The Nation December 05, 2011 by The Nation

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Audu kicks as INEC declares PDP winner •ACN: results ‘criminal, malicious’

NEWS

Page 2

Ojukwu for burial February 2

NEWS – Page 4

•Body for Zungeru, Lagos

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VOL. 7, NO. 1965 MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

Fuel subsidy: Jonathan to use executive order President set to rely on legal advice

ASUU begins ‘total strike’

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

PPONENTS of fuel subsidy may have lost the battle, going by the government’s plan to handle the combustible issue. President Goodluck Jonathan and his cabinet have opted for Executive Fiat to remove the subsidy, The Nation learnt yesterday. The government will not depend on any legislative instrument to back its action, a source said. The withdrawn subsidy will be part of the 2012 budget being worked upon by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The cash from this souce is to be ploughed into reviving the country’s decaying infrastructure. But the popular belief is that such an action will raise fuel prices and further impoverish the poor. Dr Jonathan may have been emboldened to take the decision by the legal advice on the constitutional clauses which empower the Executive to withdraw the subsidy. A cabinet member, who pleaded not to be named because of what he called the sensi-

News Page 4

Mikel faces Kanu in FA Cup

ORMER Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu will tackle Mikel Obi when Portsmouth visit Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge between January 7 and 8 in the third round of the English FA Cup. In the draw made yesterday at Wembley Stadium, the top Nigerian players will aim for the next round ...

Continued on page 2

Senator’s bank accounts frozen over Boko Haram •Six dead in attacks on banks, police station

Sports Page 41

Firms to inject $2b into power

From From Yusuf Alli, Abuja and Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

ETAINED Senator Ali Ndume’s bank accounts have been frozen, The Nation learnt last night. Also frozen are the accounts of members of Boko Haram (Western education is a sin) arrested by security agencies. Ndume, who is alleged to be one of the sponsors of Boko Haram, is standing trial with Ali Sanda Konduga, the sect’s spokesman whose father says is insance, before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Abuja for criminal intimidation. Continued on page 2

A •WALKING FOR CHARITY: An army of Lagosians during a walk against child trafficking in Lagos ... at the weekend. Story on page 41. PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

GROUP of power investors has pledged a $2 billion investment in the nation’s power sector in the next five years. Led by the United States’ Califco Group, with four others, it pledged to improve the power sector by as much as 20000Megawatts of electricity in the period. Business Page 11

•SPORT P23 •POLITICS P25 •CITYBEATS P31 •JOBS P47 •CEO P50

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS Fuel subsidy: Jonathan to use executive order Continued from page 1

•From left: Executive Chairman, Daily Trust, Malam Kabiru Yusuf; Chairman, 2011 Daily Trust African of the Year Award, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim and member of the selection board, Prof Tandeka Nkiwane, unveiling the winner of the award in Nairobi ... on Saturday

tivity of the situation, said the government will not go back on its decision to remove the subsidy. The source said: “The government has decided to make the withdrawal of fuel subsidy a purely Executive matter; we will resolve this debate over the subsidy in the next few weeks with the 2012 Budget. “There is no way we can manage 2012 Budget without removing fuel subsidy. It is central to the economic growth we are trying to accelerate.

Senator’s bank accounts frozen over Boko Haram Continued from page 1

Also, it was learnt that the State Security Service (SSS) may be compelled to release alleged “damaging text messages” between Ndume and Konduga to prove the depth of its investigation. It was gathered also that the United Nations House was not the original target of the August 26 suicide bomber. It was learnt that the bomber made a detour from the original target based on the instruction of one of the sponsors being investigated. The government froze Ndume’s accounts, pending the conclusion of his trial, in

line with a Gazette of Regulations recently released by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN). A source, who pleaded for anonymity because of the “sensitivity” of the matter, said: “It is true that Ndume’s accounts have been frozen, until the conclusion of his trial. This is in line with a gazette of the government which was recently published to fight against terrorists and their sponsors. “Besides Ndume, all the accounts of all suspects arrested for terrorism will remain embargoed till the de-

termination of the allegations against them. “Even MEND leader Henry Okah and others arrested for collaborating with him cannot have access to their accounts.” The source said the Gazette of Regulations are in line with the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, the Charter of the United Nations and UN Resolutions 1267(1999), 1333(2000), 1373(2001), 1390(2002), 1452(2002), 1455(2003), 1526(2004), 1617(2005), 1735(2006), 1822(2008), 1904(2009) and 1988(2011). The Gazette states: “The funds or other economic re-

sources owned, held or controlled, directly or indirectly by a designated person whose name and other details are on the Lists shall be frozen. “Freezing of funds shall be without prejudice to the rights of third parties acting in good faith. “For the purpose of subregulation(1) of this Regulation, in determining whether funds are controlled by a designated person, the fact that such funds are held in the name of an associate or relation is immaterial. Continued on page 57

“We felt it is better to take a painful but a necessary decision in the interest of the nation’s development and its future. “This government will eventually be vindicated when Nigerians start feeling the effects of the removal of subsidy on education, roads, health, water and other infrastructure.” Responding to a question, the cabinet source said: “Whatever is the decision of the Senate and House of Representatives on the withdrawal of fuel subsidy is advisory. “Go through the 1999 Constitution, you will discover that the government is constitutionally empowered to take such a decision. “Section 16(2) of the Constitution gives the government the backing to withdraw fuel subsidy because it is purely economic matter. “The section says in part: ‘The state shall direct its policy towards ensuring (a) the promotion of a planned and balanced economic development; (b) that the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good. “That the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the

hands of few individuals or of a group ...” The source explained that the government has demonstrated faith by publishing the list of the beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy. “The publication of the list has shown our commitment to unmasking the subsidy cartel and utilising the funds realised from the removal of subsidy.” The Federal Government is proposing a N4.8trillion budget for 2012, with a $70 to $75 benchmark price for oil. Apart from the take-off of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the government is also proposing savings of about N1.2trillion from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy. But most Senators and House members have asked their leaders to prevail on the President to meet four conditions. The conditions are: •a publication of the list of the beneficiaries of past fuel subsidy; •presentation of facts and figures or statistics on the true picture of the amount of fuel subsidy; •a comprehensive release of palliative measures Nigerians will enjoy, if the subsidy is removed, and Action Plan to make the measures work; and •concrete work plan on how to make all refineries function at optimal level.

ACN candidate Audu kicks as INEC declares PDP winner

HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday rejected the result of the Kogi State governorship election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral body declared Alhaji Idris Ichalla Wada, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, winner. Wada, according to INEC, polled 300,372 votes to defeat Prince Abubakar Audu of the ACN, who scored 159,913 votes. The PDP won 62 per cent of votes, leaving the ACN with 33 per cent. Wada won in 18 of the 21 local government areas. Audu won in three. There were 17 other contestants, who made little impact. INEC said the total votes cast was 518,949; 1,325,272 names are on the voters register. Amb. Fred Odia of the Accord polled 1,102 votes; Ahmadu Ibrahim of African Liberation Party (ALP) scored 589 votes; Mr Ubolo Okpanachi of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) scored 9, 642 votes and Prof Yusufu Obajeh of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) got 331 votes. Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate Mr

NBA panel identifies irregularities

HE Election Working Group of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday said there was ballot box snatching during Saturday’s governorship poll in Kogi State. The group, however, described the cases of ballot box snatching as isolated. It also claimed that the turn out of voters was marginal because of the fear of violence and electoral “fatigue”. The NBA group made its position known in an interim report released to the media on the poll. The report was signed by the Chairman of the EWG, Mr. Dafe Akpedeye (SAN) and the Alternate Chairman, Mr. Festus Okoye. The statement said: “NBA EWG Observers observed isolated incidents of ballot box snatching and intimidation of electoral officials. “Most Presiding Officers and poll clerks conveyed electoral materials on their heads from the ward distribution centres to the polling units because of lack of mobility. “In some of the Polling Units, the Presiding Officers were secretive and refused to disclose the total number of By Joseph Jibueze and Mohammed Bashir

James Ocholi (SAN) scored 5,724 votes; Citizens Popular Party (CPP) flagbearer Mrs Bola Awe scored 379 votes; Justice Party (JP) candidate Chief Aisha Abubakar polled

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

ballot papers issued to them. “Some of the Party Agents behaved in a manner inconsistent with the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections. They printed Party Accreditation Tags of different sizes and colours and this made it difficult to distinguish the genuine and fake party agents. “The size of some of the Polling Units in Kogi State created problem for Presiding Officers and security agencies. For instance, Ganaga village polling station 007 had a total registered voter population of 3,279. Kwankoto Polling Unit 001 had a total voter population of 1309. Open Space 002, Opposite Mami Market had a total registered population of 1, 625. LGEA School, Felele 004 had a total voter population of 2, 587. “In Emiworo Unit 020, the total registered voters was 1, 440. In Ganaga Township, Ascol Camp Primary School, the total registered voters was 1, 007. Inside Mami Market, 022, it had a total registered voter population of 1, 407.” On the turn out of voters, the NBA said it was marginal because many voters had the apprehension that their votes might not count.

619 votes, while Labour Party (LP) candidate Ibrahim Tanko scored 216. Others are Mohammed Ali of the New Democrats (ND) (112); Mohammed Dangana of the National Democratic Party (NDP) (226); Gowon

The statement added: “The voter turnout in the election was marginal. In some of the polling units, voter turnout was high while in other ones, the voter turnout was not really impressive. “Apparently, heightened rhetoric by the main political gladiators before the election gave the impression that violence was in the air and this scared some of the voters from coming out to exercise their franchise. “Some of the voters also complained of electoral fatigue and the fact that at the end of the day, their votes may not count. “ The Bar, however, described the security arrangement as adequate. The statement said: “The leadership of the various services made adequate security arrangement for the election. The Police, State Security Service, Army, Navy, Customs, Immigration, Civil Defence Corp, Federal Road Safety Commission, Traffic Wardens, the Prison Service and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency all combined to provide a security cordon in and around Kogi State.

Egbunu of the National Transformation Party (NTP) (202); and Aboh Samuel of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC) (2,047). The rest are Elegbe Amos of the People for Democratic Change (PDC) (661); Deacon

Continued on page 57

Joseph Adigbo of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) (1,130); Gideon Ojata of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) (253); Lawal Lamidi of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) (452) and Abubakar Bala of the

United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP) (198). The Returning Officer (RO), who is the Vice-Chancellor of the Nassarawa State University, Keffi, Prof Shamsudeen Amali, said Wada satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes cast. Due to the kidnap of an INEC ad-hoc official and snatching of ballot boxes, results from seven polling units in Olamaboro Local Government Area were cancelled. Election did not hold in Unit 09 of Onalo in Ibaji Local Government Area. The Collation Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ejeikwu, said the vehicle conveying INEC officials there broke down on the way. When they eventually got there by 2.30pm, the people insisted on inspecting the ballot papers before voting, but the Presiding Officer allegedly refused. Following the disagreement, voters refused to cast their ballots, Ejeikwu said. As the result from Omala Local Government Area was to be read, the RO interrupted the collation officer, saying the total number of registered voters he announced (47,844) was different from what Amali said he had (51,959). Continued on page 57

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS His name is Chuka Umunna. His father is Nigerian. His mother is Briton. This gives him the right to claim both countries. Umunna, who is a key player in the Labour Party, is called Britain’s Obama and is quoted to have said the first black British Prime Minister may be in the making

•Umunna •Miliband

Nigerian who dreams of becoming first black British Prime Minister H ‘ IS official title is Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. He holds this position in a shadow government set up by Britain’s opposition party, the Labour Party (LP) headed by Ed Miliband. Chuka Umunna, who has a Nigerian father and a British mother, is regarded as Miliband’s rising star. His rising status has also made him face a revolt from jealous Labour MPs who have accused him of running a ‘presidential-style’ Commons office. Leaked documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that Shadow Business Secretary Mr Umunna has 11 people working for him – more than twice what many fellow Labour frontbenchers say they have. His team, believed to be paid about £200,000 in total, includes no fewer than three ‘policy advisers’, a ‘personal assistant’ and a spin doctor. The chain of command in what Labour MPs are referring to as ‘the court of King Chuka’ is set out in an elaborate ‘organogram’ with stylish Mr Umunna, 33, at the head. The former City lawyer, promoted to the Shadow Cabinet last month, has had a meteoric rise in the Labour Party since becoming an MP 18 months ago. He has been dubbed the ‘British Obama’ because of his good looks, talent and half-African heritage, an image he did little to play down, saying: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see a black Prime Minister in my lifetime.’ In order of ranking, Mr Umunna’s Westminster ‘First XI’ starts with: personal assistant Terri Jacques, chief political adviser Jake Sumner, political adviser (media) Gabriel Huntley and Anna Coffey, head of events and visits. After that come three policy ad-

visers, two constituency caseworkers, a junior parliamentary assistant and a placement student. Most of the salary bill comes from Mr Umunna’s Commons staffing allowance of more than £115,000 a year and from extra public funds provided for Opposition frontbench spokesmen. In addition, policy adviser Harry Holdstock is seconded from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which pays his wages, and Richard Ascough, an official with the GMB union, is seconded from the Labour leader’s office. The highest-earning members of the MP’s staff are believed to be paid up to £40,000. Wealthy Mr Umunna denies he is using his own personal income to subsidise his team. Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday revealed his mother’s £1million house, which he stands to inherit, was linked to a Jerseybased trust that helps ‘high net worth’ individuals to ‘plan for and mitigate tax liabilities’ – although he denies the arrangement reflects any attempt to limit the family’s tax bill. Labour MPs said they were astonished by the size of Mr Umunna’s parliamentary staff. A fellow Shadow Minister said: ‘This is more like an empire than an office. I cannot believe that he merits such a large retinue and I am flabbergasted as to how he is paying for it. He has far more people than the rest of us. It is very puzzling.’ Mr Umunna’s spokesman said in addition to his unpaid placement student, the MP ‘has three full-time and one part-time staff working in constituency-related roles and a personal assistant’, adding: “This is in line with other London MPs and reflects the very high volume of casework in a constituency like Streatham.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see a black Prime Minister in my lifetime

’

“In Mr Umunna’s role as Shadow Business Secretary, he has two fulltime advisers and one part-time member of staff, a part-time secondee from the private sector and a secondee from the Leader of the Opposition’s office working only one day a week. This is in line with his predecessor in the role, and is not unusual.” A Labour Party spokesman said: “This effective level of staffing reflects the importance which Ed Miliband attaches to the business portfolio.” Speaking to UK universities students three days ago, Umunna said: “At a time o f considerable change and instability, Universities UK has been a constant voice of good sense and reason. I know both my predecessor in the role, John Denham, and our former lead on Higher Education, Gareth Thomas, greatly appreciated your wise counsel and advice. “Though he is not here, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank John, who is a real champion of Higher Education. He brought a huge amount of expertise to bear on the brief as a former Secretary of State for Innovation Universities and Skills and as Shadow Business Secretary.

“Both I and Shabana Mahmood, our new Shadow on Universities, want to maintain and grow the close working relationship John and Gareth had with you. “I, of course, shadow Vince Cable. Vince is a bit different to me – he has been around for somewhat longer than me. In fact, a journalist pointed out when I was appointed in October that not only is Vince twice my age but, during his lifetime, he has been a member of the Labour Party for longer than I have. “Anyway – notwithstanding the comparisons with Vince - though Shabana and I may not be in Government, we have an important role to play as an Opposition holding the government to account and ensuring they do right by our students, by the institutions our students attend, by those who work in them and, above all, by our country. You want this too which is why a constant dialogue, between us and you, is absolutely essential. For example, we will want to work closely with you on the forthcoming Bill and the changes that it will bring. “Shabana and I will also be making a series of visits to universities in the coming months to listen and learn, and we look forward to engaging with many of you then as we develop our policy, and thank you for all your help and assistance to date.” He added: “When the Conservative-led Government initially set out its changes to Higher Education - cutting the teaching grant by 80% and hiking up fees - we said what was proposed was unnecessary, unfair and unsustainable: not good for students or the future of Higher Education, one of Britain’s great success stories. “It was why we asked the Government to lay out their plans in full so we could subject them to the necessary scrutiny. So what hap-

pened? “The vote to triple tuition fees came first before any White Paper, surely the wrong way round. Then the changes on access and widening participation were forced out, with subsequent changes to those plans. “As fees levels began to emerge with £9,000 looking to be far from the exception to the rule which the Government promised, their sums didn’t add up and a black hole came into view. First Ministers ignored this and claimed it would all even out in the end. But their miscalculation saw a scramble to claw back in other ways. There were exhortations; claims OFFA was now a regulator and would set levels; even threats to universities with Ministers crudely claiming that fee levels were so high because universities were inefficient. “Let’s take a step back and reflect on that particular claim for a moment - in business, companies have to factor in risk and cost it. You are businesses too and this Government has displayed an abject lesson in creating unnecessary risk for you. “So the White Paper arrives at the end of June of this year. When the threats failed, frankly because of the mess the Government had created, they pulled ‘core and margin’ and AAB out of a hat which they then bolted onto the original plans. “This is no way to run government policy on Higher Education – this is no way to treat our universities. Vince Cable called his dismantling of the RDAs Maoist and chaotic. It could equally have applied to another area of his brief. The reforms are not the evolutionary change UK has argued for.” Umunna also said: “It strikes at the root of what Ed Miliband has called the Promise of Britain – that the next generation should do better than the last.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS ‘Boroffice has grassroots support’ By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

A GROUP, Ondo Democratic Crusaders (ODEC), has criticised the Labour Party (LP) in the state, for describing the senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, as lacking grassroots support. The group, in a statement in Lagos yesterday, described as “distortion of truth” a statement reportedly made by the LP’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Okunjemiruwa, that Boroffice has no grassroots structure. There have been speculations that the senator would soon defect to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Reacting, the ODEC, in the statement by its coordinator, Mr. Olumide Dada and Secretary, Sola Richards, contended that it was Boroffice’s political structure that made Governor Olusegun Mimiko to back the former’s ambition. “It must be emphasised that it was the Boroffice structure in Akokoland that Mimiko discovered and which made him to dump Dr. Olu Agunloye, his long-standing friend, to support the candidature of the Professor. The governor knew that If Agunloye was fielded, Dr. Bode Olajumoke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would easily defeat him. “Also, it was not for nothing that Boroffice was made Asiwaju (Leader) of Akokoland by all the traditional rulers in the four local councils that make up the area. As they say, “charity begins at home.” Anybody bearing the title Asiwaju in Akokoland must have contributed immensely to the development of the community,” the group argued. “Truth must be told that Boroffice, long before he nursed the aspiration of contesting for any position, had been providing basic social infrastructure in many Akoko communities with his lifesavings, thus helping the Mimiko administration to carry out the assignments which it ought to do. Communities where this senator dug bore-holes are almost countless; which inspired the locals to demand that he should come home and vie for elective position.” The ODEC as a result described the senator, a former Director-General of National Research and Space Development Agency (NARSDA), as a respected international figure who would be a great asset to the ACN and to Ondo State, if he chose to contest for governor.

Ojukwu to be buried Feb 2

HE late Biafra leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu will be buried on February 2, next year, Anambra State Governor Peter Obi announced yesterday. Obi spoke to reporters after a meeting of Southeast governors in Enugu. According to him, although the funeral will begin in Enugu, the late Ojukwu’s body will be taken to his country home, Nnewi, for burial. According to the governor, a committee will be set up to discuss the burial. He said all the Southeast and Southsouth states that made up the former Eastern Region as well the presidency will participate in the ceremonies. “On 2nd of February, 2012, the burial ceremony of Dim Ojukwu will take place in Enugu, after which his remains will be taken to his country home, Nnewi for internment”. The ceremonies will begin in Enugu because it was the capital of the former Eastern Region, Obi said. It was also gathered that Ojukwu’s remains will be taken to Zungeru, Niger State his birth place, and Lagos where he started his career. Also yesterday, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the apex Igbo Socio-cultural Organisation (Ohanaeze Ndigbo), led by Amb. Raph Uwechue, visited the family of the late Ojukwu yesterday to condole with them. They also addressed the Nnewi National Assembly and the traditional ruler of the commercial city, Obi Kenneth Orizu. The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo told the family and the people of Nnewi that Ndigbo will only be happy if the Ikemba Nnewi

•Southeast governors: Theodore Orji of Abia(left), Obi, Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi) and Enugu State Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi, after the meeting in Enugu…yesterday From Chris Oji, Enugu and Nwanosike Onu, Awka

is given a state burial. Ohanaeze said Nigeria should honour the great height attained by Ojukwu by honouring him in a special way. After signing the condolence register at the Ojukwu family home in Umudim, Uwechue said Ojukwu died when Ndigbo needed his leadership counsel the most. The traditional ruler of Nnewi, Igwe Kennenth Orizu, said at his palace that Ojukwu’s death should bring unity in Igboland. He described his death as painful. Former President General of Ohaneze Dr Dozie Ikedife said before the former warlord’s burial, the Federal Government should bestow national honour on him or stay off his burial. The Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nduka Eya urged the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to ensure that Ojukwu’s legacy does not die. A younger brother of the

‘He never thought of breaking up Nigeria, but he fought in order not to allow the Igbo nation to be conquered by anybody’ late Ikemba Nnewi, Mr Sunday Ojukwu, praised Ohanaeze for respecting his brother, with their visit. The Director of Information of MASSOB, Comrade Uchenna Madu, said the group took over the family house of Ojukwu to avoid any breakdown of law and order. He urged the Federal Government and Obi to rehabilitate the Oba to Okigwe road and other Nnewi roads that are dilapidated before his

burial. Uwechue said: “Ojukwu died for Igbo cause and we must give him every respect he deserves. “He never thought of breaking up Nigeria, but he fought in order not to allow the Igbo nation to be conquered by anybody, I resigned my position as Nigeria’s Ambassador to France to join Ojukwu in his cause to liberate Ndigbo. I was not sacked.” The former Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Francis Cardinal Arinze has thanked Obi for the attention given to the late Ojukwu during his illness. In a letter to the Governor, Cardinal Arinze promised to continue to remember the dead hero at Holy Mass so that he will have eternal rest. He extolled the late Ojukwu’s intelligence, firmness of principles, love for his people, high qualities of leadership and courage to face challenges, noting that he occupies a significant place in the history of Nigeria.

•Amb. Uwechue...yestereday The Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, the Most Reverend Hilary Paul Odili Okeke, said Ojukwu’s death end the earthly life of a legend. Rev Okeke noted that the late Ojukwu, in spite of numerous challenges, remained the undisputed Igbo leader, the authentic rallying point of all Igbo people and one who had the interest of Ndigbo at heart, a patriot and an icon who led the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with vision and courage.

ASUU begins strike today over non-implementation From Bisi Olaniyi, from hunger, robbery, murder of agreement Port Harcourt and of innocent citizens and inseGbenga Omokhunu, Abuja curity.

•Prof. Awuzie

NIVERSITY teachers announced yesterday a “total, comprehensive and indefinite strike”. Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are angry over what they call the government’s refusal to implement the 2009 Federal Government (FGN)/ ASUU agreement. Besides, said ASUU, the government disregarded the two months grace the union gave for the government to show faith in the agreement. ASUU National President Ukachukwu Awuzie told reporters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, that the decision to embark on the

strike was painful. Awuzie, a professor, read a 12-page statement, saying that the proposed removal of fuel subsidy would be resisted by the union. He noted that the longdrawn interaction ASUU had with the Federal Government bordered on saving the university system from collapse and institutionalising global standard practices of knowledge culturing, spanning 2001 till date. Awuzie said: “The government has abandoned the main tenet of industrial democracythat all agreements freely entered into must be honoured. “NEC (of ASUU), having noted that the Federal Government neglected, ignored, failed and refused to implement the core components of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, after more than two years of its signing, having squandered two months it requested without achieving any progress in the implementation of the agreement, having sacked the Implementation Monitoring Committee that served as the forum for dialogue with ASUU on this dispute, is convinced that the government is terribly insin-

•ANPP condemns govt over failure to honour agreement with teachers

cere and is manifestly unwilling to genuinely implement the agreement it freely entered into with ASUU. “ASUU resolved, painfully, to direct all members in all branches nationwide to proceed on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, beginning from the midnight of Sunday, 4th December, 2011. “For the avoidance of doubt, a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike means: no teaching, no examinations, no grading of scripts, no project supervision, no inaugural lectures, no appointment and promotion meetings, no statutory meetings (Council, Senate, Board etc.) or other meetings directed by government or their agents.” Awuzie said accelerating the development of the university system to become internationally competitive could no longer be delayed, in view of the Vision 20: 2020 goals. He described the ongoing institutional accreditation embarked upon by the Federal Government as an absurdity, noting that the exercise is deceptive. It is to encourage uni-

versity administrators to pretend that all is well with the system, he said. Awuzie noted that the Federal Government’s allocation to education is an average of eight per cent of the country’s annual budget, contrary to the 30 per cent of total annual budget of countries like South Africa and Ghana. He lamented that the best university in Nigeria is not among the first 6,000 in the world. Awuzie expressed displeasure over what he described as the taking over of Nigeria’s economy and other sectors by foreign interests. He alleged that the economic team is a representative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To the ASUU president, the ruling class has failed, for being unable to provide jobs, education, healthcare, affordable transportation and roads, among others, and being incapable of uniting the people. Awuzie noted that the Jonathan administration is unable to protect Nigerians

The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has asked the Federal Government to urgently honour its agreement with ASUU. ANPP National Chairman Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu said the situation should not be allowed to continue as it will pose serious challenges to the nation’s educational system if not resolved. Speaking at the inauguration of a 10-man committee, led by Senator Kabiru Gaya, for the building of the party’s national secretariat, Onu criticised what he called the Federal Government’s lack of commitment to education. Onu said: “We urge the Federal Government to return to the negotiation table with ASUU and ensure that their demands are met so that the quality of education in the universities would be enhanced. Education remains a vital instrument for sustainable development.” Labour Minister Emeka Wogu said government is unaware of the strike proposal. According to him, the last meeting the government held with Labour agreed on an adjournment for Wednesday. “We are not aware of the strike plan,” he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS

NDLEA should ‘remain at sea ports’

Govt to curb reckless spending

HE Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-corruption, Mr Jagaba Adams Jagaba, has said the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) will remain at the sea ports. In a statement signed by the spokesman of the agency, Mr Mitchel Ofoyeju, Jagaba said the Act establishing the NDLEA makes it mandatory for the body to operate at the sea ports. Ofoyeju said the committee, led by its chairman, visited the agen-

cy’s headquarters in Lagos. He said: “The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) will continue to work at the nation’s seaports contrary to reports that the agency should leave the seaports. “The law is clear and unambiguous on the functions of the NDLEA and where they are to discharge their duties. “The law says the NDLEA should work at the airports, seaports, land borders and all Customs points. “That Act has not changed and you are to remain at the ports and prevent drugs from coming into

the country through the seaports,’’ Jagaba said. The statement said Jagaba directed the agency to work with the Department of Customs and Excise in monitoring the movement of goods and persons. “You are to search cargoes and incoming and outgoing vessels, including pleasure crafts and fishing vessels as well as aircraft and vehicles and when appropriate search crew members, passengers and their baggage,`` he said. The lawmakers promised the agency that sophisticated arms

would be provided for its men. “I was pained when I saw the agency’s hall of fame. I learnt some of the incidents would have been prevented if they were better equipped. “This committee will ensure that the agency has latest arms and ammunition, bullet proof jackets and other protective gadgets because the job is very risky. “We cannot afford to be making spouses of officers widows and widowers. If you are protecting the country, you must equally be protected,” Jagaba said.

Sambo hails Wike V

ICE-President Namadi Sambo, at the weekend, has hailed the Minister of State for Education Ezenwo Wike. He spoke while presenting the award of the Most Outstanding Minister for 2011 to Wike at a ceremony organised by the Nigerian Newsworld/Nigerian Pilot. Sambo said Wike is commitmitted and dedicated to the service of the nation. Accepting the award, Wike said it is a recognition of the Federal Ministry of Education’s efforts to change the sector. He said the award would spur him on to improve the sector further to give hope to the Nigerian child. “I see this award as an encouragement from the Nigerian media that we should con-

•Sambo presenting the award to Wike at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel...at the weekend

tinue to work hard towards changing the face of education in Nigeria.

‘’Our goal is to ensure that the nation’s basic education improves tremendously to impact

positively on the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.”

Interest of Nigerians our mission, says Mark

ENATE President David Mark has said the interest of Nigerians would remain the mission and purpose of the National Assembly. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said Mark spoke at Mbaise, Imo State, after being conferred with a chieftaincy title of ‘Enyi Oha –Mbaise (worthy friend of Mbaise) by its traditional council of chiefs at the weekend. Senator representing Imo East and Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy Chris Anyanwu was also honoured as the ‘Ada Eji Agamba (a worthy first daughter we are proud of) on the occasion.

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

Eze Chidi Okoro, Chairman, Imo East Council of Chiefs led 80 rulers to confer the titles Mark and Mrs Anyawu. Mark called for unity and peaceful co-existence among various ethnic and religious groups. He said: “Successful administration is one in which both the government and the governed enjoy mutual cooperation and respect.” Mark said despite pressures from foreign nations, “we will neither abdicate our responsibilities to our people nor be intimidated or fall to their blackmail.

“We shall do what is just and right for the nation. We shall not be fooled or deceived by the antics of any foreign donor of aid to mortgage our culture and tradition for what is ordinarily a taboo.” He noted that the Holy books affirmed that sex is for procreation in marriage. “God created sex so that we can reproduce after our own kind.” “Genesis Chapter 1: 28 tells us that God blessed the man and the woman and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” Mark said. The statement added that at a thanksgiving service in honuor of

Senator Anyanwu, the Catholic community praised the Senate for passing the anti-same sex marriage law and urged them not to be cajoled by the blackmail from foreign nations to rescind the decision. It said that Rev. Anthony Njoku told leaders to let the wishes of the citizenry dictate their policies and programmes. Mrs. Anyanwu said she dedicated her victory at the polls to God, saying it was His divine intervention that saw her through. Former Senate President Chief Ken Nnamani said he was proud of the Senate and urged senators to sustain the good work.

Sanusi urges Western nations to embrace Islamic banking C

ENTRAL Bank Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday urged Western nations to embrace Islamic banking. This, he said, would help in giving a face-lift to their economic crisis. Sanusi spoke yesterday at the annual conference of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit, at Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja-Lagos. Represented by his Special Assistant on Non-Interest Banking and a member of the Technical Committee of Islamic Financial Services Board of Malaysia, Dr Bashi Umar, Sanusi reiterated that Islamic banking is the best alternative to already failing Western banking system.

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

He reminded the audience that Islamic banking is all about social justice which many non-Muslims are now embracing through calls for zero-interest banking. “The exchange of property and all transactions are very sacrosanct in Islam and believers are expected to fulfil their contract agreement. There is also the principle of RiskSharing and you cannot exploit the misfortune of others to make profit but rather, they must be assisted,” he said. He urged stakeholders, especially Muslims, to submit themselves

to all the principles of Islamic transactions. The success or otherwise of the Islamic banking system, he said, depends on the sincerity and truthfulness of everybody involved in its operation. The Amir of MSSN, Alhaji Qazeem Badrudeen, said the world is yet to come out of the devastating effect of the 2008 global financial crisis. A fall out of it, Alhaji Badrudeen said, is the on-going debt crisis in the Euro-zones where governments are having difficulties in meeting the needs of their citizens. He said: “Austerity measures are

•Sanusi

being imposed on the masses in an attempt to save the countries from collapsing economically. All these problems are man-made and Islam has perfect answers to them.”

CONFERENCE of top government officials on money laundering will hold in Abuja today. This followed government’s concern over the extravagance of its officials abroad and the implication for the country. The conference is organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) following the Presidency’s concern over the alleged extravagance of government officials abroad. The NSA, Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, has endorsed the compliance workshop, it was gathered. A statement said: “The purpose of the workshop is to enlighten participants on some salient issues that could have negative effects on the efforts of government at employing economic diplomacy to facilitate development through foreign direct investment. “This is essentially because the attraction of such investment is often predicated on the perception that the nation’s economy is stable and the government is sincere and responsible. “The Presidency’s new move is in line with government’s renewed efforts at overhauling the war on corruption to make government officials more accountable and reduce extravagance among public officials, especially while on foreign trips. “The action of government officials on spending spree abroad, “triggers ‘red flags’ in their systems whenever patterns of frivolous spending are observed. “Such records are often used as basis for investment advice to their business communities and sometimes employed in taking visa decisions with respect to such officials.”

Senate Committee decries insecurity

ENATOR Kabiru Gaya, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and State Governments, has decried the increasing insecurity in the nation’s border communities. The senator spoke yesterday in Abuja with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He frowned at the “almost total neglect” of communities in the border areas. Gaya warned that if the Federal Government failed to address the challenges, Nigeria might lose some local governments to neighbouring countries. “We are very much concerned and worried about the issue of the neglect of communities in the border areas as well as the state of insecurity in those areas. “We have discussed this issue with the Vice-President, who is the chairman in charge of those agencies. “I’m sure from the assurance we got from the Vice-President, I believe the government of the federation will be able to handle some of these issues,” he said. Gaya assured that the National Assembly would work with the government to address these challenges. He identified infrastructure as the major problem of border communities, and appealed to the government to come to their aid The senator said the committee, which also oversees border matters, would draw a comprehensive plan to tackle the problems facing these communities.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS NEMA visits Yobe, Borno for assessment

NUPENG restates opposition to removal of fuel subsidy

HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has visited Yobe and Borno states to assess the effect of recent armed attacks on the residents. The NEMA Director-General Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi said the visits were to enable the agency provide relief to the victims. Sidi said NEMA would henceforth reward exceptional performance to encourage greater commitment of its search-andrescue as well as relief-and-rehabilitation officers to meet the agency’s mandates. The NEMA chief spoke in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, at a meeting with the agency’s field officers after an assessment visit to Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. A statement by the Head of Public Relations of the agency, Yushau Shuaib, quoted Sidi as saying that because of the increasing disasters and emergencies, the agency has adopted proactive measures for prompt responses. These, he said, include risk reduction, human capacity training, simulations, synergy with the stakeholders and incentives for responders.

Officer petitions Prisons chief over alleged threat to his life •·It’s not true, says Comptroller

N Assistant Superintendent of Prison with the Bauchi State Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Mr DanBala Garba, has petitioned the Zone ‘C’ Assistant Comptroller-General of Prisons, Abubakar Falke, over alleged threat to his life. Garba alleged that the Bauchi State Comptroller of Prisons, Abubakar Garba (not related), has been threatening him. He filed a complaint on November 30 with the Registrar, Chief Magistrate’s Court, Bauchi, for what he claimed is a direct criminal complaint pursuant to Section 143 (d) of the Criminal Code. Garba alleged criminal intimidation and intentional insult to provoke a breach of the peace under Sections 397 and 399 of the Penal Code. The NPS Assistant Superintendent is asking the Registrar to “cause a criminal summons to be issued against the accused (Abubakar Garba)” for insults, intimidation, provocation, threat to his (DanBala Garba’s) life, personal security and with a threat to transfer him out of Bauchi State. The Assistant Superintendent said his Comptroller’s actions have caused him “serious apprehension” and that his boss’s behaviour is capable of leading him to “breach public peace”. Speaking with The Nation, Garba said: “I am by nature and training as a legal practitioner a level-headed and disciplined person.” He said he was pushed to the wall by his Comptroller’s actions, which he added are outside the procedures of the NPS Code of Conduct. In the petition, Garba said he

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

was marched into the Comptroller’s office on November 29 by a Superintendent of Prisons, Bikimcha Idris, in the presence of Deputy Comptroller of Prisons (Administration); Deputy Comptroller of Prison (Operations) and Deputy Comptroller of Prisons (Nursing). He alleged that Abubakar Garba abused and threatened him, adding that the Prison Comptroller ordered three other members of the Prison Armed Squad to shoot him. According to him, the men again did not obey the order. The petitioner said the Comptroller always said he would use his influence to transfer him (DanBala Garba) out of the command. Narrating his ordeal, Garba said: “The crux of this petition is that the Comptroller came back from the zonal office on November 29 and declared that if he ever sees me in his command, he will order his boys to beat me up because he was assured that I will be transferred to Adamawa State. He says the officer in charge of Adamawa Prison is his boy, whom he has asked to deal with me on arrival...” Addressing reporters in his office in Bauchi, Abubakar Garba said: “The petition is full of lies, as the petitioner has not stated the truth. “The petitioner is an undisciplined officer who does not obey the rules and procedures of the Service.” Falke referred our reporter to the State Prisons Comptroller, saying: “Please, contact the state Comptroller for what you want.”

HE National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday restated its opposition to the proposed removal of fuel removal. The oil workers’ union got allies in a Catholic cleric, Rev. Father Cajetan Okoli, and the Abuja branch of the National Association of Catholic Lawyers (NACL). They noted that the subsidy, if removed as being planned by the Federal Government, would unleash untold hardship on Nigerians. Igwe Achese, who spoke for NUPENG yesterday in Okochiri, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, insisted the Federal Government has to proffer solid arguments to support its pro-

•Cleric, Catholic lawyers against govt plan From Clarice Azuatalam (Port Harcourt), Kamarudeen Ogundele, (Abuja) and Sulaiman Salawudeen (Ado-Ekiti)

posal, to enjoy the backing of the oil workers. He spoke after a thanksgiving service at All Saints Anglican Church to mark the two years in office of NUPENG officials under his leadership. Achese said the union’s position has not changed because government has not given plausible reasons for the removal of fuel subsidy. The NUPENG chief said: “Our position on fuel subsi-

dy removal has never changed. NUPENG has always said no to fuel subsidy removal. If government must remove subsidy, they must tell us why and they have not been able to convince us and Nigerians on why subsidy must be removed. ”We quite agree that few Nigerians are benefiting from subsidy. I think that has to do with government policy. That has to do with the government in power, with the way they manage the issue. I just read in the paper that a construction company is being paid the subsidy. I don’t understand why. “If what the government is after is to generate funds, then

Kogi poll: Jonathan, PDP congratulate Wada From Vincent Ikuomola and Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

•The last batch of 2011 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia arriving the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, by Med-View Airline...at the weekend. PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

‘Sack of Waziri not enough to restore confidence in EFCC’

ORMER Military Governor of Kaduna State Colonel Abubakar Umar (rtd) has called for a total overhaul of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to ensure its optimal performance. Umar argued that the sack of its former chairman Mrs Farda Waziri is insufficient to restore public confidence in the commission. He said there is need to flush out the bad eggs and inject new blood in the commission’s workforce. In an interview with The Nation, Umar said President Goodluck Jonathan took the right decision by changing the leadership of the EFCC,

•Ex-Kaduna governor calls for overhaul of anti-graft commission By Leke Salaudeen

insisting that the exercise must not end there. The next action, according to him, is to carry out a general purge of the commission’s personnel and make it achieve its set objectives. He said: “The effectiveness of any organisation can be improved by a change of leadership, particularly where the fault is traced to the inadequacy of the leadership. In the case of EFCC, I believe it goes beyond the leadership. “It is true that anti-corruption agencies are now turning into pro-corruption

it should beam its searchlight onto corruption draining funds from the government, especially around the cash calls to international oil companies (IOCs)...” President of NACL in Abuja, Okey Okpara urged every Nigerian and civil society organisations to rise up and condemn the plan to remove the fuel subsidy. He said: “The removal of fuel subsidy will be an ill wind that will blow only ill wind to Nigerians. We are suffering already. Should the government increase our burden or lighten it? Only an irresponsible government would enjoy seeing its people suffer.”

agencies. EFFC, for example, has been an attack dog of the Presidency in the past and it has recently engaged in criminal aiding and abetting of economic and financial crimes. “The President took the right decision in effecting a change of leadership in the anti-graft commission. The next action should be a general purge of the personnel.” Besides the rot in EFCC, Umar noted that if Nigeria must make progress, the nation must address symptoms of failure in all tiers of government and the three arms of government.

He admonished the Federal Government to uphold the rule of law. On the planned withdrawal of oil subsidy, Umar advised the government to tell the people the accruing benefits of such withdrawal. The stiff opposition towards removal of subsidy, according to him, was borne out of the fact that people have lost faith in government policies. “The public can not be asked to make sacrifice on mere empty promises of a brighter future. Government should win the confidence of the people before embarking on such policy,” he said.

In achieving this, the former military governor suggested some measures that the government should put in place. He advised the government to reduce the recurrent expenditure, arguing that using 75 per cent of the annual budget on the maintenance of public servants is outrageous. Others are a reduction of salaries and allowance of political office holders; a reduction in foreign travels by civil servants; elimination of ghost workers and abolition of provision of houses for politicians against the backdrop that such houses were sold to them in the past after their tenure.

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have congratulated Capt. Idris Wada, the party’s candidate in Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, for his victory. A statement by the media aide to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, said Dr Jonathan assured the governor-elect of his support and cooperation. The statement reads: “President Jonathan congratulates Capt. Wada of the PDP on his victory in the governorship elections in Kogi State. “As Wada and his running mate, Yomi Awoniyi, prepare to assume the mantle of leadership in Kogi State, President Jonathan assures them of the full support and cooperation of the Federal Government in their quest to build on the efforts of their predecessors to develop the state. “The President also commends the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ad hoc staff recruited for the elections, especially members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the police and other security agencies for working very hard to ensure that the trend of notably improved elections in the country was continued in Kogi State yesterday (Saturday).” In a statement yesterday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof Rufai Ahmed Alkali, PDP described the victory as well deserved. “This victory vindicates our long held belief that the PDP remains the most formidable political party with the capacity to deliver quality service to the people. This victory also silences the loud noises of a vocal minority which keep deluding itself of its relevance in contemporary Nigeria. The people have truly spoken,” the statement said.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS SSS probes Malians mission in Nigeria From Osagie Otabor, Benin

HE State Security Services (SSS) is probing the mission of some Malians and Nigeriens in Nigeria. Four of them were killed and 10 others injured when the commercial bus they were in had an accident on the Benin-Agbor road. The bus belongs to the Young Shall Grow Transport Company. The SSS was alerted by medical workers at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) where the victims were rushed to, after they did not find any documents on them. It was learnt that some workers of the transport company were invited for questioning. Sources at the SSS said the passengers had no travelling documents on them and that they (SSS) are investigating to determine their mission in the country. The accident occurred when the bus was hit from behind while attempting to overtake a trailer.

Court to hear Odah’s, NLC’s suit in Jan

HE National Industrial Court (NIC) has fixed January 18-20 to hear the suit filed by the sacked General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), John Odah. Odah is challenging the termination of his appointment by the union. He is asking the court to declare that “the purported termination of his appointment on the pretext of ongoing re-organisation in the congress is a ruse, manifested in bad faith, unlawful, illegal as well as a pungent

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

antithesis of what the NLC stands for and as such the letter ought to be set aside and/or invalidated.” The respondents are the NLC, its President, Abdulwaheed Omar; Acting General Secretary, Owei Lakemfa, and Head of the Department of Administration, Emma Ugboaja. The President of the court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo, has ordered an accelerated hearing and directed coun-

sel to file and exchange written addresses. Odah is praying for “a declaration that the purported termination of his appointment “is brazenly crude, manifestly flawed for want of due process and a violent negation of the aims and objectives of NLC as enshrined in its constitution.” He is further asking the court to grant him aggravated N500 million damages. In his statement of claim, Odah averred that the actions of the defendants are contrary to the main objectives

of the NLC which “...are to promote, defend and advance the economic, political and social rights and well being of Nigerian workers and pensioners and to continually enhance the quality of life and improve the income and other working conditions of workers...” He also averred that his legal action against the defendants was taken to avoid the dangers the Labour Movement could face if other employers were to copy the actions of the defendants.

