The Nation August 19, 2012

PHCN: Nnaji has declared war –NLC

Wants FG to withdraw soldiers –Page 4

NEW INSIDE

–Pages 33, 34 & 47

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2222

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

AUGUST 19, 2012

N200.00

One dead, 15 missing as Atlantic overflows

Areas affected: Badagry, Ojo Waterfront, Bar Beach, Goshen Estate, Maiyegun Beach, Alpha Beach Govt orders evacuation of coastline residents –PAGE 2

Iyaloja of Oloosha Market, Mushin, Lagos, Alhaja Ramota Ajala (right) and others purchasing chicken preparatory to ending the Ramadan fast yesterday. Photo: MUYIWA HASSAN

Oil wells: A/Ibom ready for negotiation –Akpabio •Akpabio

–Page 2

Three dead in fresh Plateau killings •Jang

–Page 4

World Bank bribery report: Sagay, others carpet govt •Okonjo-Iweala

–Page 6

INSIDE Politics

2015: New game plan in Kwara —Pg 19 Miscellany

Crowd, angels and merchants at RCCG Convention —Pg 53

Life

Love across the oceans —Pg 55

NEWS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

One dead, 15 missing as Atlantic overflows • Govt orders evacuation of coastline residents T

HE Atlantic Ocean went wild again yesterday in Lagos with its surge leaving at least one person dead.

Fifteen others, said to be coastline residents at Kuramo are now feared missing.

The surge was preceded by seven days of high wave according to the state government which ordered an immediate evacuation of coastline residents to avert more danger.

The ocean, it was gathered, lashed the shanties erected along the coastline early yesterday when the residents were still asleep.

The development trig-

By Miriam Ndikanwu

gered panic among the people.

“We are still looking for some people now as we speak. We just pray that they were not washed away by the surge,” a resident said.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency

Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi OkeOsanyintolu said government has condoned off the area.

He said a lifeless body was recovered from the waterfront while frantic search has commenced for those declared missing.

The Commissioner for

Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Segun Oniru said the evacuation has commenced at Kuramo Beach to make way for movement of sand into the area.

This, he stressed, was to check the Atlantic joining the Kuramo Waters and subsequently the Lagoon.

Oniru said other waterfront areas badly affected and from which people would be expected to move are Badagry and Ojo Waterfront areas, Bar Beach, Goshen Estate, Maiyegun and Alpha Beach.

The state emergency services have already been mobilised to continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly.

Oil wells: A/Ibom ready for negotiation –Akpabio

G —Pg 27

Insight

Living under tension —Pp 23 & 26

Pp 36, 37, 38

The Arts Creating room for short stories —Pg 51

OVERNOR Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State says he is not averse to dialoguing with Cross River State on the disputed 76 oil wells.

The Supreme Court recently conferred ownership of the oil wells on Akwa Ibom.

Chief Akpabio, speaking yesterday at the monthly prayer meeting at John’s Chaplaincy, Governor’s Lodge, Uyo said: ‘’Akwa Ibom is extending a further hand of fellowship that, despite the Supreme Court judgment, Akwa Ibom is still ready to enter into dialogue with Cross River State on the issue of the 76 oil wells’’.

The two states, according to him, remain brothers ,adding: ‘’I won’t be angry like the Biblical Moses who broke the tablet of God’s commandments on return from Mount Sinai to see the idolatrous worshipping of a golden calf by the Israelites.

“While in office with so much work done, I am still being criticised. I see the criticisms as good for my administration.”

On the Etebi-Enwang Road, he pledged his administration’s resolve to complete the road with the longest bridge in the state and acknowledged the economic value of the road to Akwa Ibom people.

• The remains of awooden house erected at Kuramo Beach in Lagos , after the Atlantic overflow in Lagos yesterday.

Photo: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

Jonathan, govs preach peace, unity at Eid-el-Fitri

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IGERIA’S indivisibility remains high on the agenda of the Federal Government, President Goodluck Jonathan, has said.

The President, in a goodwill message on the occasion of the Eid-el-Fitri, says the imperatives of national unity, peace, harmony, collective development and progress will continue to inspire and motivate all policies and actions of his administration.

President Jonathan who observed the Ramadan fast in solidarity with Muslims also commended the exemplary leadership exhibited

by Christian and Muslim leaders who showed real commitment to peace and greater security for all by openly sharing the rigour

From Vincent Ikuomola, Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja/ Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

and joy of the Ramadan with one another.

He particularly commended the nation’s religious leaders for promoting national unity and peaceful co-existence by visibly reaching out to those of other faith in the true spirit of all who believe in One God. He urged all Nigerians to follow the laudable example of such religious leaders by showing similar commitment and willingness to live peacefully with each other in spite of ethnic and religious differences.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu

Sallah: Obi calls for love, oneness

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OVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State has urged Muslims and Christians to continue to live together like brothers and sisters with a view to fostering love and oneness.

The successful conclusion of

Nwanosike Onu, Awka the Ramadan fasting, he said, is an apt reminder that human society must be imbued with those values that lead to and reflect the brilliance of God. The governor who joined

the Muslim community in breaking the fast at the Central Mosque, Awka called for collective efforts to sustain the corporate existence of the country.

He said he attended the event as Governor of Anambra State and diverse people and religions in the State.

Tambuwal counselled Nigerians on the current challenges confronting the country and expressed optimism that everything will be better sooner than later.

He urged Muslims to use the period of the Eid-el-Fitr celebration to reflect on their spiritual life as individuals and how they can contribute more meaningfully towards making Nigeria a greater nation.

He said: “The long period of self restraint and self purification was a great spiritual exercise that has its heavenly blessings. It is only those who are genuinely convinced in their chosen faith that can successfully undergo the process.”

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State called for peace and unity in line with the spiritual rebirth gained by Muslims during the Ramadan.

The governor in his Eidel-Fitri message rejoiced with all Muslims on the successful completion of the 2012 Ramadan fasting and urged them to continue to pray for peace and progress.

“This is most crucial es-

pecially at this challenging time of our nation’s history.

Nigerians should forget ethnic and religious differences and join hands as one nation to build a better and unified country,” Amaechi said adding, “As a nation we should emphasize more on the things that bind us together. This in my view is a sure path to peace, unity, progress and development in the country.”

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State asked Muslims across the country to pray for the peace and stability of the nation, saying peace remains the bedrock of even development.

The governor therefore pleaded with them to use this period for a sober reflection on the way the country is going and pray for a redirection.

Governor Orji told the brains behind the current wave of terrorism in the country to have a rethink and toe the path of peace.

Assuring non- natives of the security of their lives and property he said government will continue to pay due attention to security.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

News

FDI in telecom service hits $25 billion, says NCC boss From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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HE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the continued presence of soldiers on the premises of the Power Holding of Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Limited, the payment of workers, retirement benefits at gun point and Federal Government’s refusal to pay the July salary as a declaration of war on workers by the Minister of Power, Prof Bath Nnaji.

The Acting President of

PHCN: Nnaji has declared war –NLC From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

the congress, Comrade Promise Adewusi, told journalists in Abuja that the Federal Government should create an enabling environment for meaningful dialogue to resolve the issues at stake by calling the minister

• Wants FG to withdraw soldiers to order and withdraw soldiers from PHCN offices nationwide.

He warned that since the government is forcing the workers to retire and go into the labour market it should not take away their

benefit, which could worsen the already catastrophic situation in the country.

“We already have enough catastrophes in the nation, but as it is, in spite of everything, we shall not mortgage the welfare be-

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HE Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah says the telecommunication sector has so far benefited to the tune of $25 billion foreign direct investment in the sector.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming 2012 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Juwah said expansion of telecom facilities in the country has increased the inflow of foreign direct investment from $18 billion in 2009 to $25 billion to-date.

He said: “In 2009, the foreign direct investment that has come into Nigeria stood at $18 billion, today it is $25 billion. So there has not been a significant slow down as such. The foreign direct investment continues in form of expansion.”

“We are just talking about poor quality of services. What you need to clear poor quality of service is further investment. You have to expand the existing facilities the service providers have and the money for that comes mainly from external sources. Specifically for broadband, we hope that significant money for broadband will come from external sources.”

He said though Nigeria has done very well in the telecommunication industry with the present record of over100 million subscribers in mobile telephone, it has not done well in the data services.

On broadband technology, he said: “Broad band is a technology that we cannot do without. It is a technology that if we miss will cause us a huge developmental loss. It is also a technology that should not be left only to profit makers like telecommunication service providers.”

“It is a developmental technology that has to do with the development of a nation and that is why the government has interest and that is why we are promoting it. Having broadband will help solve the present problem of quality of service in Nigeria.”

Giving reasons for the present poor quality of service, he said: “You cannot grow from nothing to 100 million subscribers without feeling the impact on the facilities.”

The growth of technology in Nigeria is phenomenon and the growth exceeded the supply and that is why we have the problems we have. We are addressing it and the telecoms service providers are addressing it too.”

• Gov. Gabriel Suswam (L) of Benue; his Taraba counterpart, Danbaba Suntai, at a ceremony to honour Suswam in Dananacha, Taraba yesterday.

Photo: NAN

Three dead in fresh Plateau killings

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ENSION heightened in Plateau State yesterday ahead of today’s Eid-el-Fitri following the killing of three people in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.

Two others were injured when five people were ambushed and shot on Friday by yet-to-be identified gunmen at Sho village. The attack is the latest in the series of acts of terrorism in the area.

Killed were Yero Goma,Wada Usman and Maliki Magoro.

Goma and Usman died on the spot while Magoro died while receiving treatment in the hospital, according to the National Secretary of Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Saleh Bayeri.

Bayeri said the men, all of whom are Fulani, were apparently ambushed while returning to Sho from Barkin Ladi.

“The only survivor of the attack, Useni Ahmodu, confirmed to me that their attackers were Berom,” he said.

However, another version of the story is that the assailants were Fulani who mistook the victims for Berom.

Gyang Tsoho, a Berom, said: “That is their style of attack. They normally lay ambush to attack the Berom but this time around they got it wrong and attacked their own.”

The Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crises otherwise called Operation Safe Haven said the attack was carried out at about 5pm on Friday.

Spokesman for the STF,

• Bomb scare rocks Jos From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

Captain Salisu Mustapha said: “armed men opened fire on them killing one Yero Gomma and Wada Uman on the spot while Abdullahi Mukaka and Useni Ahmodu sustained gunshot wounds.

“The fifth person, Saleh Shuaibu escaped unhurt.

The injured were rushed by men of the STF to a clinic in Barkin Ladi for treatment.

“However, Abdullahi Mukaka, one of the injured persons died at the clinic.

Despite the incident the STF will like to reassure the public of its commitment to ensure a hitch free Sallah celebration” He pledged that the STF would “leave no stone unturned in fishing out the perpetrators of this dastardly act” Barkin Ladi has been a flash point of bloody confrontation between the Fulani and the Berom for some time now.

Only last month, unknown gunmen opened fire on sympathisers who had gone to bury victims of an earlier attack on a village in the area. In the stampede that ensued a Senator and State legislator representing the area, Dr. Gyang Datong and Mr. Gyang Fulani died.

Soon after the bloodshed, the STF combed the area in search of arms, weapons and terrorists.

Panic also swept through Bukuru in Jos South Local Government Area yesterday after an abandoned bag was mistaken for a bomb.

The police dispatched its anti- bomb squad to the scene and the bag was found to contain nothing of the sort.

This came 48hours after the Rikkos police station in Jos was bombed.

The explosion damaged

some surrounding buildings and injured one person.

The military and the police are intensifying security in the state which has witnessed violent clashes between Christians and Muslims and attacks blamed on Boko Haram over the last few years. Two main prayer grounds in Jos have been put off-limits for today’s Eid prayers.

Alternative areas have been provided.

cause the workers’ pension and gratuity is the thing you cannot take away,” he said.

“Prof. Nnaji has declared a war on Nigerian workers. And when he has declared a war and nobody is calling him to order, we are ready. We are calling on those who have ears because tomorrow, it will be said that labour wants to curtail this government.

Let those who have ears and the capacity to call him now to order to ensure an honest process of negotiation not with fixated mind.”

According to NLC, the minister has criminalized workers asking for their legitimate retirement benefits by resolving to describe them as terrorists and mischievous.

On the ongoing negotiation between the government and the congress over the PHCN workers’ package and the privatization of the company, the Acting Secretary General of the congress, Comrade Chris Uyot, revealed that the state councils have been mandated to raise committees in preparation for the nationwide strike.

He said : “we do not need any organ meeting again because that power has been invested as our own organ met in Benin.

So, what happens next can be determined from this labour House. We are opened. We believe that this matter can be more amicably settled within the precinct of collective bargaining, negotiation. And we come with an open mind, we are not fixated. If we are fixated, everybody knows what is in the mind of our workers; it is either that or nothing. How are we going to approach this?

Are there things that can be done to save this nation the trouble of going through turmoil that nobody knows where it will end.”

Fed Govt ready for logical conclusion with Boko Haram, says Maku • Acknowledges sect’s claim of impersonation

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NFORMATION Minister Labaran Maku yesterday pledged Federal Government’s commitment to the on-going peace talks with the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, until the grey areas are resolved and peace ensured in the country.

Earlier talks between the two parties were inconclusive on account of suspicion of insincerity by bot sides.

Mr. Maku in a statement in Abuja said government is receptive to any initiative aimed at sustaining or bringing about harmony in the country.

He was responding to comments on the Voice of America (VOA) by Boko Haram that it was in talks

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

with government.

He said: “The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the statement issued through VOA Hausa Service on Tuesday, 14th August 2012 by Ahlul Sunna lil daawa wal Jihad.

“The Federal Government welcomes any initiative that will usher in peace, security and tranquillity in the country, especially in the light of the security challenges that we have faced in the last two years.

“In this context, we welcome the statement by Ahlul Sunna lil daawa wal Jihad acknowledging that

they have been in contact with the Federal Government through its representatives and have started negotiations with the objective of reaching a final solution to this crisis.

“In this regard, the Federal government wishes to reiterate its willingness to listen to the grievances of the sect. It is our hope that this process will lead to restoration of peace, security and tranquillity to Northern Nigeria.”

He said the government has taken notice of information by the group that other unknown individuals are using its name to commit atrocities in the country.

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

The rise of the gainfully unemployed

•A ride on the wild side

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EFORE the fireworks, let us begin with some lollypop.

This column salutes members of the Anonymous Authors Association (AAA) who have enriched and deepened the discourse on this page. They are the unsung heroes of this intellectual gymnasium , and snooper applauds the cult-like devotion of some of them. Your columnist listens in to all the commentaries on this column. Nothing escapes our attention even when the meta-commentaries suddenly swing at each other and bitter confrontation ensues. Hunters often turn on themselves. That is the original curse of the profession.

Snooper has learnt a lot from these readers who often supply a fresh and unusual perspective to issues. The true knowledge seeker must learn to humble himself before the incredible knowledge machine that is the contemporary human mind.The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know. Column-writing in the postmodern world, with what Hayek has called the dispersal of knowledge, has become an interactive affair in which the commentary is incomplete without its meta-commentary and the writer is incomplete without the alter-writer.

This phenomenon is perhaps due to the rise of counterhegemonic knowledge. The explosion in knowledge and the democratisation of modes of learning have made the job of hawkers of knowledge very difficult. Gone are the days of infallible leaders of men who treat fellow citizens as ignorant and feckless children. Gone are the days of writers as oracular supermen dispensing nuggets of wisdom to lesser beings from their Olympian fountain.

Even in journalism, the authoritarian monologic discourse is being replaced by a demotic and dialogic culture of talking back.

The single voice of authority is displaced by many voices who talk back and talk to each other. In human affairs, the struggle against tyranny often commences with the refusal of the baby to be baby-fed.

Once again, snooper commends those who have contributed to the multi-voice pluralism of this column. At least it can be said for them that they are gainfully employed.

Whichever way you look at it, it is, however, the rise of the gainfully unemployed that is the greatest bane of contemporary Nigeria.

At the last count, there at least four distinct groups of the gainfully un-

employed who are actively involved in bringing the nation to heel. Although each may have its nucleus in a particular section of the country, they are indeed pan-Nigerian groupings with membership that cuts across religion, region and ethnic lines.

The first group of the gainfully unemployed are some old politicians who have passed their professional sell-by dates. Ordinarily, they ought to have morphed into great statesmen whose profound wisdom and wise counsel ought to serve as panaceas for national woes. But in the evolutionary fiasco of post-colonial Africa, they have metamorphosed into political grubs who are guided by only the demands of their stomach.

In the circumstances, they lapse into political and religious deviancy in the hope of regaining lost relevance through carefully orchestrated tribal and religious hysteria. In the past few weeks, these gainfully unemployed old men from all corners of the country could be seen and heard causing

trouble and generally raising the political temperature of the nation with wild and inflammable pronouncements. At this rate, they don’t seem to mind if the nation collapses on their head.

The second group are in fact religious leaders who ought to have transformed into metaphysical gurus and spiritual patriarchs of the nation. But they have taken to fanning the embers of religious hatred.

They speak to an elite polarisation of religion in the nation for selfish purposes. The most potent form of gainful unemployment is spiritual indolence. With the Boko Haram scourge in the north and the creeping hysteria in the south, the parasites of religious passion seem to be having a field day. Our religious fathers have taken to political and economic deviancy.

The third group consists of those who by virtue of their exposure and standing in the society ought to know better but who have chosen to develop in other directions. As Norman Mailer once famously observed, one can either

S

nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu develop vertically or horizontally.

In the humid tropics things decompose and decay very easily. In other to shore up their relevance in the perpetual battle of state formations for the allocation of resources, they resort to stoking up the fire of separatism, secession and other more severe forms of severance .

The fourth group consists of the truly gainfully unemployed. It is from this class of unemployed rabble that this piece takes its title.

They are the ticking bomb. It is the realm of absolute no-hopers. Just take a look at the accompanying picture of the train from Lagos. It is an apocalyptic snapshot; a peep into impending disaster. Like human ants, the youths of this nation cling to every available space on the outer keel of the train. In any civilized society, the picture would have been enough to spark civil unrest.

It is obvious that these desperate denizens of urban ghettoes are not the commuting workers that the train was meant for in the first instance. The irony of it all was that the partial resuscitation of the rail line was a great tribute to responsive governance. The great Nigerian railway network finally succumbed to corruption and mismanagement. But in putting a smile on the faces of workers commuting to Lagos from the oumost surburbs of the city, the government merely succeeded in showcasing an even more potentially devastating social menace.

The rise of this brazen underclass is the greatest threat to contemporary Nigeria. The new joy riders we see clinging to the roof of a moving train are not coming from work, but they are coming from ‘work”. In an attempt to stay afloat, social outcasts and urban renegades will resort to any sort of self-help or self-employment , ranging from petty thieving, purse-cutting, kidnapping to outright murder.

Okon visits the presidential doghouse

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H LORD, oh lord. It was the great American writer and author of A Bonfire of Vanities who once noted after a fierce literary commotion that a lead dog will always have its arse bitten off by savage under dogs. Wolfe had hardly finished the statement when Norman Mailer retorted that just because your arse is ripped off does not make you a top dog.

So while we are still on the subject of the gainfully unemployed, it is only fair to note that the doyen of the presidential attack dogs, the rambunctious and roly-poly prince of of Ijebu Remo, has hit the ground running. Sorry, what we actually meant is that he has hit the ground biting and snarling. The duo of Bakare and el-Rufai will not forget what ripped into them with the ferocity of a German rottweiller. We hear that el-Rufai has been screaming in his sleep “Ankali dankare, ankali dankare mana”. Which of course translates into beware of dogs.

We hear that in order to fortify himself for further canine expeditions or mastiff mastication against known presidential adversaries, the doyen is demanding special feeding arrangement, which translates into a feeding budget. Knowing

very well that the party may be over before it began such as happened during his first tour of duty under the choleric Owu chief, the witty Ijebu prince has been overheard murmuring in deep Ijebu dialect that it is with great haste that a man makes love to a mad woman.

You can trust the feckless and crazy Okon to cotton in on this royal drama of presidential dogs. One cloudy morning last week as the doyen swung into action, chewing more than he could bite, Okon sauntered into snooper’s room dressed like an Efik chieftain.

“Oga, I wan reach dem Aso Rock quickly quickly”, he noted with a comic frown.

“To do what?” snooper demanded.

“Dem attack dogs dem dey bite dem own yansh. Dem dey fight “, the mad boy noted rather breathlessly.

“So what is your own about mad dogs?” snooper demanded.

“Oga, even dem dogs be human.

He no good make dem come kaput like dat. Na real roforofo fight. Dem big fat one come dey bite dem small yeye one and him come dey cry. He get some time like dat for night when dem Patience woman come throw dem big bone at dem dogs gbuaaa and dem big one come grab dem

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bone and dem small one come dey bite him fiam, fiam. You know he don tey since dem big dog chop better food”.

“Okon!!!” snooper hushed the boy.

“Oga na true. Suffer and hunger come wire dat one well well. He get time like dat when I see am for Idi Oro and him come dey buy boli and epa. So I come say doctor how life be and him come reply, I dey kampe like him papa”, Okon insisted.

“Okon, what exactly are you going to Aso Rock for?”

“Oga thank una. Make I no forget true true. Make dem Yoruba dogs no come dabaru dem contract. Oga I wan go tender for dem dog diet. Dem Jonathan say make I come dey supply dem dog food. I for say make dem big one dey whack ogi and akara for morning and make him dey eat shit for evening; make dem nasty one dey take amala and gbegiri for morning and make him dey fire vomit for supper”, the mad boy pressed on.

“Okon!” snooper remonstrated but was ignored by the mad boy.

“Oga I wan tender for dem dog uniform and dem name. I hear dem Patience say make dem dey wear royal uniform and make dem dey answer Ijaw dem name. Naim my jaw come drop.”On that note snooper threw out the mad boy.

Although these troubled youths are akin to joy riders in the purely technical sense of the word, there is nothing joyful about their life or mission for that matter. The balloon of pompous bluff bursts even before the pin probe. It is a measure of their low self-esteem and lack of a sense of self-worth that they take immediate offence at prying eyes wondering what they are doing at the roof of a moving train. This week, they beat a professional photographer trying to take their picture to a pulp.

It is obvious that a country with this kind of youth unemployment is bound to implode sooner than later. There is a nexus between youth unemployment and the crippling crises facing the nation. These desperate unemployed youths serve as the foot soldiers and canon fodder to political deviants who deploy them for political violence against opponents. They serve as suicide bombers to jihadists and other religious deviants. They serve as raw recruits for separatist groups and economic saboteurs.

The situation is likely to worsen. The demographic graph continues to show a balance of number in favour of the youths.

Seventy percent of the current Nigerian population are young people. Many of these people even after they have gone to the university and other tertiary institutions still find it impossible to secure regular employment. An idle brain is indeed the devil’s workshop.

Yet rather than coming up with well-reasoned and powerfully integrated economic credos that will lift more of our people out of the unemployment trough such as has been done from Brazil to India, our economists have continued to mouth shopworn shibboleths from the Bretton Woods institutions as if the world is one huge undifferentiated society and as if what worked in the west must work in Africa. Economy came before economics, but this time around it is the tyranny of economics over economy.

It will be foolish to imagine that the staggering inequity and the galloping inequality between the filthy rich and the desperately poor such as we have in the country will not result in some social upheaval eventually. The signs are already there in the Boko Haram insurgency which is ,among other things, essentially a class warfare disguised as religious inquisition.

They are also discernible in the various social and political commotions currently going on in many parts of the nation. Youth is not only a stuff that will not endure, as Shakespeare famously noted, youth is also a stuff that will not endure itself to be wantonly wasted.

While we still have the time to think in some peace, it may be useful to contemplate one scary possibility. One of the reasons why the victorious Khmer Rouge of Cambodia drove out the entire city population of the nation was because they felt that city dwellers had an unfair class advantage over rural folks. That singular act resulted in the death of a third of the population. God forbids a revolution in Nigeria in which gainfully unemployed suburban scum return to the metropolis. That will be holocaust itself.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

News

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Sambo breaks fast with Christian, Muslim clerics From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

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ICE President Namadi Sambo last night broke the final Ramadan fast with Christian and Muslim clerics in Abuja.

He was also joined by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Bello Isah and top presidential aides.

Sambo in a short remark prayed Allah to grant the prayers and supplication offered during the holy month of Ramadan especially for peace in the country.

He also prayed God to grant the Jonathan administration wisdom to implement its transformation agenda.

Prayers were said by the Chief Imam of National Mosque, Musa Mohammed.

Earlier, the Vicar of Aso Chapel, Obioma Onwuzurumba said the occasion symbolised the hope and unity in Nigeria even in the face of challenges.

He also prayed that Nigeria will remain indivisible and that the spiritual benefits of the fast will felt by all Nigerians.

World Bank bribe for contracts report: Sagay, Aremu, others carpet govt

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recent World Bank report detailing the level of corruption in Nigeria’s public and private sectors has elicited diverse reactions with experts calling for soulsearching among the populace.

According to the report, a great percentage of Nigerian businesses have no qualms with giving bribe to government officials to facilitate deals.

The report estimates that 80 per cent of Nigerian businesses are involved in the practice.

Reacting to the World Bank report, constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), said: “Everybody knows that this country is overwhelmed with corruption. The level of corruption

•ICPC says its crime prevention mechanism foolproof

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Bukola Afolabi

is so very frightening. The implication of this is that genuine businessmen who come into the country ready to do business will have to consider getting back their benefits before anything else. No matter how you look at it, it is a great disadvantage to us because it will deprive the country the necessary economic growth and development.”

The only way to address this malaise in the long term, he said, “Is for us to have honest people in government at the highest level. If we have a leader who leads by example

those under him will have no option than to fall in line. But the unfortunate thing now is that there is a lot of corruption in the top echelons of this country.

“You can see that the few people, who have been accused of fraud either in the past or in recent times, are all part of the privileged class and those who are close to the corridors of power”, he stressed.

Echoing similar sentiments, Dr. Chris Onalo, Registrar/Chief Executive, Institute of Credit Administration, said he has no doubt that as a non-partisan body, the World Bank report is based on empirical

research, which, he noted, has shown that the country is not serious about fighting corruption at all.

According him, “the much-touted anti-corruption war by the government simply shows that the country is chasing shadows.”

The implication of this trend, he said, “Is such that it will stifle economic growth, undermining our security and the country’s sovereignty as a whole. It shows again that the theory and practice of democracy is not working after all.

“It is really sad that the government which has told the world that it has put in place due diligence and procurement procedures in award of contracts would allow itself to be mired in such level of corruption as identified by the

Sergeant arrested for alleged killing of 12-year old Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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Police Sergeant, identified as Laminu Adamu has been arrested and detained in Kano for allegedly shooting and injuring a 12-year old boy, Hassan Mohammed.

The suspect, according to Acting Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, ASP Magaji Maji, at about 1pm yesterday fired a shot and critically injured the boy.

The incident occurred in Gwale quarters.

The Sergeant was immediately disarmed and arrested while the victim was rushed to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital for treatment.

Sallah: NSCDC deploys 15,000 personnel to beef up security From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

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HE Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) Dr. Ade Abolurin last night directed all state Commandants to deploy personnel to every part of their state as part of the effort to ensure safety of lives and property before, during and after the Sallah.

In all, 15,000 Corps personnel will be deployed to strategic places including worship centres, recreational parks and flash points for round the clock security surveillance.

Abolurin advised the public especially Muslims to remain vigilant to prevent “unscrupulous elements” from unleashing terror on the nation during the Eid-el-fitr festivity.

“In this regards, parents are advised to keep their wards in check and ensure they do not become ready tool in the hands of criminally minded individuals.”

•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, addressing Pilgrims from Lagos State and other States during a Tafsir programme and Special Prayers for the nation organised by the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board in Mecca, Saudi Arabia at this year’s Lesser Hajj (Umrah). With him are: Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Kolawole Taiwo (right), Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Mr. Oyinlomo Danmole (left), the Tafsir Lecturer, Sheikh Musa Yahya Agboola (3rd left), former Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Powers, Abdul-Lateef Abdul-Hakeem (3rd right) and a Cleric, Thaoban Adam Abdullah Al-llori (2nd right).

World Bank survey.

“If the report is inclusive of what obtains in the public and the organised private sector, then it only means that our value system has been completely eroded and we all have to re-orientate ourselves.”

Corroborating him, Dr. Jonathan Aremu, an economist who consults for some top multilateral agencies, said the report simply confirms what is already well known about the country being mired in the cesspit of corruption.

“It is very unfortunate that the magnitude of corruption is so high.

The issue is that everybody knows that corruption here is expensive. You have top government functionaries are being indicted but it is rather sad that these people get a slap on the wrist by way of reprimand simply because they are members of the ruling elite”, Aremu lamented.

On its implication on the economy, the former Deputy Director, Research and Planning at the Central Bank of Nigeria, said it is unpalatable. “When such things happen, it slows down the pace of economic development. The long term implication is that it is going to affect even the generations yet unborn”, he said, adding: “If we continue to tolerate corrupt officials and cover for their crime under party politics we are going to be a nuisance in the comity of nations.

Unless we have in place a system that punishes offenders, this hydra-headed monster of corruption will continue to reign supreme.”

Giving a fresh perspective, Baba Omojola, a renowned economist and World Bank consultant, said the report has simply shown the kind of challenge confronting most free enterprise economies like Nigeria.

According to him, “Such corruptive tendency is expected in a free enterprise economy. It is both a political and socio-economic problem.

An economy that is not founded on the building blocks of trust, social justice is bound to be confronted by this challenge.”

Salsa, taekwondo and go-karts: Leisure time in Lagos

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moved to Lagos earlier this year as CNN’s correspondent for West Africa and so far, it’s been everything I expected and more.

I’ve lived abroad a good part of my life and I’ve visited some of the most dynamic cities in the world — from Sao Paulo to Hong Kong to Dubai — and I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced anything as vibrant, exciting and yes, as challenging, as Lagos.

Recently, I had the pleasure of filling in for Errol Barnett on CNN’s Inside Africa and while batting around show ideas I mentioned that I had been so busy since arriving here that apart from a few dinners, I hadn’t really had any time for leisure.

It was like a light bulb went off. Why not do a show where I try to find things to do? But not just anything. I would look for activities that I’d really want to do in my spare time — which granted, I don’t have a lot of.

It’s not always easy to

By Vladimir Duthiers, CNN

News Review find, but if you know where to look, Lagos offers up almost any activity that you can think of — golf, sailing and even polo.

But I’m not that much of a golfer and while I like watching polo, I wanted to find more accessible activities. Not one which requires the purchase of a horse.

For me, staying active is the key to getting rid of any stress that comes on from work, traffic and the incessant power outages.

And as you can see from my Inside Africa show, I am an avid student of the martial arts. I started out learning judo when I was six or seven years old and got hooked on taekwondo in my 20s.

In Lagos, when it comes to martial arts, taekwondo — the way of the hand and foot — rules. Nigerians really started to get hooked on the art when Chika Chukwumerije won the

bronze medal at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing.

In Lagos, you’ll find most martial artists practicing at Lagos National Stadium in Surulere. That’s where I met 7th Dan black belt Ferguson Oluigbo. He’s also the president of the Nigeria Taekwondo Referees Association..

Whether you just want to learn how to defend yourself or stay fit by focusing on the sporting/Olympic aspect, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to do so in Lagos.

Everyone knows that Lagos has a notorious traffic problem. Whenever we are working on a story in and around Lagos, we always have to factor in the traffic. It can take hours to travel even short distances. I’m still getting used to it but I found a place where I can indulge in my “need for speed.”

GET ARENA is a go-kart race track and the only drivers you’ll see are your mates or other patrons that you want to race against.

After a workout and cruise around the track, I like to head out in the town with the friends I have met here.

If you’ve heard anything about Lagos it’s probably around its killer nightlife.

When I started going to some of the nightspots in town, I noticed that everybody — and I mean everybody, loves to dance.

Unfortunately, I seemed to have been born with two left feet and even my Caribbean roots are not enough to get them moving to the rhythm. So I decided to try and learn how to salsa dance.

Enter Bunmi — the dance instructor of the Bailamos Dance Company.

Trained as a lawyer, she’s now following her bliss and teaching both movers and shakers — and the inept like me.

Once you’ve got a few moves under your belt, it’s time to hit the scene. And you can make that scene at countless bars and nightclubs all over the city.

There’s something for

everyone, from the old expat standby Pat’s to the ritzy Sky Bar and the rowdy and pulsating Xclusive Lounge.

I personally like to chill out with a nice bottle of wine and some good conversation over at Lotanna Winehouse). It’s a wine bar with great selection and great nibbles to accompany the wines from Europe and South Africa.

One place I have been looking forward to visiting is the Bogobiri guest house.

I play the guitar and I am told that you can sit in with the house band from time to time. Another journalist I know is prone to bringing his saxophone there and jamming with the band all night long.

I have only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to having a good time in Lagos. I haven’t mentioned the beaches, the restaurants or the paintball tournaments.

But for me, access to the martial arts, dance, nightlife and music feels just like home.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19 , 2012

Imo explains community council From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

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HE Imo State Commissioner for Information, Hon. Chinedu Ofor, has explained the rationale behind the newly inaugurated Community Government Council (CGC) also known as the fourth tier government.

He insisted that it was conceived to bring accountability and participation in government at the grassroots.

Flaying critics over their comments on the community government, the Commissioner noted that the state government saw the need to partner with the communities on infrastructure development.

This, he added, informed the decision to strengthen existing community union leadership to make it a development partner with the government.

According to him, the policy will ensure that the people are involved in the making of policies and identifying their areas of needs in terms of projects.

He stated that it will equally usher in an era of accountability, where monies allocated to communities for development are monitored by the people to avoid misappropriation of public funds.

The Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon Benjamin Uwajimogu, commended the policy.

He said it would fast-track development at the grassroots, adding that the concept will place state above others in terms of rural development and agricultural revolution.

The Commissioner for the newly created Community Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prof Chima Iwuchukwu, also described the policy as, “Government of the people for the people and with the people”.

He pointed out that the community government will promote unity, entrepreneurship and the dwindling spirit of self- help in Igbo nation.

Nzeakah for burial

• Late Mrs Nzeakah

The burial of late Mrs. Christian Nzeakah holds on August 24 at Umuokwuomee, IsialaUmuozu, in Imo State.

She died on July 17 in the United States of America (USA) where she was receiving treatment.

A schedule by the family stated that funeral service by members of the Christ Living Church holds after lying- instate in her family compound the same day.

Aged 76 years, the deceased was survived by six children including Mr. Kingsley Nzeakah and many grand children.

News

Hospital director kidnapped T

HE Administrative Director of Niger Foundation Hospital Enugu, Mazi Jonah Abah, has been kidnapped. He was kidnapped last Friday on his way to the early morning mass.

Abah’s kidnap is the second major kidnap in Enugu within three days. It came on the heels of the kidnap last Wednesday of the Vice-Chan-

• Three days after ESUT VC’s abduction From Chris Oji, Enugu

cellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Prof. Cyprian Onyeji.

Barely three weeks ago, a doctor with the hospital was also kidnapped. Sources said Abah, who was with his wife and

children in his car, was accosted by about four gunmen. He was reportedly ordered out of the car and taken to an unknown place. The wife and children watched helplessly as he was kidnapped. No contact has been established with the kidnappers. Family sources said

they had no phones in the car as they do not usually take them to the church. The Police Anti Kidnap Squad in Enugu has swung into action over the incident. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Enugu State Command, Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the development, said the police are already after the kidnappers.

•L-R: Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi; former Punch Chairman, Ajibola Ogunsola and Deaconess Olayemi Aboderin at the PHOTO: BIODUN OGUNLEYE funeral service for Chief Mrs Victoria Osinubi in Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, yesterday.

Monarch chased out of palace over choice of council

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NDIGENES of Ikeji Ile in Oriade Local Government of Osun State yesterday chased their monarch, Oba Adebayo Ogunmokun, out of the palace.

Ogunmokun, who has been battling with them over the choice of neigbouring communities to work with to form a new proposed council, was chased to his private residence at the far end of the town.

The indigenes insisted on the removal of the monarch, who they accused of working against their interest.

While the community is at home with going with Ipetu-Ijesha, a bigger neigbouring town of about five kilometers away, the monarch believes going with other small communities to form the proposed Ajowa Local Government with headquarters in Erin Ijesha will serve the town of about 12,000 people better.

The vice chairman of Oriade Local Government, Hon. Taiwo Ajimotokin, called on the protesters, including some traditional chiefs, market women and the youth to exercise calm over the matter.

He invited them to a meeting slated for tomorrow at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Osogbo, the state capital.

The ministry last Thursday held a meeting with the embattled monarch.

The meeting presided over by the Commissioner, Barrister Kolapo Alimi, did

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HE Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Engr. Adebayo Dayo, has faulted claims that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has recognised the congresses purportedly held by a faction loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Dayo, in a statement yesterday in Abeokuta, said it was laughable that the National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, could constitute himself into the NWC. According to him: “This is one of Oyinlola’s several desperate attempts to hijack the structure of the Ogun State PDP for his master to achieve some invidious plots ahead of the 2015 general elections.

“It is laughable, to say the least, for one single individual to constitute himself into the NWC and claim that it has endorsed the congresses when the body has not met since the contemptuous exercises were purportedly held.”

He went on: “It is common knowledge that the NWC meets every Wednesday, yet Oyinlola wrote a letter on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 to the Police and SSS where he claimed that a new State Executive Committee of the PDP has just been inaugurated in spite of the subsistence of my executives.”

Dayo also appealed to security agencies to guard against being lured into taking actions that could be contemptuous of the judiciary.

He added that the party will press contempt of the court charge against Oyinlola, Dipo Odujirin and their co-travellers.

By Sunday Oguntola

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•The frontage of the palace.... yesterday

Ogunmokun, however, stated it is wrong to call him a dictator.

According to him: “I use committees to rule the town.

There was no decision I took without due consultation before I finally ratified what people want.

“I offered the best advice to the best of my ability on the issue of which towns in the

present Oriade Local Government to work with to get a new council and which will secure my town’s interest.

“I wonder where I had gone wrong in this. My exposure and experience in life have shown that we as a community need not be an appendage to another community but be an equal partner in this matter.”

FG to restructure Bank of Agriculture, says Okupe RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has set a process in motion for the recapitalisation and restructuring of the Bank of Agriculture.

His Senior Special Assistant (SSA) Public Affairs to the President, Dr Doyin Okupe, who made the disclosure, lamented the bank has been unable to discharge its statutory functions.

According to him: ”President Goodluck Jonathan is taking this personal because of his overwhelming interest in the agriculture sector and the need

‘PDP’s NWC didn’t recognise Obasanjo’s congress’

Group meets, prays for unity in CAC

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

not produce any fruit.

The Ijesa North traditional council of Obas has also waded into the crisis.

The monarchs in the council last week invited the town’s chiefs, elders and representatives of the youth to a crucial meeting at their headquarters in Iloko Ijesa.

The meeting presided over by the Owamiran of EsaOke, Oba Adeyemi Adeniran, appealed to the people of IkejiIle to forgive their monarch.

The indigenes, however, insisted that there was no going back on his removal since the traditional Egunmo drum had been sounded.

Saba of Ikeji-Ile, Chief Titus Olowolayemo, described the monarch installed on February 7 1995 as a “dictator and maximum ruler.”

7

From Dele Anofi, Abuja

to boost food production and other sources of income for the nation, diversifying our revenue base outside a monoproduct (crude oil) economy”.

Okupe stated that the President has mandated the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, to bring together stakeholders.

This, he explained, is to ensure that”through the restructuring and recapitalisation of the bank, it will be possible for small

scale farmers to directly access the loans with minimal bureaucracy”.

The SSA also disclosed that the government will ensure an interest rate not exceeding six percent is put in place to serve as an extra incentive.

He said: “the President is concerned and has directed that provisions be made for a moratorium period for repayment between two and three years for those farmers engaged in the production of cash crops like cocoa, rubber, palm kernel, gum Arabic among others.”

HE Movement for Divine Restoration of Christ Apostolic Church(CAC), a group of members with the sole objective of unifying all splinter organisations within the church, last week met in Lagos.

The prayer meeting was aimed at unity and revival in the church.

Ministers from all factions took turns to offer prayers for the success of reconciliatory efforts in the church.

The President of the group, Pastor Moses Adedoyin, expressed delight over the presence of elders, representatives of Good Women’s Society and youth leaders and all factional heads at the meeting.

He said the movement has no interest in posts, positions or contracts but only the appointment of leaders under a unified constitution as inspired

by God. An elated elder at the meeting likened the present crisis in the church to a situation when two parents are quarrelling indoors while their children are playing together at the backyard.

The youth admitted that the crisis has caused them a lot of embarrassment while appealing to true CAC members to join hands in enthroning the much elusive peace.

A unification song by a choir of one of assemblies drew the curtain on the meeting.

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News

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

‘Why Mimiko will lose’

State police: Senator faults northern governors

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LEADING member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State, Femi Adekanmbi, has said the party’s governorship candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), will defeat Governor Olufemi Mimiko of the Labour Party in the October election.

He said Mimiko has failed to justify the mandate given to him by the people of the state.

Adekanmbi, who was a member of LP before crossing over to the ACN, lauded the role of the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in freeing the South West form the claws of oppressors.

According to him, “This next gubernatorial election will not favour the incumbent governor (Mimiko). ACN’s candidate, Akeredolu, has the potentials to lead the state to El dorado,” adding that since he dumped LP he has been vilified and hunted by his former party. He, however, vowed that he is not looking back and is working assiduously for the success of ACN in the state.

Adekanmbi said, “ACN is a good party with egg heads and technocrats. If you look at the Ondo State politics it is entirely different from the way others are playing politics because Ondo State believes in integrity, they believe in their man, Akeredolu. If you look at the state over the years you will see that the state is not doing well as some believe they have not performed .The performance of the state and local government is below expectation as the state government has been blowing the trumpets that they are performing , and this is only on paper. How do you expect the state government to be building markets and motor parks, which are the primary functions of the local government?”

Baptist Church’s Holy Ghost festival kicks off

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HE annual Holy Ghost festival of the Triumphant Baptist Church, (Holy Ghost compound) Akowonjo, Lagos holds from August 19-21.

The guest minister is Rev. Evangelist Tunde Siyanbola.

Acting pastor of the church, Rev Olajide Oke, assured the event is packaged to facilitate divine visitation for participants.

He said there will be word ministration, prayer sessions and worship experiences.

By Remi Adelowo

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•Staff of Bauchi State Ministry of Health sharing beef for Sallah celebration yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Police probe drowning of 11-year-old boy

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DO North Area Command of the Police has stepped up investigations into the circumstances surrounding the mysterious drowning of an 11-year-old school boy at Iraokhor Village in Etsako Central Local Government Area of the state.

The deceased, Chinoso Okorie, was said to be fetching water from a well outside the compound penultimate Saturday with his 17-year-old foster brother when the inci-

From, Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

dent occurred.

It was gathered that the teenager (name withheld) who was fetching water with the deceased disappeared soon after the incident and had not been seen as at the time of this report.

Concerned neighbours were said to have immediately rescued the drowned boy who died later before he

could receive medical attention.

The late Chinoso, whose body had been deposited in a morgue, was said to be holidaying at Iraokhor from Auchi with his elder sister until the incident.

Husband of the deceased’s sister, who gave his name as Okechukwu Okoroafor, told our correspondent he was away when the unfortunate incident occurred.

He added that he had warned the boy (deceased) not to go near the well before leaving home.

It was also revealed that the 17-year -old now at large is a brother to a concubine of Okoroafor, a relationship his father-in-law vehemently denied.

Although, no arrest has been made, the landlord of the house is being questioned and helping the police in their investigations.

FG solicits funds to reduce harmful effects of chemicals

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HE Federal Government has appealed to the international community for financial and technical assistance to reduce the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Taiye Haruna, made the call at a National Inception and Awareness Raising Workshop in Abuja.

Haruna lamented that “several gaps remain to be filled. These include comprehensive regulatory framework for the life-cycle chemicals management, inadequate technical capacity and gross inadequacies in national funding and use of economic instruments to tackle the human health and environmental challenges of hazardous chemicals.”

He stated that coherent legislation and efficient insti-

By Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor)

tutional arrangements are being given much attention since the adoption of 2020 Chemicals Safety Goal at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD).

He noted that the guidance is aimed at providing

practical steps for policymakers to strengthen legislations and institutional setups for achieving safe environment.

Haruna explained that the Federal Government is developing integrated national chemicals management system and setting up of inter-ministerial mecha-

nisms towards implementing the Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).

He argued there was need to devise measures of protecting the people and their environments from materials used for nanotechnology.

Akeredolu laments abandoned projects in Ondo

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu(SAN), at the weekend berated Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration for abandoning many projects in the state.He particularly criticised the manner several state-owned companies established by Late Adekunle Ajasin and Adebayo Adefarati were totally neglected.

The former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) noted that the high level of unemployment in

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

the state would have been reduced if some of the ailing companies have been revived to provide job opportunity.Akeredolu spoke during his familiarisation tour of wards in Okitipupa local government area.

Among the communities visited were Akinfosile, Igbotako,Ilu titun-osooro, Ikoya, Idepe, Iju-Odo and IjuOke. The frontline lawyer said the action of Governor Mimiko on the abandon-

ment of projects amounts to a great disservice to humanity.

He asked: “why has it been so difficult for the LP’s administration to construct some kilometres of roads in the state since its inception in the past three years?”The ACN flag bearer wondered why the huge sum of allocation collected by the government has not been utilised to transform the entire state.

He reiterated his promise to provide 30,000 jobs for unemployed youths in the state within the first 100 days in office.

Bayelsa spends N74.2 billion on road projects

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AYELSA State has committed N74.2 billion into road construction to open up hitherto riverine areas of the state.

Oporoma road contract, which is targeted at opening up most riverine communities around the largest local government area in the Southern Ijaw axis, gulped N43.3 billion of the amount.

The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, disclosed these at monthly trans-

From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

parency briefing anchored by Governor Seriake Dickson.

Other road projects under construction include expansion of the popular Azikoro road within the Yenagoa Metropolis; the expansion of hospital road and the dualisation of other several roads.

Dickson also presented a cheque of N3 billion to Julius Berger Construction Company, bringing it to a total of N5 billion to the firm for construction of major roads in the

state.

The governor said the presentation was in line with the administration’s transparency policy.

He also announced that N1.4 billion has been disbursed for energy security while another N1.4 billion has been paid for counterpart fund for SUBEB. He also announced that N510 million has been used out of the subsidy fund for the purchase of vehicles to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy regime.

EARS expressed by northern governors that the creation of state police could lead to the disintegration of the country has been described as unjustified.

The Minority Whip of the Senate, Ganiyu Solomon, who stated this during an interview with The Nation said if anything, the establishment of state police rather than dismember the country, would strengthen its federal system.

Arguing that the country is long overdue for a state police, Solomon, who represents Lagos West Senatorial district, asked, "Why should we espouse the concept of federalism when it is convenient for us and dismiss its inherent principles when it does not suit us?"

Listing the gains of state policing, the two-term senator posited, "We have tried all sorts of policing methods like the vigilante, neighbourhood watch, but all these have only achieved limited results. A critical appraisal of the present security situation shows that there is an urgent need to allow the governors have a firm control of their jurisdictions.

"And the best way to get this done, in my view, is the establishment of a state police, which would understand and respond faster to security challenges in their areas. If we claim we are practicing federalism, we should practice it through and through".

Also responding to views that governors could abuse their powers with a state police under their control, Solomon said, "My answer to that is simple. We still have the armed forces which would remain under the firm control of the federal government and can respond to any uprising in any part of the country.”

Mike Okonkwo’s essay competition gets winners

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ASTER Ahia Fego of Brilliant Child College, Akoka, Lagos State has emerged the overall winner of the 9th edition of the Mike Okonkwo national essay competition.

Over 900 students from across the nation participated in the annual competition.

Fego scored 81% to beat other nine shortlisted candidates at the competition’s second stage.

Miss Chinaza Okoli of Vivian Fowler School for Girls scored 74% to emerge second.

Master Mark of Lagos State Senior Model College came third with total score of 67%.

Prof. Akachi Eziegbo of the University of Lagos was the chief examiner.

Fego will receive the star prize of a laptop, N100, 000 and three sets of internet-ready computers with printers for his school.

Okoli will get N75, 000 and two internet- ready desktops with printer for her school.

Mark will receive N50, 000 and a set of computer for the school.

Consolation prizes of N20, 000 each will be given to the six finalists.

The winners and prizes will be presented at the 13th Mike Okonkwo annual lecture on September 5 at the Shell Hall of the Muson Centre, Lagos.

NEWS REVIEW The flood next time

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

•A bridge washed away in Langtang South LGA

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LATEAU State in the last few years has been seized in the jaws of man-induced crises that have led to mass loss of lives and properties. However, it recently witnessed a lull until just in one night flood claimed about 60 lives of residents of Jos North local government. Over fifty others were declared missing, with over 130 residential houses gone with the flood. One of the victims in fact lost seven members of his family, including his wife and six children.

While the state was trying to recover from that shock, the flood came again and caused even heavier devastation in the lowland part of the state, it was in such a magnitude that the people had never witnessed in their history. After a four day-long heavy down pour, seven local governments were submerged by flood. In the affected councils, over 35 lives were lost, about three hundred farmlands were washed away, livestock were lost, electricity installations were brought down and only few homes were left standing.

Shattered communities The most worrisome aspect of the flood was that bridges linking communities were washed off and left the affected communities separated from one another. Plateau State was sliced off from its closest neighbours; Nassarawa and Taraba States. The bridges connecting these three states were destroyed. The devastation is so massive that the option of mending the bridges doesn't even arise because the volume of the water may not subside until the end of the rainy season.

Geographically, the Plateau southern zone is prone to flooding except that its inhabitants have not witnessed the flooding in all their history. According to Senator Cosmos Niagwan who represented the zone in the Senate between 2003 and 2007, "The seven local governments affected by the flood

At a time Plateau State is heaving a sigh of relief from prolonged violent conflicts, flood struck again causing heavy loss of lives and properties. Yusufu Aminu Idegu reports are the areas that made up the former Plateau Lowland Division. It is called lowland because the area is flat. The rain does not flow away after each rain due to its flat nature. Unlike the Plateau Highland zone, the water flows away as soon as it rains but that does not happen in lowland. This caused our land to soak and liable to being washed."

He added, "Notwithstanding, the whole world is facing the effect of global warming, so many states are facing the menace of flood, Plateau is facing it as well. So flooding is a new challenge that requires new solution."

The old division has now been split into Quan Pan, Shendam, Mikang, Langtang South, Langtang North and Wase local government respectively. A Shendam-based politician Sariki Musa said, "These localities are located along the Benue trough. Geographically, we are residing on river bed. That is why the areas is geographically known as "lowland Plateau" The lowland itself is blessed with numbers of rivers and streams. There are Konghess river, Longvel river, Shimankar river, Zai river etc. All of them are tributaries of River Benue. You can imagine if these rivers and streams will overflow, it can cause serious damage like we are currently witnessing" Considering these geographical facts, flooding in the zone is more of a natural phenomenon. But the shock of this natural phenomenon is its timing.

