The Nation August 28, 2012

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Senate to CBN: stop N5000 banknote NEWS

Page 4

•Currency ‘will send wrong signal’

Southwest, others battle for INEC post •Bid for secretary splits South

NEWS Page 5

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 2231 TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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Buhari: Jonathan, IBB, Obasanjo killed oil sector President promises to suprise critics Babangida threatens to expose Buhari

O

N a day a former Head of State placed the blame for Nigeria’s woes at his doorstep, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday hit back at his critics.

He rejected such blame, especially by former leaders and vowed that although he is the most vilified President in the world, he would leave office as the

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

most celebrated.

Dr. Jonathan spoke at the opening of the 52nd Annual General Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.

As the President was parrying the criticism of his administration at the Federal Capital Territory, former Head of State Gen. Muham-

Sometimes, I ask, ‘were there roads across the country and Jonathan brought flood to wipe out these roads?’ Or we had power and I brought hurricane to break down the entire infrastruc—Jonathan ture?

We are conversant with Gen. Buhari’s so-called holier-than-thou attitude. He is a one-time Minister of Petroleum and we have good records of his tenure. Secondly, he also presided over the Petroleum Trust Fund ( PTF) . —Babangida

Continued on page 59

THE CHARGES

•Osita...yesterday •Nwabufor...yesterday

•Odera...yesterday

•Chukwunonso...yesterday

PHOTOS: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Cynthia: Four suspects remanded in prison

A

MAGISTRATE’s Court in Yaba, Lagos Mainland yesterday ordered that four young men being held in connection with the murder of Cynthia Osokogu Udoka (25) be remanded in prison custody.

Magistrate P. A. Adekomaiya ordered that Okwumo Echezona Nwabufo (33), Ejike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka (23), Orji Osita (32) and Maduakor Chukwunonso (25) be remand-

•Victim for burial September 7

By Eric Ikhilae and Precious Igbowelundu

ed in Ikoyi Prison, Lagos after an eightcount charge brought against them by the police was read to them.

The magistrate ordered that they should be held in prison, pending the advice of the state’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). He adjourned the

matter till October 3 for mention.

Their plea was not taken. The magistrate only asked if they understood the charge after it was read to them.

They answered “yes”.

They were charged with conspiracy, murder, armed robbery, rape, “unlawful administration of obnoxious substance” and “forceful administration of

obnoxious substance” with a view to causing bodily harm.

By the charge, signed by Chukwu Agwu (Acting Superintendent of Police), the accused persons’ alleged offences are punishable under Sections 221, 231, 237, 241, 258, 295 and 409 of the “Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.”

In count one, they were alleged to Continued on page 4

•That you Okwumo Echezona Nwabufor ‘M’, Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka ‘M’, Orji Osita ‘M’, Madukor Chukwunoso ‘M’ and others at large, between the hours pf 2100 of 21/07/2012 – 1200hrs of 22/07/2012, at Room No C1, Cosmilla Hotel, Lakeview Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Festac Town, Lagos, in the Lagos Magistrate District, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: murder.

•unlawfully killing Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘F’ aged 25 years by administering her with obnoxious substance known as “Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets” via a Ribena fruit Juice drink, binding her hands with chain, padlock and cellotape her legs, neck and mouth with cellotape, giving her fist blows all over her body, giving her several human bites, torturing and strangling her to death.

•conspiring to commit felony to wit: armed robbery.

•whilst armed with obnoxious substances and other offensive weapons, robbing Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘F’ of her valuable property to wit: 1 (one) Black Berry, Bold 5 model (b) International Passport with No. A01249397, (c) National Drivers Licence No. GRE0002AA dated 15-032010, (d) pair of shoes, (e) hand bag, (f) Artificial sex toy vibrator, (g) jewelry pack containing 3 wrist watches, 4 rings, 3 pairs of earring, 1 pendant, 1 necklace, hand chain (bangle) and a single earring.

Continued on page 4

•CITYBEAT P8 •PROPERTY P13 •ENERGY P17 •SPORT P23•POLITICS P43

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

2

NEWS MURDER OF CYNTHIA

Drama, anxiety The appearance of the suspected killers of Cynthia Osokogu before a Magistrate’s Court yesterday was characterised by anxiety and drama, writes ERIC IKHILAE

F • Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (second left), his wife Olufunso (left), Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and his wife Bisi at the first forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation at China National Convention Centre, Beijing... yesterday

•Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida (middle), Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former External Affairs Minister Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi (left) at a symposium to mark the 21st anniversary of Jigawa State ...yesterday

OR the first time since they were paraded by the police last week, the four youths suspected to have killed the 25year-old Cynthia Osokogu made their first appearance in court yesterday.

The suspects, including the pharmacists who sold them a prescription drug, were taken before the Magistrate’s Court, Yaba, Lagos.

As early as 8am, reporters and photographers had besieged the court.

The unusual presence of the journalists before the arrival of the suspects aroused the curiosity of court officials, most of whom were not aware of the impending proceedings.

There was no unusual presence of security personnel in the early hours of the day to attract public attention.

The crowd in the court premises was also not unusual.

By 9 am, the court’s doors were thrown open. And the waiting game began.

While everyone was about giving up around 11am, the faint sound of siren from a distance suddenly attracted attention. And in the twinkle of an eye, a white Hilux pick-up van appeared, escorted by some gunwielding security men.

The vehicle made its way into the court premises. Before the driver could halt the vehicle, the armed men jumped off and took positions,

some close to the vehicle, while others ran towards the court room.

Convinced that every precaution had been taken, and the Magistrate informed of their arrival, the lead prosecution lawyer, Chukwu Agwu, an Acting Superintendent of Police, signaled to the security men.

Pronto, the vehicle’s back doors were thrown open and the suspects Okwumo Echezona Nwabufo (33), Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka (23), Orji Osita (32) and Maduakor Chukwunonso (25) – emerged, one after the other.

While the suspects struggled to get off the vehicle, the crowd of photographers were struggling to capture their faces. As the photographers clicked away, the suspects, determined to prevent their faces from being seen, made efforts to shield them. Despite efforts by the security men, who shouted at them to walk straight, to ensure they keep their hands down, the suspects, especially the two cousins, kept their hands on their faces.

Inside the court, they kept their heads down.

While everyone looked inquisitive, seeking to know what pattern the proceedings would take, Nwabufo kept a straight face. The other three looked pensive.

The size of the audience in and outside the court room increased while everyone anxiously awaited the commencement of the proceedings. Officials of the other courts abandoned

Murder gruesome, says Ekwunife

• Osun State Deputy Governor Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori (right),the Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Rauf Adedeji (left), Speaker Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salami (second left) and Senator Femi Ojudu during the 21st anniversary lecture on the creation of Osun State at Centre for Black Culture and international Understanding ...yesterday

THE member representing Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka Federal Constituency and the leader of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) caucus in the National Assembly, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, has condemned the murder of Cynthia Osokogu.

Ekwunife said the act was barbaric and wicked.

She called for the establishment of a data base to help security agencies track criminals.

The lawmaker said: “I wish to condemn the murder of Cynthia, a young lady full of life and expectation and it is so unfortunate that Anambra person was fingered in the dastardly act because our people don’t indulge in such act.

“I also call for justice; those that have been found culpable and those at large must be punished severely to serve as deter-

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

rent to other young people who don’t like to work hard but they want to have everything for themselves. I also advocate introduction of moral lessons in our educational system.”

Ekwunife urged Vice-chancellors and other managers of higher institutions to provide a code of conducts for all their students.

She said: “Vice-chancellors and other persons saddled with education should provide moral code of conduct forms and make the students swear to be of good behavior which will serve as way of bringing them to face the wrath of the law whenever they go contrary to the oath they took.”

She expressed sadness over the death of Cynthia and warned young people to face their studies and forget the quest for wealth at the early stage.

Tight security in FESTAC

• From left: Member, National Executive Council, Biotechnology Society of Nigeria, Prof. Olu Odeyemi, the society’s President, Biotechnology Society of Nigeria, Prof. James Ogbonna and Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Vincent Tenebe at the 25th Annual Conference of the society in Abuja ...yesterday PHOTO: NAN

FOLLOWING last week’s arrest of one of the suspected killers of Cynthia Osokugo in Festac Town, on the outskirts of Lagos, police have tightened security in the area.

Policemen in plain clothes have been positioned at strategic locations in the estate.

The policemen, who are operating undercover, are placed at entry points. Some of them, who are armed go about in black Tshirts marked ‘SARS’, that is the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

They were sighted yesterday morning at Second Rainbow bus on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway searching young men.

By Jude Isiguzo

Some were inside the Okada (commercial motorcycle) park at the bus stop. The bus stop is one of the major entry points into FESTAC. The policemen are also around the hotels mentioned by the suspects as their hideouts.

A police source at Area ‘E’ Command told our reporter that the police are doing everything possible to reduce crime in the area.

“The police high command is worried over recent developments in the estate and has directed that a stop must be put to it. These security checks will continue for now because we are determined to fight crime here,” the source said.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

3

NEWS MURDER OF CYNTHIA

on Cynthia’s ‘killers’ first day in court

’

Despite efforts by the security men, who shouted at them to walk straight, to ensure they keep their hands down, the suspects, especially the two cousins, kept their hands to their faces. Inside the court, they kept their heads down.

Perhaps aware of the fact that photographs are forbidden

P •The late Cynthia

their duty posts and equally besieged Court One, which hosted the proceedings.

A few minutes later, Magistrate P.A. Adekomaiya emerged from his chambers, took his seat and directed the beginning of the proceedings.

Shortly after the clerk called the case, Agwu informed the court that the Police had filed an eight-count charge against the accused persons and ap-

• Nwabufor (right) and Ezike dodging the camera...yesterday PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

plied that the charge be read to them.

At the completion of the reading, the Magistrate asked the accused if they understood the charge. They replied in the affirmative.

Agwu, the Officer-in-Charge, Legal Department, Lagos State Police Command, subsequently requested that the accused be remanded in prison pending the ar-

rival of the advice of the state’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP. The Magistrate granted the request because I. D. Egbo, who announced appearance for Chukwunonso, did not object.

Magistrate Adekomaiya ordered that they should be remanded in Ikoyi Prison, Lagos, pending DPP’s advice and adjourned the matter till October 3 for mention. After that,

the Magistrate rose, ending the proceedings that lasted less than 10 minutes.

At the prompting of Agwu, the security operatives led the accused out of the court room and into the cell, a room located behind the court building. People were prevented from getting close to the cell as the security men turned back those who made efforts to

’

catch a glimpse of the accused.

At the completion of paper work, including the endorsement of their remand warrant, the accused were taken out of the cell around 1 pm and were led straight into the vehicle that brought them.

They still made efforts to shield their faces from cameras as they made their way back into the vehicle.

Pharmacists probe sale of prescription drug to suspected killers •Drugs must not be sold anyhow, says ANPP

T

HE President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Azubike Okwor, has said the society is investigating to ascertain if the suspected killers of Cynthia Osokogu produced a doctor’s prescription at the pharmacy before the drug was sold to them.

Okwor, who spoke in a telephone interview with The Nation, said the drug with which the late Cynthia, 25, was drugged, Rohypnol, is a prescription drug, which is licensed and can only be sold by pharmacists.

He said the drug must be sold with doctor’s prescription, unless in cases of emergency.

Okwor lamented the lack of contact details of doctors to confirm prescriptions given to patients, a situation which has given rise to fake prescription letters.

He said: “Rohypnol is a licensed patent in Nigeria. It is legal for pharmacies to sell it, although the normal procedure is that patients are to show prescription from doctors.”

• Oxpharm Pharmacy, Road 32, Festac, Lagos where Cynthia's suspected killers bought the drug... yesterday PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) yesterday urged the Federal

By Precious Igbonwelundu bought the drugs over the counter It urged the government to set Government to ensure prescription drugs are sold only with a doctor’s ap- them before journalists at the Lagos from pharmacists, which was also up a water-tight regulatory frameinjected into Cynthia’s drink be- work in the drug administration proval.

State Police Command, Ikeja. environment to curb irresponsible The party, in a statement signed by “ They have also given account fore they killed her.

The party said: “ Our health care dispensing of such calibre of drugs its National Publicity Secretary, Mr of how they lured Cynthia from Emma Eneukwu, said: “ In the past her Nasarawa State base and sub- system is such that many medica- in future.

It stated:” It is high time the few days, Nigerian media has been sequently killed her in a hotel in tions that should rightly come under prescription drugs are sold in Federal Government and the relawash with the gory and heartbreak- Festac Town, Lagos State.” ing story of the murder of Cynthia The party said the suspects con- the open market as over-the- evant agencies embarked on a vigorous national youth orientaOsokogu by two young men whom fessed to have drugged other fe- counter (OTC) drugs.

“The police arrested the pharma- tion on the dangers of social meshe met on Facebook. male victims with Rohypnol, a pre“The two culprits, Okwuoma scription drug used in the short- cist who sold the drug to Cynthia’s dia. “ suspected killers, but that is not It also urged the National AsNwabufo, Ezike Odera, have confessed term treatment of insomnia. to the crime when the police brought It said they confessed to have enough to stop future purchase sembly to craft enabling laws to and use of such dangerous drugs.” forestall cyber crime and misuse

’

Rohypnol is a licenced patent in Nigeria. It is legal for pharmacies to sell it although the normal procedure is that patients are to show prescription from doctors

’

of prescription drugs.

It said: “We in ANPP commiserate with the family of the deceased, and also call on the Federal Government to engage the youth in order to avoid future occurrence.”

The ANPP also urged the Federal Government to tackle the menace on time as the youth could be manipulated into becoming political thugs, suicide bombers, armed robbers and ritual killers.

4

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

NEWS Senate to CBN: stay action on N5,000 banknote

T

•From left: Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Nicolass Vervelde, his wife, Clemetine, Creative Director, Farafina Trust, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Human Resources Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Victor Famuyibo, at the Literary Evening of Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop, sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos...at the weekend.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

Why I reject State Police, by President

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday disagreed on the need for state police.

While the President said he rested the move for state police on the advice of the Council of State comprising former Heads of State, the NBA maintained that its benefits outweigh the risks associated with it.

Joining the fray yesterday were Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and his Imo counterparts, Rochas Okorocha, who also canvassed different positions on the issue.

Okorocha supported the call for state police. But Oshiomhole said if created, state police would become instrument of oppression in the hands of governors.

At the opening of the 52nd General conference of the NBA in Abuja, Jonathan who said he was in support of State Police as Bayelsa State governor, added that he had seen the is-

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

sue differently as the President.

His words: “On the issue of state police, everybody knows I have been deputy governor and governor in Bayelsa state. There was a time we were frustrated and we felt that we should have our police, that we would be able to manage criminality in our state better because of our local environment.

“Police from other parts of the country find it difficult to go into the waters, but for us who were born inside the water, even in the night we can enter ordinary canoe to go to anywhere and we feel that if we have our local police, it will be better for us because our police can reach everywhere in our state.

But when I discussed the issue of state police with former presidents before a state council meeting, they

said it’s a good idea, that probably one day we’ll get there, and that is the emphasis I want to make, one day we’ll get to that point. But presently, we have to be careful on how we go about it.

He said: “Experiments have been made, there was a time when the police came up with a policy that police officers from the rank of inspector and below should be posted to their states of origin as a way of testing whether police familiar with the environment will make changes, but it was realized that when police officers from the rank of inspector down were posted to their state of origin, it was worse off to manage the situation so the police had to discontinue that policy.

“We also feel that looking at the federal level and the way the governors are handling elections in their state with the state electoral commission, where opposition parties hardly win even councillor-

ship elections.

“So, if there is state police and the governors manipulate their state police the way they are manipulating their state electoral commissions, the instability that it will create even what we are witnessing will be a child’s play”, Jonathan added.

But the outgoing NBA President, Joseph Daudu (SAN) who spoke earlier pooh-poohed the fears that politicians would manipulate the state police to their advantage, describing the position as misgiving.

Daudu said: “The truth is that Nigeria is overripe for state and community police.

The opponents of the state police only cite one constraint which is that governors would use their state police to perpetuate their political interests in the run up to elections. Cogent as that misgiving may appear, it is not an obstacle to the proper Continued on page 12

HE Senate yesterday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pull the brakes on its plan to restructure and introduce N5,000 banknote.

Banking, Currency and other Financial Institutions, Committee chair Bassey Otu handed down the order at a news conference in Abuja .

Senator Otu, who described the proposed introduction of N5,000 currency denomination as a “burning issue”, said the measure the apex bank planned to take could only be necessary in a country undergoing a major financial crisis.

The CBN, he warned, must be careful in order not to send wrong signal to households, domestic sector and foreigners that the Nigerian currency is valueless.

CBN Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, last week unfolded plans to restructure the naira and introduce N5,000 currency denomination next year. But Otu said a memo would immediately be dispatched to CBN to halt all further actions on the banknote, until the Senate is properly briefed.

He wondered why the Senate would be kept in the dark over such an important financial restructuring that is bound to affect the economy.

Otu who represents Cross River South, noted that the interest of the lawmakers was the ripple effect of the new currency on Nigerians.

He said a project like the introduction of N5,000 note and wholesale overhaul of the currency required parliamentary approval because of the expected fiscal implications on the economy.

Said Otu: “I believe that a project of this nature requires parliamentary approval because there are numerous and fiscal implications on the entire economy.

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

“This type of action is only taken where there is a major crisis and the CBN must be very careful in order not to send a wrong signal or message to households, domestic sector and even the external ones that the Nigerian currency is valueless, which I believe is definitely not, and that for every unit of value, they need to carry a large quantity of cash.

“The CBN in 2008 and 2009 came up with a proposal to re-denominate the currency; that was even to take off the zeroes.

“This was just 2008 and 2009 and here we are in 2012 we are seeing a kind of policy somersault even though we understand the dynamics of the sector very well.

“I believe that we have to be well briefed on this. Also in 2005, the CBN undertook a major currency restructuring which ran into billions of naira.

“Till date, a proper value has not been done to know its cost to the Nigerian taxpayers and the extent of the benefits in that 2005 coinage.

“I think it did not work at all because goldsmiths and blacksmiths converted the coins to molding bangles, earrings and so on.

“So, we believe that the coinage works very well where there is infrastructure to take it like a half, probably like parking where you go and put it.

“We have not developed that real basic infrastructure and those coins, most of them are nowhere to be found.

“So, the CBN will have to prove that the policy is not a clear contradiction or at variance with its cashless society, which they are even yet to justify and whether this is the popular economic way to go.”

Continued on page 12

Cynthia’s remains for burial September 7

T

HE remains of Miss Cynthia Osokogu will be buried on September 7 at Bebe, Ovia Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta, the family said yesterday.

Cynthia, a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, was allegedly killed by friends she met on the social media at a hotel in Festac on the outskirts of Lagos, last month.

The suspected killers of the young woman allegedly lured her to Lagos on a phoney business deal and killed her in a hotel room.

Mrs Joy Osokogu , who announced the date to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos yesterday, advised youths to be very cautious of making friends with people that they did not know.

She said: “The youths should be very careful, especially when they are making friends in the social media.

Like we have seen in the case of my daughter, such friends may have ulterior motives.

Osokogu described her deceased daughter as “very industrious, hard working and a respectful child.”

“She was my daughter, my friend and my sister. Her memory will never be forgot-

Four suspects remanded in prison Continued from page 1

have, between “2100 hours of July 21, 2012 and 12 hours of July 22, 2012 at room C1, Cosmilla Hotel, Lakeview Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Festac Town, Lagos did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: murder.”

In count two, they are accused unlawfully killing “Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘f’, aged 25 years by administering her with obnoxious substance known as Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets via a Ribena fruit juice drink, binding her hands with chain, padlock and cellotape her legs, neck and mouth with cellotape, giving her fist blows all over her body, giving her several human bites, tortured and strangled her to death.”

In count three, the four are accused of ten because she touched so many lives positively in her short stay on earth,’’ Mrs. Osokogu said.

She said Cynthia’s killers had demanded N20 million ransom from the family.

“The killers of my daughter demanded a ransom of N20 million from my son, Flt- Lt. Kenneth Osokogu,’’ she said.

Mrs. Osokogu said the killers sent her son, who is in Makurdi, a text message, demanding that he paid N20million into an account which did not exist.

conspiring among themselves to commit felony to wit: Armed robbery. The Police, in count four, accused them of robbing Cynthia of her personal items while being armed with “obnoxious substances and other offensive weapons”.

Some of the items allegedly stolen from the late Cynthia include one Bold Five model of Blackberry handset, an international passport marked: A012493997 dated July 3, 2009; pairs of shoes, a hand bag, an artificial sex toy vibrator, a jewelry pack containing three wrist watches, four rings, three pairs of earrings, one pendant, one necklace, a hand chain (bangle) and a single earring.

They were accused in count five of conspiring to rape the deceased. In count six,

“The killers were not picking our calls; they only communicated to us via text messages.

“When my son got their SMS, he later replied them that the account number was fake and didn’t exist.

“He sent another message in which he said that if it was a case of kidnapping, he would like to speak with his sister before making any payment but the killers did not respond,’’ Osokogu said.

She said, however, that when she spoke with the suspected killers, they did not

the accused were accused of unlawfully having sexual intercourse with the deceased without her consent.

In count seven, they were alleged to, with intent to facilitate the commission of felony, unlawfully administered an obnoxious substance known as Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets, purchased at Oxpharm Pharmacy, 32 Road, Festac Town, Lagos, on Cynthia Osokogu Udoka.”

They were, in count eight, alleged to have,”with intent to harm, did unlawfully cause an obnoxious substanceknown as Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets to be administered on Cynthia Osokogu Udoka against her consent and caused her grievous harm.”

ask her for any money.

Mrs. Osokogu said she spoke last with Cynthia on July 22 when she called to say that she was travelling to Lagos to get her goods.

“But the next day, I didn’t hear from her. When I tried to reach her, all her phones were switched off.

“After one week, the phones started ringing but no one was picking.

“A few days later, people I believe to be the killers called and said that my daughter was in one Symbol Hospital in Lagos.

“I called the police I had earlier reported the case to, to go and verify if she was in the hospital, they said there was no hospital like that.

“After a while, I called the number and told them I wanted to speak with her but they said it was not possible.

“When I asked why, they said she would come back but that I wouldn’t speak with her.

“When I called the number again, they said they had killed her and that was when we declared Cynthia missing,’’ Mrs. Osokogu said.

•The late Cynthia

THE CHARGES •conspiring amongst yourselves to commit felony wit: Rape.

•unlawfully having sexual intercourse with Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘F’ (deceased) without her consent.

•with intent to facilitate the commission of felony, did unlawfully administer an obnoxious substance known as “Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets” purchased at Oxpharm Pharmacy, at 32 Road, Festac Town, Lagos on Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘F’ (deaceased).

•unlawfully causing an obnoxious substance known as “Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets” to be administered on Cynthia Osokogu Udoka ‘F’ (deceased) against her consent and caused her grievous harm.

ADVERT HOTLINES: 01-280668, 08070591302, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

5

NEWS

Southsouth, Southeast, Southwest battle for INEC’s Secretary T

HREE geo-political zones are battling for the office of the Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which may be vacant in the next six months.

The zones are Southsouth, Southeast and the Southwest.

Also, there are indications that the presidency may bring in an experienced civil servant outside the electoral commission for the post. But INEC staff members are also pushing for the appointment of one of their experienced directors.

They said since there are about 67 directors in the commission, it is needless bringing in another director who will have to learn the rudiments of managing an Electoral Management Board (EMB).

The tenure of the current Secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama would end in the next six months, it was learnt.

Besides the tenure issue, it was also learnt that in line with the ongoing reforms of INEC by its Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega, the Secretary would have been asked to step aside because he is from the same Northwest geopolitical zone with INEC chair.

Although Jega inherited INEC Secretary, there had been agitations within INEC that a zone cannot produce the two top posts in the electoral commission.

A source in government said: “Since the INEC chairman is from the North, naturally the position of Secretary will come from the South. I am aware that this has been the pattern at least since the

•Kaugama bows out in six months •Odds favour Southwest From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

Second Republic (1979 to1983).

“What we have now is that the three zones in the South (Southsouth, Southeast and Southwest) are jostling for the office.

“As a matter of fact, the Southsouth has thrown up some candidates including the Administrative Secretary of the commission in Imo State Mr. Udoh from Cross River State, Head of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) from Akwa Ibom, Okop; the Director of Political Party Monitoring from Delta State, Mrs. Regina Omo-Agege, and former Head of Legal Affairs, Wole Uzzi.

“The odds may however favour the Southwest because out of the three zones, only the Southwest has never produced either the chairman or Secretary of the electoral commission. But some stakeholders want the office thrown open to all the zones.

“It is left to INEC management to come up with a benchmark for the selection of the new secretary.

“If INEC is allowed to choose its Secretary from within, it has to pick one out of the 67 directors on its payroll.

PAST CHAIRMEN Chief Eyo Esua Chief Michael Ani Justice Victor -Ovie-Whiskey Prof. Eme Awa Prof. Humphrey Nwosu Prof. Okon Uya Chief Dagogo Jack Justice Ephraim Akpata Dr. Abel Guobadia Prof. Maurice Iwu Prof. Attahiru Jega

A breakdown of the directors in the commission is as follows: Niger (two); Delta (three); Kaduna (two); Sokoto (one); Benue (nine) Anambra (nine); Zamfara (two); Cross River (three); Enugu (one); Kano (one); Plateau (three); Imo (four); Akwa Ibom (three); Bayelsa (two); Kogi (one); Katsina (one); Osun (one); Abia (three); Gombe (one); Kebbi (three); Lagos (two); Edo (three); Ogun (one); Bauchi (two); Jigawa (one); Yobe (one); and Borno (two).

Another source however claimed that attempts by Jegaled INEC to start its reforms with the choice of a new Sec-

PAST SECRETARIES

Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi (Bauchi) Dr. Umar Sanda (Niger) Aliyu Umar (Niger) Adamu Muazu (Niger) Mohammed Ali (Borno) Mr. Ochai (Benue) Adamu Muazu (Niger) Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed (Kaduna) Dr. Abubakar Jauro (Adamawa) Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama (Jigawa)

retary may suffer some setbacks as the Presidency is contemplating bringing in an experienced civil servant on board.

The INEC officials are however opposed to the plan because the commission has enough directors who could fit into the bill.

The source said: “I think some politicians are trying to pull the strings to have a civil servant from outside as INEC secretary. They probably want somebody they could control.

“Yet, this was the same method that almost crippled INEC in the past. Most of the

former secretaries came from the civil service who owed allegiance to the powers that be.

In line with INEC reform focus, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Report favours a Secretary from within.

“If a Secretary comes from outside, he will just start learning which may not augur well for the system.

“Most staff favour internal candidate for the job. We have had stability in INEC because Abdullahi A. Kaugama had been part of the service since 1987.

“Kaugama started his Federal Service Career with the then National Electoral Commission (NEC) as an Electoral Officer in Kano from March 1987 to November 1992; he rose to become the Chief Personal Officer (NEC) Jigawa till April 1994. He later became Deputy Director (Admin and Human Resources) at INEC Headquarters Abuja from May 2004 to March 2005.

“He was promoted Director on GL 17 while still serving as the Administrative Secretary of INEC Katsina State, a position he held until 1st February 2007, when he was appointed the acting Secretary of the Commission.

“If the government imposes a Secretary on INEC, it will not be tidier enough for the system and it might have implications for the transparency of the electoral process in 2015. That was a major internal challenge which INEC had during the annulment of June 12, 1993 election.”

Army chief Ihejirika urges vigilance THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, yesterday urged military officers to be vigilant.

Gen. Ihejirika spoke at a training organised by the Nigerian Army Education Corp (NAEC) for Warrant Officers and Senior NonCommissioned Officers at Sobi, Ilorin.

The army chief, who was represented by Brig.-Gen Saidu Bello, the Commander, 22 Armoured Brigade Sobi, said the security challenges in the country require collective and extra efforts.

He urged officers to be extra vigilant and mindful of all happenings around them, urging them to always report any suspicious activities promptly to their superior officers.

Gen. Ihejirika said: “As one of the major security agencies, the Army recognises the importance of security in the country.

“The establishment of the Department of Civil Military Affairs to spearhead the promotion of cordial relationship between the Army and the civil populace is apt.”

According to him, the establishment of good relationship between the military, other security agencies and the civil populace would foster understanding and cooperation in surmounting the security challenges.

Kukah calls for abolition of Federation Account, State/Local Govt Joint Account

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OR the nation to develop, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah has called for the removal of Section 162 of the Constitution.

The Section supports the creation of the Federation Account and the State/ Local Government Joint Account.

It also made a proviso that any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal, States and local government councils.

Delivering a keynote address at the opening of the 52nd General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, Rev. Kukah lamented that all presidents had always relied on goodluck to win elections without preparing for the tasks ahead.

He said: “No Nigeria President or Head of State has ever been prepared for the leadership of the country. From the days of Tafawa Balewa, all Nigerian leaders had always got into office through goodluck, as most of them were never prepared for leadership, it is the business of government to create an environment that would encourage and allow the possibility for wandering why Nigeria needs a Constitution. The transition that took place had a terminal point, it was clearly known and nobody was left in doubt that everything was put in place to bring former President Olusegun Obasanjo to power from prison, everybody that fought for the entrenchment of democracy is on the outside. From the annulment of the June 12, 1993

•Lawyers becoming fraudulent, says AGF From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

election till now, Nigeria has had seven Presidents.

“We cannot retain Section 162 of the Constitution if the nation must move forward.

As long as the access to the resources of Nigeria is access to do as you like, we would continue to have violence in the country. Nigeria needs to be a bit creative and commit ourselves to human rights.

Nigeria is a country with huge resources and unfortunately a country with a lot of poor people, one of the difficulties of this country and anybody who is the President of Nigeria deserves our sympathy as the loyalty in Nigeria has been transferred to tribes and godfathers. Thirty years from now, Nigeria will be ruled by people who have their loyalty to tribe and godfathers. Nigerians are looking for a messiah, a messiah is not going to come from another planet, the Nigerian messiah is among us, who the messiah is we don’t know, so let’s try to treat one another with some respect,” he declared.

Rev Kukah said “People will be ready to defend democracy if they see an appreciable increase in their wellbeing. Does taking your clothes to the best dry cleaner enhance your looks if you were not already handsome?

Nigeria is a nation that is flying without a black box, Nigeria is a country without history, I have not found a Nigerian that can talk about another tribe of the country

without the obvious prejudices. What we face is a country where even our heroes ad heroines are largely contested. PDP is largely responsible for Nigeria’s problems, the political class needs the creativity on how to acquire and retain the support of the people, as Nigeria is a country where there is no end to a debate. There are always stalemates in efforts to get Nigerians to talk. The agitation for the creation of more states is all about sharing of resources as there is the believe that since Nigeria is a criminal state, then let our own criminal get in there too”.

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Bello Adoke (SAN) expressed regret that some lawyers are denting the image of the profession.

He said:“I am sad to observe that some members of our profession have jettisoned the cherished values and traditions for which the Bar was greatly admired. Today, members of our profession are engaged in unwholesome conducts such as ambulance chasing, hijacking of cases/acting on behalf of clients without instruction, arguing their cases in the media and routinely running commentaries on issues that are clearly sub-judice. There are also reported cases of lawyers tampering with client’s money, corrupt practices and the perpetration of a host of other vices unbecoming of members of this noble profession.

•President Goodluck Jonathan(right); Senate Leader, Senator Ndoma Egba; President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Joseph Daudu and Minister of Labour, Chukwemeka Wogu at the PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN NBA’s Conference in Abuja... yesterday.

“I believe that it is time for us to take decisive steps to reform and redeem our profession and regain our lost pride by showing the bad eggs amongst us, the way out of the Profession. The recent reconstitution of the General Council of the Bar and the ongoing efforts to reinvigorate it offers us the unique opportunity to use the Council to address some of these ills. It is also important for the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to be strengthened to effectively deal with the large number of petitions pending before it. In this regard, I pledge the readiness of my office to work with all organs of the Bar to achieve the goal of sanitising our pro-

fession Adoke said the nation must realise that there are other equally endowed Markets that are competing for the attraction of investments.

He said his ministry has produced a Draft Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, Draft Code of Conduct for Public Prosecutors and Draft Prosecutorial Guidelines to address some of the challenges in the administration of criminal justice especially for the Federal Capital Territory.

These drafts, he said, are now undergoing stakeholders review.

“To boost our war against corruption, I wish to report that the Whistle Blower’s Bill, Stolen Asset Recovery and

Management Bill and the Anti- Bribery Bill, are at advanced stages of completion.

We have already submitted them to the National Assembly, the Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, Genocide and Related Offences Bill 2012, to implement the ICC statute and criminalise ICC crimes in Nigeria in our effort to end impunity, the Terrorism (Prohibition) Bill 2012 to address identified weaknesses in our anti-terror laws and the Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2012 to curb the scourge of money laundering and specifically criminalise certain conducts, as well as, satisfy some of the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force” he added.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

6

NEWS Ogun berates CPC chief over comment on Amosun

ONDO 2012

Agunloye is frustrated, says Akeredolu

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HE Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (ACO) of the Ondo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday said the comments by a defector from the party, Dr. Olu Agunloye, was the ranting of a frustrated and irredeemable political traitor seeking relevance.

Agunloye, at Idanre, had said he left ACN because it lacked internal democracy and that he could not allow foreigners to rule Ondo State.

ACO said the comment was unfortunate and fallacious.

In a statement in Akure, the

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

state capital, by its spokesman, Mr Idowu Ajanaku, the organisation said: “Is it not the same Agunloye that picked up the ticket of ACN as a senatorial candidate in 2011, after he was schemed out in Labour Party (LP) by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who refused to conduct primaries to select a candidate for Ondo North Senatorial District, by handing over the party’s ticket to Senator Ajayi Boroffice?

“Is he not the one who chastised the Mimiko administration as a market/town hall builder and government

of abandoned projects, such as the doomed Dome, OwoAkure road, Ondo-Akure road and so on?

“Is it not the same Agunloye that described the Mimiko government as the worst in the history of Ondo State, for wasting the people’s money to purchase awards all over the place?

“We are not surprised that Dr Agunloye has gone back to his vomit, as he betrayed Chief Bola Ige when he joined forces with the same people alleged to have killed his former boss, the late Ige. Is it not Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that

he crawled back to, to collect money to run election in 2011, that he is now calling a foreigner? In that election, he could not even win his ward, as he lost to Senator Boroffice and Senator Bode Olajumoke.

“Besides, Dr Agunloye, as Minister of Power and Steel and Minster of State for Defence (Navy), could not use his position for positive changes among the people of Ondo State. He is always noted for politics of self-gain. His exit to us is good riddance to bad rubbish to a serial political traitor.

“Agunloye and his co-trav-

•Mr Akeredolu (SAN) addressing residents of Okitipupa community during a rally.

T

•Dr Agunloye

ellers in the LP will be rooted out in the October 20 governorship election by the ACN because the good people of Ondo State will no longer be deceived.”

PHOTO: NIYI ADENIRAN

Akeredolu’ll liberate Ondo, says ACN ex-candidate

A

former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Ondo State House of Assembly in last year’s elections, Dr. Christopher Ogunlana, has urged the electorate to vote for the party’s governorship candidate, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) in the October 20 election.

Ogunlana spoke in Ikorodu, Lagos, with The Nation.

The politician said this is the only way to “liberate our people from the sorry state the Olusegun Mimiko administration has plunged Ondo State”.

He added: “As a stakeholder in Ondo State ACN and somebody who has contested

By Oziegbe Okoeki

election in 2011 for the House of Assembly, to represent Irele Local Government Area, I know that the state is sitting on a keg of gun powder, especially because of mass unemployment of youths.

“It is my firm belief that if the ACN standard bearer rules the state, the myriad of problems, including collapsed infrastructure, will be a thing of the past.”

Ogunlana noted that Akeredolu, being a successful lawyer with a thriving law chamber, would bring his wealth of experience to reposition the state “for generations yet unborn; unlike the present gov-

‘I want the people to know that Mimiko’s government is deficient in progressive ideas and that is why it has wasted billions of naira in the last three and a half years in building markets, lock-up shops, mega schools that are not compatible with our environment’ ernor, who cannot boast of running a three-bedroom flat clinic successfully, much less of running the state”.

The politician said another reason Mimiko must not be allowed to return is because “he is a clog in the clarion call for the Southwest integration”.

He said: “We cannot afford to be left out, if we want Ondo State to move forward.

“I want the people to know that Mimiko’s government is deficient in progressive ideas and that is why it has wasted billions of naira in the last three and a half years in building markets, lock-up shops, mega schools that are not compatible with our environment.”

Ogunlana noted that Mimiko’s type of mega schools were experimented in Great

Britain and failed.

The medical doctor said maternal and infant mortality statistics in the state has worsened under Mimiko’s Mother and Child Maternity Hospital.

He said: “Nobody can convince me, as a qualified medical doctor, that one well equipped hospital in a senatorial district can serve the whole population in that district.

“The best thing to do is for each local government to have a relatively standard general hospital and this should be compliemented with aggressive primary health care, as it was done when the late Prof.

Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was the Minister of Health.”

‘Mimiko plans to embarrass Ondo PDP with fifth columnists’

T

HE Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday criticised alleged plans by Governor Olusegun Mimiko to use some fifth columnists and fake party men to embarrass the party.

Its Director of Publicity, Mr Ayo Fadaka, made the allegation in a statement in Akure, the state capital.

He described Mimiko’s alleged plan as a futile bid to distract the PDP from its effort to win the October 20 governorship election.

The statement reads: “The latest plan, as usual, is to approach the courts again to seek an injunction that is targeted at our governorship candidate. To say the least, this action is indicative of the tolerance and gentlemanly content of the man who today

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

administers our state.

“Since Mimiko became governor, the Judiciary, under Sehinde Kumuyi, has been comprehensively desecrated, as the hallowed temple of justice has serially been desecrated in the most unabashedly manner.

“Rather than administer justice on the merits of cases, the Ondo Judiciary has, in most cases, subjected issues to political considerations to arrive at verdicts. It got so bad that we once raised the alarm in the media that a particular matter would be filed and that the Chief Judge would give a ruling against our party.

“Truly, the matter was filed days later and the Chief Judge did grant a ruling, as we predicted. We then reported to the National Judicial Council

(NJC), and he is still under investigation for misconduct.

“It must be clearly emphasised that frivolous injunctions and ex-parte motions are like a judicial ambush. They run contrary to Rule 2, Sub-Rule A2 of The Code of Conduct of Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which compels that ‘a judicial officer must avoid the abuse of the power of issuing injunctions, ex-parte’. There are numerous superior judgments that frown seriously at this attitude.

“We equally want to bring to the notice of our judges and even the populace the fact that in the Electoral Act, Section 87(9), which precludes just anybody to institute any action against the process of picking a party’s candidate and also Sub-section 10 of same Section

87, which states that ‘nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election or the process thereof under this act, pending the determination of a suit’.”

The PDP said it is explicit that courts do not have the power to restrain a candidate from pursuing his ambition through ex-parte order or injunctions.

It said: “In view of the foregoing we are asking the Chief Judge of the Federation to take more than a cursory attention to the recent actions of the Judiciary in Ondo State and again pursue to a logical conclusion our allegations of serial misconducts against Justice Sehinde Kumuyi, who is behind judicial rascality in Ondo State.

“In times past, we did

allege that he is incapable of sitting atop of our Judiciary because he is compromised and totally a partisan political judge and, therefore, inconsistent with the details and demands his office commands on him.

“We also use the opportunity to alert the Federal Government to take due notice of the fact that Governor Mimiko is currently sowing seeds of discord because of his indecent penchant to politicise organs of government, particularly the Judiciary, to subvert the political process in this state.”

The statement urged Ondo State residents to be vigilant and prepare to protect democracy from those it called desperadoes.

The party added that such politicians are planning to frustrate the expression of its political will.

HE Ogun State Government has described as misguided and ill-informed the statement by the National Vice-Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mr Rasaq Muse, on the performance of the Ibikunle Amosun administration.

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, the government said the CPC chieftain’s comment that Amosun was slow in meeting the people’s aspirations did not represent the views of majority of the residents.

It said the people have been basking in the euphoria of a new dawn under the Amosun administration on May 29, 2011.

“How can a government which, in just one year in office, touched the lives of the people in all spheres of life, particularly in education, health, security, provision of infrastructural facilities, urban and rural development as well as engendering rapid economic growth, be rated below average?” the government queried.

The government said Muse could be pardoned for speaking out of ignorance, since he has admitted that his comment was based on “information reaching” him.

It added: “We view the statements credited to Alhaji Muse as being parochial, jaundiced and borne out of ignorance. If not that the CPC chief wanted to be mischievous, he would not have relied on hearsay but taken a patriotic move to objectively ascertain the level of progress the Amosun government has made in the socio-economic development of Ogun State, compared to what obtained in the state as at May 29, 2011, when this administration came into office.

“If he had chosen the path of fairness and seen things for himself, he would have praised the free and affordable qualitative education in the public primary and secondary schools, the unprecedented investment in security, significant urban renewal, which involves the massive road works which dot the nook and cranny of the state.

“He would also have seen the widely acknowledged urban renewal, which resulted in the six-lane Ibara-Ita Eko-Tororo road and the soon-to-be completed first overhead and pedestrian bridges in the state, in just a year of assumption of the Amosun government as below average.”

Funeral fixed for Friday

T

HE remains of Alice Ogunfowokan will be laid to rest on Friday in

Lagos.

The late Madam Ogunfowokan died on July 2. She was 76.

A statement by the family said a funeral service would be held at her home at 1, Sifowu Street, Ojuelegba, Lagos.

She is survived by many children and grand-children.

They include Mrs. Olubunmi Adekeye, wife of the Mr. Seyi Adekeye, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Assistant National Secretary; Mrs. Yetunde Mabun and Mr. Akin Ogunfowokan.

7

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

NEWS

Jonathan must fire Okupe, says ACN ‘ T

HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to explain why he is yet to sack his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe.

The party said Jonathan ought to have sacked Okupe for allegedly swindling the Benue State government of N886 million.

In a statement in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said with the statement credited to the Benue State government, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must investigate the allegations.

The party said: “However, as long as Dr. Doyin Okupe is comfortably nested at the bosom of the Presidency and speaking loudly for no less a person than President Jonathan himself, there can be no credible investigation of these allegations and this is why the President must fire him today to allow for credible investigation of the allegations.”

According to the ACN, all attempts by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the legion of hired writers and hatchet men to defend Okupe have collapsed like a pack

of cards.

The statement reads:“Their first line of defence that the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly should also be asked to resign has been shred to pieces as in the first place, the Rt. Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji owes his office to an election and he is not an appointee like Okupe. Moreover, the Rt Hon. Ikuforiji is already before a court of law and remains innocent until proven guilty. And by the way, how can one man’s guilt or innocence be appropriated for another man’s, except in the warped and troubled mind of the PDP. “In addition, Okupe’s attorneys were quoted as saying that since the breach arose out of a civil contract, it cannot be a basis to ask for his resignation.

“To describe this kind of fraud as a civil matter underscores how Jonathan’s administration has become such a magnet and sanctuary for knaves, thieves and other morally bankrupt people as non performance of a contract in law amounts to obtaining money under false pretences.

“In yet another desperate attempt to keep Dr. Doyin Okupe afloat in this flotsam of serious al-

As a matter of fact, it is both the law and practice under Nigerian Criminal Law that criminal charges may be brought against an individual and a company and where the punishment for the offence is imprisonment

’

legation. we are told that it is Messrs Value Trust investments Limited and not Okupe, who absconded with the N886.8 million.

“While it is true in law that a duly formed and registered company is a separate legal entity from those who are its shareholders or directors, a court is, however, entitled to pierce, rend, or remove the corporate veil in holding that monies received by such a company have been regarded as having being obtained by an individual who is usually the direct-

ing mind of the company, in this case, Dr Doyin Okupe.

“Further more, in law, offences relating to obtaining monies under false pretences are capable of attracting punishment both on the company involved and the individuals directly responsible for the receipt of such monies and it is precisely for this reason that the EFCC today is prosecuting not only the companies indicted in the fuel subsidy scam but also individuals who are deemed to be the directing minds of theses companies and who actually received the monies.

“As a matter of fact, it is both the law and practice under Nigerian Criminal Law that criminal charges may be brought against an individual and a company and where the punishment for the offence is imprisonment of course only the individual serves the term while the company typically pays the fine, the party explained.

“Probably, the most asinine and pathetically idiotic defence by the PDP and Okupe’s mercenary writers is the one that claims that the reason why the ACN is demanding for the removal of Okupe is because the ACN is intimidated by Dr Okupe’ s pedigree and prow-

ess as a formidable communicator capable of giving the opposition a run for its money.

“This is absolute rubbish. It is akin to saying that Ben Johnson was disqualified in the Seoul Olympics because United States of America, Jamaica and other medal hopefuls in the sprint events at that Olympics were afraid of Ben Johnson. The truth is that just as Ben Johnson tested positive to banned substance, Dr. Okupe has also tested positive to corruption and he is therefore not a fit and proper person to hold the office of Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.”

where they will still go home with conference items like CDs, journals and other things, they need to engage themselves, I don’t think there is any reason for anybody to complain.

“If you look at the cost of the conference, you will find out

that the NBA subsidised it by 50 per cent. We had to take from the money we should leave for the new administration to takeoff to subsidise the conference.

I think people should learn to pay for what they benefit from.”

•Dr Okupe

Lawyers protest hike in conference fees

L

AWYERS in their hundreds, yesterday marched on the venue of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Abuja, protesting the 500 per cent hike in conference fees.