Abeokuta

HE six Southwest g o v e r n o r s Babatunde Fashola (Lagos);Olusegun Mimiko(Ondo); Kayode Fayemi(Ekiti); Ibikunle Amosun(Ogun); Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Rauf Aregbesola(Osun) will meet in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, for a two-day workshop on economic diversification today. The workshop is organised by the Ogun State Government in collaboration with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), with the theme “Economic Diversification for Sustainable National Development.” According to the Press Officer, Ministry of Finance, Ogun State, Mrs Dupe Idowu, the workshop is to sensitise government at all levels on the need to diversify the economy and broaden their revenue generation for sustainable development.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

From Ernest Nwokolo,

‘Why we opposed subsidy removal’

Akwa Ibom to revamp maritime industry HE Akwa Ibom State Government is to reactivate the Akwa Ibom/Calabar maritime route to boost the state’s economy. Governor Godswill Akpabio said this in an address to the 11th National Council on Transport meeting held in Uyo at the weekend. Akpabio said the government would focus particularly on the Nwaniba/ Tinapa luxury route and the Oron/Calabar commercial route. Represented by Deputy Governor Nsima Ekere, the governor said his expectation was that the Oron route would ultimately be an international route serving Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe. He also announced his government’s intention to activate Oron/Ikot Abasi marine route which would link the two major maritime flanks of the state for intra-state commercial activities with support jetties at Ibeno, Uta Ewa, Eket, Uruan, Okobo and Okoroette and a boat yard at Ikot Abasi. The governor urged the Federal Government to exercise its statutory duty under the National Inland Waterways Authority to dredge the Akwa Ibom coastline from Itu through Oron to Ikot Abasi and also conduct comprehensive, accurate and up to date maritime surveys and produce maps and charts of the coastline to identify its key features to guide investors in the sub-sector.

Southwest governors meet in Ogun today

•From left: Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Managing Director, Chams Plc, Alade Aladekomo; Managing Director, Pay Master Limited, Charles Unagbale and Managing Director, Chamsswitch Limited Gavin Young, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Job Creative Efforts between the state and Chams Plc for 5,000 O-Yes Corps, at the Local Government Civil Service Commission, Osogbo, Osun State, at the weekend.

Ex-Daily Times workers angry with Mark

X-WORKERS of Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) are angry over Senate President David Mark’s comment that the sale of DTN to Folio Communications is still in court. The ex-workers , under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), have petitioned the Senate. They condemned Mark’s reference last week to alleged claims by Folio Communications that the suit on the sale of DTN was still in court. The group claimed that Mark’s reference to a purported petition by Folio was an attempt to skip discussion of the recommendations of the Senate ad-

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

hoc Committee on the privatisation of government enterprises. Chairman of the committee Ahmad Lawan had dismissed the pending court case as false, insisting that the committee only upheld the ruling of the court which sent Folio packing from DTN. The DTN ex-workers, in their petition , noted that the court had in a ruling which Mark alluded to, stripped Folio Communications of its 140 million shares in DTN. Folio was said to have acquired the shares after sales of the company’s asset.

‘But ex –DTN workers, in a two page petition by their lawyer, Okundoye. T, noted that “Folio had since ceased to own a single share in DTN.’ Mark had, during the debate of the report of the committee on the sale of government enterprises, referred to a petition by Folio Communications to the effect that the case on the sale of DTN was pending in court. But ex –DTN workers, in

a two page petition by their lawyer, Okundoye. T, noted that “Folio had since ceased to own a single share in DTN.” The aggrieved ex-workers revealed how Folio allegedly sold some DTN property in London and mortgaged its Agidingbi, Lagos head office to obtain a loan of N800 million from Mainstreet Bank (formerlyAfribank). The petitioners noted that the application of Folio Communications to the Appeal Court for stay of execution was also dismissed. The petitioners said Folio Communications did not put a kobo in the acquisition of DTN to meet the purchase price.

Lawyer sues Jonathan over subsidy removal

FEDERAL High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has ordered that President Goodluck Jonathan be served with a summon on the planned fuel subsidy removal. An Ibadan lawyer, Kole Ajayi, had sued Jonathan to stop his proposed plan to remove fuel subsidy . Also joined in the suit were the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

•Hearing on Jan 12 From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

The plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the proposed removal of fuel subsidy by the first defendant (Jonathan) is illegal , unconstitutional, null and void as it is against good governance and public policy and against the economic interest and wellbeing of

Nigerians. Ajayi is also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, and or privies from implementing or ratifying the removal of fuel subsidy. Slated for determination are whether the proposed removal of fuel subsidy by the first de-

OUSE of Representatives’ Committee on Legislative Budget and Research Chair, Opeyemi Bamidele has said the House stood against oil subsidy removal because it will make life more difficult for Nigerians. Bamidele said the Federal Government failed to offer convincing reasons for the planned removal and that the so-called palliatives are unrealistic. Addressing reporters at his Iyin-Ekiti country home at the weekend, the lawmaker said he had released N8.1 million for the empowerment of widows and indigent citizens of his constituency. A committee has been formed to oversee the ‘special intervention fund’ which is accruable from his salaries that he promised to forfeit for four years for the sustenance of the people of his constituents in Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun. On the committee are prominent traditional rulers, such as the Ewi of Ado- Ekiti , Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, the Oluyin of Iyin Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaye, party leaders, market men and women, academia and others.

fendant is not a contravention of the 1999 Constitution; whether the proposed removal of fuel subsidy would not cause untold hardship on the people; whether the proposed removal would not be in contravention of Section 16(1) and (2) of the constitution and whether the proposed removal of the fuel subsidy would be in the interest of Nigerians. •Bamidele

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS Aspirant to empower Ondo women

GOVERNORSHIP aspirant in Ondo State, Dr. Olatunji Abayomi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has promised to make women self-reliant, if elected. Abayomi spoke at the weekend when the Christian Solution Organisation (CSO) hosted him in Akure, the state capital. The rights lawyer, who is the grand patron of CSO, said women play an important role in the society and their welfare should be a priority. If elected, he said he would provide soft loans for arti-

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

sans, youths and women to enable them to go into small scale businesses. Abayomi said: “The womenfolk are very important in the polity. If I am elected governor, I promise to give them low interest loans that would boost their trade. A committee would be set up to ensure that they use the money judiciously.” CSO President Evangelist Helen Adetula praised Abayomi for his contribution to human rights protection and pledged the group’s support to him.

Oni, Fayose meet From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

ORMER Ekiti State governors Segun Oni and Ayodele Fayose are meeting over the 2014 governorship election. Sources said they have been meeting in the last four months ago. Party chieftains, including Chief Femi Akinyemi and Chief Gabriel Falayi, have been present at the meeting. Although it took some time before Oni agreed to work with Fayose, a source said, “they have since come together and talks are ongoing on the best way to capture the state in 2014. “ They are also discussing how portfolios and offices would be shared. Although some members think it is too early for that, it will be a subject for further intra-party negotiations. “Another meeting will hold this week and many notable PDP members would be in attendance.” On who will get the party’s ticket, the source said: “That is the crux of the matter now. No one can say who the party will field, but opinions favour Fayose. However, this is still being sorted out.”

•Fayemi (second left); his deputy, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka (second right); House of Assembly Speaker Adewale Omirin (left); and Adebayo, during the flag-off of the Fajuyi/Police Headquaters Road in Ado-Ekiti... on Thursday.

Ekiti to tar 13 roads with N12b •Fayemi’s convoy apprehends robbery suspects

HE Ekiti State Government has awarded N12 billion contracts for the repair and construction of 13 roads across the state. The contractors are expected to complete the projects in 12 months. Five of the roads were sent the signpost for the HE Action Congress flagged off by Governor popular clamour for good of Nigeria (ACN) in Kayode Fayemi in Adogovernance, democracy, Ogun State has hailed Ekiti, the state capital, last weekend. the ruling in the Code of egalitarianism, fairness and The roads in Ado-Ekiti are: Conduct Bureau’s (CCB’s) justice. “The journey has been tordualisation of Old Garage/ case against former Lagos Ojumose Road; dualisation State Governor Bola turous, even though he has always remained resolute of Atikankan/Post Office/ Tinubu. First Baptist Church Road; CCB accused Tinubu of il- that the dream of the naOjumose/Basiri/Police legal operation of foreign tion’s founding fathers to Headquarters/Iyin Road; accounts, but the court evolve a fair and equitable Fajuyi/University Teaching cleared him of the allega- society must be achieved. Hospital Road; and Ijigbo/ “It is on this premise that tions. Baptist College/Ilawe Road. many people compare ACN Publicity Secretary, Others are: Igede/Awo/ Sola Lawal, described the Tinubu’s travail and that of Ido Road; Ikere/Igbaraodo the late sage, Chief Obafemi judgment as “heart warmRoad; Ikogosi/Ipole/Iloro/ Awolowo, during the treaing.” Efon Alaaye Road; Ijan/Ise son trial.” He said: “The almost dizRoad; and Ijero/Ipoti/ “But while the judiciary of zying speed with which the Ayetoro Road. Awolowo’s era succumbed case was dispensed with is The rest are Ilawe/Igbara to the intimidating pressure Odo/Ibuji Road; Ikole/ a loud testimony to the Ijesa-Isu/Iluomoba Road; newly found independent of government, that of today has shown that it is caand Oye/Ikun/Otun Road. voice of the judiciary. pable of acting truly as the At a meeting at the week“In recent times, Asiwaju end, Fayemi warned the conTinubu has come to repre- last hope of the common man.” tractors against shoddy jobs and assured them of prompt payment. From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan Speaking with reporters after the meeting, he said the HE Oyo State Government reopened the Trans bulk of the money for the Amusement Park in Ibadan, the state capital, at the weekend. The government closed down the park over a week ago, faulting the process of its concessioning to Ahmak Engineering Limited by the Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala adEXTBOOKS and ministration. other teaching mateTraders at the park thanked Governor Abiola Ajimobi rials were burnt by for reopening it. In a letter at the weekend, the traders, under the aegis of unknown persons at OkeTrans Arcade Marketers’ Association (TAMA), hailed Okanla Baptist Primary Ajimobi for being sympathetic to their cause. School in Osogbo, the Osun The also pledged their support to the governor. State capital, on Saturday.

Ogun ACN hails ruling on Tinubu

Traders hail Ajimobi over park

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

projects would be gotten from the N20 billion bond being sourced from the Capital Market and the money allocated for urban renewal in the budget. Fayemi said: “In the next 12 months, our people will feel the impact of the government in a way they have never felt it before, especially in the areas of infrastructural development. We have laid the foundation for a proper take off and nothing will stop us. “The 5km road embarked upon by each of the 16 local government councils would increase the number of road projects in the state to 267km. “If we can achieve this in the next one year and embark on another phase by 2013 and 2014, all Ekiti roads would become motorable. The construction work would also create employment and boost the economy.” He urged residents to bear inconveniences that may occur during the project execution period. Fayemi assured those whose buildings were demolished in August to pave the way for the projects of compensation. Commissioner for Works

•Aregbesola stops qualifying exam for SSS3 pupils From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

The perpetrators broke into the four classrooms where the materials were

Cleric seeks stiffer punishment for homosexuals

and Transport Sola Adebayo urged the contractors to deliver the jobs before the deadline. Also at the weekend, three robbery suspects were apprehended at Ayebode-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area, by security operatives attached to the governor’s convoy. Fayemi was on his way to Omuo-Ekiti to monitor the monthly environmental sanitation when his convoy ran into the hoodlums, who were operating on the road. The hoodlums’ opera-

tional vehicle was a Suzuki minibus numbered XB 626 KER. Usman Ahmed, Omolayo Seun and Niyi Bamisile were apprehended while the others escaped. Seun, who was dressed as a woman, and Ahmed claimed they were not robbers, but Niyi confessed. Robbers have been terrorising residents of AyebodeEkiti and neighbouring communities in the last two weeks, resulting in the death of two persons. The governor urged residents to always be vigilant and alert the police about anything suspicious. He said: “The fact that I and my entourage were confronted by the robbers underscores what the people have been going through. I am glad we apprehended three of them. I have told the Police to focus on gateway points in the state, particularly in this Yuletide season.” Commissioner of Police Olayinka Balogun thanked the governor for providing the police with vehicles, motorcycles and other crime fighting equipment. Balogun said his men have been deployed in strategic positions across the state.

Unknown persons set teaching materials ablaze in Osun

N Abuja Islamic cleric, Abdulkadir Apaokagi, has advocated death penalty for gays. The Senate has prescribed a 14-year jail term for homosexuals. Delivering a lecture entitled: “Same-sex marriage: Islamic Perspective”, at the weekly prayer session of the Nasrul-LahiL-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Apaokagi: “Homosexuality and lesbianism are just too dirty in the sight of Allah.

‘In the next 12 months, our people will feel the impact of the government in a way they have never felt it before, especially in the areas of infrastructural development. We have laid the foundation for a proper take off and nothing will stop us’

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

They are perverts, who do not deserve to live among right thinking persons. None of them can pass a psychiatric test, because they are not normal. Those who engage in such acts deserve more than capital punishment.” The cleric praised the Senate for passing the law. He said Allah decreed marriage only between members of

the opposite sex and any society that tolerates gay marriage would be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. He urged the House of Representatives to pass the bill without delay. Apaokagi said gays are mentally unstable and urged Nigerians to unite against the practice. He said: “They are criminals. Allah himself describes them so, and it is great that the Senate has criminalised what they are trying to do.”

stored and set them on fire. Residents noticed smoke coming from the school premises and alerted the police and Fire Service. Commissioner for Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture Sikiru Ayedun said the fire was an attempt to sabotage the effort of the Rauf Aregbesola administration to improve education. Ayedun said: “It is sad that some persons can plan evil against primary school pupils. How can anyone burn learning materials at this point when the govern-

ment is working assiduously to give the people the best education?” He said the government would ensure that the culprits are apprehended. Also at the weekend, the governor cancelled qualifying examination for Senior Secondary School (SSS) III pupils. Aregbesola described the examination as “discriminatory and embarrassing.” He said the government has set aside N300 million to ensure that all students sit for the West African School Leaving Certificate Examination.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS Delta gets Economic Team

BAYELSA 2012

I’ll be victorious, says APGA candidate

HE candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Bayelsa State has said he is sure of the party’s victory in February. Morris Maxwell said APGA has the capacity to overwhelm other parties in the election. He said: “I have built a relationship that has come to stay in the state and the youths could affirm to this. “I have the capability to subdue any party. I am not afraid of the big names in other parties because I stand by the party’s motto, which is “Be your brother’s keeper.” According to him, APGA’s supporters have trimmed

From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

down the popularity of other parties and have given APGA an upper hand at the polls. Maxwell said he has big plans for the party. “ I will build APGA up to be the best party in the state.” He gave insight into why he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), saying he “was in the PDP and the ACN but foresaw the problem that was brewing, and this prompted my exit from the two parties.” “I am in APGA because it is a party that is more demo-

cratic and people-oriented.” He expressed confidence that Bayelsans would vote for APGA because “they have stood up to say enough of the poverty, enough of the frustration and hunger, we can no longer be deceived by the finances or moneybags. “They no longer believe to eat today and forget tomorrow because every member of APGA stands by the motto: Be your Brother’s keeper.” For his supporters, Maxwell advised them not to relent. “Don’t be afraid of any so called big party or big name because I will defeat

them in the public glare, because my heart is big, don’t look at the size but look at me from the spiritual point of view.” For those parading themselves as President Goodluck Jonathan’s anointed candidates, he advised them not to be deceived as the President has not anointed any one. “Mr. President has not anointed anyone, so those who are using his name are deceiving themselves. Mr. President can’t install a person by himself. “It is only God that will appoint someone and at the end I will be in Creek Haven.”

Dickson promises state devoid of violence

HE Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, has said there will be no room for criminality and violence, if he is elected. Dickson spoke at the weekend in Yenagoa when he met with youth groups, who visited him at his campaign office. He said his administration would not play politics with the well-being of the people. “Our government will not play politics with crime and criminality. “The business of government is about service, it is about your future .Our emphasis will be on capacity building and education of our people. “Your resources will not be spent funding violence; your resources will be well spent building blocks for a better tomorrow. “There will be a massive employment of teachers and a massive programme of skill acquisition,” the PDP candidate said. Dickson, a member of the House of Representatives, also promised to continue interacting with the

youths to ensure that they are part of the building process. He implored them to come up with meaningful input that would help realise the dream of his transformation agenda. “I will continue to interact with you even after the general elections to get your input in our determination to build a new Bayelsa.” Dickson said the youths have the opportunity to join hands in the building of future Bayelsa and noted that their support, prayers and solidarity to his task at retransforming Bayelsa underscored their belief in his dream for a better Bayelsa. He said: “We will continue to get along with you because the youths are critical to the reconstruction of a new Bayelsa and the repositioning of a new Ijaw nation. “We assure you of a massive revolution coming your way. I will like you to get ready for this change that is coming into the state.”

Sylva to open campaign office in Yenagoa

AYELSA State Governor Timipre Sylva, will on Wednesday, in Yenagoa, the state capital, open his campaign office. In a statement yesterday, Sylva acknowledged the challenges occasioned by the political row over the choice of governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he remained committed to the governorship race. He said: “Despite the recent distractions, I hereby reaffirm that along with my dependable deputy, Werinipre Seibarugu, we remain committed to contesting and winning the February governorship election in Bayelsa State. “We do so on the platform of our great party, the PDP. “And we do so because we have no doubt that at the end of the day, truth will prevail.” He lauded the people for their “prayers and indomitable will”,

saying “with the support of President Goodluck Jonathan, National Assembly members, state legislators, local government chairmen, party and state stakeholders, , we will overcome the machinations of the few and their futile resolve to manacle the spirit of the progressive forces in Bayelsa State.” The statement, titled “A Time for Rebirth,” highlighted some of Sylva’s achievements in the last four years.

ELTA State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has inaugurated an Economic Management Team and a private sector-led Economic Advisory Team. Both groups, which together constitute the Economic Team, will lay the roadmap for the emergence of the state as an economic hub. They will also actualise Uduaghan’s vision of “Delta without oil”, whereby the state’s development will no longer be dependent on oil. Inaugurating the groups in Asaba, the governor said his administration would draw up medium and long term plans for the development of the state. He urged the team to evolve policies that would enable the government meet its developmental goals, noting that since attracting investments alone cannot grow the economy, the state needs sound policies to enable the private sector to thrive. The Economic Advisory Team, which is led by Mr. Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives, will work out a blueprint for the economic transformation of the state and provide advisory services to the Economic Management Team. The Economic Management Team which has Kenneth Okpara, Commissioner for Economic Planning as leader, will superintend the implementation of the economic transformation agenda. Okpara is also the secretary of the larger body, the Economic Team. To work with Rewane in the Economic Advisory Team are Albert Okumagba, Managing Director of BGL Limited; Dere Otubu, Chairman, Starco Insurance Company; Nduka Obaigbena, publisher, ThisDay and Evelyn Oputu, Managing Director, Bank of Industry. Others are Dr. Ndidi Edozien, a strategic consultant; Lambert Koboye, Executive Director,Finance, at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); John Paul Odhomo, a financial consultant and Frederick Fawthrop, Managing Director of Chevron. Membership of the Economic Management Team is drawn from the State Executive Council. It includes Ovuozourie Macaulay, Secretary to the State Government (SSG); Bernard Okumagba, Commissioner for Finance; Kingsley Emu, Commissioner for Commerce; Dr. Anthonia Ashiedu, Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Chike C. Ogeah, Commissioner for Information. Others are Charles Ajuyah (SAN), Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Afam Obiago, Economic Adviser to the Governor and Mrs. Ann Chalokwu, Special Adviser to the Governor on Poverty Alleviation.

Akpabio defends award • Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole carrying a visually-impaired girl, Osayimwen Imasuen, at the United Nations (UN) Day to celebrate Persons with Disabilities in Benin City... at the weekend

Oshiomhole hails ASUU President

DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has hailed the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, for his dedication to service. The governor gave the commendation at a thanksgiving service to celebrate Awuzie’s 60th birthday and his 30th wedding anniversary at St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Umuzike, Orlu Local Government of Imo State at the weekend.

Oshiomhole said: “Wwhile we appreciate the contributions of Prof Awuzie to the betterment of the society, we must also not fail to recognise and appreciate the sacrifices made by his wife who gave him the support needed by keeping the home front when Prof is away on negotiations. “At such times, I imagine that she would not only be a pillar of support for the husband, but also act both as a mother and father to the children.”

Uyo monarch supports zoning

HE Paramount Ruler of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Edem Silas Akpan, has called for zoning to be respected by all. Edidem Akpan advised that zoning should be strictly adhered to in the collective interest of all. He spoke at his fourth coronation anniversary.

His words: “At this juncture, may I pause and appeal to the political class to see politics as a game which must be played with decency and decorum. “The zoning principle which had earlier been adopted by the political class and approved by the traditional class which makes the game of politics less cumbersome, stress

free, devoid of rancor and less expensive should be adhered to strictly in the collective interest of all.” The monarch advised that “those seeking political offices and positions should be men and women of integrity, men of good character, compassion, competence and commitment.”

KWA IBOM State Governor Godswill Akpabio has described the Doctor of Management Technology (honoris causa) awarded him by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) as a reaffirmation of the appreciation his contribution to nation building. Akpabio spoke at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on arrival from Imo State. The governor said: “There is no way honours highly merited can be said to be too many, in view of the numerous awards I have received. “We will continue to receive honours as they come because they are based on what we have been able to achieve since we came into office. “This award is not an honour for me, it is for the people of Akwa Ibom and it is a honour well deserved.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS Fire razes housing estate in Borno FIRE on Saturday destroyed 202 and 203 Housing Estate on Bama Road, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, rendering many residents homeless. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire started in the afternoon after the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored electricity to the vicinity. Most of the affected rooms were occupied by students of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) who were on semester break. Mr Abubakar Umar, a student of the university, who lives in one of the affected apartments, said he lost all his belongings and documents with his course registration form to the inferno. Mr Moses John, said his property in 203 were razed by the fire, as he and 20 other members of his family were away at a friend’s marriage ceremony.

I’ll recover my Benue mandate, says Ugbah

HE Benue State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in the April election, Prof. Steve Ugbah, has said his petition to reclaim his mandate thought the tribunal would succeed. He praised the Supreme Court for “resurrecting” the petition, saying: “It is an opportunity to press for justice as we will now be allowed to present our case and prove that the election was rigged.” The ACN candidate spoke in Lagos at the weekend. The tribunal will continue sitting today after the Supreme Court ordered that the

ACN candidate’s case, which was thrown out on technical grounds, be heard afresh. According to him, the 180day required to finalise a petition by the electoral Act will now begin to count. He said he is pursuing the case because of his belief that Governor Gabriel Suswam did not win. “The people voted for us and they are expecting to reap from the fruit of their votes. I owe it to them to fight the case to conclusion,” Ugbah said. The professor of Marketing at the California State University, San Francisco, United States, returned home on a

no-salary leave of absence in December, last year, to contest the April election. He said he was convinced that he had “the support of the people of the state and its genuine political leaders to join the race”. Ugbah said if he was convinced that Suswam won the election, he would have congratulated him because “it is not a do-it-or-die affair for me”. Praising the residents for standing firm at the poll and even after, by encouraging him to continue to fight for his mandate despite the threats to his life, Ugbah said: “I represent the hope of the

people and I shall not betray them.” The ACN candidate recalled that people always asked him whether their votes would count during the campaigns. “I did not understand what they were saying. It was after the votes were manipulated that what they were saying became clear to me.” He alleged that the state is under siege through the ruling party’s style of governance. According to him, even religious leaders are not spared as they have to obtain the permit of the local government

to organise thanksgiving mass for eminent citizens who are not members of the ruling PDP. Ugbah said he abhors violence, having been a victim of political violence in the past. He said after getting the people to key into his vision, he would introduce free education, affordable health care, development of infrastructure and agriculture “after reclaiming my stolen mandate”. Ugbah added that Benue, which should be the food basket of the nation, has started importing food from other states.

Kano to build N100m hostel for Danfodiyo Varsity From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

THE Kano State Government has said it would build a N100 million modern students’ hostel for the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. The project, which is aimed at complementing the accommodation needs of the institution, is expected to begin soon. It is designed to provide modern facilities and accommodate between 268 and 350 students. Kano State Commissioner for Information, Internal Affairs, Youths, Sports and Culture Dr. Umar Farouk Jibrin spoke in Sokoto on the project. He said the government would assist the university to improve standard and quality of education.

Cleric hails ban on same sex marriage By Shehu Bello

AN Islamic scholar Sheik Moshood Jubril has hailed the Senate for legislating against same sex marriage in the country. Jubril, who is the founder of Markaz Salam (Islamic Peace Society), urged the Federal Government to resist the threat by Western nations, especially Britain, calling for the legalisation of homosexuality in Nigeria. The Muslim cleric described homosexuality as evil. Jubril addressed reporters to mark the new Islamic year, Hijrah 1433AH, at Markas Salam Mosque, Ahmaddiya, Lagos. The cleric urged religious bodies, civil societies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work together in addressing issues affecting the country to restore sanity to reverse the decadence in the nation’s values.

•Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu (middle) displaying Nigerian Infrastructure Developer Award. With him are: Etsu Lapai, Alhaji Umaru Bago Tafida (first left); Emir of Suleja, Malam Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim (second left); Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar (third right); Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Farouk Bahago (second right) and Chief Of Staff, Government House, Minna, Prof Muhammed Kuta Yahaya, during this year’s World Infrastructure Summit in France...at the weekend.

NIREC meets in Kwara over insecurity

EMBERS of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) will tomorrow and next meet in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to deliberate on major national issues, especially insecurity. Though no official agenda was released for the meeting, it was learnt that the Boko Haram menace and other issues threatening the existence of the country would top the council’s agenda. This is coming as the Plateau State Council of Ulama urged the Federal Government to address the lingering conflict in the state. In a statement yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, by its Secretary, Muhammad Lawal Ishaq, the council regretted the destruction of life and property of residents at the slightest provocation.

•Muslims call for peace in Plateau From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin and Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

The council said: “We believe it is high time the Federal Government expedite action to address the issues surrounding the crises in Plateau State so that we will have a true reconciliation and peace. “We also want to caution stakeholders from making statements capable of inciting more conflict. We are tired of these crises. Enough is enough. “We want to also call on the state government to play its fatherly role at restoring peace… among citizens.” Addressing reporters on the preparations for the meeting, NIREC National

Coordinator, Prof Is’haq Oloyede, suggested some ways to handle the threat to the nation’s security by some groups. He noted that there is no alternative to peace, saying: “The option of dialogue would always remain crucial in addressing the menace posed by misguided individuals who are ready to die but desirous to make life terrible for others. “It is the conviction of NIREC and indeed all right thinking citizens of our multireligious country that effort without prayer is half empty while prayer without effort is half full. “It is in the light of this that we believe that beyond the military approach, engaging God through prayers

and engaging the perpetrators of violence through dialogue are critical to the resolution of the rising spate of bloodletting in the country.” The NIREC coordinator charged the media, Nigerians especially analysts and opinion moulders to show capacity for correct reasoning and lateral thinking in addressing insecurity in the country. Speaking on his own capacity on the Boko Haram menace, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, said there was need for the nation to dialoguewith the religious sect in dialogue. He said that “personally as a person, I believe there is the need to know why the Boko Haram is doing that. I think Boko Haram, if there is anything so-called, we must dialogue with them.

Women call for return of mission schools

HRISTIAN women, under the aegis of the TEKAN Women General Assembly, yesterday urged the 19 northern states to return mission schools to their owners to reverse falling moral standard in the country. In a communiqué at the end of their 37th General Assembly in Kaduna, the women condemned rising insecurity as well as the ex-

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

cessive use of arms against innocent citizens. In the communiqué, read by their leader, Mrs Naomi Mankilik, the women alleged that security agencies were being used against innocent citizens. They noted that the threat to security in the country has become a thing of serious con-

cern. The women said the return of mission schools to their owners would be in the interest of the nation’s youths and children, praising the Plateau and Taraba state governments for returning mission schools to their owners. They expressed concern over the fallen moral standard in schools, calling for a policy that would back the return

of all mission schools to their owners. The women kicked against discrimination in admission of their children into tertiary institutions, noting that insecurity has caused “children and women being slaughtered like animals, while the women are being turned into premature widows and the children premature orphans”.

Kwara DPP merges with PDP today From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

HE Kwara State Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) will today merge with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The merger ought to have been consummated last week in Ilorin, the state capital, but was put off. The merger, which began about three months ago, was completed at the weekend at a meeting between the leaders of both parties in the state. DPP Secretary Alhaji AbdulRaheem Olesin led other leaders of the party to the Nupe road, GRA secretariat of the PDP where a closed door meeting was held. Olesin and the state’s PDP Chairman, Ishola BalogunFulani, emerged from the meeting smiling. The defection of DPP members came as its financier and governorship candidate in the last April elections, Gbenga Olawepo, announced that he was quitting partisan politics. Olawepo, who cited personal reasons for calling it quits with politics, said he supported the merger plan between the DPP and PDP. Olawepo was the pioneer Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP. It was learnt that he is quitting politics to concentrate on his business.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

The summary is that the story of the power sector has not changed as far as the end-users are concerned. Most enterprises still rely on diesel and petrol to power their businesses and the cost of this is simply unbearable. -Chief Femi Deru, President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)

Interbank rates rise on cash shortage

Airtel apologises for network failure

IRTEL Nigeria has apologised to its cus tomers for poor quality of voice and data services on its network yesterday. The company, in a statement signed by its Chief Operating Officer, Mr Deepak Srivastava, said the incident was due to damage done to its underground network fibre cables by construction workers in Lagos mainland, saying full network services have been restored to the affected areas. Srivastava, while renewing calls to relevant governmental authorities to declare telecoms infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, said the telco remains committed to providing superior network quality to its subscribers. He urged the Federal Government to formulate policies to secure telecoms equipment across the country, to boost quality of telecom services.

NTERBANK lending rates rose sharply last week to an average of 16.50 per cent from 14.83 per cent in the previous week mainly on the delayed release of some N300 billion of October’s budget allocation. Traders,according to Reuters News, said the market was also in deficit because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aggressively drained the system of about N106.83 billion in the week. Traders said the seccured Open Buy Back (OBB) climbed to 15 per cent from 14 per cent previously, 300 basis points above the CBks. Twelve per cent benchmark rate and 700 basis points above the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate. Overnight placement rose to 17 per cent from 15 per cent, while call money closed at 17.50 per cent against 15.50 per cent it closed last week. “The market is very short, people were looking for money to cover their position because of the aggressive liquidity mop-up by the central bank, which led to high cost of borrowing at the interbank,” one dealer said. Dealers said the market opened with a negative cash balance of about N137.09 billion on Friday as banks scrambled for available cash to cover their positions. Traders said cost of borrowing should ease this week when a portion of the October budget allocation hits the system. “We are still expecting the inflow from the budget allocation and when it finally hits the market we expect rates to drop to around 14 per cent for call money,” another dealer said. Africa’s second biggest economy after South Africa distributes oil funds from centrally held accounts every month to its three tiers of government — federal, states and local — which provides a much needed cash inflow to the banking system.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$115.3/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 -10.3% 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 $32.820b CFA EUR £ $ ¥ SDR RIYAL

FOREX

0.2958 206.9 242.1 151.8 1.9179 238 40.472

• Managing Director, CAP PLC/overall winner of the Pearl Awards in the Chemical and Paints, Dividend Yield and Return on Equity categories, Mrs. Omolara Elemide (third from right), displaying the overall prize. With her from right are former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu; Marketing Manager, CAP Plc, Mr Dominic Oladejo and Chief Executive Officer, Pearl Awards, Mr Tayo Orekoya, during the Pearl Awards, at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

NCAA constitutes panel on British, Virgin Atlantic Airways $235m fine

O ensure fairness, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) has constituted an administrative appeal panel to look into its finding and report on the discriminatory air fare price fixing by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. The panel, chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice George Adesola Oguntade, is to address the airlines’challenge of NCAA’s finding and subsequent imposition of penalties and a fine of $235 million on them. The panel, the DirectorGeneral of NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren, explained, will consider the legality and fairness of NCAA’s investigation, report and findings into British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways’collusion, unfair and anti-competitive practices on the passenger fuel surcharge.

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

He said NCAA is determined to defend the rights of Nigerian consumers and ensure acceptable business practices and ethics, adding that NCAA will continue to discourage and penalise any conduct by any airline that violates the law and disregards Nigerians, discriminates and exploits or takes undue advantage of them. Demuren listed other members of the team to include Dr. Folarin GbadeboSmith,Alhaji Bala Ibn Na’Allah, a former member of the House of Representatives, who had served on the Aviation Committee, Kanayo Oguakwa and Callistus E. Uwakwe, who will serve as Secretary. Demuren said of the panel: “ This underscores the fairness of the NCAA process and our desire that the best possible and most impartial evalua-

tion of this extremely important issue occurs and to deepen and sustain the confidence the entire world has reposed in the aviation sector over the past years as we have developed a world class industry. “ It is also a re-assurance to Nigerians that the NCAA, Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Government remain focused on protecting their rights, advancing their causes and ensuring that they are not subjected to unscrupulous practices that provide benefit only to specific interests, leaving both the consumers and the industry at large violated,” adding that NCAA welcomes people and entities who have genuine interests in exploring Nigeria’s market and taking advantage of our hospitality and opportunities.” In a statement, the NCAA helmsman, explained that it is conscious of its regulatory role in the industry, and took a balanced and objective posture to

ensure that the rights of the investigated airlines were respected as well as the interest of Nigerian passengers. His statement is coming as the British Airways is challenging the regulatory authority’s legal rights to investigate something that happened before its creation, stressing that the British carrier has been confrontational in a letter it wrote challenging its action over the issue. Demuren said: ” The only possible objective of such a confrontational approach is to condescend to and undermine the regulator. It, again, demonstrates the repeated and continuing disregard BA has for Nigerian constituted authority and its exclusive desire to ensure that absolutely nothing interferes with its ability to continue to take advantage of our business without the reciprocal regard and deference required.

Investors to inject $2b into power project

GROUP of power in vestors has pledged a $2 billion investment in the nation’s power sector in the next five years. Led by the United States’ Califco Group, with four others, they pledged to improve the power sector by as much as 20000Megawatts of electricity in the period. They disclosed these at the weekend during a meeting with the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji. The firms are Califco Group, Frazimex Limited, Geiconn Nigeria Limited, NJJ Power Services and Ecoinvest Capital. It was disclosed that the firms have developed a combined 200, 000MW of power in different parts of the world, including the United States, the Middle East and several African countries. Although the actual time for the take-off of the project is not known, the team told

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

Prof Nnaji that the project involves the development and input of an additional 2000MW of electricity into the national grid using gas fired turbine power plants. The consortium is a group of private power investors interested in generating power for sale to the Nigerian Bulk Trader. They are, however, not in the race for the acquisition of any of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) assets in the privatisation. The Nation learnt, however, learnt that the project’s top priority would be to expand the capacity of the country’s largest power station, the Egbin Power Station by an additional 500MW using either land or Barge Mounted Gas Fired Turbines within one year. The Chief Executive Of-

ficer of Frazimex Limited, Emeka Okwuosa, said: “Our immediate project objective will be the expansion of the Egbin Power Station by an additional 500MW using either land based or Barge Mounted Gas Fired Turbine within eight-12 months.” “The Califco team, will facilitate the national priority of improved power generation by providing additional 2,000MW of power, using power barges where connection points are available to the national grid,” he added. Okwuosa explained that the anticipated project benefits include the development of additional 500 mega watts of power for Nigerians, attraction of billions in direct foreign investment, and the transfer and infusion of new technology into the power sector. The socio-economic benefits include the employment of over 1,000 Nigerians in the sector and the training

of youths as electrical engineering and technicians to support its operations in the country. Others include increased use of indigeneous contractors in the power industry, he stated. The representative of the financial advisers to the project and partner at Ecoinvest of London, Paul Dupee, stressed that the financial institution has a large network of international lenders and investors that could bring syndicates together to attain the level of $2 billion within tight time scales. In his remarks, the Minister described the move as a good one, but raised concerns on issues bordering on the use of emergency power plants as against longer term investments, saying the emergency power plant option was too expensive for an electricity market like Nigeria.

Nigeria loses N443m to piracy By Uyoatta Eshiet

IGERIA lost N443 million to piracy on the nation’s territorial waters between February 2010 and this year, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi, said. Akpobolokemi,who spoke at the yearly Conference of the Maritime Reporters’ Congress of Nigeria (MARCON), in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said the loss was recorded from a total of 102 armed robberies and other related incidences on Nigerian waters. In his paper, entitled: National Maritime security- challenges and response, he stated that while eight lives were lost, the Lagos waters alone recorded 45 of these attacks within the period, adding that similar incidences were reported in Bonny, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri pilotage districts. “The attacks have resulted into the loss of eight lives with Lagos accounting for 45 of the reported attacks. The agency also recorded various injuries to ship crew with loss of cash, shipboard equipment and properties estimated at over N443 million within the same period,” he added. Meanwhile, despite that the international ship and port security rates the ports in Lagos on security level one, the ports in Lagos are still facing some security incidences, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has said. NPA Managing Director, Omar Sulieman, stated at the MARCON event, that the Western ports recorded a total of 187 insecurity cases in 2010, ranging from piracy, robberies on vessels in ports, stowaways, fire incidents, trespasses and theft among others.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

BUSINESS NEWS Flight Schedule

NERC to sanction PHCN for meter maintenance charges

MONDAY - FRIDAY LAGOS – ABUJA Departure Arrival 1. Aero 06.50 08.10 2. Associated 07.00 09.30 3. Air Nigeria 07.00 08.20 4. IRS 07.00 08.20 5. Dana 07.02 08.22 6. Arik 07.15 08.15 7. Chanchangi 07.15 8. Air Nigeria 08.15 09.35 9. Dana 08.10 09.20 10. Aero 08.45 10.05 11. Arik 09.15 10.15 12. Chanchangi 10.00 11.00 13. IRS 11.15 12.35 14. Dana 12.06 12.26 15. Aero 12.20 13.30 16. Air Nigeria 13.25 14.45 17. Chanchangi 13.30 14.30 18. Arik 13.45 14.45 19. IRS 14.00 15.20 20. Aero 14.10 15.30 21. Air Nigeria 14.50 16.10 22. Dana 15.30 16.50 23. Chanchangi 15.30 16.30 24. Arik 15.50 16.50 25. Aero 16.00 17.20 26. IRS 16.30 17.50 27. Arik 16.50 17.50 28. Dana 17.10 18.30 29. Chanchangi 17.30 18.30 30. Air Nigeria 17.35 18.55 31. Air Nigeria (T/TH) 18.30 19.50 32. Arik 18.45 19.45 33. Aero 19.20 20.40 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

LAGOS – BENIN Arik 07.30 Associated 08.30 Aero 10.50 Arik 11.45 Associated 13.00 Aero 14.25 Arik 15.30 Associated 16.00

1. 2. 3. 4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1. 2. 3. 4.

LAGOS – CALABAR 07.30 11.20 12.50 16.00 LAGOS – JOS 10.55 11.15

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

The Federal Government, it was also gathered, has already issued circulars on the winding up, except that the some of the entities still bear the PHCN logo for no logical reason, adding that the distribution companies are already writing official letters in their letter heads. He noted that the Federal Government has already issued documents on PHCN winding, saying the issue is when they will be removed physically. His words: “The government has issued a document on PHCN winding up, but when they will be removed physically is another problem. Salaries are being paid, but I don’t know if it is paid from market money or maybe budget, because the budget for the ministry would include that of TCN and for

maintaining the headquarter’s office. I am not very clear where the money comes from. But definitely, that certainty about their final date of exit would affect confidence in the industry.” He said with the Act, unbundling PHCN should have been over. But in their letter head, when they write you, they write you in their name, Abuja Distribution Company, Eko Distribution Company, Enugu Distribution Company. So, that shows you the incomplete struggle over PHCN privatisation. There is still some degree of push back. But as a matter of policy, PHCN should be over. “ As a matter of law, the Act does not recognise PHCN Headquarters or PHCN anymore. But in reality, there is a place called PHCN, managing the building and the workers there,” he explained.

12.15 12.45 09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

LAGOS – OWERRI Aero 07.30 Arik 07.30 Air Nigeria 13.40 Arik 14.00 Arik 16.30

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

1. 2. 3. 4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

09.1 12.50 12.55 15.55

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

LAGOS – KANO Air Nigeria 07.10 IRS 08.00 Dana 08.10 Arik 12.20 IRS 14.00 IRS 18.15

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 1. IRS 11.15 13.15 2. Arik 15.50 18.00 LAGOS – ILORIN 1. Overland 07.15 2. Arik (M/T/TH/F) 17.30

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

08.50 12.40 14.10 17.20

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1. Dana

• Declares power company illegal

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40

LAGOS – PORT HARCOURT (CIVIL) 1. Aero 07.15 08.35 2. Arik 07.15 08.35 3. Arik 09.00 10.20 4. Dana 09.27 10.40 5. Aero 10.50 12.30 6. Arik 11.40 13.00 7. Air Nigeria 12.00 13.10 8. IRS 13.30 15.00 9. Arik 14.00 15.20 10. Dana 15.03 16.20 11. Air Nigeria 16.00 17.10 12. Arik 16.10 17.30 13. Aero 16.15 17.30 14. Arik 17.10 18.30

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik

HE Nigerian Electricity Regu latory Commission (NERC) has said it will sanction the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) if it is continues to it collect charges for meter maintenance. The Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said the collection would be a violation of an earlier agreement it reached with PHCN, which was served and also advertised in the newspapers, that there would be no more meter maintenance charges from November, this year. He noted that since then, none of the chief executive officers has complained about his inability to comply with the resolution. He said the commission will “invoke our power, in that case deny them, or fine them financially, proportionally to their offences”as it is practiced globally. Amadi also insisted that the PHCN is no longer known to law.

08.00 18.00

LAGOS – ABUJA SAT/SUN Arik 7.15; 10.20; 2.20; 5.20pm – 7.30; 9.15; 10.20; 2.20; 4.50; 6.45 Aero 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 – 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 Air Nigeria 08.15; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30 – 08.15; 13.30; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30

BPP lists uniform prices for contract items From Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor

HE Bureau of Public Pro curement (BPP) has started the listing of prices of items that contractors supply to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Speaking at the maiden edition of the Procurelive conference for public procurement reforms in the country, the Director-General, Emeka Ezeh, disclosed that the Bureau embarked on the work to get a uniform price list for its items. Ezeh, who was represented by Chief Pascal Egwim, expressed concern that the Bureau was battling to get a uniform price for items supplied by contractors and lamented that the Bureau has discovered that contractors supplied the same items to different MDAs at different prices. To ensure that government agencies pay uniform prices for items they purchase, the BPP has developed the e-procurement initiative, to among others, catalogue all items supplied to MDAs. Under the e-procurement programme, the BPP will engage in phased implementation of a Public Procurement Management System for the country, develop a National Database of Particulars, Classification and Categorisation of federal contractors and service providers, develop a Procurement Global Network Forum, develop a Tool to Monitor Prices of Tendered items and Develop a Catalogue for Standard Prices of items as well as have a BPP integrated procurement system. The key enablers of e-procurement, Ezeh disclosed, will include the full digitisation of the procurement, which requires an understanding of existing procurement processes and guidelines by all stakeholders.