The people have lived on this river bed without experiencing the menace of flooding for over a century. So why now, the answer is simply 'global warming' With global warming, more volume of water is being released from the sea into the hinterlands. This development has created several new

•One of the houses destroyed by the flood in Shendam village

river channels and even got existing rivers overflow its banks. That is exactly the case of lowland Plateau. The areas began to experience the menace of flooding since the last three years.

Areas like Langtang South and Langtang North witnessed unusual flooding last rainy season. Some of their bridges were affected and their farmland washed away.

What happened this time around made the one of last year a joke, it has also left signals that people should expect more during subsequent rains.

Ironically, these rivers surrounding the lowland Plateau are part of its natural advantage. However, these advantages are becoming a natural disadvantage based on current happenings.

The first time the areas witnessed its first flood, particularly in Langtang South LGA, government had suggested to some communities in the local government to relocate their settlement having understood that the

areas would witness perennial flooding. Some of the communities include Pilgani areas, Tarfel and Yashin. But the government's suggestion was not acceptable to the people for obvious reasons. The inhabitants said they would not be able to relocate from their ancestral place of abode because their fore fathers were buried there and they cannot afford to abandon them and relocate to a new settlement!

Understanding this cultural factor against relocating people from their original settlement, all the state government decided to put in place an emergency management and relief materials committee under the chairperson of Commissioner for Environment, Mrs Serah Yusufu. The committee has the mandate to respond promptly to rescue the people at a time like this.

Apart from the state government, the National Emergency Management

Agency (NEMA) is always at hand to respond to such emergencies.

Humanitarian-based organizations like the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross (NRC) have special focus on the Plateau in areas of emergency.

Senator representing the zone in the National Assembly Senator Victor Lar was the first to raise fund and deliver relief materials to victims of the flood. He visited the affected areas donating materials worth N5 million and also helped in mobilizing relevant federal government agencies to come to the aid of the victims.

Governor Jonah Jang while leading government top officials to the scene directed contractors to effect repairs some of the bridges that have minimal damages saying some others will require feasibility study before they are reconstructed. The government had in the past constructed at least fourteen bridges over the various rivers in the southern zone since its inception in 2007. The governor had to use canoe to get to some of the villages because of the collapses bridges. He said, "From what I've just seen, most of the bridges were constructed without envisaging the flood's magnitude and we now know some of the bridges need to be expanded. I, therefore, want to use this opportunity to call on the federal government to help not only in ways of relief materials but in rebuilding the bridges. I'm going to contact relevant government agencies and ministries to make sure we do what is required of us."

Prior to the governor's visit, he had directed the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to deliver food items and clothing to thousands of displaced residents.

As the victims begin to put their lives together after the flood, many wonder when the relief materials would go round and wait for government to take decisive action to ameliorate their sufferings.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

News Review

Return of kidnappers, fuel queues 20 Boko Haram suspects killed in gun duel with JTF

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WENTY suspected members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, lay dead in Maiduguri on Sunday after a gun duel with operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State. One soldier died in the shootout. JTF Field Operations Officer, Colonel Victor Ebhaleme said his men had gone on the trail of the sect members who were meeting in an area of the metropolis only to be fired upon by the terrorists. The soldiers returned fire killing 20 of the insurgents. The sect claimed later that those killed by the soldiers were innocent people and that there was no way 20 of its members would gather in one place for a meeting .

•PUSSY POSSE Supporters of Russian punkrock group Pussy Riot rally in New York’s Times Square on Friday. A Moscow judge sentenced three band members to two years in prison after they performed an anti-Putin song in a Moscow cathedral.

Delta battles FG over Ibori's $15m

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HE Delta State Government has gone to court asking that the $15million allegedly offered as bribe by former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori to the erstwhile Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu be returned to it .The Attorney General of the State and Justice Commissioner, Chief Charles Ajuyah (SAN)who filed the suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja said the money belongs to it and should be returned to it accordingly. A court had earlier ordered the forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government following an exparte application filed by the EFCC.

Flood submerges 100 Plateau villages, sweeps away 35 residents

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LOOD on Monday submerged about 100 villages across seven local government areas of Plateau State. No fewer than 35 residents were swept away while thousands of others were rendered homeless .Ravaged were Mikang, Shendam, Quan Pan, Wase, Langtang South and Langtang North Local Government areas.

Two bridges, one of which connects Plateau and Nasarawa and the other linking Plateau with Taraba states were washed away. The Federal Ministry of the Environment warned that 14 states should brace up for flooding. These are: Adamawa, Plateau, Sokoto, Jigawa, Borno, Gombe, Kebbi, Yobe, Taraba, Oyo, Zamfara ,Kano, Bauchi and Katsina.

Two suicide bombers blown up as mission turn bloody

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WO suspected suicide bombers were blown up in Kaduna on Tuesday apparently on their way to execute a plan. A passer-by who was injured in the explosion died later in the hospital on a day it emerged that the new National Security Adviser (NSA),Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has reopened peace talks, on behalf of the Federal Government, with the Islamist sect, Boko Haram .One Habu Mohammed ,who claimed to be the deputy leader of the sect told the Voice of America (VOA) that the group decided to initiate the peace move in response to public appeals for tranquillity in the country.

Retired IGs oppose state police

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Retired Inspectors-General of Police on Tuesday expressed opposition to the creation of state police. They also faulted calls, including one from the Presidential Committee on the Re-organisation of the Police, for the scrapping of the Ministry of police affairs. The ex-IGPs on a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja said allowing state police can only facilitate the disintegration of the country. The chairman of the Presidential Committee, Mr.Parry Osayande who was also at the villa on the same day to submit the panel's report, said the Ministry of Police Affairs is of little or no value to the force as it has "constituted a drainage, a sippage, and haemorrhage of our limited funds."

ABUJA DEMOLITIONS FCTA demolishes Mpape shanties

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HE Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, last week, commenced the demolition of illegal structures in Mpape districts and its market. FCTA had said it would demolish 10,288 houses in the area.

The demolition squad had a combined team of security men, comprising the Army, Police, members of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and other security operatives, providing security. The market was completely reduced to rubble.

Marketers threaten fuel supply

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fuel scarcity looms in the country after independent oil marketing and depot companies gave the Federal Government a seven day ultimatum to pay their outstanding subsidy claims estimated at N200billion.They threatened to shut down their depots and jetties across the country should government fail to meet their demand. Queues immediately began to form at filling stations in Abuja with the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama saying government has been paying the fuel subsidy claims to genuine marketers as at when due. He vowed that government would not succumb to any threat.

FOURTH TIER

Okorocha inaugurates community govt

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MO State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, inaugurated the first ever Community Government Council otherwise known as the Fourth-Tier Government. The governor also declared open the T r a d i t i o n a l Parliament structure to give voice to the masses and to promote cultural values of the Igbos.

He said the concept of Community Government was to decentralise power to bring governance to the doorsteps of the rural dwellers and to unlock the hidden potentials in the rural communities.

The governor formally presented the 49-page Community Government Council Law that captured all the communities in the state and the operational framework of the Community Government recently passed by the State House of Assembly.

According to the law, the traditional ruler would serve as the chairman of the council while those formerly addressed, as president general would serve as secretary.

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has ordered "a total and comprehensive re-organisation" of the sports sector following the nation's poor performance at the London Olympics.

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said that the president had directed the convocation of a national retreat where all stakeholders, including state governments and the private sector would participate towards re-ordering national priorities in the sports sector.

PERFORMANCE BOND

Ministers sign pact

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will on the 22nd of this month, sign a Performance Agreement Contract with all ministers serving in his cabinet with a view to measuring their performance and enhancing the quality of service delivery to Nigerians.

The move is one of the ways to put the ministers on their toes and ensure they deliver, as criticisms have mounted over the performance of the current administration.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) had reportedly developed what was termed Key Performance Indicators for the various ministries, departments and agencies, which serve as guide in measuring their performance and output.

Already, the ministers had started signing similar agreements with the chief executives of agencies and parastatal agencies under their ministries.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

News Review

and Boko Haram talks Spike strikes again! Second dog left with FIVE HUNDRED quills stuck in her face after run in with a porcupine

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UST days after bulldog Bella Mae needed emergency surgery after being attacked by a porcupine, a second unlucky mutt found herself in the same prickly situation.

A spike in porcupine attacks in Oklahoma has left vets in a prickly situation.

Just days after bulldog Bella Mae needed surgery to remove 500 quills from her face and body, a second unlucky mutt arrived in the same condition.

This time it was crossbreed Shiloh who needed an emergency operation after a run-in with a spiky adversary.

The poor pooch was spiked in the face, legs and paws after encountering a porcupine on her owner's farm.

She was rushed to the Animal Emergency Center in Norman,

Oklahoma, where vets removed 500 quills from her body.

She was admitted just days after three-year-old Bella Mae underwent a similar operation after a run-in with a porcupine which was drinking from a pond in her owner's back garden.

Owner Allison Noles told News 9: "It was devastating. These animals are our kids and when you see them hurt you can't imagine the intense pain she had to be in."

Both dogs came off second best but are expected to make full recoveries.

Dr Leonardo Baez told News 9: "I've seen some greyhounds and bird dogs come in [contact] with them, but it's not very often it happens, especially here in the city."

Portland man travels to confront alleged bike thief, succeeds

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Jonathan orders sports overhaul Despite spending about N2.2 billion on the London Games, Nigeria could not register her name on the medal table. But at the 1998 Barcelona Games, Nigeria won six medals - two gold, one silver and three bronze medals

F you've had your bike stolen, this story about a Portland, Ore. man confronting an alleged bike thief is for you.

Here's what happened: On Aug. 3, Jake Gillum, a scruffy, 28-year-old who describes himself as blue collar, according to Digital Trends, found that his 2009 Fuji Team road bike had been stolen.

Gillum scoured Craigslist.org, where he spotted, four days later, his $2,500 bike for sale in Seattle.

He resolved to get his bike back, but first, he would start growing out his beard to look tougher and older, he told Digital Trends.

He would contact the thief, posing as a prospective buyer. He would use the iPhone Burner app so the alleged thief would think he was calling from Seattle and not Portland, where the bike was stolen.

The two would meet - in Seattle's upscale University Village mall -- and as Gillum stalled the alleged thief by asking questions, his friends would call the police. He would wear running shoes, thick Carhartt pants

NEGOTIATIONS FG, Boko Haram hold talks

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HE Federal Government on Wednesday said it accepted to hold dialogue with the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, in order to arrest insecurity in the country as soon as possible, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has, however, warned that the government should not hold dialogue government-Boko Haram talks if with the sect on its they centred on the condition to Islamise of the country. own terms.

The Voice of America had reported Though CAN said it on Tuesday that a purported was ready to support spokesman for Boko Haram, one any step aimed at Habu Mohammed, said the group curbing the sect's had the Fedral Governement in insurgency, it direct talks on ways to end violence opposed the in the North.

and a sweatshirt to look bigger.

The police would arrive, the bad guy would get arrested and Gillum would get his bike back.

Inmate mails own severed finger to French minister

THE WEEK IN QUOTES "What is the big deal if the National Assembly says if (President Goodluck) Jonathan does not implement the budget they will impeach him? It's no big deal. It happened to Obasanjo and prominent leaders had to intervene to stop the lawmakers. So what is special about it?"

—Alhaji Mamman Dan Musa, Second Republic Speaker of the old Kaduna State on the threat by the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment against the president should implementation of this year's budget fall under 100 per cent by the end of September.

"We don't have security vote here. I don't believe in it.

There is nothing to hide. If I am giving N10 to an Imam, it's not my money. It should be recorded that I have given the Imam money to pray for the state. If he wants to pray for me, I will give him money from my pocket. If I have given anything to anybody (the police, army) it should be there on record what you used it for" —Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State on why his administration has no security funds.

"Nigerians read the story of the breakup of the USSR. We read the news of separation of Northern Somalia from Southern Somalia. We read of the dismemberment of South Sudan from Sudan. We read of the repercussions when Europe failed to manage East and West Germany.

We read of the discord between North Korea and South Korea. Yet, we discard the implications of these divorced countries praying that the fate that befell them will not befall our country."

—Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, founder Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) on threats to national unity.

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N inmate in a French jail has mailed part of his own severed finger to the justice minister hoping the desperate gesture would help his plea to be moved to another prison, officials said on Thursday.

An envelope containing the chunk of finger was delivered on Thursday to the offices of Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, accompanied by a letter arguing for a transfer to a jail nearer to the inmate's family, a police official said.

A Justice Ministry spokesman •Kwankwaso confirmed a piece of finger had been delivered. "It's a sad affair, there are many inmates asking for transfers," said spokesman Olivier Pedro-Jose.

SEIZED

Gunmen kidnap ESUT Vice Chancellor

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HE Vice Chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Professor Cyprian Onyeji was Wednesday abducted by heavily armed young men suspected to be kidnappers after ambushing him and his police escort at the main gate of the university in Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Three policemen attached to him were seriously wounded during a gun battle with the kidnappers, which created panic and sent many students and workers running into the bush to avoid being hit by bullets.

An eyewitness said the incident occurred at 11.30 am when Prof.

Onyeji was driving in his official Honda Accord car into the campus with his police escort driving behind him.

On sighting the two vehicles, the kidnappers who had laid ambush near the gate, fired several shots at the escort van and displaced the policemen before jumping out of the bush to get at their target.

•Fasehun

•Musa

SOUTH AFRICAN KILLINGS

34 miners die in police shooting

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HIRTY f o u r

s t r i k i n g miners were killed and another 78 wounded when police in South A f r i c a opened fire on them at the L o n m i n Platinum

Mine near Rustenburg, police chief Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega said. It was one of the worst police shootings in South Africa since the end of apartheid.

Ms Phiyega told a news conference that her officers acted to protect their own lives after strikers armed with "dangerous weapons" charged them. She said the strikers had not dispersed earlier, despite police use of water cannon and stun grenades. President Jacob Zuma has ordered an investigation

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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HE United States late upsurge at the London Olympics confirmed her Super Power status. The Super Power epithet was extended to America following her victory over the Axis Powers at the end of the Second World War. In a week when the US landed a robot on Mars, she consolidated her international esteem when on the final day, she upset the early Chinese Olympic gold haul. This latest Asian Super Power would not be allowed to replicate her Beijing triumph on a Western soil.

Your Excellency, that is the power of modern sports. Understandably, England, Russia, Germany, Italy by their performances retained their international badges as first rate powers courted by friends and ignored by none. Therefore the London Olympics was a signature success for the host and a memory of national pride for six million Jamaicans and her other little Commonwealth neighbors, incubating in the Caribbean islands.

For Nigeria, the massacre in London is a logical reflection of the Nigerian state, the apathy and the increasing despair of its famished people. A nation that is forever on the revise gear, piloted to Green land by an exhausted One percent ; made of contractor senators, who were governors, ministers who were board chairmen and legislators who are pensioned generals. These ‘winners’ of the Nigerian system in the first place never played on the Olympian turf of immaculate sportsmanship. These excellencies and their aides landed in London and set out to sell the Nigerian brand. They told the press that Nigeria was also in Olympic contention for gold and silver! Used to the Nigerian crude instrumentation of winning by all means, the Olympic principles of fair competition, the supremacy of rules, were foreign observations to our friends. Mr. President, on occasion, you have in fairness, distanced yourself from these pretenders.

Sir, the first signal to failure was recorded when Nigeria failed to qualify for the football Olympics. A Team Nigeria to the Olympics, without football, at this stage of our National Sports development is an incomplete squad, and those choices demonstrated that the Olympic Committee did not understand their mission. We were astonished that Team Nigeria was excited to include ill-conditioned athletes and poorly-fed boxers; table tennis, basketball moonwalkers when it is clear to the initiated that the Far East nations were heading to London and they were taking no prisoners in the ping pong arena. Nigeria saw the fixtures, yet they were excited and looked forward to the clash with the Dream Team. Why would they risk tarnishing the national reputation by going against the world’s best before billions of world television viewers? Look at the scores of that clinic between the Dream Team and the Nigerian team… That result will remain an indelible Olympic record which for many years would rub mud on the Nigerian brand, from Japan to Alaska.

Explaining away his woeful outing, the Minister of Sports, blamed petty quarrels in the camp and also, he pointed out that Nigeria was losing money and opportunities featuring in most of the sports. In other words, he was advocating for a more specialised program where the country would develop some selected sports and concentrate competition on those select few.

Mr. President, those and more are the landmark findings of our research before we wrote our 136 page Paper on a New Sports Policy for Delta in 1977. As the Director of Sports of that state we sought a break from the delaying bureaucracy of the Ministry of Sports. We thought the immediacy and the passion of sports activities cannot wait for the slow processing and file movement of the ministries. Once the council won its independence, we on the

Can Nigeria’s police be reformed?

Massacre in London: Letter to Mr. President T

•Jonathan

• Abdulahi

By Emma Okocha

third month advised a memo to the governor banning from travel with our contingents, top government officials, commissioners, the First Lady or for that matter, the permanent secretaries!

For our winning philosophy, Delta adopted the slogan, ‘‘WIN DELTA WIN” That philosophy espouses that the state would no longer spend resources engaging in competitions which it was not sure of winning. We researched on our peoples’ sports history, our peculiar environment our physical advantages, and the psychological and geophysical dimensions of the select sports and cultivated the the oil companies to support the government shoe lace appropriations for the council. We studied the cultural agreements between Nigeria and the leading sports nations and decided to send our coaches to Cuba for boxing, the Scandinavian countries for handball and the Balkans for the strength sports.

Cuba was ideal for the low costs of training so also were the enticing offers from China for our table tennis and gymnastics. But tennis as a whole was not in our priority listing Those sports cultivated over the years, attracting so many native advantages and which we were excelling at, we grouped as priority sports.

As an agent of social responsibility we used the council to push the local governments to contribute for once for the sublime. We presented this third tier the opportunity to sponsor the state first ever sports festival. For the first time the whole peoples of Delta besieged the Asaba Sports Stadium in the Russian spirit of the Spatacadia to participate and enjoy the orgasm of a sports festival.

Your Excellency, the whole place was electrified. Delta developed a winning philosophy, moving from the 14th to the top , and all its stars were indigenous upstarts.

Our peoples were mobilised: Asaba , Ogwashi Ukwu, Warri, Abraka, Sapele and Oleh were designated centers of excellence.

In six months the American Junior Baseball African championship came to Delta. Our football team, Delta Force - male and female - were building up to slaughter the Super Eagles, having destroyed Rangers and Bendel Insurance in secret friendlies. We were monitoring our athletes and coaches,

so we sent our administrative staff to IT courses before their counterparts in the ministry.

As of now, there is no discernable programme or policy, stating how to run our local and national sports to support our international competitions. Some states like Anambra with an overwhelming sports history, contributions and resources have neglected their sports industry. It is sad that a state that produced Chuba Ikpeazu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the first Nigerian star international, Nigeria’s tennis pioneer champions of Patrick Obi and octogenarian Oranye, the home of the titans, Emmanuel Okala and our CKC World Cup schemer, Sylvanus Okpala, world wrestling champion, Power Mike, and above the home state of Zik, the long distance runner, the boxer and the tennis guru; has no sports programme. Anambra sponsors no sport in any of the national leagues. While the Western states invariably submerge their sports councils under the supervision of the slow and corrupt ministries, the North was a natural base for producing some long distance runners. Plateau was the hope but for the current turmoil. However, Sokoto (where the PDP zoned the Minister of Sports Portfolio) has never produced any world ranking athlete neither does it have any grassroots sports competition. Therefore it cannot continue to produce our Ministers of Sports. That the South-South states despite their advantages have failed to break out in swimming and wrestling has always been issues of concern.

Mr. President , our sad outing at the last Olympics constitutes serious damage and disgrace to you and to the nation. On behalf of Nigeria’s former internationals, we call on you to relieve the minister of his brief as the supervisor of our sports. In this hour of odium he failed to recognise that our hardearned sports reputation has been irretrievably ridiculed. Sir, apart from that drubbing by the US Dream Team we did not win anything! Your prompt sack of the minister would instantly shield your administration from the obvious contamination of this London putrid mess.

Sir, the Nigerian Waterloo is one downer too many, recorded in your lackluster tenure. The firing of the minister would clear the table for the Presidential Technical Committee to investigate the Massacre in London and restore credibility and merit as we prepare for Rio in 2016.

By Sola Odunfa

HE Nigeria Police Force prides itself as one of Africa’s best, backed by the flamboyant commendations heaped on it by international organisations after every external “peacekeeping operation” to which its officers are deployed.

And yet most Nigerians say that if what they experience of their police ranks them among the best on the continent then standards of policing in other African countries must be low indeed.

On average, I watch at least two Nigerian films a day and their portrayal of the Nigerian policeman will not draw cheers in any police barracks.

I am not talking here of constables and officers shown openly extorting money from motorists or ignoring distress calls from the public.

According to Nollywood, as the Nigerian film industry is called, the standard police procedure of investigating crimes is to arrest anybody fingered by a complainant and then subject them to torture in detention cell until they “confess”.

Innocent persons are shown to have been convicted on the basis of the confessions.

I used to boil with anger at such films and rail at the producers for their ignorance and unfair portrayal of the police.

Not anymore. I’ll cite one or two eye-openers.

Seventeen years ago in 1995, a wellknown businessman and political party financier, Chief Alfred Rewane, was killed in his bed in Lagos.

The crime elicited nationwide uproar and a challenge was thrown at the police.

Public anger did not abate until the police announced the arrest of seven suspects.

The men were brought to court the following year. They were all employees of the deceased.

Even before much evidence was produced few people believed that the accused were indeed the killers.

The trial dragged on for several years without substantial progress.

In the next 10 years, five of the seven had died in prison and the remaining two were more like human skeletons.

Last year, 16 years after their arrest, the two survivors were discharged by a court because of a lack of evidence against them.

A similar charade was played out after the murder of Nigeria’s Justice Minister Bola Ige in 2001, although it took a much shorter time - shorter because the political backlash was threatening national stability and one of the accused persons arraigned was a top-notch politician.

In fact, the politician, Iyiola Omisore, contested and won elections for the Nigerian Senate while in custody. The case was, of course, thrown out because of a lack of evidence.

Prisons in Nigeria have been seriously overcrowded in the past few years. The reason is not that the inmates are convicts, but more than 60% of them are suspects still awaiting trial.

In many cases, the police files are lost and the poor suspects remain behind bars until the prison authorities mercifully call attention to their plight.

Now, another high-profile killing has taken place. Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s principal aide, Olaitan Oyerinde, was killed in his home three months ago.

President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the police to find the killers. The police announced last month that they had made arrests and solved the case.

Four suspects in their custody had confessed to the killing and pointed to a fifth.

“Thank goodness,” many people sighed.

Not so fast, said the State Security Service. They produced on national television six other persons who they said had confessed to the same crime.

The two services cannot both be right.

Source: BBC

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Comment & Analysis

Are we preparing for post-Boko Haram era?

Ogochukwu Ikeje ohgeeoh@gmail.com 08084235961 (SMS only)

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IVEN its rage and capacity to cause maximum damage, not to mention the tough talk of its leaders, will there ever be Nigeria without Boko Haram? Is there any chance that one day the guns of the Islamist sect will stop booming and its bombs silent, the energies of its leaders and suicide bombers channelled to healthier ventures?

My answer is yes.

True, the group has terrorised the country enough for everyone to take it very seriously. Tons of blood is continuously spilled.

The dead victims are gone, never to contribute anymore to the growth of their families or country. For survivors, life will never be the same again after their encounter with the sect. Many may never walk again. As for property lost, it can only be measured in billions, perhaps, trillions. Boko Haram has also caused all sorts of problems for government across the board, the security community and virtually everyone else. Relentless terror has taught public officials to have a healthy fear of the group, just as day-to-day life has substantially changed, especially in the North.

Still, a post-Boko Haram era is possible, whether government succeeds in crushing it or the group, by itself, refrains from its acts.

But I have an enduring worry: are we preparing for that peacetime? You can grapple with the tensions and challenges of the moment, even manage to contain them (as the military do), but there is more work left to be done. Preventing a repeat scenario of those tensions and challenges is where the ultimate

A violence-free, new Nigeria is possible victory lies. That is the peace era, defined not by momentary cessation of violence but by the sustenance of law and order and mutual respect for one another. Peace era stimulates creativity, productivity and growth. Is the Jonathan administration merely working towards the end of Boko Haram, or is it looking to evolve sustained peace?

Niger Delta militancy in the last decade is a relevant scenario. Like Boko Haram, it started with isolated cases of disorder before it got everybody in the region and even beyond worried. Before we knew it, not only oil facilities were being blown up, nor were expatriate workers the only targets and victims of kidnappers; local chiefs, grandpas and grandmas and their grandkids were being taken too, to be ransomed at handsome fees.

Naturally, business activities declined in the region, to take root beyond our national borders. And then President Umaru Yar’Adua came along, succeeding to get the region’s

fighters to lay down their arms and embrace amnesty. It worked. Tensions cooled and, to boot, some of the former militants have been trained in entrepreneurship skills to help them get a life worth the name.

Yet, and this is my major concern, I do not think government has really come to grips with the issues that remotely caused or precipitated the militancy in the first place. Life in the oil-rich delta is still pretty much unflattering. Several communities are left without power, clean water or any viable means of livelihood. Many areas lack schools of any kind, and where they are available, are not worthy of the name. Regional soils and waters are despoiled, leaving residents with few sustenance options. The Jonathan administration can look beyond the amnesty-induced peace and work towards evolving enduring harmony propelled by capacity-building and growth. The rehabilitated ex-militants represent a tiny

“The Boko Haram matter should be approached from a wider perspective. So far, government’s response is not flattering. Predominant assessment is that it is not doing enough to halt the sect. The move by the Jonathan administration to stop the United States government from designating Boko Haram as a terrorist group has also worsened matters. But I think that, one way or another, the terror reign will end someday; how that will happen is beyond me. Yet, one question remains: what happens after the guns and bombs of the sect cease? Has the Jonathan administration assessed the factors that gave rise to the emergence, and ferocity, of the sect and mapped out strategies to contain them? ”

fraction of the Niger Delta population, much of which live in abject poverty. Resolving infrastructural challenges will help to check gloom in the region. In other words, the government merely looked to contain the militancy, which it did, but has failed to create an environment that will be sustained on growth based on needs met, not on fires put out.

The Boko Haram matter should be approached from a wider, more comprehensive perspective. So far, government’s response is not flattering. Predominant assessment is that it is not doing enough to halt the sect. The move by the Jonathan administration to stop the United States government from designating Boko Haram as a terrorist group has also worsened matters. But I think that, one way or another, the terror reign will end someday; how that will happen is beyond me. Yet, one question remains: what happens after the guns and bombs of the sect cease? Beyond politics and rhetoric, has the Jonathan administration assessed the factors that gave rise to the emergence, and ferocity, of the sect and mapped out strategies to contain them? Is neglect of the people one of the reasons? Is infrastructural challenge another?

What about youth unemployment?

I have argued in this space that the federal government does not need to create a Ministry for the North to pacify Boko Haram, my position being that such creations are largely political and have very little positive effect, anyhow. The Niger Delta Ministry has changed little in the delta. Still, there is a lot a federal government can do to solve problems and stimulate growth in the states.

Apart from initiating and executing its developmental programmes, it can inspire the state governments to drive growth and put their people out of misery. To inspire, it must shed party toga. Its intentions must also be transparently genuine and the president must be fatherly and above board. He must be courageous, with an eye on enduring legacy.

That is one way to prepare for a postviolence era and make way for the emergence of a new Nigeria.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Comment & Analysis

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Ramadan Kareem As fasting ends, Muslims should retain the good lessons of the period HE Ramadan celebration of Eid-el-Fitri holds today. Eid, an Arabic word means ‘festival’ while fitr means ‘charity’. The festivity comes on the first day of the 10th month of Islamic lunar calendar. It is one of two festivals of Islamic importance that is celebrated by Muslims worldwide. The other important festivity is eid-el-kabir. Both are about test of faith, sacrifice and about how committed to the dictates of Almighty Allah adherents are. The replacement of human life with a ram at the nick of time by Allah is a testimony that Allah abhors human killing under whatever guise.

To stand the test of annual 30 days of fasting is a divine way of getting spiritual rebirth.

After a month-long life of self-restraint and special supplications as directed by Allah, Eid is expected to usher in boundless joy and happiness for devotees. Today is an occasion of social gathering - a day of joy and thanksgiving. All good Muslims should take advantage of the day to bring themselves nearer to Allah and show gratitude to him.

But the celebration should be modest. Muslims and their well wishers should not overreach themselves. Today should not be a day to indulge in depraved or obnoxious conducts. Muslims should take advantage of the day to be sensitive to and share the feelings of others. That is why the lessons of the holy month must reflect in the way they relate with friends, non-Muslims inclusive.

Muslims whose fast is based on imaan, sincerity, should truly expect reward, Ihtisaab, from Allah. Their past sins will be forgiven.

Allah surely multiplies the rewards of fasting beyond human comprehension. However, all

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N beginning this tribute to Mohammed Namadi Sambo, the Vice President, who was 58 years old on August 2, I have to quote Jerry Long Fellow: “The heights that great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.” The Holy Bible in Proverbs 22 verse 20 also says “Seest thou a man delight in his business, he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” These quotations could be said to be apt in describing Mohammed Namadi Sambo, an architect, a quintessential leader and administrator par excellence.

At 58, the vice president has demonstrated that he is not only a responsible leader, but also committed to the restoration and realisation of the vision of this administration led by Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonatnan. Let me use this opportunity to acknowledge the Vice President’s humility and wisdom. This is because true leaders are known to build legacies, mobilise and harness resources through motivated people as well as develop successors.

these are not forgone issues. Their fruition depends on how satisfactorily they can truly answer these questions: Did we perform our fast with the true belief and the full surrender to Allah? Did we fast because Allah imposed it on us, or for other selfish reasons? What have we gained from the month of Ramadan? Are we positively inclined towards fellow beings?

Have we overcome all our weaknesses and cruelty?

We have no doubt that obedient Muslims are assured of reward from Almighty Allah.

However, the Holy Spirit-filled environment of unity and spiritual rebirth of the month of Ramadan should be sustained beyond the past 30 days, not only among Muslims but also adherents of other religions in the country. Also, the pious habit of Qur’an recitation should not stop after Ramadan. True Muslims should resolve not to be good Muslims only during Ramadan period.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi

LETTERS

All human beings are expected to be their brother’s keeper and indulge in things that would make the community and the entire world one peaceful place for all to live in. In the spirit of Ramadan therefore, we call on the governments, institutions and Nigerians to have an attitudinal change that would not negate the commandments of Allah. The conduct and actions usually preceding the holy month of Ramadan, especially by the Boko Haram Islamic fundamentalists, have taken the country to nowhere. What should be done now is to continue to practice and sustain the pious lessons learnt during Ramadan.

The nation is bedevilled with insecurity majorly from the Boko Haram. The suicide bombing of fellow human beings, even during the month of Ramadan, is barbaric. The act negates the projection of Islam as a religion of peace. The Boko Haram insurgents should realise that they are denting the image of reasonable and law-abiding Muslims in the country who are averse to their destructive acts. The talk of restoring normalcy to the country must start with adhering to the tenets of Allah by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This is realisable only if stakeholders in the national project are honest with themselves, as true Muslims professed to be during the Ramadan period.

For Nigeria to make progress, we have to be our brother’s keeper; and we should resolve not to take more than our fair share of the national patrimony. That is a great lesson to be learnt from the just ended fasting, and it is crucial to reaping the rewards of the sacrifices made during the period.

Barka da sallah!

Mohammed Namadi Sambo at 58 Vice President Sambo is adored by many Nigerians because of his vision, dependability and tenderness. Indeed, he is a marked eagle of hope for simplicity in majesty, courage in faithfulness and triumph in adversity. To this end, therefore, he has displayed an amazing degree of charisma, charm and political brinkmanship. He has endeared himself to the common man on the street.

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HE real problem of the world is not with politics and politicians; it is with religion and religionists. Many countries have been destabilized where religious dogmatists wanted to carry out their dastardly intolerant trade. Religionists plant presidents of countries, and control such countries’ resources and kill openly and secretly any person or group with a diverse opinion. They use every means and form to nail any contrary belief.

Is it not worse that many organised religions in Nigeria have not embraced religious tolerance in this 21st century? Is re-

He believes that humility is the key that unlocks the potentials of greatness in men.

Those who begin with it have always ended well.

For VP Sambo, there is no other way to begin than through humble paths.

With determination, hard work and a thirst of excellence, he turned a rather placid personality to an accomplished administrator and politician.

Consequently, one can

rightly and happily say that the vice president is a scholar, an astute administrator, a designer with a relentless appetite for excellence.

Arc. Sambo is a man who has carved a niche for himself in the political honours roll both in Kaduna State and on the national level. A political juggernaut of immense clout whose pedigree is quite intimidating com-

pared to his contemporaries. At 58, the vice president is still looking hale and hearty, bearing it all with confidence and dexterity.

The standard so far exhibited as a vice president is commendable and worthy of emulation.

The vice president, an architect by training and an alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Kaduna State, is a politician, professional and

technocrat. While he was the governor of Kaduna State, he once said, “Our 11-point Agenda will address all the development and social needs of the state and bring tools of empowerment to youths and women.” He has truly come a long way.

I pray the Almighty God to guide and protect him and grant him more robust health and long life.

Charles Ikedikwa Soeze Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State.

Religious apartheid in Nigeria ligious pluralism and the views of individual religions not worth embracing harmoniously toward one another? We have smoked religion much in this country and have abandoned to learn about the long history of religious pluralism, persecution, and discrimination to enable us embrace each other as one.

How can Nigeria grow without us understanding interfaith tolerance? It is disappointing that religion continues to increase in scope and dimension in our country, to the detriment of co-existence,

which is supposed to represent a new and exciting glossary in the distribution of human acquaintance.

The challenge of being a religious minority in the country should no t imply minority in God. There will never be hope for Nigeria without first addressing this sensitive and creative convincing account of hatred, which religion is playing. The organised religionists forgot that the best way to achieve religious freedom for all citizens is by breathing in open-mindedness

with folks of other faiths.

It is disappointing that Nigeria has become a nation with a history of religious violence, most remarkably between Christians and Muslims; and the two are also fighting for the destruction of the practical traditional beliefs. People cannot continue this way.

How long shall the people continue to pummel people’s religious freedom? Without religious freedom, how can we be talking about measures of financial freedom, community wellbeing, national liberties, and opinionated

rights...?

The traditionalists are suffering from religious persecution in the hands of Christianity and Islam, whereas religious freedom is supposed to be for all. Nigeria as a country with Christian and Muslim backgrounds does not mean that the two religions have the best knowledge of God, even though they are constitutionally regarded as the ‘accepted’ religions.

By Odimegwu Onwumere, Port Harcourt, Rivers State

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Comment & Analysis

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

I

T is now common knowledge that the presidency is ready to celebrate the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 by Frederick Lugard. Such celebration is not just an attempt to recognise the amalgamation as a positive milestone in the history of Nigeria. It is, simply put, a bold attempt by the federal government to commemorate the country’s colonisation. The question of the minute is whether observing the amalgamation can enhance the country’s unity or whether it is likely to incense citizens struggling for restoration of federalism as another attempt to justify the current unitary governance of the country.

Given the history of several resistances against Britain’s colonisation of Nigeria in general and against Lugard in particular, as well as the huge sacrifices made by nationalist leaders that fought against colonialism and struggled for self-government in the regions and for independence for the entire country, many patriots are likely to be saddened by any effort by a civilian president that is craving, over fifty years after independence, to celebrate the raw act of colonisation of the country. It is not out of place for such patriots to ask why the fed-

About our country’s celebration of its colonisation Britain is happy that Nigeria is still dependent on it today eral government is not ready to leave the celebration of the country’s most critical colonial decision to the United Kingdom’s government.

Certainly, the British should have more reasons than Nigeria to commemorate the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914. It enabled Britain to have the most populous country in Africa today. Lugard’s courage and insensitivity to join the two protectorates made (and still does) today’s Nigeria one country that has more people than all the colonies of France, Britain’s competitor in the scramble for and partition of Africa. It must be a thing of joy to the British that the huge country it created out of many in 1914 is still almost as dependent on it as it was in the days of Lugard. For example, instead of generating electricity like other former British colonies, Lugard’s Nigeria relies on generating sets manufactured in England and clones from such places as China and India. The United Kingdom has reasons to beat its chest for the continuation of the tradition of organising census and elections it bequeathed to Ni-

geria. Britain should also feel good that its compromise on moving from Lugard’s amalgamation (unitary governance) to federalism in the 50s and at independence has subtly been annuled by Nigerian dictators that came in the post-colonial decades.

But if the current federal government believes that it is better positioned to lead the celebration of the amalgamation of Nigeria, it should not fail to do it in style, in consonance with the country’s flair for conducting dexterous and outlandish festivals or carnivals. It should invite any of Lugard’s living relatives to give a keynote speech or serve as father or mother of the day. It should open a special register in Worcester, England, where Lugard was raised, with the aim of thanking the town for producing the father of Nigeria. There should be space in the celebration for a London celebration, to which Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Cameron are invited to represent, respectively, King George V and Herbert Asquith, the prime minister in charge of the colonial government in 1914. If possible,

these two should be invited to Abuja to serve as grandmother and grandfather of the day. If not, we should organise a London version of the commemoration to make it easy for the two to serve as co-celebrants. President Museveni of Uganda should be invited to assist its sister-country to celebrate the accomplishments of a man that served both countries as the icon of British colonialism in Africa.

One thing that must not be missed in the celebration— whether representatives of the family of Lugard or the British royalty and government agree to participate in the celebration—is making copies of Lugard’s books available as items to be included in the gift bags to be distributed at the ceremony. If this is going to be too expensive, Lugard’s favourite description of the typical African should be printed on the Programme of Events. It should not be too expensive for petroleum-rich Nigeria to include the following lines of Lugard’s favourite quote: “The typical African…is happy, thriftless, excitable person, lacking in self-control, discipline and foresight,

naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity… in brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children.”

Furthermore, any Nigerian that is opposed to the celebration of Nigeria’s glorious beginning with amalgamation should be declared personal non-grata and a mortal enemy of Nigerian unity. Any Nigerian that chooses to demonstrate or protest against the grand celebration of Nigeria’s Lugardian origin should be charged with treason or treasonable felony. The federal government should leave no stone unturned in its effort to convince critics of the proposed mother of celebrations that its decision is infallible. It should encourage critics to read Michael S. Roth’s The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty, especially on the thesis about how our brains convince us that our lies are true. Those charged to mould the consciousness of citizens should not fail to say that there is nothing too absurd to do on account of the unity of Nigeria, manufactured by Lugard in 1914.

Wale Omole: The omoluabi professor at 70 Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

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N the article ‘TWO OF A KIND’,( 29 April, 2012), I wrote about Professors Bolaji Akinyemi and Jide Osuntokun, two distinguished University Professors who clocked the biblical 70 years a few months of each other with their paths crisscrossing each other all of those many years. Today, it is my pleasure to write on another class act; the bewilderingly handsome and equally brilliant Professor Wale Omole, OFR, former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, former Chairman, Committee of Vice- Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Executive Board member, Association of African Universities, as well as that of its Commonwealth counterpart and a recipient of honours by far too many to itemise here and who, to the glory of God, hosted the crème de la crème of Nigeria to an early morning breakfast at his posh home in the Ikeja GRA on Monday, 13 August, 2012, after a 7 o’clock thanks giving service at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church where we both worship.

Suffice it to say, however, that he was selected the 1995 Man of the Year for Institutional Management by the American Biographical Institute.and he is a consultant and adviser to a number of corporations on “strategy and value creation from intangible assets.” He is engaged in conflict resolution and

Professor Omole is your quintessential town and gown academic who has impacted Osun State comprehensively business development, and is a director of many public and private companies.

I had first met the ‘Baffday boy’ in ’68 when he graduated and was going directly into graduate studies in the Faculty of Agriculture at the then University of Ife and was completely bowled over by his sartorial elegance, an attribute he has carried to his glorious ‘70’s. Dashing and of course, one of the ‘happening boys’ on campus, Wale Omole’s was obviously one of the most recognisable faces on that ‘best of all African university campuses’ which he would later lead as the first ever alumnus to become the Vice-Chancellor. He would further ‘waoh’, literally, the entire university community the more when some four years after, having obtained a P.HD from the University of Alberta, Canada, he breezed in with a one-in-town, snow-white citreon car. He was loved by all, as extravagant as that claim may look today.

It can therefore be no surprise that it was there in Ile-Ife, as a dashing young lecturer, soul-mate of the equally ‘happening’ Princecharming Deji Adelabu, that he met and married his gem of a wife and life-long partner, the delectable , now graciously aging grandma, Mrs Shade Omole, mother of his 3 adoring children.

A multitasking workaholic, Wale Omole fitted smugly into the tradition of strong personalities as Vice-Chancellors of the University of Ife /Obafemi Awolowo University; the likes of my boss, the administrator per excellence, Professor H.A Oluwasanmi, Prof Ojetunji

Aboyade, the witheringly brilliant economist, Prof Cyril Onwumechili, the problem solver, the ‘Awise’ (soothsayer) himself, Professor Wande Abimbola and the environmentalist, Professor Caleb Osuntogun, who he succeeded.

As indicated earlier, these were all strong characters that all positively impacted the University.

While the ‘builder’, Professor H.A Oluwasanmi’s tenure, had witnessed not only the eventual move from Ibadan to Ile-Ife but also massive infrastructural development and the creation of , unarguably, the most beautiful University campus in Africa, Omole’s witnessed the introduction and rapid intensification of ICT into the running of the University. He brokered several international linkages and translated the university into a truly global village where staff and students could easily access the latest literature or development in their areas of study.

Professor Omole is your quintessential town and gown academic and it is in this respect that he has brought his tremendous knowledge, network and panache to positively, and comprehensively impact the direction of economic development in his native State of Osun.

As Chairman of Kajola Integrated Investment Plc, by which you can, with considerable justification, call him the modern day OSOMALO (a pet name describing the archetypical Ijesha business man) cognoscente, Professor Omole once again eloquently demonstrates his multitasking propensities as well as his sheer gregarious-

ness. Kajola Integrated Investment Plc was incorporated, with him as the initiator, on 22nd March 2006 as a limited liability Company specialising in the provision of integrated financial services, Real Estate, Project Management and Business Development. It commenced operations on the 1st of June, 2007 with a capital base of =N=100m which by 31 December2008 has grossed a total of N.216 Billion as shareholders funds.

The spread of the shareholders easily demonstrates the professor’s wide ranging network and through this multi-purpose economic driver, he has been able to touch many lives especially in Osun state from where comes most of the stakeholders. Professor Omole has equally given quality time to organising and personally leading various seminars to further empower civil servants in the state as a way of improving their overall performance.

A patriot of the highest hue Professor Omole is a trustee of educational, research and leadership foundations and serves as chairman, Editorial Board for Corporate Social Responsibility of the New Nigeria Foundation. He is also a trustee and chairman of the governing council of Yoruba Academy.

For more than two years and together with leading lights of the Yoruba Nation which included Lt. General Alani Akinrinade, Vice-Admiral Akintunde Aduwo, Ambassador Dapo Fafowora, Professors Bolaji Akinyemi and Jide Osuntokun, Dr Amos Akingba, Chief (Mrs) Awosika, Olori Gbadebo, Dr

Dele Sobowale, Mrs Tola Adenle, Mrs Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, Omooba Bambo Ademiluyi, Omooba Shyllon and several others, including yours truly, Professor Wale Omole laboured tirelessly to birth and properly position the AGBAJO YORUBA AGBAIYE which was intended to be a leading Yoruba Cultural Organisation until the main streamers showed their evil hands and killed it.

Without a scintilla of doubt, Professor Wale Omole has left his mark on the sands of time. He has impacted positively on the Nigerian society as well as internationally being a consummate, well sought-after academic.

This short write-up will, however, be incomplete without reference to a time he will personally reckon as a particularly trying time during his tenure as Vice Chancellor of the Great University. A Christian to the core, and one of the leading lights of the Archdeacon Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, Ikeja, Lagos, he will surely, in retrospect, look back with regret that with all his best efforts at checkmating cultism at the university, some students still unfortunately lost their lives to the menace at a period that can safely be described as the apogee of that madness in Nigerian universities. Given that lives were lost, it will remain for him only a little comfort, significant as it is to history, that the Federal Government completely exonerated him from any culpability in the event.

Here is wishing Professor Omole many happy returns of the day in great health and shape.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Tunji

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

J

UST for how long does Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad hope to cling precariously to power?

This is a pertinent question considering that this is about the 17 th month since the battle to topple his government started. I have no doubt that the regime would eventually fall, irrespective of the countries that are backing him, but the question of ‘when’ remains pertinent. So is the question of how many more lives, limbs, property and infrastructure to sacrifice to the needless war that has turned Syria into a caricature of what it used to be.

Apparently, there are many things that the Syrian maximum ruler seems not to understand. One is the fact that the people do not need to give any reason for wanting their leader out. That is what the likes of Assad have to get into their numb skulls. Second, it also has nothing to do with whether the leader that the people want out is performing well or not. If the issue was performance alone, Muammar Ghadaffi would still have been in power. Most people agreed that Ghadaffi did well for the Libyans; but he did not give them freedom.

Moreover, he had stayed too long in power; the Libyans wanted a change. Those were enough reasons to tell him to go, especially because the idea of freedom had finally arrived Libya, after the protests in Tunisia and Egypt, where the ‘Arab Spring’ first occurred.

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

Oyinkan Medubi 08187172799 (SMS only) puchuckles7@gmail.com

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OST of us are familiar with the folk tales about how the tortoise came about his hard shell. Naturally, these tales ignore the creation theory and go on to weave, concoct and spin creative plots on how he came about his designer shell.

My favourite out of them all is the one about how, during a particularly biting famine, he struck up a fast friendship with the dog who had hidden his own mother somewhere in the skies and who now provided him with victuals to assuage the effects of the famine. Being of a greedy turn of mind, however, the tortoise could never quite correctly gauge the metric volume of his own stomach and would gorge himself beyond his carrying capacity. Well he did it one day too many and found himself unable to use the feathers provided by Friend Dog for flying back to earth and so found himself crashing down instead. The result? His shell broke to pieces on his back and he has been constrained to wearing the sewed-up, broken pieces ever since. These accounts do not quite clear up the mystery of why the tortoise’s shell did not shatter into unrecoverable pieces, but who cares. There are greater mysteries.

Many men can swear on everything they earn that the greatest mystery on this planet is the mind

Syria’s Assad, ophthalmologist without eyes or vision Opposition should get set for life after the despot What Assad’s attitude to power has taught us is that intending leaders need to be subjected to psychiatric tests. If we could do this for people intending to drive on the roads, to ensure that we do not licence potential killers, the need for psychiatric test is higher when considering people for leadership positions, especially at the national level. Leaders must know how to quit when the ovation is loudest. It was Assad’s failure to adhere to this age-long truism that has put him in the present mess that he is in; one in which he has found it almost impossible to move forward, and utterly disgraceful to beat a retreat.

In Assad, the world must have been harbouring somebody that is probably more dangerous than Ghadaffi, unknown to it. The problem is that while Ghadaffi carried his own ruthlessness on his head, Assad has been hiding his underneath his Western suits, with which he has deceived the world to believe that he is a cultured and ur-

bane leader; one that is as harmless as a dove. His diminutive stature and deceitful smiles helped to conceal the true picture of who the man, Bashar Al Assad, truly is. This was a man who claimed that he initially did not have any interest in politics, unlike his brothers, Bassel and Maher, and sister, Bushra. As a matter of fact, he was quoted to have said that his lack of interest in politics made him enter his father’s office only once when the latter was president. If all these were true, how come he now finds it difficult to quit, preferring, instead, to waste his people’s lives and destroy the infrastructure that his father spent 29 years building, and which he is also supposed to have been building on in the last 12 years? Assad’s true colours are obviously just emerging. He has been fooling the world all the while.

But what he does not realise is that he is compounding his woes for every single day that he stays longer in power. Indeed, his long stay in power is akin to that of a

“But it is regrettable that a man initially seen as a potential reformer, gaining the nickname “The Hope”, by both the domestic community as well as the international community, could be working hard to end so badly. It is sadder still that an ophthalmologist, someone who is supposed to be a specialist in eye and vision care, will have to fall so disgracefully like someone with neither eyes nor vision”

person who stayed too long in the lavatory; he would have to play host to all kinds of maggots.

Whether in the proverbial or in the real sense, that is what Mr Assad is facing in Syria today, with the number of people that are falling daily from bomb blasts and gunshots in the ongoing battle to bring an inglorious end to his dictatorial regime.

But then, it ought to have been clear to Assad by now, that he cannot get away with this. History, whether ancient or modern, is not on his side. If historical accounts that we all read in the books seem too far-fetched to him, or look like fiction to be true, what of the lessons from the capture of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Ghadaffi and the rest that we all witnessed? Is Assad, an ophthalmologist, blind to the fact of the ‘Arab Spring’ that has swept away the governments of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Ben Ali of Tunisia and Ghadaffi, (the first and only leader so far killed in the course of the revolutions). The other two are serving life terms. No one needs a soothsayer or prophet to know that Assad is next on the line; he has dug in too far to expect any prison terms. As a matter of fact, he is serving as the architect of the hot death that awaits him after the curtain would have been drawn, as it sure would, sooner than later, on his infamous regime. The way he is going, his end would be more

Why the tortoise wears a hard shell and other mysteries There is no making out the deep and mysterious mind of a Nigerian of a woman. On the contrary, many women have sworn that men are not so hard to figure out after all since there’s really only one thing on a man’s mind. Gerrouta here! I knew exactly what you would think, so the women are right. No, it’s not that though. It has come to my knowledge that men are really preoccupied with just one worry: how they can be allowed to gain a night’s worth of peaceful sleep without anyone asking them to calculate how many stars there are in the sky or how fast the moon is rotating round the earth.

So, no matter how much the men shout and rant during the day when their strength is at its peak, most women have learnt to keep their cool, waiting for the right time to strike. Come night time, when all is silent, when the day’s struggles are ended and the man’s strength is waned from fruitlessly pursuing money, and he begins to nod off, then out comes the woman’s dagger. ‘Ehn hen, Papa Bibi, I discovered today that the thing holding the water tank is cracking and can fall anytime. I told you last week too that the tap in the kitchen is about to come out. My fear is that the floor can be flooded any time.

Then I think the floor in the children’s room is shaking... but you can check that one tomorrow; it’s the tank that can fall anytime that is my problem. Are you hearing me?’ And the man grunts resign-

edly as if surrendering to death, ‘Yes, I can hear you’. Great mystery, a woman’s mind I tell you, but let me show you an even greater one.

If you ask me, I think the greatest mystery on earth today is the Nigerian’s mind. Now, that is something that makes me whistle through the teeth in wonderment.

Have you ever tried to make it out?