They were led by Ikeja, Lagos Branch. Other members from Agbor, Aba, Sapele, Ikorodu and Badagry branches joined the protest.

The lawyers said they wrote the NBA President Joseph Daudu (SAN), demanding a reversal or reduction of the fees, but got no response.

Ikeja Branch Chairman Mr Onyekachi Ubani, said the protests would continue today.

The placard-carrying lawyers, in their suits, condemned the fee increase.

Ubani claimed the branch chairmen were not carried along before the decision was taken and they were left with little or no time to explain to their members the need for such a hike .

He said many members, who refused to pay the new fees were not allowed into the conference

Seun Kuti faults grandmother‘s picture on new note

S

EUN Kuti, grandson of Funmilayo Kuti, one of the women whose pictures have been approved to appear on the proposed N5,000 note, yesterday said his grandmother would not approve of the image, if she were still alive.

Kuti spoke on Channels Television.

He said: “I do not have the power to stop the government from printing the note but I would want the government to remove my grandma’s face from the so-called note.”

According to him, the Federal Government did not officially inform the Kuti family of the intended action.

He said: “It was through the radio that we got to know that her face would be used…we were not officially contacted.”

From Joseph Jibueze, Abuja

venue to vent their grievances.

The chairman added that he had raised the issue at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Lokoja, Kogi State, and at the pre-conference NEC meeting on Sunday, yet nothing was done.

He said: “Over 91 of us in Ikeja branch did not pay and we were not allowed into the venue of the conference. The protest will continue tomorrow (today).

“We are urging the incoming executive, led by Mr Okey Wali (SAN) to revert to the old fee or ensure that there is only a minimal increase in the conference fees,” Ubani said.

But Daudu said despite the increase, the conference fee is still low when compared to those of other countries.

He added that it is even subsidised.

Daudu said: “The least amount to be paid for the conference is N20,000 and the highest amount is N100,000. Some governors and other political office holders who are lawyers, who wish to attend the conference, are to pay N200,000.

“You will discover that what

•The protesting lawyers ...yesterday is actually paid for the five-day conference is actually lower than what is paid for international conferences. Even, lawyers in Ghana pay more for their conference. So, when you ask about 70 per cent of those who will be attending to pay N20,000,

Nigeria does not need new states, says Akinyemi ‘ to We will need F

ORMER Foreign Affairs Minister Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has said the country does not need new states.

He spoke in Dutse, Jigawa State yesterday.

Akinyemi, in a paper he presented during the 21st anniversary of the creation of Jigawa State, entitled: “The need and Justification for State creation,” said the creation of any state now would be counterproductive.

He said the foundation of the country was shaky, which brought about the frequent agitation for more states.

Akinyemi said: “The conundrum on Nigerian federal structure is its foundational basis. Almost to the exclusion of any other factor, such as economic viability or mono nationality complex, the factor of nationality-based federal structure was the mantra.

From From Kolade Adeyemi, Dutse

Did this mean that each Nigerian nationality would be entitled to a state? Did it mean that the ideology would be compromised to accommodate minorities within some states structures? So, as a result of this, it negates the justification for the creation of states.”

He said the country must revisit its revenue sharing formula.

The former minister said: “We will need to revisit the Revenue Allocation formula to enshrine the principle of revenue derivation. The constitution can create a development fund to which all states will have access so that no state will fall below a development safety net, which has been lacking.”

The former Director-General of the Institute of International Af-

revisiit the Revenue Allocation formula to enshrine the principle of revenue derivation. The constitution can create a development fund t which all states will have access so that no state will fall below a development safety net

’

fairs (NIIA) kicked against the clamour for the creation state police.

He opposed the proposal by

the Northern Governors Forum that governors should be allowed to issue instructions to Commissioners of Police.

Akinyemi said such proposal is like a state police through the backdoor.

He said: “This nation is lost and drifting. The elite are to be blamed. In every nation in the world, it is the elite that works out a grand vision and develop a grand consensus around that vision to propel the nation forward. They are to constitute the agent of change.

“But here in Nigeria, gross ethnicism has destroyed each and every attempt by the Nigerian elite to produce a consensus to drive the nation forward on building a nation, where the poor, the widows, orphans and the oppressed will be protected by narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

8

CITYBEATS

08033054340, 08034699757 E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

Driver docked for manslaughter

By Tumininu Owolabi

A 45-YEAR-OLD commercial driver, Olalekan Salami, was yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate's Court for alleged manslaughter.

The prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Linus Mamah, alleged that Salami drove a Mazda bus with registration number YA 451 MUS and caused the death of Miss Glory Asuquo, 30.

The deceased, according to him, was knocked down while crossing the highway.

He alleged that the accused, who resides at 32, Orelope Street, Ifo, Bank Bus Stop, Ogun State, drove in a dangerous and reckless manner without regard for other road users. The offence he said, was committed on August 14, near Dopemu, on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.Mamah said the offence contravened Sections 27 and 28, Road Traffic Act, Laws of Lagos State, 2004.

The driver pleaded guilty.

Magistrate, E. O Ogunkanmi reserved judgment till September 25.

Lagos alert to dangers of Meningitis LAGOS State Government has charged members of the public to report any suspected case of Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) to the nearest public health facility; the Commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris dropped the charge yesterday.

Idris said CSM is a dangerous and a life threatening disease that affects the thin layers of the tissue around the brain and spinal cord of an infected human person and it is caused by bacteria.

In a statement by the Ministry's spokesman 'Jide Lawal, the Commissioner said Cerebrospinal meningitis is an epidemic prone disease that spreads from person to person through contact with discharges or droplets from nose and throat of an infected person through kissing, sneezing and coughing, especially amongst people living in close quarters, hotels, refugee camp, barracks, public transportation and areas with poor ventilation or overcrowded places.

"This is to alert members of the public to the seasonal occurrence of a disease called cerebrospinal meningitis and the need to protect people from it. Though, Meningitis belt covers mostly the northern part of the country; however, in view of the phenomenal climatic change as well as the high human migration, it is not impossible that outbreaks can occur in any part of the country, Lagos inclusive", the Commissioner opined.

• Governor Fashola (middle) receiving an emblem of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) from Mr. Omeri (right) at the Lagos House, Ikeja...yesterday. With them is the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mrs Oluranti Adebule PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

Fashola honoured for arresting army officer over BRT lane violation F OR arresting an Army Colonel and a Sergeant for driving on the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola was yesterday conferred with Citizen Responsibility Award by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

Fashola arrested Colonel Ki Yusuf and the Sergeant on July 17 on the outer Marina, Lagos. The award, which carries N30, 000 cash prize, was presented to Fashola in his office by NOA Director-General, Mike Omeri.

By Miriam Ndikanwu

Omeri said the award was geared towards spurring others to do the right thing "so that our values can become universal and the Nigeria spirit projected."

He listed other beneficiaries of the award to include a taxi driver, who returned some items forgotten in his cab by some students and another driver who returned N18million discovered in his cab to the police.

He praised the governor's

leadership quality and the transformation going on in the state, pledging the agency's readiness to collaborate with him towards ensuring respect for law and order.

Omeri said: "We looked generally at the situation on ground and we discovered that the problem is our refusal to do the right thing."

Responding, Fashola hailed the agency for the award, which he dedicated to the state, saying the cash should be donated to the Na-

tional Society for the Blind.

The governor said: "This award is in recognition for selfless service to the public. We are human and prone to errors, but we think there are things we can pursue for the ultimate common good of all. NOA is perhaps at a critical junction in its own existence and that of our country and because of the long stay of military government, we find it very difficult to demilitarise ourselves."

The time, he said, had

come for the agency to change its orientation for the anticipated change that “we crave for.”

He said: "There is a lot more of education that will let people know that self governance does not mean absence of law. It is no license for impunity by members of a democratic government."

Government, he said, should promote best values and suppress those values that diminished the collective goals. He charged NOA not only to champion reward but ensure punishment, adding that it should also enlighten the citizenry.

Ex-soldier arraigned for impersonating NDLEA official

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•From left: Mr. Prince Matthew, Mr. Adebisi Olusegun and Mr. Christopher Nnagbo after collecting their prizes in the on-going Cowbell Olympics Medal Rush promo at Promasidor Nigeria’s head office in Lagos.

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O find a lasting solution to the perennial sea surge, the Lagos State Government will require more funds, Governor Babatunde Fashola has said.

No fewer than 16 persons

35-YEAR-OLD exsoldier, Mohammed Awa was yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja Chief Magistrate's Court in Lagos for alleged impersonation.

The prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Barth Nwaokoye told Chief Magistrate A.O. Isaac that the ex-soldier presented himself as an official of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Nwaokoye said the accused presented himself as an NDLEA official at Agege Abattoir last Saturday.

Nwaokoye alleged that the accused also unlawfully forged an NDLEA

By Adebisi Onanuga

identity card.

Awa of no fixed address is facing a three-count charge of impersonation, forgery and unlawful possession. The prosecutor said the offence contravened Sections 278, 327 and 363 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

He said the accused had been presenting himself as an official of NDLEA for some time before he was arrested. Awa pleaded guilty to the charges.

Chief Magistrate Isaac ordered that he should be remanded in prison.

He reserved judgement for Friday.

‘Extra funds needed to tackle ocean surge’

By Miriam Ndikanwu

were feared dead and properties worth millions of Naira destroyed during the August 18 Kuramo sea surge.

Fashola, who inspected the beach last weekend, said he would request for funds from the House to tackle the problem.

The surge, he said, was a challenge that was not captured in this year’s budget, hence the need to seek appropriation.

He described the development as an emergency that must be dealt with, if the

Federal Government refuses to come to the state’s aid.

Fashola did not reveal how much would be required to tackle the problem.

He said he visited the beach to see things for himself, because he was out of the country when the incident occurred, adding that he was getting regular briefings from the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development , Prince Adesegun Oniru, and praised him and other agencies of government for a job well done.

On speculations that the

Eko Atlantic City might be behind the surge, Fashola said rather than being problem, the project is pivotal to saving the whole of Victoria Island from surge, adding that people often forget when a problem had been solved.

He said before the project started, it was always front page news that the surge had reached the Nigerian Law School, stressing that the same applied to the Modupe Oshikoya Avenue right in front of the IMB Plaza which had almost been swept off due to inces-

sant flooding.

The governor said: "Now, you can drive through the road; now peoples' homes are no longer flooded.

Victoria Island and Ikoyi are now saved. That is what the Eko Atlantic City has done.”

He said since the problem is manifesting in other areas it means government might extend the intensity of its work to those areas, especially the Kuramo Beach part and protect all the homes and properties across the coastline up to Alpha Beach and Goshen Estate.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

NEWS

Akinrinade: how to avert Nigeria’s disintegration •Yoruba Assembly meets in Ibadan Thursday

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

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HE Convener of Yoruba Assembly, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), yesterday said Nigeria can avert disintegration, if its ethnic nationalities work out successfully the modalities for a peaceful co-existence and national unity.

He said: “Disintegration is not out of the way and it is going to be the fault of all of us.

We should make up our mind so that it will not happen”.

The former Chief of Defence Staff noted that Nigeria’s federalism is negotiable. He criticised those thinking that the country can survive without the mutual consent and cooperation of the component units.

Akinrinade expressed misgivings about those opposed to state police, restructuring and re-organisation of the polity. He noted that in any civilised society, only death and taxation are non-negotiable.

According to him, injustice, inequality, lack of democracy and lopsided federalism are the bane of the country.

The only solution, in his view, is the convocation of a national conference to discuss the future of the fragile nation.

He added: “All ethnic nationalities have complaints about how Nigeria is being run and only a national confer4ence can resolve the hurdle. It is wrong to say that

•Lt-Gen Akinrinade (middle) with Mr. Biodun Sowunmi (left) and Mr Ayo Afolabi, members of the group, at the media briefing in Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO: DAYO ADEWUNMI

only the government has the sovereignty that empowers them to make a new constitution for Nigeria. When Nigeria is on its death bed, the ethnic nationalities, which are its doctors, will rescue it.”

Gen. Akinrinade addressed reporters in Lagos on the Yoruba Conference, which will hold on Thursday at the Oyo State House of Assembly. He described it as the cradle of modern democratic governance in the Southwest.

The General was accompanied by members of the Yoruba Assembly Media Commitee, including Mr. Ayo Afolabi, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, Mr. Dipo Famakinwa, Mr. Kunle Abimbola, Mrs. Toke Benson, Mr. Biodun Sowumi and Mr. Ademola Oyinlola.

He explained that the Ibadan meeting would review the Yoruba agenda, which was drafted

in 2004 and reviewed in 2005.

Akinrinade said the document contains the position of the Yoruba race on the future of the country.

Yoruba from Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Lagos, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi states are expected at the meeting where resolutions would be made on the way forward for the race.

Gen. Akinrinade added: “This house (Nigeria) is threatened and it needs not be so. There are very large nations in Nigeria differentiated by languages, cultures, traditions and territories. We have Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa-Fulani and other nations. They are large enough to constitute separate countries like those who have votes in the United Nations. But we are backward, unprogressive and illiterate.

“The large size should be to the benefit of those in it and the

world. If things go on like this, the prophecy of disintegration may come true.”.

Gen. Akinrinade berated the military for stalling progress in Yorubaland, following their incursion into politics. He said the legacies of the first Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were being destroyed.

He said: “It would not have mattered much who led the country, if there has been a good structure backed by a good constitution. What is required is an equitable federation.”

Gen. Akinrinade flayed opponents of state police, saying that they lack the understanding of the workings of true federalism.

He said: “Why should the Federal Government sit on enormous resources and fail to

deliver on basic needs, such as security, electricity and infrastructural facilities? All the vehicles and equipment for the police are bought by governors.

They do not have the budget for that, but, if they do not do it, there will be no security in their states.

“In the spirit of non-negotiability, Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, which led the Non-aligned Movement, collapsed. We don’t want Nigeria to unravel in a messy way. Till now, they are still trying people for war crimes in Czechoslovakia. They came to the Olympics as two countries and won medals.

“Scotland may not leave Great Britain, but its autonomy is assured. This is a country that foisted unworkable arrangement on us. Northern Ireland is autonomous. Wales is preparing.”

Our govt is focused on human development, says Aregbesola

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SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday said education, job creation and food production form the critical foundation upon which other aspects of development could be built.

In a broadcast to the people of the state on the 21st anniversary of its creation, the governor said his administration’s vision transcends dwelling on matters of the moment.

He said his administration prepares the people for a future that would put them in good stead to compete favourably with the best in every area of life.

Aregbesola noted that if the residents have quality education, gainful employment and quality food, they would rebuild their environment, create wealth and engender development.

He said: “Our focus is human development because it is humans that drive development, not machines and not technology. If our people have quality education, are gainfully employed and well fed, they will recreate their environment, create wealth and engender development. Our people

Ojudu advocates state constitution

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HE senator representing Ekiti Central, Babafemi Ojudu, yesterday called for the enactment of a law to allow states have their constitution.

He said the time was ripe for states to have their constitution in the interest of true federalism.

The senator spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, when he delivered a lecture, entitled: Strengthening grassroots development through local government creation: the constitutional and legal challenges, to mark the 21st anniversary of the creation of the state.

At the event were top government functionaries. They included Osun State Deputy Governor, Otunba Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; and the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; commissioners and Special Advisers to the governor.

Others were royal fathers, including the Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Olayiwola Olawale; Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi; Oragun of Oke-Ila, Oba Dokun Abolarin. are great and we have a history of greatness. Though the march was halted, I am very pleased that we have resumed the journey to greatness.

“I will like to thank every individual and group that has had a hand one way or the oth-

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

He noted that under a true federalism, each federating unit has the right to have its own constitution.

Ojudu said the central government in Nigeria is weakening the federating units for selfish reasons.

The federal lawmaker said the attempt by the military-imposed constitution since 1979 to subvert a fundamental principle of federalism, by turning local governments into creations of the central government, has caused problems not only for local governance but also to the relationship between the centre and the states.

Ojudu said the powers to create local governments rest on states and not the Federal Government, adding that it was an aberration for the Federal Government to determine how local governments should be created.

According to him, such a responsibility is the primary duty of the federating units.

The senator called for an amendment of the constitution to allow for a standard by which local governments would be created and allocations shared.

er in the making of our state in the past 21 years. What we have today is the collective effort of successive administrations.”

The governor hailed the Bisi Akande administration.

He recalled that before he became governor, the achieve-

ments of Akande were unrivalled in vision, dedication, commitment, transparency and integrity.

Aregbesola said since the inception of his administration on November 27, 2010, it has recorded a number of firsts.

•Aregbesola

He said his administration rebranded Osun, giving the people a positive image and outlook, with reference to the state as Ipinle Omoluabi.

The governor noted that this would enhance the people’s sense of pride and position them for self-development and nation-building.

He said an education summit, which involved stakeholders, examined what went wrong with the sector and proffered solutions.

Aregbesola also mentioned the creation of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), under which 20,000 jobs were created in less than 100 days of the administration.

Ondo ex-council chief urges police to probe ‘attempt on his life’

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Labour Party (LP) chieftain and former Chairman of Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, Mr. Tunde Adegbonmire, yesterday urged the police to investigate an alleged assassination attempt on his life by a suspect, Jide Obafemi, said to be in police custody.

Obafemi was arrested

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

following a letter Adegbonmire sent to the police through his lawyers, Adelanke Akinrata & Co. The politician alleged that the suspect was recruiting two other persons to assassinate him.

The former chairman of the Ondo State Library Board also

alleged that Obafemi procured “sophisticated guns and ammunitions” to perpetrate the plan.

Adegbonmire, the former state Organising Secretary of the PDP, urged the police command to unmask the brains behind the alleged plot.

He said: “I am sure that Obafemi is just a hired muscle.

The real brains, I mean those who hired him for the hatchet job, are still out there.

“I, therefore, want the police to investigate and get the ring leaders so I can live in peace and go about my daily endevours without fear.

“I don’t know when leaving a party has become a crime punishable by death. If not

because I am loved by my people, who tipped me off, I probably would be dead by now.

“I am, therefore, calling on the police to thoroughly investigate Obafemi, who is in their custody, with a view to unraveling his sponsors. I am sure that he is being sponsored by those not comfortable with my leaving the PDP.”

Widow commits suicide in Ibadan

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50-year-old widow, Juliana Oluwafemi, was yesterday found hanging from a tree near the Odo-Ona River in Ibadan.

The woman, who was said to have lived at Apata Elere, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, allegedly committed suicide by hanging.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the body of Oluwafemi, who was also known as Iya Iyanu, was discovered at 8am.

Mr Ayodele Obaro, a youth leader in the area, said the discovery was made by some auto-mechanics who had gone to the river bank to defecate.

“When I heard about the incident, I reported to the nearby St. Paul’s Anglican Church and the church later informed the police,’’ he said.

The late Mrs Oluwafemi’s younger sister, who simply identified herself as Iya Subomi, said the deceased was declared missing on Saturday when she left her son’s house without trace.

She added that the deceased was at her first son’s house at Odo-Ona on Friday before he left to attend a church vigil that night.

“However, by the time he came back on Saturday morning, her whereabouts could not be ascertained.

“Her disappearance was suspicious because she left the house without her shoes and phone,’’ she added.

She said news of the discovery of the body was conveyed to her on Monday morning.

“Her scrap business was thriving and her children are doing well.

“I am also very sure that she is not in debt, which keeps me in the dark over why she decided to take her life.

“She was strong-minded five years ago when her husband died and now that she had pushed through the difficult times, it will take God to say why she did this,’’ she said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Clement Adoda, confirmed the incident in an interview with NAN. He said that investigation into the incident would commence immediately.

13,000 pensioners in Oyo From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

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HE Oyo State Government yesterday said it has 13,000 pensioners and 38,000 workers in the civil service.

The government said it would rid the state of fraudsters.

Addressing reporters in Ibadan, the state capital, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Bosun Oladele, said the Abiola Ajimobi administration would continuously search for genuine pensioners and fish out those who never worked but were drawing pensions every month.

The commissioner said the introduction of a biometric data employed by the Ajimobi administration has exposed ghost workers.

He said the government has 38,000 genuine workers and 7,000 ghost workers, adding that the resources from the Federation Account are inadequate to meet the government’s overhead.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

1000MW of power plant will need 300 million Standard cubic Feet (SCF) of gas yearly and that the supply of this quality would require meticulous proactive plan and sustainability.

- Prof Barth Nnaji, Minister of Power

Naira firms on increased dollar flows

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HE naira strengthened against the United States dollar on the interbank market yesterday, supported by dollar sales by some local units of foreign banks selling to stay within their stipulated open position limits.

It closed at N157.90 to the dollar, the same level it was at last Wednesday and firmer than the N158.35 it closed at on Friday.

"Some foreign banks sold dollars in the market, possibly from the inflows they got from their offshore clients and this helped strengthened the naira value," one dealer said.

The naira has been trading within the band of N157-N158 to the dollar since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced tighter measures to control naira liquidity in the system and a rising offshore interest in local debt on the expected inclusion of Nigeria's debt in JP Morgan's emerging markets’ government bond index from October.

The CBN in July raised the cash reserve requirement for lenders to 12 per cent from eight per cent, and reduced net open foreign exchange positions to one per cent from three per cent, to restrict the money supply and support the currency.

The apex bank also barred banks that borrow naira funds from its official window from using those funds to buy dollars at its bi-weekly auction.

This is in a bid to crack down on currency speculation.

JP Morgan said two weeks ago it plans to include Nigeria in its Government Bond Index - Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) from October, potentially bringing up to $1 billion into one of Africa's most developed debt markets.

At the bi-weekly foreign exchange auction, the CBN sold $250 million at N155.80 to the dollar, compared with $120 million sold at the same rate last Wednesday.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$107/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.503 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -10.5% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending -22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $35.8b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 242.1 $ 156 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 238 RIYAL 40.472

• From left: Chairman/CEO HOB Nigeria Limited, Bamgbade Babatunde; President/Chairman of Council, Institute of Directors (IoD) of Nigeria, Thomas Chukwuemeka Amagu; Lagos State Governor Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and her Deputy Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (right) during a courtesy visit by the IoD Governing Council to Gov Fashola. With them is Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pension Mrs Florence Oguntuase.

PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

Fed Govt to reduce fake products by 30%

‘How to end petroleum products import’ T HE establishment of modular refineries across the country could end the importation of petroleum products, Director, Centre for Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals, Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof.

Godwin Igwe, has said.

Igwe spoke yesterday at a briefing on the first International Conference and Technical Exhibition on Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals holding in Port Harcourt. It is being organised by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the institute.

Igwe stated that a state with modular refinery would produce enough petroleum products for domestic use and would still be able to export, thereby providing employment for the teeming qualified youths and end the embarrassing fuel importation.

He said the modular refin-

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

eries would complement the productive capacity of existing refineries, which produce about 30 per cent of daily fuel consumption.

The news conference was attended by UNIPORT ‘s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof.

Ethelbert Nduka; IPS Director, Prof. Mike Onyekonwu; and Mrs. Rowena Akhere of PTDF, among others.

Igwe said: “Importation of petroleum products into Nigeria that is rich in crude oil and gas, as well as fuel scarcity in the nation are uncalled for. Any oil-rich country that is unable to produce enough fuel for domestic use is not worth to be called a country.

“It is a shame for the Nigerian government to depend mostly on imported fuel and still sell crude oil on a daily basis. I feel ashamed seeing Nigerians looking for fuel all over the country, because of

scarcity of petroleum products.

“Each of the 36 states of Nigeria must have modular refinery, which is very easy to put in place, and not as expensive as the regular and gigantic refinery. The daily production from the modular refinery will be enough for each state and the excess can still be sold locally or exported.

“There is also the need for Energy Bank in Nigeria, in order to support investors to go into refining of crude oil and other activities in the oil and gas industry.

“There are good policies in Nigeria, but implementation is always the problem, because the right persons are not assigned to the right jobs, which has to do with leadership. Nigeria needs good leadership.”

UNIPORT’s Vice Chancellor Prof Joseph Ajienka, who was represented by Nduka, said the conference was timely, as it would address

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

T • Mrs Alison-Madueke

the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which is at the National Assembly; the local content in the oil and gas industry; and the fuel subsidy challenge in the country.

Akhere said the downstream sector of the oil industry must be given the desired attention for the industry to move forward, adding that the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries needed experts, which Nigerians could handle.

Onyekonwu described Nigerians as intelligent people, who should be given opportunities to excel. He said the decay in the nation’s education sector must be addressed properly.

‘NUPENG not anti-Nigerians’

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HE Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natu ral Gas Workers (NUPENG) has said it will not work against the interest of Nigerians.

In a statement signed by the Acting General Secretary, Comrade Isaac Aberare, the group condemned a statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala that NUPENG is anti-people because of its last strike over unpaid subsidy claims and other issues.

“We state categorically that the Minister’s comment is selfish, deceitful, not in good faith and only succeeded in heating the polity.

“The minister’s reaction

By Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, Labour Reporter

was done in haste and did not really take time to look at the demands of the union which transcends payment of claims to marketers who passed the verification tests and the interest of our members who had not been paid for five months, and her refusal to say anything on the non-functional refineries, bad roads, SPDC, Chevron un-fair labour practices, and opened her mouth on subsidy payments only as our demands,” said the union It commended “the maturity displaced by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who painstakingly looked at the

issues involved and proffered solutions and an amicable settlement which led to the suspension of the strike and agreed that our members owed five months salary should be paid.”

It wondered why the Minister did not attend the meeting the government held with stakeholders including NUPENG. “NUPENG, will be the last organisation to collaborate with the wrong people, as we have often stated that those involved in the subsidy scam should be prosecuted.

“We have never held the nation to ransom on behalf of siding the wrong people; as our past speak for itself.

“NUPENG was in the vanguard for the restora-

tion of democracy into the country, during the June 12, 1993, struggle; where was Dr. Okonjo-Iweala then?

NUPENG was in the forefront during the series of struggles for fuel price hike, which she engineered; when Obasanjo held sway and later fell-out with her master,”said the statement.

It said NUPENG members have always joined forces with the progressives. “That is why we fight for the voiceless and that is why we are the hope of the common-man.

But that will not make us look at our members’ jobs being threatened by a government that is enmeshed in corruption through dubious payments to some marketers,” he added.

HE Federal Govern ment will stop the flow of substandard goods into the country before the end of this year, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said.

Aganga, who said this during the inauguration of the Consumer Protection Council and Services Listing and Monitoring Programme Proserve, in Abuja, said the target is to reduce the level of substandard products to about 30 per cent by the end of next year, adding that 15 per cent target is achievable.

He said the government will intensify the fight against substandard products across the country in line with its revolution plan and local patronage initiative.

He said: “President Goodluck Jonathan attaches great importance to the development of our local industries. The main barriers to increased productivity of our local industries have been identified and we are already working on them, and one of the areas that have been identified has to do with substandard products.

PHCN Ikeja apologises to customers

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HE Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Ikeja Business Unit has apologised to its customers in Ikeja GRA, Computer Village and Olowu for the power rationing in the areas.

PHCN’s Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Rotimi Afolayan, said the problem is temporary and that efforts are being made by PHCN’s technicians to ensure the restoration of supply soon.

“The load-shedding is due to a cable fault at our PTC Undertaking office in Ikeja,” he added.

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NEWS

Why I reject state police, by President • Continued from page 4

policing that state police will provide. It must be said outright that a police force is not created for political objectives or for the sole benefit of politicians who are less than two per cent of the population. A police force is created for the maintenance of law and order to ensure free movement for the conduct of economic, social and cultural activities within the state.”

Oshiomhole argued that no matter how Nigeria is structured, if there is no responsible leadership which recognises that resources belong to the people and that the government’s role is to manage them in a way that would benefit the greatest number of people, the country would remain backward.

“What is true federalism?

Who defines it? Can anyone tell me where true federalism is practiced in the world?” the governor asked.

Oshiomhole said he did not believe state police would solve the problem of insecurity.

He said if the way some governors have managed state elections is anything to go by, then having state police could be dangerous, especially when left in the hands of governors who get into office by corrupt means.

“I am not for state police, but it not a vote of confidence on the Nigeria Police,” Oshiomhole said, adding: “Nigeria Police can do a lot better than it is doing. Creating state police would not make all security problems disappear”.

However, the Edo governor said the Federal Government

does not need more than 30 per cent from the Federation Account, which he believes should be enough to manage the embassies, maintain the armed forces, and gather a sound group to formulate policy.

“There is too much money in Abuja. Federal Government controls 52 per cent of our natural resources.

“Therefore, there is a need for a radical review of the allocation formula,” Oshiomhole said.

Besides, he said Nigeria could not move on if the rule of law is not strictly adhered to, and added that the NBA has a role major role to play in that regard.

He referred to a case between Access Bank Plc and Erastus Akingbola which had

to be resolved abroad, asking: “Who are those lawyers that made it impossible for Access Bank to access Nigerian courts and go to the UK?” Oshiomhole added said the needs of Nigerians are few, and that it is easy to impress them through the provision of their basic needs, such as good roads and clean water.

He condemned the idea of roads being tagged “state” and “federal” saying states should manage all roads within their domain.

Ekiti Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), who represented Governor Kayode Fayemi, said Nigeria is paying lip service to federalism, which he argued ought to be defined by resource control.

“If we must make headway,

we must tinker with Section 162 of the Constitution to allow for the constituent units to be independent of the central government,” he said.

Osun Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Mr Bashir Ajibola, who represented Governor Rauf Aregbesola, said there was an urgent need to address the basis of Nigeria’s federalism.

To him, the present state arrangement is “merely administrative units, none of which can be said to be viable.”

Expressing a contrary view, Okorocha said: “States should have police.

He also faulted the lopsided top to bottom economic approach, which seeks to provide for everybody from the same source as the cause of what he called “ Economic kwashiorkor”

in the country.

While calling for true fiscal federalism, he said until federating units take control of their economy, the economic kwashiorkor would persist due to Federal Government’s inability to cater for all. “ We can not harness effectively, the abundant natural resources in our land, until we decentralise the powers concentrating at the centre to allow for the practice of true federalism” Okorocha added.

Jonathan who maintained that the 2011 general elections were not rigged promised to continue to support free and fair elections in the country.

“You can imagine what would have happened if the 2011 general elections were rigged. We will not be gathered here today,” he added.

He noted that despite the fact that the 2011 elections were free and fair, some people still misled some youths to start killing innocent people.

Jonathan said he recognised the fact that economic progress could only be achieved if credible elections become the basis for holding power.

He gave assurances that significant progress would be achieved in power sector reform by 2015.

Jonathan also reiterated his government commitment to the fight against terrorism and corruption.

But the conference with the theme “Nigeria As Emerging Market: Redefining Our Laws And Politics For Growth”, witnessed a low turn out of legal practitioners.

‘Stay action on N5,000 banknote’ • Continued from page 4

Asked if the N5,000 currency is a sign of a regime of increased deficit and inability of government to control inflation, Otu replied: “We have not been properly briefed yet so I would not know.

On whether there has been any meeting between the Senate and CBN on the matter, he said: “There has not been any meeting with the CBN yet.”

On the law the Senate will rely on to stop the apex bank’s plan to introduce the N5,000 note, Otu said: “Actually, we are not really going to rely on laws perse. What we are trying to do here is what is best for the Nigerian people.

“The Senate is not really against the independence of the

CBN, but what we want in place is proper check and that there should be checks and balances in all these things that we do.

“So, I believe that at some point, we will be able to sit down together and look at the merits and demerits, but till now we do not know anything about it and we do not know what the people stand to gain and until that is properly put through, we say everything about it must stop.”

But CBN Director of Corporate Communications Ugochukwu Okoroafor said yesterday that the N5, 000 notes would strengthen the cash-less policy.

He said the apex bank’s decision to introduce the N5, 000 notes would improve the gains from a cash-less system.

“Our proposal is in line with global best practices in reviewing our legal tender on a regular basis, “ he said.

Some Nigerians have advised the CBN to reconsider its decision to introduce new N5,00 note and coin some naira denominations.

The Nigerians gave the advice in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

They all agreed that the introduction of the new note and coins would portend grave implications for the economy.

Mr Nnamemeka Obiaraeri, the Managing Director, Taurus Capital Advisory Service Ltd., said the apex bank should revisit its “redenomination policy”rather than introduce

the new note.

Obiaraeri said the redenomination policy, which was proposed by Prof. Charles Soludo, a former Governor of CBN in 2007, would strengthen the nation’s currency “Our economy is not robust; there is high rate of unemployment and the rate of inflation will increase with N5, 000 note and those new coins in the system,“ he said.

Mr Bade Oludahun, a currency analyst at Forex Time Trading West Africa, said the proposed new naira note would “weaken” the middle class.

He said that the proposal would lead to devaluation of the naira, stressing that it would be better to encourage the use of existing coins.

Mr Bonieface Okezie, President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said that the policy would contradict the cash-less policy.

“The CBN should work more on strengthening the naira, instead of introducing a big denomination like N5, 000.

“Again, you wonder why the CBN wants to introduce coins and a high naira denomination now that it is talking about a cashless monetary system.

“I think this proposed policy will defeat the latest policies of the CBN,” he said.

Okezie said that it would be difficult for Nigerians to begin to carry coins and large amounts of cash about.

13

PROPERTY

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

* The Environment * Mortgage * Apartments * Security * Homes * Real Estate

email:- property@thenationonlineng.net

Lagos/Badagry Expressway expansion drives up property prices

•Lagos/Badagry Expressway under construction

In response to the ongoing expansion of the Lagos/Badagry Expressway to a 10lane carriageway road, which will ensure hitch-free traffic among Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) communities, intuitive investors are buying properties along the axis, leading to a sharp rise in prices. But experts say the trend can only be sustained if the government constructs alternative roads to enhance free movement on the axis, OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE writes •CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

•Builders make case for development board

•‘We spent 31% of budget to complete road projects’ - PAGE 14

- PAGE 16

•Climate change: Group launches tree planting scheme in Kwara - PAGE 16

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

Lagos/Badagry Expressway expansion drives up property prices •CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

HE contract for the Lagos/ Badagry Expressway was awarded in March 2009. Already, construction has commenced from Eric Moore in Surulere and is expected to terminate at Badagry.

Two major contractors - Messrs Julius Berger Plc and CCECC Nigeria Limited - are involved. The expansion is to include a light rail and a Bus Rapid Transit System(BRTS).

The road before the high scale intervention was so dilapidated that people spent long hours commuting; criminals had a field day daily. The road is such in a sorry state that when a car, bus or truck gets stuck in a pot hole or drivers drive against traffic in an attempt to escape the gridlock, things become much worse. Movement grinds to a halt and sometimes, it could last for as long as three, four or five hours. This is compounded with the poor state of the alternative routes that could have helped those who use the road to detour at some point to save travel time.

Already, land and property speculators along the axis are having a field day as property prices have sky rocketed, triggered by the 10-lane road expansion. Though the road construction is still ongoing, property developers have taken residence along the axis developing estates and selling land. Before now, in some villages along the axis such as Ibese, Imeke and Addo, an acre of land sold for about N150,000. But now, one can hardly get a plot to buy at N600,000 except for places such as Gberefun Sea beach in Badagry village, which sells for N150,000 per plot and Igbogbele village along the same axis, which goes for N350,000 a plot.

As the rush for land along the route inches up, rental values in Orile, Mile 2, Mazamaza etc, which are part of the Lot 1 of the construction project, has also made appreciable growth.

For instance, Okechi Onwuka, a resident of Orile Iganmu who sells building materials at Coker, said prior to the commencement of the expansion work, a room in the area

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costs between N2,000 and N2,500 monthly.

He, however, regretted that the rent has since increased by as much as 50 per cent as the few landlords whose houses survived the demolition that paved the way for the construction are basking on the improved and competitive infrastructure to charge higher rentals. He said though he has no choice but to pay the high rent, he complained that the increasing cost of living along that axis has eaten deep into his earnings.

A landlady at Mazamaza, Mrs.Bola Adeyemi, confirmed the slight increase in rentals occasioned by the road expansion by about 75 per cent, as flats that were going for N250,000 are now about N350,000. She said though house owners are basking in the euphoria of the new rent regime, people are still a bit wary of the area due to the poor state of the alternative routes in Agboju and Mazamaza.

She called on the government to not only hasten the speed of highway construction but also work on the alternative routes to have maximum impact on the lives and economy of the people.

“Though demand for accommodation has since exceeded what is available, thus making houses available only to the highest bidder, we are not unmindful of the fact that we can make a lot more if the access roads on the axis are motorable. People still get stuck on the road for hours without an alternative route to detour.”

General Manager, Niger Insurance Properties, Mr Sam Ukpong, said no doubt the road expansion will open up the axis and place higher values on land and property, but it will only endure if the alternative roads were also constructed at the same time. According him, there will be no sense if travel time is not shorter for commuters on the axis even after the construction of the highway.

He said: “Everybody knows that most inner roads are not motorable along the axis, with no alternative roads it will be a return to status quo.

I will recommend at least three al-

•Part of Lagos/Badagry Expressway under construction

ternative routes and probably a bridge or two to ease transportation.”

He said prospective property investors should not expect immediate returns until the government tackles the need to provide the needed infrastructure that will

‘The development we are working on will not only open up the West African market to Nigerian business and traders but will also affect positively the value of properties along the corridor’

drive property development. He also called for caution to those who may want to borrow money from banks to invest, stressing that borrowing at 28 per cent and tying it down the property for two to three years before selling may spell doom for the investor.

“The road no doubt will go a long way to lift real estate development and growth. And my advice to investors and the general public is to buy properties now on the axis but above all the government should work on providing the necessary infrastructure in addition to building alternative roads to free the highway on the axis. The idea is, if a commuter does not have reason to be on the highway, he can conveniently

stay on the inner roads unlike now that everybody takes just a single route.

Lagos State Commissioner for Works, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat said the government is not unmindful of the need to put up necessary infrastructure on the route while providing alternative routes.

He said: “The development we are working on will not only open up the West African market to Nigerian business and traders but will also affect positively the value of properties along the corridor.

The Right of Way for the project is 120 metres and government is committed to carrying the people along as it implements its development agenda.”

Builders make case for development board

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HE Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB), has called on the Federal Government to establish a Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in order to engender sustainable transformation of the construction industry.

They also called for the incorporation of builders in the scheme of things to ensure the success of the transformation agenda of the current administration.

This was made known in a communiqué signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kunle Awobodu after their 42nd National Conference/ Annual General Meeting held at Nike Lake Resort.

He said there cannot be genuine national transformation in the built environment sector without the well-articulated inputs of builders, who are statutorily responsible for the management of building construction process.

The communiqué said if builders are properly integrated in the construction process, it will not only engender sustainable development of key sectors of the economy, but also minimise the issue of corruption in the polity.

“Government institutions should be adequately professionalised and sufficient resources committed to the industry to improve national infrastructure.

“We praised the National Assembly on the progress it is making towards enacting the Na-

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

tional Building Code enabling law and we urge government’s at state level to domesticate the law in their respective areas for implementation once it is enacted.

In the same light we urge the government to amend the land use act in order to boost housing delivery,” the statement said.

The conference, also recommended the appropriate funding of construction researches and research institutes such as Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) to encouarge them to deliver on their mandate through training and research fund and pooling contributions from construction organisations.

Furthermore it called for a review of the Public Procurement Act (2007) to include elaborate provision for construction project tender durations validity and also asked that the government should insist that contractors incorporate health, safety plan and project quality management plan in project awards.

To move the sector ahead, they asked that for every tender document, government should insist on the list of built environment professionals involved in the project which must be verified from their various professional/ regulatory bodies.

The conference challenged professional builders and building organisations to adopt ap-

propriate construction practices with emphasis on construction methodology, materials development and efficient technology.

They praised the host gover-

nor, Sullivan Chime, for his support, Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple and

•A building in Abuja Central Business District

Chairman, Enugu South Local Government, Mr. Nwabueze Okafor; for their support and attendance at the conference.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT Building Issues

Gains of investing in vacant land

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• Onolememen (left) and Governor Peter Obi inspecting the Onitsha Bridge

‘We spent 31% of budget to complete road projects’

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INISTER of Works Mr Mike Onolememen has said the ministry utilised 31 per cent of the 2012 budget released in the first and second quarters to complete 12 roads nationwide.

In a statement by his media aide Mr Tony Ikpasaja, he listed some of the completed roads to include the dualisation of Onitsha-Owerri expressway in Anambra State and reinstatement of the Auchi-Okene highway Washout in Edo State.

Others are the reinstatement of Gombe-Potiskum road Washout in Gombe State; construction of Eleme junction flyover in Rivers State and the rehabilitation/construction of Ijebu-Igbo-Ajegunle-Araromi-IfeSekona road in Osun/Osun states among others.

The statement read in part: “Out of the N143,592,745,849 appropriated to the ministry for year 2012, only N47,462,431,157:86 has been released so far in the first and second quarters with N44,073,708,342:70 being spent on road projects alone. This sum released to the ministry in the first and second quarters, represents 31 per cent of the ministry’s annual budget and percentage of the fund utilised from the released fund re-

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

leased as 93 per cent.”

Furthermore, the statement said that 156 projects are in their various stages of completion while 28 highway projects are under the process of procurement for design and construction with four others already awarded during the 2012 budgetary year.

Ikpasaja listed some of the 156 projects as the dualisation of the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja highway; dualisation of Kano-Maiduguri highway, construction of Kano Western Bye pass and the rehabilitation of Benin-Ore-Shagamu highway.

Others, according to him, are the rehabilitation of Apapa-Oshodi highway; rehabilitation of OnitshaEnugu highway; rehabilitation of Onitsha-head bridge up to upper Iweka junction; repairs/replacement of expansion joints of the Third Mainland Bridge and the dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin (Section Two: Oyo-Ogbomosho) highway, etc.

On Public Private Partnership (PPP), he said the minister had since developed Outline Business Cases (OBC) for viable and bankable major highways (brown fields) to at-

tract private sector and foreign investments into the sector. He listed some of the viable highway projects for the PPP initiative to include the construction of two kilometres Second Niger Bridge at Asaba/ Onitsha and 2.8 kilometres Access Road to Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, both for which the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has already approved the Appointment of Transactions Advisers, he added.

He said the thrust of the 2013 budget is to ‘concentrate on funding some major ongoing road projects that are critical to the socio-economic wellbeing of the country in line with Key Performance Indicators’ such as reduction of road accidents induced by bad roads nationwide and the need to reduce travel times for Nigerians by 30 per cent.

Stressing on the challenges, he said it included inadequate funding of road projects, which accounts for delayed implementation of road projects, heavy reliance on road transportation in Nigeria, abuse of road infrastructure and others.

However, he assured that “the future is very bright for roads as the foundation for a world class road infrastructure is being laid.”

European Union directive on e-waste comes into force

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HE European Union (EU) has adopted new rules on electrical and electronic waste (ewaste), which aims to allow EU member states combat the illegal export of waste more effectively.

The new directive, which also seeks to improve e-waste recycling levels, was drawn upon research from a number of sources, including the Basel Convention research and data. Recent studies by the Basel Convention on ewaste in Africa have highlighted the ongoing stream of used electrical and

electronic equipment reaching the continent from industrialised countries, including the EU member states, for recycling or disposal.

Electrical and electronic equipment can contain heavy metals such as mercury and lead, as well as brominated flame retardants, which can damage human health and the environment.

Hazardous substances are released during various e-waste dismantling and disposal operations, posing serious health risks to workers.

The directive aims to improve collection schemes in member states, where consumers can return used electronic and electrical items free of charge, thereby increasing the recycling and re-use of products and materials.

The directive introduces a collection target of 45 per cent of electronic equipment sold that will apply from 2016 and, as a second step from 2019, a target of 65 per cent of equipment sold, or 85 per cent of electronic waste generated.

Climate change: Group to launch tree planting scheme in Kwara

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HAINSAW Mill Association in Kwara State will this week launch a tree planting scheme to ease climate change.

The association will launch afforestation in the state on August 30, the Chairman, Steerling Committee on Tree Planting, Funsho Dare has said.

He said the step was to further support the worldwide campaign against sustainable environmental services causing climate change.

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

Dare said the project is aimed at putting in place adequate defense against unsustainable environmental practices.

Some of these practices, according to him, include “unsustainable destruction of trees ; indiscriminate clearing of the forest for farming and commercial purposes; deliberate destruction of economy forest trees such as shea-butter, teak,

gmylinea, mahogany, locust bean trees for charcoal and the total destruction of nutrients and micro organisms on the earth surface during charcoal as well as killing of economy bush animals.”

He said the programme would be attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Minister for Environment, Hajia Hadiz Ibrahim Maylafia and Chairman, Senate Committee on the Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki.

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie F you decide to purchase or inAsst Editor vest in something today what You also have to be certain of will you invest in? From experience almost every investor will the boundaries of the property you prefer real estate. Properties are want to purchase. See to it that the not relatively expansive today in property you wish to have is innew developing areas of major deed the property you intend to buy. cities.

You have to consider several However, the resources to purchase such properties are also lim- things when you decide to purited. This makes it essential to care- chase an undeveloped land. First, fully decide what property to buy. you have to know when it is the Among the properties that most right time to purchase the propconsider investing in is the unde- erty. Next, you have to choose a veloped land. There are benefits good location. in purchasing raw land as there is less to maintain. If there are no The advantages of buying vacant land establishments on the land, there Buying a piece of vacant land is nothing to clean, repair or reoffers many advantages. Motivamodel.

You do not have to face prob- tions range from people that buy lems relating to your clients or land as a potential place for buildtenants as well. Since there is noth- ing a home to others that buy for ing there, you do not have to deal investment purposes-only to sell with anything at all except omo or the land later.

