The Nation December 07, 2014

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

COLUMN

Prospects in adversity I

T never rains but pours, as they say. This past week, one cannot but weep for Mother Nigeria.

Snooper does not normally engage in silly sentiments but the sight of a potentially great nation being battered and buffeted from all sides by increasingly violent storms cannot but evoke pity and passion. It is like watching the ruined hulk of a once magnificent heavyweight boxer being tossed and trussed around the ring like an expired paperweight.

No one can be sure which one of the savage blows will prove fatal. But there can be no doubt that something is about to give. Even for a lionhearted nation that has seen off many adversities the combination of spiritual, political, economic and military disasters might prove a bridge too far. When you combine needless political turmoil, a rampart and remorseless religious uprising, the spiritual disorientation of a whole society with looming economic collapse, you have a perfect storm unfurling.

In nautical terms, a perfect storm occurs when a rare confluence of events leads to a dramatic worsening of a situation. In political terms, a perfect storm occurs when a rare convergence of different situations leads to a drastic worsening of circumstances. In the same week that Jonathan shot himself in the foot by ordering an invasion of the National Assembly, the Boko Haram insurgents almost added a state capital to their prized possessions.

As if these national tribulations were not enough, a major economic crisis signposted by dwindling petroleum revenues led to a summary devaluation of the naira. Nigerian officials have tried to put a bold face to this looming economic meltdown by insisting that our reserves should see us through. Like economic Rip van Winkles, they seem incapable of grasping the magnitude of the unfolding drama.

Dwindling revenues would lead to a drastic scaling down of capital projects; a worsening balance of state obligations and further loss of human capital. The bloated and bogus thirty-six state structure will become so severely cash-strapped in a matter of months that paying salaries will become a major miracle. All the indices point to an economic implosion. The next few months will be tense and fraught indeed.

One major crisis is often enough for any nation. But for a nation to be simultaneously confronted by severe crises in the most critical segments of human governance is beyond the normal order of things. On the face of it, it may look as if Nigeria is a

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Map of Nigeria

victim of a monstrous national and international conspiracy to bring it to heel. The behavior of some of our neighbours appears very suspicious.

Our old western patrons and partners appear to have given up completely on the nation as a viable project.

Yet on closer scrutiny and deeper observation, we are actually the architects of our own misfortunes. In order to ensure the sustenance of civilisation and the survival of the human species, nature often places a curse on its bounties. We must not be content with consuming them as we find them. We must add value to them through labour and ceaseless imagination. Without this fundamental law of nature, there would have been no civilisation and humankind would have remained stranded at the hunter-gatherer stage of existence. The wielded scythe speaks its own poetry and every human society that has excelled is a product of industry and poetic imagination.

As a result of an unproductive political elite stuck at the feral level of human existence with its impulse for immediate game-sharing so reminiscent of primitive hunting packs, we have allowed oil to become a curse on the nation. In almost 60 years of oil prospecting in the nation, we have not added any value to the black gold, beyond pocketing its proceeds and indulging in outlandish consumption of foreign goods.

This monocultural nature of our economy has completely distorted our growth and development and

now threatens to swamp everything in an oily sludge. Beyond empowering only a few and leaving the rest to wallow in poverty and biblical misery, those who claim to be the rightful owners of the oil wells have not done much better than those they traditionally dismiss as parasites and leeches. Irrespective of ethnic extraction, the Nigerian political elite is cut from the same societal loins.

Many other societies have learnt their lessons the hard way. In the sixteenth century, gold from the Potosi mines of South America brought ruinous inflation to metropolitan Spain. The country went on a long spiral of economic and political dysfunction in which it was humiliated in turn by Holland, its former colony, England and then America which stripped it of its last illusions as a global power. It has taken four centuries, several political upheavals and a momentous civil war for the land of matadors to recover its bearing.

But we live in a different global order. As Nigeria begins to foam in blood from all fronts, it should also be clear that the international community out of enlightened self interest will not allow its misery to be prolonged or protracted. If the Boko Haram insurgency represents the rogue Islamic initiative, the unfolding oil war between America and the Saudi kingdom may yet turn out to be some final solution.

Between them, Jonathan’s frantic assaults on national institutions serve as the local catalyst.

With such a distinguished list of potential terminators on the queue, Nigeria will be hard pressed to survive on a day to day basis. If we are lucky, it may all end in the remarkable recombination and reconstitution of the Nigerian nation.

If not a conglomeration of warlord enclaves beckons. But the point to note is that there is opportunity in crisis and possibilities in utter adversity.

Given the events of the past few weeks, a consensus is beginning to emerge that the nation has reached a historic watershed and it cannot continue along this ruinous path.

Hitherto, it has been a dialogue of the deaf between two seemingly immovable ethnic ramparts without any possibility of a pan-Nigerian resolution or a peaceful postNigerian dispersal of the tribes.

There are those who believe that no matter the incompetence and skittish nature of the Jonathan administration, it must continue to rule for the foreseeable future because there are other sections that have also serially misruled the nation and for much longer too. The patent does not belong to the husband of Patience. Neither does the Nigerian patient.

On the other hand, there are those who passionately hold the view that if Jonathan is not out of Aso Rock and the presidential mansion before or after the next elections , then we can as well forget about Nigeria as a corporeal entity. For this band, Nigeria might as well disappear since any further extension of Jonathan’s tenure will spell doom and eventful ruination politically and economically for the old North, its teeming masses and the rump of its feudal aristocracy.

It was as if Nigeria was sleepwalking to a self-fulfilling prophecy. No country has been known to survive an election fuelled by such polarisations.

The granite disavowals are gradually yielding to pragmatic realities. The search for the Nigerian saviour or a group of people who will redeem the nation from its current morass has resumed in earnest.

The parties are not perfect, and going forward the elections will not be perfect. But in order to genuinely commence the structural re-engi-

neering that Nigeria so badly needs at this momentous stage of its existence, we need a democratic mechanism for change or continuity as the case may be which will be acceptable to majority of Nigerians.

In the past two weeks, one has come across a few people from the South South and Ijaw nation willing to question Jonathan’s eligibility for another term based purely on performance in office. This is just as it should be. In the dialectic of human development, all that is solid often melts into thin air. By the same token, the gradual dilution and domestication of the old CPC by the ACN and UPGA crowds means that this time around the contest cannot be framed as a death duel between the messiah and the militant. Many things have happened since 2011.

Of course in a multi-national post-colonial polity, elections are never the ideal panacea for the resolution of national conflicts. As this column has repeatedly argued, elections may actually exacerbate the national question. But having sabotaged the outcome of its own conference ab initio, free and fair elections remain the best referendum for the Jonathan era and the way forward in the short median. In any case, with the current foul mood in the National Assembly and the whispers of impeachment, it is no longer possible to push through any constitutional panel-beating through that august body.

So let the contending parties come out with their manifestoes, stating clearly how to end the Boko Haram menace and how to go about the depetrolisation of the Nigerian economy. Let us have a real presidential debate. Going forward, the Buhari group may find their political consorting with the dominant political tendency in the South West at once profoundly liberating and modulating.

Conversely as they break out of their regional cocoons, the ACN folks may also find it profoundly liberating and modulating to discover that the whole notion of an ideologically and hence politically monolith west is a self-sustaining myth requiring constant propitiation. Out of the ugly clouds of destruction and disintegration, there may yet be some silver lining in the horizon.

Baba Lekki takes on the Doyen of Dystopia I

T has not been a particularly good week for presidential Rottweilers, particularly the master of the mastiffs or doyen of dachshunds, the great rolypoly prince from Remo principality, the once and probably future medic himself. The week opened with a coruscating inquiry into the nature and culture of sycophancy by the noted syndicated journalist with the mellifluous sounding name Sonala.

The Ishan-born Americabased poet and polemicist laid the cane deep in the back of the doyen with the merciless and painstaking thoroughness of an ancient headmaster wielding his favourite koboko. It was a harsh and unsparing exercise. Not even the fact that both were alumni and contemporaries of what was known in folk parlance as UI, Ibadan could evince pity and sympathy from the great columnist and master of lapi-

dary prose. As the lancing and lacerating bilala seared through the mass of flesh, one could almost hear the Ijebu prince pleading for mercy in native Remo dialect. “ Areeee. We ma po nia!”

It was not very long ago that Snooper encountered a dandified and princely looking doyen decked in ancient damask at the wedding of the son of Prince Olusunmade Akin-Olugbade and the daughter of Dr Seyi Roberts. It was a class act. As the musician sang his praise to the high heavens, the great attack mastiff capered and cantered and with backward integration when necessary. You could not but admire even if you are his political adversary.

But those appear to be happier times. Even a master mastiff sometimes buckles under the great strain of being leashed and unleashed at short notice. This is not to talk of being constantly

sharked and snaggled at by other rottweilers particularly when food is served. Tsunami Sonala had hardly subsided when the one and only Nobel laureate with his leonine mane bracing and bristling took the Jonathan administration to the cleaners in a historic philippic dripping with venom and vitriol. The doyen could only offer a tame and tepid response.

Not satisfied with recent political developments, Okon went in search of Baba Lekki, the ancient sage who was now living in a cave not very far from Iba on the road to LASU. Okon met the old contrarian helping himself to a huge meal of roasted antelope which he washed down with fresh and foaming palm wine.

“Ha baba, na bushmeat you dey whack like dat. No be ebola go kill you so?” the impish and impudent boy opened.

“Ha kukuruku boy, you are a

fool. Ebola no dey kill ebora. I dey kampe”, the old man snorted as he wolfed down a huge chunk of the prized venison.

“Baba, na only you and dem other baba remain for dis dem bushmeat business”, Okon began but Baba Lekki cut him off.

“Him be ebora Owu, me I be ebora Iba, so get that into your kukuruku blockhead”, Baba snapped.

“Okay, dem kulikuli Yoruba doctor for dem Aso Rock say na Jonny boy be dem greatest president for Obodo” Okon noted.

“Who be dat?” Baba Lekki asked in mock alarm.

“Ha dat one who dey bite everybody like dem digbolugi dog”, Okon sneered.

Baba Lekki burst into prolonged laughter punctuated by hiccups. “Dat one na økuugbe”.

Without understanding what that meant, Okon guessed it was a heavy slammer and it was his turn to roll on the floor with mirth.

“You see dat yeye boy, him dey call Soyinka Ogongo. When ogongo come strike am him mama go cry for am” Baba Lekki resumed.

“Baba, wetin be ogomugomu?“, Okon asked the old man.

“Yeye kukuruku boy, ogongo is ostrich in Yoruba.”

“Ha, ha baba na dat remind me of dem Yoruba governor dem they call jailbird. Him jail bird sotey Obasanjo come jail am too. But last week katakata burst and come free dem prisoners for him obodo.” Okon chanted excitedly.

“Dem governor he dey for inside jail or outside?” Baba demanded with a scholarly frown.

“Baba why now, why you come ask?” Okon crowed.

“Because if him dey inside jail he mean say na him people come liberate am, and if him dey outside he mean say na him come liberate him people. Na elewon dey free elewon”.

On that note, the great magi dismissed Okon.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

PDP HOUSE OF REPS. PRIMARIES Parallel primaries in Ondo From Damisi Ojo and Leke Akeredolu, Akure

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ESPITE the resignation of Mr. Ebenezer Alabi as the Ondo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, there were still parallel primaries in all the federal constituencies of the state yesterday.

Alabi, who resigned last Friday with four other members of his executives, in a move that many political observers described as “arrangee resignation” was immediately replaced by the State Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperative Service, Clement Faboyede.

But the old PDP members, who were furious over the new arrangement, quickly appointed a factional chairman, Mr. Olu Ogunye.

Our correspondents, who monitored the exercise in Akure and all the four local governments in Akokoland, discovered that candidates emerged from the two factions.

Security operatives, Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) and the Party National Electoral Panel led by its chairman, Adewale Afolabi, were seen at Mimiko’s factional primaries.

But the old PDP also claimed that INEC and security operatives also witnessed their primaries.

In Akure South/North, the State Coordinator for SURE P, Adedayo Omolafe emerged candidate for the old PDP camp while Dare Aliu emerged through consensus arrangement from Mimiko’s camp.

In Akoko South West/East, Hon. Martins Abiloye emerged as the candidate of the old faction, while Hon. Debo Ologunagba got a returning ticket from Mimiko’s faction.

In Owo, Femi Adekanmbi got the ticket of the old PDP faction while Mrs. Folashade Tinubu was picked through consensus arrangement from Mimiko’s camp.

In Akoko North East/ West, there was crisis as delegates protested against imposition of candidate.

In Ilaje/Ese-Odo, Kolade Akinjo emerged from Mimiko’s faction, while old PDP elected Bamgbe Atimise.

Ondo West/East voted Joseph Akinlaja from Mimiko’s camp, while Olabisi Johnson emerged from the old PDP camp.

It was gathered that there was an alleged plan to impose one Deni Akerele as the candidate of the party.

But, the old PDP House of Representatives candidate for Akure South/North, Omolafe Adedayo, said they embarked on their primaries due to the court judgment, which recognises the delegates from the old PDP as the authentic.

Adedayo insisted that the party executives was never dissolved by the national leaders of the party but alleged that some state executives of the party including Alabi were forced to resign to pave way for Mimiko’s group.

He described the appointment of Faboyede as the new Chairman of the party as a Kangaro arrangement between some groups of people.

Jang’s former aides, others win tickets

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State conducted a peaceful primary for its House of Representatives aspirants yesterday.

The State PDP chairman, Raymond Dabo, said at least 45 aspirants across the state were cleared for the exercise.

Former commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Edward Pwajok, won the ticket for the Jos south/ Jos East Federal constituency.

Announcing the results at the Old Jos south secretariat, the returning officer, Barrister

From: Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

Samuel Kwankur, said Pwajok scored 52 votes while the member representing Jos south, Mancha Dalyop, scored 34 votes.

Rifakatu Lachi scored 4 votes while Bogus Dachum bagged two votes.

Former Permanent Secretary to Governor Jonah Jang on security, Barrister Istifanus Gyang, won the Barkin Ladi / Riyom federal constituency unopposed following the withdrawal of the incumbent,

Simon Madkom, based on the understanding between the two councils.

Hon Johnbull Shekarau won the ticket for Shendam Federal Constituency while the incumbent occupier of Langtang North, Langtang South Federal Constituency, Hon. Beni Lar, won the primary to seek reelection.

There was heavy presence of security operatives in all the venues for the eight federal constituencies in the state.

At the Leadership Institute, venue for Jos North/Bassa constituency and Bukuru for

Jos South/Jos East Constituency respectively, delegates trooped out en masse for the primary.

There was no reported case of violence in any part of the state.

The chairman of the party’s committee on National Assemblies Primaries in Plateau state, Alhaji Ibrahim Bamalli, who led four other members from Abuja, commended the delegates and supporters of the party for conducting themselves peacefully and maturely during the exercise yesterday.

Violence mars exercise in Kwara •Group demands cancellation From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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HE Kwara state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Assembly primaries were characterized again yesterday with violence in Ilorin West Local Government area.

The House of Assembly primaries penultimate Saturday in the same local government area was marred by violence.

Suspected thugs loyal to one of the PDP chieftains in the council yesterday allegedly unleashed attack on several innocent members of the party.

A group named Think Thank in the party said: “Not less than five of the duly elected delegates from the local government have been rushed to the hospital after both masked and uniformed security personnel and sponsored thugsweresetonthembyachieftain of the PDP in Kwara State.”

The group has therefore demanded for the immediate cancellation of National Assembly primaries in the state.

“Since nothing can be built on nothing, we hereby demand the immediate cancellation of the kangaroo National Assembly Primary of the PDP in Kwara State.

“Anything sort of this is an invitation to anarchy and a possible implosion from and revolt against the PDP in Kwara state. A stitch in time saves nine,” the group added.”

Akwa Ibom: PDP chieftain defects to APC •Vice President Namadi Sambo (right) being received by Gov. Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State At Kaduna Airport … at the weekend.

PHOTO NAN

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

Ebonyi speaker, others victorious A

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HE embattled Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku and five other aspirants yesterday emerged winners of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives primary election conducted across the six federal constituencies.

Nwazunku, at the end of the primary election, which took place at the headquarters

From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

of Ohaukwu local government area, emerged as the candidate of PDP for Ebonyi/ Ohaukwu federal constituency.

Other winners include: Hon. Linus Okorie who is the current House of Representative member representing Ohoazara/Onicha/Ivo; Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga currently of Abakaliki/Izzi; Hon. Idu

Igariwey for Afikpo South/ North and Hon. Anayo Nwonu for Ishielu/Ezza North Federal constituency.

Also, Hon. Lazarus Ogbee, one of the 13 local government chairmen sacked last on Tuesday by a federal high court ruling, also emerged as a candidate for Ikwo/ Ezza South federal constituency.

The election, which was supervised by a-4 man National Assembly Electoral

Panel headed by Prof Oboh Silvanus, distributed the electoral materials under the watchful eyes of representatives of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Police, State Security Service, SSS, PDP party faithful among others.

Silvanus debunked the rumour that a court injunction was obtained by the Ebonyi State government stopping the primaries from holding.

Two Edo reps lose return ticket

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T was end of the road yesterday for Hon Fri-

day Itulah and the Chairman, Committee on Power, Hon Patrick Ikhariale, as they failed to secure the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) ticket to return to the House of Representatives.

Itulah, who represents Esan South East/Esan North East lost to Deacon Sergius Ogun, who garnered 55 votes while Ikhariale (Esan West/ Esan Central/Igueben) got 20 votes against Joe Edionwele who got 64 votes.

The House of Repre-

•Igbinedion’s daughter wins From Osagie Otabor, Benin

sentatives primaries of the PDP in Edo was relatively peaceful as delegates were searched and accredited before entering the voting venues.

Others who lost included two lawmakers at the Edo State House of Assembly, Patrick Osayimen and Jude Ise-Idehen, who recently joined Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to defect to the PDP. Osayimen got eight votes to lose the ticket to Omeregie OgbeideIhama who secured 26

votes to win Oredo ticket while Ise-Idehen got 26 votes against the 37 votes garnered by Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima for the Ikpoba-Okha/Egor tickets.

At Ovia Federal Constituency, Omosede Igbinedion, daughter of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin Kingdom got 83 votes to defeat her opponents.

Another loyalist of Pastor Ize-Iyamu at Orhiomwon/Uhunmwode Constituency, Saturday Iyalekwe lost to Larry Ogieva who got 36 votes.

A former lawmaker, Abass Braimah, got 48 votes to win Estako federal constituency ticket.

Ambrose Imuode garnered 41 votes to win Owan ticket while Bankole Balogun got 22 votes to win PDP ticket for Akoko-Edo. Igbinedon, in a chat with newsmen, urged other aspirant to work for the PDP ahead of next year’s elections.

She said she shunned all entreaties not to contest the election because she contested the election not as a daughter of Chief Igbinedion but a free born of Ovia constituency.

chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Obong Ini Okori, has dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said the APC holds a brighter future for the state.

The senatorial aspirant said his decision to defect from the PDP was borne out of his acknowledgment of the many failure of the party at the national level and in his home state.

Okori, a founding member of the PDP, said he watched with total disbelief, grief and utter consternation, “the decimation and desecration of all the shared values of the founding fathers of the PDP as a great mass movement of the people on democratic principles. This is especially very noticeable in my Akwa Ibom State.”

Blaming Governor Godswill Akpabio for what he described as the desecration of the collective sense of belonging of the people of the state, Okori said the Governor has broken all well known and acceptable rules of democracy and public conduct and behavior, just so that he can decide who gets all political positions in the State.

He accused Akpabio of compiling delegate list in his lodge and using same for the House of Assembly primaries.

According to Okori: “His viciousness and ruthlessness have scared any decent and well meaning politician who wants to play by the rules of internal democracy in the party.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

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PDP HOUSE OF REPS. PRIMARIES Clark’s directive stalls Burutu contest

Four Abia reps lose out From: Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

From: Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

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NLY four Abia State House of Representatives members won the first phase of their return to the Green Chambers of the lower House.

Four new candidates are replacing the incumbents.

The returning representatives are Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejiocha for Isiukwuato/ Umunneochi federal constituency; Chief Uzo Azubuike for Aba North/South; Nnenna Ukaeje for Bende federal constituency and Uzoma Abonta for Ukwa East/Ukwa West constituency.

The new candidates are Solomon Adaelu, a serving commissioner in Governor Theodore Orji’s cabinet.

He won the ticket for Obingwa/Osisioma/ Ugwunagbo federal Constituency.

A former Finance Commissioner, Sam Onuigbo, won the ticket for Ikwuano/ Umuahia federal Constituency; Uko Nkole Ndukwe got the ticket for Arochukwu/Ohafia constituency while Darlington Nwokocha, a serving member of the Abia House of Assembly won the ticket for Isialangwa North/Isiala Ngwa South constituency.

One of the aspirants for the Abia South Senatorial primary scheduled for today, Chief Chris Nkwonta, has withdrawn from the race.

He alleged that the outcome of the primary has already been predetermined by the party officials.

Akwa Ibom speaker clinches ticket

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KWA Ibom Speaker, Samuel Ikon, has won the House of Representatives ticket for Etinan Federal Constituency.

Ikon defeated the incumbent member representing the constituency, Hon. Dan Akpan, by 79 votes to 7.

Results of the primaries for other seats are still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

Massive security in Benue From: Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

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HERE was heavy deployment of security personnel yesterday in Benue State during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives primaries.

But the exercise was hitchfree and recorded massive turnout.

In Makurdi/ Guma federal constituency, Hon John Tondo defeated his opponent Dickson Tarkighir, with 69 votes to 1.

In Gboko/ Tarka federal constituency, Hon Bernard Nenge was leading at press time while Chris Abah, popular called “Mad lion”, defeated the incumbent Hassan Saleh for Ado/ Okpokwu/ Ogbadigbo federal constituency .

State PDP chairman, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo, told The Nation that materials were deployed on time.

•PDP delegates queuing to cast their votes during the House of Representatives primary election in Birninkudu, Jigawa…yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

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HIEFTAINS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi West senatorial district, General David Jemibewon(Rtd) and Senator Tunde Ogbeha, have drawn the battle line with Senator Smart Adeyemi’s bid for a third term.

The retired generals vowed to scuttle the Senator’s attempt to return to the National Assembly.

Jemibewon, a former Police Affairs Minister between 1999 and 2013 and Ogbeha, who represented Kogi West in the Senate between 1999 and 2003, are supporting Mr. Tolorunjuwon Faniyi to secure the party’s ticket.

They advised Adeyemi to respect the rotational agreement reached by the communities in the zone.