Don’t bother; you would sooner solve the Rubik’s cube mystery than unravel that maze of intertwining turns and twists. A Nigerian mind will one moment display unrivalled sympathy for someone in the throes of some distress or the other and proceed to fleece him of his skin in the next moment. There are stories of how Nigerians are eager to assist in accident scenes and then make away with properties belonging to the victims. And what of how Nigerians so readily sympathise and cooperate with foreign contractors and workers only to turn round and take the shirt off their backs?

The other day, I read of how the British businessman and part-owner of Virgin Nigeria lamented on how difficult it was for him to continue to do business in Nigeria because of the fact that Nigerians want so much. I think his problem stems from the fact that these were the same people who gave him such maximum cooperation when he

first came to declare his intention. Now, the poor man cannot believe how they could so easily have turned out differently. I cannot believe it either. There is just no making out the deep, deep and mysterious mind of a Nigerian.

Generally, I love mysteries. It is just so beautiful the way crime writers hide their criminals beneath veneers of uprightness, calmness and innocence for a long while in a novel until the writer gets tired and reveals all at the end. Many times, though, the suspect may escape from even the writer. One crime writer was said to have been found by his wife searching frantically through the sheaves of paper he had written on, all the time swearing and muttering. When she asked what the problem was, he was said to have turned a deeply worried face to her, ‘I can’t find the damned murderer!’ Now that, I tell you is mystery indeed. There’s no greater problem than a murderer who escapes from the pages of a few sheaves of paper. All the king’s men and all the king’s horses cannot bring that one out.

The king’s men and horses are now and about trying to solve the problem of the fuel scam in Nigeria. And this is where the mystery is. How can a group, either fronting or back-

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brutal than that of Ghadaffi. Indeed, his best bet would be to be man by committing suicide because Syrians would turn his nose to a trumpet if he is foolish enough to allow himself to be captured.

Should he be lily-livered at the most crucial period, he would face the ignominy of being tried for genocide; he cannot escape this. In case he does not know, as far as the world, and especially Syrians are concerned, the only good Al Assad today is a dead one.

By now, Syrian opposition leaders must start preparing for a postAssad Syria. It is gratifying that they have already started to come together in earnest to prevent a recurrence of the kind of crises that we have in Libya after the fall of Ghadaffi. As a leading opposition figure from Deraa who has played a major role in organising the rebellion in the city said, “The regime will be finished, so we have to build ourselves now for what happens when it falls, so there is not a dangerous vacuum … We have seen what has happened in Libya with all of the different militia groups and we will not allow that to be repeated here, when the regime finally falls there must be order and control,” he added. So help them God. But it is regrettable that a man initially seen as a potential reformer, gaining the nickname “The Hope”, by both the domestic community as well as the international community, could be working hard to end so badly. It is sadder still that an ophthalmologist, someone who is supposed to be a specialist in eye and vision care, will have to fall so disgracefully like someone with neither eyes nor vision. Perhaps other leaders who might want to travel the road Assad is now travelling would learn from his predictable fall since he has refused to learn from the fall of his ilk.

ing another group, undertake to condoodle the nation out of so much and all we can do is, well, sort of, just look on? I mean, look and see how so much poverty is swirling around you, yet there be some in the land who swirl champagne round their tall glasses of a morning. But, let me quickly add that these people are not entirely heartless. They give something to beggars when they see them. The point is, how can such contradictions exist so comfortably in the same land?

There is nothing as mysterious as mystery itself. It sustained kings and kingdoms in the past. Any king worth his salt dared not to let his people make him out completely or he would be a sitting duck. Give the people a little something to be jittery about, a little mystery here and there and the people would fall in line. That was why the famous Henry VIII had to have so many wives. It has even sustained homes. The reason many wives have not left their husbands is because they do not know exactly how much those husbands earn, so they prefer to stay on and keep guessing. It is right now even sustaining the nation.

Now, who on earth can predict the president’s next step, or even his wife’s? I tell you, Nigeria is the home of the mysterious because there is just no making out the people’s mind. Since I can never know what they are going to do next so, I have decided I’d better go find out really why the tortoise wears a hard shell. It turns out he needs the shell to help protect him against unforeseen injuries. For the same reason, some of us had better borrow a shell or two from him; at least something else can shatter other than one’s back.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Comment & Analysis

T

How to resolve federalism crisis

HERE is a major crisis brewing in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

The Northern Governors, with the exception of Plateau State, have rejected the call for State Police which they had formerly proposed along with their Southern counterparts. They now reject the proposal, whilst all the 17 Southern Governors and the Plateau State Governor remain steadfast in the demand for State Police. The result of this is that 18 Governors favour State Police whilst 18 Governors are opposed to it.

The present debate on the issue seems focused on which of the two groups will prevail. That approach is totally uncalled for. If the Northern Governors oppose the establishment of State Police, why can’t they have their way with regard to their own States, leaving Plateau and the 17 Southern States to also have their way and establish State Police in their own States? Must there be uniformity of States on every matter? No. It is this penchant for stifling uniformity that is choking Nigeria to death. We are not the same people. “Nigeria is not a Nation”, remember? It is a State or Country of many nations. There must be flexibility and space for each State to express its individual identity and will.

If the North does not want State Police, let them not have. But they should not be allowed to impose a life style or governance style that is convenient for them on all other States, for whom that style is not convenient.

There is nothing unique about different States in a federation exercising power in different ways over different subject matter. The concept is known as asymmetric federalism, and it is being practiced all over the world.

As it is described in Wikipedia, asymmetrical federalism is found in a federation in which different constituent States possess different powers. In such a situation, one or more States have more autonomy than other States. The division of powers between the States is not symmetrical (as in present day Nigeria) where no distinction is made between constituent States.

There are two types of asymmetric federalism. We have the de jure asymmetry, in Legislative powers, representation in Central institutions and in rights and obligations, that are set out in the Constitution. The second

By Itse Sagay type, de facto asymmetry reflects agreements which come out of national policy (not constitutionally expressed).

It is the outcome of negotiations leading to adhoc deals with specific States, involving opting out (for example of federal police) none of which are entrenched in the Constitution.

Quebec, the only French speaking province of Canada, is the beneficiary of many de facto asymmetric agreements. Although tax collection is normally solely a federal responsibility, by agreement, both the Federal and Quebec Governments are entitled to collect corporate, personal and sale taxes in Quebec. In other provinces, only sale taxes are collected by their Governments. Quebec operates its own pension plan, whilst the other nine provinces are covered by Federal/ Provincial Canada Pension plan. Again Quebec has extensive authority over employment and immigration issues within its borders. These matters are handled by the Federal Government in all other States.

In the Malaysian federation, which has 13 States, Saba and Sarawak States enjoy significant autonomy in excess of that enjoyed by the remaining 11 States, particularly in the area of immigration control.

In India, special provisions are made for the States of Jammu and Kashmir.

By these provisions, with exception of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Communication, the Indian Parliament needs the State Governments’ Concurrence, before applying other laws to those States. Similar protections for unique status exist in the tribal areas of India including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andamari & Nichobar Islands and Nagaland.

Even in Nigeria, there have in the past been laws and Constitutions with asymmetrical objectives and effect.

By sections 7 and 14 and schedule 1 of the 1964 Constitution of the Mid-West Region, the Akoko-Edo, Isoko, Western Ijaw and the Warri areas of the MidWestern Region were proclaimed special areas. Under this provision, each of these minority areas was to be represented by 4 persons in the Mid-

W

Before Odumakin twists facts of history

HILE the quest for political power could at times be fierce and fratricidal, (all because of the plums and perquisites of office) we in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) have the firm belief in performance of those elected into office, as a benchmark for unbiased assessment. While every Nigerian of the voting age has the constitutional right to pitch his tent with any political party of his choice, out of his own volition, we in the ACN hold tenaciously to the doctrine of facing facts, bare as they are, instead of twisting them for selfserving reasons. Only then can one be on the safe side of history. That is because history, untainted and undiluted is our ultimate judge.

For us therefore, it is a cruel irony that Yinka Odumakin, incidentally one of the youngest beneficiaries of the progressive programmes that parties such as the defunct Action Group (AG), the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alliance for Democracy (AD) when he and Dr. Moses Omosehindemi defected to AD at playground in Gbagada Lagos, would now turn history on its head; to say that never a time has one party held sway over the politically sophisticated region of the West region. That is not only untrue, but pure fallacy.

Lest Odumakin forgets so soon, we need to remind him that ever before the country’s independence in 1960, the AG was the party that swept the polls in the defunct Western Region with the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as the indefatigable and resourceful banner bearer. There were few exceptions of course, such as the late Ladoke Akintola, Remi FaniKayode and Adisa Akinloye, amongst others.

Even Odumakin must have learnt

By Idowu Ajanaku about the unprecedented economic development arising from the party’s capacity in connecting well with the people’s priority needs. That saw to the enactment and sustenance of impactmaking policies such as Free Education and Farm Centres across the region.

And history was made then with the first television house in Africa, the tallest building on the continent(Cocoa House, Ibadan),the Liberty Stadium, as well as several sprawling industrial estates sprouted across the city landscapes from Lagos to Ibadan and beyond.

Similarly, the Second Republic witnessed the resurgence of such socio-economic transformation of the Western States under the Unity Party of Nigeria, with Awolowo as the competent pilot.

All the South-Western states including the defunct Bendel State (now Edo and Delta) were ruled by UPN. So where did Odumakin get his own history from by claiming that South-West was never ruled by a monolithic party? If Awolowo (whose iconic cap) Odumakin loves to wear was one desperate dictator he would not have summoned a meeting of his party’s stalwarts at his Park Lane residence in 1983.The aim was to ask for their opinion on the request by the then President Shehu Shagari for a meeting with the opposition leaders. Should they attend the meeting or not? That was the burning question Awolowo asked his fellow party men.

The general consensus then was that as firm believers in the dictates of democracy they should attend. Awolowo could not say no. All he did, to register

western House of Assembly. Only persons belonging to specific ethnic groups were eligible to represent the four minority areas in the Mid-Western State House of Assembly as follows: 1. Akoko-Edo Area Yoruba speaking Edo ethnic group 2. Isoko Area The Isoko Ethnic group 3. The Warri Area (i.e. the Present Warri-North, WarriSouth and Warri South-West, Itsekiri Ethnic group Local Government Areas 4. Western Ijaw The Ijaw Ethnic group The special area constitutional provisions were made to protect the minority ethnic groups in that Region from gradual assimilation or annihilation arising from influx of people from outside the special area.

Additionally, it was intended; to ensure that these indigenous minorities were not politically swamped by ‘invading’ majority groups who would take over political office and power from the indigenous minority by their sheer numbers.

This is a clear example of an asymmetrical Constitution, because this principle limiting the right to contest elections in minority areas, did not apply to other parts of the Region like, Benin, Ishan, Afenmai, Owan, Urhobo and Ibo. Again, arising out of the case of Obi v. INEC, governorship elections are no longer held on the same day in Nigeria.

They are now staggered. Indeed, it was argued by INEC and PDP in that case, that if Peter Obi’s 4-year tenure was to commence from 17th March, 2006 when he took the Oath of Office, as Governor of Anambra State, it would truncate the election time-table in Nigeria, i.e., it would be impossible to hold all governorship elections in one day. The Supreme Court (per Aderemi JSC) saw nothing wrong with the turn of events.

Infact, the Court saw it in a positive light.

According to the learned Justice of the Supreme Court: “I do not buy that argument. In the first place, there is nothing in our 1999 Constitution which says all elections to political offices in this country at the Federal and State

his protest at the outcome of the controversial elections, was to wear a white band on his right hand in order to avoid a handshake with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as a mark of protest. By that singular action he had proved to cynics that he was not the political demagogue as some people would think. He was not the one to whip his subjects into line.

After all, democracy is all about the aggregation of variegated views out of which that of the majority always carries the day.

Odumakin would no doubt attest to this as he became one of the youngest Yoruba elites to be chosen to conduct the party primaries under the defunct AD, when Chief Abraham Adesanya (of blessed memory) was the party leader. Odumakin did not talk about dictatorship then. Neither did he say so when subsequently he was chosen again, even at that young age, as a member of the panel to assess the performance of elected governors under AD. As fate would have it, he gave his full support to Mr. Jimi Agbaje when he wanted the AC gubernatorial ticket in Lagos to no avail. That was before Agbaje defected to the Democratic Party Alliance (DPA). Yet, he, Odumakin was not a card- carrying member of the party, as he was also never a member of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) even as Major-Gen Muhammadu Buhari’s (rtd) spokesperson. However, there is no space in the constitution that gives room for independent candidacy.

A true democrat at heart should follow the blueprint of consistency, more by his actions than by wishful words.

Was it not the same Odumakin who

•Jonathan levels, should be held at the same time.

If there was a provision to that effect, that would negate the concept of Federalism which we have freely chosen to practice”.

This is clear case of judicial support for asymmetrical federalism, representing true federalism, as against stifling suffocating anti-federal uniformity. (See Obi v. INEC [2007] 11 NWLR (Pt. 1046) 565 at p. 644) It is important to point out that the Northern and Southern Governors and their zones represent different tendencies in their attitude to federalism. Those who do not want State Police, tend to be the groups that want a strong central government, controlling virtually everything, leaving the States prostrate. Such groups tend to be the dominant ones, who lacking in easily exploitable natural resources, seek to control resources from other zones through the control of a powerful central government. The other group tends to be those who want true federalism, with significant autonomy and resource control for the States, the federating units.

In the search for a suitable formula for the harmonious political association of the ethnic nationalities of Nigeria,

joined voices with lovers of democracy to condemn the PDP rigging machinery that bulldozed through the SouthWest and rode roughshod on the people’s mandate? Or, how would one explain a situation whereby in the election conducted in Ogun State in 2003, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, PDP presidential flag bearer had more votes than the gubernatorial candidate Gbenga Daniel? Why did Odumakin not say then that the PDP won free and square?

His claim that AD governors lost the election due to arrogance, even before the conduct of the election was another pure fallacy.

But for the vigilance of Asiwaju Bola Ahmaed Tinubu, the rigging whirlwind of PDP would have been completed in the South West, as Lagos election result had already been posted on the internet even before Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) official result was announced.

Now and sadly too, Odumakin has turned full circle by aligning with Alhaji Abdulkadir the former Chairman of AD who congratulated those who rigged his party out even before contacting his party members. He was later compensated with the post of a Special Adviser

by Obasanjo. Where lies consistency of purpose which is one of the hallmarks of an individual’s success in any endeavour?

Any major shift is always considered as an aberration or an exception to the rule. But for the infighting between It becomes even more annoying when the governor in charge under the amorphous Labour Party (LP) refuses to make the desired impact but derives immense pleasure at elevating cheap

asymmetric federalism seems the only way forward. The three southern zones and the old Middle Belt demand a fundamental restructuring of the country, involving extensive transfer of powers and resources from the federal to the proposed regional governments or the existing states. But the political elite of the northwest and northeast are unwilling to entertain such a restructuring. In view of the stalemate between the two sets of geopolitical zones, I propose the introduction of asymmetrical federalism in which the northwestern and northeastern zones, and parts of the north central zone, can retain the centralized federation of the 1999 Constitution. Others can choose a looser, restructured federation.

Under this system of asymmetrical federalism, the southern zones and the parts of the north central zone sharing the same view, would establish their own independent police forces, organize their own population censuses, electricity generation, control labour and industrial relations and control their mineral resources, independent of the Federal Government. The reluctant zones, by contrast, could operate a single police authority with the federal government and allow the latter to continue conducting population censuses, generating electricity, controlling their mineral resources and determining minimum wages, centrally on their behalf.

Under this arrangement, every zone and nationality would operate under the type of federalism that it prefers. In this manner the Nigerian federation, will remain unbroken.

Once asymmetrical federalism is adopted, every federating unit can achieve its hopes and aspirations and Nigerian States can achieve a high level of harmony. The eradication of uniformity with its strangle-hold on true federalism and its stifling effect, will go a long way to make unity in diversity achievable, thus paving the way for mutual tolerance, solidarity and co-operation within a loose federation.

Professor Sagay is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria

propaganda to the high heavens, using state resources. We certainly cannot fold our arms and watch state resources being diverted to chasing shadows instead of focusing on the substance of good governance, which Mimiko has deliberately refused to deliver.

Can Odumakin in good conscience explain to the good people of Ondo State why he would publicly declare his support for his new-found friend who, for the past four years has not commissioned a single road project in the state?

Odumakin may not like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s face but that is not an enough reason to twist the facts of history. Just as history threw up Awolowo in the fifties and sixties, Adesanya in the eighties and nineties, the same type of circumstances of grand deceit from the reactionaries has propelled Tinubu, a man of rare courage and a democrat to the core, despite his shortcomings to the political limelight; to right the wrongs of the past for the Yoruba race. Odumakin should pause for a moment for a sober reflection. He, Odumakin, is not from Ondo State and does not know where the shoe pinches.

He should therefore, hold his breath and wait for the people to make their choice. By electing Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), a man of pedigree, honesty and vision under the banner of ACN, the Ondo State people will join their kith and kiln in the South-West come October 20, 2012. That is history for it does not change; it is only men that have failed to learn from it.

Ajanaku is the Director of Media, Publicity & Media of the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation.

POLITICS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

•Olusola Saraki

•Abdulfatah Ahmed

2015: New game plan in Kwara The recent renaming of the Ilorin Golf Course by the Kwara State Government may have thrown up new political calculations ahead the 2015 general elections, reports Remi Adelowo

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HE recent decision by Abdulfatah Ahmed-led government of Kwara State to rename the Ilorin Golf Course in honour of the former governor of the state, the late Mohammed Alabi Lawal, has been described as both a political masterstroke and a careful strategy to cement plans for 2015 elections. This is because it has not only opened up avenues for political reconciliations but has tactically ended one of the bitterest political battles in the recent history of the state.

The battle in question was one political battle that was fought with all the arsenals at the disposal of the combatants. Nothing was spared in this ‘war’ for the soul of Kwara politics.

Pitched in the contest was the patriarch of the state politics, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, backed by his son, Bukola, and their array of die-hard supporters versus the then sitting governor of the state, Mohammed Alabi Lawal.

The elder Saraki, whose word was law as far as the state politics is concerned, had almost singlehandedly installed Lawal as governor in 1999 under the platform of the former All Peoples Party, now All Nigeria Peoples Party. The relationship between Saraki and Lawal was nothing but smooth at the beginning. Lawal deferred to Saraki almost without question.

But as in most relationships involving political godfathers and their godsons, a crisis of confidence soon put a sharp wedge between Saraki and Lawal.

The situation got even worse in the run down to the

2003 general elections, as Saraki, felt slighted by Lawal’s alleged ‘effrontery to assert himself as governor. So, the Kwara state political godfather vowed to scuttle Lawal’s second term ambition.

Lawal, a retired Rear Admiral of the Nigerian Navy, was prepared for the battle. Fully conscious of the fact that he was up against a formidable foe, sources in the know said he deployed both the state and party machinery in a desperate bid to consign his godfather into political irrelevance.

So bitter was the acrimony between the erstwhile political soul mates that Lawal, determined to wrestle the control of his party machinery, forced Saraki to abandon the party and subsequently berthed at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Elections over, leaving traits of bruises on both sides, Lawal finally lost out. The elder Saraki’s son, Abubakar Bukola, was elected governor. Despite feeble attempts to stay relevant, Lawal never recovered from his fall from power until he passed on some years ago.

His demise left his political camp in disarray, while his party, ANPP, has never fully regained its pride of place in the state. For about eight years, Lawal’s key supporters, led by his son- in-law, Razak Lawal, have also made several attempts to rise from political obscurity, but without much headway.

That, however, may soon be a thing of the past, if a recent development in the state of harmony is anything to go by. In a surprise move that has been described as a

•Bukola Saraki

deft political masterstroke, the state government some days ago, announced the renaming of the prestigious Ilorin Golf Course after the late Mohammed Lawal.

The decision, made public by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, and believed to have been sanctioned by Dr. Bukola Saraki, now the acknowledged new leader of the state politics, has drawn comments from political commentators from within and outside the state.

The decision though may appear simply as a reconciliation agenda on the surface, sources revealed that it was more of a strategic move by Saraki and the PDP to forge new alliances in the preparations for the 2015 general elections.

The move, The Nation further learnt, is to ensure that Kwara Central, which, prior to the 2003 elections, was sharply divided along cultural, political and traditional lines, unites behind the Saraki political camp. Both Lawal and the Sarakis hail from Ilorin in Kwara Central.

Already, feelers from the Lawal camp indicate that the renaming of the Golf Course was more than welcome. Days after the announcement was made, loyalists of late Lawal, led by Alhaji Saadu Suleiman Are, National President of the Afonja Descendants Union, Alhaji Olola Kasumu, the union’s secretary, Alhaji Isiaka Amao and former Commissioner for Special Duties, Razak Lawal, paid a thank you visit to Bukola Saraki, who represents Kwara Central at the Senate at his Ilorin GRA residence.

After the end of the visit, they paid glowing tributes to Saraki for showing political maturity, describing him as a ‘leader of substance’ who has all it takes to take the state to the next level. Owolabi also disclosed that one of the wishes of Lawal before he died was to reconcile with the elder Saraki, adding that they were only carrying out the ‘wish’ of their leader.

What hope for the opposition?

The modest inroad gained by the major opposition party in the state, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), at the 2011 general elections may have been the beginning of wisdom for the ruling party in the state.

With strong indications that the ACN governorship candidate in the last elections, Mohammed Dele Belgore, may throw his hat into the ring once again in 2015, the PDP, according to insiders, is not leaving anything to chance to retain the control of the state in the next elections.

20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Politics

Jonathan and Boko Haram battle Although President Goodluck Jonathan has openly expressed worry over the activities of Boko Haram and has devised several schemes to tackle the menace, his critics blame him for the seeming inability of his government to tackle the menace. Sam Egburonu examines his style and how it has affected the fight against Boko Haram

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ROM mid 2009, reports show that the terrorist group, Boko Haram, may have killed over 1000 people, leaving Nigerians and the government both worried and helpless.

While observers have offered ideas on how to tackle the insurgents, many critics insist that the major hindrance remains President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged weak style and failure to assert himself.

Such criticism peaked last week, when some Christian leaders in the north came hard at the president, asking him to resign his appointment since he could no longer tackle the Boko Haram menace. Although that latest attack has also become a subject of controversy as the Christian leaders seem divided over the matter, some political leaders from the north has waded in to say that resignation is not the solution.

Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, for example, said call for Jonathan’s resignation was laughable. He said this at the weekend in MInna, Niger State, in a discussion with reporters as part of the events that marked his 71st birthday. Pointing out that he had no links with the insurgent group, Babangida also challenged Nigerians to unmask those behind the Islamic sect rather than pointing accusing fingers at innocent citizens.

As the quest for the solution to the challenge of Boko Haram continues, the role and efforts of President Jonathan remain very central.

His statements: If his critics boldly accuse Jonathan of not acting decisively enough, it may be difficult to accuse him of not talking enough. In fact, some Nigerians are of the view that the problem is that Mr. President is talking too much and that he is talking when he should not.

These allegations however remain subjects of debate even as Mr. President seems convinced that he is threading the right path and that victory will soon follow.

“We are working and will crush it (Boko Haram).” That was how he summarised his government’s efforts towards tackling the militant Islamist group recently.

He was talking in a media chat where he explained that his government cannot dialogue with the terrorist group so long as it remains faceless.

Earlier, after sacking the defence minister and security adviser, he had said “Boko Haram insurgents are “changing their tactics every day, so you also have to change your staff and personnel,” he said in a television interview.

Speaking shortly after armed men freed about 40 prisoners in Damaturu, he said he would like to open dialogue with Boko Haram but not when the group is faceless.

“We must have a face to tell us

•Jonathan

why you are doing what you are doing and then, of course, we dialogue.”

He also asked Christains not to retaliate against Muslims after Boko Haram attacks. “Attacking churches is to instigate religious crisis,” he said, adding, They believe that when they attack a church, Christian youths will revolt against Muslim youths. They don’t care who dies in the process.

If it doesn’t work, the same Boko Haram will start attacking mosques to instigate Muslim youths to attack Christians. So, they change their tactics.”

But his most controversial statement on Boko Haram, remains his declaration that the group has supporters within his government and that the danger the group has created is worse than during the 1960s civil war that killed more than a million people. He spoke on a Sunday at a church service in Abuja: “Some of them are in the executive arm of government, some of them are in the parliamentary/legislative arm of government, while some of them are even in the Judiciary,” he said, adding rather ominously that “Some of them are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies. Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won’t even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house.”

His style: Although his critics are not impressed by his seemingly diplomatic approach to the fight against Boko Haram, insiders said the battle is a unique one and that the approach he has adopted is necessary to maintain peace.

However, by April this year, it has become obvious that Jonathan’s government may not be able to tackle the menace alone without direct assistance both from Nigerians and the international community. Even the president seemed to acknowledge this when he pleaded with Germany and the United Nations to come to the aid of his government in tackling the insurgents. He made the appeal at a joint press conference with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, shortly after a talk between them in Berlin. Jonathan in that conference said, “The area we expect our development partners especially countries like Germany to help is in terms of our security architecture, training and providing us with some modern equipment.

“You have to fight terrorists with technology because terrorists do not need to come with a rifle…So, you must have superior technology to monitor them and know how you can relate with them And these are the areas we believe that countries like Germany and others and even the United Nations can assist us,” he said.

“Some of them are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies. Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won’t even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Politics

FG’s strategy and CAN’s unity Tony Akowe, Kaduna

•Oritsejafor

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the current insecurity in the country has, no doubt, pitched the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the northern states against itself. The leadership of the body that has practically kept quite; leaving its spokesman, Sunday Oibe, to do the talking on its behalf, has suddenly found its voice, allegedly due to pressure from the Presidency.

Oibe had issued a highly worded statement accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of failing and disappointing Nigerians, asking him to humbly resign as the number one citizen. Oibe’s statement, which was meant to be the opinion of the northern Christian body, has now made him the bad guy among the leadership of the Christian community in the north. He said, “we are shocked and disappointment by the statement from Mr. President. Nigerians now know why the dreaded Islamic sect has continued to thrive and getting away with their murderous activities. Going by the position of the President on the activities of Boko Haram, it means that we have a very big problem in this country because it appears he does not seem to understand that the main aim of the Islamic sect is to destabilise the country and undermine his administration.

For the President to say that he will not deploy the military to deal with terrorist who have been killing other Nigeri-

ans and threatening the corporate existence of the country, it goes to show that he has been shielding the group at the expense of the lives of innocent people”.

Even though the Secretary of the body, Prof. Daniel Baboyi, claimed that Oibe did not issue any such statement, the statement said further that “Nigerians must have a rethink on the type of leadership that we have. The questions we want to ask Mr. President are these: Are those being killed by the Islamic sect, particularly Christians, not members of the Nigerian family the President is talking about? Is he now saying that Boko Haram are sacred cows? What he is telling us now is that there is nothing he can do about it, but we know that the federal government has the capacity to stop the madness being unleashed on Nigerians, however, it is now obvious that the President will rather shield criminals.

Every Nigerian can recall how former President Olusegun Obasanjo reacted when the Niger Delta militants attacked the army in Odi. Even though the militants were asking for their legitimate right, Obasanjo dealt with them squarely for resorting to criminality in agitating for their right. No country in the world will allow its soldiers, trained to defend the territorial integrity of the nation to be killed by a gang of criminals and get away with it. Nigerians can also recall that in Zaki Biam, Benue State, the same Obasanjo as President, sent troops to deal ruthlessly with the people there for allegedly killing soldiers. Now on a daily basis, soldiers, police and other security personnel are being killed by Boko Haram members and the President has the effrontery to tell us that these murderers are members of the family and he cannot mobilise the army to deal with them. Even in a family, we know that no responsible family can condone any form of crime not to talk of murder and destruction of property. The Presi-

dent should tell us the offence of hundreds of Christians who have been killed by the Islamic sect who have clearly come out to say that they will continue to attack government functionaries, security agencies and Christians”.

He raised a fundamental question for the President saying: “the President is not bothered about the killing of Christians and other Nigerians! Is it because Christians are not members of this family he is talking about? So the security agents who are being killed by the Boko Haram are not members of this family? The statement added that “Jonathan has failed Christians, he has failed Nigerians and he should resign as president because by this statement, it is very clear that he is not capable of handling the danger posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Look at the reasons the federal government gave for insisting that Boko Haram should not be branded as a terrorist group during the visit of the American Secretary of States, Hilary Clinton. They claimed that if the Boko Haram sect is designated as a terrorist group, the country may be placed under sanction, which will hurt Nigerians in addition to the fact that it may scare away investors as well as lead to visa restriction and subjection of Nigerians to maltreatment at airports all over the world. But are we not hurt already?

Are Nigerians not suffering? How many investors are coming to invest?

There are so many business promises in Yobe, Maiduguri, Kano, Kaduna and Jos that have closed shop. Nobody is coming up north to set up any business. People are selling off their houses and relocating from the north. Our churches are being closed down on a daily basis. So, what investor is the government talking about? We therefore call on the international community to come to the aide of Northern Christians, because it appears obvious that the Nigerian government has made Christians the sacrificial lamb for Boko Haram”.

•Continued on Page 22

Political

ripples Why Buhari visited Almakura

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FEW weeks ago, the leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, paid a courtesy call on the Nasarawa State governor, Alhaji Tanko Almakura, at the Government House in Lafia. For some time now, speculations have been rife that pressures were being put on the governor, who is the only state chief executive elected on the platform of CPC, to decamp to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Though the governor has stated on several occasions that he would not abandon his party, sources say top leaders of the PDP in Abuja are not giving up on wooing him to the ‘mainstream’.

Buhari’s visit to Lafia, according to sources, was to encourage Almakura to continue to stand firm against the machinations of PDP. •Buhari

•Umeh

•Obi

Obi, Umeh feud gets messier

I

T appears there is no let-up in the battle between Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi and the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh. Last week, Umeh appeared on a television programme in Lagos during which he spoke extensively on the plan to remove him as the APGA boss. Short of accusing Obi of being behind the plot to remove him without a direct mention of his name, Umeh disclosed that some transition chairmen of local government areas in Anambra State, who were calling for his removal, would not have been doing so without the support of a higher power. Sources in the Umeh camp are alleging that Obi is allegedly acting on a script to decimate APGA in the state preparatory to his decamping to PDP. They cited the cozy closeness between Obi and President Goodluck Jonathan as a clear pointer that it is only a matter of time before the governor finally dumps APGA.

21

Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Constitution review: The issues, facts and fallacies

I

T IS about three weeks now since the senators retreated to Asaba to deliberate on the 1999 Constitution. Sixteen issues were formed for the discussion on how to reform and revamp the polity. As the guest speakers took turn to dissect the issues and the senators spoke out their minds, I had the sneaky feeling that decisions would not be taken there. That regional political champions who were far from the venue, and probably ill-informed about the processes and systems needed to sustain Nigeria would take the final decisions.

Recent events have borne me out. Now, we hear about Northern governors and Southern governors. Some of the governors, leaders and legislators who had earlier spoken out in favour of certain decisions are beginning to retract because it has become politically incorrect or inappropriate. In Asaba, it appeared there was a near consensus on state police, fiscal federalism and such matters. Today, there is hardly a national understanding on any issue. It is the fact of the Nigerian political life.

I regard the focus on immunity for certain public office holders as misplaced. What would tampering with section 308 of the constitution achieve? The absolute immunity applies only to 74 public officers- the President and his deputy; the 36 state governors and their deputies.

It has been canvassed that the immunity accounts for the irresponsible graft by politicians in the land.

The question to ask is: What has happened to legislators and members of the executive councils who do not wear the immunity cloak? How many have been successfully prosecuted? There have been Chiefs of Staff charged with fronting for some governors and whose cases were taken up by the anti-graft agencies. Today, some are holding higher offices even when they have neither being discharged nor acquitted by the courts.

Besides, how does one explain that, more than eight years out of office, some of the former governors charged with various crimes are still celebrated and have moved up the socio-political ladder? A number have gone to the Senate to contribute to the national debate on how to stem the corruption tide. What an irony. Saminu Turaki had a case hanging on his neck for allegedly defrauding his state of billions of Naira, but that did not stop him from going to represent his district in Jigawa at the Senate from 2007 to 2011. Joshua Dariye has local and international cases filed against him. He actually had to escape from London to avoid conviction by the crown court. But, the case filed against him in Nigeria is still pending more than five years after he had left office.

Others may not be in the Senate. Orji Kalu is one such person. He is yet to clear himself of corruption charges.

The point is not that they are guilty. It is not even whether they are presumed innocent until proven guilty; it is that injustice reigns in the land through needless delays that both the prosecution and defence counsel have used to frustrate determination of the cases.

So, how would removal of immunity help? If it could not help in resolving any of the pending cases for five years, how would its removal help in getting a sitting governor successfully prosecuted? How would the removal help in getting the President or Vice President hauled before a court of law to answer to charges? This is beside the argument that it could become another tool in the hand of the opposition parties to distract chief executives.

It is time we faced real issues. State police cannot be wished away. It is the road to travel. The best opponents can get is a delay since the logic cannot be faulted. True, it could be misused in the same way that State Independent Electoral Commissions are, but is the consequent insecurity a proper price to pay? It has been demonstrated that a federal police cannot handle the complexities on Nigeria.

A country where almost all resources are collected and distributed at the centre can only be inefficient and suffer from decay. We do not need a German journalist to tell us that the house is falling. It is obvious that the system cannot be sustained. We need to take another look at the federating units and decide if the states as currently constituted should stand. But, there is no doubt that the bulk of national wealth should go to or be retained by the federating unit. It is impossible to have a federal structure without federal fiscal arrangement. As it is, the federal government is too powerful. And when a man who lacks basic understanding of what needs be done stumbles into office, the walk away from democracy, development and constitutionalism draws strength.

This is not the time to pull punches. It is not the time to avoid a debate. The future of Nigeria must be designed with contribution from all Nigerians. It is time to tackle Jonathan and his fellow travelers

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Politics

•Continued from Page 21 But the leadership of the body has disowned Oibe and his statement. Its secretary, Prof. Daniel Babayi, described the report credited to CAN as malicious and mischievous attempt to bring division within the group. According to him, “We are part and parcel of Jonathan’s victory in the last presidential election because we were tired of old brigade politicians; we didn’t want politicians with military background to lead the country. How can we therefore ask the President to resign? It is only ungodly persons that will ask a leader that is ordained by God to resign from office. When we have leaders put in positions of authority, when they do well, we praise them and we correct them where they go wrong. But we cannot say they should resign. The Bible says we should pray for them, everybody in positions of authority, including the Head of State, so that God can use them to work for the good of everybody. We do not condemn the President. We disagree with the President on the modus operandi. It is our belief in northern CAN, just as in the national CAN too, that the issue of terrorism should not be handled with kid gloves. We have seen it in other nations. We believe that the President is not taking drastic measures that can check Boko Haram. All of us sitting here are Nigerians and we should be fair to one another.

If the President has done enough, will they still be killing people.

Boko Haram kills at will and we have had instance of such cases in the past. Some of the criticisms we have come up with are not new, because some other groups have said the same thing and that is not enough for anybody to condemn him. The administration of security is such a sensitive thing that there are so many things government does which you, as an ordinary citizen, cannot see. That is how government operates. We appreciate the President and we pray for him but what we have always pointed out is that his measures are not drastic enough. We cannot ask him to step down. It is un-

FG’s strategy and CAN’s unity christian to do that and our PRO never said or wrote such a thing.

Somebody somewhere is planning to divide us in CAN but we are not divided. We have gone too far for anybody to try to cause division within us.”

However, the former Secretary of CAN in Kaduna state and present Special Adviser to Governor Yakowa on Religious Affairs (Christian Matters), Rev. Joseph Hayab, believes that the statement credited to Oibe is capable of overheating the polity. Hayab said that the statement was calculated to incite northerners and especially, Christians, against the Jonathan.

He said he was aware that “Northerners and the Christians do not benefit from the careless statement released by Oibe”. He argued that “most statements by these two do not represent reasonable minds in the North, be they Moslem or Christians, but are always politically motivated and sponsored…

Of recent, there has been hyperactivity amongst disgruntled politicians who covet the presidential seat and just then this strange statement comes out. It is the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob. Northern CAN has no quarrel with the statement from President Jonathan that it would not be the preference of the Federal Government to send in soldiers to wipe out Boko Haram for the simple reason that Boko Haram are faceless and when soldiers are sent in to wipe out a faceless group, it is the innocent that suffers. We would rather the administration focus on an intelligence driven covert operations that would target Boko Haram with precision which is in line with biblical principles.

However, a new dimension is added to the already raging controversy with the Kaduna state chapter saying that there is organisation like Northern CAN that has the authority to speak for Christians in the north. Chairman of CAN in Kaduna, Rev. Sam Kujiyat said in a statement that “for the

•Jonathan

umpteenth time we again want to say that the so called Northern CAN is still an illegal body that is not recognized in the CAN Constitution 2004, and therefore is not entitled to speak for the 19 states branches or chapters of CAN in the North. If any chapter disagrees with Kaduna State CAN, then as already stated, they do not speak for us. They have become paid agents of the opposition to deliberately distract Mr. President from his transformation agenda of bringing good governance to the people of Nigeria, so as to discredit him”. But Prof Babayi defended the existence of the body saying “this is a group that started in 1948 and by 1964 it was renewed and the Sarduana of Sokoto, the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, was the Patron of CAN in 1964 and that was why the headquarters moved from Plateau to Kaduna and Ambassador Jolly Tanko Yusuf, was the executive secretary then”.

Apparently wondering if he is now becoming an orphan, Kujiyat said, “everyone and any group of persons are entitled to their opinion on any national issue. How-

ever, Sunday Oibe the spokesman of Northern States CAN is not only a national officer of CAN, being CAN’s National Director of Planning and Research, but one of the closest and one of the most trusted national officer of CAN to the National CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who also depends heavily on Northern States CAN based in Kaduna. Therefore, when Sunday Oibe speaks, he speaks for both northern states CAN and for national CAN”. He noted that when Jonathan was elected as the Presidential candidate of the PDP, some people in the north threatened to make the country ungovernable for him, saying “it is therefore not surprising that even though security challenges had been on before the April 2011 Presidential Elections, these assumed the most dangerous dimension threatening to plunge Nigeria into a religious war. The avowed threats of these losers, who are the sponsors of the insurgency, have become a reality.

The conspiracy of campaign for unconstitutional regime change by the reactionary undemocratic forces in the country seize every

opportunity to blackmail, denounce, denigrate and insult the President with no decorum or fear of God. These anti-President forces are found even in the National Assembly, some of who are threatening the President with impeachment”.

Kujiyat noted that “President Jonathan has not committed any offence or breached the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to warrant that. Majority of Christians, Muslims and the non religious elements, who are also stakeholders in the Nigerian project, still have an emphatic confidence in Jonathan and his ability to transform the country despite the security challenges. ”.

However, it is our firm belief that Mr. President has good intentions for the country and he is doing his best in the bid to nip the current challenges in the bud. In his Godly characteristics of being frank, open and sincere with the good people of Nigeria, President Jonathan confessed the infiltration of his Cabinet, the Police, the Military and the Government by the Boko Haram and their sponsors.

Some people called on him to resign for telling us the obvious.

Therefore as religious leaders, we must continue to pray for him and we equally call on all those calling on his resignation to drop such devilish plots and join others in prayers in order to bring lasting peace.”

As the current development in the once vibrant Northern CAN unfolds, it is left to be seen what will become of the body later, especially as leaders of northern Christians have chosen to be silent on the raging controversy. Also, it has been observed that Oibe, the man at the centre of the statement, has not denied issuing the statement, or asking Jonathan to resign, having failed the nation. Rather, it is the secretary of the body that denied that their spokesman issued such a statement.

‘Northern elders are not doing enough over Boko Haram’ Dr. Jacob Omenka, a grassroots politician and Benue State Commissioner for Rural Development and Cooperative, spoke with Uja Emmanuel on Boko Haram and other issues affecting the nation and the state. Excerpts

•Omenka

B

OKO Haram and security challenges: I think the northern elders should speak out. They are not doing enough, none of them is coming up openly to condemn the activities of the sect, but the economy of the north is gradually

going down.

Kano used to be the commercial city of the north, Kaduna was headquarters of the north, a bustling city, now everything is gone, even Jos was known as one of the most peaceful states in the north, but is now deserted.

So, it is high time northern elders take the issue of Boko Haram seriously, let everyone be his brothers’ keeper.

They can check the activities of the sect by forming vigilante groups, among themselves. Everyone will be his brothers’ keeper.

On local government election in Benue State: I think the Peoples Democratic

Party(PDP) as the ruling party in Benue will have no problem with the local government polls slated for November his year because the party is most popular, having won governorship, House of Assembly, senate and House of Representatives above any other party in the state.

I don’t think there is any reason for apprehension as Benue is a PDP state, and Governor Gabriel Suswam’s performance has endeared so many people into the party from opposition.

Why PDP lost Oju House of Assembly seat: They filed a wrong candidate, the man who represented them failed to connect with his people back home and wanted to go back to the House again, but the people said no, and they voted the opposition candidate.

This means that despite Oju Local Government being a PDP-led government, the electorate wanted quality representation. But we have learnt our lesson here and at subsequent elections, the people would go for a better candidate.

His achievements in office: The Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperative is a relatively young establishment. It was created just about five years ago by Suswam to bring development closer to the rural dwellers.

We have done a lot in terms of rural projects, like electricity, bridges and culverts.

We have carried out about 200 projects, which have direct bearing on the lives of the people in the rural areas, but there is a quest for more.

Crisis at College of Education

Oju. The students’ unrest at College of Oju led to the closure of the college and suspension of the Rector.I was appointed the Sole Administrator of the College.

When I assumed office I discovered that the crisis at the college was becoming a recurrent decimal.

As a son of the area, I intervened and discovered that there was imbalance in the appointment of the management of the college. For instance, the Rector, Deputy Rector, Bursar, Registrar and Dean of Students affairs were all from the host community (Igede), but the students population shows that Tiv are highest, followed by Idoma and Igede who are the host community.

So I told myself that since this is public college, let me address the problem of lopsidedness in the appointment of principal officers.

So, I appoint Tiv and Idoma men into management positions and that was how the students’ unrest ended. There is now peace there, even after I left and became commissioner.

INSIGHT

23

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Living under tension •Fuel tanker explosion that claimed lives in Port Harcourt

A

SK any discerning Nigerian out there, he would tell you without as much as batting an eye lid that life, indeed, in this part of the world, is anything but short, nasty and brutish! (Apologies to Thomas Hobbes).

Reason: The rapidity, with which death, the mightiest of all reapers, strikes, is pretty much easier and faster than it happens in other climes for the simple fact that around here, many folks pay scant regard to clear and present dangers lurking around the corners.

Tragedies everywhere From Alabede in Iyana-Ipaja on the outskirts of Lagos to Bodija market in Oyo, Ajilete town, a quiet community in Yewa South local government in Ogun State, to Kawo in Kaduna State, Kaura Namoda in Zamfara, Jos metropolis in Plateau, Ahoada in Rivers, Port Harcourt, among other towns across the nation, fear has become a metaphor of their daily existence as they live with the knowledge that anything, tragedy that is, could come at anytime, anywhere!

Talk of the inevitability of tragedies!

A horse of recall From available information, the death toll in the Plateau flood few weeks ago has left over 36 dead, destroyed over 10,000 houses and left over 1,000 families across seven local government areas in Southern Plateau homeless as the worst flood witnessed in 50 years raged washing away homesteads, bridges, farmlands and livestock.

The flood was unleashed by three days of torrential rains cutting off access to the affected areas and the link between Plateau State and neighbouring Nasarawa and Taraba States.

“We have lost our main bridge and we are at a loss as to how to handle this matter,” a visibly shaken, Supervisory Councillor in charge of Social Services in Shendam Local Government, Alex Dabo, lamented to newsmen at the time.

Some settlements in Jos North, namely Gangare, Tudun-Osi, Tudun Talakawa and Angwan Rogo also witnessed similar flood incidents which left scores drowned.

Last July, Port Harcourt, the famous Garden

Of recent the country has witnessed deaths that are clearly avoidable. In this report, Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Oziegbe Okoeki, visit communities where many are living directly under high tension wires thus exposing themselves to danger

•Glory Tabernacle Church, Ayobo Ipaja, Lagos... sited under PHCN high tension wire PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

City was in a state of mourning as scores of people died in a vessel explosion.

This mishap came shortly on the heels of the infamous Ahoada explosion, where a fully loaded petroleum tanker skidded, spewing its contents on the road, and in the mad rush for the free fuel gushing from the fallen tanker, hundreds of men, women and children got burnt!

If you add the Ogunpa River flood in Ibadan among other mishaps to the chains of disasters, one thing is clear; there are many more tragedies waiting to happen in most Nigerian cities.

Accidents waiting to happen Glory Tabernacle Church, a popular Pentecostal Church on Legacy Road, Ayobo Ipaja, on the outskirts of Lagos is one typical example of

how most Nigerians care less about their personal safety and security.

The church is located under a PHCN high tension power hub.

When The Nation visited the place last week, the congregation had just dispersed.

However, a male church worker, who refused to give his name, said the General Overseer was not in town just as he practically fobbed off the reporter as he tried to make further enquiries.

At the visit to the PHCN station in the neighbourhood, the gate was under lock and key as the staff were said to be on strike, according to a bystander around the vicinity.

At 3 Asala Street on Itire, directly adjacent this

place is a storey building, originally designed as a bungalow by the bonafide landlord who had to sell off the place to a new owner. But rather than modify the bungalow to its original specification and design, the new landlord, our source revealed, decided to raise it to a storey building with complete disregard for the safety and security of both the human and material resources in the neighbourhood.

In Liasu Road, Egbe-Idimu, Lagos, danger signals are visible everywhere.

As you access this over three kilometre stretch road from the Igando/Isheri Olofin axis, one thing you cannot fail to see is the different sizes of telecommunication masts that dot the landscape.

By simply directing your gaze between the secretariat of the Alimosho Area Development Council and its environs, you can safely count well over 35 masts or more, sited mainly within residential areas.

Apart from a few of them sited inside the police station, banks and IT firms within the neighbourhood majority of the masts are owned by cyber cafe operators, whose shops are literally sitting cheek by jowl that you need not necessarily break a sweat to enter anyone of them because they are almost inseparable!

Perhaps due to strategic reasons the cyber café operators may have ensured that the masts are erected close to each other rather than maintain the distance required by law.

But a telecoms engineer in the neighbourhood, who simply gave his name as Victor, said: “It is a crazy idea to erect masts close to each other because it is dangerous...”

A panoramic view of most of the houses is what you need to tell you that many landlords in the neighbourhood may have flouted some of the Town Planning Laws and Building Code in the state.

Such breaches become more evident as you approach the Ikotun Bus Stop, where majority of the houses, some of which are between one, two storey blocks, bungalows, lock-up shops, among others, are sited close to the median, •Continued on Page 26

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

'The elite are Nigeria's problem' monumental success. Lagos State government constructed a dual carriage way with car park up to Lekki beach because of the huge success. The second year, 7Up signed a contract of three years with us. After that, Coca Cola came in. I started Benjamin Black, an electronic bill board company, five years after Lekki concert began.

When I was getting tired of the burden of running such a big event, I told the then Lagos State government to adopt it as an annual tourism event for the state, but they were not disposed to that.

Rather they leased the beach to another friend of mine and asked me to rent it from him. I did this for the first year but by the second year, I said, look I have done my best and focused mainly on Benjamin Black which was also an innovation, because it was the first time that an electronic bill board was brought to the country.

When you started as a youth corps member to organise parties, did you ever think it would make you this big?

No. I told you that I was programmed to be a lawyer because I was logical and could argue very well. My family said I should go and read English Language and later read Law. God has imbued every one of us from I will advise any in the beginning of creyouth that wants ation a purpose. Many do not get to succeed to first eventually that purpose for one seek knowledge. reason or the other. I just lucky to have Expand your am been at the right place frontiers by at the right time and the right attitude. reading every with Attitude is the most imreadable book. portant thing. Like I said, if I had insisted that Polygram should give me N10 million, they could have said no

“

Y

“

OU were 50 years recently. Looking back now, what do you think?

I give glory to God for 25 years of self employment and 50 years of existence. One has the reason to thank God especially living and growing up in an environment like Nigeria. I am also very grateful for having been born here. Nigeria to a large extent is a country that rewards diligence. I have been a great beneficiary of the generosity of some older brothers and sisters in the country who have always enthusiastically received my ideas. On a 50th birthday like this, I have every reason to thank God for being a Nigerian and for being able to exploit and leverage on the opportunities that the country has provided.

What is the clue to your success in life?

The first fundamental fact is knowledge. The Bible say my people suffer because of their lack of knowledge. How many young men read newspapers now? Most of them are either permanently charting on BB or running after women.

We read all the comics and novels during our days. The time I went to London for the first time, it was as if I had been living there all my life. When I got to New York I knew what Park Avenue would look like because I read it in novels.

The second for me is prayer. This is a generation that does not pray. We had a good social life back then. We were rocking from Thursday to Sunday, but because we have been imbibed with that value of fearing God from youth, after all the partying we remember Sunday. A society that is disconnected from God is going to perdition. There is no success in life without God. Any success in life that is minus God is not success. Our moral fibre as Christians and Muslims must continuously be strengthened. The nations that have abandoned God have also been abandoned and unfortunately these are the people we are copying.

I will advise any youth that wants to succeed to first seek knowledge. Expand your frontiers by reading every readable book. Fear of God is another key to success. I can point to some guys who would gang rape when we were in the university but they never made it in life. Another key to success is the principle of deferred gratification. A lot of our children want money first before doing anything. When Polygram asked me for what I wanted for organising Lekki Sun Splash, I said nothing. I told them that I wanted it to be free because I boasted to my friends that I was going to organise a big show. Because the show was free, over half a million people came and that was why it was the talk of the town. If I had said that I wanted money, and charged N10 for example, may be only 5,000 people would have attended it. But because of the principle of deferred gratification, half a million people came. I was not after money at the beginning but it later came. Any youth of this generation that is looking for success must lay their lives on this principle.

Could you take us back memory lane about how you started Lekki Sun Splash?

The idea of Lekki Sun Splash came about when I was doing my youth service in Lagos in 1987. Then I was a teacher at Bolade Grammar School at Oshodi. I was about to finish my youth service and preparing to go back to the University of Lagos to read Law as my family had wanted me to. My past in the school, secondary and tertiary, was very social. I was reputed to be a good party organiser, if I

may put it like that. While I was serving, a couple of friends came up and asked me to organise beach parties. It was in one of those moments that we discovered Lekki beach. After about two or three shows at that venue, I had an inspiration that a larger music festival could happen on the beach. As it is the usual with me, once I am convinced about anything I pick my pen and write it down. Throughout my years in the youth corps I went round the country looking for sponsors. Towards the end of my youth service, I got the Lagos State government through Dr. Adejuwon, the then Commissioner for Tourism, and also met the managing director of Polygram Records through a friend. Incidentally, Polygram was 25 years in Nigeria in 1988 and they were looking for something to celebrate it. So it was an opportunity meeting preparedness. I was prepared with a platform and God eventually led me to those who were looking for that platform. Polygram signed a deal with me, took me to London, Polygram International in London and we signed a contract. They also took me to Holland. I put the best brain, in the Nigerian entertainment industry together to make that concert successful.

