy, especially in the morning hours, has become a danger to road users, as the twoway lane is always blocked any day the vans come to deliver money, leaving motorists to make do with just one lane.

A motorist interviewed, who does not want his name in print, described the situation as unfortunate as the bank’s bullion vans puts motorists in danger any day they come to drop or collect it.

Reps to IGP: investigate Enugu traditional ruler’s assassination

T

HE House of Representatives has urged the Inspector-General of Police Solomon Arase to intensify investigation into the killing of a traditional ruler in Enugu, Igwe Peter Onuoha.

The resolution emanated from matter of urgent public importance raised by Rep. Chukwuemeka Ujam (EnuguPDP), which was unanimously adopted by members.

It would be recalled that on July

11, the traditional ruler of Isienu Amofu, Igwe Peter Onuohu and three others were allegedly assassinated by unknown gunmen.

Ujam had expressed worry that the assassination occurred without any form of resistance by security operatives in the area.

According to him, the unknown gunmen engaged in sporadic shooting for a lengthy period of •Continued on page 39

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ESIDENTS and commuters have urged management of the Diamond Bank Plc branch at Ikot Ekpene Road, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State, to decongest the traffic buil-up around its offices especially when its bullion vans come in to deposit cash or take it away.

The hilly road is usually blocked, causing motorists all sorts of problems.

Commuters fear that except the trend is checked, accidents could result when heavy-duty vehicles breaks fail and roll uncontrollably downhill.

Commuters fear that except the trend is checked, accidents could result when heavy-duty vehicles breaks fail and roll uncontrollably downhill

,

He said on two occasions, ghastly crashes were averted only by the grace of God and that many lives

E

NUGU Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) will install pre-paid meters in its customers’ homes in the Southeast at the end of the ongoing Geographical Information System (GIS) enumeration.

Mr Tope Borishade, EEDC Deputy Managing Director, made the announcement in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, during EEDC customers consultative forum.

He said the enumeration would help the company to ascertain specific locations for the pre-paid meters.

“The reason the pre-paid meters

would have been lost due to the blocked road.

Another motorist who gave her

name as Mrs Kalu Mercy said there was a day when she also escaped death, having to stop her car suddenly owing to reckless driving of the bullion van driver.

Mrs Kalu said that she was taking her children to school when the incident happened.

She called on the management of the bank to find a way manage their bullion van movements to avoid blocking the entire road.

She said that one side of the lane on the road should be blocked instead of the entire road, so that the busy road would remain open for motorists.

Power firm conducts enumeration ahead of pre-paid meter are not yet installed is because we are looking at the past pre-paid metering.

“We are doing studies and analysis so that we install the pre-paid meters in a manner that is much better than the past prepaid metering.

“What we are doing now is the GIS-based studies, which will capture all the buildings in the licensed areas,’’ he said.

Borishade said the company was making conscious efforts to avoid some of the pitfalls that undermined past pre-paid metering in some parts of the country.

“We are making sure that we do something better than what •Continued on page 39

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We are doing studies and analysis so that we install the pre-paid meters in a manner that is much better than the past pre-paid metering

,

•Members of Obiano support group

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

39

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

A

‘Erosion threatening Uzuakoli-Ohafia Road’ road if urgent steps are not taken to check it.

He called on the federal and state governments to take urgent steps

Power firm conducts enumeration ahead of pre-paid meter •Continued from page 38

was done in the past to enable use monitor the facility and ensure that we are not easily bypassed,” he said.

He said that at the end of enumeration, the company would roll out the smart and non-smart meters for its non-Maximum Demand (MD) customers.

Borishade said the pre-paid meters are currently undergoing testing and certification, preparatory to their installation.

He said that plans were underway to phase out bulk-billing inherited by EEDC. “Our plan is to make sure that all our customers are given their personal meters,’’ he said.

Electricity consumers at the forum took turns to enumerate their problems, ranging from estimated billing to delay in the company’s response to complaints.

They decried indiscriminate billing of customers even when there was no supply due to major faults or disconnection.

Borishade assured them that their complaints would be looked into, saying the company was determined to ensure improved service delivery.

to check the gully erosion to avert imminent danger and possible loss of lives on the road.

He said that the erosion site in Lohum in Bende Local Government Area posed a serious threat to the lives of motorists plying the road, saying that the gully erosion had become a death trap.

“My worry is that the deep gully, if not urgently tackled, may claim lives,” he said, and appealed to the relevant government agencies to initiate measures to check further deterioration at the site.

“I wish to use this opportunity to appeal to the state and federal road maintenance agencies to quickly intervene to save the road from total collapse.’’

The lawmaker described the road as very important, adding that it linked all the local government areas in Abia North senatorial zone.

“This is the only good road that connects Umuahia to Ohafia so it will become a nightmare to travel to Ohafia from Umuahia if it is cut off,’’ he said.

Okogbuo described gully as the major problem facing the entire local government area, saying that

,

MEMBER of the Abia House of Assembly, Mr Chibuzo Okogbuo has raised the alarm over the threat to the Uzuakoli-Ohafia Road as a result of gully erosion at Lohum.

Briefing reporters on the phenomenon in his office, Okogbuo said that the erosion will cut off the

I wish to use this opportunity to appeal to the state and federal road maintenance agencies to quickly intervene to save the road from total collapse

,

the Lohum-Isukwuato road, Itumbuzor-Ntalakwu road, ObibiaBende road and Mkpa-Lohum road, among others, were also under the threat of erosion.

“I know that there is an ecological fund for such problems, so I appeal to the state and federal governments to come to our aide,” he said.

Chamber urges Southeast governors on export promotion

T

HE Onitsha Chamber of Commerce has urged Southeast governors to show more commitment to export promotion.

Speaking on the need to change the trend of business from import to export in the Southeast in Onitsha, the new President of the chamber, Mr Uchenna Apakama, said that the export of agro-allied produce held the future for the economic prosperity of the zone.

Apakama noted that the governors should involve the organised private sector in all its export programme for the people to take ownership of such programmes.

“To fast-track the growth and development of non-oil export business in the South East zone, we urge all the state governments to quickly revive, empower and strengthen their various state committees on export.

“In many states of the federation, their committees on export have successfully facilitated the growth of non-oil export business

that runs into billions of naira.

“The nature of this export committees – made up of relevant government officials and the private sector, is sine qua non for state’s success in export business,”Apakama said.

He urged the Anambra government to leverage on the structure of the three chambers of commerce in the state to draft its policies and legislation.

He called on the government to include members of the chambers in government trade and bilateral delegations to expand businesses in the state.

“As a step toward strengthening Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, we urge Gov. Willie Obiano to assist the chamber to take full possession of its permanent trade fair on the OnitshaEnugu expressway.

“This will facilitate a better realisation of the state government’s four-point-development agenda, as they relate to business and the organised private sector enterprise development,” he said.

Reps to IGP: investigate Enugu traditional ruler’s assassination •Continued from page 38

•The cross-section of the participants

•An accident scene at Uli near Awka, Anambra State

PHOTO: OBI CLETUS

time, leaving scores of injured community members who are currently receiving treatment in Emene, Enugu.

“This dastardly act amounts to a desecration of the traditional institution of the people of Isienu Amofu and a reprisal attack could be eminent.

“If drastic measures are not employed, a repeat of this dastard incident is likely to occur,” Ujam said.

40

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

THE SOUTHEAST REPORT

Quadruplets for couple, four years after F

•The Abia State Polytechnic Management with Board members of Tertiary Education Trust Fund after their visit to the polytechnic in Aba, Abia State

•The babies

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OR three years after they tied the knots, the fruit of the womb eluded Mr and Mrs Chidubem Igboji who live in Ebonyi State. In the fourth year, four bundles of joy came. It was if they were compensated for the years of great expectation, one baby for each.

The years of waiting presented other challenges. Some family members and friends pressured Chibubem to dump his wife and marry another. He chose to stand by his wife. Soon fibroids were diagnosed for which his wife underwent a surgery. This led to more pressures on the man to send his away. Again, he stood his ground.

His faith and patience paid off, but it was four years after. A set of quadruplets has come to them. Mrs. Igboji delivered the babies successfully at Mile Four Catholic Hospital, Abakaliki.

The elated husband told our correspondent that he wedded his wife in 2011 and they have been having difficulties in child bearing added to pressures from his parents and friends who were telling him to marry another wife.

He said, “We married in 2011 and in the same year, my wife suffered fibroids. So, we embarked on operation and began to wait for the fruit of the womb.

“Last year my wife told me that she was noticing a sign of pregnancy which I told her to wait, not until four months when I asked her to go for ultra-sound.

The report of that ultra-sound scan showed twins.

“After some time, I asked her to go back for the ultra-sound which she did and the number started increasing geometrically and finally it was quadruplets.”

He called on couples who are yet to bear children to trust in God. ”I saw hell in this period of four years because there was nothing people did not tell me; some asked me to marry another wife that my wife may not bear child.

Even members of my family could not help matters; there mounted serious pressure on me to go for an option of another wife and I promised God that I will not do that.

“Today, God has blessed me with this set of babies at once and

Children are government’s property entrusted to your care to take care of. You can imagine how it used to be for one to just nurse a baby let alone four boys at once. If government comes in, I will appreciate and I will be very grateful.

Though I don’t have money but looking at these babies, I‘m fulfilled

,

From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

am very grateful for what he has done.”

Mr Igboji appealed to the state government and public spirited individuals to come to the aid of the family to cater for the children.

Mr Igboji, a pharmacist noted that he would welcome any assistance from government and good spirited individuals.

He stressed that taking care of a baby is not easy not to talk of four babies.

“Children are government’s property entrusted to your care to take care of. You can imagine how it used to be for one to just nurse a baby let alone four boys at once. If government comes in, I will appreciate and I will be very grateful. Though I don’t have money but looking at these babies, I‘m fulfilled,” he said.

•Mr Igboji, their father

Okorocha’s deputy hails health workers •Continued from page 28

•From left: Enugu Zonal Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Mrs. Esther Ikporah; the Assistant Controller, Nigerian Customs Service, Mr. M. J. Briska; the Branch Consultant, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states, Ijeoma Ezeasor and the Chairman/CEO of Hardis and Dromedas, Dr. Chike Obidigbo at a meeting in Enugu PHOTO: OBI CLETUS

cially Dr. Stella Adadevoh who first diagnosed Ebola-infected Sawyer and raised the alarm before her heroic death from the same disease”.

He further challenged the College members to go the extra mile to ensure that Nigerian Doctors and their counterparts in other West African countries measure up with others in the developed nations.

In his words; “It will be in our best interest to build a strong competitive health sector in Nigeria and at the region at large. A situation where our Doctors here do not respond rapidly to the health challenges in the country and rise up to the occasion even above their western counterparts when they travel out shows we can be the best.

While I commend you for having distinguished yourselves, it is imperative that you carry others along so as to make our region a haven of health care solution.

He further assured the College of the readiness of the Imo State Government to partner with them, which he said has been kick started by the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha with the allocation of a parcel of land for development of the College facilities in Owerri.

However the Deputy Governor advised the Health workers against embarking on incessant industrial actions at every little challenge with the governments.

He therefore urged them “to embrace dialogue and to ensure every rules and principle procedures of industrial engagements and negotiations are exhausted before thinking about removing the toga of nobility”.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

42

COMMENTARY

“W

HENEVER imperialists penetrate a territory they pilage it devastatingly and subjugate the juggernauts therein almost irredeemably. That is surely their act”. Q. 27:34 MONOLOGUE Conspiracy is the most deadly instigator of war. It has consistently been the the most reliable weapon for the survival of imperialists whether in the primordial or contemporary times. But where a strong conspiracy is countered by another equally strong conspiracy within an imperial hegemony the tendency is for the bubble to burst. That has invariably been the cause of the fall of empires and the undoing of powerful regimes throughout human history. The break up, in 1991, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is the latest example of this assertion.

The gathering Clouds Now, there are indications that some clouds are gathering in the horizon with the threat of a tempest which consequence is quite unpredictable. It is all about the recently sealed agreement between the Western Powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme which had given the Western Powers many sleepless nights before now. Subsequent to that agreement, a controversy ensued, especially in the United States, on whether or not the agreement that allowed Iran to continue but reduce the tempo of her nuclear programme was desirable at all. One of the foremost proponents of that agreement is the United States herself led by President Barack Obama who has become the selfappointed spokesman for its support and is now championing a campaign for it.

It may sound ironic that the same Obama who championed the opposition to the Iranian nuclear programme and even initiated and recommended sanctions to American allies against Iran is also the one championing the campaign for the acceptance of that country’s nuclear programme. But in international diplomacy, that cannot be strange as it only shows the momentary reality on the ground. Based on experience, Obama’s contention is that the Western Allies only have a choice between acceptance of Iranian nuclear programme and a war as he emphasized that the alternative to the earlier is the latter. Apparently, Obama has seen what other members of the alliance are yet to see.

The Jewish Position On the other hand, Israel, the only nuclear power in the entire Middle-East, which now feels threatened by Iran’s seeming rivalry, has become so jittery over Obama’s stand on this nuclear issue that she has quickly initiated a massive media campaign against it and voted an initial $1.7 million for that campaign. Incidentally, the current recess of the American Senate has provided an opportunity for that Jewish State to lobby the American Senators against passing a bill which Obama is planning to present to the Senate very soon on the matter. Thus, a battle line of propaganda has been drawn between Barack Obama’s Democrat regime and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jewish fright. And, of course, the American Senate is the main arena of that diplomatic battle.

Just two days ago (Wednesday, August 5, 2015) while President Obama was addressing the American citizens, through the media, on this volatile issue, some hundreds of American Jews took to American streets to protest against Obama’s proposed bill and continuation of Iran’s nuclear programme. Meanwhile, some analysts have been toying with some diplomatic questions relating to this matter: Can Israel really confront America, her surrogate parent (that helped her to acquire nuclear power) on this issue? Is America, a well known belligerent nation, only dramatizing for the world to see with the intention of giving an excuse to make a u-turn if she fails in this controversial issue?

Can America sincerely jettison Israel, her surrogate child and dedicated policeman of the Middle-East? There are many more pushing questions for which the days ahead must provide answers. And the world is waiting.

Genesis of the Crisis

Retrospectively, the genesis of the face off between the West and Iran took roots in the latter’s unexpected revolution of 1979

FEMI ABBAS ON femabbas756@gmail.com 08115708536

Iran: Netanyahu faces Obama

•President Barack Obama

•Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

which shut her door against the West’s economic exploitation of her citizens. It was 36 years last February (2015), since Iran jumped on the world stage with a surprising revolution that beat the West hands down. February 11, 1979 was the climax of a struggle, in that country, which began in 1963 between the oppressed people seeking independence from the shackles of imperialism and the implacable oppressors that wanted to keep that country’s innocent peasants in perpetual subservience by using the imperial stool of Shah Pahlavi.

The success of that revolution has since changed the grand design of the Western powers for the Muslim world. That grand design was first expressed by a British Prime Minister, Sir Henry CampbellBennerman in 1907 when he observed as follows: “There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another….If, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state, it would then take the face of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never- ending wars. It could also serve as a spring board for the West to gain its coveted objects”.

Sir Bennerman’s observation, following a discovery that the Middle-East would control 1/5 of the world’s wealth was in further pursuance of an earlier demand by Theodor Herzl, a leader of the Zionist movement founded in 1879. Herzl, an Austrian Jewish lawyer and journalist demanded as follows: “Let sovereignty be granted us (Jews) over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest, we shall manage by ourselves…”

“His majesty’s Government views which favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use its best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this objective…. The rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country shall not be prejudiced by the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” To facilitate that objective effectively, some other Middle East countries had to be incapacitated economically and politically by excising from them, a juicy chunk of their lands. Thus, Lebanon was excised from Syria and Kuwait from Iraq.

The strategy was to cause a dissension among the citizens of those Countries with the intention of breaking the bond of Muslim unity which Bennerman had targeted in his infamous 1907 speech quoted above.

The Balfour Declaration In response to Theodor Herzl’s demand, another British Prime Minister, James Arthur Balfour issued a devastating declaration that now bears his name (Balfour Declaration). That 1917 declaration has since put the entire Middle East in an incessant turmoil. The declaration that conceded a major part of Palestine to the Zionists as a home read in part:

The logical Question

How does Iran come into this when she is not an Arab Country? That is the logical question that anybody who is not quite familiar with the Middle East and the intricacies of its political and economic set up will ask. Naturally, Iran is affected by three major factors: Politics, economy and culture. And by culture here, we mean ISLAM. Iran is a foremost Islamic Country even if her official language is not Arabic.

And, as an Islamic Country, whatever affects other Muslim Countries must affect her.

Iranian Revolution No one believed in 1979 that what started like a small political billow, initiated by Iran’s unarmed Mullahs in the city of Qum, could grow into such a great magnitude of political ‘earthquake’. And so, by the time the foggy dust from that billow settled, a new Iran had emerged from the debris of the old. Thus, against the wish and expectation of the capitalist West, the secular, monarchical Iran became an Islamic republic. The drama was quite electrical.

Characteristic of the West, all hands were on deck, at that time, to ensure that an Islamic republic did not succeed the tyrannical monarchy headed by the Shah Pahlavi, heavily backed up by the oppressive West. America was most active in that ambitious but vain effort. She would not easily allow the massive benefit she had been enjoying for years in that oil-rich country, under the Shah regime, to slip out of her hands just like that. Thus, under the pretext of wanting to rescue her citizens from the siege laid by Iranian students on that country’s embassy, in Tehran, the US

attempted an invasion of the country. The espionage activities by the American diplomats, inside that embassy, against the new Islamic government in Iran had warranted the siege.

While a number of US F15 bomber jets were approaching Iran, the then American President Jimmy Carter engaged his country’s press in a momentary chat without giving any hint of the impending military operation. The tactics was to divert the attention of the press and that of the country from the illegal Pentagon’s military expedition. But no sane person can ever fault the contents of the Qur’an. More than 1400 years before that incident, a verse of the Qur’an had been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) thus: “They (the unbelievers) scheme, and Allah schemes.

Allah is the supreme schemer”. Q. 3:54.

Why Jimmy Carter failed Jimmy Carter’s thought was that by the time he would be finishing with the press the news would have reached him that America had successfully invaded Iran. He had therefore intended to announce the news of his ‘great’ successful scheme to the press. And that would have served as his impetus for wining that year’s election for a second term in office. But, as Allah would want it, instead of the expected success news, what he got was a shock of his life.

Two of the F15 fighters deployed for the operation miraculously collided in the air just at the point of entering Iran crashing with their contents, and consuming the lives of 16 top air force officers on board while the other jet fighters had to turn back having run into confusion. When this devastating news reached Carter, it was too much to hide and it quickly became a public knowledge.

Thus, the mighty, imperialist America failed woefully with her technology, in circumstances she has never been able to analyze and explain convincingly. With that scheme, it became obvious that Jimmy Carter of the Democrat Party had dug his own political grave. And of course, he lost that year’s election to the cowboy turned Politician, (Ronald Reagan) of the Republican Party. For about 444 days (well over a year), thereafter, the 52 American diplomats held hostage in the American Embassy in Tehran remained under the siege of the Iranian students. It took highlevel diplomacy, through third party countries, to get them released.

The current Nuclear Concern Thus, the cold relationship between Iran and the West further deteriorated recently when Iran started a nuclear project with which to prop up her economy. America responded with a threat saying the United States would not tolerate any nuclear project in Iran because she could not trust that Islamic Republic of Iran. And of course, America’s voice was re-echoed by the United Nations, through the mouth of the latter’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moo.

After all, it is only a fool who will not know that the UN, as presently constituted, is the greyhound of the US through which the latter randomly barks at the rest of the world.

But for the recent Iraqi episode that became regrettable for America and of course, the North Korean case, which has become a cancerous sore on the head of a rabid dog that the US represents, another Gulf war would have been in plan by now.

What most people did not know is that the secret of American military gangsterism around the world is neither due to technological advancement, nor military superiority per se. America’s 1979 failed rescue mission in Iran has confirmed this. That secret is rather in her ability to cause dissension among other nations and races of the world.

Conclusion Iran has never been a prey to America’s direct military aggression because she has never played a fool dancing to the sour music of that predatory country. But one fact that has become clear about the US political trend, ever since her withdrawal from isolationism in 1945, needs to be mentioned here. Her internal politics has regularly been dictated by her foreign policy. Thus, many American Presidents have either won or lost elections at home due to their adopted foreign policies. Will this also repeat itself? The days ahead will answer these questions as events continue to unfold.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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THE NATION

SOCIETY

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Soyinka to Oshiomhole: You’ve not let us down Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka last weekend showered encomiums on Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for being ‘a worthy ambassador’ of the progressives community.