Group kicks against Export Grant scheme From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano • From left: Lolade Shounbi, Head, Operations Account Management, SAMSUNG, presenting DVD to Mr Odewusi Olubunmi Olalekan, Titi Olubiyi, Head Channel, SAMSUNG, during the SAMSUNG Dual Sim promo prize at SAMSUNG Office Mulliner Toner, Ikoyi. PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Shell is not leaving Nigeria, says Senate

HE Senate has desrcribed as wrong reports that Shell Pe troleum Development Company (SPDC) is planning to move out of the country because it ceded some of its investment to local operators. In an interview with The Nation, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Emmanuel Paulker, shed some light on the report that some International Oil Companies (IOCs) including SPDC may have concluded arrangements to leave the country due to increasing insecurity in Abuja. Paulker noted that instead of divesting, Shell is investing more in the country. The lawmaker said what Shell did was to cede some areas it felt were too small for it to local operators to own and manage. He said: “That report was a misnomer. What happened was that through our interaction, we got the

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

true position of Shell. “Yes, Shell did some divestments of their investments in Nigeria, which implies that they wanted to cede out part of their investments to local operators; more to local operators because they feel that, maybe, a marginal field is too small for them to manage and they are going into the deep waters. So, let them divest some of their investments and allow local operators to come and own them. “They did explain during our interactive session that that doesn’t mean they are leaving the country. In fact, they are even investing more in Nigeria. They explained to us that Shell is not ready to leave the country.” On Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), he noted that because it has not reached in the National Assembly does not mean the Bill is dead.

He assured that the Bill would be re-introduced, saying “as the Chairman of the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee, I’m aware that no sooner than later, each committee would work with similar committees and the NNPC to see that this Bill is re-introduced.” He noted that Senate committees came into operation some weeks ago and his committee has started interactive sessions with the Petroleum Ministry, the International Oil Companies (IOCs), and other relevant bodies under the committee. Reintroduction of the PIB, he said, is not being delayed “because the PIB is very important, more so, the composition of different committees have changed so, they need some time to galvanize on the PIB. He said: “There are differences in stakeholders’ thinking on the PIB, especially with the fiscal regime which borders on money.”

FirstBank provides N1b support for agric in Osun

N a move to that signifies its con-viction that agriculture holds the key to Nigeria’s economic well-being, Nigeria’s foremost financial institution, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc at the weekend in Osogbo, Osun State, announced the granting of N1billion agriculture credit facility to Osun State government to enable it give

loan to the state’s co-operative farmers and eligible individual farmers under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. FirstBank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bisi Onasanya, represented by

the Group Head, Public Sector for Ogun, Oyo and Osun states, Mr Timothy Arowoogun, said the objective of the scheme is to promote food security in the country given the shocking revelation that over 850 million people globally remain trapped in the spiral of hardship that hunger imposes.

HE Leather and Allied Prod ucts Manufacturers Associa tion of Nigeria (LAPAN) has kicked against the implementation of the Export Expansion Grant Scheme (EEGS), saying it is undermining the growth of the manufacturing sector in the country. To this end, the association has petitioned the National Assembly, urging the law makers to intervene and reverse the trend. In the petition made available to The Nation in Kano yesterday, the President of the Leather and Allied Products Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (LAPAN), Alhaji Mustapha Nabegu, said the EEG scheme has weakened the capacity of the nation’s manufacturing sector to create jobs and drive economic growth. This is coming a few days after the Minister of Trade and Investments, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, highlighted the benefits of the EEG scheme to the country’s economic development at a retreat in Kano. Aganga said at the retreat on Export Expansion Grant Scheme for members of the National Assembly Committee on Trade and Investments, that the EEG scheme has enhanced the growth of the non-oil sector. He stated that the EEG has been of critical importance to the economic development of the nation as it boosts export-related production, adding that the Federal Government has put in place several export incentives to support growth in the non-oil sector, by providing some compensatory bailout backed by law to exporters, who, more often than not, face high cost of production due to inadequate and undeveloped export infrastructure.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

ISSUES

The adjustment of the exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) expectedly generated reactions from financial experts. Some believe the depreciation was long over due; others insist it was unecessary, reports AKINOLA AJIBADE. •Naira denominations

Pros and cons of naira depreciation

• STORY ON PAGE 18

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

ISSUES

Pros and cons of naira depreciation

HE depreciation of the naira was expected. Industry watchers saw it coming when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced two weeks ago that it was planning to review its target band for the Naira to between N155 and N156 to the dollar. The apex bank was determined to stabilise the currency in the market and strengthen against the dollar. Consequently, the CBN bowed to demand pressure and prolonged weakness of the naira by depreciating it to N155 plus or minus three per cent to the dollar, at its last Monetary Policy Meeting (MPC) meeting in Abuja. The measure implied that the official trading range of the naira will move between N150.35 to N159.65 per dollar. The development may also spell doom for speculators, who have been hiding under naira instability to make brisk business.

Measures to stabilise naira Before now, the CBN had taken some measures to stabilise the naira. These include raising of the benchmark interest rate by 275 basis point to 12 per cent, increase in the cash reserves requirement (CRR) of banks to eight per cent from four per cent, and reduction in the net open positions, which banks can hold as reserves to one per cent of shareholders funds, from five per cent. Net open position is the amount of dollars banks can hold relative to shareholders’ funds. The apex bank lowered it to one per cent from five per cent to free up the supply of dollar to the inter-bank market and further keep speculators at bay. The CBN’s decision to sell dollars directly to the interbank market and the provision of the greenback at its official bi-weekly auctions, the decision to allow petroleum dealers to source dollars at its official window for import and further reduce pressure on the inter-bank market, and the issue of maintaining the local currency within a band of +/-3 per cent around N150 were all geared towards stabilising the naira. Justifying the actions, CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the decision to limit foreign exchange (forex) sales to foreign firms was to reduce the reliance on CBN for forex supply. Sanusi said the step would reduce pressure in the forex market and further prevent scarcity of dollars. He said Nigeria would be able to preserve its foreign reserves, once there is less dependence on the CBN for forex. Sanusi said: “This is part of deepening reforms to the inter-bank market, so there is less dependence on the Central Bank, and we can preserve (foreign exchange) reserves”. But the idea never materialised, as the foreign reserves continued on the downward trend. Records showed that the foreign reserves went down from $35.24billion last year to $32.94billion on October 13, this year, a development attributed to volatilities in the international price of crude oil among other factors. Two weeks after CBN adjusted to the exchange rate, the issue has, expectedly, been generating reactions

•Sanusi

•GMD, Union Bank, Funke Osibodu

•Deputy Governor, CBN, Tunde Lemo

•GMD Sterling Bank, Yemi Adeola

OPS’ perspective Some stakeholders in the Organised Private Sector (OPS), said the naira devaluation will aggravate the condition of manufacturing companies. They said liquidity problems, high import duties, huge cost of production, low capacity utilisation, among others, will be some of the adverse effects of the policy. According to them, the adjustment to the naira is going to be a major setback for manufacturers. The former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Berger Paints Plc, Adebowale Thompson, said the devaluation would lead to increase in the cost of goods. Thompson said manufacturers will pass the huge cost of materials to the consumers in order to survive. He said: “If a manufacturer bought a dollar for N150 last week, and now buys it for N151 or N152 today, that is N1 or N2 difference. This means that one is paying more for the dollar. Definitely, the importers of goods would pass the difference to the consumers. So, we should be expecting a slight increase in the cost of goods soon.” He said the price difference would not be more than N2 or N2.50. Thompson said energy is the major problem affecting the growth of the real sector, adding that the cost of production would go down relatively immediately there is an improvement in the distribution of power. The Executive Secretary, Association of Food Beverages and Tobacco Companies, Aderemi Adegboyega, said the depreciation would make importation more expensive and further fuel inflation. Adegboyega said the development would not help local manufacturers that have been battling to survive. He said manufacturing concerns would be affected, no matter how hard the CBN tries to fix the official trading rate of naira. He said manufacturers have suffered comparatively , stressing that the devaluation would compound their woes. He said the monetary policy measures introduced have weighed negatively on the activities of real sector operators, urging CBN to relax some measures to encourage the growth of the industry.

“Already the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), Cash Reserves Requirement (CRR), and interest rate have been increased, and their effects are already being felt in the economy. Now that naira has been depreciated slightly, the effects would be more pronounced in certain sectors. I think the effects would be strongly felt in the manufacturing industry that is battling to survive,” he added.

Experts’ view Commenting on the naira depreciation, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Limited, Bismark Rewane, described it as good, adding that it will take lots of pressure off the CBN's forex window. "That was a smart move. Demand for forex at the CBN's window will decline, CBN will be able to meet demands and it will help mop up liquidity," he said. Head of Macroeconomics and Regional Head of Research, Africa, Global Research of Standard Chartered, Razia Khan said there is no implicit devaluation. "The announcement merely confirms a situation that should allow the naira to trade close to previous levels, closing any differential between the WDAS and interbank forex rate. This will be important for price stability considerations going forward, lessening the need for further tightening. The announcement merely plays catch up with where the market already finds itself. "We expect the CBN to reinforce its price stability credentials, intervening in the interbank market to restore confidence where necessary, and supporting this with ongoing tight monetary policy - mainly through OMOs. The move on the forex rate is positive in that it closes any gap with the interbank market, demonstrates the responsiveness of policymakers to market pressures, and hopefully also allows for the gradual re-accumulation of forex reserves, while keeping the price level relatively stable. Given the external risks facing the economy, this is a sound course of

action," she said. However, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria (FMDA), Akinwale Abe, said there seems to be sincerity in the policies introduced to improve the financial services sector. He said the CBN’s decision to adjust the value of the the local currency is welcome adding that the measure will not pose any threat to the economy. He argued that the apex bank has not carried out any major devaluation of the naira, but rather adjusted its value. “There would not be significant effects on the economy. What happened was an adjustment of the value of the naira. CBN only adjusted its own rate. The adjustment is in line with the market reality. The banking watchdog only adjusted its official trading rate to suit the reality on ground, contrary to the belief that the naira has been devalued. The market has been where it was before the slight adjustment. So, nothing has changed.” An investment analyst, Tayo Bello, said depreciation would further crash the prices of stocks. Bello said stocks are denominated in naira, and would share in the problems affecting the local economy. “Stocks quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are denominated in naira, and not dollars. So, it would be wrong to say that the stocks would grow, relative to the growth of dollars. “With the naira depreciation, an average investor needs more naira to buy the stocks now. For instance, if the price of a stock is 50kobo, it means one would need more naira to buy such shares in large quantities. The multiplier effects would be on investors that are either buying shares or exiting the market”, he said. However, an analyst with APT Securities and Funds Limited, who pleaded anonymity, said the naira depreciation is good for the market. He said the depreciation will make the stocks cheaper and the market more appealing to foreign investors. According to him, the forex exchange risks will be reduced as investors will be able to calculate their returns since naira would be more stable.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION COMMENT

EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

Refineries as taboo

GYPTIANS proved their mettle again by turning out in huge numbers to begin electing their first freely chosen Parliament. To get to this point, they had to force the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, and tens of thousands braved a vicious crackdown in recent days to protest the army’s hold on power. Voters showed courage and will to move to build a new democratic order. Their struggle isn’t close to done. This week’s vote is only the first step in an overly complicated process, dictated by the military, that won’t produce a Parliament until midMarch and will elect a new president in June. There are very serious questions about whether the army will fully turn over power even then. Leaders of the democratic uprising were also expressing anxiety about the strong showing by Islamist parties. The Muslim Brotherhood, the only organized opposition to Mubarak for years, is expected to take the dominant share of seats, followed by the ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafis, who among other noxious beliefs deny women the right to vote. Respecting the voters’ choice is an essential part of democracy. But the long years of political suppression — and the way the military tipped the field in the Brotherhood’s favor — also make it hard to figure out what these early results say about the country’s thinking or its future. What should be clear to the Brotherhood, which, on Thursday, denied any plans to form an alliance with the Salafis, is that most Egyptians have no interest in swapping Mubarak’s secular dictatorship for a religious one. Brotherhood representatives say that they want to end corruption and foster reform and economic development. The Brotherhood needs to spell out a detailed agenda focused on jobs, education and guaranteed rights for all Egyptians. We hope the first-round results propel other parties to work harder to ensure their voices are represented in Parliament. And all the political groups that believe in democracy need to join together to press the generals to quickly transfer power to a credible, interim civilian government and drop attempts to direct the writing of a new constitution. Holding on will only foment more instability. The Obama administration has rightly condemned the recent violence and urged the army to transfer power to a civilian government as soon as possible. But many Egyptians see the United States, which gives billions of dollars in military aid, as too sympathetic to the army. President Obama must do a better job of making clear that he stands with those advocating civilian rule, full democratic rights and tolerance. He should insist that the council lift emergency laws and release all political prisoners. Despite great odds, the elections this week drew millions to the polls. They are proof of how much Egyptians yearn for democracy. And, with the rest of the Arab world watching closely, it is vital that they succeed. – New York Times

Egypt’s vote

•NNPC boss stands logic on its head on why investors won’t build refineries in Nigeria

T the pre-convocation ceremony of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Austen Oniwon, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), openly canvassed against the setting up of functional private refineries in the country. According to him, ‘the enormity of the cost of running a private refinery did not favour the situation in the country, adding that a businessman would find the cost and loss implication in the venture too enormous to bear. We find this logic rather tenuous; indeed Oniwon missed the point. Once upon a time, the refineries in Nigeria worked, and the talk about subsidy or its removal did not arise. The gross inefficiency and corruption in the NNPC and other government parastatals ultimately led to the massive and unabated importation of petroleum products and the ingenious invention of the subsidy matrix. Within this context therefore, appropriate pricing and the cost-push argument to justify subsidy removal becomes re-

‘According to him, ‘the enormity of the cost of running a private refinery did not favour the situation in the country, adding that a businessman would find the cost and loss implication in the venture too enormous to bear. We find this logic rather tenuous; indeed Oniwon missed the point’

dundant. The word ‘situation’ as cleverly used by Mr. Oniwon is the ingenious euphemism for corruption and precisely, it is the so-called ‘situation’ in the country that calls for a paradigmatic change, and not subsidy removal per se. Perhaps what the NNPC boss meant, and which would be right to say is that, ‘Nigeria cannot have functional private refineries because of corruption’. For instance, it is a known fact that beyond the calculus of profit and loss, the cost of doing business, and the market, are the critical issues of the business environment. This includes but not limited to the extant legal imperatives on business and trade, access to capital and finance services, sufficient and relevant skilled manpower, lastly, but by no means the least important, the official and moral stand of both the government and the society on the social plague called corruption. The ravaging effect of corruption on the national economy can be overwhelming; for even where and when other factors are favourable but there is endemic corruption, the economic benefits of doing business disappears. Unfortunately, corruption in the oil industry is so deeply-rooted and ‘institutionalised’ such that the whole idea of doing oil business differently in Nigeria is regarded as mission impossible. What started as a little lie, a little fraud, and largely, an abuse of office, etc., has matured with time and turned into a devouring economic monster. We are worried at two levels. First, the Federal Government has not shown the requisite political will and significant

measure of commitment to fight corruption, especially in the oil industry. Why are the refineries not working despite the fact that we keep doing the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM), which drains huge resources from the national treasury? Although it could not be said that the privatisation scheme has recorded a remarkable success, its palpable failure to privatise the refineries however, has dented government’s sincerity to privatise rightly. This is hardly the fault of the Nigerian people; but of a government that lacks focus and proper coordination. The Federal Government bungled the privatisation scheme (particularly in the downstream sector of the oil industry) when refineries were sold to political party loyalists and cronies of the powers-that-be, and not on merit or recourse to due process. Even though the government had reversed itself on the privatisation of the refineries, it has never made any progress since. As the mainstay of the national economy, policies affecting or likely to affect oil management should be well thought-out. Our second worry relates to the ability or otherwise of the government to fulfill its promises, and, as at when due. In this regard, government should build the three Greenfield refineries it promised to build. We have no doubt that this would go a long way to ameliorate the untold hardship and economic losses engendered by total dependence on imported oil products. This would serve as perhaps a sincere attempt by the Federal Government at solving the multifaceted problems of the oil industry.

‘Prophet’ Jonathan •The president foresees revolution if youths remain jobless; but what is his way out? ROM a most unlikely source came the recent dire warning that the country may be at the threshold of a revolutionary uprising if something is not done urgently to tackle the menace of youth unemployment. The purveyor of this revolutionary prophecy was none other than President Goodluck Jonathan, who was speaking in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, during the grand finale of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in preparation for yesterday’s governorship election in the state. President Jonathan emphasised that the country may witness a revolt against constituted authority in the next four or five years if jobs are not created to accommodate those leaving schools. There is no doubt that the president was only stating the obvious in drawing attention to a persistent problem that has become a threat to national security. The current high rate of unemployment has been consistently identified as a key causal factor of such socially dysfunctional activities as armed robbery, assassinations, kidnapping, political thuggery, militant insurgency, and communal violence, drug trafficking and religious extremism best typified by the Boko Haram phenomenon in the north. In reality, the threat of a violent uprising may be more imminent than the four-to-five-year timeframe given by the president. Some would commend the president’s sincerity in openly admitting the existence of the problem and the need to find timely remedies. Others would submit that his observation betrays a certain level of naivety as he was elected to solve problems rather than bemoan them in a seemingly helpless manner. It would have been more assuring, for instance, if Presi-

dent Jonathan had seized the opportunity of his party’s Kogi rally to announce concrete steps he has taken to confront the unemployment challenge, thus showing why the electorate should trust the PDP once again with their votes. The closest he came to doing this was the promise that the issue would be addressed through his administration’s transformation budget for next year. Even then, there is no sense of urgency in the preparation of the 2012 budget, thus indicating that we are most likely to have another year of gross budgetary underperformance as has routinely been the case at the centre since 1999. Again, with the scandalously unsustainable official and unofficial remuneration of public officers, the high costs associated with a bloated bureaucracy and other forms of wasteful resource haemorrage, recurrent expenditure will continue to dwarf capital spending, thus choking off job creation capacity. Of course, the creation of jobs on a massive scale is itself a function of several other policy measures coordinated and systematically implemented by a meticulous government. Major highways across the country have virtually collapsed. The country’s rail infrastructure is hopelessly antiquated. Despite the huge funds spent on the sector since 1999, power supply remains severely inadequate and we are nowhere meeting stipulated power generation targets. The current high cost of borrowing money makes it almost impossible for investors to access funds to start new businesses or run established ones. The resultant hostile business environment has resulted in the closure of hundreds of companies, with many relocating to

neighbouring countries where they can do business more profitably. It is of course good that the president realises the danger of a violent revolt as a result of the country’s protracted economic crisis. But then, should this awareness not suggest a more nuanced approach to the proposed fuel subsidy removal, for instance, given the potential of the policy to worsen an already harsh economic climate? Even more importantly, what is the president doing in a proactive way to address the identified problems and prevent the looming revolution? So, President Jonathan has a duty to show that he is in charge and on top of his job. His penchant for lamenting the existence of problems rather than decisively tackling them cannot inspire confidence in his leadership. No one is better placed than the president to take meaningful steps to avert revolution in Nigeria.

‘It is of course good that the president realises the danger of a violent revolt as a result of the country’s protracted economic crisis. But then, should this awareness not suggest a more nuanced approach to the proposed fuel subsidy removal, for instance, given the potential of the policy to worsen an already harsh economic climate? Even more importantly, what is the president doing in a proactive way to address the identified problems and prevent the looming revolution?’

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

IR: The furore over the continued adoption of the PostUnified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in admitting students into our nation’s universities may not abate for some time to come. A recent development in our nation’s educational system, the Post-UTME came as a response to what observers described as the failure of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to conduct credible, thorough and unblemished examinations. Before the advent of post-UTME, the JAMB examinations were characterised by shoddy arrangements, leakages of examination materials, impersonation of candidates, and so on. There are allegations of marks being swapped while JAMB officials were alleged to be selling marks. I think we need to ask the question whether – it is legal for universities to conduct Post-UTME, by virtue of the establishment Act of

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Still on the post-UTME controversy JAMB, which vested the body with the sole responsibility of conducting qualification examinations into our universities. The answer is found in Section 5(A), C(ii) of the JAMB Board Act, CAP J1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which provides that the body should control the conduct of matriculation examinations for admission into all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Be that as it may, it is not out of place for universities to conduct Post-UTME, for two reasons. First, it has not in any way eroded the statutory functions of JAMB. For

instance, there is no dispute of the fact that a generally acceptable minimum ‘cut-off’ marks for admission into the universities are both agreed upon. This helps the universities to manage the numerous numbers of prospective applicants for better selection. Secondly, many students have been found to have scored high marks in the UTME but failed woefully in the Post-UTME, even though the examinations are virtually the same. This is an indication that the performance of such students could have been externally influenced – Justifying the widely

held belief that UTME are fraught with irregularities. The second argument has lent credence to the call in some quarters that JAMB should be scrapped and that admission exercise should be decentralized and left for the tertiary institutions to handle. On the exploitation by the universities, which JAMB had severally accused universities of, government should closely monitor the amount being charged to ensure that what is collected from the candidates are used to defray administrative cost of the exercise, which the National Council on Education had directed

Who is afraid of gay rights?

IR: The National Assembly has just passed a law imposing 14 years imprisonment on anybody who engages in homosexual marriage, and 10 on whoever serves as witness. The reason given was that homosexual marriage violates Nigeria’s national value. One implication is that Christians and Muslims who oppose the freedom of homosexuals have had their way. I am one of those who opposed the law, because it ignores the diversity of natural law. God does not only make doves, He also makes snakes and scorpions. He makes hermaphrodites, leftists, and other forms of diversity. Scientists and nature observers have also told us that some lower animals also engage in homosexuality, as part of the diversity in creation. John chapter 21 verse 25 tells us that no single book can contain all the mysteries of God. And so, it is wrong for any Christian or Muslim to place his or her scripture above the reality of the diversity of creation that is phenomenological and tangible. A psalmist tells us “Our God is in heaven doing whatever he wills” (check it out using a concordance). The Yoruba also calls God One who does things as He

likes. And so, where is the room for pinning God down to a single mode of being? Is there anything in the world that is not in diversity? Kindly inform me about it. Sometimes we are told that homosexuality is un-African. Yet, some anthropologists have told us how homosexuals are called in some of our indigenous languages. The unconstitutional handling of Nigeria as a theocracy, instead of as a secular and democratic country, has led to much disequilibrium. Public funds are also spent on sending people on pilgrimages, thereby distracting from more serious issues of social security, provision of amenities, including pipe borne water, good roads, electricity, funding of educational institutions, and so on. Because we keep governing Nigeria as a theocracy, the Boko Haram brotherhood emerged in the first decade of the 21st century to be asking that Nigeria be run on Shariah bases. Does our constitution not specifically state that Nigeria is a democracy and a secular state? Why are we rubbishing the intellectual integrity of the fathers and mothers of that constitution? I am at a loss why religious leaders are desperate that homosexuals

should not be protected. Will homosexual marriage stop them from worshipping God or what? In order to prove that they exist and created by God as such, some homosexuals are said to have started their own church in Lagos, and some “Godly” people went there to beat them-up. What can be more ungodly and unruly in a democratic society than that unprovoked persecution? I pray that Nigeria’s government will be courageous enough to break the jinx and approve homosexual

marriage in conformity with human rights, as enshrined also in our constitution. That way, we register the message that Nigeria is a secular state and religious hostility, favoritism, and dictatorship are retrogressive, and so unacceptable. That will break the backbone of religious triumphalism and rivalry which are the drivers of religious crises. • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D, University of Ilorin, Ilorin Kwara State

should not exceed N1,000. Relying only on UTME may not be enough to get the best into our very competitive universities. Like what obtains in other nations of the world, admission selection process is highly competitive, detailed and broad. For instance, three basic requirements are needed to select eligible candidates into one on the best medical institutions, the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, namely; medical examination, letter of reference, past records and personal statement. This procedure though demanding, seeks to holistically assess 11 qualities an applicant must possess. They are, psychological maturity, character and integrity, self discipline, adaptability and flexibility, good judgment, excellent communication skills, altruism, motivation and intellectual curiosity, leadership skills and commitment to excellence. For the controversy that the PostUTME has generated, universities could rather adopt Post-UTME Assessment, which is a hybrid of both the Post-UTME Screening and Examination. Besetting our educational system is poor funding, lack of infrastructure, brain drain, graduate unemployment, cultism, inconsistent public policies, among others. Unnecessary energies should not be dissipated over the Post-UTME controversy. • Adewale Kupoluyi Federal University of Agric, Abeokuta, Ogun State

Delay in paying federal workers

IR: Before the appointment of the present Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjio-Iweala, there was a directive by the Federal Government to the effect that civil servants should be paid their monthly salary on the 22nd of the month. Today, this is being observed in the breach. It has been alleged that the Finance Minister sent circulars to all ministries, department and agencies of government ordering them not to pay salaries until end of every month. We do not why and when. Suffice to saqy that the

situation is already stoking some panic. Recently Muslims workers had to face difficulties in buying sallah rams and other materials for their children during the last festival. If it is actually true that the Finance Minister issued such directive, it should be rescinded more so now that the Christmas and New Year Celebrations are around the corner. Notworthy also are the controversies sorrounding the federal accounts allocation committees’ meetings. This has contributed in

no small way to the delays in payment of salaries of civil servants at all levels in the country. The current gridlock over the revenue sharing formulas should be resolved quickly in the interest of the country. In the menatime, we hope the Minister of Finance would issue necesary instructions to ensure timely payment of salaries for federal civil servants to enable them take care of their needs without unnecessary delay. • Bala Nayashi Lokoja, Kogi State

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

OVEMBER 2010 will remain indelible in the hearts of the people of Osun State. After a fierce and titanic battle lasting three and half years, Ogbeni Rauf Aregebesola’s got his stolen electoral mandate restored by the Court of Appealon Friday, November 26, 2010. Whereas the civilian administration of Chief Bisi Akande who ruled the state between May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2003 laid the solid foundation for the state in the areas of infrastructure, rural integration and good road network, there came the years of the locust, the wasted years of the mandate usurper, the ill-prepared and pretentious leadership of the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led PDP government. One year down the line, except for implacable and mischievous critics and those who are won’t to view development only in physical and material terms, the positive transformation going on in Osun State is visible for all to see. Instructively, while it is on record that Awo came into power in 1951, he did not start his laudable free education programme until 1955. Awo’s legacy are of course not in the number of roads, housing estates he built, they are mainly in the area of human capital development through education and vocational training, which explains why the people of the South-West became a force to be reckoned with amongst the various sections of the country. Meticulous planning, painstaking diagnosis of problems and solutions are the hall mark of great leaders. A year down the line, the Aregbesola administration has demonstrated that a working and viable Osun State is possible. He has sufficiently demonstrated that he has the vision and determination to uplift the standard of living of the Osun people through massive investments in education, agriculture, employment generation, poverty reduction and health care delivery. In his search for the appropriate development paradigm to cope with the state’s development challenges, Aregbesola’s rescue programme took into consideration the economic and social condition of the people to which development is to serve. The rescue agenda ensures that the state’s development challenges undergoes painstaking diagnosis with clearly defined objectives. Since visionary leadership is no doubt a crucial variable in formulating and implementing an enduring development agenda, the Aregbesola administration has assembled a formidable team to work towards the overall development of the state and also to assist in correcting the past perception by our people that we are to serve our leaders instead of our leaders serving us for our collective interests. It is a thing of joy, that for the first time in the history of Osun State, we elected a visionary leader, an astute administrator who understands the developmental needs of the state. A leader who has a thorough grasp of development logic, Aregbesola understands what it takes to achieve real and sustainable growth, a leader who is people oriented, who recognizes people as assets and involves them to change their lot. His unalloyed commitment to service is not only recognized by the people of Osun but also by Lagosians where he cut his political teeth and various individuals all over the federation who have benefited in one way or the other from his milk of human kindness.

HE past six months of the Ibikunle Amosun administration have been most absorbing. The sorry state of affairs in Ogun State as at May 29 is already in the public domain. Not daunted, this government has continued to pursue its five cardinal programmes with single-minded commitment. The implementation of the free education policy has taken off successfully with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools. Government has commenced distribution of instructional materials to pupils in primary and post-primary schools across the three senatorial districts of the state, free of charge. Subventions to all institutions of learning are also being paid at the right time. Emphasis is gradually shifting from road rehabilitation to massive road construction. The construction of 2.4km six-lane Ibara-Sokori--Totoro road, a model for roads to be constructed across the state has begun. In the health sector, over 47 primary health centres have been rehabilitated and equipped. A state-wide immunization of children under age five against polio is ongoing while reorganisation and monitoring of private health clinics to eliminate quackery is being scaled up. A largescale school-based de-worming programme, cutting across all the 20 local governments, has taken off to sensitize parents on the dangers of worm infection. The process of returning agriculture as the mainstay of Ogun State economy has begun. The state has secured and begun the disbursement of N1bn Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) to enhance its agriculture development programmes. School Farm Project Committees have been set up in 150 schools in order to meet the production targets of 6,000 tonnes of cassava, 450 tonnes of maize, 10,000 tonnes of catfish and 480,000 table eggs per month. Government is also set to revive its farm settlements and acquire 1,000 hectares of land in each of the three senatorial districts to make them state-of-the-art settlements. This

“Power belongs to God,” he says, “I know one day I will leave this position; office is not an end in itself but a means to an end. I want to leave this place more loved by the people of Ogun state.”

Dissecting Aregbesola’s rescue agenda in Osun By Lanre Aminu Since he assumed office, Aregbesola has displayed a businesslike approach to the issue of governance. He is never wavering in the cause of serving his people and the desire to bring about the expected transformation in the state. His love for moderation and his astute commitment to the peace and progress of his people has won him the admiration of not only Osun people, but that of the entire people of the Southwest. His manifesto, which has now become the blue print of his administration titled “My Pact with the Good People of Osun State through my six point integral action plan”, seeks to banish poverty, hunger, unemployment (create work/ wealth), to restore healthy living, to promote functional education and enhance communal peace and progress” is instructive. These are the basic needs of the people that any well-meaning government must give priority attention to, which will consequently endear them to it. To say Aregbesola has fulfilled his promise to run a people friendly government will be merely saying the obvious. His land mark achievements are already manifesting in some sectors and will soon be evident in every other sectors of the economy, most especially in the education, agriculture and the health sector. The record are to be found in the 20,000 jobs created through OYES which is second to none in this country. He also gave the state a new identity as opposed to what obtained before. He adopted a branding approach by declaring the birth of a new Osun State known as Ipinle Omoluabi. The state got a crest, a flag and an ideology. People now understand the reason for being the citizen of the state and which to contribute their own quota to the success of the state. In the educational sector, the state organized an Education Summit tagged “Resolving Education crisis in Osun State to address the problems of the sector. Solutions to the problems of the education sector were proffered. Outrageous school fees being paid by the students of the state-owned tertiary institutions under the Oyinlola-led PDP were drastically reduced by the Aregbesola’s administration. Establishment of vocational centres in all the nine federal constituencies in the state is another project that Aregbesola want to use to banish poverty in the state. Children in primary schools across the state have been enjoying free lunch since the governor mounted the saddle. Education have been restructured in such away that the state will now have neighbourhood schools that will cater for pupils of primary one to three. The junior schools, which might not necessarily be neighbourhood will be for pupils in primary four to JSS 3 that would be called Grade 4 to

Ogun: Six months after By Funmi Wakama will provide massive employment for our youths. The state environment is being beautified while the monthly environmental sanitation has been revived to ensure a clean and healthy environment. Mobile courts are to be set up to try violators of the monthly cleaning exercise. Due to the prudent financial management of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration, salaries are being paid regularly to all workers in the state. The agitation of Ogun State NLC is about the sins committed by the previous administration and the implementation of the Personal Income Tax Act by the current government, which Governor Amosun has no power to change. The government has not owed any worker a kobo! Insecurity is being contained through the setting up of a joint military/police patrol, donation of security equipment, reintroduction and kitting of vigilante groups as well as the establishment of a Security Trust Fund. Ogun State is gradually becoming business friendly as identified disincentives to investments are being removed. Our employment scheme is on course as successful applicants are receiving their letters of employment in batches. The administration of Senator Amosun has also proved to be responsible in other areas. It has paid its MDGs counterpart fund and also devised a legal mechanism through which the state assisted the three local councils that have been chosen for the modified MDGs project to pay their counterpart funds. Not too long ago, the print and electronic media were awash with screaming headlines: “Amosun cuts salaries of political office holders”; “Amosun cuts pay of political appointees”; “Ogun slashes salaries of political appointees”; etc. It is no longer a matter of conjecture that governments across Nigeria devote substantial portion of their annual budget to recurrent expenditure - emoluments of political office holders inclusive. Therefore, the decision of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to blaze a trail by slashing the salaries of all political office holders seems to confirm the

Grade 9; while the high school will be for SS1 to SS3, that is Grade 10 to 13 where the students can go to any institution of their choice, Using Awolowo’s model of farm settlements, the Aregbesola administration is obviously persuaded that it is a veritable strategy to conquer poverty, create wealth and jobs. The governor has set up farm settlements in each of the 30 local government areas of the state. The state government has also released funds to farmers through the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank to revolutionize agriculture in the state. Commodity warehouses are to be constructed across the state as storage facilities for agricultural goods to be transported to Lagos. There is also a plan to establish both industrial and residential estates in the state. The commercial axis of the capital is to be redefined through Central Business District (CBD) development and management. There is also a plan by Aregbesola’s government to attract about 20,000 tourists from the Diaspora to the annual Osun Osogbo festival from which it hopes to generate about N7.5 billion by the year 2015. Channing Pollock (1880-1946) probably had PDP in mind when he described a critic as a legless man who teaches running. To discerning minds, there is basis to wonder about the moral tripod the Osun State Chapter of the PDP stands when it seeks to probe the affairs of Osun State. In saner environments, the PDP hacks would be covering themselves with ashes, wearing sackcloth in penitence for their atrocities against the people of Osun. After all, the good people of Osun now have the basis to compare the two eras: the era of Aregbesola led A.C.N. when they are being empowered versus the PDP government’s inglorious era under which the people were pauperized. The difference, as they say, is clear. Aminu is national coordinator, Oodua Youth For Good Governance

‘In saner environments, the PDP hacks would be covering themselves with ashes, wearing sackcloth in penitence for their atrocities against the people of Osun’ widely-held notion in Ogun State that ‘this, indeed, is the government of the people!’ According to the governor, “funds saved through the cuts will be used to construct new roads; we will use it to fund education; we will use it to fund the health sector, and our workers too will benefit. With all these, the least one expects is extra commitment by the civil servants and not allow themselves to be used to foment trouble.” The uncanny industry of Governor Amosun is also a sense of inspiration to his aides and citizens in the state. SIA, as the governor is fondly called, is never tired. He is at his desk sometimes as early as 7am till 10pm. Conservatively, he puts in about 15 hours daily. This means you cannot work with SIA if you are not physically fit and mentally sound. The hair of ex-President of the United States, Bill Clinton, became grey by the time he left the White House. It was not as a result of age but hard work, and in spite of the ups and downs of the administration, the works of Bill Clinton are endured on the sands of time. The charismatic Barack Obama was once reported of having lost his glamour in less than one year in office because of the enormous challenges of office. You only need to look at SIA closely to see the effect of his consuming passion for the people of Ogun State. His exemplary discipline and compassion, just like the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is visible in his interactions with the masses. Senator Amosun has demystified governance and closed the once yawning gap between the government and the people in the state. “Power belongs to God,” he says, “I know one day I will leave this position; office is not an end in itself but a means to an end. I want to leave this place more loved by the people of Ogun state.” The administration’s first retreat for political appointees and top civil servants to prepare them for the enormous challenges of our mission to rebuild has boosted the morale of participants as all hands are now on deck. The ‘Budget to rebuild’, which was laid before the state House of Assembly last week, will jumpstart the economy of the state and renew the hope of citizens for a better tomorrow. Though the expectations of citizens are high, I believe firmly that Senator Ibikunle Amosun, a technocrat-cumpolitician, will navigate the ship of Ogun State to a safe harbour. • Wakama (nee Coker) is Senior Special Assistant to Governor Amosun on Media and Communication

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

ERHAPS, due to the political exigencies of the last civil war especially for those on the Nigerian side, there seems to be much misunderstanding of the lead character in that war, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. No doubt, a lot of propaganda was deployed by both sides apparently to justify their positions and take advantage of the war situation. But such propaganda went at lengths to obfuscate some of the real issues in contest during that pogrom. Badly presented in this regard or through covert revisionism were the image of Ojukwu, his motivations for secession and the role of the Igbo in the turn of events that precipitated that crisis. Events since the death of Ojukwu last weekend appear to be fast putting the overall circumstance of that war in its proper perspective. Apart from the array of eulogies and tributes from high-ranking Nigerians, many among the younger generation are getting more excited by that war. They are increasingly realizing that some of the stories sold to them about the civil war are not exactly as they have been told. Many were either exaggerated or crafted to put down a hardworking, vibrant and very creative people. In the last couple of days, I have come across a number of younger Nigerians who have begun to think differently about what they were made to believe about the war. Some of them were even told that Ojukwu was an over ambitious wicked man and his intentions were for the Igbo to dominate the rest of the country. Others were fed with such fabrications as the Igbo planned and executed the January 15, 1966 military coup so as to impose their will on other ethnic groups. There were all manner of fairy tales regarding the causative events that gave rise to the war. These have over the years evoked embers of hate and resentment not only against Ojukwu himself but the entire Igbo nation. But a cursory view of the list of the planners of the first coup will put a lie to it. Its leader Chukwuma Kaduna Nzogwu is from the present Delta State. Whereas some of the younger ones have through exposure and readings been able to correct some of these negative impressions, many still live with them. One of those I met casually told me he now knows that Ojukwu was a man of immense courage, principle, vision and far ahead of his peers. He was enthused by Ojukwu’s insistence after the death of General Ironsi that Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe was the right person to assume the

Emeka OMEIHE 08121971199 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Ojukwu’s place in perspective leadership of the country going by military hierarchy. He said, had that military tradition been followed, Nigeria may have been saved the ugly events that followed. So many other Nigerians have publicly spoken about the circumstances of that war and the position of Ojukwu on the matter. The views of General Yakubu Gowon in his tribute to Ojukwu are instructive. “A time came when it was difficult for him to reconcile what had happened to his people; one was really sorry for what had happened, but because of that he wanted to break away from the country. One felt otherwise” President Jonathan spoke of Ojukwu’s “immense love for his people, justice, equity and fairness which forced him into the leading role he played in the Nigerian civil war and his commitment to reconciliation and full integration of his people into a progressive and united Nigeria” Gen. Ibrahim Banbangida wants the federal government to immortalize him by naming a great institution or monument after him. Describing him as a strong advocate of a better society and strong believer in equitable distribution of power, Babangida said one thing that will gladden his hearts even in death was for an Igbo man becoming the president of this country. It would appear the views of Nigerians on Ojukwu since his death are fast putting to rest some of the vile misconceptions the younger ones were fed regarding his place and that of the Igbo nation within the Nigerian experiment. It is with this in mind that one now understands former governor of Imo State Chief Achike Udenwa when he spoke on a similar issue recently. He had said during the presen-

tation of his book on the Nigerian/ Biafra civil war that he was motivated to write because most Nigerians below the age of 40 do not know much about the war. This is correct. Not only that, the much they were told did not tally with extant situation on the ground. That may have been responsible for the mistrust, suspicion and outright hate that represent the relationship between other ethnic groups and the Igbo nation even today. That may account for the systematic denial or scheming out of the Igbo from the nation’s scheme of affairs. Ironically, most of those who spoke were principal actors in that war. They have also been much around. Why it has taken Ojukwu’s death for these facts to come to limelight remains curious. So also has been our failure to decisively address the substantive issues that brought about that pass. Is it in line with that aspect of our culture that forbids unpalatable words against the dead? Or borne out of the stark realities of contemporary political challenges Nigeria is facingchallenges that reminiscence the objective conditions that precipitated that war? Gowon had in his broadcast at the end of hostilities declared “we guarantee the personal safety of everyone who submits to federal authority. We guarantee the security of life and property of all citizens in every part of Nigeria and equality of rights. We also guarantee the right of every Nigerian to reside and work wherever he chooses in the federation as equal citizens of one united country” Forty-one years thereon, what has been the experience of the Igbo on these statements of hope? What of other ethnic groups that

actually took part in the ‘task to keep Nigeria one? To what extent has the oneness of Nigeria been able to advance their collective aspirations for the better? What of that crass intolerance of others and utter disdain for the sanctity of human life that forced the Igbo to seek self determination? Have they abetted? How do we situate the ethno-religious killings that have become a recurring decimal in the northern part of the country? What of the near genocide that has rendered Plateau State prostrate and made minorities in the north regret being located in that part of the country. How different is the Niger Delta challenge from the array of events that gave rise to the war. What of Boko Haram and the war it has levied against the state. The point being raised by these searing questions is no doubt, self evident. It is that Nigeria is no better today on those indices that induced the civil war than it was then. In fact, rather than those parochial tendencies waning, they are further being reinforced with greater ferocity. It is no longer news today that the urge for separatism is gaining more popularity among the disparate entities that have been forced into the union- a union that has consistently failed to advance their collective aspirations. That is the statement Boko Haram is making. That is the purport of the senseless killings and maiming of southerners in the north without any provocation. That is why youth corps members sent to some parts of the north are now targets of murder and annihilation at the slightest excuse. Of late, some states have been denied such postings on account of the senseless killings of innocent children sent there to help them. Yet we are quick to profess a united nation. Which nation one may ask? The nation that is united from the point of view of extant realities is that of the ethnic groups? The concept of a Nigerian nation is still an analytic construct; a dream that fades as soon as the dreamer is awake. That is our lot today. At the point we are now, nobody is sure this colonial contraption called Nigeria can survive any longer. That is where we find ourselves at Ojukwu’s death. It is not surprising that he is being better appreciated today. Even the most unrepentant of his adversaries cannot but admit that he saw the future. They cannot but admit that Nigeria is not better today on those issues he fought than it was 40 years back. That is the bold and poignant statement Ojukwu represents. That is a befitting monument. He has been immortalized by his vision.

VIEW FROM THE FOREIGN PRESS

RECENTLY spent a few weeks in one of Euroland’s basket cases — a sunlit southern country whose debt exceeds its output and whose bonds nobody wants. The nation was run by a flamboyant former crooner who squeezed in his governing between dalliances. It is a place, I discovered, that has crisis writ large on every facet of daily life: the stylish throng strolling at dusk on streets packed with new cars, the designer-label clothes, the seductive boutiques. People looked stricken as they reviewed their vacation plans for Istanbul or the Alps. The then-billionaire leader, his face lifted and tucked, seemed to be suppressing a great guffaw at the agony of Euroland. He struggled to look serious. Families laughed, lovers lingered, lunches of delectable abundance drifted into lazy afternoons. The gloom was overwhelming. I came away in a funk, convinced that Italy stood on the brink of some ghastly fate. Quite possibly, it seemed, Italy would continue to be Italy. The thing about a wired world of 7 billion people, a small fraction of whom are Italian, is that policymaking increasingly looks like a flailing exercise in trying to catch up with and regulate forces unleashed by their creativity. I’ve heard estimates that as much as a third of global economic activity never registers these days in official statistics. Certainly, Italian shopkeepers still ignore their decorative cash registers, installed at the taxman’s insistence, preferring to scrawl receipts on scraps of paper — or not write them at all. Even taking account of Europe’s accumulated wealth and its cushioning effect in hard times, the gap between the talk of crisis and the scarce physical evidence of it is large. The 1930s this is not. Italy, a rich country, survived the incompetent Silvio Berlusconi much as Belgium does just fine on its protracted inability to form any government whatsoever. As the world passes that seven-billionth inhabitant mark, there are more obese than hungry people on the planet. Many of the obese are poor. Past generations could only dream of such problems. Huge numbers of people have been lifted out of poverty in the past decade. Population growth is slowing. The worst predictions of famine, pestilence and a poisoned atmosphere have proved exaggerated. China, India and Brazil

How bad are things, really? By Roger Cohen are not alone in feeling the tide of history flowing their way. So how bad are things really? That depends where you sit. The world feels particularly unpredictable because what is portrayed as a financial crisis in Frankfurt and New York is, at a deeper level, a crisis of transition. Confidence has drained out of the part of the world that is used to running the world while the ever richer upstarts, anti-Western in varying degrees but unsure still what new principles to embrace, are not ready to take over. In the last century the British handover of power to the United States had the seamless quality of a transaction between cousins. America and China are tied at the hip and have learned how to conduct business. But they remain cultural rivals. “We are used to a small group of like-minded democracies calling the shots, but these democracies now have increasingly less influence over world politics,” said Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown. “We are heading toward noone’s world, a world of multiple modernities, interdependent and globalized without a dominant political center or model.” No wonder a sullen anger inhabits much of the West (excluding prudent Canada). For the inhabitants of Euroland (the 17 nations that share the euro currency), it’s blowback time. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, now says it was an “error” to admit Greece to the euro. The French should know. The shared currency was largely their idea. It was a means to tie Germany to Europe; and how better for Europe to crown this political statement than including in the brotherhood of shared money the cradle of its civilization, Greece? What’s that whooshing sound? It is the tide of jobs disappearing never to return. What is it that does not sleep at night? The mountains of debt accumulated over the past decade. What is the racket in the streets? The legions of the Occupy movement enraged by the impunity of the powerful. What is that cracking sound?