They asked me what I wanted and I said I just wanted a free concert and go back to school. That principle led to

and choose to give me N3million and charge money to get that money back and at the end I would not have had the concert beyond the first year.

Compare between the kind of concert you organised then and what we have today I have not been to any concert lately apart from the ones I see on television. Lekki Concert was the mother of all concerts. I am not talking of any-how concert. The whole of Lagos was emptied whenever the concert was staged. It was a culture. This year could have been the best year to celebrate it and bring back the memory but the values have changed. Today is not about values anymore, it is about money.

Somebody gave me a collection of Nigerian songs recently and after listening to the likes of Davido, D’ Banj, P Square I said waoh! I wish I could re-enact Lekki Sun Splash and put these guys on top of it, but where is the beach? The beach has been mined. The government cannot do it and unless they support and encourage private initiatives by providing land and other facilities, we would remain where we are. Aberration does not last forever. All I tell people is be prepared. A time would come when the society would search for the best, but are we prepared to provide the solution?

As a self -made man, 25 years ago when you decided to make yourself, there were opportunities. Do you still see the same opportunities for the generations 25 years after ?

I can speak of 25 years and today in terms of reality. I can only conjecture and sort of postulate about what would happen for another 25 years. As of today, the opportunities that were available to young, resilient and enterprising Nigerians just out of school at that time are not there today and the factors are many.

Number one, the global economic situation has rendered start ups difficult. In our environment, the absence of capital, the banking reforms have also made it difficult to access credit especially for start ups. Equity which we exploited when we started business and which would have been the easier way of getting money to start up business for young entrepreneurs today is difficult to come by because those who are in the position to invest are also struggling and gasping for breath. Businesses are closing down. It used to be

•Continued on Page 25

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In our environment the absence of capital, the banking reforms have also made it difficult to access credit especially for start ups. Equity which we exploited when we started business and which would have been the easier way of getting money to start up business for young entrepreneurs today is difficult to come by because those who are in the position to invest are also struggling and gasping for breath. Businesses are closing down.

“

Adedapo Adelegan was a youth corps member in the late 1980s when he started organising the annual beach concert known as Lekki Sun Splash. After five years of successfully organising the concert, his ingenuity and innovative ideas led to the introduction of the first electronic bill board in the country.

Dapo, who clocked 50 recently, went down memory lane with Adetutu Audu and Innocent Duru Excerpts:

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

•Adelegan

downsizing but now it is right sizing. The general economic atmosphere is not favourable to entrepreneurship.

Unfortunately, it is entrepreneurship that would offer Nigeria an escape route from the problems of unemployment and corruption. So we are in a state of paradox.

Looking 25 years ahead, we may, if we choose the right route to development and become indeed a developed nation. Those issues that concern our generation should be about where we would be in the next 25 years. What are the things we should put in place today, what are the sacrifices that we need to do today to enable us become a successful nation?

When you started, you had a dream. Would you say you have fulfilled your dream?

Let us be candid. 25 years ago my entry into business was an accident of fortune. I had been prepared to study English at first degree and later study Law. It was while serving in Lagos that the idea of Lekki Sun Splash came and the elements were in my favour and it became something bigger than me and I couldn’t drop it to go to school.

I was stuck with it for between six and seven years. Lekki Sun Splash was not my idea. It was not my project. It was pan Nigerian entertainment collaboration. I had Geraldo Pino, Laolu Akins, Gboyega Adelaja, Baba Ajilo, Charly Boy, Jahman Anikulapo, Femi Akintunde Johnso (FAJ), Olumide Esho, Halim Mohammed and all the big boys. I was just the face of the project. It was bigger than me and

“

In this century there are no jobs.

It is an illusion when people say they are looking for jobs or government is saying that its creating jobs.

Where are the jobs going to come from in a country that does not have manufacturing industries?

“

•Continued from Page 24

it was the mother of all concerts on the continent that time. To God be the glory we did it for about six and seven years. Five years into it, the lesson learnt and the confidence garnered was used to move into another sector of the economy, which is advertising by introducing the first electronic bill board and creating the first non conventional outdoor advertising company called Benjamin Black.

Over the years, one was able to leverage on one curve to develop a second curve and the third curve and so on. 25 years after we can say we have about five companies operating in different classes of integrated marketing communication both locally and internationally and successfully too.

The graduates of today may have the same idea and the same passion, but may not have the necessary environment to make it happen. The government of the day was able to berth on my idea and immediately it succeeded, the former governor, Brigadier-General Raji Rasaki, decided within a year to construct an express way into Lekki/Mayegun beach with car park based on the success of our musical show and because he saw the potential of tourism development in it. Today, government is not that responsive to private initiative. The civil servants are actually struggling and envious of private initiatives. If they can’t take it off you they must disrupt it. That is the conse-

25

quence of the struggle for lean resources. At the end of the day there is no job satisfaction, and there is no living wage for the civil servants, so every private initiative is potentially stolen to be given to a third party to be repackaged. Unfortunately it is through entrepreneurial initiative that we can solve the problems of unemployment. The 21st century as I have been saying in my lectures in the last ten years is a century that is unfriendly to job. The slogan is customers, not jobs. In this century there are no jobs. It is an illusion when people say they are looking for jobs or government is saying that she is creating jobs. Where are the jobs going to come from in a country that does not have manufacturing industries?

The only way we can get out of this problem of unemployment and corruption, is by inculcating the science and art of wealth creation and sustenance in our children and our youths from tertiary institutions and if possible secondary schools. The entrepreneurial skill should be part of the curriculum. We also need to invest in vocational and technical education.

South Korea for example spends 70 percent of its educational budget on technical and vocational education. We need technicians. Our governments at federal, state and local levels should begin to shift emphasis to technical and vocational education and entrepreneurship as a compulsory subject in our tertiary institutions for every stratum of degree. When you teach students the art and science of wealth creation and sustenance in our campuses, they are in a hurry to leave school because they want to go out and make money. Those who come out of school and have the wherewithal will become entrepreneurs and employ some of their colleagues just like I did. Those who eventually get the job would become those who bring entrepreneurial flair into the work they do. By so doing, the problem of corruption will be solved. What leads to corruption is the inordinate desire to steal out of fear. When a man is not creative, he will steal. Imagine what would happen if the country begins to churn out graduates who have been taught the art and science of wealth creation. The proclivity to steal would be reduced. You can use one tablet to cure different ailments. This is not rocket science. How much money are we investing in technical and vocational education? How much money are we committing to training teachers, how much money are we providing as seed fund to assist students that are coming out of school to access funds to start their businesses? Who are the people that are even put at the helms of our education ministries? People that head our commerce and industry ministries must be entrepreneurs. These are the ways the society can tap from the ideas and experience of these people to make things happen.

You said entrepreneurship is not a rocket science, but why is it difficult for us to follow that route?

The quality of governance, the quality of our policy makers, and the quality of execution is very poor.

There are many things that are true 12 years ago that are no longer true today, but without knowledge, without information, you will have people that are still applying 20th century solution to 21st century problems. We should start now by embarking on process of empowering policy formulation in our country. We must bring the right people into governance.

When it comes to the future of our society, the future of our economy, put the best people there. The American president chooses from the private sector when he’s selecting his treasury secretary, and his commerce secretary. Heads of multinational banks leave their jobs to serve the government without being paid salaries and go back later to do their job. When the private sector is complaining that the government is not doing anything, I say look why don’t we offer the best in the sector to serve the government for a year and without the government paying them any salary? If we do that, would the president say no? If you have any idea, go and seek audience with the president or the Senate President and tell them this is private sector agenda. Probably when they go for private sector meeting with the president they would be talking about contracts such that there is already a disconnect with the guy they are talking to.

What is your view about the Nigerian elite? Are they truly greedy?

Of course we are selfish. Who is the government?

It is the elite. No government can stand without the support of the elite. If I have five minutes audience with the President of Nigeria, I am sure he would probably change all the policies that he has. Information and knowledge is the wealth of the 21st century.

I wish I can pack all the governors into one room one day and give them lectures about life in the 21st century. Looking for jobs in a century that is jobless is an up hill task. When a man manages to get a job and does not generate customers he would be sacked.

Customer is the king in the 21st century. How to teach people to generate customers and sustain them is the only way out.

How do we achieve this?

The first is acceptance of our situation and taking steps to address it at every level. The elite must be proactive. The National Economic Summit Group is one that is trying to do that, but every year they go for that event in Abuja and come out with papers and what have you and wait for the next one. I think there should be a paradigm shift.

26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

INSIGHT

Living under tension

•Continued from Page 23 across drainages, to mention just a few.

The other thing you cannot fail to notice is the fact that most of the high tension poles and power lines within the areas have been converted to use as pillars to support makeshift kiosks and shops.

Others use them as handles to hold public address systems for places of worship.

In other areas, most of the PHCN cables and poles crisscross each other, with some hanging precariously below normal.

However, the implication of all of these soon pale into insignificance in the light of another discovery, of the kind that would easily qualify for a ‘Nine Days Wonder’ suitable for the Guinness Book of Records!

Few meters away from the Ikotun bus stop, is a 7.5 KVA Power Station which services three major streets in the neighbourhood such as Fehintola Dare, Abaraje and Muri Osunde streets respectively.

The news, however, is that there are some unwanted ‘occupants’ who reside on the foot of this power station.

The first occupant is a Mai Suya, a middle aged man who prepares tasty dry meat on barbecues.

At the best of times, he sets up shop after sunset or later in the evening!

His other accomplices’ are women who fry cake beans, roasted corn and yam complete with smoked fish, all at the foot of the power station!

Although at the time of filing in this report, none of these so-called ‘illegal’ occupants were around, they sure left enough tell-tale signs, especially remnants of previous day’s sales, including benches and tables, which they tucked safely away inside the compound serving as office space of the PHCN. Our correspondent sought to know what informed the choice of the power station as a rendezvous for business, and a PHCN official, who would not be named, because he is not authorised to speak, confided in The Nation on Sunday that most of those occupying PHCN facilities in the neighbourhood obtained permit from some alleged Awori indigenes laying claim to the property in the area.

Speaking in staccato English, the source said: “The houses wey dey for these place whether NEPA offices and any other ones, the Awori people in this area dey collect owoole (levies) for anybody. We (PHCN) pursue them but the Awori people come threaten us for here. So we leave them alone.”

Tales of woes everywhere The residents of Abuja, in Gbagalape Community to be precise, many are living in constant fear of what may become their fate anytime soon.

Among most residents of Gbagalape, Aso C, Kudu, Juwako, Yolowa and Mopol Q Communities fear is rife that a major disaster is waiting to happen if the government does not take quick measures to put things in place before hundreds of lives of residents of the area are consumed on the road.

The question many residents of Gbagalape and its neighbouring communities are asking is what is the responsibility of an existing government? What is also the responsibility of the Minister of FCT and the Abuja Satellite Town Development Agency?

Must the government always wait for disaster to happen before the necessary measures to save lives are put in place?

In the view of the residents, if the government of FCT sees the safety of lives of residents in satellite towns as one of their major priority, what the residents of Gbagalape and its neighbouring communities are experiencing today will not degenerate to the present level.

Gbagalape community, investigation has revealed, has been cut off from other communities as the only road that leads to the community and five other communities from Nyanya community is almost divided by a gigantic gully of about 15 to 20ft deep that is eating up the entire road.

The traditional ruler of Gbagalape Community, Chief Kenneth Rabo, could not hide his fears when he spoke with newsmen recently.

He lamented the dilapidated state of the road, saying the road had become a nightmare to residents of communities that make use of the road on a daily basis, because when it rains, residents are trapped on the road and no one would be able to go into or leave the community till after the rain.

“What we are going through in this community is too much for us. The federal government needs to come to our rescue, because the people of Gbagalape are really suffering, because of this road. I have tried through various media reports to draw the attention of the FCT Minister to come to our aid but there has been no response from them. The only response was from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), whose vice-chairman, Musa Gosa came to do an assessment of the road and he promised to do

•Bridge linking Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba states washed off by flood

•One of the bridges washed away at Mbar in Langtang North LGA

Regulation on setback of building to public utilities • • • •

Primary (federal or state highway (90m right of way) – 45 metres from the centre; Secondary (federal or state) highway (60m right of way) – 30 metres from the centre.

Local roads (state) 24m, 18m, 15m, 12m) – 12m, 9m, 7.5m, 6m Access Road/Street – 9 metres, 6 metres from the edge.

SOURCE: Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. something about it but nothing has been done ever since.

“I am appealing to the FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed, to please come to our rescue.

This is the only road leading to town, from Gbagalape, Aso C, Yewa and other communities. God forbid, if this road cuts us off and there is no alternative that means that the people of Gbagalape will die. If anybody falls into that side of the road that has become a very deep valley, that will be the end of the person’s life,” he said.

Another danger that is visible in some urban centres is the construction of fuel stations in residential areas.

In Alabede, at the Iyana-Ipaja axis of Lagos, you can safely count up to five filling stations sandwiched in-between densely populated neighbourhoods.

Speaking with The Nation, a resident in the neighbourhood who simply gave his name as Femi Abbass said he lives in constant fear because the area is not just prone to flood but now has the added disadvantage of being an avenue for fire outbreaks on account of building of filling stations in the neighbourhood.

“It is anybody’s guess how these fuel stations around here got permits to run their businesses in a residential area for that matter,” Abbass lamented.

Checks by The Nation revealed that the Department of Petroleum Resources is responsible for granting permits and licenses for prospective businesses in the oil and gas sub-sector.

As at press time, all enquiries to Mrs. Belema Osibodu, of the Public Affairs Department of the DPR were futile as her mobile phones were switched off.

Who takes the blame?

Insurance companies would call it an ‘Act of God’ but to many discerning Nigerians out there trying to come to terms with the sheer scale of devastation especially floods, fuel-tanker induced explosions, fire outbreaks and other related disasters wrought upon the land in recent times, both the victims and government share in the blame.

In the view of Alhaji Olawale Sonoiki, a building contractor, with the spate of building collapse across the country in recent times, there is a sense in which the construction of houses both in residential and industrial areas with little or no regard for safety standards on the part of unscrupulous developers portends a clear danger.

“In some cases, where there is overload on the structure based on what the structural engineer must have done or overdesigned, most times it is not the aesthetic aspect of the design that is causing collapse of the building, rather the structural aspect of it,” he observed.

Waxing philosophical, he says, “Tragedy always makes us ask big questions about ourselves, our relationships, the way we have been living our lives... In Nigeria, particularly, we are fond of creating crisis knowing full well that we are not good crisis managers.”

“Tell me; what would make a man to erect his building under high tension or across petrol pipelines? Is that not madness?”He queried.

Adul Hassen, Country Director, Actionaid, who has monitored the ugly trend, is alarmed at what he described as the level of impunity everywhere.

Worrisome to him is the fact that governments at all levels are not ready to change the situation for the better.

He also frowned at the attitude of Nigerians who see canals as easy dumpsite for refuse.

“The government and the people must have a rethink. The response agencies must be prepared and then the community too has a role to play in this... but people should be saved...people should be able to move some of their things to safe havens...that is what emergency does...”

Role of regulatory agencies The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has predicted flooding in many states, namely Lagos, Jigawa, Katsina, Rivers, and advised stakeholders to be very vigilant.

According to NIMET most of these states are going to be wetter than normal and most likely to retain enough water due to the longlasting rainfall expected in August and October

this year.

The irony however, is that in the past nobody paid any attention to the early warnings let alone took any precautionary measures to contain the after effects, but sadly bore the brunt of their inaction.

Lagos State example Lagos State has blazed the trail in the preparation for emergencies. Lending credence to this view, a staff of one of the Lagos State Emergency Agencies, who asked not to be named recounts the Dana air crash episode, where according to him, the state took charge effectively in terms of control and management of the crisis arising from the mishap.

But more importantly, the source stressed that the Governor Raji Fashola administration has left no stone unturned in ensuring the safety and security of every citizen.

The Fashola administration, he stressed, has warned the people against setting up businesses on the pedestrian walkway and on drainage channels and enjoined them to cultivate the habit of engaging in commercial activities in appropriate places by visiting the Physical Planning Ministry to obtain planning permits and the local governments to secure necessary licenses.

Investigation has however revealed that the Lagos State government is ready to whip all erring landlords to line.

Giving this hint was a staff of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPA), a key parastatal under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

In a statement at the weekend by the Commissioner, Olutoyin Ayinde, he said, “Lagos State Government wishes to draw the attention of members of the public to recalcitrant attitude of some individuals and corporate bodies towards existing environmental, building and town planning regulations and laws. It must be emphasised that these laws are made to assist the government to plan municipal and utility requirements of dwelling and commercial property with a view to achieving sustainable use of land in the state.

“It has however come to the attention of the Lagos State Government that property owners now condone and, or permit activities and actions that contravene the State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Laws with regards to observance or roads setbacks by putting structures/merchandise beyond the stipulated metres.”

Lawmakers to the rescue Chairman, Committee on Environment of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Abiodun Tobun, has admonished telecom operators and Lagos State Urban Furniture Regulator Unit to put the safety of Lagosians above other things.

He said this at a parley with stakeholders in the telecom sector and representatives of banking institution in the state. According to him, the state government is committed to protecting its citizens from any further disaster that might occur due to negligence on the part of masts owners in the State.

The House had invited the stakeholder over a petition sent by the Lagos Island Local Government legislative arm complaining of incessant mast collapse which has claimed several lives in the area.

The petitioner said the communication mast erected in the premises of Unity Bank Plc at John Street in Idumota Area of Lagos Island collapsed and killed one Mr. Debo Abiodun leaving behind a wife and two children on June 10 ,and on June 17 another communication mast also collapsed at the front of Diamond Bank Plc, Idumagbo Avenue and damaged properties.

Present at the meeting were, representatives of the Lagos Island Legislative Arm, Globacom, UBA Plc, Swift Network, ECOBANK, First Bank, DIZEN, Union Bank, WEMA Bank, ETISALAT, Skye Bank, Diamond Bank, Unity Bank, NCC Abuja, Keystone Bank, Sterling Bank PLC, telnet Nigeria Ltd, MTN, GT Bank, C. A. T. Plc, and UFRU. The lawmakers jointly agreed with NCC that the telecommunications companies should submit the required documents to UFRU for database planning so that the Agency can introduce licensing and permit for necessary and effective monitoring of the masts not excluding banks using registered and qualified service provider.

Joe Igbokwe, the General Manager, Urban Furniture said there is no proper monitoring and maintenance of the masts.

He advised that some bank masts needs to be replaced within five years, while radio masts should be replaced after 20-25 years across the state. He said 95% of the communication masts need to be replaced.

However, the fact remains that many Nigerians are living comfortably under danger without caring a hoot. The question now is: will the concerned authorities allow this to continue and only act when disaster strikes? A stitch in time...

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

I’m like ten … e n o n i n e m o w t a e h c t ’ n a c n a m my —Chelsea Eze

– PAGES 34 & 39

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

Sport jeans

in a new way!

•Tope

I

T is so interesti n g t h e various ways you could wear your jeans. Jeans has come a long way and it seems to have come to stay too. It is no longer just a casual outfit as it can be combined with other clothes to give a corporate or traditional look.

A new way to wear your jeans now in vogue is with African fabrics especially ankara tops. As more creative designs are done with the African prints, there are more choices for tops and shirts for your jeans depending on the occasssion.

•Alaezi Akpuru

Style Inspiration For office Wear a long sleeve shirt tucked in on straight jeans with a pencil heel shoe would not be bad for corporate look especially when you want to appear smart.

•Kemi

Office on Thursday A smart shirt on straight jeans is a good idea when the rush of the week is dying and when you want to free yourself from the Monday to Wednesday’s suit.

Saturday, is usually a day to look forward to. You just want to look your own style. Even if you have to go to the office on Saturday make your outfit different from what it has always been. Fly your shirt on your jeans, you wouldn’t be fired for it.

It’s weekend.

Friday special For most people, Friday is the favorite day of the week to show off the latest traditional attire. Do it, it is not pride, you deserve it. it is just once in a week.

Sunday impression Whatever you wear, make sure that Sunday should be cool. You could make that simple, cool statement with your jeans.

First date For most girls, their first date does not mean much to them. Don’t try to impress him with your looks on your first date, just be simple and let him find out the rest.

•Different ways you can wear jeans

•Elohor-Aisien

29

30

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

•Prescriptive lip gloss

Lip balm for the

cold season

C

HAPPED and dry lips are common during the cold.

For your lips to remain soft throughout this cold season, always protect your lips with a lip balm or lip gloss.

•Lip balm

•Lip balm

•Susan Peters

Here are some rules to adhere to; •First, the golden rule, do not lick your lips consistently. This can lead to dry and cracked lips, which will definitely result in chapped lips, because the moisture on the lips would have been licked off and the lips would then be exposed

same quantity of coconut oil and shear butter, (ori), together. You will be surprised and amazed at the result and the soothing effect. Give it a try, and also keep it in a very small container.

•Use a lip balm or gloss to help seal-in moisture.

•Exfoliate weekly. This will peel off the weathered outer covering or a layer.

•Go for lip balm or gloss that is thick and that contains moisturizer.

•Genevieve Nnaji

•And for chapped lips, medicated balm or glosses that have menthol are suitable.

This will relieve pains.

For homemade lip balm, add or mix the

•Woman applying lip balm

32

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

Jimmy Cliff, reggae's first global star, is back with a soulful new album, reports Neil McCormick.

JIMMY CLIFF

“

I

never get tired of singing Many Rivers to Cross, and you know why?” asks Jimmy Cliff. “Cause I still have many rivers to cross. They're just different rivers.”

At 64, the original reggae star is back with a new album, Rebirth. It is an outstanding set of uplifting, spiritual songs on which his voice sounds as high, sweet and soulful as ever. Backed, somewhat improbably, by a band of veteran American punks, Cliff captures a tone evocative of his classic Sixties period, and the pop-y, organdriven sound of groundbreaking hit songs such as You Can Get it if You Really Want, The Harder They Come and Many Rivers to Cross, a song that always sounds like a miracle

‘I still have many rivers to cross’ to me, and is surely one of the greatest pop recordings of all time. Cliff's tender, emotionally strained vocal rises through the churchy ambience of a hymnal organ while gospel singers echo his desperate testament to a life of struggle: “I've been licked, washed up for years/ And I merely survive because of my pride.” Cliff was just 21 years old when he wrote and recorded it in 1969.

“When I came to the UK, I was still in my teens,” Cliff tells me. “I came full of vigour: I'm going to make it, I'm going to be up there with the Beatles and the Stones.

A n d i t w a s n ' t r e a l l y going like that, I was touring clubs, not breaking through.

I was struggli n g , with work, life, m y identit y , I couldn't find my p l a c e ; frustration fuelled the song.”

Cliff did not finish the song immediately. “I had

the idea but it wasn't ripe,” he says. At the time, he was working on his second album for Island Records in Jamaica but kept it back from the sessions, because “I don't think we record ballads that great. So I waited till I got to New York and linked up with [Island founder] Chris Blackwell. We were mixing the record and putting on what we call sweetening, adding overdubs and backing vocals. It was a 15-minute walk to the Record Plant studio, and on that walk I kind of finished the song in my head. It was the last day, the end of the session, the musicians were getting up to go, and I said, 'Excuse me, please, I have this one song idea, do you mind to have a listen to it?' And they grumble a little bit, 'Ah, we're finishing,' cause they work off union time. But they gave me a few minutes. I took up my guitar, they gave me a mic and I played the song.” Cliff hums the familiar opening strain. “I started singing, the band came in, and that was it. Once. That was it. And then Chris said, 'OK, let's put this one in to fill out the album.' It became a classic, because everyone can relate to it, everyone at some point asks 'Who am I? Why am I here? What am I going to do?”

Cliff had his first hit in Jamaica in 1962, aged just 14, after walking into a record store and singing a song to producer Leslie Kong.

“The way I grew up, it was a big family, so I had to start working early. My father was a tailor. The rest of my family were farmers. I just know singing was what I wanted, and I went and do it.” Blackwell identified Cliff's potential and brought him to London in 1965.

Although it took a few years to break through, a starring role as Jamaican outlaw Ivanhoe Martin in cult movie The Harder They Come in 1972 made Cliff reggae's first international star.

“It was the first time for all of us to make a movie in Jamaica,” recalls Cliff. “I think we captured a period on the earth, a guy coming to the big city thinking he could make it, a rebel, kind of a freedom fighter. It was the spirit of that time.”

Cliff split from Island Records in the Seventies, when they signed his friend Bob Marley. His career has followed a somewhat wayward path since then, with diversions into soul, gospel and even electro music. The

hits dried up but he still performs hundreds of shows a year. “They say video killed the radio star, but me, I say, computer killed them all. The only thing you cannot destroy is live performance. You can record it on your phone, you can watch it on your screen, but there is nothing like seeing the artist in the flesh.”

Still venerated by generations of musicians, Cliff has performed with the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and the late Joe Strummer. It was the Clash frontman who introduced Cliff to Tim Armstrong of US punk band Rancid, the producer of the new record, and the man who reconnected Cliff with his original sound.

“Tim is a reggae connoisseur and he put together a bunch of musicians who really have the knowledge, enthusiasm and energy to play it,” says Cliff. “I was amazed. It made me think there is some value that I have overlooked in what I did. I just let it flow, I wanted to make a complete back-to-the-roots album, the way we used to, live, all of us in a room together. It was a big pleasure.”

A charming, smiling, humble character, Cliff has clearly been energised by his latest recordings. “I set my sights really high,” he says. “I've achieved quite a bit, for which I am grateful, I made a few hits, and I pat myself on the back for that, but it's not all. I still have the burning fire to claim the place I have always seen for myself.” Cliff laughs with delight. “So it's a good time. But there are still rivers to cross.”

Courtesy: The Telegraph

THEATRE

t

BIGSCREEN

With VICTOR AKANDE

Seyi Law splashes N7.5m on automobile

C

OMEDIAN Seyi Law has now joined the league of celebrities that have acquired expensive automobiles. The talented humorist, who was once •Seyi Law reported to have sold recharge cards at Surulere, before gaining fame, recently splashed about 7.5million to acquire a new 2012 Chrysler 300 model.

It could be recalled that the former winner of AY's talent hunt show, got married some months ago, and he has also emerged as one of the most well-paid comedians in Nigeria.

Nomoreloss criticises lewd singers

SOUND TRACK

E-mail:

T

HE show has, since 2004, become an annual expectation, by wannabe contenders and lovers of adventure who follow the intrigues and the grueling tasks of the reality show tagged Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS).

Sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc and anchored on the Gulder brand, the attraction, apart from the fame that the eventual winner, otherwise called the Ultimate Hero, gets, could also be attributed to cash prize which organisers have put at N9 million, a brand new SUV and N500,000 swagger allowance for this year's winner.

This is against N7.5 million and a brand new SUV which was the lot of the Ultimate Hero in previous seasons. This year's winner, according to the organisers, will also be entitled to the bragging right of being referred to as an “Ultimate Champion” and subsequent induction into the Gulder Ultimate Search Hall of Fame.

Guideline for this year's participation is already on the Nigerian Breweries website, with the instruction that registration closes on September 13, 2012.

PAGE

33

plus

victor_akande@yahoo.com

Twitter verifies

Omotola O

MOTOLA EkeindeJalade has joined the league of Nigerian celebrities that have their account on social media, Twitter, verified. The screen diva becomes the 2nd actress to be verified on the social networking site after Genevieve Nnaji.

The beautiful mother of four and wife of a Nigerian pilot, Capt. Mathew Ekeinde, has now got the 'blue' mark of Twitter attached to her twitter handle, @realomosexy,

which shows the authenticity of her account on the site.

The Amnesty International ambassador has gradually become a global brand. And to differentiate her account from a parody account on Twitter, it became necessary for her account to be verified.

She has thus joined other celebrities like Asa, D'Banj, Osaze Odemwingie, Genevieve Nnaji, Oluchi, Nneka, Brymo, Jesse Jagz, Dencia and Ice Prince, who already have their twitter accounts verified.

Ngozi Ezeonu bags chieftaincy title

F

AIR-SKINNED veteran actress, Ngozi Ezeonu, was recently honoured with a chieftaincy title. The well-respected and scandal-free thespian was regaled in Imo State on Sunday, August 12, 2012.

Ezeone was conferred with the title of Ada Ife, which means 'Daughter

M

UYIWA Osinuga, popularly known as Nomoreloss, is not happy with irresponsible hip hop singers in Nigeria, because of what he describes as lewd, and lack of real message in their songs.

The artiste, who serves as a judge on MTN Project Fame West Africa, noted that his concern for Nigerian music at the moment is the rampant obscene behaviour of most young artistes who have a penchant for pornographic songs and music videos.

“My concern for music right now is the use of words by the artistes who don't censor their lyrics and those that cannot be bothered to write any. My word to them is this; your children will one day play back your lyrics and also see how they've damaged lives.

“These Nigerian hip hop artistes are more driven by hunger for fame and money than talent, because most of them have little or no education in the basic rudiments of music and are only desperate for fame and fortune,” he said.

GISTS

of Light' by HRM C.F.N Ezerioha III, the traditional ruler and Obi of Ihiteoweri, Imo State.

At the ceremony, some of her colleagues like Queen Nwokoye, Emeka Amakeze, Ngozi Nkebakwa, Emeka Ani and others were present and they also added colour to the wellattended occasion.

Uche Jombo plans sequel to

Damage Trilogy

C

•Omotola

All set for GUS 9

ASHING in on the success of the first of the Damage trilogy, actress cum filmmaker, Uche Jombo, has announced that all is set for its sequel, My Life, My Damage. Proud of her effort, Jombo said it is high time Africa began to make movies that can best address some of the ills that have long affected it.

Set in modern day America, My Life, My Damage addresses the consequences of living on the fast lane. Dora (Tonto Dikeh) is a young lady who lives a reckless life abroad as a drug addict who is given a rude shock when she discovers that she's HIV positive.

She has to seek redemption for herself.

The movie takes the viewer through the ugly story of young Dora whose dream of becoming a medical doctor is dashed due to the choices she made.

The flick showcases an array of international stars including Thomas

Altman, Dani Palmer and Biola Williams collaborating with two of Nollywood's best, Tonto Dikeh and Bukky Wright.

The actress revealed that the flick is set to begin its American tour with its first screening at the Nollywood Film Festival New York (NEA Awards) on September 1, 2012.

•Uche

34

Entertainment

Fasting-rising actress Chelsea Eze may be new in the Nigerian movie industry, but the young beautiful actress, who started off playing Genevieve Nnaji's daughter in the movie Silent Scandal and most recently; Two Brides and a Baby, is fast climbing up the ladder of fame. The Abia State born actress, who grew up in Kano, spoke to MERCY MICHAEL, about her foray into the industry, her experiences so far, and relationship.

I’m like ten y m … e n o n i n e wom man can’t cheat —Chelsea Eze

Y

OU just said to someone that you don't take alcohol. Did you mean to say you have stopped taking alcohol?

Hey gosh! I just don't take alcohol. I've tasted it before.

So why did you decide against it?

I try to stay away from anything that will affect my skin. Someone had said to me that excesses alcohol is not good for the liver, and that it gradually affects the skin. Of course I love my skin. So I'll say, no to alcohol.

Talking about your skin, how do you take care of your skin? What's your beauty routine like?

Nothing really special, I try to shower at least twice a day. I don't use anything that's too harsh. I don't apply makeup, except when I'm working or going for an event.

And I sleep. I love my sleep.

You are quite tall. Did you start out as a model?

Of course yes. In 2006, I participated in 'Miss Taraba' Beauty Pageant. That was how this whole dream of mine started.

Are you from Taraba State?

No, I heard about the competition and I asked them if I had to be from Taraba to enter for it, and they said no. Actually, I didn't even want to go because I was so shy.

I used to be very shy. I'm still shy. But I guess I got a lot of encouragement, and I

decided to give it a shot.

Where exactly are you from?

I am from Abia State.

If you were not an actress or a model, what would Chelsea Eze have been?

I would have been an Aeronautic Engineer. People always laugh when I say that, but I'd always loved physics in school.

I studied English language at the University of Maidugiri, but prior to that, I wanted to do Engineering. I was used to watching Air Force One and I used to just go crazy.

How old are you?

I turned 25 last November.

When exactly did you get into acting and how old were you?

2009. You could say I started as a child actor playing Genevieve's daughter in the movie Silent Scandal.

What was the experience like?

Sometime in 2009; Vivian Ejike wanted to shoot that movie; Silent Scandal. They were looking for a fresh face, and somebody they could cast nicely alongside Genevieve Nnaji. My name came up, apparently because I had auditioned for an Emem Isong's movie in 2007. I got auditioned for the character and I got it. Being my first movie, I was nervous. But the crew members, and especially the director, were very nice.

Nice in the sense that, he understood that it was my first time, so he cut me some

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

slack in some areas. He was just there to keep explaining, this is what you're supposed to do and then the cast, Genevieve was amazing. They understood it was my first time and they were just there to help me. It was for me, like acting but I was rehearsing at the same time.

How much were you paid for the role?

I can't tell you that. I signed the confidentiality.

Before you went into acting I'm sure you were familiar with the movie terrain. You probably must have had a mental picture of what the movie industry was like. Now that you're in, is it what you expected to be?

Well, growing up and watching Nigerian movies, I always thought they lived in their own world. I didn't think they were humans. But being here now, I realise that we're still human beings. I was so young at that time. I didn't understand fully what was going on. They were just people I was seeing in colour TV. I thought probably they were just angels camped somewhere. And then, I became an actor and realised they are real people and I got to meet some of these people as well.

Then, I realised how much work there is, in making a movie. And I started to appreciate what they do because then, I just used to sit down and criticise and say all sorts. But being an actor now, I know that it is not that easy. Making a good film is really

difficult. So I appreciate the movie industry more than I did before.

When exactly did you decide you were going to toe this path?

This should be after Silent Scandal broke, because even whilst I was shooting the film, I was just doing it. I didn't know I wanted to be an actor. I felt it was something that came. I had finished school and I didn't have anything I was doing at the time, so I just was playing along-but when the movie broke, and it went on DVD, that was the turning point for me. Then, I saw the movie with my mum. At that point, I decided I should give it more attention.

So you got all the support from your parents?

There were hassles. My dad is a retired banker and he wanted me to be a banker like him. When I finished school, I observed my Youth Service, and I worked in the bank for a while, but after Silent Scandal, I said this is what I wanted to do. He was disappointed in a way, and he gave me some serious hassles, but somehow I had my way.

So, would you say that he is comfortable with your acting career now?

Yeah, my dad watches me. My dad just saw Two Brides and a Baby and he was very excited. He said I did a good job. And for that to have come from my father, I'm very happy.

What has acting changed about you?

I think it has made me a bit open, because I used to be one kid that didn't want to talk to anybody. I was not sad. I was a very happy child, but I didn't want to mix up.

My cousins were my friends. It was always a family affair. I would go for parties and I'm always with my cousins. I didn't like meeting new people because I was shy. So being an actor has obviously opened me up in a way. Because I meet a lot of people now, I just have to find a way to socialise or have a social life.

Tell us about your most embarrassing moment.

There were two actually; first one was at the BON Awards. Our movie was nominated and we won that particular category and I stood up to move up to the stage, prior to this time, there was this guy that walked up to me on the red carpet, and said he was a huge fan. So when I was called for the award, I stood up and somebody just tapped me. I turned back and it was that guy, 'in my head' I was like what does he want again? I didn't know why he was tapping me and he said, “sorry, the tag of your dress”.

My God! (Laughs) I wore a new dress, and I forgot to remove the tag. It was so embarrassing. The whole place just felt so small. I was so embarrassed. I was like gosh! If I was a regular girl now, I won't really bother. In fact, he won't even tap me.

You know, it was so embarrassing. That was one. And the other one was when I went to Kano after Silent Scandal. No, I can't tell this one. I just realized I can never tell this one. So let's go on.

You also recently featured in Hoodrush.

How were you cast for it?

Hoodrush, I had heard about the film actually courtesy OC Ukeje. I heard Dimeji was doing auditions. OC managed to talk to him, and I was auditioned.

So what role did you play?

I played the love interest of Shez. I played the character called Shakira. Shakira was a girl that felt she didn't fit into the society, the environment she found herself. Though she comes off as a bitch, but in the real sense, she's still that home girl. And she was in love with OC's character, Shez. You see her go through a lot really because she is surrounded by eagles so to speak.

What was growing up like?

I had a fantastic, fabulous childhood.

Kano was great. At the time, Kano was better than Lagos. I spent my whole life literally in Kano. My Primary School and Secondary School education were in Kano. I then attended University of Maidugiri, but I was always going back to Kano. So I pretty much left Kano when I had to observe my Youth Service.

When you said you had a fabulous childhood. Does that mean you were born with a silver spoon?

Wait o, wait o, no I would not say I had everything money could buy because money could buy airplanes, but I did not have that. So I'm just going to say I had everything I wanted at that time.

Everything I wanted. And you know as a child, you don't really want much. It's when we grow up and become adults that we want all these big things. But as a child, all you just pretty much wanted was parents who were there to listen to you. You wanted BMX bicycles. You wanted Mario games, Nitendo and I had all of that.

My parents; my father especially, could go hungry just so that we are comfortable.

And he never liked us associating with outsiders. So he would do everything to just keep you at home. And we had a huge house compound and I could ride my bicycle, go round the house like ten times, I get so tired afterwards and I go to bed. So that was the kind of upbringing I had. I had everything. And Kano was great. I had everything because Kano itself was so cool.

We had Leventis, Bata. We had all these cool places.

As an upcoming actress, what's your experience with getting roles?

All I've had to go through to get a role is audition. I've never been harassed. I am not ignorant of sexual harassment in the industry as it is in every other industry but if I have had a personal experience? No! How challenging was Hoodrush?

Hoodrush was so challenging because I had to sing. I never thought I could sing but I'm actually considering doing that now. I'm doing another musical movie. This time, I have to sing about seven songs. So I'm really considering music. Thank God for Hoodrush.

How do you handle advances from male fans?

I just smile. I smile a lot.

Any memorable one you can recall?

Oh yeah, I remember one. I had gone to Shoprite with my sister. This is me, what you see is what you get. I don't go out of my way to be all made-up and dressed up just to go to Shoprite. Moreover, it was in the morning; about 11. I just wanted to pick something. So I was wearing joggers, a tank top and a slipper. I was with my sister.

Then this guy was standing by. I saw him. I won't lie because he's a fine boy. And he kept looking at me. And you know how you say to yourself: It can't be me that he is looking at. We had gone up to the cinema to find out what movies were showing so, we would come back in the evening.

And the guy comes and he's talking to my sister. So I was kind of disappointed for a second. And I said, I thought it was me he had in mind. But I didn't know he was telling my sister that he wanted to talk to me, but he was so shy because he had seen me in Silent Scandal. He had seen me in Two Brides and a Baby. So my sister comes to me and says he wants to talk to you, he wants to talk to you. I started to blush. Not because he's a fan, but because he's fine. I go and I say ‘hi’ to him but the moment this guy opened his mouth, I was so disappointed. He had a terrible Yoruba accent.

But he was now all over me and my sister, because he kept saying, you guys

My mum thinks a white man will be able to handle my excesses.

I tell people, if I'm with a man, he cannot cheat because I'm like ten women in one. So he will run mad if he has to cheat want to see a movie and all that. I couldn't wait for us to get out of there. It was so embarrassing.

What's your preference when it comes to looks?

I don't like light-skinned guys. But my mum says I might marry a white man.

Why? Because she thinks a white man will be able to handle my excesses. I tell people, if I'm with a man, he cannot cheat because I'm like ten women in one. So he will run mad if he has to cheat.

Are you that possessive?

I'm not possessive. I'm just a handful. I'm like a dynamite of personality. One minute I'm crazy. Next minute I'm calm. Another time I'm possessive. Next minute I'm just like do whatever you want to do. Even I know that I'm a handful. If I were a guy, I can't be with me and cheat.

So who is the man in your life?

I won't tell you What does your man like about you?

Everything What exactly was the attraction?

He says I am as real as it gets. I'm not like your regular girl. Girls have issues. I think I'm like a guy. You can call me a tomboy. I started wearing heels in 2006. The first time I ever wore heels was in 2006.

What's the attraction for him?

He's just simple. He's just easy because he's not trying to prove a point. I'm not trying to prove a point. There are no egos flying all over the place. We relate well.

He'll probably be here and you may not be able to tell that he's my boyfriend. And he's very secure. Asides even the job as actor.

I'm all over the place, in the sense that my business sort of takes me to so many places.

Can you tell us what other businesses you do asides from acting?

I do a lot of things. I sell from clothes, to shoes, to cars; I do a whole bunch of stuffs.

So it takes me all over the place really. A lot of times, I do a lot of impromptu travels. I could sleep this night, wake up tomorrow and find out that I have to be in Abuja. And he's cool. He's not thinking what are you going to be doing? And he's not calling me to check up. He's just calling me like we normally call each other. So it's a very easy relationship.

CHELSEA EZE

39

Jackie Appiah

The girl in orange African gown She made history at the last Cannes Film Festival, as the only African actress to walk the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the annual festival in France.

Spotted in Nigeria Wednesday to endorse Mystery Beads, a new film she is about to play lead in, VICTOR AKANDE refreshes her memory of the Cannes experience, while seeking thoughts about the late Ghanaian President, Attah Mills.

S

OMETIME in April, you were in Cannes for the film festival.

What would you say your experience was like as the only Ghanaian actress at the event?

It was a wonderful experience; I was so happy that I made that journey, especially to the grand opening of the Cannes Film Festival. Being an African lady present at the opening, walking on the red carpet was really exciting. It was a beautiful experience and I would tell you that I was touched.

Everybody noticed me, especially because I wore an African gown. They all said they saw the girl in the orange African gown. I was noticed and I was happy that I went for the event.

Celebrities who grace the red carpet in Cannes are usually those whose movies are in selection at the festival; I'm sure your film was not in any category at the festival…

My film wasn't shown at the Cannes film festival, but my manager, Samir, went all out to make sure that an African was going to also walk down that red carpet, meet the Hollywood stars and get recognised. It was made possible by the special grace of God. That must be an 'African magic' thing…

No, it was not. It was my manager Samira Yakubu who pulled it off.

Actually, it was the Ghana Movie Award (GMA) that arranged for us to be at Cannes. What they do is that once you are a nominee or you have won an award from the GMA, you will definitely get to go on the red carpet or attend the Cannes Film Festival. So I would say, it was the Ghana Movie Award that made it possible.

What leverage did that give you in terms of your acting career, with regards to breaking into other movie entities other than the Ghana or the Nigerian movie industry?

It made me learn a lot, it made me see a lot of business people in the film industry and I would say that it set me on a high pedestal. Being on the red carpet gave me an opportunity to meet

people. I met with a lot of people from Kenya, people from Malta, people from different countries that I haven't even heard of before. There are a several countries that do movie which we don't know about. I met people who were willing for Africa to come and shoot movies in their country, just to promote their culture. Like I said, it was a wonderful experience and I would advice that every artiste should come and take part in the film festival because we need a lot of people and a lot of opportunities to open up for us.

Your colleagues in Ghana were also in Cannes last year. Why were you not part of them?

It was the same Ghana Movie Awards that organised the trip for the nominees and winners to attend the film festival. I was away in Turkey at the time of the festival, which was why I couldn't take part in the trip with them.

I am a brand ambassador for a hair product called UB Hair Relaxer and they took me on a vacation to Turkey.

It was an all expenses paid trip. The vacation came up before the Cannes Film Festival, that was why I couldn't take part and that is why this year, I made it a must to attend.

How would you say the death of President Mills has affected the Ghana movie industry? What was his impact on the movie industry during his life time?

It affected us a lot because he was somebody who cared about the industry. We cried to him once and he started bringing in people who could boost the industry. It is sad that he had to leave us so soon, but God knows best. We pray that the government will still continue helping us from where he left off. It is sad that we had to lose a great man so soon.

One would have thought that the movie association would do something that the world would see Of course we did some things for the world to see how much we love our President. We organised so many programmes. I was there, a lot of artistes were there at his funeral. The musicians too were not left out as they did activities like the all night performance at the State House where he was laid in state. The artistes came out, we did performances for the President. We had a three-day show where people came to sing. The film industry was so much involved in the burial service of the late President. We did video clips where we all sent out messages to the President. The film industry was so much involved in the funeral of the late President.

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NATION SPORT & STYLE SUNDAY, August 19, 2012

NATION SPORT & STYLE

NATION SPORT & STYLE

INCREDIBLE Rice: Olympic Beauty who N A M OW

SH

Bolt plays up to the cameras at Expendables premiere

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F ever there was a perfect match between an athlete and a movie, this was it.

All-action, thrill-a-minute, explosive - Usain Bolt would have a good claim to a part in The Expendables sequel.

But the Jamaican sprinter - still basking in the glow of three gold medals at London 2012 - was happy just to watch at the UK Premiere alongside Hollywood heavyweights Arnie Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham.

With his entire effortless cool, Bolt posed on the red carpet in Leicester Square and it was the film's stars scrambling to get a photo with him.

He was snapped with action man Statham striking the trademark 'Lightning Bolt' pose as his post-Olympics partying showed no sign of stopping.

While the majority of the 10,820 athletes have packed their bags

and gone home, Bolt seems in no hurry.

On Sunday night, he marked the end of the Games with a DJ set at the Puma Yard Club on Brick Lane and then partied with the Jamaican team in West End nightclub Movida, emerging into daylight at 6am.

Bolt and fellow sprinter Yohan Blake were pictured getting into a taxi back to the athletes' village with a blonde woman in the front seat.

After his win in the 100m final, he was pictured with three members of the Swedish handball team in his room in the early hours.

One of them, Jamina Roberts, said they talked together, looked at Facebook and posed for photographs.

He is on a high after winning three gold medals - in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay to add to his three gold in Beijing four years

Nike's sexist “Gold Digging” shirt under fire

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controversial Olympicsinspired Nike T-shirt is on the market emblazoned with the phrase "Gold Digging."

Since the garment is only available for women, fashion bloggers and the Twitter-sphere are calling it sexist.

Apparently only women--or female Olympians--are gold diggers.

Was there not another more positive, inspiring phrase Nike could have printed on these women's tees?

"Reach for the Gold," "Go for the Gold," or "Good as Gold," would have gotten the point across in Nike's trademark "Just Do It" sort of way. A gold digger is a woman out for a man's money. In this Olympic context, a phrase like "Gold Digging" implies you don't deserve or didn't earn your prize, and you went about obtaining it in a deceitful or unsportsmanlike way. The

American women at the Olympics this year worked hard for their medals, and took home twice as many gold as their male counterparts.

But this hasn't stopped many major retailers from carrying, and almost selling out of Nike's "Gold Digger" Tshirt. The style, which comes in black, grey, or white with gold lettering, is currently available at Footlocker, Finish Line, Sports Authority, Nordstrom, and Eastbay for $24.99. Some sites have put the shirt on sale, most likely since the Olympic Games have ended.

Nike's own website lists the "Gold Digging" shirt as "Style that starts a conversation." And start a conversation it certainly has. The item description says, "When nothing less than the best will do, the Nike 'Gold Digging' Women's T-Shirt is up to the challenge with a bold design that's a treat on the eyes in a slim, comfortable fit.”

ago. Bolt posted two pictures with Statham on Twitter, saying: 'Movie premier of Expendables 2 and I met up with the fav actor Jason Statham.’

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Soccer, fashion extravaganza to take centre stage

loves to pole-dance S

TEPHANIE Rice , a triple gold Olympic medallist who has not won a medal in this year's Games, recently revealed that she used to have a stripper pole installed in her home and regularly used it to keep in shape.

In an interview with an Australian breakfast radio station, she confirmed the rumours about the saucy device, which has currently been buzzing in Olympic circles.

'I did do some classes and I made one of my family members buy me the pole because I was, like, well this can be cross-training exercise,' she said. 'But I don't have it any more.'

Rice currently suffers from a crippling shoulder injury and there's speculation the damage came from regular use of the pole.

Meanwhile, the Australian Olympic swimmer has denied fling with married Team USA basketball star, Kobe Bryant The 24-year-old swimmer and the 33-yearold athlete, who has two young daughters with his wife of 10 years Vanessa, have been the talk of the London games after spending a

lot of time together.

The pair sat side-by-side to watch Anna Meares beat Victoria Pendleton in the cycling sprint, and then Rice turned up in a leather mini-skirt to cheer on Bryant at the men's basketball quarterfinal where his USA team beat Australia.

Rice, who used to be an avid pole dancer, has boasted about their bond by posting pictures with her arm around the basketballer, telling her followers: 'First piccy with a "star" going to be hard to beat... Kobe.' The duo also swapped autographed items - Kobe signed a pair of sneakers for Rice in exchange for her autographed swimming cap.

But Rice took to her Twitter to deny speculation of a romance between them.

'FYI yes Kobe and I are friends, but no we are not together and never have been,' she wrote.

'Can't guys and girls be just friends..?

He's an amazing athlete and I've enjoyed getting to know him and many other great athletes in my Olympic journey.’

Lolo Jones shows off toned legs at Olympics after party

OLO Jones clearly hasn't let last week's nasty catfight with her own Team USA peers Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells get the best of her.

The 30-year-old Olympian, who came fourth in the 100m women's

2012 COPA LAGOS

hurdles final, proved she can still steal the spotlight after Ms Harper and Ms Wells verbally attacked her on television for being the media's 'favourite'.

Wearing tight leather shorts and a midriff-baring top, the U.S. hurdler, who famously revealed her virginity on Twitter earlier this year, showed off her toned legs and torso at a pop-up Olympic after party this weekend.

At London's iconic Roundhouse in Camden, Ms Jones joined soccer's golden girl Hope Solo for a night out. Clad in fierce heels, and holding a Red Bull, the hurdler looked ready to celebrate despite her medal loss last week.

American rapper Nasir Jones, known by his stage name Nas, then tweeted a picture with Ms Jones, sparking rumours that the pair would leave the party together.

After one commenter wrote on Nas' profile: 'It looks like there's dribble stains on her top', the hurdler re-tweeted the image saying: 'I wasn't drooling... someone spilled a drink on me... Ok I was drooling.'

Fellow U.S. hurdlers Ms Harper, 28, and Ms Wells, 30, who finished second and third respectively in the 100m women's final, spoke bitterly about Miss Jones prior to the after-party filled weekend.

During an interview on NBC Sports, Miss Harper attempted to explain that her own life story is just as interesting as Miss Jones', who she called the media's 'favourite'. Ms Harper said: 'Because their favourite [Miss Jones] didn't win, all of a sudden it's just like, "We're going to push your story aside, and still gonna push this one". That hurts.’

ACTION GIRL Michael Phelps's fame-hungry girlfriend laps up attention in gold bikini

H

ER boyfriend has just hung up his Speedos after taking part in his final Olympic Games.

But it seems Megan Rossee is only too happy to take up the mantle as she went for a spot of swimming herself in a striking gold bikini.

Megan, an aspiring Los Angelesbased model and actress, 'lapped' up the attention in her skimpy two-piece and made a splash of her own at the beach in Santa Monica.