P

ROFESSOR Soyinka’s plaudit was delivered at an exclusive dinner he hosted to toast the Edo governor and his wife, Lara, at his Abeokuta, Ogun State capital home, assisted by his wife, Mrs.Folake Soyinka, on a night filled with jokes and reminiscences over sumptuous food and choice wine.

The Oshiomholes, whose union was sealed at a brief but colourful ceremony at Iyamho (Edo State) on May 15, 2015, were accompanied by Edo Information Commissioner, Mr. Louis Odion, the Executive Director, Governor Office, Ms. Esohe Adams and celebrated writer and Chairman Editorial board of The Nation newspaper, Mr. Sam Omatseye. Early callers at the event included the immediate past governors of Lagos and Rivers, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Rotimi Amaechi respectively, and renowned scholar, Dr. Asani Edo Omozuwa.

In a veiled reference to Comrade Oshiomhole’s perceived activist streak for accountability even while in public office, the literary giant, often described globally as the conscience of the nation, said: “Adams, I must use this occasion to thank you for your courage, for not forgetting your roots and for not letting us down,” sealing it up with a vigorous handshake with his guest.

On a lighter note, Professor Soyinka added: “I’ve always believed that people should try and remain themselves and not allow them-

selves to be blinded by power.

Which is why among the favourite photographs I keep today is the one where you were shown really digging it down at a public concert with your two fingers pointing to the ground like arrow, without any inhibition. I think the picture was taken sometime in 2012.

When I saw it splashed on the front page of the newspaper while driving on a Lagos street, I grabbed a copy from the vendor and I told my wife ‘Yeah, this is the Oshiomhole that we’ve always known’.”

The Edo governor has been most vocal in the clamour to make top officials of the past administration account for the nation’s trillions of naira stolen from the nation’s oil receipts.

On her part, Mrs Folake Soyinka, an alumni of the Maria Gorreti Secondary School in Benin City, praised Oshiomhole’s transformation of public schools in Edo State since coming on board in 2008: “I’m sure the governor does not know this; I attended Maria Goretti in the 70s and graduated in 1979. In our days, it was a beautiful school. But many years later, the school was completely run down. But when I checked recently, I was quite impressed with what I saw. The school had been completely transformed.”

Her words were echoed by the next speaker, Dr. Omozuwa, incidentally an Edo indigene based in Benin City: “It is the same story at Idia College and hundreds of other

•From left: Mrs Lara Oshiomhole, Governor Oshiomhole, Mrs Soyinka and Professor Soyinka at the event

public schools across the state. I say this as someone who is based in Edo State myself. We can’t thank the Comrade Governor enough for his good works in our state.”

Responding, the Edo governor, in a voice suffused with emotion, thanked the Soyinkas for honouring him and his wife with the lavish dinner, adding that whatever modest achievements recorded under his stewardship in Edo would not have been possible without the critical solidarity of the anonymous counselors like the Nobel laureate.

Said Oshiomhole: “Prof, I am eternally indebted for the support and inspiration you have provided me over the years dating back to when I was in the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). Some would limit themselves to just been a critic or commentators on the pages of the newspapers.

But you are different, sir. You are

not just a man of words but also a man of action. The other day, I happened to have seen a couple of photographs taken during our public protests against the policies and programmes of President Olusegun Obasanjo more than ten years ago.

One of the photographs that stuck out is the one in which you were in the front-line, hand-in-hand with me, wearing the NLC apron. For me, it is a mark of your statesmanship and a testament to your commitment to fight and speak for the masses of Nigeria. Like it has been said time and again, you are indeed a living legend and the conscience of not just the nation but the continent of Africa at large.”

An inexhaustible bag of humour, Professor Soyinka constantly set his guests laughing for the four hours the interaction lasted. To the Edo First Lady, he said: “By now, I’m sure Ad-

ams must have tutored you on the difference between ‘swallow’ and ‘swallow’ in Nigeria’s manner of speaking, particularly whenever it is your duty to host guests at home.

Here, to swallow does not just mean eating some thing, it also means eating something concrete like Eba (cassava flour) or Iyan (pounded yam).”

When Dr. Omozuwa popped another bottle of wine and topped the glasses of the guests, Kongi remarked with a chuckle: “That’s one of my good students”, to which everyone burst into another round of laughter.

While shaking hands with the Edo commissioner on arrival, he exclaimed: “Louis!, Louis!!”, then facing the governor asked matter-of-factly, “What have you been feeding Louis with; he has added so much weight.”

The wedding between President Muhamadu Buhari’s Official Photographer and son of Prince Oluyemi Omoboriowo, a staff member of Information Department of the University of Lagos Adebayo John Omoboriowo and Omolola Temitope Omitokun at Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, TBS Onikan last Saturday. The reception held at Yetunde Apartment in Parkview, Ikoyi, Lagos.

•Daughter of the Vice President Miss Konyi Osibanjo (right) and Mrs Funke Fowler

•From left: Parents of the bride Cmdr Olutayo Omitokun (rtd); his wife Princess Adetokunbo; the couple Adebayo; and Omolola and parents of the groom Prince Oluyemi Omoboriowo and his wife Abosede.

•Princess Lamide Ogundadeghe and Mr Festus Oseni

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

44

SOCIETY The All Africa Students Union has conferred an award on Olawale Soyode, son of the former Vice Chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State. ERNEST NWOKOLO reports.

FUNERAL The remains of mother of the former Bursar of The Polytechnic, Ibadan(Mr Sola Olojede), Mrs Oladunni Atole Olojede (aka Mama Oloole) have been interred at Olode in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

A reception followed at the polytechnic.

•Mr Olojede flanked by Dr Remilekun Bakare (left) and Mr Ade Odunewu

WEDDING

•Olawale flanked by his parents, Prof and Mrs Soyode after receiving the award.

Honour for ex-VC’s son T

HE All Africa Students Union based in Accra, Ghana was literally relocated to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, when its executives hit the ancient town to confer its Africa Ledership Award on Mr. Olawale Soyede, son of the former vice chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.

The event held at the Continental Suites, Abeokut. Among those who attended were Olawale’s parents; the Alaporu of Ilaporu- Ijebu, Oba Jimoh Quadri; Assistant Director of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mrs Olutayo Samuel; the

Managing Director, FirstBank Insurance Company, Mr. Val. Ojumah; and former member, House of Representatives, Femi Kehinde.

The duo of Ologun Ayodeji (Nigerian Representatives, Commonwealth Students Parliament) and Ambassador, Dominique Gullaime, described Olawale as a philanthropist, lover of youths, builder of people and accountant.

Olawale, a chartered accountant with the Nigeria Agip Oil Company(NAOC), lauded the group for counting him worthy of the award, which he described as

reserved only for the “best of minds on the continent of Africa in the area of astute leadership qualities”.

He pledged his commitment to the ideals and cause of the students body.

Describing the students’leaders as future leaders, he urged them to prepare effectively to enable them fit into leadership positions in education, industry, science, commerce, politics and governance in future.

He advised them to embibe integrity, accountability, transparency, and honesty in their activities, if they want to succeed in their career and become exemplary leaders in future.

PARADE Imo Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere (right) in a warm handshake with the former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr Hilary Opara (left) while his colleagues watch with excitement during the Pulling - Out Parade for the retiring Senior Police Officers at the Police Headquarters, Abuja

•Mr and Mrs Ayodeji Samuel Daramola during their wedding at Abaranje in Ikotun Egbe Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos.

BIRTHDAY

GRADUATION

•Omotola Alexander flanked by her parents Mr and Mrs Jide Oguntuase during her graduation from Covenant University Ota, Ogun State

•Mrs Titilayo Oluseye and her husband Pastor Femi cutting her 40th birthday cake in Lagos

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

45

HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

Ogun seeks support for family planning

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

T

• From left: Prof. Tokunbo Fabamwo, Dr. and Dr. (Mrs) Sogade, Dr. Pitan and Dr. Kehinde Okunade at the event.

‘Robotic surgery can tackle infertility, fibroid, endometriosis’ T

HERE is hope for women suffering from fibroid, endometrio sis and infertility, among other gynaecological problems, an expert has said.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD), ObGyne Consultants, Macon, Georgia, United States (US) , Dr. Bola Sogade, believes robotic surgery can help to address infertility concerns of women and, as such, boost their chances of having babies of their own.

Dr. Sogade, who is a robotic surgeon, spoke in Lagos at the inauguration of ObGyne Consultants United States, Africa Project, a programme designed to alleviate the plight of women with gynaecological issues in Nigeria.

She said women should no longer live in fear because science has made surgery, which used to be frightening, a simple and safe procedure.

Dr. Sogade, who is transferring robotic surgery technology to Africa, spoke of the need for Nigerian women to access quality care, adding that though surgery is not usually the first line of treatment for every ailment, it should not be denied when needed.

She said robotic surgery does not predispose women to infection, blood loss and scars because it is a sophisticated technology, which offers a new dimension to surgical treatment.

“Women recover quickly after surgery,” she noted.

Moreover, it is less aggressive like the open surgery also known as bikini cut because people can go back to their daily activities within days of having surgery.

“In the developed countries, the bikini cut is for women who cannot deliver their babies vaginally so, they go through the caesarian section (CS).

In our facility, some women would tell us they want to go home a few hours after surgery, but we would insist they wait for us to observe them more,” she said.

Dr. Sogade, who has practised for over 25 years in the US, said robotic surgery had been around for about 10 years and it is minimally invasive.

Women, she advised, should ask for minimally-invasive method of treatment to address their surgical problems since there is no real danger accessing the surgery.

By Wale Adepoju

“This is because I am sure of its safety as I have performed many surgeries with zero mortality,” she added.

Dr. Sogade, who trains other robotic experts in the US, said some Nigerians are working with her as interns.

“I have trained many specialists from various parts of the world on the technique. It would give me a great joy to build the capacity of surgeons in Nigeria. Doctors having residency practice in tertiary facilities can also benefit immensely from the training,” she said.

She said if Nigeria does not pioneer the procedure on the continent, other countries would, especially South Africa, saying: “If we increase our expertise in this field, the country would be better for it.”

She also performs Da Vinci surgery and Mona Lisa Touch to aid the health of women. “With the da Vinci Surgical System, surgeons operate through just a few small incisions. The da Vinci System features a magnified 3D highdefinition vision system and tiny wristed instruments that bend and rotate far greater than the human wrist.

As a result, da Vinci enables your surgeon to operate with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control.

“The MonaLisa Touch is a revolutionary, non-surgical, “walk in walk out” 20 minute treatment for vaginal rejuvenation or vagina renewal. The treatment itself is almost painless, low risk and requires no ‘downtime’. It is suitable for most women and offers an alternative to suffering in silence,” she said.

On how the procedure is performed, she said: “We have been using microprocessor-like computers to look with the camera inside the body so that the surgery is not bad or go awry because we do not have to cut women up and down like we did before. So, there is a less chance of infection from the left clot blood.

“I do this all the time in the US. I think it’s time we exposed Nigerian and African women to it. It is not a new procedure. There are lots of

women coming from Nigeria to do it.

I believe there is a woman in the village praying for someone like me because she does not have the resources to go to America to get treated. That is why I am bringing in the technology.

I want to be able to bring the technology to the common women.

“If we don’t cut a woman up and down, and if she does not have to lie in the hospital for three to four days, then she would recover faster and she would not have any complication from the way surgery was done in the past.”

Dr. Sogade continued: “Women who have fibroid need surgery.

Sometimes, when the fibroids are small, it can be treated with medication. When the fibroids are big, they have to be taken out for a woman that still wants to conceive.

If the woman is done with child bearing we can take out the fibroid and uterus.

On infertility, Dr. Sogade said some women want to know if their tubes are open. The tubes carry the egg from the ovary to the womb.

They want to know if they can get pregnant. In this procedure, you go in and because there are small infusions, you do not want to cut scar tissue because the more scar tissue you cut the more difficult it is for the woman to get pregnant.

We can help open the woman’s tube. That can be done with the aid of laparoscopy. But with the robot we can do the surgery at a higher magnification Also, robotic surgery tcan be used o remove endometriosis. The standard of care for women with endometriosis is taking them to the theatre to remove the endometrium, adding that she also did a lot of vaginal hysterectomy for women who no longer want to have babies, she said.

She identified endometriosis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, among other undiagnosed infections, as the major causes of infertility.

Dr Sogade urged women to avoid

high-risk behaviours, adding that blocked tubes can prevent a woman from conceiving.

“The tubes of women are thinner than spaghetti and very delicate.

Most girls have untreated infections which have damaged their tubes,” she said.

Dr Sogade said her vision is to create a world-class centre for the education and training of the next generation of specialists in women’s health.

“Our mission is to provide cutting-edge, technology-based healthcare solutions for women in Africa,” she said.

Former Lagos State’s Commissioner for Health Dr Leke Pitan said the inauguration of robotic surgery was ground breaking, adding that it would revolutionise healthcare for men and women.

“This will bring a change in this era of change,” he said.

He said more Nigerians would access care if the Federal Government could put in place a functional universal health coverage (UHC), noting that the health management organisations (HMOs) can come in to play a supportive role.

President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Georgia Arrhythmia Consultants and Research Institute, Macon, Georgia, United States, Dr Felix Sogade, said his wife’s desire to see Nigeria embrace robotic surgery was borne out of her emotional attachment for the country.

He said when somebody is away from home there is that penchant to remember where they come from.

“We cannot change all the sectors but we can start to do things in a new way. There are areas of needs that must be filled,” he said.

He said 90 percent of prostate problems are performed through robotic surgeries.

“If there is robotic surgery, the barrier of access to quality treatment is removed. The barrier of travel will also be removed. As a country, we can rely on travelling overseas every time there is an emergency,” he said.

O strengthen and expand family planning and other reproductive health care services, the Ogun State Family Planning Advocacy Working Group (FPAWG) has urged stakeholders in health to establish more public/private partnership support.

FPAWG secretary Rev. Olajide Odugbemi made the call at a forum in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

Rev. Odugbemi said the state can increase her contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) from 21.5 to 30.9 percent by the end of the year, and 52 percent by 2018.

According to him, meeting these targets require adequate financing, technical investments and support from policy makers at the state and local government levels, non-governmental organisations, development partners, multi-national companies, religious and community leaders and the public.

“More efforts should be made to strengthen the overall health system through improved policy, governance and building of timely and reliable community environment for long-acting family planning, “ Odugbemi said.

The cleric said increase in the funding of family planning would go a long way to reduce maternal and child deaths, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions thereby reducing the health care costs.

He said the advocacy group, which was inaugurated last year, has adopted a strategic and holistic approach to provide leadership, technical direction and support for a sustained family planning advocacy in the state.

Nestlé trains health workers

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

N

ESTLÉ has trained healthcare professionals in Central and West Africa to increase their competence in handling maternal and infant nutrition problems.

The company said the capacity building was carried out through its Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA), which is part of the Nestlé Nutrition Institute (NNI), Lagos.

It further said the NNIA aimed at training African paediatricians and healthcare professionals on gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition to boost their competencies in the areas.

“In Central and West Africa, a significant shortage of qualified healthcare professionals impacts on the countries’ ability to fight diseases and provide essential, life-saving interventions. By investing in their training and education, Nestlé aims to build healthcare professionals’ capacity in nutrition and develop strong networks of professional experts.

“The NNIA is a nutrition resource for healthcare professionals in Africa and a multi-disciplinary educational organisation dedicated to the science of nutrition on the continent.”

Besides, no fewer than 6,500 healthcare professionals were trained at NNIA last year. Nearly 9,000 of them are registered on its website.

The NNIA has collaborated with professional associations and healthcare institutions across the region, and supports scientists through annual scientific awards with the prize money invested into research.

It also offers short and middle-term scholarships to healthcare professionals in public health nutrition.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

46

HEALTH

NAFDAC workers insist on strike

T

HE crisis that is rocking the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control in the past few weeks, over allegation of corruption levelled against the Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii, by the former Director of Finance, Mr Ademola Mogbojuri, has taken a new dimension. The staff of the agency has vowed to go on another strike over failure of the management to pay all their outstanding allowances.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the congress of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), NAFDAC chapter said it was unfortunate that outstanding arrears that led to last year’s strike were not settled by the management, despite that they have the resources.

The congress unanimously enjoined the management to begin the payment of 2014 Productivity Allowance (13th Month) one week from the end of July, and finish paying within a week or risk an industrial action.

Its chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Attah said the organisation is generating about N9 billion yearly, adding that it had no cause not to settle the outstanding allowances owed workers.

The latest face-off between Mogbojuri and Orhii revealed that

By Sina Fadare

NAFDAC generates N9 billion annually Mogbojuri had alleged that Orhii spent all the money generated by the organization to the tune of N9 billion annually on phony contracts to some of his cronies and business associates at the expense of the welfare of workers.

“Before he joined the agency in 2009, the annual total revenue of NAFDAC was about N2.5 bn and he met around N600m in the account. Now, the total internally generated revenue is about N9bn and the agency owes about N5bn in debt.” he alleged.

Against this backdrop, Attah pointed out that it was unfortunate that all along the management has been economical with the truth that the agency was broke, adding that with the latest revelation, all outstanding arrears owed the staff should be paid otherwise the union will embark on another strike.

He debunked the allegation that the union backed the management on the ongoing crisis engulfing the agency, noting that there is nothing concerning the union and the award of contracts in the organization, therefore “we are neutral and all what concerns us is that all our outstanding allow-

ances should be paid.”

He regretted that as at the time of the press briefing a lot of claims and outstanding training allowances of the staff were on the table of the Directorate of Finance with nobody attending to it, this is an act of wickedness and poor administrative system” Although the NAFDAC Director of Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh said the entire allegation was malicious and lacked the element of truth.

“Ordinarily, the publications would have been ignored except for the wrong information it would send to the public. However, for concerns expressed by the public and our stakeholders, we wish to state categorically that these allegations are baseless, false, misleading and frivolous because nothing of such has happened under the watch of Orhii as Director-General of NAFDAC,” According to him, “It is a curious paradox that the so-called director of finance and accounts who has been superintending over contract awards, payments and other due processes since 2010 would now turn around to make such false and disparaging allegations against the chief executive just when he was redeployed to another directorate due to his incompetence and insubordination”.

• From left: Human Resources Partner, The Bridge Clinic, Miss Fatima Esanwa, Fertility Nurse, Mrs Jane Chukwuma, Consultant Gynecologist, Dr. Tayo Abiara and Commercial Manager, Dr. Dayo Omogbehin receiving the 2015 Best IVF InVitroService Provider Award at the Nigerian Health Excellence Award (NHEA) in Lagos.

NHIS now compromised, say pharmacists

T

HE Association of Community Pharmacist of Nigeria (ACPN) is urging the Federal Government to make the National Health Insurance Scheme accord respect to all professional bodies in the sector.

Its president, Dr Alkali Albert Kelong called on NHIS to direct the health management organisations (HMOs) to pay other professionals after verifying their claims on services they have rendered.

Kelong, who spoke in Lagos, lamented that only doctors presently handle the distribution of money given by the NHIS for distribution to other professionals within the health chain, adding that this negates the provision of the scheme, and as such, it is discriminatory and unacceptable.

“Things can work here the same way

By Adegunle Olugbamila

they work in saner climes but we always bring sentiments into this thing.

We are advocating for maintenance in status quo; that all professional within the healthcare delivery system must be adequately catered for in the NHIS. It is when you have respective professionals carrying out their responsibility that you have a better outcome in therapy. One person cannot claim to know everything. In the end, it is the patience that eventually pays for it,” Kelong added.

Kelong advocated a more enforced regulation to bring sanity into the healthcare system.

He said the NHIS law is clear on how professionals within the healthcare system should be adequately catered

for but the scenario has since changed.

“We want the insurance scheme to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. You cannot be a judge in your own case, “said Kelong.

He said: “Prescription comes out of hospitals to pharmacists. But in Nigeria we want a one stop shop where somebody sits and gets all the profit.

That is why you see us crying because we want prescriptions to come from us.

“Go to some of the West African countries, their regulations is more effective than ours. Ironically, we have all the resources and personnel so we won’t normally have had anybody going for treatment abroad. But in a situation where things are not being done rightly under the pretext of Nigerian situation is not acceptable.”

‘LSACA is increasing HIV testing, counselling’

T

HE Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) has scaled up HIV counseling and testing in the state.

Its Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Olusegun Ogboye said his agency had a meeting with the technical work group and Inter Local Action Committee on AIDS (ILACA) to re-strategise on how to make people know their status.

Ogboye, who underscored the importance of the meeting as a pivot to increasing HIV counseling and testing in Lagos State, said LSACA has conducted outreach programmes in

By Faruk Hamzat

Oshodi and Ejigbo Local Government Areas.

This, he said, was done in partnership with the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) SURE-P Project.