The agony of Euroland caught in the halfway house between federation and nations. The great vexation today is about integration — how to advance cooperation when those at the table have disparate views on governance. That’s patent at the euro level and true, if less obvious, at the global G-20 level. More integration is needed, but when people are angry they turn tribal: the objective imperative meets emotional resistance, be it in the form of the Tea Party or the Dutch rightist, Geert Wilders. Nobody yet knows how to run a globalized world or make it more equable. That is the issue of our times, one to which China, India, Brazil and other new powers will have to make far more substantive contributions than they have. America, divided within, can no longer impose its will, yet the world’s girders are still provided by Pax Americana. China is ready to go along with that for now in the name of the stability necessary for its full development by 2050. There’s a thirsting for some new order but no readiness to adopt one. This translates as unease. Demonstrators in New York and Madrid know what they are against but it’s much less clear what they are for. The overthrow of capitalism sounds very 20th or even 19th century. Reforming capitalism, offsetting its harshest aspects, is also old news. It has been tried in the form of the welfare state — and these systems are under acute pressure as people live longer. No, the real if poorly articulated focus of Occupy is reforming globalization — particularly the way globalization favors the wealthy. Some ideas, like the Tobin tax on global financial transactions, have been around for years but they’re almost impossible to apply. What’s left, it sometimes seems, is the uplift of togetherness. With modern society and the Internet comes the scattering of people in solipsistic universes dominated by screens. The Occupy movement is also a reaction to that: an awakening to the possibility of coalescing to bring change.

An inspiration for the movement came from the Arab world. But there’s a difference: the occupiers of Tahrir Square, the streets of Benghazi and the avenues of Tunis knew what they were for: more representative societies. The road to this goal has already proved uneven. A great debate over how to reconcile Islamic faith and modernity has been engaged. But the direction is set. The confidence that has drained out of the West has not merely headed in the direction of the BRIC countries. A share has been seized by Arabs. Humiliation is a powerful force. For a long time it undermined the Arab world. Ottoman subjugation was followed, after World War I, by the encroachment of the Western powers. Then fell the most crippling blow: Israel’s defeat of the Arab armies in 1948 and its subsequent successes. Palestinian refugees piled up in eternal camps; repeated wars only sharpened the dominance of the Jewish state. A dismissive phrase — “the Arab street”— came to characterize an indignant rabble. Until, on those very streets in 2011, the basis for a new pride was laid, not one fixated on a symbol of resistance to Israel — a Nasser, a Hassan Nasrallah — but one forged in shared and transforming endeavor. In some senses Arabs said basta — enough is enough — through their Spring to the Israel alibi. Still, two lessons of the world today are these: things are not quite as they appear (in Italy or elsewhere) and change can be sudden. The abrupt birth of a new Arab pride is important. It shifts the focus. Arabs who are agents of their own lives are no longer Arabs who must seek in an enemy the explanation of their ills. Humiliation leads to more war: it did in Europe when the Versailles Treaty of 1919 punished Germany. Only when Europe began to integrate did it end war on the Continent. Europe’s difficulties have provoked much facile mockery, but its model is an inspiration and can be helpful in the new Arab world. As in Euroland, as in the totality of a globalizing world, integration is inevitable in the Middle East. The only question is what further price in blood and treasure will be paid before it is achieved. • New York Times

ENGLISH FA CUP

Keshi picks four Mikel faces Kanu from Olympic Eagles in third round Pg. 24

Pg. 41

Nation Monday, December 5, 2011

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â&#x20AC;˘Eguavoen

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NATION SPORT

Hodgson pleased with Osaze's contribution in QPR draw

EST BROMWICH Albion boss Roy Hodgson was pleased with Peter Odemwingie's contribution in their 1-1 draw with QPR. The Nigeria international, who has been out for a month with a knee injury, came off the bench for the second successive week to outpace Luke Young and cross for Shane Long to score. "Peter did well," Hodgson said. "I thought he started slowly, it has been a long while since he played, but he got stronger and stronger. He did very well for the goal. "It was a nice piece of football, a good cross and I think at that stage of the game we were threatening to score a goal and eventually we got it."

Keshi picks four from Olympic Eagles

S • Osaze

UPER Eagles chief coach, Steven Keshi has urged players of the Dream team V, to stay disciplined, keep their form if they want to still represent their country in the near future. Keshi gave the charge during the teams’ final meeting in Marrakech, Morocco. “ I urge you to stay disciplined, keep your form and keep working hard; if you still want to represent this country” Keshi said. Olympic Eagles media officer Arafat Aliu, quotes the Eagles’ coach as warning that “any player who wants to play under me must be disciplined, must be able to distinguish between

work time and play time. I have always said it that this is a talented side but remember that having the talent is not enough, you must be a team player.” He stated. The former Togo National team coach also revealed that he has spotted some players from the U-23 side but was silent on the names. “I obviously have spotted some players. About four of them, Lawal Raheem was outstanding in the last game. I will keep monitoring the others and with time we will find out who they are” he said. Coach Steven Keshi was with the team all through the tournament in advisory capacity.

Nicega Games: LOC laments Etuhu loving life at Fulham lack of corporate support D

HE Local Organizing Committee, LOC, for the 17th Nigeria Colleges of Education Games, NICEGA, tagged 'Akalaka 2012' has raised alarm over lack of support from corporate bodies. According to the LOC secretary, Victor Ahiakwo, the host institution, Federal College of Education Technical (FCET), Omoku, has not enjoyed any kind of support for the games from the various multinational companies operating within their immediate environment of Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni Local Government in Rivers state. Ahiakwo revealed that the promise of constructing a new swimming pool by ELF oil company has not materialised yet and that several other efforts made to have audience

From Florence Nkem Israel, Port Harcourt. with AGIP oil to get them assist the institution with any of the Nicega projects has failed. "The attitude of a company like Agip whose pipeline criss crosses the FederalCollege of Education new campus is shocking and regrettable", he lamented. While saying that sports remains an avenue for youths to express their talents, and also a means of building bridges across the states of the nation, he once more appealed to AGIP, ELF, SAIPEM and other Oil and Gas serving companies within the area to assist the institution as over three thousand athletes and officials will be visiting Omoku for the games billed to hold from January 25 to February 5, 2012.

Nadal clinches Davis Cup for Spain

OR the fifth time in 11 years, the Davis Cup is going back to Spain. Rafael Nadal came back from a 1-6 first set to defeat 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (0) and clinch the Cup for the hometown Spaniards. Nadal was broken in the first game of the second set and trailed 40-0 love on Del Potro's serve before storming back to break and even the match. The Argentine never recovered. The victory gave Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the Davis

• Nadal

Cup final. A victory by Argentina in Saturday's doubles had left the tie in doubt for Nadal, giving the world No. 2 a chance to clinch the Cup on the red clay of Seville. Last year, Novak Djokovic used a victory in Sunday's first singles match to propel himself to a historic 2011 season. It's commonly believed that Djokovic's Cup victory was the catalyst for his seismic improvement this season. Nadal's comeback over Del Potro has already inspired talk that the Spaniard will use this win as a similar jumping point. There's one big difference: In the Djokovic narrative, he overcame his lack of fortitude in big matches by taking a must-win match in front of a rabid hometown crowd. Nadal's recent problem isn't the ability to win a big match, it's the ability to win a big match against Novak Djokovic. And since Juan Martin del Potro is not Novak Djokovic, it's hard to see how Rafa's victory on Sunday is anything more than a Cup clinching victory over a top 10 player. If Rafa gets back to No. 1 in 2012, it's going to be because he gets over the mental hurdle that is Djokovic, not because he reaffirmed his dominance on clay in a Davis Cup tie.

ICKSON Etuhu is once again enjoying life at Fulham after enduring a "very difficult time" at the club he loves. The 29-year-old has been a regular for the Cottagers since joining from Sunderland three years ago, playing a key role in their run to the 2010 Europa League final. But Etuhu has been used more as a squad player by manager Martin Jol this season and his frustrations saw him recently admit a January move could be on the cards. Etuhu is happier after a recent run of starts and is enjoying his football again. "I've always been happy at the club," he said. "Fulham is a great club and I'm not saying [I am unhappy here]. "The chairman gave me a very good contract and I could easily keep my mouth shut and collect my money, but that's not me. "I like to play, I enjoy playing with my team-mates. If I'm not, and I'm on the bench, I'll obviously have to look elsewhere. But the club has always been good to me, the staff have been great to me and the players have bonded. We've been together so long and we've achieved so much together at this club. It's a lovely place, it's my home. I love this club." Etuhu has been one of the west Londoners' most impressive performers in recent matches and admits he is reaping the rewards of an extended run in the team. "Obviously my confidence is up at the moment," he said. "It is nice to get a little run. Obviously Siddy [Steve Sidwell] is injured at the moment and I am sure he will be back next week sometime, but it is nice to be playing and to be part of it again. I've been at Fulham a long time, I've played a lot of games and it has been a very difficult time for me, but I'm enjoying it now. "People expect you to play at your best after two or three months, but that is not the way. It does not work like that, it takes a few games. Luckily I've had the chance to see some action and it is helping me." The Nigeria international will be hoping for another start in tonight's Barclays Premier League match against in-form Liverpool at Craven Cottage. Fulham head into the match on the back of a last-gasp 1-0 defeat to FC Twente in the Europa League, although Etuhu is

9TH AFRICA JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP

Nigerian athletes recount woes

HAT Nigerian athletes will always have tales of woe to tell at the end of major sporting events while administrators smile away with money stacked in their pockets has become the bane of sports in the country. The 19th Africa Junior swimming Championship been held in Port Harcourt Nigeria is not different from those events that exposes the incompetence of our sports administrators and might as well be termed as one of the worst organised sporting events in the world. Poor preparation, Shabby organisation, and lack of publicity for an event which

From Florence Nkem Israel, Port Harcourt

Nigeria was given the hosting right two years ago shows how unconcerned Nigeria sports administrators have become towards youth development. With the swimming events rounded off on Sunday, the Nigerian athletes have lamented been treated as slaves on their home soil. Speaking with some of these athletes, the story is the same. Most of them were discovered at the recently concluded NDDC swimming championship in Port Harcourt.

They lacked the necessary encouragement and felt inferior due to how they were treated. All the visiting countries were camped in the best hotels in Port Harcourt and given the best of feedings and hospitality but Nigeria athletes were packed into a hostel in Uniport. Aside that, there were no swimming kits for the Nigerian contingents! Not even goggles and caps. In fact, Sporting Life scooped that it was on day three of the events that the officials started making phone calls on how to get a kits supplier!

confident the disappointment of that result will not have an impact. "Monday is Liverpool at home," he said. "They are a great team but we've got nothing to lose, have we? "When you play the top teams you just go out and play. They are expected to win so the pressure is on them, not us. We will just go out and play as well as we can at home, where we always do well so it will be an exciting night.

Steve Kean ecstatic over Yak's form

LONDON OLYMPICS QUALIFIERS FALLOUT

Eguavoen throws in towel B

USTIN Eguavoen has called it quits as coach of Nigeria Olympic team after he failed to qualify the team to London 2012. Nigeria’s Dream Team V failed to go past the group stage of the qualifiers in Morocco after they lost two games and won one. His letter of resignation was forwarded to the chairman technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Chris Green. “I hereby resign my post as coach of the national U23 team despite all the support I received from the NFF. I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it,” Eguavoen wrote in part. Eguavoen has been involved in the national team set up since 2003, when he first handled the U17s and has been in charge of the full international side as well. Eguavoen has taken full responsibility for his team’s failure to reach London 2012 after raising so much expectations in the earlier rounds of the qualifiers where they thumped Liberia, Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. “First of all football has given me what I have today. I thank every

Nigerians for being there for me and giving me all the support needed for this tournament,” said the 46-yearold coach. “We came into this tournament prepared. Losing Kingsley Udoh in the first game, just three minutes was a big blow. “Our first half against Senegal was awful but we were in our best against a very technical Algeria but unfortunately we rose up to the occasion late. "I apologise to Nigerians for our disappointing outing. I had an option to come and not to but I had confidence in this team, unfortunately it didn’t turn out the way we wanted. I am deeply sorry”. Eguavoen said he hopes to take a two-month break and possibly return to work in the Nigeria Premier League. “My contract is tied to this tournament with a target of reaching at least the semi-finals of the Olympics in London, but I have failed in that target. Right now I would just take two months out and maybe return to the local league,” he said. The Former Super Eagles coach

LACKBURN Rovers boss Steve Kean has hailed Nigeria international Yakubu Aiyegbeni, who became the first man to score four goals in one game in the English Premier League for Rovers, in a game which saw the late dismissal of Swansea's Joe Allen. The Scot said: "He's got 10 goals so far this season and the good thing is it's different types of goals - he scores penalties, tap-ins and goals like the first one today. "But he'd be the first to say a striker is only as good as the service he is getting. The service today was excellent and as the saying goes, if you feed him in the box he will score." Meanwhile, Aiyegbeni is convinced they'll stay up after victory over Swansea City. The Nigerian struck four goals in the win. “I believe we are going to stay up,” he told talkSPORT. “If we get the three points we will be back and can win two or three games. The result today is good for us you have to give credit to the players and give credit to the manager too.” He has also thrown his support behind manager Steve Kean. Kean was still barracked by fans as Yakubu's four goals saw off Swansea City yesterday. Yakubu told talkSPORT: "We are a team, we are a family. We play as a

• Eguavoen

also spoke on the positives from the tournament. “First we were able to redeem our image hoping that Morocco will keep their winning streak. But the biggest positive for me is that my ‘Skippo’ ( the Super coach Stephen Keshi) was here. As we all know, we are rebuilding and I believe he must have spotted players here that would help him in the national team.”

team even when we are losing we stick together which is great. “But it is a shame to see the fans doing that. They should give him a chance.”

• Aiyegbeni

ENGLISH FA CUP

Mikel faces Kanu in third Round

ORMER Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu will tackle Mikel Obi when Portsmouth visit Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge between January 7 and 8 in the third round of English FA Cup. In the draw made yesterday at Wembley Stadium, the top Nigerian players will aim for the next round of the prestigeous tournament. The last time the two sides met in a competitive fixture was the 2010 FA Cup Final, when a second half goal from Didier Drogba saw Chelsea beat Pompey 1-0 to lift the trophy. It has been more than fifty years since Pompey celebrated a win over the London-side, the last one coming

•As Ameobi tackles Aiyegbeni again •Osaze, Etuhu also set for action

By Bimbo Adesina when Chelsea were beaten 1-0 in the League Cup at Fratton Park in December 1960. In the same vein, Shola Ameobi will welcome Yakubu Aiyegbeni as Newcastle plays host to Blackburn Rovers. Rovers managed to dump out the Magpies in the Carling Cup earlier this season, in a 4-3 thriller at Ewood Park, but lost 3-1 at St James' Park in the Premier League.

It will be a home advantage for Osaze Odemwingie as West Brom host Cardiff City at The Hawthorns. Cardiff have met West Brom four times in the FA Cup in the past - each side having won one tie, with two games resulting in a draw. They last met in the competition in 1950. With Dickson Etuhu happy to stay with Fulham, he will get a chance against Charlton Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup.

Fashola, MTN, HOPE WALK unite against child trafficking T

• Etuhu

HE wife of Lagos State Governor Mrs. Abimbola Fashola flagged off the 2011 Hope Walk organised by Hope Worldwide Nigeria, supported by MTN and Coca-Cola Nigeria. The walk took place to further create awareness for the plight of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the society. Hope worldwide Nigeria (HWWN), an international NGO with global operations took the initiative to hold the 2011 Hope Walk in Lagos and other cities across the country. The first lady said, Lagos state government is a proud partner with Hope Worldwide Nigeria on its health concern initiative for the less privilege in our communities. She said “The focus of this procession is to further increase awareness and galvanise action towards the case of abused and trafficked children on the street.” Nigeria has one of the largest burdens of OVCs in the world. The 2008 Situation Assessment and Analysis (SAA) on OVC revealed that 17.5 million, representing 24.5 per cent of the Nigerian children are OVC. The survey further showed that 7.3 million were orphaned from various causes. Major causes of orphaning in Nigeria have been identified to include AIDS, road accidents, high rate of maternal mortality and ethno-religious conflicts, while large numbers of children are made vulnerable due to poverty, negative cultural practices and gender inequality.

By Paul Oluwakoya Ola Clement, Chief Executive Officer, HWWN who exclusively shared with NationSport what informed the initiative and objective of the exercise saw lack of correct and unswerving information in the rural areas as some of the reasons why vulnerability to epidemics rapidly spread; which according to him gave birth to Hope Worldwide Nigeria initiative in 2000. His words; “The Great Hope Walk which started in 2000 has succeeded in creating awareness for OVC around the country which has equally led to increased nutritional support towards improving household food security, shelter and legal services are also leveraged for the beneficiaries. In line with the National Plan of Action and Standard practice for OVC, HWWN provides support which is not limited to the following category of children on all current and up coming projects; HIV positive children, children living with chronically ill parents/caregivers, children living on the streets, children living in child headed households, children living in granny headed households, abused children and children living with HIV positive parents/caregivers. Apart from the Walk the NGO also partners the MTN Foundation on the Children At Risk Empowerment

Blatter blasts England World Cup 2018 bid

Scheme (CARES) which provide care and support for about 600 OVC in three states of the federation. There is also the Partners Against Malaria and AIDS in the Communities (PAMAC) also with MTNF which mobilises communities and educate them on malaria and AIDS with the provision of long lasting insecticide treated nets for pregnant women and children under five years old. Also lending his voice to the course, the Public Affairs & Communication Manager, Coco-cola, Mr. Clem Ugorji said his company has been part of the Great Hope Walk for the past 11 years and would continue to be in the walk for a long time. “it is a very good initiative “ he added On her part, the Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Ms Nonny Ugboma, MTN Foundation, said “Apart from the Walk, HWWN is also engaged in providing vocational skills training through capacity building that promotes income/employment generation and the development of enterprises among individuals, families and communities in a sustainable manner.” She said However, there is space for every organisation to create the needed change in communities. “If you do not have a healthy community, how do you do business there?” she asked. She therefore encouraged other institutions to come out and do corporate social responsibility (CSR) to better the communities

EPP Blatter has claimed that the English are still reeling from their failed attempt to bring the World Cup back to the country for the first time since 1966. The Fifa President has said that the FA felt they had a right to host the tournament and resent him because of this. England lost out on hosting the 2018 tournament to Russia despite a high profile campaign and only managed two votes in a ballot of Fifa's 22 executive members in Zurich last December. "The World Cup was theirs by right. When they came here with Beckham, Prince William and Prime Minister Cameron, they were certain of winning,” he told Swiss newspaper Matin Dimanch. "They got two votes. Since then, they have looked for every means to justify their defeat." Since missing out on the tournament the English FA have opposed Blatter’s re-election as FIFA President, but he was voted in for a fourth term in office in June. The 75-year old has faced much criticism over the past year for allegations of corruption within Fifa and recently said that football doesn’t have a problem with racism claiming that such incidents should be settled with a handshake. Blatter also claimed that the English have lost power in recent years and were more concerned about hosting the next World Cup than the Olympic games. He continued: "In the 60s and 70s, the great sporting federations were in the main British. It's no longer the case.” "The English have lost power and, most recently, the 2018 World Cup. They were very keen, more than for the Olympics. They thought that football should have come home.”

Agbonlahor happy to be one-club man

STON Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor would be happy to be a one club player. Even though he’s only 25, Agbonlahor is currently the club’s longest-serving player – having joined up when he was 13. He said: “I just want to keep on playing for Villa. You look at Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and you can’t see him playing anywhere else. “Well that’s the same for me. I can’t see myself playing at any other club because this is the club I love and I’m really happy here.”

• Agbonlahor

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Five contestants from major parties are angling for the Sokoto State governorship seat. It seems tough and rough for the aspirants who are doing everything to attract the support of godfathers. ADAMU SULEIMAN looks at their chances, the godfathers and the challenges ahead as the December 17 Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) primary draws near.

Tussle to unseat Wamakko heats up Sokoto T

HE Sokoto State political scene is charged. Contrary to the earlier assumption that Governor Aliyu Wamakko would have a smooth ride in a bid to return to office, stiff opposition is being mounted to halt his movement within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Those known to have thrown their hats in the ring include Senator Illa Gada and Sports Minister Yusuf Sulaiman. It is now all about how the political dramatis personae in the state’s tense political atmosphere can move amid the various challenges threatening their ambition to clinch the number-one position in the state next year. Mounting confusion keeps rattling key players in the contest, particularly as the fraternity in the PDP has been shattered. At the centre of it all is the state Governor Aliyu Wamakko whose recent seven-day absence from the state left a lot of his principal aides to shift base to Abuja to find sure ways of weathering the impending political storm. Contending the seat with him are Dahiru Yusuf Yabo, Senator Umar Gada, Ila Gada and Aliyu Yabo of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Supporters of two major PDP aspirants flexed muscles last week in the Gobirawa area of the Sokoto metropolis when Gada’s campaign banner was pasted. The move reportedly infuriated some proWamakko youths who kicked, resulting in a clash that left many with various degrees of injuries. But no life was lost during the violence. That was before Sulaiman surfaced thus suprring speculations that the sports Minister is the aspirant who has the support of the powers that be. Wamakko’s posters have taken over countless locations in the metropolis and surrounding suburbs, particularly Kan Wuri, Gobirawa, T/Wada, U/Rogo, Rijiyan Dorawa, Rijiyan Shehu, Runjin Sambo, Emir Yahaya, Gandu, Arkilla, Bado, Gagi, Old Aiport, Kwannawa and Gawon Nama, among others. But why would Wamakko not begin to celebrate like every other sitting political office holder in an environment where incumbency factor matters a lot? His opponents are quick to point out the festering internal crisis within the ruling PDP at the state, zonal and federal levels over some alleged antiparty activities; Wamakko’s refusal to conduct party congresses and subsequent imposition of councils’ chairmen in the guise of elected leadership among others. However, Ibrahim Kazaure, the Zonal Vice Chairman of the party, is rooting for the governor return and the development appears to have whittled down Gada’s seeming acceptability in his zone. Kazaure’s stand is widely assumed to be in the interest of the unity of the ruling PDP in the zone. The rumpus in the party has led to the suspension of one of its ex-officio members from Zamfara State who is said to have cooked up the alleged anti-party evidences against the Sokoto governor. The line-up has thickened with time, the political cloud is also responding appropriately. Also, Wamakko is staging a counterattack from all angles in the three senatorial zones in the seat of the caliphate. Just last weekend, the state chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), one of the few parties believed to be stage managed, produced a consensus candidate, Alhaji Malami S. Galma for the 2012 governorship election. Although, Malami promised not to compromise the direction of his party with a resolve to work for its growth even as he urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rescind its decision of not extending financial assistance to po-

• Wammako: Worried about the Sylva treatment

• Yabo: Banking on united opposition

litical parties, he added: “If INEC rescinds its decision, it will help against any situation where money bags can hijack parties for selfish reasons. “I can assure you that there are some of us that are right-thinking and who will ensure judicious use of the assistance for the good of the party and our people as well.” Apparently determined, the ADC governorship candidate also said his party had sizeable number of followers, admirers and well wishers across all strata of the state. Galma’s emergence is coming few months after Fresh Democratic Party (FDP)’s Alhaji Mu’azu’s candidature was endorsed at the party’s primaries. It was gathered that Action for Democracy (AD) has been added to the list of contenders for the state governorship. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has always been seen as the road-paver for Wamakko in the ruling party after protracted misunderstanding with former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa who, at a point, rolled out the arsenal against Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, a drama that prompted Obasanjo to descend heavily on Sokoto for

• Bafarawa: Godfather or beautiful bride?

• Sulaiman: Set to upstage Wamakko

PDP. However, the former president whose role helped to instal the ruling party in the seat of the caliphate after eight years of ANPP leadership, has raised the scorecard of the party higher, courtesy of Wamakko’s popularity. But Obasanjo’s insistence on adherence to zoning was tacitly opposed as Wamakko is alleged to have shifted his support for Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from the North-West zone in order to emerge as Speaker of the House of Representatives against South-West Mulikat Akande. The development is now working against the governor’s aspiration. Even at that, minds of northern politicians are still rattled by the role Obasanjo played in paving the way for the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan against the zoning arrangement on ground. The North may review its stance for being denied the chance of producing the President in the current dispensation which is seen to be a major setback for the region. Obasanjo was said to have been the master minded However, not minding the fact that his return to the seat is being threatened from several quarters within and outside his party,

Wamakko is said to be enjoying the spirited support of Sokoto lawmakers at the centre and state levels. Consequently, pointers have shown that the incumbent governor secured his form for the primaries through the overwhelming backing of the lawmakers who also unanimously endorsed him for the governorship poll in 2012. It was learnt that all the national assembly members converged last week in Sokoto to of endorse of Wamakko as the ruling party’s sole governorship aspirant. But a source revealed that Speaker Tambuwal was absent at the party’s secretariat venue of the meeting. Senator Gada, a hard nut for Wamakko within the PDP, is also enjoying appreciable support. Only recently, scores of women politicians converged on Kaduna in solidarity with Gada, even as they expressed their worries over the discriminatory treatment of their husbands and wards by the Wamakko-led government. There, they reportedly sought a change in the next dispensation. In their numbers, they chanted: “We want a change of leadership in Sokoto and our candidate is Gada. No going back unless you want us to remain in abject poverty and humiliation.’’ It was also gathered that a number of teeming youths and women in solidarity with the former Senator contributed money, equivalent to the sum needed for the purchase of the party’s nomination form for the aspirant (Gada). Sources have it that the former Senator’s ambition was being boosted by President Jonathan and his wife, Patience who are reportedly working in collaboration with the party’s old folks in Sokoto against Wamakko. A new twist was brought to the contest when Sports Minister Sulaiman jointed the fray in Abuja last week. This has jolted the scene and realignment of forces is expected. A thick plot is going on. Some of those with Gada may yet be seen in the minister’s camp. A source - a staff - also confirmed that civil servants in the state are praying fervently for the governor so that he can continue the laudable improvement in public service. “The man is trying for us. He has made a lot of things possible for us since he came in. We had our seven years, three steps arrears deducted by the Bafarawa’s administration; furniture and car loans as well as soft loans for farmers and traders who lost their goods and capital in 2006 Sokoto central market inferno. He is accessible and listening to the common man. He recognises and respects human value with concern for the less-privileged.” A.A. Yabo, the Congress for Progressice Change (CPC) candidate may not be troubled at his party’s primaries as his archrival, Dahiru Yusuf Yabo is said to have picked an ANPP ticket for the primaries. But for now, nothing is heard of its (CPC) leader and Presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections, General Muhammadu Buhari, on the forthcoming Sokoto governorship polls where his party is expected to surpass its previous record. However, Yabo is capitalising on Buhari’s popularity by using his picture on his campaign posters. The CPC presidential candidate is perceived to be no longer interested in politics sequel to his declaration not to contest again following his loss at the presidential race in 2011. Meanwhile, Aliyu Yabo’s party secretariat along Kano-Gusau road, Sokoto the state capital has become a beehive of activities since the news of the petition against Wamakko spread.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

POLITICS

Internal wrangling bane of PDP, says aspirant Mr Shehu Ibrahim Birma, an aspirant for the office of National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), speaks on his vision and agenda for the party in this interactive session with journalists in Lagos. AUGUSTINE AVWODE was there.

HAT political experience do you have that qualifies you to seek the position of PDP national chairman? I was elected a member of the National Assembly in the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) days but it was not inaugurated. Secondly, I was the secretary of PDP campaign organisation for the governorship and other elections in Borno State which brought about this democratic success to PDP in state this year. Experience in the past has not moved the party an inch forward, what then is the relevance of that experience? If the experience that they (other contestants) are now flaunting as what is needed to move the party forward, where were they before? They have been around, but some of the aspirants who were leaders in my own state were unable to resolve some contending issues in about 11 local government areas for two years to the time that we had stakeholders’ meeting with the former chairman of the party, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor. What is the magic now that the same persons will now use in resolving issues in 774 local government areas if the need arises? Experience is relevant, but it is not a determinant factor; politics or any other endavour is all about harnessing human and material resources to achieve a set goal. Also, if we should go by what has happened in the southern part of the state, on my own volition I felt that there was the need to minimise areas of frictions among the party’s stakeholders and I went to about three local government areas and at the end of it all, it was discovered that there were actually no areas of friction other than normal concerns to move the party forward to enable us achieve a collective objective. You are contesting with some heavyweights such as Alhaji Bamanga Turkur. Do you have the where withal, political sagacity and resources to out flank these opponents? If you are to vote as a delegate, you will like to hear all the aspirants, but have you heard from these big names? It is not only about flaunting past experiences but of what benefits have these big names been to the PDP as a party? We are also engaging them in discussions on the need to give the younger persons like us the chance. Moreover, if you take an example from this part of the country, a lot of elderly citizens

• Birma

have taken the back stage and are now giving useful advice to the younger persons. Similarly, we are also appealing to these elders to retire to the background and give us advice, good enough some of them are adopting it. On the other hand, the Presidency has a stake whether we like it or not, it has a stake but we are in dialogue with them. Since 1999, the party has not produced any chairman that got to the end of his tenure there was always one problem or the other. Are you not scared by this development? On the issue of the party chairmen not lasting in office, most often that you see these changes occurred, I am not sure whether there was a time you have seen an aspirant under PDP crisscrossing this country for wide consultation. I have toured the whole of North Eastern states and spoken with party elders and stakeholders, including the governors. I am moving into North west in the coming week, thereafter, I will move into North central and towards the end of December, I should be able to come over to the South west. Definitely, there is this need for us to reach out but if at the end of the day, a system is now foisted on the party whereby there will be some form of consultation through which a system brings out a candidate, definitely, we can’t be pushed away without well-argued reasons. This is our hope and this is one of the reforms that the PDP is talking about. At a point, we are talking about nascent democracy, we have graduated to democracy and the democracy needed some internal democracy and we have finished that.

The process is similar to the man that is breaking the chips, it is not the first strike that breaks the chips, neither is it the last one because there were beatings before; let us see it in that wise. PDP as a party is a Nigerian institution and if we can do it for Nigeria , it is better for us. Considering what goes on in this kind of contest in Nigeria, there is always one kind of benefactor or the other; do you have anyone that is backing your aspiration? The history of backing and godfatherism is replicate with battles immediately on assumption of office; I hope and pray that you and I will not witness that up to the end of my tenure. First and foremost, I have made up my mind that this aspiration is feasible and workable, I have spoken to some friends, some of them are here others are elsewhere but all the people that I met in the course of this pursuit have given me hope all through. What makes you think you could achieve your aspiration under the circumstances in your state, Borno? I am not an elder in terms of age, if that is your criteria, but what is happening in Borno State is that some people felt that we have not contributed much to the party (PDP). But if you look at the history of the party in the state, you would appreciate how far we have came. For example in 1999 when Baba Ahmed Ginja was the party’s governorship candidate, it was after the Mala Kachala’s tenure had elapsed that he was declared the winner by the Supreme Court, but then it was too late. Even now as we are talking, we are still in the court, we believe that we have won on merit, and all our efforts have been for the court to hear the case on merit but the technicalities and other antics of the opposing party have not allowed that. So we are back to the Court of Appeal to have an order so that the tribunal could hear the merit of our petition, we think we are on course. If you look at the last election, the party moved from zero in the Senate to win two out of the three Senate seats, for the House of the Representatives, we were able to secure four seats, and got six also in the state House of Assembly. It means that we took many steps forward. And I believe that I was part of a system that took the party to a greater height. In as much as I sympathise with the party but that should not be a disability if there is a good material for the chairmanship of the party of which I present myself.

• Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi chatting with former Ondo State Governor, Evang. Bamidele Olumilua and his wife during a tour of Ikere-Ekiti Local Government Areas, Ekiti State. PHOTO: YOMI ADEFOLALU

Mr. Babatunde Ereola was a member of the Constituent Assembly (1988-89), Publicity Secretary of Bamanga Tukur Presidential Campaign Organisation in 1989 and one of those who engineered the creation of Osun State. He spoke with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE in Lagos on national issues.

‘Why toying with oil subsidy is dangerous’

AVING served as a member of the Constituent Assembly, how would you want Nigeria governed? I’m an advocate of devolution of power. This is because power at the centre has always been misused. Leadership has always been the bane of the country. Although people have been coming out to rule the country, those who have good intention to serve have not been given the chance. It is those who are not prepared that have been ruling. Right from the First Republic, the late Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa did not want to be the Prime Minister. He was sent to the centre by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. Ahmadu Bello wanted to be at the region and that is what we called qualitative leadership. When the military struck and took over power, my father was in Parliament too at that period. The level of debate and other things were well coordinated. I want to say that at that period, Nigeria made some level of progress. I think the problem we had was the military incursion that derailed the democratic process. In fact, democracy had never been perfect all over the world, even in America. If the military had not come, and since democracy is trial and error thing, democracy would have grown naturally here in Nigeria. So how did the military incursion affect the political scene? When General J T U Aguiyi Ironsi came in, I think that was when sectional politics got more entrenched in Nigeria. The Igbos were lining up behind their leader, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, the Yoruba behind Awolowo and the North were behind Ahmadu Bello and Balewa even though they were dead. This now brings us to the issue of national character, quota system and all the jargons in our lexicon which has not been done on merit again. This I will say has been the bane of our political development. If leadership has been the bane of Nigeria, then what is the way forward? This issue of leadership is what we have to examine critically and that is what should be the concern of everybody. We need an entirely new orientation and this is why I subscribe to the call for a national conference. This is desirable because right now there is the emergence of various militant groups in the country such as the Odua People’s Congress, Egbesu boys, Ijaw Nationalist Congress, Arewa and the latest; the Boko Haram. Well, we should not get the formation of these militant groups wrong. Some of them are not criminal in nature and their agitations are genuine and borne out of poor leadership. Their emergence calls for concern and I believe it is now time for the federal government to convene a national conference to determine how Nigerians want to stay together. People are agitating for state police because of the security lapses in the country, law and order have broken down. Nigerians are no longer safe. Right now, there is no-

where in the country where one is safe. Our leaders find themselves in leadership position not because they are more qualified than others or because of their intelligence but because they have perfected ways of how to corner power. What are your expectations from President Goodluck Jonathan? At this stage, he should initiate a policy that will ensure adequate power supply. It should be a policy that can even allow a local government to generate electricity for its locality. Again, he must ensure effective and adequate security. This is essential because people need to be protected and those giving useful information about criminals should be protected too. The situation we have now is bad because no sooner than security information is released, it is divulged to criminals. People need proper orientation and that is why we need to flush out criminals who are now parading themselves as politicians in government. Again, my candid opinion is that if the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was alive to complete his tenure, he would have made a difference. But with President Jonathan I have the hope that Nigeria still has the opportunity to be a better nation. President Jonathan at this stage should be courageous and take a strong stand on the way forward for Nigeria. He should be bold and be a states man. Government is talking about removing oil subsidy… Nigeria leaders should be careful about this. They must not take Nigerians for a ride. I could recollect what Venezuela’s High Commissioner to Nigeria said. According to him, the oil in that country is a natural gift which must be enjoyed by the people. The same principle should be applicable to us here in Nigeria. Removing oil subsidy can cause problem and it could lead to chaos. Our leader should not think that what happened in the Arab world cannot happen in Nigeria. Nigerians are hungry and angry, there is no employment and anything done now to compound the already tense situation could lead to crisis. The president should try his best not to dance to the tune of some selfish people who may want to use this as an opportunity to run down his government and make it unpopular.

• Ereola

PROGRAMME

Amosun counsels new monarch

‘There’s goldmine in rural areas’

Council chief inspires at Health Week Lagos

INSTALLATION

OPPORTUNITY

Ogun

MONDAY DECEMBER 5, 2011

Ogun

Page 27

Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

ESIDENTS of rural communities in Ekiti State have praised the health programme of Governor Kayode Fayemi. Since its inception, the administration has rolled out several schemes to boost the well-being of the people. Many have had their eyes examined and treated, some coming away with recommended glasses. There have been blood pressure and blood sugar checks at the government’s expense. Recently, about 200 hernia patients were treated free of charge. Beneficiaries of the Free Health Mission in Ekiti communities say it is unprecedented and a signal that the government in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, cares for the poor in far-flung rural areas. 70-year-old Mrs. Rachel Falope, who benefitted in Ikole-Ekiti, declared that bringing quality doctors and drugs to local communities had never happened in the history of the state. Also, Mrs. Victoria Adeleye, another septuagenarian, from IjesaIsu, who suffered general body pains, expressed surprise that she was treated and given drugs without any money collected from her. Mr. Clement Amadi, a beneficiary in Iye-Ekiti, who received drugs, and his wife, Janet Amadi, an eye patient, described the Free Health Mission as a channel through which the grassroots are feeling the impact of the state government. “I have seen the doctor and have been given eyeglasses,” she said. “No money was collected from me and other people I saw being attended to. We are grateful to the governor for his efforts in the area of health. Our prayer is that may God continue to help him.” Pa Julius Adesola was among some 40,000 beneficiaries of the free health programme in the five local governments in Ekiti Central Senatorial District. At Fajuyi Park, Mr. Adesola beamed with a smile seeing Newsextra again after an earlier meeting during the free hernia surgery exercise at the University

•Cross section of beneficiaries of free health programme

Residents hail Ekiti health programme 200 get free hernia treatment Impact felt at grassroots From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti

Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti which came almost two months earlier. Coincidentally again, his age, 67, quali-

fied him for a continuous free health programme and N5,000 monthly social security stipend of the state government. Mr. Adesola, who resides in Odo Ado area of the state capital,

confessed to being a beneficiary of all. Mrs. Folake Olajuyigbe, a seamstress, has a child who has been receiving free treatment for some time

under the health policy for underfives. But she took her three other children for the free care. Mrs Olajuyigbe said: “I remember the first free health mission very well. I was going to the market when I saw them. I just went to them and they attended to me. I can •Continued on Page 28

Oshiomhole hails lawmaker over free medical care

•Oshiomhole

DO State Governor Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole has praised the House of Representatives member representing Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency Comrade Peter Akpatason for providing free medical services to the people. The governor who was represented by the Council Chairman, Hon. Anselm Agbabi, expressed delight over Akpatason’s gesture, saying, “It is a thing of joy to play host to the indefatigable, hard-working,

From Osagie Otabor, Benin City

fearless and courageous Comrade Peter Akpatason, on the formal flagging off of a four-day free medical treatment for the good people of Akoko-Edo. He continued: “Leadership is not a tea party. A good leader must be humane, peoplefriendly, and development inclined and this must be targeted at the greatest number of people. Comrade Akpatason has demonstrated these leadership qualities”.

Continuing, Agbabi said, “the introduction of free medical treatment for the people of Akoko-Edo is a novel and beautiful idea, just as the saying goes that good health is wealth. For us as a government in the Local Government Area, we have been involved in preventive healthcare by making provision for drugs and that our primary health centres are being made more functional. “Indeed, today is not a speech making day but permit me to note that this gesture is worthy of emulation and it’s a clarion call

on persons voted into offices to please remember their people. We in Akoko Edo Local Government Area recognise and appreciate this noble gesture; I want to also use this medium to appeal to the people of Akoko Edo to come out in numbers because this exercise is totally free. Earlier in his speech, Comrade Akpatason said, “the free medical service is my own way of demonstrating commitment to the service and welfare of the •Continued on Page 28

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

Residents hail Ekiti health programme •Continued from Page 27 never forget that day as they eventually gave me drugs later valued at over two thousand naira. Just like that!”. “This one”, referring to the Health Mission which started on October 31 and ended November 9, “I heard over the radio and decided to ensure all my children benefit. I have brought them and they have all been attended to”. Another beneficiary, Mrs. Abosede Ojo said she came to the Mission with a chronic abdominal pain “which had been troubling me for about three weeks earlier”. “When I came the doctor who attended to me gave me injection and drugs to reduce my pain and then she ordered me to do scan for which she also gave me money. “I came back with the result of the scan the following day. I have now been given some drips and injection and I am now healthy again. I don’t feel any pain again. “One thing I like about the programme is that there is no ‘manknow-man’. As you come you join a queue and you get a tally. They would call you with your tally and eventually you get attended.” Pa Adesola, a beneficiary of the hernia surgical festival at the General Hospital, Ikere-Ekiti, noted the impartiality. “You will be served as you come,” he said. “Speaking with a rich Ekiti accent on the hospital bed just after the redeeming operation, he said: “I have been carrying this problem for the past three years. I went to the hospital in Ado once and they told me to go and bring a lot of money. I didn’t have that money and I decided to stay at home.” Both Ogeleye Mayowa, 44, and Ganiyu Adebusuyi, 32, equally thanked the state government for the intervention. Speaking on their hospital beds, they admitted they had been carrying the malaise for a minimum of three years, appealing that government should embark on serious awareness campaigns to sensitise other patients suffering at home without any help. Another hernia patient, Mrs Foluso Aladejana, equally spoke: “I am from Agbado-Ekiti in Gbonyin Local Government,” she said. “The hernia had forced me to stop having babies. You cannot even have babies with hernia. “Whenever the pains came I could not do any work. As you are seeing all of us here, we have spent a lot of money looking for cure, but most of us could not afford the cost of the operation,” Aladejana said. The Permanent Secretary said people were sensitised through radio and TV jingles in a minimum of one week apart from newspaper

•Participants at the event

Initially the plan was to treat 150 free, but the more corporate bodies became aware of what we planned, the more the responses we got from them. Immediately we announced our intentions to the bodies, support came flowing in publications. “We have always been sensitising the people and will continue to do that,” he said. “Still, some people will not get the information and even if everybody gets the information we cannot do it for all as finances are limited. “But we have registered those who came up for the operation and when we get more funds, we contact them. It is on first come first served basis. Is the programme sustainable? Yes, said the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Wole Olugboji. He added that Fayemi conceived and executed the Health Missions during his electioneering campaigns, consequent upon the deplorable condition of health care particularly at the primary level across the communities then. Olugboji said, “Effectively, they serve just as an emergency palliative to fill in gaps in health care delivery at the grassroots. It was the terrible state of infrastructure and personnel at that level that actually compelled the intervention. “Today I can say Health Missions have largely resuscitated health care delivery at the grassroots with the

centres enjoying higher patronage by the grassroots people. According to findings, health challenges that received the attention of the medical personnel included common ailments like malaria, typhoid, dysentery, constipation and others, while special cases like hernia, hypertension, diabetes, eye and dental problems, antenatal care, HIV counseling were a few that received on-the-spot attention and consequent treatment and or referral. The Commissioner said: “May I recall that the free hernia surgery festival we just had was a consequence of the experience we had in the earlier Health Missions. “Hernia was such a killer disease which should not stay long in the affected individual before being removed. But many could not afford the cost of the operation and care as a single hernia operation would cost nearly N40,000. They then resigned to fate. “It was the feedback on incidences of reported cases from the health missions that made the Ministry decide to embark on the free hernia and we ensured the state did not commit any fund towards it. It was

Oshiomhole hails lawmaker over free medical care •Continued from Page 27

people I represent, having realised that a whole lot of people in the rural constituency do not have easy access to quality medical treatment. I want to work with a healthy population in AkokoEdo. “Many have died out of ignorance, and several others walk about with death in their pockets. Merely having access to free medical examination could reveal such dangers and help to avert avoidable deaths and health complications. Though it costs me a colossal amount, in the

end, health is wealth. The people have to be alive and healthy for them to be able to benefit from developmental efforts. “This is the first of a series of outreach programmes to the people. I desire to continuously attract dividends of democracy to my people in different forms. I am glad at the turnout and the appreciation expressed by the participants in such a zestful mood. The programme started on Monday 28th November at the General Hospital Igarra and continued at the General Hospital Ibillo. It covers medical examinations in the following areas: fever, sugar,

blood pressure, hepatitis, glucose, eye. “Treatment is given for any detected case, which includes major and minor surgeries. Recommended drugs and eyeglasses are distributed free of charge. Arrangement is in place with Irua Specialist, Igarra and Ibillo General Hospitals for follow-up on surgery cases. Management and staff of all three hospitals have been wonderful, to say the least. I shall find time to raise serious challenges of this organisation as well as the medical facility at Ososo with the appropriate authorities when the report of the outreach is out,” Akpatason said.

almost wholly sponsored by corporate bodies within and outside the state. “We resolved to treat some of the reported cases free as my Ministry’s own contribution to Fayemi administration’s one year in office and to complement the ongoing free health mission. “Initially the plan was to treat 150 free, but the more corporate bodies became aware of what we planned, the more the responses we got from them. Immediately we announced our intentions to the bodies, support came flowing in. “Even the State Governor was so happy that he personally donated some money while his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi sponsored additional 50 surgeries through the Ekiti Development Foundation. “Eventually, we did the free surgery for nearly 200 needy inhabitants both males and females and our theatres were the General Hospitals across the local governments. “A surprising discovery particularly in respect of those with eye problems was that about 90 per cent of them had never undergone any eye examination prior the time of government’s intervention through the Mission. The Coordinator, Development Support International (DSI), a nongovernment organisation (NGO) which anchors the free health mis-

•Fayemi sions in concert with the State Ministry of Health, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe agreed with this position. The basic reason for free health missions is to cause people to take greater interest in their health and that has largely been achieved, she said. “Our experience is that once people have to spend any amount of money to access health, they get immediately discouraged,” she added. “I think all the free health missions have been successful. I recall so far, we have had about three free health missions in the state and each next one was better than the one before, especially in terms of turnout of residents. “Based on the records, we have attended to nearly 200,000 individuals in the Missions. The Missions equally offered us opportunities to counsel people with serious health challenges to take greater care of their own health.”