Ogbeha told The Nation on the sideline of a fund raising dinner organised by the Kogi West PDP Leadership Forum (KWPLF) for Faniyi in Abuja that the various communities agreed that their senator would serve for only two terms.

“Based on that agreement, I stepped aside in 2007 after

Jemibewon, Ogbeha vow to stop Adeyemi •Senator: I won’t join issues with them From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

completing the stipulated eight years.

“As a matter of principle, we expect Senator Adeyemi to respect that agreement,” Ogbeha said.

Asked whether the group did not consider the benefits presumably derivable by constituencies if they have a longserving senator, Ogbeha said: “Situations defer, because Senator Mark comes from a homogenous community where the people are of the same origin and extraction.

“The case of Kogi West is a peculiar one because we have not reached that stage where a person can return 10 times.

“It is not about what Sena-

tor Adeyemi had done or failed to do that is the issue here.

“The consequence of his returning to the Senate for a third term is that it would throw up a situation where a number of communities and wards in the zone would not have the opportunity of getting there in the next 90 years.”

He added: “And if the senator insists on contesting, as he seems bent on doing, then we can only demand a level playing field; assurances that the integrity of the process would be respected.

“We would demand that delegates’ list must not be doctored. There would surely be reactions if the integrity of the process is breached.”

Ogbeha, however, ruled out the possibility of defection

by members of his group should their preferred aspirant lose the party’s National Assembly primaries, billed to hold today.

“We won’t change parties.

The question of defection will never arise. We will remain in PDP and explore every legal means to seek redress.”

Ogbeha confirmed to party members present at the dinner that he and other leaders of the group had been reaching out to some highly influential and notable Nigerians in business and the professions with the view to getting financial support for the group’s consensus aspirant.

Adeyemi, however, declined comments on the matter, saying he was not going to join issues with the party chieftains.

Furore over Bakassi ad hoc delegates

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HE intractable Bakassi issue again reared its head again in the House of Representatives Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary elections in Cross River State yesterday.

A letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the party barred ad hoc delegates from Bakassi from participating in the process.

The exercise was for the Calabar-South/Akpabuyo/ Bakassi Federal House of Representatives.

The reason was that there were no ward congresses in the area.

•Kate Henshaw loses From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

The rescheduled congresses in the state, which held on November 24 to elect the ad hoc delegates, were conducted in Ikang, where the new Bakassi was created but which INEC does not recognise.

INEC rather recognises Dayspring Island where a section of the people has been clamouring to be resettled.

The INEC electoral officers insisted they would participate but PDP electoral panel from the national headquarters of the party overruled them and

insisted that everyone should vote and that the matter would be sorted out later.

The exercise went ahead without electoral officers’ approval.

The situation created a rowdy atmosphere at the Cultural Centre, which was the venue as delegates from the area insisted they must vote.

Another group of people from the area said the list presented at the exercise was fake.

One of them was the incumbent representative of Bakassi in the House of Assembly, Saviour Nyong, who insisted the

list issued by the party for the exercise was fake.

Nyong, who also ran to clinch the party’s ticket to run for the federal constituency, said despite INEC’s directive it was surprising that the party still went ahead to present such list for the primaries.

He said he was going to petition the matter.

At the end, incumbent, Essien Ayi, clinched the ticket with 70 votes out of 132 accredited.

The closest to him was Dominic Edem with 56 votes.

Popular Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, got one vote.

Late arrival of materials delays exercise in Ekiti

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ATE arrival of voting materials delayed the conduct of the House of Representatives primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State yesterday.

The materials arrived the state at about 5.00 pm for onward distribution to all the six federal constituencies where delegates were expected to vote.

Arrangements were on as of press time to arrange for power

By Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

generators to provide light at designated voting centres.

The exercise is expected to stretch into late in the night.

There was a massive security build-up in all the federal constituencies where the primaries were due to hold.

Contestants, delegates and party members who had arrived voting centers as early as 8.00 am,

waited endlessly for electoral materials.

The strengthening of security might not be unconnected with intelligence report that some people planned to unleash terror at the voting centres.

Policemen and party leaders and members witnessed the disbursement of the ballot papers and other materials to the designated venues some few minutes last 5 pm.

The electoral panel chair, Suleiman, apologised for coming late assuring party leaders of their readiness to conduct transparent primaries.

The state PDP Chairman, Chief Idowu Faleye, disclosed that the party had asked all aspirants to sign an undertaking not to challenge the results of the primaries in the court of law to prevent an outbreak of crisis thereafter.

controversy over the delegates’ list yesterday stalled the exercise in Burutu federal constituency of Delta State.

The aspirants, the returning officer and the party chairman could not reach a compromise on what should be the proper delegates’ list.

The returning officer, Obrirhe Francis, had alleged that he was ordered by the Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark, not to conduct the primaries if his (Clark’s) signature is not seen on the delegates’ list.

But in Warri federal constituency, the incumbent, Hon Daniel Reyeineju defeated his main opponent, Barr. Val Arenyenka, who is considered to be Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s preferred choice for the race.

At the end of the contest, Reyeineju polled 70 votes.

In Ughelli federal constituency, Solomon Awhinakwi won the contest.

Evelyn Oboro returned as candidate for the Sapele federal constituency.

Hon Leo Ogor, the incumbent representative of the Isoko federal constituency, won the contest held in Oleh while Love Idisi won the contest at Oghara for the Ethiop federal constituency.

In Bomadi, Nicholas Mutu, won the contest.

Ebenyi wins in Enugu

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MBASSADOR Kingsley S.Ebenyi was yesterday reelected as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for Enugu East/Isi_Uzo federal constituency.

Ebenyi, a serving member of the House of Representatives, is to fly the party’s flag in the February 2015 general elections.

He polled a total of 89 votes out of the 91 delegates votes cast in the primaries that took place at the field of Enugu East Local Government Secretariat in Enugu.

He defeated five other contestants.

Exercise fails to hold in Oyo From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

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HE House of Assembly primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state scheduled for yesterday could not hold due to intractable crisis.

As a result, the House of Representatives, Senate and governorship primaries scheduled for today and Monday are also most unlikely hold.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had on Friday ruled that the list of delegates validated by three of the five members of the Dr Aliyu Idi Hong Adhoc Ward Congress Panel should be used by the party for its primaries.

But a group within the party, Concerned Electorates, yesterday condemned the judgment delivered by Justice E.S. Chukwu.

It said there was an earlier ruling by the same judge that contradicted the Friday ruling.

The party could also fail to meet the December 11 deadline set by the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) for all parties to complete their congresses.

NEWS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

Crude oil price decline permanent, says Emefiele

PDP attacks Christopher Kolade over Jonathan's performance

By Collins Nweze

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From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

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HE leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday went combative in its defence of President Goodluck Jonathan and his leadership style.

Dr Kolade had on Thursday said in Lagos that President Jonathan is not showing the right leadership in the manner he has been handling his responsibilities as president.

Citing the President's decision to honour a political rally in Kano shortly after a bomb attack that killed many Nigerians Kolade wondered why he could not postpone the event.

The former Director General of the old Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) pointed out that by going ahead with the rally, the President clearly demonstrated his insensitivity to the pains of the people he is supposed to be leading.

He also berated all those singing Jonathan's praises, including the Transformation Agenda of Nigeria (TAN), saying "Nigeria was, at every other time, better than now."

He spoke at the sixth Christopher Kolade Symposium organised by the Nigeria Leadership Initiative, an organisation he was a pioneer patron.

Reacting to comments by a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade on critical issues affecting the state of the nation, the party accused Kolade of mudslinging.

In a strongly worded statement by PDP's National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said it found it curious that "a supposedly" apolitical elder statesman like Kolade could resort to "public mudslinging" when he had unfettered access to the President.

The PDP maintained that the highly respected captain of industry relied on "oft-repeated lies" of the All Progressives Congress (APC), "apparently aimed to disparage and discredit the President" ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The statement said in part.

"The Peoples Democratic Party has reviewed comments attributed to our respected elder statesman and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, on the leadership of the nation, specifically as it relates to the fight against the insurgency facing our country.

"We regret that Dr. Kolade, an eminent Nigerian with very senior diplomatic credentials, who also served as the Chairman of SUREP, a special development and empowerment programme of the Jonathan administration, apparently got his facts mixed up about the character and person of the President and the nature of the overall security challenges in our country.

"We in the PDP in our usual high moral ground of decency, decided to exercise restraint expecting Dr. Kolade to retract his statement, but such never came, hence this reaction.

"While we recognize the inalienable right of citizens to hold opinions and fully express themselves, especially given the institutionalized freedom Nigerians now enjoy under the present administration, it is only fair that comments, particularly those from prominent persons in the mold of Dr. Kolade must be based only on the truth.

Contd on page 78

•FROM LEFT: Lagos All Progressives Congress(APC) gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode; National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Sokoto APC governorship candidate, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, during a post election victory's visit to Tinubu in Lagos‌ yesterday PHOTO: NAN

Plane load of arms seized S in Kano

ECURITY agents at the Aminu Kano International Airport yesterday seized a large cache of Russian made war weapons, including spare parts for Hilux vans, destined for neighbouring Chad Republic.

The items were being transported in a Russian cargo plane - Antonov 224 .

The plane and its crew were also arrested.

The security agencies have already begun investigation into the matter.

The plane, The Nation learnt, was on its way to Ndjamena, Chad but could not land there owing to bad weather.

Its pilot then sought permission from the Nigerian aviation authority to land in Kano until there would be an improvement in the weather situation in Chad.

Permission was duly granted at about 2am yesterday.

Once the plane landed, security operatives asked for the manifest from the pilot for screening only to discover that the aircraft was carrying weapons of war.

The aircraft with registration number AN 124-100-RAH 2038 was still being detained at the airport at press time.

Security agencies are interested in knowing the owners of the arms cache.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that a vigilant staff from the Air Force Intelligence Unit intercepted the plane.

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: "When the plane landed, everyone went about his normal business at the airport.

* Security agents grill crew of Russian aircraft * Troops repel fresh attempt by insurgents to seize Ashaka "But the Air Force Intelligence personnel braved all odds and insisted on the inspection of the Russian cargo plane.

During the inspection, he discovered a cache of arms and ammunition which was being ferried to Chad.

"Parts of vehicles to be re-assembled in Ndjamena were also discovered. He immediately reported the findings at the Air Force Commandant Office at the airport. The Airport Commandant, Wing Commander Imoke ordered full inspection of the aircraft.

"The crew members were subsequently relocated to the Commandant's office for detention and grilling. The development led to the drafting of more intelligence officers from the Army, the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Nigeria Police.

"After the red alert to relevant agencies in Abuja, the Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army, the Director of SSS and the Commissioner of Police visited the airport and inspected the cargo plane."

It was not immediately clear if the arms and ammunition were meant for either the Chadian government or any group or arms merchants based in Chad.

Another military source said last night that: "The intercepted plane and the crew members have not been released. We will not rush into doing so until full investigation has been

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

concluded.

"We are inspecting relevant documents in the possession of the crew of the plane in order to be able to track down the sources of the arms and find out whether the transaction is legitimate or illegal.

"We will also establish diplomatic link with the Chadian government to ascertain if it actually ordered the importation of the arms and ammunition.

"We will be as fast as possible in the ongoing investigation."

Confirming the seizure, the General Manager, Communications of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Datti, declined to disclose the contents of the aircraft to reporters.

Land locked Chad borders Borno State, the epicentre of the terror group Boko Haram.

Insurgents of the sect often cross the Nigeria/ Chad border, attacking innocent Nigerians.

President Goodluck Jonathan has visited Ndjamena twice in the last three months to seek the co-operation of the Chadian authorities to curb the Boko Haram terrorism.

Only last week a delegation of Bring Back Our Girls which is pressing for the release of the over 200 Chibok girls captured by the sect visited the Chadian envoy

in Nigeria to appeal to the authorities in his country to help in getting the girls released. Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters yesterday confirmed that troops foiled a fresh attempt by Boko Haram to take over Ashaka town in Gombe State.

The DHQ said 10 soldiers died in the encounter with the insurgents while many Boko Haram terrorists were killed.

It explained that following defeat, Boko Haram ran away with three truckloads of bodies of their members killed.

The DHQ tweeted that: "Terrorists fleeing Ashaka on Thursday managed to retrieve three truckloads full of their dead members following the defeat and heavy casualty they suffered after a fierce battle with troops in the area.

"The terrorists, who had come in large number with heavy equipment and convoy of over 30 vehicles and a number of motor cycles, were on a mission to take control of Ashaka town, after they had operated in Bajoga and environ in Gombe state.

"Troops who got wind of their intention to overrun other towns pursued the terrorists while some also laid ambush for them. The terrorists were forced to abandon the mission when the troops proved unyielding.

"Most of the vehicles and equipment used by the terrorists for their mission were destroyed before they chose to flee the location.

"Over 10 soldiers however died in the battle while those who were wounded are being treated in military hospitals."

HE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele has said the continued decline in oil price is 'seemingly permanent', and may not be transitory.

The CBN chief who spoke at the weekend during the 48th annual bankers' dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, said technological advances have made shale oil production profitable to the extent that the United States which used to be Nigeria's major oil consumer now meet a lot of its demands from domestic shale oil production and in fact exports over 200 barrels of oil per day.

He described import substitution as the solution to naira's economic challenges, insisting that for years, Nigeria has been wasting too much foreign exchange in importing things that can be produced in the country, hence weakening the naira.

Emefiele said N1.3 trillion has been spent importing rice, sugar, wheat and fish since 2011, and this has put too much pressure on the naira and foreign exchange reserves. He called on importers to replace costly imports with local goods by embracing import substitution.

"Also, most market watchers and economists now believe that the current situation in the oil market may not be transitory, but seemingly permanent," he said.

The CBN governor added, "As we all know, the main source of our forex supply is the sale of crude oil, however, during the year, we have seen oil prices fall by nearly 40 per cent from a peak of $116 per barrel in January 2014, to as low as $70 per barrel in November. The direct implication of this is a significant reduction in supply of dollar to the market."

Emefiele said the naira versus dollar has come under pressure in the last couple of months. That, he said, prompted the apex bank to decide that it would be sub-optimal to continue to heavily deplete the country's reserves in defending the naira.

He said the CBN adjusted the naira exchange rate bank because neither the federal government nor the apex bank was in control of the major factors causing the depreciation of the nation's currency.

"In fact, the Russian central bank has abandoned its defense of the currency and allowed the depreciation of the currency, but only after it was said to have spent over $90 billion in defending the currency over a couple of months," he said.

He also called on banks, Development Finance Institutions to rally round CBN's effort at supporting local production of goods. "The CBN has spent a substantial amount of its reserves in shoring up the naira and in contrast, inflow of forex into the banks or the country has been less than anticipated in view of dwindling oil prices. We must remember that in an importdependent country like ours, the exchange rate operates like every other price in the market. The forces of demand and supply basically determine movement of the naira. When oil price falls, price moves up, when supply fall, price also rises as well," he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

Revenue allocation: Presidency is avoiding governors, says Okorocha From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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HE Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to give any justifiable reason for the constant shortfall in the federal allocation to states.

The governors had about two months ago demanded an emergency meeting with the President on the fall of revenue accruals to the state governments.

Okorocha, who is the governor of Imo and a presidential aspirant of APC, spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, while addressing the state’s delegates to Lagos primaries.

He said: “The meeting could not hold. Somehow we think the presidency is avoiding meeting with the governors on this issue of dwindling revenue and we have not really been properly informed as to the justifiable reason why we are getting what we are getting now as subvention.

“So it is rather an unfortunate situation that this country has been polarised along party line, along religious line, along tribal line, along party line.

NEWS

Odigie-Oyegun: PDP has failed Nigerians T

HE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, has urged Nigerians to use their votes to sweep the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power in the February 14 presidential election.

Oyegun said the ruling party has no business controlling the affairs of the country having failed Nigerians in security, economy, education, infrastructure and other key sectors.

The APC boss spoke with reporters during the 60th birthday ceremony of the party’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Segun Oni, in Ifaki-Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State yesterday.

The occasion was a two-inone event as Oni’s wife, Kemi, also marked her 50th birthday.

The ceremony was at-

•APC govt-in-waiting, says Oni From: Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

tended by Governor Ayo Fayose; former Governors Adeniyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Bisi; former Deputy Governors Abiodun Aluko; Mrs. Modupe Adelabu; former Acting Governor Tope Ademiluyi; House of Representatives member, Bimbo Daramola; state lawmakers, traditional rulers, politicians and community leaders.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was represented by his wife, Bola, at the service held at the Methodist Cathedral in the community.

Oyegun urged Nigerians to reject the PDP because the administration it runs in the centre has impoverished and

mismanaged the nation’s economy.

Describing the Goodluck Jonathan administration as a “colossal failure,” Oyegun said it is too late to salvage the sinking ship of the PDP. The 2015 election, he stated, presents an opportunity to bury the ghost of maladministration and impunity in Nigeria.

He expressed regret that the Obasanjo and the Yar’ Adua administrations spent over $68 billion on the power sector while Nigerians are still wallowing in darkness.

Oyegun said he was confident that his party will dislodge the PDP from the Presidency and bring relief to Nigerians through generation of massive employment opportunities, turnaround of the

power sector, revival of the collapsed infrastructure and security of lives and property.

He said: “APC is a party whose time has come. APC is a party with welfarist and people-oriented programmes.

“But let me say here that youth employment will be priority on our agenda, apart from the fact that we will do everything possible to protect the lives of the Nigerian citizens.

“Whatever that will take us to end insurgency, we are going to do it. We are not going to steal public money the way the PDP is doing.”

The APC chair described his deputy, Oni, as a selfless statesman who gave his all to the development of Ekiti and Nigeria as a whole.

Oni, who also spoke with

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From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

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reporters, described the APC as “the government-in-waiting” saying there is the hands of God in the crisis rocking the PDP, which he noted would benefit his party at the general elections.

The former Ekiti governor expressed confidence that whoever the APC fields as the presidential candidate would coast home to victory adding that it is a matter of time before the dream becomes a reality.

His words: “It is not an easy thing for political parties to sacrifice their privileges and came together to form APC. So, preparation for a change in 2015 does not start today. It has been planned for and nothing can change it.

“God Himself has ordained the APC to rule in 2015.

This is a finger of God and it is happening like a miracle because God Himself is involved in the project.”

Omotola, Asa, others for Future Award

Cross River: Four guber aspirants step down for Ayade OUR aspirants in the Cross River State governorship race yesterday stepped down for the senator representing northern senatorial district, Prof Ben Ayade.

They declared their support for him.

This followed a marathon meeting that lasted from Friday night into early hours of yesterday. ýThose who stood down their aspirations include the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Larry Odey; former Executive Secretary, National Planning Commission, Ntufam Fidelis Ugboh; immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Mike Aniah and the immediate past Commissioner for Works, Legor Idagbo.

Ayade is the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology.

He is also member, Senate Committees on Education, Marine Transport, Petroleum Downstream, Drugs/Narcotics/ Crime.

He is a Professor of Microbiology and also holds a degree in law.

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•L-R: Former Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Augustine Omonuwa (SAN), his daughter, Miss . Anita Osarieme Omonuwa, the Council of the Legal Education(CLE) Star Prize Winner and the immediate Chairman, CLE, OCJ Okocha(SAN) at the just concluded Call to Bar Ceremony in Abuja.

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HE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for a judicial panel to probe the police invasion of the National Assembly.

Its national president, Augustine Alegeh, described the police’s action as condemnable and despicable.

According to him: “What the police did in preventing lawmakers from entering their place of work is despicable.

“I believe that we should set up a judicial panel to find out who actually did that and take drastic action against that person.

“But no matter how the situation was, jumping the fence by honourable members was not good.”

He spoke at the week-

PUBLIC NOTICE

EZE (CHIEF) JOSEPH C. ODIRIONYENMA JP is not the same person who was addressed as MR. JOSEPH CHUKWUDUM ODIRIONYENMA in The Nation Newspaper of 7th Nov., 2014.

Umuakuru Community, the Igbo Agwuru Asa Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs and general public should please take note.

NBA demands judicial panel on NASS invasion From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

end in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at a dinner organised by the Ilorin branch of the NBA. On the security challenges, the NBA helmsman lamented that the country has been reduced to deal with middlemen to

buy arms in fighting against insurgency.

According to him: “Our country is reduced to dealing with Lebanese middle men to buy arms and ammunition. Yet, we are approaching a very critical period of elections.

“In less than three months, we will be voting

under these circumstances. We should know that we are confronted as a nation with many challenges.

“We must know that at times like this, lawyers must stand wherever they are and speak up. If you do not speak up, we are doomed.”

FRICA’S youngest billionaire, Ashish J. Thakkar; ace actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Paris-based musical icon ,Asa Elemide have been listed for the 2013 Future Award Africa.

The award holds today at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Executive Director of The Future Projects, Chude Jideonwo, made this known in a statement yesterday.

Jideonwo said that the award is to recognise and celebrate young people in Africa who have blossomed and risen by themselves despite the difficulties of living in the continent and the challenges of leadership.

The members of the nominating committee are: Chief Executive of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu; a governorship aspirant in Lagos, Jimi Agbaje; Stanbic IBTC director Yemi Osindero and LEAP Africa founder Ndidi Nwuneli, amongst others.

“All the nominees deserved to win and we are immensely inspired by them as the vetting process has been daunting, and the intense scrutiny that successful nominees have gone through has been illuminating for them as well.

“We stressed the importance of a combination of structure, quantifiable measures of success and impact, to get the most inspiring and worthy to rise to the top,” he added.

UPP presidential candidate emerges Dec 11 •Igbos have not endorsed Jonathan, says Okorie

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HE United Progressive Party (UPP) will on December 11 pick its presidential candidate and running mate in Aba, it was learnt yesterday.

Its National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who disclosed this in Abuja at the weekend, also stated that Ohanaeze Ndigbo has not endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for reelection.

Briefing newsmen on the party’s activities to-

From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

wards the 2015 general elections, Okorie said UPP will only consider alliance with any party until it has tested its strength on the field.

According to him: “I have never been an apostle of pre-election merger or coalition. UPP is in this 2015 election to win the Presidency.

“UPP is ready for any relationship with PDP or APC, but not until we have

tested our strength in the field.

“We have more than enough issues to confront the PDP with. I have not sold out on the Igbo cause. I have never used the cause of the Igbo people to enrich myself.”

He stated that the UPP will spring surprises in the forthcoming general elections.

Okorie said: “You will see that anybody who has done the calculation of the

outcome of 2015 presidential election on the basis of two parties fighting it out will have to return to the drawing board.