The agency, he said, also participated in NACA organised stakeholders’ meeting to engage private facilities to scale up the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT).

He enjoined workers to know their status by going for HIV Counseling and testing because a healthy

workforce will increase the productivity of the state.

The CEO said HIV positive people could be symptom free for 10 years, and as such, infect other people if not checked and treated.

This, he said, was the reason behind his agency’s meeting with the technical work group (TWG) and advisory and implementation team.

The outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), he said, affected the publicity and enlightenment campaign on HIV/ AIDS prevention, hence the need to scale up HIV counseling and testing (HCT).

HEALTH TALK with Nutrition: Impact of food on health Introduction

I

lLNESSES including obesity (see below for more on obesity): Because a person fails to take the right thing that is found in food or if the food gets polluted, it will harm the body.

The person may therefore fall ill. Example, a person who failed to take enough protein, will be predisposed to malnutrition and vulnerable to a lot of preventable diseases. Also, if our food is lacking in some vitamins, the person may even become unwell physically (say scurvy) or mentally. c) Very Serious illnesses, like cancers, hypertension, Parkinson’s, dementia and mental illness may develop because of what we failed to eat or what we actually eat. d) Common natural foods contains majority of what we require for our needs. Clean and well prepared, (not necessarily processed in factory) fruits, vegetable, meat (not red meat which should be avoided), fish and water in the right proportion will most certainly sustain us on daily basis. This is a common sense in fact. e) We don’t need factory food, fast food or processed food to survive. This is important as these foods contain a lot of chemicals and amount of substances that we don’t need. They contain preservatives and salt that is too much for our body. f) Too much food: if we eat too much food, it means, we have taken too much energy in and of course, “excess of the earth” more that we require. The energy need to be spent in exercise, otherwise, the excess weight will ultimately drag us “down to earth”, via many diseases (obesity, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and stroke).

Where is the scientific evidence?

Here they are.

The evidence in support of what we have mentioned above is staggering.

Here they are.

1.Soft drink: In a large studies (88 different studies), the association between soft drink consumption and nutrition and health outcomes were examined. It was found, a clear association of soft drink intake with increased energy intake and body weight. Soft drink intake also was associated with lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients and with an increased risk of several medical problems (for example, diabetes).

Before and after birth: children The children of women who have low pre-pregnant (before becoming pregnant) weight, poor diet, low level of replacement of the home diet by the supplement, low physical activity during pregnancy and good health status will show larger increase in birth weight when their food and calories is increased. Finally, nutritional interventions during pregnancy as opposed to earlier in the life of the mother should have the higher impact on birth weight.

In consequence, interventions as of pregnancy are recommended.

Child survival

From the data reviewed in research reports, it is clear that nutrition of mothers is intimately intertwined with infant health and survival. Thus, the problem of maternal malnutrition during pregnancy and during breast feeding presents a potentially and very serious obstacle to social development.

Adult: Prevention of diseases later in life/Physical health Good evidence exists that early nutrition affects key risk factors for chronic degenerative diseases of middle and later life, such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. The influence of nutrition (good food) on health status and disease supports primary, secondary, and tertiary preven-

Dr Joel Akande Infertility Specialist and Consultant 08188343865 managementlease@yahoo.com

tion of disease and intervention strategies at each point in the process. The objective of such a preventionoriented model is to enable people to live well for longer, while minimizing chronic disability. Starting down the right path with appropriate nutrition and staying on it by eating well are important components of healthy aging.

General prevention of cancer Good nutrition can prevent cancer.

As illustrated by the evidence presented in a research review, there are numerous reasons (biological, psychological, and social), opportunities (school and community, health care, and family settings), and approaches (non-intervention and intervention) to understand and impact behaviour change in children’s diet and nutrition and weight and physical activity. It is clear that more attention should be paid to early life and early developmental phases in cancer prevention.

Brain health/Mental health Brain development in humans is remarkably resistant to permanent damage from protein-energy malnutrition.

However, specific nutrients have crucial roles in brain development. Iodine deficiency is the most important and widespread nutrient deficiency; it causes endemic cretinism, associated with deaf- mutism and cerebral palsy. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy causes both maternal and fetal hypothyroxinemia, resulting in irreversible impairment of brain development at a critical stage.

In conclusion: Considering is said above and the evidence, a person is basically what he/she eats and what he says (word).

Common sense of what to eat Except in the case of children or the infirm individuals and in cases of outright ignorance, you hardly need a lesson from specialist doctor to tell you what is reasonable to eat. But here is a guide. a) Avoid industrially processed food as much as possible. They contain high salt, sugar and undesirable chemicals that may be toxic to our bodies and mind. b) Avoid food that has passed through dangerous insecticides, if possible. c) Avoid “fast foods” if you can. They help you to pile the weight on d) Indulge yourself in lots fruits and vegetables. If you are vegetarian, take folic acid and multivitamin supplements especially one containing vitamin B12. e) Give yourself a pleasure in noncomplex meat such as fish and chicken. f) Blood and blood-looking meat (red meat) is bad for your health. Such meat increases cancer of the colon. g) Drink water in moderation of average 1.5Liters in a day: Could be more in hot climate/weather. h) Use food supplements if required.

Examples are vitamin B-Complex. But be very careful with Vitamins A, C and D. They require moderation. Ask your doctor.

•To be continued

47

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

THE NATION

BUSINESS INDUSTRY

industry@thenationaonlineng.net

Despite its huge energy needs, Nigeria has not made much progress in diversifying sources of power supply through renewable energy. However, the ongoing collaboration between the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to invest in and utilise renewable energy resources may renew the hopes of electricity consumers, particularly the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

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If BoI succeeds in its latest move to provide succour for MSMEs through renewable energy, it would break Nigeria’s inertia in joining the league of countries that have made significant progress in diversifying their energy sources

Hope for all as BoI, UNDP partner on renewable energy S

UCCOUR may soon come the way of industrialists, particularly operators of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The operators, most of who are weighed down by the rising cost of operation due the perennial unreliable electricity supply from the national grid, may soon heave a sigh of relief, courtesy of the ongoing partnership between the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The partnership is on providing alternative source of power supply through renewable energy.

Specifically, the collaboration is focused on increasing the national capacity to invest in and utilise renewable energy resources to improve access to modern energy services for MSMEs and households. This is in the hope of catalysing, promoting and supporting an expansion of off-the-grid renewable energy services for MSMEs to support private sector-led economic development.

To achieve this, BoI as implementation agency for the project tagged: “BOI/UNDP Access to Renewable Energy Programme”, has already disbursed about N75.8 million to two alternative power firms. They are GVE Projects Ltd and Arnergy Solar Ltd. The firms would provide solar home systems to off-grid communities in six states, which come under the pilot phase for the take off of the project. The states include Anambra, Delta, Niger, Osun, Kaduna and Gombe.

The intervention, according to BoI Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, would involve the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and local meter manufacturers.

Olaoluwa, who spoke recently in Lagos while presenting cheques to the indigenous alternative power firms, explained that UNDP, which has 50 per cent stake in the project, contributed $1.6 billion. He said the project was divided into the Stand alone, which costs N31.6 million, and the MicroGrid, which costs N44.2 million, making it a total of N75.8 million.

The medium term vision is to have 100, 000 homes installed with solar systems in the next five years through a combination of micro-grid and stand-alone solar home systems. The overall objective of the project, The Nation learnt, was to build the capacity of MSMEs to incorporate renewable energy options either as a business in, itself, or as service for business development and encourage financial institutions to increase investment in renewable energy through better understanding and assessing of credit and financing risks of renewable energy investments and services.

BoI and UNDP also hoped to encourage government to develop and implement renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks that will facilitate renewable

•Olaoluwa, BoI MD

energy options for MSME development in Nigeria. This would ultimately open up the nation’s industrial space for more entrepreneurs most of who have, for long, been hard hit by poor supply of electricity from the national grid.

Indeed, as Olaoluwa observed, the less than 4,000 Megawatts (MW) electricity supply from the national grid relative to the conservatively estimated 40, 000MW electricity demand for a leading African economy such as Nigeria, with a population of 170 million people, is grossly inadequate. He noted that most of the country’s old central power plants had lost their economies of scale and could no longer deliver competitive, cheap and reliable electricity to more remote customers through the national grid.

The BoI boss pointed out that renewable energy sources such as hydro (16 per cent), wind (three per cent) and solar (one per cent) are growing in relevance and commercial adoption on a global scale and that the recent Group of Seven (G7) meeting in June had agreed to de-carbonise the global economy by phasing out the use of fossil fuel by the end of this century, over the next 85 years, hence the need to embrace other source of energy.

In opting for renewable energy, BoI also believes that the absence of reliable power and energy supply is an established challenge for MSME operations in Nigeria. The development financing institution observed that most private sector institutions rely on backup generators with high environmental and economic cost hence, improving MSME and household access to hydro, wind, solar power, biomass and geothermal energy supply to power enterprise operations is critical.

If BoI succeeds in its latest move to provide succour to MSMEs through renewable energy, it would break Nigeria’s inertia in joining the league of other countries that have made significant progress in diversifying their energy sources. A number of African countries have embraced renewable energy, leaving Nigeria, which ironically has more energy needs given her population and economy size.

For instance, about five per cent of South Africa’s energy supply is said to come from renewable energy. The Rainbow nation in April named preferred bidders for the fourth round of a series of renewable energy projects

•Prof. Nebo

that will add about 1,000 MW to its power grid. Similarly, Kenya plans to triple its electricity generation by about 6,000 MW in the next five years, with more than 90 per cent of the planned output coming from renewable sources. Ghana is also said to be exploring renewable energy options including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.

Why BoI’s intervention is timely The rethink in favour of diversifying sources of power supply to guarantee improved electricity supply to Nigerians and operators in the industrial sector, especially MSMEs, is coming at an auspicious time. For one, the intervention is coming at a time the excitement and optimism that greeted the unbundling of the sector appears to have given way to frustration.

The handover of the power assets to private investors has brought agony and frustration to consumers as there has not been any visible improvement in electricity supply almost two years after privatisation.

Rather than improve, electricity supply has worsened and tariff gone up as high as 100 per cent in some parts of the country.

However, BoI’s latest intervention appears to have renewed the hopes of electricity consumers, particularly MSMEs. As Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, BOI, Mr. Joseph Babatunde pointed out, there is a golden opportunity for rural communities to be empowered with affordable off-grid solar home systems that are operated on a Pay-As-YouGo (PAYG) basis rather than wait in vain for the national electricity grid.

Head of Arnergy Solar limited, one of the partners, Mr. Femi Adeyemo, said the project would run for 25 years and would be effectively done so that Nigerians can benefit from it. His optimism stems from the involvement of several stakeholders in the project including renewable energy service providers, financial institutions, MSMEs, government and policy makers, multilateral donor agencies, investors (including venture capitals and private equity firms), and relevant professional associations.

Govt’s efforts in renewable energy The need to explore renewable energy is not lost on the Federal Government considering the fact that getting gas to fire the

‘

power plants has been a Herculean task. Unreliable supply infrastructure and pipeline vandals have continued to compromise its distribution to various plants. “Vandalism is taking a toll on us,” former Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said.

Prof. Nebo, who spoke to journalists in Lagos, added that: “A situation where our own compatriots vandalise the oil and gas pipelines, especially the gas pipelines that supply gas to the power stations, since 70 per cent of our power generation is from gas-fired turbines and 30 per cent is from hydro is regrettable. We have not been doing coal, we have not been doing renewable; we have not been doing biomass, so we really are hamstrung.

So, the government is now working on diversifying to ensure that we have a good and robust fuel mix.”

He said Nigeria now boasts a draft National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, At the presentation of the draft policy at a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja, Director of the Electrical Inspectorate Services (EIS) in the Federal Ministry of Power, Abayomi Adebisi, said under the policy, 8,188MW will be achieved with renewable energy by 2020 on a medium term, while the long-term target is on the realisation of 23,134 MW by year 2030.

Adebisi said renewable energy would contribute 1.3 per cent this year to the national grid with a corresponding increase of 8 per cent and 16 per cent, between 2020 and 2030.

“While large and small hydropower would contribute 2,121 MW and 140 MW to the renewable energy generation this year. It is also expected that solar accounts for 117 MW, with biomass electricity at 12.3 per cent,” he said.

Adebisi added that the policy development was being facilitated by some partners with a grant from GIZ, a German agency. “We sourced for grants from GIZ, then we pooled over 30 documents from people who had once done something on renewable energy. We got a committee of experts to develop the policy, and the draft was approved by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREE) in May 2013,” Adebisi explained.

The power sector regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has also come out with a number of incentives aimed at promoting investments in renewable energy such as a guaranteed market for renewables, simplified licensing process, land access and a feed-in- tariff.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

INDUSTRY

ARSO forum to drive standardisation in Africa

T

HE 21st African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) General Assembly meeting, scheduled to hold in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from August 10 to 14, is expected to raise the level of awareness among African regulators on the benefits of standardisation on the continent’s economy.

ARSO President Dr. Joseph Odumodu said the event tagged: “The role of standards in promoting sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Africa” is aimed at creating dynamic markets within countries and among regions as part of its agricultural strategy.

Odumodu said African Union’s (AU) vision for agriculture was to

By Toba Agboola

create dynamic markets within countries and between regions.

“As regional markets become increasingly integrated, divergent and inconsistent, national and regional trade policy and standards issues constrain intra-regional trade of most commodities,’’ he said.

He said the aim of the African Day of Standardisation was to raise awareness among African regulators, industry, academia, consumers and the entire African citizens on the benefits of standardisation on Africa’s economy. .

Odumodu listed programmes for

the event to include the made in Africa Expo, which aims at providing opportunity to present investment opportunities, strategies and success stories to a diverse range of potential partners for the PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) networks.

Odumodu said the expo would also provide a platform to exchange evolving business trends to facilitate better positioning of national and sub-regional manufacturing and production enterprises.

The aim of ARSO General Assembly is to offer a platform for ARSO members and stakeholders to review the programmes and progress of the organisation with respect to its mandate, vision and mission.

MAN urges members to maintain status quo on MYTO 2.0

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EMBERS of Ikeja branch of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have resolved to maintain the status quo and continue to operate on Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO 2.0), pending the determination of the suit they filed at the Lagos High Court challenging the decision of Ikeja Electric to increase electricity tariff.

MAN also admonished members to strictly adhere to MYTO 2.0 on tariff and fixed costs, noting that members, who criss-cross, do so at their own peril as it is not acceptable to MAN and Ikeja Electric.

The decisions were contained in a communiqué issued after a crucial meeting of members of Ikeja branch of MAN, held during the week at the MAN House, to look at the recommendations of a 10-man Joint Com-

By Chikodi Okereocha

mittee of MAN/Ikeja Electric earlier set up to brainstorm and proffer solutions to some of the issues raised.

At the end of the meeting, manufacturers unanimously resolved that manufacturers should effect prompt payment of energy bills as at when due, to enable Ikeja Electric have funds to defray its costs of operation.

In the communiqué signed by Chairman and Executive Secretary, Ikeja branch of MAN, Prince Oba Okojie and Joseph Emoleke, manufacturers also resolved that Ikeja Electric should appreciate urgently the use of prepaid metres, while MAN and Ikeja Electric encourage and strengthen the stakeholders’ consultative forum as a veritable platform to iron out grey areas.

The communiqué, made available to The Nation, further said Ikeja Electric needs to upgrade its information technology system and have robust financial platforms to accommodate payments by cheques, drafts, funds transfers etc.

Besides, Ikeja Electric the communiqué said, should be mindful of losing more customers as some manufacturing companies now generate power. It also said manufacturers are always at a great loss due to the quality of power supply (outages), none metering as the use of best of judgment (BOJ) is not only unfair, but also unethical.

MAN added that it looks forward to an enlarged working relationship with Ikeja Electric, noting that it is the only way forward.

ECOWAS reaffirms commitment to ICT

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HE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is review its Information Communications Technology (ICT) strategy to ensure the continuous development and integration of its member states.

ECOWAS Commissioner for ICT Mr. Isaias Barreto da Rosa said on Tuesday in Abuja that the review was also aimed at creating an open and competitive common market for ICT in the region.

He said the Commission was committed to the development of ICT services to boost social and economic activities in member states.

“ICT is fundamental to any region in search of innovation and productivity. It is a critical enabler to the growth and development required in the region. It can drive competitiveness and provide opportunities,’’ he said.

Barreto da Rosa said in reviewing and adopting the ICT strategy, the Commission was conscious of the need to improve on telecommunications infrastructure in the region.

“It is also important to make telecommunication services affordable in West Africa and create an environment capable of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship,’’ he said.

Sokoto Cement spends N260m on communities’ resettlement

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VER N260 million has been spent in resettling 183 families from three communities affected by the expansion embarked upon by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), its Managing Director, Mr. Alf Karlsen has said.

The beneficiary communities are Dan Atu, Sabon-Gida and GidanMubaga in Sokoto State. They have been resettled at Sabongari Alu in Wamakko Local Government.

Karlsen, who spoke while handing over some of the structures to the caretaker chairman of the council, Alhaji Ahmed Kalambaina, said the amount was the compensation paid on houses and farmlands and the acquisition of the quarry in the area.

Represented by the Executive Director, Finance, Mr. Ibrahim Aminu, Karlsen said the company had donated 200 plots to the 186 families where they built their new homes, linked the community with electricity and provided them with potable water.

He also said the company, locally known as Sokoto Cement, had built an Islamic and modern primary school, clinic, mosque and access roads, among others. He expressed happiness on the existing cordial relationship between the firm and its host communities.

“CCNN appreciates this cordial relationship, which is key to our sustained successful operations and that is why we even expanded the over 50-year-old company. We will continue to diligently discharge our corporate social responsibilities to further improve the living standard of the members of our host communities,’” he said.

Alhaji Kalambaina commended the firm for assisting the communities, and pledged to deploy competent teachers to schools and post medical staff to the clinic.

In their separate remarks, District Heads of Gumbi and Kalambaina, Alhaji Sama’ila Mujelli and Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed appealed to the company to float a scholarship scheme for youths in the area.

•Participants at the 1st International Business Development Summit organised by the Institute of Business Development (IBD) in Lagos.

LCCI decries govt’s inability to meet financial obligations

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HE Lagos Chamber of Com merce and Industry (LCCI) has frowned at the inability of governments at all levels to meet their financial obligations, noting that the situation underscored the imperative of economic diversification and prudent management of state resources and efforts at blocking all fiscal leakages as well as the recovery of looted funds.

While commending the Federal Government’s intervention in mitigating the conditions of the states and local governments, and efforts at blocking all fiscal leakages and recovery of looted funds, the LCCI

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

proposed that appropriate systems, structures and institutions should be put in place at all levels of government to sustain the integrity and transparency of public sector transactions.

In a communiqué issued after its meeting in Lagos on Wednesday by LCCI Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, the Chamber urged the Federal Government to unveil its economic blueprints in order to stem the tide of declining investors’ confidence in the economy.

“Council notes that there is yet no

clarity in the policy direction of the government and this is a major factor in investors’ confidence. The uncertainty that began in January this year seems to have lingered. Council urged the Buhari administration to make clear pronouncements with respect to its fiscal policy, foreign exchange policy, and tax policy,” Yusuf said, in the document made available to The Nation.

He listed other areas where such pronouncement would address to include subsidy policy, trade policy, reform of oil and gas sector (upstream and downstream), power sector, 2015 Budget, auto policy, and

other sectoral policies. “All these are necessary for the investors to have a clear insight into the policy direction of the government and take strategic investment decisions,” Yusuf said.

LCCI also noted the current macro-economic challenges facing the nation, especially the decline in foreign exchange inflow, saying that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) numerous efforts to protect the foreign reserves and stabilise the exchange rate were acknowledged.

However, the Council expressed concern over the current methodology of the CBN in achieving these

objectives. “The current model of foreign exchange management by the CBN has profound negative consequences for investors’ confidence and the stability of the foreign exchange market. Council, therefore, calls for a more strategic framework for the management of the foreign exchange market,” the document said.

The Chamber also urged the President to quickly set up an economic team that will interface with the CBN, the organised private sector and key economic ministries to come up with a sustainable model for the management of the foreign exchange market.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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THE NATION

BUSINESS SHOPPING

E-mail: toniaitose@gmail.com

sms : 07035302326 Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.net

For shoppers, retail and online stores, including the shopping malls, August signifies various things. While it is usually a good time for good bargains – thanks to seasonal price slashes it is also a time for trading outlets to offload their old stock and re stock for the last quarter of the year, ahead of the Yelutide, when sales boom. This period is known as the ‘August Rush offer’. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

Shoppers embrace ‘August Rush offer’ A

UGUST is the eighth month of the year when sales offers are rounded off to herald the beginning of another quarter by September, the last quarter of the year. This period is reffered to as ‘August Rush Offer.’