The fame-hungry 25-year-old cut an even more impressive figure in the water than swim king Phelps and was joined by friends for a sunny day out on the golden sands.

With her long blonde hair billowing around her, she looked as if she might be taking part in a photo shoot.

After her swim, Megan served up a treat for onlookers by heading over to volleyball court on the beach.

six months, with the pair making their romance official by appearing together on the red carpet at a Speedosponsored event earlier this month in London.

Rossee has frequently broadcast her relationship with Phelps on Twitter, posting a number of intimate photographs of him.

She has also called him pet names in a number of public Tweets. 'Good luck tonight bear,' she posted on August 2, Phelps - worth a reputed $40m - is the day of the men's 200m individual currently enjoying a boys-only holiday medley final. in the Maldives after taking his final But her willingness to publicise their professional turn at the London Games relationship has led some to speculate where he added to his haul with four that she is only in it for the fame. gold and two silver medals.

'Michael is like a puppy dog around The Maryland-born U.S. athlete is the Megan he's completely in love with most decorated Olympian of all time, her,' a source told Radar recently. with an impressive clutch of 22 medals, 'However, like any young girl hoping including 18 gold. to make it in Hollywood, she's He has been quietly dating Rossee for ambitious and knows that by associating herself with Michael she will get a lot of press herself.

T

HERE would be plenty of fashion, style and extravaganza when the 2012 edition of Copa Lagos takes the centre stage in December.

Kinetic Sports, organisers of the show-stopping Copa Lagos, have announced December 14th to 16th date for the 2nd edition of the Beach Soccer Tournament to be held at the idyllic Eko Atlantic Mega City.

The last edition was a resounding success following the crowning of The Sand Eagles of Nigeria champions, after a gritty battle against pretournament favourites and former world Champions, the Brazilian national team. England and South Africa were the other participants.

Off the field, the trio of Capital Oil, FCMB, and Pepsi boosted the event with sponsorship packages while the likes of SuperSport, AIT and Soundcity provided platforms to beam the event to living homes.

While the soccer tournament stays as the main feature of the three-day event, Kinetic Sports, who brought the firstever soccer and lifestyle with a dose of music, fashion and fanfare that featured top Nigerian musicians including WizKid, Naeto C, Davido, Sound Sultan, to mention among others, said the 2012 is even going to be bigger.

“The rapid rise of Copa Lagos shows the true potential of Beach Soccer in Nigeria and the entire African Continent,” Kinetic Sports said in a

release. “This was said at the end of the event by Juan Cusco; who said 'Copa Lagos 2011 was one of the best Beach Soccer competitions in the world and it's just the first year!' We are definitely looking forward to coming back in 2012.”

Last year's competition also featured a variety of activities including the renowned international cheerleading squad, Scottish Rockets, and a celebrity all-star match in which the audience was treated to the skills of Jay-Jay Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Ali Baba, Segun Arinze and others.

The final day of Copa Lagos brought Nigerian fashion to the forefront teaming up with the highly acclaimed Temple Muse for a fashion show, which Kenny showcased both top international and local brands - Sunny Rose, Eki Orleans, Grey and Tebazile.

Distinguished guests that graced the event included David Dein (Former Arsenal Chairman), His Excellency, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Juan Cusco (Vice President of Beach Soccer World Wide) and Chief Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah (MD/CEO of Capital Oil).

Now the question on everyone's lips is: Who will be competing this year?

Organisers are keeping it a closely guarded secret. But one thing is sure, Copa Lagos is much more than football with spectators already guaranteed fashion and lifestyle aside watching the Sand Eagles defend their crown.

From page 35 David,” Ajilore said with an unmistakable happiness. “We are so grateful to God for all his blessings upon our family and we pray for more blessings like this. I'm so happy.”

The happiness in the home of the Ajilores is palpable so much so that the baby's first name is sourced from that of the parents -after all, things are better shared.

“You are right, we coined David's first name from ours. My wife is Gbemisola and I'm Oluwafemi and we thought it would not be a bad idea to call him Oluwafemisola,” explained the former FC Midtjylland midfielder. “It was a joint decision between my wife and me. We reasoned together before we chose the name because it demonstrated how happy we are about this blessing from God. I feel so great being a father. I know it comes with more responsibilities but it is not enough to stop my excitement.

“The arrival of Oluwafemisola has really made me calmer .I am a calm person from time but there is an inner joy that comes with having your first child. It makes you feel good and happy because you would be thinking about what legacy you want to leave for him and others in the future.

“My son would get attention as much as my wife, they are both important in my life, so I need not to treat anybody differently. So they would both get my attention. The baby can only make our love stronger, he cannot come between us,” explained Ajilore.

The arrival of the baby is a pleasant surprise since it coincided with the return of Ajilore to Dutch club, Groningen, after a loan spell with Danish club, FC Brondby. There have been speculations surrounding his status at Groningen despite still having about one year left in his contract which terminates next year.

But the 27-year-old central midfielder informed that he is back in Holland for good: “Holland is a second home for me and I'm happy to be back. I love Denmark but I have passion for living in Holland than Denmark.

“I want to grow higher with Groningen. I had read a lot of bad reports in the past that 'I was missing in my club', but I'm not bothered with such negative reports from people who don't want the progress of others.

“I had great time at Brondby. I was voted more than once as the club's Most Valuable Player in domestic league. Going back to Denmark was like returning to my roots because that was where I was discovered as one of the best midfielders in the league before I went to Groningen. So playing in Holland or Denmark is nothing new to me,” he added.

He has, however, admitted that he would need to adjust his lifestyle now that he's father: “Before I got married, I loved visiting my friends and shopping but I scaled down on that when I got married. I prefer to spend most of my free time with my wife particularly when I don't go to training or match.

“Now, I would have to do even more and stay around them because they would need my presence. So, I'm always with them whenever I'm not at training. I baby sit too and I'm really enjoying every bit of it especially when he smiles. Oluwafemisola is cute and wonderful; he smiles a lot and this gives me so much joy.”

Ajilore has so much to say about his adorable wife, adding that it has bolstered his confidence as a man as well as stabilising his career.

“Marriage is good,” he said. “You cannot compare me with when I was a bachelor. I am more matured with more responsibility now than before. I have to carry my wife along in whatever I'm doing.

“Going into marriage has really helped me and I am happy that I

Sport&Style SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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AJILORE COUNTS

BLESSINGS

... Revels in the joy of fatherhood made the right choice. To do it with the right person God chose for me.

“My wife is a pretty lady .She is the best woman in the world. She encourages me a lot and she means a lot to me and that is why she is my wife today.

“People who knew me very well would tell you that 'I don't like gambling about anything i want to do. There are lots of ladies out there but I think she's simply the best for me and she will forever remain the best in my life.

“I'm enjoying every bit of my career now because marriage is a blessing. She always prepares good meals while I'm away for club assignments and I'm always looking forward to it. Being a married man is different from being a responsible man, but I am a married and responsible one for that matter!”

So how does he keep away from female admirers now that he is happily married?

“We cannot run away from that, but the most important thing is to

always draw the line. As a footballer, i still have to give out of my time to sign autography for different people, so i have no problem with that.

“I want to live a good life and i want to leave good legacy for my children. Of course, I'm not going to choose a career for my children when they are old enough to choose what they want to do. All I can give them is encouragement. We all need it to succeed in whatever we are doing,” he added.

Mutiu Adepoju opens up

My wife is heavenly sent!

By Morakinyo Abodunrin

Mutiu with wife

By Taiwo Alimi

T

IME and again, you can catch Mutiu Adepoju wearing his signature denim jeans with a nice shirt to match. The former Super Eagles' star midfielder is no doubt a powerful dresser but he has finally revealed that the force behind his charming look is no other person than his wife.

He squealed that living with and married to a beautician and cosmetologist for more than two decades have impacted positively on his style and dress sense. Headmaster as Adepoju is fondly called by his fans, due to the excellent use of his head while playing for the Nigeria national team, informed that his style is not flamboyant.

“I like to appear simple and neat,” Mutiu stated with his usual cool mien. “I like jeans with a passion and same goes for T-Shirt which l wear to make me look trim and sharp.

“I like to appear smart at all times and jeans and T-Shirt

give me that special appeal.

L cannot stand spending a lot of time in front of the mirror, l like something l can put on quickly and still look good. In-fact l can't count the number of jeans or T- shirt in my wardrobe because they are just so many. My wife knows l like jeans and T-shirt, so she gets as many as possible for me. I can say that she has influenced my dressing a lot and l thank her for everything “My wife has operated a fashion boutique in Spain for more than 20 years. Beauty has always been her passion and she had to study cosmetology when we moved to Spain in 1989. Since then, she has been doing everything related to the beauty and fashion industry.

She maintained her fashion place in Spain but she has another boutique located in Ibadan.

“I met my wife in Lagos in 1989 through a friend that introduced us and right from the first day, l knew this would

be a special relationship. She has been there for me all these years, taking care of the children while I'm away every weekend playing. She also takes care of business, she is an angel sent by God to me,” Adepoju added.

Living in Spain Adepoju, who spent quality playing time in Spain between 1989 and 1997, informed that living in one of Europe's fashion capitals had an impact on his clothing trend. He reportedly left Nigeria in 1989 for Spain and his first professional season was impressive, as he netted 11 league goals to help Racing de Santander return to the top flight. He continued to feature and score regularly for the Cantabrians in the next three seasons. He left for Real Sociedad in the 1996/97 season but after a solid first campaign, he struggled mightily to hold down a regular place with the Basque team. In 200102, he represented Saudi Arabia's Ittihad FC, but quickly returned to Spain, playing an unimpressive season with second level side UD Salamanca.

He said: “The experience we had there was fantastic despite the fact that the first challenge we faced when we got there was the language barrier, we were like deaf and dump, but after sometime we adapted and picked the language and Spanish culture.

“We spent more than 20 years there, but I can tell you that, while in Spain, it was a fantastic experience. We had all our children there. The first born is now 19, and others are 16, 12 and 9 years. The older ones are still there in Spain schooling, while we have the younger one here with us. They are all going well,” he revealed, adding that all his daughters have passion for playing Basketball.

Mutiu with family

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Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

My battle with breast cancer —Ex-actress, Juliet Aguwa The name Juliet Uzoma Aguwa may not ring a bell in movie circles, but the mother of two had a short stint as an actress before she moved abroad. Few months into her stay in the US, her world almost came crashing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She reveals her experience and her plans to return to acting in this expose by AHMED BOULOR

Chuddy K excites The Big Friday Show

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ETTING the shoot of The Big Friday Show aglow last week was none other than hip hop artiste, Chuddy K. The artiste was the studio guest of Episode 9 of the lifestyle entertainment television programme showing on Friday on MTV Base The episode had the regular Vlog segment presented by Vlogger Stephanie. Stephanie tell viewers what is up in the entertainment world in Naija and beyond. This week's episode also features the Prank Yo Peoples segment where a lucky Glo subscriber (Ifeanyi) got to prank his friend (Nathan) with the help of the Big Friday Show crew.

Also on the show was up-

coming artist, 2JAY, who was given a task/studio challenge to complete in order to promote himself at the end of the show.

The other segments in this week's show include the Ask/Reply, where Glo subscribers text in questions to know more about the studio guest (Chuddy K) and the weekly Glo presents Big Friday Show Countdown The ninth episode also witnessed the introduction of a new segment called Dr Love, known as the Official Pimp Daddy of Hearts, where people seek advice on all their love and relationship issues and get instant solution from DR LOVE played by anchor of Glo Presents The Big Friday Show, Basketmouth.

Gbagyi Youth Carnival berths

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LANS are in top gear to hold the first annual Gbagyi Youth Carnival and Awards between November and December this year. Set for Niger State, the event is powered by Shiroro Local Government and is organized by Mark of Generations in conjunction with Red Page Media.

According to Carnival Director, Pada E. Baba, the award ceremony is put together to uplift, encourage, entertain, and preserve the Gbagyi people's cultural and traditional heritages, with great focus on uniting the people under an atmosphere of love, joy and peace, thereby promoting the peaceful co-existence of the indigenous citizens and settlers in Niger State and Nigeria in general.

“The carnival is a concept of Mark of Generations and it will be held at Shiroro Local Government Area, while the award is basically to encourage the individuals and personalities who have contributed to the upliftment and

encouragement of the people in different ways,” he says.

Located in the middle belt of Nigeria, the Gbagyi people are known to have emerged as one of the most popular and effective tribes around the region, inhabiting several states including Abuja, Kogi, Kaduna, and Nasarawa.

They are also known to be basically farmers with a lot of respect for their cultural and traditional heritages.

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JULIET AGUWA

•Chuddy K with Basketmouth

X-ACTRESS Juliet Aguwa is once again back home from her base in America as she continues her campaign against breast cancer. The beautiful mother of two daughters (Chigozie and Chisom) survived the dreaded disease when she was diagnosed of aggressive breast cancer stage 3c in 2008.

Born in Imo State on October 2, 1973, Juliet grew up in Niger State. Her dad passed away when she was seven years old, leaving her mother to play the role of both parents.

After secondary school, she studied theatre arts at the University of Port Harcourt. After graduation, she pursued acting for a while, appearing in several TV series and Talk Shows on NTA, Lagos, including drama series, Twist Away and Memorial Hospital.

In 1996, she migrated to the USA to further her studies where she is now living as a citizen in Wisconsin. But four weeks into her stay in the US, she noticed a lump in her left breast.

“I thought it was leftover milk, because I had just stopped breastfeeding my younger daughter. So I went back to the hospital, and after a series of tests, I was told to go for a biopsy where tissue from the breast was removed and examined for signs of breast cancer,” she said.

By the time she went back to the hospital with her husband for the biopsy results, Juliet had already gone through the trauma of crying, coupled with anger and denial.

“I was young and I severally asked myself how could I have cancer? I didn't have any family history of the disease. And I just had about a few months left to graduate with a degree in Medical Case Management. When we got in to see the doctor, I watched her. She seemed nervous, like she didn't want to tell me what they

had found. So even before she said the words, I knew I had breast cancer. I was only 34. I was diagnosed with stage 3 aggressive breast cancer in September, 2008, within 2 months of my routine medical check. I can't tell you the shock and the disbelief of how my world spiralled out of control. The moment I heard the word 'cancer', everything else went blank!”

With the future looking seemingly bleak having been diagnosed with breast cancer and also having to explain to her kids about her predicament, it was hard, but she had to do it in a way her kids would understand.

“Telling my older daughter who was three and half years old at the time was hard because she did not understand. We said, ''the bad guys attacked mummy's boobs, and we are trying to fight them''. Well I braved up to it and broke the news to my family, my mother was in Nigeria at the time, and when I called her, I could tell she was in a great mood.”

With the dark days now over, after going through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, Juliet still sometimes feel that her body doesn't quite feel like it's hers, due to the healing process.

But she is positive and strong on the fact that life holds so much more after her ordeal which also inspired the setting up of her foundation.

“It was a mixed and warm feeling when I heard those words: ''Cancer Free'', tears rolled down my eyes knowing that I was given another chance of life to walk through the stages of life together with

my kids. I can only say that I am proud to be standing today.

“After I got better, I started an Organisation called Courage to Dare Foundation. Having gone through all the stages of cancer treatment and emerging a survivor, I knew I had to do something for the thousands of people all over the world who can't access information and treatment.

“I came to Nigeria to do research on cancer patients, I talked to an oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, and she said that a lot of cancer patients come in after the disease has reached an advanced stage. There, I was trying to talk with cancer patients there and many didn't want to talk to me. It seemed that they were embarrassed about the fact that they had cancer.

“Some of them said their families didn't know, and they didn't want them to know. My organisation plans to go all over West Africa empowering women to speak up about their condition and to seek help. Our lives are stories we must tell to inspire the world and leave a legacy,” she said.

Her campaign was later noticed in America when she was invited as a guest at the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2010.

“The honour was overwhelming, and it gave a voice to all the efforts in trying to help Africans. Oprah's Show has made me want to work hard in partnering with other organisations in the fight to end the increasing breast cancer death rate in Africa, which is mostly due to neglect, abandonment, lack of finances and awareness.”

Now fired up with urge to return to the movie world, which she abandoned when she became a mother and subsequently when she was battling her ordeal as a cancer patient, Juliet says she can't wait to have a second crack at being an actress again.

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Master guitarist George Benson comes to town

Remy Martin returns with monthly gig

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FTER a month break for the Ramadan fast, the popular At the Club with Remy Martin monthly fiesta is back, organizers have announced.

“August, indeed, promises to be filled with much fun and fanfare as premium Fine Champagne Cognac, Remy Martin is set to hit Aura Lounge, Victoria Island, Lagos with an august list of entertainers in this month's edition of its monthly gig slated for August 25, 2012.”

June saw the brand creating so much excitement when its monthly party train stopped at Moore Nite Club in Festac. The show recorded a star-studded ensemble that had the crowd

•Asa

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T'S the 3rd Smooth 98.1FM's annual Luxury Concert, and legendary musician George Benson has been billed to perform as headliner act.

Otherwise called Love Music, Love Life Luxury Concert, the show, which has grown over the years with huge expectations, comes up on Saturday, October 13, 2012, organisers have confirmed.

George Benson, a Jazz Master and 10-time Grammy Awardwinning legend, is expected to perform his greatest hits at the show, scheduled to hold at the Expo Center, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island Lagos.

In a career that spans five decades and more than 30 recordings as a bandleader, Benson first came to prominence playing soul jazz with the likes of Jack McDuff. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. By the mid to late 1970s, Benson began to put his vocals on tracks such as "This Masquerade" and "On Broadway", which both won him Grammy Awards. While his triple-platinum album, “Breezin”, topped the Billboard 200 Chart in 1976.

His newest album, Guitar Man,

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rocking and gyrating all through the night.

Another moment beckons, with an open invitation for a fete with award-winning stars like former member of Plantashun Boiz, Faze; top rapper, Vector da Viper, and fast-rising act, Rex. Expected on the wheels of steel is international Deejay, DJ Spinall, with vibrant Shody on the hype.

According to Remy Martin Senior Brand Manager, Thibault Robert; “This is our little way of saying thank you to our loyal customers for all the support we've received over the years.”

The At The Club With Remy Martin monthly party is being supported by The Beat 99.9 FM and TRACE Urban TV.

Accolades for Last Flight to Abuja

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•George Benson

is a 12-song collection that includes a mix of jazz and pop standards, some in a combo setting and some solo, but all of them tied together seamlessly by Benson's soulful and exploratory signature sound. A solid team made up of veterans and newcomers like pianist Joe Sample, keyboardist and musical director David Garfield, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Harvey Mason, featured on this album.

It would be recalled that Smooth 98.1FM came on to the airwaves in 2009, launching its Annual Love Music, Love Life Luxury Concert series in 2010 with performances by renowned artists Angie Stone, Gerald Albright, and Richard Bona, featuring Mike Stern complimented by Tiwa Savage, BEZ and Pure & Simple. The following year, the concert featured Asa, Pamela “The Saxtress” Williams, and Jimmy Dludlu.

ECENTLY making its way into the cinema, Nollywood flick, Last Flight to Abuja, is said to have grossed more than N8m at the Nigerian box office only a week after it was premiered at the Genesis Deluxe Cinema.

Written and Directed by Obi Emelonye, producer of Nollywood's highly acclaimed movie, The Mirror Boy, the flick is rated as the only African movie this year that has been able to compete at the Nigerian box office with the very best Hollywood has to offer.

Last Flight to Abuja, according to official Nigerian

cinema ratings, beat major Hollywood blockbusters such as Spiderman; Think like a Man, Avengers and Madagascar and was second only to the highly rated blockbuster, Dark Knight Rises.

The movie which uniquely is the first Nollywood film to be shot mostly on an airplane features an impressive ensemble cast in Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Jim Iyke, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Ali Nuhu, Jide Kosoko, Olumide Bakare, Franca Brown, Uche Odoputa, Anthony Monjaro, Uru Eke, Celine Loader and a host of others.

The Future Awards moves to Port Harcourt

Nollywood actress Uru Eke features on CNN

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AST-rising Nollywood actress, Uru Eke; recently featured in a documentary on Nollywood in CNN's Inside Africa. In the interview with CNN International Lagos Correspondent, Vladamir Duthiers, Uru talked about Nollywood and her journey so far.

Born and raised in England, Uru has featured in movies such as Forgive Me Father, 'Ebony', 'Widow's Men', 'African Soldier', 'Return of Ogidi' ,Save the Prince, 'The Gift', 'Timeless Passion' 'Last Flight to Abuja' and the soap Catwalq, to name a few. She also acted in the soon-to-be released movie, 'Weekend Getaway'. Her work

has not gone unnoticed as she was nominated last year for the Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards 2011 for Best Upcoming Actress.

The interview was shot in the exquisite showroom of Lagos fashion designer Lola Majekododunmi of the House of Dorcas, of which Uru is brand ambassador.

She chatted about her experiences, challenges in the industry and what Nollywood means to her on this week's edition of CNN's “Inside Africa” hosted by Errol Barnett.

A

FTER successfully hosting six editions in Lagos, the central working committee for The Future Awards has announced that the garden city of Port Harcourt has been selected to host this year's edition.

The event will hold on 25 and 26 August in the Rivers State capital. "Exciting things are happening in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and we are proud that its inspiring governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has decided to support the vision of young leaders from across Nigeria by hosting this year's event," said Obiageli Ezekwesili who sits on the Board of The

Future Awards."

According to Ibim Semenitari, Commissioner of Information for Rivers State and erstwhile Editor-in-Chief of BusinessEye, "these are exciting times for Rivers, which just beat Oxford, England to clinch the title of World Book Capital 2014. His Excellency, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, a cheerleader for intellectual development, has always been passionate about engaging, with real values, the next generation of Nigerian leaders, and it gives the government and people of the state great pleasure to host the brightest young leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs in Nigeria."

In a related development, the committee announced the keynote speaker for this year's awards as TonyElumelu (MFR).

Acknowledged as one of Africa's most influential entrepreneurs, Elumelu is

•TonyElumelu

former Chief Executive Officer of the United Bank for Africa Plc. He is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings and the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

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Entertainment

BIG

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

CINEMA GUIDE LAGOS

PICTURE Supported by: SILVERBIRD CINEMAS

Fight after : l l a c e R Total fight A

remake of the 1990 original, with action hero, Schwarzenegger, and although Total Recall follows the same basic plot, killing the suspense of acting, but everybody is overall solid. The plot also takes very few risks, but the action and flashy visual effects inevitably steal the show.

Kate Beckinsale makes for a nice villain and performs plenty of impressive stunt work. Probably the biggest letdown was Bryan Cranston who stands in for the

Ronny Cox character from the original. He is not bad but the script doesn't give him enough juicy lines to say as with Ronny Cox, so he ends up being a very forgettable villain. Overall, a nice popcorn flick that provides just enough action and fancy visuals to compensate for an underwhelming plot. The original Schwarzenegger flick is superior but for an inferior product, it's pretty decent.

In 2084, a factory worker, Quaid (Farrell), who is bored with his low life, begins to suspect that he

is a spy after visiting Rekall - a futuristic company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led. It turns out the Quiad isn't really who he thought he was, and it is up to him to figure out who he is, and bring peace to the new world by leading an underground resistance.

However, the best things this movie has to offer are the action sequence. The entire movie is fight after fight and every fight is better than the previous one.

Ice Age 4 Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Ice Age 4 (3D) Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Madagascar 3D Featured Featured: Actors Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Snow White Featured Actors: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 127 min Bol Bachchan (Indian) Featured Actors: Ajay Devgan,Abhishek Bachchan,Asin Thottumkal Genre: Comedy Running Time: 150mins The Amazing Spider-Man 3D Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins The Amazing Spider-Man (Rating: 15) Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans

ABUJA

Abraham Lincoln:

Vampire Hunter ASED on the best-selling book by Seth Grahame-Smith and with Tim Burton listed as a producer, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Huntercorn makes for a fine Friday night pop movie. ts a America's sixteenth President figh in rs dato pre ing uck ods blo war against this movie, directed by Timur adapted Bekmambetov. The screenplay, novel,

by Seth Grahame-Smith from hisCivil combines a wild, anything-goes War plot with true incidents from her the Lincoln's life and times, but neitthe s ture cap ter wri director nor the e. The book's ludicrous yet energetic ton g, and bin num s ome bec ckly violence qui hout wit coln Lin s Benjamin Walker play the p kee to ded nee y iron of the sense of the historical and supernatural sides g. nin rtai ente y entl sist con story A generic revenge action flick, al Bekmambetov provides much visu fights flair and some of the Matrix-like they scenes are pretty cool, except that become tiresome by the third act.here; in There's some magnificent work piece particular, the horse stampede setseem and the climactic train sequence ital designed to demonstrate how dig that technology can now realise ideas t. pas r yea in le inab mag uni e wer

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Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins The Past Came Calling Featured Actors Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, John Dumelo, Marie Gomez, Oliver Jolliffer, Penelope Bouchot Humbart Genre Drama Running Time 110mins Think Like A Man Featured Actors: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart Genre :Romance Running Time: 122 min Madagascar 3D Featured Actors: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 93 min Men In Black Featured Actors Will Smith,

The Amazing Spider-Man Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Married but Living Single Featured Actors: Funke Akindele, Joke Silva, Joseph

Benjamin, Tina Mba, Femi Brainard, Kiki Omeili, Yemi Remi Genre: Action/Adventure Men in Black III Featured Featured Actors: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin Genre: Action/Adventure Dark Shadows Featured Featured Actors: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 113 min The Avengers Featured Featured Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 142 min The Hunger Games Featured Featured Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 142Mins

PORT HARCOURT Ice Age: Continental Drift Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 Mins Snow White and the Huntsman (Rating: 15) Featured Actors: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 127 Mins Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Featured Actors: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 93 Mins The past came calling (Rating: 18) Featured Actors: Chioma Chukwuka-Akpota, John Dumelo, Nigerian actors, Nigerian actresses, nigerian movie directors, Nigerian movie producers, Nigerian movies, Ruke Amata Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 Mins The Amazing Spider-Man (Rating: 15 )

Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins Think Like a Man (Rating: 18) Featured Actors: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart Genre Comedy Running Time122 Mins Ties That Binds (Rating: 18) Genre: Drama Running Time: 92 Mins

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

My modelling odyssey –Face of Africa model, Blessing Bassey

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FTER the Nigerian Model Awards and Mnet face of Africa, not much has been heard about you. What have you been up to?

From NMA which I won in 2007, I went to New York for Ford Supermodel Competition. Though I did not win, it provided opportunities for me to be exposed. From there, I went to South Africa to build my book. What we call portfolio in Nigeria, where you have strong pictures and all the jobs you have in the past. I was in South Africa for a while, and then went in for the M-net Face of Africa competition in 2009. I was able to make it to the top 10.

The opportunity was good, we travelled to a lot of places and we had lots of exposure, though I did not win it too.

It's been travelling to different places for me, booking a lot of jobs. Modelling takes one out a lot.

Presently I am a 200-level Psychology student at the University of Lagos,

In 2007, Blessing Bassey's first appearance on the run way was on the platform of Nigerian Model Awards, organised by Lexy Mojo-Eyes-led Legendary Gold Limited. Standing at 5ft 11inches, she strutted the runway to clinch the coveted title, and her journey to stardom began as the Big Apple beckoned. She later joined other supermodels of the world to contest in the Ford Supermodel Competition, New York.

Though she did not win, it gave her the exposure she needed; and because she is always looking for new challenges, she relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2009. This afforded her the opportunity to audition for the glamorous M-net Face of Africa competition. She shared her experience in the modelling world with Adetutu Audu.

and I also still strut the runway for fashion shows.

Did you shelve modelling because of academics?

Not really, I still do it. I came back to study. It does not affect my academics Modelling has opened doors for you, has it robbed you of anything?

Nothing that I can think of for now. It is not perfect yet, but everything is okay.

How have you been able to manage fame?

I have tried to manage it well; I don't allow anything to get to me. I have always reme mbered who I was before the whole thing started.

I have not gotten there. So I don't have to allow the little fame to get into my head.

H o w has status

affected you academically?

It has not been easy. I had wanted to be a regular girl. I did not know that people will recognise me, but everybody knows one or two things about me.

It does not, however, change anything in me. I still keep my friends. Life is easy and simple for me.

You have talked so much about modelling, when will the wedding bell toll for you?

That is still far away, I am still young. I am not ready for marriage yet.

Is there no man waiting for you?

I am still very much single. I still have a lot of things ahead of me; marriage is not on my mind now.

You are studying Psychology, how do you plan to combine that with modeling in the future?

Modelling is just for a while for me. You know how women are; I am not going to be a model forever. I am going to be married and have my kids. When I get to a certain time, I may not be able to model again and my Psychology will be handy then.

How did modelling start for you?

My first shot at modelling was the NMA, which I won in 2007. Since then, it's been different kind of exposure for me. It just started when I got the form for the NMA, though I never thought I was going to win. But lucky me, I won.

What keeps you going?

The fact that I have to wake up every day, go to school and learn new things.

Your beauty routine?

I don't have any. I just have my bath and rub normal cream and powder.

Don't you at times wish your parents could share in your joy now?

My late mum had always wanted me to be a model. I wish she were alive to say that is my girl, Blessing. But unfortunately she was not alive to see me win NMA in 2007, though my father was alive then. But he was not alive to witness the FOA. Life is full of ups and downs, they would have been proud of me. But I know wherever they are, they are proud of me. My mum was an Accountant and my dad, a Building Engineer. Their deaths took a toll on me but I pursued my dream, because I know that is what they would have wanted me to do. But I am glad that I get a lot of support from my elder brother and that also encourages me.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

Social

ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: crownkool@yahoo.com, Tel: 08023849036)

Lola Omotayo Rotimi rocks baby bump Makinde, wife part ways T

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OTIMI Makinde, Nollywood producer, auto dealer-now politician, is in the news again.

This time, the man who is currently representing Ife in the Federal House of Representatives, we gathered, has parted ways with his wife.

Makinde is sure a man who has his hand in many pies. But the father of two, sources say, is having matrimonial crisis which had made him and his wife separate for some months now.

According to sources, there have been accusations and counter-accusations from the parties involved. While one source is alleging infidelity, another squealed that the madam is not too keen about her hubby's involvement in politics.

When the centre could not hold any longer, the marriage crumbled like a pack of cards.

Abby Ikomi exhales

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BBY Ikomi,the beautiful wife of the CEO of Keystone Bank, Oti Ikomi, seems to be enjoying all the attention that comes with being a bank MD's better-half.

Besides being beautiful and rocking high octane shindigs, Abby is not the regular sit at home wife.

She ran Home and Fabrics for a year in South Africa, before her hubby relocated to Nigeria. And since then she has been passionate about her business, because most of the pieces she churns out from her factory makes people keep coming back for more. Abby has also been exhibiting traits of a prospective fashion icon. With enough money at her beck and call, she can afford to live the affluent lifestyle.

ONGUES have been wagging over the liaison of mulatto beauty, Lola Omotayo, and the father of her four-year-old son, Peter of the Psquare fame. For those who have been waiting to hear news that they were altar bound may be surprised because sources say Lola is not really particular about marriage, and Peter as well is dealing with his own career and he wants to focus on it.

But the good news is that more than four years after the birth of their son, Cameron, Lola, a celebrated executive in the telecoms industry, is expecting baby number two for the hip-hop sensation. Informed sources say she has moved in with him, though the lovebirds are yet to formalise the union.

Lola Omotayo is essentially fun loving and it is on record that she had been in the limelight long before her romance with Peter became public knowledge. Not only is she glowing, she happens to be one of the most stylish ladies in town just as her good look is enhanced by her feeling of contentment.

Gbolade Osibodu's style G BOLADE Osibodu, Vigeo Group boss and hubby of Union Bank CEO, Funke Osibodu, is a keen strategist, a quiet philanthropist and man of style. He may not be a very popular name in the realm of successful Nigerian business persons, but the impact which his chain of businesses has made in the Nigerian economy cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.

Osibodu, despite being highly visible in the social circles, is a workaholic. Sources close to him say he works round the clock and believes that for any serious minded person, his career should be his life. For many years, people thought his company Vigeo was a foreign company because Osibodu would rather make noise about the company rather than allow his image to loom over the company a strategy other businessmen are envious of. Prior to the birth of Vigeo Limited, Osibodu's career spanned the Nigerian Navy, the Boots Company Limited and Bodnat International.

In pursuit of his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, the Ogun State- born businessman established Vigeo Limited, a multi-service organisation which later transformed to the Vigeo Group.

The group is the parent company to the five arms of his businesses; Vigeo Capital, Vigeo Oil & Gas, Vigeo Shipping, Power and Marketing & Distribution. He also serves on the boards of other companies like SO&U, UTC, GT Assurance, Phillips Consulting Limited and Terra Kulture.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Ugo Igbokwe ups ante

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Glamour 45 Maltida Obaseki on sabbatical

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EGGY and pretty Matilda Obaseki, one of the newly discovered actresses currently serenading on MNET's intriguesfilled soap, Tinsel, is on sabbatical.

This is coming five months after she announced her engagement. Informed sources say she is pregnant and may not fit into the role on the show.

At 26, the Edo State-born emerging screen diva is so optimistic that acting will definitely take her to the next level, in the next couple of years.

The actress was recently replaced by Ghanaian actress, Leonora Okine.

Matilda Obaseki had garnered award nominations for her delivery of the Angela Dede role, especially given the challenges involved in playing the role of the troubled-yet-determined mentally ill young woman with dignity rather than as a caricature.

The actress announced her engagement in March 2012 and is pregnant with her first child.

OPULAR hair stylist Ugochukwu Igbokwe of the Make Beauty Parlour has landed a deal with Tinsel, M-Net's leading multi-million naira studiobased soap opera. The partnership is part of a series of workshops directed towards availing the Tinsel crew of the expertise of renowned Nigerian entrepreneurs who excel in their craft.

Ugo is to deliver a 10day training workshop for members of the hair department of the locally produced TV soap opera.

The local production which is based in an exclusive studio in Lagos, boasts a large, yet experienced, team, many of whom are professional make-up artistes, hair dressers and costumiers and many more.

Taofick Okoya's new vocation

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AOFICK Okoya, the debonair son of Lagos billionaire and socialite, Aare Razak Akanni Okoya, is a chip off the old block, though born as a silver spoon child, he is not carried away by the spoils of his aristocratic background. Already, he runs Fico Solutions, and Queen of Africa Project, a company that produces dolls. Making dolls in this part of the world is not something one just stumbles on. It is a risky venture which only the courageous and patient indulge in, but the young Okoya has made success of it. Informed sources say he has diversified into the competitive world of quick-service restaurant. His new business, named Island Treat Restaurant, located at Obun Eko Street, Off Nnamdi Azikwe Street, Lagos Island, we gathered, has carved a niche in local delicacies.

Dayo Olomu shines again Wonuola Odunsi off the shelf

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HE is young, smart and beautiful. She dared to think out of the box. Wonu Odunsi’s attention to detail and smart business strategies have kept her in the forefront of Nigerian fashion industry, via the famous Le Petit Marche and the new L'Espace store. But that is not the gist now. The gist is that the beautiful lady is off the shelf and has picked a wedding date.

Come Thursday, 30 August, 2012, she will be having her traditional wedding ceremony at the KFA event centre, Lekki, with popular Lagos 'big boy' and business man, Felix Okoye, one of the brothers behind SHAQ 24/7. The church wedding will hold two days later on September 1.

Her prince-charming, we gathered, proposed to her recently and present at the engagement were a few of her friends, Toke Ibru, Lilian Unachukwu and a host of others.

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IGERIA born-United Kingdom based motivational speaker, Dayo Olomu, was honoured last week with Role Model of the Year Award by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Alumni Association, UK chapter, at the th city pavilion, Romford Essex, as part of the activities commemorating the 50 anniversary of the great institution. Olomu was bestowed with the award for his contribution to the personal development of millions of people all over the world, and his contribution to the development of Nigeria's entertainment industry as well as Afro Caribbean entertainment in Diaspora. For Olomu, it is the beginning of greater things to come. 'It is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our sight,' he gushed.

46

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Glamour

&

James Faleke gives out daughter in marriage

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

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HAIRMAN of the House Committee on Anti-corruption, Hon James Faleke, the former Chairman of Ojudu Local Council Development Area gave out his daugther, Damilola, wed lock toOlanrewaju Obafemi. The union was solemnised at Christ the Light Chapel Church, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos and guests were entertained at The Yard, Oregun.

•Couple, Lanre and Damilola Obafemi

•Alhaji Lai Mohammed

•L-R: Bride's Mother, Mrs Bukola Faleke, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke Orelope- Adefulure and Bride's Father, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke.

•Chairman, Ojokoro Local Council, Benjamin Olabinjo and wife •L-R: Hon. Bisi Yusuf and Hon Segun

•L-R: Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Chairman, Agege Local Government, Jubril Kareem, and MosanOkunola, LCDA Chairman, Abiodun Mafe

Honour for Nebo Emodi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transport

•L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Nebo Emodi, President, South East /South South Professionals, Emeka Ugwu-Oju, and Mr Andy Wabali, Financial Secretary

•L-R: Barr Emeka Akabogu and Executive Directo, NIMASA, Nwabueze Obi

•L-R: Mr Kayode Otitoju and Dr Jerry Nwakwo

•L-R: Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Seyi Sijuwade and Director General, Nigeria Chamber of Shipping, Mrs Ify Anazonn-Akerele

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HE South East/South South Professionals feted the Permanent Secretary of the federal Ministry of transport to a cocktail reception at the Prime Chinese Restaurant, Victoria Island. Among those who attended the event are President, South East South South Professionals were Emeka Ugwu-Oju, Mr Andy Wabali, Dr Jerry Nwakwo, Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Seyi Sijuwade and Director General, Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, Mrs Ify Anazonn-Akerele on Sunday, August 5.

•L-R: Barr Ifedi Okoye-John and Mr Princewill Utchay

•L-R: Mr. Nwabueze Obi, Managing Director, Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), Abeeb Abdulahi

•L-R: Mr Denziel Kentebe. and Mr Seyi Sijauwade

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

47

VOL 1 NO. 037

Some brands can be careless

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OT much of sales has been considered on this platform, considering the extensive consideration of issues pertaining brands management and advertising. Today, we will, in part, look at sales planning and execution as aspect of brands management. Brands management is a sum total of the scientific activities at play for the benefit of any given brand, with profit on invested funds as bottom line. So, whether we canvass accounting, campaign planning and execution, market and/or consumer research and analysis, media engagement analysis, image management and even announcement, it will all end up looking at the naira and kobo consideration.

It is interesting how sales or selling creeps in and out of sphere when looking at brands management. Selling, as a function, stands out clean from the considerations of marketing, brands management and advertising. In standard settings, therefore, the sales team is distinct and separate from the brands management (often referred as marketing) department. Essentially, while the marketing team look at the brand and how to position it at the target consumer, the sale person is concerned with the actual buying and selling at the market place. It is the sales person that put face to the targetperson of the marketing or advertising consultant. According to Wikipedia, Sales Management is a business discipline focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's (brand's) sales operation. The sales person ensures sales through an articulate understanding of the geography and demography of the market place.

He/she deals with the man and woman that actually buys. He/ she pay attention to the mood of the buyer, shares the worries of the distribution network and system, engages the trade agents on issues pertaining to price movement, competitive value offering, the selling aids with potentials to attract more sales/ shelf off-take for the brand, how to promote sales…and all other insights that can only be derived through close interpersonal interaction.

I have a friend with very encouraging credentials in sales called Za. Tuned can go on reeling out details of the smallest market in Lagos and Ibadan – the two places he has practiced most extensively in his career, like he planned them. When he talk sales, I listen. This is a guy that has a clear understanding of the buying pattern prevalent from market to market, across consumer groups. When I have the privilege of engaging him in the middle of any assignment that has to do with tactical sales activation, I don't let him go.

Yet, when my colleagues and I talk brands management, advertising and marketing communication, Za becomes a novice. It beats me how this divide between these otherwise different sides of a coin is so sharp and evident. Often times when the agency person and brand's marketing person discusses strategic considerations that directly involves spend, the common road-block is the sales people and their complains. The thinking from among sales people is that some of the spend undertaken by the marketing/corporate affairs people amount to waste, especially when the system is that

that directly tie the advertising spend/budget to sales; where both teams are tied to same brand and the spend has to be funded by the sales team.

Yet, the sales and marketing persons are united by a common goal: the brand's success! And so at some point, both teams meet to harmonize their various involvements for the good of the brand. But we also know that it falls on the brands manager, by reasons of the robust nature of his/her responsibility, to pay more attention on the activities at the market place, more than the sales person will like to worry himself with the challenges of brands management. So, if it

happens that there is a need to fight fire at the market place, the brands manager is likely to be drafted. His/her involvement is holistic. That probably explains why the brands manager is more concerned with the appropriateness of his brand's label design when it comes to taking advantages of consumer attraction on the display shelf. Marketing decisions, in most cases, directs the sales operations for a given brand.

Suffice, therefore, that when brands adopt certain sales strategies, that decision is expressive of their character, directly impacting on their image with a reverberating effect on their customers' experience. Let's put it more expressive this way: for instance, one of the functions of any sales strategy is to enable ease of access for the target consumer. Now, if for any reason, a particular brand adopts a sales strategy that causes the same target consumer more difficulty at trying to locate the said brand at the market place, it immediately sends signals of a scarce, failing and outright absent brand to the target consumer. In most cases, such move can immediately lead to unintended de-marketing one for the brand. Such uncalculated move is most delicate with intangible offers such as service-brands. In ideal market situation, competition is likely to take advantage.

Each time I am constrained to fly with AERO, I wonder who and how they came about this their IN-FLIGHT SUPERMARKET in a trolley strategy. When the airline announced the decision to sell the traditional complementary in-flight refreshment items, it was considered a joke. But here we are…

But for the near-monopolistic nature of the Nigerian market environment, AERO brand would have suffered from that act of disrespect for her customers. As a holistic offer, in-flight is traditionally part of the brand's offer. The brand's decision to CARELESS about how her customers feel, by selling part of their offer can only be rude, unfriendly and an affront. I stand to be corrected, but such move does not seem likely to be supported by any market or consumer research findings. If any research towards gauging air travel service users' expectations (for purposes of identifying possible market opportunities were conducted, the findings would most likely throw up issues such as reduced air fare, improved inflight entertainment, assurance on safety and improved customer services among ground staff and cabin crew members. Lest I forget, another issue that was bothering air travelers then was ticketing and ticketing outlets (hmm! We should just leave out ARIK here).

If for a 50 minutes flight from Abuja to Lagos, a traveler parts with N31,000 for a seat at the economy class, why should AERO not be able to give such customer a glass of water to drink in the cause of travel?

I am yet to imagine appreciate the gains AERO brand is making from that decision, because the immediate fallout of that decision is that , like me, most fliers on AERO flight stay without any form of refreshment till they land at their destination. Apart from the unfriendly treatment by the brand, apprehension and fears concerning safety of the flight and uncertainty about the freshness of what is on sale, all contribute to the boycott. And because their stock is 90% unsold each way, the tendency will likely be for long period stock-keeping, to cut loss. Retailing at 35,000 feet above sea level on an airline in Nigeria air space will definitely leave so much to be desired.

Perhaps AERO brand is yet to ascertain the extent of damage their decision to be unfriendly to her customers is, presently, the managers should know, it has exposed them to so much suspicion. Yes, the figure of intending passengers exceed available seats, but rest assured, that is because there are near-zero options open to local fliers in Nigeria as at yet.

Whatever misgivings are operative in the mind of the brand's target market now are adding up, waiting for the time to pay back.

ADVERT PLACED ON THIS PAGE ARE CONNECTED TO OVER 45,000 READERS WEEKLY. ADVERTISE HERE. “To all our Muslim Readers, RAMADAN KAREEM”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Working in male shoes

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The turn of the 21 century has seen more women shattering the glass ceiling preventing them from reaching their full potential as they work and excel in jobs previously tagged 'men-only'. Rita Ohai writes.

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bus driver breaks a traffic rule by riding on the wrong lane. Raising her hands authoritatively, she brings the vehicle to a grinding stop.

"Get down from your car!" she commands.

The driver does not comply. Titilayo repeats herself, while taking position in front of the car. He begins to plead with her.

Without being able to provide valid vehicular papers, she orders his arrest and impounds his car.

"If it needs to get physical, I'll get physical," Titilayo says afterward.

After all, at work, she is a police woman first and then a woman later.

In a country where two-thirds of the population live on less than N1000 a day, there is a cultural bias where sex is concerned and financial credit facilities are not readily available for those without existing capital, the challenge for Nigerian women is formidable.

Yet in this sometimes difficult environment, some women have found a niche and are making enormous strides and excelling in jobs that had in the past been stated as the exclusive preserve of men.

Engineer Sandra Aguebor-Ekperuoh is one of such women. A female motor mechanic from Edo State, who against the wishes of family and friends chose to spend the rest of her life tinkering with cars, smeared in grease.

While the radical decision to pursue a career in a male dominated field is beginning to pay off with the launch of her auto service shop and training foundation, it has not been an easy climb up the ladder.

Sharing her life story, Sandra narrates: “It was a big taboo for a woman to be a mechanic when I started. I did not have friends. I still do not have many friends. My mother did not support me initially. My father also refused to give me support but eventually he took me to a garage and I started learning.

“I also had the challenge of convincing people to look beyond my gender and focus on my job. In this business, they come in to test you and check out what you can do.

Once they saw that they were leaving with peace of mind, we were giving them schedules to service their cars and they

were satisfied with the work we were doing, they began to tell others and my clientele started growing.

“As the men who refused to accept me earlier saw me getting more customers and saw how serious I was, they had no choice but to accept me,” she stated.

Another lady who has defied the odds is Chioma Agilah, a professional carpenter or 'furniture maker' as she likes to call herself.

A graduate of Law from the University of Lagos, Agilah decided to play with nails and hammers after spending four years behind the desk at her uncle's law firm. She says, “While I was in school, I knew in my heart that I was not going to spend the rest of my life as a lawyer, but I did not know what it was I would do as an alternative.

“So I just went with the flow of things until one day, the leg of a chair in my dining room fell out and I got some nails and a hammer and fixed it instead of paying somebody else to do it. Immediately, sparks started flying in my brain. A few weeks later, I applied to serve as an apprentic e o n weekend s with a furniture maker.

E i g h t months later, I resigne d from m y j o b

and I have never looked back,” Chioma explained.

When asked how she is perceived by clients, she says, “Any time you have to change people's opinion about any matter, you are bound to experience some discomfort. Many people see me in my workshop sawing wood with my workers and they marvel.

“Men would say to me, 'I couldn't see my wife in this job' and then they would turn around and give me contracts worth millions of naira. Funny enough, I am married to a man who once said that to me and now we have three boys who love carpentry,” she finished.

Like Ekperuoh, Agilah and the Minister of Finance, Ngozi OkonjoI w e a l a , w o m e n across the

country are gradually entering occupations that have hired mostly men, in order to earn a better living.

Only recently, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, recruited 46 female drivers for its waste evacuation trucks following the success of an experiment it conducted with the first set of female drivers.

The reason given by the Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, while speaking at a press briefing, is that the female drivers “have shown an uncommon tenderness in handling the vehicles because they have recorded zero accident rates with the vehicles compared to their male counterparts. Three years ago, we brought in ladies to drive our trucks on an experimental basis, I am proud to say the experiment has been a huge success.”

Mrs. Opeyemi Adesina who will soon be found donning her orange khaki while behind the wheels of a refuse disposal truck says she is encouraged to put in more effort at work when people, especially women, hail her for doing a good job. “They wonder what a woman like me could be doing behind the truck. I am happy doing the job and even to do it better. The issue of bad roads and traffic gridlocks are some of the challenges we confront, but the drivers, especially commercial drivers, show understanding by being patient with us on the road.”

As women offer themselves up for better paying jobs with higher risks, they are still faced with the issue of being paid less than their sometimes less qualified male counterparts as well as being treated with the same level of respect.

Ini Onuk, a former consultant with the African Union turned business woman, paints a verbal picture of life for competent women who work in the corporate sector; “As a woman, you work twice as hard to sell whatever it is you have upstairs. I believe being a woman who is aiming to succeed in her career is a challenge in itself.

“For a beautiful woman, there is an unspoken myth that says 'beautiful people are dumb'. So if, like me, you run a company that sells intellectual property, just by looking at you they doubt that you have anything to offer.

“On the other hand,” she continued, “there is the belief that because you are a woman, you should take whatever is thrown at you. Because they say it is a 'man's world', a woman should be glad that she is being brought to the table. However, we are beginning to have stronger women entering the game. These are women who can play on the same field as the men and come out on top.”

Although there appears to be a gradual rise in the degree of acceptance, women who work in male dominated fields, are traditionally judged more harshly than their male colleagues.

Gloria Ijitola expresses, “Any mistake a woman makes, even very minor ones, is blown into a national case and seen as an even greater mistake than the major ones her male co-workers make. This usually happens because many of the men do not want to believe a woman can do what they can do and so they try to stereotype you and make it difficult for you to be comfortable.”

Giving insight on how to surmount these barriers, Onuk advices that ladies must “study twice as hard because they can graduate with the same qualifications as a man and not have the same opportunities that he will be given. So you have to be twice better and twice smarter.”

Stating further, Ini says, “Respect yourself. You can learn how to make other people respect you from a young age. Create room for people to respect your mind. Once they know that this person is intelligent, there are certain things people cannot say or do to you.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

New WOMAN with

49

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

Don't fall for a dreamer

I

When a wife earns e s u o p s r e h n a h t more W

HILE more women are acquiring their graduate degrees, the wage and salary gap experienced in most work places have been closing up.

With more women than men going to college, paying attention to their work ethic and taking less time out from careers to raise children; with more women choosing careers that only a few years ago were the province of men, better jobs and better money have become available to them, it was inevitable, really.

Many of the jobs in which women earn more than men are either femaledominated jobs or extremely maledominated jobs. Almost a third of working women worldwide now out-earn their husbands.

Although it shouldn't be cause for celebration, seeing as though women should earn as much as men right of the bat, it's certainly great to see that in some fields women have the upper hand. However, this is still good news and its better than earning less than a man who is less qualified for the same job.

It is often common to find that when a woman's paycheck approaches an equal naira amount to her husband's, the husband pitches in more with house chores.

Regardless of how much a woman earns, she still needs to know that she can rely on men to take care of her.

The men also need to feel that they are still the “head of the household” to fulfill their God-given responsibilities.

Whatever the reasons, if you are a couple in which the woman out-earns the man, here are some tips to give

you a hand: Remember your background. Few people have been raised in families where Mom out-earned Dad or where Mom was a CEO while Dad stayed home with the kids. As a matter of fact, most people presently in the work force were raised in families where Dad not only made most of the money but also made most of the important decisions.

It's true that a man's ability to single-handedly support his family was a point of pride a generation ago.

It is also true that a perk that came with making the money was an assumption that the husband therefore had the right to a greater say in family life. However unhappy people were with the arrangement, there was a certain sense that Dad was supposed to be the head of the household and everyone else's roles fell into line behind his.