Stability land speculators. You can just choose an undevelHistorically, puroped land, leave it ‘Investors can chasing land has as is for a while and proved to be a safe earn from it by sellbenefit from investment for ing in the future purchasing va- people, even in when the value apwhen stock preciates. cant land by re- times markets have been As mentioned selling it when volatile. Land is ofearlier, you have to know what invest- the market value ten considered a more “stable” inments to make and of the land has vestment among inwhen to do it. Now is the best time to increased. This is vestors since it offers a physical asset, invest because a common form unlike stocks that properties are potentially disomewhat inexpenof investment can minish completely. sive in distant places from major that is especially Living purposes cities and settle- alluring to invesments.

A notable advantors because As a wise investage of purchasing tor you need to purland is a finite vacant land is that it chase the property can be used as a resource’ when the price is low and sell it when the price is high. Aside from place where the owner can build a the values of the property, you home. Building a home on your have to be familiar with the fac- own land means that you can build tors you need to consider before everything from scratch, allowing taking the leap. much more customisation than In as much as investing in prop- what is available with purchasing erty seems to be the in- thing, it is, homes. however, very important that you consider the location. When investPrice ing in any estate, location is very important.

The price of vacant land is To identify the type of location less than developed land, making to look for, you have to think of it available to more people. This your plans for the land. Do you is one of the reasons why people have plans of building a house buy land in far flung places not there? Once you have a plan of minding the inconvenience if they what to do with the property, look choose to live there. for a location that would coincide Investors can benefit from purto your plans and off course with chasing vacant land by reselling it your pocket. when the market value of the land After choosing a location, you has increased. This is a common have to prepare the financing for form of investment that is espethe purchase. Purchasing undevel- cially alluring to investors because oped land is more complex than land is a finite resource. purchasing the conventional type of properties.

Farming, agriculture, renting You need to have an idea of how you will make the payments. PreDepending upon the area, pare financial blanket as well just vacant land can be used for farmin case a problem arises. ing and agriculture. Other buyers You also have to be familiar with profit from planting trees, farm the zoning. products, such as tomatoes and corn, This is very important because can be grown and sold to supermarthis affects the plans you have for kets. Similarly, the land can be used the land. In addition, it also affects to raise livestock. everyone in the community, especially if you fail to comply with Parking space the zoning requirements of the area.

Creating a parking lot on vacant Another consideration you have land can be advantageous for some to keep in mind is the legal issues owners, especially if the land is loconcerning the property. There are cated in an urban area where parkinstances when a property has con- ing space is limited. A lot can be straints and limitations. It is your gained by buying vacant plots eiresponsibility to discover these ther for future investment or imthings. mediate gain if properly planned.

•Contributions, questions? e-mail: quichi3cities@yahoo.com

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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ENERGY THE NATION

E-mail:- energy@thenationonlineng.net

Firm’s energy-efficient bulb to save 548mw NIGERIAN firm, Dyode Limited, has developed energy-efficient bulbs that have high energy-saving capacity.

The product called Wonddalite, is marketed by another Nigerian company, Gloryland Limited.It doesn’t only guide against energy wastage and high electricity bills, but is eco-friendly and works on and off grid.

The Managing Director of Gloryland Limited, Mr Mike Adegun, and Chairman, Gloryland Limited, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, made these known during a press conference in Lagos to introduce the product.They said while 10 million 60 watts incandescent light bulbs, which is commonly used by Nigerians, consume 600 megawatts (MW), the same 10 million bulbs of Wonddalite, which is light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs would only consume 52MW- saving 548MW for use by the industries and other uses.

The 548MW is more than the power generated by the Kainji power plant and more than double the Sapele plant capacity.

Besides, the advantages of Wonddalite bulbs, Adegun said there is plan underway for the establishment of a factory that would be manufacturing the bulbs incountry by 2013, which will be sited between Lagos and Ogun States.

They said their foreign partners will be in Nigeria in September, noting that the first phase of the of the factory would cost about N500

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Stories by Emeka Ugwuanyi

million and about 450 technical staff would be required to start it.The staff strength is expected to increase to between 1000 and 5000 when the factory goes into full production.

They also noted that the product patented in design and utility has been endorsed by Standards Organisation Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP), Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) CE Certification (Conformite Europeene), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). With the endorsements, the bulbs can be promoted in Europe and America.

They said: “Nigerian people in Diaspora were assembled from Europe to initiate the idea and accomplishment of Wonddalite to enable us (Nigeria) conserve and maximize the power generation we have. The Wonddalite bulbs come in three different kinds – classic, deluxe and optima, which are replacement options for 60 watts incandescent light bulbs.

“Use of incandescent bulbs is inefficient usage of the limited power supply in Nigeria as the bulbs though cheap produce 95 per cent of heat with only five per cent converted to light. This has resulted in flooding the Nigerian market with inferior bulbs but with Wonddalite, we are making slow

and tedious transition to energy efficiency regime.

“The LED bulbs also have advantage over compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) because it has associated hazard of mercury, which is more poisonous than lead and arsenic. Current policy initiative of many countries as United States America is to phase out incandescent bulbs and CFL lamps from October 2012.”

They also noted that the Federal Government should take a cue from USA and Ghana. They said in 2007, the Ghanaian government looked at the country’s energy situation and decided to offer its citizens free CFL bulbs and within six months, 90 per cent of Ghanaians have changed from incandescent bulbs to CFLs and about 1,200MWh of electricity was saved per day amounting to 480 GHh per year and peak electricity demand was reduced by 200MW, which

stabilised the grid.

“The Ghanaian government decided that it was far cheaper and faster to reduce electricity consumption by distribution of CFLs free of charge than the construction of one or two power plants. Ghana was the first African country to take such action. The interim report of the Ghanaian government shows that by applying this measure, Ghana saved $3.3 million per month and $39.5 million per year.

The country is also saving 105,000 of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year, according to UNDP.” “The United States’ government also gave Phillips $10 million when the company produced LED bulbs in 2007 to subsidise the cost, they noted.

They said the Federal Government should embark on public education on energy efficiency and danger of CFL bulbs and tubes.They also stressed the need

to distribute at least 10 million LED bulbs and meters free Nigerians and promote Wonddalite as the lighting designed for Nigeria.

However, the Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji and the Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi, had in some fora assured that the government should distribute free energy efficient bulbs but no action has been taken yet.

The classic range of Wonddalite bulb is operated by switching on and off while the deluxe has rechargeable and non-rechargeable types. The rechargeable can store power which can be used for two and half hours after the source of supply is cut off. Also, it can automatically switch on itself or operated with a remote while optima range is yet to hit the market. The classic and non rechargeable bulbs cost N2,200 each while rechargeable costs N2,400 each but every range has a life span of 15 years at least.

Chevron seeks Argentina shale oil, gas

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NITED States energy company Chevron Corporation plans to drill about 120 wells in Argentina during the next three years to search for conventional gas and oil, a top executive has said.

According to Dow Jones Newswire, Ali Moshiri, the company’s president of Latin America and Africa, told a conference that Argentina has enough unconventional gas locked away in shale formations to become a gas exporter again if it can properly develop those resources.

Argentina stopped exporting gas in the middle of the last decade as it prioritised its falling gas reserves for its booming economy. Declining output and low prices that have stoked consumption have forced Argentina to import growing volumes of much more expensive gas from Bolivia and distant Trinidad & Tobago.

“We believe there are enough resources in Argentina. We believe there is the right environment to work,” Moshiri said.

“Argentina can position itself as a leader in unconventional [hydrocarbons] in Latin America,” he added.

Better known for its excellent beef and soybean exports, Argentina is thought to hold vast shale gas resources.

Argentina ranked third in the world, behind China and the U.S., in potentially recoverable shalegas reserves, with 774 trillion cubic feet, according to a study last year by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Argentina is also thought to have large quantities of shale oil.

Exploiting those resources will

require billions of dollars in foreign capital. However, Argentina’s unpredictable energy policies could prove a major impediment to attracting that money.

Earlier this year, President Cristina Kirchner seized a 51per cent stake in Argentina’s largest oil and gas producer, YPF SA, from Spain’s Repsol SA in a dispute over investment. The government has hinted that Repsol might not receive any compensation.

•Power facility

Content board okays Siemens

•Ernest Nwapa, secretary,NCDMB

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OLLOWING the attestation

by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) that Siemens Limited Nigeria is among the top Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Nigeria, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has

issued Siemens Nigeria the Nigerian Content Certification.

SPDC recently categorised Siemens Limited Nigeria as one of the top five original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Nigeria.

In view of the fact that Shell is the operator of the SPDC/Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Joint Venture, which includes Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Total, which by extension indicated endorsement by Agip and Total, renowned global multinationals, the NCDMB decided to grant Siemens the Nigerian Content Certification.

Siemens Limited Nigeria’s spokesperson, Ehabahe Enoh, said the Nigerian Content Certification was granted on June 26, 2012 by the NCDMB and was done in collaboration with the Oil & Gas Division of the NCDMB. She said: “The Nigerian Content Certification is an initiative by the Federal Government to ensure adequate participation of Nigerians and Nigerian companies in

•Firm seals $18m deal the bid process for government contracts and the certification mainly applies to the oil and gas as well as the manufacturing sectors in Nigeria and the certification can be adapted for use in bids by the whole of Siemens Limited Nigeria.”

She also noted that the certification is valid for one year.

Enoh said: “Shell conveyed its intention to single source units for main power distribution systems and this is good news for us in light of the existing Enterprise Frame Agreements (EFA), which the Royal Dutch Shell signed with Siemens Ag. SPDC also promised to certify our products arising from Nigerian content initiatives. Numerous opportunities exist in the Nigerian oil and gas Industry and Siemens stands the chance to rake in a significant share of project opportunities.”

Sequel to the Nigerian Content Certification, Siemens has already

started reaping the gains as it secured a job order (contract) worth over $18 million about (•14 million). Siemens Limited Nigeria this month signed a contract with the SPDC for the supply of four Siemens Gas & Export Centrifugal Compressors for Shell’s Southern Swamp Associated Gas Project.

This is a significant increase from the projected •10 million volume of business as at end third quarter of this year, Siemens said.

“The compressors will be manufactured at the Siemens Industrial Turbo machinery (SIT) plant at Hengelo in the Netherlands. This project, with an execution time frame extending to 2014, is a major advancement for both SLN and SPDC as it aims at reducing the flare of associated gas, a commodity, which is in high demand in Nigeria due to its importance in power generation. Reduction in associated gas flaring will also lead to a greener environment which is one of the crucibles Siemens is built on,” the company added.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

18

ENERGY

‘Data conditioning’ll raise oil reserves, production’ A

DEQUATE data conditioning would not only ensure increase in oil and gas reserves and production in the country but also help in minimising wastages as well as enhance the development of new fields, the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), has said.

The Vice-President, NAPE, Mr Seye Fadahunsi, disclosed this during the association’s monthly technical meeting in Lagos.

He said data processing would be inevitable if the challenges in finding hydrocarbons would be overcome.

“If you don’t have the right data or you don’t condition it properly, there is a chance that you may not be able to image properly. And with the wrong image you can drill in the wrong place. It is imperative that you condition your data

By Ambrose Nanji

properly so that you can put the wells in the right place and give yourself the chance of success.

“When you have wells, and you are drilling appraisal and development wells what it means is that you will have additional data with which you can work. When you go into exploration and you have very little data you can’t increase your reserves and if you continue to produce and your reserves go down it is a matter of time before your production goes down,” he said.

He noted that a company must be successful in exploration to increase its reserves and develop new fields as well as increase production.

In a lecture entitled: “Optimising the use of seismic through data

conditioning”, the guest speaker at the technical meeting, Ayorinde Adelekan of Chevron Nigeria Limited, agreed that many exploration and production activities were taking place in complex geologic settings with poor signal-tonoise ratio seismic data, which makes hydrocarbons difficult to find and produce.

He said the interpretation and analysis of seismic data for the prediction of structure, lithology and reservoir properties depended on various attribute estimates whose integrity and reliability were directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio of the seismic data.

Post-migration data conditioning process, according to him, are routinely carried out on seismic data from Chevron fields to mitigate residual noise, and wave

propagation effects.

These proprietary processes he said include Diversity Noise Attenuator (DNA), Hi-Res Radon, Wavelet Transform Filter (WTF), Curvelet Noise Attenuator (CAN), Dynamic Structural Correction (DSC), Robust Optimised Moveout (ROBOMO) and others.

Some of the residual noise and wave propagation effects addressed by these processes are residual multiples, random and coherent noises, residual normal move out (NMO), low frequency NMO stretch at far offsets, and temporal and spatial amplitude decay.

The resultant products, he noted are always improved quality seismic in terms of images and structural and quantitative foot prints to front-end-load or support reservoir properties prediction, structural and

quantitative interpretations, and analysis.

The deliverables he said included offset gathers, angle gathers and stacks, and reconnaissance Amplitude Variation with Angle (AVA) attributes. He added that post-migration conditioning effort usually results in greater confidence in seismic usage, with attendant better business decisions.

He said Chevron’s use of key technologies on post-seismic data addresses noise and wave-propagation effects such as temporal and spatial amplitude decay, residual multiples, residual normal movement (NMO), residual anisotropy, random and coherent noises. It also includes migration smiles, low frequency NMO stretch at far offsets, interpretations amplitude supposed reservoir, time lapse production effect, RPFS (and AVO study), and optimise well location and drilling.

‘Confabs’ll unlock upstream, downstream investments’

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HE oil and gas industry needs more platforms for key players to synergise on new opportunities, technologies and policies in the upstream and downstream market if more investments are to be freed up.

Former Senior Special Adviser to Dr Goodluck Jonathan on Mass Literacy Programmes, Dr Kune Igoni, said this while making case for more conferences and exhibitions to be held in the country, such as South Africa, which holds close to 60 of such events annually.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos on the forthcoming Upstream and Downstream (U & D) International Exhibitions and Conference being put together by West Africa Exhibition and Conference, Igoni said by organising more conferences like this, it would encourage and proffer more investment options especially in oil and gas infrastructure.

While admitting that the petroleum industry is currently undergoing strong restructuring and policy changes, Igoni, who is the director of the event, averred that for this reason it was imperative to get key players together to synergise on opportunities.

He acknowledged the contributions of international conferences such as the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and Offshore Asia to the development of the global oil industry assuring that in 10 years time the U & D event too would be positioned to compete favourably with these reputable conferences.

He noted that the second edition of the event promises to be unique as over 2000 international key industry players are expected to con-

By Bidemi Bakare

verge on Abuja. The event will be declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said that after the successful hosting of the first edition, the event has received massive backing from oil and gas companies and government establishments as evident in the number of prospective attendees who have shown interest.

Besides, he said the endorsement given by organisations, such as Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and other stakeholders is a further testimony of the credibility of the event.

With Nigeria’s crude oil production hovering around 2.7 million barrels per day, oil discoveries coming up off the coast of Ghana and the hope of increasing production in the West Africa region rising, Igoni said there couldn’t have been a more auspicious time for such laudable event than now especially with the new Petroleum Industry Bill before the National Assembly.

Resource persons expected at the event include Prof. Olusegun Okunnu, Director NNPC; Abdalla Salem el-Badri, OPEC Secretary General; Morrison Fiddi, Group General Manager, NAPIMS; and Dr. Alex Otti, Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc. The three-day event holds at the International Conference Centre, Abuja from October 10 -12.

•Oil and gas equipment

Alison-Madueke, Nnaji, others for NAEC confab

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HE Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. AlisonMadueke, the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, and chief executive officers of oil and gas companies as well as members of the National Assembly and other stakeholders, will converge on the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on Thursday, August 30, to brainstorm on the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry and power sector.

‘Factors that can dampen crude oil price’

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HE third quarter has become surprisingly tight for the oil market. Further, the global data flow has looked even stronger as the quarter has worn on, with demand surprising to the upside and supply surprising to the downside on a persistent basis.

According to Barclays Research, there are only three potential dampeners for prices that look as if they might be likely to get any significant grip.

The first is simply the on-off state of fears about the macro environment, with sovereign debt concerns having in the past acted as a proven rallying flag for bears.

However, those fears do at the moment seem to be less urgent than they did in early second quarter, and the readiness of unhedged

money to join in another overdone swing down in prices seems more limited at this point.

The second is any reoccurrence of the shale oil based optimism and proclamations by earnestsounding prophets of a new age in oil based on the tidal wave of cheap shale oil. However, Barclays suspects that this may also be a bit slower this time around, especially as the grounds for grandiose price-deflating claims do seem somewhat flimsy in the light of recent experience.

There is, after all, no accompanying global oil surplus, no quantum change in the weak performance of non-OPEC supply, and supposedly cheap shale turned out to be rather expensive shale in that, as soon as Brent fell to $90 per barrel, a large proportion of US

shale oil in key regions seemed to lose all its rent.

In other words, shale looks more like expensive oil that has been brought on by higher prices, rather than cheap oil that is likely to drag overall price levels down in any significant or immediate fashion.

That leaves one remaining restraining factor of note, and that is the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

It appears to Barclays that earlier in the year activation of a release process came within days, and perhaps hours, of fruition, before a macro-fear induced swoon in prices took over. Even then, it appears that contemplation of a release continued for quite a while after prices had started to head down.

The conference, which is being organised by the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) is expected to provide a veritable platform for the government and the industry operators to share their minds on the reforms and the attendant transformation that would follow and how it would best be applied to benefit all stakeholders and lead to development of the economy.

There have been conflicts between the government and different stakeholders in the oil and gas industry and the power sector, and it is expected that the outcome of the conference would find a lasting solution to these disagreements.

The conference is entitled: Energy industry deregulation: Prospects and challenges to the economy, and will take look at the reform policies of the government in petroleum and power industries and the stand of various key stakeholders on these policies as well as the way forward.

The Keynote Address will be delivered by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, while the lead paper will be delivered by Andy Yakubu, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Minister of Power will speak on Gains of the power sector deregulation, while the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company

•Mrs Alison-Madueke

Limited, Mr. Austin Avuru, will speak on Oil Industry Reforms: What prospects, challenges for indigenous independents.

The Managing Director, West African Gas Pipeline Company, Mr. Charles Adeniji, will deliver a paper entitled: Prospects and challenges of effective gas distribution within the West African Coast Region, and the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi will talk on the Role of CBN in the energy sector reforms.

The Chairman, Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, will speak on Achieving sustainable and effective downstream operations: Integrated oil and gas experience.

The conference will be chaired by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, International Energy Services Limited, Dr. Diran Fawibe.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

19

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

EDITORIALS

Flip-flop at CBN • New N5,000 note: has the Central Bank governor reached the end of his tether?

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T first came as a rumour a few weeks back when a national newspaper broke the news that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was to introduce the N5,000.00 ‘super note’ to the Nigerian currency. The apex bank’s official promptly discountenanced it, stating that there was no such plan.

However, it is now official that the board of the CBN has decided to introduce N5,000.00 note as Nigeria’s highest denomination of currency.

Also in the offing, is the restructuring of the Nigerian currency which entails the conversion of the N5, N10 and N20 notes into coins. The new coins are expected to complement the existing 50k, N1 and N2 coins which though, have been long out of circulation.

So many rather disquieting issues have arisen from this decision of the CBN that a welter of condemnations and controversy have trailed the announcement. The first question being raised is, what is the point of a higher denomination note now and why such a costly review of the nation’s currency?

The CBN has noted that higher currencies are more economical. But opposition parties, labour unions and financial experts have risen as one to query the rationale for what is considered a wasteful venture in the face of numerous pressing national problems and an obvious paucity of funds. What major economic value would this imbue the nation? That seems to be the refrain from every quarter.

Many have also pointed out that the

new ‘super note’ flies in the face of a key component of CBN’s on-going reform which advocates a cashless economy. For about six months, the apex bank had embarked on a massive campaign designed to make Nigerians carry less cash and, in its stead, use virtual money products such as cheques, ATM card, debit and credit cards as well as online cash transactions. Limits were even set on the amount bank customers could withdraw or deposit.

The entire purpose is to reduce the use of cash which is very expensive to produce and even more so to distribute and manage on a daily basis by the apex bank. Nigerians are just beginning to get attuned to dislodging cash from their consciousness and now CBN is about to throw in an alluring big ‘note’.

There is also the concern that the new note will only drive inflation. It has been suggested that the introduction of higher face value notes by any country signposts inflation. Examples of countries like Argentina, Peru, Zaire, Angola and Zimbabwe have been cited where raging inflation had driven currency notes to be printed in higher and even higher notes to no avail. Time was when the highest note in Nigeria was the N20 and coins were in common use. But coins disappeared in Nigeria as the currency denomination got higher. Attempts to reintroduce the coins a few years back failed because they could hardly give value anymore.

And they are so cumbersome to carry, to boot. They disappeared naturally

out of disuse. Why would CBN spend so much money to mint new coins when it had not determined why the last ones failed?

We dare say that this is another disappointing move by the CBN under the headship of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. We have witnessed too many policy flip-flops under his regime of a seemingly endless reform in the last couple of years. More worrisome, neither the banks nor the financial system has been the better for it. We therefore urge Sanusi and members of the board of the CBN to take another look at this higher currency policy and indeed all others that seem inimical to the system, with a view to acceding to the will of the people.

‘We dare say that this is another disappointing move by the CBN under the headship of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. We have witnessed too many policy flip-flops under his regime of a seemingly endless reform in the last couple of years. More worrisome, neither the banks nor the financial system has been the better for it’

Militant billionaires •Ex-warlords are now security chiefs in Nigeria’s oil industry!

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HE recent revelation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is paying about N5.6 billion annually to former leaders of Niger Delta militant groups to secure its pipelines is another unwelcome reminder of the Jonathan administration’s penchant for throwing money at problems instead of solving them.

The American newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, claims that the NNPC has a schedule of regular payments to several ex-militant leaders running into millions of dollars. Government Ekpumopolo, alias “Tompolo,” is paid U.S. $22 million a year; Mujahhid Dokubo-Asari gets about U.S $9 million; Ebikabowei “Boyloaf” Victor Ben and Ateke Tom annually receive $3.8 million each. According to the newspaper, the exmilitant leaders are paid to guard the NNPC’s pipelines which are vital to the

‘The pipeline-security payments constitute yet another of the Federal Government’s opaque dealings with former militant leaders. Earlier this year, it was discovered that contracts for securing the nation’s coastline were given to a company in which one of them had substantial interests. There was no public tender and no short-listing process; the terms of the contract are unknown’

evacuation of crude oil for export and the transportation of fuel products across the country.

Several questions immediately come to mind, many touching on the propriety of this arrangement. Is this a formal contractual agreement? If it is, where was the deal signed, and what are its terms? Why was an arrangement involving this amount of expenditure not disclosed to the relevant National Assembly committees overseeing the activities of the NNPC? Why was it kept secret from the Nigerian people? Were these ex-militant leaders not part of the government’s vaunted amnesty programme, on which it will be spending the equivalent of $450 million in 2012?

The lack of transparency surrounding the whole affair is a virtual confirmation of its illegitimacy. Regardless of their nuisance value, neither Ekpumopolo nor Dokubo-Asari or any of the others is a trained security operative with a proven background in oil-facility security. Destroying pipelines and oil facilities is not the same thing as securing them; the demonstrated capacity to throttle the nation’s oil export capacity does not connote the ability to facilitate the unhampered flow of the product. The fact that the theft and illegal refining of petroleum products and attacks on oil facilities have actually increased in recent times is ample testimony to the failure of the exmilitants to justify their payments.

The larger implications of the situation must also be considered, especially given the severe security challenges currently confronting the country. When a government decides to pay huge amounts to individuals who were involved in activities

detrimental to the Nigerian state, they are encouraging others to do the same thing. Just as indigenes of the Niger Delta have legitimate grievances over resource control and environmental degradation, other nationalities have their own valid complaints. The Federal Government seems to be saying that organised violence is the best way to attract its attention and its finances.

To make matters worse, these payments do little to resolve the issues that gave rise to the problem of militancy in the first place. The ex-militant warlords may be extremely well-off, but their extreme wealth stands in stark contrast to the overwhelming poverty and despair which assails the south-south as a whole.

The millions of dollars the NNPC has chosen to bestow on a few individuals could have been used to accelerate the overall development of the sorely-deprived communities of the region.

The pipeline-security payments constitute yet another of the Federal Government’s opaque dealings with former militant leaders. Earlier this year, it was discovered that contracts for securing the nation’s coastline were given to a company in which one of them had substantial interests. There was no public tender and no short-listing process; the terms of the contract are unknown.

If the Jonathan administration wants to be taken seriously, it must refrain from acquiescing in actions like these which demonstrate such a profound poverty of thinking. Ex-militant leaders have a right to pursue a legitimate living in their country, but that does not mean that they should take part in the corruption that they once claimed to be fighting.

President Morsi and his critics

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HERE was another street demonstration in Cairo on Friday. This time, instead of inveighing against former President Hosni Mubarak, or his generals, people were protesting against Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi. It was one more sign that citizens in the new Egypt are determined to make their voices heard — and a sign, too, that Mr. Morsi and his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, are having a hard time hearing those voices.

Many Egyptians worry that Mr. Morsi and the Brotherhood are seeking to monopolize power, including imposing serious restraints on freedom of the press. The government recently brought charges against one of Mr. Morsi’s harshest critics, Islam Afifi, the editor of a newspaper, Al Dustour, for insulting the president and disturbing the public order in articles and editorials. Prosecutors also brought charges against a television host, Tawfik Okasha, who has denigrated the Brotherhood and the uprising that ousted Mr. Mubarak and on one show seemed to threaten both Mr. Morsi and the Brotherhood with violence.

Violent threats or acts can never be condoned, but criticism of political leaders should not be a crime, especially in a country aspiring to be a democracy. The Muslim Brotherhood should know that better than anyone. The group was outlawed during Mr. Mubarak’s 30-year rule, and it was that kind of repression that bred hostility against him, which eventually boiled over.

Critics worry that the crackdown on journalists shows that the Islamists intend to exert tight control over every aspect of life. It would be tragic if Egypt made all this effort to shake off an authoritarian leader only to have Mr. Morsi reimpose Mr. Mubarak’s intolerant ways.

In Mr. Afifi’s case, Mr. Morsi may have realized he went too far. On Thursday, he wielded his extensive legislative powers for the first time and banned the pretrial detention of people accused of media-related crimes. That effectively freed Mr. Afifi. But the charges are still standing —the editor faces trial in September — and so are brutal Mubarak-era press laws, which need to be abolished.

Like every other political leader, Mr. Morsi undoubtedly hates media criticism. But crushing dissent only promotes resentment and instability. A much smarter approach would be to meet regularly with journalists, especially his toughest critics, to explain what he is doing and answer their questions.

Mr. Morsi is just beginning to grapple with Egypt’s daunting challenges. He is seeking an International Monetary Fund loan to help repair a devastated economy, and he must also deal with extremists near the Sinai border with Israel. To be successful on any of these fronts, he will need to get Egyptians and the international community behind his agenda. What most of them are looking for is a pragmatic president who leads Egypt toward economic growth and stability while respecting the views of all its people, whether Islamist or Christian, religious or secular.

– New York Times

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

20

CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: What is uttered from the heart alone will win the hearts of others to your own.

What is offered as service brings admiration from the people; heart that is transformed will become a transformer supplying light of development and achievement. It will command great respect where others are demanding it.

It is not enough to have ability, it is integrity that distinguishes and makes a man to be preferred above others. It is a privilege to be called upon to serve humanity whether through the power of the ballot or paper qualification. To perform meaningfully is to leave behind a legacy of honour. But in a situation where those in governance put selfinterest above others, and the limited resources are expended to care for themselves and their children are placed in strategic businesses

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The revolution Nigeria needs where they also can feed fat illegitimately, then the President must act fast. Good supervision Bloody revolution is NOT what we need but to call ourselves to order, start building strong institutions around our system, not just to give responsibility but must spell the height of commitment and sacrifice needed to deliver. Our constitution must be restructured not just to enshrine our rights but stringent

punishment be put in place for those that betray the national trust. If those indicted for corruption could be punished without minding whose ox is gored, that is revolution that can sanitize our national life. Let me sound it loud and clear that if our leaders fail to put the right things right, we are only postponing the evil days.

What uncommon and height of practical integrity on the part of

Liberia President as she courageously sacked her son for failure to publicly declare his assets. Her sense of courage and forthrightness must be commended. One does not need to run extra mile to become an extra ordinary leader. Faithfulness in small things is a great thing.

That singular action is more than enough to place Mrs. Sirleaf Johnson among the great leaders Africa has produced; we have three

Re: Leaders warn errant youths against dropping COAS‘s name

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IR: The story attributed to my humble self in The Nation on Sunday of June 3, purportedly calling on the people of Amaba and Ovim communities in Isuikwuato Local Government area of AbiaState, to stop the habit of using the name of their son, General Azubuike Ihejirika, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to cause trouble in the area, refers. l state categorically that at no time during the period that Amaba Community faced daunting security challenges did l say anything of that nature to your reporter. I am appalled to be quoted by your publication with follow up details such as these contradictory statements.

Madukwe said when the youths of Ovim came to demolish the market two weeks ago, the police and the SSS came to stop them but could not as they stood by and watched while this dastardly act was going on “because there was the allegation that they had the understanding of their son the

COAS”.

He (Madukwe) said: “We know that despite anything, our son is a gentleman and an officer and could not get himself involved in communal clash and will not order the youths of any community in lsuikwuato to demolish a village market so people should stop tarnishing his name”.

I do not know how your reporter in his widest imagination would have expected me to make such utterance which l consider frivolous, unethical, mischievous, embarrassing and calculated to pre-empt, mislead on issue of urgent security of the community and undermine my integrity and credibility as President- General at this point in time.

On behalf of Amaba Town Union (ATU) National Executive, I unequivocally state once again that at no time did l make the statements credited to me about the person and office of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Rather, in a save our soul (S.O.S)

letter, l sent to the executive Governor of Abia State, Chief (DR) T.A. Orji on May 31, I invited the speedy attention of His Excellency to use his good offices to stem the tide of RECURRING CASES of violence and hostility against Amaba Community by the people of Ovim Imenyi our fellow Isuikwuato kinsmen and North East neighbours.

We sought the intervention and protection of the governor as the Chief Security Officer of Abia State against the back drop of the over bearing and unwholesome agenda of Ovim Community to dispossess us of our land and property at Quarry Amaba .

It is not exaggeration that these dastardly acts have been influenced and initiated by Ovim sons each time any Igbo of Ovim extraction in the judiciary, the civil service, public office and even the military occupied high position of authority in this country. Nevertheless, we are confident of one incontrovertible fact which is that God is the hope of the hopeless, the

strength of the weak and disadvantage and the help of the helpless.

Once again, I did not make the utterances attributed to me concerning the person and office of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). l urge our citizens, wherever they are to remain calm as the situation will be given the seriousness it deserves by the appropriate authorities of governance.

• Dr. Ezeagwula A. Madukwe Isuikwuato, Abia-State

of them already who can walk around the streets freely without the aid of body guards or fear of being stoned: Nelson Mandela, Jerry Rawlings and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. President Goodluck Jonathan can also join this list before 2015, if he can declare his assets and ask those serving under him to do the same.

Let economic planning put food on the table of Nigerians; let it ensure jobs for our youths. Unemployment causes poverty, poverty causes corruption. Let jobs be provided for Nigerians and stop building bridges where there are no rivers.

The formula for success is not in asking ministers to sign performance affidavit but right standing on the platform of sacrifice, diligence, iron determination and insightful understanding of what to do next and getting the right minds as team workers that bank for excellence; this way, we can speed up the vehicle of Nigeria’s destiny to a desired destination.

Dear President, your integrity is Nigeria’s honour; act decisively to create the change we need. Let him that would move the world, first move himself. History admires the wise but it elevates the brave. Our time shall pass but the story of our life will remain. Together we are better • Ezekiel Kolawole Ikotun Lagos.

Needless row over Osun’s cultural centre IR: I have been following with interest, the row between Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his predecessor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on the ownership of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, CBCIU,. Since the Centre came into being through a tripartite agreement among the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, the Federal Government

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of Nigeria and Osun State Government, it is illogical for the ex-governor to consider it as an abstract entity. His contention that UNESCO’s statue was breached based on Professor Wole Soyinka’s appointment is untenable. I would advise Oyinlola to exhibit political maturity and tolerance as well as contribute to the genuine development of his state of origin.

• Bidemi dada bidemidada@gmail.com

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

21

COMMENTS

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ESTERDAY, 21 years ago, Osun was created as part of nine new states. It was 27 August 1991.

It was a time of hope and despair.

Hope that the military would hand over and let Nigerians manage whatever was left of their country. And despair, in the phantom of promises by “military president”, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who kept on dribbling and shifting the political goal posts, in the longest military-transition-to-civil-rule programme in the country’s history.

The State of Osun (as is currently branded by the Rauf Aregbesola government), therefore appeared fated

R

epublican ipples

lordbeek@yahoo.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please)

Olakunle Abimbola

At 21, Osun comes of age

to be stunted by the unwholesome circumstances of its birth.

Like the many unfulfilled IBB promises of its period of nativity, Osun was to become another hope betrayed.

But the Court of Appeal under Justice Isa Ayo Salami put paid to all that, with its 26 November 2010 verdict in Ibadan, Oyo State, which sacked the Olagunsoye Oyinlola government.

“Governor” Oyinlola had stolen the vote in the most brazen of manners on 14 April 2007 and, no thanks to a heinous legal rigmarole, was on course to enjoying the full four-year benefit of a stolen governorship. Justice Salami’s Court of Appeal cut all that crap and in so doing, freed Osun to face and work towards its manifest destiny.

But that freedom has come with a tragic irony: not for Justice Salami or the Court of Appeal he headed, but for an embattled country, whose glory appears fated to dust by a most backward looking ruling elite. The Salami that gave Osun its freedom, on the sound democratic principle of the sanctity of the vote, is himself professionally shackled.

For one year now, the jurist has been suspended from his post by a president trying to appease legally routed, votethieving Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mates baying for the blood of the innocent and upright.

President Goodluck Jonathan, clearly not made of a higher moral fibre, despite the honour and sanctity of his high office, has clearly obliged them, giving the law that created his office, his party and indeed the current democratic dispensation a black eye. Talk of a president cutting his nose to spite his face!

On the other hand, Oyinlola legally forced to surrender a stolen governorship, has since been compensated with the PDP national secretary. His co-traveller, Ekiti’s Olusegun Oni, who also surrendered the stolen Ekiti governorship, in landing the PDP national vice-chairman for the South West, has become the South West Czar of the party, even if both have some intra-party karma-like opposition to contend with.

And just as well – for awarding legally proven electoral crimes such fulsome rewards could well turn a national vice chairman into a national chairman of vice! But so long

W

HATEVER anyone may say of the 40-man body constituted by the Northern Governors Forum to chart the course of peace in the North, it should be seen as a significant initiative as far as the efforts to tame the monster of terrorism in the troubled region goes. Considered against the background of unrelenting criticism of the governors, particularly the charge that their Excellencies have not been forthcoming in proffering ideas to stem the menace of the Boko Haram, it seems a step forward from their Pontius Pilate stance that is not only unhelpful but smirks of abdication.

Does that signal a repudiation of the extant attitude of pretending that the solution lies at the doorstep of a breathless federal government alone? One hopes so; but then the signs are far from evident.

Does it represent a new thinking – in favour of active engagement by the leaders in the region in charting the way forward? Are the leaders ready to own up to their collective failure to deliver effective governance to the people – the result of which the Boko Haram has found its army of recruits in the alienated, impoverished population?

What are the governors doing about the poverty in the North? Is the North truly ready to confront the Boko Haram? Really, the question should be: is the North willing to confront the menace represented by the Boko Haram?

One hopes that the answers to the questions are in the affirmative; but then at the moment, there is little basis for optimism.

Here is a sect said to represent all that is repugnant to

‘The leadership of the North has remained unyielding to the demands to rework with the structure of the federation which not only gives very little room for the nationalities in the Nigerian federation to optimise their potentials, but has in fact remained the very source of constant friction. – rendering development a nightmare’

for a reactionary ethos that rewards good with evil and evil with good, even if that cripples the country and threatens to push it over the precipice!

So, in the context of Osun’s inauspicious birth, and given its state some 21 years after, the founding leaders of that state apparently expected little from themselves. Or maybe truer still, the objective situations on the ground conspired to get little out of their efforts.

Leo Segun Ajiborisa, a soldier and first administrator for some six months between 27 August 1991 and January 1992, was no more than a founding caretaker. His successor, Isiaka Adeleke, first elected governor of Osun (January 1992November 1993), came from an Ede family of proven progressives.

But either by his membership of the then ideological neuter “new breed” (the Babangida-era political subalterns spawn to dislodge the political titans of the First and Second Republics) or his association with the People’s Front (PF) faction of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the faction that sold out on the Moshood Abiola presidential mandate of 12 June 1993, the unanimity of opinion is that the Serubawon of Osun politics did pretty little to develop the new state. That contributed to making Osun almost a child at 21.

The trio of Anthony Udofia (August 1993-August 1996), Anthony Obi (August 1996-August 1998) and Theophilus Bamgboye (August 1998-29 May 1999) were military administrators under the repressive Gen. Sani Abacha, after the collapse of the still-birth Third Republic (January 1992November 1993), and its failed experimentation at the diarchy of a military “president” and elected civilian governors.

The high hostilities of the low-intensity war between June 12 democratic forces and the Abacha dictatorship ensured this trio had their hands full, taking effective occupation of the territory; with little time for anything else. Osun’s development

“At 21, Osun’s wheel is turning for the better – and just as well. But for this paradise to last, Governor Aregbesola will do well to stay focused and manage zeal without excitability”

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

North and the enemies within the Islamic faith. Yet, it remains embedded in the same society where its theology is considered not only strange but offensive. A group that is not averse to deploy routinely, instruments of terror to advance its agenda of socalled Islamisation – something that both Muslims and non-Muslims alike condemn; yet boasts of an impressive network perhaps invisible to the locals. While it claims to neither recognise institutions of the Nigerian state nor consider itself answerable to traditional authorities or religious leaders in the North, it retains the freedom to operate at will.. It regards no institution as sacrosanct – just as it sees religious houses as soft targets to be attacked at will. Courtesy of the Boko Haram, the once thriving commercial cities of Kano, Maiduguri and Bauchi are now ghost towns – stripped of their famed vibrancy.

Having since put peace in the North in full flight, it remains to be seen how governance can be effective let alone the more enduring prospects of development. That is how powerful the Boko Haram has become. The question of how the sect finds its staying power in the environment where its doctrine is said to be strange is something that sociologists would find interesting.

Now, the Boko Haram is only a fraction of the northern story of unease as in the Plateau and elsewhere in the Northcentral where issues of indigene-ship and settler rights have constituted sore points among the peoples –with frequent eruptions accompanied by the spilling of much blood on either side of the divide. Today, virtually every sub group in the North either pretends to or plays victim of imaginary injustices with each group ready to pounce at

was the prime casualty.

The first full season of opportunity, therefore, came with the inauguration of the Adebisi Akande government, with the return of democracy, on 29 May 1999. Chief Akande realised the enormity of the Osun development situation.

He was also ideologically drilled enough to “deliver”.

He got the policies right, trying to restructure the school curriculum and the teaching service, prelude to grooming the right manpower mix to get

the state powering off the ground. But he got the politics tragically wrong!

The ensuing demonization, of the sanest administration the State of Osun ever had, both by a sneering opposition and pork-seeking insiders of the ruling Alliance for Democracy (AD) party, sealed the Akande government’s fate. Aside from the futuristic Bola Ige Government Secretariat, Abere, and some roads of the highest quality at rock-bottom prices that the administration built, Osun was to return to the years of the locusts, as exemplified by the Oyinlola era.

The Oyinlola years are best forgotten, as aridity in thinking became the fundamental principles of Osun government policy. No wonder then that everything came to virtual standstill. That parlous record was worsened by the crude power grab of 2007, before the Court of Appeal judicial intervention, after the controversial win of 2003.

So, if Osun is coming of age at 21, it has little to do with biological maturity. Rather, it has everything to do with changed and dynamic leadership, which the Aregbesola government is bringing to bear on the state.

All of a sudden, a dormant and sleepy state is bitten by the creative spark. All of a sudden, a cynic’s bastion of destructive rumours (hitherto tagged the rumour capital of the globe) has turned a vibrant work-in-progress, with an endless vista of construction sites!

Even before then, the state had taken the lead in corporate rebranding for development, which the political dullards over there, with their security collaborators, first dismissed as subversive. But from that rejected stone, Bayelsa, the president’s own state, has taken a cue in corporate identification and pride, without the naysayers predicting political Armageddon!

At 21, Osun’s wheel is turning for the better – and just as well. But for this paradise to last, Governor Aregbesola will do well to stay focused, manage zeal without excitability and nurture his own camp with legal and legitimate pork, aside from ensuring general equal opportunity.

The longsuffering people of Osun cannot again afford the costly reverses that followed the golden dawn of the Akande years.

the least provocation. The failure of governance has merely compounded the crisis facing the troubled region – a situation that is now replicated in the pervasive poverty, alienation, threats and resorts to violence by groups.

It seems therefore a new day that the northern governors seem finally roused to recognise the fire on their rooftops.

However, by outsourcing the issue of the Boko Haram or other problems facing the North, the governors miss the mark. The issue facing the North is one of failure of governance which an ad hoc body will never be able to mitigate. Like other geo-political groups in the country, the children of Arewa desire to live in peace with their neighbours; they seek a nation run on the principles of equity, justice and fair-play – a nation where every subgroup is given unfettered opportunity to live out their dreams. While it goes without saying that progress and development is inconceivable in the atmosphere of chaos, the missing link in the North, as indeed most part of the Nigerian federation, is leadership. In the case of the governors, they simply acted as if the problems will go away.

Of course, the cost of their tardiness will take years to appreciate.

Today, the leadership of the North has remained unyielding to the demands to rework the structure of the federation which not only gives very little room for the nationalities in the Nigerian federation to optimise their potentials, but has in fact remained the very source of constant friction. – rendering development a nightmare.

The governors do not want state police; they seek to abolish the so-called on-shore/off-shore dichotomy as if to extend the frontiers of the status quo that has produced the current dependency that has underdeveloped every part of the federation.

Of course, with the governors of the North chasing shadows, it is hard to resist the suggestion that the leaders of the region are its worst enemy. .

‘By outsourcing the issue of the Boko Haram or other problems facing the North, the governors miss the mark. The issue facing the North is one of failure of governance which an ad hoc body will never be able to mitigate’

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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COMMENTS

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O every rule, we are told there is an exception. In Nigeria it does appear that being a criminal is rewarding, but that depends on who you are, where you come from and nature of the crime committed.

I am sure you know the story of one James Onanefe Ibori who was governor of Nigeria’s Delta State for eight years starting from May 29, 1999. He stole so much from the people of Delta State while he was in office that many were asking what would be left for his successor to work with. But you know in Delta, money is no problem and the government has been running effectively in the state after his exit.

In spite of that Nigerians were still wondering whether the man would be allowed to get away with all the loot he allegedly siphoned from the public purse.

But since “big men” don’t necessarily pay for breaking the law in Nigeria, Ibori walked the land free and even when our increasingly toothless Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) wanted to bite him, he got a pliable judiciary to halt any move in that direction. And so we looked on praying that something would happen one day that would force him to account for how he made his stupendous wealth.

That something didn’t happen here as the gods of the suffering masses in Delta State, knowing that nothing would happen to Ibori here, pushed him to run away from the country when it appeared his political

‘They took up arms against Nigeria, damaged our collective economic interest and yet were pardoned just to allow peace to reign. And now they are being rewarded for their criminal past all in the name of securing/ sustaining peace. Nigeria we hail thee’

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HE Sunday edition of The Nation newspaper of July 22 featured a short take on Niger State in the “Political Ripples” column (Page 21). The writer subjectively titled his political commentary as “Between Aliyu and Yahaya”. This is not only misleading and presumptuous but also disrespectful to the person and office of the Executive Governor of Niger State, Chief Servant (Dr.) Muazu Babangida Aliyu. There is no way the appointing authority, which in this case is Chief Servant MB Aliyu, can be placed on the same pedestal as his appointee, which in this case is the Chief of Staff, Prof.

Muhammed Kuta Yahaya. We shall soon return to this.

In the commentary in question, the writer stated, inter alia, that “within the political and government circles in Niger State today, the fear of Professor Mohammed Yahaya is said to be the beginning of wisdom for many politicians and civil servants”.

Pray, which Niger State is the writer referring to? Certainly not the one we all know, live in, and work for. This is a state where peace and tranquillity reign supreme; where the Chief Servant conducts governance in an open and transparent manner with love and humility. The people are not treated just as the object of governance but as participants and partners whose views, inputs and contributions are indispensable to the successes recorded so far in every strata of life by the administration.

The political class in Niger State is one of the most mature, sophisticated, and publicspirited in the entire country; not for us is any of the sectarian strife, political violence, bickering and polarization that we have witnessed in other parts of the country. Niger State has the distinction of being home to two former Heads of State; rather than this fact tearing the state apart or heating up the polity, the state has been able to convert this uniqueness to great advantage with the leadership qualities of the Chief Servant.

There is no disquiet amongst the political class in Niger State; neither are there rumblings in the state’s civil service as a result of a so-called super appointee whom the article in question chose to rate even far and above the appointing authority. If we may ask again: Where on earth does such an anomaly exist? The wheel of the Niger State civil ser-

When it pays to be a criminal opponents jostling for sphere of influence with him in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were gaining the upper hand and ready to tighten the noose around him.

That escape to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates landed him in trouble and from there, one thing led to another and Ibori is today cooling his heels in a British jail for among other things, stealing from the people of Delta State.