At times like this, retail outlets, online stores, and shopping malls are seen offering higher discounts on their wares to drive sales. This, more often than not, is to help create more storage space in their stores, as they all seek to restock for the last quarter, and preparatory to stocking for the yelutide season of Christmas and New Year celebrations. August, in the country’s shopping landscape, is a period of bumper sales and majority of sales outlets across the city are giving all forms of bonanzas and freebies to woo prospective buyers.

For several years now, this tradition has come to be an important feature in shoppers’ calendar, as they look forward to getting good bargain on commodities. This year is no exception as shoppers in Lagos have started taking advantage of the ‘August Rush offer’ at malls, supermarkets, retail and even online stores. They are seen more in these places at weekends and after working hours during week days.

For instance, at a houseware store, Mrs Romoke Adebayo, a marriage counsellor, told The Nation Shopping that she bought a 12-piece Martha Stewart silver cooking set at 20 per cent less the original selling price.

“I’ve been planning to get something like this for a long time. But I just couldn’t afford it because, it was very expensive. But with the ongoing offer, I finally have it! Coming here early was definitely worth it; someone else would have picked it before my arrival. The sales person said it is the only one left,” she explained.

A visit to a cross-section of malls and sales outlets within Lagos shows that very many of them are making brisk sales. Last Saturday, while stores were yet to open by 8.45am, shoppers in large numbers were already hanging around shopping malls.

While sales appeared brisk in shopping malls, retail stores, supermarkets and online stores, household and electronics outlets which are either stand-alone stores or tenants in complexes and plazas are not left out. They all have something to give away.

However, it’s been observed that there are more sales this year since the advent of shopping malls in the country 10 years ago, when The Palms, in Lekki-Lagos opened shop. Same with online stores, which have been thriving for three years.

Some retailers told The Nation Shopping that sales of Electronics,

Clothing, Mobile phones, Jewellery and House hold items in the last two months, have increased following the offers which have been on since May to herald the second quarter.

According to them, this year is witnessing the strongest sales not only in Clothes, Mobile phones and Electronics, but also food and general grocery supplies.

The crowd at the Apapa Mall in Lagos was a testimony when The Nation Shopping visited the place.

“It was, indeed, really crowded; the queue was discouraging and making payment after shopping was hell. People are already shopping for Back -To – School, to prepare school pupils and students for a new school session and prices have been slashed everywhere,’’ a teacher, Mr Folorunsho Bashorun, said.

Mrs Cordelia and her husband, Mr Caleb Otoide, both Military Personnel, took their daughters for shopping at Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall in Surulere last weekend.

“There are some combat/militarystyle boots that I’ve been wanting to buy,”Mrs Cordelia said.”

We knew the crowd would be more for the ‘August Rush Offer’ that has been earlier announced by some stores in their fliers, posters and in front of their shops, thus we decided to visit the mall this early when there would be fewer people.

But we were wrong, you know! We could hardly find a parking space,” she added.

Ms Helen Thompson, a South African-trained nurse, was among the early shoppers at Ikeja City Mall last Saturday; she took advantage of the discounts attached to items at the mall. She went home with a 20-piece glassware set for N25, 000 and a Spiderman Back Pack she bought for her son at 70 percent discount.

“Some of these items, such as the ones I bought, are not cheap, when it is not sales period like this,” she said.

Her sister, Ms Natasha, bought two large bags of goodies from Shoprite, Staplers; a few children’s bake sets and other house wares. “I’ve been able to save about N15, 200 after my shopping, it is definitely worth being here at this time,” she said.

Also, last Saturday, vehicular and pedestrian traffic at Ipori Market, and other high street stores on Bode Thomas, in Surulere, Lagos, were high by mid-day.

The market is the second destination for one of its residents, Mr Wale Bankole, who had stopped by Leisure Mall to buy a Swatch wrist watch, a Daniel Ray handbag and a Nine West pair of shoes for his wife, Mrs Gloria Bankole. He testified of how he was able to save some money. “It seems to be a general offer. I have saved

•Shoppers partaking of the ‘August Rush Offer’

•Shoppers waiting to get into Ikeja Mall

N38, 000 altogether; ordinarily, I would have spent N38, 000 more buying these many items from different places, “he said.

For Top Services Limited, the Management of Apapa Mall in Lagos, Mr Celestine Jeremiah said sales have increased and customers have been very patient getting their vehicles into the mall. “We have experienced very massive sales because of the number of people who visit the mall daily. We meet very understanding customers who agree to work with the space we have.

“Over the past week, stores have

stocked more styles that are flying off the shelves quickly,” said Mrs Modupe Shopeju of Delightsome Gifts Concepts. Alhaja Ganiyat Rilwan, who was shoe shopping at the store with her six-year-old daughter, Mila, said she decided to take advantage of the ‘August Rush offer’ to meet her immediate needs.

While Mila got the blue sneakers and a wedge sandal she wanted, her mother bought a pair of sandals and a black office shoe for herself. The offer will continue till the end of August.

Echoing similar sentiments as

‘Last Saturday, while stores were yet to open by 8.45am, shoppers in large numbers were already hanging around shopping malls.

Shopeju, a sales person at the Daviva store, an upscale clothing store, who asked not to be named, told The Nation Shopping that most retailers have come up with one sales strategy or the other to help make huge sales.

“Our promotional offers are ongoing. We do this yearly so that we can have bountiful sales; we push out as many items as possible by slashing their prices into three, sometimes four just to lure customers.”

Pressed further, the source said, “With this, we are able to do away with out old stock, old designs and then bring in new ones for the next quarter.”

“Apart from the huge sales recorded by some businesses, gift-giving and fun treat, mainly centre on children, is an important part of the offer particularly at shopping malls and online.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 , 2015

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SHOPPING

I

Omo introduces new pack for more market penetration

T was excitement all the way in Abuja as Unilever Nigeria Plc was in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to formally introduce the new 100 gram pack of its Omo Fast Action detergent to residents.

The Omo entourage led by popular actor and Omo brand ambassador, Ali Nuhu made door to door stops at the Nyanya, Mararaba, Lugbe, Kubwa, Kuje and Gwagwalada areas of the city where he handed out complimentary packs to families while informing them of the improved qualities.

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RAVELLING at week ends is like a norm, not only by Nigerians but by people all over the world. To schedule long and short distance journey, the luggage is said to be most convenient. Luggage happen to be the most important item in the shopping list of travellers in preparation for a journey. Travel bags generally have revolutionised over the years as civilisation has firmly rooted itself in the country. Before civilisation, wrappers from cloth materials were used as bags to carry personal belongings when embarking on a journey, after which the leather travel bag was introduced.

Years later, the popular ‘Ghana-must-go’ bag was introduced in the 80’s when Ghanian immigrants were sent back to their country. In the heat of the moment, they made use of big sack bags (popularly known as ‘Ghana-must-go’) to pack their belongings, thereby creating a trend Nigerians came to accept and use as their travel bags. It was later improved on to appear in different patterns, designs and sizes till date.

A luggage retailer simply known as Favour own a shop in Oshodi called Nwaya she said: “Luggage are more sophiticated, stronger and in vouge compare to Ghana-must-

By Medinat Kanabe According to Nuhu, Omo has been a leading brand for decades and people have come to trust it for the effective cleaning power and ability to handle tough stains on laundry. He explained that the new 100 gram pack was being launched to make the product more affordable and accessible to a larger section of the consuming public.

Assuring on the quality, he said: ”It is the same Omo with superior stain removing power in more affordable pack and it only costs N50,” adding that there is no better alternative in the market today.

Mrs. Abibatu Jimoh, one of the spectators, who also took part in the demo wash, expressed her satisfaction with the detergent, saying: “My experience today with Omo has further strengthened my re-

solve to remain loyal to the brand.”

Hadiza Joseph a mother of three who received a complimentary pack lauded the brand for such an initiative.

“We used to use Omo in my father’s house while growing up but when I got married, we started trying other detergents available in the market. Today, after trying this new Fast Action, I am more than convinced that it is the best out there! This visit by Ali Nuhu and the team has helped me find my way back to Omo,” she said.

By Oyewole Priscilla go’ bags ”.

Mr Ayo Coker, a staff of S a m u e l Adegboyega University (S.A.U.) said, “I prefer sophisticated luggage to ‘Ghana-mustgo’ because I feel they are more secure and compact, particularly, the medium sized luggage for my long distance journey”.

Females,who are known to have a lot of per-

Luggage: Best choice for travellers •Luggage

sonal belongings, constitute the larger percentage of customers in the luggage business because it is fashionable, comes in different colours and has enough space making it the most preferred’.

Another retailer,Tochukwu, a seller of luggage told the Nation Shopping that luggage sell more because of their durability.

“I have more female customers” , “My customers prefer luggage to ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags

because it is fine and durable”, he said.

Unisex luggage are also available, thereby accommodating the male counterparts in its demand. Children are also not left out as luggage are also designed with cartoon heroes. Also, some distinctive qualities are an additional advantage to attract target customer.

Apart from its durability, de sign, convenience and space, it is also affordable. The

prices vary based on their sizes and quality. A small size luggage cost N2500, the medium size costs N4000, N3000, N2500 while the big sizes sell for N6500 and N6000.

Luggage are widely distributed in the country and can be easily bought from neighbourhood stores around. The internet is another easier platform to purchase any luggage of choice.

Items are sold more expensive in malls

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VER wonder why sales at the malls by the tenants tend to be more expensive when compared to the open market? These tenants say some things are responsible.

There is a common believe that malls are arena meant only for the wealthy class. To Some people, a mall is an expensive place to go shopping as prices of items could be two times that of its open market counterpart. Some mall tenants spoke on the reason for this. Mr. Muyiwa Adebayo owns a footwear store in a •From left: Principal Partner, Brooks and Blake Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Sola Fijabi; Customer Marketing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Obinna Anyalebechi and Executive Director, Brooks and Blake Nigeria Limited, Mr. Taiwo Ogunwumi at the 5th Anniversary Celebration of Brooks and Blake Nigeria Ltd in Lagos.

By Ochu Ohunene Latifah mall, he said: “One of the reasons why what we sell here in the mall is higher than other places is because of the rent we pay to the mall owners and management. The rent here is very high, and services we render is second to none.” He said Adding that the quality of products at the mall is guaranteed, he said “we can give you assurance that the things you get here is of good quality”.

Mrs. Titi Elegbede of Wrangler store also gave a similar rea-

son as to why items at the mall are quite expensive compared to other places. “The only reason why we sell higher is because of the rent we pay. It’s very expensive to get a shop here and the only way we can recover our money and make profit is to increase the prices of our wares.” Elegbede said not all items at the mall are expensive. “Some of our items are cheaper but the expensive out number them”.

At Health plus, Samson Ikuopami said the rent and

importation rate is what is responsible for expensive items at the mall. He said one advantage of patronizing the mall is being able to trace stores where faulty items are bought for refund. “Faulty items can easily be returned to the store where they are purchased from”.

At Accessories 2 die 4, an accessories store, reason items are more expensive in malls is because our customers have to pay for services rendered apart from paying for items bought.

TRUE VALUE 360

Consumer exploitation

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HIS is a column that seeks to mold, shape societal values and to protect the interest of consumers, citizens and touch other broader relevant topics under the column:

By Kemi Otegbade ‘TRUE VALUE 360’. It is an truevalue360@gmail.com interactive column as suggestions, complaints; day to day experiences are welcome.

This week’s edition is CONSUMER EXPLOITATION Various service providers, regulatory bodies in Nigeria do not live up to required expectation and we all know that they have been getting away with.. Why? No checks and balances, but this time, we consumers and the citizens are saying Enough-is-Enough! We say No to further exploitation and unethical practices..

I will emphasise the word ‘unethically’ for this topic.

Nigeria’s GSM service providers bake the cake for unethical behavior; they have devised various games and antics to undercut consumers. Subscribers are forced to have minimum of two different networks. They are all guilty in various ways: Some of the brands are mean in the treatment of their customers, the yellow-label for instance, by taking advantage of their subscribers. They run promos promising you double value of your airtime if you subscribe to a particular code, or pronto. We are all happy to get extra airtime but a lot of times, the rate offered per unit in the promo differs from regular rates, this they do without full disclosure to subscribers; and in a twinkling of an eyelid, all your money (airtime) is gone. At other times, after subscribing to double value airtime to some of these promos, you will lose both your regular credit and the bonanza credit.

If you are lucky, you get a response that you do not qualify for the bonanza and your normal airtime will not be refunded.

Everybody knows the red family GSM service provider deducts your airtime balances on regular basis whether your phone is data enabled or not. You may not notice on time if you are a heavy phone user. But when you do not make a single call and did not subscribe to any magic, you still find your balances deducted. It usually starts with 3k, 5k, then N20 and it keeps going higher. By the time you check. You have lost N200, or more. A friend in anger had to switch off her red network perpetually for a week; we were worried that her phone might have been stolen, only for us to find out that she went on strike from this network so her airtime will not be deducted without usage. Other times, she chooses not to buy airtime but rather prefers to send whatsapp messages only even for serious discussions.

The ‘original green’ family GSM service provider brought a wide grin to our service thirsty throats when it became the first to introduce per second billing and also crashed the airtime rates ab initio. We were further impressed when they empowered many of our entertainers and made them smile to the bank. Nigerians never knew they will have to pay back for these goodies.

Many times, there will be no network to make, or receive calls for hours or days. The much advertised expansion has become meaningless as the quality of the calls of this provider has dropped sharply in the last two years. Woe betides you if this is the only network you have. A newcomer to our shores was to be picked by a driver using this service provider around Lagos tollgate to Ibadan for a family function, alas he waited forever as the driver could not get him on the phone (no network faithfully). The driver did not know him and kept on stopping for the wrong people in the vicinity.

The visiting guest had to go home, his trip to Nigeria unfulfilled. If you try data on this network, you will come running back.

The new green family came with fanfare after we’d all become bored with the three major exploiters; as usual we lapped all their promises up like a dog. It was a roller coaster at first for the few who still had some faith. Lo and behold, we started getting dropped calls; our airtime started reducing without being used. Here we are, back to status quo with the new green family. Data services and telephone calls on this network are below average.

All the providers are guilty of forcing us to subscribe to unsolicited ringtones, news, matchmaking, employment and property mart etc and we get our airtime balances deducted weekly or monthly without actually giving us a choice.

We have been so used to being taken for granted so much so, that we get pleasantly shocked when a service provider magnanimously refunds stolen airtime once in a while like five per cent of the time.

There is a change in the baton at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) lately; Nigerians want the telecoms service providers to be more responsible. We sincerely hope the new Chief Executive Chairman will make a difference; Change has gone beyond party slogan, Nigeria is evolving, change is here.

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MONEYLINK Diamond Bank restates commitment to SMEs

‘FBN Holdings’ profit to drop by 50%’

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BN Holdings Plc, expects profit growth to slow by more than half in 2015 from the pace set last year as a plunge in oil prices and capital curbs weigh on the country’s banks.

The lender forecasts that the 7.7 per cent increase in net income in the six months through June, would be sustained for the rest of the year, Oyewale Ariyibi, the bank’s Finance Head, has said..

“This year, tight monetary policy will be an issue,” he told Bloomberg.

Net income in 2014 rose 17 per cent to N82.8 billion ($416 million), the bank said in April. Its ability to match that growth is curtailed by a Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) rule forcing lenders to place 31 per cent of deposits with the regulator.

A slump in government’s income

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IAMOND Bank has rstressed its commitment to supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to attain their desired objective.

Speaking yesterday at the 58th edition of the Diamond Bank BusinessExpress Forum held in FESTAC, Lagos, the bank’s Head, Retail Directorate, Aisha Ahmed, said the lender is contributing its quota to economic development by supporting SMEs to grow into big companies.

She said that successful SMEs will need financial partners that help them raise capital, have access to market and keep sound financial records that make them attractive to investors.

Ahmed said that having access to finance, including securing capital from relatives, will become difficult adding that the seminar was opportunity for the bank to discuss closely with customers on how to

Stories by Collins Nweze

from oil, the source of about 70 per cent of the nation’s revenue, has had a “ripple effect” on banks, Ariyibi said.

Nigeria is confronting a 50 per cent slump in prices in the past year that has forced the government to curb spending. The apex bank increased reserve requirements to reduce the amount of local currency in circulation, helping to check inflation and bolster the naira, which has dropped 19 per cent against the dollar in 12 months.

The capital regulations have tied up N641 billion of the lender’s funds at the CBN as of June, Ariyibi said.

Profit growth this year may come from loans to small businesses as the bank switches “from lending to

•FirstBank CEO Bisi Onasanya

multinationals and big companies to focus on commercial and retail banking customers,” where interest margins can be more attractive, he said, adding that in lending to a retail customer, against a multinational, there is at least 300 basis points that you can gain.”

Access Bank, GMT boost int’l trade, import finance

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CCESS Bank Plc yesterday announced its collaboration with GMT, an integrated logistics service provider in Sub-Sahara Africa, to enhance international trade and import finance in the country.

Group Managing Director/CEO Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, said both firms have inaugurated a new business solution developed with the customers’ interest at heart.

He said the scheme, branded FLOWS – Finance and Logistics Worldwide Scheme, is consistent with the lender’s innovative culture of continuously seeking ways to add value to customers’ businesses.

The FLOWS is a unique combination of import finance and logistics services targeted at importers of nonperishable, fast moving and unrestricted goods.

Wigwe said that import finance

comes with lots of bureaucracies and the FLOW is expected to enhance the efficiency and speed of the transactions, as well as save costs for the customer.

“The platform promises to deliver an end-to-end cost efficient management of the entire import process which reduces the total lead time of a typical importation transaction. We are very aware that the importation process can be very hectic due to several factors that we are all familiar with, and we have decided to bear this burden on behalf of our clients’,” he stated.

He said the bank will continue to be driven by efficiency, transparency and innovation while ensuring speed, service and security.

“We also affirmed that our adopted strategies and ways of doing things will align with global best practices.

move their business forward.

The bank’s Regional Manager, FESTAC, Nkem Okoro said Diamond Bank is willing and committed to adding value to its customers. “At Diamond Bank, we take issues that concern our customers seriously. Our discussion today will help us understand you more and serve you better,” he said.

One of the facilitators, CEO The Warehouse Limited, Adegboyega Adebajo, urged the participants to take business risks that will not crumble their business. “It is only wise you take risks that are affordable. Don’t risk money that you cannot afford to lose based on your cash-flow,” he said.

On interest rate, Adebajo said SMEs should find a way to ensure that even if they are borrowing under a high interest rate, they will be able to pass the extra cost of their products and services to consumers.

Stanbic IBTC shareholders approve scrip dividend option

We are focused and committed to delivering operational excellence as well as improved efficiency within a safe environment,” he said.

Wigwe said that 96 per cent of Nigerian businesses are SMEs compared to 97 per cent in Asian countries, 53 per cent in the US and 65 per cent in Europe. The SME Industry represents about 90 per cent of the manufacturing/ industrial sector in terms of number of enterprises. They contribute approximately one per cent Gross Domestic Product compared to 40 per cent in Asian countries and 50 per cent in the US and Europe.

“SMEs are recognised as one of the key drivers of economic growth by virtue of their contribution to employment and wealth creation; income generation as well as their strategic linkages with large companies across economic clusters.

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TANBIC IBTC Holdings share holders, have approved a pro posal by its Board of Directors to allow shareholders receive new ordinary shares, instead of the whole or any part of the interim dividend to be declared for the financial year ending December 31, 2015.

As part of the Stanbic IBTC Scrip Dividend Scheme, the new ordinary shares will be credited as fully paid, and shall rank pari passu with existing ordinary shares of the company, according to the resolution, which was unanimously adopted at the company’s Extra-Ordinary General Meeting that held yesterday in Abuja.

Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Holdings

Plc, Mr. Atedo Peterside, said the approvals were required in compliance with resolutions adopted at the company’s Annual General Meeting held on June 3, 2015, during which the Board was authorized to offer additional shares to shareholders, who so choose, instead of cash in respect of any dividends.

“Shareholders have a choice of receiving their interim dividends in cash and may periodically elect to receive future dividends as new shares in the company, for any scrip dividend proposed by the Board,” Peterside stated. The new scheme, he added, would help in boosting the organization’s capital base and its operational capacity.