“The candidate will emerge with his running mate. I want to inform Nigerians that Igbo people did and have not endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as President in 2015.

“Initially Igbo people wanted to endorse him at a meeting, but they are now blaming me for not allowing that to happen.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

APC Rep aspirant promises quality legislation

PVC: INEC staff collecting bribe from residents, Clergy alleges

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

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House of Representatives aspirant in Lagos State has promised to liaise with his colleagues and other federal agencies to attract more Federal Government presence to his constituency and the state in general if elected into the National Assembly in 2015.

Barrister Jimi Benson, who is seeking to represent the Ikorodu federal constituency in the National Assembly on the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC), stated this during the week while addressing his constituents.

He also promised to introduce and support legislations that will ensure the freedom of states to create as many local government areas, noting that Lagos State requires more council areas to enhance development.

According to him, “The issue of local government creation is a priority for me. We need legislations that will empower the state to create local governments and I will want to initiate and support this if elected.”

Benson, who said he is the right man for the seat, also promised to empower, emancipate and improve the lives of the constituents through quality legislation.

Cleric to FG: Fight Boko Haram insurgency like war From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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OUNDER/Pioneer Shepherd of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Rev. Jacob Ojo Babafemi, has urged the Federal Government to declare full scale war against Boko Haram insurgents.

Speaking at a press conference at the Church’s headquarters in Ado-Ekit, the Ekiti State capital on the occasion of the Church’s 30th Anniversary, the State capital, said: “Boko Haram, by its attacks so far, means war and should be fought back just same way. The Federal Government must treat the insurgents as enemies of Nigeria. The government must take the bull by the horns and deal with this menace once and for all.”

Proffering solution to the insecurity challenges confronting the country, the clergy urged the leadership of the country to be more transparent, focused and accountable.

He noted, “The welfare of workers should be seen as primary; any government which does not pay the salaries of promptly or improve their welfare does not deserve to be there.

It is the neglect of the people’s welfare over the years which brought about Boko Haram.”

Women club campaign against violence on women From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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HE Zontal International club of Ibadan, Oyo state, a women’s social club yesterday staged a campaign protesting on violence against women.

Speaking to journalists, the president of the club, Prof.

Funke Egunjobi, lamented the plight of women, whom she said, are being subjected to all forms of abuse by the men folk.

Egunjobi called on the state, the federal government and the National Assembly to enact laws to protect women against abuse.

By Musa Odoshimokhe

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•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, (right) being presented with his Temporary Voter Card (TVC) by the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola (left) during the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos…yesterday

Ogun PDP: Court strikes out A Bankole’s suit

State High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Friday threw out an application challenging the delegates’ list of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for lack of jurisdiction.

Delivering his judgment, Justice N.O Durojaiye maintained that the list under contention can only be determined by the party since the matter at hand fall within its purview.

Six members of the party believed to be loyal to former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, led by one Ganiu Mustapha, approached the court to challenge the delegates’ list compiled after the wards congresses conducted in the state on November 1.

By Kunle Akinrinade But the complainants through their counsels led by Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), argued that the party’s state executive council led by Engr.

Bayo Dayo and Secretary, Semiu Sodipo, who are the 4th and 5th defendants were planning to substitute their names on the list.The party, its National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and the National Working Committee (NWC) were joined as 1st and 3rd defendants respectively.

But counsel to the defendants led by Mr. B.A Oluyede, argued that the issue of the delegates’ list is an internal affair of the party.

Justice Durojaiye held that

the power to nominate delegates during primaries is an exclusive power vested with the party, adding that the court was constrained by limited jurisdiction to intervene in the matter.

Citing Section 87 (10) of the Electoral Act, the judge maintained that the complaints bordered on pre-election matter and, as such, is vested on the party to determine.

Justice Durojaiye, who also cited the case between PDP vs.

Silva 2012, further explained that delegates’ lists is a ‘domestic right and discretion’ of the party.

He submitted, “The power to nominate delegates during primaries is vested in political

parties and a domestic affair of the party, and not even a court of law can determine that because the court has a limited jurisdiction.

“Therefore, it is an internal affair of the party. I therefore hold that I lack jurisdiction to entertain this case and the case is hereby struck out.

“Lack of jurisdiction, if raised and successful, brings proceedings to an end. This is because the court lacking jurisdiction cannot hear and determine the matter afterwards.

“Jurisdiction is the life wire of a court as no court can entertain a matter where it lacks jurisdiction.

“For the reasons stated above, I hold that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain this case. This case is not justifiable and is accordingly struck out.”

Three battle for APC Senate ticket in Ogun East

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HREE formidable aspirants are set to slug it out for the senatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ogun West senatorial zone.

A businessman, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Seyi Oduntan and the Editor-In -Chief of The News magazine, Bayo Onanuga, are aiming to re-

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

place Senator Gbenga Kaka, who recently defected from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and is also interested in a second term.

Oduntan, who said his decision to contest is borne out of his desire to give his people quality representation, is

banking on his massive network within the party to clinch the ticket.

He said: “Some people are just in the Senate; they cannot conceptualise ideas, they cannot articulate ideas and they cannot execute ideas. My pedigree is very clean; I’ve not stolen any government fund. I’m very good at creating busi-

nesses and making businesses to succeed and through that, I have built a massive network of people, which would be added advantage for my senatorial district.”

On his part, Dapo Abiodun, an oil magnate, promised to raise the bar of quality representation if given the party’s ticket.

LAUTECH SSANU embarks on indefinite strike

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HE Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) has embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their 2009/ 2010, 2011/2012 Earned Allowance.

The allowance according to the union chairman, Comrade Abimbola Aleshinloye, while addressing journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

yesterday, was in line with the agreement reached with the Governing Council of the institution.

Aleshinloye also lamented that their salaries for the months of October and November are yet to be paid.

He said: “The situation, which our members have condoned while we dialogue with the university management, has reached a breaking point which is no

longer bearable by our members. Only recently, the union lost a female member due to non-availability of money to take care of her hospital bill when needed, while many of our members’ children have been sent out of schools for their inability to pay up their wards school fees.

“The university management informed the union that fund to defray the outstanding arrears of allowances and salaries are not available due to the fact that

the owner states government kept defaulting in fulfilling their financial obligations.”

Aleshinloye said the union has concluded to embark on an indefinite strike until their salaries of October, November and the last tranche of accrued Earned Allowances are fully paid.

He appealed to parents, guardians, and all well meaning citizens of Oyo and Osun State to impress it on the owner states government to be alive to their responsibilities.

Foundation tasks Nigerians on sickle cell prevention

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S parts of its efforts in alleviating the suffering and challenges of the sickle cell patients in Nigeria, a nong o v e r n m e n t a l organisation, Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation (SCHAF) has provided drugs and other relief materials to sickle cell patients in Oyo state.

The organisation dur-

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

ing its 2014 end of the year awareness program, which took place at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, also urged members of the public, government and private organisations to assist sickle cell patients.

Speaking with journalists, the Founder and Presi-

dent of SCHAF, Prof.

Adeyinka Falusi, advocated for early detection of the disease, nothing that all hands must be on the deck to discover the genotype of every child.

On her motive for setting up the foundation, Falusi said she was moved by the sufferings of sickle cell patients and to create awareness about the dis-

ease and support patients in many ways.

Falusi noted that the best way to assist patients is to provide them jobs and vocational training so as to make them economically relevant in the society.

Highlight of the event was the symbolic presentation of drugs and other relief materials to some sickle cell patients.

HE General Overseer, Resurrection Praise Ministries International, Lagos, Archbishop Samson Benjamin, has alleged that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are collecting money from people before issuing them the Permanent Voters Card (PVC).

Addressing reporters yesterday at a rally to drum support for Christian candidates in the Lagos State governorship race, the clergyman accused INEC officials of demanding between N300 to N500 from people before they could be registered.

While calling on INEC to sanction its erring staff in order to restore the integrity of the commission, Benjamin said it was disheartening that people were being frustrated in a bid to exercise their civic responsibilities.

He urged other political parties to field Christian candidates, stressing that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has set the example by picking Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, a Christian, as the party flag bearer in next year’s election, adding, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties should equally do the same thing.”

Osun Assembly aspirants allege plot to manipulate primaries From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

A

HEAD of tomorrow’s primaries of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State, aspirants jostling for tickets to represent Ede South in the Osun State House of Assembly on the platform of the party are alleging plot to manipulate the screening of participants in the exercise.

It was gathered that members of the Screening Committee, including the party leaders allegedly collected a N5 million bribe from their candidate of choice and rated him first after screening out other aspirants from participating in the primaries.

The aggrieved aspirants, it was learnt, have written a petition to the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the state party chairman, Prince Adegboyega Famodun and other national leaders of the party asking them to address their grievances.

In the petition, the 10 aspirants urged Aregbesola as well as the APC national and state leaders to “reject the handpicked aspirant” as the candidate of the party.

Old boys meet

T

HE Anwar-IUl Islam College, Agege Old Students Association (ACAOSA) 1977/78 Set meets today in Lagos.

The meeting will be hosted by Mr. Gbenga Ojo at 248, Ikorodu Road, Obanikoro, Lagos. It starts at 3pm.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

• L-R Founder, Leadership Group, Sam NdaIsaiah, Governor Rochas Okorocha, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former head of state, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) displaying their Certificates of Clearance after receiving same from Chairman, Presidential Screening Committee of APC, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu at the APC National Headquarters in Abuja recently.

U

NLIKE in the past when the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party was confronted with very weak challenge, next year's presidential elections promises to be a stern test against a resurgent opposition with strength in depth across the country. This is reminiscent of the two-party contest involving the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) under the then military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) boasts five presidential aspirants most of whom could give the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan a run for his money.

They are ex-Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Governor Rochas Okorocha; Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; and a pharmacist-turned publisher, Sam Nda Isaiah.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI The ex-Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is on the threshold of making history; the only Nigerian to contest the presidential race four times if given the APC ticket. Though a former head of the Federal Military Government, Buhari had sought to rule the nation through the ballot in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but lost to the PDP candidate.

The presidential poll results since 2003 confirmed Buhari as a political heavyweight and a politician with cult following by the northern masses. Going

by INEC records, Buhari's vote-earning drive was as follows. In 2003, running under the banner of the defunct ANPP, Buhari polled 12,710, 022 votes (32.19%) to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's 24, 456, 140(61.94%), who was the PDP's candidate.

In 2007 presidential election, he secured 6,605, 299 votes compared to PDP candidate, the late President Umaru Yar'Adua's 24,638,063. An honest Yar'Adua admitted that the 2007 poll was largely flawed and below standard.

The Court of Appeal almost upturned the 2007 poll results.

With the formation of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari bounced back in 2011 with 12, 214, 853 votes but was defeated by President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP with 22,

APC presidential ticket: Who runs against Jonathan?

After months of horse-trading, covert moves, realignment and consultations, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to elect its presidential candidate on December 10. In this report, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Yusuf Alli, reviews the strengths, the permutations and the likely outcome of what has turned out to be an absorbing contest.

495, 187 votes.

Being the oldest presidential aspirant in Nigeria, Buhari will add more to history if he becomes the APC candidate and is elected in 2015. He will be joining the league of ex-Presidents Ronald Reagan (USA), Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal) who led their nations in old age.

STRENGTHS Buhari is an epitome of Spartan discipline, a teetotaler, a man of principle, an avowed anti-corruption crusader and a man of the people. As a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, he accounted for every dollar from crude oil sales without blemish. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described him as 'incorruptible.'

Also, in his capacity as the chairman of the defunct Petroleum Task Fund (PTF), Buhari executed far-reaching and

grassroots oriented projects which boosted the economy when he had the chance to impact the nation's economy.

His military background is also a plus given ongoing challenges with Boko Haram. In 1980, when the Maitatsine insurgency was ravaging Nigeria, Buhari, who was then Brigade Commander of the 3rd Armoured Corps in Jos, took the sect headlong and fought them to a standstill as far as Chad. He almost lost his career in the Nigerian Army for invading Chad allegedly without the permission of the Commander-In-Chief, ex-President Shehu Shagari.

WEAKNESSES Buhari is often painted, especially by the PDP, as a religious bigot and a politician whose influence is ethnic-based in the North. But facts show that Buhari's cook, driver and personal aides in the last

30 to 40 years have been Christians.

The Islamic fundamentalist tag has been hung on his neck by his traducers since the violence which erupted after the 2011 poll. The APC will need to do extra work on the religious stigma surrounding Buhari if he emerges the party's candidate.

Also, he is considered as a politician who is inflexible on issues when convinced they are in the interest of the masses.

Above all, Buhari is not an intellectual per se but he is rated as streetwise with native wisdom.

If he secures the APC ticket, Buhari has to learn fast how to be a democrat and how to manage the nuances of the National Assembly which will not tolerate any autocratic tendencies from him.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR A former Vice President, Atiku could be rated as a "constant equation" in

presidential election since 1993. His experience in the game is richer than any of the aspirants whether in APC or PDP. He was the economic engine room during the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He had contested presidential elections in 1999 and 2003(as running mates) and the candidate of the defunct Action Congress in 2007. Apart from garnering 18, 738, 154 and 24, 456, 140 votes in a joint ticket with Obasanjo in 1999 and 2003, Abubakar as a sole candidate of AC could only rake 2, 637, 848 in 2007 because he was in and out of court till the last minutes of the poll to fight against his disqualification by a Kangaroo Panel of Enquiry raised by Obasanjo. It was a defeat foretold for Abubakar who was mostly on 'crutches' throughout the campaign period.

STRENGTHS As an orphan, Abubakar's grass to grace story makes interesting reading.

This has reflected in his life making him self-motivated in politics and business.

More than any of the aspirants, he is a politician with a deft touch and knowledge of how to prevail in intraparty elections.

It took the personal intervention of his mentor, the late Gen. Shehu Yar'Adua before he could concede the SDP presidential ticket to the late M.K.O Abiola in the early 90s. His greatest asset is his ability to build political and social bridges across the Niger.

Atiku is at home in any part of Nigeria, not only by factor of marriage, but as a result of his magnetic personality.

He has incurably loyal political associates and friends in all parts of the country.

These, however, do not translate to political gains.

He was the controller of the economic reforms of the administration of exPresident Obasanjo. He was the driver of the privatization programmes which led to the GSM revolution in the country.

Armed with a limited education, Abubakar is gifted with shopping for eggheads to show him the light. He brought the likes of CBN Governor, Prof.

Charles Soludo, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

•Contd. on page 10

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS REVIEW •Contd. from page 9

and others into the government of Obasanjo. He is also a fast learner.

His greatest strength is in being a democrat. As a president, democracy will thrive under Atiku because of his avowed commitment to freedom, liberty and the principle of separation of powers. No one has used the judiciary to fight political cause than Abubakar.

WEAKNESSES Though always branded as "corrupt" by his political enemies, Abubakar has never been found guilty of any economic or financial crimes. Even when dust was raised at the twilight of Obasanjo's administration on the management of the funds of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), nothing incriminating was found against him.

The only tar against him was his alleged link with a former United States congressman, William J. Jefferson, who was jailed on November 13, 2009 for $100,000 bribe scam. Again, nothing was found against the former VP. The sustainable trust reposed in him by the larger Yar'Adua family since the death of their patriarch, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua underscores his level of honesty.

A major weakness of Abubakar, according to those who used to work against him, is being too ambitious. This created a wedge between him and Obasanjo in 2003 who almost dropped him as his running mate. It took much persuasion from state governors, PDP leaders and friends before Obasanjo re-nominated him as his VP. But he was worse for it.

He was a castrated or ceremonial VP all through Obasanjo's second term.

The same ambitious inclination informed his defection from PDP to the AC and later to PDP and APC. His back-to-back defection has cost him a lot of goodwill and he has lost political ground in the North and South-West in the last seven years. Even his pseudo platform, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has not made any inroad into the nation's political landscape since its formation. There were speculations that if Abubakar had remained in the AC which later became the ACN, he could have won the 2011 poll at a time the North was looking for a liberal alternative to Jonathan.

Abubakar's greatest political humiliation was the loss of the 2011 PDP presidential primaries to Jonathan when even delegates from Adamawa State rejected him. The Thursday loss of the Adamawa APC governorship primaries by his anointed candidate, Ibrahim Minjiyawa to Sen. Jibrilla Bindow for the second time indicated that all is still not well with Atiku's home front.

RABIU KWANKWASO Born in 1956 in Kwankwaso Village in Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State, he had been in politics since 1991. He was a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in the aborted Third Republic and a member of the 1994/95 Constitutional Conference. He was a governor between 1999 and 2003; a former Minister of Defence(2003) ; a former Presidential Special Envoy to Somalia and Darfur in 2007; and re-elected as a governor on April 27, 2011.

Apart from his short stint as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kwankwaso and appointment as a minister, Kwankwaso has largely been a master strategist in Kano politics. A progressive minded politician, his political career took a jump from the Peoples Front axis of the defunct SDP in the Third Republic to the PDP in 1998. When there was injustice in PDP, he defected to APC without blinking an eye.

STRENGTHS Kwankwaso speaks the truth to power; he does not suffer fool gladly like other cringing colleagues.

He is also committed to the cause of the downtrodden with masses-oriented projects. His Free Feeding for Primary School Pupils earned him aUN recognition.

He has performed so well to the extent that the Federal Government recently commissioned one of Kwankwaso's project as its own.

A governor given to probity and accountability, Kwankwaso publishes every week the account of his tenure. He is the only Nigerian governor doing so.

WEAKNESSES Kwankwaso is obsessed with Kano politics to the extent that he has little or no time for national politics. Outside the covert backing he is enjoying from ex-President Obasanjo, Kwankwaso's presidential aspiration is yet to get national acceptance or recognition. Obasanjo, who is pulling the strings underneath, has not come out to identify with Kwankwaso's aspiration.

Though his defection with other governors from PDP to APC shot up his profile a bit, he remains at best, a local hero. This perception may be his undoing at the presidential primaries. In spite of the fact that he built political contacts in the House in the Third Republic, most of them had become stale to assist his presidential aspiration.

He has also personalized governance with his Kwankwasiyya ideology and trademark red cap.

Every project is branded Kwankwasiyya in obvious defilement of the basic principle of democracy that power belongs to the people. He enjoys being idolized or hero worshiped by his ardent supporters. Certainly, he is a future presidential material.

ROCHAS OKOROCHA A former Commissioner in the Federal Character Commission and a member of the defunct National Constitutional Conference, Okorocha is a veteran governorship and presidential aspirant. He had attempted to be a governor in Imo State in 1999 under the PDP but he failed as ex-Governor Achike Udenwa won the primaries.

APC presidential ticket: W

•Atiku By 2003, he was a presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but did not succeed. After his failure, he defected to PDP where he was compensated by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo with an appointment as Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs.

Still aspiring to lead the nation, Okorocha in 2005 established the Action Alliance (AA). Later he shifted base to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) where he won the governorship poll in 2011.

STRENGTHS Okorocha is a natural philanthropist with a heart of gold. He is also noted for executing quality projects.

A committed grassroots politician with acronym, "My people, my people," he is a politician who is at home in the North, as in the South-West and the South-East. He is a crowd puller with his intellectually-inclined speeches and sugar-coated tongue. Having been born in Jos, he speaks Hausa like the natives. This has made him to be loved by Northerners.

WEAKNESSES Okorocha prefers to build an empire around himself than allow democracy to flourish with the principle of separation of powers respected. He is also quite loud about his achievements. He won the 2011 governorship poll through the people's revolt but the revolution seems to have suffered a setback.

He seems to be rejuvenating the revolution again.

He is politically unstable having moved around PDP, ANPP, AA, APGA and now APC. He does not look like a serious presidential aspirant because his level of consultations had been exceptionally low. The question on every lip of is whether he's interested in the presidential ticket or playing a hide and seek game. Beyond his declaration in Kaduna, he has not shown much enthusiasm for the presidency. He appears to be having a fall-back position for re-election as a governor if there is roadblock at the primaries.

Having lost ANPP's ticket to Buhari in 2003, APC members are not treating his aspiration with much seriousness. Political pundits foresee him stepping down or just participating in APC presidential primaries as mere symbolic gestures.

SAM NDA ISAIAH Born on May 1, 1962, Sam Nda Isaiah is a pharmacist turned publisher who founded Leadership Newspapers Group - one of the fastest growing newspapers in Nigeria. A man with Midas touch, he was a former member of the Daily Trust Editorial Board before venturing into newspapering.

A member of the Asian think-tank, Global Institute for Tomorrow, his foray into politics began in 2002 when he became the Deputy Director-General of Buhari Campaign Organization (BCO) for the 2003 poll under the banner of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He later became a founding member of the CPC. STRENGTHS The presidential aspirant is a man of conscience and highly principled. He is devoted to any cause he believes in, fights injustice to individual and the society at large, philanthropic and a man of taste.

He does not discriminate on religion, ethnicity and sex. His greatest asset is his democratic mind. No matter how warped your argument is, he will find time to listen to your views.

He is also a courageous politician. This explains why he has decided to challenge his political mentor Buhari at the primaries. He coordinated the general's

•Buhari media campaign in 2003 and 11 years after, he is slugging it out with him for APC ticket.

WEAKNESSES Nda-Isaiah is certainly a neophyte in politics.

Most of his critics believe he should have learned the ropes through lower elective offices to the presidency.

His support base is therefore zero. Outside Niger State, this aspirant is less known to most of the 8,000 delegates who will vote on December 10 in Lagos.

Apart from his moral credentials, he does not have the resources to fund a big project like presidential primaries. Since he has no prospect, political godfathers will also keep him at bay instead of financing him.

FACTORS THAT WILL SHAPE THE PRIMARIES The factors that will shape the presidential primaries are antecedents of the aspirants; their political and personal pedigree; the APC governors who wield enormous powers on delegates; national leaders of APC; members of the National and State Executive Committees of the party; members of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly; the need to end the PDP misrule; the outcome of the governorship and National Assembly primaries; the imperative for power shift to the North and others.

The most important factor is how to get a credible candidate who can defeat the incumbent.

Having secured automatic tickets from their party, the focus of the APC governors is now on how to hold successful and rancour-free presidential primaries to give the PDP a fight for its money. The party machinery at the state level is at the beck and call of the governors and they can determine where the pendulum swings. Already some governors have openly identified with some aspirants and they may sway votes in their direction.

The national leaders of the party will play a key role in providing the beacon for delegates. These leaders had been consulting widely (locally and internationally) in the past few months. The matchmakers include Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the former Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, National Chairman, Chief Odigie Oyegun, National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, Senator Bukola Saraki, ex-Governors Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi Adamu, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, George Akume and Sani Yerima, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Alh. Kawu Baraje, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Senator Shuaibu Lawan, ex-Governor Segun Oni, Senator Osita Izunazo, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, among others.