Some of his colleagues in the looting spree who were “smart” enough to know that in Nigeria “anything goes”, quickly entered into a plea bargain with EFCC and forfeited some of their loot to the state in exchange for freedom to move around and spend the rest as they deemmed fit. No doubt, if he had remained here and maintained a low profile, he would still be walking the land a free man because he is a big man and big men are above the law here so to speak.

They are not the only big men criminals in Nigeria who are seemingly above the law.

Take a look at some ex militants in the Niger Delta and you’ll understand what I am talking about. Mujahhid Dokubo-Asari, you know him. He is the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force. He earns $9m (N1.420billion) annually, guarding pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The money, according to report is to pay his former foot soldiers that were helping him to destroy oil pipelines in the Niger Delta when they took up arms against Nigeria.

Another ex-militant who also got mouth watering contract to protect NNPC pipelines from attack/vandalization is self styled

General Ebikabowei “Boyloaf” Victor Ben, who gets $3.8million or N599.64million annually, just like General Ateke Tom. Their pipeline protection contract is small compared with $22.9 million or N3.614 billion that goes into the pocket of exmilitant General Government Ekpumopolo alias Tompolo.

The only qualification or credential that these ex-criminals have to earn these lucrative contracts was being a former Niger Delta militant. They took up arms against Nigeria, damaged our collective economic interest and yet were pardoned just to allow peace to reign. And now they are being rewarded for their criminal past all in the name of securing/sustaining peace. Nigeria we hail thee.

Shall we then declare a general amnesty for all Boko Haram bombers and give them one year free access to our most productive oil wells to lift the crude and sell as they deem fit in exchange for peace in the north.

Or rather we should compensate them with the Kaduna refinery after rehabilitation by the NNPC. It is reported that Nigeria will spend $450million on its amnesty programme in the Niger Delta this year alone. I don’t have any problem with that but my grouse is to what use the money is going to be deployed.

If it is spent bribing the likes of Tompolo, Dokubo-Asari and Ateke Tom, to allow peace to reign in the Niger Delta then it would be money down the drain.

If the cause of the militancy in the Niger Delta region is the criminal neglect of the area by successive government in terms of

infrastructural developments, then it is not pumping money into private pockets to silence the militants that would solve the problem. Already there are reports of increasing criminal activities and even pipeline bursting in the region in spite of the presence of these ex-militants turned security guards. As long as there is big money or lucrative contract to get once you negotiate with government, the criminals bursting the pipelines will continue and they will claim to be fighting the cause of the Niger Deltan.

Paying Tompolo and co is rewarding criminality and though the end (peace at all cost) could be said to have justified the means so far, the government is by so doing setting a dangerous precedent and nothing stops other elements from other parts of the country, even in the Niger Delta from igniting or re-igniting violence against the state with the hope of a future reward.

Even if the pipeline protection contracts were to be given out to Niger Delta people, must it be to the ex-militants? Were they not paid handsomely when the amnesty programme was announced? Is there no other jobless Niger Deltan that could be trained and paid to protect the pipelines?

Must it be Ateke Tom or Dokubo-Asari of this world? I believe by continuously patronizing them and in this manner too, the Federal Government is insulting the rest of the people in the Niger Delta region, especially those who remained law abiding and believed in Nigeria throughout the difficult period of the militancy.

One up for the police The arrest by the police of the killers of Cynthia Osokugo has shown clearly what a federal police should be doing. Murder, I believe should be classified as a federal crime that should be handled by the federal police.

States police should be saddled with lesser responsibilities including day-to-day policing. I hope the police get to bring everybody involved in Cynthia’s murder to book to serve as deterrent to any other person(s) similarly inclined. I hope they would also handle the murder of Comrade Laitan Oyerinde in a similar transparent manner.

Servant-leadership and team spirit in Niger

By Soji Bamidele vice grinds efficiently without rancour and power struggle, thanks to the immense wealth of experience that the Chief Servant brought from the Federal civil service and which he deployed to make our state civil service one of the best and most professional in the country today. We are proud of the civil service that we have today; it is a worthy legacy which Dr. Aliyu shall bequeath to Niger State after a meritorious eight-year service.

The author was right when he stated that Prof. Yahaya was Secretary to the State Government in the first dispensation of Dr. Aliyu as Chief Servant; but again he got it all wrong when he proceeded from that premise to state that the said Prof. Yahaya “is regarded by many as the most powerful man, who allegedly determines who gets what, when, and how in the North Central state”.

What a fallacious statement! Those faceless “many”, whom the writer attributed that unsubstantiated statement to, must be jaundiced indeed! It shatters the boundaries of reason and logic to say that the clay is superior to the potter; don’t you think so? If a single official, who was appointed, were to become the de facto and de jure as the writer laboured to establish, though unsuccessfully, what becomes of the established and timehonoured machinery of government in the state? Where is the role of the state executive council? What becomes of the executives of the ruling party in the state? This is not to talk of the Chief Servant himself on whose desk the buck stops; or has that stopped being the defining character of the presidential system of government that we now operate in this country?

It is just not true that a single person wields the enormous power as outlined in the writeup; even the Chief Servant, who by law is empowered as the Chief Executive Officer of the state, delegates a lot of his duties, functions, and powers to a plethora of officers of whom Prof. Yahaya is just one. In the Presidential system that we operate, there are other arms as well as tiers of government which

serve as checks and balances on the executive arm of government. The state House of Assembly and the judiciary are independent of the executive. In Niger State, this is truly so.

There are also the local governments, which form the third tier of government, which also run their own show according to rules and regulations stipulated by the country’s constitution. In all of this, there is no magic that anyone would conjure that would make him or her man ride rough-shod over everyone else, more so when we have exited military dictatorship.

The writer of the article in question exposed his under-hand in the last paragraph of his piece that dripped with malice and which can be seen as obvious political propaganda when he said “Yahaya’s closeness to the governor may have fuelled speculations in the state that he is being prepared for the governorship seat in 2015, a development which may pitch the governor against some powerful retired generals in the state who have a different game plan for the 2015 race”. 2015: That magical date again! So this really is not about Prof. Yahaya but about some people’s designs towards 2015! Prof. Yahaya is a mere pawn on the political chessboard of those who have started the 2015 race in 2012! Focusing on Prof. Yahaya is the peg they need, as it were, to prosecute their political agenda.

Otherwise, how can ordinarily reasonable people accuse a Chief of Staff to a governor of being “close” to the governor? Do they want him to be very far away or to be estranged from the governor? Do they understand the duties of a Chief of Staff? Is there a way he can creditably perform the functions by being far removed from the governor? At any rate, the Chief of Staff is not the only appointee of the governor who is close to the governor; there are so many other appointees and civil servants who, by virtue of the responsibilities bestowed upon them, must be close to the governor. This is as it should be, not only in Niger State but also all over the country.

Prof. Yahaya was at the nation’s premier university, University of Ibadan, before Dr.

Aliyu appointed him Secretary to the State Government during the first dispensation; he is therefore not the obtrusive politician that some people would have us believe. The professor rightly saw his appointment as a call to duty despite his unparalleled love for his vocation as an academic. The confidence reposed in him by the Chief Servant humbled him and made him to give his all to the assignment – and that is what he has done since he joined the government of Niger State.

Prof. Yahaya is not about to be deterred in his single-minded determination to continue to give his all to the service of his home state.

He is grateful for the opportunity that he has had to work at close quarters with the Chief Servant; to say that he has learnt a lot will be an understatement. His commitment is to the success of the government of Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu; his goal is none other than the goal of the Chief servant. To those who have goals that are at variance with the best interest of our dear Niger State, we advice them to please find somewhere else to ply their disruptive trade. The government is focused on, and committed to, delivering the dividends of democracy to the good people of Niger State and shall not be diverted from this singleness of purpose. There is no schism or polarisation in the state civil service; there is no animosity amongst the Chief Servant’s team; and there is no tension state-wide amongst the political class • Bamidele, Journalist and public affairs analyst writes from Abuja.

‘In Niger State, this is truly so. There are also the local governments, which form the third tier of government, which also run their own show according to rules and regulations stipulated by the country’s constitution’

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NATIONSPORT TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT FIFA U-20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

NFF sure of Falconets' progress •Glass House not losing sleep over Mexico tie

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HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have again reiterated their conviction that the nation's representatives at the ongoing Japan 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the Falconets will emerge victorious ahead of their quarter final clash with Mexico on Wednesday.

Falconets flew past Italy 4-0 in a rather one-sided last group match played on Sunday morning, courtesy of Francisca Ordega's hat-trick and Osarenoma Igbinovia's goal, and with a last four place up for grabs against the Latin Americans on Wednesday, the NFF have implored the team to go all out for another win.

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Oparanozie, Okoro S

The scribe of the Federation, Barrister Musa Amadu, who made the minds of the Football House known in a brief chat with NationSport in Lagos, said: “Our girls (Falconets) are doing well in Japan.

They have a quarter final game against Mexico on Wednesday, August 30th and we are confident that they will continue to rise and rise until they get to the final and win the cup.”

Falconets are the world vice champions at the current championship having got to the final of the previous edition in Germany.

scale doping test

•Urine samples declared negative

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EDERATION of International Football Associations (FIFA) has given Falconets forward, Desire Oparanozie a clean bill of health at the on-going FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. On August 19, shortly after the team's opening game against Korea Republic, the player's urine sample was collected for a doping test along with teammate, Chidinma Okoro.

"I'm leaving it to my agent to handle my dealings but I'm not going on trials to any club because I'm too big for that."

Amkar Perm still remain favourites to land Aneke, who is facing visa hitch in leaving Nigeria for the Russian club.

"The deal with Amkar Perm is still on," confirmed Aneke's agent, Hasan Egilmez to supersport.com.

But the interest in Aneke has grown, as his agent claims a Swiss club want him.

He said the interest is, however, still on the ice except the Swiss club can sell one of their strikers to make room for Aneke's arrival before the transfer window closes on August 31.

his tactics secret, says Amodu •Debunks link with Niger Republic

“

KESHI (Stephen) may not want them now because he is in the process of rebuilding a team and he wants to discover more talents so that when one is not there another one is available. You can be sure that he knows Osaze (Odemwingie) and MIkel (John Obi) very well and he has not started negotiating the most crucial part of his assignment. If you begin to deploy your best arsenal now that you are playing little African countries, what will you deploy if you play bigger countries? Let’s allow him to do what he is doing in as much as the players have not disappointed.”

Former Super Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu said the above in staunch defence of current Head Coach, Stephen Keshi’s decision to leave out John MIkel Obi, Osaze Odemwingie and other established players from the senior national team’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia in Monrovia.

Amodu opined that Keshi might be keeping his trump card to his chest ahead of other tough encounters in the near future.

“Every coach must keep his tactics secret and not reveal all in one fell swoop. You have to gradually incorporate them. When you are developing a team, you don’t just do it; you leave the known ones and start with the unknown. It is when you have discovered the good ones from the unknown that you may now look for those established ones that can blend and you begin to size what kind of team you are playing and the players that will be relevant to the pattern you want to adopt,” Amodu explained. The Edo State-born tactician has coached the

By Tunde Liadi and Taofeek Babalola senior national team four times. He guided Nigeria to World Cup tickets in the last two, en route Japan/Korea, 2002 and Germany, 2010 only to be let go and replaced by Adegboye Onigbinde and Lars Lagerback respectively.

Meanwhile, Amodu has debunked the reports in the media that he applied for the Nigerien national team head coach job.

He declared that he had no contacts at all with anybody from Niger. “I don’t know where they got that information from. Nobody spoke to me from Niger; maybe some agents are just play-acting.

Nobody talked to me about the Niger job,” Amodu confessed.

But when the results were released on Sunday evening, (August 26), both players were cleared of taking any performance-enhancing drugs.

It is the practice of FIFA to randomly pick two players from both sides after a game for the test. "l am happy with the results. It is a good one for the team especially at this crucial time," revealed head Coach, Edwin Okon.

Nicknamed "The Bull" by Assistant Coach, Florence Omagbemi, Oparanozie, who would be featuring in her fifth World Cup appearance, has a goal to her credit which was against Korea Republic.

During Nigeria's last group match, she had the opportunity of increasing her tally but had her attempt at goal was saved by Italian keeper, Laura Giuliani.

Nigeria takes on Mexico in the quarter final on Thursday.

Musa delighted over first goal

•Oparanozie

MIKEL, OSAZE’S EXCLUSION

Keshi keeping

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HMED MUSA said he was delighted to finally open his goals account at the weekend for Russian club CSKA Moscow in the new season.

Nigeria international Ahmed Musa scored the third goal for CSKA in their 3-0 win over Krylya Sovetov after 85 minutes off an assist from

Gonzalez.

CSKA are now fifth on the table with 12 points from six matches, a point behind leaders and champions Zenit Saint Petersburg.

The elated winger told MTNFootball.com he was not disturbed that he had not found the back of the net before his strike because he was

always confident he would soon do that.

"I am happy that I scored. I know I will score goals and I am sure more will come in subsequent games. It was a great experience for me and winning the game was equally good," Musa informed MTNFootball.com

MOSES:

Chelsea’s interest surprised me V

ICTOR MOSES admits he was “surprised” when he first learned of Chelsea’s interest in him but insists he did not think twice about joining the European champions.

The 21-year-old winger completed his move to Stamford Bridge on Friday after the Blues had a bid in the region of £9m accepted by Wigan Athletic.

It was Chelsea’s fifth offer for a player the Londoners have been chasing all summer and Moses admitted his delight at finally securing the move to west London.

“When I first heard that Chelsea had come in for me I was surprised,”

Moses told Chelsea’s website. “But I had a call from my agent saying they were really interested in me and what did I think.

“I said they are the European champions and anyone would like to play there and now that everything is sorted, I am delighted to be here.

“I am happy to come back to London as I grew up here and it is a great honour to play for the club that won the Champions League.”

Following Chelsea’s FA Cup and Champions League double last season, Moses is desperate to help the Blues lift more silverware this term.

The Blues are in the hunt for six

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including those based outside of Egypt to face Nigeria. This will be totally different from the last squad that faced the West Africans during their 3-2 win. Left out is only Mohammed Zidan who is seemingly still in the national dog house after he left the team camp last time to start negotiation with other clubs.

Rather Bradley has recalled Shikabala after he expelled him from the team due to his problems with former Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata.

The new squad will now include: Essam Al Hadary “Merreikh – Sudan” Adam Al Abd “Braiton – England” Ahmed Said “Lierse – Belgium“

Ahmed Samir “Lierse – Belgiu m” Ahmed Al Mohammady “Sunderland – England” DoDo Al Gabas “Lierse – Belgium” Mahmooud Abd “Al Razek“ Shikabala “Al Wasl – UAE” Hosny Abd Rabo “Al Nassr – KSA” Mohammed Salah “Basel – Switzerland “

the outcome could well determine the winners of Group A. Esperance are still top of the group on six points after their two matches against Etoile were cancelled, while Sunshine are second also on six points with their 0-0 draw with Etoile in Sousse also chalked off.

A draw or a win for hosts Esperance will see them finish top of the new three-team standings as they will still welcome bottom team ASO Chlef in a final group game.

The winners of Group A will clash with the runners-up in Group B, which currently looks like a straight fight between TP Mazembe and Berekum Chelsea of Ghana.

The Runners-up of Group A will face the winners of Group B, who are likely to be six-time champions Al Ahly of Egypt.

ASO Chlef remain pointless and their final group game at home against Esperance slated for the weekend of September 14-16 will be a mere formality as even a win for the Algerians would only earn them three points, not enough to unseat either Sunshine or Esperance.

Uche Kalu scores on Turkey debut

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X-ENYIMBA star Uche Kalu hit target and gave an assist for his new Turkish club Rizespor to win 2-1 on the opening day of the season.

Kalu scored the equaliser for Rizespor in the 63rd minute on his debut to give them a lifeline at home against Gaziantep.

He also provided the assist for Alkilic to score the winner in added time.

Rizespor, who finished fourth last season, are now third on the table with three points from a game.

The former Enyimba striker scored five goals in the Nigeria Premier League before he moved to Turkey.

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Pharaohs recall Shikabala for Eagles

HE Egyptian Football Association has announced that the Egyptian national team will play two friendly matches next month with Nigeria and Benin. Diaa Al Sayed, the assistant coach confirmed this to supersport.com saying that they accepted the offer from the sponsor. “We have an offer to play two friendly matches against Nigeria and Benin and the head coach Bob Bradley has accepted it,” he said. “The first match will be against Nigeria on the 7th of September and the second will be against Benin on the 11th," he added. Smarting from their Africa Cup of Nations ouster and not taking any chances for Brazil 2014, Bradley has rolled out the big guns

UNSHINE STARS have qualified for the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League following the expulsion of Etoile du Sahel for crowd trouble.

Tunisian club Etoile were expelled

by Confederation of African Football (CAF) from the competition on Sunday after their home game against local rivals Esperance.

A media release by CAF cited Article 7 paragraph 6 of the regulations of the competition to throw Etoile out after crowd trouble forced their home game against Esperance to be abandoned in the 69th minute.

Article 7 paragraph 6 of the competition’s regulations stipulates: “If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations.”

Therefore this weekend’s clash in Tunis between defending champions Esperance and Sunshine will be the Nigerian club’s final group game and

•Uche Kalu

NFF: Federation Cup glamour has returned

trophies this season, starting with Friday’s European Super Cup clash against Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in Monaco.

“There are a lot of world-class players here and I am here to do my best for the team and to help them win more trophies,” he continued.

“The club has done well for the past few years, they have achieved a lot, and for me to be able to play with these world-class players, I am delighted

NIGERIA VS EGYPT

•Amodu

Sunshine hit semis

after Etoile’s expulsion

From Tunde Liadi, Owerri

Aneke: I’m too big for Al Ahly trials GYPTIAN GIANTS, Al Ahly, have reportedly showed interest in Nigerian striker, Jude Aneke, but the Nigerian has turned it down.

According to reports in Egypt, Al Ahly are ready to offer the Warri Wolves' forward the chance to undergo trials with the club.

The club are mooting a one-week test for the record goal-scorer in the history of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) subject to a contract.

The Egyptian club are hoping that Aneke can make the trip to Cairo by Monday in order to start the test.

But Aneke's representative has baulked at Al Ahly's offer and insisted that his client is not open to undergoing trials except a straight deal.

The player also told supersport.com:

AFRICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

•Victor Moses

HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has congratulated Heartland of Owerri for winning the Federation Cup back-toback after a 2-1 victory over Lobi Stars of Makurdi, stating that the club was the better side after the final match played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

The Naze Millionaires' goals from Jolly Osas and Brendan Ogbu in the 30th and 90th minutes of the 2012 final which cancelled Ezekiel Sunday's 5th minute Lobi opener handed the trophy back to Heartland after another win last year over next door neighbours, Enyimba of Aba. The General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Barrister Musa Amadu in an interview with NationSport shortly after the match stressed that the two teams that played the final and those that traded tackles in the third place match gave a very good account of themselves and showcased Nigerian football to the world.

“Well, I think it was a well organised competition deservedly won by

By Tunde Liadi and Taofeek Babalola

Heartland. I must give kudos to the Lagos State Government particularly His Excellency governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) for doing a very good job and they have made Nigerians proud.

“This is a spectacle that has depicted Nigerian football in the most positive way you can think of. The objectives of the Federation are right on stream and two years into the administration, I think things are beginning to take shape from what has been happening before. By the time the board will finish executing its programmes Nigerians will then begin to appreciate the fact that football is gradually being brought back to its glorious days.

“It was very colourful and it could have gone either way. I commend the level of professionalism exhibited by both teams they did very well and I also commend Heartland for retaining the trophy. I am sure that Nigerian fans have been well fed with good football”

INSIDE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

Website: http://www.thenationonlineng.com

Page 25

Foundation donates to the poor - Page 26

Cheap houses for demolition victims

Preventing deaths on Abuja roads

- Page 27

• Top: A pedestrian bridge. Down: One of the busy Abuja roads

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Between the President and the media - Page 40

ORRIED by the loss of lives on the ever-busy Abuja roads as a result of lack of pedestrian bridges, residents have called on the Federal Government and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to build pedestrian bridges to prevent untimely deaths of most Nigerians.

Observers said precious lives are lost on these roads daily.

Though overhead lights, road demarcations, and wide, clean roads are some of the features of Abuja, the newly built roads are some of the many attractions Abuja possesses. These highways make driving very easy and enjoyable, especially at night when the streetlights come on.

Interestingly, more roads are

“S

By Frances Ajewole

being constructed daily with such designs that, if looked at from a certain height, the intricate patterns would be appreciated.

In Abuja, these roads can be found linking one part of the city to the other. Drivers and road-users ply these wide roads at break-neck speed, without a thought to the safety of innocent pedestrians.

As expected, pedestrians need to cross these expansive roads for one reason or the other. So, it is rational that there be pedestrian bridges built at strategic locations to aid movement. The pedestrian bridges are safety walkways constructed to aid movement for pedestrians The creation of these bridges is a necessity

because it saves pedestrians the trouble of dashing across the road while cars are passing.

Lack of this facility makes one wonder if lives are no longer precious. Does the government not see preserving the lives of the citizens as important?

Area one Express Way, NICON Junction and Banex, are a few examples of the dangerous roads that claim lives constantly. Pedestrians have no choice than to walk or run across these roads, some of which have between six and 10 lanes. They are knocked down, maimed or even killed in the process.

Some residents in Abuja have expressed concern over this matter.

Waheed Opupa, who was almost hit by a speeding car along Area 1 Express Way

months ago said: “It was the grace of God that saved me.

The car, which was on full speed would have hit me and I would have died definitely. I waited for almost 30 minutes to make sure there was no car coming before I ran across.

Suddenly, a car emerged and nearly knocked me down. If I had wasted any time, it would have been a different story”.

Similarly, Innocent Dangele, a taxi driver blamed the Federal Government for not providing pedestrian bridges where necessary. “If we mistakenly hit somebody now, we will be called murderers. How can they •Continued on Page 26

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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ABUJA REVIEW •Continued from Page 25

build wide roads like these without any provision for overhead bridges for pedestrians? Many people have died as a result of this oversight. happen. These people crossing the road think they know how fast the Government should build pedestrian bridges. By so doing, they would save many lives.

Despite the large number of express roads in Abuja, not more than 11 overhead bridges have been constructed. One would wonder at the implication of this.

Joshua Egbodo, a reporter who covers the National Assembly attributed the daily loss of lives to absence of pedestrian bridges on major highways. This, he said, is a fallout of government’s insensitivity to the plight of the common man.

He said: “Why would a contractor design a road that would run through a heavily populated area without

adequate number of pedestrian bridges? Ironically, it is the same government officials that would approve of the project as having met the required specifications. Those who have the interest of the people at heart should have asked for a redesign or outright rejection of the project.”

He, however, stated that even where bridges exist, the attitude of Nigerians who are always in a hurry in doing certain things is another factor that results in loss of lives. This is so because most of them prefer to run across the highway to taking the patience to use the bridges.

“The loss of lives is quite unfortunate, but more can be done through public enlightenment on the part of the people. Governments at all levels should ensure that pedestrian bridges are provided for people’s use.

Another reporter, Edegbe Odemwingie, who also covers activities at the National Assembly expressed concern over the attitude of the FCT

Why would a contractor design a road that would run through a heavily populated area without adequate number of pedestrian bridges? Ironically, it is the same government officials that would approve of the project

T

HE just-concluded Ramadan period provided some opportunities for well-meaning Nigerians to exhibit soame level of benevolence to the less-privileged people. The Muslim faithful used the occasion to show love to the needy.

Their Christian counterparts who believed that celebrating the Ramadan with their Muslim brothers and sisters provided an opportunity to preach peace and unity were not left out in acts of generosity of spirit.

While some visited entertainment centres such as amusement parks with friends and members of their families, others chose to

•Pedestrian bridge

Preventing deaths on Abuja roads Administration on the issue.

He said: “ I think the dearth of pedestrian bridges in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is a careless planning flaw on the part of authorities that conceived

the city. A situation Where several long stretches of highways inside the city are left without strategically placed pedestrian bridges must be

Foundation donates to the poor From Olugbenga Adanikin

celebrate in their homes.

This, though, did not prevent the relaxation centres to be fraught with activities.

However, as some were having fun at public places, some had a thought for the lowly.

For instance, a non-governmental and non-profit-making organisation, Halima Jibrin Foundation chose to visit and spend quality time with inmates of an orphanage. It celebrated the Eid-El-Fitr

with the deformed, those living with HIV and other less-privileged individuals.

The foundation’s visits to City of Refuge Orphanage in Durumi and Abuja Children’s Home in Katampe gave the children some sense of belonging, as joy and happiness radiated on the faces of the inmates. They were full of excitement as they jumped and danced.

The foundation donated food items, toiletries and cash to the beneficiaries.

The founder of the organisation

Mrs. Halima Kukang said the gesture was to urge Nigerians to remember the needy especially during the Ramadan period. She said being a Christian would not deter her foundation from assisting the less-privileged individuals, describing the period as an avenue to show love.

The co-founder, Pastor Gibson Kukang, said it was imperative to show love to others irrespective of religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. He further stated that everyone is God’s creation. Therefore,

urgently addresed. Several accidents recorded as a result of the dearth of pedestrian bridges are clear pointer to its urgency.”

there is need to care for the needy.

“It is good to share together in love whether you are Christians or Muslims because we are all God’s creation. Fasting is a common spiritual bond for everyone. So, we are here to celebrate Sallah with these children. It is the instruction from God to give and that is why we live,” Kukang added.

In her remarks, Founder of the City of Refuge Orphanage, Mrs. Biobele Odesola, a lawyer, commended the foundation for their gesture.

She stated that it has been challenging taking care of the children, stressing that some of the children are living with HIV and some are suffering from sickle-cell anemia.

Mrs. Odesola said: “As you can see, these are little children; some of them are HIV positive while some are sickle cell carriers. It has not been easy. Some praised us for the work we are doing and others have marked us down.”

She urged Nigerians to have in•Continued on Page 27

Our challenges are quite many, especially water supply. We have light everyday but the water is not regular.

Sometimes, we don’t have water for upwards of one. Whenever it finally comes, we pump the one in the borehole into tanks •Group photograph with the kids of the Abuja Children Home after the donation

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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ABUJA REVIEW

300 youths, women to clean up satellite towns

A

S part of commitments to ensure environmental cleanliness of its towns, the Satellite Towns Development Agency (STDA) of the FCTA plans to engage 300 youths and women across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory for the Clean and Green Greater Abuja Initiative.

The Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide disclosed this while inaugurating a Ministerial Committee on the initiative.

The minister mandated the committee to evolve effective and sustainable enforcement strategies in the cleaning and greening of the satellite towns.

She also directed members of the committee to recommend appropriate and sustainable waste management strategies for the satellite towns.

“The FCTA is going to assist the six area councils in the areas of capacity and funding to clean up the satellite towns. The administration will help out in cleaning up the satellite towns

V

ICTIMS of the recent demolition exercises in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) may soon smile as the Federal Government has directed that affordable houses be built for them to cushion their agony.

Over 5,000 houses have been marked for demolition in Mpape area of the city.

The decision of the Federal Government was made known by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed.

The minister said this is a palliative measure to cushion the effect of the exercises on the victims as he solicited for their understanding in this matter.

According to him, the demolition exercises carried out in the last three months were not a deliberate act to inflict harm and impoverish those affected but to rescue the Abuja Master Plan and for security reasons among others. ”We are not demolishing houses because we want to cause pains to anybody. It is because we want to serve them. There must

•Low cost houses

From Bukola Amusan and regional road corridors, while the area councils are expected to clean up the villages, including the minor settlements,” she said.

On the engagement of the 300 youths and women, Akinjide assured that their process of their employment would be transparent.

“The Ministerial Committee will work out the details on the engagement of 50 youths and women in each of the six area councils. Let me however state here that the engagement of the youth and women won’t be based on party lines. We want people that are ready to work,” she said.

The minister ordered the committee to embark on aggressive tree planting exercise and vegetation control to achieve the greening of the satellite towns.

She listed other terms of reference for the committee to include ensuring public awareness through effective publicity and sensitisation cam-

paigns to foster the culture of cleanliness among the residents; designing and identifying locations for public conveniences at strategic locations in the satellite towns; and to achieve the clean-up of the satellite towns and highways within the FCT. The ministerial committee is chaired by the Director of the Satellite Towns Development Agency Tukur Ibrahim Bakori, an engineer while the Head, Environment, STDA, Mr. Olusegun Olusa, will serve as secretary of the committee.

Other members of the committee are Senior Special Assistant (Special Duties) to the Minister of State, Mrs. Jummai Kwanashie; Director, Inspectorate, Planning and Monitoring of Area Councils Service Secretariat (ACSS), Joshua Kaura; Director of Development Control, Mr. Yahaya Yusuf; Director of FCT National Orientation Agency, Mr. Moses Disa Aba; Director of Urban and Regional Planning, Mr. Abubakar Sulaiman; and Director of Parks and Recreation, Mr. Luka Bulus Achi.

Also in the committee are Special Assistant to the Minister of State on Environment Mr. Ayo Sotinrin; Special Assistant to the Secretary of So-

• From left: Akinjide and Bakori, during the inauguration of members of the ministerial committee. cial Development Secretariat, Mr. Dominic Oga; Heads of Department (HODs) of area councils environment department; and officers of the Federal Ministry of Information in the six area councils.

Responding, the chairman of the committee Bakori, expressed the readiness of the members to commence work immediately in order to achieve the terms of reference given to them.

Cheap houses coming for demolition victims From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

be a rescue operation for them and the rest of the people so that we will be secured. At times we take such a decision because of some heavy responsibility and information that we have and certainly, we as an administration know the agony they are going through.

“We are going to do something

in line with the directive of President Jonathan who said we must ensure that we provide some solace and provide some long-term palliatives for the victims.

“We are going to build affordable houses that would accommodate those that were affected,”he explained.

The minister also revealed that very soon, the administration

We are not demolishing houses because we want to cause pains to anybody... We are going to build affordable houses that would accommodate those that were affected

would begin a registration exercise of all those that were affected to develop a social housing for them, adding that an area has already been provided for this purpose.

On his Sallah message to Muslim faithful and other FCT residents, Senator Mohammed who fielded questions from journalists

appreciated residents. ” I thank them most especially for giving us the support. And they should know that as residents, they also exercise leadership at their own level,” he said as he urged both Christians and Muslims to continue to live together in harmony.

Foundation donates to the poor •Continued from Page 26 terest in giving to the less-privileged people, especially the orphanages.

However, she called on members of the public to support the orphanage in areas of tuition fees, accommodation and access to health facilities.

The administrator, Abuja Children Home, Alhaji Sulieman Umar commended the foundation for its generosity.

Umar, who was represented by his secretary, Mr. Joseph Daniel said

if Nigerians could cultivate the spirit of sharing with the less-privileged individuals in the society, they will have a sense of belonging.

He urged well-to-do Nigerians to remember the needy, stressing that within the festive period, the home has received various supports including cash donations.

Umar further noted that baby foods are mostly needed in the home for the growth and development of infant inmates.

Among the inmates of the Abuja Children Home is little Miss Stella Obasi, an SS1 student. She commended the foundation for the donations and its decision to spend some quality time with them. She said the orphanage has been great in addressing their needs.

According to her, officials of the home took them as their children, gave them foods as well as care and share love with the entire children.

She said people come on weekly and monthly basis to give them support especially on basic needs such as cloths, foods, sanitary items, among others.

Stella said: “It has been very nice to have people who take care of us as their children, give us food every morning and evening. People come here every weekend and some daily to play with us, teach us the Bible and know how we feel.”

However, she lamented the shortage of water supply in the orphanage.

She called for supports from philanthropist to help meet their educational needs especially school fees, uniforms and other school materials.

“Our challenges are quite much, especially water supply. We have light everyday but the water is not regular. Sometimes, we don’t have water for upwards of one. Whenever it finally comes, we pump the one in the borehole into tanks,” Stella added.

Pastor Gibson advised that Nigerians to show love to the less-privileged people. This, according to him, will promote harmony and nation-building.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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‘ E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

If the judiciary in Nigeria is not independent, then we will all be in serious trouble. I do not think that any part of judiciary is under any external pressure. That is not true. We have about 1,000 judges in the different parts of the country. They are doing a humane job on a daily basis... Their work is so important and if they have not been independent all these years, then Nigeria will be in more serious trouble. So, I think that the Nigerian judiciary is largely independent.

• SEE PAGE 32

’

NBA-AGC 2012

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference is on in Abuja. Lawyers are demanding fundamental reforms in the association. This, they said, is crucial, considering NBA’s role in the sustenance of democracy, protection of human rights and holding the government accountable. The association’s last Delegates Conference threw up the need for electoral reform, with some lawyers arguing that contrary to outgoing NBA President Joseph Daudu ‘s position, universal suffrage is workable. These and more will dominate deliberations during the week-long event. JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU and JOSEPH JIBUEZE spoke to lawyers on their expectations.

• From left: Wali (SAN); Daudu (SAN) and Mark at the NBA pre-Conference National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja

T

HE Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) kicked off at the International Conference Centre, Abuja yesterday, with high expectations from lawyers.

The event, may lack the usual high attendance which gave the association’s previous conferences the toga of ‘the largest gathering of lawyers in Sub-Saharan Africa in a calendar year’, no thanks to the hike in conference fees by the outgoing administration of Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN).

The hike and the fallout of the election held during the Delegates’ Conference are expected to dominate discussions. Many lawyers are calling for fundamental reform to better position the association to fulfil its role in safeguarding democracy. NBA President Joseph Daudu (SAN) is of the view that universal suffrage cannot work in the association’s election. Many of his colleagues do not agree with him.

In an interview with The Nation, Daudu said it was “preposterous and unworkable.” According to him, when it was first tried with a reduced population, corrupt practices allegedly exhibited by lawyers crashed the association in 1992. The delegate system, he explained, was evolved to manage the corruption in the universal suffrage

Push for reform as NBA holds conference system.The President said when universal suffrage was experimented, unqualified persons were brought in to vote, money was demanded and given to lawyers who ordinarily had no interest in the Association’s activities but were brought in to determine its future, while the level of honesty in the Nigerian society has dropped from the level it was in 1992 that it will be a disaster to attempt “such a needless exercise” today.

Daudu added: “The call for universal suffrage to me is a demonstration of the utter bankruptcy of ideas as to how to run a professional organisation in this day and age. A professional association like the NBA cannot be likened to the Federal Republic of Nigeria as some people are tempted to do.”Lawyers hold divergent views on the issue, but some who spoke to The Nation agree that there is need for some reform. Others spoke on their expectations from the con-

ference. They include former NBA Presidentelect Okey Wali (SAN), former NBA President OCJ Okocha (SAN), Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), Mr Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), Mr JoeKyari Gadzama (SAN), Chief Chris Uche (SAN), who is the chairman of the conference organising committee.

Others include Chairman of Council, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Chief John Ochoga, former NBA General Secretary, Ibrahim Mark and Secretary, Egbe Amofin (Yoruba Lawyers Forum), Mr Ranti Ajeleti.The rest are Chairman, NBA’s Lawyers in the Media Forum, Mr Charles Odenigbo; former Secretary, NBA Lagos Branch, Mr Sunday Onu, Mr Aniedi Akpabi, Mr Godson Okoye and Mr Silas Onu. Odinkalu believes there is an imperative to adapt, and such change begins with leadership. He said: “We have at our disposal

today, a Bar that is not recognisable from what it was 20 years ago in terms of its demographics, footprint or skills.

“The data capture, integration and management capabilities we have today were not there 20 or even 10 years ago. Thus, we can easily re-organise membership records and management as the bases for a different way of doing things.”

On universal suffrage, Odinkalu said, all lawyers need not gather a place to vote.

“Remote access and voting is now at the finger tips of any lawyer who has access to mobile telephony.

“The benefits will mean a richer and better organised bar, able, therefore, to invest in upgrading the skills of its members who, in return, acquire the right to determine who leads them and what programmes these resources get spent on. “The biggest argument for universal suffrage, however, was born of the Boston Tea party – no taxation without representation. If a lawyer pays practising fees and branch dues, which, in turn, are the mainstay of the NBA’s finances, why should he or she be compelled to proxy their votes to someone when they can, by themselves, exercise the right to

•CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Inside: Hope as ex-NBA President eyes public ...- P.31 Sacked council boss sues Bayelsa for N100m- P.36

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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LAW COVER CONT’D

• Okocha (SAN)

• Gadzama (SAN)

• Ngige (SAN)

• Prof Odinkalu

Push for reform as NBA holds conference •Continued from Page 29

decide who leads their Bar and how?”

This is the question that our dear and outgoing President failed to engage or address.

In avoiding this, the learned Senior Advocate suggests that our Bar is in a state of what German Psychiatrist, Ernst Kretschmer, described as ‘stable equilibrium’.

“But Krestschmer also warned that this state has ‘never been spurs to great deeds.’ If our Bar cannot evince modest reform to advance its internal management, membership governance and leadership selection, then our corporate standing within Nigeria as well as individual standing as professionals will continue to diminish and so will our earnings.

“In summary, the arguments in support of universal suffrage are both instrumental and ethical: There is the technical capacity to achieve it. It enhances inclusion. It will improve the governance of our Bar because we cannot do it without reforming membership records and their management. “It’ll also enhance our revenues because it will be tied to verifiable payment of annual practising and branch dues. It is also compatible with advocacy for inclusion at the Bar. “The benefits of the present ‘Jamboree’ are neither clear nor demonstrated beyond its historical links to an admittedly painful historical episode in Port Harcourt 20 years ago.

But the world has moved on from 20 years ago. Do we have to get stuck in the past?”

Odinkalu said. Ngige, who lost the last election to Wali, said there was the urgent need for electoral and constitutional reforms within the NBA. “It is apparent that this cannot be wished away, though I envisage that those who have been benefiting from the current unacceptable state of affairs will do everything to thwart the inexorable move towards electoral reforms. But the hawks must not underrate the capacity of Nigerian lawyers to free themselves from this ‘second slavery.’

“It bears no repeating that the elections were massively manipulated. Some human rights and lawyers’ organisations have resolved to probe the elections to identify the culprits that have made the NBA a laughing stock.

“As things stand now, the NBA has lost the moral right to speak on electoral matters in Nigeria, since it is incapable of organising credible elections for less than 1,500 delegates.

“Also, the NBA accounting system is bound to be a thorny issue. The National Treasurer’s indictment of the regime in the 2011 Annual Accounts is a pointer to what to expect.

I doubt that the situation has changed. It’s still the same old story.

“I urge lawyers to remain calm and address these issues with maturity. The days of the locust, hopefully, will soon be over.”

On the sections he is interested in, Ngige said: “I am a member of Section on Legal Practice (SLP). I will participate in their various programmes lined up at the conference.

“However, I am keen to see how the Annual General Meeting will unfold, as I expect key decisions to be made on how to move the NBA from its current state of inertia to its once glorious pedigree. That is assuming that our elders and senior colleagues will turn out in their large numbers.

“There are serious issues relating to electoral credibility within the NBA which must be debated. That we cannot conduct acceptable elections is totally unacceptable. We

have been made a laughing stock among professional bodies and in the polity generally. Also, the level of transparency and accountability in the NBA gives a cause for concern,” Ngige said.

Okocha (SAN) said if NBA’s electoral system must be reformed, it should be done “altruistically.” His words: “I have heard and read, and so must have many of us, the allegations made by my Learned Brother-Silk, Emeka Ngige (SAN), that he was denied access to the Voters List; that the names of dead persons were on the Voters List, and that persons not qualified to be members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NBA were actually named in the Voters List.

“When did it become a right for a candidate of our NBA elections to be given a copy of the Voters List? Never. There is no such provision in the Constitution and Standing Orders of the NBA. As a matter of fact, the Electoral Committee chaired by our past President, Prince Lanke Odogiyon, actually did commendably very well in publishing the Voters List, a thing that had never been done in our past NBA elections.

“Voters Lists will always contain the names of dead persons; some actually die on the day of elections. But the critical questions that must be answered are whether any person has proof that any of those dead persons on the Voters List actually voted, or any persons actually voted in their names.”Voters or delegates, whose names are on the Voters List, are not necessarily NBA-NEC members. Delegates are selected or elected by branches, but all NBA-NEC members are automatic delegates by right.”So, let me appeal to all concerned, and, particularly, to Emeka Ngige (SAN) and his teeming supporters, to rise above self, and join hands together with the newly elected national officers so that we may take the NBA to the next higher level. Can we all now try to get along? ”We need to see whether a reform of our electoral systems and processes is called for.

If we all, and I mean the majority of us, agree that we need to reform our electoral systems and processes, let us all, like the learned ladies and gentlemen that we are, embark on that task, altruistically and dispassionately, with the best interests of our learned and honourable profession paramount in our hearts and minds.”For now, may I pray and hope that we will have a happy, enjoyable and rewarding conference.”

Gadzama said the plight of young lawyers should be addressed. According to him, unlike what obtained in the past when there was only one Campus of the Nigerian Law School, there are now have six campuses which churn out lawyers year in year out.

“The result is that we now have more lawyers than we ever did. Naturally, competition for jobs has increased, meaning we have more ‘unemployed’ lawyers than before. I expect the NBA to find time to squarely address this teething issue before it spirals out

of control,” he said.

He added: “Apart from gently but firmly ushering new wigs into legal practice, I would expect their remuneration to change significantly and positively. We still hear stories of the ridiculous salaries and allowances that these new wigs earn. This has to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“We want to encourage the young ones and not scare them away from the legal profession. This is especially true, in view of the recent increase in registration fees for the Annual Bar Conference. These conferences serve as platforms and avenues for young lawyers to mingle with their seniors in the profession.

“Such an astronomical increase in registration fees could significantly reduce the number of attendees, especially from the younger ones. I most certainly hope that this is not the case. If it eventually affects attendance however, the NBA would do well to reconsider its decision to increase registration fees.”

For Okutepa, to come out of what he called a quagmire, the Bar must return to its core value of discipline, respect for constituted authority; leaders of the Bar must conduct themselves honourably within the ethics of the profession, while followers must submit themselves to dictates of NBA’s laws and constitution.

“The present freedom to say anything that comes to our mouths, even in the most inappropriate manner must give way to proper channels of doing things at the Bar. Indeed the Bar must look inward to do things right to all its members before venturing into issues outside the Bar. “This is the only way I think we can come out of our self inflicting quagmire. Those who are disparaging the leadership of the Bar must think twice before they inflict further damages not only on the Bar but themselves,” he said.

Okutepa urged lawyers to be security-conscious. He said: “My expectations are that the AGM will discuss and focus on issues that are relevant to the interest and well being of Nigerian lawyers in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

He said: “I will like to see AGM that discusses issues frankly and objectively devoid of parochial and mundane considerations.

Lawyers must be allowed to air their views and lawyers must air their view professionally and in a well informed manner devoid of self serving interests.” Ubani decried what he called “insensitive conference fees” by the outgoing leadership of NBA without adequate input from the National Executive Council (NEC) members and others as appalling and unacceptable.

He said: “The present leadership has a great opportunity to correct themself. They are enjoined to revert to the old conference fees or at worst effect a minimal increase on the old conference fees and apologise for their intrasigence, and get some of our faith restored to the ideals of NBA. “That is a mini-

‘A situation where non-SANs can no longer get briefs points to a system that is headed to lawlessness, because if there is law, you don’t need be a SAN to get a brief no matter how big. If this system crashes, there will be no where to hold a conference’

mum request at this point in time that will make some of us register (I say some of us) because majority have made up their minds to attend this year’s conference without paying a dime since our President decided to be unrepentant.” Ajeleti expects discussions on the new N5000 note.

“I also want the Wali regime to fight against the introduction of the N5000 note.

It will kill the economy. Today nobody accepts the N1 coin or any coin at all any longer.

“Once you make N20 a coin, it means the least purchasing price will be theN50 note.

Furthermore, the N5,000 note will aid corrupt practices; you will need only less number of Ghana-must-go-bags to grease your way through.”Okoye said he would “not dwell so much on expectations.” He added: “But I will only advise my professional colleagues not let this legal system crash.

“A situation where non-SANs can no longer get briefs points to a system that is headed to lawlessness, because if there is law, you don’t need be a SAN to get a brief no matter how big. If this system crashes, there will be no where to hold a conference.”

Silas Onu of the NBA Abuja branch said one of the issues that need to be discussed is the increase in practicing fee for lawyers which, which he said will only make the Association weaker than it is, especially when you place side by side the amount being demanded and the benefit that members derive from the association.

He said: “I make bold to state that NBA is only relevant because lawyers are by law required to pay practice fee which gives a lawyer the right of audience in court. Remove the aspect of granting audience in court and lawyers will not even pay the present rate being paid.”

On reforms, he said: “The areas that urgently need reform are very many, but I will harp on the most important aspect which is the Electoral Practice of the NBA. Presently, the voting system in the NBA national elections is by delegation.

“The delegates elections is deeply endangering the NBA as persons running for elections have little or no regards for ordinary lawyers and concentrate their efforts in knowing those that will be made delegates by their branch chairman and make efforts to out-buy each other in the campaign.

“The recently held elections even went as far as preventing lawyers that are by all definitions financial members from accessing the venue of the manifesto as only delegates were allowed to go in. This is crazy! The leadership is gradually becoming that of a privileged few. We must support the reform of the NBA electoral process by giving all lawyers a voice in the ballot.

“It will gradually encourage merit and professionalism as against the present allocation of the presidency by Senior Advocates. It will make members feel part of the association and preserve it for generations to come. It will make lawyers that are interested in leadership to be more connected with the lowly and commoners.