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS AFRINVEST W. A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGE FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND FIDELITY NIG FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

126.04 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.63 1.39 1,744.73 1,104.77 112.34 121.16 1.67 1.2399 1.3035 0.7543 1.1801

125.82 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.62 1.33 1,744.73 1,104.00 111.75 120.30 1.62 1.2337 1.3035 0.7424 1.1801

ECONOMIC INDICATORS Inflation:April

8.5%

Monetary Policy Rate

13.0%

Foreign Reserves

SYMBOL

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CHANGE

PZ TRANSCORP EVANSMED NB FIDSON MAYBAKER ACADEMY CUSTODYINS MOBIL

30.00 2.46 0.63 127.05 3.12 1.37 0.73 4.04 150.01

33.00 2.70 0.69 134.72 3.27 1.43 0.76 4.20 155.00

3.00 0.24 0.06 7.67 0.15 0.06 0.03 0.16 4.99

DANGFLOUR

3.05

3.15

0.10

Interbank ($/N)

199.00

$1

Black Market ($/N)

215.00

$1

$28.2b

London Inter-bank Offered Rates (LIBOR) Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

$67.91

Money Supply (M2)

GAINERS AS AT 06-08-15

FOREX RATES (NairaVs Dollar) May 28, 2015

Tenor

N16.42 trillion.

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

1 Month 2 Months 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months

N17.2 trillion

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

16.5%

May 27

May 28

Rate)%

Rate (%)

0.1735 0.2147 0.2615 0.3841 0.6709

0.1715 0.2108 0.2626 0.3857 0.6744

27 May Nigerian Stock Market Indices

Tenor

12-02-15 Rate (%) Rate (%) 13-02-15

Overnight (O/N)

14.683

76.583

1M

15.033

15.977

3M

15.809

17.177

6M

16.493

17.908

.

Statistics All Share Index Mkt Cap (NGN’bn) Deals Volume (mn) Value (NGN’mn)

34,649.3 11.8 3,385 564,28 6,087.80

5 May 29,383.93 9,804.36 3,714 377,75 6,568.66

LOSERS AS AT 06-08-15

SYMBOL FLOURMILL PREMBREW HONYFLOUR UBN LEARNAFRCA OANDO WEMABANK SKYEBANK ETI UBCAP

O/PRICE 32.46 3.25 2.75 7.70 1.09 12.45 0.03 2.19 20.60 1.38

C/PRICE 30.84 3.10 2.62 7.34 1.04 12.00 0.90 2.12 20.00 1.34

CHANGE -1.62 -0.16 -0.13 -0.36 -0.05 -0.45 -0.03 -0.07 -0.60 -0.04

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

Transaction Dates 03/02/2015 3/12/2014 1/12/2014

Amount Offered in ($) 500m 400m 350m

Amount Sold in ($) 499.93m 399.97m 349.96m

Feb. 13, 2015

Rates

T-bills - 91

12.44

T-bills - 182

13.85

T-bills - 364

13.92

Bond - 3yrs

15.92

Bond - 5yrs

17.22

Bond - 7yrs

16.59

THE NATION FRIDAY AUGUST 7, 2015

POLITICS

55

Shouldn’t it bother all concerned how the accreditation of ‘voters in Akwa Ibom produced two (sets) of numbers per local government by the same electoral body ’

Akwa Ibom election petition tribunals: Separating facts from fiction, half truths and lies

“F

OR every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.” - Bo Bennett In its characteristic way, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State is seeking to manipulate the system to get reprieve from crimes it committed during last elections by adopting the roles of a victim. According to a news report, circulated by the party’s propaganda machine, it claimed its members are being harassed by the Department of State Security (DSS), alleging that this agency of government is aiding and abetting the opposition at the venue of the electoral tribunals currently sitting in Abuja.

Reading this report, one wonders if the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Obong Paul Ekpo, can recall vividly three months ago how his party obviouly used the same agency and other security forces to harass, intimidate and kill innocent voters, who dared to resist snatching of ballot boxes by PDP political thugs. Why is PDP raising alarm over alleged harassment of members now the muzzle is facing it?

As was expected, reportage of ongoing Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunals have become highly controversial, reflecting conflicting interests in the state.

On one side are reports from media correspondents on ground in Abuja, where these tribunals are ongoing and on the flipside are political appointees based in Uyo, who rely on second hand information, which are further sieved and skewed before release to the public through state sponsored media outlets and online platforms.

Funny enough, these government apologists readily circumvent thorny questions raised as cases progress to exaggerate momentary and inconsequential issues, devising well known publicity stunts to sustain lies even though it would have been a lot easier to accept facts staring everyone in the face.

Whatever is their reason for this deception, it is more important to note that ongoing election tribunals are different from previous ones as they have so far shown independence of the Judiciary, giving hope that the rule of law shall

From Ukpong Ukpong, Uyo

prevail above gimmicks and undue influence. The onus is therefore on both petitioners and respondents to argue their case on points of law regardless of whatever is peddled outside court rooms. This is the first and most critical fact.

Secondly, supporters of the interim government are at liberty to present various shades of truth about what transpires in court daily, but they cannot undo major gains already made towards recovering what was stolen from the people. Their indiscretion cannot alter a dot in the coming judgment as it will be based on proven facts as stated in law “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

Another stanch fact is that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and most of their candidates, including Udom Emmanuel, Godswill Akpabio and others, are before state election petition tribunals in Abuja, to defend allegations of stealing the mandate of Akwa Ibom people during the last elections. Hard pressed Akwa Ibom people have risen as one in a historic move to recover their mandate from a regime that has held them captive for nearly a decade and they will stop at nothing to ensure all respondents answer for their roles in manipulating a simple and straight forward electoral process into some twisted, complicated farce.

To achieve this feat, the people are determined to take the whole stretch as could be seen in dispassionate testimonies of principal witnesses currently recounting their personal experiences of massive electoral irregularities, fraud and violence allegedly perpetuated by PDP and its agents in active connivance with some corrupt INEC officials. There are recorded evidences proving that April 11 elections in Akwa Ibom State were far cry from credible, free and fair elections stipulated in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and 2010 Electoral Act (as amended).

Incidentally, these evidences and testimonies are received regularly in court notwithstanding what lies are peddled about them after-

•Emmanuel

•Umana

wards. The fact is, having listened to and adopted these evidences and testimonies, the tribunals may rely on them to deliver judgment.

Above all, from available records published by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, one can decipher the whole story on how electoral fraud were committed by the INEC in Akwa Ibom State. All it takes is a closer look of voter accreditation computed by INEC staff at polling units across the state compared to what INEC Permanent Voter Card, PVC, readers automatically computed and sent to INEC servers in the Headquarters unknown to Okojie and his cohorts.

Before going through the records, recall that on the 2nd of April, 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, issued a very clear directive to all its officers that ONLY the “Card Reader” electronic machines be used for the accreditation of voters for the governorship and State House of Assembly elections scheduled for April 11, 2015.

This directive was reportedly confirmed a couple of days later,

by Prof Attahiru Jega, the then Chairman of INEC, during a world press conference where he maintained that the April 2 INEC directive, emphasizing that in places where there are card reader malfunction up to 5 pm, elections

in these places should be shifted to Sunday, April 12, 2015. Incidentally, there was nowhere in the over 2,500 polling units across Akwa Ibom state that field officers of INEC reported the malfunction of their card readers meaning there was nowhere in the state where elections were shifted to Sunday, April 12 as such governorship and state house of assembly elections held on April 11 without problem but how come the numbers computed into the INEC server, which were automatically generated when Permanent Voters Card (PVC) were verified at the Polling Units across Akwa Ibom state are different from those hand filled in FORM EC 8D by INEC staff at these polling units? The fact is, those results written in forms EC8D were doctored by INEC staff unaware that back-up PVC verifications were being simultaneously documented in the INEC servers in Abuja!

Shouldn’t it bother all concerned how the accreditation of voters in Akwa Ibom produced two (sets) of numbers per local government by the same electoral body, one handwritten on FORM EC 8D and the other automatically accredited

by INEC Server via PVC; #Akwa Ibom? Answering this question will confirm that indeed an electoral fraud was committed.

Can INEC explain the following inconsistencies in voter accreditation?

Abak LGA | Form EC 8D = 45, 358 Accredited | INEC Server = 25,546 Accredited, Eastern Obolo LGA | Form EC 8D = 14,592 Accredited | INEC Server = 6,521 Accredited, Eket LGA | Form EC 8D = 53,576 Accredited | INEC Server = 26,472 Accredited, Esit Eket LGA | Form EC 8D = 28,279 Accredited | INEC Server = 18,812 Accredited, Essien Udim LGA | Form EC 8D = 89,313 Accredited | INEC Server = 8,729 Accredited, Etim Ekpo LGA | Form EC 8D = 45,922 Accredited | INEC Server = 15,481 Accredited, Etinan LGA | Form EC 8D = 44,228 Accredited | INEC Server = 3,383 Accredited. Also, Ibeno LGA | Form EC 8D = 19,032 Accredited | INEC Server = 11,980 Accredited, Ibesikpo Asutan LGA | Form EC 8D = 39,467 Accredited | INEC Server = 22,512 Accredited, Ibiono Ibom LGA | Form EC 8D = 64,623 Accredited | INEC Server = 10,369 Accredited, Ika LGA | Form EC 8D = 34,697 Accredited | INEC Server = 10,487

• Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode (left) with the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa (middle), and international music artist, Akon (right) during a courtesy visit to the governor at the Lagos House, Marina.

Accredited, Ikono LGA | Form EC 8D = 45,666 Accredited | INEC Server = 10,767 Accredited, Ikot Abasi LGA | Form EC 8D = 24,958 Accredited | INEC Server = 9,956 Accredited andIkot Ekpene LGA | Form EC 8D = 52,335 Accredited | INEC Server = 23,218 Accredited.

Note also Ini LGA | Form EC 8D = 33,554 Accredited | INEC Server = 6,850 Accredited, Itu LGA | Form EC 8D = 27,808. Accredited | INEC Server = 15,557 Accredited, Mbo LGA | Form EC 8D = 13,853 Accredited | INEC Server = 8,545 Accredited, Mkpat Enin LGA | Form EC 8D = 35,412 Accredited | INEC Server = 7,623 Accredited, Nsit Atai LGA | Form EC 8D = 24,748 Accredited | INEC Server = 9,606 Accredited, Nsit Ibom LGA | Form EC 8D = 13,090 Accredited | INEC Server = 13,088 Accredited, Obot Akara LGA | Form EC 8D = 35,836 Accredited | INEC Server = 13,189 Accredited, Okobo LGA | Form EC 8D = 24,280 Accredited | INEC Server = 13,745 Accredited, Onna LGA | Form EC 8D = 54,050 Accredited | INEC Server = 15,864 Accredited, Oron LGA | Form EC 8D = 27,468 Accredited | INEC Server = 17,142 Accredited, Oruk Anam LGA | Form EC 8D = 81,021 Accredited | INEC Server = 21,753 Accredited, Udung Uko LGA | Form EC 8D = 14,094 Accredited | INEC Server = 11,165 Accredited, Ukanafun LGA | Form EC 8D = 48,271 Accredited | INEC Server = 9,846 Accredited, Uruan LGA | Form EC 8D = 38,006 Accredited | INEC Server = 11,599 Accredited, Urue Offong/Oruko LGA | Form EC 8D = 8,141 Accredited | INEC Server = 5,405 Accredited and Uyo LGA | Form EC 8D = 47,990 Accredited | INEC Server = 38,022 Accredited In summary, Total Form EC 8D = 1,158,624 Accredited | Total INEC Server = 437,128 with a wide difference of 721,496, more than 50% error yet Akwa Ibom state was among the states that first published election results!

Figures do not lie and, if the ‘sanctity of the ballot’ (borrowing the phrase from Obong Victor Attah), and by extension, credibility of last elections were founded on voter accreditation, using Permanent Voter Card machines, then one can rightly assert that there was no election in Akwa Ibom state especially on April 11 considering gross discrepancy between FORM EC 8D, compiled by reportedly compromised INEC staff, and those automatically computed by PVC readers and sent to INEC servers.

Going forward, none of those sham elections (Governorship and State House of Assembly) held on April 11 would be deemed credible using records from PVC readers’ printout from INEC servers.

For instance, it is safe to question Form EC 8E compiled by reportedly compromised INEC staff which says Governor Emmanuel Udom got 996,071 votes. How did he get these outrageous figures when PVC readers printout from INEC servers say there were only 437,128 accredited voters in Akwa Ibom State for the April 11 governorship? Mystery surrounding facts such as this is what the election petition tribunals seek to unravel not mannerism of witnesses or whether they spoke correct grammar or not.

Ukpong, writes from Uyo.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 07, 2015

56

NEWS IPSAS: January 2016 for implementation From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

NIGERIA will begin the implementation of Accrual Basis under the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in January next year, the Federal Government has said.

Accountant-General of the Federation Ahmed Idris, who spoke in Abuja at a book launch: “Government Accounting in Nigeria: An IPSAS Approach” by a former Accountant-General of the Federation, Kayode Naiyeju and Prof.

Eddy Omolehinwa, said Nigeria started the implementation of the cash basis in last year.

Idris added that the implementation committees, at both the state and national levels, were working to ensure that Nigeria implements the policy next year.

“There is an implementation committee at the national and state levels and they are working based on a time frame. So there is no delay; we are on course.

“The accrual basis is scheduled to start in January and by God’s grace, it will. We want to be a global player and that is why we keyed in”.

Idris explained that with the implementation of IPSAS, Nigeria would operate on the same platform with advanced economies.

His words: “We will operate on the same platform with advanced economies in terms of financial accounting reporting, information rendition, services of our financial accounts and so on.

“We stand to benefit because we will be rated like any other advanced economy, like any other advanced player in the global economy. It will make information open and transparent”.

Co-author, Prof. Omolehinwa, said the book will assist government to tackle corruption.

“We need to take government accounting more serious in Nigeria because without proper accounting, we are never going to have accountability and without accountability, we are not going to tackle corruption.

“And if we don’t tackle corruption, our country stands being labelled a failure. So we have written the book because we don’t want this to happen. We want stakeholders to know the roles they are expected to play,” Omolehinwa said.

Erosion: Senators seek probe of ecological fund

S

ENATORS have urged the Federal Government to investigate the Ecological Fund.

The Senate had asked the Ecological Fund Office to visit communities devastated by erosion in Anambra State and put up measures to remedy critical cases.

It called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials and support to the victims.

The Ad hoc Committee on Works was madated to visit the affected communities and assess the damage to give the problem the attention it deserves.

The resolutions were sequel to a motion by Uche Ekwunife, representing Anambra Central, titled: “Flood and Erosion Disaster in Awka, Isuanaocho, Obosi and other communities of

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

Anambra Central”.

Ekwunife lamented that flood and erosion had damaged places, such as Awka, Abatete, Isuanaocho, Obosi and other communities in Anambra Central.

She noted that the flood left many families bereaved and homeless.

According to her, “the rain of Tuesday, July 28, was more devastating, as over 30 residential buildings were destroyed while many school buildings were brought down; farmlands were washed away and roads were cut off”.

She said the victims were yet to receive assistance from the Federal Government while displaced persons had sought safety in neighbouring communities.

Her words: “About 10

T

Ecological Fund was spent over the years to ensure that the target is met”.

Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun Central) noted that the Ecological Fund was set up to tackle ecological problems but the goal had not been met.

He called for a thorough investigation of its application over the years.

Mao Ohuabunwa said most of the environmental problems were caused by erosion.

He said: “Farmlands, schools and churches have been washed away. We must look at this challenge and address it. NEMA should wake up and be proactive; they must do their job. Let us look at the ecological fund office to enable them apply funds allocated to them for specific purposes”.

Senate President Bukola Saraki said erosion prob-

•From left Mr Ademola Fadipe of Eko Akete Chamber; Mrs Dabiri-Erewa; her husband, Segun Erewa and AbdulMojeed Mumuni at the lagos High Court, Igbosere... yesterday.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

N122m debt: Dabiri-Erewa to petition IGP

F

ORMER Federal lawmaker Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa has said she would petition the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase to investigate how her name appeared on Diamond Bank’s list of debtors.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa spoke at the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, when she filed a libel suit against Diamond Bank and a newspaper for the alleged N122 million debt owed by Thriller Endeavours.

Diamond Bank listed Mrs Dabiri-Erewa as a director of Thriller Endeavours, which has a Non- Performing Loan (NPL) of N122.9 million.

But the former lawmaker refuted the claim, describing it as embarrassing and malicious. She said the report has damaged her reputation and

•Sues bank, newspaper

By Precious Igbonwelundu

family’s image.

Her words: “I was embarrassed and my day was messed up. I have never heard the name before but I instructed my lawyers to confirm with and after investigations, it was revealed that I am not a director of the socalled Thrillers Endeavours.

“I decided to seek legal redress based on that confirmation. Many questions need to be answered: how come my name was listed as a director in the so-called firm?

“According to the publication, Thrillers Endeavours borrowed money from Diamond Bank in 2008 and were

FRSC Corps for burial HE remains of Chief Samuel Ojo Adewale, 68, who died on June 3, will be buried today.

Until his death, Adewale was the State coordinator (Special Marshal) of the Federal Safety Corps (FRSC) in Osun State.

The funeral began yesterday with a Service of Songs at his 15, Oluwatedo Oranfe, Ile-Ife, Osun State home.

communities, including Ogidi, Abate and others, have been ravaged by erosion, landslide and flood within the last three weeks.

The families are yet to get support from the Federal Government”.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who seconded the motion, observed that there was a general ecological challenge confronting the country.

He warned that if the situation was not addressed, the northern part of the country would be overtaken by desertification and the southern part swept away by erosion.

“The erosion in Anambra State has washed away churches, schools and farmlands among others. We should take this issue seriously.

“Let us investigate how

Today, the body leaves the Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital (OAUTECH), Ile-Ife by 8am for his home town, Emure-Ile in Owo, Ondo State for a wake at his home behind Our Saviours Anglican Primary School.

Burial service will hold tomorrow at Our Saviours Anglican Church by 10am and interment will follow at the church premises.

The late Adewale

The deceased is survived by wife and children.

to pay back in 2009. This is 2015 and apparently they haven’t paid back. How come Diamond Bank never contacted the so-called director since the loan became a bad debt?

“Who signed the authorisation for the loan? Was there a board meeting? Who authorised the loan approval?

“I believe the only way to answer these questions is to come to court. They should come and prove their allegations.

“I am suing Diamond Bank and the newspaper for N500 million damages because this is character assassination.

This has defamed and brought me to disrepute; it has embarrassed my family.

“I said I have never owed anybody, not even myself a kobo. So, to wake up and see my picture on a national newspaper as a debtor is embarrassing especially because money is involved. That is why I am suing the bank.

“I am suing the newspaper because as a reputable medium, the correspondent should have contacted me. If you are going to put me out with my picture, ask me a simple question to hear my side. That one paragraph would have made a lot of dif-

ference.

“I smell mischief; I smell deliberate attempt to defame my character that is why I am in court. The criminal aspect of it will come out because I have petitioned the IG. I am copying the SSS to look at the criminal aspect of this case”.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their privies from further publishing her name as a director of Thrillers Endeavours.

She wants an order directing the defendants to render a public apology to her in three national newspapers (including the one in question), adding that the apology must be given the same prominence as the original story.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa is praying for a declaration that the defendants have defamed and injured her character by the said publication and wants the court to award N500 million against the defendants jointly and severally, as damages for the reputational injury she suffered.

The former lawmaker also wants an order of court directing the defendants to pay, bear and be responsible for the N3 million she paid for the professional services of her lawyers.

lems are common across the country.

“I hope this Senate tackles it. There are funds meant for ecological challenge but unfortunately, it has been mismanaged. I commend the mover of this motion. As a Senate, we must address areas affected urgently and create ways to address future occurrences,” Saraki said.

Anambra PDP gets factional executives •Passes vote of no-confidence in Metuh From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

T

HE crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State took a new turn yesterday, with the inauguration of a factional State Executive, led by a former Secretary to the State Government, Prince Osy Ezenwa.

This is coming barely 12 days after the ward, local government and state congresses, which produced Prince Ken Emeakayi as chairman.

At the inauguration yesterday, a vote of no-confidence was passed in the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisah Metuh.

A motion by former Deputy Majority Leader, Uche Ogbonna, which was seconded by former Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Ken Arinze, said the decision was based on Metuh’s fraudulent, anti- party activities in the state.

The motion urged Metuh to resign and apologise to the people for the embarrassment to the party.

Addressing the over 5,000 members yesterday, the party’s governorship candidate, Comrade Tony Nwoye, said the All Progressives Congress (APC) would secure the state in the next election, if PDP failed to get its act right.

He said PDP’s saving grace would be for Metuh to refrain from his impunities.

Other members of the factional executive included Chief Basil Ejidike (Secretary), Chief Jessy Balonwu (Director Women Affairs), Uche Ogbonna (Treasurer), Ken Arinze (Publicity sec).

Kelue Molokwu, Dr Maduka Nwankwo and Osy Chinwuba were vice chairmen (Central), (South) and North Senatorial zones, among others.

Nwoye said their actions had the blessing of Prince Arthur Eze, Sir Emeka Offor, Sir Cletus Ibeto, and other state chieftains.