THE NATION

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

Council chief inspires at Health Week

LIMOSHO Local Government Area, Lagos State, has held its maternal and child health week, with the chairman Hon. Olusola Adekunle playing an inspiring role. He stressed the need for the council residents to take proper care of their health. The council chief also urged women to take the health of their babies seriously. He even administered Vitamin A supplement to children at a Primary Health Centre in the Akowonjo area of the council. “As you all know,” he said, “this administration from inception has taken health as a priority that cannot be compromised. This is the reason we have decided not to waste time but rather swing into action immediately we were sworn in for the second term. “You may recall that during our first tenure, several projects were embarked upon in this sector ranging from free ante-natal and post-natal care, free diagnosis, treatment and drugs for all age brackets, several medical equipment were procured and installed, free hypertension and diabetes screening, free eye screening and distribution of eyeglasses to those in need just to mention a few.” Adekunle also spoke on maternal and child health, saying his administration has identified the problems associated it. “I would implore all and sundry to make judicious use of this rare opportunity and maximise the benefits of this programme as we have come to terms with the fact that our mothers are the bedrock of our dear nation and our children are the future of our much admired nation.”

HAIRMAN of the Senate Committee on Environment Dr. Bukola Saraki has said that the National Assembly would soon initiate a bill to stop gas flaring in the country. Saraki who made this disclosure in Asaba, Delta State capital, said the Senate was determined to stop gas flaring in the country. He explained that the stand of

By Yetunde Balogun

he urged the constituents to take care of “our environment as the business of health care is that which concerns everyone and should begin from the immediate environment.” The chairman also implored the people perform their civic responsibilities as the benefits, according to him, “cannot be overemphasised.” Also, the council’s legislature has also been inaugurated, following the conclusion of elections. At the inauguration, Adekunle addressed the lawmakers, urging them to give their best in service. “I heartily congratulate you on your hard-earned victory at the polls and commend you for your steadfastness and commitment since then,” said the council boss. “You will agree with me that the people that elected you into office have done so for a purpose. Their interest must be your priority and must be vigorously purposed so that the dividends of democracy shall spread evenly throughout the various communities and constituencies which you represent. “Having been sworn in, you should endeavour at all times to embrace your kinsmen and be ready to serve the communities that elected you into office. The interest of these communities should be pursued vigorously so that they could also benefit from the council’s programmes and projects. “I wish to emphasise that as elected representatives of the seven wards in this local

•Chairman of Alimosho Local Government, Hon Israel Adekunle administering Vitamin A supplement to a child during the maternal and child health care week

I implore all and sundry to make judicious use of this rare opportunity and maximise the benefits of this programme. We have come to terms with the fact that our mothers are the bedrock of our dear nation and our children the future of our much admired country govrenment, you will be judged by the electorate for your actions and inactions while in office.

You should not betray the trust reposed in you by the electorate. You must be prepared to be ac-

countable to them throughout your tenure of office. “This government is intended to be a people-oriented one. I, therefore, make bold to assure our people that everything promised the electorate during the electioneering campaign shall be fulfilled but within our limited resources. “In this connection, I am using this medium to seek for the total cooperation of our people in articulating this administration’s planned projects and programmes.

Bill to end gas flaring on the way From Aiwerie Okungbowa, Asaba

the nation on gas flaring would enable the country to find alternative use for the gas which is currently being wasted. Senator Saraki said the federal government was determined to

address issues involving climate change especially as it affects agriculture, livestock and other important areas negatively. Saraki said climate change problem was global and disclosed that the senate committee on environment would attend an international conference on cli-

mate change in South Africa to strategise with other countries and find a solution to the common problem. He said climate change has international connotation and all countries require collaborative effort to combat it. Minister for Environment Hadiza Mailafia who was on Saraki’s entourage, urged Nigerians to respect and protect the environment.

Hadiza Malafia said the federal government will always intervene on ecological issues and called on state government to partner with the federal government to check environmental degradation. She however promised that the federal government would embark on advocacy programme to change the attitude of Nigerians towards the environment.

The stand of the nation on gas flaring would enable the country to find alternative use for the gas which is currently being wasted

•Clinical Director, Aids Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN), Dr Ernest Ekong (right) and Prof Suleiman Akanmu of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), with members of the APIN team during the activities to mark this year’s World Aids Day in Lagos

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

Aregbesola’s wife distributes 100,000 writing materials

IFE of the Osun State governor, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, has distributed over 100,000 writing materials to pupils in public primary and secondary schools in the state. She said that the education sector from next year will witness a revolutionary change and production of quality leaders out of school pupils capable of comparing with those in the advanced world. While distributing the materials at the Government House in Osogbo as part of the activities marking the Aregbesola administration’s first anniversary, she disclosed that the decadence the administration inherited in the education sector would soon be a thing of the past. The governor’s wife, who said children’s safety is a priority of Aregbesola’s

•Mrs Aregbesola

Monarch lauds Obasanjo , Dangote over Ibese cement factory

HE Aboro of Ibeseland, Oba Joel Bamgbose has described the President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote as a businessman who shares his wealth with fellow human beings. Oba Bamgbose made this observation when members of he Yewa-Awori Concerened Professionals paid him a courtesy visit at his palace in Ibese, Yewa North Local Government of Ogun State. The monarch said Dangote’s economic exploits in Ogun West with the establishment of Ibese Cement Factory at Ibese will surely reduce, if not remove unemployment amongst the youth of the area in particular and Ogun state in general. He told the group whose members are mainly from Yewa-Awori that the activity of establishing a cement factory in Ibese dated back to 1963 when he started the agitation. Oba Bamgbose however expressed his gratitude and that of Ibese community to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the successive governments in Ogun State for their relentless efforts towards making Ibese Cement Factory a reality. “I want to sincerely thank the Almighty God,

Ogun Alhaji Dangote, Chief Obasanjo, past and present governors in Ogun State and everyone God used to make Ibese Cement Factory dream becomes a reality”, Oba Bamgbose enthused. The oldest reigning king in Ogun State thanked YACP members for the visit and their quest towards promoting unity and development of Ogun-West in particular and Ogun State in general. He, however, assured the group of his fatherly support towards achieving their objectives. Contributing, the Asiwaju of Ibeseland, Dr. Henzy Idowu, described Alhaji Dangote as a businessman of repute, “someone who brings joy into various homes through the creation of employment opportunities for the youths in the country”. Idowu, former Managing Editor of the rested Daily Times of Nigeria commending YACP members, urged them to use their clouts within and outside the government for the industrialisation of Ogun West.

Osun From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

administration, disclosed further that elementary schools for pupils in the age group 3 to 6 years, will be located within their locality to avoid the problem of missing children and to encourage their parents to release them to attend school regularly. According to her, the new education policy of the state government would guarantee the best quality education for all and sundry without charging them any fee. She said: “Today’s event is the beginning of great things that would happen in the state’s education sector. As you are all aware that the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has concluded plans to revolutionise the school system to match the standard applicable in the most developed parts of the world. “So, I charge parents and guardians to seize the opportunity the present government is providing to give the best education to their children and wards. I am also urging them to make the hygiene of their children a priority and also strive to help them succeed by regularly checking their assignment. “As parents, it is important that we take care of our children. We should always check their books and help them with their assignment, this would enable us to be aware of their problems and monitor their progress academically and morally. I also urge the children to be disciplined and hardworking, because no success can come without working hard for it, so you should be focused and remain diligent in your studies so you can all be successful in the future.”

• Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (left) receiving a cheque of N2 million from Dr. Lekan Are of the University Press Plc to assist the flood victims .With them is the the Managing Director of company, Mr. Samuel Kolawole

‘We need more women in government’

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to involve more women in his administration. Aare Afe Babalola gave the advice in Ado-Ekiti at the Iconic Women Award and the launch of Woman Icon magazine. Drawing inference from the tremendous performances of women who had been appointed into office in the past 12 years, the legal luminary suggested that more women should be invited into power by the President. Chief Afe, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, said that when women were saddled with responsibility, they discharged it with utmost diligence, noting that the feat put up by the Nigerian women in power

Council revives roads

UCCOUR came the way of the people of Ikosi Isheri Local Council Development Area of Lagos recently as the new chairman ,Hon. Abdul Fatai Oyedele Oyesanya began repair of some roads. The roads are those of Ikosi Road, CMD Roads, Love All Road and AladeIola among others. They are in the first phase of the rehabilitation exercise. Others will follow in no distant date to live up to the electioneering promises made by the chairman in the run up to the recently held council polls in the state. Hon Oyesanya said that the state governor Babatunde Fashola gave a three-point agenda to the chairmen as they took their oath of office recently. They were asked to urgently look into roads rehabilitation, improved healthcare and better education sector. The chairman said if there are good roads,residents would move freely and do their legitimate business,farmers would move their farm produce to markets and be able to contribute to the Internally Generated Revenue by paying their taxes and rates.

Lagos By Dayo Adewunmi

Oyesanya said the effort is being supported by the Lagos State Government because the council cannot do it alone, saying that the leader of the party“has urged us to make dividends of democracy get to the residents of the council and the state at large. Apart from the elements in the three-point agenda, Oyesanya said youth empowerment has become another cardinal programme of his administration. He promised to fight tooth and nail to see that youths in the council are properly empowered to fight hunger and boredom. According to him , an hungry man is an angry man, but he promised not wait for them to be angry before he provides succour. Oyesanya thanked residents of Ikosi Isheri LCDA for voting for him and the Action Congress of Nigeria during the last council election.He promised not disappoint the people.

• Hon Oyesanya (second right) with his Vice-Chairman, Omobolanle Onikosi (left) ,HOD Works and Housing, Funmilayo Adesanya , the Council Manager, Mr Akanji Shadare (right) and other council officials at the flag off of the rehabilitation exercise PHOTOS DAYO ADEWUNMI

• Aare Afe Babalola and his wife Yeye Aare Modupe displaying the award while Prince Tony Adejugbe watch

My style, by local govt chair

HAIRMAN of Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, Dr Augustine Arogun, has described his style of administration as collective leadership. While addressing management staff of the council, Arogun emphasised the need for collective administration of the resources of the council. While assuring that party members and community people will be allowed to benefit from the dividends of democracy by participating in project execution, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) trained psychologist re-echoed that the interest of the party would be the uppermost in discharge of his duties. He stressed that accountability will be the hallmark of the administration where people will be briefed on every 100 days in office about the developments and programmes of the administration. People’s opinion and contributions would also be sought. Regular retreats, he said, would be

Lagos By Tajudeen Adebanjo

organised for workers on the need for improved development of infrastructure in the council. “I want to assure the residents that we are spoil for action as projects meant for grassr o o t s development in the seven wards of the council have been identified for immediate execution after completion of all due process. These include rehabilitation of roads, draining system, upgrading markets and empowerment programme,” he • Dr. Arogun said.

Ekiti By Adegunle Olugbamila

was as a result of their zero tolerance for corruption. Aare Babalola added that women don’t engage in unnecessary activities as their male counterparts, and have less tendency for acquisition of wealth. The feats put up by Mrs. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, Obiageli Ezewezili, Nenadi Usman, Dora Akunyili and the like, according to the frontline lawyer, had shown that the nation needs more women in handling her affairs. Among the women honoured at the event was his wife, Yeye Aare Modupe Afe Babalola; a member the Board of Trustee, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti(ABUAD), Chief Biodun Olujimi; first female deputy governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Taiwo Akande; first female Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Dr. Ololade Ojo; first female Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Mrs Alaba Ajayi, a nurse educator, and Regional Head, Skye Bank(Ondo/Ekiti). Mrs. Bola Allison. In her comment, Chief Modupe Babalola described the initiative as apt, stating that it has created a challenge to every woman in the state, especially upcoming generations to attain peak success, having known that they were being observed by the society. She was however described by the organisers as a self-effacing, hardworking, committed and highly disciplined woman of substance. The chairman/chief launcher, Opeyemi Bamidele, a lawyer and a member of the House of Representatives, who was unavoidably away to the United States of America, described the initiative as good forum to promote and appreciate Ekiti women who excel in their chosen careers.

Briefly

Madam Onibalusi buried THE remains of Madam Deborah Onibalusi (nee Alli) has been laid to rest at her residence in Ogbagi-Akoko, Ondo State. She was of the Owanikun family in Ikun-Akoko and was married to the Onibalusi family in OgbagiAkoko. She died on September 13 at the age of 80 and was buried on November 25. Rev Blessing Owolabi while speaking at a Christian service, organised in her honour at the First Baptist Church, Oke-Igbagbo, Ogbagi-Akoko on the topic, Death is not the End, admonished everyone to live a worthy life of service to God and humanity. He told them that whatever men did while alive would account for the kind of judgement they would receive from God. Madam Deborah Onibalusi in her lifetime was a philanthropist. Her philanthropy was so deep that many confessed that she raised them to become important personalities in life. She was survived by an aged husband – Pa David Onibalusi, many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Among them is a PDP stalwart in Ondo State – Olorioko Akinjobi Olamide Samuel.

Ekiti boosts security with armoured cars

HE Ekiti State government has donated two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the state Police Command as part of measures to fight crimes and secure lives and property of citizens and investors. Speaking while handing over the APCs to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, Governor Kayode Fayemi said the gesture was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the safety of residents. He added that though the state still enjoys relative peace, absolute peace was the target of his administration. The governor said this was in fulfilment of the resolve of his administration to partner with security agencies in the state to fight crimes. Fayemi explained that aside the provision of equipment for the security agencies, his administration had also embarked upon initiatives that would help reduce social vices in the state. He said: “We want to make Ekiti a no-go area for criminals and not just by providing the structures as well as the facilities but also by attending to the social needs of our people. That is why we are providing jobs through the youth volunteer corps and we are also supporting our elderly citizens with social security benefits” Fayemi said his vision to attract investors to the state which now enjoys relative peace would not be deterred by moves of some hoodlums who want to threaten the relative

Ekiti peace promising to work round the clock to maintain peace to make the state a choice destination for investors.

Replying, the state police boss, Mr. Balogun, lauded the gesture of the state government, saying that this had made explicit the resolve of the Fayemi-led administration to the safety of lives and property.

Association honours Afe Babalola

NOTHER feather has been added in the cap of Nigeria’s leading legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola, as he will be honoured by the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN). Babalola will be honoured for his private afforestation which has contributed to sustainable forest management in considerable manner. A letter by the association to the legal luminary noted that the association has watched with keen interest how he has sustained his commitment to tree planting over the years thereby, increasing the carbon sink and mitigating the adverse effects of Climate Change in a unique way. For this contribution, Babalola will, on Thursday December 7, receive the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Award at the Conference Hall, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Osogbo, Osun State by 11am. The award, according to the body, is part of the

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

activities marking the 34th Annual Conference of the Association which was established in 1970. The letter signed by the National President and National Secretary of FAN, Dr. Francis A. Akinsanmi and Prof. Labode Popoola respectively said Aare Babalola, who is also the Founder of the fastest growing private University in Nigeria, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, will be honoured for his massive afforestation initiative through private afforestation. FAN established over 40 years ago has, since its establishment, been at the vanguard of sustaining the nation’s fragile environment through SFM and is thus acknowledging and celebrating people like Aare Babalola in its global quest for a better environment.

Council focuses on development

HE Chairman of Ikoyi-Obalende Local Council Development Area, Adewale Adeniji has sought the support of the residents in order to guarantee more

•From left: Chief Kofoworola Odeyemi, Mrs Bidemi Onasanya and Mrs Modupe Lawale at the investiture of Lion Adeola Oni as the President, Ikeja D’lvy Lion Club, District 404B, Lions International, at CBD Ikeja, Lagos

Lagos By Tajudeen Adebanjo

dividends of democracy. Adeniji said the hallmark of the present administration of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state under Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is to make life more abundant. Meanwhile, the council chief dismissed having case before the election petition tribunal over his election, saying that “my election is never in contention.” Adeniji said: “the PDP strategy and propaganda to bring strange people that did not register to vote failed them,” saying “the antic was alien to the democratically rooted electorate in our domain.” While stating that “the case now has gone beyond who won and who did not win,” the council boss said “it is the losers who refused to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship that would head for the tribunal to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt,” saying “personally, I have no case before the tribunal.” Adeniji, who appeared unruffled, informed that “our focus now is how to continue the spreading of dividends of democracy from where we stopped in our first term in office and not detraction from politicians without grassroots relevance.”

Council vice-chair urges women to contribute more

HE Vice Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Mrs. Qudrat Omolara Dada, has appealed to women to continue to engage in projects that will help in the socio-economic development of their communities. Dada said this at the Women Mentoring Walk organised by the Centre for 21st Century Issues in partnership with Amuwo-Odofin Local Government and Idea Builders last week in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos. The walk which started at 12 noon had over 70 women in Blue tee-shirt with the inscription,Respect for Women, live healthy. The women walked from AmuwoOdofin Local Government to 2nd AvenueMile 2. It featured discussions, entrepreneurship in craft, mentoring, health talk and special session on mentoring for women with disability. According to the Vice Chairman, women can be better positioned in governance when they are proactively involved in development projects within their local communities. She said that there are various issues around health, environment and education which women must bring to bear their experience, expertise, energy in addressing for national development. Dada, who noted that the 35 percent affirmative action has been largely successful in Lagos State reaffirmed that: “there have been great improvement in the slot provided for women in Lagos State which is commendable, hence women must not sleep but roll up their sleeves to work for the betterment of the country

Lagos By Adeola Ogunlade

starting from their immediate community”. In her welcome address, the Executive Director, Centre For 21st Century Issues, Titi Akosa, said that the walk is an initiative of Women Mentoring Women Group where accomplished women leaders and rising women professionals convene and walk together in their communities. Akosa, who coordinated the walk, said that

• Partcipants at the programme

as they walk they engage in conversation regarding their challenges and success, thus establishing a mentoring relationship to help rising women leaders achieve their goals and reach full potential. “The mentoring walk is an opportunity for mentors and mentees to network, share ideas, experiences and knowledge to propel their career to greater height. The whole programmer starts with the mentoring cycle. This is where mentors and mentees are paired for a period of three months. The symposium and mentoring walk are the closing activities of a mentoring cycle”, she said.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

CITYBEATS THE NATION

E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

• Governor Fashola (2nd right); former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith (right), former Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr Waheed Kassim (3rd right), Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, former Federal Works Commissioner, Alhaji Femi Okunnu(SAN), his wife, Lateefat and the Asoju-Oba of Lagos, Chief Molade Okoya Thomas at the event.

Fashola: we have secured Lagos very year, the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola interacts with eminent indigenes, captains of industry and other critical stakeholders in the state on security. The interaction in its fifth year has given birth to the Lagos State Family Trust Fund (LSSTF), an avenue being used by the state administration to raise funds to equip the state Police Command to fight crime. It is a collaboratory effort between the government and the private sector. Since the fund was launched, it has invested heavily in terms of material and finance to boost the capacity of the police to discharge its duties to the public. At the Fifth Security Town Hall Meeting on November 22, Fashola demanded more support for the fund, to enable it to fulfil its mandate of outpacing criminals. He said the state, in the last one year, provided the police with 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), 60 high-powered motor

• Governor presents security report at Town Hall meeting By Miriam Ndikanwu

bikes, 50 patrol vehicles, six boats, and secured approval for the creation of five new Area Commands from the Headquarters. The commands will be built. "We hope that from this meeting, we will raise enough money to provide 500 more vehicles, 200 more patrol bikes and at least 20 more APCs," he said. Saying the security of lives and property remains a priority for the government, Fashola explained that the partnership with the private sector and other stakeholders would yield more results. "Our recourse to you today, is an acknowledgement of the impact and success that your participation brought about at the time of an imminent security crisis. “Our biggest challenge is to elicit a similar or better response from you today, at a time when things have improved, so that we can act

pro-actively as we did four years ago. "Your voluntary contributions from today by way of cash, vehicles and provision of fuel or any service that will improve our capacity will be the strongest possible statement we all can make in our determination to secure and protect the place we all call home", Fashola said. He recalled that when he assumed office in 2007, the biggest single challenge to the realisation of the dreams of the administration was posed by insecurity, saying that not only were lives being lost to crime on an almost daily basis in traffic, bank robberies and home invasions, the law enforcement personnel were neither equipped to fight crime nor motivated to do so. "The capacity we put in place in 2007 has become overstretched. The vehicles have aged and need to be replaced. The demands are new, the

methods of the criminals are changing and they are investing in their businesses in order to put our own lives and businesses at risk. "I stand before you very proudly to assert that we have overcome many of these challenges. The road to progress has not been easy. It has demanded thousands of hours of hardwork which we have gladly given. We have been greatly inspired by your support and sense of community in joining us to fight crime and preserve law and order", he said, adding: "The evidence of such support could be seen in the fact that our night life and economy are getting robust by the day and providing jobs for young people and investors in entertainment and hospitality. Many more businesses are opening and new hotels, restaurants, night clubs and cafes are springing up with the promise of more to come.”

Court to rule on land dispute

Prayer, key to govt’s success

JUSTICE Candide Johnson of the Lagos High Court will on February 28 , 2012, deliver judgment in a land dispute in Agege, Lagos. He reserved verdict after parties adopted their final written addresses. A Celestial Church cleric, Mr Joseph Ebhodaghe, sued the Registered Trustees of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, for N5million, seeking a declaration that he is the rightful owner of the parcel of land. He alleged that the defendant is a trespasser. In a 30-paragraph statement of claim, the claimant averred that sometime in 1980, he bought three parcels of land from Olalabi Suru family on Mulero Street, off Oyewole Road, Agege. He said he built a house on the land where he now lives.

THE Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, has described prayer as the key to success of any government. He spoke at the council secretariat, during a special Christian and Muslim prayer session held to usher in his administration for a second term in office. Bamigbetan said he discovered during his first term that the modest achievements he recorded were made possible through prayers. He said: "In October 2008, when we first assumed office, we had the lofty idea of turning Ejigbo into a mini-London, but we encountered many challenges and obstacles. If not for prayers, we would not have recorded any major achievements. Nobody believed we could provide free uniform for 4,200 pupils in our public primary schools and that was the least of our achievements.”

He said the government is complementing this by lighting up many streets, with power provided by diesel fired generators, while policemen are now better equipped to respond, because they have patrol vehicles and APCs to fight crime. "Keeping them on the road to protect all of us requires hundreds of thousands of litres of petrol, diesel and other logistics. We are paying them an improved monthly allowance and those at the vanguard of responding to violent crimes now have a group life and accident insurance coverage", Fashola said. He warned property owners who harbour criminals that if apprehended, the Certificate of Occupancy of their properties would be revoked, and the property acquired for public use. He expressed appreciation to Lagosians, including the lawmakers, members of the State Executive Council, bank executives, members

•SEE PAGE 32

Group proffers solution to economic instability LAGOSIANS have been called upon to change from their negative ways to have the desired change in the country. The plea was made by the Lagos State Amirah of The Believing Women Organisation, Al-Mu'minaat, Alhaja Mutiat Jumah, during the 16th yearly convention of the Lagos branch at the University of Lagos. She was commenting on the theme, 'the desired change - our hearts first'. She noted that the nation is suffering from the adverse effect of corruption in all sectors. Jumah urged the women present to remember the country in their prayers to avert insecurity, poverty, unemployment, among other vices, in the future.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

CITYBEATS

• Cross section of Policemen who received the Bravery Award during the 5th Town Hall Meeting •A cross section of participants on Security

Fashola: we have secured Lagos

•Continued from page 31

of LSSTF, leaders of business and private citizens, as well as school children who decided to support the fund from their pocket money. LSSTF Chairman Chief Remi Makanjuola, represented by his vice, Former Deputy InspectorGeneral (DIG), Olusegun Kazeem, said the fund’s greatest challenge is sustaining what it has built over the years. "The future effectiveness of our security model lies in our hands. Our collective resolve to continue our generous contributions to the LSSTF is for now our only option," he said. The fund’s Executive Secretary Mr Fola Arthur -Worrey, said the most

‘

We must be prepared not just for the moment but also for the future. We need to sustain and grow our model

pressing challenge is sustainability and growth over the long term. "We must be prepared not just for the moment but also for the future. We need to sustain and grow our model so that we are assured of adequate capacity for any eventuality." He said since the last meeting, seven states have approached the fund for consultancy advice on set-

’

ting up their own security trust fund and three states have actually established such funds. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Yakubu Alkali, in his report, listed

items which the Command has so far received to include; two helicopters, 30 APCS, 300 patrol vehicles, including mobile workshop vehicles, five W-19 Fibre Boats fitted with double 75HP outboard engines, 100 ballistic helmets, 1000 AK-47 rifles, two million 7.62MM calibre ammunition, 60 patrol motorcycles and 300 walkie-talkies. "Within the last few months, crimes have not only been prevented, but have

been nipped in the bud when committed. “This is due to the quick response to distress calls and the scrupulous and diligent use of information volunteered by members of the public and tools at the disposal of the Police to do the job." He cited the robberiesandkidnapswhichthecommandfoiled. With equipment provided, by the trust fund,thepolicehave become proactive responding promptly to calls and information provided by the public,” Alkali said. Highlight of the event was the special commendation presented to 21 exemplary police officers.

Integrity comes first, says Senator

FORMER lawmaker, Senator Stella Omu , has called for integrity among lead-

ers. She spoke at the launch of Collageo Communications Foundation (CCLF) in Lagos. "As a leader, you lead and not rule. So, if you want to be a leader, integrity comes first. You must understand the people you are leading; you must interact with them, share information, know their problems may be through town hall meetings and sit together with them to find a solution to them," she said. Omu enjoined the youths to be hard working, determined and dedicated if they hope to achieve success. "The youth should have the fear of God in mind, should continue to grow in integrity, hard work and dare to set big goals. Try again and again. Failure is part of existence, don’t give up. Determination is the key, other virtues are devotion and respect for elders," she said. Chairman of the Foundation, Mr Olafemi Olaniyan, said the foundation is meant to train young Nigerians on leadership skills. He gave the vision of the foundation as being an organisation that will empower youths on leadership skills and capacity building. Our vision is to be a change agent by empowering youths across Africa and in particular Nigeria, using the media, creative arts and capacity building initiatives," he said. He added that the mission is "to develop a crop of future leaders by making them aware of their leadership potentials at a young

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By Amidu Arije

age and teaching them to communicate positive virtues within and outside their communities.” He said youths should not be looked down upon if the country will change for better. "We are telling those in authority, to make the youth the focus of their policy and budget expenditure, give them education and allow them access to leadership training, he said. He ascribed the success of any leader to integrity, transparency, honesty and mutual respect. The sponsor of the group, Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, promised the group of its continuous support to make it achieve its goal. The company’s representative, Mr Lawal Isiaka said: "We have been a great supporter of youth programmes. We are here to support the organisation to achieve its goals of developing the youths and we are very hopeful that Nigeria will be better, he said. Isiaka assured the group of the company's unrelenting support for the success of the organisation. "The company is much ready to assist the organisation to achieve its goals, this we will do to make sure that Nigerian youths are given the necessary leadership skills required to make them better leaders tomorrow," he said. He also urged the youth to be focussed and determined in life. "They should work hard and believe in themselves because they are the future leaders, they must have vision and know where they are going," he said. 2. Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Lagos Zonal Command Phone No: 080-77690200; 01-7742771 Sector Commander Phone No: 080-776909201; 01-2881304 FRSC Emergency No: 070-022553772

•From left: Mrs Juliet Ifebueme, Mr Jide Dada, Afro Santa, Mr Derrick Van Houten, Mrs Nnena Azuka Onwuka and pupils

For Christmas, Mr Bigg's unveils Santa Grotto

S part of its commitment to add value and excitement to the lives of children, UAC restaurants and Coca-Cola, has unveiled plans to host children to three weeks of unlimited fun, during the yuletide. The event, it was learnt, will take place in every Mr.Bigg's restaurant, including the Chicken Inn and Pizza Inn counters. The brand will be deploying over 160Afro Santa Grottos, in every restaurant, to bring back the excitement children love to experience at Christmas. The Marketing Manager, UAC Restaurants, Mrs Nnenna AzukaOnwuka, told reporters that a miniSanta Grotto would also be available for schools to use during their end of the year parties. Mrs Azuka-Onwuka said the

By Tonia Diyan

brand is committed to adding colour to schools’celebration by delivering the Afro Santa Claus and his Grotto to them. “UAC, known for setting the pace, has promised to make this season a memorable one for children. “Children are invited to share special moments with The Afro Santa Claus in any Mr Bigg's restaurant between December 12, 2011 and January 1, 2012, where they are sure to have a treat of a meal for as low as N600. This special treat will earn the child a ticket to see Santa Claus in his Mini-Grotto, sit on his lap, take pictures with him and get free gifts. “The 'Afro' Santa concept is to create easy communication between the Santa and the children. So, this time around, it's going to be a black

EMERGENCY LINES 3. LASTMA Emergency Numbers: 080-75005411; 080-60152462 080-23111742; 080-29728371 080-23909364; 080-77551000 01-7904983

4. KAI Brigade Phone Nos: 080-23036632; 0805-5284914 Head office Phone Nos: 01-4703325; 01-7743026 5. Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Phone Nos: 070-55350249; 070-35068242 080-79279349; 080-63299264 070-55462708; 080-65154338

Santa. “Last Easter and Children’s Day celebration, Barney-children favourite cartoon was available at Mr Bigg's.This time, the brand would thrive on its ability to delight Nigerian children and it has firmly resolved to do more in this regard,” she added. Adequate preparation has been made to ensure that it is fun unlimited at every Mr Bigg's restaurant for children and the promotion's affordability is to ensure that every child attends. The Managing Director, UAC Restaurants, Derrick Van Houten, said the event is the beginning of many things to come in 2012. "Our business will take on a new look as a fully-fledged franchise model, ensuring that we remain focused on our franchisees and customers.”

767 or email: rapidresponsesquad@yahoo.com 6. Health Services – LASAMBUS Ambulance Services Phone Nos: 01-4979844; 01-4979866; 01-4979899; 01-4979888; 01-2637853-4; 080-33057916; 080-33051918-9; 080-29000003-5.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

CITYBEATS FROM THE GRASSROOTS

Residents lament poor road

ESIDENTS of Ahmadiyya in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos State (LCDA) have cried out over poor state of roads, alleging neglect by the council. The affected streets are Olorishade, Aina, Oke, Aremu Lawal, Oshotta, Alhaja Kehinde, Ile-Ogbo, Bola Banjo, Adeosun, and Funso Owoyemi. Other streets are Owode, Gbola Onibiyo, Apostolic Faith, Wole Bamiduro, Raimi, Akanni, Agbe Road, Ahmadiyya Crescent, Beckley Estate, Akinyemi, Banjo Owoyele. Some residents, who spoke with CityBeats, alleged that the council boss has failed

By Oziegbe Okoeki

them in infrastructural development. They said the council chief only concentrated on the streets where his house is located. A resident, who identified himself as Mustapha AbdulFatah, said: "What we are going through in Ahmadiyya is terrible. There is no single road in Ahmadiyya that is motorable. We have been responsible for maintenance of some of these roads. "At a point, the OjokoroAhmadiyya Community Development Association (CDA), had to contribute up to N13 million to construct drainages and grade Olorishade street. "When they finished, the

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At a point, the Ojokoro-Ahmadiyya Community Development Association (CDA) had to contribute about N13 million to construct drainages and grade Olorishade street

’

construction of the drainages and grading of the street, the council Chairman promised that he would assist them in tarring the road. It has been over a year since he made the promise and nothing has been done on this road and the condition has turned for the worse,"said Abdul-Fatah. Another resident of Aremu Lawal Street, Sadiq Adio, said: "No single road is in good shape in Ahmadiyya, but if you go to the chairman's street at Runsewe Estate, he tarred the road that leads to his house and constructed street light as well. But he has abandoned every other street in Ahmadiyya. "We just want him to remember all the promises he made before he assumed office in 2008. When he was campaigning before the election, he assured us that he would repair all the bad roads and we voted for him. He is in his second term and he has done nothing," Adio added. The residents appealed t o G o v e r n o r B abatunde Fashola, to come to their aid, saying the council has neglected them and the bad roads have caused damages to their vehicles.

Govt urged to provide conducive learning environment

HE Executive Director, Action Health Incorporated,Mrs Adenike Eshiet, has urged the Federal Government to provide an enabling environment for learning. She said this at the 18th Teenage Festival of Life organised by the Action Health Incorporated (AHI) for youths at University of Lagos. Mrs Eshiet urged the government to provide adequate environment for students to pick their vision. Her words: "The government has the responsibility to invest, sponsor education and create the enabling environment for people to pick up their vision." Speaking on the theme, Youth Empowerment: Entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance, Eshiet advised youths to make use of opportunities

By Seun Olalude and Sampson

around them. "Everybody says there are no jobs, but they need to create the job, not in the real sector alone even in the social development sector. There are young people who have done this and they are internationally recognised, people who lost their parent at tender age, they looked out for opportunities and trust in themselves.Look for opportunities savailable around you everyday and use it wisely," she said. The theme was chosen by a committee formed by elected students to enlighten youths on the importance of enttrepreneurial skill. The Programme Coordinator, Miss Temitope Ijiwole, said the programme would reduce the level of poverty among youths.

Her words: "To impact on poverty reduction, the challenge at the national and international levels is to "scale up" the successful aspects of these initiatives.There is need to increase financial commitments to youth employment initiatives, promotion of entrepreneurship education and skills among young people. “It is widely accepted that there are many good reasons to promote entrepreneurship among young people. “Young people mainly constitute the work force and their involvement contribute immensely to addressing the poverty level of a nation. Engaging in entrepreneurship shifts young people from being ‘job seekers’ to ‘job creators and also from social dependence to self-sufficiency” ".

Badagry community seeks traditional ruler

HIEFS and elders of the 14 Ajara communities in Badagry have agreed to the appointment of a king to unify the communities. The decision follows over three dacades of bickering, a problem which saw to the setting up of various panels of enquiry and chieftaincy tribunals by successive administrations in the state. Speaking on the path to the new understanding among the communities to the appointment of the new king (Aholu of Ajara), the Baale of Ajara Dokoh, Chief Bonu Amosu, said: "We, the chiefs and elders of the 14 Ajara communities, had sometime in 2009 reached an understanding to speak with one voice for an oba for Ajara. It is on record that

By Dapo Olufade

right from the Second Republic, the government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, an approval had been given for the appointment of a king for Ajara. "The inability of the leaders and chiefs to settle for a candidate was the reason this matter has dragged on for so long. “Now that we all have agreed to respect the state government's decision on the matter, I am sure our dynamic governor will act without further delay. The legion of evidence, submissions and attestations before the various panels of inquiry should guide the government."

Chief Amosu said obaship institution has been in practice in Ajara from around the 14th century. "We have also proved that Ajara Agamathen had monarchs between the 13th through the 15th centuries. I feel that the government only needs to resuscitate the tradition. Chief Oke Ajathemesi, the Baale of Ajara Tosarikoh,al so, said: "The government has been availed of all the facts concerning the Aholuship of Ajara. I have appeared at several tribunals on this matter. I know that our governor, being a lawyer himself, will carefully sift the evidence before himand take a just decision.”

Brutalised LASTMA officials get FFICIALS of the La- compensation for the injury she sustained gos State Traffic in her legs and hand, while

Management Authority (LASTMA), brutalised in the course of duty, have been compensated by the government. They were given money to off set their medical expenses. LASTMA’s General Manager Mr Young Arebamen, who presented the cash to the beneficiaries at LASTMA office, said the government insured the officers because it recognises their effort and the hazard they are exposed to in the discharge of their duty. His words: "These fellows are exposed to danger, they operate unmindful of either the rain or sun. That is why the government realising the hazardous nature of their job, provided for their insurance. "What we are giving to them is their insurance benefit over the injury they sustained on duty. “These officials are lucky

By Miriam Ndikanwu

to tell their stories, there are others that are dead,” he added. Arabamen said the management has been organising series of training for the officials to enable them serve the public better "We are training and retraining them to ensure they continue to deliver professional traffic management services on the roads. “We will appeal to members of the public to consider them as human beings who have family members waiting for them at home." Some beneficiaries who spoke on the development commended the gesture, noting that this would further motivate others to serve efficiently and effectively. A female official, Gbemi Badmus, attached to Zone 7 who was compensated

controlling traffic at Limca road in Isolo area of Lagos, said she was doing her duty when a commercial motorcyclist popularly, known as Okada knocked her down. "It was in the evening, I was controlling traffic and suddenly, I was knocked down by a hit-and-run Okada rider who ran away. Another beneficiary, Balogun Babatunde, said a truck driver knocked him down while he was on patrol on one of the power bikes. He continued: "On realising that I was a government official, the truck zoomed off leaving me unconscious, I was hospitalised for over six months and sustained injuries in my leg. Also compensated was Mr. Adeyemo Owolabi,who was attacked by some commercial motor cycle operators while resisting arrest after violating traffic law.

• SUBEB officials during the walk

Regular excercise promotes good “Before the exercise I noHE Chairman of Unihealth ticed a lot of staff do come to versal Basic Education

Board (SUBEB), Lagos, Mrs. Daoudu Gbolahan, has identified regular exercises and balanced diet the best way to combat chronic diseases in adults. She spoke in Lagos during the Miracle Medicine walk organised by the District II of SUBEB for its staff last week. She said: “Many of us are doing sedentary work which gives room to non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke. She said regular exercises

By Oluwayemisi Akinyemi

is capable of staving off serious ailments. “That is why this district will continue to set up health policies and programmes that will enable the staff to exercise themselves,” she added. Speaking at the event, the Chief Staff Officer of SUBEB’s Clinic, Mrs. Oluwabunmi Ilawole, said the purpose of the exercise is to bring to the fore the importance of changes in lifestyles in the promotion of healthy living.

me and complain about body pains, chest pains, and joint pains. That is when I realise they don’t do enough exercises. In view of this, I wrote a proposal to the chairman and she endorsed it and we all did the exercise by walking from Maryland to the Lagos Country Club.” One of the participants Mrs. Helen Sofowora, said she felt lighter and better after the exercise. She thanked the chairman for the opportunity given to them to take part in the programme.

•LASTMA General Manager Mr. Young Arabamen flanked by beneficiaries during the presentation at LASTMA office, Oshodi

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

CITYBEATS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Let me use this opportunity to notify all squatters or occupiers of land that belongs to Birch Freeman High School, that the trespass ends today and your relocation must start henceforth, as I intend to return to the school, every inch of land that used to belong to her.” Gov. Babatunde Fashola, while donating a block of classrooms, hall, offices and computer laboratory to the school

The Nation men win at CMA awards

•Mr Alake (right) unveiling the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Prize for Best Political Reporting. With him are Chief Akinyele left and Ojeagbase

Lagos, UNFPA sensitise enforcement officers on domestic violence

N its determination to prosecute the war on domestic violence, Lagos State Government and the United Nations Funds for Population Activities, (UNFPA), has organised a sensitisation workshop for its enforcement officers. The two-day workshop which held on the auspices of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, (WAPA), is aimed at ensuring that the enforcement officers adhere to the law on domestic violence. The workshop which held at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), at Alausa, Lagos, attracted large participation from the Nigerian Police, Iimmigration Services and Nigeria Customs. It was geared towards educating the officers on the content of the domestic violence law. Deputy Director, Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Yinka Adeyemi, who analysed and simplified the con-

By Miriam Ndikanwu

tents of the law, stressed that domestic violence was not limited to physical injury, but also included marital rape, physical, psychological and economic abuse and hazardous attacks, among others. According to her, by virtue of the current Domestic Violence Law in Lagos State, it is now an offence to commit violence against anyone, and that whoever is caught should be reported to the police. She explained that because of the long judicial process, Sections 5 and 6 of the Law, provide for protective order for the victims, while the case is being prosecuted in the court. The protective order prohibits the respondent from committing further act of violence by entering complainant's residence, place of work or enlisting the help of other persons to commit domestic violence.

She said it was regrettable that in spite of the seriousness and criminal nature of domestic violence, cultural beliefs had played down the law and made it less serious because law enforcement agents often view it as a family affair. Mrs Adeyemi explained that the workshop was organised to sensitise participants on the law and its implementation, as well as the need to treat it with all seriousness. On the arrest of perpetrators, she explained that the provisions of the law were explicit and that police should effect arrest with, or without warrant, when the offence was committed. She informed participants that the state government had put all necessary legal instruments in place and would not relent until domestic violence was reduced to minimal level in the state.