“It will cut the cost of campaign as only a foolish person will set out to buy the votes of lawyers across the country. It will cut the cost of organising national elections as elections will hold in branches on a date to be fixed by the central electoral committee and cut off the need to lodge del•Continued on Page 31

31

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

LAW & SOCIETY Like one of his predecessors, Christopher Adebayo Ojo (SAN), former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN) has indicated his intention to practise what he has always preached: people-oriented ledaership, anchored on tranpsrency and accountability and built on trust. He is contesting the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State as the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In this report, ERIC IKHILAE notes that with his yet unequalled performance at the NBA, Akeredolu could make a difference.

Hope as ex-NBA President eyes public office

I

T is greed that the nation’s stunted development results from a succeeding generation of clueless leadership. But despite this consensus, the country has continually enthroned the worst among its citizens, a development resulting mostly from the existing succession process.

Apart from the fact that some individuals have entrenched themselves in the corridor of power, where they have always influenced the choice of who leads the country, the political process is seen by the urbane and accomplished professionals not only as murky, but too risky to be dabbled into unprotected.

There is also the challenge of a docile and uninformed electorates, who though constitute the bulk of victims of misdirected state policies, seem to have resigned to despair.

But despite these challenges, there have been occasional cases in recent time, where accomplished professionals and distinguished administrators have dared to challenge the status quo with their involvement in partisan politics.

Many believe that this growing trend of gradual involvement in politics, by urbane personalities with proven integrity, is indicative of better days ahead. It is in this light that one views the decision of the former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN) to take a shot at public governance in Ondo State.

Akeredolu is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in the state, with his only major opponent in the October 20 election being the Labour Party (LP) candidate and incumbent, Olusegun Mimiko.

Many say Akeredolu’s coming beholds good tidings having discharged himself excellently well in running NBA’s affairs between 2008 and 2010, where he set a standard that his successors are striving to sustain.

One of his predecessors at the NBA, Christopher Adebayo Ojo (SAN) attempted a similar move in 2011 in Kogi State. His ambition was abortive. He was shot down by the entrenched forces in the Peo-

ples Democratic Party (PDP), who preferred another aspirant to him.

Unlike Ojo, whose NBA was soft on the government, subsequent upon which the Olusegun Obasanjo administration appointed him the Justice Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation while still in office, Akeredolu’s NBA was critical of government to an extent that it was labelled an opposition organisation by the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s government.

He overcame series of moves by the then government, to break the ranks of the NBA under his watch.

Although some of the association‘s officials succumed to government’s carrots, he stood his ground, insisting that the truth and the principle of rule of law must not be sacrificed on the altar of state’s patronage.

Even when in November 2009 an attempt was made from within the NBA to rubbish his personality, when some officials of the association circulated a petition entitled: Complaints against your fraudulent manifestations, violation of the NBA, he maintained his ground, denying all allegations. At the end, he was exonerated by the NBA’s National Executive Council.

His tenure raised the bar in the organisation of the NBA’s annual conference, with the spectacular outing recorded with the 2009 conference in Lagos. The Lagos conference had a record attendance of about 10,000 lawyers from within and outside the country. Till date, many still hold the conference out as a reference point.

For his unequalled contribution to the development of the association since its formation in 1933, the NBA in July, this year, named its multi-million naira national secretariat in Abuja after Akeredolu. The incumbent President, Joseph Daudu (SAN) justified the association’s decision.

Daudu was quoted in a recentl interview as saying the decision was informed by the need for “generational identification and recognition of those who had contributed immensely to the development of the association. Everything in the NBA is usually highly politicised. The sheer courage for him (Akeredolu) to go through the rig-

• Akeredolu (SAN)

our is a testimony to his selfless service.”

Former NBA’s Publicity Secretary, Muritala Abdul-Rasheed, in a recent piece, praised Akeredolu’s streling qualities which, stand him, stood him out among his peers while in office.

“This was his unquenchable hunger for good governance as evidenced in his promotion of lofty ideals of the rule of law, preservation of civil liberties, proper accountability and sustained demand for social responsibility on the part of government.

“His inexorable stance against corruption could be felt in his numerous pronouncements and agitations that were effused at virtu-

ally every forum he had the opportunity to speak. Aketi is one of the few leaders I know, who managed to combine many of the attributes of great leaders in no small measures.

“He is honest, disciplined, humble, courageous, humorous, firm and remarkably intelligent and his activities at the NBA were permeated with exemplary demonstrations of all these virtues,” Abdul-Rasheed said.

Many of his admirers and colleagues in the law profession have also attested to this testimonial. A Senior Advocate, who pleaded not to be named, told The Nation that some senior lawyers, who believe in Akeredolu and his ability to

Push for reform as NBA holds conference •Continued from Page 30

egates in expensive hotels in order to win votes.

“With the growth in technology, internet is one of the best things to happen to mankind as votes will be compiled immediately from branches. Whoever emerges as President from such a popular election will be bold to represent the interest of the association ratherthan use it for personal gains.

“We must set example for others to follow in our journey to entrench democracy in Nigeria. We must develop a realistic means of impeachment for any office holder who is no longer working in the interest of the association.

The NBA belongs to all lawyers not for a few.”

Others spoke on their general expectations from the conference.

Daudu said: “Conferences are a veritable tool for the acquisition of knowledge. It is a major vehicle for any modern profession’s continuous education programme. The first major objective of the NBA conference is to ensure that those members who have invested their resources in

attending, maximally benefit from the exercise. Secondly, it remains an avenue for relaxation and re-union. ‘’A lot of money has been invested in the security and comfort of conferees. We are subsidising the conference to the tune of 35 per cent of the total cost. It is no longer fashionable to gather 10, 000 lawyers in one venue and be boasting that it is the largest gathering of lawyers anywhere in the world. “Conferences as with every other commercial commodity of utilitarian values are for only those who can afford it. My advice therefore to lawyers is to maximise their advantage of attending the conference, pay promptly and be counted among the 3,000 lawyers that attended the best conference ever organised by the NBA.” Wali said: “Well, as in other conferences, we pray that we would enjoy the conference. The NBA conferences are basically being run along the lines of the Sections. So, the programmes of the Section on Business Law (SBL), Section on Legal Practice (SLP), Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), Law-

yers In the Media Forum (LIM) and so on will be of tremendous interest.”

The Sections will deal with topical issues that will be of great benefit to Nigerian lawyers and obviously improve the quality of legal service delivery. I wish Nigerian lawyers safe journey to and fro the conference, may they enjoy the benefits of a very successful conference.”

Uche assured participants that they would get a “wonderful”experience. “We want to assure all lawyers that we are prepared to give them a befitting and wonderful conference.

“We have done so much with the National Executive Committee to make sure that all is well in terms of security, accommodation, social entertainment and so on.

“In fact, we have a friendship centre where lawyers can go and enjoy themselves, we did so much there to make sure that lawyers enjoy themselves at subsidised ratess, got accommodation at very good discount rates too.”

On his advice to lawyers attending the conference, Uche said: “Lawyers should take advantage of the facilities available at the

conference to enjoy and give themselves a hitch free meeting.”Mark said: “Well this is now like an annual ritual, lawyers combine it with their holidays. But with the topics lined up and the social functions attached to it, I strongly believe that it is going to be a worthwhile experience for lawyers attending the conference.”I equally know that some people have travelled abroad and may not be able to come, but it is indeed going to be a rewarding experience for lawyers.”

Ochoga said: “I expect a good attendance by lawyers especially with the new Chief Justice of Nigeria addressing the conference.

I expect very robust and insightful sessions from the Section on Legal Practice (SLP).

“I expect that their programmes will sharpen our legal skills and enhance quality service delivery among Nigerian lawyers.”

Odenigbo expects the conference to add value to lawyers’ productivity and empower them for a more qualitative life and family and a better Nigeria with respect for the rule of law. He is specially looking forward discus-

achieve whatever goal he sets for himself, were working behind the scene to ensure a good outing for him.

He said they were planning to set up a body to help mobilise fund and people in support of Akeredolu’s ambition. This group, he said, would be launched in Lagos in a couple of days.

Akeredolu had, before stepping into partisan politics, identified the challenges plaguing the country’s political system and identified why the bad among the citizens often emerge as the leader.

In a lecture in December 2009, Akeredolu contended that no amount of electoral reform or judiciary system can give the country free and fair elections if the people themselves refuse to take practical steps to ensure that their votes count.

To many, this is an opportunity for the people of Ondo State to make a right choice and take a practical step towards ensuring their socio-economic growth. This is because, from his message as contained in his campein web site:”aketi4gov.org,”Akeredolu appears confident and seems to have known where the solution lies.

“The starting point for good governance is transparency, accountability of leadership to the people and judicious use of resources for meaningful impact and development. I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.

“I bring myself forward to seek the mandate of the good people of Ondo State imbued with confidence that I possess deep understanding of the crucial socio-economic issues which must be resolved for the progress of the state.

“I am more than convinced that given my experiences of administrative processes, my training as an attorney coupled with an unbroken stretch of practice for almost three and a half decades and my passionate bid to ensure that our beloved state is free from directionless and dishonest government, I stand out among other eminent indigenes of the state to bring about the much desired change,” he said in the site.

‘We must set example for others to follow in our journey to entrench democracy in Nigeria. We must develop a realistic means of impeachment for any office holder who is no longer working in the interest of the association. The NBA belongs to all lawyers not for a few’ sions on strengthening the media.

Akpabio said: “In respect of the papers to be presented at this Conference, they are expected to be of very high quality as usual.

Lawyers will certainly enrich their knowledge resulting from their contributions.”

Sunday Onu said: “The conference promises to be a most interesting conference with the various sections and fora of the NBA richly engaging the professional minds of the participants.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

32

LAW PERSONALITY An author of many law books and publications, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) has over 25 years’ experience in litigation. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the International Bar Association, the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce, the Nigerian-Belgian Commercial Information and Documentation Centre and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, among others. The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State was recently appointed the Chairman of the Nigeria Legal Aid Council. In this interview with ADEBISI ONANUGA, Ayorinde speaks on the council, the judicairy and the law profession. Excerpts:

Legal aid is a right C

ONGRATULATIONS on your ap pointment as chairman of Nigeria Le gal Aid Council. How has the journey been so far?

Well, I have just been appointed, but we have since begun running the council. As expected, the first thing we have done is to appraise ourselves very well with the operations of the council. We have also looked at the 2011 Act, which is an amendment of the previous legislation that governs the provision of Legal Aid in Nigeria. So, what we have done so far is to set ourselves up, for a lot of activities for the council. We realised that the council is not well known, even among lawyers not to mention the public.

So, our first task is to get the council known, its functions known, and let the public know that the services of the council are available to the people who qualified for the services of the council. Many activities have also been lined up and from time to time, they will be unfolded.

What are the challenges?

First, there are constraints. The old legislation before the 2011 Act was quite restrictive, as to what the council could do; what services it could offer. But now, that has been widened; so many aspects of legal services now come under the council. In the past, I think they have been really limited. Secondly, they have had an issue which I would call attitudinal. That has been a problem. The perception in the past has been that legal aid is like a kind of charity. But it is not. The provision of legal aid is a fundamental right in a democracy. So, that attitude is something that we have to move away from and very quickly too because in a democracy, it is very important that anybody, no matter how lowly placed, must have access to justice delivery.

So, the attitude must change that legal aid is not only a service for the poor, but it is a fundamental right for everybody and every Nigerian that cannot afford the services of lawyers. Everybody must have access to a lawyer and this is fundamental.

You said legal aid is not for charity. Are you implying that people who come for it should pay like when they are paying private lawyers?

No. When I said it is not a charity, I meant that the government, the state has an obligation to provide legal aid. For example, medical care is not a charity. If you fall sick and you go to a government hospital, you will receive some form of treatment. That is the same thinking with people who set up Legal Aid Council in Nigeria and all over the world.

It is part of societal responsibility of the government that when you come across the justice system, you must have some form of legal assistance. So, when I say it is not a charity, it is that it is not something you are doing because the man is poor. It is something you are doing because the society, the government, the state has an obligation to every citizen and when you come across the justice system, you must stand in equal terms. You must have representation from the moment you are arrested up to when you are taken to court. You must have access to a lawyer, whether you can afford it or not. That is the fundamental principle behind it.

What must have informed the appointment?

I will tell you straight up that in the past, I have done quite some significant work with for Legal Aid Council. I was Chairman, Prison De-congestion Committee in Oyo State. So, I already had this background. So, when the appointment came, it did not come as something that was entirely new to me.

So, I already had some background. And again, I looked at the Legal Aid Act. I looked at the provisions that were contained in the law. So that, again, gave some ideas on what to start doing immediately. Moreover, it’s not a one man show. There is a council and, luckily, for me, I met a director-general on ground who has very good passion for our work. She understands the work. She knows where we really need to go and so working with her and other members of the council has been very easy. Most importantly, we have an attorney- general who sees the Legal Aid Council as one of the bright and shining light in the Ministry of Justice. He is determined to portray the Legal Aid Council. He is deter-

mined to support the Legal Aid Council so that it can deliver. So, you can see that everything is working out together for the good of the council. So, with the combination of the management, board of the council and the office and person of the Attorney-General of the Federation, I think we are standing on firm ground.

One of the problems the council is facing is inadequate funding. How do you intend to solve this?

You see, particularly in a developing society, there is a very great demand for resources.

The resources are never enough. The funding has been very poor, but we are moving into a new dispensation.We are going to ask the government, the Ministry of Justice to adequately fund the activities of the Legal Aid Council and reason we are doing that is that the services we provide are fundamental and necessary for regulating the society. For example, the Senate has just resolved that the prison decongestion programme being handled by the Ministry of Justice be moved to Legal Aid Council. So, this means that necessarily that the fund for that will come under the auspices of the Legal Aid Council. That will help us. If you look at the 2011 Act, there is a provision for Legal Aid fund, which allows us to obtain support from sources outside government. We are going to exploit all that. We are going to ask professionals to assist us as much as possible so that we can provide the services we need to provide.

Funding has been very poor, but with the determination of the board, with the support of the Attorney-General and the determination of the management, I think we will get there.

You are faced with problems of getting lawyers to handle your cases due to the payment of fees. How do you intend to tackle this?

At the last board meeting , we resolved and formed several sub-committees. One of them which I am also heading, is the technical committee, which has a mandate to rework the police visit report scheme, solicitors scheme, court solicitors scheme and the pro bono, which is the new department that we are introducing into the Legal Aid Council. We are going to restructure our relationship with private legal practitioners. We are going to encourage them in a way to do our work and do it with very high standard. Our fees may not be up to what private individuals who can afford their own lawyer can pay, but our fees will be reasonable. We will look at what obtains in the industry and we will agree as contractors with private lawyers and I am sure that they will be able to deliver because they will be monitored and we will make sure that we also keep to our own agreement. Again, I have been inundated with calls by several lawyers, if not firms, the magic circle in this country. They are willing to come on board and become what Legal Aid Council is now calling Legal Aid Council partner firms. They are going to partner us on pro bono. Imagine a situation whereby we have a hundreds of law firms each taking about 30 cases from us on a yearly basis on pro bono. Pro bono means that they are doing it free.

We will draw up the contract with them, then we will monitor them. Then, we would ensure that the cases we give them are well executed.

What do we give them in return? We are going to appoint them Legal Aid Council partner firms.

Of what benefit will this be to them?

The benefit to them is that they will have a right to use our logo. The logo will have under it that this is a Legal Aid Council partner firm. The logo can be on their letter head paper; stationery, envelopes and also, our plaque

in their offices. That is enough recognition both nationally and internationally for them, as a corporate socially responsible law firm. So, we are going to take that on. We are going to make this appointment, advertise this appointment on our website. We are going to organise a ceremony whereby we are going to make this appointment public so that they will know the law firms that are going to partner with us. In the contract, we will insist that even in these law firms, certain cases must be handled by certain categories of lawyers. Cases that involve, may be, death penalty, those that throw up fundamental questions of law.

So, the issue of funding, will be dealt with by agreement.

On prison de-congestion, how do you identify people who are concerned and qualified for prerogative of mercy?

The highest percentage of persons in the prison today are awaiting trials. That is the first area we are going to deal with. We are seeking the co-operation of the police, prison authorities and even the public. It is a matter of intervention, mind you, we are not saying that everybody that has been arrested or every criminals has the right to walk away. That is not what we are about. What we are about is that once you come in contact with the law, you have a representative. The issue is if you are qualified for bail, then you get it. You don’t go and congest the prison. If you are qualified for bail, then your case will be heard speedily so that if you are going to serve a prison term, it is determined and you go there. But if you are not going to serve a prison term, you go back home. This way, we don’t have people congesting prison while awaiting trials. That is a major problem and that is where you have most of the inmates who congest our prisons.

So that is the first area we are going to tackle and we have the structures on ground to do this.

Rather than serving jail term, do you agree that community service should serve as an alternative as enacted in Lagos State?

That is a welcome idea. It is a very civilised way of meting out punishment to offenders.

Because when you look at categories of offenders, there are some offences that really and truly, there should be an option. So, the introduction of community service, especially to first offenders, is very welcome. That in itself will help to decongests the prison. So, we want to commend the Lagos State government for taking such steps and I hope other states in the federation will take a cue from that.

What is your view on the much-touted independence of the judiciary in Nigeria?

If the judiciary in Nigeria is not independent, then we will all be in serious trouble. I do not think that any part of judiciary is under any external pressure. That is not true. We have about 1,000 judges in the different parts of the country. They are doing a humane job on a daily basis. We tend to forget about that high court judge who is slaving away in far away in places like Abraka or Iseyin or in Gwagwalada handling cases and everybody is focusing on two or three people and they are not looking at the work high court judges, magistrate court judges and even alkalis are doing every day. Their work is so important and if they have not been independent all these years, then Nigeria will be in more serious trouble. So, I think that Nigerian judiciary is largely independent.

How do you see corruption in the judiciary?

Corruption in the judiciary is not seen. It is perceived and the perception is very strong.

My take, and I am not speaking for the Legal Aid Council. I am speaking as a private legal practitioner. That perception of corruption is not doing the judiciary any good and how do we correct that perception? The judiciary needs to do what I will call “close plan”. I think that the judges are a bit too open. We need to go back to a situation whereby there is a perception among the public that you do not

‘It is part of the responsibility of the government that when you come across the justice system, you must have some form of legal assistance. So, when I say it is not a charity, it is that it is not something you are doing because the man is poor. It is something you are doing because the society, the government, the state has an obligation to every citizen ... You must have representation from the moment you are arrested up to when you are taken to court. You must have access to a lawyer, whether you can afford it or not’

• Ayorinde

move near a judge. That is what I grew up with. You do not approach a judge. That should be the perception. If there is a perception about corruption in the judiciary, it is the judiciary itself that must do something about it. So, if you perceived that majority of the judges in this country are people that you cannot approach at any time for unnecessary favour, everybody would have respect for the judiciary. So, the corruption in the judiciary is not something that we see but perceived and it is left to the judiciary to repair that perception.

What are the challenges facing the administration of criminal justice in the country?

They are many, but I will tell you that the major one is infrastructure. We are not spending enough money on the justice delivery system. It is fundamental that we should do so.

So, from overhauling the contact with the police or the magistrate court, the way inmates are brought to the court, the facilities in the court, we need to do a lot about infrastructure.

If you go to the National Industrial Court and you see the kind of court they have, nobody would tell you that serious work is going on in that court because they have the infrastructure to work. They have the enabling environment. So, the major problem with the administration of justice, particularly the criminal justice is the infrastructure. It is moribund, and we need to work on that.

What do you think of the calibre of lawyers being turned out by the law school?

The good old days are always better than what we have at any point in time. If you come back in 25years, somebody will still tell you about the good old days of 2012. So that is another aspect of perception. But what I always advocate is continuing legal education, training. I think we still don’t have sufficient continuing legal education after the call to the bar. Lawyers need to educate and re-educate themselves. This is very important. It is a continuing system. So, that should keep us from complaining that things could be better.

Would you subscribe to the idea that law should be a second degree?

I don’t think so. I think that what we are really not doing is looking at the opportunity that follows a law degree. We are not specialising enough or sufficiently. I do not advocate a separate profession where you have barristers and solicitors like we have in England. I think that lawyers who need to train in advocacy should from their earlier part of their career begin to work on that and begin to specialise in advocates. Lawyers who want to specialise as solicitors should also do that at the early stage. There is so much to do.

I don’t think we are even producing enough lawyers. So, the calling for law as a second degree, I don’t think that is really important.

In New York, starting from January next year, new lawyers finishing from the law school will have to put in some hours of pro bono services before qualifying for practice.

Will you recommend such for new lawyers in Nigeria to improve their quality?

I will suggest pro bono for our new lawyers and even for our old lawyers. I think one of the requirements for the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria includes pro bono cases now, which is also a Welcome development.

Pro bono is so important that a lawyer is trained to provide service free. Even though he is being paid for that service, he still has an obligation to give pro bono service.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

33

LAW & SOCIETY

Role of CSOs in fighting corruption: Issues and challenges Text of a paper presented by rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) at the Regional Sensitisation Workshop on AML/ CFT for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) held on August 6 and 7, 2012 by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in Dakar, Senegal.

• Falana (SAN) • Continued from last week

The prosecutions were carried out under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). But in order to cover up the Nigerian officials involved in the international scam and frustrate their prosecution in Nigeria the Obama Administration has refused to release the certified true copies of the judicial proceedings in violation of provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

However, in 2010, the former Vice President of the United States, Mr Dick Cheney was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria over his involvement in the $180 million bribe paid to Nigerian officials by Halliburton when he was the Chairman of the company. The case was dropped after a “political plea bargain” that led to the payment of $120 million fine to the Government of Nigeria.

In 2009, Mr Bernard Madoff, 74, was convicted and sentenced to 150-year jail sentence on account of the Ponzi scam which saw “some $20 billion of investment disappear and a balance sheet of $65billion revealed to be a scam”.

(BBC News US and Canada, June 29, 2012).

United Kingdom The amount of money laundered through the United Kingdom annually is estimated to be £48 billion. (See Money Laundering Bulletin, June 2011). A few months ago, a former Nigerian governor, Chief James Ibori was convicted of fraud and money laundering of £250 million. Although the trial judge condemned the reckless looting of the public funds of a poor community in the impoverished Niger Delta the criminal roles of the British banks and mortgage institutions that provided a conducive environment for the trans-atlantic financial crimes were not penalised.

France It has been revealed that the brutal killing of the former Libyan ruler, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi which was supervised by the allied forces of imperialism was not unconnected with the decision of western leaders to prevent the eccentric dictator from exposing their shady economic deals in Libya at the International Criminal Court at the Hague where he was wanted for crimes against humanity.

Indeed, there is evidence to support the allegation that Mr Gaddafi bankrolled the 2007 presidential campaign of a former French President to the tune of $67 million. Ex President Omar Bongo of Gabon owned 33 properties in Paris and Nice valued at £125 million.

The United States has turned up £86 million illegally lodged in the Citibank in New York by Mr. Bongo. Apart from benefiting from the looting of the wealth stolen di-

rectly by President Bongo western oil companies were given concessions to lift oil from a country of N1.4 million people living in abject penury.

Switzerland Switzerland operates a fraudulent banking system which provides a safe haven for corrupt leaders to keep stolen wealth. Through such dubious banking system Switzerland has frustrated all legal measures to recover billions of dollars stolen from poverty stricken nations.

After the Arab spring it was revealed that the illicit wealth accumulated by the deposed rulers of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt stands at an estimated $190 billion (Paper based on news reports 2001). The bulk of such stolen wealth is kept in secret accounts in Switzerland.

It is on record other African rulers like Mobutu Sese Seko, Omar Bongo, Idi Amin, Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha left billion of dollars in those secret accounts. In Nigeria, the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration recovered over $500 million out of the $5 billion allegedly stolen from the public treaury by the late dictator, General Sani Abacha.

The demand of many CSOs for accountability in respect of the recovered loot has been ignored by the Federal Government which is believed to have diverted the funds.

In spite of the undeniable fact that western financial institutions promote money laundering and corruption in Africa the United States government lacks the moral integrity to talk down on Africans over the corrupt practices of a few rulers. In the same vein the Transparency International should stigmatise Switzerland and other countries that keep stolen wealth from poor nations as the most corrupt countries in the world.

CSOs in Africa should collaborate with institutions in other parts of the world that are working for recovery and repatriation of looted wealth. For instance, Mr. William Bourdon, a French lawyer is currently helping the citizens of Congo, Equitorial Guinea and Gabon to recover stolen wealth by their rulers. On July 19, 2012 the house of Nguema Obiang Margul, the son of Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbagogo, President of Equitorial Guinea was seized in the on-going investigating charges of graft, embezzlement and money laundering. The house is valued at 150 million euro.

Challenges However, despite the fact that the CSOs have done a great deal of work promoting transparency in government, one cannot but also state here that the CSOs are also faced with some challenges some internal to the organisations while majority are largely due to external factors.

For instance, apart from what is indicated above concerning lack of the means to hold perpetrators accountable, perhaps, one very important factor is that the CSOs have not been able to attract sufficient attention from both the government and the general public in spite of their significant and potent contributions to the society at large.

This is due to the lack of political base of CSOs. The protests in

North Africa which led to the removal of sit tight dictators and the anti-corruption protests in Nigeria in January this year have proved beyond any shadow of doubt that CSOs need to form an organic link with mass organisations in the fight against corruption, money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism and human rights violations.

Another challenge the CSOs also have is the pitfall emanating from the same scourge they are fighting: corruption. The bitter truth is that public perception is rife that many CSOs are also being run by people with questionable characters that cannot hold public offices let alone be saddled with financial responsibilities.

Some CSOs are locked in battle due to financial mismanagements and grant funds, lack of accountability to donors and petty struggle for power within the organisations thereby resulting into an abuse of powers by the officers of the organisations themselves. Therefore, the CSOs must take necessary steps to practice what they preach, internalise democracy, transparency and culture of accountability if they are to avoid situations whereby they also will be regarded as part of the structural problems in the society.

Another major challenge facing the CSOs is the struggle to free themselves from the fetters of the donor organizations and the temptation to resist being manipulated as conduit pipes for neo-colonialism because it is possible for the donor agencies to use the funding power to control the activities and direction of the CSOs. This may hamper their freedom and independence and can be very counterproductive to their efforts and public perception.

Conclusion It is common knowledge that corruption in Africa assumed a dangerous dimension with the imposition of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in most African states in the 1980s at the instance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

As the late Prof Sam Aluko rightly noted that “in spite of the many legislations against corruption, economy development in the respective countries in African is diminishing year after year, because they do not distinguish between gift and bribe and because they refused to invest the bribe or the gift at home instead of hiding it abroad in countries that are more corrupt than we are because they are the main beneficiaries of our gifts and bribes, and they are also those countries that score us low because they profit maximally from our corruption.”

Finally, I wish to submit, without any fear of contradiction, that CSOs cannot successfully wage the war against corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing without forming an alliance with political parties, trade unions, women and youth organisations with a view to fighting together for a society where the welfare and security of the majority of the people will be the primary purpose of government.

LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com

Kidnapped ESUT VC and Southeast

U

NFORTUNATELY, kidnapping now seems the SouthEastern Nigeria’s share of the multilateral criminality afflicting the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Just as the white slave traders and the conquering federal troops came through the southern seas, the culture of kidnapping, which started from the southern part of the Eastern Nigeria seems now to have settled comfortably in the hinterland.

The Vice Chancellor of Enugu State University of Technology (ESUTH), Prof Cyprian Onyeji, released after 10 days in captivity, and probably after a tidy sum out of N200 million demanded by the kidnappers was paid, is just one of the several prominent victims.

With the original patent owners, the ex-militant Generals moving from that underground economy to the ongoing Abuja prosperity bazaar, as protectors of the Nigeria’s oil infrastructure, paid billions of naira protection money by the Nigeria state; their hinterland cousins are stuck drawing blood from their kit and kin. As if to shock the political leadership of the region out of the reverie of their false conceit, the hardworking Vice-Chancellor of the oldest state university in Eastern Nigeria, the ESUTH (formerly Anambra State University of Technology) was kidnapped within the precepts of the university.

But for this criminal intrusion, it was believed that the Vice Chancellor has substantially eradicated cultism and other sundry criminality in the university. Before his tenure as Vice Chancellor, it was common for gun-wielding student cultists to interrupt examinations to get at their wily opponents who having stayed away from all lectures, decided to show up at examination halls. It was also common for cult kingpins to write their examination with noticeable armed gang members standing guards, not far from the halls, while the authorities pretended not to see or hear anything. Indeed, it is believed that in the past, state authorities used some of the cult gangs to commit various atrocities, against perceived political opponents.

Now, there is the chance that all the past disrupting tendencies that the Vice Chancellor fought so hard to eradicate from the university may return to it. Whether it was the cultists that planned a revenge on August 15, 2012 to kidnap the Vice-Chancellor, or the entrenched criminals that have instituted kidnapping as their share of the putative criminal enterprise ravaging the country, the faith that befell the university and their beloved vice-chancellor, must worry those at the heads of political leaderships in the various states of the region.

Unless this added malaise is arrested, the already highly disadvantaged region of the country will continue to suffer more drift. As more and more crisis afflict the country, even other parts of the country that until recently were sure of certain privileges now seems turn apart as the opportunities continue to shrink. While the privileged oligarchs in the North are already on fire by the inherent contradictions of wealth from its share of the Niger Delta oil resources – dwindling at alarming rate – without a corresponding industry for its increasing youth population; the Western Nigeria is desperately and frantically seeking a reordering of affairs to side step the impending doom for everybody.

One such congruity from the alarming decay of the economic and social environment is that the employment opportunities previously set aside to satiate the privileged Nigerians are no longer enough to go round. The Nigerian Custom Services was one such area, set aside substantially to take care of the employment needs of the Northern princes; and the opportunities used to go round the families of the region’s oligarchy, but not any more. While a lot of noise is occasionally made by the Federal Character Commission about equal opportunity for Nigerians at the top echelon of the civil service, extra ministerial departments and the military agencies in furtherance of the provisions of Section 7 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended; not a whimper is ever head of the criteria of employment, especially in the reserved services for the privileged Nigerians.

Indeed, I only heard that the custom service was employing, when a neighbour apparently deceived by my media visibility, visited few weeks ago, to ask for my help to secure a job in the custom service for his graduate son. Armed with the happenings in the service, he pleaded that he will be ready to pay a ‘fee of N700,000’, which he alleged is being charged for a place in the service. With the army of unemployed around me, I sought for information from friends in the service, who told me that the Comptroller-General, Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi, has already taken care of the opportunities.

According to my source, Dikko has probably employed all the personnel that the service will need until 2020; and for effect, nearly all the newly employed, who are training at the Custom’s training school in Ikeja are from his home state. To show that the oneness of the core North is really under stress because the opportunities are dwindling, the other princes from the other northern states were left stranded, unlike in the past. In fairness to the Comptroller General, charity must begin at home, even if the homestead is perennially redefined.

As our dear country grapple with the challenges of over three decades of the ascendency of economic despoliation by gangster elites, the challenges of living in the country gets ever dicey. According to reports, the hoodlums that kidnapped the Vice Chancellor of ESUT took on successfully the armed police guards in his convoy. While we shudder for the next victim, thank God, the VC is back to his family in one piece.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

34

LEGAL OPINION

Immanent dualities? A socio-legal analysis of the character, attainments, and limitations of Gani Fawehinmi’s human rights praxis • Continued from last week

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OR, as has been shown elsewhere, the fact that most Nigerian human rights NGOs (with the exception of groups like the Social and Economic Action Center and the Shelter Rights Initiative) marginalised ES rights activism at the very same time as the very Nigerians whose interests they claim to serve were going through a devastating decrease in their standard of living and sharp rise in poverty (both being manifestations of the massive deprivations of their basic ES rights), was intimately linked to the fact that for most of the relevant period the foreign organisations that largely funded these groups did not tend to regard ES rights as proper human rights issues, and as such did not tend to fund ES rights work in Nigeria. For his part, the fact that Gani was not funded by these groups appeared to have allowed him the independence of programming to focus on whatever issues he thought were important, including ES rights.

In the end, Gani’s human rights praxis was a form of “human rights activism beyond the typical Nigerian human rights NGO model” in the sense that it modeled the very fact that it was possible to undertake human rights activism in Nigeria without being near-dependent on foreign funding and while holistically integrating the ES and CP rights struggles. This is one of his important legacies as a Nigerian and “third world” human rights thinker andactivist.

IV. Needing”More sap to grow to sunlight”: Some limitations of Gani Fawehinmi’shuman rights praxis Despite Gani’stowering attainments as a human rights defender, and his iconic status in Nigeria, the purpose of any proper scholarly assessment of his praxis cannot be to canonise him. As such, attention must be paid, if in a balanced way, to the characteristics of his praxis that appeared to limit the maximisation of his effectiveness and potential. This is the nature of the analytical enquiry that will preoccupy this section of the paper.

One of the most widely discussed criticisms launched against Gani, even during his lifetime related to his labor relations with the staff of his law practice. Gani was often accused of being a “slave driver” who did not adequately pay his staff for the very long and productive hours that they were known to put in.In response to such an accusation, Gani once stated as follows: “This is absolute rubbish. There is no lawyer that I bought a car for that I asked for a payback. I must have bought not fewer than 15 to 20 cars for lawyer ... regarding salaries, I am shocked to hear that, because I don’t know any lawyer who is earning less than N20,000 [per month] in my office [i.e. approximately N32,000 today if you adjust for the fact the Naira exchanged on average for about 100 to the dollar in 2001 and for about 160 to the dollar in 2012, amounting to $200]. My deputy [i.e. the second most senior lawyer after Gani] earns more than N50,000 a month [i.e. approximately N80,000 today if you adjust for the fact the Naira exchanged on average for about 100 to the dollar in 2001 and for about 160 to the dollar in 2012, amounting to about $500]… and I don’t default…So I don’t understand.”

Gani’s main argument here,which was that he tended to pay his staff lawyers better than they wouldhave been paidat the time in most other law offices in Nigeria, is not in itself incorrect. However, for such a great and committed anti-poverty and pro-masses human rights lawyer to rely on the fact that he paid a marginally better wage than the already generally paltry wages that obtain in the legal practice industry in Nigeria is highly problematic to the say the least. For, should a pro-poor activist’s depth of commitment to the eradication of poverty not extend to his own environment; to the amount of wages he pays his staff? What explains the fact that by Gani’s own admission the next most senior lawyer in his office earned a monthly salary of merely N80,000 while Gani took home millions of Naira in income?Why, pray did Gani not see the sum of N32,000 per month as way beneath a living wage for a university-educated lawyer in a city like Lagos, Nigeria?

This point is very important because Gani’s labour relations practices probably contributed to limitinghis ability to retain top tal-

By Obiora Chinedu Okafor

about his admirable struggles for a better society in Nigeria with that country’s vast population of uneducated or scarcely educated rural and semi-rural dwellers; thereby limiting his capacity to command a fargreater followership.

As importantly, filled as it was with class consciousness, anti-oppression sensitivity, and the like, Gani’s human rights politics wasstill a politics with little gender. He made little visible efforts, if any, to place gender issues at the center of his struggle.

Here again, Gani was not really an outlier, for this was until recently the norm within the Nigerian human rights NGO community.

As should seem obvious, this had negative implications for Gani’s ability to author the kind of human rights praxis that could attract an optimal (and not merely a high) level of validation and following in Nigeria.

After all, is not about half of Nigeria’s population, and most of its poor, female?

Was this huge population not ripe for mobilization?

And lastly, the ultimate inability of Gani (and his kindred spirits, except for say the labor groups) to successfully sire and lead a coherent national and enduring mass social movement of the poor, oppressed and marginalised (which was not for want of some effort on their part) certainly imposed significant limits on how much leverage he and his “collaborators” could exert against the Nigerian state. ChidiOdinkalu, himself one of Nigeria’s most cerebral and accomplished human rights activists and the Chair of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, has long warned that the inability of pro-human rights forces in Nigeria to rapidly acquire a sufficient degree of popular or grassroots legitimacy and fidelity would seriously hamper their overall effectiveness as change agents.MakauMutua has also reached a similar conclusion with regard to the broader African human rights NGO community.Interestingly, however, as has been shown elsewhere, the human rights activism of Nigerian labor groups has tended to take the more or less opposite approach, and is – within limits – the closest a human rights campaign in Nigeria has come to being a mass social movement.While Gani has a popular following, he certainly could not command as many “troops” as his comrades in the labor movement in Nigeria.

ent, establish a route to partnership for them, andthereby construct and institutionalise an organisation that could outlast him. Although it is nevertheless important to note that this kind of failure to institutionalise, and the consequent inability to optimise potential, is a widespread affliction not just within the Nigerian NGO community but also among Nigerian law firms.Gani was, to speak somewhat tongue in cheek, in good company in this respect.

Another limitation of Gani’s human rights praxis, one that contributed to his inability to institutionalise his human rights law practice for optimal and enduring effectiveness, was the essentially “one-man+hired hands” nature of his human rights law practice. Like most law firms and human rights NGOs in Nigeria (with the exception of a few like the Civil Liberties Organisation),Gani’s human rights law practice was clearly Gani’s – so much so that he himself, in his Last Will and Testament, decreed its winding up upon his death.Not even his lawyer-children appeared to have any real share of or control over the law • The late Chief Fawehinmi office.Thus, Gani’s human rights law practice did suffer to a degree from the same tablish and occupy offices in at least twentykind of “oga-ship syndrome” that many four of the thirty-six states and the Federal Nigerian human rights NGOshave been Capital Territory of Nigeria.Further support found to exhibit. is provided by the well-known fact that his Gani’s affliction with the “oga-ship syn- law office more or less operated in the Lagos drome” is related to the criticisms he re- area. And like most Nigerian human rights ceived for what appeared to many observ- NGOs, Gani’s human rights work did not ers as a difficulty he seemed to have with focus nearly enough on the vast majority working with and within institutional struc- rural population of Nigeria.These points are tures that he did not dominate;140what may not intended to suggest that the intended bestyled a “loner syndrome.” For example, reach of Gani’s human rights work was so the Guardian (UK) has noted that “relent- narrow. What is being commented upon lessly energetic, crazily courageous, here is the limited actual grasp of the Fawehinmi displayed an individualism that praxis.Yet, without a broader national sometimes annoyed his fellow lawyers.” grasp, it was much always going to be much Perhaps the best known evidence of this ten- more difficult than otherwise for him dency was his legal/political battle with the optimise the potential influence of his huNigerian Bar Association (NBA) over his re- man rights work. fusal, after he lost a free and fair vote on the Yet another factor that limited the matter, to join an NBA ordered boycott of maximisation of the potential of Gani’s humilitary-headed tribunals set up by the then man rights praxis to help to actually transruling military junta to try the allegedly form his country is his lack of visible encorrupt politicians who they had gagement, if any, with pro-human rights overthrown.In Gani’s defence it may be of- local values, norms, and practices; those fered that he opposed and fought against traditions of that country’s various peoples the NBA boycott on principle; i.e. in the in- that do indeed support or reinforce human terest of ensuring the trial, conviction and rights. Here again, he was not alone. For imprisonment of allegedly corrupt politi- most Nigerian human rights NGOs are as cians. But this argument virtually collapses guilty of this pitfall.And this blind spot limwhen it is realised that he in fact ended up ited his ability to speak more effectively • To be continued next week appearing before these military tribunals not as a prosecutor but as defence counsel for one of the accused (something he nevertheless justified as a way to show his principled opposition to the boycott). 1 Importantly, this affliction with the loner syndrome did help limit the maximisation of Gani’s potential to join effectively with kindred spirits and create a much more powerful joint force against human rights violations in Nigeria.

Another factor that limited Gani’s ability to optimise the potential of his admittedly well-accomplished human rights praxis was the narrow geo-political loca- • Wali (3rd left) and other members of the in-coming Exco tion of the centre of gravity of his struggles mostly in the Lagos and later Abuja areas, and RESIDENT-ELECT of the committee to key into that vision.

By John Austin Unachukwu vastly within urban NiNigerian Bar Association You know that we don’t have geria. Some evidence for Prior to the retreat, the President- much time, it is a two year tenure (NBA), Okey Wali (SAN) and the Lagos/Abuja centrism and lack of a other officials of the association elect had requested all national and we must leave at the end of sufficiently national have held a two-day retreat in Port officers-elect, to articulate their two years, time flies and so, we views and programmes in their must be as ready as we can so that spread of the focus and Harcourt, Rivers State.

During the event, they deliberated respective offices the will fast-track immediately we are inaugurated grasp of Gani’s human the urgent desire to meet the on August 31, we hit the ground rights activism can be on Wali’s 10-point agenda.

The retreat was attended by the demands of a modern Bar. running. gleaned from the reasons Wali told The Nation that the “We have to articulate policies, adduced by the Indepen- newly elected national officers of dent National Electoral the association, except the Legal essence of the retreat was to ensure look at our programmes and get Commission of Nigeria Adviser, Sule Usman, who was out that other national officers of the everybody to have good grasp of association understand and buy what we are talking about so that for their initial refusal to of the country.

The meeting also sought the into his agenda. we can work as a team with register his National “Well, I have a vision for the Bar everybody contributing his or her Conscience Party (NCP), input and contribution of the new both of which centered on national officers to the growth and and it is very important to get all own idea for the success of the members of the national executive Bar.” the NCP’s failure to es- development of the NBA.

In-coming NBA Exco holds retreat

P

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

LAW & SOCIETY BOOK REVIEW

Legal pluralism in Africa Legal pluralism in Africa: A compedium on African Custom ary Law Author: Adekoje O. Adediran Publisher: Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) Pages: 801 Title:

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CCORDING to history, civilisation started in Africa, but unfortunately, in the 21st century, African norms and values are perceived as being crude and barbaric. Our traditional laws and legal systems are not left out, as they are subjected to various tests before they can be enforceable by the formal courts. The resultant effect is that our cultural norms are gradually going into extinction, our laws do no longer represent our way of life and the question is; what legacy will there be for our children?

Legal Pluralism in Africa: A Compendium on African Customary Law is a book by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, which was born during the conduct of two research projects; Re-statement of Customary Law in Nigeria and Traditional Administration of Justice in Nigeria. As a result of findings, the Institute arrived at a compendium of African Customary Laws which seems to constitute a trinity in that area.

It is often wondered what the phrase ‘African laws’ implies. Could it be the indigenous laws peculiar to Africa? Or can we say it also consists of received laws from other jurisdictions? This book provides answers to these questions and more.

The First Chapter of the book which is written by Adejoke Adediran is entitled: Legal Transplant and Pluralism. The writer explains the reasons for legal pluralism and identifies legal transplant as a means by which pluralism exists in any jurisdiction. Recourse is being had to history as the writer traces the origin of legal transplant to the earliest legal systems in the world; that is the Babylonian, Greece and Roman empires and reveals how legal norms and rules were transferred from one empire to the other and then to the Western world and how eventually those legal norms and rules became transplanted in Africa. Colonization amongst other factors is identified as facilitators of legal transplant of laws and other legal norms. An impressive research work was conducted in this chapter as the writer makes references to some other countries in order to buttress the point that legal pluralism exists in most jurisdictions.

The second chapter which is written by Adegoke A. Olanrewaju is entitled: ‘Indigenous African Law: A Comparative Study’. As the name suggests, it is a comparative analysis of the various African laws across the diverse ethnic groups. The chapter discusses how the African laws differ from other laws obtained in the modern-day Africa. The reader is taken down memory lane by the reader who traces the colonial history of Africa up to its decolonization.

In recognizing the impact of colonization on the continent, the writer says while speaking on the nature of African laws “many of the African laws that exist have been influenced by the continent’s long history of colonialism” (44). In comparing the status of liability under African customary law before colonization and afterwards, the writer brings to light the impact of the English common law on the African customary via the test of validity of customary law. The diversity of African languages is identified as a barrier to Unified Law in Africa. This chapter in a scholarly manner, describes the pluralistic nature of the African legal system by enunciating that the three basic legal systems; civil, common and religious law are simultaneously

present in most African countries. A very expository piece, this chapter is resourceful on the history of African customary laws and the impact of received law on African legal system.

Chapter three which is written by Dr. John Adebisi Arewa is entitled: ‘Post-Colonial Africa and The Imperative of Fusion of Laws and Courts’. The writer within the purview of pluralism examines the effect legal transplant from the English system in Post-colonial Africa. He posits that legal rules which are adopted from another legal system can be made to adapt to local conditions, where this is so, the application of such law is fully embraced and pervasive, but where it is not adapted to fit local conditions it would not be pervasive and it will amount to an imposition.

An effective legal system can only evolve where the transplanted law is adapted to the social condition of the receiving society. The writer in pointing out one of the inadequacies of legal pluralism in Africa, writes “…rules are context specific….Where a rule is characterized by ambiguity from source, its application in receiving country may be at variance with its original intendments.” (99) Citing Nigeria as an example, the writer posits that the transplant of the European legal order to the African state is an imposition, and the process of adaptation which could have occurred after independence was aborted by the military invasion through the 1966 coup.

In chapter four entitled: ‘Property Rights in African Traditional Law’, the writer, Professor (Mrs.) Animi Awah recognizes the fact that the use of English law terminologies do not convey the true nature of interests held in African traditional law. She posits that property such as land is not really communally owned but rather corporately owned, and individual rights in land are not absolute as the holder is not entitled to absolute disposition. This chapter is an authority on the vesting of property rights under the African traditional law.