Keep in mind that the workload, not the players, is the problem. The most important attitude for a couple to maintain in this situation is that they are in it together. The problem is trying to manage the crushing load of two jobs, two kids, and a mountain of laundry. The problem is not who is making what salary. Work together to figure out what needs to get done each week to keep the children safe and happy and the household orderly and running smoothly. Get beyond what each of you thinks the other should be doing and focus on how you both will get everything done in a way that is fair to everyone.

Talk about financial and household decision-making. In prior generations, moneymaking dictated who would make financial decisions. For long term understanding, take time out to outline some policy decisions about what money belongs to whom and how it should be used. Find out what bank accounts do you need. Who has access to what funds? How are bills to be paid? What kinds of decisions are left up to the individual and which need to be discussed by the couple?

You may think you are only talking about who is going to stay home with Junior, who has the chickenpox. But if the discussion gets heated, it becomes a forum for who is the better parent, who cares more, who has the less important job, or who is indispensable at work. Partners need to be friends who provide comfort and support as they both explore such deep and emotional territory.

Don't hesitate to get professional help. It is indeed very sad when money issues erode what is otherwise a good relationship. Good relationships are certainly hard enough to find. Know that the issues around money and power are old and deep for most people. If you find yourselves getting into repeated and heated arguments about money, decisions, and household tasks, don't leap to the conclusion that the problem is your partner .You may need an objective counsellor or an elder adviser you trust to help you sort out the feelings, attitudes, and behaviors that you each bring to the situation.

N the archives you would find poems that tell tales about your status in a particular relationship. It is indeed a very long list that examines what you are desiring; sadness, friendship, 'I love you and thinking about you' messages. One of such romantic poems that yours truly ran into recently goes thus: "Every moment spent with you is like a beautiful dream come true…..

“My favourite place to be is inside of your hugs, where it's warm and loving”.

Sounds nice and very romantic indeed. Some, however, would say it is only for dreamers and dreams, like we all know, are usually a temporary thing. Just when you begin to feel and imagine the goodies in store, it vanishes into thin air. So, you try to run after your dream and the more you try, the more elusive it becomes. Almost like chasing shadows and you get exasperated in the process.

In your frustration, you may just wish you never had this dream in the first place. What is the point dreaming of something you can never have? What is the point having emotions that are bottled up? What is the point having emotions that you just can't express? When you can't attain this love height, then you have endless dreams. What you need is endless love and then you begin to wish and wish - thoughts that need a vehicle for expression.

Love can, therefore, be very colourful if you can express your dreams. Here you need to be understood, you need to communicate properly, and there must be moderation in the things you do or do not do. You must carry your partner along and do not expect them to conform to your 'myopic' idea of love. A pretty gal got the best bargain from the one she loved.

Instead of falling in line with this love tango, she chose to be a dreamer. She wanted a perfect Romeo, and instead of enjoying her dreams, she converted it into a nightmare.

If you call Banke a daddy's girl, you would certainly not be wrong at all. Her father is her superhero, the man she grew up to love and adore. Well, she was lucky because he was always there for her and the other siblings. A man with a sacrificial heart, always giving and asking for nothing or little in return.

Happily, she scrolls back in years, painting picture of some memorable moments shared together and you agree that he was, indeed, a great father.

As she takes you through his scale of preference then, you just cannot help but marvel that our friend was blessed with a wonderful father. Luckily, for the old man, everyone appreciated his kind gestures. Today, those efforts have actually yielded good fruits and each time he takes a walk down memory lane he usually sheds tears of joy.

Yes, everyone would certainly be proud to have such a man as a dad. Even though this has become a positive reference point in the family, it has also become a minus for our dear Banke. Unfortunately for her, she has become tied to his apron strings in such a way that almost everything she does revolves around her dear father.

Her father actually saw it coming and so he took time to caution his beloved daughter to loosen up a bit .Like a bad habit, it was quite difficult to shift at all. Luckily for her, things went smoothly for a while and then one day she met Tolu at a friend's place. From the moment their paths crossed they liked and admired each other. It was indeed a sizzling romance and almost everyone thought it was going to take them to the altar, where they would both take the vows, 'to live happily together forever'.

Midway into this love tale, things just began to fall apart.

Naturally, we would think that Tolu was playing around or was just being impossible. No, not at all! He was a wonderful beau, a very straight character with a loving heart. Tolu was always ready to give as much as 70 or 80 per cent, just giving and playing his part well.

Banke wasn't a bad girl either. She had a loving heart and was dutiful; the snag, of course, was the habit of seeing every man fitting into her father's shoes. Every action was seen from her father's perspective and on a daily basis she compared notes and kept on nagging Tolu and his attitudes, which he acquired overtime, like an' headmistress.'

Change certainly is the most constant thing, but then you just can't force the other person to comply. Even if you want a change, it would take some time and conviction on the part of the person. Here, Tolu was indeed a square peg and perfect Miss Banke expected him to fit into her definitions according to daddy's gospel. Each time he tried to impress Banke dearest, he was shocked to find her holding fastidiously to daddy's 'ancient 'ways of doing things. Initially, Tolu thought it was a phase that would ultimately pass away.

Unfortunately, it didn't. She got worse and at a stage very irritating, thus taking away the shine from their relationship.

He moved from hot to cold and the emotional sparks they used to experience vanished along the line. It was, therefore, obvious that his sweetheart was never going to change. Instead of having to fight emotional battles all the time, poor Tolu just had to let go. He also did not like the idea of fighting with this stubborn lover.

“There is no point hanging on, if all we are going to be doing is to look for each other's fault. That would definitely defeat the purpose and make me sad. I can't imagine shouting at her; I won't just like to hurt her at all.” He had come to the realisation that his sweetheart was so in love with 'daddy'. You just can't bend her; she is definitely going to be Daddy's girl forever.

50

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Etcetera

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

John Bull

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

Children are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky, selfish, lazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites, quick to laugh and cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow, especially about trifles, they’ll do anything to avoid pain but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already.

—Jean de La Bruyère, Les Caractères, 1688 HE STOOD by the doorway, clutching a school bag and staring ever so hard at his feet, or sandals, I was not sure which. A bandy-legged boy with a round face, the newcomer fiddled with the door handle for a few awkward seconds until the teacher shooed him in. Happy to have some diversion overtake boring primary school work on a February afternoon, the pupils all gawped at the newcomer, which unsettled the light-skinned lad the more.

By the time the teacher spoke, the poor boy was a study in contortionism, stubbing his toes, twisting the handle of his bag with one hand and rubbing the side of his neck with the other. “Class,” said Mr Ahmed the teacher, “Meet your new classmate, John Bull Adadu.”

It was immediately obvious that the ‘Johnny Just Come’ would also be the most bashful, picking up the title from a predecessor, Baba, without any objection.

However, everyone took to the new pupil as he turned out to be good-natured and brilliant. Unlike Baba, he was less playful and appeared unintentionally funny.

He soon became my best friend. But the pupils relished the ring to his name while singing the nursery popular nursery rhyme: John Bull my son I sent you to school You don’t know how to spell your name J-O-H-N…B-U-L-L! That’s the way to spell John Bull!

Until the class’ very own John Bull complained to the teacher in tears, the other pupils would turn to him after the first two lines and bawl the remainder as if the song was sang in his honour. But if John Bull managed to reverse general misconduct on that occasion, he was helpless over reaction to his timid antics. Once, when each member of the class had to step out in front of class and tell a story, he turned the class upside down.

In his tight shirt and baggy shorts with cashew nut-worn pockets, he cut the figure of a pocket-size clown. For five unbelievable minutes he did everything but talk. At first, he rubbed his palms together, as if to start, then he hemmed, and followed with a haw.

Someone giggled. Grinning sheepishly, John Bull covered one eye with a palm, scratched his head briefly with the other before hitching his shorts up.

Everyone was laughing now. He covered the other eye with a palm, cleared his throat some more and opened his mouth to speak, but no word came. The class was in stitches.

He rubbed his palms together again, and as he was about to repeat his wordless act, the teacher stepped in. Liberating John Bull from his ordeal, he motioned the lad to his seat and called upon someone else who delivered a well-worn, if disjointed account of fabled hero, the tortoise. All the same, the class revelled in the preceding comic scene. As for John Bull, he sat tamely, pulling funny faces, still.

Further Olympic notes

CHEEK BY JOWL

For the first 13 Games, the stadion race was the only competition. At the 14th Ancient Olympic Games, a double race was added.

In 490 BCE, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) to inform Athenians of the outcome of the battle with invading Persians. The distance was filled with hills and other obstacles; thus Pheidippides arrived in Athens exhausted and with bleeding feet.

After telling the townspeople of the Greeks’ success in the battle, Pheidippides fell to the ground dead. In 1896, at the first modern Olympic Games, held a race of approximately the same length in commemoration of Pheidippides.

In the 1908 Games, 385 extra yards were added to the running distance of the marathon to make the total length a rather strange figure of 26 miles and 385 yards because of the rather whimsical demand of Queen Alexandra of Great Britain that the marathon end below the royal box at London’s White City Stadium.

QUOTE I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same time.

—Emil Zatopek on his unusual facial expression when running

Jokes Humour Convenient Pretext ALTHOUGH this married couple enjoyed their luxury fishing boat together, it was the husband who was behind the wheel operating the boat. But he was concerned about what might happen in an emergency.

So one day out on the lake he said to his wife, “Please take the wheel, dear. Pretend that I am having a heart attack. You must get the boat safely to shore.” So she drove the boat to shore.

Later that evening, the wife walked into the living room where her husband was watching television. She sat down next to him, switched the TV channel, and said to him, “Please go into the kitchen, dear.

Pretend I’m having a heart attack. You must set the table, cook the dinner, and wash the dishes.”

Peacock Gene AN OLD man was sitting on a bench at the store. A young man walked up to the bench and sat down. He had spiked hair of all different colours: green, red, orange, blue, and yellow. The old man just stared.

The young man said, “What’s the matter

old timer, never done anything wild in your life?”

The old man replied, “Got drunk once and slept with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son.”

Strange Murder A POLICE detective was investigating one of a series of murder. As he questioned the onscene officer, he learned the body was that of a young woman. The body was found with a bowl over her head and a spoon stuck in her back.

The on-scene officer asked what the detective thought had happened to the woman.

The detective responded, “I think it’s obvious. A cereal, sorry, serial killer got her!”

Subtle Cracks •MARY was married to Bill for three months and didn’t know he drank until one night he came home sober ...

•A BOY and girl octopus out on a date walked down the street arm in arm in arm in arm ...

•Culled from the Internet

W

RITING Writer ’s Fountain errors to Point of view. Avoid using a third person avoid: Accessibility. Don’t make your work hard to read. Make it easy for all your viewpoint when a first would be more effective. potential readers.

Names. Avoid endlessly repeating the Unambiguous use of titles. Avoid long and name of your central character. Avoid difficult rather academic titles. names unless your intention is humorous.

Life lines: Avoid making your characters all talk the same •A normal person will die from total lack way. of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death Avoid starting off on a low note. Get the will occur about 10 days without sleep, while reader involved from the outset. Avoid starvation takes a few weeks. repetitive subject-verb-predicate sentences.

•According to German researchers, the risk Defy new-age grammarians and use gerunds of heart attack is higher on Monday than occasionally. Don’t use “was ... was” any other day of the week. constructions.

•Hair and fingernails are made from the Watch your language. Avoid dull dialogue, same substance, keratin. foreign phrases and even more so, foreign •Humans are the only primates that don’t dialogue. Avoid speech that doesn’t perform have pigment in the palms of their hands. any function except take up space. Make sure •Ancient Egyptians kissed with noses the reader can sense who is speaking the lines instead of lips. even if you don’t actually identify the speaker.

•Goat meat contains up to 45 percent less Avoid making two words grow where even saturated fat than chicken meat. one would be superfluous. Wordiness is a •Bamboo plants can grow up to 36 inches in common fault in most write-ups. Writers can’t a day. help but fall in love with every word they write, •Bananas contain a natural chemical which so it’s important to have an unbiased person can make a person happy. This same check to see if your story is literally drowning chemical is found in the drug Prozac. in words.

THE ARTS

51

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

S

ARAH Waters, a world-renowned novelist, in one of her thought-provoking statements once told her colleagues, “when you write, please don’t overwrite. Avoid the redundant phrases, the distracting adjectives, the unnecessary adverbs.” Beginners, she pointed out, usually seem to think that writing fiction needs a special kind of flowering prose, completely unlike any sort of language one might encounter in day-to-day life. “This is a misapprehension about how the effects of fiction are produced,” she warned.

Waters’ views and the views of some other established novelists and short story experts were what members of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA), Lagos State Chapter, debated and discussed last weekend. Titled Exploring the Craft of Short Story, the Chairman of Lagos ANA, Dagga Tola, reminded members that the most important thing is that authors should read at all times.

“Beyond that,” he said, “we need to look around us to see those issues that bother us and write about them. We need to make the short story tradition part of us. People want to read those short stories in a hurry to know what happens within the entire society.”

The panel of discussants which was led by Chuma Nwokolo, a published short story expert and novelist, included Ayo Aribabu and Iquo Eke. Nnenna Ezedinwa, whose work, Bless me Father, appeared in the Fidelity Bank Plc. Short Story Anthology, told of how to make the idea stick. After reading a part of her short story, which she described as a shorter part of a short story, she informed writers that it is important to always crave for an idea. “We all have one or two issues to write about.

And we need to create the time and the comportment to do so.”

To this, authors gave their ac-

Creating room for short stories The short story genre is gradually making its mark in the literary circle in Nigeria. Last weekend, Nigerian authors gathered in Lagos to deliberate on how to make the genre a permanent feature. Edozie Udeze was there claim.

Nwokolo whose views were more technical than the rest of the discussants believes that in a short story form a writer has to first of all explain his characters.

“A perfect build-up is good and necessary because it will encourage the reader to follow what you have written. Your reader must immediately have an insight into what he is about to read. A short story genre has no room for verbose or elaborate treatise. There is no room for elaborate backgrounding,” he said. “But the information has to be concise.”

Again, it is necessary to use the little space therein to curry for the attention of the reader. And like Helon Habila, one of Nigeria’s most notable and celebrated short story writers, once observed, “the story has to be topical, relevant and accessible. And once that is so, an artist is free to choose his subject-matter wherever he wants and then goes on to make it art.”

However, in the treatment of the topicality of the issues embedded in the story, the primary concern of imagery, language, form, plot and how they are deployed to appeal to the artistic sensibility of the reader have to be totally upheld. Good use of language

and sound sense of expression matter. But you don’t have to be like Kafka or Shakespeare or the likes to be accepted into the fold. Your own identity within the confines of the art is good and acceptable. Your art has to be your art. Above all, you have to be who you are.

Essentially, the writer should have his fingers or attention firmly on the pulse of the issue of his time and moment. In all, the ideas should be too compelling for writers to ignore – the short story genre has to be given its proper place in the society; it has to be well developed.

As Iquo also noted; “it is not easy to condense too many ideas into the little space you have for the story.

But you have to create enough suspense nonetheless. Let the reader see you being in total con•Nwokolo trol of what you have written.

Make it believable, for that is what makes a story, a story,” she said.

For Aribabu, “this genre is essentially a story-telling format. Writers need to create and invent emotions basically. But for me I prefer to leave my stories open-ended,” he said.

On the whole, writers should deploy means to dwell on what bothers the people. The stories have to relate to them in such a way that they will be attractive to read.

•Eke

•Tola.

PHOTOS: EDOZIE UDEZE

A Nigerian makes Dylan literary list announcing the list in Swansea, England, recently, the granddaughter of Dylan Thomas, Hanna Hills, said that the works are made up of 8 novels and two short story collections.

The announcement went on further to say, “once again, we have another quality long list with an extensive international span. The calibre of the ten long listed works is outstanding. And I’m sure the

the favourites in an award stipulated for writers between 18 and 30 years.

The award is situated at The University of Wales where the family of Dylan Thomas has made it necessary to honour international writers from across the globe. The award is to stimulate literature.

For the long list this year, 10 works mainly from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA and the UK topped the list. However, while

next few weeks we are going to see a number of heated debates as the judging panel whittles down this list of ten extremely talented young writers to the final shortlist for this year’s prize.”

The panel of judges will, however, deliver their shortlist announcement in September. And the winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced at an award ceremony in Swansea on November 9, 2012.

Book

T

•Onuzo

T

HE Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers has been making its mark in England. This year’s long list which came out last week has a young Nigerian named Chibundu Onuzo as one of the possible winners of this year’s prize.

The 21-year-old Onuzo is a History student at King’s College,

By Edozie Udeze

London. Apart from the fact that she is one of the youngest entrants for the award, Onuzo who moved to England four years ago with her parents is said to have a strong knack for stories.

Her book entitled The Spider King’s Daughter is said to be among

HE story of King David is well-known. But Taiwo Odubiyi, in this new book, tells this familiar story in a refreshing, tantalising manner. The book is essentially about the family life of King David, especially his escapades with women. It documents behind-the-scene details of his adulterous affairs carefully gleaned from the Bible.

The book starts with detailed accounts of his relationship with Bathsheba. Odubiyi mesmerises with unknown facts of what transpired between him and the hapless woman. The author writes like

Just for the moment

By Sunday Oguntola someone lurking right in David’s bedroom, creatively leading readers through his thoughts and struggles. Relying heavily on shattered Biblical accounts and evidence, she reveals efforts put in by David to conceal his adulterous acts with Bathsheba.

Though David enjoyed the pleasure of Continued on page 52

52

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Arts/Reviews

Books

Story of royal merchant I

N The Merchant Prince and the Monarch: Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, the Soun of Ogbomoso land, the authors, Jide Osuntokun, a widely respected Emeritus Professor, and Dr Tunde Oduwobi, have captured the life of one of Nigeria’s most enduring and enterprising monarchs who command respect not only in tradition circles but in poetic, business and in fact many aspects of our national life.

In writing this book, the authors, as should be expected of men of their status and pedigree, did not just write about their subject in the book- Oba Jimoh Oadunni Oyewumi - they gave a detailed account of the milieu and the circumstances under which he grew.

From the book, the reader is able to know the history and background of Ogbomoso land and its place in the history of the old Oyo Empire.

Divided broadly into four chapters; Introduction, Private life, Public life

and lastly, Conclusion, the first chapter gives a general history of Ogbomoso town and its founder and place in the scheme of things right from the First Republic to the present.

The second chapter, titled Private life, deals with how the then Prince Oyewumi moved from Ogbomoso land to Ibadan to live with a brother and how he began to garner his business acumen despite his young age.

It is here one learns about his many travails and how he was able to beat them all and make his fortunes. It gives the details of how he had a humble beginning as a retail trader moving from one place to the other to sell his wares. It was while doing this that he moved from Jos to Lagos to buy his wares and ferry them back to Jos for sale. It was during one of these trips that he learnt his lesson in a very hard way. He travelled to Lagos to buy some things which he would take to Jos to sell. However, he was swindled of all his money and

through this experience he learnt in a hard way and decided to cut his trips to Lagos and concentrate more on organising his business in Jos. In the fifties, he became one of the first business people to have direct dealings with European traders in the city of Jos. He was assisted in this by the fact that he was one of the very few Nigerian traders then who could speak the language without the need for an interpreter. It was this that propelled his success and made him not to travel as far as to Lagos in search of wares to sell to be concretised. He became a distributor for major European and French companies and travellers around the world.

It was during one of these trips that he discovered that damask cloth, which is one of the most popular and costliest pieces of clothing among the rich at home, was in fact used as curtain cloth in hotels; he discovered his while lodging in one of the hotels on one of his trips. According to the au-

The nation as it is

By Edozie Udeze

D

REAMS at Dawn is a compilation of 27 short stories – some shorter, while others longer and edited by the trio of Helon Habila, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Madeleine Thien. It is with the support of Fidelity Bank Plc., in what has become known as An Anthology of Stories from the International Creative Writing Workshop series.

The twenty-seven writers whose works appeared in the collection of short stories are Nigerians who have been able to tell their own stories. They are basically the stories of a nation in the quagmire of socio-political and religious big-

otry. The stories explore the many issues that beset and trouble the nation. They hit the nail on the head.

Incidentally, the writers hold no bars. They tell the stories as they are, from Sokoto to Abuja, Abuja to Maiduguri, to Lokoja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, to Ibadan and Lagos, the stories rankle in the ears. They sting like bees; they ring like early morning bells gangling you out of your early morning sleep.

The stories are deep and provocative. They tear at the heart and soul of a nation. The stories say who we are; in attitude, ethnic problems, heartless demeanour; indeed, in everything that is innocuous and uncouth. The stories dwell on the fabric of the Nigerian nationhood and why we are so hard and harsh and hardly ever see the world the way the rest see it.

When you go through the stories, all you see are writers dripping with blood; cracking into the ember of a people whose lives ought to be better, yet the opposite is the case. Of course, writers say what it is or what ought to be. They see the society from the angle of prophets and they say so. This is why the stories are both for fun and for furry. You read them, you smile, you cry; you grind you teeth and you adjust your reading glasses.

The moment Continued from page 51

sin, Odubiyi successfully shows how his adulterous act affected his kingship, kingdom and lifetime.

His top adviser, Ahithopel, incidentally is Bathsheba’s grandfather.

The act infuriates him, creating a serious strain in their relationship.

Ahithopel bids for time, finding an ally in Absalom, David’s eldest son.

Absalom’s ambition to usurp power from his father collaborates with Ahithopel’s desire to avenge the violation of his granddaughter by the king.

While battling with Absalom’s treachery, David’s other children also keep misbehaving. It gets so much that the King no longer enjoys his life. There is just too much crisis around and within him. In his later life, David sums up everything to his over-indulgence in adultery.

He loved women too much to the detriment of his comfort and fam-

ily life.

Now, he must pay serious penalties. He witnesses the death of his two sons, the violation of his only daughter by his eldest son, a spate of murderous conspiracies against him and failing health in his old age. Had David exercised restraint in sexual relations, the author argues he wouldn’t have suffered that much.

This book, a blend of Biblical accounts and creative inventions, is a great effort from Odubiyi. She writes simple, understandable English, many times quoting Biblical references. Her style enables readers enjoy the book as if they have never read the same story in the Bible. It also confirms extensive research on the life of David, a development that richly enhances her delivery.

This book is a must-read for men battling with adultery. They will find why they should have a rethink and avoid future backlashes.

Going beyond the editing errors which are many, unfortunately, one can nonetheless see the beauty of the idea of the project. The title is sound and attractive enough to create the desired curiosity. Indeed Dreams at Dawn is replete with pregnant ideas for more comprehensive stories in the future.

What the authors can do is to propel some of the ideas further.

The talents abound; all that is needed is to have more of such sponsors and then probably institute a yearly award to take it beyond mere gimmicks.

thors’, he had wanted to wear this apparel during his meeting with his business partners the next morning, but he had to change his mind when he saw it being used as curtain cloth.

“He quietly folded it into his box and suddenly realised the folly of the Yoruba in not appreciating the indigenous woven cloth, ofi and taking the damask which the white men only use as window blinds.”

On his return from his trip abroad, his business acumen took a leap and he became more determined to succeed. It was also during one of these trips that one of his biggest business ideas hit him when he decided to found a hotel and name it Hotel Terminus. This, today, is his major land mark contribution to the hospitality and business industry in the country.

However, beyond capturing his business acumen and contributions to the nation’s growth in that line, the authors also take significant note of his rise of influence in the political sphere, even during the First Republic. The role he played during the crucial meeting of the Action Group in the town where the hitherto crisis in the party blew open between the leader of the party, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and the then Premier of the Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola, who incidentally hailed from Ogbomoso land, just like Prince Oyewumi.

The book is a rich tapestry of the history of not only that of Oba Ajagungade III, but that of Ogbomoso land and his contributions to the socio-economic development of the town. It goes without saying that his ascension to the throne has brought the town so much progress like it had never witnessed before.

It has, however, not been a smooth sail for him as the authors note. He faced lots of antagonisms, especially from other traditional rulers who often times saw his progressive moves in other ways. His several battles and game of wits with the Alaafin, Olugbon and Onpetu are all recorded.

It goes without saying that with the pedigree of the authors, especially Prof. Osuntokun, a reader would not have expected any less than what is on offer in this book. It is well written and a very rich historical document that should find a pride of place in the library of most lovers of well written biographies.

Title: The Merchant Prince and the Monarch: Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, the Soun of Ogbomoso land Authors: Jide Osuntokun and Tunde Oduwobi Publishers: Book Builders Reviewer: Olayinka Oyegbile

Connecting with an African childhood

L

ANRE Ogundimu’s collection of short stories defies easy classification in terms of style; it’s a collection that combines what he says are “based on my recollections of some events in my life and lives of people very close to me” and mixture of some true stories. The first part which is made up of seven stories is largely autobiographical, while the second comprising five stories can be safely described as faction since he confesses they are true life stories that include a generous dose of imaginative reconstruction.

But the issue of classification is nothing but an academic exercise, because for the author, his raison d’être is unambiguous; he has experiences and perspectives which he wants to share with his readers. According to him, “Every human life is a work of art, and within us stirs a story waiting to be told. But you never know how interesting your experiences are until you begin to share them.” But the beauty of art is that every reader responds differently, which confirms the position of Margaret Atwood, the Canadian poet and literary critic who argues that; “The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.” In African literature though, this issue is settled; art must be utilitarian.

In part one, such stories as Saraa, Baba Ramo, and Mobs and Mayhem are childhood adventures during which the author takes the reader through some of the ‘normal’ experiences of an African child (pun is deliberate to parody Camara Laye’s book of same title). A popular experience in most traditional African societies is that of Saraa, the religious rites of alms giving which is usually in response to the dictates of the gods in the search for solutions to some life issues. Lanre

By Olayiwola Adeniji aptly and humorously captures this in the story flagging off the collection. There are all kinds of stories and myths around these alms and Ebo (sacrifices) often placed at junctions; but d ‘enfants terrible like Kala Oju and Jombo would have none of that. They will always test the will of the gods.

The author asks questions about these practices but then every religion has its own form of Saraa and so cleverly ends with the Yoruba proverb that implies that in the African world, the gods have a say in the affairs of men: “And we must continue to offer sacrifices so that the blame will be on the gods.” Readers who want more of the spectacular and the humourous will have a thrilling encounter with Baba Ramo while Mobs and Mayhem uses a peaceful student demonstration to raise fundamental issues around good governance and corruption that have become central to postcolonial discourse in Africa.

At first glance, It’s a Woman’s Thing’ reads like a parody of women always working so hard to look beautiful. But a closer reading will reveal the author’s sympathy for the women as he argues that for the womenfolk, looking good is good business not just for themselves but their husbands.

After 38 years of marriage, Adesoji is still struggling to understand why Fadekemi, at 58, will spend eternity behind the mirror trying to ‘look natural’ but she provides what seems every woman’s answer, or better still how the author wishes men to respond to this attitude; “Dressing well makes me feel good. It brings an inner joy that words cannot express. It gives me that kick of life. It’s about the dignity of womanhood. Taking time to dress well is a women’s thing and men don’t

seem to get it.”

But it is also their own way of showing gratitude to their husbands: “But most of all, it’s for you, my prince…. it is the best way for me to show the world you have a very good taste for beauty; that you know how to take care of your wife, and that I continue to blossom graciously in your house.”

Gratitude? Possibly so; but this flattery will tickle any man! This is one story many a reader will be caught reading a second time. It is simply the pick of the pack in terms of achieving a nexus between form and content.

The author appropriately rounds off the collection with what can be described as the ‘typical Lagos story’; the story of crime, inordinate ambition and survival in a city that has literally sold its soul to the devil. In The Lucky Charm, a professor narrowly escapes being duped by some young fraudsters who claim to have chemicals that can print $100 bills. All they require is N200, 000 to buy the chemicals and another N200, 000 as professional fees from the professor to produce four million dollars. But the professor is able to outwit them by playing along until he gets to the safe Sheraton Hotel where he discloses that all they have done is providing material for the conclusion of his collection of short stories which, as the reader might guess, is the “Tale of the Cow Tail and Other Stories from the African Diaspora.”

53

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

The convention ground

Crowd, angels and merchants at RCCG Convention T

HE crowd started to arrive in droves. The rich, exuding opulence, strolled in while the wretched walked in pitiably, but in the end they all cried out in grief. The sound of 'let somebody shout halleluyah', from a familiar deep voice coming out of the centre of the tent, meant it was time to wage war against the grip of the oppressed. Everyone on the hunt for God was here praising Him. The poor and the powerless, the princes and princesses in royal robes lined out in the delegation of kings and queens. This is the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) playing host to the 60th convention of the Church.

The man whose voice came from the centre of the tent is popularly known as Daddy G.O; the revered General Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.

For a week, worshippers of all colours gathered at the famous kilometre 46 on Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway, the homestead of the Redeemed, as the Church is famously called, to pray and celebrate “the God of Redeemed Christian Church of God” in Pastor Adeboye's word, as the church hit the 60-year landmark with its annual convention themed, “Come up Higher”.

“If anyone still doubts the existence and the power of God, he should look at the history of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,” Adeboye enthused.

Like the proverbial story of the Biblical sower, Adeboye stood, eager and spirited “to save lives from death and destruction in hell”. “This is the year of our diamond jubilee and anyone who must be free must hear the truth,” the man of God said, asking worshippers to repent and follow

Last week,ththe Redeemed Christian Church of God held its 60 annual convention, Adeola Akinremi, who witnessed it, reports God wholeheartedly.

The man, who abandoned Applied Mathematics and personal dream to become the youngest vice- chancellor in Africa for the service of God, said that the convention was at the invitation of God to members of the church to behold Him, His power and His greatness.

“He is asking us to come up higher through the highway of holiness, increased faith, purity and enlarged vision unto glorious expectations,'' he said.

Then everything happened at once.

Sprinters like on relay races started coming out of the pool of thousands of worshippers. Thousands of rich and poor, who had gathered to hear Adeboye speak, simply wanted to submit to God in repentance and it has to be urgent and business-like.

As soon as Adeboye was done with his speech on the first night, from every corner of the large capacity auditorium, people raced to give their lives to God. At the end of the night, thousands of new converts had been made.

Also speaking at the convention, the former minister of education and immediate past vice-president for the World Bank, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, charged women to be strong and daring, if they must take their rightful place in Nigeria and change the country for good.

In one of the afternoon seminars, Mrs. Ezekwesili said that, “Nigeria needs women like Deborah and Abigail in the

Bible to change the country and all women must rise to the challenge of nationbuilding by becoming strong and daring in the pervading atmosphere of evil and corrupt practices”.

For the convention, nature had framed strange fellows in its time: worshippers who sought spiritual help and merchants who desired prosperity.

The thousands of worshippers that attended the convention soon provided a ready market and blessing for traders, suppliers and dealers in essential goods and services.

The business owners had prepared themselves for long nights though the week-long occasion as they made brisk business days and nights. “We booked this space over a month ago from the mission.

We paid for it and we are determined to make profit out of this and that is why you see many traders staying up 24 hours,” Fatai Sanusi, a trader at the camp, said.

Another business owner who supplied worshippers with hot coffee, Mr. Jude Benedict, was full of praise for the mammoth crowd. According to him, “the crowd during this convention has indeed been a blessing of sort to our business and we are making good profit margins compared to the city centre and we do not have to trouble ourselves much with a shout for worshippers to buy from us, the customers come to us themselves.”

Ms. Sade Adekunle, a first-time worshipper at the camp, said, “if you come

to this camp with so much money, by the time you are going back home, you must visit the ATM machine again, because there are lots of attractive things to the eye, and of course food is as important as many people cannot queue up to be served or wait for serving hour by the church timetable.”

Indeed, the facilities provided by the church was overstretched by the huge number of the worshippers to such extent that private operators of toilets and food vendors made princely profits each day of the camp meeting.

A total of 88 babies (44 boys and 44 girls) were born during the just-concluded seven-day 60th convention, which ended last Sunday.

The RCCG convention started on th Monday, August 6 , with the ordination of 7,000 deacons and deaconesses, and over 2,000 assistant pastors. A thanksgiving and farewell service was held on Sunday, th August 12 , which saw the ordination of 715 full pastors by the General Overseer himself.

And to quell the storm surrounding the successor plan of the church as Pastor Adeboye has attained the official retirement age of 70 in RCCG, the Governing Council of the church reaffirmed its support for the leadership of the church under Pastor Adeboye.

In a statement made by one of the Assistant General Overseers of church, Pastor Adeboye remains the leader of the church for a life time.

According to Pastor D.A Ilori, “In RCCG, God has given us a leader who obeys Him. All machinations to plunge the church into leadership crisis will not stand. ''RCCG has been established forever. By the grace of God, those that will take over from us have been trained and are still being trained. As the appointment of Pastor Adeboye is divine, God will help him to appoint his successor when the time comes; when it's time for Daddy to go, he will go.”

Mr. Akinremi is a journalist in Lagos

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Miscellany

54

By Akeem 'Kola Adebayo

N

IGERIANS should pay a very close attention to the on-going mediation efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan on the Jos crisis. He personally waded into the matter ostensibly on the advice of the National Security Adviser and this unprecedented intervention has given the issue a much-needed national dimension.

The issues at stake in Jos are very fundamental to the very consensus that is responsible for peace in communities across the country leaving out for the ongoing Boko Haram terror campaign. What are these issues? Indigene-ship and land ownership, emotive issues that can cause mayhem if not handled with care.

The two major protagonists in the Jos war are the non-native Hausa-Fulani community and the indigenous peoples of the city Afizere, Anaguta and Berom. [Although the Hausa and Fulani are two distinctive ethnic groups in Nigeria, the two have historical antecedents that often pitch them together as one especially within the context of politics.]

Now what is the problem? Most media reports simply describe the war as arising over the dichotomy between the indigenes and the non-native Hausa-Fulani. Why should a mere dichotomy cause so much hatred and bloodshed?

The Hausa-Fulani say they are marginalised as non-indigenes.

The truth is that there is no constitutional discrimination against the Hausa-Fulani in Plateau State in the exercise of their civic rights. There is nothing that prevents a Fulani man from becoming a senator or governor of the state. If a popular political party today puts forward a Fulani candidate and the majority of the voters in the state freely vote for him or her, nothing will debar the Fulani from becoming governor.

In fact, there have been members of the Hausa-Fulani community who have sat in the House of Representatives. Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, a prominent leader of the community and a central figure in the crisis, once represented the state in the federal cabinet as a minister just as there is a Hausa man who is a commissioner in the present government of Governor Jonah David Jang, a Berom.

Now why then do the Hausa-Fulani feel marginalised as non-indigenes? Indeed the source of tension in the Jos settler/indigene relationship stems from the Hausa-Fulani claim to the indigene-ship of Jos, a chieftaincy stool and political offices.

They would like to create a chieftaincy institution in Jos which no reasonable government, under whose powers the right to appoint one rest, will agree to.

Creating a Fulani emirate in Jos will mean that there will now be two traditional rulers in a single domain since the Gbong Gwom Jos, a Berom, is recognised as the paramount traditional ruler of the city!

It is precisely because of chieftaincy that there is a necessary dichotomy between the indigenes and non-indigenes which for the sake of peace we have to accept in Nigeria.

There may be more than one million Igbos in

Understanding the intricacies of Jos conflict

A recent riot scene in Jos Lagos, the Oba of Lagos remains the chief institution of traditional rulership in Lagos and only the indigenes of Eko, who may number only a few hundred thousands, have access to the royal stool.

The same goes for every town and village in Nigeria.

Outside of chieftaincy there is nothing in our constitution that prevents an Igbo man who is resident in Lagos from enjoying citizenship rights including even contesting for and becoming the governor of the state, if the majority of the voters of the state want him or her. To, however, contest the supremacy of the Oba of Lagos in the traditional rulership of the city will spell trouble.

Another area of contention between the Jos indigenes and non-natives is land. The Fulani, who are non-indigenes and some of whom are in fact non-Nigerians, say they want grazing reserves to be created for their herdsmen in Jos and its surrounding villages. This is a demand that is not based on any law in Nigeria.

Land in Sokoto belongs to the indigenes of Sokoto. If a Yoruba man desires the land for farming or to build a house, he will have to buy it from the indigenes. The clamour for grazing reserve as desirable as it is to avoid the constant conflict between herdsmen and farmers should not be a cause of bloodletting in Nigeria. Where have grazing reserves been created in the North? Nowhere; not even in states in which these Fulani herdsmen are indigenes, including Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa etc.

Why then must thousands of Beroms and other indigenes and non-natives of Plateau State be killed because Fulani herdsmen want a grazing reserve?

From the foregoing it is very clear that the objective of the Hausa-Fulani community in Jos is unjust and actually amounts to an expansionist drive to dominate the indigenous peoples of the city.

Now the President must be very careful in his on-going mediation efforts as any attempts to force an unjust solution on Jos will open the doors to similar agitations in other parts of the country. If you can create a Fulani emirate in Jos, why should the Hausa-Fulani community in Agege (Lagos State) not agitate for one? They will tell you that they know no other hometown outside of Agege and they do not want to submit to the traditional rulership of the Olu of Agege because of their religious belief. And how can you prevent the Yoruba from establishing a parallel chieftaincy institution in Ilorin since most hold no allegiance to the Emir whom they regard as an impostor?

Or why should Fulani not demand for the creation of a grazing reserve in Ogun State, if you create one in Plateau?

On whose land should a grazing reserve be arbitrarily created? Every land even when fallow is owned by a community in Nigeria.

Just as garri makers cannot demand that a farming reserve be created for them in Yobe so that they can plant cassava and process garri, the demand of the Fulani for grazing reserves in Plateau State should be rejected.

Behind this clamour is a suspicious attempt to create, by fiat, Fulani villages in the state by seizing the territories of the Afizere, Anaguta and Berom. Again an expansionist move.

In fact, the crisis, which assumed its present violent form in 1994, centres on the ownership of Jos since issue of indigene-ship is connected with its ownership. In an advertorial by a socalled Coalition of Jasawa Elders published in the Daily Trust of Monday, January 12, 2009, the Hausa/Fulani contended that they are founders and owners of Jos town. They claimed they founded Jos even before the advent of the British colonialists. However, three judicial commissions of inquiry have established without any doubt that the city belongs to Afizere, Anaguta and Berom as indigenes. The Justice Aribiton Fiberesima and Niki Tobi Commissions of Inquiry set up to investigate the civil unrests of April 12, 1994 and September 7, 2001 respectively considered and resolved the ownership of Jos in favour of Afizere, Anaguta and Berom.

The Justice Aribiton Fiberesima Commissions of Inquiry said in its report: “In the light of careful thought, we concede to the claim of Berom, Anaguta and Afizere tribes and to declare that they are “indigenes” of Jos but as to the Hausa/Fulani people's assumption, we make bold on the evidence at our disposal to advise them that they can qualify only as “Citizens” of Jos (1994).

The Justice Bola Abdul-Jabbar Ajibola Commission of Inquiry, which sat in 2009 following the November 28, 2008 killings in the city, while confirming the claims of the Jos indigenes even noted that it received evidence that there were other Nigerian non-indigenes, such as the Yorubas who have been living in the city since 1850, who came to Jos even before the Hausa/Fulani but are not claiming indigene-ship of Jos but rather still trace their roots to their respective states of origin.

And Sir Ahmadu Bello confirmed in his autobiography that the Hausa/Fulani never conquered the indigenes of Jos. In conclusion, the Jos conflict really has nothing to do with religion; please leave Islam out of it. The source of the bloodletting in Jos stems from the HausaFulani expansionist design over Jos. Their aim is the chieftaincy stool; they want to appoint a Fulani Emir in Jos. Which way out? Nigerians must wake up from their slumber. There is no spontaneous violence in the Muslim North. Every of these murderous eruptions are a deliberate conspiratorial operation planned, organized and executed by the political and religious establishment.

The bitter truth is that some groups are simply used to using violence, mass mindless violence to press their political objectives and they have always got away with it and that is why they will continue to resort to it at the earliest opportunity until we say stop, no more.

Our traditional rulers and political, civil society and human rights leaders must speak out. They must tell the political establishment in Northern Nigeria that enough is enough and the national consensus on indigene-ship and land ownership must stand the way it is for the sake of peace!

Adebayo lives in Dublin, Ireland

‘My heart disease scare’ How would you feel if you suddenly discover that you have a heart disease? Well that was precisely the situation that Uche Azotani a researcher and politician was faced with about two years ago. In this interview, she tells Yetunde Oladeinde how she survived and her desire to save other peoples lives.

Uche

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BOUT two years ago Uche Azotani had chest pain and felt it was going to go in a matter of days. Unfortunately, it didn't and she had to see a doctor and was placed on medication.

“I met a cardiologist and he carried out some tests on me. Interestingly, it led me to do a number of researches on the matter. I started buying books and placed myself on diet, eliminating certain things, and I started regaining my health.”

The experience opened Azotani's eyes to a number of health problems and the role diet can play in all this. “I was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease. Diet helped me and I felt that I needed to campaign to save other people's lives. I realised that a lot of people have been accumulating all sorts.”

She continues: “On a daily basis, I see people eating those things that would mar their future.

It is better to know earlier and abstain. My idea is for us to look for the causes and let people live healthier and happier lives. There are a lot of young people gone too soon.''

It is, therefore, better to live healthier lifestyles and not depend on drugs. “The drugs have after effect. Cosmetics like bleaching

cream and some hair dyes contain chemicals found in the archives of photographs which can endanger lives. There so many other cosmetics like that and we are doing a number of researches in this area.''

Azotani goes on to tell you some of the things she has done to bring about a change. “I had an event at Amuwo Odofin in April and it was a successful event. It was about the danger in fat and choosing a healthy life style. I am also trying to bring entertainment into health.”

Her desire is therefore to empower youths on how to live healthier lifestyles. “If this is not done, their generation will face more problems trying to change. It is called the 500 Youths Project and we hope to empower them through skills acquisition. It has to do with talents, health issues and motivational speaking. The skills would however depend on their talents.”

One other area that the energetic woman is passionate about is politics. “I just came back from a political empowerment programme in

Abuja. It was really inspiring and it was facilitated by the International Republican Institute from the United States in collaboration with WEFON. We had a meeting with the House of Representatives and the female leader, Mulikat Adeola; Nkoyo Toyo and Kema Chikwe were also there.”

She added: “The meeting took place at the Transcorp and there were about 40 women. We discussed a number of issues affecting women in politics and tried to find lasting solutions to some of these problems.''

The group, Azotani informs, also came to the resolve that they want amendments on women's marital status, citizenship and other issues. “One other point that was raised is affirmative action and we decided that if the president is male, then the vice president must be female, and this should trickle down to other levels of government, up to the local government.”

Continuing, she said: “We are still going to have another meeting with the female senators for ratification and amendments. I strongly believe that things will get better by 2015 for women in politics because all hands are on deck. ''In addition, the House Leader has advised the female members to mentor other women.

“Those who have been mentored should also mentor other women and be loyal to those who mentored them .This way, they would be able to build a good critical mass.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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Working for the girl-child —PAGE 56

Love across the oceans

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RS. Kemi Adeoye, a mother of two, has been married for 14 years. But she tells acquaintances her marriage is only five years old. “It is true I married 14 years ago but I only enjoyed the first five years,” she explained. That was when Alex, her heartthrob, left for the United Kingdom. “We had what I thought was a perfect marriage. He was working in a bank, well paid and established,” Mrs. Adeoye began.

When Alex lost his banking job, something snapped in the union. “My lively husband became withdrawn. He wouldn’t talk to me or even eat. I did everything possible but he was just lost.”

A silver lining appeared when Alex’s friend offered him a job. The only snag was he had to relocate to the United Kingdom.

Kemi supported the move wholeheartedly. “I had no qualms with him travelling because he was more or less lost without a job. Our economic status had suffered all those months that he was out of a job. It was an opportunity to earn foreign currencies and I saw nothing wrong with it,” she stated.

That was nine years ago. Kemi viewpoint has changed drastically since then. She said allowing Alex to leave for the UK in search of the proverbial greener pasture is the worst mistake of her adult life. “If I knew what I know now, I would have worked against his going. I would have at least kept my man, though we might not be rich, but at least we would be happy and life would be, lot better,” she said, penultimate week.

Living without a husband Since he left in 2004, Kemi world has taken a turn for the worse. Alex has only visited once for two months. He was sending N10, 000 every month in the early

Economic and study opportunities are increasingly forcing couples to live apart. Sunday Oguntola peeps into the world of women whose husbands live overseas in search of the proverbial greener pasture

•Ogudoro

•Olaogun

years. That stopped in 2007. “I have been shouldering the responsibilities of the kids and living all alone,” She asserted. “He kept complaining life was tough in the UK. Since I wanted him to succeed, I stopped bothering asking for anything.”

Two years ago, Alex stopped calling. “I thought he was busy or something. But even when I called, he wouldn’t pick. I became hysterical, wondering if something was wrong with him or something.” The last straw was when Alex changed his mobile

number without informing his wife. “I only managed to get it through a mutual acquaintance. When I reached him, he asked me to forget about him and move on,” a traumatised wife narrated.

She said living a “husbandless life” has been hellish. The trained teacher, who works in a private establishment, has been fending for herself and the two kids. Only the first child has a physical knowledge of Alex. The second child came years after he travelled overseas. “This is a life I would never pray for my worst enemy,” a tearful Mrs Adeoye stated.

“There are times I need a man to cuddle me and me feel like a woman. There are times I want to get stuffs and wished my man was here. There are times the kids are sick and I am left alone to treat them.

There is a terrible, terrible life. I wish I could change everything and do things differently”.

Endless wait Kemi, by Mary Olaotan’s standard, is luckier. She at least has two kids to show for the union. Olaotan’s spouse left for Canada one month after their wedding.

“He was already processing travelling and everything worked out immediately we were joined in a church”. For the new couple that was a good sign. The plan was for Gbenga to settle in Canada and make a case for Olaotan to join him.

That dream has not materialised since Gbenga left seven years ago. “I am not only here but also stranded,” Olaoye declared.

“I have no kid; my man is overseas. No money and my life appears at a standstill.”

Olaotan has refused to remarry despite much advice in that direction. “As far as I am concerned, I am still married to him.

He might be out of sight but his love is still

•Continued on Page 57

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Life

NE area where you have a few women making remarkable strides is in technical skills.

Over the years, a number of women have been encouraged to toe this line and change the trend gradually. The need to empower women and the girl child by building technological skills, they argue, would help create the needed change.

One woman who is passionate about this type of change is Priscillia Otuya who runs a dredging company, SWAN dredging and Marine Limited, with her husband.

“The company has been in existence for about 40 years now. Right now, we are working on a dredging institute, where we can train and discover young talents. We are also trying to branch off into road construction and other areas.”

Going down memory lane, she traces how the company from its humble beginning has expanded over the years. “My husband handles the technical part of the business while I am in charge of administration. We have equipments which we also lease to our customers and we represent manufacturers in the United States. In addition to this , we do maintenance, repairs and training’.

Next, she takes you into another part of her life which is life as a minister of the gospel.

“You can be a preacher and also be successful in business.

The work of the gospel needs resources and you should be able to contribute personally and not just wait for what other people would do.”

So, when Otuya is not talking about her business, she turns her energy towards empowering women. “Mothers of the Nation (MON) started over twenty years ago. First, I started the Women Awake programme, and as the name implies, it was to wake women up to their responsibilities .This later metamorphosed to Mothers of the Nation and we have used the platform to sensitise women to their duties at home and in nation building.”

Otuya adds: “The Lord made me to see that God would bring a change in the hands of women. At that point, women were still being left behind. My job then was to create a platform on how to be useful.

We also have WOFAID (Women of Faith in Democracy).Women are usually mobili sed for campaign and once the election is over, they push them off the ladder. Recently we launched what is called the House of Women project in Abuja. It is a welfare project, a cooperative where we hope to have a nursery school and hospital where these women would be empowered. We cannot wait for government alone and this would be part of the gains for women.”

Making history Recently, she was elected as the first female president of the United Gospel Churches Association of Nigeria. Otuya recalls the election process and how she became victorious: “I would say such things come with euphoria and excitement.

A pedestal for all the parts I have played in the past. The organisation is 32 years old and it gave birth to the PFN. I have been in the organisation for over 12 years now.”

Working for the girl-child For 32 years the United Gospel Churches Association of Nigeria has had only male leaders in the saddle. In a recent election, Priscillia Otuya, an activist and business woman, became the first female president of the organisation. In a chat with Yetunde Oladeinde she talked about her passion for women, the youths and the society.

•Otuya

“You can be a preacher and also be successful in business. The work of the gospel needs resources and you should be able to contribute personally and not just wait for what other people would do.”

Interestingly, the event coincided with her birthday and it was double celebration for the Amazon. “It was one of the best birthdays that I celebrated and God gave me a

beautiful gift. I also thank God for my family and friends that made it pleasurable.”

Otuya’s plan is to further propagate the vision for which the organisation was

established. The truth is that Christendom has been sidetracked in the nation. First, we shall be launching the civic education programme next month in Lagos, Abuja and Asaba. We would also have a

conference tagged Solution dot com. Originally, people of God should be the solution but the way it is, they have been boxed into a corner. Things are like this because we have left God behind, it is like throwing away the name of the manufacturer of a vehicle and fumbling with what is wrong with the vehicle”.

She continued: “We are also going to have a pre-conference luncheon tagged ‘God’s great’.

This would be in honour of men and women of God who have kept faith like Pat Utomi, Archbishop Atilade, Rev Moses Iloh and Mrs Rashida Okodua. There are many of them working silently for God. The first day would be for the youths, second day for women while the third day would be for the main event. One of the things we want them to know is that Christians should stop selling their birth right. We also have what we call the Leadership Integrity awards’.

Change, Otuya stressed , does not happen by chance.

“Our message to the people is that a new Nigeria is emerging and we all have to work towards it. Barrister Mark Anthony Ndukwe a US trained attorney, w ill be the coordinator of the Civic rights project.

Achievements? “I got award from the Association of Baptist Conference, EMOTAN from AIT, PEACE ambassador, a merit award from Leadership vision and so many others. In the area of marriages and homes, we have helped a lot of people to rediscover themselves. Not so long ago, we had a retreat, we helped people to realign themselves with their dreams. Most of us have become servants of men of God and not servant of God; our women have also become women of the servant. But I tell them that it is good to be loyal but it must be God first.”

Interestingly, she takes you into a recent research that she conducted on the relegation of women and her findings. “I found out that all this began from the misinterpretation of faith. So we need to have reforms in some of the faith based organi sations. One person whose life has been really transformed in the process is my husband,” she informed.

Worried about the plight of the average Nigerian youth, she believes that the government needs to invest in them to have a better future for all. “Our youths today are victims of circumstances. It is sad that in Africa, all efforts have been made to make us lose our identity. So, I believe that our youths should think of who they are and what they can do to make things happen. The future is in their hands, unfortunately they are not prepared. We cannot blame them because their leaders have failed them.”

To help save the situation, Otuya has what she calls the Nigeria history week project.

“We want to use this to dig into our history and find out who we are in the past. In America, the flag is respected. Our youths because of frustration are prostitutes, 419ners, yahoo boys and girls. Let’s salvage what we have. What do we do to sustain our unity?’