WO reporters with The Nation, Emmanuel Oladesu and Ahmed Boulor, shone at the Celebrity Media Awards (CMA), held at the De Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, last Sunday. Oladesu went home with the Best Political Reporter Award in the print category, which was instituted by the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Boulor won the Most interesting Celebrity Interview award. At the ceremony were former Minister of Information Alex Akinyele, who was decorated as the Grand Patron and Chairman ,Board of Trustees of the awards; former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Dele Alake, who represented Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu; the Chairman of Complete Sports Newspapers and Publisher of Success Digest, Mr Sunny Obazu Ojeagbase, who was represented by his Managing Director, Mumuni Alao and Publisher of City People magazine, Mr Seye Kehinde; son of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, top officials of UBA, and Zenith Bank, among others. Alake praised the initiative , saying Nigeria needs more of such avenues to discover those

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The awards is to celebrate media practitioners who have distinguished themselves in their calling

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young Nigerians who are blazing the trail in their various vocations. He said he is proud to be associated with the organisers of the CMA awards, saying they had proved their commitment to reward excellence, integrity and hard work. Tinubu said he decided to institute awards for political reporting in the print and the electronics media to celebrate media practitioners whose incisive writings, analyses and accurate reportage of political events have gone a long way in deepening the nation's democratic process. He challenged media practitioners to remain committed to the sustenance of democracy and the rule of law. The Managing Director of Media Ace Ltd and organiser of the CMA awards Mr Olajide Ige, while welcoming guests at the event, said the awards is to celebrate media practitioners who have distinguished themselves in their calling, those who continue to toil either in the sun or the rain for the enthronement of good governance, and fought gallantly the tyrants in power with their pen. He said the awards will continue to celebrate the best traditions in journalism. Boulor, who spoke shortly after being presented his award, said winning the award makes him fufilled. He said: "I would like to give thanks to God for making me to witness this glorious day. I would also like to say thank you to my father for ensuring that I went to school and also say a big thank you to my bosom friend, Adesina Oyetayo, a columnist with Punch newspapers for virtually dragging me into journalism."

N7m empowerment scheme for 20 youths

HE Festac Town Residents Association (FTRA) in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, has set a N7 million poverty alleviation scheme to empower the youth and unemployed in the area. The association is being partnered on the scheme by Cowries Microfinance Bank Ltd., Lagos. The scheme, targeted at empowering 20 youths before year end, was launched last Saturday, with the presentation of commercial tricycles, known as 'Keke Napep' to two unemployed youths in the neighborhood. The presentation, which was done at the FTRA Quarterly General Assembly, was witnessed by community leaders, councillors, politicians, businessmen, and youths.They showered accolades on the association’s executives for initiating the scheme. According to Comrade Jola Ogunlusi, President of the association, who led other executives to do the presentation of the tricycles to the beneficiaries, the scheme also include provisions of other articles of trade to interested young women. He said the tricycle project is for

By Paul Oluwakoya

any male youth who have stayed over 20 years in the community and could raise the leverage sum of N70,000. He said: "The community has worked out an arrangement with Cowries Microfinance Bank to assist by guaranteeing a hire purchase of "Keke Napep" for those who are ready to make initial deposit of N70,000, with a convenient repayment of N9,000 per week for 47 weeks with two weeks moratorium if there is no default. The value of the youth scheme with the financial institution is within the range of N7million, he further disclosed. "This empowerment activity is also extended to our women hair dressers who have shops. The community will guarantee loans of N50,000 to N100,000 once they set to run their shop within the council." Comrade Ogunlusi noted that the scheme has nothing to do with the council’s youth empowerment programme, which may coming up soon, adding that it is part of the association’s commitment to empowering the youth of the community.

•Ogunlusi (second right) addressing reporters

He said: "The fate, future and development of the youth in the community has always been our greatest concern. If one recollects when we came to Festac in 1977/79, our youths were very cultured, humane, loving and easy going. The sudden change in their lifestyles from the late ‘80s has become worrisome. That is why we resolved that we cannot fold our hands while

they imperil their future," he said. The beneficiaries, Mr Oseji Anthony and Mr Olusegun Onakoya, praised the empowerment initiative.They advised youths of the community to tackle the challenges of unemployment by putting in for the association’s empowerment scheme through their ward councillors. Meanwhile, the association has

appealed to the Lagos State Government to drop the threat to seal up properties of defaulters of the Land Use Charge. “On the Land Use Charge issue, we are passionately appealing to the Lagos State government to stop the threat to seal off properties in the community. The Land Use Charge suit is on appeal. We filed the case on October 19," Ogunlusi said.

SEND YOUR STORIES AND PICTURES TO CITY BEATS at ynotcitybeats@gmail.com OR SEND AN SMS TO 08033054340

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

T’S Friday evening. The venue was one of the countless drinking spots dotting Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The night may be young but the bar was already filled up. Occupying one of the tables in the bar was a group of men, seven in all. They were there to unwind. They chatted and threw banters. Conspicuously placed on their table were bottles of Star lager beer. Inevitably, the discussion turned to the ongoing Star Mega Promo where prizes including brand new 2011 models of Toyota Corolla cars are up for grabs. They bantered over the promo, recounting their failed attempts at winning one of the cars. All they need is to assemble four crown corks to spell STAR. It may sound easy but getting the crown cork with the letter ‘S’ was proving difficult for them. Still, they agreed to use the opportunity of the gathering to check their crown corks once again. Lo and behold, the much sought after crown cork was discovered amongst them. Thirtytwo- year old Joseph Teye, a father of three, was the lucky one to discover the crown cork. Thus, the celebrations took a new dimension. Teye’s friends hurriedly handed him the three other crown corks to complete the winning crown corks. That was how the Kogi-born hotel owner became the proud owner of a brand new 2011 model Toyota Corolla. “I am so happy. This is a surely a gift from God. I never expected that I would be walking away with a car when we went for the drink that night. I still can’t believe it,” he said. More interesting stories abound even as more winners drove away brand new cars in the Star Mega Promo. Take the case of Mr. and Mrs. Adetunji. The couple found the winning crown cork with ‘S’ a day after their wedding ceremony. The brand new Toyota Corolla car turned out to be the perfect wedding gift for the couple, who dated for eight years before tying the nuptial knot. For Ojo Adetunji, the car was not only a wedding gift, it was a sign that Tope, his wife, was the perfect match for me. “I am so excited about this. It is the best wedding gift that anyone could give me concerning my wedding. This shows that Tope is the perfect person for me,” he said. So excited was Adetunji that he couldn’t help but rolled on the floor in celebration during the presentation of the car at the corporate headquarters

•Former Marketing Director, Nigeria Bottling (NB), Jaaco Van Der Linden (left) with Joseph Unufore, Chima Amaechi and Obinna Igwe

A promo gathers pace By Victor Akande

of Nigerian Breweries Plc., Lagos. Then there was Koko Akaninyene, another car winner in the promo. The 28-year old native of Calabar, Cross River State, said he hid the crown cork with ‘S’ in his shoes after he discovered it. “I was so happy when I saw the crown cork . I already had the other three letters, T,A,R, so finding that ‘S’ was a big relief for me,” he said. Not wanting to lose the crown cork, Akaninyene hid it inside his shoes. “Immediately I saw the crown cork I kept it in my shoes and I just rushed home. I didn’t tell any member of my family about it until it was confirmed to be genuine at the redemption centre,” he stated. According to him, the crown cork was safely tucked inside his left shoe. He refused to take it off during the days leading up to the presentation ceremony in Lagos, except when he had to take his bath. Even at that, the

shoe was always with him. “The crown cork was always in my left pair of shoes. I made sure that it didn’t leave my sight for three days because I was always putting it on. The exception was when I had to take my bath. But I still take the shoes with me to the bathroom,” he said. While Akaninyene kept his crown corks in his shoes, Obinna Igwe, another winner, had to move out completely from his house. Igwe said his fear of being abducted or killed over the crown cork prompted him to relocate from his house, albeit, temporarily. “The news that I had gotten the winning crown cork spread like wildfire in Enugu where I reside. So

many people were talking about it. I was so scared that I had to go and stay with my sister,” he said. One week later and Obinna was finally handed his brand new car. “If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up,” he said as he was handed the key to the brand new car. So far, eleven cars have been won in the promo. Thirteen others remain to be carted away. Though Star is already a market leader, the quest for the vehicles has made the beer brand a prominent feature in drinking places and even homes. It is not surprising to see non-Star drinkers order bottles of the drink in the hope of winning the cars. The mad rush

for Star is not left to the beer drinkers alone. Retailers of the brand are joining in the search for ‘S’, which is most scarce of the winning alphabets. Ojo Adetunji, who won the 10th car in the promo is an Akure based retailer. After he found the winning crown cork, the elated Adetunji doled out free Star lager beers that day to celebrate the development. The Star National promo is the second consumer loyalty initiative embarked upon by the brand this year. The first one, the Star TV Game Show saw 21 people win one million naira each. However, the Star Mega promo is turning out to be even bigger. Apart from the 24 cars to be won, cash prizes of N50, 000 and N20, 000 would also be won. Other prizes of key-holders, T shirts, pens and free bottles of Star are also being given away.

Ondo needs frugal leaders, says CPC

OR Ondo State citizens to enjoy the benefits of governance, only individuals that have excelled in public or private endeavours should be in position

•Mrs Demmy Ajakaiye, Clerk of the legislature of Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos congratulating its new leader, Hon Jelili Sulaimon on his re-election.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

of authority to salvage the state from its present downward trend. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state said it had examined many aspirants jostling for 2013 governorship race and observed that the incumbent Senator representing Ondo North, Prof. Ajayi Borofice possesses the quality and could perform creditably should he finally show interest in the position as being rumoured. A statement issued in Akure, the state capital by the CPC’s state publicity secretary, Ranti Omoyele noted with concern that in the recent past, only leaders that allegedly mismanaged the state resources have remained in the saddle. “Our decision is informed by the political reality in the state which indicates that the present Mimiko’s administration is already distracted and has lost focus on governance because of its second term bid. “The lopsidedness in the composition of the present cabinet and execution of projects, which favour central senatorial district in such a way that the north and south senatorial districts are marginalised breeds divisions and sectionalism in the state polity. “Out of 21 cabinet members, the south and north have a total of 10, while the governor, Chief of Staff and choice ministries like finance,

health, works and justice among others, are being occupied by personalities in Ondo central,” the statement added. CPC noted that in spite of huge fund accruing to the state on monthly basis via federal allocation, derivation fund and IGR, the ruling LP’s administration had failed to provide jobs for the teeming masses. “The coastal communities are agonising because OSOPADEC is almost moribund in spite of 40 per cent derivation fund meant to develop the area. “The roads in Akoko are death traps, while provision of potable water in the entire state is more of official pronouncement than one available for human use,” it stressed. The party wondered why Governor Mimiko constituted Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) board when he had resolved that local government election would not take place. It said in the circumstances, the state needs visionary leaders to attract necessary positive change to the state. However, a top government official faulted CPC’s claim, stressing that achievements already recorded by Mimiko’s administration are unmatchable. He accused opposition parties of ganging up against a visionary and well-focused administration of the ruling LP.

THE NATION

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

Calabar Carnival pageant clocks five

HE Carnival Calabar Queen Pageant (CCQ) is set for its fifth showing. With “Where grace meets purpose” as its theme, this year,

By Yetunde Balogun

the organisers say it will be a phenomenal event. The lucky winner will walk

The Carnival Queen is a role model to teenagers, preaching abstinence from sex on advocacy tours across the state

away with a brand new car, N2m cash and other astounding prizes. “It’s so exciting! It’s a laudable way and an ideal platform to take someone from where she is to where she should be,” said renowned Publisher of Genevieve Magazine, Betty Irabor, who will be one of the esteemed judges at this landmark event. Established in December, 2007 by Mrs Obioma Liyel-Imoke, wife of Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, the pageant has given rise to Mothers Against Child Abandonment (MACA); another of her initiatives, which

aims at providing shelter for abandoned babies, by producing capable spokespersons for the project. The Carnival Queen is a role model to teenagers, preaching abstinence from sex on advocacy tours across the state. From inception, CCQ has been open to all Nigerian ladies aged 18 to 27 years and has produced four remarkable queens. For the first time ever, contestants will be dressed by Vlisco, makers of high end real Dutch wax, whose management looks forward to a fruitful partnership.

•Adaeze

‘There’s goldmine in rural areas’ From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

•Otunba Oladokun Ajidagba

HERE is a huge goldmine in marketing petroleum products in the rural ar-

eas. Aside the fact that rural settings are usually bereft of competition that is the bane of petroleum products marketing business in city centres, rural dwellers are ready market requiring little or no cost to sustain. This was the business idea

canvassed by Otunba Oladokun Ajidagba, the Chairman, Jogbo Petroleum Limited, as he marked his 15th year anniversary of pioneering rural marketing of petroleum products in Ogun and Oyo states. He said that apart from the finance and registration of the business with the petroleum regulatory authority, what one needs to set up outlets for sales petroleum products in rural settings is the love of the villagers, and desire to help them have access the products regularly at no additional cost to them. Ajidagba, who is an Independent marketer, said big time players in the in the business rather than concentrating in “crowded cities,” should endeavour to establish marketing outlets for petroleum products in rural areas not only because they stand a greater chance of making sales, but also to serve as an opportunity to render social service to the rural folks by making these essential products-fuel, diesel, kerosene and engine oil, nearer and accessi-

ble to them. He said it was shocking for him to discover in 1996 that a community in Ogun State, Ibiade in Ogun Waterside, which hosts one of his five outlets, until moving to the community, residents were travelling as far as 25 kilometers before they could access petroleum products for purchase, stressing that their plights were always made worse during period of scarcity of the products. He reckoned that it was his encounter with the difficulties the villagers experienced in their quest to obtain fuel and

Rural marketing of petroleum products is lucrative. I’m encouraging people to go into the rural setting and set up outlets rather than concentrating in crowded cities

Forum identifies obstacles to crime-fighting

OR police to effectively curb crime, it must not only collaborate with other security agencies. It should also constantly demonstrate absolute impartiality in its service to the people. It must be ready to offer selfless service and exhibit unconditional friendship to all members of the public, without regard to their wealth or social standing. These were some of the resolutions made by a cross-section of residents and trade unions from Oyo Federal Constituency at a maiden security meeting held in Oyo town. The meeting, organised by Oyo State Command of the Vigilance Group of Nigeria (VGN), was also attended by officers and men of Nigeria Police, Defence Corps,

From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

State Security Service (SSS), and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). The Forum berated the former Police Commissioner, Adisa Bolanta, who exhibited unmitigated confrontation against men of the VGN for political reasons, even though he achieved little in crime prevention. “The police failed to recognise that the test of its efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them. Activities of policemen within the constituency left much to be desired, as they constitute more of threats to security of the society through extortion, lukewarm atti-

Activities of policemen within the constituency left much to be desired, as they constitute more of threats to security of the society through extortion, lukewarm attitude, and complicity in crime-related cases

kerosene that spurred him into rural petroleum marketing, and said 16 years after taken that decision, it has been all smiles. “Rural marketing of petroleum products is lucrative. I’m encouraging people to go into the rural setting and set up outlets rather than concentrating in crowded cities. There we recoup our profits quickly. In fact, we don’t use loan to run our five outlets in rural areas in Ogun and a part in Oyo State. We intend to move deeper into the villages to make the products available to the people,” he said.

tude, and complicity in crime-related cases.” While applauding the incumbent Commissioner of Police, Moses Onireti for his pro-activeness, assertiveness, and wisdom in paving the way for harmonious relationships among security agencies and communities, they implored the state government to, without further delay, provide enabling environment for men of the VGN to effectively function. “It has never happened in the history of the state, for security meeting to be jointly held by communities and security agencies. This is a good omen and the beginning of re-dedication to duties in crime fighting.” Earlier, the State Commander of the VGN, Mr. Sunday Olajide said the security meeting was convened against the backdrop of upsurge in crime across the country. While eulogising the large– heartedness of the state Police Commissioner in allowing his men to have good working relationship with VGN and other security outfits, Mr. Olajide also thanked traditional rulers in Ibarapa zone for the donation of some parcels of land to construct office accommodation.

HE Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Abuja chapter has elected new executive officers to pilot its activities for the next two years. A statement by its Public Relations Executive Mr Callistus Unakalamba, said the election which was keenly contested in an atmosphere of peace and electoral transparence, saw the election of Mr Osondu Ohaeri, a Superintendent Route Commander and staff officer, media with the Federal Road Safety Corps, who had been the acting Chairman of the chapter, returned unopposed as the new chairman with a total of 39 votes. He noted that Mrs Ngozi John Uya, an Assistant Director with the National Gallery of Arts defeated Mr kufre Jackson, to emerge the Vice-Chairman of the chapter. Ohaeri, in his acceptance speech, thanked members for the confidence reposed in him and appealed for their contribution and advice in the effort to sustain the re-positioning and transformation agenda of the chapter especially in view of its strategic location at the nation’s administrative headquarters. The new chairman further urged his members to remain consistent in pursuing the virtue and ideals of public relations

He said it is an anomaly that Bayelsa State, for example, which is a major oil-producing Niger Delta State, cannot boast of having up to eight functional filling stations there, lamenting that major oil dealers would rather go to the cities to erect shops leaving communities where the minerals are explored to traverse land and sea on foot and canoes before they could access the products for domestic use. Otunba Ajidagba, who used the anniversary to organise a seminar to sensitise the rural folks on the need to be prepared for uncertain days ahead should President Goodluck Jonathan make good his intention to remove fuel subsidy early next year, said the solution to the recurrent fuel crisis in the country rests on the Federal Government allowing private individuals and states to establish mini-refineries. According to him, this will make the product more readily available for Nigerians at lower cost.

Institute gets new executive By Chuks Udo Okonta

practice in Nigeria which is anchored on credibility, transparency and responsible performance, adding that the FCT chapter of the institute will strive to entrench quality public relations practice service in the public sector. Earlier before the election, guest lecturers for the Annual General Meeting, Chief Ray Ekpu, Co-founding Editor, “Newswatch Magazine” and Prof. Umaru Pate Umar, Head of Department, Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri delivered their papers and discussions based on the theme of the AGM “Public Relations and the Challenges of National Cohesion.”. Highpoint of the election was the issuance of certificates of return to the new executive members and their inauguration by the chapter’s legal adviser.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

He pledged to promote peace and unity in his domain to support government’s efforts at making life better for people in Ogun State

GUN State Government has installed a new monarch, Oba Michael Ajibola Babalola, in Ijale-Papa, Abeokuta North Local Government Area. The event was characterised by much jubilation from residents of the community. The monarch, who hails from the Yalumo Ruling House, will henceforth be addressed as the Onijale of Ijale - Papa, Oba Michael Ajibola Babalola, the Yalumo Ndose II. In presenting the staff of office to Oba Babalola, Governor Ibikunle Amosun who was represented by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon.(Chief/Bashorun) Muyiwa Oladipo, urged him to see his ascension to the throne of his ancestors as a “call to serve the people and the community” and commended ljale - Papa people for their “patience and co-operation with the present administration” in the processes leading to the installation of their new monarch. “You should be ready to serve the people wholeheartedly and be committed to creating an atmosphere that would facilitate rapid socio-economic development in ljale–Papa community and its environs, as well as in Egba land, by extension,” Amosun said. He lauded the community for the peaceful and harmonious relationship among members for the period they were without an Oba, pointing out that their enthusiasm and jubilation at the coronation was evident of the acceptance of Oba Babalola. He prayed that the reign of the new monarch would bring about socio-economic development not only to Ijale-Papa community but also to the whole of Egba land. The Governor advised the traditional ruler to be father to all in the community, even as he urged him to use his office and reign to “attract investment opportunities and remain a motivating factor that would further facilitate the desired development of the community.” He also called on his subjects to lend him their supports to enhance the efforts at making his domain great. According to the governor, the government is committed to preserving the sanctity of the cultural and traditional values of the peo-

•Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Muyiwa Oladipo and Oba Michael Ajibola at the event

Amosun counsels new Oba From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

ple at the grassroots and to ensure that the dividends of democracy get to them. In his acceptance speech, Oba Michael Ajibola Babalola praised Governor Amosun and the government for their support towards his installation as the new monarch of his Ijale - Papa community. He appealed to the governor to assist the community through the provision of road networks, port-

able water; establishment of youth empowerment programme, healthcare delivery centre, even as he pledged to promote peace and unity in his domain to support government’s efforts at making life better for people in Ogun State.

Also, the chairman Transition Committee, Abeokuta North Local Government, Hon. Kamil Akinola extolled the maturity and discipline of the Yalumo Ruling House and ljale Kingmaker for the choice of Oba Michael Babalola to fill the

vacant stool of Onilaje which has become a unifying force in the community. He assured the people of the community that the state government would improve on the standard of living of the people at the grassroots through the provision of quality and free education, free healthcare service, clean environment, and rural integration, among others.

Lawmaker provides free eye treatment

ESIDENTS in Igarra and Ibillo in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area have received free eye treatment and general Medicare, courtesy of their representative in the

•Commissioner for Education, Mr. Simon Otuanya (right), representative of Govenor Sullivan Chime, cutting the tape to inaugurate the six-classroom block donated by Nigeria Brewery Plc to Ohum Community Primary School, Udi, Enugu State. With him are chairman of Udi Local Government Area, Mr. Bona Udeh, (second right); Production Manager of NBL, Ama Branch, Enugu, Mr. Jozsa Zoltam and its Public Relations Manager, Mr. Patrick Ejidoh PHOTO: OBI CLETUS

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

House of Representatives, Hon Peter Akpatason. Besides the free eye treatment, the residents were given medication for ailments such as malaria, typhoid, hepatitis, hypertension, arthritis and anaemia. Declaring the three-day free Medicare open, Hon Akpatason said it was a demonstration of and fulfillment of the promises he made during his electioneering campaigns. Hon Akpatason, who tagged the project “Heal the Sick among Us,” said it was easier working with a healthy population than sick one. His words: “I realised that a whole lot of people in the constituency do not have easy access to quality medical treatment. I want to work with a healthy population in the Akoko Edo developmental project. Many have died out of ignorance and several others walk about with death in their pockets. “Merely having access to free medical examination could avert deaths and health complication. It cost me a colossal amount of money in the end health is wealth. The people have to be alive and healthy for them to be able to benefit from developmen-

tal efforts. This is the first of a series of this outreach programme to the people. I desire to continuously attract dividends of democracy to my people in different forms,” he added. Co-coordinator of the free Medicare programme Sumanu Uwa, said minor surgeries will be conducted on the patients and that free medical glasses will also be given to those in need. Uwa explained that patients with ailments like malaria, typhoid, hepatitis, hypertension, arthritis and anaemia will be treated while those with complicated cases will be referred to other hospitals for surgery. He said: “This is the first phase of this project and it is the first time that this is happening since he became the member of the House of Representatives. We are expanding it to another phase and it is going to be periodic. So, this one is actually tagged operation save the ill among us. It is a fourday medical outreach but in two locations. We have a target population of 1,500 and this is to tell us what to expect in the second phase. “The lawmaker has been so concerned; so he decided to start with this and he equally promised to do more in the establishment of school of mines and technology in the constituency.”

Besides the free eye treatment, the residents were given medication for ailments such as malaria, typhoid, hepatitis, hypertension, arthritis and anaemia

MOTORING

THE NATION

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

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

0803-4693-984 tajudeen1423@yahoo.co.uk

email:- motoring@thenationonlineng.net

Basked in the euphoria of a successful introduction of new Prado into the Nigerian market last year, the leading auto giant, Toyota (Nigeria) Limited last Wednesday unveiled the seventh generation of its Camry, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO.

•Toyota camry

Toyota redefines luxury with new Camry M

ANY among those present during the unveiling of the 2012 Toyota Camry last week agreed that the new car is fully redesigned for more comfort. Tagged, the seventh generation, the car shows a sharper look, including a more aggressive front grille and side profile. The Camry has plenty going for it and is infused with all the qualities that have benchmarked the class for so long. It may fit auto lovers with thirst for dynamism. Speaking before the unveiling, Managing Director, Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) Mr Chandra Thampy described the occasion as introduction of another masterpiece from Toyota stables to the Nigerian market. “Here we are again bringing you another irresistible trail blazer, a delectable model to your doorstep. This is in alignment with the Customer First philosophy of Toyota Motor Corporation which aims at continually connecting with the ever growing tastes and desires of our customers by introducing models that are at par with current trends in the world markets,” Thampy said. As a leading auto marketer in Nigeria, the Toyota chief assured customers that the company will continue to maintain the quality synonymous with their products. “We are always prodded by the urge to continually push the frontiers of technology to the benefit of all stakeholders in the industry. “You will discover an excellent on-road performer imbued with intrinsic endearing feel of a plush auto breed in the new Camry. In totality, with its improved aesthetic endowments over its predecessors and its contemporaries, the new generation Camry is a well packaged auto invention, an assemblage of what truly constitutes the hallmarks of luxury in motion, a symbol of corporate and stately presence that exudes and personifies the confidence of its owner. It is a product that will meet your expectation in all ramifications; a true sedan with class, comfort

and performance,” he said. Thampy noted that Toyota has further accelerated the quality of its after sales service delivery as well as improve upon response time in all aspects of the business as part of measures to grow the confidence level of customers. While presenting the new Camry, TNL Marketing Manager Mr Bayo Olawoyin, went down memory lane by tracing the origin of Toyota Camry to 1982 when it was first manufactured. Olawoyin said the name Camry was carved out from a Japanese word Kanmuri meaning Crown. While explaining the various innovations behind the new Camry, Olawoyin said it is currently being manufactured in nine factories in eight countries. According to Olawoyin, the 2.4 litre engine has been upgraded to 2.5 litres and from 5-speed to 6speed while a 3.5litre variant is also available for the Nigerian market. Olawoyin stated that the new Camry has also increased in length with 10mm and 5mm in width. Afterwards, the duo of Deputy Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Mr Yinka Sanni and his First City Monument Bank (FCMB) counterpart Mr Segun Odusanya unveiled the car to the admiration of the guests. Sanni and Odusanya said Toyota products are reliable and fuel efficient with assessable spare parts. The new Camry boast of ten airbags, keyless entry, cruise control, noise insulation material to prevent outside noise, touch screen audio system, three zone independent air control among others. Body Styles The Camry is offered in L, LE, SE and XLE trim levels. The L features 16-inch steel wheels, power-folding mirrors, air-conditioning, full power accessories, cruise control, a tilt-and-

telescoping steering wheel, Bluetooth and a sixspeaker CD sound system with auxiliary input and USB jacks. The Camry LE adds auto headlamps, remote keyless entry, steering-wheel-mounted audio and Bluetooth controls and the six-speaker Display Audio system featuring a 6.1-inch touchscreen. The SE includes a sport-tuned suspension, 17inch alloy wheels, foglamps, heated exterior mirrors, unique interior and exterior styling treatment, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, sport seats and the Display Audio system. SE V6 models get the upgraded Display Audio system that adds navigation, HD radio, satellite radio, voice recognition and Entune smartphone and Web integration. The luxurious XLE reverts to the LE’s softer suspension settings, and adds heated exterior mirrors, foglamps, a sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, an eight-way power driver seat, a four-way power passenger seat and the Display Audio system with navigation and Entune. XLE V6 models get a rearview camera, auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather upholstery and heated driver and front passenger seats. A premium 10-speaker JBL audio system integrated with a 7-inch touchscreen harddrive-based navigation system is also optional on XLE V6 models. Powertrains and Performance The 2012 Toyota Camry is offered with a choice of two engines. Base Camrys are powered by a respectably powerful 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 178 hp and 170 pound-feet of torque. Upgrading gets you a silky smooth 3.5-liter V6 generating 268 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. Both engines drive the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. Safety The car comes with a battery of standard

safety features, including antilock brakes with brake assist, stability control, front- and rear-seat side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, and knee airbags for driver and passenger, the latter new for 2012. A blind-spot monitoring system is also available. Interior Design and Special Features Inside, the Camry’s cabin feels slightly roomier. Thinner front pillars increase visibility and narrower door panels open up elbow room. Door panel controls also move higher, allowing knees to breathe better. Among other amenities, top Camry trim levels get an eight-way power driver seat, while all Camry models now offer a 60/40-split folddown rear seat. But the most notable improvement has been in interior materials. The previous wave of hard plastic is replaced with complementary dash textures, handsome trim and subtle, decorative stitching. The Camry’s new upgraded audio system also includes Entune, a suite of smartphoneconnected services that include features like the Bing search engine, Pandora streaming radio, real-time traffic, sports and stock information, and the ability to reserve movie tickets or a table at a restaurant on the go (Entune is optional with the Display Audio package). Driving Impressions In terms of power, both four-cylinder and V6 engines are pretty similar to last year’s model. The Camry’s new electric steering (once limited to the hybrid) feels pretty decent in the V6 versions. But four-cylinder versions, which use electric steering from a different supplier, feel vague and somewhat lifeless. On the bright side, this new Camry feels more planted to the road and less disturbed by bumps, the result of refined rear suspension tuning. The SE in particular, with its larger tires and sport-tuned suspension, feels more athletic than before.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

MOTORING

HERE are indications that the Federal Government may impose sanctions on errant ministries, departments and agencies that fail to buy made-in-Nigeria goods if a memo sent to the Presidency is okayed. Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom, who disclosed this during a facility tour of the below-capacity producing National Trucks Manufacturing Company (NTM), Kano, revealed that a memo on the need to impose punishment on buyers of foreign vehicles has been sent to the Presidency to protect local

Sanctions coming for MDAs By Tajudeen Adebanjo

plants. Ortom said the government is liaising with stakeholders in the local automobile industry to also ensure their products compete with those imported. The minister said if fully protected and patronised by government, NTM, which has three assembly lines but running only one shift at the moment, will have the potential of increasing

its existing discouraging seven per cent capacity due to low demand by consumers. “Our problem is that of indiscipline and willingness to do the right thing. We must get it this time around. Mr President wants things done right and we are going to do exactly that. So sanctions must be included because that is what people will hear,” he said. In working towards achieving a level playing ground, the Federal

Government is also planning an incentive that will not only provide for an affordable local automotive product quality, but an industry that will be backed by available and genuine spare parts. Local auto buyers, Ortom warned, have no choice but to patronise indigeneous products, especially from the automobile industries, which he said, was one of the largest employer of labour in the past.

While conducting the minister round the assembly plant, the Managing Mirector of NTM, Ibrahim Bayero, bemoaned the lack of political will in enforcing orders that will assist local assemblers. He noted that lack of support and protection from the government and policy inconsistencies have greatly affected the operations of NTM which he said is struggling with 1,000 units’production capacity yearly as against 10,000 units installed capacity.

Firm to reward customers

TYRE and batteries marketer, Infinity Tyres Limited has concluded arrangements to reward its customers all over Nigeria. This would be done through purchase of ‘Scratch and Win’ Promo. The promo themed ‘Value Drive’ was officially opened by the management of Infinity Tyres Nigeria Limited at a press briefing last Thursday in Lagos. Speaking at the briefing, the Executive Director, Infinity Tyres Limited, Mr Kanwal Bajwa, said the promo is one of the platforms through which the company shows appreciation to its loyal customers. Bajwa hailed Nigerian commuters for continuous patronage and faith in Infinity brands and services. He said that the Nigerian market, though competitive is highly favorable for companies that deliver products and services of excellent quality. Also speaking, Marketing Head of

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

Infinity Tyres Mr Vikas Bahl, urged the commuters to participate in the promo by simply purchasing any tyre or battery from any Infinity tyres outlet, especially during the festive season. Bahl assured any purchase, no matter how small would attract a scratch card which would win the customers fabulous prizes. Infinity Tyres Limited Managing Director Mr Arshi Chadha commended its customers all over Nigeria, stressing that they are the reason why this promo has so far been successful even to the point of becoming a tradition in the company. Chadha attributed the success of the company to its high quality products and services offering the public for over more than three decades. He declared that the company is therefore obliged to customers to reward them after such a fulfilling year.

• Bajwa flanked by Bahl (left) and Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Brands Management Mr Uche Nwankwo

Chadha seized the opportunity to wish all Nigerians a safe trip to their various destinations during the festive season. It would be recalled that Infinity

NBTE, NAC empower auto technicians

HE National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Automotive Council (NAC) have donated some automotive/ mechatronics equipment and tools to some technical institutions and bodies. The Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu (LASPOTECH) was selected among the training centres for the beneficiaries of the mechantronics facilities. The training held at the institution. Dr Fidelis Achiv from the Centre for Automotive Design and Development of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said the training was meant those who would in turn train others in the six geo-political zones of the country. “The equipment are for the students and for the automotive company in general, because most of the vehicles coming in need some diagnoses if they are faulty and when you use them to diagnose faults, it would not be by trial and error, in terms of ensuring they are good on the road. Thus, you go for the spe-

Tyres Limited is the sole marketer and franchise owner of premium tyre brands such as Pirelli, Goodyear, CEAT and premium battery brand Infinity in Nigeria.

‘Okada not for commercial transportation’

•A facilitator, Mr Domineco Tufano, with participants at the event. By Adenike Ashogbon

cific problem and ensure they are solved,” he said. He urged NAC to ensure that modern vehicles are not just brought into the country and after some time, becomes a problem, but they are brought in and properly taken care of. Chairman, Nigerian Automobile Technician Association,

Lagos State Chapter, Mr Jacob Omohinde Fayehun, hailed the organisers of the training. “The training is good, but it’s not enough. We need more time to catch up, although as a professional, I am familiar with most of the things; it’s of more advantage to me. I will educate my members and we are going to train others on the new techniques learnt here,” he said.

Infinity ‘Value Drive’ promo is an instant gratification scheme which allows customers to win fantastic prizes through a ‘Scratch and Win’ reward programme.

AGOS State government has declared that motorcycles popularly known as “okada” is not an approved means of commercial public transportation in state. At a joint press briefing by the Commissioner for the Environment Mr Tunji Bello and his Transportation counterpart, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, the duo explained that the state government more than any other State Government, has been very tolerant of the menace posed by the operators of Okada as a means for socio economic reasons. “It is disheartening that in spite of the various measures put in place by the State Government to curtail the activities of motorcycle operators and the last stakeholders forum on motorcycle operation held last year where Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, addressed the stakeholders on the menace of motorcycle operators which include riding without the use of crash helmets, riding on the medians, kerbs and walkways, disobedience to traffic rules and regulations, the traffic signal lights, plying the highways and working in prohibited areas

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

even at restricted time, the operators have not changed from these illegal acts,” Bello who read the speech on behalf the the two ministries said. In addition, he said, motorcycle operators are fond of riding against the flow of traffic (one – way) and in the attempt, knock down innocent pedestrians, cause accidents leading to maiming of their passengers or other road users or the death of these citizens occurring as a result of spinal cord or head injuries sustained in the accident. To sensitise the public on the atrocities of the okada riders, Bello said, Lagos State Government even went a step further to produce a movie titled “Aye Olokada”. “This movie which was also played for motorcycle riders at the stakeholders’ forum was meant to inform, educate and enlighten the motorcycle operators on the dangers and menace these operators pose to themselves and the general population, yet they remain adamant Enough is Enough,” he said.

DRIVING TIPS

OMETIMES last month, I embarked on a journey to Oyan (in Osun State) in a Toyota pick up van. As I approached Sagamu (from Lagos) near the WAPCO cement factory, some local government revenue collectors rushed to the road with their usual instrument (Plank with nails) to stop me. I parked and gave them the stickers they requested for. After going through all, they affirmed that they were complete, but with a request for money for the “boys”. As I turned off from Sagamu-Ore road to connect the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, another group of revenue collectors stopped me. After checking all the stickers, I was asked to go. As I was approaching Osogbo within a gap of 15 metres, a group of five people rushed to the road to stop me. I managed to stop and

The revenue collectors warned them never to stop a vehicle within such a short distance. Vehicles moving at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour may not be able to stop within a range of 15metres when suddenly stopped. They apologised and instructed me to go without bothering to check my stickers. Immediately after Osogbo, another group of local government revenue collectors stopped me and after going through all the stickers, they requested for “Gaseous Emission” sticker. I was initially surprised because I have never heard it before. He told me confidently that in Osun and Kwara states, they do collect the Gaseous Emmission levy. He, however, allowed me to go.

As I entered Oyan terrain, I was stopped by another group of local government revenue collectors who after checking my stickers also demanded the Gaseous Emmission sticker. Meanwhile, before getting to Oyan, I have already pondered on the meaning of Gaseous Emission which I equated with Environmental pollution. I then confirmed that any levy collected on gaseous emission should be for environmental protection. On that note, I then asked the Oyan group if they have a separate sticker on environmental protection. They said no. I then told them that since I have already paid for environmental protection (the sticker of which they have seen), there is, therefore, no need for me to pay the Gaseous Emission levy because they are the

same. Since they could not argue further with me, I was asked to go. Assuming I did not approach the matter from that angle, I would have been told to pay for the gaseous emission which would have resulted to double taxation. It is, therefore, very urgent for the local government authorities to do the following: • Ensure that the same title is used for all the levies in the 774 local government areas in Nigeria except the Niger Delta levy which is peculiar to the Niger Delta Region. • Ensure that all the Revenue collectors are well educated about the title and meaning of each levy to ensure that innocent citizens that are not well enlightened are not cheated. • Ensure that all the Revenue collectors are given some training in Road Safety so that they will know how to stop vehicles in a way that will

Jide Owatunmise not lead to crashes or other form of fatalities.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS

T one of the many Green Gardens in Abuja where lumpens, rascals and radicals congregate for reflective night time rendezvous, there is an informed Barewa College ‘chauvinist’. Once, he confronted me, asking where Governor Sule Lamido could be located at that moment. That was when speculations ran riot in this country about who became Vice-President to Goodluck Jonathan and Lamido, widely speculated, had made himself unreachable somewhere in his village outside MTN’s radius. I ‘lied’ to him that I had not seen the governor myself for days. Then he said, tell Sule, (that is how he calls the governor) to come out and advance to be recognized for the Vice-Presidency. Lamido, a Barewa product, he said, should do so because, according to him, Nigeria is in crisis on account of power slipping into the hands of people who went to ‘bush’ schools. That was a veiled reference to the post Shagari era when Barewa College products who had monopolized power were edged out till Umaru Yar’Adua restored Barewa to power in 2007. Of course, the statement provoked the intellectual commotion that only our in-group can sustain as combatants of different radical sects demolished the yabbis that those who did not go to a finishing school like Barewa are not imbued with Kinging. But it was only a Sociologically elevated yabbis, his own provocative differentiation of power holders in terms of those who went to elite schools and those who did not. The elite schools he had in mind would include schools such as Edo College, Benin (I am not sure if this is the same school the Portuguese are said to have established at the palace of the Oba of Benin and to which is connected the ability of the Benin Empire to sustain diplomatic relations with Portugal in the 17th Century); Government College, Umuahia, (which was the giant or regional beehive even though Hope Waddell Institute in Calabar where Zik went existed before it. It is the school writers like Chinua Achebe, Ken Saro Wiwa and Elechi Amadi, (the author of the wonderful novel, The Concubine) attended; Government College, Ibadan (where people like Bola Ige and Wole Soyinka attended and were brewed, directly or indirectly, under the likes of elder Emmanuel Alayande who was the principal at some point); Kings’ College, Lagos, (the power of whose liberal education manifested as a contradiction in that the quality of education there demystified the whiteman in the eyes of the students, firing their nationalism as to form the Nigerian Youth Movement which became the fulcrum of the Zikist Movement which anchored the anti-colonial fire) and the last, but not the least, Barewa College, Zaria. These were the early elitist schools, many of them deliberately planned or influenced by the British or their missionaries along the idea of producing a nation building elite recruited through special training in public education. Needless saying that most of these early elitist schools have been overtaken or superseded by new centres of academic and leadership grooming in the country, especially private schools notwithstanding their being run by hired principals of British, American, Israeli, Turkish and other nationals. But most of such new centres are not public schools in the British sense of acquainting children of the aristocracy with one another as potential inheritors of power and managers of its privileges. But the French, the Germans, the Japanese, the Russians and just about every other modern nation hung their social transformation even though many did not model theirs on the British aristocratic model. USSR, as a socialist country, could not have accepted that but that is not to say there was no elitism. But because the British colonized Nigeria, they made the educational arrangement to reflect the British tendency. That is how we came to have the first generation of elite schools

•The National President of BOBA, Dr Umaru Muttalab, addressing the Annual General Meeting in Kaduna

•Some members of the Barewa College, class of 1962- 1966: Gen Alwali Kazir (rtd) (left), Alhaji Isa Ozi Salami of Independent Corrupt Practices and other Miscellanous Offences Commission (ICPC) and Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State (back row, second right) at the College’s meeting in Zaria ...last Saturday

Issues in restoration of Barewa College By Adagbo Onoja

listed above. The matter would have ended there if Barewa College did not go on to acquire a mystique beyond the status of just another secondary school. With several Nigerian heads of state being products of the school and coming to power in succession to each other, there was bound to be the mystique. There was General Yakubu Gowon for nine years, followed by General Murtala Mohammed and then Shagari. Then Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The bulk of the permanent secretaries who provided the technocratic power for the radically nationalist Third National Development Plan were from Barewa College. Many of the heads of the Army and its top commanders were also from Barewa College. This is not to talk of chief justices of the Federation or heads of the spy agencies. Naturally, the question came to be: how come? Because of the preponderance of elements of Hausa-Fulani/Muslim identity in all these, the temptation was to resort to the semantic shorthand of Hausa-Fulani oligarchy. But the Barewa College the British planned was, fundamentally, a regional elite recruitment and grooming centre. Subsequently, the Northern ruling class that emerged therefrom was, in the words of Professor John Paden, a cohort, a distinctly regional faction of the Nigerian ruling class, its distinction lying in the class contiguity they shared over and above their ethno-religious differences which were, of course, there. This was the basis of their power. They were the product of a psychological cum cultural attachment to something, whatever it was they were told in the school. And whatever it was they were told in the school was such that if you met one of them in Lagos on an issue and then went on to meet another one separately in Maiduguri, their view on the issue in question was bound to be the same. So, the compactness of the Northern establishment at that time was laid in its educational basement. Barewa was the marker but in the North, the Middle schools were actually political and leadership finishing schools. First, it was Katsina, then Ilorin, Maiduguri, Adamawa, Katsina Ala, Bida, Zaria and so on. The students came from mixed grounds in metropolitan terms. You had students from Maiduguri going to the one in Ilorin, students from Adamawa going to Katsina and a lot of criss-crossing. That is the Northern extraction of the Nigerian ruling elite which, by its political coherence and the numerical strength of the region has sort of been in the vanguard. But it is a co-opting class especially in the context of deflating the secession from 1967 to the end of the civil war. But few months from the end of the civil

war, many of them like Joseph Tarka, Abubakar Zukogi, Aminu Kano and many others were eased out of power for one reason or the other. This contrasts with the situation whereby Ojukwu was shooting his opponents in the East during the war. Of all the 1966 coupists who were caught up on the Biafran side, only Ademoyega got away alive. That was one difference in ruling class politics of the Northern and Southern fractions. It is the co-opting approach of the Northern fraction that, at a point, made it difficult to make a valid distinction between the Northern and the Nigerian establishment because the Northern was not exclusively Northern. Zik, Awo, Akintola, Ikoku, Asika were not Northerners in ethnic terms but it was Ikoku, for instance, who gave the greatest fire to Gowon’s war diplomacy. He was the one who went to Europe to expose the French. In the same way, Awo could have created problems if he were not a foundation stone of the Gowon cabinet. HEN I asked Alhaji She hu Kai-Kai, a national officer of Barewa Old Boys Association, (BOBA) whether there was any particular indoctrination they went through as students of Barewa, he said there was nothing like that beyond the ideology of (1) Live and let live, (2) accept it when you are wrong and (3) you will be appreciated when you are good. Then he told me the story of what he told Katsina State Radio during the burial of General Hassan Usman Katsina, the First Military Governor of the North. According to Alhaji Shehu, Katsina State Radio asked him if there would still be people like Hassan Usman Katsina as far as the North was concerned and he said no. His reason is that the grounds for breeding the likes of Usman Katsina are no more there. For him, these were a school like Barewa College, institutions like the Nigerian army of their own time and the Northern civil service. In the Northern Civil service, he said, when one was posted from Benue to Kano or Adamawa to Ilorin or Sokoto to Kabba, it meant no difference. It was the same North. But now, the situation in the North has changed. Now, he said, it is possible for a young person born in Dala Local Government Council of Kano State, for example, to move from his nursery to primary to secondary to university and PhD without knowing Fagge or Sabon-Gari within the

same Kano metropolis, not to talk of him or her having been to Adamawa, Benue or Ilorin provinces of old. The class contiguity of the Northern elite has been such that even now that the Nigerian decay has assumed conflicts of genocidal intent in the North, it is still doubtful if the remnant of the Northern ruling class will not unite and alienate any cultural or whatever group engaging in protracted, costly trouble making in the region. Anybody who doubts this should look at the role of General Gowon and even General Danjuma. Gowon is a staunch Northern establishment person. So also is Chief Solomon Lar, who even as the vicar of the politics of emancipation will certainly not go as far as revolting against the mythical North (as different from the lived North) if it is going to be too costly. But the times are really testy for the region, indicating a serious crisis of stress and breakdown. Though a ruling elite crisis, it is being propagated at the level of the masses as ethnic and religious and those gulfs are widening by the day while no new inspiring collective with any new message has emerged. Since nature abhors a vacuum, the North is now steaming in an all consuming void. Peace conferences are being held here and there but at which the home truths are not as forthcoming as the homily and platitude. Once again, we need Alhaji Shehu Kai-Kai. He told me as we went through an abrupt ‘inspection’ of Barewa College last Saturday before the AGM commenced that he read in a UN document that 77% of the population under the age of 16 in the North East and North West have no iota of formal education. It is not so much that the situation is any different in the other regions of Nigeria in any qualitative sense. As political head of the Media Unit of the Government House, Dutse in the past 4 years plus, I have seen graduates in Mass Communications from some of our best schools, for example, who do not know what an intro means in news writing. I have seen graduates in strong disciplines like Philosophy, History or Sociology who cannot write any grade of essay. In a way, this is not peculiar to Nigeria if what Professor Mutere found about some journalists in East Africa. They have never heard about the concepts of Afro-centricity or multi-culturalism and yet, they are the ones to report issues and events through the Afri-

‘It remains to be seen how far the public spiritedness of one governor or another can save Barewa College and, indeed, all such public schools throughout Nigeria instead of a nationalist and instrumentalist state policy on education. Nigeria, we hail thee!’

can lenses or to tell the African story. Still, there is a Nigerian dimension to the collapse of the knowledge industry across the world just as there is a Nigerian dimension to corruption - the brazenness, the speed, the sophistication about it and the magnitude of money one individual can grab for himself alone. Subsequently, we cannot organise primary and secondary education, not to talk of university education. Instead of educating the children so that they can think for themselves and cope with changes analytically, we are showing them money. When their counterparts from other parts of the world gather to negotiate the world, ours will have nothing to contribute there. Instead, they will disappear from the conference to go and shop, buying things made by other people. So, as frightening as 77% of the population under the age of 16 having no formal education, it pales into insignificance when compared to the dangers of half or shallow education that what we call schools today are dishing out. No less than Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar 111 said at the 2010 AGM of BOBA that “the school certificate result of the college was disheartening” and that this is so because we are paying lip service to education. General Gowon equally said at the same meeting that during his time, the pass rate was 80-90%. When the pot begins to get rotten or has fallen prey to the weevil, the calabash has reason to fear. If we cannot take an admirable school certificate result from Barewa College with so many former heads of state and too many self-contained individuals as its old boys, then what happens to the other secondary schools around? T is in this sense that the Barewa restoration project is instructive. And this, BOBA has recognized if we go by its tribute to those leading it such as the CBN, Alhaji Abdulkadir Hassan, an old Boy of the college, Governor Lamido of Jigawa State, First Bank of Nigeria, among others. BOBA used the example of Lamido to send a creative SOS out viz, “It is gratifying to report that the Executive Governor of Jigawa State, Alh Sule Lamido CON, (B 1528) has undertaken to completely rehabilitate his old compound, Mort House. We wish to commend His Excellency for this kind gesture and hope that others will see it fit to help rehabilitate other compounds that are in serious state of dilapidation”. It remains to be seen how far the public spiritedness of one governor or another can save Barewa College and, indeed, all such public schools throughout Nigeria instead of a nationalist and instrumentalist state policy on education. Nigeria, we hail thee!