Chapter five is entitled: ‘African Laws and Repugnancy Doctrine: Reshaping a Tool Viewed as Imperialist’ and is written by Judith Fumnanya Rapu. The writer criticises the repugnancy test which African customary laws are subjected to as being an imperialist mission of control and canvasses that African customary law should no longer be subject to the repugnancy doctrine. Indeed she writes “it is in the interest of African countries to allow African ideas of laws to compete freely in the world market place of ideas” (206). In explaining the precepts of the Repugnancy doctrine, the writer defines the concepts of natural justice, equity and good conscience and convincingly postulates that justice being a relative term, African customary laws should not be subject to the doctrine.

With the aid of decided cases, it is established that the Nigerian courts are departing from the hitherto standard of justice and fairness in relation to customary and the repugnancy test is now viewed in the line of not being in conflict with the constitution. While calling for the replacement of the repugnancy doctrine with constitutional standards, the writer also admits the challenges African customary law is likely to be faced with. This is quite exhaustive of the argument proposed by the writer, as she succeeded in establishing the need for the replacement of the repugnancy doctrine with Constitutional standards.

Chapter 6 is entitled: ‘Whither African “Common Law”: Perspectives on Socio-Legal Africa’ and is written by Professor Bolaji Owasanoye. The chapter considers the practicability of an African common law amidst diversity of traditional laws obtained in Africa. The writer with the use of data enlightens the reader on the sociological composition of Af-

rica. While elucidating factors that can promote African Common Law. He writes “African equivalents of the expression ‘common law’ can be driven from two perspectives namely from within the structures of African Union as well as other regional economic organizations and by the efforts of other nations.” (268) In Chapter 7 entitled: ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution of Indigenous African Disputes: An Irrelevant Myth or Catalyst for Modern Global Relations’, the writer, Judith Fumnanya Rapu canvasses the importance of the incorporating arbitral roles in the statute books for Traditional Rulers in Africa.

Chapter Eight which is titled ‘Indigenous Laws of Marriage and Divorce in Africa’ written by Dr. Nlerum Francisca examines the nature and types of marriages and divorce and the indigenous laws governing them. Writing on the challenges faced by women under the indigenous, she says “Presently in some communities, the tendency is that married women are often thought of as chattels, useful only for procreation of children and work at home. As such she cannot inherit all that she has belongs to her husband.”(344) The writer posits that although the indigenous law does not provide grounds for divorce but divorce will be granted once it is clear that reconciliation is impossible. A proposition is made for reform of some of the indigenous laws governing marriage and divorce as being discriminatory of women.

Chapter 9 entitled: ‘Land Tenure System in Traditional African Societies’ which is written by Iber T.I. is an expose of ownership and devolution of land under African customary law. The writer examines the land tenure system in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa and concludes that “in most parts of rural Africa, customary institutions still govern access to land and natural resources.”(369) In Chapter 10 entitled: ‘African Laws and Internal Conflicts’, which is written by Dr. Ibe Okegbe Ifeakandu, a jurisprudential exposition of the nature of African laws that allow for pluralism is made, and how these laws promote or address the issue of internal conflicts. The writer asserts that legal pluralism poses a challenge to countries in Africa as there is the urge to preserve the cultural heritage inherent in their customary laws while striving to operate as modern regimes; hence the need for a balance. She argues that some indigenous laws despite being unwritten have succeeded where other forms of legal systems have failed and posits that the interplay of different laws at different levels in African countries often give rise to conflicts. The writer advocates the need for “…sustainable, equitable solutions that reflect a society’s broad needs and desires, appreciate the nexus between citizenship, religion, integration and ethnoreligious based conflicts in Africa.”(403) Chapter 11 is entitled: ‘The Institution of Family Property in Africa’ and is written by Odum Emeka. This chapter examines the land tenure system in various countries in Africa. The writer considers the effect of legal pluralism on the land tenure system whereby it is governed by both the customary law and statutory law.

Chapter 12 is entitled: ‘Crime and Punishment in African Indigenous Law’ and is written by Nnenna Joy UcheEboh. The writer posits that the theory of punishment in the African indigenous tradition leans more towards forbearance and as such, the indigenous criminal justice system is predicated upon reconciliation.

The structure of governance in African indigenous societies is examined as well as criminal liability under African indigenous law. The reader is able to appreciate the administration of law in the African traditional

society by reading this chapter. She writes “Traditional African societies were egalitarian and allowed for the participation of all adults in the decision making process. Even in communities with kings and chiefs, decisions are reached only after full consultation with community members.”(437).

She states that there is usually a diffusion of liability for crimes between the offender and the victim in order to facilitate reconciliation.

As for the status of the African indigenous law, she writes “Though the laws were generally unwritten, the African Indigenous societies depicted societies wherein the norms and traditions of the land which ultimately is the law, were written on the tablets of the hearts of the people such that everyone knew what amounted to crime and the possible punishment for such crimes.”(445) In Chapter 13 entitled: ‘Co-Existence of Native Laws and Received Laws in Africa’ which is written by Peter Ademu Anyebe, legal pluralism in Africa is considered as effective. The chapter focuses on the interaction of the indigenous African law and the received law.

The writer makes references to the laws of African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Botswana which make provisions for the incorporation of the Common law into the legal systems. This chapter reiterates the fact that pluralism is recognised by the Constitutions of some countries. On the issue of internal conflicts, he writer states that this arises when the court is obliged to decide which of the legal systems which are co-existing within the same jurisdiction, should be applied to the case before it. He canvasses that in, Nigeria, whenever there is a conflict between the received English law and customary law, the customary law would prevail if the particular customary law rule passes the repugnancy and policy tests. In case of direct inconsistency between a rule of customary law and a local statute, the local statute would prevail. In acknowledging that the conflict which sometimes arises in the administration of English law side by side with customary law, he writes “A customary law may apply to a transaction and dispute may arise as to whether or not that law applies to the parties in transactions. Cases involving a native and a non-native often give rise to such a problem. The approach of the court has been that the customary law would apply where statutes so provide.” The writer recognizses the problems associated with legal pluralism by stat-

ing that the state of conflict creates opportunities for individuals and groups within the society, who can select from any of the co-existing legal authorities to advance their aims.

Comments A look at the book will suggest a publication from the most effective publishing outfit supposedly beyond the shores of Nigeria; this is due to the packaging it enjoys. The book is neatly clothed in an orange-coloured hard cover with its title boldly written in white and blue coloured ink.

The 801 - page book is divided into 24 chapters each written by individual writers. It is edited by Prof Epiphany Azinge SAN (DirectorGeneral of the Institute) and Prof Animi Awah.

‘Legal Pluralism in Africa: A compendium on African Customary Law’ implores the use of narrative, argumentative, analytical and expository methodologies. The book being authored by 24 legal scholars embodies a combination of jurisprudential reasoning and the consistency in the consortium of ideas by the writers is worthy of commendation. Like a sound scholarly work, the book is a result of prolific research on the diversity of African legal norms and values; it truly deserves to be referred to as a ‘Compendium on African Customary law.’

The book convincingly brings to light the essence of indigenous African law while buttressing the need for its reform and restatement. It fulfills the promises made by the Editor in the preface as it is sufficiently exhaustive of issues of dualism of laws bordering on property rights, inheritance, succession and family law in Africa.

The academic content of the book is greatly enhanced by references made to the legal systems of other countries.

Observations Some of the chapters are not exhaustive of what the topics suggest.

The book suffers from some typographical errors and blurriness in some of its pages.

Recommendation This is a very enlightening piece suitable for a study on jurisprudence, comparative law and also the history of legal systems in Africa. It is a resource material for academics, lawyers, students and all lovers of knowledge. It is suitable for persons interested in the development of African indigenous laws, hence it is recommended for Traditional rulers and chiefs in Africa.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

NATIONAL BAR

Supreme Court’s election petition time limitation judgment: a critique

By Iwilade Akintayo

• Akintayo

W

HEN the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice Aloma Mukthar, was sworn in, it was not just the novelty of Her Lordship being the first female CJN that excited the observing public. A lot of commentators, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, expressed the hope that it will usher in a period of progressive judicial activism where the Courts will become “Courts of Justice and not mere Courts of Law”- to borrow the eminent Mr Femi Falana’s words.

One of the decisions of the Supreme Court, which have been viewed with deep disapproval by critical analysts, was the highest Court’s decision in the consolidated appeal cases of ANPP v. Alhaji Mohammed Goni & 4 Ors and Alhaji Kashim Shettima & 1 Other v Alhaji Mohammed Goni & 3 Ors., with suit numbers SC. 1/2012 and SC.2/2012.

“Section 285(6) of Nigeria’s amended 1999 Constitution threatens a reversal of whatever marginal gains already recorded in the country’s incoherent democratic journey. Admittedly, this ominous reversal was not much apparent until the recent Supreme Court’s decision in the now popular consolidated appeal cases of ANPP v. Alhaji Mohammed Goni & 4 Ors and Alhaji Kashim Shettima & 1 Other v Alhaji Mohammed Goni & 3 Ors., with suit numbers SC. 1/2012 and SC.2/ 2012 respectively”.

“To attempt a thoroughly objective critique of the said Supreme Court judgment, this essay shall first highlight the main issue(s) decided by the judgment.

Thereafter, the key arguments considered in arriving at the judgment will be briefly stated while the unfolding practical implications of the judgment, as being witnessed across the states, will also get cursory mention”.

“Subsequently, we shall examine some alternative arguments we think the Supreme Court ought to have considered and some progressive jurisprudential opportunities we think have been missed as a consequence of not considering same.

In concluding, we hope our humble views would have highlighted some more developmentally stimulating stand the Supreme Court could have taken, - and should ultimately take, if Nigeria’s quest for true democratic ascendance is to be deepened”. “... few posers as theoretical and practical benchmarks for assessing the import of the extant Supreme Court Judgment. The posers include, whether the decision has advanced, in truth, the course of electoral sanctity and democratic justice in Nigeria?; whether the interpretation ascribed to Section 285(6) was the most constitutionally just and only probable one that could have been ascribed in the circumstance, considering the critical need for electoral sanctity in Nigeria?; whether the extant decision runs contrary to earlier decisions of the Supreme Court on the unconstitutionality and poverty of justice inherent in prescribing time limitations for election petitions?; whether the decision can survive the scrutiny of all universally acclaimed and timeless principles of true and substantial justice?; “All such real and imagined fears, of a shrinking political space, and of a sharply abridged right of access to the Courts, will compound the alarmingly dwindling faith of the populace in the fairness of our country’s administration of justice system” “... takes the view that there were some more enduring constitutional and dynamic jurisprudential options the Supreme Court could have explored, to fore-

stall the impending democratic reversals now gravely threatened by Section 285(6).

Some of these options are set out in the succeeding paragraphs hereunder “if we agree that Election Petitions are about the sovereignty of the people, and the determination of whether such sovereignty was subverted, by any person or group, to illegitimately take control of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any part thereof; then we must agree that Sections 1(2),65,66,71 to 79,106,107,112 to 119, 130 to 142 and 176 to 187 ought to be considered, and declared superior, to the narrow provisions of Section 285(6) of the amended 1999 Constitution. The said Sections 1(2),65,66,71 to 79,106,107,112 to 119, 130 to 142 and 176 to 187, of the amended 1999 Constitution, touch the very foundation of the Nigerian Republic in that they prescribe the only legitimate means by which control of the Government of Nigeria, or any part thereof, are to be taken over”.

“Election rigging is a fundamental assault on the sovereignty of Nigeria; a debasement of the very basis of the nation’s survival. As such, election petitions symbolically allege and challenge such unpardonable sovereignty subversion. It, therefore, does no harm to emphasise that in an election petition, it is not the feuding political classes, called petitioners and respondents, that are on trial but the sovereignty of the people that is being called to question.The very foundation of the State’s authority is what is being questioned in election petitions. Further, the petitions are a means of seeking to find out whether the persons exercising state authority are doing so with the mandate of the people, in line with Section 1(2) of the amended 1999 Constitution, or not.

That makes an election petition a fundamentally substantive exercise that cannot be subsumed, or reduced in significance, by a resort to merely procedural provisions; like the type contained in Section 285(6)”.

“Therefore, since the people (the presumed makers of the Constitution) cannot be contemplated; as willing to tolerate themselves being governed by illegitimate persons (whether via military coup de’tats or civilian election rigging), for whatever reasons (least less a formalistic 180days deadline), the Supreme Court ought to have looked beyond Section 285(6) in deciding the justice of the Goni Case (Supra)”.

“With utmost respect to the Supreme Court, it ought to have considered that Election Petitions are seeking to test the observance of Section 1(2) of the amended 1999 Constitution on whether the Government of the Federation, or any part thereof, have been hijacked, by illegitimate means, especially election rigging and other electoral manipulations. The people, (the presumed makers of the Constitution), will certainly intend that the issue of whether some persons have taken over their Republic, or any part of it, be exhaustively determined on the merits at the Courts. And while the people may have desired that such issues be decided within 180 days, where for any reason it cannot be so decided, the people must have intended that such time lapse cannot make them run the risk of their Republic remaining in the hands of possible civilian coupists - and as such, the people must have intended that the Section prescribing time limitation (i.e Section 285(6)) must have to bow to the one(s) seeking to preserve their Republic’s survival (i.e Sections 1(2),36(1),65,66,71 to 79,106,107,112 to 119, 130 to 142 and 176 to 187, of the amended 1999 Constitution). The Supreme Court also ought to have philosophically reasoned that the people, being the presumed makers of the Constitution, will not have intended to sacrifice their sovereignty, (which they expressly provided for the manner of its control under Section 1(2)), for four or more years, on the altar of a narrow procedural 180-day deadline as provided for in the visionless provisions of Section 285(6) of the amended 1999 Constitution”. Etc etc We hope that the Supreme Court will deliver more enduring judgments under Her Lordship’s tenure.

•Akintayo is a Lagos-based legal practitioner.

Sacked council boss sues Bayelsa for N100m F ORMER Chairman of South ern Ijaw Local Government Council, Chief Timipa Tiwei Orunimighe has sued the Bayelsa State government for allegedly sacking him.

He asked for N100 million damages against the defendants for “unconstitutionally” removing him from office.

The claimant urged the court to reinstate him.

Orunimighe is among five council chairmen removed by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly on July 26.

He joined Governor Seriake Dickson and the Speaker, Mr Kombowei Benson in the suit filed at the state High Court, Yenegoa.

Other defendants are the AttorneyGeneral, Clerk of the House, Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Police Command and Mr Felix Bonny Ayah, who replaced the plaintiff.

Orunimighe, through his lawyer, Mr Affinih Egbegi, argued that the House lacked the constitutional powers to remove him from office.

He sought a declaration that the power conferred on the Bayelsa

By Joseph Jibueze

Assembly by Section 128 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to direct an inquiry does not extend to matters concerning the budgetary expenses/financial appropriations and financial affairs of Local Government councils, which are explicitly provided for in Section 3(6).

He prayed the court to hold that the House’July 26 decision to investigate his tenure with a view to making him account for his stewardship, was a gross abuse and violation of the provisions of Section 128 of the Constitution and is therefore illegal, null and void and of no effect.

The claimant asked for a declaration that the House lacked the power to constitute itself into a court of law to try and punish him for the alleged commission of any offence under the guise of exercising its constitutional powers to direct or cause to be directed an inquiry or investigation as envisaged under section 128 of the Constitution.

He asked for a declaration that only the Auditor-General of Local Government and Local Government Inspectors as provided for in sections 50, 51 and 52 of the Bayelsa State Local Government Law, 2000 as amended can audit the books and accounts of the Local Government Council chaired by the Claimant as a democratically elected local government chairman and not the legislators.

Orunimighe asked the court to declare that Section 24 (6) of the Local Government Law of Bayelsa State, 2000 as amended, which empowered the governor to remove a democratically elected local government chairman, with the approval of a two-thirds majority of the members of the House on grounds of serious misconduct based on the proceedings of July 26 of the legislators, without compliance with the provisions of section 36 of the Constitution was a flagrant violation of his fundamental right to fair hearing.

No date has been been fixed for hearing as the defendants are expected to file their responses.

Lagos AG laments dearth of records

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HE Lagos State AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, has bemoaned the neglect records and facts about development in the country.

Ipaye stated this at the launch of a book, entitled: Lagos State Book of Facts-its history, geography, polity, economy, written by a lawyer, Mr Anthony Aladekomo, at the Bar Centre, Ikeja.

He commended the book, which he noted, is a collection of essential information, historical and geographical and economic facts on Lagos.

He said: “I so much appreciate it because it is always profitable to have a reference point, to have historical details to refer to.

“So when we see a publication now that has assembled mere facts

By Adebisi Onanuga

from different administration, I think it’s such a useful piece of publication”.

Ipaye said people should not see it as the responsibility of the government alone to keep records and facts about the society.

“All over the world, the most authoritative encyclopedia, publications, historical analyses have not been issued by officials of government. It is basically done by private people, researchers or research institutions. So, it is nothing strange at all,” he said.

He challenged lawyers to write books on different subjects to preserve records and facts about places in the society.

“The publication of this book should encourage lawyers to

write books. The interest could be in features, poems”, he added.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Chapter, Mr Monday Ubani, who unveiled the book, in his remarks, urged lawyers to take more interest in governance.

Ubani, in apparent reference to the performance of governors Babatunde Raji Fashola, Sullivan Chime and Godswill Akpabio of Lagos, Enugu and Akwa Ibom, said lawyers have so far proved to be better governors.

The author, Aladekomo said he was motivated to pursue the writing of the book in line with the provisions of section 24, particularly paragraphs (b) and (d) of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, as amended.

• From left: Mrs. Nweze; Chukwuemeka Eze, Chairman, EBSLLAG; Mrs.Onuora; Chief Magistrate Ugbala; Chief Judge Nwankwo; Mrs. Nnenna Nwuke, Deputy Chief Registrar I (High Court), Ebonyi State Judiciary; Miss Lilian Eze, Law Student, Ebonyi State University; Wilfred Alobu, Deputy Chief Registrar II (High Court), Ebonyi State Judiciary, during the visit.

Ebonyi CJ urges commitment, professionalism HE Chief Judge (CJ) of Ebonyi thanked the Chief Judge for from lawyers Lagos, State, Justice Alloysius the exceptional reception accorded

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Nwankwo, has called on lawyers to show greater commitment and exhibit high sense of professionalism in the performance of their duties.

The CJ made the call while hosting a delegation of Ebonyi State Lawyers in Lagos (EBSLLAG) led by its Chairman, Chukwuemeka Eze. The Chief Judge, who was represented by his Legal Assistant, Chief Magistrate Gladson Ugbala, charged Ebonyi lawyers in Lagos to be good ambassadors of the state

and take greater interest in the affairs of the state generally and Ebonyi State Judiciary in particular. He promised to avail them of necessary information on the activities of Ebonyi State Judiciary.

In her remarks, the Chief Registrar of Ebonyi State Judiciary (High Court of Justice), Chief Magistrate Stella Onuora, enjoined thelawyers to do their state proud through their activities.

In response, Mrs. Gloria Nweze, the matron of Ebonyi lawyers in

the delegation, which included a visit to the judicial divisions of the state High Court in Abakaliki, Ezzamgbo and Afikpo; a tour of the e-library of the state Judiciary, and a meeeting with some members of the Judicial Service Commission.

Earlier, the delegation had a parley with the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ebonyi State, Dr. Ben Obasi Igwenyi, where the A.G. promised to consider some of the suggestions of his visitors on how to move forward the Bar and the Bench in the state.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

LAW REPORT

Assessing the stewardship of Daudu, outgoing NBA President Introduction

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VERYTHING that has a begin ning must have an end. The outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN), assumed office as the 25th president of the esteemed association at the end of the Kaduna 2010 Annual General Conference.

He is relinquishing the office on August 31, 2012 at the end of this year’s Annual General Conference tagged: Abuja 2012, as the newly elected national officers take over.A time like this is the most appropriate to beam the searchlight of accountability on his regime to assess whether he has discharged his stewardship in consonance with his avowed manifesto and to determine whether or not he has left a worthy legacy that the association may consolidate on in later years.

Perhaps the best way to go about this performance review is to highlight his achievements in office and then offer answers, by way of concluding extrapolations, to the question of whether or not the performances correlate with the dream of the association; whether his promise that he would take the Bar to greater heights have been fulfilled and whether those achievements are weighty enough to be adjudged lasting legacy. We may now examine briefly some of the notable accomplishments of Daudu during his two years in the saddle of the NBA leadership.

1. Intellectual rigour evinced in passionate campaign for socio-economic reforms • Expository and well-researched papers: 45 in first year; 49 in the second year.

Daudu’s brilliance and intellectual fecundity were amply in display as he turned himself to prophet of social reforms.

He was all over the country delivering well-researched, intellectually profound and critically engaging papers with a view to stemming perceived social ills, political eccentricities and all forms of aberrations of laws and due process. His papers were not only critical and condemnatory of reprehensible practices in our polity.

They are also laden with numerous panacea for corrective initiatives. A fact anchored on the fact that his real mission was not just to criticise but to contribute his own quota in procuring a dream society.

To this end, he delivered a whopping 45 papers in the first year and 49 papers in his second year in office published in volumes 111and 1v of the voice of the Bar,a compendium of the speeches of NBA president, which made its debut

By Muritala Abdul-Rasheed

during Akeredolu’s presidency.

2. Creation of authentic Database for all lawyers.

After a protracted period of being a phantom dream, the project of creating a computerised database containing basic information of legal practitioners in Nigeria was eventually realised under Daudu’s presidency. This, of course, was one of the promises he made to lawyers during his campaign and he pursued the dream with his wonted passion until it was actualised. Gone are the days when fake lawyers would besiege courts and start desecrating our hallowed chambers pretending to be practising law that they were not trained nor licensed for. It is very easy to identify fake lawyers courtesy of this state- of-the art collation of information of all genuine lawyers. All lawyers in Nigeria now have enrolment numbers unique to them through which they can be traced and accessed anywhere in the world.

3.Inauguration of the General Council of the Bar Anybody who knows Daudu would readily concede to him one “incurable” virtue - that is tenacity and single-mindedness in pursuit of actualisation of whatever he has set his mind upon. Daudu had always stated his unhappiness that the General Council of the Bar which remained in limbo for over a decade had robbed the legal profession of one of its vital institutions. He set about the tasks of getting the council reconstituted with resilience. Daudu mounted a gargantuan pressure on the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Mr Mohammed Bello, Adoke (SAN), until the General Council of the Bar was eventually inaugurated by the AGF on March 19, 2012, paving the way for its operations and actualisations of the functions for which it was conceived.

4. Giving NBA a befitting national secretariat in Abuja.

Daudu’s predecessor,Mr Akeredolu (SAN) was the brain behind the procurement of the present National Secretariat of the NBA in Abuja, having bought it for the association during his tenure, Daudu ,renovated and furnished same bringing it to the modern taste and standards befitting of a National Bar. The contributions of the two NBA bosses will go down in history as very instrumental in procurement of a befitting edifice for our association irrespective of the misgivings of Critics.

5. Daudu led NBA to play significant role during the fuel subsidy removal crisis.

The role the NBA, under the lead-

ership of Daudu, played during the famous January fuel subsidy removal debacle will go down in history as a classical example of a how responsible and responsive Bar could engage the political leadership and pressurise it to the wishes of the people. The association was in the forefront of stern opposition to government’s apparent insensitivity for the hike in the price of fuel, it bonded with the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to form a formidable peoples’ army in the operation “Occupy Nigeria”.

It directed its members to withdraw their services from court, issued denunciatory statements that were widely publicised in all the nation’s daily and even directed its members to defend pro bono all the innocent victims of the upheavals that were molested or arrested by the agents of the state.

6. Professionalisation of the NBA secretariat.

Daudu started the reform process from inward by professionalising the operations at the NBA headquarters. To this end three Directorates were established vIz; finance, Administration, programmes and Bar services .

A new lease of life was also injected into the Institutes of continuing Legal education and Human Rights to make them become more functional. The office of the Executive Director of the NBA was also created in line with best global practices.

Furthermore, capacity building programmes were continually organised for secretariat staff. For example ten members of the staff went to Dubai IBA,ABA and other workshops around the globe.

7. Successful Delegates conference and election of new executives.

Every transitional process in human affairs has propensity to be problematic. Daudu understood this and led the process of conducting free and fair election to usher in new executives. This dream was achieved on Tuesday, July 17 during the delegates conference in Abuja when a hitch-free election was conducted culminating into the emergence of new national officers who were propped into different offices by popular votes. Like in every election, there were dissenting voices who were aggrieved with the outcome of the election but to every objective mind the entire electoral process was above board.

Miscellaneous worthy and exemplary performances There are really numerous other laudable actions/performances Daudu posted in terms that may not be captured within this little piece. One may mention his lead-

• Prof Chidi Odinkalu and Miss I.B.B Benede at the pre-Conference NEC meeting in Abuja

• Daudu (SAN)

ing the NBA to take the Priviledges Committee to court over the appointiment of new Silk in 2011; Restoring the respect of the Bar in the appointment process; Leading the Bar to engage the establishment over the suspension of Salami (PCA) via widely publicised sustained condemnation of the politicians interference in the judicial affairs.

Others included the initiation of the Criminal Justice Reform Conference as a permanent event in NBA diary and the Election Tribunal evaluation workshops aimed at equipping lawyers with first rate knowledge on election jurisprudence. He organised more specialised conferences than any previous regime.

His strong character traits To some lawyers Daudu’s strong character is percieved as autocracy.

Easy refrences are made to the proposed increment in Bar practicing fee and the conference fees.The truth of the matter is that Daudu presented the two issues before the NEC in Lokoja.While there was strong opposition to the proposed practicing fee rates, the rejection of the increased conference fee was muted. Exploring his superb advocacy skills to great advantage.

Daudu is one president whose policies and presentations are always greeted with a thunderous

approved by NEC, the only exception being the constitutional amendment proposal which he withdrew when it was obvious that it would be defeated.Giving the calibre of the membership of NEC,which boasts of the creme de la creme at the Bar,it will be uncharitable to stigmatise a sitting NBA president as autocratic because no policy no matter how lofty can scale through without the approval of NEC as exemplified by the inchoate 2011 constitutional amendment process.A President is as autocractic as the NEC that approves his policy.

Conclusion While no pretence would be made that Daudu had accomplished in absolute sense all what he had set out to achieve, it would appear that the achievements he managed to register would, in fair assessment, fetch him more a pass mark. Daudu has so much fulfilled his campaign promises that only a bias critic would score him low on this point. As a matter of fact, the small fragment of his campaign promises that was not fulfilled could be attributed to technical factor that does not entirely rests on him.

For example, he promised to inaugurate the seal and stamp project that would make every Nigerian lawyer distinct with customised professional paraphernalia like personal seals and stamps. This could not be achieved within its two-year tenure because for this initiative to be taken, the Legal Practitioners Act must be amended to reassess the definition of who is a legal practitioner licensed to practice in Nigeria.He could not also publish the History of the Bar in Nigeria which I know was dear to his heart due to constraints of time and resources. . The NBA has, however, sponsored the LPA (amendment) Bill and it is pending before the National Assembly.

In a nutshell, it could be said that Daudu has consolidated phenomenally on the achievements of his predecessors and history will judge him fairly as one enigmatic and cerebral president NBA produced. ’” •Abdul-Rasheed is a former Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association

Two brothers in dock for alleged N30m worth of jewellery theft

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OR allegedly stealing jewellery worth N30 mil lion and other valuables belonging to one Mrs. Joyce Ukagha, two brothers have been arrested and charged before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court, Lagos.

The defendants, Daniel Aikoye, 24, and Monday Aikoye, 28, are standing trial on 23 counts of conspiracy, burglary, threatening violence and stealing before Magistrate O. J. Awope.

The alleged offence was said to have been committed between 11am and 1pm, on July 16, 2008 at 34, Ladipo Kasumu Street, Ikeja.

The brothers, who are sons to the complainant’s landlord, allegedly conspired with another and broke into her dwelling house without her consent and with intent to intimidate and annoy her, damaged her house.

Trouble started when the landlord allegedly told the complainant to vacate the premises on grounds that he wanted to sell the property.

The complainant, who claimed she was being owed N6 million by the landlord, opted to purchase the house the owner refused.

She was said to have demanded her money but the landlord was not forthcoming with the payment. As such, she refused to leave the house without receiving the money she loaned the landlord.

When all efforts to make her leave

By Precious Igbonwelundu

failed, the two brothers were said to have burgled her apartment and carted away her valuables.

Although the alleged offence was committed in 2008, the defendants were charged to court on July 12 this year.

Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Austin Onwumene, told the court that the defendants stole the following items; jewellery worth N30million, six crystal glass furniture for supplies valued N1.8million, domestic glass cooler worth N185, 000; rug porcelain dishes, which cost N220, 000, Tianshi machine massager valued N91, 000; Orthopaedic foam worth N300, 000 and $75, 000, among others.

He said the total value of the items stolen by the defendants was N34, 289, 000, and $75, 000.

According to Onwumene, the offences contravened Sections 409; 305(a); 305(b); 56(1)(a); and 285(5)(a) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

The suspects pleaded not guilty to the crime and were granted bail in N500, 000 with two sureties each in like sum.

Mrs. Awope said the sureties must not be civil servant or self-employed, adding that they must show evidence of tax payment.

The matter was adjourned to September 29, for trial.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

38

LAW & SOCIETY

Failure of trial court to be addressed by parties on issues of non-suit ...

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA HOLDEN AT ABUJA ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012 BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS WALTER SAMUEL NKANU ONNOGHEN JOHN AFOLABI FABIYI SULEIMAN GALADIMA NWALI SYLVESTER NGWUTA MARY UKAEGO PETER-ODILI SC.70/2005 BETWEEN 1.

KWASI KARKARI ADESEI 2.

JAMES ADJEI AND JOHN ADEBAYO (Substituting the deceased,) AMOS ADEBAYO JUDGMENT (Delivered by Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, JSC) By a writ of summons and statement of claim filed by the respondent to this appeal at the Gboko High Court against the appellants as defendants claiming the following reliefs: (i) A declaration that he is the sole proprietor of the School called Gboko International Nursery and Primary School. (ii) An order of the court directing an audit of the school finances between January 1995 till judgment. (iii)An order directing the defendant to refund any unaccounted moneys spent by them. he appellants as defendants at the High Court entered appearance to the suit of the respondent and filed a joint statement of defence and counter-claim against the respondent. In the counter- claim of the appellants, they claimed the following reliefs: (i) That the defendants are the founders of Gboko International Nursery/Primary School and as such entitled to be declared joint owners of the said school; (ii) A declaration that the plaintiff is an employee of the Defendants as nominal proprietor of the school (iii) An order directing the plaintiff to render account of the differences of N11,000 and N33,000 which he did not bank as directed by the school. (iv) An injunction restraining the plaintiff by himself, heirs, servants, agent or whosoever from further interference with defendant’s smooth administration of the school. (v) Any other order(s) this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.

The brief facts as put forward by the appellants and which were not far from the findings of the two courts below are that the appellants are Ghanaians resident in Nigeria and sometime in October 1991, founded a school called Gboko International Nursery and Primary School. The appellants subsequently invited the respondent in 1992 to join them in the running of the school, when they had problems with the Benue State Government.

Somewhere along the line the respondent went to the Gboko High Court At some point the parties amended their pleadings at the High Court before the pleadings of the parties were finally settled.

The matter proceeded to trial and the learned trial judge delivered his judgment on October 14, 1999 and non-suited the plaintiff/respondent’s claim as well as the defendant/appellant’s counter-claim. In the non-suiting, the trial judge had not given the parties opportunity to be heard before the order of non-suit. The respondent and the appellants being dissatisfied appealed and cross-appealed against the judgment of the trial judge to the Court of Appeal, Jos. The Court of Appeal sitting in Jos in a judgment delivered on March 19, 2003 allowed the appeal of the respondent and dismissed the cross-appeal of the appellants. It is against the decision of the court below, Jos that the appellants have appealed to this court by a notice of appeal filed on June 17, 2003.

On the 25/10/11 date of hearing the appellants

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JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

APELLANTS RESPONDENT

through counsel Sylva Ogwemoh adopted their joint brief of arguments filed on 15/1/2010 and deemed filed on 18/1/2010. In the brief were crafted two issues for determination viz: (i) Was the Court of Appeal right to have dismissed the cross-appeal of the appellants after having found as a fact that the order of non-suit made by the trial court was made without an opportunity given to the parties to be heard on the issue of nonsuit?(Ground 6 of the Notice of Appeal). (ii) Was the Court of Appeal right to have entered judgment in favour of the respondent on the totality of the evidence before the court? (Grounds 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Notice of Appeal).

The respondent, through learned counsel, A. G. Ayua adopted their filed on 8/3/2010 and also adopted the issues as formulated by the appellants.

Learned counsel for the appellants along the issues couched submitted that the Court of Appeal ought not to have dismissed the cross-appeal after holding that the non-suit order of the court of trial would not stand the order having been made without taking addresses from counsel on the issues of non-suit which that court had raised suo motu. He cited: Craig v Craig (1966) ALL NLR 165 at 169; Osayi v Izozo (1969) ALL NLR 150 at 152; Anyaduba v NRTC Ltd (1992) 5 NWLR (Pt.243) 535 at 559 - 560.

He went on to say that the failure of the trial court to hear the parties on the issue of non-suit before it was made amounted to a breach of the fundamental constitutional right to fair hearing as guaranteed order section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

For the appellants was further contended that the Court of Appeal in an apparent exercise of its powers under Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 entering judgment in favour of the respondent was a decision not deserved or supported by available evidence.

That the court of Appeal clearly substituted its own views on the facts for those of the trial court. That the interference with the findings was erroneously made.

He referred to the cases: Ebba v Ogbodo (1984) 1 SCNLR 272; Balogun v Agboola (1974) 1 AUNIR (Pt.2) 66; Nwosu v Board of Customs & Exercise (1988) 5 NWLR (Pt,93) 225; Nneii v Chukwu (1996) 10 NWLR (Pt.378) 265; Ajadi v Okenihun (1985)1 NWLR (Pt.3) 384; Oroke v Ede (1964) NNLR 118; Ngwu v Onuigbo (1999) 13 NWLR (Pt.636) 512 at 523; Ogbechie v Onochie (1988) 1 NWLR (pt.70)370; Oyewole v Akande (2009) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1163) 119.

On their own part learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the Court of appeal was right to have dismissed the cross-appeal of the appellants herein. That the court below was also right to have exercised its powers under Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, 2004 in reviewing and re-evaluating the evidence of the parties before the trial High court and at the end dismissed the counter-claim and found for the respondent to whom, the Court of Appeal amended the judgment and upheld the respondent ownership claim to the school subject matter of the

dispute. In support learned counsel had cited several cases viz: J.M.Din v African Newspapers of Nig. Ltd (1990) 5 SCNJ 209 at 217; Asafa Foods Factory Itd v Alraine (2002) 10 NSCQR (Pt.1) 553; Dabup v Kolo (1993) 12 SCNJ 1 at 10; Adeyemi v Olakunri(1999) 12 SCNJ 224; Chief A. a. Fagunwa v Chief N. Adibi {2004}7 SCNJ 208; Balogun v Akanji (1988) 2 SCNJ 104; S.15 Court of Appeal Act, 2004.

Having stated the summary of the submissions of counsel either way, I would like to start with a. brief excerpt of the judgment of the trial court which is as follows: “In the situation at hand since none of the parties who claimed ownership exclusively of the other has established such ownership I should dismiss their claims but I have seen that such a final action by the court will work hardship on the parties because a dismissal of an action raises certain estoppels. I think the ideal (sic) order to make is an order of nonsuiting which is a final decision of the court to the effect that none of the parties has won.”

On that decision the Court of Appeal in refusing the non-suit had this to say: “The requirement that counsel should be heard before an order of non-suit is made is no longer merely desirable. It is not only prudent but important. The consequences of failure to hear the counsel before an order of non-suit is made is that the order non-suiting the claim would be set aside, except it is very obvious and incontestable on the evidence before the trial . court and the law applicable therein that an order of non-suit is the only order it would make in the case in the exercise of its discretion.”

From the above and what was before the court of trial and later at the Court of Appeal were undisputed facts that the appellants herein established the school sometime in 1991 and being Ghanaians, the Benue State Government under its Ministry of Education had it closed as an illegal enterprise based on improper constitution of the indigeneity of the proprietors.

To survive as an establishment the appellants in 1992 invited the respondent to partner with them under the guise of his being a teacher and also to sign and put forward his name as proprietor, he being a Nigerian. The school functioned with these disparate configurations and not surprising one party and this time, the respondent took a writ of summons claiming sale ownership. The conclusion of the trial court clearly stemmed from a difficulty on this partnership where each party claimed sale ownership and nothing else, which situation brought about the non-suit of the trial court without first getting a hearing in that regard from the parties.

On appeal, while acknowledging and rightly in my humble view that failure of the trial court to be addressed by the parties on the issue of non-suit which that court raised suo motu was fatal to the order.

This court had laid down this rule from way back and it still remains the position. See Craige v Craig (1966) ALL NLR 165 at 169; Osayi v Izozo (1969) ALL NLR 150 at 152; Anyaduba v. NRTC ltd(1882) 5 NWLR (Pt. 243) 535 Getting the matter of the question raised in the second issue as to whether the Court of Appeal was right to have granted judgment in favour of the respondent and awarded him the sole ownership of the property in the face of the available evidence and the clear findings of the learned trial Judge in that regard. The Court of Appeal had held as follows: “However, on the totality of the evidence before the court, in particular the evidence of the plaintiff/ appellant who gave evidence as PWl, PW2, PW4, PW6 and Exhibits 1, 2, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, lOA, lOB lOD, lOE, 11, 16 and even 18, 18A, 18B, it IS my view that the plaintiff/appellant proved by preponderance of evidence that he is the sole proprietor of the said school. In that regard, I think the cross- appeal lacks merit and is accord-

ingly dismissed.

In the final analysis, the main appeal by the plaintiff /appellant succeeds and it is hereby allowed ...

Judgment is entered for the plaintiff/appellant in terms of the reliefs claimed in paragraph 18 of the amended statement of claim filed before the lower court.”

From what the Court of Appeal did it is easy to see not only that he interfered with the evaluation and findings of the trial court without justification since what was on ground did not bear out to the path chartered by the Appeal Court and to the conclusion it came to. I see it necessary to quote the salient part of the judgment of the court trial in contradistinction to what happened on appeal and it is thus: “The plaintiffs’ claim that the old school which was In existence was closed down by Government and that the school as it now exists was solely established by him. I see this attempt as an effort by a drowning man to save his head. The evidence before me does not support that assertion. Presently the name of the school is the same, the operators are the same and there is no evidence that the school actually ceased functioning at any particular time. Moreso that Exhibit “18B post dates the period of the blacklisting of the school and all other activities in the running of the school in which the defendants participated post dated the period the school was blacklisted.

From all I have stated so far in this judgment and from the entire evidence before the court in this proceedings it is not difficult to deduce a joint ownership of the school by the plaintiff and the defendants. Accordingly it is my opinion based on all the contributions made in the establishment and the running of the school Gboko International Nursery/Primary School as exposed by the entire evidence before me I do not agree with the plaintiff’s claim that he is the sole owner of the school. I also do not agree that the defendant own the school exclusively of the plaintiff. I see evidence of joint ownership as between the plaintiff and the defendants unfortunately all the parties are so selfish that none of them pleaded joint ownership of all the parties to this suit.”

The Court of Appeal had fallen into certain error as entering into the trial of the case when it went on its own evaluation of the evidence including ascribing probative value to the evidence of the witnesses, a domain of only the trial court. See Ogbeche v Onochie (1988) 1 NWLR (Pt.70) 370; Ovewole v Akande (2009) 15 NWLR (Pt.1163) 119; Ebba v Ogbodo (1984) 1 SCNLR 272; Nneji v Chukwu (1996) 10 NWLR (Pt. 378) 265.

The court below finding for respondent came from wrong premises as that court allowed itself to be persuaded that because the documents of re-application for the re-opening of the school bore the name of the Nigerian associate, of the appellants and that is the respondent, the respondent above must be the single owner. The court cannot ignore the relationship between the parties and how they came to work together. There must be a holistic appraisal of how the institution came to be and that the trial court made a good showing of.

The morality or rightness of the arrangement between the parties is not what is before court, all that is the concern of the court is that there was joint ownership and then what next.

In conclusion therefore since none of the parties had made a claim even if in the alternative upon which a clear relief can be rested the only option is a declaration that the appellant and respondent are joint owners of the school subject matter of this dispute.

From the above and the fuller details of my learned brother, N. S. Ngwuta JSC I allow the appeal and order that the school is jointly owned by the parties.

I abide the consequential orders in the lead judgment.

REPRESENTATION Sylva Ogwemoh, Usman Mohammed Enesi, Albert Attah Agada for the appellant.

A. G. Ayua for the respondent.

• Former NBA General Secretary Ibrahim Eddy Mark (middle), his wife (by his right) and guests at Mark's Sallah sit-out in his Abuja residence.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

39

ABUJA REVIEW NEWS

• President Goodluck Jonathan receiving the Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo and Min- • Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama(right) with Akwa Ibom State ister of FCT, Bala Mohammed during the Sallah Homage to the President at State House in Abuja. Commissioner for Finance Albert Akpan Bassey, during the Federation Allocation PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE Account Committee meeting in Abuja

•From left: Minister of State for Works, Amb. Bashir Yugudu; Minister of Works, Arc. Mike •Minister for Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga(left) with Director-General, Onolememen; Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina and Minister of Youth Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Ify Umenyi during the launch of Pro Serve in Development, Alhaji Inuwa Abdul'kadir during the Federal Executive Council meeting at PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Abuja PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

•From left: Acting Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission(ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta; Head, Nigerian Television Authority Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Lilian Ekeanyanwu; and Director-General, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Femi Ajayi, during a briefing on corruption risk assessment project and training of coruption risk assessors in Abuja

•From left: Manager, Women's Right Action Aid Nigeria, Patience Ekeoba; Kogi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Mameh Memuna Patience; Director Women Affairs, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Esther Adeyemi; Minister of Women Affairs Hajiya Zainab Maina and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs Mr George Ossi during the National Stake-Holders Forum organPHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN ised by the ministry at the Hotel Bolingo, Abuja.

Abaji elders worry over missing tractors

S

OME elders and traditional title holders in Abaji area council have expressed dismay over the non-release of tractors to farmers as promised by the council. They further raised the alarm that they were yet to see any of the subsidised tractors from the council authorities in their communities.

They also alleged that the three tractors purportedly given to the three wards of Abaji town have been diverted by unidentified middle men in the area.

The community leaders spoke when representative of Abaji council chairman, Alhaji Musa Yahaya Mohammed, chiefs of various tribes, village heads and

From Bukola Amusan

politicians paid Sallah homage to the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa in his palace.

Speaking on behalf of the elders and traditional title holders, Adamu Aliyu, a traditional title holder, alleged that the three tractors which were meant for farmers from the North-east, Southeast and Central wards of the council were hijacked by yet-tobe-identified middle men.

According to him, none of the farmers from the three wards has been able to access the subsidised tractors, despite the claims by the authorities of the council that three tractors have been released

to farmers’ cooperative groups of the three wards.

“We want the council authorities to tell us who these farmers’ groups that were given the tractors are. This is because we know the real farmers. Even the chief of farmers in Abaji has said he was not aware of such tractors,’’ he said.

Also speaking, the Ona of Abaji and chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council of chiefs, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, said he was also not informed by the council’s authorities about the distribution of the tractors across the 10 wards of the council.

“I was not aware that 10 trac-

tors were allocated to Abaji area council until recently when I met with the FCT Minister of State who informed me that 10 subsidised tractors were given to each of the area councils in the territory for sale to farmers’ groups across the wards,’’ he said.

He advised the council authority to always carry everybody, especially the community leaders, along while embarking on such policies.

The monarch advised parents to always send their children to school, saying education is the bedrock of any society.

He also reminded politicians seeking elective positions of the fact that embargo on political

campaigns have not been lifted and as such they should abide by such provision.

Responding, Vice-Chairman of the council Alhaji Bala Hassan Garba who represented the council’s chairman said the lists of the farmers’ groups that took delivery of the tractors are with the council’s agriculture department, even as he urged anyone to approach the department for more information.

He said it is not his responsibility to mention their names.

He advised the people to keep their surrounding clean, especially the water drainage system.

He disclosed that the council has concluded arrangements to procure additional waste bins for dumping of refuse, adding that the bins would be mounted at designated areas.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

ABUJA REVIEW

F

OR the first time in recent history,Nigerians identified with President Goodluck Jonathan even though their Salllah break and celebration were marred by fuel scarcity as a result of the Presidency’s insistence that reconciliation must be effected before payment of subsidy. This was to prevent payment to those alleged to have defrauded the country under last year’s subsidy regime when billions of Naira was collected for fuel import which was not carried out.

Already, about 25 firms are facing trial over the issue.

While the scarcity bit harder in the Federal Capital Territory and further threat from the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the President, who hosted FCT Muslim community, pleaded with the people to work for the peace and unity of the country.

This, according to the President, is the panacea to the desired progress and development of the country.

So, while the scarcity persisted and talks seemed to be breaking down, the President received all the support he could ever ask for from the populace and this was further cemented when the governors who had earlier in the year chickened out from the planned full removal of subsidy following nation-wide protest that greeted the move.

But this time round, they are sticking by the President for daring to stand up to the forces that had been holding the oil industry hostage. And so it was not surprising when, at the end of Thursday’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting presided over by VicePresident Namadi Sambo, the governors declared their support for the administration; urging it to continue with the cleansing of the oil industry.

In the midst of all these, the President still found out time to visit his country home, Otueke, in Bayelsa State where he also performed some official assignments before returning to Abuja at the end of the two-day Sallah break.