From the onset, it is also predictable that the delegates may vote for power shift to the North since four of the five aspirants are from the zone. They are Buhari(North-West); Abubakar (North-East), Kwankwaso (North-West) and Nda-Isaiah (NorthCentral). The concession of the presidential slot to the North may naturally ease out Okorocha from the equation at the convention. If Okorocha is adamant, he will be at the mercy of the electoral verdict of the delegates.

THE OUTCOME OF GOVERNORSHIP AND OTHER PRIMARIES Throughout Thursday, presidential aspirants were keeping vigil to monitor the results of the gubernatorial primaries because these might have spiral effects on the outcome of the convention. For example, some loyalists of Buhari have won the

governorship primaries in Kaduna and Nasarawa states. For Atiku Abubakar, the defeat of his godson, Ibrahim Minjiyawa at the primaries by Sen. Jibrilla Bindow for the second time in a row suggested a likely split of the votes of delegates from Adamawa State at the convention.

GOVERNORS HOLD THE ACE Most of the APC governors will play key roles in swinging votes at the presidential primaries. Some of them are jostling for running mate slot; they will be prevailing on their delegates on who to vote for.

Temporarily, some governors may part ways with Kwankwaso on the choice of APC candidate.

STATE OF THE RACE - STATE BY STATE NASARAWA It is payback time for Buhari from his political godson, Governor Tanko Al-Makura. Unlike the frosty relationship between Buhari and ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau in Kano, Al-Makura had remained loyal to his master. This was why Buhari threatened fire and brimstone when the PDP attempted to impeach AlMakura. His timely alarm, with others from wellmeaning Nigerian, forced the PDP to beat a tactical retreat. There is the likelihood of 80 to 90 per cent of the votes from Nasarawa going to Buhari at the convention. The governor has not only taken interest in the emergence of delegates, he is working with exGovernor Abdullahi Adamu. (Verdict: In Buhari's column) ADAMAWA This is home turf of ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Following the removal of ex-Governor Murtala Nyako, he was able to put the party executives in place in the state. But this did not translate to total control of the APC in the state because his godson, Ibrahim Minjinyawa (1,183 votes) lost the gubernatorial ticket to Senator Jibrilla Bindow (1,880).

The results have confirmed that Nyako's loyalists may not vote for Abubakar at the convention. There is still a little discomfort for Atiku at home unless he woos Bindow to his side. It was unclear if there was any secret pact between the ex-VP and Bindow before the primaries on Thursday. Unknown to many, Buhari is married to a woman from Yola in Adamawa State. The marriage has gained him some leverage going by the outcome of the governorship primaries.

If Buhari plays his cards right, the votes might be either 60-40 in favour of the former VP or 50-50.

(Verdict: Leaning towards Atiku) KWARA The strongman of Kwara politics, Senator Bukola Saraki, who is fitting well into the shoes of his late father, will largely determine how the state delegates will vote. Barring last minutes change of mind, Saraki might work for Buhari because some of his close associates like Governor Rotimi Amaechi, believe in the former Head of State. Having outplayed Saraki through Northern consensus politics in 2011, ex-VP Abubakar is now at the mercy of the former governor.

It is only if Saraki is large-hearted that he can ask Kwara delegates to vote for Abubakar. But some politicians were quick to say that when in October a national daily ran a story that Saraki had endorsed Buhari some months ago, he denied such an assumption.

This development might have left a gap in Kwara's on who to vote for at the convention. With

•Contd. on page 11

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

t: Who runs against Jonathan?

•Kwankwaso

•Contd. from page 10 the suspense from Kwara, it might still be 50-50 or 60-40 as the case with Kwara PDP voting pattern at the PDP National Convention in 2011. (Verdict: Too close to call) NIGER The voting pattern of delegates from Niger state at the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) looks unpredictable. Delegates from the state may not vote in block for a particular aspirant, but religious factor will surely play the determining factor in the voting pattern of the delegates.

Though no delegate was willing to disclose their choice but political watchers would have given the bulk of the votes from the state to Mr. Sam NdaIsaiah, being a son of the soil, feelers from most of the 178 delegates however showed that of the five aspirants, General Muhammadu Buhari leads the pack with Governor Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar having good showing in the state.

Buhari's stronghold is in the Niger North Senatorial zone, a predominantly Muslim dominated area. The support the former military enjoys from the zone is not only legendary. Most of the delegates from this zone are die hard supporters of Buhari and nothing will make them vote otherwise.

The aspiration of Kano state governor, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso may receive a boost from mostly the elites in the party and some state officials of the party. The proponent of Kwankwasiyya political philosophy has been a strong shoulder the party rested on during its formative stage in the state. He provided a lot of logistic support for the party. The primary is seen to be some of these delegates as payback time for the former Minister of Defence.

Though rated third in the state, Atiku a politician with goodwill, strong connection and wherewithal to turn the table against any aspirant. The Turaki Vanguard, the arrow head of Atiku a political machinery may have a perfected strategy to deliver the party's ticket to the former Vice President.

Few Nupe speaking delegates in solidarity with Sam Nda-Isaiah may queue behind the Leadership Newspaper publisher. Religion maybe his albatross.

He is also not seen as a grassroots politician before the presidential aspiration. (Verdict: Fluid) SOKOTO Unexpectedly, Governor Aliyu Wammako has been silent but he was credited with the shape which the National Convention of APC is assuming by prevailing on Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to withdraw from the presidential race. The automatic concession of the governorship ticket to Tambuwal averted a major challenge of starting horse-trading afresh by APC leaders for the party's presidential ticket. The withdrawal of Tambuwal was meant to pave the way for Buhari, who is rated high in the North-West. Wammako may also work for Buhari.

(Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) EDO With Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the permutations for APC presidential running mate, the state may tilt towards Buhari as a form of working alliance. The governor shares similar traits of efficiency, discipline and people-oriented vision.

The score sheet may be 80-20 in favour of Buhari.

(Verdict: Leaning to Buhari)

•Okorocha

•Nda-Isaiah

KADUNA Thursday's victory of former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai over his arch-rival, Isah Ashiru for Kaduna APC governorship ticket has given Buhari a fair lead in the state over other aspirants. Incurably committed to the Buhari project, el-Rufai has a fresh task to galvanize more delegates to vote for his political leader.

Kaduna is also the base of the former general.

At the end of the day it could be either 70-30 or 6040 for Buhari and others in Kaduna. (Verdict: Buhari) RIVERS If Buhari has any die-hard supporter among APC governors, he is Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

From conception, Amaechi had been an integral part of Buhari's ambition, declaration and strategy.

Having been critical of the administration of Jonathan and the state of the nation, Amaechi is one of those leading the campaign for a drastic change and he believes in Buhari.

The likelihood of APC presidential running mate coming from the South-South has led to the penciling down of Amaechi for the role if the former Head of State is the party's candidate. Rivers may be 90 per cent for Buhari. (Verdict: Buhari) YOBE The priority of the people of Yobe State is the restoration of security. The delegates from the state will want to vote for a strong aspirant who has a solution to Boko Haram. The state's political godfather, ex-Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Governor Ibrahim Gaidam may work for Buhari.

The reality is that the North-West and North-East have always been strong political base of the exHead of State. (Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) BORNO For a long time, Governor Kashim Shettima has been re-strategizing underground without talking much on national and APC politics. His major preoccupation is an end to the insurgency. The state may however vote for Buhari over perceptions that he can lead an effective counter offensive against Boko Haram as a Commander-In-Chief. (Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) TARABA The party machinery in the state is in the hands of APC governorship candidate, Senator Jummai Alhassan and may determine where the delegates will vote. But since Adamawa-Taraba axis has always been a stronghold of the ex-VP, he is likely to garner most votes from the area. (Verdict: Leaning to Atiku) KANO Having adopted a consensus method and automatic ticket for all elective leaders in 2015, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has reduced tension in the state. Now that it is his turn to seek presidential nomination, the state delegates will vote overwhelmingly 100 per cent for him. The mammoth crowd at his declaration in Abuja showed that he is adored in Kano State. (Verdict: Kwankwaso) LAGOS The National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is savouring the moment with the success of Thursday's State Congress which proved that he is firmly in control of Lagos with the emergence of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as the APC governorship candidate.

The pre-convention analysis indicated that

Tinubu played a major role in spurring Buhari to contest for the presidency again. If Buhari has any hope, he relies on bloc votes from the South-West at the convention. The geopolitical zone has not hidden its preference for him. Therefore, Lagos delegates may vote for Buhari. (Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) OSUN The direction of Lagos will be the pathfinder for Osun State delegates because of Governor Rauf Aregbesola's undiluted loyalty to Asiwaju Tinubu.

At his inauguration last week, Aregbesola openly referred to Asiwaju as "Oga mi" meaning my boss, my leader. If there is any disciple who cannot betray Asiwaju, Aregbesola ranks higher. Of all the aspirants, only Buhari was physically present in Osogbo at the inauguration. Ex-VP Atiku Abubakar sent his amiable wife, Hajiya Titi Abubakar to the ceremony. Though Atiku married one of his wives from Osun State, it might not count for him at the primaries. Buhari may earn the confidence of the state's delegates. (Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) EKITI The voting pattern of Ekiti State may also go the way of Lagos State. Though the state's party leader, ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi is presently the chairman of the National Convention Committee(NCC), the delegates might not vote differently from the overall objective of the South-West to present a credible and strong candidate who can defeat PDP's anointed candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. (Verdict: Too close to call) OGUN Governor Ibikunle Amosun shares a similar political destiny with Buhari having come a long way from their days in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), one of the parties that coalesced into APC. Since old wine tastes better, Amosun may mobilize Ogun delegates to accept Buhari in line with the thinking of the South-West. (Verdict: Leaning to Buhari) OYO Apart from the fact that Governor Isiaka Ajimobi and Buhari share similar characteristics of being prudent and disciplined, the bandwagon effect of Lagos direction may favour Buhari in Oyo State.

(Verdict: Leaning Buhari) ONDO Some of the delegates are already making a case for Buhari. But Atiku Abubakar is trying to penetrate the delegates from the state since there is no APC government in place. (Verdict: Fluid) KATSINA The hitherto warring APC members in Katsina succeeded in putting their house in order to elect exSpeaker Aminu Bello Masari as the party's governorship candidate. The overwhelming score of 2,470 votes for Masari signposted that peace has returned to Buhari's home front unlike in 2011 when the defunct CPC lost to PDP because of intra-party wrangling. If Buhari ensures reconciliation of the winner with other aspirants, he can secure almost 90 to 95 per cent of the votes from the state at the National Convention. At least, there is no hitch for him at the starting block. (Verdict: Buhari) BENUE All the aspirants have been busy lobbying stakeholders in Benue State for votes in the past few weeks. Interestingly, Buhari and Atiku have longtime political associates in the state. Buhari suffered a setback when his plane was not allowed to land in Makurdi Airport based on spurious security reasons.

11

Those who may direct the swing of the pendulum are the Minority Leader in the Senate, ex-Governor George Akume and a former National Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Audu Ogbeh. A source said: "I can tell you that Buhari and Abubakar enjoy considerable goodwill in Benue APC. The delegates may split their votes." (Verdict: Too close to call) AKWA IBOM The latest bride of the APC in Akwa Ibom, Umana Okon Umana holds the ace. Having got elected as the party's governorship flag bearer in a 'miraculous' manner, Umana's influence on delegates from the state, on who to vote for at the convention, may be determined by the disposition of his benefactors who handed him the ticket on a platter of gold. (Verdict: Fluid) KEBBI If the reception accorded four of the five aspirants (Buhari, Atiku, Kwankwaso, and Okorocha) in Kebbi State is anything to go by, Buhari is the favourite of delegates in the state. While others used hotels to interact with the delegates, the reception for Buhari was massive and overwhelming to the extent that the stadium in the state capital was engaged for meetthe-delegates session. There may be 70-30 advantage for Buhari in Kebbi. (Verdict: Buhari) BAYELSA Ex-Governor Timpreye Sylva is the beacon of delegates in Bayelsa State. The extent to which aspirants play their cards with him might fetch votes.

But Sylva and Governor Rotimi Amaechi are said to be very close and their political notes might be on the same page. (Verdict: Leaning Buhari) ENUGU The two leading aspirants (Buhari and Atiku) have old political associates and friends in Enugu State. Naturally, Rochas Okorocha should have been in control of the state but most delegates are angry with him for allegedly not fulfilling some of his promises to them. In one of their meetings last week, some of the delegates resolved to pitch tent with Buhari.

This flank is open but Buhari is having a marginal lead. (Verdict: Too close to call) ABIA Governor Rochas Okorocha has done so much for the party in Abia State to the extent that most of the delegates have shut their doors against other aspirants. He might secure 90 to 95 per cent of the votes in the state. (Verdict: Leaning Okorocha) IMO This is also no-go area for all the aspirants except Rochas Okorocha. He commands total respect from leaders and members of the party in the state. (Verdict: Okorocha) EBONYI The huge political influence of Senator Julius Ocha looms larger in Ebonyi State APC. As a loyalist of Abubakar, he has secured the state for Atiku in a 90 to 10 per cent. (Verdict: Atiku) DELTA The election of Olorogun O'tega Emerhor as APC governorship candidate in Delta State has changed the equation for all the presidential aspirants. This is an open space for any of them to explore. (Verdict: Fluid) ANAMBRA It is a three-dimensional race in Anambra State as Okorocha, Atiku and Buhari canvass for the votes of delegates. Apart from marrying his youngest wife from the state, Abubakar has helped many people from the state when he was VP with appointments and juicy contracts. He enjoys appreciable support in the state. But Okorocha is no push over in his comfort zone as a result of Ndigbo solidarity. Buhari is also not relenting. The leader of APC in the state, Sen. Chris Ngige may eventually decide who takes the state. (Verdict: Too close to call) BAUCHI This is a battleground for both Buhari and Abubakar where they weigh near equal influence.

(Verdict: Too close to call) GOMBE Leading the political revolution in Gombe State is former Governor Danjuma Goje, who defected from PDP to APC. He enjoys large following and he is going to be one of the matchmakers at the convention.

With most of the delegates as his loyalists, Goje will certainly exert influence on them on who to vote for.

(Verdict: Fluid) JIGAWA Some loyalists of Buhari in the ANPP and CPC days are in APC in the state. The ex-Head of State may be the one to beat here. (Verdict: Fluid) KOGI A former Governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu is still in charge and he might play a major role in providing direction to delegates on who to back at the convention. (Verdict: Too close to call) PLATEAU The influence of the likes of Senator Shagaya would be crucial. But Atiku also has old associates like Ambassador Yahaya Kwande to count on.

(Verdict: Too close to call) ZAMFARA The aspirants are at the mercy of ex-Governor Sani Yerima and Governor Abdulaziz Yari who wield enormous political powers having dictated the political environment in the state since 1999. The state delegates might be caught in the bandwagon voting pattern of other states in the North-West.

(Verdict: Leaning Buhari) CROSS RIVER It is any aspirant's game in this state because the APC does not control the reins of government.

However, Atiku is thought to maintain very strong political roots here. (Verdict: Leaning Atiku)

•Contd. on page 73

12

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

Ropo Sekoni

13

Page 14

Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

Wamakko: That threat from high above W

HILE addressing the stakeholders of his party recently, the very dis-

traught Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko complained openly that he had received a threatening sms from the very powerful National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, who happens to be a prominent Sokoto prince. According to the governor, he had, in a radio interview spoken against the assault by security officials on the National Assembly. He claimed to have said in the interview that, "‌in a normal society, the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba were supposed to have resigned from their appointments because they have failed Nigerians as a result of the action‌" Soon after, according to the governor, he received a text message on his phone from the NSA telling that, which in his own words said: "I have heard you, you will be hearing from me". He regarded took that as a direct threat both to this life and position.

Given that there have been no public rebuttal to the allegation of the Sokoto governor by the NSA that one is aware of, one is led to conclude that the facts as Governor Wamakko had averred were true. Yet, without hearing the NSA's version, it would be too presumptuous to take the sms on its face value, which should ordinarily imply an unconcealed threat from a man who has ample access to both means of protection and harm.

All the same, in these dangerous times and judging from the fact that Governor Wamakko belongs to the Opposition, the alleged sms from the NSA is naturally viewed with seriousness, especially within the ranks of his group which currently feels haunted by the government whose coercive instruments the NSA commands.

The apprehension expressed by the Sokoto governor needs not be dismissed with a wave of the hand, judging from the recent behaviour of the security arms of the government which on the last 20th November tried to bar the Speaker of the House of Representatives from accessing his official place of work, on the ultra vires assumption of the duties of the Judiciary by the Police boss, who had arbitrarily assumed the responsibility of interpreting the laws of the land. Not being all lawyers, the polity is more attuned to interpreting the issues on the ground on their face value and within the confines of common-sense. That is why the general impression in Nigeria and outside is that the fracas at the National Assembly was a brazen affront on the right of the Opposition, which has been further interpreted as victimization.

In other words, while the action of the security agents which has been classified as high-handed, in spite of the explanation of their act as being in line with its duty to prevent crime after it had received intelligence information, is still under public scrutiny, any such sms from the NSA which obviously conveys some traces of a threat, is expected to be taken seriously and with trepidation. A situation whereby a person at the high pedestal of a governor publicly expresses fears over such a threat is a very dangerous to the polity which seems to be at its shakiest state at the moment. More significantly, the NSA, from his vantage position should be most aware of the fact that if there is anything the nation needs at the moment it is not the aggravation of domestic tension when all hands, all resources and all faculties are needed to confront the external enemy which is terror.

After 16 years of the current practice of democracy, one would assumed that it should have become obvious to all that no one is above public scrutiny and that Nigeria should have since outgrown a situation

•Wamakko

By Haruna Jimme whereby people would be sanctioned for voicing their opinions. In Governor Wamakko's estimation, the apparently innocuous statement which might have attracted the reported reaction of the NSA was his call on the inspector general of Police and the national security adviser to resign from their jobs for the assault on the National Assembly last month. One cannot but say that it would be unfortunate if the NSA is riled by such a call which has become a mantra across the country in the recent times, not just for the NASS imbroglio but for the citizens' lack of satisfaction on how the war against terror is being prosecuted. If the NSA and his security apparatchik are not aware of public discontentment over many issues in the country at the moment, then it would be a very unfortunate development.

Yes, the calls from many quarters - both real and mischievous - for many high officers of the state to resign, have taken on very high decibel, and such calls have often been made on the president, too. At each of those instances when the president has been called upon to resign by the Opposition elements, his aides had either ignored them or made explanations, based on how weighty they consider such calls. The Presidency has never gone out to threaten or make insinuating gestures against those who had called on him to resign; knowing that it is a right guaranteed them by the Constitution under a democratic clime.

But then, that is the stuff of which democracy is made, whereby institutions are greater than individuals that head them and who must be humble enough to feel that they are accountable to the people and must be sensitive to the vagaries of their feelings. Nigeria cannot be an island and must fit into and aspire to the best practices of other nations. There should be nothing to break heads when a political appointee of the government is called upon to resign, especially by the Opposition.

Rather, it should be the responsibility of that official so called upon to show cause why he should not resign and never an occasion for sabre-rattling or issuance of threats. Even under the military dispensation, people have mustered courage to call on their leaders and occupiers of high office to resign when their performance is viewed as suspect.

Just very recently, the Inspector General of Police of Kenya voluntarily resigned from his office while the Interior Minister who oversights the Police was shown the door by the president for the outrage caused by the terrorists who had crossed the northern border from Somalia into Kenya to mas-

sacre innocent civilians. So, resignations had never been new for security officials when breaches occur. Would it be wrong to suggest that the breach that happened in Kenya which resulted in the resignation of the police chief and the Interior Minister do not pale into insignificance when compared to the situation in Nigeria? To that extent, does anybody making such a call deserve any threats at all?

More surprisingly, one would have expected that Colonel Dasuki would have appreciated the unique position of Sokoto State which has remained a refreshing oasis in the torrid desert of insecurity in the North. More than anybody else, from his military training, current posting and as prince of the ancient and revered Sokoto Caliphate, the NSA ought to lecture everybody else on the role of chief executives of states in ensuring peace, stability and security in their states. Governor Wamakko is widely acclaimed and extolled as an experienced and cool-headed administrator, who is very much loved by his people because he has been one of them and has identified with their tears and laughter. It is difficult to find anybody in Sokoto State who speaks ill of the governor because of his painstaking attention to issues of community development which takes the people into great consideration.

The fact that the governor does not discriminate among the inhabitants of the state, on basis of their ethnic origins or religion has created an unprecedented sense of belonging to all who reside in the state. Very approachable and humane, Aliyu Wamakko is said to have become a veritable example of what Pope Francis described as a "shepherd who smells like his sheep".

Therefore, the fact that Sokoto remains the most peaceful corner of Nigeria today is not out of luck, but rather out of a systematic build-up of good governance and care for the people, as well as a legacy of good governance which has been inherited from the days of Othman dan Fodio and his successors since in 1804. Wamakko has been a great apostle of this great legacy which other parts of Nigeria need to emulate.

The NSA definitely appreciates the importance of sustaining this peace and stability at his home base and needs to work hand in hand with the political and traditional leaders in his home state to ensure that Sokoto becomes better and continues to remain safe and peaceful as the last bastion of peace and stability.

Governor Wamakko might be in the APC today, probably making the NSA jittery over his statements and pronouncements. But that need not be so, as differences are the best ingredients of progress in a democratic setting.

In these perilous times when a tiny spark could easily balloon into an inferno, it behoves on those whose prime responsibility it is to prevent the small sparks as well as big infernos to always seek ways that would douse all fires big or small. It is not for the likes of NSA to stoke fires, but a primary responsibility to douse them, even when they are started by others. A situation whereby a state governor of the calibre and experience of Dr. Aliyu Wamakko is made to feel threatened can only be an ill-wind which will blow nobody well.

- Haruna Jimme, a political scientist , writes from Abuja

- TUNJI ADEGBOYEGA IS ON VACATION

The governors we want

A

LTHOUGH last Thursday's gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressive Congress ( APC) was supposed to be an internal affair of the party, it is understandable why many Nigerians stayed awake all night to know the outcome of the exercise in many states.

Both party and many non- party members were interested in knowing who will get the tickets in their states to slug it out with those who will eventually be chosen as the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) candidates.

Their interest is informed by the high expectations of the general public who want the right candidates to be chosen to give them good options to chose from during the gubernatorial election in 2015.