Life

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

I

N the public mind, sub-Saharan Africa is a region plagued by war, famine and disease. Now it faces a new threat – obesity. It is not a problem widely associated with a continent where millions live on less than a dollar a day.

But growing rates of obesity are posing a significant risk to the health of the next generation.

With a population that has passed one billion, Africa is starting to experience the ills of the developed world, driven by changing diets, urbanisation and increasingly sedentary lives, according to research published in The Lancet. The reasons for the steep rise in obesity among some of the world’s poorest nations is hotly debated. One theory is that the global increase is a legacy of evolution. People from Africa, Asia and Polynesia are particularly prone to obesity because they are more likely to have inherited the genes that encourage fat storage.

This is the “thrifty gene hypothesis” – the notion that obesity occurs especially among populations exposed in the past to alternating feast and famine. Months of food shortages and near starvation would be followed by weeks of feasting when the rains came. Genes that laid down fat as a reserve against the next shortage were favoured – but among today’s urban populations, where shortage never comes, the genes overdo their job.

In America, one adult in three is classified as obese, but obesity is markedly higher among black and native Americans than among those of European descent.

But efforts to identify genetic reasons have failed, undermining the theory. As Sidney Brenner, the Nobel prize-winning biologist, once said, the gene for obesity was found long ago: it is the one that makes you open your mouth.

The real culprit, researchers believe, is the shift to urban living. Cities in Africa are the fastest-growing in the world. This is not only about the spread of McDonald’s, KFC and the “CocaColanisation” of the developing world. It is also about the change in diet that occurs when people move from growing to buying their food.

Jenny Cresswell, chief author of the Lancet study, said: “Once people move to the city, their activity levels go down. They are no longer able to grow their own food.

Instead they tend to rely on street hawkers and eat foods high in fat and sugar.

“Today, obesity in Africa is associated with wealth: the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to be overweight. But •Continued from Page 55

in my heart. I still love him like the first day, regardless of whether he is living up to his responsibilities or not,” she maintained.

The 34-year-old lost contact with Gbenga five years ago. He stopped calling and became unreachable. But she remains optimistic he would come around and return home one day. “I am praying. I know he is mine. God gave him to me and he will return home to me,” she insisted. She discards thoughts he could have married a white woman to get resident permit, dismissing such as impossible. Her family, she said, has been mounting pressures on her to remarry and make babies, but she believes Gbenga is the only man for her.

Elusive greener pastures Adeoye and Olaotan typify the growing list of wives married to absentee husbands.

Their husbands are overseas, working their bones to ekeout a living in Europe, America and Asia. But worsening global economic recession and stringent working requirements have drastically reduced their earning powers. Tight immigration policies and labour laws have also cut their working options, forcing them to settle for menial jobs.

A returnee, who craved anonymity, said: “Working overseas without permit is tantamount to living in hell. You work long hours under serious strains with nothing to show for it. I was caught in that web for seven, tortuous years and only returned almost empty-handed.”

When is daddy coming back?

While away, their home fronts suffer heavily. Their wives are emotionally and psychologically drained. Stella John is a mother of three. Her husband left for Singapore five years ago. She shares her

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Away from the famines, Africa confronts new killer: obesity Fast food and urban lifestyles bring scourge of the developed world to a changing continent

•Typical obese ladies

as populations get richer, it is expected that the picture will swing round and obesity will become associated with the poor.”

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who analysed data from 27 countries in subSaharan Africa, say the increase in maternal obesity is threatening the lives of newborns.

The region has the world’s highest neonatal death rate – deaths within four weeks of birth – and rocketing rates of obesity are driving it higher. The researchers say babies of obese mothers have a 50 per cent higher risk of dying in the first month.

Experts from Aarhus University in Denmark say the findings will “force us to see the global burden of obesity on reproductive health in a new perspective”

Love across the oceans Tips to keep the flames of love while apart • Keep in touch via regular calls • Send special mails • Access the opportunities offered by new social media such as Face book, Twitter, Skype to stay in touch • Keep a diary of events that can be shared during visits • Make it a point to visit at least once in a year for physical intimacy. daily psychological struggles: “I cannot begin to relate how challenging it is. Do you know how it feels for your kids to ask when daddy is going back? Do you know how it is to struggle to pay school fees? Do you know how it is to be married yet live like a single?

“There are days you need to do manly chores and you have to do it yourself or call another woman’s husband to do it for you.

It is such a terrible world I tell you”.

Her seven-year-old child said living without daddy is unbearable. “I like to be with my daddy and ask him questions. I want him to buy shoes and clothes for me. I want to play with him but mummy said he is coming back soon. Tell him to come now, now,’’ he told our correspondent.

Stella, said she lives daily wondering how to deal with a restless seven-year-old boy who is always inquisitive. “He asks questions I am not in a position to answer.

His father should be here now, helping him to understand life but he can’t. It is such a trauma that I live with everyday.”

With the kids subjected to imbalanced growing, the mothers assume the roles of fathers without much success. “There is a limit to what a woman can do with kids.

You need men to enforce discipline and get them around. When the man is not there, something is seriously missing,” Adeoye stated. She said her two kids, a boy and a girl, give her tough times that would have been better managed had their father been around.

No arms to run to On their parts, the mothers are objects of ridicule in a society that believes strongly in the traditional family system consisting of a man and a woman. “The other day, a boy bullied my children and his father was there protecting him. I couldn’t fight the battle because my man is not around,” Stella disclosed.

Without the protective presence of men, many of them are easy preys and emotionally vulnerable. Olaotan claims no

because the complications attributable to overweight and obese mothers “may far outnumber the burden seen in affluent countries”.

The UN said in 2006 that, for the first time, global deaths from excess had overtaken those from deficiency. That may soon apply even to the famine-scarred countries of Africa.

Culled from The Independent of London other man has touched her since Gbenga left seven years ago. “I am standing by the grace of God. It’s very tough and crazy.

Many times I feel down and need encouragement but I have always known there are no arms to run to for comfort and warmth. I never imagined I could live for this long without a man coming close.”

On her part, Stella would not share her sexual life. “That is a very private affair and I will say nothing about it,” she said dismissively. Adeoye also chose not to be specific. “When a woman is left alone, what do you imagine?” she simply asked. A trained psychologist, Dr Funke Olaogun, said such women cannot be held responsible for running into the arms of other men.

“Women need constant encouragement and warmth. When any man leaves her woman, another man steps in. These women have emotional and sexual needs that must be met. So, once they are thrown open to temptations, there is really little they can do.

In any case, the men too cannot claim to be clean overseas. We hear and see what they also do.’’

She added that couples living apart have peculiar challenges that must be wellmanaged. “They must stay in touch constantly via phones and emails. They can talk free on Skype and rekindle their love. It is tough and can never substitute for physical presence, but it at least helps.”

Mr. Peter Ogudoro, a Christian marriage counsellor, believes couples must endeavour to live together. “Intimacy is something no one must toy with. The Bible is clear couples must be together. It helps to build the homes.

Not every trip or opening should be seized.

There are sacrifices that must be made, especially if a union is still young.’’

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Your HEALTH THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Why birth defects occur A large number of parents live through nine months with a nagging concern about giving birth to a healthy baby. Rita Ohai writes on the causes of infant deformities and preventive measures that can be taken.

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OST parents only heave a sigh of relief when the baby is born whole, unharmed and without a disability.

It is not unusual for a mother-to-be to feel that way because it can be heart-breaking if a baby is born with a birth defect.

This is the story of Rukaiyya Didda, a house-wife resident in Sakwa Village, Zaki local government area of Bauchi State, whose child-birth story made news recently.

Rukaiyya had looked forward to delivering a healthy baby, but her hope hit the rocks when she gave birth to a baby girl without arms and legs on the 13th of January.

Although the baby, which was later named Fatima, was described by her father, Mallam Ahmadu Didda, a peasant farmer, as a "special gift from Allah and we are grateful to Him for giving us this beautiful baby,” the sorrow felt by the parents is one left to the imagination.

The strange birth is one of the many concerns among medical professionals.

According to a study conducted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, there are more male than female infants born with physical or psychological defects in the country. The study further revealed that the number of reported cases in one Nigerian hospital is larger than the records of other countries.

A United Nations International Children Educational Fund's (UNICEF) report on Child Survival and health status of the Nigerian child stated that one out of every ten babies born is most likely going to have a physical defect. This placed the estimated number of child disabilities at 12,695.

Explaining how children are born with lifealtering deformities, Dr. Chiagile Amachere,

Chief Medical Consultant at Holy Crest Hospitals, said, “Birth defect is the common term used to describe a structural malformation of a body part. It could be genetic or it may arise when the mother of the child is exposed to some harmful environmental or nutritional factors during her pregnancy. “ Continuing, she said, “If it is genetic, there is nothing anybody can do to change t h a t y e t because it is a condition t h a t i s inherited from the parent; but if it is environment al, the mother c a n t a k e certain steps to prevent her s u b s e q u e n t pregnancies from having complications.”

The identification of these defects can be achieved with well-performed ultrasound scan as early as 16 weeks of gestation. Unfortunately, birth defects are a silent and unrecognised epidemic in many African countries, including Nigeria, where most parents are financially handicapped and unable to afford the costs of the medical care.

Dr. Jude Igbanobi, a gynaecologist at a government-owned hospital, expressed; “It all boils down to access to quality medical care. When the cost of getting good medical attention is beyond the reach of the woman who is carrying a child in her womb, it will be tough for her to avoid many of the pregnancyrelated problems. It is highly necessary for every mother to go for early ultrasound scan because this allows the doctor detect any anomalies and then they can start taking corrective measures, if possible. But in many cases, this can only be possible if it is subsidized by the government. Where the government is refusing to pitch in and help, she would need to take personal preventive measures to protect herself and her child.”

While most people have heard that pregnant women should eat healthy, get exercise, avoid tobacco and alcohol in order to have a healthy baby, there are other important things that can be done to ensure that a healthy baby, without any defects, is born.

One of such steps is intake of folic acid supplements, at least three months, before getting pregnant in order to ensure that there is enough folic acid in the system before pregnancy and during the early weeks of pregnancy, before the neural tube of the baby closes.

Scientists have found that intake of folic acid and iron tablets helps to reduce the possibility of a pregnant woman delivering a baby that has a low birth weight rate by 17 per cent and birth complications such as spina

bifida and hydrocephalus, a swelling of the baby's skull.

“The intake of folic acid supplements at least three months before getting pregnant is particularly important for Nigerian women because of the nature of our diet which is largely carbohydrates and little else. Doing this greatly reduces the chance of the baby developing a spinal, brain, heart and general physical disability in the baby by as much as 70 per cent,” says Igboanobi Other measures to prevent congenital abnormalities include avoidance of alcoholic consumption and cigarette smoking or drugs, maintenance of a healthy body weight, effective control of diabetes and staying in a clean environment.

This might come as a shock to some people, but fathers who do certain jobs may be more at risk of having children with birth defects, a study has found.

They cited jobs associated with specific types of defects to include artists, which is linked with defects of the mouth, eyes and ears, gut, limbs, and heart; photographers and photo processors, whose children sometimes end up having cataracts and glaucoma, among others.

Frequently, the lack of enlightenment and other socio-economic factors are responsible for birth defects. Majority of women in rural communities lack access to healthcare facilities and are forced to give birth in unhygienic environments, says Halima Muktar, Chief Coordinator of Saving Lives

Foundation, a child and maternal health campaign organisation.

“There is a lot that can be done to help prevent birth defects. No one likes to see women and children suffer or die from birth defects that could have been prevented in the first place. And one of the key ways to helping women prepare before becoming pregnant is to teach them at grass roots level on the necessary things they can do during pregnancy to have a healthy baby.

“It also begins with teaching young girls about sexual diseases that could affect their future children and learning about lifestyle choices that can affect the health of the baby or lead to birth defects, including smoking, drinking alcohol and nutrition as well as the need for prenatal care,” she concluded.

Since cancers and disabilities in children often are difficult to recognise, parents are advised to ensure that their children have regular medical checkups and should be alert to any unusual signs or symptoms that persist and should never resort to assumptions or self medication.

Medical practitioners state that these signs may include an unusual mass or swelling, unexplained paleness and loss of energy, sudden tendency to bleed from minor injuries, a persistent or localised pain or limping, prolonged, unexplained fever or illness, frequent headaches and vomiting, sudden eye or vision changes, and excessive, rapid weight loss.

BUSINESS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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HE intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to revoke the operating license of Afribank, Bank PHB and Spring Bank on 5th August, 2011 and their subsequent renaming by the National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and acquisition of its majority shares by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) may have paid off.

It would be recalled that following the revocation of the banks’ licenses, its assets and liabilities were transferred to the National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), which then renamed Afribank as Mainstreet Bank; Bank PHB (Keystone Bank) and Spring Bank as Enterprise Bank.

Following AMCON’s acquisition of the banks’ majority shares, it became the owner of the banks. This intervention initially created short term uncertainties and panic amongst customers and key stakeholders of the bank, but the situation appears to be different now.

With a sum total of N679bn pumped into the three banks by AMCON, new boards and management was put in place run the institutions and charged with a clear mandate of achieving a number of aims and objectives.

The Mandate The Board of Directors and Management of the new banks were tasked with turning the fortunes of the bank around. In pursuance of this, the overriding objectives were to stabilize the banks, refocus them, win the confidence of the customers, achieve greater buy-in from the workforce and return the banks to sustainable growth and profitability.

The banks assumed duties in environments that was characterised by an absence of a clear strategy, diffused market focus and persistent losses over the years. In fact, over 90% of the banks’ branches were loss-making.

The banks met an aged workforce with huge skills gaps, obsolete Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, weak organisational structure, high cost to income ratio, weak processes and procedures, poor expense management, high non-performing loans (NPLs) and poor performance management impeding accountability and ownership.

Structures The organisational structures also lacked ownership, accountability and a performance measurement capability. Thus, new structures with clearly defined responsibilities, processes and procedures that facilitate accountability and performance measurement in line with best practice were put in place.

Infrastructure & Technology The legacy bank was plagued with system challenges and ailing IT infrastructure which needed to be overhauled to pave way for a robust new application platform that would enable us drive our business more efficiently. The new cutting edge IT platform was expected to drive e-channels effectively and efficiently and enhance competitiveness within the electronic banking space.

Policies, processes & procedures The policies, processes and procedures inherited from the legacy

Nationalised banks: one year after This is exactly one year after Afribank, Bank PHB and Spring Bank came under the receivership of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). In this report, Bukola Afolabi examines the challenges and prospects of these nationalised banks thus far

•CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido

bank needed a comprehensive review and revalidation to put us at par with the competition. The enterprise-wide institutionalisation of the new paradigm is being implemented with vigour, just as new technologies are being deployed to simplify, streamline and integrate processes ultimately to prevent fraud and meet stakeholders’ expectations.

Keeping staff morale high shedding light on the strategy adopted by her bank, Faith Tudor Matthews recalled that at the inception of Mainstreet Bank Ltd, the morale and level of motivation of the staff were at a very low level.

There was palpable fear, anxiety and uncertainty in the minds of staff.

“A large number of staff had stagnated on the same grade for a long time without promotion. The evaluation of performance did not follow any known modern management standards. To boost the morale of staff, we carried out a review of our reward, recognition, performance and celebration system”, she recalled.

Ambitious targets Convinced that the banks have attained the right fundamentals, the management have set what analysts consider as ambitious targets for themselves.

For instance, the Managing Director of Keystone, Oti Ikomi, holds the view and very strongly too that the banks is on its way to becom-

•AMCON MD, Mustapha Chike-Obi

ing one of the top five in the industry.

The reason, he said is because, the bank’s results for full year 2012 shows a considerable improvement over prior years.

“Approval in principle from the CBN is in place, subsequent to a full well conducted audit by our external auditors KPMG. Keystone bank financial control is finalizing the issuance process and we expect to release our accounts very shortly”, said an elated Ikomi.

Speaking further, he says he is optimistic that the management has re-positioned the bank for efficiency, market share growth and significantly improved governance and control environment.

“Related to this vision, we have put in place a “let’s build “ strategic focus to be a top5 bank in Nigeria by 2015 focusing on innovation and meeting customers’ needs in the middle market and retail banking.

We are making early progress and in the statistics released as a part of the cashless Lagos drive, keystone bank already features as a top 10 bank in Nigeria, measured by active pos deployment.

“Our governance and control environment is well in place, in line with best practice. Our distinguished board of directors under the chairmanship of Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe provides the required oversight and strategic direction and support. We have full functioning 5 board committees as well as a host of management committees,

under the leadership of the CEO that run the bank.”

AMCON’s intervention Expectedly, as the landlord of the banks, AMCON is happy that things have gone absolutely well with the nationalised banks under its care.

Giving this insight over the weekend was Mofoluke Dosunmu, Executive Director, Finance and Operations, AMCON. Going down memory lane, she recalled that before AMCON came on stream things were pretty bad as confidence within the banking sector had long being eroded, because many of the distressed banks paid scant regard to corporate governance procedures and International Financial Reporting Standards.

But thankfully, she said, with AMCON’s intervention came a lifeline for the troubled banks whose finances were in a mess, to say the least.

“Today, the banks have more money deposits compared to the past when there was investor apathy”, she enthused.

The confidence level at the banks, she stressed, is such that today there is no fear of the management running the institution aground as happened before AMCON stepped in.

But to many analysts out there, they would rather the banks don’t get complacent but gird up their loins to ensure that things improve for the better.

Pray, is someone listening?

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‘Competition is good for business’

-- Page 61

Briefs Firm signs partnership to deepen broadband penetration Stories by Adline Atili

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S-based Information and Communications Technology (ICT) firm, Transition Networks, has announced partnership with local broadband infrastructure and technology firm, Teledom International Limited, to launch diverse range of ICT products in Nigeria, in a bid to boost penetration of broadband Internet in Nigeria.

Additionally, the collaboration between the two companies will see Teledom Limited as sole distributor of Transition products in Nigeria.

According to the Chairman of Teledom Ltd, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, Transition Networks offers networking products that enable ICT infrastructure providers, network designers and builders, systems integrators and network operators deliver and manage networks efficiently, excellently and cost effectively.

Ekuwem said further that the company offers enterprise network solutions including Ethernet switches, routers, fibre modules, media converters and network management solutions for small and large organisations.

“Transition Networks essentially provides reliable network devices of the future applicable in government; education; industry, including processing, manufacturing and infrastructure; telecommunications; Information Technology (IT); banks; electronic media; and security, among others.

“With over 20 years of growth and expertise in hardware manufacturing, Transition Networks offers the ability to affordably integrate the benefits of fibre optics into any data network, in any application and in any environment, offering support for multiple protocols and a multitude of hardware platforms.”

Local search engine records two million views

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NFORMATION search engine, VConnect, has announced it has recorded “a landmark achievement” with its latest video; ‘VConnect Fever’ rated one of the most viewed video on YouTube with over two million views per week.

In a statement, the company said the video, which is a promotional musical video for VConnect is available on the VConnect channel for both desktop and mobile devices. For desktop, the website is www.vconnect.com or http:// www.youtube.com/vconnectnigeria; while for mobile devices, the website is: http://bit.ly/vcfevermobile.

In the video, two humorous characters gate crashed into the studio of a Nigerian music producer, OJB Jezreel who was in company of video director, DJ Tee. They started a discussion on how all of their accessories were purchased using the VConnect information search engine, before OJB Jezreel and DJ Tee threw them out.

As part of the company’s marketing initiative to connect the ‘VConnect Fever song and video to users, a troupe of dancers at the weekend performed for shoppers and fun seekers at the Silverbird Galleria on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island Lagos.

General Manager of VConnect, Mr Deepankar Rustagi, explained that the video was aimed at connecting users and prospective users to the brand.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Business News

PHOTO SHOP

UNICEF inaugurates child protection network in Ondo

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From left: Head of Glo 1, Steve Stretch, presenting a cheque of N6 million to Oluwole Agboola, a weekly prize winner in the Glo text 4 million promo, Uche Jombo, Glo Ambassador and Globacom's Head of Value Added Services, Samson Isa in Lagos recently

T a period when the rights of children to basic necessities of life such as education and healthcare are being abused and disregarded in different part of the country, the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has initiated a network through which all stakeholders can be brought together to brainstorm on best practices.

The Child Protection Network is a platform established by UNICEF to provide a mechanism that will bring together government and the civil societies towards effectively protecting the interest of the child.

Operational in about 20 states of the federation, the train moved to Ondo State recently, where UNICEF for-

By Tosin Makinde

mally inaugurated the state chapter of the network, with Mr. Emmanuel Adaramola of the Emmanuel World Children Foundation as the State Coordinator.

In a remark by Mrs. Roseline Akinroye of UNICEF, she emphasised the need for such a network as well as informed the participants on its aims and objectives.

With government agencies and law enforcement officials at the event and expected to be part of the network, Akinroye stressed that the network is not an attempt at reporting the agencies and criticising them, but an attempt at working with them to get data and have an objective knowledge of the true situation of the state of the chil-

dren in that state.

She stressed that the CPN is aimed at identifying gaps and advocating for changes to take place when handling issues that border on child welfare, stressing the importance of synergy and collaboration among the non-governmental organisations, law enforcement agencies and relevant government agencies in the state.

Some of the institutions represented at the forum included but not limited to, the Nigeria Police represented by Chief Superintendent of Police, Akinwale A.K, DPO A Division Police Station, Akure, Mr. Bamikole of the Ministry of Economic, Budget and Planning, Pastor J.A. Olukoju Chairman Christian Association of Nigeria, Akure South.

Etisalat extends access to subscribers

E •From left: Mr. Patrick Sanni, Chairman, Ikeja District, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi, ICAN President and Mr. Olutayo Phillips, Chairman, Anniversary Committee, at the commemoration of the institute’s 30th anniversary over the weekend.

PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI

Lumen Christi wins Panasonic national quiz

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UMEN Christi International School, Uromi, has once more put up an awesome performance at the 2012 edition of the National High School Quiz Championship (NHSQC) which held recently.

The quiz competition sponsored by Panasonic, world renowned electronics brand, is to encourage academic excellence among secondary schools in the country.

Based on their outstanding performance in the last WAEC/ NECO exams, the contest featured the best high schools from the 36 states of the federation with an addition from the FCT. Lumen Christi, representing Edo State, emerged top after beating all participating schools in a tough intellectual bout.

The annual championship is packaged by Inquest Limited in collaboration with the Fed-

By Esther Mohammed

eral Ministry of Education In its second edition, the championship took place in Owerri, Imo State, as facilitated by the state’s Ministry of Education, and commenced after an opening ceremony anchored by the commissioner, Prof. Victoria Obasi, at the Main Auditorium, Imo State University.

National Project Coordinator of the quiz initiative, Dr. Chidi Enwerem, disclosed that “the contest is aimed at redirecting the minds and attention of youths within the secondary schools age bracket towards education, by creating fresh role models and making the entire process very rewarding to all the stakeholders.”

“The criterion is purely on merit as data from the two major examination bodies; WAEC and NECO is used in

getting only schools that have consistently produced excellent results in the terminal examinations conducted by the two bodies”, Enwerem said.

Coming second and third respectively at this year’s competition were PHCN Staff Secondary School, Sapele, Delta State, and Air force Comprehensive Secondary School, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

At the end of the competition, Lumen Christi International High School, Uromi, went home with a cash prize and electronic board called “Panaboard”.

The presentation was made

by Mr. Okoaze Patrick, a representative of the event part sponsor, Panasonic.

The yearly National High Schools Quiz Championship is also powered by NERDC, Dufil Prima Foods, Onward Paper Mills Plc, GSK Plc and Nutricima Plc.

Firm gives documents to allottees

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FTER some delays, a firm, Pentagon Real Estate Investment Limited, has allocated title documents to a batch of allottees who subscribed to plots of land at the Mainland Park City on the LagosIbadan Expressway.

Speaking at the ceremony last week, its Managing Director, Pastor Emeka Okoye, said his company could not give out the lands on time because it sailed into troubled waters.

But ‘’it has survived all the teething challenges which are common to real estate business in countries like Nigeria.

These include the tough challenge in obtaining Certificate of Occupancy (CofO), Approved Layout Plans, Building Approvals, obtaining Beacon numbers and Registered Surveys with red copies lodged at the Land Registry, Infrastructural facilities like road, water, drainage systems, electricity, security, the perennial ‘Omo Onile’ debacle, to mention but a few”.

He added: “Despite the above, however, today, we have come to rejoice with another set of hundreds of subscribers who have become part and parcel of this establishment.

“Mainland Park City has a teeming population of subscribers. We use this medium to encourage them to take steps towards developing their properties on receiving their title documents.”

Over 200 subscribers were given their title documents. He said others would get theirs later. “Before the end of this year, we hope to fully allot everybody who has fully met his/her obligations to the company, not only in Mainland Park City, but also in other sister estates like Rehobot City Ofada, Cedar Gardens Agbara and Crystal Gardens in Lekki.”

TISALAT has extended nationwide access of its TalkZone, the dynamic discount tariff offer that allows customers to enjoy up to 98% discount on calls made to etisalat lines and up to 20% discount on calls made to other networks. This unique service which offers customers call rates as low as 1k/sec is now available to all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

TalkZone special discount tariff offer was first introduced in October 2010 in five north eastern states of the country, and later expanded between February and July this year to 30 states. Now the

By Bukola Afolabi

telecommunications giant has further extended the tariff offer to six more states, namely Nassarawa, Edo, Rivers, Ogun, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

According to Director, Marketing Segments and Strategy, Oluwole Rawa, the Etisalat TalkZone tariff offer is available to its easystarter and easycliq subscribers and gives customers the opportunity to enjoy flexible discounts on calls made to all networks.

He further reiterated Etisalat’s commitment to delighting its customers by giving them value for money.

“The number one focus at

Etisalat is customer satisfaction, and the essence of this discount offer is to give all our subscribers value for their money no matter what part of the country they are calling from,” he said.

He added that it is a way of further encouraging subscribers who have been loyal to the network to do more talking and in turn, achieve more in their businesses or pleasure each day.

“What is the essence of belonging to a network, when you cannot talk as long as you want? Etisalat gives you that pleasure and value, no matter how much airtime you load and anywhere you are in Nigeria”, Rawa said.

‘Over 70% Nigerians lack access to water’

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HE low level of investments in potable water across the country is a source of worry for an enterprising Nigerian.

According to FKO Foundation, a non- governmental organisation, which seeks to combat water-borne diseases in Nigeria, more than 70 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to safe drinkable water in spite of the prevalence of heavy rainfall and abundance of water in the country.

In the view of the founder of the Foundation, Mr. Folawiyo Hassan-Olajoku, who spoke to our correspondent in Lagos recently, the increasing water deficiency in the country has become a major setback to effective hygiene, while militating against any serious commitments by governments at all levels to combat water-borne diseases like diarrhea, dehydration and skin diseases.

Hassan- Olajoku regretted that critical geo-political zones like, South-South, North-West and North-Eastern parts of the country were hardest hit by water shortage and poor investments in the sector.

He said “Studies have shown that water pollution in the South-South due to the activities of oil companies like Shell Petroleum Develop-

ment Corporation has drastically reduced the quantum of safe water available to the people of the area.

He said his organisation will soon embark on enlightenment campaigns across the country to sensitise Nigerians particularly the youths and government agencies to the importance of safe drinkable water.

Hassan-Olajoku however,

called on individuals, governments, groups and international donor agencies to step up their investments in water so as to help the country achieve its Millennium Development Goals objectives.

He said he was committed to driving the nation towards achieving the cardinal principles of the MDGs and Vision 20:2020 of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Winners emerge in Nokia’s competition

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WO players, Udosoh Hope Aniema and Chigbu Ebuka have emerged as winners of the first draw of Nokia’s Danfo Reloaded Competition, a local game available on the Nokia store.

The duo was presented with a sum of N100,000.00 each as reward for being the highest scorers.

Speaking at the prize presentation, which took place at Nokia office last Wednesday, Mr. Teemu Kijaarvi, Head, Developer Experience, Nokia West-Africa, said that Danfo Reloaded competition is another way Nokia is reaching out to its loyal subscribers. “At Nokia, our customers are at the heart of everything we do, this is why we will always look for ways to reward their loyalty to the brand and put smiles on their faces.”

One of the winners, Udosoh Hope Aniema, expressed joy at

the gesture. He recounted that he was skeptical about the authenticity of his winning when he got a call informing him that he had been chosen as one of the highest scorers for the week. “I couldn’t believe it when I was told that I had emerged as one of the top scorers for the week. I really do not believe in promos. I just tried my luck and here I am, a winner of N100,000.00."

He thanked Nokia for the kind gesture and urged Nigerian youths to take advantage of the opportunity.

Explaining the mechanics of the Nokia Danfo Reloaded Game Competition, Mr Kesiena Ogbemi, Marketing Manager, Nokia-West Africa, said that the Danfo Reloaded is a locally developed mobile phone game that can be played on the Nokia Asha 200, 201, 303 or 302 phones.

Business

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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HAT are the peculiar challenges of Vitafoam business in Nigeria?

If there is no enabling environment for business, it will be difficult. First and foremost, it is difficult to do business in Nigeria due to so many factors. Vitafoam manufactures good products, but because factors of production are not there in Nigeria, it makes doing business tasking. The power sector is not reliable though government is working to correct this. We need other infrastructure like good road networks because if you manufacture a product, you need good roads to be able to distribute them. Even when you are doing legitimate business like Vitafoam does, you still face challenges of getting the products to where the consumers are. You also face the problem of government officials who extort money from motorists on the road. The fact is that even in the location where you sell your products, the owner of such building increases rent at will.

Looking at what is happening in the north, we have two of our staff there and we are worried about their safety. To a large extent, it has not been easy doing business in the north. So these are some of the challenges.

The little resources we have, because of the environment we are, the cost of products keep rising making customers to complain. We will not produce bad products but you can imagine a situation whereby there are other good products around and their prices are cheaper than your own. What do you think would happen?

Customers would prefer to buy those other cheaper products than your own.

Another challenge is that when you are a leader, you are being copied. Others will adulterate your products, although we have put in place some measures to checkmate this. We have tried to protect our products so that the possibility of buying a fake one is reduced. This we have done to help consumers, but consumers also need to ‘shine their eyes’ whenever they want to buy products.

We are also going to launch a platform where you will see our number on the foam.

NAFDAC is already helping us and we expect SON to help us too.

There is also the issue of regulators demanding money because they could not perform their civic responsibility.

What can you say about competition from other foam manufacturers in Nigeria? How has it been?

Competition is always good for business.

I have always been a strong advocate of competition, particularly if it is legitimate. Without mincing words, we have our awards to show for our quality products. For me, any award that comes without me paying for it tells me the award is based on integrity. To be regarded as the strongest brand in Nigeria shows the consumers believe in us. I did not even attend the award ceremony not to talk of me paying for it. Vitafoam started operation in 1962 and as at today, we are leading the market. We have graduated from monotonous

INTERVIEW

‘Competition is good for business’ Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, one of the leading foam manufacturers in the country, has been in existence for about half a century.

To mark this milestone, the company is rolling out the drums at the end of August. Marketing Director, Peter Folikwe, in an interview with Bukola Afolabi, speaks on the challenges and prospects of the company thus far

• Folikwe

method of producing foams. Rather than being dogmatic, we have come up with different products and method. We are in partnership with Vono. We have also come up with Vitafoam Comfort Centre, a place where you can look and see our products on display.

Not long ago, Vitafoam, through the Bank of Industry, applied for loan. Does that mean the company went bankrupt?

In the first place, we were not bankrupt,

but because of the cost of production, we made an attempt but we met a brick wall. They said they needed a commercial bank to guarantee us while the commercial banks we approached refused. Now, we don’t have their money as part of our working capital.

What about returns on shares?

Many times at our Annual General Meetings, consumers are briefed on our financial stand and this is to ensure that our books are not cooked. Even during the fall of shares in

61

the capital market, our shares were still up.

The returns have been very good and investors in Vitafoam are enjoying and they will tell you that their money is safe if they put it in Vitafoam. We ensure that we still keep our shares of the market and increase our accessibility. As long as we increase our trade volume and ensure we do well, we will deliver.

You can find the details of our turnover on our website.

To help our market, we have developed many products. We have a type of foam that insulates your house. In building houses, a lot of architects are now recommending it for walls, roofs. It is also used in refrigeration. We have partners from South Africa. So in terms of technical output, Vitafoam is doing well.

Now 50 years of action, what is there to celebrate?

The Chairman of Vitafoam said at the last Annual General Meeting that we are going to roll out the drums and blow the horn. There is a lot to celebrate for. Even on Oba Akran road where the company is, how many companies are still functioning there? So many lives have been touched in terms of human development.

If you look at the company today, we have four factories and you can imagine the number of distributors that we have. We have over 100 key distributors in Nigeria. If you go round the country, we have presence everywhere.

Some of our distributors have passed the business to their children. I was not born when Vitafoam was incorporated in 1962, but today, I make bold to say that the company has impacted positively on the business in Nigeria to a large extent. We offer lots of comfort on bed. Lots of children have been born on Vitafoam. One day, the President of Nigeria will be born on Vitafoam.

Tell us about the consumer promo?

The essence of the Vitafoam consumer promo of 2012 was to see how we can tell our consumers thank you for being with us for so long. We tried to get our customers together and thanked them and one of the ways is to give them a gift. One of the methods was to get a scratch card inside the pillow you bought and when you scratched it, you have a chance of winning a home makeover worth N1million. We have other consolation prices like fans, generators and others.

What is the market share of the company?

In recent times, I have not been doing market analyses. It is very extensive. We are the only public quoted brand in this industry. What we have been doing is to see how we can gather our information, though we still employ professionals. By and large, we have a set standard which SON has also approved. We have created a forum of educating our consumers that it is not about buying foams, especially hard foam. Foams can be soft but could be the best foam. It is not necessary for foams to be hard staff. Good foams should go back to its normal shape when you stand on it rather than taking the shape of your body.

‘Nigeria can leverage on potentials of foreign nations’ Mr. Larry Segun-Lean is the Founder/President Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council, a body which promotes bilateral trade relationship among nations. In this interview with Ambrose Nnaji, he speaks on the socio-economic potential existing in Malaysia, one of the properous Asian economies

• Segun-Lean

W

HAT is Nigeria Malaysia Business Council all about?

It is basically to expose business people to the current global economic outlook and how it affects businesses both in Nigeria and Malaysia. So, the interest is developmental in the sense that we want business in both countries to tap into the opportunities provided by global economic events. With the business council members of Nigeria and Malaysia business communities can always tap into such opportunities that have been provided by global events and then it will provide other avenues for businesses to examine their current positions vis-avis the challenges in both countries like Nigeria and Malaysia business environment.

What role has the Council played to help prospective investors from Malaysia to Nigeria?

We tell investors from both countries the opportunities that are available and the kind of policies. We want them to leverage on policies that are favourable from both Nigeria and Ma-

laysia. So, we interpret all that to investors from both Nigeria and Malaysia. We are here to interpret government policies as business community as we perceive them and as it affects our growth position.

Take for instance, we encouraged the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to come to Nigeria for a conference and then to interpret to Nigerian audience what benefits that were derivable from the palm oil sector to develop the agricultural sector of the economy. We were able to attract such eminent people from Malaysia that are in the business of palm oil.

Hitherto, that would have been a difficult task because people from both countries don’t really know how important Nigeria is in the African economy vis-a-vis the global economy.

The construction industry in Nigeria needed some level of development so we are encouraging Malaysian expertise in the construction industry to come here for an alliance with their Nigerian counterparts. We know that the Nigerian economy is still at the base level like the agricultural products would have to be enhanced and we needed some level of technology for this to be done. So, we encourage Malaysian institutions to come and help us develop technologically our agricultural sector. We want to develop from where we are to where the industrialized

economies are.

What programme does the Council have on ground or intends to start in a bid to foster a cordial relationship between Nigeria and Malaysia?

Before the end of the second quarter some institutions in Nigeria that are involved in the agro-business, both private and public, would be meeting their counterparts in Malaysia precisely by June this year. So, we are leading a delegation of business people and probably those in government to Malaysia, those who are in agro-business to meet with developmental institutions in Malaysia.

We are looking at some states in Malaysia that have advanced in bio-technology. Those states too we are bringing them in Nigeria in the month of July.

In September we intend to pay some visits to some states. We are going to create sister sates arrangements with some states in Malaysia and some states in Nigeria. The sates will introduce them to some states in Malaysia and then there will be a sister programme for development.

The states that have some strength in some areas of the economy would be linked with other states in Malaysia with the same capacity or that have greater capacity. So, there will be a learning process within the two states what we

call sister state arrangement. There would be an exchange of interest on development.

Like a state that wants to increase its capacity in electricity generation can meet with a state in Malaysia that has the technical knowhow or capacity. The state in Malaysia would come to Nigeria and there would be an exchange of personality expertise. A state that has potential in tourism development in Nigeria would visit a state in Malaysia that is so strong in tourism that has achieved certain milestone in the tourism so they would leverage on that relationship with Malaysia and there would be a sister state arrangement with Nigeria and Malaysia.

A state in Nigeria would have a counterpart in Malaysia and they would have a Memorandum of Understanding which would specify areas of cooperation in certain industries. It is a partnership for cooperation. We are looking at between four and six states as first berg for this relationship and we would be merging them with other states in Malaysia that have what we call developmental partnership they would learn from each other and then they would develop accordingly.

The Malaysians are ready. We are talking with states in Malaysia and we are getting their cooperation. The Malaysians are ready and we are waiting for Nigerians to get ready. Once we start with these first few states between the month of July and August as soon as we see the success of that we would take on another states and link them up with states in Malaysia that have gotten through a developmental process that the states in Nigeria are still grappling with.

That would hasten growth and development.

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Business

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Committee, Customs resolve controversy over export grants T

HE Joint Committee on Commerce, Customs and Excise has finally brought to an end the controversies surrounding misuse of the Export Expansion Grants (EEG) by recommending the lifting of the suspension on issuance of negotiated duty credit certificates and disbursement of funds from the EEG. The House of Representative on the 26th October 2011 adopted a resolution on the need to investigate the alleged misuse of the EEG by some industrialists and referred same to the Committee for further legislative action. This is to investigate the alleged misuse of the grant by some industrialists. The Committee on the 20th -12-2011 organized an investigative session with stakeholders.

The objective of the motion is to ensure the Nigerian

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the Federal Ministry of Finance and other implementation agencies run the scheme effectively in achieving its set objective. The Committee on the 22nd 03 2012 organized an interactive session with the EEG implementation Committee members.

The Committee members are: Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga, Chairman Committee on Commerce, Hon. Mohommed Sabo Nakudu, Chairman on Customs and Excise, Uche Chris Okorie Clerk, Committee on Commerce, Baba Mohommed, Clerk, Committee on Customs and Exercise. Others are: Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Central Bank of Ni-

geria, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Various sectorial Associations, other members of the organised private sector. The joint committee also embarked on facility inspection visits to some selected companies in Kano, Port Harcourt and Lagos.

The Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer NEPC, David Adulugba said the government in its determination to enhance the contribution of non-oil export to the national economy, introduced a package of incentive through the promulgation of the Export (Incentive and Miscellaneous) Act, CAP 118 of 1986, to encourage Nigerian exporters to increase the volume of their exports, broaden export products and market coverage and diversify the productive base of the economy.

He said, “The scheme were also aimed at increasing the foreign exchange earning capacity of the sector, address the major problems of supply, demand and price competitiveness of Nigerian products in the international market.

Until 1990s, many of the schemes were rendered technically impotent, others could not address the realities of the major structural changes that had occurred within the economy.

“In realization of those shortcomings, the government in 1992 introduced some amendment to the export incentive regime and its administration through the promulgation of the export. In 2005, an approved guideline for the redesigned EEG which took effect from 1st January 2005 was subsequently released to the public by the Minister of Finance.”

FG solicits funds to reduce harmful effects of chemicals •Switzerland, Sweden and UN commit funds and technical assistance

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HE Federal Government has appealed to the international community for financial and technical assistance to help it reduce the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals in the country.

So far the governments of Switzerland and Sweden are funding some pilot projects on chemical labelling and marking and awareness while two United Nations agencies will be providing technical assistance for the chemical projects.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Taiye Haruna disclosed this at a National Inception and Awareness Raising Workshop in Abuja.

The event was organized to flag-off of Nigeria – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) partnership on development of a coherent legal and institutional framework for the management of chemicals in the country.

Haruna lamented that “several gaps remain to be filled. These include comprehensive regulatory framework for the life-cycle chemicals management, inadequate technical capacity and gross inadequacies in national fund-

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

ing and use of economic instruments to tackle the human health and environmental challenges of hazardous chemicals.”

The Legal and Institutional Infrastructure Measures for Recovering Costs of National Administration (LIRA-Guidance) is a UNEP pilot project supported by the Swedish government to address and further strengthen chemical management, budget allocation process in Nigeria.

According to the Permanent Secretary, coherent legislation and efficient institutional arrangement is being given much attention since the adoption of 2020 Chemicals Safety Goal at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD).

He noted that the guidance is aimed at providing practical steps for policymakers to strengthen legislations and institutional setups for achieving safe environment.

Haruna explained that though the Federal Government has made certain progress to develop inte-

•From left: Mr. Olumide Aluko, IT consultant, Mr. Olufemi Aluko, Managing Director/CEO, The Kings Delight Hotel, Ashi, Ibadan and Mrs. Kikelomo Aluko, at the formal launching/ dedication of the hotel recently

grated national chemicals management system and setting up of inter-ministerial mechanisms towards implementing the Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), yet there exist enormous gaps.

He said the pilot project will focus on strengthening key foundational elements of legal basis and institutional arrangements for managing chemical placements in the market.

It is also expected to build capacity of the country’s chemical management administration.

“The project will address a limited set of key interventions for action based on a detailed review and prioritization of gaps and needs regarding legal and institutional infrastructures governing the placement of chemicals on the market,” Haruna added.

On Tuesday, the Federal Government joined the rest of the world to commence a uniform universal labelling and marking of chemicals for the safety of the citizens and the environment.

Mr. Taiye Haruna said there was need to device measures of protecting the people and their environment from

materials used for nanotechnology.

According to Haruna, “the benefits of nano-safety is enormous, however a major global concern is; how do countries ensure that both people and the environment will be protected from materials employed in nanotechnology products.”

The chemicals that will enjoy universal labels are those used for purification of drinkable water, agricultural chemicals including those used for life-saving medicines.

The Nigeria- United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Nano Safety pilot project will provide an opportunity for Nigeria to obtain information on accessing available opportunities for capacity development in nanotechnology at the national and regional levels.

The project will also address issues to help ensure that the country avoids the reoccurrence of e-wastes and dumping of near-end of life product The 12 month programme has been organised in collaboration with the UNITAR.

•From left: Tunde Joseph, Sales Rep, Intercontinental Distillers Limited, Onijo of Ijo, Olumide Makinde, Sales Operations Manager West 2, Oba (Dr.) Abdulganiy Adekunle Salau Ologunebi 1 Aseyin of Iseyin, Afolabi Philips, Chief Mrs. Cecilia Fabunmi, Iyalode of Iseyin and Friday Akpan, Account Officer, during the courtesy call by the staff of Intercontinental Distillers Limited to the palace of Aseyin of Iseyin recently

Beyond Talent

By Adetayo Okusanya Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

Grab a shovel and dig

H

EIGHTS by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Have you ever had the experience of hearing a colleague of yours share news about an accomplishment that left you wondering, “Where was I when all of this was happening?” For example, a peer at work announces what I love to do”, said the that he has completed the shorter monk. construction of his new The central lesson in the home. You are amazed at his story of the two monks is for accomplishment and secretly you to get to that place in life, wonder how he was able to where you can invest signififinance such a significant cant time in the things that project. After all, you are are important to you or the contemporaries and simi- dreams that you have. The larly compensated, yet you overarching objective of “digare unable to afford a realtor, ging a personal well” is to not to mention land and eventually free up your time. building. You remember the You may find it difficult gettime he discussed his initial ting to this place if all your ideas with you, over drinks, daily productive time is spent and he asked if you were in- gathering enough resources terested. You had told him for the short term e.g. day to you would think about it and day or month to month. You get back to him, but you have to be strategic in your never did because you were thinking and find opportuni“too busy”. ties to build up an inventory Another colleague has of resources that can sustain just completed her post- you for the long-haul. Why graduate studies; you are still go to fetch water from anothrelying on the bachelor’s de- er’s well, if you can dig a well gree you obtained over a dec- of your own, in your ade ago. It seems like yester- backyard? Or as someone reday when she shared her ob- cently put it to me, “Why rent servation with you, that space in another man’s many of the successful execu- dream?” tives in your organization A “personal well” is simhave advanced degrees. You ply a productive asset that thought it was insightful but provides you with unlimited while she had promptly en- and unconditional access to rolled herself in a reputable resources that you need to post graduate program, you sustain your desired living had felt further studies re- standards, without being exquired more emotional, acting on your time and atphysical and intellectual in- tention. There may be a pevestment than you were will- riod of time when you are ing to make. Now, four “going down to the valley to years later, you glance at the fetch water” and “digging graduation picture on her your personal well” concurdesk and wish you had gradu- rently. You may have to inated too. cubate and build up your asThe difference between set base (inventory) for a seayou and the two colleagues son and when it comes to full described above is that they term or reaches maturity, the invested time and resources benefit (reward or fruit) will in “digging their own well”. far outweigh the investment.

In a January 2012 article ti2012 is not over. This is tled “Recalibrating Your Life merely the second half. Stay for Career Success” I shared in the game and play it like a story of two monk’s that you mean to win it. Failure was told by a fourteen year is not an option. Build up old, Hannah Yang, from your own intellectual, finanwhich I learned and em- cial, social and emotional braced the concept of “dig- wealth so you can eventually ging one’s well”. These two have the luxury of doing the monks lived on separate things that you love. Don’t mountains and went down obliviously live on borto the valley, where they met rowed resources and carry every day, to fetch water the risk that one day access from a well. This went on to those resources may be for five years, after which the taken away. Without the shorter monk stopped show- first step, you can never ing up at the well. The taller complete the journey of a monk went up the mountain thousand miles. Have the to investigate and discovered courage to take one step evehis friend had a fully func- ryday towards the tioning and operational well fulfillment of your dream in his backyard. He had been and the pursuit of your pasdigging a little every day for sion. Have the courage, vithe past five years. “Now I sion and determination to no longer have to go to the dig a little every day in your valley to fetch water and I very own backyard. can spend that time doing • Okusanya will be back next week

63

WORLD NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

14 die in militant raid at Yemeni office

M

ILITANTS suspected of being members of Al Qaeda attacked a Yemeni intelligence bureau yesterday, killing 14 people in a bold strike in Aden, the country’s main southern city, officials said.

The attack in the heart of the port city underscored Al Qaeda’s ability to conduct deadly strikes despite a twomonth Yemeni military offensive this year backed by the United States, which has dislodged militants who had taken over a string of towns near Aden.

During the assault, militants attacked the intelligence building from two sides, firing automatic weapons and rocketpropelled grenades, according to intelligence officials in Aden and witnesses from an adjacent state television and radio building. The attack left 11 soldiers and 3 intelligence officers dead, the officials said. Six people were wounded, they said.

The officials and the witnesses, who are government employees, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the news media.

Qaeda-linked militants had taken advantage of political turmoil in Yemen to overrun several major towns in Abyan Province, which neighbours Aden. They held many of them for months until the military drove them out of most areas in May, including the Abyan capital, Zinjibar, and the town of Jaar. More than 100,000 people fled the violence there, with many taking refuge in schools and shelters in Aden.

Many of the militants escaped into nearby mountains, however, and have continued to carry out attacks.

Brahimi warns on U.N. support for mission

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AKHDAR Brahimi will have a new title, Joint Special Representative for Syria. Diplomats said this was to distance him from Annan, who complained that his peaceful transition plan was crippled by divisions between Western powers - who want Assad out - and Russia, his most important ally - in the U.N. Security Council.

Describing the situation in Syria as “absolutely terrible”, Brahimi told Reuters he urgently needed to clarify what support the United Nations can give him and said it was too soon to say whether Assad should step down - in contrast to Annan who said it was clear the Syrian leader “must leave office”.

“It’s much too early for me to say. I don’t know enough about what is happening,” Brahimi said. He had not yet held any talks with Assad but said he would meet him and the country’s opposition leaders as soon as the time was right.

Syrian opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh said Brahimi had no more chance of success than Annan’s doomed mission.

Syria denies Assad’s deputy tried to defect S

YRIA has denied reports on that President Bashar al-Assad’s deputy had defected and his forces pursued an offensive against rebels, bombarding parts of Aleppo in the north and attacking an insurgent-held town in the oil producing east.

Vice-President Farouq alShara “never thought for a moment about leaving the country”, said a statement from his office broadcast on state television issued in response to reports that the vet-

eran Baath Party loyalist had tried to defect to Jordan.

Assad, battling a 17month-old rebellion led by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority that has escalated into a civil war, has suffered a string of defections, including his prime minister Riyadh Hijab two weeks ago.

Shara, whose cousin - an intelligence officer - announced his own defection on Thursday, is a Sunni Muslim from Deraa province where the revolt began

against Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect that is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

The 73-year-old former foreign minister kept a low profile as the rebellion mushroomed but appeared in public last month at a state funeral for three of Assad’s top security officials killed in a bomb attack in Damascus.

The statement said he had worked since the start of the uprising to find a peaceful, political solution and wel-

comed the appointment of Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as a new international mediator for Syria.

Assad’s forces have resorted increasingly to air power to hold back lightly armed insurgents in the capital Damascus and Aleppo, a northern commercial hub.

More than 18,000 people have died in the bloodshed and some 170,000 have fled the country as a result of the fighting, according to the United Nations.

Outbreak of Ebola virus strikes DR Congo town of Isiro

A

T least one person has died after an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.

The death is one of two cases of the virus discovered in the town of Isiro.

Medical charity workers say they are attempting to find and isolate anyone who has been in contact with those infected by the virus.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says the strain is not the same as the kind found recently in neighbouring Uganda.

At least 16 people died during an outbreak there last month.

The DR Congo outbreak occurred in Oriental province, which shares a border with Uganda.

“There is no link between both epidemics at this moment,” Anja de Weggheleire, of MSF, told the BBC. She added that there may be more cases that have yet to be detected.

“Not every person who develops the disease will develop clear symptoms that are recognised as Ebola. For the moment it seems that there are not that many cases but the exact number of cases is unknown.”

Experts fear that the town’s position as a transit point could make an outbreak more challenging to control.

Brazil man survives steel rod through head

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•Yu Wenxia (right) of China waves to the audience after being crowned the winner of Miss World 2012 during the pageant’s final ceremony at the Ordos Stadium Arena in the inner Mongolian city of Ordos on August 18. She defeated more than 100 other hopefuls at the glittering ceremony.

Photo: AFP

U.S. drone kills five militants in northern Pakistan

A

missile launched from a U.S. drone struck a suspected militant hideout in a tribal region in northern Pakistan where allies of a powerful warlord were gathered yesterday, killing five of his supporters, Pakistani officials said.