The President resumed work to hear of the news of the death of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi; a man Jonathan said will be remembered for his vision and integrity.

The President also visited Senegal in the week on a two-day official visit where he held bilateral talks with the Senegalese President, Macky Sall. Both leaders also had discussion on Mali.

The President and the media It was as if the President had an axe to grind with the media as he took a swipe on newspaper houses in the country. He accused them of working for the money bags and not the common man. The

Between the President and the media

From the Villa

By Vincent Ikuomola occasion was the performance contract signing ceremony between the President and members of his cabinet last Wednesday at the Presidential Villa.

The occasion was a showcase for the Presidency’s move to take the issue of good governance and service delivery a step further as it committed all members of the executive to signing of performance agreement bond. But the President first expressed his perception of what he thinks the media ought to be and what it is.

It was not the kind of thing ex-

pected as reporters posted to cover the Presidential Villa were called in to witness the new order in governance only to find out that Mr. President was losing confidence very fast in the media.

Bluntly, he said he would not want his cabinet to depend on newspapers to set the agenda as it is highly politicised.

“Before, the media used to be the voice of the ordinary people but now, the media is the voice of those who own the media houses and those who own the media have private jets and those who have pri-

Bwari township road for rehabilitation

T

HE Vice-Chairman of Bwari Area Council, Mallam Abubakar Bala Mutawalle, has promised that rehabilitation work on Bwari township road will begin soon.

Mallam Mutawalle made the promise at the palace of Sarkin Bwari, Alhaji Musa Mohammed Ijakoro, when he paid Sallah homage to the traditional ruler recently.

He disclosed that contract for the rehabilitation of the road had already been awarded to Arab Contractor, even as he said that the council is liaising with the FCT Administration on early commencement of work on the road.

He appealed to residents of the area to continue to give their support to the council’s leadership to enable it provide the necessary basic amenities for the people. He

From Bukola Amusan

praised the traditional ruler for his support to the council’s administration.

Mallam Mutawalle said he led a delegation of some Muslim communities to the traditional ruler in recognition of his fatherly support to the council’s efforts to guarantee peace in the area.

Earlier, the Sarkin Bwari, Alhaji Musa Mohammed Ijakoro, had thanked the Vice-Chairman and members of his delegation for the visit. He appealed to the council authorities to do all they could to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Bwari township road, which he said is in a bad condition.

He commended the council’s leadership led by Peter Yohanna Ushafa for ensuring peaceful co-existence among the residents.

•One of the roads in Bwari

vate jets are not ordinary people.

So, the media is now the voice of the powerful people.”

So, he argued that the administration must devise a way of assessing itself rather than wait on the media to do so. What is yet to be clarified in all these is whether the President’s distrust for the media has degenerated so low to the point that he can afford to perceive the media as anti-government or opposition.

Pray he will not go the way of the former President who said he does not read Nigeria newspapers but was always quick to react to unpleasant stories about him on the pages of the same newspapers he never read.

Speaking on the bond signing, the President noted that it will be necessary for the government to be able to set a standard for itself rather than wait for the media to score it.

This is coming at a time the Federal Government is coming under severe criticism of under –performing.

The ceremony, which preceded the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday,

was developed by the Ministry of National Planning and it is expected to be reviewed by the President every six months.

He assured the ministers and other members of the cabinet that contrary to public notion, the assessment bond was not aimed at witch-hunting anyone. Rather, it was aimed at enhancing performance, transparency and accountability in governance.

He, however, noted that the process is expected to provide the missing link between planning and budgetary allocation to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by providing a basis for performance-based budgeting that will tie their allocation to their capacity to deliver on the agreed mandate based on clear, concrete and objective results for Nigerians.

He further argued that the process will also strongly support evidence-based decision-making by policy makers and implementers.

He, therefore, concluded that the exercise is yet a reminder of the administration’s commitment to service delivery for the common good of Nigerians.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

43

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Inundated with criticisms of non-performance and seeming inertia, President Goodluck Jonathan last Wednesday sought to stimulate performance by making every minister sign a Performance Contract. Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE reviews activities of the government and asks whether Nigerians should now expect the promised “breath of fresh air”?

Seeking change through performance contract P RESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan rode into office with a promise to give Nigerians a “breath of fresh air” through an elaborate Transformation Agenda. In his maiden address on May 29, 2011, the President pledged that the era of transformation was here. After series of courtesies, he declared that: “Today, our unity is firm, and our purpose is strong. Our determination unshakable. Together, we will unite our nation and improve the living standards of all our peoples, whether in the North or in the South; in the East or in the West.

“Our decade of development has begun. The march is on. The day of transformation begins today”.

Non-performance Soon after that momentous declaration, Nigerians were treated to the first sign that the administration may not be on the same page with them in terms of being in haste to get things done. It took a whole month before the list of the first set of ministerial nominees got to the Senate. What followed the appointment of ministers was a drab and dull movement in the running of government as everything seems to stand still.

Unable to stomach the development and clay footed approach to governance, Nigerians not only grumbled aloud but descended on the administration with a hay of criticisms. Soon, the call for the President’s resignation began to rend the air. It was made popular by the House of Representatives which alleged that the implementation of the national budget was so abysmal that it was put at less than 30 per cent and issued an ultimatum that except the Presidency can provide an evidence of 100 per cent in the implementation of the budget by September 30, an impeachment proceedings would be initiated against Jonathan.

PDP disagrees At a point, the barrage of criticisms was so much that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) was forced to join the fray by defending the president and the administration by show casing what it considered as the achievements of the 15 - month old administration.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said though it is the right of every Nigerian, especially, the opposition to assess and interpret government efforts to suit their biases, objectivity of criticisms is central to any collective effort towards building a better nation. The party insisted that any objective assessment of President Goodluck Jonathan will reveal tremendous achievements the administration has recorded in the last fourteen months. The Party said that efforts by some desperate politicians to tar the PDP with non performance brush is beclouding their vision to the commendable efforts of government.

“We have no doubt whatsoever the President is on course and will continue to deliver on the PDP promises to the people of Nigeria. Quite a lot has been achieved in the various sectors and there is no gain saying the government needs the continued support and prayers of Nigerians to do more.

“Let’s remain partisan, let’s remain

• Dr. Jonathan

politically plural for that is the true essence of democracy but let the greater interest of the nation remain prime in all our engagements. Mischief and deliberate misinformation calculated to bring the President to undeserving disrepute is a great disservice to the nation. We wish that those who have made this a hobby would quickly realise their mistake and retrace from this untoward track that would least benefit the nation.”

Metuh maintained that notwithstanding the security challenges in the country, which the President is sparing no effort in tackling, he has made significant strides in every sector of national growth.

“Even though the issue of security as the President admitted was not a major issue during his campaign, he has none the less been on top of the emerging security challenges while at the same time delivering on other sectors. Communities and towns across Nigeria have witnessed remarkable improvement in public power supply as generation has moved from 3000 megawatts in 2011 to 4300megawatts as of today”.

The statement further said that failed opposition politicians who claimed that it was their pressure that resulted in the on-going trial of persons indicted in the mismanagement of the petroleum subsidy by the House of Representatives are economical with the truth.

Something novel But the criticisms lasted and the cross exchange were on, President Jonathan retreated back to the now familiar “drawing table”. The purpose, of course, was to design an approach that would energise the administration.

He came up with something novel called Performance Contract with members of his cabinet. Last Wednesday, before the weekly meeting, President Goodluck Jonathan made all the ministers to sign the Performance Contract for him. The Contract sets out timelines for meeting stated and set goals and objectives by members of the cabinet and it is said that this will enhance their ability to be accountable, productive, transparent and focused at the same time in their as-

• Mrs Okonjo-Iweala

signed task of improving the general well being of Nigerians.

During the signing exercise, President Jonathan took time to stress what the idea is all about and what it is not.

He also found it necessary to put to rest the anxiety that it has generated in the hearts of serving ministers, who were said to have alleged that the Performance Contract is an instrument of witch hunt. “ I want to assure every one of you who has taken part in the exercise that this is not meant to witch-hunt anybody. It is to remind all of us, from President to Directors General, to Advisers and other aides that we are representatives of the Nigerian people, and we are accountable to them at all times. I had stated clearly during the inauguration of the Federal Executive Council that Ministers are expected to be accountable, productive, transparent and focused. In the past two months, many of you have had to make detailed presentations on the Key Performance Indicators in your Ministries. Today’s exercise is yet a reminder of our commitment to service delivery for the common good of Nigerians.

“Our objectives are clear: This Administration is determined to ensure enhanced performance, transparency and accountability in governance.

Though a relatively new concept in Nigeria, the Performance Contracting System is geared towards improving performance and delivering quality and timely services to the citizenry, improving productivity and instilling a greater sense of accountability for effective service delivery. “ The performance contract that has been signed by each Minister today is part of the process aimed at ensuring that we deliver on our mandate to Nigerian citizens. Already, we have spelt out the goals in the Government’s Transformation Agenda to which every Minister was given an opportunity to contribute.

“I am aware that the teams from the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies were also involved in determining the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the various targets for 2012 and beyond. The process has also exposed the Ministers to the critical need for clear understanding of the

• Mrs Briggs

mandate of their respective Ministries, strategic and operational planning and the need to focus on results delivery, rather than on inputs, activities and processes, for development to be of relevance and benefit to the citizens.

The importance of a monitoring and evaluation system to track performance must now also be clear to all involved.

“I expect the process will serve as an instrument towards the realisation of the objectives of Government as enumerated in the Vision 20:2020 document as well as our Administration’s Transformation Agenda, which is targeted primarily at improving physical infrastructure, human capital, the real sector and good governance for Nigerians by the year 2015", he said.

New regime President Jonathan says he has instituted a new regime through the signing of the Performance Contract.

Every minister now knows that having participated in an exercise in which the ministry he superintends identified, and assured that other things being equal it would deliver certain projects at so and so time, and has voluntarily signed an undertaken to deliver on the project at a set time, he is bound to do just that or face the implication which in this context would be nothing than step aside.

The President’s desire to drive his Transformation Agenda mayno longer be held down by any minister’s ineptitude. The failure of any minister would be borne, first by that minister before the President faces the wrath of the people. President Jonathan has made it abundantly clear that he is prepared to sacrifice any minister who indulges in lack lustre performance from now on. It is a presidential way of trying to enforce performance at all cost. But the question is whether it is enough to drive the Transformation Agenda in a manner that it will be meaningful to the Nigerian populace.

Performance contract, not enough For many a Nigerian, however, the

‘The purpose, of course, was to design an approach that would energise the administration. He came up with something novel called Performance Contract with members of his cabinet. Last Wednesday, before the weekly meeting, President Goodluck Jonathan made all the ministers to sign the Performance Contract for him’

step taken by the President may not stimulate the much desired performance by government. Performance, they argue, should be driven by the passion and willingness of the individual minister who sees his appointment as a rare opportunity to serve the people, lift their state and leave a lasting legacy for the administration.

Niger Delta activist, Annkio Briggs, told The Nation yesterday that Nigerians don’t need a Performance Contract to get a minister to do his job.

“Do we really need a Performance Contract to get a minister to do his job very well such that the people would see it and acknowledge that the administration is working? I tell you, if we have ministers who take their job seriously, we don’t need a performance bond. People will always support a performing government. It is because the system is very corrupt and lacks accountability that is why Nigeria is where we are today.

“What I am trying to say is that let us see the performance. It is not enough to sign a bond. What if they refuse to heed the content of the Performance Contract? For instance, we have a Ministry of Niger Delta. When it was created , I said we do not need the ministry, and I feel I have been justified today. I said so because in its two years, it has done nothing. But because it has been created, other sections of the country are today arguing for their own ministry for the purpose of development.

“What is important is what will the President do if a minister fails to deliver? That is my concern. It is not what the President is telling the ministers to do that is important, on the contrary, itis whether the ministers will do what they have been gold and if not what will the President do?”, she queried?

In like manner, Kaduna based legal practitioner and Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor Festus Okoye, said the Performance Contract may and may not ginger the ministers into action. He said it is the duty of the President to hire and also fire if the employees fails to live up to expectation.

“Our Constitution allows the President to appoint ministers to help me run the country or carry out his constitutional duties. It is up to him to fashion out any means to rate their performance and assess them. To that extent, it is in the line of evaluating them that he has introduced the Performance Contract. “ But what Nigerians want as a people is results not the signing of contract because they will not hold the minister responsible. It is the President whom they have elected that they know. It is home they will call upon to account and not any minister. Therefore, the Performance Contract have nothing to do with us.

It is neither here nor there. It is performance that we want how the President gets it is his own cup of tea”, he stated.

With the step taken, the government has been called upon to take a step further by publishing the set goals for the remaining four months in the year to enable effective monitoring of the minister.

Are critics who have identified the Presidency as the sluggish performance of the federal government correct. The period leading to mid-term assessment may prove very crucial in attempting to answer the poser.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

44

POLITICS

More support for restructuring, state police

T

HE Action Congress of Nige ria (ACN) and other impla cable advocates of restructuring as a solution to Nigeria’s myriad of problems, especially growing insecurity, are not alone after all. They got more support yesterday as a pressure group, the Southern Nigeria Ethnic Self-Determination Alliance (SONESA), maintained that it was urgently needed to rescue the nation from imminent total collapse.

The group also lifted its voice in support of the calls for Sovereign National Conference (SNC); state police, and the Federal Government’s handing off of the control and management of the nation’s natural resources.

The group’s position was expressed at a media conference which was jointly addressed in Lagos by its chairman, Mr. Adekunle Adesokan and General Secretary, Mr. Popoola Ajayi.

In its statement, the group bemoaned the various ills plaguing the country and thus, threatening its unity, saying: “In the past years, Nigeria has been going down the drain. The events in the past few days are even more alarming with clear indication that violence and killings may not abate. All these ills are accompanied by corruption, nepotism, bribery and crass opportunism of the ruling elite. We have continued to see extreme poverty, want and deprivation, and the extreme of everything that is bad and awful.

“Since independence, the main challenge has been how to keep the country together. There is unending mutual suspicion; there are now deep-seated animosities that time and history have failed to heal. Since 1999 when the country returned to civil rule after years of military maladministration, nothing has improved and it does not seem that anything fundamental will change in the country. Unfortunately, the cost of keeping the country together is taking a huge toll on human lives. Today, the situation has worsened by mass killings and brutal attacks on worship places largely by the fundamental Islamic group, Boko Haram.”

The group described the violent uprising as, among other things, a means to intimidate the nation into submission to the whims of a tiny cabal that had made the demand for the introduction of Sharia Law in the country.

While maintaining that the calls for the resignation of President Goodluck Jonathan are naïve and won’t solve the nation’s problems, the group sought the creation of six regions to accommodate all ethnic groups according to their choice.

The President and the National

• Olubolade, Minister of Police Affairs

By Dada Aladelokun, Assistant Editor

Assembly, it also demanded, must support the call for the SNC while the latter passes it into law after the resolution is reviewed and adopted by the states’ House of Assembly.

Expressing its whole-hearted support for the position of Southern governors on the need for state policing, the group also condemned opposition to the option by the Hausa-Fulani governors.

“Police commissioners should be posted to their states of origin. This should be complemented with posting Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and police ratings to their states and regions as well,” it added.

Besides urging the United Nations (UN) Security Council to set up an enquiry into the Boko-Hara-led killings in some states, it also urged Jonathan to inaugurate a judicial inquiry to establish and punish those responsible for “the assassination, judicial murders or mass killings of Dele Giwa, the Oko-Oba 8; Ken Saro-Wiwa, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Harry Amasiori Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde; sacking of Zaki Biam in Benue; Odi and Odi-Oma in Bayelsa State, with the consequent deaths of over 500 innocent people, including women and children.”

On the 2015 elections, the group maintained that the presidential contest must not be zoned to any region, adding that every nationality should be free to contest for the position. The group hinted that it had begun campaigns to ensure the emergence of a candidate that would be committed to restructuring Nigeria to guarantee self-determination.

Three factions are fighting for control of Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and moves by the National Executive Committee (NEC) to ensure that they sheathe the swords have fallen on deaf ears, reports Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

No respite for Ogun PDP O GUN State Peoples Democrat ic Party (PDP) is addicted to crisis. Last week, the leadership crisis rocking the chapter escalated as policemen sealed off its state secretariat. The chairman of the party, Chief Dare Dayo, an engineer, and other members of the state executive committee, were denied access to the office.

Now, three factions are fighting for the soul of the party in the Gateway State. The first group revolves around the personality of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Prominent members of this camp include the failed PDP governorship candidate in the last general elections, Gen. Idowu Olurin (rtd); his running mate, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, who was jailed recently for contempt of court and some pro-Obasanjo elders and lackeys. To this group, the chairman of PDP in the state is Senator Dipo Odujinrin.

The second faction consists of the “reformists” fighting Obasanjo and his group over lack of internal democracy at party congresses. It is led by Adebayo Dayo, who was duly elected as state chairman at the April congress. The pillar of the group is the billionaire businessman-turned politician and party financier, Chief Buruji Kashamu. The former chairman, Chief Dayo Soremi, handed the baton of leadership to Dayo, following the hitch-free congress. However, proObasanjo forces have rejected his leadership.

The third group comprises aggrieved loyalists of former Governor Gbenga Daniel, who raised a candidate on the platform of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Mr. Gboyega Isiaka against Olurin and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who eventually won the election. Daniel’s followers have insisted that he was maltreated by Obasanjo and national leaders, who denied him the privilege to effectively participate in the process leading to the emergence of the PDP governorship flag bearer, unlike his counterparts in other states. But Daniel has also come under attack for anti-party activities.

Reconciliation has been difficult in the chapter because those elders expected to broker peace are behind the party’s nightmare. “Pa Obasanjo should have been in a better position to reconcile us as his children, but he is now entrenched in local politics, instead of calling the shots as a fatherfigure and national leader. Some elements are using his name to cause trouble in Ogun PDP and he appears to be shielding them”, said Kashamu.

The party chieftain also berated the national secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, for taking sides. Kashamu objected to the sealing off of the party

• From left: President, Igbo Women Forum, Mrs Ogonna Anagwu, Deputy Coordinator, Southern Nigeria Ethnic Self-Determination Alliance, Mr Adekunle Akin Adesokan, General Secretary, Mr Popoola Ajayi and PresidentGeneral, United Middle Belt Youth Congress at a press briefing uniting all Southern Ethnic Groups against terrorism, mass killing across the country and self determination held yesterday at Ilupeju, Lagos.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

‘For almost six months, things have fallen apart and the centre cannot hold. It is double tragedy for the divided fold. Left in the cold after power shifted to the ACN, it has been difficult by feuding PDP leaders to properly chart a new path. Scores of members at the grassroots have defected to the ruling ACN, following the protracted crisis’

secretariat, allegedly on the order of the former Osun State governor, stressing that he had exceeded the limit of his constitutional responsibilities as the national scribe. He doubted if Oyinlola had the mandate of the National Working Committee (NWC) before issuing the directive. Also, Dayo said the action was in bad faith and that it would elongate the intraparty crisis.

“Oyinlola is trying to impose on us those who had been jailed for contempt of court as caretaker committee members. This is the bone of contention. We are against imposition of people on us in Ogun PDP. I received the handover notes from the former chairman, Otunba Dayo Soremi, but we have not been allowed to function as members of the executive committee”, he complained.

For almost six months, things have fallen apart and the centre cannot hold.

It is double tragedy for the divided fold. Left in the cold after power shifted to the ACN, it has been difficult by feuding PDP leaders to properly chart a new path. Scores of members at the grassroots have defected to the ruling ACN, following the protracted crisis.

Since April, party activities have been paralysed due to prolonged intrigues, and internal squabbles. Leaders of Ogun PDP have spent more time in courts than at party office strategising on how to win votes. While ACN and other mushroom parties were preparing for the recent council poll in the state, PDP was in disarray.

Crisis brewed in the chapter shortly after its defeat at the 2011 polls. Expectedly, the leaders were downcast because their ego was bruised. The pains of defeat and guilt were collectively shared. PDP leaders woke up to the reality that a house divided against itself could not stand.

At the select meetings of top leaders, various suggestions came forth.

Some felt that the starting point was reconciliation between Obasanjo and Daniel. To them, the personality clashes between the former President and governor wreaked havoc on the party. Some wanted the scope of the reconciliation should be expanded to all aggrieved key leaders across the camps. Many agreed that Obasanjo should play a leading role in the truce.

However, Kashamu recalled that the party recorded another setback when the former Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman suggested that Gen. Adetunji Olurin, former Military Administrator of Ekiti, should be the leader and arrowhead of the party. “I disagreed with the idea because Gen. Olurin was new in the party. He lacked structure and political experience, and he may not command acceptance and loyalty. People felt that it would be another imposition. But Baba Obasanjo insisted on his proposal”, he said.

Kashamu proposed an all-inclusive approach to party administration, saying that members would have a sense of participation, belonging and self-

worth, if they are given opportunity to choose their ward, local government and state leaders at properly constituted congresses. He pleaded with Obasanjo to be the guardian of the process.

What is worrisome to observers is also the war of attrition between Kahamu and Oladunjoye, former chairman of Ijebu East local council. The two men have parted ways. In the beginning, he was Daniel’s Man Friday.

But when crisis broke out between the former governor and Speaker of House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole, he drew the ire of Daniel when he refused to implicate the former speaker in the clashes that unsettled some communities in the area.

Soon, Oladunjoye claimed that government forces were after his life. He ran to Kashamu for refuge, firing salvos from his hiding place at Daniel and his men.

In the calculations towards 2011, the youthful politician had gradually become a factor. Although Olurin preferred another running mate from Ijebu axis, Kashamu was said to have influenced his eventual choice and deputy governorship candidate. Thus, both politicians have parted ways.

However, more worrisome to concerned party chieftains is that more people would dump Ogun PDP if the intra-party crisis is not quickly resolved.

When former Southwest leader Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo set up the transition committee headed by Chief Bode Mustapha to conduct fresh congresses, little did he know that the decision would spark off emotion.

Soremi cried out, claiming that his tenure had not expired. He went to the court, praying that his powers and functions should not be usurped. Although Obasanjo had supported Soremi against Joju Fadairo-led executive committee, the romance had ended. The General has now turned his back on the Soremi executive.

However, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ruled that only the Soremi-led executive had the powers to conduct congresses. Dayo claimed that the judgment was not appealed before the March congress. “The congress was monitored by the national leadership, INEC and security agencies”, he recalled.

On May 2, the court also re-affirmed that Dayo was the authentic chairman, warning the national leadership against sidelining him. On June 19, Ogun State High Court, Ilaro, also affirmed the same position. Obasanjo’s faction claimed that it got a stay of execution at the Court of Appeal. Following this, a caretaker committee was set up to conduct fresh congresses.

Dayo and his team are now challenging the stay of execution at the Supreme Court.

Dayo’s counsel, Ajibola Oluyede, berated some PDP leaders for wagging a bitter war against truth in the state, warning: “When people resist peaceful change, they are looking for violence. If the institution of democracy is swept aside, anarchy will occur. The position today is that there is only one executive committee of PDP is Ogun State and Bayo Dayo is the chairman.”

Dayo, who urged the national leadership to support equity and fairness, warned that injustice would bring doom to the party. He said that doom can be averted, if the NEC and NWC rise to the occasion.

He also warned those leaders aiding followers to commit atrocities in the party to desist, adding: “Police and SSS should enforce law and order in Ogun PDP. This is not happening. those who were jailed were being recommended by Olagunsoye Oyinlola to become party caretaker committee members. This injustice will not stay.

They are scheming to disorganise legitimate leadership.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

45

HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

Help for the helpless A group of health mission has offered free surgeries to 20 patients who are suffering from various diseases, reports OYEYEMI GBENGAMUSTAPAHA

• Akinsanmi Clement before operation

• Akinsanmi Clement after operation

• Ilevbadje Rebecca after operation

• John Ajala before operation

• John Ajala after operation

•Christopher Samuel before operation

L

ACK of money had stopped 13-year-old Rebecca Ileybadje, from undergoing a corrective surgery for two years.

She had developed a swollen jaw when she was 11. And for two years, she remained in that condition because her parents could not raise the fund for the surgery that she required.

Her parents had earlier taken her to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State for treatment. But they could not afford the huge amount involved. So, they gave up.

She remained in this state until luck smiled on her. When a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Health, Education, Work and Shelter (HEWSF) Foundation came to stage a health mission at the medical , the staff enrolled her for treatment.

But Rebecca’s parents refused to show up even when told that the surgery was free and that their daughter had been shortlisted. The medical centre officials, however, ensured that Rebecca was brought to the hospital. Today, they are grateful to the centre and the foundation. Their daughter has undergone a successful surgery.

But she is not the only beneficiary.

HEWSF Foundation has equally treated Christopher Samuel,13, who was sent by his parents. He had been sent to stay with ttheir relatives in the interior parts of far away Kogi State their home state,

• Abefe Abdul Mananu before opearation

• Abefe Abdul Mananu after operation

to avoid stigmatisation by neighbours in Ikpeme, Ondo State, where they live.

They said they took this step, when they could not afford the bill required by the hospital to carry out a surgery on Samuel.

The hospital had to send for their parents to enable their son avail himself of the opportunity of a free surgery. The boy’s father travelled to Kogi to bring Samuel. The family has reunited as Samuel is now in good health.

Others who enjoyed the free

surgery include Mr Clement Akinsanmi, 61, who suffered from swollen jaw for eight years and Mr John Ajala, 58, from Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who also had swollen jaw for 10 years.

After spending a substantial amount of money in their quest for good treatment which they could not get, they were grateful for the succour that came their way through the HEWSF Foundation.

A fifteen-month-old baby boy, who was born with benign jaw tumour, a rare occurrence at birth

Pharmacists urged to help health

P

HARMACISTS have been urged to improve the health sector.

The Chief Oversight Officer, Sustainable Healthcare Initiative, Mike Omotosho, gave the advice during the Pharmacy Week of the Lagos Chapter of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

Omotosho, who was guest speaker at the event, said the only way to improve healthcare is to pursue it.

He said: "And the pharmaceutical sector is in a position to thrive and contribute to achieve improved healthcare system in the country. The pharmaceutical industry assists as a major source of medical innovation and one of the evidence of developed economies.

“The pharmaceutical sector in Nigeria needs to step up to transform the health sector; the Vision 20: 2020 is targeted at increasing Nigeria's capacity to manufacture essential drugs, human vaccines and

By Odebiyi Olatunde

consumables. And the pharmaceutical sector is positioned to set up Nigeria-based human vaccines production facilities for major childhood communicable diseases plus rabies, yellow fever, hepatitisB,pneumococcal and menincococcal.”

He said the health sector needs to increase local production of essential medicine which can be achieved through the generation of enough power and water to support local producers under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

"Government should promote quality affordable made in Nigeria health care products. Pharmacists and other regulatory bodies should enforce regulations on drug distribution, prescription and pharmacyvigilance,” he said.

The Managing Director, Tagmed Ventures Limited, Olumide Akintayo, who was guest of honour said pharmacists in the quest

for professionalism must authenticate the prescriptions they dispense in clinical settings with stamps and seals.

He said the society was set to regig and work out a harmonious relationship with the Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmacist Council of Nigeria and other similar bodies.

He said: “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria will continue to insist that the Federal Government comes up with an equitable and just Health Bill, which boosts the professionalism in the public interest.

Pharmacists should occupy positions in the proposed National Territory Health Commission and other structure in the proposed Health Bill."

Present at the event were National President, Okwor B. Azubuike; Chairman, Lagos Chapter, Akintunde Obembe; a guest of honour, Emmanuel Ekunno, among other dignatories.

‘One of the main causes of this late presentation in addition to the reasons adduced above, can be traced to ignorance about the manifestation and nature of the disease’ and a 10-year-old boy, Bimbo Elegbeyemi from Iwaro Oka, Akoko, Ondo State, who having scaled clinical and physical examinations were discovered during surgery to have an additional tumour locked in his neck region. The tumours, including the one in his jaw, were removed by surgeons.

Many of these patients have had this condition for about one year, while others have had it up to 10 years. One of the main causes of this late presentation in addition to the reasons adduced above, can be traced to ignorance about the manifestation and nature of the disease. This is because in most instances at its early stages, there is no pain or major discomfort attached to these conditions.

In addition, the use of local/ traditional intervention methods to treat these diseases instead of going to the hospitals, health centres and clinics have contributed greatly to the docile attitude of this targeted group. Therefore, by the time they present themselves at the hospital, their conditions have grown worse and even become malignant in some cases.

The centre had served as the platform of recruiting beneficiaries for the free services. It helped in providing logistics to the Foundation by assisting the patients to access the free treatments. Some of its staff had to travel to the villages to locate the addresses provided by some identified patients and brought them for the mission.

For instance, an ambulance and a nurse were arranged to fetch Rebecca.

The health mission was in fulfilment of the Foundaation’s

promises to donors and the public during its launch/fundraiser that held early this year.

About 15 indigent patients benefited from the programme.

Beneficiaries also came from outside the host community - Owo and Ondo - to take advantage of the free surgery provided by the Foundation.

Others came from places like Sobe, border town between Ondo and Edo State, and even from faraway places like Iju Ishaga,Lagos State; Ogbomoso, Oyo State and Ado, Ekiti State due to the prevalent challenges of poor access to care, cost of surgery, dearth of surgeons in hospitals within their communities and towns among others.

The primary focus of the Foundation in the health care sector is to provide free Cleft Lip and Palate surgeries to indigent, especially children who were born and are suffering from these congenital defects.

However, the need for intervention in other related health care areas due to high incidence of such deformities, led to the extension of its assistance to include cases , such as benign jaw tumour, locked jaw and other conditions on a need and availability basis.

According to the Founder/ President of the foundation, Remi Adeseun, his group has discovered that ignorance among the indigents, especially in rural communities about these conditions has majorly contributed to its prevalence, as many of the patients linked or attributed the cause to superstitious beliefs, like evil people, evil spirits and witchcraft.

“There is an urgent need to create awareness about these specific and maxillofacial conditions in general.

Although the generality of people are ordinarily concerned about their health and well-being, but very insignificant number of people pay attention to their oral hygiene (teeth and dentures). More so, benign jaw tumour as an intriguing disease is not only an unpleasant sight to behold due to its nature of presentation but can do grievous damage to the mouth, jaw and face of a sufferer and has the tendency to become malignant if not treated early.”

Adeseun said therefore it is of great import that a proactive and collective approach is taken by the government, medical institutions, non-governmental organisations, the media and the general public in tackling these conditions, “By exploring the force of enlightenment/ campaign and public awareness towards achieving cultural change in the attitude of ordinary Nigerians towards embracing orthodox treatment of such health issues which are on borderlines between nonmalignancy and otherwise. “ Adeseun, the Chief Operating Officer, said his foundation could not have achieved these milestones without the selfless contributions of volunteers, such as Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Dr. Obitade Obimakinde, Maxillofacial Surgeon, both of University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State; Dr. Olufemi Ogundipe, Maxillofacial surgeon from Federal Medical Centre, Owo and HEWSF management team comprising Mrs Shola Soji-John, Mr Dotun Abosede, Project Manager, Mr Lekan Olayiwola, finance Manager and Mrs. Yetunde Jacobs, Programme Officer and our partners, Sahara Energy Limited, Rodot Nigeria Limited, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo and among others.

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EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 27-8-12

NSE rallies on positive sentiments

T

HE Market reopened on a bullish tride yesterday, continuing recent upswings that added N111 billion to market capitalisation last week.

The main index at NSE, the All-Share-Index (ASI), which shows price movement of listed equities added another 91.59 to close at 23,491.17 points while the market capitalisation appreciated by N29 billion to close yesterday at N7.477 trillion.

Last Friday, the global equities were bullish due to the news that the US Federal Reserves will likely ease monetary policy on the basis of slow economic recovery, and the Chinese Government is likely to follow suit as there are indications that manufacturing activities reduced further in August. Total turnover

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

stook at 270.677 worth N2.360 billion across 3,715 deals.

The financial services sector again topped the activities table with a total of 199.641 million shares worth N1.222 billion in 2,135 deals. This sector has remained the toast of investors despite having the most priced stock in the sector at N17.71 (GTBank), followed

by N15.50 (Zenith Bank), N13.11 (First Bank) and N10.27 (ETI) in that order.

Other actively traded sectors were Consumer Goods, Conglomerates, Oil & Gas, Services, Industrial Goods and Health Care with 42.803 million shares, 9.607 million shares, 6.464 million shares, 3.303 million shares, 2.401 million shares and

2.102 million shares.

On the price movement tables, 44 equities recorded price change with 29 appreciating while the remaining 15 reduced in value. RT Briscoe led the gainers’ table with an increase of N0.08 to close at N1.69 followed by Berger Paint with price gain of N0.36 to close at N7.63.

Others on the list include Eterna Oil and Gas, Union Bank of Nigeria, Air Services, DN Meyer, Gold Insurance, Continental Insurance, Bagco and Royal Exchange with price gain of N0.11, N0.24, N0.08, N0.03, N0.02, N0.02, N0.04 and N0.01.

On the losers’ table, UPL led the list of 15 others with price drop of N0.22 to close at N4.32 followed by UTC with a drop of N0.04 to close at N0.82. Also on the table were Custodian Insurance, Ikeja Hotels, NAHCO, Dangote Flour, May & Baker, CCNN, Livestock and Transcorp with price drop of N0.06, N0.05, N0.23, N0.23, N0.05, N0.10, N0.03 and N0.01 respectively.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 27-8-12

THE

55

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MONEY LINK

Cheque truncation: Banks release transaction rules

B

ANKS have commenced sensitisation and communication of operational guidelines on cheque truncation policy instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to their customers.

The Nation learnt that the lenders are concerned that cheque truncation, which involves online clearing of cheques, will like other new policies instituted by the regulator, present teething challenges to customers.

The banks have therefore, commenced sensitisation of their customers through emails, letters and phone calls, focusing mainly on how the customers can assist in achieving a seamless implementation of the policy.

“We wish to inform you that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is in the process of implementing the cheque truncation system of clearing in Lagos clearing zone.

Cheque images would now be verified for payment instead of the physical cheque exchange between banks as was done before to ensure a faster and more efficient clearing system aimed at reducing clearing period from the present three days to two working days,” Diamond Bank said in an e-mailed statement to its customers.

According to the lender, all special account mandate requirements such as embossment, seal and signatures or stamps in specific colour of ink would no longer be verifiable as cheque images

Stories by Collins Nweze

available for payment would be in ‘black and white’.

The bank also added that all cheques requiring confirmation must be communicated to the bank in advance of cheque presentation to facilitate prompt processing.

Cheque confirmation can also be done 24/7 on the lender’s Internet banking platform.

Other banks said they may be constrained to return cus-

cilitate.

The apex bank said the policy will require improved banking hard ware and enlightenment on the part of those that are to participate in the exercise.

The policy is also aimed at articulating the rights and responsibilities of presenting and paying banks in the cheque truncation system; providing for minimum technical and operational standards for cheque truncation as well as to facilitating the implementation of an effective and efficient payment system in the banking sector.

tomers’ cheques if prior confirmation is not received, as the new system operates within restricted timelines and does not accommodate delayed confirmation.

Instead of T+2 before one gets value for transactions, the value is received on T+1, thereby reducing the clearing cycle by one day. Already, the apex bank has presented alternative payment channels, instead of using cash, which the cheque truncation policy is going to fa-

NIBSS develops anti-fraud portal

T

HE Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) has developed an internet based anti-fraud portal to enable it check financial frauds in the Nigerian banking sector.

NIBSS Executive Director, Operations, Niyi Ajao said the portal became exigent following complaints by banks using the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), which allows customers transfer funds on its secured platform.

The portal he said was designed to enable chief inspectors of banks to report fraud cases, and for other approved banks’ officials as well as regulatory bodies view reported cases of fraud.

Ajao who spoke at the Nigerian Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) held in Lagos, said the portal has two categories of users. The first is chief inspectors of banks, and they are the only

mediately alert the industry about fraud or robbery cases.

He said that the portal will be hosted on a very secure server with security measures to ensure that unauthorised persons cannot access it.

users that can create report on fraud incidence. The other categories are labeled Users only, as they can only view the fraud reports for their own official use.

This category, he said, comprise banks’ chief executive officers or designated senior management officials, regulatory officials such as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

He said the fraud reports on the portal will contain name, account details, picture of the suspected fraudsters (for individuals) or the Registration number (for corporate). It will also contain the type of fraud and when it was committed as well as the amount involved. He the portal also has a news update segment, where chief inspectors of banks can use to im-

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

W

ORLD Bank Group has announced JinYong Cai as New Executive Vice President and CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Jin-Yong’s appointment will be effective October 1, 2012.

Jin-Yong Cai, a Chinese national with more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and development, was announced as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

In a statement, the World Bank

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2012 “ 14-04-2012

GAINERS AS AT 27-8-12 SYMBOL

RTBRISCOE BERGER ETERNA UBN AIRSERVICE DNMEYER GOLDINSURE CONTINSURE BAGCO ROYALEX

O/PRICE

1.61 7.27 2.28 5.00 1.74 0.66 0.51 0.58 1.53 0.50

C/PRICE

6.69 7.63 2.39 5.24 1.82 0.69 0.53 0.60 1.57 0.51

O/PRICE 4.540 0.86 1.30 1.14 6.00 6.49 1.59 4.12 1.33 0.95

C/PRICE 4.32 0.82 1.24 1.09 5.77 6.26 1.54 4.02 1.30 0.94

with various financial products, and has a proven track record managing highly complex business transactions, demonstrating sound judgment on risk, and forging deep relationships with clients in both developed and developing markets across the globe.

“I am pleased that a world-class financial and development professional like Jin-Yong has decided to bring his considerable talent to the work of the International Finance Corporation,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

CHANGE 0.22 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.23 0.23 0.05 0.10 0.03 0.01

Exchange Rate (N) 155.2 155.8 155.7

Date 2-7-12 27-6-12 22-6-12

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

NGN USD NGN GBP NGN EUR NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) (S/N) Bureau de Change (S/N) Parallel Market

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

147.6000 239.4810 212.4997

149.7100 244.0123 207.9023

150.7100 245.6422 209.2910

-2.11 -2.57 -1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOW

MPR

R

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

Feb. ’11

July ’11

Dec ’11

6.50%

6.50%

12%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 12.6%

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

NSE CAP Index

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

CHANGE

0.08 0.36 0.11 0.24 0.08 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.01

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m 113m

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12

LOSERS AS AT 27-8-12

SYMBOL UPL UTC CUSTODYINS IKEJAHOTEL NAHCO DANGFLOUR MAYBAKER CCNN LIVESTOCK TRANSCORP

said prior to accepting this appointment, Jin-Yong served as Participating Managing Director in Goldman Sachs Group and Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua, with extensive involvement in Goldman’s management globally. He was a member of Goldman Sachs Group Investment Banking Operations Committee, the Asia Executive Committee, the Growth Markets Committee, the Partnership Committee, and other roles.

According to the statement, in this capacity, he has gathered a wealth of experience working

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 350m 150m 350m 138m 350m 113m

Currency

Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

•FirstBank CEO, Bisis Onasanya

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

MANAGED FUNDS

OBB Rate Call Rate

lender, said it will ask shareholders’ on September 24 to approve the transfer the assets of its subsidiaries into a holding company called FBN Holdings Plc, including its capital market and asset management units.

According to Reuters news, First Bank will subsequently delist the bank from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it said in a notice to shareholders, who will get stakes in the new entity equivalent to their existing holdings.

DATA BANK

Tenor

NIDF NESF

F

IRSTBANK of Nigeria Plc said yesterday it will seek shareholders’ approval to transfer its subsidiaries into a new holding company, in order to meet a regulation that risky capital market business be kept separate from retail and regular business banking.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) two years ago directed banks to either sell their stakes in subsidiaries involved in activities including insurance, asset management, capital market and investment banking - or adopt a holding company structure, where those activities are separate from the holding of retail deposits.

In doing so, it aimed to prevent depositors’ funds being used to speculate in the capital markets, to avoid a repeat of the near collapse of several overleveraged banks in a 2009 financial crisis.

First Bank, a top-tier Nigerian

IFC gets new CEO

FGN BONDS

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

FirstBank asks shareholders to approve restructure

Offer Price

Bid Price

ARM AGGRESSIVE 9.17 KAKAWA GUARANTEED 1.00 STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE 1,291.16 AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND 108.11 LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL 0.76 BGL SAPPHIRE FUND 1.10 BGL NUBIAN FUND 0.93 NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. 1,734.37 PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND 9.75 CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST 1.39 CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST 1.87 STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY 8,148.24 THE DISCOVERY FUND 193.00 FIDELITY NIGFUND 1.67 • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

9.08 1.00 1,271.23 107.85 0.74 1.10 0.91 1,731.67 9.28 1.33 1.80 7,929.79 191.08 1.62

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK

Bank P/Court

Previous 04 July, 2011

Current 07, Aug, 2011

8.5000 8.0833

8.5000 8.0833

Movement

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

56

NEWS

Oko jail break: CP, Prison boss disagree E

DO State Commissioner of Police Olayinka Balogun yesterday said he did not lie in his comments about the jail break at the Oko Prisons.

Balogun said there was no cause to lie about the incident or cover it up.

Eight prisoners escaped from the prison on August 8 after blowing up a toilet with the use of explosives.

A day after the incident, Balogun told reporters that there was no explosion at the prison.

Reacting to comments that he lied about the explosion, Balogun said his statement was based on the information given to him by prison officials immediately after the incident.

He said: “The prison officials I met about 3am on the day of the incident told me there was an attempted jail break and that two of the escapees had been rearrested.

“They said they were still checking to know the overall position of the incident and that there was no bombing or gunmen involved.

“If the prison officials later checked and changed their story to say there was an escape hours after our encounter, how has Balogun lied? Was it the police or Balogun that changed the story?”

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Edo State Comptroller of Prisons Mr. Ewulo Jimoh said: “In as much as we recognise his assistance when he was called upon, false in-

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•NPS on the trail of escapees

‘We are here to investigate and unravel the circumstances that led to the incident. When we finish, our pronouncement and decisions will be based on empirical evidence. We have spread our dragnet and we will definitely get them’ From Osagie Otabor and Osemwengie Ogbemudia, Benin

formation is not part of us. If you people meet the CP again, I am sure he will say another thing. If you listen to his press briefing, there were faults.

“The incident is not something one can cover up, because the inmates must be produced in court. Somebody kept them there. If you say nobody escaped, what will you tell the court tomorrow when you cannot produce the suspects?

“Apart from the CP’s press conference, we really appre-

ciate the police’s assistance.

But unfortunately, there is now a contradiction.”

Asked whether the CP ought to have been briefed on the development before speaking with reporters, Ewelu said: “That is not how we operate. We only complement each other. Not me briefing him or him briefing me.

But we are not quarreling at all.”

Jimoh had earlier said the eight escapees were awaiting trial.

When the Acting Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) (Operations) of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Abuja, Mr. Nuhu Zuru, visited the prison yesterday, he said the authorities are on the trail of the escapees.

Nuhu, who was accompanied by a team of investigators, said: “We are here to investigate and unravel the circumstances that led to the incident. When we finish, our pronouncement and decisions will be based on empirical evidence. We have spread our dragnet and we will definitely get them.”

On the rumour that the prison authorities got intelligence reports about the jail break before the incident occurred but failed to work on it, Nuhu said: “Out investigation will confirm or expunge that.”

Bayelsa monarch’s kidnappers demand N30m ransom

HE kidnappers of the Head of the Okordia Clan in Bayelsa State, King Richard Seiba, have demanded a N30 million ransom.

Seiba was kidnapped on Saturday morning at his Ikarama country home by gunmen.

It was learnt that the kidnappers phoned Seiba’s wife, Evelyn, and demanded N30 million.

The hoodlums reportedly assured her that her husband

From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

was fine.

Police spokesman Felix Odunna said the force was working round the clock to secure Seiba’s release.

At the weekend, a delegation of top government officials and security chiefs visited the family and the community to commiserate with them.

The delegation, which was led by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Ebi Will-

iams, included the State Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and representatives of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) as well as the Commissioner of Police.

They urged the community members to provide information that can help security agents rescue Seiba.

A source in the community said: “The incident may not be unconnected with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an oil company in the area.”

Council polls: Aspirants petition Oshiomhole

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OME aspirants of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the local government election in Owan East, Edo State, have accused the member representing Owan Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Pally Iriase, of trying to impose his candidates on the people.

In a petition to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the aspirants, led by a chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Oladele Irheren, accused the lawmaker of endorsing some aspirants.

They said: “At a secret meeting on August 5, Iriase endorsed some candidates for the forthcoming council polls in Owan East. Among those endorsed were Pastor John Ihmola and Jimoh Ijegbai, who hail from the same ward.

“This amounts to undermining the will of the people and we kick against it. Leaders should reflect the people’s choice and should

From Osemwengie Ogbemudia, Benin

not be imposed.”

Iriase’s spokesman, Mr. Dele Onaifoghe, debunked the allegation.

He said: “Iriase was only laying the foundation for the ACN’s success in the election. What happened is that ACN leaders in the area met to chart a path for the party’s success.

“What the lawmaker is saying is that ACN must present a candidate that is capable of defeating the

•Oshiomhole

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the poll. No candidate has been ruled out, but the party is working towards a consensus.”

Ex-Delta Speaker dies at 67 From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

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ORMER Delta State House of Assembly Speaker Young Daniel Igbrude is dead. He died yesterday in Asaba, the state capital.

The late Igbrude was 67.

He reportedly drove to a hospital in his Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) for a routine check-up yesterday afternoon, but died shortly after wards.