While what citizens want are capable candidate who will be able to provide the right kind of leadership the states need, party leaders and members have other considerations which sometimes doesn't ensure that the right candidates get elected.

Ethnic, religious, zoning arrangements, vested interests of leaders and other factors usually come to play in deciding who gets party ticket. What we sometimes get is not necessary the best candidates to choose from, but those forced on us by the parties for reasons best known to them.

While the parties have the right to elected their candidates, they need to appreciate that only the best should be good enough for the voters to choose from.

The situation where good candidates who have what it takes to govern the states don't get elected for other reasons than merit is not in the overall interest of the states and the country.

States, like other levels of government, should be governed by governors who have clear vision to transform them, the experience and acumen for the very important task.

What we have witnessed in many states since 1999 indicates that many of the elected governors have not lived up to expectations. Many states have not recorded significant progress except propaganda of questionable claims of achievements by the governors, The resources of many states have been mismanaged and looted by some governors and their aides under various guises. Instead of recording sustainable massive developments in various sectors based on their monthly federal allocations and internally generated revenue, not much has been achieved.

If this is not the case, how can some state governors justify the state of dilapidation of infrastructure in their states? Why are so many states roads, where they exist, in bad shape? Why are many state government schools and hospitals operating below standard.

What is the justification for some states owing civil servants for months when some state governors, their wives and aides live large?

It is common for some state governors to accuse the federal government of not meeting their obligations to them, but what have state governments done with the resources they have?.

The priorities of some governors are clearly wrong as some of their top projects are not in the overall interest of their citizens, while some projects are so poorly executed that they do not not last long to serve the purpose they are meant for.

The next governorship election in 2015 provides yet another opportunity for the parties to present candidates who can do better than what we have been witnessing in many states. It is also up to the voters to make the best choice irrespective of party platforms or other mundane considerations.

More than ever before, we need governors who have a clear sense of purpose. We need governors who have blueprints for turning the states around for better.

We need governors who have the ability and the will to leave the states better than they met them.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

Vending Yoruba unity at Ife The real issue is how to ensure the survival of age-old Yoruba civilisation, without sacrificing the core Yoruba value of tolerance of difference and plurality of perspectives.

O

DUDUWA Hall at Obafemi Awolowo University was a few days ago the site for vending the latest political product in town: Yoruba Unity. The hallowed hall of ideas right from the days of Hezekiah Oluwasanmi almost became a source of contestation between merchants of Yoruba unity and students sent by their parents to acquire the knowledge with which they hope to transform Nigeria. Today's piece is not about the juicy details of the confrontation between students and sellers/buyers of Yoruba unity, as the writer was too far from Ife physically to witness any detail at the unity market. The column today is interested in looking at distractions foisted on the Yoruba and by extension the Nigerian political landscape at the expense of the real issues that matter to the life of citizens-Yoruba or non-Yoruba.

Nigeria's existence has been driven from the beginning by unity as a concept, later as a project, and finally as a product, acquired or given to wholesalers to market at the ancestral home of one of Africa's most sophisticated nationalities. At the beginning of Nigeria, Frederick Lugard brought diverse peoples from the East, North, and West together to coexist in a country without a common history.

It has been argued by political and economic historians that Lugard, on behalf of the British government of his time, did not create Nigeria for the benefit of Nigerians. He was believed to have brought the southern woman of means and the northern prince together for the purpose of easing the coloniser's burden of financing the administration of Britain's new market in sub-Sahara Africa. While the peoples of Nigeria were trying to make sense of their new political territory by negotiating their cultural differences, the colonisers were doing their own thing, expanding their trade in their new market.

Independence brought a new reality. The three regions had a noticeably federal constitution that allowed each region to

develop at its own pace. Soon after independence, the central government dominated by the northern region brought the issue of unity to the fore by strategising for a one-party system of government. Leaders of the central government from the two parties in alliance infiltrated the political party in power in Western region. The Action Group was broken into two: Awolowo's AG and Akintola's NNDP. The open text of the crisis fomented by the rupture focused on search for national unity (referred to in today's political parlance as main-streaming) as the source of contention between the Awolowo group and the Akintola group. That was the first time that the concept, Yoruba Unity, became the driver of political ideology among the traditionally federal Yoruba states, hitherto integrated by Action Group with the ideology of welfare politics.

The frantic search for Yoruba unity ended with the first republic. Military dictators shifted the struggle back to search for national unity.

Ironsi on his part created a unitary Nigeria to be driven from and by the centre. Another coup came to change temporarily Ironsi's policies back to the federalism in place in 1963. Soon after, the game changed again, especially with the advent of the civil war. Unity became a national project again. New states were created year in year out. Citizens in the balkanised states were pampered with funds from petroleum exploitation, and just about every group forgot about itself and looked forward to funds from the central government to oil the machines of government and the throats of government leaders.

The second republic brought back the importance of ideology as a basis of political rivalry within the Yoruba region, with nobody worrying about Yoruba unity. Awolowo, the leader of UPN looked for people comfortable with the ideology of his party all over Nigeria while leaders of the NPN also did the same.

The Yoruba region had some of its respectable sons and daughters in both parties, but most of the citizens identified with the UPN. There was no civil war in Yoruba land between the

Awolowo group: Bola Ige, Lateef Jakande, Bisi Onabanjo, Adekunle Ajasin, and Yoruba NPN leaders: Akinloye, Abiola, and others in the NPN. No individual or group proclaimed itself as the custodian of Yoruba unity. In the third republic, Abiola and Ige found themselves in the same a little-to-the-left political party, an indication that if there was ever any division within the Yoruba, it was not cultural but ideological. The fourth republic again brought individuals from the Yoruba region, hitherto in opposing political parties in earlier republics, together into the same party. Oldtime politicians like Abraham Adesanya, Bola Ige, Bisi Akande, and new-breed politicians like Segun Osoba, Bola Tinubu, and Niyi Adebayo found themselves in the same party with a programme to bring the politics of welfare back, and the rest is history.

During the time that Save Nigeria Group was struggling to ensure that some cabal around Umaru Yar'Adua was not allowed to violate the constitutional provision that the Vice President, regardless of his or her geographic ethnic origin, should become president in the event of the person elected as president dying in office, unity in Yoruba land was not an issue. It was assumed by everybody that what was needed was for the Yoruba to have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental human rights of association.

Even at the time of the 2011 presidential election, no serious politician raised the issue of unity. It was only in the last two years that the search for Yoruba unity became a religion and product at the same time, as it did in 196465. It was the search for Yoruba unity that was on sale in Ife a few days ago.

Lovers of Yoruba culture and values should thank their deity that the marketing of Yoruba unity on the campus of ObafemiAwolowo University did not lead to serious destruction of life and property. I was told that a few Yoruba obas had to remove their crowns, beads, and robes in order to hide their identities movement to examination halls. Without really believing that our obas would be that cowardly, I do not feel any empathy for any oba who needed to

suspend on his own volition his own divine kingship, on account of poor planning by a group preoccupied with Yoruba unity, with or without purpose.

Before we end this historical piece, just a few questions for vendors of Yoruba unity. Why should Yoruba unity be a matter of concern to non-Yoruba people? President Jonathan is an Ijaw man hosted at Ife by miners of Yoruba Unity. How is an Ijaw man likely to be of use to the mining of Yoruba unity? The humble man was put under pressure to explain that he has been unhappy for the past four years because he had not been able to make a Yoruba woman the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

How would getting a Yoruba woman to be speaker enhance Yoruba unity, having just experienced years in which two Yoruba people-male and female--served as speakers and even a Yoruba man, Olusegun Obasanjo, served as president for eight years? Is this search for Yoruba unity for the purpose of fighting other nationalities in the country or to fight Yoruba who do not appear sufficiently united to cause of the self-appointed miners and marketers of Yoruba unity?

The problem facing the Yoruba people of Nigeria today is much larger than a search for what is not missing. The real issue is how to ensure the survival of age-old Yoruba civilisation, without sacrificing the core Yoruba value of tolerance of difference and plurality of perspectives. If the Yoruba must find unity among themselves, it should not be at the expense of threat to life and limb of the country's president, born and bred in another proud Nigerian nationality group that also has good reasons to be distinct from the Yoruba in many ways. It is rather late in the day for any individual or group to call a dog a monkey for Yoruba people. The political conflict in Nigeria at present is ideological: PDP versus APC. No Yoruba man or woman should need to use the search for Yoruba unity to occlude his affiliation with any of the two ideological poles. It will be vintage Yoruba to be active in both parties and be seen to be doing so by the generality of Yoruba people.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

15

Return of Hobbes

It is the era of self-help: against violence by terrorists; and impunity by the government

E

MIR of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, told the people to defend themselves from terror attacks, even if that is the fundamental and legal duty of the state.

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, told the people to defend themselves against brazen rights' violation by the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency, even if the Constitution compels the government to rule by law, not by arbitrary power.

Welcome, the society of self-help: Boko Haram slays the people; the government slays their rights, even as the government fights Boko Haram. The Nigerian citizen appears trapped between the devil (terrorists) and the deep blue sea (government)!

Thomas Hobbes's state of nature beckons, where life is nasty, brutish and short!

Transplanted to a modern setting, Boko Haram marks an era of acute insecurity that makes nonsense of the concept of the modern state.

Brazen abuse of citizens' rights, in a supposed democracy, hallmarks creeping fascism.

It is a dash into the past, on the wings of anomie, with disastrous consequences. In any case, that appears the grave submission of the combined opinions of these two eminent Nigerian citizens.

On November 15, Emir Sanusi, speaking at a prayer meeting, told his Kano subjects to defend themselves. "These people, when they attack towns, they kill boys and enslave girls ... People must stand resolute. People," he warned, apparently targeting Nigerians beyond the reach of Boko Haram violence for now, "must not assume that the crisis will not reach their area."

In an apparent thumbs-down for Nigerian security agencies, the Emir declared: "People must not wait for soldiers to protect them. There are even instances where soldiers on ground ran away in the face of attack."

The Emir's comment was after the November 14 terrorist bombing at the Magarsiku Filling Station at Hotoro, Kano, with casualties: six dead, five injured.

But on November 28 Boko Haram, perhaps provoked by the Emir's virtual call to arms, returned with a blistering attack on Friday worshippers at the Kano Central Mosque's Jumat, where the Emir himself usually leads prayers.

The Economist, the London weekly, headlined the attack, in its story: "Banker Vs Boko: From inflation

T

HE news of the demise of Saadatu Mohammed Fawu, a reporter with the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service, came to many listeners as a rude shock.

The late Saadatu Fawu who covered her beat in Jos, Bauchi and Gombe was a listener's delight while performing her duties. Many Hausa listeners would not forget her velvet voice and the in-depth report to her

I

T is an open secret that with his poor and dismal performance in the All Progressive Congress (APC) primaries for the 11 October 2014 gubernatorial election in Adamawa State that it was a matter of time he would dump the party.

This writer and many others were not surprised with the action of Senator Ahmed Barata in dumping the APC. Basically, the politics in Adamawa State is of "stomach infrastructure" and most of the so-called politicians are

targeter [reference to Sanusi's tenure as CBN governor] to insurgent target."

The casualties: no less than 130 worshippers dead; killed by suicide bombers and gunmen; and scores of others injured. Though the Police had earlier reacted to the Emir's earlier call for citizen self-defence as a "call to anarchy", according to The Economist's report, the attack on the Kano Central Mosque, perhaps targeting Sanusi himself, had justified such a call. The state appears unable to guarantee security, as clearly compelled by Section 14(2)(B) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

On December 3, Prof. Soyinka dismissed President Jonathan as "worse than Nebuchadnezzar", for the fascist inclination of his presidency; and called Nigerian citizens to defend themselves against the present government's penchant to assault citizens' rights and subvert state institutions.

He named two specific examples: the police invasion of the National Assembly; and shameful tear-gassing of House of Representatives members, to prevent Speaker Aminu Tambuwal from gaining access; and the destruction of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), simply because the president's man lost its chairmanship, 16-19 votes.

He particularly came down hard on the empty conceit of Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba: his hasty withdrawal of the Speaker's security details; his arrogant misinterpretation of the law to justify his illegality, and his obduracy, before a parliamentary panel, of defending his rash actions -- particularly the desecration of the National Assembly grounds -- which not a few feel is not only lawless but brazen.

"Let's not beat about the bush: the line has been drawn," the Nobelist and social critic thundered.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

"The people must decide -- whether to submit or resist. We may be no-count plebeians in the sight of the new-born patricians of Aso Rock and their apologists," he added with biting sarcasm, "but must we revert to the Abachanian status of glorified slaves?"

Evoking the iconic Ladi as powerful symbol of people's resistance -- Ladi, the female hunter among men who mauled Boko Haram at Mubi, Adamawa State, even after the army had melted before the Islamists -- he called on Nigerians to resist the creeping fascism of President Jonathan, insisting that Nigerians would not vanquish the Abacha military dictatorship only to succumb to Jonathan's civilian fascism.

"Defend yourself!" Soyinka again thundered.

"That is what the perceptive have preached and groups like the so-called [Civilian] Joint Task Force translated into action, the real heroes of the defence of the tattered Nigeria sovereignty."

Still, aside from Nigerians' right to security and legal rights, the self-defence on which Sanusi and Soyinka have harped, not a few Nigerians have since made their peace with self-help in key areas like water-supplies (public mains are rare and farbetween, leaving citizens to dig own wells and make boreholes) and electricity (electricity generating sets and inverters have taken over from scandalously inefficient public power supply, despite the ballyhooed privatisation of the power sector).

In the field of education and health, it is at best a split scorecard: citizens who have the financial muscles take charge of their own education and health needs, while only the poor tend to leave their fate to government schools and hospitals.

How does the government justify its existence when it fails in these very basic chores?

These are the sober posers the Sanusi-Soyinka intervention have brought to the fore. They bring out, in bold relief, the stark failure of governance; and the gradual collapse of the state -- which must bother every rational Nigerian.

So, rather than resort to vulgar abuse on the social media as many government supporters and other misguided citizens have done, the two eminent citizens deserve praise for hitting the problem right on the head; and challenging the Jonathan government to correct its glaring lapses.

Nigeria and Nigerians would be better for it, if it did.

LETTER

Tribute to Saadatu Mohammed Fawu

teeming listeners throughout the Hausa speaking world.

She would be remembered for the risk she took in going to areas of conflict in interviewing the parties involved.

She has left an indelible mark in history of media coverage for the teeming

Hausa listeners, who have come to admire her dedication to duty in

bringing news and entertainment to listeners of VOA all over the world.

The various interviews she granted during her lifetime would remain ever

green in the mind of her listeners. Her death has left a very big vacuum in the VOA Service.

We, however, take solace in Allah's injunction that to Him we come and to Him we shall return.

May Allah grant her soul eternal rest and give the entire family the fortitude to bear this loss.

By Bala Nayashi Lokoja, Kogi State.

Barata and the craftiness of a desperate politician in for what they may get and not the interest of the people.

Looking at the political sojourn of Senator Barata, he always banked on the goodwill of certain political office holders to ascend political positions. In 1999, he banked on the goodwill of former Governor Boni Haruna to be elected member of the House of Representatives twice.

When Admiral Murtala Nyako became the governor of the state, he aligned himself

with the governor and became one of his confidant and became a whale to the political aspiration of Senator Grace Bent, inspite of her superlative performances for the Adamawa Southern Senatorial Zone, where the then Governor Nyako paved the way for his emergence as the candidate for the PDP for the senatorial zone where the party's primaries was openly skewed in his favour.

He defected from the PDP to the APC when former

Governor Nyako defected to the party so as to be in the good books of the governor for his second bid for the Senate.

With the impeachment of Governor Nyako, Senator Barata switched his allegiance to the former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar, who became the APC leader in the state so as to support him to clinch the ticket of the party for the gubernatorial election. But as a democrat, the former Vice-President

Abubakar publicly said that he would allow a level playing field for the aspirants under the APC to test their popularity among the delegates. At the last count, Senator Barata came fourth and that is his grouse for dumping the party.

Having realised that he can never win election without banking on the goodwill of high ranking political office holders and with his ambition to make a bid for a second term to the

Senate, he now dumped the APC for the PDP so that he can be given the ticket of the party.

Senator Barata needs to realise the fact that day in day out the people are getting wiser politically. Once given the chance and you do not deliver, the people are quite ready to make a meaningful change through the ballot box.

- Usman Santuraki, Jambutu Ward, Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

Ife Summit: The smart alecks are back Why now would President Jonathan treat the Southwest differently when he would never ever come back seeking our votes?

A

S it is now well known, PDP both as party and government, is like a con artist. More intriguing, though, is the fact that its Southwest leaders are by far worse.

After six years of the president being in the saddle, appointing them to nothing higher than miserable preferments like board chairmanship of polytechnics in as far away as Damaturu while allotting to tiny Bayelsa powerful agencies like NIMASSA, he has suddenly woken up to how his government has thus far treated the Yoruba like Christmas chicken. But truth be told, we can hardly blame him because, after many years of interaction with his Southwest party men, he must have come to know that they think only of self. But if President Jonathan claims he still pities the Yoruba for the loss of the House Speakership, we should ask what in his opinion constitutes the gains of the Southwest from the tenures of Patricia Etteh and Dimeji Bankole? Or what one single thing can the Yoruba point to as benefits of those better forgotten days other than the fact that both exspeakers significantly helped themselves? Therefore, if PDP politicians could not, I expect our respected Obas, who were present in numbers at the Ife summit, to easily see the vacuity of the president's jeremiad. Or how, in four whole years, has this very sympathetic president attempted to assuage that loss or mitigate its supposed effects? How many Yoruba has he appointed to key positions outside of constitutional prescriptions? Which of our many highly educated Yoruba compatriots

has he appointed to the headship of key agencies or departments? How convenient for him now, two months to his next election, to come sympathise with us even though the Mulika -not Southwest - loss, was at the very beginning of this administration? The president, I think, should be told that we know crocodile tears when we see one. The Yoruba nation has come a long way, with a history dating back thousands of years even if some nouveau rich misrepresent us as a hungry people.

And, it is not as if we had ever benefitted in any significant way from a PDP government. During the Obasanjo era, the Agbajo Yoruba Agbaiye, a budding Pan-Yoruba cultural organisation under the sterling leadership of Lt. General Alani Akinrinade, was so peeved and scandalised, it had to set up a rapid response team to react to the total neglect of the Southwest when, after every Federal Executive Council meeting, huge water/irrigation projects were being announced as approved for the north and some other parts of the country when Muktar Shagari was minister of Water Resources but with hardly any ever going to the Southwest. The team had as members, Prof Jide Osuntokun, Dr Dele Shobowale, Mrs Tola Adenle and yours truly.

The situation actually got worse as the entire Southwest road infrastructure collapsed as exemplified by the Ibadan -Benin Road which broke in two at Igbara-Oke. So if we were treated that nonchalantly under a president we called our own, what right do we have

now to expect any better under the current administration which, in any case, the South - South has succeeded in annexing? This 11th hour presidential romance should naturally collapse, even before it gets under way.

These are some of the reasons Yoruba should easily see through this joke. Candidate Jonathan was hugely voted for in the West in 2011 - thanks largely to that penitent kneeling by the candidate, in front of a highly regarded Man of God who happens to be of Yoruba extraction - but to what good?

Besides two of our young, gifted professionals sitting in pretty offices in the presidency throwing darts and barbs at just about anybody- the last being the Nobel Laureate - what in truth can we point to as dividends accruing from that massive Yoruba vote? Not even any of those oil pipeline security contracts which were generously awarded to the president's kinsmen, and yet subsisting, even as oil thefts peak.

Why now would President Jonathan treat the Southwest differently when he would never ever come back seeking our votes?

The Ife summit is nothing but a trap, dredged up by the Southwest crowd of the PDP and executed by the president who used the respect for his office to coral our royalties into attendance.

Luckily, our people have shown conclusively in Osun on 9 August, 2014, that never again shall the Yoruba be rail-roaded against their best interests or be sold on the cheap. Of course, we would be nothing better than fools if we fail to correctly interpret the complete military lock-down the world saw in both Ekiti and Osun during the governorship elections. If we were not clear-eyed enough to see where President Jonathan was going when he appointed our compatriots as junior ministers of Defence and Police Affairs, we can now appreciate that we were

being set up for self immolation. And how mightily they succeeded in my dear Ekiti! But it is the same Yoruba who say you can only defile a woman once using deceit. We now know the president like the back of our palms.

For instance, whereas our infrastructure collapsed under Obasanjo and his PDP Southwest governors, even the blind would now see what development is afoot in each of the states of the Southwest being governed by the APC. Whereas, not once did the PDP governors of that era mention anything about regional economic cooperation, it is now the driving force of economic development in the Southwest with the Ibadan-based DAWN COMMISSION under the lead of Dipo Famakinwa, a brilliant management consultant. Of course, should the PDP make any further inroad in the Southwest, the Commission will certainly be one of its very first casualties because it is beyond their ken to know its essence or relevance.

And talking about PDP making no further inroad in the Southwest, we need to be reminded that we are dealing with an opponent for whom nothing is off limits as we saw in Ekiti on 21 June, 2014 when a seemingly extra-ordinarily peaceful election -no ballot box snatching, no illegal thumb printing etc -was albeit, scientifically rigged. If we, Ekiti, could plead guilty to a failure of intelligence on that occasion, Nigerians no longer have that luxury. Our point of departure, as a people who want our votes to count, should therefore be vigilance. We must all be very vigilant.

The APC, as the main opposing political party, however, has a much bigger responsibility on its hands. It must, as urgently as it can, get the courts to compel INEC to use ONLY the constitutionally prescribed INDELLIBLE ink as opposed to the VANISHING ink which it deployed to

help in the scientific rigging we saw in Ekiti, at all the elections.

A single event will illustrate this.

Where she voted, a highly regarded spouse of an equally respected retired banker, thumb printed her allotted ballot paper thrice but without the slightest mark showing. More annoyed than disappointed, she called on one of the NYSC members present who after listening to her complaint poured water on the ink pad. With this, she was able to get an almost unrecognisable mark left in front of her preferred party. But that is all the rogue scientists, purveyors of this immoral technology, need as that infinitesimal mark would subsequently migrate to impregnate a preprogrammed spot which is, of course, the PDP's. At the end of voting, that little ink now presents in very bold relief -in one colour, though blue and black inks were used by INEC - and all in one size. That is the mystery Professor Soyinka referred to in the Ekiti election but thanks to what happened in 2013 at the Zimbabwean presidential election, which has been handsomely reported on the internet, the world has come to unlock that mystery. Of course, PDP will most probably come with other variants of that.