His words: “This is a journey to Government House in 2017; therefore, Governor Willie Obiano and his small APGA should start packing their luggage with immediate effect.

“We would soon hold a rally which will shut down the state to show the people we are ready for battle “We have enough bullets to prosecute this journey, today’s meeting has liberated PDP from the clutches of hawks; we are the owners of PDP in this state”.

Ezenwa hailed the party members for their patience and steadfastness.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

57

NEWS

Flood kills two in Plateau

T

WO persons on Wednesday died, following the flood caused by a downpour at three communities in Gindiri Chiefdom of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.

One is still missing. The paramount ruler of Pyem Chiefdom, Mr. Charles Mato, told the council Chairman, Mr. Bise Titus, when he visited the scene.

Titus described the incident as “very devastating and

•Crops, farm lands washed away unfortunate.”

He was told that the flood destroyed houses, farmlands and crops worth millions of naira at Gindiri, Langai and Gimti communities.

“This flood that brought about these losses is devastating, painful and unfortunate. But we must seek solace in God, who knows the best.

“With the loss of precious lives of our people, the au-

thority will take the report to the government to help us build the Gindiri-Langai Road to check incessant flood,” Bise said.

He said the flood was caused by the blockage of the drains by the culverts built on Rivers Langai, Gimti and Gindiri.

Bise pledged to liaise with the government to ensure that road and bridges were

built to avoid a recurrence.

Sympathising with the victims, the local government chairman pledged the council’s readiness to assist them.

He urged the people to be vigilant, to avoid more casualties, as the rains were still heavy.

Mato thanked the chairman for the visit and hoped that the state and local governments would assist the victims.

‘Ortom officially resigned from PDP’

A

FORMER Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in Nzorov Ward of Benue State, Mr. Felix Agbaka, said yesterday at the election petition tribunal in Makurdi that Governor Samuel Ortom was qualified to contest the April 11 poll.

This is contrary to claims by the PDP governorship candidate, Terhemen Tarzoor that Ortom was not qualified because he did not resign his membership of the PDP. Agbaka and the present Nzorov Ward Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adikpe Ukuremo Ezekiel, were led in evidence by the governor’s lead counsel, Israel Olorundare, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

They were subpoenaed by Ortom to appear before the three-man tribunal to prove that he validly left the PDP on December 9, last year and joined the APC on the same day.

But before the duo were granted leave to give evidence, counsel to the petitioner, Adebayo Adenipekun, SAN, challenged the competence of the witnesses, because, according to him, a witness to be subpoenaed “must be one who is not an adverse witness.”

The argument and counterargument by the lawyers made the tribunal to adjourn for more than an hour.

Adenipekun cited authorities in Lasun v Awoyemi, reported in 2011 All NWLR pt 577, page 713; Plan Iyange v Oyebola (2008) All NWLR pt 399, page 503; and Shittu v Alebe (2011) All NWLR pt 595 page 343, to substantiate his objections.

The governor argued that once a witness was subpoenaed to produce documents, it was immaterial if those documents were listed for production or not.

Counsel to Ortom, Olorundare (SAN), countered his learned colleague, citing Omidiran v Etteh (2011) 2NWLR Pt 1232 page 471 at 501; Onyedepelo v Nwaneri (2008) 2 PELR; and Famakinwa v UK (1992) Pt 253 at page 608 as au-

•‘Benue governor was nominated APC candidate’

T

HE Governorship Election Petition From Emmanuel Uja, Makurdi Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has adjourned till Sep- the Federal High tember 7 for preliminary objection and final Court, Makurdi addresses by parties. claiming the same Ruling yesterday, the Chairman, Justice facts and reliefs, it Elizabeth Karatu, said the parties had been was abnormal for given enough time to submit their addresses. the same suit to be The adjournment happened after the sec- brought before the ond respondent, the All Progressives Con- tribunal. gress (APC), closed its case. The first respondThe witness adent and petitioner, Governor Samuel Ortom mitted that the and Prince Terhemen Tarzoor, the PDP gov- leadership of the •Ortom ernorship candidate, closed their cases on party granted a waiver to the first respondent, Wednesday. which permitted him to qualify for the goverAt the resumed sitting yesterday, the sec- norship election. ond respondent submitted an affidavit citaThe petitioner’s counsel, Adebayo Adenition deposed to by Baba Dala, a resolution of pekun, SAN, raised objection to the second reparty leaders, APC constitution, application spondent’s counsel, Sebastine Hon, SAN, to crossfor a waiver, letter of a waiver granted, re- examine the witness. ceipt of the proceeding at the Federal High The objection was, however, overruled by the Court Abuja, receipt of certification of the tribunal after the counsel argued, citing authoriFederal High Court, Abuja, concurrent origi- ties on the legality of cross-examining the witnating summon of the suit of the Federal High ness and the jurisdiction of the tribunal to enterCourt, Makurdi, receipt of proceedings and tain the case. record of proceedings at the same High Court.

The tribunal insisted that it would not depart Dala, who appeared as a witness, submit- from its earlier position of looking at the case on ted and adopted the document he deposed to, its merit and concluded that the issue of jurisdicsaying since the PDP had filed the same suit at tion would be put to rest at the final judgment.

From Emmanuel Uja, Makurdi

thorities upon which the two witnesses subpoenaed should be admitted to give evidence and their documents admitted.

When the tribunal resumed, the Chairman, Justice Elizabeth Karatu, agreed with the submission of the petitioner’s counsel, but overruled the petitioner in favour of the governor, saying for the sake of justice, the two should be allowed to give evidence.

During cross-examination, the former PDP chairman in Nzorov Ward tendered Ortom’s resignation letter from the PDP, which he said he received on December 9, last year.

Adikpe told the tribunal that he registered the governor on the same day he approached him and gave him a membership card with serial No: 381 and card number 04010423.

When the PDP lawyer asked the APC chairman in Nzorov Ward, if it was right for him as the chairman, instead of the secretary, to register Ortom in ac-

cordance with the party’s constitution, he said: “Even if the secretary is to register anybody, he (the secretary) won’t register anybody without my consent. Besides, Ortom’s registration was done in the presence of the party executive in the ward.”

Agbaka, during cross- examination, identified the membership card and the register containing the names of members of the party at the ward level, including that of the governor.

He told the tribunal that considering the personality of Ortom, he wrote to the party’s local government chairman on January 15, informing him of what he described as ‘ a big catch’. He said he later took the register to the state secretariat.

Agbaka identified the letter he wrote to the local government party chairman.

The letter and other documents tendered were admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.

The governor then closed

NEMA alerts to release of water from Cameroon dam

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HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has alerted state governments and communities along River Benue to an imminent flood, following information from the Cameroonian authorities to release excess water from the Lagdo dam.

The agency’s Director-General, Muhammad Sani Sidi, said the Cameroonian authorities in Garuoa have said that between now and November, there would be routine release of water from the Lagdo Dam. He said the authorities also warned “those living around the dam and along River Benue in Garoua up to the Nigerian side to be ready for evacuation in case of a flood.”

Sidi urged governors, State Emergency

Management Agencies, first respondents and relevant authorities to alert the communities to the risk, prepare safe locations for evacuation and preparedness.

The NEMA director-general said the agency had despatched the alert to the concerned governors and was following up with advocacy.

The release of excess water from the dam in 2012 contributed to massive flooding of communities along the river.

The following year, the two countries reached an agreement that Cameroon was to give early warning to enable Nigeria put in place measures to prevent the destruction of life and property.

his defence.

Justice Karatu adjourned till today. Other respondents are expected to open their defence and call witnesses.

Suspected hoodlums attack Air Force officer From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

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N Air Force officer serving at the base in Makurdi has been assaulted by suspected hoodlums at the Airport Market. He was injured.

A 20-year-old suspect, Godslove Emmanuel, has been arrested in connection with the attack and handed over to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), E Division Police Station.

Narrating how the Air Force officer was attacked, the Commander, 35 Base Service Group (BSG) Headquarters, Tactical Air Command (TAC) in Makurdi, Air Commodore Morgan Idonibo and the command spokesman, Squadron Leader Kabiru Ali, said: “The Air Force officer went for shopping at the popular Air Force Market located opposite Tactical Air Command (TAC) headquarters office on MakurdiGboko Road.

“He was accosted by suspected miscreants (area boys), who demanded money. The officer refused to do their wish and they attacked him.”

Kaduna Assembly confirms 13 commissioners From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

K

ADUNA State House of Assembly yesterday confirmed the 13 commissioners nominated by Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai.

The governor last week sent a list containing the names of 13 commissioner-nominees to the Assembly, requesting that the lawmakers should screen them.

The nominees appeared before the plenary presided over

by Speaker Aminu Shagali and were screened and confirmed.

Those confirmed are Prof. Jonathan Andrew Nok (Health and Human Services); Hajiya Rabi M.G. Abdulsalam (Women Affairs and Social Development); Suleiman Aliyu Lere (Water Resources); Muhammed Sani Abdullahi (Budget and Planning); Dr. Manzo Daniel Maigari (Agriculture and Forestry) and Muhammad Bashir Saidu (Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs).

Others include Suleiman Abdu Kwari (Finance); Dr. Shehu Usman Adamu (Education, Science and Technology); Dr. Ya’u Usman Idris (Environment and Natural Resources); Daniel Auta (Youth, Sport and Culture); Shehu Balarabe (Commerce, Industry and Tourism); Amina Ruth Dyeris-Sijuwade (Justice) and Usman Mahmud Hassan (Works, Housing and Transport).

Addressing reporters after the screening, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Nuhu Shadalafia, described the commissioners as competent for the job.

Baptists hold fellowship

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HE Goodnews Baptist Association will hold its quarterly fellowship today and tomorrow at Triumphant Baptist Church, 19, Olufemi Ojo Street, off Shasa Road, Akowonjo, Lagos.

It will focus on the mission awareness programme with the theme: “So Send I You”.

The Moderator, Rev. Titi Ajadi, said the association had a strong focus on mission activities, which necessitated the drive to propagate the gospel.

The director of the World Mission Resource Centre will make a presentation to delegates.

EXPRESSO

Away with boju-boju debtors’ list!

•Continued from Back Page Other notable features of the debtors’ lists include the fact that many banks are exposed to government departments, Houses of Assembly, local government areas, staff cooperatives and workers’ unions. How such loans were secured and managed considering the fluid nature of these entities is difficult to fathom. Another point to note is that most of the loans are overdrafts, some of them running into hundreds of millions of naira; even billion.

How is this so?

The manner of presentation of the list only exposed the shoddiness in the procedure and processes of some of the financial institutions. You would notice some banks stating just one name (perhaps a first name) as the director or entity that consummated a loan. Then of course, while some banks have as low as 50 names on their lists, others ‘boast’ of over 200 delinquent debtors. That must say something doesn’t it? Is there something like a debtdrenched bank?

Central Bank culpable.

Though we had said at the beginning that bankers are extremely clever people and that they jolly well do what they have to do to have, keep and relish other people’s money till

the end of time, the quality of central banks often defines a country’s banking system.

Where the apex bank is half as smart as the turks running the banks, sanity and stability would often reign.

In Nigeria’s situation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has traditionally always trailed behind deposit money banks, especially since the deregulation era of the 1990s. You must have heard such things as jankara banking and we have witnessed all sorts of ‘minor’ storms and upheavals in the system these past quarter century, yet it is not certain whether our banks are better off today than those heady days.

The CBN was moved to insist on this ‘drastic’ expose of ‘debtors’ when it recently discovered that delinquent loans in the system had hit N400 billion comprising about 1,000 firms and some individuals. But this must be a tip of it all if one knew anything about our banks. What about all those king-sized debts AMCON was grappling with and the kings and deities behind them? Are we going to have a separate list for their ilk?

And where on earth was CBN when all these cash were being crunched by credit monsters in our midst? It is true that these boys are indeed clever and

often keep at least three parallel accounts of business at any point in time but that is why CBN is the regulatory bank. How does it keep track of these plucky men and women in smart suits?

How come many of the banks always flout their lending limits? Why has CBN spoken about setting up a credit bureau (CB) for over 30 years, yet would not set it up?

We would never have such serial and chronic defaulters if we had a functional CB, would we? At least we would not have such cases as one customer taking hefty loans from many banks.

Finally, now that we have seen the ‘earth-shaking’ lists, what next? What are we going to do with the preponderance of moribund husband and wife businesses, which seem like they are being ‘scape-goated’? What next?

This is for the CBN to answer.

Meanwhile, the current boss of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, is a thoroughbred alumnus of Nigeria’s new age bankers. He understands the ‘issues’ and he is sure-footed in this ‘jungle’, only he can ring the critical change. He must not be shy to push this change; history beckons, Mr. Emefiele!

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

58

NEWS Abductors of 92-year-old monarch reduce N100m ransom to N40m

•President Muhammadu Buhari (left) receiving letter of credence from the Ambassadordesignate of the Kingdom of Belgium to Nigeria, Mr Stephane De Loeckeras, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja... yesterday.

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

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•President Buhari receiving letter of credence from the AmbassadorDesignate of the Republic of Rwanda to Nigeria, Mr Stanisia Kamanzi, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja... yesterday.

BDUCTORS of 92-year-old King Christian Otobotekere, the paramount ruler of Tombia and acting clan head of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have reduced their N100 million ransom to N40 million.

Six gunmen stormed Tombia community on July 23 at 8am and abducted the king from his palace.

The nonagenarian is the father of Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, a former Chief of Staff to Governor Seriake Dickson.

The monarch is also a grand patron of the state’s chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), which has urged the gunmen to free him because of his age.

The abductors reportedly forced the king into a Toyota car and drove him to the Amasoma/Tombia bridge.

They were said to have burnt the car and whisked the monarch away to an unknown destination on a waiting speedboat.

Aggrieved members of the community blocked Amassoma Road, which leads to the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), during a protest against the abduction.

It was learnt that the abductors initially demanded N100 million but later reduced the ransom to N40 million.

It was gathered that the monarch’s family were apprehensive about his health. But they got a relief when they were allowed to speak with the monarch on phone.

Sources said the kidnappers thought the king was rich and had many contracts with Shell Petroleum Development (SPDC).

‘Why Buhari should probe oil thieves’ From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

‘Buhari’s approval of Ogoni clean-up an elixir’

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IVERS State Commissioner for Environment Iniruo Wills has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s fast-tracking of the clean-up of Ogoniland is an elixir for the people.

He described the President’s action as “a great positive signal for the hitherto relegated environment sector” in the state.

In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, Wills said: “President Buhari’s approval of steps to fast-track the cleanup and restoration of Ogoniland in line with the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP’s) recommendations is a great positive signal for the hitherto relegated environment sector and for Niger Delta.

“This is an elixir, coming at the fourth anniversary, two days ago, of the release of the UNEP Report, which happens to be the first anniversary falling within President Buhari’s tenure. We congratulate the Ogoni people and the Niger Delta.

“We are hopeful that the

Peterside hails President for ordering clean-up RIVERS State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 11 election, Dakuku Peterside, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his courage at fasttracking the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to restore the devastated Ogoniland environment.

Peterside, who spoke in Abuja, the nation’s capital, was delighted by the President’s actions to address environmental issues in Ogoniland.

The APC chief noted that the presidential order was historic to ameliorate other challenges in Ogoniland.

In a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Mr Sylvester Asoya, he said: “Once again, Mr. President has demonstrated that he is a man of honour.

“During his campaign stops in Rivers State, shortly before the election, he promised our people that his government would look into the UNEP Report and the challenges facing the people of Niger Delta. Less than three months into his administration, the President has already taken a giant step in this regard. He is indeed a man of his words.

“Our people in the region know that this is a President we can trust because of his antecedent and track record. By this action, Mr. President has rekindled hope and brought a major relief to our long-suffering people. We know that it can only be better...”

President and relevant Federal Government’s authorities will correct the crucial omissions in the measures ap-

proved and announced yesterday, especially the non-incorporation/representation of other pollution ravaged

states in Niger Delta.

“For example, Bayelsa State is currently under the burden of about 1,000 recorded oil spills per year, and has been suffering the same fate as Ogoniland for 60 years, dating back to the start of Nigeria’s commercial oil production, which took place in Oloibiri area in present-day Bayelsa State.

“As a grim reminder, exactly four weeks ago today, there was a massive fire explosion at an oil pipeline operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited at Azuzuama Community in Bayelsa State. That fire claimed 14 precious Nigerian lives, including a federal environmental regulator from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Osita Ugwu, and a senior environmental monitor from the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, Duabo Theophilus.

“Overall, we are excited at the new prospects for environmental protection and restoration in our oil producing communities...”

NEPC identifies 13 national strategic export products to replace oil

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HE Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has identified 13 National Strategic Export Products (NSEPs) to replace oil in an effort to diversify the nation’s revenue base.

The council described on its website that the identification was part of efforts to address the quest to widen the basket of exportable products from Nigeria following tumbling oil revenue at the international market.

It stated that the NESPs, grouped under three categories, are: agro industrial, mining related and oil and gas industrial products.

The NEPC said: “For agro industrial it has palm oil, cocoa, sugar, rice and cashew while mining related are cement, Iron ore/metals, auto parts/cars, aluminum.

“The other oil and gas industrial products have petroleum products, fertiliser/ urea, petrochemical and

menthol.’’

It added that with dwindling oil revenue, coupled with the quest to increase the basket of exportable products, the council had planned to launch the One-State-OneProduct (OSOP) initiative.

According to the statement, the initiative is targeted at developing and promoting one product for export per state.

It said: “Besides, the initiative takes cognisance of the country’s comparative advantage in terms of the vastness of its natural endowments. The council considers the effort to diversify the nation’s revenue base, using the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).”

It noted that the economic pundits and stakeholders in the sector believed that when OSOP became operational, it would shore-up the revenue of the 36 federating states.

It stated that in order to fast track the initiative, the council would have two-day capacity building programme for State Committees on Export Promotion and City Chambers of Commerce and Industries in all the states.

The project would develop the capacity and prepare stakeholders for the implementation of the plan, thus ensuring qualitative and quantitative products for non-oil exports, it stated.

It quoted the NEPC’s Executive Director Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, as saying “the underlined objective of the programme includes: to upgrade the technical knowledge of the state committees.”

It will also bridge the gap between the council and relevant stakeholders at the state level and equip them with non-oil export roject management skills covering techniques of export project for-

mulation, monitoring and evaluation.

“This interface would enable participants to engage in effective partnership to NEPC in promoting the development of the non-oil export sector”, Awolowo was quoted as saying.

The council appealed for support of state governments through opening of “smart offices” to ensure the sustainability and successful implementation of the state committees’ concept.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had in a report in March, stated that stakeholders in the non-oil export sector, represented by state committees on export promotion in the various states, met over techniques of non-oil exports.

The meeting was tagged: “Techniques of non-oil export project formulation and implementation.”

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MEMBER of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Olusegun Olaleye has called for the prosecution of those found guilty of embezzlement of oil funds, saying Nigeria has no reason to be in debt again.

Olaleye wondered why the Nigerian Army remained underequipped and poorly managed despite its huge budgetary allocations, adding that it was shocking that a serving minister who allegedly stole over $6 billion was left unquestioned during the immediate past administration.

Addressing a news conference in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital yesterday on the probe of suspected oil thieves, the lawmaker who is also the convener of the Anti-Corruption Watch (ANCOW)said he was sad with the way the country was governed in the previous administration, adding that corruption has become a cancer which has led to a near collapse of the country’s economy before President Buhari took over.

According to the former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the non-chalant attitude of former President Goodluck Jonathan made it possible for some people to steal. He recalled that President Jonathan encouraged his petroleum minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Maduekwe to shun interogation by the National Assembly over remitted oil revenue, describing the probe as a mere distraction.

EFCC goes after NIMASA officials

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HERE was anxiety yesterday at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) following invitation of 10 of its employees by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The reason for the invitation was not known by the operatives of the commission, it was learnt.

The affected officials were picked at the agency’s promises in Lagos on Wednesday.

A source noted that the affected workers who have been held incommunicado hail from a particular section of the country.

The source said that those invited were some senior and junior staff members of a sensitive department in the agency. As a result of the incident, it was gathered that there is anxiety over what the development portends.

According to the source: ‘’The situation in NIMASA now calls for caution. On Tuesday morning when some employees had resumed for work, operatives of the EFCC came and arrested about 10 people. It was shocking because the reasons for the arrest were not disclosed. As we speak, they are in the commission’s office in Lagos. No one knows what would become their fate. One of the people arrested is a top employee from the North.’’ ‘’It is sad that since the sack of the former Director General, Mr. Patrick-Akpobolokemi, the surreptitious moves were initiated in order to establish non existing allegations against him and those believed to be close to him.’’