•Mr. Onoja is of Government House, Dutse, Jigawa State

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

When many states are retrenching workers because of their lean purse, the Oyo State government is set to create jobs. Its trans-border market, according to Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga, has the potential of providing five million jobs. BISI OLADELE reports

Millions of jobs likely in Oyo trans-border market •A typical example of Free Trade Zone

• STORY ON PAGE 48

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

JOBS

Jobs coming in Oyo trans-border market

OR many job seekers, the search will soon be over as the Oyo State government is contemplating a trans-border market in Oke Ogun, and a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Ibadan, the capital. Through the cross-border market, the government is leveraging on proximity between Oke-Ogun and Benin Republic to widen business opportunities and further create jobs for its people. Oke-Ogun is an agrarian zone and it boasts of towns such as Ago- Are, Okeho, Okaka, Iseyin and Saki, among others. Saki is the largest town in the zone. The town has economic advantages because it shares a border with Benin Republic. According to the government, Saki and other towns in the zone will lend a hand in deepening commercial activities and bringing growth to the state. The government is ready to build a market that would attract people to the zone, in particular and Oyo State in general. Also, the government is planning to cite the Free-Trade Zone on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The zone will be within the domain of Oluyole Local Government and is expected to speed up development around the area with larger positive impacts on job creation, which will benefit the unemployed, traders and businesses in Ibadan. One major benefit is that the zone will provide opportunities for manufacturing companies, processing firms and exporters. This will increase business opportunities and further provide jobs for the teeming population. Before now, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has been making efforts to transform the state from a pre-dominantly civil service entity to an industralised one. One of his election promises was to make the state economi-

cally viable through the creation of investment opportunities. To achieve this, Ajimobi started exploring opportunities designed to improve the state’s fortunes. In the early days of his administration, he travelled to Abuja to discuss with the Minister of Trade and Investments, Dr Olusegun Aganga, how to increase job opportunities in the state. His trip was successful, as the Federal Government decided to fulfil its long-term plan of setting up a big market in OkeOgun. He accepted the offer. He pledged to provide the land, as well as facilitate enactment of enabling laws that would pave the way for the take-off of the projects, and ensure that public utilities are improved around the market. Subsequently, he got the approval of the community leaders, and traditional rulers on the issue. Thereafter, an agreement was signed to kick-start the projects. While signing the agreement, Ajimobi said the state will reap bountifully from the project, adding that it will witness socio-economic growth, now that an enabling environment has been put in place. He said: “My priority is to empower my people economically. How many people can the government employ out of the teeming population of job seekers? One major business of government is to create enabling environment for investment, which will in turn lead to job creation. More than any other thing, I am interested in seeing my people creating wealth, jobs and improving themselves economically. “Once they are able to afford basic necessities, businesses will thrive, crime rate will reduce and revenue will even increase for all tiers of government. The level of poverty in Oyo State is appalling and unacceptable.

•A foodstuff market

‘My priority is to empower my people economically. How many people can the government employ out of the teeming population of job seekers? One major business of government is to create enabling environment for investment, which will in turn lead to job creation’ That is why I will go the extra mile to ensure that my people overcome poverty. A hungry man is an angry man,” he said. Aganga said the Okerete Trans-border market has the potential of providing about five million jobs as well as lubricating trans-border trade with the neighbouring country,

Republic of Benin. He said the development would tackle smuggling and generate higher revenue for the three tiers of government involved. From the above, two deductions can be obtained. First, the state is set for a big transformation. Secondly, more jobs are in the offing for the residents

•Ajimobi

of the state soon. This implies that the days of joblessness, and low productivity will soon be over in Oyo State.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

HESE top interview tips will help you cover everything you need to know to successfully ace a job interview. From checking out the company to sending an interview thank you note, these job interview tips cover all the basics needed for interviewing success. How much do you know about the company that just contacted you to schedule an interview? It should be plenty, and all the information you need is available online. Here are tips on how to research a company, get the inside scoop on the company culture, and use connections who can help you get an interview advantage.

Use your contacts A key to success in most situations is having good and useful information. This is more so in job situation. So create contacts all the time. Get contacts in the company/ industry you are interested in? Of course the best is to have info about the specific company that has invited you for job interview. Use/ get/develop personal contacts, visit their website, peruse annual reports, industry magazine s and newsletter, etc. Who you know at

Top eight job tips By Olu Oyeniran

the company you are interviewing with really does matter. Use your contacts and connections to get an insider advantage so you can ace the interview and impress the interviewer.

Practise interviewing Taking the time to review typical interview questions you will probably be asked during a job interview will help give you a framework for your responses and will help calm your frazzled nerves, because you won’t be scrambling for an answer while you’re in the interview hot seat. Practise interviewing with a friend or family member ahead of time and it will be much easier when you’re actually in a job interview. In-front-ofthe-mirror and video-recorded practice is in the card.

Improve your interview technique

A job interview gives you a chance to shine. What you say, how you say it and what you do is going to either move you to the next round of consideration for employment or knock you out of contention. Do you know about eye contacts? Is you posture right? Can you handle behavioural interview questions? What about verbal and non-verbal communication techniques?

Dress for interview success The first impression you make on a potential employer can make a big difference. The first judgement an interviewer makes is going to be based on how you look and what you are wearing. That’s why it’s always important to dress professionally for a job interview. The principle is that you must look the part, be formal and moderate. If you don’t know exactly, dress a level-above the prospective level, i.e. dress like your prospective di-

rect boss.

Handle a group interview Interviewing with one person is tough enough, but it’s even harder when you have to interview with a group (or panel) of interviewers. This is the main mode of interviewing in Nigeria – talking to more than one person (could be more than eight!) at a time. Identify the leader/decision maker, focus on him, be well prepared.

Interview while dining Taking you to breakfast, lunch or dinner provides the interviewer with a chance to check out your communication and interpersonal skills, as well as your table manners, in a more casual environment than an office setting.

Prepare for a phone interview While you’re actively job search-

ing, it’s important to be prepared for a phone interview on a moment’s notice. You never know when a recruiter or a networking contact might call and ask if you have a few minutes to talk. Have your pitch- why you think you should be give the job. Manage your voice and be positive. Smile, even to the phone!

Take time to say thank you Taking the time to say thank you after a job interview is good not only for interview etiquette, it reinforces your interest in the position. Learn how to write thank you letter, which is an opportunity to address issues and concerns that came up during the interview. Write it within 24 hours, and to key/all people who took part at interviewing you; certainly the leader/person-withthe-power-to-hire. Olu Oyeniran is the Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Assoiciates. Website: www.jobsearchhow.com E-mail: oluoyeniran@yahoo.com Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

LABOUR Govt ready to implement pact with varsity workers, says minister

Nigeria seeks collaboration with US on job creation T T

HE Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has said job creation and employment generation is at the fore-front of the transformation agenda of the administration under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan. Receiving the Ambassador of the United States of America in Nigeria, Ambassador Terence McCulley in his office, Wogu said the Federal Government has, as one of its mantra, job creation and employment generation. He said this can only be achieved through the framework of the transformation agenda. The Minister added that unemployment is not peculiar to Nigeria, but that the United States also has its share of this global trend. “I appreciate the fact that you are here today expressing concern over some challenges, which are not peculiar to Nigeria. Issues of unemployment, which is a global thing the that United States is also battling the same challenges even as we are tackling the problem in Nigeria”. He seized the occasion to seek United States collaboration to the Federal Government’s effort at combating the menace of unemployment and security challenges. He revealed that one of the strategies adopted by the Federal Government, among others, is the planned removal of fuel subsidy, which is targeted at investing accrued revenue on infrastructure de-

Stories by Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu

velopment, education, health and other safety nets for the populace, and the end result will be job creation. The Minister stated: “Nigeria and the United States like you alluded have good bilateral relationship, which has equally come to the stage of establishing bi-national commission to look at issues of mutual concern among, which are; unemployment and how to keep existing jobs as well as issues of security challenges. These appear to be the major issues that needed to be tackled and they can only be done through some form of collaborative arrangement between the two governments”. “Another policy of government that will, at the long, short and medium terms create job is the issue of fuel subsidy removal. Once the sector is deregulated, government will have money to put into capital projects and the immediate result of this will be job creation. Government is desirous to remove fuel subsidy and the revenue that will accrue to the Federal Government in that regard will be used to continue to pursue not only the public sector projects but organised private sector participation in agriculture, education, and health among

other safety nets,” he emphasised. Earlier in his remarks, Ambassador McCulley, informed the Minister that the purpose of his visit was to have first hand information about the activities of the Ministry and to seek areas of collaboration. “The visit is to learn more about what you do and also to learn about the challenges that you face in this ministry, a very important Ministry, which is charged with the responsibility of integrating new workers into the workforce as well as workplace safety issues. While laying credence to the Minister’s statement on the planned deregulation of the oil sector policy of the present administration, McCulley stated that: “removal of fuel subsidy to create additional resources for government to revamp the economy is a policy that has received the support of America. The programme to diversify the economy to put people back to work is something that we have to look into. We will look for ways to partner with you to bring in American investors to invest in this area to create jobs as Nigeria is central to President Obama’s National Export Initiative to export goods and machinery to Nigeria, which would benefit the Nigerian economy.”

HE Federal Government has expressed readiness to honour the agreements it has reached with workers in the universities, the Minister of Education, Prof Ryqayak Rufai has assured. She said this at the delegates conference of the Non- Academic Staff Union of Education and Research Institutions (NASU) in Abuja. The Minister posited that implementation of agreement reached with labour unions in the sector by the government is sine qua non to revamping the lost glory of the education sector. She pledged government’s readiness to carry all the unions along in its bid to fix the deteriorating education sector as their cooperation would be key to identifying the challenges plaguing the sector. “Having been in the sector for the last 30 years, I realise what has gone wrong in this sector and this award would motivate me to work harder towards getting it fixed. I assure you that in the next few years deterioration in this sector would be a thing of the past, just give us a little time,” she said. The Minister was honoured by NASU with a National Fellowship award in recognition of her commitment to the development of the sector. This comes when unions in the sector are threatening to go on strike for non-implementation of agreement reached with government over 65 years retirement age, funding of education institutions among other welfare issues. NASU President, Ladi Iliya, in an earlier address explained why the union chose to honour the minister with its highest award.

PAYE: Ogun urges Lagos employers to comply By Paul Oluwakoya

•Wogu and McCulley

Summit tasks govt, stakeholders on development

HE organised labour has been advised to partner with the government and other stakeholders in the employment sector to actualise an ideal pay structure and come up with sustainable conflict resolution mechanism for sustainable development. The advice was given when stakeholders in the labour and industrial sector gathered in Ilorin, Kwara State for the seventh National Labour Relations Summit and Award Ceremony of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS). The summit had as its theme: Consensus building, conflict management and social transformation in Nigeria: An industrial relations perspective. According to Prof Olusegun Matanmi of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, department of Industrial Relations and Public Administration, Lagos State University (LASU), this could be achieved through aggressive but constructive productivity bargaining and sustained productivity consciousness. Matanmi, who spoke on “ConsensusBuilding in the Context of Minimum Wage Determination: Issues and Challenges,” stated that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had consistently advocated for a semblance of direct action by member states towards the establishment of wage floors that are legally-binding.

He stated that at the inception of the International Labour Organisation in 1919, it had included in its listing of labour conditions, urgent improvements in the provision of an adequate living wage, especially for the purpose of combating social unrest. Matanmi, however, stated that even though the countries across the globe have adopted the machinery of minimum wagefixing, the implementation of the underlying principle has remained controversial and problematic. According to him, the minimum wage systems had neither reflected nor sustained its original intensions of preserving the purchasing power of the working population and ensuring that wage earners receive what is considered to be decent wages as opinions have been divided on the best approaches to minimum wage-fixing. Mantanmi, therefore, called on the social partners to synergise and embrace the principles of social dialogue in order to bridge the often wide gap between employment creation and labour market participation, especially in relation to the benefits of decent wage. He regretted that the deregulation of the labour market and weakening of trade unions had compounded the processes of collective bargaining and, therefore, called on labour leaders to concentrate more efforts in organising themselves and to pay more

attention to constructive bargaining in the overall interest of employment relationship in the country. He added that lack of social dialogue and respect for democratic culture and the rule of law have the tendency to undermine labour rights as well as frustrate collective bargaining. The president, National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NIC), Justice Babatunde Adejumo, who spoke on: “Building Effective Conflict Management Mechanisms for Sustainable Development in Nigeria”, said conflicts between employers and employees are traceable to casual factors such as wages, job security, workplace health and environment, union relations, government policy issues, company policy issue, economic factors, ineffective communication, breach of contracts, benefits, allowances and other emoluments, issues relating to number of hours worked among many others. He, however, revealed that work place conflict is not a problem, but that the real problem is in properly and efficiently managing such conflict before they get out of control. “When conflict arise in the workplace and are properly managed, it can lead to improved organisational health and productivity”, Justice Adejumo said.

HE Ogun state government has called on employers of labour in Lagos State to act in accordance with the Residency Rule provision of the Personal Income Tax Act 2004. The Personal Income Tax Act 2004 states that employees taxes should be paid to the tax authority where the person resides and not where he works. Speaking on the theme: “Tax compliance rules: Responsibilitities of tax authorities”, at the interactive session between the Ogun State government and the Organised Private Sector (OPS), Governor Ibikunle Amosu, who was represented by the Executive Director, Ogun Internal Revenue Service (OGIRS) , Mr. Femi Allen, said people living in Lagos – Ogun State border towns and villages, such as Sango Ota, Akute, Ibafo, Magoro, Mowe, Ojodu-Abiodun and Aiyetoro –Ayobo among others, were not complying with the rule. Amosun, who said many employers remit taxes of their employees in these areas to the Lagos State government contrary to the Pan Income Tax Act, added that for long employers have been breaking the law. He, however, said that Ogun State is committed to channeling over N100 billion to provide infrastructure to these areas as contribution to the development of the areas. His words: “Corporate ignorance of the tax laws of the federation is not an excuse for the scenario where companies remit incorrectly. “Wrongful employee tax remittance must stop, if we are to ever realise our dreams of building comfortable living environment for our people. If someone lives in a specific state who works hard and sees his tax deducted every month, that person will have expectations concerning health, education, roads and other amenities. If his money is funding those services in a state where he is not entitled to benefit then, there is injustice”. He emphasised that it was mandatory for Lagos-based companies to remit employee taxes accordingly either to Lagos or Ogun states depending on where their staff live. According to Dr.Biola Sanni, a tax lawyer, who gave an overview of the PIT Act at the seminar held in Alausa, the interactive session will enlighten most employers. “I must commend the initiative and efforts of the Ogun State government in ensuring that employers of labour do the right thing by remitting their employees’ taxes to the appropriate tax jurisdictions where those employees reside. I think a seminar like this is a right approach to educate the populace,” he added.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

THE CEO There is enormous potential in fishing. But pirates and unauthorised foreign vessels are depriving operators of the expected gain. In this interview with OLUWAKEMI DAUDA, the immediate past president, Nigerian Trawler Operators Association (NITOA) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ORC Fisheries Limited, Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, speaks on the challenges facing the sector.

‘Nigeria loses $60m yearly to illegal fishing’ A

S a major stakeholder in the maritime sector, how secured is the coastline from pirates? It is just the same. Nothing has changed. If anything, it is becoming more rampant and more aggressive in nature. The pirates, I will call them regional now, it is as if they now have associations. For instance, when they take vessels, say from Nigeria, they can move it to anywhere in West Africa to attack other vessels. I also believe they are more organised now than before. But then, what do we expect when they have operated over the years without anyone challenging them? So, I believe this naturally gives them reason to have more converts, and then carry out more attacks. There has not been any attack from pirates on your members’ trawlers. Is it as a result of your partnership with the Nigerian Navy? I am sure either the person who told you that is not from the maritime sector or the person does not own a trawler. We are the operators, we have our trawlers everywhere. There is no single day that we do not suffer one attack, at least. What they now do, because the trawlers are more vulnerable to attacks by nature of what we do and the way we do it, they wait till a trawler releases its fishing gear, and it takes time to haul up and go, even if they see a pirate gang coming. Since they can’t haul up and run, they are easily overtaken by pirates who freely gain access into the vessels. But beyond this, some of the pirates, after they attack any trawler and take it over, they use it as a bait to attack other vessels. This has made the other trawlers to become even more vulnerable. These pirates are busy, duly perfecting their act, and till now, we do not have anybody challenging them. There must be an effective challenge. It is not fair for somebody to just cover only a few nautical miles and then sit back to tell us ‘don’t worry, something is being done’. Let them swoop on the pirates, catch them, take them to court and jail them and then we will believe something is really being done. We have been talking about pirates, but as a nation, something has to be done about protecting our natural resources. Can you tell us the level of loss to your members to date? From November 2002 to date, Nigerian trawler owners have incurred losses amounting to several billions of naira. This sum in-

•Mrs Orakwusi

cludes the entitlements paid to families of those who lost their lives at sea because of the attacks and ransoms paid for those kidnapped by the pirates. The hijackers frequently seize vessels, threatening to blow them up if ransom is not paid. The trend, which started as ordinary stealing

some years back, has since turned into Nigeria’s greatest problem. Because of the huge ransoms trawler operators in Nigerian waters pay to secure the release of their vessels or personnel seized by hijackers, the hijackers routinely order that the money be deposited in their bank accounts. But

it is baffling that these financial institutions, which in a bid to promote accountability, demand utility bills as part of the requirements for opening accounts, have, however, failed woefully in tracing the owners of the accounts where the ransoms are lodged. Why do you need to negotiate?

We have to negotiate because, on several occasions, they kill our workers. Between 2007 and 2008, for instance, we recorded over 20 attacks on vessels, with loss of over 10 lives. Therefore, we need help to survive in the business. • Continued on page 51

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

THE CEO

‘Nigeria loses $60m yearly to illegal fishing’ •Continued from page 50

Do we have foreign vessels operating illegally on our waters? We have very big vessels, mostly from Asian countries, coming into our waters to poach on our natural resources; and they fish in the most irresponsible manner. You can’t believe how many millions of dollars we are losing annually to illegal fishing. And these are people who don’t have any licence to fish in our waters; these are people who are not regulated by our government nor respect any international laws. So, they can do their business anyhow, take anything they want, and go. They fish in the most irresponsible manner. You and I can understand this because they have no stake in our future. They do not comply with any fishing regulations. Sometimes, such group may even come, steal crude (petroleum products) and flee. What is the effect of this on the nation’s fish stock? Fish stocks in Nigeria and other African coasts are depleting rapidly, no thanks to the presence of illegal industrial fishing boats that are raking in large quantities of fish for export. Experts say illegal fishing costs African countries over $1 billion yearlly. Illegal fishing and poor management of marine

stocks cost the world $100 billion every year. It was learnt that Nigeria loses about $60 million annually through illegal fishing in its territorial waters. In reverse, the nation is importing over $200 million worth of seafood products annually to supplement local production. How can this be corrected? There must be a dedicated force, be it Navy, be it marine police, be it anything else, established by the government to patrol our waters 24/7 so that, at least, when a pirate or a robber out there gets ready to steal, he knows he too is vulnerable. At least, there should be some fear of either being caught or being frustrated. But a situation where nobody cares is cause for all of us to be worried. Would your association be glad to have the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security (PICOMSS) coast guards take over this assignment then? Listen, you know we have often been tied down in this country with the problem of terminology and big grammar. We know that there is a problem out there in the seas. We also know what should happen for us to, at least, if not to eradicate it completely, to minimise it, as part of facing the challenges which cre-

‘We have very big vessels, mostly from Asian countries, coming into our waters to poach on our natural resources; and they fish in the most irresponsible manner. You can’t believe how many millions of dollars we are losing annually to illegal fishing. And these are people who don’t have any licence to fish in our waters’

•Mrs Orakwusi

ated it. It is simple! This problem is not a unique problem to only Nigeria; it is a problem frequently faced by all coastal countries. But other nations have the coast guards, marine police or other dedicated forces to face the issue. It should just be like the way we have the Nigeria Police on ground. So, the solution may not be found in a name; whether we have it as ‘police’ or ‘NIMASA’. As operators, we are not interested in the names. We are interested in the equipment. All we are interested in is that the problem should be solved. The fish we consume in this country is 90 per cent imported. Now since we do not want the local ones to grow, should we not at least provide enhanced maritime security for these vessels to operate? As an active marine operator, do you think there is adequate security to ensure that the local industry continues to thrive? I am presently concerned about my industry, which is deep-sea fishing, or trawling where there is no protection, whatsoever. Up till 2004, we had over 200 fishing vessels operating in this country. Right now, there are less than 120 fishing trawlers. In the time under reference, we had over 30 fishing companies involved in deep sea fishing. Right now, there are less than 10. In that wise, how do you access the food security scheme of the government? The real tragedy is that we always talk about food security. The fishing industry is an industry that should grow, to at least provide us with the protein needed to boost food quality, at the lowest, we all know that consumption of fish is healthy; it is healthier than eating meat. This means a lot of people should depend on fishing as source of their livelihood. The fish business should create a lot of employment. But, right now, it is like the government is neglecting industrial fishing. Nigeria has a population of about 150 million. Fish consumed by a population of that size has about 90 per cent of it imported. Are we not feeding the people with imported fish of low quality? Can we guarantee the quality of the area the fish was caught? Why can’t we grow our own local industry? Nigeria has a lot of potential in fishing business. Can’t we bridge the gap by reducing the imported 90 per cent to 50 per cent? So, what do you suggest as a viable solution at this point? We must revisit our national fishing policy; because what we have right now does not seem to be working. If it is working, you wouldn’t see increasing reduction in fishing activities in the country. We should see growth. We should revisit it. We should allow people who know about fishing, whose passion is fishing to be among those who formulate policies. We should work towards reducing the quantity of fish being imported. We should encourage the fish farmers; we should also encourage industrial fishing as well. Apart from trawlers, which other materials pose a challenge to your business? The other material is diesel. 85 per cent of the sector’s operations depend solely on diesel and we are incurring huge overhead costs. This is so because it is only in the

•Mrs Orakwusi

fishing industry that diesel alone accounts for 85 per cent of the production cost. For instance, each vessel consumes an average of 60 tonnes of diesel daily and that is over N10 million per 45-day fishing trip. That is why we want the Federal Government to approve direct allocation of diesel from the major marketers to the operators. We are appealing to government to also subsidise diesel. If the farmers enjoy fertiliser subsidy and importers are enjoying waivers, then the fishing sector should have an incentive to enable the sector thrive. The supply of diesel to the industrial fishing operators requires government intervention and support, if all the fishing companies would not fold up. Was any terminal allocated to NITOA? The terminal that was duly approved and allocated to the sector by the Federal Government in 2005 is situated at Kirikiri, Phase 2, Lagos. We are worried because some people want to control the land approved for fish products to boost export. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo approved the terminal to save the industry from imminent collapse. The approval was communicated to NITOA through the Presidential Sub-Committee on the Lagos Fishing Terminal vide its letter dated December 5, 2005. We have documents to support the approval. The then President also set up a committee

for the development of the terminal to serve as a centralised fishing terminal in the state. What is your position on centralised fishing terminal? We do not have a centralised fishing terminal in Nigeria. We should have one so that we can attract more people into the business by eliminating the basic problems which frightens away new entrants, like funding for jetties, workshops, cold rooms, fuel dumps, health facilities, all of which can be centralised and commercialised, so that the problems faced by new entrants would be reduced simply to how to acquire the trawlers! Of what effect would that be? Such gesture would drastically bring down the cost of whatever you are going to invest as a new entrant. What should government do to move the sector forward? The government should note that anything that will render the sector comatose will cause adverse effects to these people that rely on it as their source of livelihood, because currently, the sector supplies over 35 per cent of fish and fish products despite the decline in harvest. Therefore, the development of the sector would boost investment, increase research and intake of fish, which is a source of protein, among others. Nigeria is still far short of the United Nation’s fish intake because of the poor attention given to the sector.

‘From November 2002 to date, Nigerian trawler owners have incurred losses amounting to several billions of naira. This sum includes the entitlements paid to families of those who lost their lives at sea as a result of the attacks and ransoms paid for those kidnapped by the pirates. The hijackers frequently seize vessels, threatening to blow them up if ransom is not paid. The trend, which started as ordinary stealing some years back, has since turned into Nigeria’s greatest problem’

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

PERSONAL FINANCE

Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk

How to use shares to secure From civil servant to astute investor G loans (3) Investor’s Worth

LHAJI Ibrahim Damcida is one of the astute and committed Nigerian investors, with interests spanning the key sectors of the economy including banking and telecommunications. A career civil servant, Damcida commenced his working career as an accountant with the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of the then Northern Region in 1959 and was transferred to the Federal Service in Lagos in 1962. He rose through the ranks to attain the highest level in the civil service serving severally as Permanent Secretary in three different ministries including Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance. An accounting graduate of the Westminster College and North-West Polytechnic in England, Damcida has combined his professional training and career to fashion out a dynamic investment strategy that has seen him transforming into a high-profile investor. His accounting training and experience gave him

the uncanny ability to pick determining figures ahead of the lot while his experience at the Ministries of Trade and Defence made him understood and embraced the risks and returns that come with businesses while maintaining a defensive strategy to minimize his risks. One of the largest investors in the Nigerian banking sector, Damcida directly holds the third largest equity stake among the directors of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc. Besides, his nine-digit equity stake places him among the 27 shareholders, including two institutional shareholders that hold the majority equity stake in the highly dispersed FCMB. Altogether, FCMB has about 156,000 shareholders but 27 core shareholders hold 67.23 per cent equity stake in the N65b-bank. In spite of the stock market recession that has seen significant depreciation in share prices, Damcida’s FCMB investment has continued to be the golden hen turning in cash dividends of more than N48 million in

‘Altogether, FCMB has about 156,000 shareholders but 27 core shareholders hold 67.23 per cent equity stake in the N65b-bank’ the last audited year. As FCMB consolidates its growth and stock market recovers, the value of Damcida’s equity stake in the bank is projected to recover to 10-digit value in the immediate future. At a time that the defining characteristic of civil service is the grueling post-service pension, Damcida provides a worthy example of how to lay out a blissful retirement. And for others, the opportunities appear more now than before to build the future with the regular flow of incomes and almost certain longevity of the civil service.

Ask a Broker

What is CHN?

HN stands for Clearing House Number and it is a unique number assigned to each shareholder by the Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS). The CHN usually starts with the alphabet ‘C’ and ends with two alphabets derived from the surname of the

shareholder. The CHN is somewhat similar to account number usually issued by banks. Just as all deposits and withdrawals go into the bank account number, all shareholdings by an investor are entered into his CHN, provided that those shares have been dematerialised-

that is, converted from physical certificate to electronic form. As a central depository for his investments, a shareholder needs only to have a single CHN while maintaining investment relationships with several stockbrokers. This enables one to efficiently manage one’s portfolio irrespective of the multiplicity of the transaction channels.

Ways and Means What to consider when buying mobile computer

HEN deciding what type of ultramobile computer to purchase, the basic needs should be kept in mind. For someone who is yet to acquire first personal computer, the functionalities and userfriendliness of the personal computer must top the priorities. For instance, typing a lengthy note with the virtual onscreen keyboard offered by tablet PCs can never be as efficient as typing with the physical keyboard offered by netbooks, although the limited keyboard of a keyboard of netbook is also not as efficient as the full keyboard offered by its notebook counterpart. But they still make a better companion for word processing. Also, application softwares like the Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Python Interpreter and Autodesk cannot run on tablet PCs because they are designed to run on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems and not on the iOS used by the iPad or the android operating system used by other tablet PC brands. Thus, the kind of applications you can run on

By Gbemileke Akinyemi

a tablet computer is limited. Furthermore, tablet PCs like the iPad offers limited, non-expandable internal storage memory on an average of 64GB. On the other hand, all netbooks offer an average of 160GB of internal storage memory, expandable through the use of USB flash drives, memory cards and external hard drives. Another issue is that even though 3G connectivity technology is being implemented into tablet computers as of recent, some are still limited to WiFi and RJ45 internet connectivity, meaning you are unable to access the internet when not in an area with WiFi coverage area or a place where you are able to connect your tablet to an Ethernet cable. Some netbooks, on the other hand come with inbuilt 3G cards for accessing the internet when outside a WiFi coverage zone plus their in-built WiFi chip. In cases where a netbook does not come with a 3G card built-in, a 3G USB data modem can be purchased at a little cost. Although netbooks do not have in-built optical drives,

one can be purchased to use with netbooks allowing files to be burned to a CD or DVD for later use. But in the case of tablet computers, support for optical discus and optical drives is absent. Another downside to tablet PCs is that even though they can be used to store any file format, printing from a tablet PC would require a networked printer, as it cannot connect directly to printers using cables like conventional computers do. Some cases require that the printer to be used is a Bluetooth printer, which is not really common. Websites that offer flash based contents like flashbased videos and flashbased ads may be difficult or impossible to browse because Adobe Flash Technology is not supported by the iPad, but the few websites that offer HTML5 video content can be viewed on the iPad. But in the case of a netbook, both the Adobe Flash and HTML5 technology are supported. The advantage of netbooks over tables PCs cannot be over emphasized, especially when considering web browsing, lengthy note taking, content creation, storage media usage and other basic needs.

UIDING against fraud in the collateral process: The usage of shares as collaterals for loans can also be abused; especially if the due process outlined earlier is not followed. It’s important to emphasise the need for both the borrower and the lender not to short-circuit the process, whether under the pretence of exigency or any other excuse. It is in the interest of both parties to ensure that necessary requirements are complied with and appropriately documented. All documentations regarding the transaction must be well secured to avoid access by a fraudulent third party. Guidelines, rules and procedures are institutional ways of forestalling frauds and as such must be followed in details in any transaction. Fraud in the use of shares as collateral can be manual or through the circumvention of the electronic process of the CSCS. Frauds related to usage of shares as collaterals can be categorised into three based on the source: shareholder or borrower-related frauds, lender-related frauds and third party-related frauds. These are highlighted below: Shareholder/borrower frauds A fraudulent shareholder/ borrower can release his verified physical share certificate, yet to be dematerialised into the CSCS system, into the custody of the lender and goes to the registrar after a while to declare this missing for a replacement share certificate. Through this replacement share certificate, the borrower who eventually fails to fulfill his loan obligations to the lender sells the shares. The original share certificate pledged as collateral therefore becomes worthless and the lender may not be able to recover the loan. It is advisable to ensure that the share certificate to be used as collateral is dematerialised and the shares placed under lien in the CSCS to avoid this type of fraud. Secondly, a fraudulent shareholder can give his CSCS statement with various shares to a lender as collateral when in actual fact the shares are non-existent or are not up to the value indicated on the statement of stock position. Where the lender fails to confirm its genuineness or availability of the stocks from CSCS and place the shares under lien, but relies on the stock statement to disburse the loan, the shareholder will succeed in defrauding the lender if he fails to repay the loan. Where the lender fails to insist on placement of lien, no matter the shortness of the duration of the loan, the

By Taofik Salako

shareholder can render the stock statement and any legal agreement on it worthless by selling the shares or moving the shares to a new account. Thirdly, the lender must be wary of the dangers of margin trading by some shareholders or the existence of prior and subsisting claim on the borrower’s shareholding. Shareholders do buy shares in many instances through credit agreements with their stockbrokers. A fraudulent borrower may hide this fact in order to defraud the lender, as the stock broking firm will not release the shares in case of default. This type of fraud would have been forestalled by the confirmation of the genuineness of the shares and letter of indemnity to the CSCS by the borrower’s stockbroker. Lender frauds These occur when the lender intentionally perverted the process to defraud the shareholder without any default in the loan agreement or even after the fulfillment of all loan conditions. A fraudulent lender may unilaterally declare a default in the absence of a mediating party like the CSCS and thereafter move to sell the shares placed as collateral. Also, a fraudulent lender may initially request that the shares for collateral be placed with its stockbroker, knowing fully that after the discharge of the borrower’s obligations, the CSCS usually removes and restores the shares from lien to the stockbroker where they were taken. This implies that after fulfilling all obligations, the borrower may not have access to his shares and the lender can trade on such shares or altogether sell those shares. Also, a fraudulent lender may advise bypassing the lien by requesting the borrower to transfer his account to the lender’s stock broking firm. Without the lien, the borrower is at the risk of losing his shares. Third party frauds These are frauds perpetrated by persons who are aware of the loan agreement or existence of the shares. Instances of stolen share certificates are common examples of this type of frauds. The original owner of the share certificate will not be aware of the deal while the lender, unless due process is followed, may not be able to determine genuine ownership of the share certificate. Another example is where a verified share certificate is submitted into the custody of the lender for a facility and is stolen by a fraudulent official of the lender and sold, thereby

defrauding the lender who has to replace the shares for the borrower as soon as the facility is liquidated. There are also cases of cloned or forged share certificates that can be fraudulently verified and submitted to an unsuspecting lender for a facility, which will never be repaid or recovered. Cases of unauthorised sales of shares in the past have proved that fraudsters can get accomplices from share registration and verification officials that easily facilitate disposal of shares without detection. Where the share certificates are processed in CSCS system before placing lien in them, the genuineness of the shares would have been established. Also, a fraudulent stockbroker can use the shares of clients under his custody as collaterals for loans. Most of the shares in CSCS are under the custody of stock broking firms. Consequently, CSCS do not have direct relationship with most of the shareholders but through third party agents, stock broking firms. Unless with the involvement of CSCS in the loan agreement, the lender may not be able to verify the true ownership of the shares as stockbrokers have direct access to shares under their custody. CSCS always insist on confirmation of the shareholder as the borrower. The documents on the loan agreement are jointly agreed to by the borrower, lender, stockbroker and the CSCS, creating a multiparty arrangement that makes fraud impossible. Fraud can also be in form of extortion or unnecessary charges by the lender or other officials in the loan agreement process. The process detailed earlier clearly shows that usage of shares as collateral does not require any extra legal charge or transactional charge other than the payments for issuance of statement of stock position, which is N100, registration of joint memorandum at the stamp duty office or before a commissioner for oaths in a court of law and the specified amount for lien service by the CSCS. At the last check, CSCS charges 0.5 per cent of the consideration for loans up to N1 million; N20, 000 for loans above N1 million up to N20 million; N30, 000 for loans above N20 million up to N50 million; N60, 000 for loans above N50 million to N100 million and N100, 000 for loans above N100 million. In addition, CSCS collects N100 as processing charge per security or stock. Prospective borrowers, who intend to use their shares as collaterals, are advised to contact the CSCS for any variation in rules or charges.

‘Fraud can also be in form of extortion or unnecessary charges by the lender or other officials in the loan agreement process’

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

MONEY LINK

Uniform Bank Account: Banks’ operating costs decline By Collins Nweze

EPOSIT Money Banks (DMBs) are beginning to witness some reduction in operating costs following the implementation of the Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Number Standard (NUBAN) scheme. The cost reduction is derived from efficiency of the automated clearing house system of the banks, since the

scheme took off this year. The new account number scheme,which is cost effective compared to cheque payments, has facilitated better electronic payments among banks, Besides, it has helped to implement the electronic payment directive of the federal government to Ministries, Departments and Agen-

rected its MDAs to replace all forms of cheque payments with electronic payments with effect from January 1, 2009. From that date, rather than issue cheques to settle their obligations, all payments by MDAs are made through direct transfers to beneficiaries’ accounts. Consequently, there is unprecedented increase in the volume of automated direct credits at the Bankers Clearing House. There is also a decrease in the number of complaints about the inefficiency of the Clearing House System by banks and their customers. “The old number scheme which was hardly efficient was of concern to the CBN and other stakeholders, with cost rising in the industry and dragging down the pace of Automated Clearing House (ACH) operations. But today, the introduction of the new

cies (MDAs), thereby reducing operating cost among the banks. The CBN, in a statement, said the new account numbers can resolve the observed problems with electronic payments in the country, as many of such cases were related to specification of wrong beneficiary account numbers. The Federal Government had di-

Enterprise Bank strengthens retail banking

S part of its resolve to compete favourably in the banking in dustry, Enterprise Bank said it has started working on strategies that would strengthen its retail banking unit. The Managing Director, Ahmed Kuru, said the decision to capture the retail segment of the market, is in line with the financial institution’s desire to be a medium-size bank. He pointed out that the bank’s 153 retail outlets, scattered across the country, would play a significant role in its quest to be a dominant force in the retail banking segment. Kuru explained: ‘’Really if you talk about scale, you talk about balance sheet size. The balance sheet size does

not necessarily mean you are the most efficient and profitable bank. Everybody in this industry today will tell you that the future is retail business, but retail doesn’t bring money today, it is a long haul,” he said. He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ‘Cash-lite’ policy would also be used to achieve the target of dominating the retail segment of the bank, saying the bank has deployed cutting-edge and efficient infrastructure to ensure effective implementation of the policy which kicksoff in Lagos, next month. He stressed that the move would help the commercial bank compete effectively in the industry. ‘’As a bank, you must be focused on what

segment of the market you want to go in. Every bank in Nigeria,besides those that are playing the Investment Banking side, will tell you that the Retail Business is what they are targeting; and that informs the recent acquisitions and mergers that we have seen. ‘Also, the ‘cash-lite’ programme that is going on now is all targeted towards Retail; because they want to capture most of those people that are not in the banking arena to come into it without necessarily coming into the Banking Halls by using the buildings, those are the channels that are necessary, Kuru explained.

Mainstreet Bank unveils corporate campaign

ANINSTREET Bank has com menced a new corporate im age campaign, introducing it to the banking public. The campaign, tagged, ‘it’s a New Day,’ is intended to creep into the consciousness of the public with the promise of a new and better beginning to the bank’s existing and prospective customers. Developed by the bank’s new management team and consultants, the campaign is the bank’s ultimate pledge to the customer of its commitment to a more mutually beneficial relationship. Drawing from the experience of recent developments in the industry, the campaign treads a cautious path, promising a positive change to all stakeholders. “We want all our customers and other stakeholders to understand that we have a new and better beginning at Mainstreet Bank”, explained Faith Tuedor-Matthews, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. She said the bank is a gifted, ambitious child of a troubled mother who

S&P upgrades StanChart’s rating

TANDARD and Poor’s (S&P) has raised Standard Chartered Bank’s rating from A+ to AA-. The rating agency based its assessment on the strength of the bank’s balance sheet, risk management approach and market position across the growing economies of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. A statement from Standard Chartered, said the S&P’s upgrade clearly demonstrates its differentiated position against other international banks. It reinforces the group’s growing balance sheet, minimal wholesale funding requirements, diversified income streams and the strength of its capital

and liquidity positions. Group Finance Director, Richard Meddings, said: “S&P has recognised that we are totally different to other international banks. We’re operating in growth markets; we’ve got very diversified income, a very robust balance sheet and strong management. They are the third of the major rating agencies to upgrade us since the crisis began, while we have continued to deliver record results year in, year out,” he said. He explained that the bank is in a very small group of international banks to have been upgraded from S&P under the new methodology, at a

time most institutions are being downgraded or remaining the same. The bank is also the only major international bank to have been upgraded by S&P, Fitch and Moody’s. He said the S&P, also considered the bank’s strong liquidity and ‘above average’ capital, its ‘rich liquid pool of assets’ and its being regarded as a ‘flight to quality’ institution. Besides, the bank’s good market positions, flexibility to play to its advantages in the markets, the strong economic growth across its markets, plus the bank’s diverse geographic revenue mix, were also considered.