APC should now appreciate what a herculean task it has on its hands because courts which can rule that there is no division in the PDP even when the entire world saw members of the New PDP walk out of its Abuja convention, can conveniently rule that INEC is not obliged to follow in toto, the provisions of the electoral law as long as that will accord with the wishes of the PDP. In concluding this piece, let me humbly say that if we are truly our fathers' children, a thousand Ife Summits by President Jonathan should not succeed in deceiving the Yoruba again.

Nigeria on the brink of anarchy!

'Of all things that a prince must guard against, the most important are being despicable and hated, and liberality will lead you to one or the other of these conditions'

I

START this week with some lines from Machiavelli's The Prince (1513). 'A Prince' (i.e. a ruler), he writes, … must not object to be called miserly. In the course of time, he will be thought more liberal, when it is seen that by his parsimony, his revenue is sufficient, that he can defend himself against those who make war on him and undertake enterprises without burdening his people, so that he is really liberal to all those from whom he does not take, who are infinite in number, and niggardly to all to whom he does not give, who are few. … if he wishes to be able to defend himself, to avoid becoming poor and contemptible, and not be forced to become rapacious; this niggardliness is one of those vices which enable him to reign …

This simply means that a ruler must be seen not to yield too easily to his friends' requests at the expense of the state. He will risk being called miserly with state funds and resources by his friends but that would be better than allowing state funds and resources to be at the whims of those friends and associates. The larger majority, saved from being overburdened by excessive taxation when the ruler does need money, would rise and call that ruler liberal, maybe even blessed.

Machiavelli's treatise on ruling has often been called 'cold-blooded', 'cunning' or 'cynical', but one can hardly doubt its reasonableness when

pitted against the present Nigerian situation, where a very expensive governance style is threatening to plunge the country down the lane of insolvency. The reasons are not farfetched: either because the state has managed to rope itself into insolvency by overpaying its legislature and friends or the president has not been too wise in his choice of beneficiaries for state largess such as fuel subsidy payment, even to those who do not import anything remotely resembling fuel.

By its own admittance, the federal government stated that the fuel subsidy was no higher than two hundred (200) or so billion naira before the elections.

A few months after the election, however, the bill jumped into the trillion brackets. This means the president picked up some wrong friends along the way. It has also been rumoured forever that electricity tariff would be hiked up too. Spoken in any of Nigeria's 450 languages, all these translate to only one thing to the people: the president has lost the sense of fellow-feeling they voted for and the people feel very hurt and betrayed for several reasons.

To start with, people of different religions, tribes and political persuasions had turned out in large numbers to vote for the president. In the people's dictionary, voting for someone is as good as offering that someone a finger to feed him/her.

And no one, absolutely no one, bites the finger that feeds, err, votes for him.

Removing the subsidy on fuel, something the country has enjoyed for a long time, is tantamount to biting the people's finger.

Furthermore, the government's argument that the subsidy payouts are benefitting only a small group of people, a 'cabal' constituted of some well-placed friends of the government (who are too lazy to work like you and I) does not cut it for the people.

This cabal of friends also appears to be well beyond the punitive arms of the president as the government has been heard to declare that it cannot deal with them as economic saboteurs as the law demands because its hands are tied, the government's, not the law's.

I think that's why the people are really angry as it stands for everything that has been wrong with this country from the beginning. Successive governments' inability to deal with its friends has been the root of Nigeria's corruption from the years of import license scandal to policy changes and now to fuel importation. In any case, what government ever admits that it cannot make a citizen of its own bend to the law? Tis a strong one indeed who prays, 'God save me from my friends; my enemies I can handle.'

Then, the government announced unashamedly that it was placing a great deal of faith and hope on the charity it intended to dole out as 'palliative measures' for removing the much-loved subsidy. This consisted of the amount of money that it would distribute to the federal, state and local governments who 'would' use the money for the 'good' of the people.

Unfortunately, each time the

government extended some carrots at the end of a long stick to the people to nibble at as palliatives for a bitter economic policy, the people would start to laugh out loud. They laugh not just because they are used to the trick but more because providing a few carrots in each state to cushion the effects of an unpopular policy is indeed laughable. It also says a lot about the intelligence of the thinkers-up of such palliatives. They also laugh because of pain.

The people know that we live in a country riddled with corruption (we will soon have 'Corruption Street'), where governors, assemblymen and sundry political party individuals have pilfered large sums from the government's own treasury into their own private pockets. I heard that a politician bought a house costing hundreds of millions of Naira for his girlfriend. How then are the people to believe that any accrual from an economic policy will not go further to fill some rapacious party fellow's pockets (the monthly allocations have already lined them)?

This is just a sign of the corruption which is really at the bane of this problem.

Now, owing to the economic profligacy of the country, there are not enough buffers to withstand the new economic downturn brought on by the sliding price of oil in the international market. Everywhere you turn these days, people are groaning that 'there is no money in town' or 'the nation's pockets are dry'. Yet, everyone agrees that the rapacious appetites of the voracious group called politicians continue unabated.

What the people are asking for is

simple enough. The people want to be provided more serious infrastructure such as train services, affordable housing, industries, a constant flow of electricity, well equipped hospitals, and other good signs of statehood for which people pay tax. Are all these too much to ask, I ask you?

More importantly, the people want a government that can save the weak from the strong, keep the strong from destroying himself and the state, and stop pushing the people's button. For, when the people's button is pushed, they will react again and again and again. Their reaction, however, is not what takes the country to the precipice.

No sir; it is when the country is handed over to cronies and friends and party members that the country will be pulled into certain anarchy. It is government liberality to a few that has led to the corruption that has taken us to where we are now; it is this government liberality that the people are fighting. "That government is best which governs the least", says an adage.

I end as I started, with Machiavelli's The Prince: There is nothing which destroys itself so much as liberality, for by using it you lose the power of using it, and become either poor and despicable, or, to escape poverty, rapacious and hated.

And, of all things that a prince must guard against, the most important are being despicable and hated, and liberality will lead you to one or the other of these conditions.

• This article was first published sometime in 2011 but has been modified because its continued relevance today cannot be held in doubt.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

17

(93) "I can't breathe; we can't breathe": enduring legacies and new, unprecedented responses to racism of impunity in the United States I N the video clip of the incident which, as the saying goes, has gone viral on the internet and has been seen all over the world, five white police officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) are surrounding a black man who is on the ground and is saying repeatedly, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" The black man is saying these words which will be the very last words in his life - because one of the five white police officers has him in what is called a chokehold. This, in ordinary language, means a tightened grip around the neck that completely shuts down the airways to the lungs.

In my own careful watching of this video clip several times, I was able to establish that the black man, whose name was Eric Garner, says "I can't breathe, I can't breathe" about eight times.

This video clip of course refers to the tragic and fateful incident that has given rise to the most potent and resonant slogan of the current country-wide protests and demonstrations in the United States against the recurrent slaying of unarmed black men and boys by white police officers. The slogan - which I have chosen to include in the title of this essay - is: "I can't breathe; we can't breathe!" In a country which prides itself as the most important bastion of democracy and the rule of law in the world, a country which wants to be perceived by all the other regions and nations of the planet as the world's most tolerant and accommodating nation when it comes to respect for racial, religious and cultural diversity, it is logical that demonstrators and protestors from all racial groups in the country quickly realized that Eric Garner, in his fateful last words, was speaking for everybody who is not a racist, not a bigot, not a moral and spiritual cretin. Thus, out of what might well have been the anonymity and senselessness of his death, Eric Garner has emerged in his dying words as the ersatz prophet of an America and a world that are moving, if ever so slightly and imperceptibly, to a world in which racist killers in police uniforms and with institutional authority can no longer set the benchmark for what unites or divides us as members of one single human race or community.

But this is perhaps moving too quickly. We need to dwell a little longer on Garner's fateful encounter with the policemen who took his life. And we need to look also at other incidents of the slaying of unarmed black men by racist killers in police uniforms. I have stated that I counted eight times when Garner uttered the words, "I can't breathe".

Others who have come forward to give a public account of their viewing of the video clip of the encounter have said that they counted Garner's utterance of "I can't breathe" up to eleven times. To me, the actual number does not really matter.

What matters is that once or twice should have been enough for the white police officer - whose name is Daniel Pantaleo - to relax his chokehold on Garner's neck, especially since the use of the chokehold to arrest people by any of its offic-

• "I can't, breathe, I can't breathe

ers has been banned by the NYPD for more than a decade now.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that the "crime" for which the violent, murderous arrest of Garner's life was perpetrated was the illegal selling of cigarettes in singles and not in packets. In most parts of the world, this "crime" is known as street vending and it involves hundreds of millions of poor people.

More astonishing, more poignant is the fact that none of the four other white police officers asked Pantaleo to stop when Garner was saying "I can't breathe". Indeed, the worst, the most nightmarish thing that one sees in the ghoulish video clip of the event is the attitude of all the white officers after they realize that the black man, Garner, is no longer speaking and no longer responsive to anything around him: they do absolutely nothing to resuscitate Garner. Indeed in the video clip, the last thing that we see of Pantaleo, the man who choked the breath of life out of Garner, is this killer chatting casually with one of the other officers and waving merrily to the camera of the cell phone that was recording this terrible event.

This past week, a so-called "grand jury" in New York found nothing wrong, nothing criminally homicidal in the slaying of Garner

by Pantaleo and decided that he should not be prosecuted. Indeed, as I am writing this essay on Friday, December 5, 2014, there are huge protests and demonstrations taking place in many cities across the length and breadth of the United States involving black and white protestors and demonstrators against this particularly heinous decision of the New York grand jury.

This statement has to be corrected: the protests and demonstrations are not only about the New York incident; they are about similar incidents in two other places in the coun-

try within the space of the last two weeks.

To get a sharp sense of the present and ongoing crisis in the United States engendered by this phenomenon of the slaying of unarmed black men by white police officers, it is useful to give a few details of these other recent cases against the historic background of yet other similar cases that go back several decades before this most recent case of Eric Garner in New York City. By far the most hotly disputed but most widely reported of these cases is the slaying of Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri in July by one Darren Wilson, a white patrolman in the small town's local police force. Brown was actually fleeing from Wilson when he was shot and killed. Then there was the far more incredible case of 12-year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio a week and half ago. He was playing in a public park with a toy gun and upon a radioed report to the police from someone at the park that he was waving and pointing his gun at people in the park, young Tamir was shot dead within two seconds of the arrival of two white police officers at the park, no questions asked of him.

And of course, there are the innumerable other cases stretching back to three to four decades ago: Michael Stewart, strangled by eleven white police officers in New York in 1983; a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Russell who, for a minor traffic infraction, was chased in their lone car by 62 police cars in Cleveland, Ohio; when they were eventually stopped by the more then five dozen police cars, the couple had more than 137 shots pumped into their bodies by 13 police officers, one of who stood on the roof of the Russell's car and shot his barrage of shots through the windscreen of the

car. Indeed, in a report on the Oakland, California Police Department released by the Federal Department of Justice, it was stated that of 45 shootings of unarmed people between 2004 and 2008, 37 of the shootings were of black men, none of white men and the remaining 8 were of non-white Latino or other people of color.

What does this profile tell us?

How can one justify my claim that there is, or ought to be, a plausible line between Garner's last words "I can't breathe" - to the other half of the slogan of the coalition of protestors and demonstrators who are saying "We can't breathe"? For unfortunately, concerning the phenomenon of the regularity and the outrage with which white police officers in America kill unarmed black man, about the only thing that one can presume that most people in America and the rest of the world know is the fact that white police officers do not kill unarmed white men with the same regularity, the same impunity and outrage with which they kill black men. In other words, most people in America and the rest of the world know only too well that the fact that racist cops kill or maim black men and get away with these crimes indicates that black lives do not matter to these cops and their supporters among white people. But not too many people know that while the main flank of the opposition to the persistence of this very old racist violence against black people is led by black people, there are hundreds of thousands of white people, most of them young, who are also resolutely opposed to this residual old-style racist violence in the law enforcement agencies and central judicial systems of the United States of America. Permit me to clarify what I am getting at in making this observation, this asser-

tion.

For the greater part of its half a millennium history as first a colony and then an independent, slaveowning republic, racist violence against black people was both the letter and the norm of the law of the land in the United States. This was obvious during the centuries of the legal enslavement of black people, for it is in the very nature of chattel slavery that the owner had rights not only to the person of the slave but to his or her life as well. In the long post-emancipation period of legal and unequal segregation that is the immediate background to modern race relations in the United States, the threat, the practice and the impunity of murderous violence against black people was the main means of enforcing segregation.

Segregation was dehumanizing, it was impoverishing, it was all-pervasive and only the threat and the practice of murderous violence, legal and illegal, could secure and consolidate its legitimacy. This is why, apart from social, economic and educational desegregation itself, one of the most significant victories against racial segregation in America was making murderous, racist violence against black people no longer legal, no longer unashamed, no longer capable of being done with impunity.

To most decent, thinking, nonracist people of all racial groups in the United States, the recent spate of incidents in which white police officers go scot-free after slaying unarmed black men or boys has thrown up a profound crisis of conscience and confidence. To be a member of this group of decent, non-racist people, you have to believe with all your heart and soul that while the old, blatant, unashamed and violent racism of the past has not yet gone out of existence, it remains only as a vestigial element among lunatic fringe groups of the most conservative race supremacists in the U.S. and Western Europe like the KKK, the Aryan Brotherhood and the National Front. The crisis comes when this old racism that was and is never afraid or embarrassed to show its face, this racism that is murderously violent is revealed to have a solid and almost impregnable habitation in central institutions of the state like the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and some outspoken outlets in American mainstream media of information like The Daily Post of New York City and the Fox News Network. But we must recognize this racism as an old, old racism that is on its last legs. It draws its strength and resilience from newer and more subtle forms of racism. And from its opponents who play into its hands by not recognizing that the fight against this old, hoary racism will be won only on the condition that we know and accept that when one black man or boy "can't breathe" men and women of all races and social groups "can't breathe" either.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

sms only: 08116759748

Is Jonathan running out of good luck?

O

N the day President Goodluck Jonathan formally declared his intention to seek a second term at Eagle Square, Abuja, one of his diehard loyalists, Akwa Ibom Governor, Godswill Akpabio, warned him that the road to 2015 would be rough. Emerging developments show that the road just got downright rocky.

Not only is his army of critics growing by the day, a slew of heavyweights are going public with their criticisms of the president in a way that is unprecedented.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been joined by Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka and the umbrella organization for Nigerian Muslims, Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in delivering the most devastating assessments of the state of the nation under Jonathan's watch. To that list of critics we can now add the voice of Nigeria's former High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade.

Some may dismiss Obasanjo's comments on grounds of his long-advertised disaffection with the president he fought to install. Others may even question his electoral value to any political party. Still, the fact that he remains very influential in Nigeria's power calculations was confirmed last Wednesday by the five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors who visited him in a bid to get the old warhorse to stop shelling his own party with friendly fire.

The danger of not managing a freewheeling Obasanjo who doesn't "give a damn" who he mows down with his verbal missiles, is that for all the bad press he gets people still take the things he says seriously. It is one thing to be at the receiving end of potshots from the Publicity Secretary of the opposition party, it is a different matter when Nigeria's longest serving leader who also happens to be a member of the ruling party - declares that the country is messed up.

When a fish rots it begins with the 'head, he said.

No prizes for guessing who the head is in this instance!

Even if the governors got the former president to clam up for a while, the damage is already done. Depend on it that the opposition would be quoting extensively from Obasanjo's report card on Jonathan's presidency as the 2015 battle intensifies.

When Soyinka's denounced the president as being worse than the biblical despot, King Nebuchadnezzer, on account of a string of acts of impunity, Aso Villa's rapid response team was quick to fire back that the writer was playing the ostrich.

Given the strength of his denunciation of Jonathan's acts of omission and commission, you don't need to be a prophet to know that the incumbent just lost another voter. But the damage lies not just in the fact that one more vote has been lost, it has more to do with what criticism from the likes of Soyinka does to the image of the president. It reinforces the opposition's definition of him as failed.

In the aftermath of the suicide bombings at Kano's central mosque which claimed over 120 lives, JNI issued an angry statement in which the line about the country being "misgoverned" leapt out. There's no way this organization over which the Sultan of Sokoto presides would have taken such a position without his endorsement.

But perhaps the most intriguing of the critics is Kolade. He is not given to making inflammatory statements. He is one of those Nigerians whose unbending integrity many attest to.

When Jonathan was looking for someone upstanding to preside over the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) experiment it was to the former diplomat and broadcaster he turned. Many who are quick to dismiss criticisms of the incumbent as partisan would pause after reading his withering assessment of the president's performance.

One of the signature programmes of this administration is SURE-P - a mysterious bureaucracy that has served more to create jobs for PDP cadres than ameliorate the sufferings of the people. The more the regime tries to spin it as a success the more mystified we are. Now the man

•Obasanjo

• Sa'ad Abubakar

•Soyinka

•Kolade

who once sat over the ambitious project says he quit when it became obvious it would not succeed.

Speaking at the sixth Christopher Kolade Symposium organised by the Nigeria Leadership Initiative, the elder statesman pointed to certain actions of Jonathan that show he isn't sensitive to the pains of the people. One example was the president's decision to attend a political rally in Kano shortly after the Nyanya, Abuja bombing that killed close to one hundred people earlier this year.

His words: "Some nights ago, I was watching television and some people were telling us that we have never had it so good. I am in my 80s and I can tell you that Nigeria has had it much better than now.

"They even said it was not easy for Lee Kuan Yew, it was not easy for Nelson Mandela and it was not easy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Mr President, keep doing it. Keep doing the good works because we who are with you are much more than those who are against you.

"Tell me is that part of Nollywood? Is that part of entertainment? Let me cite one example. They always say I am father to all and I accept. If somebody makes me leader of a group and there is something in that group, l should be able to stand by the group.

"If 59 boys are killed in Yobe State and you as a leader, the next day went to Kano state and danced in a political rally, then I say, that is not leadership. It can't be.

"This is not about not being an Ijaw or nonIjaw. It is not about being South-South or not South-south. It is about leadership. It is about the fact that those who were killed were human beings.

"If some suicide bombers bombed a place and you as a leader has political rally the next day, the least you can do is to postpone the programme. Even if they are not your children, all you need to do is to sympathise."

This is hardly a ringing endorsement for "the best president Nigeria has ever had" coming from one of his former appointees.

"Those who cheekily dismiss the likes of Soyinka as playing the ostrich may actually be ones whose collective heads are buried under sand dunes. While they lull Jonathan to sleep with sweet lullabies of delusion, the centers of power and influence across the country are deserting the president. In their hubris they are not any wiser."

Unfortunately, those who cheekily dismiss the likes of Soyinka as playing the ostrich may actually be ones whose collective heads are buried under sand dunes. While they lull Jonathan to sleep with sweet lullabies of delusion, the centers of power and influence across the country are deserting the president. In their hubris they are not any wiser.

For those who can discern, storm clouds are gathering for the administration. Anywhere in the world people heading into elections pray for lucky breaks. In this connection the health of the economy is always critical. Former US President Bill Clinton summarized his 1992 contest against George Bush Snr in the now famous phrase: 'It's the economy, stupid!'

Going into the US 2012 presidential elections, Barack Obama and the Democrats, kept willing employment growth figures and overall economic indices to improve. Month after month they celebrated marginal increases as sign the economy was headed in the right direction.

It is just Jonathan's luck that barely two months to the 2015 polls, oil price is tumbling.

Already, Finance Minister, Ngozi OkonjoIweala, has announced a string of austerity measures to keep the economy from tanking. In the public and private sector there's already ominous talk of impending job losses if the naira continues it fall against the dollar.

To be fair, the fall in crude prices is a global phenomenon over which the incumbent president has little or no control. But it is coming at an inauspicious time for a regime that has not done enough to wean the country from her dependence on oil.

Unfortunately, Jonathan's the one on the hot seat at this point and the one who has to implement all the unpleasant measures. Political science 101 will tell you that a platform of austerity measures is not the best way to plunge into an election.

If the economy doesn't witness a miraculous turnaround, the government would be hoping for better news in the fight against Boko Haram.

After the embarrassment of the fake ceasefire pact which Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, announced, the administration has largely been on the defensive. At this point its inability to rein in the insurgents has provided potent ammunition for the opposition.

The Kano bombings and the sect's recent sortie into Damaturu and other places are stark reminders how increasingly dangerous Boko Haram has become. But rather than engage it the government's strategy - perhaps borne of frustration - is to pick quarrels with the opposition as well as longstanding allies like the US. As though he didn't have enough on his plate, the president has to deal with talk of possible impeachment proceedings at the National Assembly. Although many don't think the lawmakers would push through the process of removing the president, it remains an unwanted distraction as there are too many disgruntled politicians in the legislature with an axe to grind who would do anything to drag it out and embarrass Jonathan.

Back in 2011 as he sought to win the presidency in his own right, Jonathan invited Nigerians to share in his good luck. Such was his uncanny good fortune that he had risen to be president without winning an election. His supporters rolled out campaign posters that gleefully trumpeted the catchy phrase "Goodluck Nigeria."

Now the president's most prized asset might just be draining out.

There's a troubling sense that all's not well with the country and many Nigerians are not feeling lucky presently. The only people who think things are blissful are the diminishing chorus line of sycophants whose prosperity is tied to the continuation of the current order. They must be praying that Lady Luck once again favours the unheralded man from Otuoke. Many others who have just experienced the "best five and a half years in Nigeria's history" would be praying for deliverance.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

SUNDAY LIFE 25

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014 Alexandra Okoroji is an actress, social ambassador. The activist and brand daughter of Chief Tony Okoroji, mus former president of ician and Performing Music ia started her profes sional acting career ns Association of Nigeria, through the maide of Amstel Malta Bo n edition x Office in 2005 (A MBO), a television show where she w r eality on many admirer s. The talented actr featured in many ess has movies and televi sion soap operas as MNET's dazzling well as multi-cam produc tion TINSEL. She Adetutu Audu he tells r favourite things.

GLAMOUR

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1

Favourite fashion designer?

Marc Jacobs, Oscar de La Renta and my new obsession, the French-African designer, JB Hounyovi (which I am one of the brand faces) 2

Favourite shoe designer?

I have quite a shoe collection but I will be honest I'm not very choosy when it comes to shoe brands (I have a mix of different brands); as long as they make my ankles look great, fit right and are comfy to walk, I'm good. Though I'm a big fan of Jimmy Choo and Alexander Mc Queen, I realise my everyday knock around style is something simple like a peep toe wedge (Jessica Simpson or Nia Nia) 3

Favourite handbag designer?