Funeral for Mamora’s mum

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HE matriarch of the Mamora family, Deaconess Elizabeth Adeesola Mamora will be buried tomorrow in Ijebu-Ife, Ijebu East Local Government of Ogun State. Mrs Mamora died on June 17. She was 93.

A wake holds today at Ojowo Area Office of Ijebu East council, Itako, Ijebu-Ife by 4pm.

Lying-in-state will hold tomorrow at her residence, Merry Monarch’s Mansion, Ishapodo, Ijebu-Ife by 8am and funeral service follows at First Baptist Church, Isensi, Ijebu-Ife by 10am.

She is survived by Otunba Oloruntoba Mamora, Mrs Oluyemisi Ajayi, Mrs Titilayo Osunmakinde, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, grand-children and great-grandchildren.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

NEWS Dasuki: we acquired sophisticated weapons to fight Boko Haram •How we stopped Shekau from disrupting 2015 poll

Continued from page 4

caucus is worried, alarmed and shocked by recent developments in our polity where the DSS is now involved in electoral matters.

“A situation where officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states (all PDP states), are daily being arrested, detained and questioned on politically-motivated corruption allegations is worrisome and spells doom for our democracy, unless the trend is reversed.

“No democracy survives without a viable opposition in any part of the world. INEC is supposed to be an independent commission and its officials ought to be shielded from partisanship.

“The arrest of electoral officials in states APC did not win elections in an APC-led Federal Government is a source of worry to this caucus and indeed all lovers of democracy worldwide.

“There is no provision in our laws that allow the DSS to meddle in a partisan manner in the political electoral process.

“The elections in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia were held and adjudged successful and credible by Prof. Attahiru Jega, the erstwhile Chairman of INEC. “Equally, dissatisfied and aggrieved parties have gone to courts in conformity with our laws to seek redress.The intrusion by the DSS in arresting, coercing, intimidating, and harassing INEC officials in a democracy is most condemnable.

“Though these arrests, coercion, detention, and harassment are happening in PDP-controlled states, we would still have condemned these actions if they had taken place in APC-controlled states since these actions are strange to democratic ethics and practices all over the world.”

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OLLOWING allegations of lack of equipment to fight Boko Haram, the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), yesterday said the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan bought sophisticated equipment in the last one year to fight insurgents in the Northeast.

He said the weapons assisted the military to recover many local government areas that were occupied by Boko Haram terrorists.

He also said the acquisition of the equipment checkmated Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau from disrupting the general elections on March 28 and April 11.

He made the clarifications in an interview with PRNigeria, which is an undercover and alternative channel of communication by the military, against the backdrop of alleged neglect of the military

by Dr. Jonathan.

A former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, had at his Pulling-Out Parade complained about lack of equipment to fight Boko Haram during his tenure.

The immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah on Wednesday expressed regrets that the nation toyed with the health and vitality of the military through inadequate funding.

He appealed to the government to create the right environment for recruitment, training, equipping and kitting of military personnel.

He listed some of the military equipment as Alpha jets, APCs, MRAP vehicles, advanced artillery pieces, assorted arms and ammunitions, highly sophisticated surveillance drones, T72 and carried out modification of F7 supersonic jet fighters.

Dasuki said: “The armored tanks have comprehensive Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) protection/sensor system, just as we deployed Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that we bought and could withstand Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks and ambushes.

The vehicles had protected our troops from the land mine threats.

“We are glad that we also provided assorted Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to transport troops to the battlefield. They are armed for selfdefence and to provide protection from attacks from shrapnel and small arms fire.

“All these were acquired in the last one year after years of frustration by Western powers who denied us of the equipment and sabotage our efforts to acquire same from other sources which are reasons for some delay in delivery.”

Despite criticisms, he insisted that the equipment assisted in “curtailing Boko Haram.”

He said: “We utilised some of these equipment to recover more than 22 local government areas under Boko Haram terrorists and ensured that Shekau did not disrupt the 2015 election as he had threatened.

“Not only did we ensure

APC, PDP senators clash

•MI 8s Transport Helicopters to move supplies and field commanders

•One of the BTR 4 being exported from Ukraine

•Troops transporters

Troops kill eight Continued from page 4 •REVA MRAPS equipped with anti-aircraft weapons and heavy machine guns used by special forces instrumental to re-claiming of Bama and Gwoza.

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

that the elections were peaceful, Shekau has never spoken to threaten anyone again since then.”

Dasuki said some military hardware paid for by Jonathan administration would be delivered on or before the end of August.

He added: “Some other arms already paid for by the previous administration are due to be delivered soon.

“It was unfortunate that some elements are frustrating the efforts as we even had to query some suppliers for delay in delivery of arms and ammunition.

The former NSA faulted critics of the administration of Jonathan on security.

He said such critics should be careful not to destroy sensitive institutions like the military.

He said: “In an attempt to rubbish individuals for whatever reasons, political or otherwise, we should be careful not to rubbish sensitive institutions and their personnel that might still be in active the service.

“It is unfortunate that some elements hide under the cover of anonymity in the media to rubbish some of the sacrifices we made. They should take the courage to come out publicly by identifying themselves with their baseless allegations. “ Badeh had in his valedictory address said: “Over the years, the military was neglected and under-equipped to

•Col. Dasuki

ensure the survival of certain regimes, while other regimes, based on advice from some foreign nations, deliberately reduced the size of the military and under funded it.

“Unfortunately, our past leaders accepted such recommendations without appreciating our peculiarities as a third world military, which does not have the technological advantage that could serve as force multipliers and compensate for reduced strength.

“Accordingly, when faced with the crises in the North and other parts of the country, the military was overstretched and had to embark on emergency recruitments and trainings, which were not adequate to prepare troops for the kind of situation we found ourselves in.

“It is important therefore for the government to decide on the kind of military feas it needs, by

identified legitimate owners.

The rustlers were apprehended and are currently undergoing investigation.

“Similarly, troops have at Jehu near Jakana, arrested Mai Mustapha; a fuel supplier to Boko Haram terrorists, and Madu, who coordinates buying of food items from neighbouring villages for the terrorists.

“Additionally, early this morning troops blocked elements that attacked Dumbuluwa village in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe State and had encounter with the terrorists.

“The gallant soldiers killed eight terrorists. Unfortunately, two vigilantes were wounded

by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) fragments.”

Two firms to audit NNPC, others Continued from page 4

•A military tank

carrying out a comprehensive review of the nation’s military structure to determine the size, capability and equipment holding required to effectively defend the nation and provide needed security.

“This is based on the fact that without security, there cannot be sustainable develop-

ment. The huge cost that would be required to rebuild the Northeast and other trouble spots in the country could have been avoided if the military had been adequately equipped and prepared to contain the ongoing insurgency before it escalated to where it is today.”

According to him, the audit will be expected to cover the period between January 2010 and June 2015, adding that "if the audit report requires that we look backward beyond that period, it will be done. But we are looking at a five year period for now.”

He, however, said the committee would not impose a time limit on the audit firms, saying “We have just taken the decision today. We will not impose time limit on them before we formally engage them. We will discuss with the, and by next week Thursday, we will officially announce the names of the two firms we are engaging to undertake the job.”

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THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

FOREIGN NEWS

UN set to vote on Syria chemical weapons probe

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HE UN Security Council is expected to adopt today a draft resolution that would set up a panel to determine who is responsible for deadly chlorine gas attacks in Syria, diplomats said.

A vote at the 15-member council was scheduled after US Secretary of State John Kerry won backing from Russia for the measure, in a rare sign of cooperation from the Damascus ally over how to address the conflict in Syria.

Under discussion for months, the US-drafted resolution would set up a team of experts tasked with identifying the perpetrators of the

chemical weapons attacks, paving the way for possible sanctions.

The resolution mandates the panel jointly set up with the OPCW chemical weapons watchdog to “identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or governments who were perpetrators, organisers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons including chlorine or any other toxic chemical” in Syria.

The United States and its allies have repeatedly accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of carrying out chlorine gas attacks with barrel bombs thrown from helicop-

ters.

The three countries argue that only the Syrian regime has helicopters, but Russia maintains there is no solid proof that Damascus is behind the attacks.

Kerry said he agreed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the measure during a meeting on Wednesday.

The measure would task UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon to set up the team within 20 days, working with the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The panel would present its first findings to the council 90 days after it begins its work.

Libyan coast boat tragedy toll hits 200

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OPES of finding survivors of the latest Mediterranean boat tragedy, in which an estimated 200 migrants drowned, yesterday faded as rescue ships were called to the aid of more migrant boats in the same area.

Vessels from the Italian and Irish navies and humanitarian agency Medecins sans Frontiers (MSF) saved more than 370 people from a capsized boat thought to be carrying up to 600 on Wednesday, the Italian coast guard said.

They recovered 25 bodies but found no more survivors after scouring the waters overnight.

Italian vessels continued to search the area on Thursday, a coastguard spokesman said.

Initial reports put about 700 passengers on the overcrowded

fishing boat but interviews with survivors - mostly Syrians fleeing their country's civil war - reduced that estimate and the figure could still change.

Seas were very calm yesterday, perfect conditions to attempt the sea crossing, said a Reuters photographer aboard the privately funded Phoenix, a vessel run by MSF and the Migrant Offshore Aid Station.

The Phoenix was responding to a distress call for a boat carrying about 500 people, he said.

The coastguard picked up 381 yesterday morning, while an Italy navy ship took 101 from a large rubber boat, and the MSF vessel Argos rescued 87, according to their Twitter accounts.

"What happened here was because the boat was so overloaded, and the conditions

were such that the boat started taking on water and it listed to one side, capsized and sank, all in the space of two minutes," Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney said on Irish state radio RTE on yesterday.

The Irish ship is part of the European Union Triton mission, which was expanded after up to 800 migrants drowned in a shipwreck in April.

The Mediterranean Sea is the world's most deadly border area for migrants. More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, compared with 3,279 deaths during the whole of last year, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.

Saudi mosque blast kills 15

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N explosion ripped through a mosque belonging to special emergency forces in southwestern Saudi Arabia yesterday, killing at least 13 people and injuring nine others, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

A suicide bomber is believed to have caused the blast in the mosque inside an emergency force headquarters building in

the kingdom’s Asir region, the SPA reported, citing an Interior Ministry spokesman.

Officers were participating in noon prayers in the mosque when the blast happened. Ten of the 13 killed were emergency force members; the rest were others who worked at the site, SPA reported.

The kingdom’s special emergency force, answering to the Interior Ministry, comprises

quick-response security officers used for a variety of situations, including rescues, riot control and other police actions.

No claim of responsibility was immediately made.

Yesterday’s blast comes more than two months after deadly suicide bombings at two Shiite Muslim mosques in Saudi Arabia — both attacks claimed by the Sunni terror group ISIS.

Afghan military 'copter crashes, killing 17

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N Afghan military helicopter crashed in a remote region of the southern Zabul province yesterday, killing 17 people on board - 12 soldiers and five crew members, officials said.

President Ashraf Ghani offered his condolences to the families of those killed, while the Taliban claimed they had shot down the aircraft.

Provincial police chief Mirwais Noorzai said the

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video appearing to show the torture of the playboy son of former Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has emerged.

It is believed the footage shows the tyrant's third son, Saadi Gaddafi, being hit in the face and on the soles of his feet while blindfolded in a prison in Libya.

US-based Human Rights Watch says authorities should investigate the alleged abuse of the son of the former dictator and other inmates in a jail in Tripoli.

The footage has come to light

cause of the crash was not yet known and was under investigation. The Defense Ministry said the crash appeared to have been caused by a technical problem, without elaborating.

Afzal Aman, the Defense Ministry's chief of operations, described it as "the worst calamity to hit the air force." He confirmed the casualty figure, and said the dead included a unit commander and 11 soldiers, as well as the

crew.

Aman said the helicopter was a Russian-made M-17, and was flying between Zabul's capital of Qalat and the town of Shinkay, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away.

The Taliban statement, posted on their website, said the helicopter was "shot down with a rocket launcher." The claim was impossible to verify and the insurgents regularly exaggerate their battlefield gains.

• Lantens of Peace at Hiroshima

Hiroshima remembered as lanterns light up the night 1945.

ESIDENTS in the JapaAs dusk fell in Hiroshima, nese city of Hiroshima

R

are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft.

People across the country observed a minute’s silence at the exact time an American aircraft dropped the bomb in

the ceremonies culminated with the release of thousands of colourful paper lanterns on the Motoyasu river.

MH370: More plane debris found

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ALAYSIA’s transport ministry said yesterday that more plane parts have washed up on the same island as a wing part believed — with varying degrees of certainty — to be from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Those new items, which the Malaysians described as pieces of windows, seat cushions and aluminum material, will be tested by the same international team of experts who are looking at a piece of a wing that the Malaysians said Wednesday is definitely from MH370.

Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which is helping coordinate the search for the missing airliner said Wednesday, before the Malaysians announced the discovery of new items, that there was no indication so far of any more aircraft debris.

The Australians are not in charge of the search on Reunion and other western Indian Ocean islands. Malaysia has overall responsibility for the investigation.

While Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the wing part, called a flaperon, is definitely from

MH370, other officials have expressed more caution and say that more testing is needed.

On Wednesday, less than an hour after the Prime Minister’s statement, Paris Deputy Prosecutor Serge Mackowiak used slightly less definitive language. Mackowiak said that there were “very strong presumptions” that the debris from the French island in the western Indian Ocean was from MH370, but certainty was not yet possible.

The Boeing 777, carrying 239 people, disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Egypt launches Suez Canal expansion

E

GYPT has opened a major expansion of the Suez Canal, which deepens the main waterway and provides ships with a 35km (22 mile) channel parallel to it.

At the inauguration, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah alSisi welcomed foreign leaders aboard a historic yacht as helicopters and fighter jets flew by.

The expansion aims to increase the traffic handled by the canal.

Egypt’s government hopes the revenues will revive the economy - but analysts have questioned the projections.

They point out that the volume of world trade has not been growing at the pace needed to deliver the sums Egypt hopes to collect.

Egyptians commenting to th The new waterway is expected to boost traffic - and, Egypt hopes, revenues Egyptians celebrated the canal’s expansion in Cairo, watched by

soldiers The expansion will allow for two-way traffic along part of the route, as well as for larger vessels overall. The construction of the new lane began a year ago, on the orders of Mr Sisi.

At the inauguration ceremony in the town of Ismailia, the president appeared in military uniform and sunglasses aboard the ElMahrousa - the yacht that was the first vessel to pass through the canal when it was built in 1869.

The former military leader, elected last year as a civilian, welcomed foreign guests including French President Francois Hollande and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Fighter jets and helicopters flew above the ceremony. On the streets of Cairo, banners described the expanded canal as Egypt’s “gift to the world”.

Pro-government media have hailed the expansion of the canal as a national triumph, and a turning point after years of instability.

However, many analysts doubt if the new venture will deliver the anticipated benefits.

Ahmed Kamaly, an economist with the American University in Cairo, told Reuters news agency that the Egyptian projections were “wishful thinking”.

“There was no viability study done, or known of,” he was quoted as saying. He added that the immediate benefits from the expansion were more likely to be political than economic, uniting people “around a national project”.

Takings from Suez could also be hit by an expansion of the Panama Canal, due to be completed next year, which will compete for traffic along the Asia-North America route.

Gaddafi's son torture video emerges just a week after Saadi's older brother Saif was sentenced to death in a Libyan court.

The undated footage was made available by news website Clearnews and appears to show guards beating Saadi during an interrogation at al-Hadba prison.

Melinda Taylor, an international criminal court defence lawyer for Saadi, told RT: 'It does appear to be Saadi Gaddafi.

'It appears to be criminal treatment in the sense of it being severe physical treatment

and also psychological in the sense that he is being forced to listen to other people apparently being tortured.'

In the latter part of the video, the man's feet are restrained in a device and they are repeatedly hit.

According to RT, Libya's state prosecutor has launched an investigation to find out who the guards are in the footage.

Al-Saadi Gadhafi is beaten on the soles of his feet by guards In much of the video, the man sits blindfolded listening to

other prisoners' cries of pain, before being made to watch their beatings Saadi, 41, who had a brief career as a footballer in Italy, is accused of being involved in the disappearance of Libyan star striker and football commentator Bashir al-Riani, who has not been seen since 2006.

His family reportedly found his body in a morgue.

The dictator's son lived a charmed life until his father was deposed in 2011 and killed by rebels as part of the Arab Spring uprising.

• Saadi Gaddafi in a Libyan prison

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

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CITYBEATS Katangua traders protest high levies

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RADERS in Katangua Market, Abule-Egba, Lagos marched to the council secretariat of Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, to protest the arbitrary increment in fares by the council’s contractor, Odu. Their placards read: We want peace to return to the market, we don’t want Odu’s levy collecting contract because he is corrupt, traders are not slaves to pay levies above what they get out of their trading. Don’t impose Odu on us. Why retain Odus when his corrupt practices have been expose?

The marker representative Mrs Chidimma Egwu otherwise known as Mega C, demanded the removal of Odu for extortion, illegal levies, imposition of fines, seizure of traders’ wares and intimidation of traders with police arrest.

Other allegations she levelled against the contractor include high handedness, sexual harassment and causing disaffection among the traders.

A trader Gabriel Nwosu said: “I was paying N15,000 for my portion but when Odu told me to pay N25,000, I told

T

A

72-YEAR-OLD grandmother, Kehinde Alayo, was yesterday arraigned by the police from the Sagamu Road Division for allegedly breaking her tenant’s leg.

The prosecution, led by Police Corporal Kemi Adeniran, alleged that Mrs Alayo and one other person at large on July 14 at Jasper Hameed Street, Aga, Ikorodu, Lagos conspired to injure Mr Hammed Ajibola.

The defendant was said to have broken the right ankle

•The protesters

By Ebele Boniface

him that I could not afford it.

Then, he chased me out of the market.

Yomi Folorunsho, another trader at the central section of the market also lamented how his goods worth N80, 000 was seized by Odus.

He said: “We usually pay N10,000 for every six months.

Later Odus increased it to N20,000, while we were complaining about the N20,000 increment, he raised it to N25,000 and I refused to pay.

He then ordered my goods worth N80,000 to be seized

and drove me away. Since then, things has not been easy for me because I don’t have any work to do except for my friends that help me occasionally.”

He said if traders were to go by approved levy paid by traders in other markets in Lagos, no trader in Katangora will pay up to N4,000 per annum but they now paying up to N50,000 each per annum.

Another trader Mrs Blessing Okafor at Frontline section of the market revealed that Odu has been exploiting the traders for eight years, wonder-

ing why the council is imposing him on the traders.

The council’s Executive Secretary, Dapo Famuyiwa David, hailed the traders for peaceful conduct.

He said Odu was given specific area to collect levies, and that no extra charges should be collected.

He also told them that Private Sector Participation (PSP) levied is not within the purview of the contractor, urging the traders to report Odu to him if he does anything outside what he was contracted to do.

Badagry communities demand N100b for demolished buildings

HREE communities in Badagry - Atiporomeh, Araromi Ale and Mowo Phase 2, whose buildings and properties were allegedly destroyed by the police who claim ownership of the land are demanding N100 billion compensation from the government.

They also want police to vacate their land.

These demands were made

by Chairman of the three communities, Chief Edeha Charles Adu in a chat with pressmen when the Ad Hoc committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to look into the matter visited the communities and site of the demolished buildings.

The committee was led by the Chief Whip, Hon Rotimi Abiru.

According to Adu, the land that was allotted to the police by government is different from the one they have “forcefully acquired.”

“They should leave this land and go back to where their land is. They should rebuild this community as it were before demolition. If they can’t do that, then we will

Grandmother docked for ‘breaking’ tenant’s leg

By Oziegbe Okoeki

tell them how much they will give to each one of us to rebuild it and also pay some compensation to those who lost their family members. I don’t leave with my family again, they have separated me from them, they squat somewhere and I squat somewhere.

“We are also asking the government to pay us N100 billion though the damage worth N500 billion,” Adu said.

He said they have title documents to the land.

“Despite the interlocutory injunction, bench warrant and oral admonition made severally by the presiding Judge handling the matter at the Badagry High Court, restraining all parties to maintain status quo ante belum, pending the determination of the substantive suit, the Nigeria Police Force working in concert with the Lagos State government have refused to comply with the court orders as they are busy building on the land”.

The Baale of Mowo land, Peter Idowu Ajayi said: “We did not sell this land. The land they claim to have bought is farther away. They brought money to me that we should leave the land for them but I told them we can’t accept any money; they came and arrested me and some others and we told them we did not sell any land to the police here”, the Baale said.

President, Centre for the Defence of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CDHRDA) Prof Maurice Fangnon who was at the meeting said: “We are going to take the

matter to any length to make sure justice is done and we are not withdrawing the case from the court until we get a positive sign from the Assembly”.