The former speaker presided over the third Assembly of the state during the tenure of former Governor James Ibori.

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• A cross-section of clerics during the church service marking Abia State’s 21st anniversary in Umuahia.

Electrocution: PHCN seeks demolition of illegal structures From Chris Oji, Enugu

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HE Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Enugu Electricity Distribution Zone, yesterday urged Southeast governors to order the demolition of structures built under high tension power lines and other power installations to prevent the electrocution of the people.

The company urged the Enugu State Government to urgently remove the billboard it erected under the 330KV high tension power line near Haijag Construction Company on Enugu-Onitsha expressway in Enugu.

The metal edge of the billboard, which bears the inscription of Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City, is almost touching the power line.

PHCN said it constitutes serious danger to workers of Haijag Construction Company and petty traders in the area.

Taking reporters round some of the affected power lines in Enugu yesterday, PHCN ‘s Public Affairs Manager in the zone, Mr. Eseme Udoh, regretted that despite repeated warnings, people have continued to erect illegal structures directly under high tension power lines.

He said occupants of such structures would be easily electrocuted, if any problem occurs on such power lines.

Udoh advised the public against renting or buying such structures.

He said: “The PHCN had problems in Port Harcourt and Ibadan in the past, when live wires snapped on people. The Port Harcourt incident happened at a bus stop and killed many people. In Ibadan, it occurred in a market and many market women were affected.

“As a responsible organisation, we have continuously sensitised the public on the danger of having structures under high tension power lines.

“We have 330KV, 132KV, 33KV and 11KV lines and unfortunately in many areas today, several structures have been built under these lines.

There is a high risk of electrocution of those occupying such structures.”

Urging Southeast governors to urgently demolish such structures, Udoh said 82 of such structures had been identified in Okigwe, 400 in Ariaria, Aba, and 412 in Orlu.

Mbadinuju slashes book cost

Robbers raid three banks in Anambra

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BOUT 15 gunmen yesterday attacked three banks in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The hoodlums invaded the two new generation banks and one old generation bank

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

about 5:45pm.

As at the time of filing this report, the gunshots were booming in Umunze and the robbers were still operating.

Police spokesman Raphael Uzoigwe confirmed the incident, but said the details are still sketchy.

Uzoigwe said over 100 policemen had been deployed to cordon off the area.

Man dies pursuing father’s kidnappers in Onitsha

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YOUNG man in his early 20s, Junior Egbunike, died yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, as a result of injuries he sustained while pursuing his father’s kidnappers.

The man’s father, Mr. Amulunanma Egbunike, was abducted at the weekend near his home at the Onitsha Inland Town.

He was said to be returning home with his wife and son, when the kidnappers blocked his car and dragged him into theirs.

Junior, who was driving his father’s car, went after them, but colluded with another car barely 400 metres away.

Junior and his mother, who was also in the car, were in-

jured in the accident.

The young man died at an unnamed hospital in Onitsha yesterday, but his mother has been discharged.

The Nation gathered that with Junior’s death, the Egbunike family is left with only a son, having lost their only daughter some years ago.

Egbunike is yet to be freed.

Gunmen kill ex-CBN Director, UNMEN unleashed three others in Owerri terror on residents of

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Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Sunday.

Suspected assassins shot and killed a former Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Charles Nwosu, at the Ekeukwu Central Market on Douglas Road.

A Police Inspector, who engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle, and two unidentified persons were also killed.

It was gathered that their killers operated in a RAV 4 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

The Permanent/Principal

•Perm sec abducted

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Emenike Ihekwoaba, was abducted on the Amaraku-Agbaja Road in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area on the same day.

It was learnt that Ihekwoaba was travelling with his wife, when the gunmen accosted him and forced him into their car.

Commissioner of Police Adisa Bolanta confirmed Ihekwoaba’s abduction and

the killing of Nwosu and an Inspector of Police.

But Bolanta said he was not aware of the killing of two unidentified persons.

He said no arrest has been made, but the police were on the trail of the gunmen.

The police have sealed up the section of the Ekeukwu Central Market where Nwosu was killed.

The CP, who was posted to the command last week, assured residents of the police’s determination to stamp out crime.

2015: ‘MASSOB not campaigning for Jonathan’

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HE Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday said it is not involved in the campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection in 2015.

MASSOB leader Chief Ralph Uwazuruike said the organisation is apolitical and focused on correcting the injustices against Ndigbo.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, MASSOB denied the publication in one of the national newspaper (not The Nation) that the group would

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

lead Jonathan’s presidential campaign.

Uwazuruike described the publication as false. He said he has never met Jonathan or discussed anything with him about the 2015 presidential election.

Uwazuruike described the publication as “a figment of the writer’s imagination”.

He said: “MASSOB has no link with the Presidency, because we are not politicians.

We are fighting for the actualisation of our freedom

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

in a country where Ndigbo are constantly treated like unimportant people.

“The publication that Amb. Bianca Ojukwu and I went to see the President in Aso Rock is malicious falsehood. The writer even went ahead to say that Jonathan gave me a brand new Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), imagine?

“I hereby state it categorically that MASSOB will never be distracted by any person or group of persons, who hide under different amorphous groups to attack our noble quest for freedom.”

•Mbadinuju

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ORMER Anambra State Governor Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju has reduced the cost of his book, “How I Governed Anambra State”, which was recently launched in Lagos.

He said the reduction is in honour of President Goodluck Jonathan’s expected visit to Abia.

The book will be sold at N1,500 instead of N5,000.

Mbadinuju, who spoke to reporters yesterday in Awka through his aide, Dr. Ken Anozie, said the reduction was his way of welcoming Jonathan to Anambra.

He said it will give more people access to the book.

The book would return to its original market price of N5,000 after the President’s visit.

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Death toll in Adamawa floods now 15 •45 communities submerged T HE death toll in the Adamawa floods disaster increased yesterday, as 15 bodies were washed ashore the River Benue bank in Jimeta—Yola.

The state government has begun evacuating people of the communities along the bank of the river in seven local government areas.

Secretary to the State Government, Kobis Ari Thinmnu, said yesterday that the government was

having difficulty coping with the situation.

He said over 45 communities have been submerged.

The SSG appealed to the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency to come to the assistance of the Adamawa people, as the disaster was beyond the government.

Thinmnu said it was unfortunate that Nigeria had no bilateral relations with the Republic of Cameroun on the usage of the waters of Lagdo Dam, adding that the release of water by the dam authorities every rainy season has always caused damage to the people of the state.

He appealed to the Federal

Government to approach the Cameroonian authorities so that modalities could be worked out to remedy the disaster, as the people of the state are always on the receiving end.

He stressed that over N100million worth of properties have been lost to the disaster, adding that at least 60 houses have reportedly collapsed in one local government. Other property lost to the disaster included farms and

livestock.

The state government has set-up a disaster management committee to manage the situation as the water level continues to rise.

The principal medical officer in charge of the Yola Specialist Hospital, Dr. Bala Saidu, said some victims of the flood were brought to the hospital’s mortuary. He said it would be difficult to give the exact number of bodies so far recovered.

Workers disrupt activities From Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos

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EDERAL Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development workers yesterday protested alleged injustice and irregularities. They barred their Controller, Arc. Laminu, from entering office.

The civil servants demanded his removal on the grounds of alleged incompetence.

They accused Laminu of short-changing them of their allowances and entitlements.

The workers assembled in their office at the Federal Secretariat, Jos and locked the controller’s office as well as the offices of other principal officers, chanting solidarity songs.

Men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who share the same building with the workers, averted crisis as some who did not support the protest were almost harassed by the protesters.

Sale of govt property in Niger decried From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

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HE All Nigeria Peoples Party ( A N P P ) governorship candidate in the 2011 general elections in Niger State, David Umaru, has called for the cancellation of the proposed sale of 57 government property by the state government.

Niger State Government has said it is proposing to dispose 29 GRA and 28 legislative quarters’ property and use the proceeds to develop the Three Arms Zone in the state.

Umaru, in a statement issued in Abuja, said if the state government is finding it difficult to fund the project, “what assurances do we have that the project would ever be completed? What assurances do we have that the project will not end up as an abandoned project- a fate many such ‘white elephant’ projects like it have suffered in the state since 2007?”

Umaru, in the statement, said at no time did the government tell Niger indigenes either before or after commencement of work on the project that the property would be sold to finance the project.

•Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State test-riding one of the 50 FGN Assisted Mass Transit buses supported by the Speaker, House of Assembly, Mohammed Yahaya Miya, after inauguration... yesterday.

Killer police officer dismissed in Kano

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POLICE officer who shot and killed a 12year-old boy, Mohammed Nassanu, on the eve of Eid-el-Fitri, in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, has been dismissed from the police force.

In addition to his dismissal, the police officer, Sergeant Laminu Adamu, attached to the Gwale Police Division, is facing prosecution at the Kano Magistrate’s Court. He is charged with culpable homicide, punishable with

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

death.

He was dismissed yesterday by the police authorities, following the recommendation of a disciplinary committee constituted to investigate his case. He has been in detention since the incident.

A police statement said the victim died shortly at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, where he was taken to when

the incident occurred.

Police spokesman said in a statement: “Kano Police Command deeply regrets the unfortunate incident in Gwale where Mohammed Hassanu, 12, was killed by Sergeant Laminu Aamu of the Gwale Police Division.

He died in the hospital.

“The incident occurred when the sergeant on a vehicular patrol in the area near the Gwale Local Government Secretariat fired a shot, which accidentally hit the boy.”

The spokesman assured that “appropriate actions have been taken against the policeman as he has been subjected to orderly room trial, a police internal disciplinary procedure, after which appropriate sanction will be decided.”

The commissioner of police urged his men to always abide by Section 237 of the Police Order which stipulates the use of fire arms, adding that they should be civil and professional while discharging their duties.

ACN accuses Wada govt of financial recklessness

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration in Kogi State of wasting the meagre resources by paying the newly-appointed Special Advisers (SAs) huge amount without having any portfolio.

Over 60 per cent of the newly-appointed SAs were said to have received their appointment letters and salaries to the tune of N640,000 each from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, declined to comment on the issue. He said it is only the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) that has the authority to comment.

The SSG has reportedly travelled to Berlin in Germany with the state government for a conference.

The Chairman of the ACN

From Muhammad Bashir Lokoja

in the state, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, who spoke with reporters yesterday, said it was lamentable that the government had paid over 30 SAs N800,000 each this month without working.

“Can you imagine an administration that wastes the state’s resources on people who have not been assigned any responsibility? “They don’t even have an office yet and they were paid. Such resources can be used for a meaningful venture. It is an indication of a government

without direction,” he said.

Ametuo urged the people of the state to participate more in government by monitoring how public funds are spent. “The people must keep an eye on this government to make sure that our funds are not wasted,” he added.

Group seeks lawmaker’s prosecution over alleged N1.6m fraud

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CIVIL society group, the Benue Coalition (BC), has urged the Benue State Commissioner of Police to arrest and prosecute a lawmaker (name withheld) for alleged fraud.

Addressing a press conference in Makurdi, the leader of the group, Comrade Philip Agbese, alleged that the lawmaker collected N1.6million from the state’s treasury to travel to South Africa for a legislative workshop to enrich his knowledge, but he did not travel.

Agbese, who showed documents during the conference to buttress his allegations, said apart from the N1.6million which the lawmaker collected, he signed for and collected other

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

allowances through one of his aides.

According to him, the lawmaker collected N741,290, being payment for air ticket, but he did not travel. He was alleged to have defrauded the government of huge sums of money.

The lawmaker also allegedly signed and collected N44,000 meant for air ticket from Abuja to Lagos and converted it to his personal use, including N40,000 night allowance.

The group described the act as selfish, greedy and fraudulent. It called on the police to arrest and prosecute the lawmaker to act as a deterrent to others.

Fed Govt approves N3.2b for UN House From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

HE Federal Government has moved to assist in the rebuilding of the bombed United Nations (UN) House in Abuja by approving N3.2 billion consisting of N2.6 billion for the reconstruction of the building and N600 million for the renting of alternative accommodation.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, made this known yesterday when he paid a visit to the Foreign Affairs Ministry with UN officials as part of the one year remembrance ceremony of the bomb blast.

The Federal Government has been criticised for the delay in the reconstruction of the UN building. The minister said the reconstruction was put on hold due to the absence of indigenous experts needed to conduct integrity test on the building.

He said the integrity test on the building has been completed, adding that remediation would begin before the end of the year.

He assured of Federal Government’s plan to compensate victims of the bomb blast.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, reiterated the Federal Government support for the UN and other international bodies in Nigeria.

Twenty-three people died and 120 were injured in the bomb blast on August 26 last year.

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‘Punish killers of Deeper Life members’

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HE senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Nurudeen AbatemiUsman, has said the killers of 20 people at the Deeper Life Bible Church and two soldiers in Okene, Kogi State, must be punished.

He spoke on Sunday when he paid a condolence visit to the headquarters of the church and Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, in Okene.

According to a statement signed by the senator’s media assistant, Michael Jegede, the lawmaker appealed to the people of the area to remain united regardless of their religious and ethnic differences.

Senator Abatemi-Usman, the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, said he is happy that the masterminds of the gruesome killings have been arrested.

He described the killings as callous, wondering why anybody would want to take his or her fellow human being’s life.

The senator said he would lead a high-powered aint.

The Head of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene, Pastor Irewole Raphael, thanked Senator Abatemi-Usman for visiting the church.

According to him, the congregation will be encouraged by his words of support and wisdom, adding that those behind the dastardly killings have no fear of God.

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Buhari: Jonathan, IBB, Obasanjo killed oil sector Babangida threatens to expose Buhari

Continued from page 1

madu Buhari was railing at him in Kaduna, the North’s political headquarters.

The former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) accused Jonathan, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida of being behind the destruction of the oil industry, with its attendant effects on the welfare of the ordinary Nigerian.

Gen. Buhari spoke while receiving members of the CPC from Katsina, who paid him a Sallah homage.

But Dr. Jonathan rejected the dark tar with which his administration is painted. He said: “Sometimes, even people who have held offices in government criticise me to the extent of personal abuses. Sometimes, I ask, ‘were there roads across the country and Jonathan brought flood to wipe out these roads?’ Or we had power and I brought hurricane to break down the entire infrastructure?

“If they say Boko Haram is because of poverty; were there massive irrigation projects in the North where agriculture can thrive and massive farms and Jonathan brought drought to wipe out these farms? Under two years, is it possible? Well, time will tell. What I can tell Nigerians is that let those who criticise continue to criticise.

“We will do our best and as we progress, Nigerians will know the truth and we’ll see that we are committed and will surely transform this country.”

Jonathan assured that his critics would have the cause to praise him at the end of the life of his administration when his Transformation Agenda would have yielded

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FEW hours after President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari took a swipe at former leaders, ex-Military President Ibrahim Babangida fired back.

He asked Dr. Jonathan to learn to accept criticisms and threatened to expose the “holier-than thou-attitude” of Gen. Buhari.

Gen. Babangida, who spoke through Prince Kassim Afegbua, his media adviser, reminded Gen. Buhari that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

He also advised Dr. Jonathan to look the expected dividends.

He said: “I think I am the most criticised President in the whole world, but I tell this noble audience that before I leave, I will also be the most praised president.

“I have experienced that before in my governor journey in Bayelsa state. In fact, people who were close to me will tell you that even after the election, I told them that in my first 12 months, please cover your ears because you will hear all kinds of things.

But as we progress, you will see (changes).

“We are working very hard to stabilise power. We are working very hard to resurface our roads. We have security challenges, which we are also working very hard to bring to reasonable control.

“It is not easy; we don’t have the magic wand, except the miracle worker that with the wave of the hand, probably will help to throw all these challenges away and prosperity will appear. But in pure governance issues, it takes time.”

The President said he promised to deliver free, fair and credible elections before the conduct of the 2011 gen-

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

elsewhere, not him, if he is blaming past leaders that are criticising him.

Kassim said: “On President Jonathan, there is nothing wrong in criticism if it is constructive and in the interest of the country. Gen. Babangida is one unique former President who does not criticise a sitting President as a matter of courtesy.

“If President Jonathan is blaming past leaders, he should look elsewhere, certainly not IBB. “On Gen. Buhari, it is not in IBB’s tradition to take up issues with his colleague former President. But for the purpose of

eral elections and the assessment of the polls by local and international observers was a testimony that he kept his promise.

He said his administration had initiated policies that would ensure the country political, social and economic transformation.

Jonathan said the Federal Government had proposed a new Anti-terrorism Bill 2012 to address the current security challenges in the country.

The President said he disagreed with the position of the NBA on the urgent need to create State Police to address the security challenges in the country.

According to him, Nigeria is not ripe for State Police because it can easily be abused by the governors, a development which, he said, can worsen the security situation.

He said the police became worse for it, when it introduced the policy of deploying men from the rank of Inspector downward to their states of origin.

Jonathan said his administration considered the NBA as a partner in progress and commended the association for choosing a topical theme for the conference.

record, we are conversant with Gen. Buhari’s so-called holier-than-thou attitude.

“He is a one-time Minister of Petroleum and we have good records of his tenure as minister.

“Secondly, he also presided over the Petroleum Trust Fund ( PTF) which records we also have.

“We challenge him to come out with clean hands in those two portfolios he headed. Or, we will help him to expose his. “records of performance during those periods.”

“Those who live in glass houses do not throw stones. Gen. Buhari should be properly guided.”

The theme, “Nigeria as an Emerging Market: Redefining our Laws and Politics for Growth”, the President said, is in line with the public-private-partnership-oriented policy of his administration.

He urged the association to review its rules of engagement which, he said, bar its officers from directly getting involved in day-to-day governance either in an advisory or participatory capacity.

The President said he had appointed the outgoing President of the NBA, Joseph Daudu (SAN), as Honorary Legal Adviser, but he (Daudu) declined the offer based on the association’s rules of engagement.

Jonathan said he was still willing to appoint the incoming president of the association to the position, if the rule could be reviewed.

Gen Buhari said the insincerity and corrupt nature of the nation’s leaders were responsible for the wave of insecurity in the country.

His guests from Katsina State were led by the member representing Funtua/ Dandume Federal Constituency, Dr. Mansur Abdulkadir.

According to Gen. Buhari,

the high level of corruption and the destruction of the petroleum industry began in the administration of Gen. Babangida. For the country to move forward, Nigerians must entrust its affairs to trusted leaders, he counselled.

The former Head of State noted that there was no country where impunity thrives like Nigeria, adding that corruption in the petroleum sector began during the era of Gen. Babangida, continued during that of ex-President Obasanjo and the administration of President Jonathan because, in his view, they had the mindset to cheat the Nigerian masses.

He said: “The biggest challenge of Nigeria is for adequate security to be in place and ways in which we can protect the riches of this country and provide job opportunities for the youths in the country, so that we can build more industries as it was before.

“Inability of these industries to work has brought mistrust and corruption to Nigeria. Therefore, our leaders have to be sincere and lead with the fear of God and carry all along for Nigeria to

•Gen. Buhari

be a better place.

“All leaders should stand and keep promises of the people. We cannot move forward, if things that are supposed to be put in place are not done. Like the money which was siphoned in the recent pension scam and the petroleum industry scam must all be brought back into the government’s coffer for good leadership.

“Therefore, all those that want the masses to vote and be voted for should go to the masses and get their mandate. The era of using money to bribe the masses or force to get political office is gone.

“A leader that wants to be a good leader must look at the needs of the people, the suffering and the humiliation and proffer solution to those problems and together we shall achieve greatness.”

Abdulkadir told Gen. Buhari that their mission was to wish him happy Eid-el-Fitr celebration and seek his blessing ahead of the local government election in Katsina State.

Your Sexual Health & You: Novelty Tips, Questions & Answers My man does not call or text me. I do all the calling and texting. He doesn’t care about me. He has never spent on me before but I spend on him. Whenever he offend me, I will be the one to beg him. I always cry, think and worry about him. Now I want to let go but I cannot get him out of my mind and I think he is planning to break up with me.

What do I do? I still love him – Grace Dear Grace, it seems to me that you are in love with a man who just wants a casual relationship. Some people are like that. They just want a girl they can hang out with when they feel like it without getting too close. That is why he keeps you at a distance. But you want more. You want a proper romantic and loving relationship. It is up to you to decide if you are going to settle for what he wants or what you want.

Personally, I suggest you leave. I believe there is someone out there who can treat you better and be in a full relationship with you just the way you want. If you don’t leave, he will end up leaving you just like you said so there is no difference.

I know that leaving him will be difficult for you because you love him, but it must be obvious to you by now that you have no meaningful future with him. You are a woman and time is not on your side. You will find someone else. Take care – Uche I have been using the Xzen 1200 supplement you recommended and my erections are stronger. Thank you James You are welcome – Uche Is it true that there is a cure for AIDS? How many years can an AIDS victim live up to? Bola Dear Bola, I have never heard of any cure for AIDS. I read some months ago that the American government has approved a drug that prevents HIV infection called Truvada. Bola if you suspect that you have HIV/AIDS, go to the hospital and do a test. Only a proper test can answer your questions. If you

are HIV positive, there are good quality drugs now that will boost your immune system and keep you from falling sick and dying of AIDS. Good luck – Uche There are times that I can have sex four or five times before day break and the next week, I can only manage to have just one round. I want to be ready at any time, 24/7 – Andrew from Kwara state Dear Andrew, you sound okay to me. It is not every time that one will have the energy to indulge in marathon sex. But if this is what you want, drink Libigrow Libido Shots or Mojo Boost one hour before sex. They are both high quality performance enhancing drinks that can keep you having super sex all through the night. They are natural supplements and have no side effects - Uche Sir thank you for your help. I am taking Max Desire now and my libido has improved. Please can you recommend something to enable me have an orgasm as well? I have never had one. I will like a movie too. Thank you – Adaobi You are welcome. To become orgasmic, you will need three things: An orgasm gel (Liquid Sex Orgasm Gel), a rabbit vibrator ( Stormy Delight G-Spot Rabbit) and the education film Guide to Female Ejaculation. For the adult film you asked for, I recommend Jesse Jane’s Babysitters. These are good quality and affordable novelties that will change your sex life for the better – Uche And that’s it for today. The names of the people featured here have been changed for their privacy. Zee Virtual Media closes for a short break on the 26th of August and reopens on the 3rd of September, 2012. Men and women interested in our products can order them online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Your orders will be processed when we resume work. Thank you. Email: custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

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DISCOURSE

‘N5,000 note, a step down a slippery slope’ Being the position of Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Policy and Governance on the planned introduction of N5,000 note by the Central Bank of Nigeria •Introduction

I

T has been announced that a new currency note with a face value of five thousand naira (N5,000) will soon be introduced into Nigeria’s currency system. This raises several important policy issues which call for serious analysis, reflection and debate. Without being privy to the discussion which led to the decision, such debate will, to an extent, be speculative, unless it is backed by an informed analysis focusing on the objectives of the policy decision, its consistency with other existing policies, and its likely unintended effects (or collateral damage). This note seeks to stimulate debate by offering some thoughts on the required analysis.

As a preamble, however, it is useful to restate the critical functions of money in an economy and to understand why fiat money, the bulk of which is made up of currency notes of various denominations or face values, is susceptible to oversupply relative to the needs of the economy. While money has several other functions (such as means of exchange and unit of account), its most critical function is to serve as a store of value. In this capacity, money is the primary yardstick for measuring value. Hence, money serves as the record-keeping device which not only permits an efficient summary of past transactions in the economy but is also relied upon to do the same in the future. Whatever instrument is used as money, therefore, must be as free as possible from distortions. When this is achieved, price stability can be relied upon to ensure an efficient allocation of scarce resources in a market-based economy.

It requires deliberate and committed policy to ensure the establishment and maintenance of price stability in an economy which uses fiat money. The government which issues fiat money has rather strong incentives to violate the requirements of price stability. In particular, the government derives revenue from issuing fiat money and, in addition, can finance its fiscal deficits by simply creating more money. Most governments try to protect themselves from this temptation by giving their central banks a degree of autonomy over the money creation function.

•Objectives of the New Currency Note The new currency note will have, at five thousand naira, the highest face value among the notes currently in circulation as legal tender in Nigeria. One can identify at least two plausible reasons for introducing this new currency note.

One of these could be simply to raise government revenue, and the other could be to reduce the cost of transactions.

It is easy to show that currency issue yields revenue to government, through its agent, the central bank.

Households and businesses which need cash normally access such cash at their banks. The banks, in turn, source their cash from the central bank. Paper currency forms the bulk of this cash in Nigeria and it is printed under the authority of the central bank. The printing cost is minimal and the same for all currency notes, regardless of denomination. When banks require cash for their customers, they buy it from the central bank at face value.

In the process, the central bank (and hence the government) profits by the difference between the printing and distribution cost and the face value of the currency. Thus, the higher the denomination or face value of a currency note, the higher is the profit which accrues to the currency issuer. In effect, the profit derivable from a unit of the new five thousand naira note will be several multiples of that from a unit of five naira note, given that the cost of printing is the same.

It is also obvious that making large transactions with five naira notes can be more costly than doing the same with five thousand naira notes. The higher the face value of a currency note, the easier and cheaper it is to transport large amounts of money.

The problem of transporting currency derives from its size and weight. Both of these tend to diminish as the face value increases.

Hence, high value currency notes tend to be cheaper to transport for use in large transactions. Thus, the introduction of a currency note with a high face value could have the objective of reducing transactions cost.

•Unintended Effects Even when a policy action has particular desirable objectives at which they are targeted, they may also be associated with unintended effects and, thus, have “collateral damage”. The introduction of the new five thousand naira currency note is likely to generate a number of unintended effects.

First, there is strong historical evidence that the introduction of higher and higher face value currency notes in an economy often signifies a regime of increased and sustained fiscal deficit financing. This is, unfortunately, a failure-prone strategy because the inflation which it inevitably generates tends to erode the real value of the seigniorage revenue derived.

Second, the issuance of high face value currency notes is likely to be perceived as an indication of government’s failure to effectively control inflation.

Once this perception takes hold, increased inflation expectations can be built up quite rapidly. These have pushed

many countries into a situation of hyper-inflation in the past, which has typically culminated in the redenomination or even complete abandonment of the entire currency system.

Third, the issuance of the five thousand naira currency note runs counter to the recent policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to promote a “cash-less” economy by encouraging the increased use of non-cash transaction instruments.

This policy which is aimed at reducing the use of cash has been justified by the need to reduce the burden of the cost of printing and distributing currency notes. The introduction of a high face value currency note actually does the opposite. By reducing the unit cost of printing and transportation, it actually should promote the use of cash.

Fourth, the issuance of the five thousand naira currency note also runs counter to the government’s often repeated commitment to fight corruption. It is widely recognized that large scale corruption tends to be facilitated by the ease with which unrecorded and large cash transactions can be made in any country.

Similarly, increased illegal/criminal, drug-related and terrorist activities, as well as money laundering are known to be facilitated by such unrecorded and large-scale cash transactions. The ease with which currency notes with high face values can be transported renders them as ideal facilitating instruments for these kinds of undesirable activities. In the Nigerian context, the five thousand currency note is likely to be such an ideal facilitator.

•Inflation and High-Value Notes The close relationship between inflation and the issuance of highvalue currency notes is, perhaps, best illustrated with the real life experiences of a number of countries.

During 1975 – 1991, Argentina experienced a period of inflation during which increasingly higher face value notes were issued. At the beginning of 1975, the highest denomination was 1,000 pesos. This

‘Even when a policy action has particular desirable objectives at which they are targeted, they may also be associated with unintended effects and, thus, have “collateral damage’

rose to 5,000 pesos in late 1976, then to 10,000 pesos in 1979, and was 1,000,000 pesos in 1981. As this trend became clearly unsustainable, a series of currency reforms followed.

In 1983, the currency was re-named peso argentino, one unit of which was exchanged for 10,000 pesos. In 1985, another name change occurred, and a unit of the new currency (austral) was exchanged for 1,000 pesos argentinos. Finally, in 1992, one new peso was exchanged for 10,000 australes.

Bolivia had a similar experience during 1984 – 1987. Before 1984, this country’s highest currency denomination was 1,000 Bolivian pesos; which rose to 10 million Bolivian pesos by 1985. In the 1987 currency reform, the currency was renamed Boliviano, a unit of which was exchanged for one million Bolivian pesos.

Two further examples from Latin America include Nicaragua and Peru. Nicaragua’s inflation episode was from 1987 to 1990. In early 1986, the highest denomination was 10,000 cordoba’s and, by 1987 it was 1,000,000 Cordoba’s. In the 1988 currency reform, one new cordoba’s was exchanged for 10,000 old cordobas. By 1990, the highest denomination was 100 million new cordobas. Finally, in the 1991 currency reform, one new cordoba was exchanged for five million old cordobas. Peru experienced its worst inflation experience during 1988 – 1990.

In 1986, the highest denomination was 1,000 intis, which increased to 5 million intis by 1991.

The currency reform of 1991 created the nuero sol, one unit of which was exchange for one million intis.

Two examples from Europe include Poland and the Russian Federation. In Poland, the highest denomination in 1989 was 200,000 zlotych, which rose to 1,000,000 zlotych, in 1991 and 2,000,000 zlotych in 1992. In the 1994 currency reform, one new zlotych was exchanged for 10,000 old zlotych. In the Russian Federation, the inflation experience over the 1992 – 1998 period led to the creation of new ruble in 1998, a unit of which was exchanged for 1,000 old rubles.

Back home, examples from Africa include Angola, Zaire/DRC and Zimbabwe. Angola experienced hyper-inflation from 1991 – 1995. Its original currency, the kwanza was replaced in 1990 by the novo kwanza. Early in 1991, the highest denomination was 50,000 novo kwanza. By 1994, this became 500,000 new kwanzas. In the 1995 currency reform, one unit of the re-adjusted kwanza was exchanged for 1,000 new kwanzas. By 1997, the highest denomination was 5,000,000 readjusted kwanza. In the 1999 currency reform, the original kwanza was re-introduced, with its

•CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

one unit being exchanged for one million re-adjusted kwanzas. The highest denomination currency note now has a face value of 2,000 kwanza.

Zaire experienced an inflationary period between 1986 and 1996. In 1988, the highest currency note denomination was 5,000 zaires, which rose to 5,000,000 zaires by 1992. The 1993 currency reform created the nouveau zaire, a unit of which was exchanged for 3,000,000 zaires.

In 1996, the highest denomination was 1,000,000 new zaires. In 1997, the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the currency was changed to francs, one unit of which was exchanged for 100,000 new zaires.

The case of Zimbabwe shows how rapidly things can get out of control.

On 5 May, 2007, Zimbabwe issued currency notes with face values of Z$100 million and Z$250 million.

On 15 May, 2007, a new bank note of Z$500 million was issued, followed by the issue on 20 May, 2007 of currency notes in denominations of Z$5 billion, Z$25 billion and Z$50 billion. Finally, on 21 July 2007, bank notes with a face value of Z$100 billion were issued. Eventually, Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency and legalized the use of only foreign currencies.

•Conclusion Nigeria has been experiencing bouts of inflation for a long time.

Efforts to extinguish this dangerous trend have not been successful. The granting of “paper” autonomy to the Central Bank of Nigeria which is rendered ineffective in a regime of strong and growing fiscal dominance does not offer a realistic and feasible solution.

The introduction of the five thousand naira currency note may be a step in the wrong direction, and down a slippery slope towards hyperinflation. It is clearly time to abandon failed inflation-control policies and inadequately thought-through experiments.

Effective price stability can only be restored and preserved by removing the mandatory obligation of the Central Bank and the rest of the financial system to finance government’s fiscal deficits.

Alleged $620,000 bribe: Court’s vacation delays trial of Lawan, clerk

T

HE ongoing vacation of judges is delaying the trial of the suspended Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Mallam Farouk Lawan and the panel’s Clerk, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, it was learnt yesterday.

Besides, the Office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation is awaiting a brief from the prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).

But the embattled lawmaker said he has returned from his trip to Saudi Arabia in fulfillment of his bail bond.

The charges against the suspects are being fine-tuned by the prosecutor, it was learnt.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The government is set for the trial of the two accused. The AGF is

•AGF awaits brief from prosecutor From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

actually awaiting brief from the prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), who has been mandated to file charges against these suspects.

“We are, however, handicapped by the ongoing vacation of the court in the Federal Capital Territory. As soon as the court resumes, the trial will begin.

“We are looking to the commencement of the trial of the suspects within the next two weeks.

We are certainly aware of public expectations.”

Replying to a question, the source

added: “Definitely, police will not be involved in the prosecution; they will only testify as witnesses on the basis of the outcome of their investigation.

Lawan said: “In line with my application to the police for a week’s permission to perform lesser Hajj, I have returned to Nigeria since August 23.

“I have also informed appropriate authorities about my return to the country.”

One of the counsel to Lawan, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said: “My client has kept to his bail bond, he did not run away. He gave an undertaking to come back from

Saudi Arabia and he has honoured it. This shows that he is a responsible citizen.

“As for his forthcoming trial, we are ready. Do not forget that he is innocent of whatever charges they are going to level until proven guilty.”

The State Security Service (SSS) had on August 7 delayed Lawan’s trip at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, until he was cleared by the National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki.

It was learnt that the suspects might be arraigned in line with Sections 8, 10, 15, 20 and 20 of the ICPC Act 2000.

If arraigned under the ICPC Act, they may, however, be jailed for seven years if convicted by any High Court of Justice.

The ICPC Act is explicit on penalty for bribery.

Part of Section 8 says: “Any person who corruptly asks for, receives or obtains any property or benefit of any kind for himself or for any other person; or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain any property or benefit of any kind for himself or for any other person, on account of – “Anything already done or omitted to be done or for any favour or disfavor already shown to any person by himself in the discharge of his official duties or in relation to any matter connected with the functions, affairs or business of a government, department or corporate body or other organisation or institution in which he is serving as an official.”

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THE NATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

FOREIGN

•Syrian prisoners, who had been arrested for their involvement in anti-regime be released in Damascus ... yesterday. The official SANA agency reported released 378 people detained for their participation in street protests, adding were never involved in violence.

protests, wait to that authorities that those freed PHOTO: AFP

Explosive kills five children in Somalia

A

DEADLY weapon of war left over from fighting in Somalia goes off in a school playground yesterday.

The school is situated in the town of Balad, north of the capital Mogadishu.

At least five Somali children have been killed playing with an explosive in their school playground.

Around a dozen other youngsters were wounded in the large blast in the town of Balad, which is situated around 20 miles north of the capital Mogadishu.

It is thought the deadly device discovered by the children was left over from fighting in the area.

The explosion happened shortly after the school day started on Monday.

“There was a heavy explo-

sion, we believe caused by an explosive device that they had been playing with,” said Abdi Jinow Alasow, governor for the Middle Shabelle region.

“At least five children have died and more than 10 others were injured.

“The death toll could rise as most of the victims have suf-

fered serious injuries.”

The town was recently wrested from the control of Al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents by African Union troops alongside government forces.

“I heard a very loud explosion, and minutes later I saw mothers crying,” said Abdifatah Mohamed.

Major earthquake hits El Salvador THE epicenter of the quake was about 177 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the capital, San Salvador, and took place nearly 33 miles underground.

Some minor shaking was reported. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for El Salvador and the neighboring

countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico.

A small wave caused by the quake was recorded at Acajutla, El Salvador, measuring about 10 centimeters (4 inches).

El Salvador is on the socalled Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

TODAY IN THE NATION

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 7

NO.2,231

‘The only qualification that these ex-criminals have to earn these lucrative contracts was being former Niger Delta militants. They took up arms against Nigeria, damaged our collective economic interest and yet were pardoned just to allow peace to reign.’

WAHEED ODUSILE

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

F

OR once, I found myself sympathising with His Excellency The Rt Honourable (Dr) David B. Mark, president of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while not agreeing with him entirely.

The occasion?

The kerfuffle that followed his recent address before the Senate Press Corps Retreat in the Abia State capital, Umuahia, in which he reportedly decried what he regarded as the excesses of social media and called for measures to curb them.

His media aide, Kola Ologbondiyan, has stated forcefully that Mark had accepted the invitation to deliver the address with great diffidence, having been vilified on too many occasions for statements he never made, and had accordingly scripted the address to ensure that he would not be misquoted nor misunderstood.

Still, Ologbondiyan laments, Mark has been misquoted again, and denounced withal, for things he never said.

It was not long ago that Mark finally roused himself to disavow a statement credited to him when he was Minister of Communications that telephones were not for the poor. For some 20 years, that widely reported statement had defined him in the public imagination but, longsuffering public servant that he is, he took it in his stride and moved on to grapple with the more important issues of state.

You would think that time and tide and circumstance would have mollified his sternest critics, and that they would now take him at his word.

Not in the least. A professional colleague whose memory is as tenacious as a black hole insists that Mark’s disavowal is credible only to the extent those were not the very words he had used at the time. Mark, he maintains, had said rather gruffly and dismissively to complaints that telephony tariffs were on the high side, that telephones were “not for every Tom, Dick and Harry.”

Poor David Mark. It is a battle he cannot win.

Even if the transcript of his Umuahia speech does not contain the words the media credited him with, his assailants would still not be mollified. They will rejoin that speechmakers rarely stick in every material particular to their scripts.

They will point to perhaps the most famous instance of this phenomenon, Dr Martin Luther King’s August 28, 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, one of the greatest orations of all time, which was a substantial departure from the material he had prepared for the March on Washington.

It was a long, sweltering summer day. The multitude had converged on the Mall since dawn, and had been treated to speech after speech until the only thing on their minds was lunch, and a cold drink. But there was still one more speech, that of Dr King.

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Cyber bullies at work

•Mark

Like the practised orator that he was, Dr King sensed that he was not carrying his audience along. The great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was seated close to the podium, also sensed that Dr King was losing it. “Tell them about your dream, Martin,” she whispered to him.

Whereupon Dr King shoved aside the material he had prepared for the occasion, and launched into the text of a sermon Ms Jackson had heard Dr King give in his church. That cue and the brilliant improvisation that followed it saved the day and bequeathed to humanity an oration that will live through the ages.

Nothing in the foregoing, however, countermands Mark’s essential submission that the Internet has become a vehicle for peddling bigotry and coarse abuse and hate and libel, engaging in criminal extortion, and luring the unsuspecting to violent death, as the tragic case of Cynthia Osokogu, the Nasarawa State University graduate student murdered re-

cently by persons with whom she had struck an acquaintanceship on Facebook, reminds us all too starkly.

Call it the dark side of the Internet. What they call “social media” is fast growing into the most anti-social vehicle ever devised, powered by digital technology that is growing exponentially.

It is a global menace, this dark side of the Internet. But the sites frequented by Nigerians rank among the most anti-social in cybersphere. Rarely do commentators confine themselves to a forthright discourse of the content they are reacting to. The purported response is an opportunity to impugn, to cast aspersions, to ascribe motives, usually the basest; to settle real or imagined scores, and to hurt and humiliate others, for the most part without cause.

Samplers: One Internet posting said of a respected Nigerian commentator that he must have been conceived from a busted condom. Another, who must have had the prurient pleasure of witnessing our nearest cousins on the evolutionary chain copulating, said of an eminent Nigerian leader that his picture reminded him of a baboon having an orgasm.

To no purpose, and without research, one curmudgeon, who practically dwells in the Internet, said in a posting under a column by the present writer, “Tunji Dare is one of them.

He will do anything and go anywhere if the price is right,” claiming that he was merely relating what “people” were saying about me.

I have been searching myself since then.

Did I not turn down peremptorily an offer to serve in Sani Abacha’s cabinet? Had I not rejected overtures from agents of the NNPC to tone down my outspoken criticism of the dubious “subsidy” on petroleum products that the government was set to cut?

Had I not given the marching orders to an agent who came to my Rutam House office bearing a sack of cash in return for an editorial to save OMPADEC from being axed, as some influential persons were demanding?

HARDBALL

Had my wife not firmly rebuffed every attempt to “settle” me through her?

Indeed, it came to the point that a close friend of mine was called aside by a senior government official and told that whenever they were about to offer me a major post, I would go and write something foolish. “What does your friend really want?” they asked him.

I told him to tell them that I wanted to remain free to write foolish things.

It is also on record that I resigned as chair of the Kwara Printing and Publishing Corporation, publishers of the Nigerian Herald and from chair of the Editorial Board of Guardian Newspapers on matters of principle, and respectfully declined an offer from President Olusegun Obasanjo to serve as chief executive of the Daily Times.

Nothing in all this makes me more upstanding than the next newspaperman. As a human being who lives among other human beings, I have made my own share of mistakes and misjudgments. But “going anywhere” and “doing anything” as long as “the price is right” is definitely not what has driven or defined my journalism.

It is moral cowardice of the highest order to hide behind the anonymity the Internet guarantees to ply this sinister pastime. A good many of those engaged in it would never publish their calumny if they were compelled to do so under their true names and identities.

But they carry on in the name of freedom of speech, bereft of any sense of responsibility.

It gives them a sense of power.

But what is power without responsibility if not the preserve of practitioners of Mrs Warren’s profession down the ages, to invoke Disraeli and George Bernard Shaw in the same breath?

So, I sympathise with the Rt Hon David Mark with all my heart. Still, I do not subscribe to the proposition his aide now says he never canvassed, namely, that measures would have to be instituted to curb the perversion of social media. The task is impossible anyway. We shall always have the hidden calumniators among us.

It belongs squarely to the designated administrators to protect the integrity of their web sites by monitoring the traffic judiciously, always mindful of the thin line that separates legitimate filtering from censorship.

Correction I misstated in this space last Tuesday that Chief Alex Akinyele was chair of the National Sports Commission when Nigeria won two gold medals during the Atlanta Olympics. The distinction belongs to Chief Jim Nwobodo.

Akinyele was chair of the NSC when Nigeria won three silver medals and a bronze, its largest ever quantum, at the Barcelona Olympics.

•For comments, send SMS to 08057634061

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

A dialogue most semantically unusual

W

HILE President Goodluck Jonathan was yesterday in Abuja grappling with being the most criticised president in the world, as he put it hyperbolically, his spokesmen, Mr Labaran Maku of the Information ministry and Dr Reuben Abati, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, were busy confecting very ingenious semantics around the claim of dialogue with the Boko Haram fundamentalist sect. First to sound the bell was Maku who announced triumphantly and colourfully that dialogue was in progress between the government and the sect. One Abu Muhammad, said to be occupying deputy position to the leader of Boko Haram, Muhammad Shekau, had been quoted as saying dialogue had resumed to find common ground between the sect and the government. Maku added his voice by suggesting that members of the sect were our children anyway, and that dialogue was indeed a sensible thing to pursue in the interest of peace.

Maku’s statement lent credence to the talk of dialogue, and a few newspapers even began speculating on some of the demands of the sect, including monetary compensation to those extra-judicially murdered by the state in the at-

tempt to quell the disturbances in the North. A few days later, the sect’s spokesman, Abu Qaqa, was quoted by some newspapers as angrily rebutting the story of dialogue. The media had not learnt their lessons and still continued to offer themselves for government propaganda, said Qaqa. He also denounced those he claimed were fake negotiators pretending to represent Boko Haram. Warning that both the offending media and self-appointed negotiators profiting from the confusion would be dealt with, Qaqa again restated the demands of the sect and concluded ominously by suggesting that dialogue was unlikely to be resumed with the government because it had broken faith more than once.

As far as Abu Muhammad, Maku, and Qaqa were concerned, we had no problem understanding where they were coming from or where they were going. They spoke candidly, and they spoke plainly – no obfuscation, no semantic obliqueness, and no attempt to pull wool over anyone’s face, even if we disagreed with the premises of their statements or the harshness of their conclusions. Enter Spokesman Abati, and nothing again seemed what we thought they were. Brushing aside Qaqa’s

rebuttal, he disclosed with the sort of assuredness the Jonathan government had not mustered in a long time that dialogue was actually in progress. It was not dialogue with the known leaders of Boko Haram, he reluctantly admitted, and it was not the usual kind of negotiating-table arrangement, but discussions were taking place nonetheless. We must thank Abati for educating the ignorant media on the various forms of sitting arrangements used for dialogue in these parts, including what he gravely and cerebrally described as multiple levels of discussions and multifaceted discussions.

But Jonathan’s spokesman was not done. Hear him directly and succinctly: “So, what is called dialogue is at many levels: through back-room channels and through multi-level, constructive interventions to address a difficult issue that is multifarious.” Ha-ha, all these intricate words for Boko Haram’s simple rebuttal. Stripped of the stirring fustian with which the eminent spokesman wrapped his response to the sect’s rebuttal, Abati is simply saying that the Jonathan government is discussing with those who have leverage with Boko Haram. We shall soon see. Meanwhile, the media is caught be-

tween an angry and mistrustful Jonathan who is daily chafing that the media is overwhelming his government with criticisms, and a threatening and bilious sect which has repeatedly warned it will brook no challenge nor tolerate what it describes expansively as false publications. Caught between this latter-day Scylla and Charybdis, the media has writhed in agony in determining what to print and what not to print, or whether to use its better judgement or not.

Things may look confused and hopeless in the war against terror, and we may appear drained by the dithering and weakness of our government, but the consolation is that with Abati wading into the fray with his elegant, if sometimes befuddling, concepts, we are certain to improve our knowledge of modern strategic studies, especially the part that involves how to sleep with the enemy. God forbid that Dr Doyin Okupe, the dreadnought hauled in

by Jonathan to checkmate critics, should also wade into the murky waters of terrorist dialogue with his own homespun, counterbalancing attack-dog phrases. Who could tell what multifarious levels of fury and revenge he would provoke Boko Haram into?

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