I have this TM Lewin bag that cost me quite a fortune, but I like PRADA, Gucci and Nina Simone.

4

Favourite perfume?

I have used so many different perfumes from the conventional famous designer but I love signature different, so my top favourite is "Intimately Night" by David Beckham....it always makes me feel sexy....then "Truth or Dare" by Madonna, it always announces me and the fragrance stays for days. I also like "Bora Bora" by Liz Claireborne.

5

Favourite sunglasses?

My brown PRADA hands down; I'm also an LV (Louis Vuitton) fan 6

Favourite make-up brand?

I used Iman for years because I like their creme to powder and oil blotting luminous powder, but I love what Revlon does to my skin with its liquid foundation. I'm a mascara freak, so I like Revlons Lash, Cover girl mascara or LA girl (fantastic brushes), Mary Kay lipstick- berry kiss.

7

Favourite holiday spot?

Within West Africa, I like the beach front in Lome, Togo, (gives me the feel of being at the beach in Brazil for some strange reason) though my dream holiday spot will be in Seychelles or gorgeous island where they are no trains or subways, you get my drift....like somewhere in Monaco, Italy.

8

Favourite car?

p o t

Alexandra’s

0 1

I don't know much about cars and their specifications. I just drive them for the purpose they were created (to move me from point A to B) hahahah. That being said, I like beautiful things, so I find the Mercedes G Wagon to be rather sexy in a sleek masculine way, though I want an FJ Cruiser jeep as back up for the bad Lagos roads, but my favourite part of a car is really the shape of its butt.

Hehehe. Please give me a hot pink Porsche any day.

9

Favourite food?

I love rice like crazy. In any form, steamed, fried, Jasmine, Basmati, Thai, Brown rice.....name it. As long as it's clean and tastes really good....but my favourite rice is the long grain Indian Basmati....with some giant prawns or shrimps and veggie stir fry or my favourite turkey salad. I love my veggies a beg. Then for local meal, pounded yam and ofe-nsala (white soup) or banga and starch (though I tend to eat more amala these days) wink.

10

Favourite book?

Geez, this is really difficult. I've read so many amazing books in different genres and categories that it's so hard to pick one believe me, but for the sake of self help, I will say WOMAN by the late Dr Myles Munroe and the guide book "Why Men Love Bitches" by Sherry Argov only because they have helped me overtime to become the woman I am today.

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SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

John

OGU

Loving life in Israel

NATIONS SPORT & STYLE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

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T

HEY were the team to beat in the 1980s. Leventis United. The Ibadan-based side played football with an uncommon gusto and élan and won everything in sight as they shot from the third division to the then first division in three seasons - a record in Nigerian football!

But what made Leventis United, a club founded by a Greek, John Mastoroudes, Director of Carpet Royal Nigeria Limited - an arm of the Leventis Group of Companies tick? Perhaps, no one is more qualified than George Hassan, who dutifully served as the team's Team Manager in those halcyon days when the 'Sensational', as the team was nicknamed by a section of the media, ruled the Nigerian football space like a colossus, to answer that question.

“Our success' secret at Leventis United had nothing to do with juju (black magic) and had nothing to do with the Bunmi Adigun's factor,” Hassan, one of the honorees at this year's Federation Cup Finals in Lagos for his outstanding performance as a player and administrator, told The Nation Sport & Style.

“We too heard the story then that whenever Bunmi Adigun scored, nobody could score against us, inferring that we were fetish but that was just a crap because we had nothing to do with juju.

“One of the key factors that helped Leventis United then was a simple thing that most of the clubs we have today are no longer doing or are not doing at all.

“At Leventis United, I advised the management not to pay big salary to the players like the rest of staff working with the Leventis Group of Companies. Before I was employed, the players enjoyed good salary but I advised the management against doing such because it doesn't encourage hard work since win or lose the salary of the players were guaranteed at the end of every month.

“But what was our winning formula?

Rather than pay huge salary to players, we adopted another way of rewarding them by paying huge match-winning bonuses and this is earned because if you are not playing, you can't share from it “At some point, players who were not dressed were paid half of the winning bonus, but with time, we only paid players who were dressed and played. This was an effective weapon as it stimulated stiff competition in the team and also made the players to be winning conscious.

“Then the salary of the players could be as little as N15, 000 but they earned twice that amount as winning bonus and thus made more money. That was one of the reasons our players didn't joke with matches because they knew their lives depended on it.

“I had a free hand in managing the team and I really pushed the players to give their best. I doubt if any club is doing that today and that has accounted for some apathy on the part of many players in our domestic league today.

“Apart from this, we also had other good welfare packages at Leventis United and our medical staff led by Dr. Michael Olusanmi was second to none. A team depleted with injuries cannot play up to their maximum standard but we had a very good medical doctor who ensured that our players were very fit. “Those were some of the things that made Leventis United very unique that time and I wish we can see such commitments in our present teams and players, but sadly our football is going down,” Hassan said even as he went down memory lane. Excerpts…

Playing career I had an exciting playing career and I played for teams such as Lagos Leventis in 1966 and 1967 from where I went to Stationery Stores. I was in the team that won the FA Cup (now known as Federation Cup) in 1967 and 1968 I later went to Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), otherwise known as NEPA of Lagos, and we won the FA Cup also in 1970. It was at NEPA that I met the likes of Peter Anieke and Peter Fregene, amongst others. I went to Mighty Jets of Jos but I didn't stay there too long because they couldn't win anytime. You ask yourself, how can Mighty Jet get to as many as nine FA Cup finals yet they failed to win anyone? I was looking for a winning team

George Hassan

The untold story of

LEVENTIS UNITED

By Morakinyo Abodunrin but unfortunate the reverse was the case with Mighty Jets and I had to leave. I later featured for Asaba Textile Mill as well as New Nigeria Bank. I won the Challenge Cup with Shooting Stars too along the line and later went to Leventis United.

Life at Leventis United At the inception of Leventis United from what used to be known as Carpet Royal in Ibadan, I actually wanted to be in their playing squad but when I met Mr. John Mastoroudes, he said he wanted younger players but would appreciate if I could help manage the team because of my vast experience. I remember the first question I asked him was if he wanted to win laurels or satisfied just running a club? I asked him such question because what I met on ground were low-class players which I felt would not be able to contest against the best teams of that era. We needed first class players and that was the reason we sacked about seventy-five percent of the team I met on ground. In fact, I was given a blank cheque to get as many as possible good players for Leventis United. I bought in Alausa; Edward Ansah (the Ghanaian goalkeeper); I went to Calabar Rovers and we got James Etokebe and Uwem Ekarika. I went to Benin to get Henry Ogboe and Matthew Onyeama; I went to Kano to get Sam Pam. It was at NEPA Oshogbo that I got John Benson - the shot midfielder who could jump higher than anybody on the pitch. These were some of the players that I bought to reinforce Leventis United at the

very starting point. We had Phillip Boamah as the coach and later Emmanuel Okon; they did their best with the team because we started winning trophies straight from our days in the third division. In fact, we won all our matches in the third division and also the FA Cup when we beat Abiola Babes 1-0. We also won the Cup of Champions by beating Rangers International of Enugu. We were that good, but be that as it may, I was not satisfied with the standard of coaching and that was how I encouraged Mastoroudes to go and bring a Greek coach to further strengthen the team; that was how Teofanis, a Greek, came on board. We also won the Second Division League in our first attempt and finally gained promotion to the Division One which was the equivalent of The Premier League we have today. In our first year in Division One, we won the league playing against traditional big teams such as Shooting Stars, Rangers, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, New Nigeria Bank, amongst others; we also won the FA Cup that year by beating Abiola Babes again.

Old versus new generation of Nigerian players Hey! I don't think there is need for us to compare our generation with the current generation of players we have. Is it football these ones are playing? The standard of Nigerian football during our time was higher and far, far better than what we have today, both at the national team level and at the domestic league level. Most of our players today are not as talented as what we used to have in the past. Unfortunately, they are not even ready to apply themselves

and what you see is fear when they are playing football. Football is meant to be enjoyed but I'm sorry I hardly watch the Super Eagles matches these days because there is no zeal and passion when they are on the field. I had the opportunity of watching the Super Eagles' training in Abuja sometime ago, but I was not pleased with what I saw. In fact, I drew the attention of Coach Stephen Keshi to the fact that the boys were simply not fit and when you are not generally fit, you can't play good football. During our time, some of us were lucky to work with great coaches who would push you very well in order to be very fit. I found it very funny when I hear about escapades of players even when they are in camp preparing for matches and my conclusion is very simple: they are not being pushed to the limit, hence they still had some energy to roam the street. If you have had serious training, the only thing on your mind would be to have good sleep because you know you are in for another hard routine maybe later in the evening or the morning after. But in a situation whereby anything goes, we cannot get the best from the present crop of players. We need to push them more and harder in order to do much better than what we have at present. I wish I can still get the opportunity of managing a team and it would be a good opportunity to show our present administrators that what we did at Leventis United in the 1980s can still be

done if not better even now.

Kudos to Governor Fashola I think one of the reasons we don't see many great players today has to do with the fact that we don't have many playing pitches in our neighbourhood as we used to during our growing years. All available pitches have been converted for commercial use and football and sport in general, continue to suffer. That is the reason I appreciate the efforts of the Lagos State government, especially under my friend, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), who has ensured that there are mini stadia scattered all over Lagos State. This is one way that the game can develop again. Fashola is really dear to my heart for all what he has been able to do for our football since he came on board. He has seen to the welfare of so many distressed footballers than any governor for that matter. He's a Manchester United fan like I am too. Oh! I'm a diehard Manchester United fan and I don't care about the present condition of the team. I have been supporting Manchester United since the 1960s when they had a very fantastic player called George Best - he was my name sake. He was the best dribbler I have ever seen and that was when I was in the secondary school. That was how my love for Manchester United started and people call me today 'Baba Man U.' So, I care less about our present position because we are going to come back stronger and better. Just wait and watch.

My family I have a very good family and me really thank God. I actually have two boys and two girls; and they are doing well too. The little girl in that picture is about 15 years old now. My first son is in England working and by the grace of God, his wife will soon deliver our first grandchild, so I'm an expectant grandfather (general laughter). My son is a diehard fan of Chelsea. My other boy is still in school here and wants to play football.

Life in retirement I'm very grateful to God that I'm living well even in retirement, unlike some of our mates or older generation who are struggling to survive. I have a thriving sport shop and company with office at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna which I manage with my Leventis line-up brother. We are into lying of tartan tracks and give God the glory.

Unfortunately, it is always sad to hear that some of our past heroes are not doing well as a result of negligence and neglect by the society.

It is said that a majority of clubs and administrators don't even care about the welfare of the players, particularly when they are set back with injuries, which is sad and unfortunate. Sometimes, most of their injuries were badly managed and I can give you a specific example with my own case when I was playing. I have reasons to thank God because I was able to quickly treat a serious injury which could have probably ended my playing career while I was playing for IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan. We went to Calabar to Play Rovers and that was when I had the injury which almost broke my spine and probably affected my heart. But I promptly travelled that night and got to Ibadan around 3am to see a specialist, Professor Falade. And if I had not done so, I would have been seriously damaged. I still have the mark at my back but thank God I was able to deal with it that time. But not many of our older players were lucky because some of the injuries they had later affected them in life.

If players are well taken care of medically, I think they would always want to give their best. I remember the case of Onyeama when we were at Leventis United. It was his wife that was seriously ill and the management flew the wife to London, but I doubt if any local player can be attended to like that today.

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Flip side of Roger Federer Wife, Mirka is the boss in charge of his look, fashion and even his haircut

A

FTER the birth of his second set of twins this summer, Roger Federer faced a question similar to that of any newlybesotted father when should he go back to work?

The prestigious Italian Open was soon to start and he was scheduled to be there, so he consulted with his family, and above all wife Mirka, about what to do. It did not sound like a long conversation.

A few days later in Rome, a happy and smiling Federer recalled in jesting fashion: 'They said I should quickly come and play here. I said “Well, if you don't want me around I'll go away”.'

This response from Mrs Federer was not unexpected, for she has always been driven in her support of her husband's career and, as a former player herself, fully understands that the business of tennis has to come first for now.

Perhaps more surprising was that Mirka had got herself to Paris a fortnight later, along with their four children, in order to be in the stands for his opening match at the French Open.

It must have been quite a logistical effort with new twins Leo and Lenny just three weeks old, but then their lives are famously well organised.

And Mirka is renowned for the steely back-up she provides for world-famous Roger.

It cannot always be easy to be married to a sporting phenomenon like Federer, who transcends tennis and has become as much its global ambassador as its most decorated player.

He wields enormous power in the game and has an almost presidential status. That being the case, his wife might be akin to the First Lady.

That's why we get along so perfectly. No other woman could deal with so much tennis. If he wants to sleep long I definitely won't wake him by getting up early Beyond the cliché of every successful man having a strong woman behind them, there is no question that Mirka Federer has played a considerable part in the achievements of her extraordinarily talented spouse. Nobody who knows them well would tell you otherwise.

'Not much gets past Mirka,' is how one confidant put it in assessing her influence. In most individual sports there is usually at least one family figure who has been disproportionately responsible for the success of an athlete most often a parent and particularly in tennis.

Federer's father Robbie and mother Lynette have, however, been among the more relaxed of the breed and for most of his adult career it has been Mirka, 36, who has been a key force.

Critical to their successful and happy

partnership has been her understanding and ambition, which derives itself from her own experiences as a professional whose career was cut short.

As Miroslava Vavrinec, Mirka emigrated with her parents from Slovakia to Switzerland at the age of two and her interest in tennis was fired by meeting Martina Navratilova at a tournament seven years later.

She went on to become a decent player, reaching No 76 in the world. The Swiss writer Rene Stauffer, author of Federer's biography, illustrated her innate determination by relating how, as a junior, she once journeyed through civil war-riven Croatia just to play a tournament.

Most significantly for her life, it took her to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where she met the 20year-old Federer. Her career was not to flourish as his did and within two years she retired with a persistent foot injury. From then on she dedicated herself to her boyfriend's career, starting as his public relations conduit but then becoming indispensable in all areas.

In 2009 they married and she gave birth to their first set of twins, Charlene and Myla. These days she rarely speaks publicly but is very visible in Roger's support box and behind the scenes, where she is seen as a quietly formidable figure.

In a rare interview with Swiss magazine Schweizer Illustrierte, she emphasised the value of her own tennis knowledge, saying, 'That's why we get along so perfectly. No other woman could deal with so much tennis. If he wants to sleep long I definitely won't wake him by getting up early.'

There was no love lost between the two American greats, but it was a surprise when their ugliest spat came in an exhibition match. After trading comments, Connors crossed the net to confront McEnroe, who pushed his opponent away.

Muster enraged Agassi when he patted the American on the cheek after a five-set victory. In his book, Agassi wrote: 'Apart from the fact it was a disdainful gesture, he almost took my toupee off.'

An otherwise ordinary meeting in Rome in 2008 came to life when Del Potro sparked an ugly argument by insulting Murray's mother, Judy.

However, she clearly expects to come into her own when Federer's body can no longer take the grind of the circuit.

Referring to his lofty status as a player she said: 'You are that only once in your life. My time is still coming. After the tennis. We have discussed this.'

For now she serves as a multi-tasker extraordinaire, gatekeeper to her massively indemand husband as well as his emotional and practical support.

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POLITICS

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POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

W

here else does a player need to go and reinvigorate his troubled career than a trip to Israel known as the Holy Land

by Christians? No wonder, John Ogu has enthused that his transfer to Israel's club, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, is perfectly in order as he hopes to resurrect his international career with Nigeria.

The midfielder sealed a four-year deal with Hapoel Be'er Sheva after his contract with Portuguese club, Academica de Coimbra, was ended by mutual consent. The 26-yearold was part of the Super Eagle's Confederations Cup squad but has not featured for the team since the 2-2 draw against Italy last year. Now, Ogu is living well in the city of Hapoel after going through some rough patches in Portugal.

Loving life in Israel I am enjoying everything I wanted in the country. It's been great with me since I came into the country and I have been getting myself i n t o t h e weather and l i f e generally. I knew a lot about the Israeli league before I came here; there are

some of my team mates who played here before I came and I tried to consult them when the offer came, and everything I got was positive and they have been wonderful to me in one way or the other. So I am really enjoying my game here again.

Happy life on the pitch Every player feels happy on the pitch, especially when you know what to do. It is something I have achieved in my new adventures here. I always prove myself in training that I am good to start but at times you don't get such opportunity every time and consistent playing time is the most cherished time as footballers. I always feel happy on the pitch, and thank God for my coach and team mates, they have seen what I can offer, and I try to give everything when it matters most. It's been a wonderful one so far and I am ready to build more on the good performance also.

Flying high with Hapeol Be'er Sheva Every game is important for my club, and the mentality and philosophy of the club is victory at all times. In Sheva, we give everything because the atmosphere will motivate you to get results, though at times rule of soccer does not give room to win every time, the spirit is always high to win. At the moment, we are aiming to do more than what we are doing and by God's grace it is possible.

Ogu JOHN

Loving life in Israel

Why I left Portugal 48 I left Portugal because my time was up. And I think I needed a new lease of life that is full of joy and consistent playing time. My career was not guaranteed while I was in Portuguese club Academica de Coimbra. And this is the peak of my career and I need to be doing well on the pitch so that I can achieve a lot on the pitch rather than seating on the bench. So, when I discovered I was not getting my happiness any longer, I looked for a change and everything is working for me. The rift between Academica over national team call up started when the coach told me to ignore my country's game against South Africa and I categorically said no. So, I went for the national team assignment, but when I returned, things changed seriously and that was when I made up my mind to leave because he wanted to deal with me but I was patient enough to escape my career out of the team.

Super Eagles career Despite my limited chances in the team, it has been a wonderful career so far.

Though I am not in the team at the moment, I always live with the past memories. It's great to play for Nigeria and I am very confident that my time was not over in the team; it's just a matter of doing well here and getting the chance again. Though I felt bad for missing the World Cup in Brazil, I have respected the decision of the coach because he was the one that invited me into the team and I enjoy playing for him.

He has been a good coach and we both enjoy good time talks.

In defence of Keshi I will like Nigerians to give Keshi the due respect he deserved; this is a man who has served Nigeria as a player and coach. I want us to understand that football is a circular thing; we should always believe that positive results cannot be coming every time.

You win some and lose some.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014 Wear more colours A great way to liven up your look is to incorporate more colours into your wardrobe. Perhaps, this is just a matter of wearing a brightly coloured T-shirt or sporting a new shirt. Adding colour will liven up otherwise dull neutral tones. But the most important thing is to wear colour near your face since this is where it will have the most impact and keep you from looking washed out.

Seek out a new pair of sunglasses This is one area where you allow yourself to spend a little money in order to get the best looking glasses you can find. After all, it's your face! The interesting thing about glasses is that you could simply be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but with the right glasses, you suddenly look fashion savvy. This way, you can match your glasses with your mood or outfit.

Treat yourself to one or two super pieces If you can possibly afford it, I believe in buying one or two great pieces that will really keep you looking stylish. This may be a cool sport jacket, a leather jacket or an awesome pair of jeans that really shows off your

New WOMAN assets. Whatever it is, make sure it's something that you know you will wear often and is flattering.

Snappy belts Why not go out there and get a really cool belt with a big buckle that you know will be a show stopper?

You may have noticed that recently elaborate belts with interesting buckles have become quite the fashion statement and they can be quite inexpensive as well.

Avoid tattered looking shoes A tattered pair of shoes is always a turn-off. I don't care if you wear dress shoes or sneakers, keep them looking their best. This may just mean shining your shoes to give them a face-lift or picking up a new pair altogether.

Get a groovy wrist watch Do you know, you can get varieties of watches, match them with what you are wearing as well as you don't really need to spend a lot of money on them either? Since men don't have many options when it comes to jewelry, this is a great way to express yourself as well as liven up your look.

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Beauty

Get rid of eye bag E

YES are the window to the body. As we grow older, the areas of the face, especially the eyes, get more vulnerable to aging than the cheeks and other part of the face. This is because, a specialist says, the area around the eyes is so thin, so it is more vulnerable to damage and it is the first place we begin to notice changes. One thing is quite certain: keeping the eye area youthful and wrinklefree looking is one of the top priorities of most men and women. Facial beauty begins with beautiful eye. The skin around the eye is one of the most sensitive areas on the body. Age and other factors can let the muscles sag and fat knob. Sometime it may be due to stress and fatigue. Eyes are the first part of your face that others notice, it's important to look after the eyes, because as we age, wrinkles, eyes bag [puffiness] will certainly creep in. For these reasons it's important to work on the wrinkles at early stages of appearance. The proper use of some basic fruits can eradicate eyes bag and wrinkles, and will reduce chances of irritation and swelling. It will rejuvenate the delicate skin around the eyes. Also, dark circles under the eyes is another very common problem and a major concern for ladies, especially for those that used kajal and mascara for a long period of time Congeal crushed cucumber.

Massage the grated cucumber ice cubes on the eyes.

Place a thin slice of cucumber on the eyes bag for some minutes. It is great eye soothers.

Don't throw that used tea bag away; for eye puffiness, any tea bag will do, slightly cooled teabag, placed on the eyes while you rest.

To lighten dark circles under the eyes, wrap a grated raw Irish potato in chiffon fabric or other such material and apply to eyelids for at least twenty minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water.

Use Vaseline to tame your eyebrows.

Raising a voice for the Nigerian girl With Temilolu Okeowo temilolu@girlsclub.org.ng 07086620576 (sms only) Please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com for more inspiring articles. Twitter@temiloluokeowo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

54 CHANGE OF NAME ONOJOMETE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Obruche Onojomete, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Obruche Osunlaja. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OCHIN

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Somtochukwu Judy Ochin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Somtochukwu Judy Ochin-Okereke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EDWARD I, formerly known and addressed as Juliet Edward, now wish to be known and addressed as Juliet Edward Okwando. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLADAPO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladapo, Abiola Ruth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyesanya, Abiola Ruth. All former documents remain valid.

Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, NYSC and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Atufe Isaiah and Ayanleke Isaiah Atufe are one and the same person.

Now wish to be known and addressed as Atufe Isaiah. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Mrs. Vivian Obonajirote Epelle is the same person as Mrs. Vivian Obonajirote Ovakpo Epelle All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADELEYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Opeyemi Adeola Adeleye, now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. Opeyemi Adeola Ogunlami.

All former documents remain valid.