Abiru denied government involvement in the development of the land as claimed

by Adu. He said: “The Lagos State Government only allocated lands to the Nigerian Police, but it is not involved in the development of the land. It is the Police co-operatives that is doing the project. We are here to assess the demolition exercise, but we will not pass any judgment as we are not a law court and the case is in court,” he said.

Rotary holds investiture

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OTARY Club of Ikeja will on Sunday decorate a renowned Estate Surveyor Rotarian Tosin Kadiri as its 49th President.

A statement by the club’s Public Relations chairman Dr Monday Evawomaha said the event billed for Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja will have as special guests, the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, District Governor, Disrict 9110, Nigeria, Otunba Bola Onabadejo, Managing Director, Tri-Continental Oil Services, Professor Toyin Ashiru among others.

•From left: Eko Club Past President Prince Shamsideen Ope; son of the deceased, TJ Abass; All Progressives Congress (APC) South west Women leader Mrs Kemi Nelson and Aladeshonyin of Odo Noforija, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja, during the funeral of Abass mother, Alhaja Rufudat Abass in Epe, Lagos.

By Robert Egbe

of Ajibola, which caused him permanent deformity, an offence punishable under Sections 243 and 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

The defendant, who was led into court by the Investigative Police Officer, Corporal Adeya Isaac, pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate A. Oshodi-Makanju considered the defendant’s age and granted her bail on self recognition. The matter was adjourned to September 2.

Railway police nab 58 for rooftop riding

By Adeyinka Aderibigbe

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O fewer than 58 suspected hoodlums arrested on Wednesday by men of the Nigeria Railway Police Command for allegedly riding on rooftop of a moving train at Agege, were yesterday paraded at the Ebute Meta Police Command.

The Commissioner of Police, Nigeria Railway Police Command, Pius Imue, said the suspects will be prosecuted for endangering their lives and the lives of other passengers on board.

Imue said the menace of rooftop riding has been a challenge that the police in conjunction with Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) management are prepared to tackle headlong.

He said a number of measures including creating barriers on the top of the coaches to prevent hoodlums from gaining access to the rooftop is being given serious consideration.

“The command along with NRC is strategising to block the already identified loopholes that the hoodlums are capitalising on to ride on the rooftop. We are ready to curtail the menace because it has a lot of security implications and it endangers the lives of people, especially the lives of those riding on the rooftop,” he said.

Lagos Railway District Manager Mr Akin Oshinowo said the menace of rooftop riders has been with the corporation for long, adding that the menace is highly pronounced in metropolitan areas like Lagos.

Magistrate shuns lawyer’s request to bar reporters

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LAGOS Magistrate, Mrs. I.O. Omotosho, yesterday turned down a request by a defence lawyer to bar reporters from covering an alleged illegal firearms case.

The lawyer, Rotimi Seriki, at the arraignment of the son of late businessman Chief Abdul-Rasak Sanusi, Sulaiman Sanusi alleged that journalists had been publishing untrue and embarrassing stories against his client.

“As I am talking, journalists are inside the court and even cameramen are outside, waiting to take shots. The last time when the court did not sit, cameramen came to the court to video the court room,” he said.

By Precious Igbonwelundu

Seriki’s request was denied by Magistrate Omotosho who stated that the court is a public place, adding that she cannot stop reporters from covering its proceedings.

She also told the counsel to make a formal application to that effect.

Sanusi is standing trial for alleged illegal possession of firearms under Section 27(a) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as amended.

Prosecuting Inspector Stephen Molo told the court that the defendant committed the offence on October 16, last year.

•Oshodi-Isolo Executive Secretary Dawood Olajobi (middle) with an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Edward Ajogun (left) and Council Manager Mr Kola Hundeyin during during the ACP's familiarisation visit to the council in Oshodi

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

62

SHOWBIZ

2Face, others on post election campaign

Alibaba’s banga soup analogy

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By Famuyiwa Damilare

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LTHOUGH the 2015 general elections are over, the ‘One Voice Peace Concert’ spearheaded by award-winning singer, 2Face Idibia appears to have more to offer.

At the Classique Event Center recently, fans were wowed with a collection of hit songs from the artiste’s repertoire, even as 2Face and his team seized the opportunity to sensitise all on the need for postelection involvement in the activities of the nation and its government.

Speaking exclusively to The Nation, 2Face shed light on the essence of the concert. “We are here to talk to Nigerian youths about peaceful co-existence and also for them to be monitoring governance,” he said.

According to him, “Over the years, the future of Nigeria has been squandered. But all hope is not lost, we can still rebuild Nigeria. Our generation has really lost a lot. We really want to influence the youths positively.”

The singer further stated how the concert integrates peaceful co-existence among youths and the general public. “Music is a powerful tool, and it is one of the channels we are using to influence and sensitise the publics,” 2Face adds.

Acknowledging what the concert stands for, the event planner, Helen Abutu said: “One Voice Peace Concert is a continuation or the second phase of the Vote Not Fight Campaign.”

• 2face

Hosted in collaboration with 2Face’s Foundation and other non-governmental organizations, the show also featured performances by artistes such as Reminisce, Olu Maintain, Ice Prince, Sound Sultan, Phyno, Efa, Niyola, YunggreyC, Suspect, DJ Neptune, Joe El, Vector, Uzi, Yemi Alade, Timi Dakolo, Harrysong, Illbliss, Sexy Steel, Naeto C and several others.

FJ the King features Timaya in new single

• FJ the King

E is described as the king of Nigerian comedy, but Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, aka Alibaba has proven to have some more wits about him. This time, he brings his brand of comedy to bear, as he encourages his fans not to give up in life, using a typical Niger Delta delicacy, banga soup for his analogy.

“Some people will not let you hear word when them own banga ripe. But as soon as your banga just show signs say e go soon ripe, they will start telling you of how much calories is inside Banga soup! But when they were eating their own Banga soup, with heavy balls of yellow eba and the kentelike soup was running down their palm and down on to their elbow, they could not spell calories talk less of how much was in the soup,” he said via Instagram.

Continuing, he made a subtle reference to Arsenal FC beating Chelsea in Sunday’s standoff. The entertainer said that we all have a goal in life and our goals are different from one person to another. However, he noted that sometimes, in life, we tend to chase the same goals.

“In such cases, with a level playing field, the goal is the same.

You choose how you want to win it then. It’s like athletes preparing for a 100 meters dash. And when the gun blasted out to mark the beginning of the race, you had hopes of winning. You even came with your people to cheer you on

• Alibaba

By Ovwe Medeme

to victory. Then by a twist of fate, better preparation, plus other factors, one of the 7 sprinters beat you to win the race. My dear athlete, this is not the time to say, the Canadian Open is not like IAAF tournament in the U.S. You ran and you lost. In any case, you were not a wild card. You had won in your heats to emerge one of the finalists,” he adds The comedian also made allusion to the 10 maidens in the Bible who went to see the groom and had to wait, can’t blame anyone for not letting them see the groom.

“NA me talk say make UNA no carry extra oil? What I am trying to say in parable by perambulating is that...

When Chelsea and Arsenal stepped onto the field... Never mind... you must have gotten my point by now.

Go figure,” he concludes.

By Ovwe Medeme

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O F

FTER a long break from the Nigerian music industry, Prince Jeff Ejike Chukwuanuka, aka FJ the King, has returned with a new single titled Oh My Lover. The work features dancehall star, Timaya.

The entertainer, who is also the head of Attitude Unit Group, said the new single is for his teeming fans who have stood by him all the years and equally believed in his music.

“Aside being a musician, I’m also a pioneer Nollywood star and a God-fearing philanthropist who is well known for charity reach outs. Oh My Lover is a special dedication to my fans globally. It is a special song for all those that are truly in love and cherish the true meaning of love,” he said.

On how he came about the name FJ, the international business man said: “FJ the King” is a stage name coined from Fanta Jeff which was given to me after the Fanta advert I did way back in 1991. I was managed then by the late Sam loco Efe as a Nollywood actor. I also played the role of Nkem Owoh’s son in one of his movies, Ikuku.”

After the movie, FJ revealed, he released two singles back to back; Big Boys Outing and Jigida.

FJ was named a UN Peace Ambassador after he visited several orphanage homes in different parts of the world including Jakarta, Indonesia.

He recently signed some young and vibrant acts on his Attitude Unit Records, a move which he says is fired by his desire to take the music industry to a higher level.

Burial for Ajigijaga today

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OLLOWING the death of veteran actor, Mufutau Sanni, aka Ajigijaga last Friday,

• The late Ajigijaga

By Dupe Ayinla-Olasunkanmi

family members have scheduled a final burial ceremony for the deceased who has since been interred in accordance to Islamic rites.

The ceremony holds today at Ansarudeen Primary School, Agege, Lagos.

An artistes’ night was held in honour of the late actor by his colleagues yesterday at the same venue.

It is a trying period for the widow of the deceased who is said to be close to delivering her child. She reportedly took to her social media handle to share her grief, eulogies and prayers for her departed husband: “Okomi Ajo So Bayi Ooooooo…Sugbon Aaaaaaah Oye Olorun. Gbogbo Eyin Omo Nigeria Egbadura Fun Mi Pe Ki Olorun So Mi Layo, ki Olohun Wa Tun Mi Ninu Oooooooo,”she wrote in Yoruba language.

Fans favour Rita Dominic over Genevieve Nnaji on fashion

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ITA Dominic and Genevieve Nnaji are well known as Nigerian style mavens; however Rita Dominic beat her fellow fashionista hands down at Stephanie Linus’s movie premier titled Dry held at Silverbird Galleria last Sunday.

The sultry diva looked effortlessly stunning in her peach ensemble; a peach cape like blouse atop a matching pair of pale peach palazzo pants, and clutch purse; creating a lovely monochrome

By Jane Kolade

silhouette. As a male fan put it, “She looked good enough to eat.”

Genevieve, on the other hand turned up in a contrasting white mono-strap draped tank top atop a dark coloured peek a-boo skirt, and blue chain strap purse. She lived up to her reputation as Nigeria’s queen of posh brand name outfits as she classily rocked high street fashion with haute couture, wearing Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and H&M.

Tunde Kelani floats TV channel

By Dupe Ayinla-Olasunkanmi • Kelani

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OPULAR Filmmaker Tunde Kelani has opened another chapter in his motion picture career, as the cinematographer goes life with an online TV channel today.

Called tundekelani.tv, information has it that the new African cultural medium will offer an extensive range of content across several genres, including

documentaries, drama, interviews and movies from the filmmaker’s Mainframe Production’s repertoire.

Kelani said the reason for venturing into the digital platform is an attempt to respond to the yearnings of teeming fans of rich African themed contents on the go.

“Distributing films or other contents physically are becoming increasingly difficult, revenues are lost on a daily basis and content owners are at the mercy of the

menacing activities of pirates. I think it is just natural, expedient and sensible to take contents closer to the consumers on demand and in terms that suit all the parties involved,” he said.

Kelani who has been in the film industry for over two decades is expected to feed the new TV channel with new and previous works such as Campus Queen, Agogo Ewo, Oleku, Maami and Palmwine Drinkards by Amos Tutuola among other classics.

The medium, he revealed, will also be available via web and mobile devices.

THE NATION FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015

63

TODAY IN THE NATION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.10 NO. 3299

‘I strongly believe that Nigeria needs nationalists to propel it forward. Myopic tribal barons and tendencies will not take us too far’ MOBOLAJI SANUSI

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

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T’s no coincidence that my home-visit ended the way it began with familiar taunting and scolding by Opalaba. I couldn’t just sneak out without saying bye for now to my old chum. And I didn’t expect that it would be a “good-seeing you” affair.

With issues burning his tired mind, who can blame the old warrior for being warweary?

“So you are on your way back to where you belong?” he fired a familiar salvo.

“You parachuted in and are now parachuting out. I am sure, like old anthropologists, you have seen more than enough to make your specialist analysis on the nation of your birth and her people.”

I knew where this was going and I decided not to catch the bait.

“I beg your pardon”, I replied. “When did it become a crime to make intelligent remarks on observation and experience?

And I do not hold brief for anthropologists.

Indeed I think some of them buy into our interest in separating ourselves from the world just to perpetuate exploitation and corruption. We say our democracy must be different because we are different. Those anthropologists that buy into this phobia theorise cultural relativity. But our human needs remain the same, don’t they?”

“They sure do remain the same. The matter that afflicts Aboyade also afflicts all Oya devotees. And if we don’t get our acts together now, we never will. But I am afraid our people are war-weary already. We have been through so many wars: war against corruption; war against indiscipline, and war against terrorism. When is it going to end? Opalaba submits.

In fairness to my friend, I saw that frustration on the faces of the patriots that I encountered. It is the fear of the unknown.

Where is all this going to end? How is the country going to fair? Is PMB in full control or is he being teleguided by vested interests? These are the questions I encountered.

But who can quarrel with the war against corruption? It has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. The leakages in the oil sector could have adequately taken care of the quality education of the youth. Is there a sector of the economy that corruption has not impacted? The military, police, teaching, medical, immigration, customs, clerical, private security, banking, messenger, postal service, etc are all neck deep in corruption.

The negative impact of corruption on our economic and social institutions is enormous and it’s not limited to the tangibles. It eats our national body as well as its soul. It dampens the spirit and quickens the death of the body. So why

SEGUN GBADEGESIN gbadegesin@thenationonlineng.net

War-weary already?

•President Muhammadu Buhari

won’t it be fought?

“You must grant, however, that some are skeptical and have counselled PMB to go softly on corruption so it doesn’t affect economic development”, Opalaba observed.

“I would have thought that without fighting corruption to death, economic development cannot take off. But some experts have cited the case of China and Malaysia.”

I responded that one factor they missed is the difference between the use of proceeds of corruption in Nigeria and in other countries. Elsewhere national resources are not siphoned outside the boundaries of their nations and the proceeds of corruption are ploughed back into the economy. In Nigeria on the other hand, the economy loses out to corruption because the looted funds are siphoned out to develop other economies.

In the beginning it was the developed economies that reaped the fruit of Nigerian corruption. Now it’s Dubai and other gulf nations. We must fight to liberate the nation

C

LEVER by two-thirds. Bankers must be the cleverest people in the world (well, may be after magicians) and the average Nigerian banker is straight away an evil genius. Perhaps it’s something to do with managing money, which we all know is rooted in Mammon. You couldn’t co-habit daily with this malevolently avaricious spirit without being brought under its deleterious influences.

The point therefore is that you can never beat the banks and you can never win with them. A former boss used to describe Nigerian bank managers as “legitimate criminals”, but on the other hand, he regrets that he could not do without them.

One knows a bit about Nigerian banks and I chuckled when they began to assail us with a rash of supposed delinquent loans list. List, what list, I thought to myself. The country will probably come to a stop if the real list of the raiders of our socalled banks are published. No bank would dare publish the ‘real’ list, one wagers; what we have are what I want to call boju-boju lists, that is, a make-believe lists.

The real list may never come to light; the list which has the names of bank directors and major shareholders is not for public consumption. What about the list with the big moguls and political heavy weights; those would be in classified document files. Their delinquent loans are

from a second round of exploitation” If the war on corruption succeeds, it will also impact the war on terrorism. Terrorism is a child of corruption. Corrupted mind sires terrorism. Whether terrorism comes in the form of religious or political ideology, what is clear is that if a mind is not corrupted, it will not turn to terrorism.

On its part, indiscipline has a close and symbiotic relationship with corruption. On the one hand, corruption is the mother of indiscipline. On the other hand, indiscipline begets corruption. The more corrupt a society becomes, the more undisciplined it is. The ones who milk the coffers of the treasury are the most undisciplined. They already show this character trait by flouting the laid down rules and the oath of office they took. They can buy their way without any qualms.

On the other hand, indiscipline is the first culprit and therefore the source of corruption. If you cannot discipline yourself, you will succumb to the temptation to steal and accumulate that which is not yours. An undisciplined person is a greedy person. By way of inference then, indiscipline is a source of corruption, which is a source of terrorism. One might argue then that the war against indiscipline, if properly focused, can lead directly to the defeat of terrorism.

Opalaba agreed but then observed that “we are far from winning the war against indiscipline. Since 1984, when the war was first declared by PMB, the target of the war has become so hydra-headed that it has resisted capture. I recall that two years ago, you made the feat that Governor Ajimobi was performing in Ibadan and other parts of the state the focus of a column titled: “I see therefore I know”.

“The Ibadan environmental and infrastructural renovation was superb. It was also meant to help traders who had been living on the major roads of the city with their wares to avoid untimely death from traffic accidents, which were quite common then. To make it attractive and appealing,

STEVE OSUJI

EXPRESSO

steve.osuji@yahoo.com

•Columnist of the Year (NMMA)

Away with boju-boju debtors’ list!

El-Rufai as new ‘governor of example’

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T was Babatunde Fashola, the immediate past helmsman of Lagos State, who wore that appellation (Governor of Example) during his eight-year stint. Today, Governor Nasir El Rufai may have quickly grabbed that tag, which authorship must be credited to Sam Omatseye, chairman of the Editorial Board of The Nation.

El-Rufai did not only touch down sprinting when his peers were still feeling through their commodious offices, he has been saying (and doing) all the right things. First, he has vowed to hand the LGAs every kobo that accrues to them and even more. Second, he abolished government’s sponsorship of pilgrims and he is ridding the streets of Kaduna of beggars.

However, and most remarkable, is his recent decision to cancel the vexatious indigenesettler ruckus that has plagued Nigeria since the beginning of time. Every Nigerian who resides in Kaduna is automatically a citizen, El-Rufai declares. Great leadership is made of stuff like this. We can only pray that he walks his talk. usually written off as bad loans or rescheduled. Some are even given new loans to liq-

uidate old ones.

First point to note is that there is no

the governor built markets very close to where traders liked to display their wares on the roadside. But go back now and see what has happened. The roadside markets are back and thriving along the Molete corridor as well as Dugbe and Adamasingba areas. What else can a government do?

“Whether we agree that indiscipline is the mother of corruption or not, it is clear that the son is now the father of the mother because it has taken on a life of its own. It is responsible for the loss of revenue, which should normally fuel the development of human talents, which in turn is the most important ingredient for rapid industrialisation and economic growth. But when resources are not available because they have been lost to corruption, human development is lacking. The human resource that is not developed is not going to be idle. The devil finds work for him.

The result is the various forms of anti-social behaviour and easy recruitment into cults and terror gangs.”

“A few years ago, a New York Times columnist zeroed in on our plight by showcasing states without oil revenue that have made it in the league of great nations just because they had the good sense to develop their human talents. I am not suggesting a one-to-one correlation between good educational system and high level of discipline. I am suggesting tendencies which can be corroborated from global experience.

“Take a tour of the major streets in our metropolitan areas. You will find hawkers of all kinds of goods. They are mostly youths aged seven to 21. These are supposed to be the most potentially-productive group in a nation. But they are not in school and their country doesn’t mind what they get into. If the war against indiscipline is to succeed, it must start from this group. We gave up on them too soon.

“We must design a system that provides for the vocational training of dropouts from our mainstream institutions. We must provide a system that allows those who cannot gain admission to the four or five year university programmes. This is what two-year community colleges are designed to accomplish. It is waste of human talent to have more than half of our school age young men and women hawking pure water on our streets,” Opalaba concluded.

“I concurred. This is why we cannot be war-weary. If we give up on the three major wars now, there is a guarantee that this nation will crumble under the weight of their collective onslaught.”

•For comments, send SMS to 08111813080 agreement among banks on the title of the debtors’ lists. Thus we have: “List of Loan Defaulters;” “Delinquent Credit Facilities;” “Schedule of Non-performing Loans,” “List of Bad Debtors;” etc. One supposes all these mean the same thing, don’t they?

Husband and Wife Nigeria Limited.

Apart from one or two exceptions, most of the delinquents showcased by nearly all the banks are small time, husband and wife businesses and traders. Many of the big culprits who had raided the banks in cahoots with bank management have been sprung or kept in other ‘special’ lists.

Also to be noted is the fact that the showcased “outstanding balance” is only half the picture. For instance, if an initial loan of N100 million with a repayment value of N130 million over three years goes bad after the debtor had managed to pay about N110 million over four years, would it be fair to compound the interest on the outstanding N20 million and slam the debtor with an “outstanding debt of say, N70 million? In other words, the list ought to have presented the original loans as some of the debtors may have paid more than twice the original sum.

•Continued

on page 57

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Editor Daily:08111813080, Marketing: 01-8155547 . Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. Tel: 07028105302. Port Harcourt Office: 12/14, Njemanze Street, Mile 1, Diobu, PH. 08023595790. WEBSITE: www.thenationonlineng.net E-mail: info@thenationonlineng.net Editor: GBENGA OMOTOSO