The strike in North Waziristan against allies of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant commander whose forces frequently target U.S. and other NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, comes amid speculation over whether Pakistan will launch an operation against militants in the tribal region.

The U.S. has pushed Pakistan repeatedly to take such a step and earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told The Associated Press that Pakistan was preparing an operation targeting the Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan.

Pakistan has been reluctant to undertake an offensive there, saying its military is already overtaxed by fighting in other tribal areas and parts of Pakistan. But many in the

U.S. believe Pakistan does not want to upset the many militant groups there such as the Haqqani network that could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces leave.

Last Thursday, the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. James Mattis, met with Pakistani army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

During the meeting the Pakistani general repeated his government’s stance that

it would undertake an operation in North Waziristan only if it coincides with Pakistan’s interests and not in response to outside pressure, according to a military press release. Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned the latest drone attack.

“Pakistan has consistently maintained that these attacks are a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and are in contravention

of international law,” the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, five security officials died during a suicide bombing on a checkpoint in southern Pakistan.

Spokesman Murtaza Baig said the attacker detonated his explosives early on yesterday after he was stopped at the checkpoint in a Quetta suburb. The killed troops were members of Pakistan’s paramilitary.

Quake strikes Indonesia, child injured, houses damaged

A

magnitude 6.6 earthquakes struck 35 miles southeast of Palu on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on yesterday injuring a child and damaging at least 48 houses just as residents were breaking the Ramadan fast, authorities said.

The quake was originally reported by the U.S. Geological Survey said as having a magnitude of 6.5. The depth was reported at 12.5 miles.

“The quake was felt strongly for 15 seconds in Palu as people were breaking the fast,” said Sutopo Purwo

Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

“Initial information we received is the access to Kulawi (central Sulawesi) is cut and cars could not get through because there was a landslide. About 40 houses were damaged and a child was injured because the house’s wall fell on him,” he told Reuters by telephone.

He added that eight houses were “severely damaged” in a nearby area and said that in Indonesia’s Aceh province four people died in a flash flood.

Later, a 5.9 magnitude quake struck 150 miles northeast of Ternate, in the Moluccas islands off Indonesia, at a depth of 29 miles, the USGS said.

The Sulawesi quake had no tsunami potential, said Subagiyo, an earthquake centre official in the capital Jakarta.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a destructive tsunami was not generated by the earthquake and that the Japan Meteorological Agency may issue additional information on the quake.

B r a z i l i a n construction worker has survived after a 2m (sixfoot) steel rod fell from above and pierced his head, doctors who treated him say.

Eduardo Leite was taken to a Rio de Janeiro hospital, where the rod was removed after five hours of surgery.

The doctors said he responded well to surgery, suffered no adverse consequences and has experienced little pain.

He narrowly escaped partial paralysis and loss of an eye, they added.

The rod is said to have fallen from the fifth floor of a building under construction.

It pierced Mr Leite’s hard hat, then the back of his skull, before exiting between his eyes.

Luis Alexandre Essinger, chief of staff at the Miguel Couto hospital, said Mr Leite was conscious when he arrived there and explained what had happened to him.

“He was taken to the operating room, his skull was opened, they examined the brain and the surgeon decided to pull the metal bar out from the front in the same direction it entered the brain,” he said.

Mr Leite had “few complaints” after the surgery, Mr Essinger added, saying “it really was a miracle” that he survived.

64

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

65

2015: The Ahmed, Saraki ‘tango’

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH I 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Olympic versus Olympics, again!

N

ATIONAL MIRROR Front and Views pages of August 16 circulated two blunders: “Jonathan orders probe of poor Olympics performance” Still on London 2012: poor Olympic (not Olympics) performance. Daily Sun of August 14 also had a similar type of solecism: “Nigeria’s Olympics (Olympic) nightmare” For clarity: ‘Olympic’ is an adjective (only before noun) and connected with the Olympic Games, while ‘Olympics’ is a noun. I do not understand why there should be confusion in the usage of the two words.

“Many post NYSC graduates roam the streets of….” All the Facts, All the Sides: Many postNYSC graduates in our existential humanism.

THE GUARDIAN of August 14 did not live up to discerning readers’ expectation on so many occasions. First, the headline blunder before we go to the lethal story: “Family seeks payment for (of) dead policeman’s benefits 17 years after” Now the worse aspect: “The bereaved (deceased) was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force (Sic) On December 1, 1965….” What could have been responsible for this disservice to grammar? Certainly no longer The Flagship that we used to know in its heyday when Dr. Olatunji Dare and Company held sway, magisterially!

“IFAD chief to visit Nigeria, deliver lecture at (in) Ibadan” “…philosophy through which each parties trace its position….”

For the record: each party traces its position “…in other words, figures that indicates (sic)….” What’s going on at Rutam House?

Finally from Conscience, Nurtured by Truth: “Tijani Yusuf exonerate (exonerates) Egbunike from blame” The August 12 edition of this medium failed to show craftsmanship on four occasions: “Like two fighters engaged in fisticuffs…have literally taken themselves (each other) to the cleaners in a verbal warfare that may not abate soon.” This is an example of reciprocal pronoun.

“Do you have long hair (a long hair or long hairs) that you are at your

wits (wits’) end with?”

“We are all humans and lot (lots) of things happen to us.”

Up till now, I had thought that only publications of the celebrity genre (fondly called ‘softsell’ by locals!) carry subheadline blunders on the front page.

Alas, THISDAY of August 10 disappointed me: “US support has helped stabilised (stabilise) polity, says president” From the front page to inside pages: “On Wednesday we held a meeting with the relatives and it was decided in that meeting that….” This way: pilgrims (pilgrims’) affairs.

THISDAY Comment and Editorial also contributed their own quota to the bottomless pit of blunders: “…actively explore the behind the scenes strategy” Truth and Reason: behind-thescenes strategy Still on headlines: “Issues in Dangote’s drivers scheme” Get it right: drivers’ scheme Now to the Editorial: “…in no fewer than 20 States Houses of Assembly (state Houses of Assembly)—even in states where majority (a majority) of members belong to one political party (the same political party).”

“His impeachment however, (sic) sparked serious controversy (a serious controversy or serious controversies) as the House did not form a quorum.”

“Emergency don’t (doesn’t) kill….”

Yet another headline goof: “In a bid to reawaken declining reading culture” This is a hanging entry.

Finally from THISDAY NewsExtra: “Plans (Plot) to impeach Plateau Speaker thickens” No further comment!

NATIONAL MIRROR of August 9 toed the path of THISDAY: “Police arrest three suspects over (for) Kogi church attack” I was taught in Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos, by Mr. Paul Omoghiade (I hope I got the spelling right!) in 1985 that figures (not words) are used in headline casting for space management, which makes sense to me.

May be I now belong to the old school!

Still on NATIONAL MIRROR headlines: “CNPP blames Jonathan

on (for) renewed violence” “Agbekoya Farmers Association gets N5.6b agric loans” Why not Farmers’ Association? “SON seeks traders support on war against substandard products” The same challenge as above.

Just like THISDAY, next comes NATIONAL MIRROR Editorial after headline and other gaffes: “Indeed, accusing fingers are being pointed at officials of the NNPC….”

Crude oil theft: Indeed, the finger is being pointed at…. “…received any complaint with regards (regard) to such from the public.” (THE GUARDIAN, August 7) “…he could be misunderstood to mean that the Nigeria Police has (have) been busy condoning illegality for a long time now.”

And this: an illegality or illegalities “The mob was apparently protesting the death of a youth, allegedly a victim of the town’s vigilante group.” New on the newsstands: vigilance group.

“The minister’s position tallies with the OPEC view that any excess supply of oil to the international market would result into (in) a lowering of….”

“At the struggle for independence, the part played by the leaders of yesteryears set each apart to take over the reins of nation building.” Stock expression: yesteryear.

“Sex has become a past time, an avenue for recreation....” Get it right: pastime.

“Society has been so lenient with the male specie (species) that every woman.…”

“Recently, the police again raised its (their) periodic alarms over the apparent siege on (to) by armed bandits.” Do we have ‘unarmed bandits’?

“The laxity can extend to parking in (on) bank premises.”

“Ondo police allege new plot to distrupt (disrupt) polls” “UNN Alumni counsels Nigerian Police” Get it right: Alumni counsel.

“Rivers PDP, ANPP trade blames over violence” No April fool: blame.

“Are you not worried that things like this is happening knowing the volatile nature of Kaduna?

This way: Are you not worried that things like these are or a thing like this is....

READ with some fascination The Nation newspapers’ report on the 2015 election scheming in Kwara State (The Nation on Sunday, 5 th August, 2012) I contribute to the discourse only to put the issues raised in the publication in clear and proper perspectives. What are the issues?

One: That Governor Abdullfatah Ahmed emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate after some horse - trading. Well, from his body language and carefully-worded statements, the then Governor, Abubakar Bukola Saraki (CON) - aka ABS – was determined that his legacy and globally-exclaimed good work would continue by his successor. So, the worry then was who would the cap fit?

The PDP gubernatorial race was star – studded, no mediocres. Among the high-flyers were Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed (aka Maigida), longest serving, two -term commissioner; Barr. Abdulrasaq Atunwa, another two-term commissioner, Col. (Chief) Theophilus Bamigboye (Rtd), former Military Administrator of Bauchi and Osun States; Prof.

Abdulraheem Oba, former Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin and Chairman of the Federal Character Commission; Hon. Issa Bio Ibrahim, former speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly and former Hon. Minister; Senator Makanjuola Sulaimon Ajadi, former Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic and Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa, former two - term Chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government and former member of the Federal House of Representatives, among other aspirants.

From the vantage position of being in government, Ahmed and Atunwa, both inspirational members of ABS first eleven team, had the edge. But as political wisdom dictated, Ahmed from Kwara State Senatorial District finally secured the nod of ABS who pushed courageously for power shift. In a nutshell, Ahmed satisfied the two core requirements for sustaining the ABS legacy and most of the aspirants were very active in the PDP flag bearer’s campaign train (Prof.

Abdulraheem was the Director-General of the Ahmed Campaign, Senator Ajadi, the Deputy while Barr. Atunwa went on to run for a seat, in the House of Assembly. The family was united behind the choice.

Two: Ahmed and Atunwa are continuing their ‘war’ with an eye on 2015. And to this extent, the governor allegedly sponsored a failed impeachment plot against the Speaker.

This is not only untrue, it is uncharitable. In the first place, there was no ‘war’

•Abdullfatah Ahmed

By Raheem Adedoyin

between them, how would what didn’t exist then continue?

The suggestion of a lingering feud between the two heads of the two most powerful organs of government in the state is untrue and will not achieve the desired goal of sowing the seed of discord in the PDP family. Honestly, no one in PDP has fallen for this outlandish propaganda; the system in Kwara does not permit wilful removal of elected heads of government by governors or power brokers.

Was there even really a plot? A member of the House of Assembly wrote a petition against the Speaker. The petition was investigated by the House and the findings showed the allegations were unfounded and that the said member acted alone. The member was sanctioned by the House as were some principal officers who reportedly did not act fast enough when the petition came to their knowledge (the Speaker was out of the country then). End of story.

How does this concern the governor?

And going down memory lane, a similar failed ‘plot’ by a member of the House in 2005 led to the removal of the alleged plotter as a principal officer of the House. Was the then Governor the sponsor of the failed plot to achieve a second-term bid?

Interestingly, Governor Ahmed and Speaker Atunwa maintain very close friendship and even closer working relationship. The speaker has lent support vigorously to the programmes of the Governor and the Governor does not joke with the interests of the Speaker and the House on state matters, even outside the shores of this country.

The Governor and the Speaker were together during the consultative forum with elderstatemen, Dr. Olusola Saraki (aka) Oloye) in June 2011, at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Kwara’s Agricultural Modernization Programme (KAMP) at the Cornell university, New York on 8th June this year and during the National Convention of the Kwara State Association of Nigeria, North American

• Bukola Saraki

Chapter (KSANG) in Washington DC, last month. In short, there is no war between Governor Ahmed and Speaker Atunwa over 2015 or over other anything.

Four: Quinssential ABS does not want to give Governor Ahmed a second term.

Why? Because the God-father Oloye, never gave any governor a second term. Fallacy. Oloye endosed ABS for a second term. Oloye did that not because the then governor was his son but because the younger Saraki Bukola, to the surprise of all skeptics, worked very hard to earn a second term in office.

And a little bit of history. Gov. Adamu Atta (1980-83) placed his hope of a second-term in office on the federal might; Oloye only crushed all of them with the power of localised politics. Gov. C.O. Adebayo (1983) and Gov. Shaaba Lafiagi (1991-93) had their first term in office terminated and second-term dream aborted by the military, not Oloye. Late Gov. Mohammed Lawal fell out with Oloye long before any talk of second term surfaced.

So, leave Oloye out of this.

Enter ABS. The attempt to pitch Gov. Ahmed against his leader is discernible but laughable. In present day Kwara, if anyone desires to be governor, he ignores ABS at his own political peril. This is not sweet music to the ears of Saraki- bashers, but it is the reality.

As for Gov. Ahmed, his pre-occupation is doing well in office with the mandate he has now. The talk of any scheming for 2015 is completely diversionary.

In the same manner that you have Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu calling the political shot in Lagos leaving governance to Gov. Babatunde Fasola (SAN), Senator Bukola Saraki, being in charge of the political leadership in Kwara, allows enough space and latitude for Gov. Ahmed to face governance.

In a nutshell, for now, the focus of ABS, Maigida and other stakeholders is on the performance of the PDP government so that whoever flies the party’s flag in 2015 has a good platform to return PDP to power.

•Adedoyin is Special Adviser to Governor Ahmed on Communication and Strategy.

66

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012 CHANGE OF NAME CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

KASUMU

IGWEGBE

ADELAJA

NNAJI

EZE-OBIZUE

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Adelaja, Esther Aderonke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojelade, Esther Aderonke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as DR. MISS. NNAJI MAUREEN OGECHI, now wish to be known and addressed as DR. MRS. ILOABUCHI MAUREEN OGECHI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as EZE-OBIZUE PRISCILLA ONYINYECHI NEE UKOMMA, now wish to be known and addressed as EZE PRISCILLA ONYINYECHI NEE UKOMMA. All former documents remain valid.

NICO ABUJA, FIDELITY BANK and the general public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Kasumu Idayat Olanrewaju, now wish to be known and addressed as Ajaja Idayat Olanrewaju. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OSENI

I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Oseni Taibu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Adesanya Taibu Olorunwa. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

UGWUOKE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkechinyere Emmanuela Ugwuoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nkechinyere Emmanuela Aruah.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

BELLO

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Bello Mujidat Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyebo Mujidat Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEMOLA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ademola Folashade Oyenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AdebisiAdemola Folashade Oyenike. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

FATOKI I,formerly known and addressed as Fatoki Abimbola Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Oluwatoki Abimbola Funmilayo.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

BOSORO I,formerly known and addressed as Abisola Oluwayemisi Bosoro, now wish to be known and addressed as Abisola Oluwayemisi Akinrin. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OGUNTOLA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oguntola, Olakemi Motunrayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tiamiyu Olakemi Motunrayo. All former documents remain valid.

Boluwaduro local govt., Otan Ayegbaju and general public should please take note.

AZEEZ I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Azeez Kudirat Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Busari, Kudirat Adenike. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AKPOVWOVWO I,formerly known and addressed as Theresa Okiremute Akpovwovwo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Theresa Okiremute Adegoroye. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

Aloiye

JEGEDE I,formerly known and addressed as Jegede Tawakalitu Mojisola, now wish to be known and addressed as Ishaq Tawakalit Mojisola. All former documents remain valid.

LGSC and general public should please take note.

HAASTRUP I,formerly known and addressed as Haastrup Adebisi Omobolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Scott Davidson Mary Adebisi. All former documents remain valid. LGSC and general public should please take note.

AGWU

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Agwu Chineme Ikoha, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chineme Kalu Okpan. All former documents remain valid.

Ukanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana and general public should please take note.

OKORO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoro Beatrice Afuekwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Udeh Beatice Afuekwe. All former documents remain valid. College of Education Zuba, Abuja University, Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and general public should please take note.

LAWAL

I,formerly known and addressed as Muinat Yahaya Lawal, now wish to be known and addressed as Muinat Shittu Williams. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNBAYO

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwakemi Oluayo Ogunbayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwakemi Oluayo Ifebayo. All former documents remain valid. Remo North Local govt., Isara Ogun State and general public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Chinwe Igwegbe Perpetua, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chinwe Okafor Perpetua. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ODUOLA

EZUMA

I,formerly known and addressed as Michael Agbonoga Bawa, now wish to be known and addressed as Michael Dominion Agbonogorgena. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olabisi Adewumi Oduola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olabisi Adewumi Bolarinwa-Ola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. STELLA EZUMA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. STELLA CHINEDUM NJOKU. All former documents remain valid. Fidelity Bank Plc and general public take note.

ARIBALUSI

MOJEED

BAWA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Aribalusi Oluwaseun Modupe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obafemi Oluwaseun Modupe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONABOWU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Onabowu Abiodun Kudirat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebanjo Abiodun Kudirat. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

KROTAMUNONYE

I, formerly known and addressed as Krotamunonye Christopher Abel-Tariah now wish to be known and addressed as Paul Christopher Bailey. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

JOEL-OLUJI I,formerly known and addressed as Joel-Oluji Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Esther Fred Owate. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

TERIMI

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Terimi Blessing Ngozi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatogun Blessing Ngozi. All former documents remain valid.

Boluwaduro local govt.,Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe and general public should please take note.

MADUEKE I,formerly known and addressed as Madueke Ngozi Jane, now wish to be known and addressed as Dozie Ngozi Jane. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,Uzoh Nkechukwu Kingsley is the same and one person as Mughalu Nkechukwu Festus. now wish to be known and addressed as Uzoh Nkechukwu Kingsley. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

DAVID I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Affiong Sunday David, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Nsikan Etim Williams. All former documents remain valid.

Akwa Ibom State Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Health Management Board, Federal Ministry of Health (NMCN) and general public should please take note.

OSUSU

I,formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Osusu Alice Jacob, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osusu Mercy Jacob. All former documents remain valid. C.C.S.S., Biogbolo, Bayelsa State Senoir Secondary School Board and general public should please take note.

EMMANUEL

I,formerly known and addressed as Emmanuel David, now wish to be known and addressed as Atumeyi Emmanuel David. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Nassarawa and general public should please take note.

OLABODE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olabode Olufunke Oladayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adedoyin Olufunke Oladayo Kafilat. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

EZEH

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ezeh Uchenna Linda, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uchenna Linda Ameachi Okolie. All former documents remain valid. University of Abuja and general public should please take note.

ENAKHENA

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Enakhena Oere Kate, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Enobun Kate Oere. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Mojeed Fausat Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Shorunke Fausat Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid. St. Mary’s Specialist Hospital and general public should please take note.

EBIRERI I,formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Ebireri Chika Nancy, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Ike Chika Nancy. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EZENWANNE I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. EZENWANNE ANURIKA BLESSING, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NWABUZOR ANURIKA BLESSING. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EMENALOM I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. EMENALOM PAULINE NDUDI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UGWOERU PAULINE NDUDI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWAMUO

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Olayemi Ayodele Emmanuel is the same and one person as AyoOlayemi Ayodele Emmanuel. All documents bearing the above names remain valid.General public should please take note.

EGBU I,formerly known and addressed as Egbu Hope Chinwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Unachukw-Echezona Hope Chinwe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. NWAMUO SANDRA EBERECHUKWU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AUGUSTINE SANDRA EBERECHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. UNIPORT and general public should please take note.

NWANDU

ABDULRAHMAN

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. CHIMA NWANDU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OHAEKWUSI, CHIMA MARVELOUS. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Sofiat Omolaraeni Abdulrahman, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sofiat Omolaraeni Sanusi. All former documents remain valid.

LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, NYSC and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. EUNICE KELECHI NNANTA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. EUNICE KELECHI BRIGHT-IKONWA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AKINSUYI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinsuyi, Atinuke Deborah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinosin Atinuke Deborah. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State General public should please take note.

AKINWALE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinwale Idayat Olasile, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olayioye Idayat Olasile. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

AKINWALE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinwale Idayat Olasile, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olayioye Idayat Olasile. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

JAJA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jaja Oslar, now wish to be known and address as Mrs. Oguibe Oslar. All former documents remain valid. The Nigeria Police and the general public please take note.

EROMOMENE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Eromomene Ebosetale, now wish to be known and address as Mes. Uhebagwi Gabriel Ebosetale. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IVONYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Faith Chikerenma Nwosu, now wish to be known and address as Mrs. Ivonye Faith Charles. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

CHUKWUNTA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Peace Nwakaego Chukwunta, now wish to be known as Mrs. Peace Nwakaego Chidiebere Uzoma. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.

EZEKWUBE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nneka Ezekwube, now wish to be known and address as Mrs.Nneka Chime. All former documents remain valid. Institute of Mgt and Technology Enugu and the general public please take note.

EZEAKILE

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. EZEAKILE STEPHANIE CHIOMA ADACHUKWU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NWOKOYE STEPHANIE CHIOMA ADACHUKWU. All former documents remain valid.

Covenant University, NYSC and general public take note.

NNANTA

OFURUM I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OFURUM CORDELIA CHUKWUEMERELAM, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NWANCHA CORDELIA CHUKWUEMERELAM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

NDUBUISI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. NDUBUISI BLESSING NWAKAEGO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ENOCH BLESSING NWAKAEGO. All former documents remain valid.

I.M.T Enugu, NYSC and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, ISRAEL UGOCHUKWU DIVINE and OGBU UGOCHUKWU BRIGHT are one and same person, now wish to be known and addressed as ISRAEL UGOCHUKWU DIVINE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, MR. OHAEKWUSI C. JOSIAH and MR. JOSIAH C. MADUEKWE are one and same person, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. OHAEKWUSI C. JOSIAH. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

YUSUF

I, formerly known and addressed as SIKIRAT OMETERE YUSUF, now wish to be known and addressed as OMEIZA SIKIRAT OMETERE (MRS). All former documents remain valid. F.C.T.A. ABUJA and general public should please take note.

BELLO I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Bello Modinat Mosunmola Adesola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyewole Modinat Mosunmola Adesola. All former documents remain valid.

SUBEB, Abeokuta, Odogbolu LGEA, Ipokia LGEA, FCMB Plc., Access Bank Plc. and general public should please take note.

AKINGUN I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Rufus Sunday Akingun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Sobowale Oluwatosin Olatunmbi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNTOYINBO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oguntoyinbo Alaba Toyin now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Omolola Alaba Toyin. All former documents remain valid. Skyebank and general public take note.

ADEMISOYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss aderonke Ademisoye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Afolabi Bosede Aderonke. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

DAIRO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Dairo Oluwatoyin Abosede , now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs onasanya Oluwatoyin Abosede. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FADOJU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fadoju Rita Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adejuyigbe Rita Yetunde. All former documents remain valid.

FBN, ACCESS Bank Pl, Stanbic IBTC and general public take note.

USHIE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ushie Regina, now wish to be known and addressed as Abhulimen Regina. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OMONIGHO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Omonigho Cynthia Emuobo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Governor Cynthia Emuobo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FASASI I formerly known and addressed as Fasasi muhyideen Okikiola, now wish to be known and addressed as Akanbi muhyideen Okikiola. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

FALODUN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Falodun Omotola Mary, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akomolafe Omotola Mary. All former documents remain valid. Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and general public should take note.

AJAYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi Joy Ozavize, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Onaivi Joy Ozavize. All former documents remain valid. NUSC, Ambrose Alli and general public take note.

OTTUN

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Akinwumi Elizabeth Olufunmilayo, Elizabeth Funmilayo Akinwumi and Akinwumi Elizabeth Funmilayo is the same person as Mrs Adewumi Elizabeth Oluwafunmilayo. All former documents remain valid.University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka and general public should take note.

NWAMAGHINNA I, formally Known and Addressed as Miss Nwamaghinna Chinwendu Florence and now I wish to be Known and addressed as Mrs. Ajeigbe Florence Chinwendu. All documents remain Valid. Ogun State Universal Basic Education and general public to take note.

FATOKI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fatoki Kehinde Olanike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oladejo Olanike K.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Ottun Ismaila Omotayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Otun Ismaila Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

SEBI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Veronica Sebi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Veronica Sebi Ikenga. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AKINJIDE I formerly known and addressed as Bolanle Akinjide, now wish to be known and addressed as Bolanle Anifowoshe. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

MAMIDU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mamidu Nusirat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adewunmi Olayemi Nusirat. All former documents remain valid.

Accademy Press Plc. and general public take note.

OLOGE I, formerly known and addressed as Ologe Onovughe Kelly, now wish to be known and addressed as Oji Onovughe Kelly. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

BABALOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Babalola Morolayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Rufai Morolayo Adebanke. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

SADIKU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Saulatu Bantale Sadiku, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oyetubo Bantale Hannah. All former documents remain valid. Accademy Press Plc. and general public take note.

ADESINA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adesina Deborah Abiodun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Majekodunmi Deborah Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AROWONA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Arowona Aminat Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ayodele Aminat Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. Teaching Service Commission and general public take note.

A D V E R T : Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just (N4,500. NEW RATE effective from 20th March) The payment can be made through FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name V I N T A G E PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide@yahoo.com or thenation_advert@yahoo.com For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, E m a i l gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or our offices nationwide.

Note this!

Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

Tension as community excommunicates three women From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

T

ENSION is brewing in Utu community, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, over the excommunication of three women from the community.

The three women, Mrs. Elizabeth Orjika from Umuhu Village, Mrs. Eucharia Akaeze and Chief Mrs. Uju Onwuka both from Akwuata village, are, however, protesting the development.

The women had different stories to tell. For Mrs. Akaeze, her two children Abuchi, 6 and Obumneme 7 were accused of stealing N20, 000 belonging to their neighbour as well as one bag each of rice and beans. They were beaten to pulp though the parents contested that children of their age could not possibly steal bags of rice and beans.

On her part, Orjika said her daughter had an unwanted pregnancy in 2004 and was six months pregnant before some people started asking her hand in marriage but on wise counsel from her priests she refused to give her out until after delivery only for her to be ostracised. She alleged that the reason they gave for excommunicating her was that she prvented the community from enjoying from her daughters suitors.

The Former Chairman, Committee for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Chief Mrs. Uju Onwuka, who intervened on behalf of the victims, also alleged that she has been harassed and vowed to fight back legally.

The President General of Utuh community, Chief Jimmy Afogwa, said he was not aware of the development as he was only elected this year but promised to investigate the matter.

The traditional ruler of the community was quoted as saying he was sick and could not speak now but admitted he appealed to the community to rescind their decision on the ex-communication order on the three women but they refused.

Meanwhile, Akaeze and Orjika have appealed to the Anambra State House of Assembly, the wife of the Anambra State governor, Mrs. Margaret Obi, Women Affairs Ministry and human rights groups in Nigeria to intervene in their situation as they have been orphaned.

News

ANPP to Muslims: Pray for Nigeria to overcome insecurity, corruption, other social vices

T

HE All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) yesterday urged Muslims to use the Eid-el-Fitri to pray for God’s intervention in the affairs of the country.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, in a goodwill message in Abuja, said Muslims should “ dedicate this Sallah not only to celebrating the happy ending of a glorious spiritual month, but to seeking the face of God, knowing that as the fasting period has established the power of the spiritual realm over the physical realm, the myriad of prob-

From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

lems facing the nation: bad governance, corruption and social decay – shall all be melted away by the power that radiates from the spiritual realm when the faithful raise their voice in prayer.”

The ANPP, he said:” is optimistic that our dear citizens, especially the Muslim faithful and many other individuals who observed Ramadan in the spirit of solidarity and oneness, are now filled with the blessings of this holy

period. It is in this spirit that we rejoice with the nation as the season comes to an end with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, a festivity in which Muslims around the world show a common goal of unity. We pray that our great nation shall be more unified, more peaceful, more stable and more prosperous; and that the sadness and bad news of the past months be washed away by blessings of a better tomorrow.

“Just recently, Nigeria was rated by the Win-Gallup International Religiosity and Atheism Index, after a

global survey, as the second ‘most religious’ country in the world with 93 per cent of the people believing in religion. Also in 2004, we were rated by the British Broadcasting Corporation as the most religious country in the world with 90 per cent of the population believing in God, praying regularly and affirming their readiness to die on behalf of their belief. This goes to show that ours is a nation of God’s people. Our great party believes that there is no better time to call on God with solemnest and sense of urgency than this moment of national trial.”

67

COAS commends Sickle Cell Foundation

T

HE Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubike Onyeabor Ihejirika has showered accolades on Dabma Sickle Cell Foundation for her selfless service to humanity, especially to sickle cell anaemic patients.

Speaking at the wedding ceremony of his younger brother Ndubuisi Ihejirika and his wife, Mercy, at the 81 Division Officers Mess of the Nigerian Army, Gen. Ihejirika said sickle cell disease is a serious problem which has not received solution yet, while the patients are left in perpetual crisis.

In his own remarks, chairman of the occasion and chairman Board of Trustee, Dabma Sickle Cell Foundation , Pastor Emmanuel Ibekwe thanked the Chief of Army Staff and many others that graced the occasion.

Top dignitaries at the event included; Director of Military Intelligence, MajorGen. A.T Jibrin; the Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Major-Gen. RID Isa; the General Officer Commanding 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Major-Gen. KIJ Minimah, corps commander, Nigerian Army Engineers, Major Gen. A .A Olaniyi, commander, Nigerian Army Education Corps, Major Gen. LMK Benjamin; Commander, Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps, Major Gen. Ugwu.

ASPMDA president calls for action over insecurity

C

Secretary, National Council of Patron Boys Brigade of Nigeria, Dr.Samson Dunah (L), presenting best merit award to Victor Jarmai during Yelwa and Dass Battalion closing ceremony of their annual council retreat in Bauchi yesterday

Abia to make laws against pipeline vandals

T

HE Abia State House of Assembly which passed 14 resolutions and five motions in the last one month is considering keying into the federal government’s law against petroleum pipeline vandals.

Speaking in Umuahia during the monthly press briefing, the Deputy

Ugochukwu Ugoji-eke, Umuahia

Speaker and House Committee Chairman on Information, Allwell Asiforo Okere, said though resolutions are not binding on those in authority that it serves as a reminder that the people are watching.

Okere said that one of

the resolutions was on the kidnapping and ritual killing of the two sons of Chimezie Nwoha.

The House asked the police to also step up security in all parts of the state for the safety of the residents of the state, adding that the state cannot be allowed to go back to the dark days of kidnapping

and criminality that it witnessed some years ago.

Other resolutions include extension of the tenure of the local government transition chairmen for another three months. According to him, the extension will make it possible for them to continue their good works in their different council areas.

HIEF Anthony Ughagwu, President, Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers’ Association (ASPMDA), has appealed to the Federal Government to show more commitment in its efforts to tackle the security challenge in the country.

Ughagwu spoke at the association’s secretariat shortly after the inauguration of the newly-elected officers of the association.

He stated that the insecurity in the country has had adverse effects on the volume of trade carried out at the largest auto spare parts trading plaza in sub-Saharan Africa with investments in excess of N500b.

This, he said, is because customers from the northern part of the country are weary of travelling to the South to patronise them; causing a drastic drop in the volume of trade.

Highpoint of the event was the swearing-in of the members of the executive.

Anambra community gets free medicare

F

REE medical treatment were given weekend to over 3, 000 indigenes of Aguluezechukwu, in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State by a medical team from Anambra State Associations in United States of America (ASA-USA).

ASA-USA medical team attended to patients with fertility issue, visual problems, surgery, among others. The patients were attended to first by registered nurses from US who assessed their medical history before sending them to doctors for diagnosis and drug prescription.

The team at Aguluezechukwu also gave

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi and Nwanosike Onu, Awka

micro credit grant to ten indigent women out of the thirty indigent women nominated to benefit from the scheme. There were given N25, 000 each as part of the six welfare packages of the association mission to Anambra state, Nigeria.

Addressing the participants, the president, Anambra State Association, U.S.A, Prof.

Allison Anadi, explained that the treatment, drugs and over 200 eye glasses distributed are free, noting that over 100 people will be given medical attention. He further expressed gratitude to the host commu-

nity who he said welcomed them very well.

The women wing of the ASA-USA, known as ASA Women USA, led by Dr (Mrs.) Anthonia Uche Umeh, gave free medical treatment on cancer and maternal related health illnesses to over 3,000 women in Nnewi.

Speaking at the Diocesan Hospital, Amichi, Nnewi South Local Government Area, Umeh said ‘’Over 3,000 women have received treatment on cervical and breast cancer, and arthritis, hypertension among other maternal health diseases in different parts of the state, including Umueze Anam , Umuoji,

Nise , Abagana and Amichi from the association . We targeted 5,000 women to benefit from the free treatment in the state.’’

President General of Amichi, Sir Emma Okafor, expressed gratitude to Anambra State government for providing necessary logistics and accommodation to the visiting team.

Philanthropist, Mr. Michael Tachet, from St. Francisco, California, U.S.A who accompanied ASA USA to Nigeria, said he is surprised and impressed by the way the people turned out on mass to make the medical mission worthwhile.

68

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

W

HAT is the brain behind your forthcoming conference?

These days, there are lots of issues begging for answers in ministers’ homes. Unfortunately, many of us just keep silent or become dodgy over these issues. Yet, these problems are not running away.

They keep aggravating and many young ministers are buying into them too. The Lord is leading us to address these issues squarely without fear or favour.

What are some of these issues you are referring to?

One, we want to address the issue of marriage of ministers. Then, we will consider the imbalance between the exploits and homes of ministers.

How do you mean by imbalance in ministers’ home?

You see, many of them do God’s works to the neglect of their children and wives.

Many of their children are not well-trained and grow up to hate the work of God. There had been cases of ministers’ wives impregnated by their associates and workers. Then, if the wife is called and the husband is the businessman, she focuses so much on their ministries to the extent that the man starts sleeping with the maid or his daughter. I have handled cases like that.

The wife is always busy in church or fasting, so the man turns to whoever feeds him.

Then, we want to look at remarriage and divorce among ministers. It has reached an alarming proportion among ministers and nobody is talking about it.

There is also the issue of parenting. A research we carried out showed that pastors are the worst parents because of the pressure of ministries.

They don’t have time for the children. There are many sin-

‘Any divorcee on the pulpit is discredited’ gle parents and separated pastors. Many of them are married without kids and this is causing serious friction among them. Our wrong attitude towards adoption is not helping too.

Are you aware you will be stepping on toes by focusing on these issues?

Yes, we are aware. But you know what? Jesus stepped on toes. The Bible also stepped on toes. Somebody must speak up. The last time a pastor divorced, everybody kept quiet. By keeping quiet, what example are we offering younger ministers? Won’t that embolden them to always dump their wives? I spoke up and said he should stop being a bad example to younger ministers. We want to preach traditional families and scriptural evidence. We don’t want to deliberately step on toes but if that happens, we are sorry we might not be able to help it. So, we are teaching on these things boldly and also providing materials that participants can take home for follow-up.

We are focusing on spiritual issues such as satanic attacks against ministers’ homes because that is real. Billy Graham was flying one day and was sitting besides a man who refused to eat everything he was offered. Billy Graham said,’’ you must be a Christian and fasting.” The man said he was not a Christian but fasting. He added he was fasting for the Church of Satan so that homes of ministers will not be settled.

When that happens, he said the gospel will become discredited.

President of International Church Growth Ministries, Dr Francis Bola Akin-John, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on why many ministers are experiencing marital crisis and how to stop the slide

•Akin-John

INTERVIEW Do you believe in divorce?

When does divorce become inevitable?

I don’t believe in divorce at all, but I agree there might be need for separation. I will give examples. If a man beats

his woman and is violent, I believe that woman should go to her parent’s home or the man will kill him. I believe she should separate until the man comes back to his senses. So, I believe in sepa-

ration to save a life. But in Africa, that marriage is almost gone. I believe in-laws have a lot to do when it comes to the progress of threatened homes. You know, I believe there must be parental consent. The parents must investigate before giving their consent. You must pay dowry, go to church and then come to church for joining. When the families are not involved, a threatened home will largely break. So, there are cases where separation becomes inevitable.

What is the biblical stand on marriage and divorce?

Biblically, marriage is monogamy between a man and a woman. Marriage is for life and there is no room for divorce. Mary was engaged to Joseph and suddenly became pregnant. By tradition, he should divorce her. But God said no. Once I am married, I am not expected to divorce. The Bible says you can divorce only on the account of fornication. But you know married people cannot fornicate. They can only commit adultery. So, marriage is for life. Even if your spouse commits adultery, you can forgive and move on. We should forgive as Christians.

If you tell people liberty, many men will divorce. The truth is once you divorce a woman, you go on and on.

Ask the divorcees and they will tell you. Once you are finished maritally, you are finished as a minister. You can be a successful lawyer, governor or even president without a good home, but not a successful pastor. A minister must have a good home that can be a good example. If everybody

is divorcing, not pastors and ministers. Pastoring is not just about preaching; it is transmission of life. If you divorce, 80% of your members will do the same. If your marriage is troubled, that will happen in your church too. Whatever happens in your life will reflect within the church. So, if you divorce because your wife is this and that, your members will do the same.

And you will mislead many people. I do say even if you are married to Jesus, you will still have challenges. There is no marriage that is not challenged. You must just be tolerant and committed. But if you walk out on every slightest challenge, we will have a serious trouble in our hands soonest.

If the wife of a pastor decides to leave, what does the scripture expect one to do?

I will not preach this from the pulpit. A pastor had an experience. He was married with five kids but the woman decided to walk out.

She packed out and rented a room nearby to start prostituting. They begged her but she said no. She said the man could not go five, six rounds with her. That was what she wanted. The man ran to me and wanted to know what to do. I told him to let us go back to her family because it was not a church matter. The family should settle it for them.

But if they cannot, the man is free to remarry after two or three years. It is the same if a partner travels out for years, leaving the other one stranded. If you don’t return on time, that man or woman is free to remarry. The earlier marriage is annulled.

NEWS

Methodist Church ordains 121 priests, elects 7 new bishops

T

HE Methodist Church Nigeria (MCN) has elected 7 new Bishops and ordained 121 priests into its full connexion.

This was the highlight at the just- concluded 43rd/8th Biennial Conference of the Church hosted by the Diocese of Lagos Mainland.

A release by the Church’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Rev. Oladapo Daramola, said the elevation of the 7 priests to the Episcopal rank and the creation of 5 new Dioceses namely, IjeshaNorth (Osun), Oyo (Oyo), Okun (Kwara/Kogi), Kubwa (Abuja) and Gokana (Rivers) are in line with the Church’s vision to become one of the nation’s largest and spiritually fulfilling and vibrant churches.

The elected Bishops are Very Rev Rufus Olanrewaju Babalola (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Kubwa); Very Rev Edoka Amuta(Bishop-Elect for Evangelism and Discipleship); Very Rev Abayomi

By Sunday Oguntola

Adegbite (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Owo); Very Rev Titus Omoniyi (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Oyo) and Very Rev Dr. Olusesan Abejide (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Okun).

Others are Very Rev Isaac Osunjuyigbe (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Ijesha-North); Very Rev Nnam Humphrey (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Gokana) and Very Rev Okpara Chukwudi Chiemeka (Bishop-Elect for Diocese of Uzuakoli).

The church also ordained 121 priests and 5 deaconesses at a service presided over by

the Prelate of MCN, His Eminence, Dr Sunday Ola Makinde.

In his charge to the newly ordained priests and deaconesses, retired Archbishop of Ilesa, Most Rev. Ayo Ladigbolu, enjoined them to fulfill their calling by preaching the gospel of truth to the flocks committed to their care.

He said what is missing in the world today is truth, which has allowed deceit to permeate nearly every facet of our existence.

Ladigbolu called on them to be God’s agent of change and transformation.

‘How to arrest insecurity in Nigeria’

By Edozie Udeze

•Ituen

T

HE President/Founder of Christ Deliverance Ministries Inc. (CDM) Lagos, Prophet Ekong Ituen, has called for convocation of a solemn assembly to tackle the challenge of insecurity facing the nation.

He said the Boko Haram insurgency is a spiritual prob-

lem that requires spiritual solution.

According to him: “We must know that Boko Haram’s activities are spiritual and it takes the spiritual to counter the spiritual because it is the spiritual that controls the physical.

“Spiritually speaking, even if Nigeria deploys one million foreign soldiers to fight Boko Haram, it will not stop because their operations are spiritual.’’

He noted that the radical sect has been manipulating the security agencies, a develop-

ment, he said, that has made its activities remain undetected.

Ituen urged the Federal Government to assemble a team of credible spiritual leaders for a solemn assembly.

The assembly, according to him, will seek the face of God “because it is high time we stopped praying at random without results.”

“At this point in time, I think we need men of God that will stand in the gap between God and our nation to hear and receive the true message from the throne of God for the solution.”

Keep faith alive, cleric tasks Nigerians

T

HE Area Superintendent of The Apostolic Church Nigeria, Iju Station Lagos, Apostle Aniedi Akpan, has challenged Nigerians not to give up on the nation.

He also dismissed predic-

By Sunday Oguntola

tions that the nation will disintegrate anytime as false.

Akpan, who worked as an Account officer with Nigeria Air Force for almost 15 years before full-time ministry, said the challenges facing Nigeria are attrib-

utable to the nation’s qualification for greatness.

“Anybody or anything destined for greatness will witness all these challenges. They are not out of place and expected,’’ the cleric argued.

He expressed optimism that

the nation will soon overcome.

“No matter who is angry with Nigeria, Nigeria will survive. This country shall rise again.

“Nigeria will take her place in the comity of nations. Boko Haram will become a thing of

the past. Insecurity will fizzle out,” he stated.

He disclosed that the Church has been experiencing steady growth in recent years, stating that there are now about 30 branches under the Lagos Area.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2012

69

70

THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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Moses

QUOTABLE “I support privatization and I think that it is the way to go but I have cautioned on it, because the greatest number of privatization failures in the world are in the power sector sometimes because of the failure to think through it and sometimes for other reasons. The failure rate is very high and so for us, I think that we should be gradual…”

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2222

—Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke on plans to privatise the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) by the Federal Government

I

F anyone expects former military head of state, Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, to come out clearly on the most controversial issues affecting Nigeria, or even to apologise for any of those issues that unfortunately defined his rule, he is grossly mistaken. The wily general is unlikely to ever go beyond accepting responsibility for his policies and decisions or, in general terms, accepting that some mistakes were made. He will leave his critics to determine whether his decisions were right or wrong. Given his continuing and deliberate evasiveness and his ambiguous thoughts on the country’s affairs, it is beginning to look like the 71-year-old general will neither give us the benefit of his true reflections on national issues nor be truly remorseful on the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment. More, there is no proof that when his autobiography is published it will contain candid analyses on the fate of the country it was his fortune to rule for eight years.

IBB may not be as influential as he was few years after he left office, and may not even be as wily, circumspect and respected.

He has also not said or done anything to substantially merit the appellation of a statesman, nor yet elicit from us the awe we reserve for truly great men – men of courage, men of vision, men of character in the inescapable historical sense. But there is no doubt he has retained his charm, general affability, distinguishing cosmopolitanism, and disarming though probably superficial tenderness. He says of himself that he is ageing gracefully. He is right, but more because he stands out from all his successors and nearly all his predecessors in the mannerisms and aesthetic accoutrements of the nobility than because of any intrinsic worth.

One of his predecessors, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, was and still is more principled, more patriotic and probably more visionary than he. But it is to his credit that more Nigerians feel more comfortable with him, and are willing to entrust their lives into his hands. They will not trust him with their money or their wives if it came to that, but they will prefer to sit at table with him than with any other former ruler, confident he will listen, whisper sweet nothings into their ears and be touched by their private afflictions. It is also to his credit that he is generally predictable when you are with him, which is more than can be said of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one of his successors who is capable of the most intense and viperous mood swings that any dictator could summon, and is as undiscriminating of his enemies as he is of his friends when it comes to inflicting pain.

IBB may be as exasperated with the Nigerian press as President Goodluck

IBB as evasive as ever

• Babangida

• Obasanjo

Jonathan despaired of them in his last media chat, what with his repeated reference to them as sensational, sometimes shallow and pedantic. But unlike Jonathan who has never given the impression he reads any columnist or analyst because they are often too abusive, IBB seems to love cultivating writers, takes the pains to read many of them and even calls them up now and again to exchange banter. There is a curious if engaging disingenuousness about IBB that makes you think he is a modern leader where most of his predecessors and successors in office struggle to shake off their characteristic archaisms.

No controversy undermined IBB’s 71st birthday celebration as his 70th was overshadowed by his kerfuffle with Obasanjo.

And as he acknowledged during his interview with the press, he would not take to the hustings anymore, for his desire to rule the country one more time has been smothered by age and by a demoralising sense of rejection. He therefore leaves us with a feeling of

curiousness concerning what an elected President IBB would be, and a feeling of not knowing what mighty things he could have accomplished, for his noble deeds, which were not apparent to even him at the time, were overshadowed by his own supervening tendency for self-destruction. In Obasanjo’s case, it took his return to office in 1999 to finally shatter the raucous delusions of his democratic credentials dubiously acquired when he supposedly willingly transferred power to an elected government. But IBB gives the impression he could function excellently well in a democracy as he performed suavely in tyranny.

After all, did he not describe himself as a military president and hanker after diarchy; and looking at how awkwardly Jonathan conducts himself in a democracy that seems eternally exciting his discomfiture, would a simple regression not convince us he would be even more tyrannical under a dictatorship?

Moments before he turned 71, IBB man-

Boko Haram inspiring tectonic shift in national politics

A

FTER many agonising months of hemming and hawing over whether to negotiate with Boko Haram, the most vicious face of terrorism in Nigeria today, it is now very certain that the federal government will, and indeed has begun to, negotiate. Doubtless, the violent sect had reasons to be angry and even violent, for the government and its agents dealt very harshly and unjustly with the group and its leaders. Their leaders and some members were extra-judicially murdered, their properties were also extra-judicially destroyed, and both executions and devastation have not ceased. But in ventilating their grievances, the sect also did wickedly with the innocent, targeted Christians for no reason, murdered fellow Muslims for conspiracy and treachery, and repeatedly attempted to instigate anarchy in order, as they claimed, to institute a theocracy, first across certain states, and then across the country.

Because of both political and moral weakness, and also because of law enforcement incompetence, the government has been compelled to negotiate when it seemed all but clear it could not hope to achieve military victory. If a truce is established and

peace comes with it eventually, it is certain to cost taxpayers a fortune. The government insists it wants peace at any price. They will probably get it. If they do, it will be peace secured over the graves of hundreds of innocent people, most of them Nigerians, and at the expense of thousands of families whose lives have been shattered irreparably, with no prospect of judicial catharsis that is often the only thing victims’ families hold on to in place of their huge losses. If peace is secured with terrorists, it will also set a precedent for those sufficiently aggrieved and embittered to levy war against the society on such dire scale that the government would again sue for peace. This generation of leaders and followers has written history; we will rue its consequences.

But much more than shattered lives, the Boko Haram phenomenon is inspiring drastic, if not tectonic, shift in Nigerian politics.

Because of the sect’s violence, a desperate President Goodluck Jonathan sought out a National Security Adviser (NSA) from the region in which Boko Haram terrorism flowered. This is not to say the previous NSA was competent or that the new NSA is unqualified. But it is significant that our des-

peration is leading us to seek refuge in primordial political appointments. On top of this, as if to load a patient with antibacterial medication to guarantee cure, Jonathan is also reportedly seeking a new defence minister from the same Boko Haram region.

Again, this is not to say whoever is appointed would be unqualified, but it does indicate a beguiling weakness in government, poverty of reasoning and a reckless abandonment of rigour in anticipating future consequences of today’s policies and decisions. We will certainly reap the consequences of our folly.

So, all the Southwest, which has been schemed out of everything, needs to do is create such a din that in placating it federal resources and appointments are heaved upon it. Similarly, the Southeast, which badly desires the presidency, but which from all indications has lost it even before the battle is joined, should simply create and sustain a national uproar to weary the nation into submission. After all, the SouthSouth showed the way with militants, oil politics and oil war. Why we pretend not to know we have elevated blackmail into political science is beyond me.

aged to join forces with Obasanjo to speak on a few national issues, particularly the festering sore of terrorism. The joint statement they issued was essentially homiletic, and it achieved for him and his co-signatory the distinction of keeping them in the limelight shortly before he marked his birthday. Former public officers never want to leave the limelight. In this, IBB has been luckier than many of his fellow former heads of state. He has not had the most credibility or even integrity; that distinction goes to Buhari. But in spite of his best efforts to diminish his own accomplishments and hug controversy with fanatical zeal, such as the Dele Giwa affair, he has kept his pleasant mien past his years in power and well into the twilight of his extraordinary life.

The birthday interview, excerpts of which were published in a few newspapers yesterday, also indicated what I think is probably the leitmotif of his character, the strand that shows through in all his behaviour. In spite of his Machiavellian outlook, IBB is at bottom an extraordinarily cautious man with an obsessive desire to please everyone or at least make everyone love him. This nature probably explains why his answers are never straightforward, why they are much more ambiguous than they are intellectually bereft, why the greatness nature prepared for him has eluded him. That cautious nature explains why he failed the ultimate test of his life and career. That test – what to do with the June 12, 1993 presidential election – was designed to honour him and clothe him with such glory that future leaders would kill themselves trying to equal.

We are not likely to hear definitively from him why he flunked that test or whether he even truly regrets it; for all his statements so far on the subject indicate he only accepted responsibility for the decision, as if he could in any conceivable way deny responsibility. We will therefore continue to guess why he did what he did and whether he is one bit remorseful. In the birthday interview, he was not pinned down on the annulment question, apparently because he has answered it many times before. But his interviewers wanted to know why he left the ambitious Gen Sani Abacha behind when he stepped aside as military ruler in 1993.

Did he not know the man described as the Khalifa would seize the opportunity to take power?

It is not certain IBB reflected deeply on the answer he gave to that question. If he did, then his capacity for leadership was highly overrated. The naivety of assuming Abacha would serve as the spine to the unconstitutional contraption of Ernest Shonekan’s interim government should have occurred to him. Perhaps it did; perhaps he only pretended not to know. IBB also suggested that the military under Abacha was expected to support the Shonekan government to conduct another election around February 1994. If he was not being dishonest, why would he expect an election to be successfully conducted in six months when the one that took him many years to plan failed? Why would he expect Abacha and Shonekan to honour the result of that February 1994 election, assuming it was conducted, when the one he successfully staged the previous year was annulled because of the face of the winner, not because of electoral flaws?

IBB has probably not written his memoirs. He should not do it until he has made up his mind to tell the truth. For if the reasoning he showed in the birthday interview should suffuse the anticipated memoir, it would end up being a dishonest piece of work that would do even more damage to the few redeeming virtues remaining in him, virtues which he has conspired by his weaknesses and deliberate mendacity to destroy.

Even more, he should not put pen to paper if all he would put in the memoirs is the superficiality on nation-building he ladled out to his interviewers a few days ago rather than the deep introspections and rigorous reflections of the statesman he has aspired or purported to be all his life.

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