FGN BONDS 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

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 2-12-11 SYMBOL ECOBANK NPFMCRFBK PAINTCOM WEMABANK LAWUNION ETI CONTINSURE BAGCO TRANSCORP JAPAULOIL

O/PRICE 1.91 0.90 0.51 0.55 0.56 10.30 0.92 1.74 0.56 0.63

C/PRICE 2.00 0.94 0.53 0.57 0.58 10.65 0.95 1.78 0.57 0.64

CHANGE 0.09 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.35 0.03 0.04 0.01 0.01

LOSER AS AT 2-12-11 SYMBOL MOBIL CONOIL GLAXOSMITH NEIMETH FCMB AGLEVENT ETERNOIL FIDSON STERLNBANK UNITYBNK

O/PRICE 141.00 35.00 25.44 1.24 3.97 1.72 3.45 1.14 1.18 0.56

C/PRICE 133.95 33.25 24.17 1.18 3.78 1.64 3.29 1.09 1.13 0.54

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

OBB Rate Call Rate

has overcome the difficulties of childhood and is now stepping into the sunshine of a new day. “We have laid the foundation for success. We are re-reengineering the bank, retooling our processes, plugging leakages and retraining our staff and giving them a psychological preparation for the challenges of the market place. Mainstreet Bank is intensely focused on surpassing the expectations of our customers and there is a strong thirst for excellence among us that can only lead to greatness, ” said. She expressed the hope that based on the fundamental changes that are being effected in the structure, it would not be long before the bank returns to profitability. The campaign theme also drew heavily from the reassuring presence of a crust of experienced bankers, who make up the Board and management team of the bank and the strategic hiring of key professionals to man various sensitive functions.

DATA BANK

Tenor

NIDF NESF

number scheme has commenced the cutting down on the operating cost of banks,” a top manager with one of the second generation banks, said. “The initial challenges to the NUBAN were increasing cost of clearing, occasioned by the dragging down of the pace of transactions, but as of today, those issues have been resolved. “The new number scheme has been able to address various complaints ranging from payments into wrong accounts resulting from wrongly quoted account numbers by customers and the difficulty and lateness experienced in reversing such errors. “The other issue resolved is abuse of the clearing system included delays in presenting customer’s instructions in the clearing house, delayed application of inward items by some banks, and late return of unapplied inward items,” he said.

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

450m

452.7m

450m

150.8

08-8-11

250m

313.5m

250m

150.8

03-8-11

400m

443m

400m

150.7

01-8-11

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

(S/N)

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Aug ’11

MPR

6.50%

8.75%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

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% 9.4%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 118.85 98.43 0.76 0.04 0.88 1,642.73 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,351.90 193.00

9.08 1.00 118.69 97.65 0.73 0.04 0.87 1,635.25 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,149.37 191.08

ARM AGGRESSIVE KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY THE DISCOVERY FUND • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

CHANGE 7.05 1.75 1.27 0.06 0.19 0.08 0.16 0.05 0.05 0.02

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 24 Aug, 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 26, Aug, 2011 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

Movement

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

NEWS NBA panel identifies irregularities

Signage Agency takes off in Oyo January

Continued from page 2

From Adedayo Festus

THE Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA) will take off in January after its signing into law by the state legislature, Commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning Kafayat Adeojo has said. The commissioner stated that the Oyo State Government had sent a bill to the House of Assembly for passage of the Agency into law. According to her, the state government was displeased with the N72 million it inherited as yearly revenue from signage and advertisement, through its engaged contractor, Mojat Consult Ltd.

Awka professionals mourn Ojukwu Jude Iziguso

THE Awka Professionals yesterday eulogised Al Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) leader Chief Emeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu. In a statement signed by its President, Engr. Kenneth Adigwe, the group described the late Biafran leader as an icon, a great patriot and defender of truth and justice. The group recalled the role the late Ikemba played to get Anambra State Government to pay compensation for land it acquired for public good, especially in Awka, the state capital. Ojukwu died on November 26.

Pastor for burial PASTOR Asuquo Akpan Essien is dead. He died on December 9. He was 80.The lying in state will take place at Ndon Ikot Itie Udung, Itiaba Ekpe Atai Local Government of Akwa Ibom State on Friday at 10 am. Interment follows immediately at the same venue. He is survived by six children and 30 grandchildren. The late Pastor Essien served the Lord at Brotherhood of the Cross and Star.

Ex-council boss dies The death has been announced of Chief Joseph Oladipupo Solomon. He died in Lagos yesterday. The late Oladipupo was the first Chairman of OdiOlowo Local Government on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) between 1979 to 1983.Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family.

•The late Oladipupo

•Lagos State Governor’s mum Mrs Cecilia Fashola (middle), His Royal Majesty Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja, Aladeshonyin of Odonoforija Kingdom, Epe Division (second left), His Royal Majesty, Oba Moses Olaleye of Ilogbo Eremi, Badagry Division (second right, Managing Director/CEO, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) (left) and Rev. Sr. Jovita Nnagha of Our Lady of Apostles Convent, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos at Sonesta Hotel Resort, Taba, Egypt on their way to Mount Sinai for the 2011 pilgrimage...last weekend PHOTO: SUNDAY OMONIYI

Senator’s bank accounts frozen over Boko Haram Continued from page 2

“Where the name of a person or of an entity is confirmed to be on the Lists, the Institution shall block the funds or any other economic resources identified as belonging to or connected with the person or entity on the lists and shall ensure that the account is not operated and thereafter forward to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). “All funds and other economic resources frozen under this Regulation shall be recorded against the names of the owners and beneficial owners for proper management.” Another source said the SSS may be “compelled to release some indicting text messages between Ndume and Ali Konduga.” The source added: “At the appropriate time, Nigerians will know who is telling the truth or who is sane or insane. “We have conducted meticulous investigations which cannot be rubbished by any

flimsy excuse of insanity.” Latest clues by a suspect arrested in connection with the UN House bombing have confirmed that the building was not the original target. But the suspect, who is yet to disclose the original target, told security agencies that one of Boko Haram’s sponsors directed the suicide bomber to the UN House to draw global attention. Another source said: “When we interrogated the suspect, he said: ‘the original intention was not to hit the UN, but we were advised to go there by one of our sponsors to get international attention. We never knew the building before; we were taken there a day before we struck.” “This latest confession explained why we have not closed investigation into the bombing of the UN House.” An attack on Police facilities and three banks in Azare, headquarters of Kategum Local Government Area of Bauchi State yesterday led to the death of six people. Among the dead is a soldier,

a policeman and four civilians. Although no group has claimed responsibility, the pattern of the attack is similar to Boko Haram’s. Bauchi State Police Commissioner Ayo Aduba who confirmed the casualty figure, declined to reveal their identities. He said: “The attackers came with 20 rocket launchers and locally made bombs. They launched the attack from outside the Police Area Command’s headquarters and completely destroyed the building that houses the Azare Police Divisional Headquarters and the Area Commander’s office. The Police Commissioner added: “But for the prompt spirited response and resistance by the over 30 policemen on duty and those in the police barracks, the number of casualties would have been far more than what we have seen.” Aduba said the “exchange of gun fire power between the police and the hoodlums last-

ed for four hours compelled the attackers to retreat without trace,but the clot of blood and blood stained spattered outside the Police perimeter fence of the Area Commander’s office showed our men gained an upper hand’’. He did not give the names of the bank and the amount of money looted by the invaders. The attack was simultaneously launched on the home of Alhaji Mohammad Ali (a.k.a. Ali Kwara), an Azare based famous local hunter and a crime buster. “Bauchi State remains a flash point with seven border outlets. Our intelligence source clearly indicates that the invaders are from one of these neighboring states. We appeal to traditional rulers to assist the police with information that could help security agents track criminals,” the police chief said. The police boss advocated the formation of vigilance outfits in various communities across the state to reduce the crime rate.

ACN candidate Audu kicks as INEC declares PDP winner Continued from page 2

ACN’s agent, Mohammed Lawal, openly rejected the result from Ajaokuta Local Government Area where PDP scored 10,644 and ACN scored 3,129. “It is a lie. There were alterations. It shows the incompetence of the Collation Officer there,” he said. The announcement, which took place at INEC’s headquarters in Lokoja, began at 9.10 am. The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Kogi, Benue, Nassarawa and Plateau, Dr Abdulkadir Oniyangi, lauded the political parties for their role in the “successful election”. “Nigeria is gradually coming of age. The spirit shown in this election should be carried on. It will get to a stage where our elections will be termed excellent,” he said. But the ACN yesterday rejected the result, which it described as “criminal and malicious”. The party vows not to rest, until it reclaims its “stolen mandate”.

The Chief Strategist of the Prince Abubakar Audu Campaign Organisation, Mr Dino Melaye, said the result did not reflect the true wishes of the electorate. He said the PDP has graduated from using thugs to snatch ballot boxes to “scientific rigging”. “We want to state in very strong terms that INEC and the PDP before the election had already perfected ways to upturn the figures. “They already had a separate result sheets, aside the normal result sheets at the polling units and collation centres,” Melaye said. Melaye, a former PDP member of the House of Representatives, alleged that PDP allowed people to vote without attacking them, but when it got to the collation stage, they swapped the result sheets with the fake ones they had completed. Melaye said the result vindicated ACN’s alarm that the PDP was conniving with the INEC to manipulate the result. He said his party will pursue

justice, until it reclaims its stolen mandate. Reminded that ACN agents signed the result sheets, Melaye said: “Anyone who signed on behalf of the ACN is a PDP agent. “Our agents were withdrawn from the polling units when we noticed the impending charade by the PDP and INEC.” But the PDP denied the allegation. The chairman, Media Sub-Committee, Idris Wada Campaign Organisation, Mr Faruk Adejoh-Audu, said: “Did we also swap results in the places Audu won? We are very magnanimous in victory. I will concede to the defeated the right to cry. “We thought that Audu by now should be so used to defeat and be moderate in his anguish. For a senior citizen to make claims he knows are false is embarrassing,” he added. INEC’s spokesman in Kogi State, Mr Ahmed Bagudu, urged the ACN to go to court if it feels the wrong result was announced.

•Audu

“The court, will be the final arbiter,” Bagudu said. Wada urged his opponents to join hands and work with him to transform the state. Speaking to reporters after he was declared the winner, Wada said his administration would carry everyone along, irrespective of political affiliation. According to him, the state comes before an individual. He vowed to harness the abundant human and natural resources in the state for the good of all, saying technocrats will be engaged in the transformation.

“They also provided adequate security cover for the Presiding Officers and poll clerks. This gave the electoral officers the confidence to carry out their assignments without fear of molestation. “The security agents also provided perimeter security on the roads and displayed some level of civility and professionalism in their conduct. They deployed on time and strategically and provided security on the roads in such a manner as to show readiness to confront any threat to the peace. “The gubernatorial election was conducted under a peaceful and transparent atmosphere. The voters queued up and maintained the lines on their own throughout the period of accreditation and voting. The voters did not show signs of desperation and did not engage in conducts with the capacity to threaten the peace. “The Independent National Electoral Commission should, as a matter of national emergency enforce the provision of the Electoral Act 2010, requiring Political Parties to submit the list of their party agents and their data to the Electoral Officers in the Local Governments at least seven days before any election. This will make it possible to pin down party agents to particular polling units and make the arrest of those that breach the law on Election Day possible.”

‘Obasanjo should apologise over comments on Ojukwu’ From Chris Oji, Enugu

HE Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese Dr Emmanuel Chukwuma yesterday shot a salvo at former President Olusegun Obasanjo for allegedly saying that the late Biafran Warlord Odumegwu Ojukwu did not show remorse over his role in the civil war. The Cleric urged Obasanjo to apologise to Nigerians for deceiving them. “Obasanjo should rather ask Nigerians for forgiveness for installing a sick President who died before his time,” he said. He added that Nigerians were yet to be informed of the whereabouts of the money he recovered from late Sani Abacha through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “As fa as I am concerned, Obsanjo is talking rubbish. Obasanjo should ask Nigerians for forgiveness for installing a sick man as President of the country who died before his time”, he said. He maintained that the late Ojukwu fought for his rights, justice, fairness and equity.

Funeral for community leader MADAM Catherine Anyawu Ughamaelu is dead. She was 81. She will be buried at her family compound, Nibo, Awka South Local Government, Anambra State. She was the leader of Nibo Town Women General Assembly.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

EQUITIES

Shareholders seek minority shareholders’ protection

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 2-12-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name CAPITAL OIL PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 4

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 17,398 8,699.00 17,398 8,699.00

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Company Name LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 2 6

Quotation(N) 0.50 7.74

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,117,181 1,558,590.50 110,000 848,100.00 3,227,181 2,406,690.50

Quotation(N) 1.99 4.96

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 41,520 83,717.80 124,035 617,029.16 165,555 700,746.96

Quotation(N) 0.50 1.10

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 93,428 46,714.00 32,787 37,547.18 126,215 84,261.18

Quotation(N) 4.70 2.90 2.00 3.78 1.30 9.01 14.20 7.54 4.36 1.13 2.50 0.54 0.57 11.45

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 985,073 4,685,564.58 7,630,061 21,446,189.05 460,465 908,688.32 1,554,059 5,874,743.02 5,764,002 7,468,945.97 9,290,403 83,776,191.90 20,039,292 284,678,043.07 1,711,307 12,551,057.15 4,690,973 20,244,203.64 616,766 703,496.84 7,340,294 18,331,390.08 1,357,918 746,301.66 1,683,493 949,742.15 15,471,820 177,544,306.79 78,595,926 639,908,864.22

Quotation(N) 205.01 5.70 92.00 1.01

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,756,351 564,372,126.42 400 2,168.00 1,688,663 155,158,899.34 10,200 10,302.00 4,455,614 719,543,495.76

AIR SERVICES Company Name AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 6 24 30

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 5 8 BANKING

Company Name ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 73 70 18 42 66 385 392 49 114 16 179 19 28 197 1,648 BREWERIES

Company Name GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 63 3 115 1 182

BUILDING MATERIALS Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC NIGERIAN ROPES PLC. LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 29 13 26 1 24 93

Quotation(N) 13.60 4.79 105.10 8.26 38.50

Quantity Traded Value 151,925 33,500 154,219 1,193 840,033 1,180,870

of Shares (N) 2,062,835.65 158,358.00 16,214,116.85 9,365.05 32,352,086.30 50,796,761.85

Quotation(N) 8.52 16.12 9.04 0.53 10.93

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 35,171 284,986.81 6,034 97,758.08 5,336 45,836.24 1,130,000 595,900.00 32,280 335,389.20 1,208,821 1,359,870.33

CHEMICAL & PAINTS Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC NIGERIAN-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC PREMIER PAINTS PLC. Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 5 1 5 2 20

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 7 8

Quotation(N) 0.50 2.18

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 22,500 11,250.00 312,000 680,160.00 334,500 691,410.00

COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT Company Name NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. OMATEK VENTURES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1 2

Quotation(N) 9.31 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 100 977.00 19,000 9,500.00 19,100 10,477.00

Quotation(N) 1.64 6.43 5.89 29.05 5.81 0.57 29.15 26.00

Quantity Traded Value 97,546 1,638 15,160 282,694 4,837 2,713,392 1,808,846 247,870 5,171,983

Quotation(N) 38.43 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 72,460 2,690,900.00 19,000 9,500.00 91,460 2,700,400.00

CONGLOMERATES Company Name A. G. LEVENTIS (NIGERIA) PLC CHELLARAMS PLC JOHN HOLT PLC PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC SCOA NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 1 2 26 1 31 59 52 174

of Shares (N) 159,975.44 10,008.18 84,896.00 8,200,757.20 26,700.24 1,494,221.68 53,499,602.21 6,594,657.88 70,070,818.83

CONSTRUCTION Company Name JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC MULTIVERSE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 15 1 16

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name 7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC TANTALIZERS PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 12 26 57 79 25 19 9 55 1 1 284

Quotation(N) 48.00 11.11 5.10 4.40 64.00 2.85 4.00 400.00 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value 43,907 154,633 626,281 1,284,623 45,369 957,692 81,000 142,931 9,000 34,855 3,380,291

of Shares (N) 2,072,787.24 1,672,785.11 3,185,839.35 5,729,875.42 2,857,279.50 2,695,431.32 320,340.00 57,170,834.15 4,500.00 17,427.50 75,727,099.59

Quotation(N) 0.73 1.09 24.17 1.90 9.05 1.18 3.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 5,000 3,650.00 313,750 342,810.28 171,409 4,143,038.53 12,601 23,073.90 25,000 215,000.00 218,050 257,299.00 40,000 140,000.00 785,810 5,124,871.71

Quotation(N) 2.64

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 4,200 10,542.00 4,200 10,542.00

HE Nigerian financial services regulators need to pay more attention to the protection of rights and investments of minority shareholders to build up necessary domestic investor’s confidence in the Nigerian capital market. President, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, made this call at a two-day training workshop organised by the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) in Ijebu-Ode at the weekend. He said the failure of the regulatory system to give due consideration to protection of minority shareholders was the bane of the waning investor’s confidence in the market. Nwosu said the capital market has yet to recover because minority investors who would have provided steady inflow of funds through regular savings were disenchanted with the policy thrusts of the financial regulators and the government, which most often punish the minority shareholders for systemic failures. He noted that while the regulatory system tended to overlook infractions by some influential major shareholders, it often time turned round to punish investors for the regulatory failures. Nwosu outlined that the major problems militating against the stock market to include inconsistent policies by regulators and government, unguided statements by regulators that tend to undermine investor’s confidence and insensitivity of

No of Deals 1 8 16 3 1 2 1 32

HE Nigerian Stock Ex change (NSE) has called for an enabling law to encourage telecommunications companies, upstream oil and gas firms and multinational companies to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Speaking at the 2011 national workshop of the Capital Market Correspondent Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN), at Ijebu

No of Deals 3 3

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION INDUSTRIES PLC B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC VONO PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 4 1 10 1 17

Quotation(N) 11.15 6.80 36.19 5.03 2.88

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 14,090 149,354.00 59,568 403,832.28 7,680 264,115.20 68,544 330,889.20 9,984 28,753.92 159,866 1,176,944.60

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 3

By Tonia Osundolire

Ode, Ogun State, Managing Director/CEO, NSE, Oscar Onyema, said getting these companies to list on the stock exchange, would help promote the national interest perspective and ensure that Nigerians are seen to be benefiting from the wealth of these companies. Represented by Chief of Staff, Bola Adeeko, Onyema said the Federal Government should

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 70,000 35,000.00 70,000 35,000.00

Quotation(N) 0.52 0.95 2.21 0.53 1.50 0.50 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.98 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value 5,356,839 12,204,390 507,422 810,000 3,091,150 2,000 194,222 4,173,200 10,000 4,704,663 212,336 19,000 650,000 3,000 24,090 30,000 1,256,873 82,500 533,324 33,865,009

Quotation(N) 0.77

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 31,416 23,247.84 31,416 23,247.84

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N)

JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

56 56

No of Deals 26 27 8 4 7 1 3 13 1 31 8 1 3 1 1 5 1 2 11 154 No of Deals 4 4 MARITIME

Company Name

No of Deals

1,431,781 1,431,781

925,403.64 925,403.64

Company Name CRUSADER NIGERIA PLC. NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 1 3

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.94

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 87,694 43,847.00 50,000 47,000.00 137,694 90,847.00

Quotation(N) 5.94 1.78 12.71

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,181 12,322.65 1,123,185 1,947,995.25 1,000 12,080.00 1,126,366 1,972,397.90

PACKAGING Company Name AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS PLC. NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC BETA GLASS CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 62 1 64

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) Company Name MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. FORTE OIL PLC MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 10 18 19 12 158 7 225

Quotation(N) 63.86 33.25 3.29 15.00 133.95 26.00 200.00

Quantity Traded Value 505 502,196 290,698 41,085 206,786 1,567,979 4,200 2,613,449

of Shares (N) 32,239.20 16,706,334.25 956,816.42 597,229.39 27,700,386.80 40,770,217.86 820,167.60 87,583,391.52

PRINTING & PUBLISHING of Shares (N) 2,789,278.35 10,777,163.20 1,121,125.12 429,300.00 4,636,905.00 1,000.00 97,111.00 2,419,092.00 5,000.00 2,352,331.50 106,168.00 9,500.00 629,000.00 1,500.00 12,045.00 15,000.00 628,436.50 41,250.00 266,662.00 26,337,867.67

LEASING Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

0.64

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

INSURANCE Company Name AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC STACO INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

direct the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), to ensure that government’s holding in the soon-to-be privatised companies are listed on the NSE immediately they are privatised. He added that listing the companies will drive the growth of the Nigerian capital market and contribute to the quest of ensuring that the market becomes a barometer of the Nigerian economy.

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 2-12-11

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

the Federal Government to the needs of the capital market. “The regulators should accept their failures and retrace their steps in order for the market to recover,” Nwosu said. He pointed out that the meltdown in the capital market was largely due to the failure of the regulators to enforce major shareholders and operators adhere to the rules guiding listing and transactions on the stock market. Nwosu called for downward review of minimum volume of shares needed to effect price change on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from 50,000 shares to 10,000 shares to enable active retail trading and widespread price discovery. He berated the conferment of national honours on some influential major shareholders whom he alleged were complicit in the market’s downturn, lamenting that such honours amounted to rewards for failures and were capable of sending wrong signals to the investing public. Nwosu’s comments came on the heels of the continuing decline at the stock market. Key benchmark indices at the NSE last week further contracted, pushing the year-to-date return near negative 20 per cent. The All Share Index (ASI) dropped by 0.8 per cent to open today at 19,963.37 points. Aggregate market capitalisation of all equities also slipped to N6.282 trillion. Nearly all other group indi-

ces depreciated, indicating the widespread of the downtrend. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised companies, dropped by 1.0 per cent to close at 888.59 points. The NSE Food and Beverage Index fell by 1.6 per cent to close at 555.72 points. The NSE Banking Index declined by 2.3 per cent to close at 269.15 points while the NSE Oil and Gas Index dropped 1.2 per cent to close at 241.16 points. However, the NSE Insurance Index was exceptional as it appreciated by 1.3 per cent to close at 146.97 points. Thirty nine stocks recorded price depreciation as against 27 stocks that appreciated during the week. Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc led on the price losers’ table, dropping by N7.05 to close at N133.95 per share. Nestle Nigeria Plc followed with a loss of N5 to close at N400 per share. On the upside, Guinness Nigeria Plc led the gainers with a gain of N3.01 to close at N205.01 per share. Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc trailed with a gain of N1.50 to close at N64 per share. Aggregate turnover stood at 1.224 billion shares worth N10.415 billion in 16,897 deals with the financial services sector accounting for 1.06 billion shares valued at N6.81 billion traded in 10,066 deals. Banking subsector was the most active with 890.55 million shares worth N6.7 billion in 9,359 deals. Insurance subsector occupied second position on the activity chart with a turnover of 166.5 million shares valued at N104.32 million traded in 690 deals.

NSE seeks enabling law to list multinational firms

HEALTHCARE Company Name EVANS MEDICALPLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC Sector Totals

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1 14 16

Quotation(N) 2.24 3.80 3.70

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,500 3,300.00 8,000 30,400.00 121,555 432,393.22 131,055 466,093.22

Quotation(N) 12.30

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 76,494 921,324.60 76,494 921,324.60

REAL ESTATE Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 13 13

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Company Name SKYE SHELTER FUND Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 100.00

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 15 1,500.00 15 1,500.00

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 2

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 472,882 236,441.00 472,882 236,441.00

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals Overall Totals

No of Deals 119 119

Quotation(N) 10.65

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 7,193,600 74,971,617.31 7,193,600 74,971,617.31

3,187

146,074,551

1,763,887,085.23

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

FOREIGN NEWS Protests at climate change summit in South Africa

HOUSANDS of demonstrators have marched through the South African city of Durban demanding faster action on climate change. The annual United Nations climate summit is being held at the city’s convention centre. Protesters were particularly angered by the stance of rich countries such as the US and Canada. In London former UK Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said the approach of these nations was “appalling”. Halfway through this summit, some progress has been made, but a few countries including the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia are hold-

ing out on important issues such as the future of the Kyoto Protocol. Fourteen years ago, Lord Prescott played a leading role in the UN summit in Kyoto that brought the protocol into existence. Speaking to the BBC, he was scathing about nations trying to delay progress now. Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought. Glossary in full “Let’s have a reassessment of it by 2015.” he said. “But if you don’t finish in time for the ending of

•Jacob Zuma

Kyoto Two, which is next year, 2012, then, you know, it will actually wither on the vine and that’s what Canada and America wants - and one or two other rich countries. “It’s a conspiracy against the poor. It’s appalling. I’m ashamed of such countries not recognising their responsibilities.”

Russians vote in nationwide parliamentary poll

USSIANS are voting in polls that will decide the shape of the lower house, or Duma, for the next five years. There have been allegations of violations of election law, with Russia’s only independent monitoring group, Golos, logging 5,300 complaints. The group also said its website had suffered a cyber attack. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who leads the ruling United Russia party, has accused foreign powers of meddling in election preparations. The Golos monitors, who are not affiliated with any party, are funded largely by

the US and EU. Duma members have questioned why the foreign-funded organisation - whose name means “voice” or “vote” - is allowed to monitor Russian elections. The previous Duma was widely viewed as little more than a rubber stamp for the Kremlin, says the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow - adding that this may explain why the campaign has failed to excite the Russian public. The election is being seen as a referendum on Mr Putin’s personal popularity, three months before the Russian prime minister runs again for president. He served two terms in the post between 2000

Germans defuse World War II bomb

OMB disposal experts in the German city of Koblenz have successfully defused two bombs from World War II found in the riverbed of the Rhine. They were discovered when water levels fell because of a prolonged dry spell. The bigger of the two bombs weighed 1.8 tonnes and was dropped by the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1945. Nearly half the city’s population - 45,000 - has been evacuated, including the inhabitants of two hospitals, seven nursing homes and a prison. It is the biggest bomb disposal operation in Germany since 1945. The smaller of the two bombs - weighing 125kg (275lb) - was dropped by US forces. Experts said it was the more dangerous of the two. “We are relieved,” fire department spokesman Manfred Morschhaeuser told the German news agency DPA. A smoke grenade canister

found at the same site was blown up in a controlled explosion. The BBC correspondent in Berlin, says more bombs are expected to be discovered because of the low water levels in the Rhine. About 600 tonnes of unexploded ordnance are discovered in Germany every year, our correspondent says. Everyone living within a 2km (1.25 mile) radius of the bomb site was ordered to leave the area. Shelters with 12,000 beds were set up in schools to accommodate those with no other place to go. A fleet of 500 emergency vehicles - including ambulances and police - stood ready in case one of the bombs went off. Hundreds of sandbags were laid around the site of the bombs, and water pumped out from the surrounding area. Only once the bomb site was dry could work to defuse the explosives begin.

Libya’s NTC sets up committee to probe oil graft

IBYA’S National Transitional Council has set up a committee to investigate corruption in the oil sector during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, a member of the committee told Reuters yesterday. A wide-reaching probe of oil deals could lead to a reallocation of lucrative contracts awarded to foreign oil majors under Gaddafi, disrupting the companies; plans to resume operations now Libya’s civil war is over. The NTC has been under pressure from political forc-

es inside the country to look into allegations that millions of dollars were misappropriated from the oil sector by Gaddafi-era officials. “This committee will study the old files of the oil sector and we are looking for corruption in the sector in the past,” Salem Gannan, told Reuters. The committee will function outside the structures of the oil ministry and the NOC state oil firm, reporting directly to the NTC, the interim leadership running the country since Gaddafi was ousted.

and 2008. Voting for representation in the country’s 450-seat lower chamber takes place across Russia’s nine time zones with polls closing at 17:00GMT on Sunday in Kaliningrad. As people in European Russia were going to bed, polls were opening in the far east. People in Vladivostok were among the first in Russia to cast their votes In Vladivostok, sailors from Russia’s Pacific fleet were among those queuing to vote. Warrant Officer Nikolai Ponomaryov said he was voting for United Russia, because the party was supporting the armed forces.

Syria faces fresh Arab ultimatum

YRIA is facing a new Arab League deadline to accept proposals to allow observers into the strife-torn country. Arab foreign ministers said Damascus had until yesterday to agree to the league’s plan. Further sanctions have been threatened. A government spokesman in Damascus told reporters Syria was negotiating with the Arab League over the observers. The league also confirmed sanctions already approved after Syria ignored a previous deadline last weekend. Unrest in the country has continued, with 23 reported killed on Saturday. After a meeting of the Arab League ministerial committee on Saturday, Qatari PM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Jabr al-Thani said: “We asked the Syrian minister of foreign affairs if the Syrian government will agree to sign tomorrow [Sunday] and we are still waiting for a reply. “Aside from the deadline, we are willing to convince them that this is the right way - to sign the protocol and agree on the Arab initiative as it is.” At their Cairo meeting, Arab ministers also confirmed economic sanctions against Damascus approved in the past week. These include cutting off transactions with Syria’s central bank, freezing assets for 19 officials and aides of President Bashar al-Assad, and banning them from travelling to other Arab countries. Mr Thani added: “The committee might add more measures in the future depending on the situation in Syria.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

SPORT EXTRA Quadrangular Games a potential gold mine – Ettah

HE Quadrangular Games has been described as a fertile ground capable of bringing forth athletes who would register the country’s name on the world map of sports and make it a force to reckon with. Declaring the 21st edition of the Games closed at the weekend, Mr Larry Ettah, Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc, said the level of participation, the games’ officiating standard, facilities and the new focus of the games have all made the championship a platform where athletes that would do the country proud during international competitions should be discovered and nurtured.

The annual Games involve four foremost clubs in Lagos - Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Apapa Club and the host of this year's edition, Lagos Country Club. Ettah commended the Local Organising Committee of the 21st edition, known as LCC 2011, for putting to together a successful competition and more importantly, for introducing the children edition where junior members of the participating clubs honed their skills in preparation to winning laurels for the country in future international championships. He expressed his company’s desire to work towards making

the games more successful and build enduring future that would benefit the country. The Lagos Country Club emerged champion at the end of the eightday tournament, topping the medals table with 37 gold, 27 silver and 56 bronze medals. Ikoyi Club 1938 came second with 17 gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze medals. Apapa Club won 9 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze medals, while Lagos Lawn Tennis Club won 3 gold and 8 bronze medals. In his remarks, Barr Wale Osomo, President of the Lagos Country Club, expressed delight at the successful completion of this year’s edition

of the games. He maintained that the championship “is set to go places. Our target is to get our children to the Olympics and win medals for our country.” Osomo congratulated the winners and urged participants to continue to take part in the championship. He boasted that Lagos Country Club would retain the trophy at the next games which would be hosted by Ikoyi Club 1938. He also commended HotSports Nigeria Limited, a leading sports marketing and production company, for doing a wonderful job marketing the games. The Quadrangular Games started about two decades ago and has subsequently created an avenue for social and business networking, friendship and sportsmanship among the participating clubs. It is held annually on rotation basis among the four clubs.

•Mr Larry Ettah, Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc (2nd left), presenting certificate to Onwuchekwa Asabe, a gold medalist in swimming (2nd right); with them are Barr Wale Osomo, President of the Lagos Country Club.

Okah picks Heineken/ Ikoyi Ladies Open trophy

ORT HARCOURT Golf Club top amateur female golfer, Diana Okah Friday evening

emerged new winner of the Heineken/Ikoyi Ladies Open at the Ikoyi Club 1938 (golf section). It was a hard fought victory for the aged player, who had won several tournaments across the country, dethroning two time winner, Evelyn Oyome in a keenly contested tournament. Okah shot a marvellous 81 on day one, and slumped to 89 on day two for a combine 170 gross. She was one better than Oyome, who shot a combined 171 for two days. An elated Okah, who got a rousing treatment from her feat beating over 100 other female players from top golf courses in the country, said winning the Ikoyi Ladies Open is a dream comes true. “I never knew i could still do this, win a major tournament like the Ikoyi ladies Open, but after shooting 81 on day 1, which is about the best on opening day, i realised if i push myself a little more, maybe i could do it and here i am the winner.” She praised the organisers for a near perfect tournament and warm reception given players from outside Lagos. Ikoyi Lady Captain, Mrs Busola Joseph, inspired by the amazing turnout of lady golfers, said she was satisfied with the quality of play on the two days.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

SPORT EXTRA

Andersson eyes Eagles’ Job

HE assistant coach to Lars Lagerback during last year’s World Cup, Roland Andersson, has been shortlisted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the vacant technical director post. MTNFootball.com specially gathered that besides the Belgian Tom Saintfeit, Andersson has also been pen-

cilled down for the top job. “Andersson is also being seriously considered for the technical director job,” an official informed MTNFootball.com The NFF are expected to soon invite the shortlisted candidates for interview. Andersson was lagerback’s assistant when Nigeria failed to go past the first round at last

year’s World Cup in South Africa. The 61-year-old Andersson was a former defender for top Swedish club Malmo in his playing days and featured for his native country at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. He was Sweden assistant coach between 2004 and 2009. He has coached clubs in United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia as well as Swiss side Young Boys.

FRENCH LIGUE 1

Apam rues OGC Nice's position

O •Roland Andersson (l) with Lars Lagerback

Cash crunch hits Enugu Rangers

NUGU Rangers are battling serious financial problems ahead of the forthcoming subregional WAFU Cup that they have called off training camps in Otta and Nnewi. Officials told MTNFootball.com the team will no longer train in Otta, near Lagos, because of lack of funds. Another arrangement to train in nearby Nnewi for full concentration has also hit the rocks because of the same reason. This has forced the club to make do with staying put in Enugu. "Sincerely, this is not the best way to prepare a team who are going for a major competition like this. I hope it doesn’t demoralise the players,” lamented a Rangers official. “All the same, we’ re going to do our best to end this almost three decades of not winning a trophy.” In the meantime, ‘The Flying Antelopes’ have stepped up their training for the WAFU RESULTS Everton 0-1 Stoke City Wolvers 2-1 Sunderland Italian League Catania 0-1 Cagliari Bologna 1-0 Siena Chievo 0-0 Atalanta Fiorentina 3-0 AS Roma Juventus 2-0 Cesena Spanish La Liga A’Madrid 3-1Vallecano Real Sociedad 3-2 Malaga French Ligue 1 Bordeaux 2-0 Nancy Paris S.G. 3-2 Auxerre

Cup. However, four of their key players were left out of training this weekend because of illness or injury. The players are Haliru Umar, Chinedu Sunday, Emeka Eze and Ugonna Uzochukwu. The WAFU Cup kicks off in Lome, Togo, on Friday. The semi-finalists include Horoya of Guinea, Gamtel from Gambia and a representative of the host country Togo. Nigeria’s Sharks are the defending champions.

NYEKACHI Apam is worried about the position of his former club OGC Nice on the Ligue 1 table. Nice are second from bottom on the log with a paltry 11 points from 15 games. Apam has fond memories of OGC. He once skippered the side. His son, Wayne was also born in the city about nine months ago. ''I do not forget the moral support I received from my friends at Nice - Didier Digard, David Hellebuyck and the medical staff. I am worried about OGC Nice. ''It would be very difficult to see the club go down. I remember in the 2006-2007 season. We had 13 points after 15 days. We were just saved (with a 0-0 draw at the 37th day at Lens),'' Apam told regional daily Nice Matin. Unavailable for almost 18 months, Apam returned to action last Sunday in a reserve team fixture. Rennes are away to Nice at the Stade Municipal du Ray (Nice) on Saturday.

www.thenationonlineng.net

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchsam@yahoo.com 08054501081(sms only) •Winner, Informed Commentary 2009 (D.A.M.E) •Columnist of the Year 2009 (NMMA)

With malice towards all

•Dr. Jonathan

home state, Bayelsa. These reflect that the president has not risen above the sewers of malice in administering the state. His grouse against Governor Wammako is that he did not support him during the presidential primaries. Wammako enjoys strong favour within the state power centre. In order to throw a cat among their pigeons, he decided to unleash the sports minister into the race, since Yusuf Suleiman is also a favoured son of the state. This is a replay of sorts of the politics in which he has enmeshed Bayelsa, his home state. So, while the North is estranged in the politics of Jonathan, individual states are also under the spell of his divisive politics. Add to Rivers, Sokoto and Bayelsa, another state Kogi, where he went to campaign last week. He also stoked the flame of PDP discord which some of the state party bigwigs have decided to set aside temporarily in the guise of the governorship election that took place over the weekend. The problem is serious. President Jonathan,

RIPPLES MAN GETS 14yrs FOR IMPREGNATING DAUGHTER–News

Just 14yrs...he should have been CASTRATED!

VOL.7, NO. 1,965

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

N the Obasanjo years, we complained that he derived a sadistic joy in ratcheting up tension. The favorite cliché was that he was “heating up the polity.” In the transience of Yar’Adua’s reign, the nation calmed as though the exterior of the man was sedation on a hyperactive people. His illness struck and the nation knew no peace until death, the ultimate vanquisher, put an end to a painful and treacherous episode in our nation’s history. Many thought the charm of a once shoeless personality with apparent meek carriage and simpering visage would turn the country on a path of aplomb development. Yet, it is over half a year since he was sworn in as president after a lackluster year as transitional president. Our nation is more divided than we probably have been since the 1960s. The election itself was divisive, billed by many as a regional contest: the north versus the south. Buhari was cast as the avenging angel of a power vortex in danger of extinction. Goodluck Jonathan, who appropriated the names Azikiwe and Ebele to give himself the canopy of a pan-Nigerian folk, could not muster any name akin to a Mohammed or Abdullahi. But he became the southern counterfoil to a faltering oligarchy. As good luck would have it, he prevailed, and this led to a clear friction of fission in the polity. Riots erupted in the northern part of the country, and hapless youth corps members roasted tragically in the infernal rage. Since then, we have been yearning for an air of harmony. But we have not seen any practical move to reconcile both parts of this country on the part of President Goodluck Jonathan. The post-election rampage degenerated into the pious militancy in the form of the Boko Haram eruptions. Failure of intelligence has played a part. Token arrests and wayward rhetoric have done little to douse the tensions. This can be traced to the failure of the president and the PDP elite to create an atmosphere of reconciliation after a bitter contest for Aso Rock. As a president, once you win an election, your first task is to rise above partisan rancour. That should not make you less of a party man but more of a nationalist, bearing a banner of harmony and cooperation. That has not been the case. I was inspired to write this by two developments in the past week. One, the new ICPC boss, Francis Elechi, suffered a rebuff from the president when he and his family had prepared for swearing in. This was the person he presented to the National Assembly and who had been duly cleared. The reason was that he had disturbing calls. Further investigation revealed it was because the man was a friend and close associate of Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi. The second development was that he wanted to give the Sokoto governor, Aliyu Wamakko, the treatment he is meting out to Governor Timipre Sylva of his

WHO SAID WHAT

‘The government has abandoned the main tenet of industrial democracythat all agreements freely entered into must be UKACHUKWU AWUZIE honoured.’

AST week, Senators called for the indictment and prosecution of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former president,

over his activities concerning the privatisation of government-owned companies during his presidency. In July, the Senate had set up an ad hoc probe committee to look into government’s privatised companies, how they were sold, and the aftermath. The committee reportedly found out that sordid underhand dealings took place in the sale of the companies, and that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which oversees the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) the organ directly saddled with the sale, performed woefully in many respects. Mention was made of Ajaokuta Steel which was sold to a company that stripped it bare and carted off its equipment abroad only to begin importing the same equipment at exorbitant costs. More damagingly, according to the probe committee, Obasanjo was found culpable of supervising the sale of some of the companies directly to some of his cronies and political associates. There are facts and documents to prove this, the Senate said. But they are

who is called Lucky Joe by his votaries, should realise that the presidency is not a platform for the settlement of scores. He enjoyed tremendous support in the Southwest during the April polls. Yet, his government decided to ambush Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a lawsuit that was clearly the work of mischief. His attorney general of renegade law put together a desperate prosecution against the man without following rudiments. It was a disgrace, but it reflected a Jonathan governing the country with malice. So, we have it. In the North, he is not wellpleased. In the West, he has stirred disaffection. In the Niger Delta where he hails from, he is a brother of discord. The Southeast has not heard the word Azikiwe since he was sworn in. The handling of the Boko Haram crisis has been such a disaster. When was the last time that the President had to mark our independence day by hiding behind the gates of the government house? That is how bad things have become in the nation. To worsen matters, we don’t only have crisis in the regional sense, or crisis within states, but we also have an international dimension to it. Look at the sovereign wealth fund. It has caused friction between president and governors. That is a script playing out subliminally in the country. We still do not know what crescendo it will give us. But the money, which is supposed to be sovereign, is now for foreigners. Big Western investors like Goldman Sachs and UBS are shopping for our money. President Jonathan went to France recently to discuss, among other things, the use others can put our money to. Yet, we have many who have no jobs and banks who cannot lend money to young men and women with entrepreneurial brio. The foreign firms will employ their nationals and share the profit disproportionately with us. So what kind of nationalist is our president? The other line of division is class, and this is

epitomised in the drive to remove the socalled fuel subsidy. The senate unveiled the names of beneficiary companies. They are fall guys of subsidy. Only the naïve will believe that the list is genuine. Some of them could be beneficiaries, but we want to know the political beneficiaries. The list released is diversionary. We should start with the relationship between the PPPRA and the political elite. The PPPRA gives the licenses and that is where the “bargains” begin and end. I will come to that topic another day. But the removal of the so-called subsidy will raise costs and pauperise Nigerians. This creates big divide between the rich and poor. Unveiling the list also brings in intra-class collision as the commercial elite is pitted against the political elite. President George W. Bush faced the charge of being a divider. He reacted by saying, “I am a uniter, not a divider.” Can Lucky Joe say so today? See the North. Not many prominent northerners are speaking today. It is quiet on that front. The Niger Delta roils. Individual states broil. Malice is at play here. President Abraham Lincoln noted in his second inaugural speech when the United States was in the throes of a civil war that he would run the country “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us light…” Victory as president should have lifted Jonathan above all. Churchill once said: “In victory magnanimity.” When Lincoln signed a treaty to readmit Louisiana into the Union during the civil war, he said: “I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing.” With poverty everywhere, infrastructure and power in peril and education decaying, I recommend Lincoln’s words to President Jonathan. There is more at stake than personal scores.

Ajimobi Watch

OVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State had a quiet last laugh over his semi-literate predecessor last week. He gave jobs to 20,000 youths. Alao-Akala had mocked him when in July he set a committee to work out the modalities of giving jobs to the teeming youths. He said it was an amorphous programme. Akala found the word that describes his own reign as governor: amorphous. So, what would he say now to the 20,000 youths who will now work on environment he ignored, works he bastardised, and even teach in schools his illiterate mind could not save? This is good sign for the Oyo governor. We hope he carries on that spirit. Ibadan needs a lot of work and thinking in many regards as well as other parts of Oyo State.

HARDBALL

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Senate versus Obasanjo

privatisation process was in fact Obasanjo. But as to whether the government would have the political will to bring the former president to book, no one is sure. It is recalled that the House of Representatives at a time tried to probe Obasanjo’s power contracts a few years ago. That effort was subverted and the probe committee members hunted. Even Obasanjo himself, citing some spurious and nebulous concepts of African tradition and culture, mocked the House of Representatives panel and declined to honour their invitations. Since 1999, the ruling party has only demonstrated resolve when it comes to hounding the opposition. It has shown contempt for the rule of law and due process. It has affronted civilised standards and decent behaviour. It has absolved its friends and cronies from criminal responsibilities for their actions. Indeed, it has undermined the country and its laws and made a mockery of modern governance. We are not sure it will find the courage to bring Obasanjo to book, no matter what the Senate says. But we must make no mistake that this general subversion of the integrity of this country will continue for ever. It won’t.

worried, indeed despondent, that the government may lack the political will to pursue the prosecution of the former president who has often acted as if he is above the law. If, in spite of the facts unearthed by the Senate, the former president is still not prosecuted, they said warily, someone would come along in the near future to do it. It is not certain what they hinted at; but it is clear they are saddened by some of the facts they encountered in the probe and the lack of political will successive governments have displayed in the past one decade or more. This column shares in their apprehensions and grief. That their probe is impartial is not in doubt, for reports had tended to suggest that the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was the culprit in the sordid sale of the companies. The Senate was indeed surprised to find that contrary to impressions, the person responsible for undermining the

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