The general public take note.

ABAYOMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss ABAYOMI RISIKAT ADEBINUSOLA now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. OMOTOYE ADEBINUSOLA BETSY. Federal university of technology Akure (FUTA) and the general public should please take note.

OKUNEYE I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Bankole Oladeji Okuneye, now wish to be called and addressed as MR. BOO BANKY. All former documents remain valid. General public please note.

OGUNLEYE I formerly known and addressed as Mr. YOMI Rotimi Ogunleye, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. YOMI Rotimi Oluwayomi. All former documents remain valid.

VCC Solutions Night Ltd and the general public should please take note.

JEGEDE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jegede Ayobami Foluso, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. Adanikin Ayobami Foluso. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

OYEWUSI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyewusi funmilayo Taiwo now wish to be known and addressed as MRS Adewoye funmilayo Taiwo. All former documents remain valid. Osun state college of Technology Esa-Oke , Interlink polytechnic . Ijebu -Jesa . and the general public should please take note.

AJAYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi, Bolaji Florence, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. Fatokun, Bolaji Florence. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

EZEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ezeh, Nnena Celestina, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ozioko Nnena Celestina. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

ONYEJEGBE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyejegbe, Anulika Loveday, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kabiru, Anulika Loveday. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

AKANBI I formerly known and addressed as Akanbi Sarah Ihioma, now wish to be known and addressed as Okechukwu Sarah Ihioma. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

DISU I formerly known and addressed as Disu Johnson Akin, now wish to be known and addressed as Abiodun Segun Akinduro. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME SALIU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Saliu, Tawakalitu Folusho, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amuni, Tawakalitu Folusho. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

OJEKUNLE I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ojekunle, Adewole Peter, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Olaleke, Adewole Peter.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AJAYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi, Omowonuola Oluwadamilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adekola, Omowonuola Oluwadamilola.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OWOLABI

CHANGE OF NAME AJASA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajasa, Abiola Bukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abiola Eromose Joseph. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

AJASA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajasa, Alimot Olanrewaju, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olanrewaju Temitope Junaid. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

SEDUN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Sedun, Rafiat Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Durojaiye, Rafiat Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

ZAKARI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Owolabi, Olajumoke Tumininu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Alabi, Olajumoke Tumininu. All former documents remain valid. AOCOED and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Zakari, I. Rashidat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Zakari-Ellams I. Rashidat. All former documents remain valid .

General public should please take note.

AKINBIYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwankwo, Angela Obiageli, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezemenike Angela Obiageli. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinbiyi, Funmilayo Odunola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Thompson, Funmilayo Odunola. All former documents remain valid. AOCOED, First Bank Plc. and general public should please take note.

AMUDA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Amuda, Wuraola Latifat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oboirien Wuraola Latifat. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWANKWO

OLANREWAJU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olanrewaju, Oluwakemi Olufunmilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayediran, Oluwakemi Olufunmilola.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AWOWOLE I, formerly known and addressed as Awowole Sikiru, now wish to be known and addressed as Awowole Kolawole Kevin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NKOBO I, formerly known and addressed as Emem Victor Nkobo, now wish to be known and addressed as Emem Minadiki Awoju. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SALAMI I, formerly known and addressed as Salami, Shakirat Omolabake, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Lawal, Shakirat Omolabake. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NNADOZIE I, formerly known and addressed as Nnadozie Okechukwu Paul Caleb, now wish to be known and addressed as Chukwudoziri Paul Caleb. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWANKWO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwankwo, Angela Obiageli, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezemenike Angela Obiageli. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEKOYA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adekoya, Elizabeth Tosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajeyomi Elizabeth Oluwatosin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLADIRAN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladiran, Abimbola Comfort, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abimbola Comfort Adu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

DUROSOMO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Durosomo Muinat Abimbola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. JogunomiDurosomo Muinat A. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKONKWO I, formerly known and addressed as Ikechukwu Sunday Okonkwo, now wish to be known and addressed as Ikechukwu Cross Sunday Okonkwo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME INUEIKIM EDET OKON and PHILIP EDET OKON refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as INUEIKIM EDET OKON. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

LAMIDI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Lamidi, Olayemi Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ore, Olayemi Esther. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONAZI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onazi Mary Akume, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odey, Mary Akume. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ADEBOWALE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebowale, Enitan Theodora, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyebanji, Enitan Theodora All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EZEONWUKA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinelo Uzoma Ezeonwuka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chinelo Uzoma Ezeme All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EGUNJOBI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Taiwo Mary Egunjobi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Taiwo Mary Adesola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AMANZE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyinyechi Ndudinachi Amanze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onyinyechi Ndudinachi Akajiku. All former documents remain valid. F.P.I. and general public should please take note.

JAJI I, formerly known and addressed as Jaji Saheedat Titilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Kassim Saheedat Titilola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

UMAR I, formerly known and addressed as Umar Gambo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Moses Gambo Emmanuel All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKORO I, formerly known and addressed as Anyim Okoro Joseph, now wish to be known and addressed as Joseph Anyim All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME STEPHEN AKILOR and STEPHEN URIRI refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as STEPHEN URIRI all former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

OLARINMOYE

LAWAL

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olarinmoye, Esther Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Makanjuola, Esther Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

OSADIPE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Osadipe, Titilayo Deborah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeboyejo, Titilayo Deborah. All former documents remain valid . Ekiti State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and general public should please take note.

OLAOSEBIKAN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaosebikan, Mary Odunayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ilesanmi Mary Odunayo. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

IBIDUNMOYE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibidunmoye, Kehinde Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kolawole, Kehinde Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. Diocese of Ekiti-Oke (Angilican Communion), Usi-Ekiti and general public should please take note.

TOKUNBO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Tokunbo, Oluwafunmilola Mariam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Soara, Oluwafunmilola Mariam. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

EMENIKE

EKHATOR

I, formerly known and address as AJIMOT BOLAKOJO ARAFA and now wish to be known and address as AJIMOT BOLAJOKO ARAFAIDOWU. All documents remain valid. INEC, LASPOTECH and General Public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS CHINONSO GINIKA EMENIKE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. CHINONSO GINIKA NDIANEFO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS EKHATOR OSARUMWENSE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ABAYOMI OSARUMWENSE. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OVIE I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OVIE ELOHOR ROSEMARY, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ATTAH ELOHOR ROSEMARY. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEDIPE

ALUKO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi Funmilayo Margaret, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyelaran Funmilayo Margaret. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Hospital Management Board. AdoEkiti and general public should please take note.

AJE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aje Mutiat Omowunmi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bello Mutiat Omowunmi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

EZEANOWAI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS TOCHI GLORIA EZEANOWAI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. TOCHI GLORY WALTON. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, STEPHEN SILAWONI UYAINI and UYAINI SILAWONI FAVOUR refers to one and the same person.

Now wish to be be known and addressed as STEPHEN SILAWOINI UYAINI.All documents bearing the above two names remain valid. Niger Delta University and general public please take note.

OKORO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss BENEDICTA NDAWI OKORO, now wish to be known as Mrs. BENEDICTA NDAWI GODFREY. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

EJEOGO I formerly known and addressed as Miss EJEOGO NUELA IFEOMA, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIDI UDEOGU IFEOMA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

UGWU I formerly known and addressed as Miss BLESSING OLUCHHUKWU UGWU now wish to be known as Mrs. BLESSING OLUCHUKWU EZE. All former documents remain valid NYSC and the general public please take note.

OZURU I formerly known and addressed as Miss OZURU IKNEZAM OMONIGHO now wish to be known as Mrs. GBADA GLORY OMONIGHO. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AKOBUNDU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss AKOBUNDU IJEOMA BERNADETH now wish to be known as Mrs. CHRISTIANA CHINWE ABRAHAM .I. EZE. All former documents remain valid, Police Force Education Unit and the general public please take note.

ARAFA

NWOSU I, formerly Known and addressed as Miss Nwosu, Tochukwu Victoria now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abogunrin, Tochukwu Victoria. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

BELLO I, formerly Known and addressed as Miss Olajumoke Augusta Bello now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olajumoke Aruwajoye. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

AKOMA I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AKOMA FAVOUR KELECHI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. KONTO FAVOUR KELECHI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ABASI

I formerly known and addressed as Imoleayo Rachael ALUKO now wish to be known and addressed as Imoleayo Rachael OJUROYE. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ADEDEJI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adedeji, Mary Oluwakemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatukasi-Kolade, Mary Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. LGEA, Akure South Local government, SUBEB, Ondo State and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS NASIRAT OLANIKE LAWAL, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NASEERAH OLANIKE OREDOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as MISS JUSTINAH OMOLAYO ADEDIPE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. JUSTINAH OMOLAYO ARINDE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS ABASI OFFIONG SAMUEL UMO now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ABASIOFFIONG AMOS OFFIONG. All former documents remain valid.

The Federal Ministry of Health and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AJAYI

OBIDOYIN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obidoyin Stella lfeoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Stella lfeoluwa ObidoyinOgundiran. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEOSUN I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Adejumoke Stella Adeosun now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adejumoke Stella Aladekomo. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Pension Board and general public should please take note.

ILESANMI

I formerly known and addressed as ILESANMI MICHAEL MAYOWA ,now wish to be known and addressed as OLABODE- JAMES OLAYINKA MICHAEL MAYOWA .All former document remain valid .The general public should please take note .

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that AMROMA ESEOWEN GRACE and AMROMA GRACE ESE refers to one and the same person ,and now wish to be known and addressed as AMROMA ESEOWEN GRACE .All former document remain valid .General public should please take note .

OKOPEDI I formerly known and addressed as Miss INEMESIT JANE OKOPEDI now wish to be known as Mrs. INEMESIT MICHAEL OKPUPAN. All former documents remain valid general public p0lease take note.

ESONU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss SANDRA CHIDINMA ESONU, now wish to be known as Mrs. SANDRA CHIDINMA IHUNDA. All former documents remain valid. Spie Nigeria Ltd. And general public please take note.

AMZAT I formerly known and addressed as Miss AMZAT ADENIKE TEMILADE, now wish to be known as Mrs. OLAGUNJU ADENIKE TEMILADE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AJIMATI

I, formerly Known and addressed as Miss Ajimati Iyabode Ajibike now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lajide Ibukunoluwa Ajibike.

All former documents remain valid general public take note.

AMALAHU I formerly known and addressed as Miss STELLA OGECHI AMALAHU now wish to be known as Mrs. STELLA NTON-OBARI OLAKANWI NWOLU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500.

The payment can be made through FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number - 2017220392 Account Name VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide @yahoo.com orthenation_advert @yahoo.com.

For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, E m a i l gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or our offices nationwide.

Note this!

Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

-- Page 53

Rain of counterfeit naira Page 60, 61 •Eyisi

'Nigeria needs more technology incubation centres' Page 62

Experts to banks: Avoid desperation for deposits

W

ORRIED by what it described as the 'craze for deposits' by some money deposit banks operating in the country, some economic and financial experts have warned that such tendencies should be discouraged as it could plunge the nation's banking sector into further recession in no distant time.

Giving this warning was Chief Isaac Olusola Dada, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Anchoria Investment & Securities Limited, a frontline securities and investment company in Nigeria.

Dada who spoke at a public forum organised by the Institute of Credit Administration in Lagos, recently, said it was disheartening to note that the circumstances that led to the stock market bust in mid 2009 was already rearing its ugly head.

According to him, "You will recall that in the build up to the stock market bust in 2009, many money deposit banks in the country in their quest for

• Predict recession Stories by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf deposit were practically dangling 'carrots' in form of margin loans to prospective investors. I got quite a handful of such offers. But what happened at the end is better imagined that, explained."

The former president, Institute of Directors (IoD) and erstwhile national president, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, said it is worrisome that many banks are hell-bent in getting deposits at all cost rather than concentrate more on other banking operations with less risks.

"What is, however, worrisome is that we don't seem to have learnt much from that sad episode because many banks are already showing similar tendencies. Banking is supposed to be conservative and should be devoid of the unprecedented level of crass materialism being flaunted by these money

deposit banks," he stressed.

Echoing similar sentiments, Dr. Makilolo Isaac Goddey, an economist, said unless concrete steps are taken the nation's banking sub-sector may suffer the worse kind of recession in history.

While noting that the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was packaged to take care of the toxic assets of the distressed banks during the aftermath of the 2009 credit crunch, he lamented that. "We see the same thing replaying itself again because nothing has changed in the terrain of the banking industry."

Going down memory lane, Goddey recalled that back then, bankers were just pressurising businessmen to come and take margin loans.

Raising a poser, he asked: "What do you think was driving that tendency? The answer is, of course, profitability. To-

day the same thing has not changed."

Expatiating, he said: "Two things that were driving the banking sub-sector then profitability and balance sheet size are still very paramount.

Everybody's concern is how much profit does my bank make? The more profit your bank make they use it as a marketing tool to say oh, my bank is doing very well. But that shouldn't be the focus of banking. Banking is conservative exercise.

"The question is, what value have you been able to add to the real sector of the economies? How much of new business have we been able to bring up and entrench within the system? From what I have observed, in the next threefour years, AMCON would have to do another work. So the question that the initial lifespan of AMCON is 10 years is not going to be. Because there are some risk assets now that would still bubble in another five years."

•From left: Chief Executive, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher, overall winner, Mr Anthony Oniwon, Head Events and Sponsorship Etisalat, Modupe Thani and Director, Brands and Communication Etisalat, Enitan Denloye, during the Etisalat Pan-African prize for Innovation held in Lagos…recently.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

T

HE Chairman, BioR e s o u r c e s Development Group, BDG, Maurice Iwu, has urged Nigerians to explore the huge potential inherent in herbal medicine to grow the economy.

Iwu, a Professor of Pharmacognosy, made the appeal during the HerbFEST 2014, an Herb, Health Food and Natural Products Expo, organised by the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency in Lagos.

According to him, herbal medicine is a multibillion dollar industry that could change the fortunes of the Nigerian economy.

'Nigeria's herbal medicine industry worth $100b'

"Herbal medicine is a $100billion industry and our hope is to stimulate interest both of industrialists and the general public to the enormous potential this sector holds.

"It is something worth exploring that could add positively to Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and that could be some sort of income for the whole country," he said.

Iwu, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said Nigeria has to create an enabling environment that would promote the growth of

59

the herbal medicine industry.

"Nigeria needs the development of its scientific infrastructure and economy in order to encourage growth and stimulation in the herbal medicine industry.

"This requirement is necessary for the investor to see that the industry is viable to invest in,'' he stressed.

The BDG chairman said that indigenous herbal medicine could be boosted as long as Nigerians had confidence that their home-grown products could be used as medicine.

Also speaking at the event, Trade Officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr William Ezeagu, said the country has a lot of herbal products which are yet to secure the desired patronage.

Ezeagu said, "In Nigeria, we have so many products but they are not getting the patronage that they deserve."

Ezeagu urged value addition to herbal products to enhance their purchases.

He said the quality, packaging and branding of a product would give it a focus and the attention it would need for recognition.

'Leadership style can make or mar businesses' •Tifase

Page 63

Caverton takes delivery of new AW139 helicopter

A

S part of its expansion plans to increase market share in the oil and gas logistic business, Caverton Helicopters Limited has announced the addition of another AW139 helicopter to the fleet.

According to statement by the company, this delivery brings the total number of AW139 helicopters to nine in its fleet.

The additional equipment will further establish Caverton as the leading operator of this most modern helicopter in Africa.

It will be recalled that in 2010, Caverton Helicopters edged out long-established foreign operators to win a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract from Shell Petroleum Development Company for the supply and operation of six helicopters.

A seventh helicopter was added in May 2014. Won after a rigorous competitive bidding process, it is on record as the biggest contract ever awarded by the oil multinational to an indigenous company.

In 2013, the company commenced its first international operation after it won the contract to provide passenger transfer and pipeline surveillance services to the Cameroon Oil Transport Company (COTCO), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

'I started my thriving business with N1,000'

By Medinat Kanabe OR many, especially Nigerians, starting a business that would succeed here in Nigeria requires a huge capital, but it isn't so, as a Mr Stephen Akintayo, a young entrepreneur who started his digital marketing business few years ago, says one doesn't need more than 1,000 naira to start up a multi millionaire business.

While speaking in an interview with The Nation, Akintayo said he had his break through while he was in 300 level in the university. "I discovered that a lot of people were sorting after bulk SMS services, so I started doing research online and that was how I got my first job.

"The client who contacted me couldn't even pay the N1, 000 we agreed in order to deliver the bulk SMS to him.

He gave me only N700, but because I believed in the awesome potential waiting to be unlocked on social media and SMS business, I further added N300 from my pocket and took the plunge. That was how I was able to deliver to my first client."

Akintayo said even though the road wasn't so smooth, he eventually reached a point that clients started coming from all over. "Before I knew it, I had my own site and then started designing web sites for other people and then I had a foreign partner who was providing the service."

Explaining, he said, "Today, I have over 10 multinationals as my clients and the demand has now expanded to email marketing, social targeted media marketing and everything digital marketing to web design."

Akintayo, a public speaker and the Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Balm Group, said bulk SMS services led him into digital marketing, which he believes is the future of marketing in Nigeria. "I think digital marketing is huge and we are still at the infant stage. A lot of people have not embraced it so there are a lot of opportunities for people who want to come into the business.

"Digital marketing is to the rescue of those who are into marketing of their products. Instead of stressing yourself marketing that product through the bricks and mortar approach, why not consult a digital marketing company and push it by social media, bulk SMS, email marketing and what have you, and you will be shocked the results you will achieve because with the advent of smart phones, everybody can now check their messages on the go and that makes email marketing so effective."

He, however, said that an average Nigerian spends four hours on facebook and all other social networking tools.

"That is where the traffic is and as an entrepreneur in this age, you have to tap in; it is huge! That is the future, so, the question is, do you want to be there now?" Akintayo stressed.

F

60

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

BUSINESS

T the twilight of Professor Chukwuma Soludo's tenure as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, the news media was abuzz with report that the naira was being faked by a company in Australia, of course, by some unscrupulous businessmen.

And one of the reasons cited by analysts as probable cause of that dastardly act was the planned redenomination of the naira by the CBN at the time.

The fire this time This time, however, the apex bank has raised the alert again as it envisages that with the floundering value of the country's legal tender, there could be attempts by fraudsters to print fake notes in order to cash in on the prevailing credit crunch in the system.

Founded fears Apparently worried over what might become of the naira, and by implication, the economy in general, the CBN had last Wednesday warned against the counterfeiting of the nation's currency stating that the bank would henceforth have zero tolerance for the vice.

The CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said this while declaring open the maiden temporary exhibitions of the Currency Museum on 'Counterfeit Money: Who Pays?' and 'Non-Interest Banking in Nigeria.'

A statement by the apex bank said the development was part of the bank's resolve to sustain stakeholders' confidence in the country's currency notes.

He said the bank had commenced the education of the Nigerian public on the incorporated security features of the naira.

Emefiele, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Governor in charge of the Operations Directorate, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, noted that educating the public would enable them to identify counterfeited notes should they encounter such.

"The CBN remains committed to safeguarding the value of the naira by ensuring that banknotes are not susceptible to counterfeiting," he said.

The Director, Currency Operations Department of the CBN, Mr. Olufemi Fabamwo, in the statement, observed that technological advancement posed a serious threat to national currencies to be counterfeited.

Nevertheless he said the apex bank was alive to its role of protecting the country's legal tender from counterfeiting by putting in place appropriate policies relating to preventing and minimizing currency counterfeiting as well as providing the public with basis for easy identification of fake notes.

These features and more are all described in the Currency Management section of the bank's website.

Each naira note has its own special print features that deter counterfeiters from creating one. These features range from those we can see with our eyes, feel with your hands, and those that reflect or illuminate under varying light conditions.

As to how to identify the new currency notes, the bank stated that In the watermark, the eagle is replaced with CBN

A

Rain of counterfeit naira

Concerned over the spate of counterfeiting of the nation's legal tender, the naira, the apex bank has set machinery in motion to nip the trend in the bud, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

•

•Nigeria currency notes

logo and letters "CBN" in a vertical format which can be seen more clearly when the notes are held up against light.

Besides, on the N20 note, there is an oval-shaped, green coloured area in the lower part of the window. When the note is tilted, the colour changes from green to gold.

The bank further suggests that it's a good idea to check your notes whenever exchanging them with someone.

"It's especially important to be careful if you are in poor light or cannot see the notes clearly.

When checking naira notes, don't rely on just one feature but check a few of the ones described in the "Currency Management" part of this website. Feel the note in your hands and look at it closely. If you have any doubts, compare it to one that you know is genuine.

Security features of currency notes The naira notes are protected by a number of security features to enable the recognition of genuine notes. The distinguishing features which can immediately be recognised by touch and visibility are raised print, the security thread and the watermark. Other areas such as the portrait, lettering and the denominational numerals on the front and the back

are embossed. The raised print provides the facility, while the security thread, which ordinarily, looks broken but is not when held against the light, has "CBN" in small lettering printed on both sides of the notes.

The naira notes are also protected against photocopying.

There are features, which are visible under ultraviolet light; for example, the serial number on each note is black, but turns green under ultraviolet light.

The currency notes issued in Nigeria are in: N5, N10, N20,

N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000 denominations and they are all of the same size, 151 x 78 mm. The paper used is a special paper with specific constituents which are unique to bank notes.

The manufacturing process and the materials which are used provide the currency with the unique qualities, necessary to give the notes a long span of circulation. At the same time, these special features give a distinctive appearance and feel which is meant to protect it from imitation.

Features of genuine naira notes • Genuine notes have distinguishing features recognised by touch and visibility • Raised print, security thread and watermark.

• Portrait, lettering and denominational numerals on the front and the back are embossed.

• The raised print provides the facility, while the security thread, which ordinarily, looks broken but is not when held against the light, has "CBN" in small lettering printed on both sides of the notes.

• The notes are also protected against photocopying. There are features, which are visible under ultraviolet light; for example, the serial number on each note is black, but turns green under ultraviolet light.

• The paper used is a special paper with specific constituents which are unique to bank notes.

• The manufacturing process and the materials which are used provide the currency with the unique qualities, necessary to give the notes a long span of circulation.

SOURCE: CBN

Modus operandi of currency production Naira notes and coins are printed and minted by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM) Plc and other overseas printing/minting companies and issued by the CBN. At the currency printing works of the NSPM Plc, quality is meticulously controlled throughout every process of currency production. This guarantees that every note issued meets the required standard. The CBN maintains an office called Mint Inspectorate in the premises of the NSPM Plc to maintain security and quality of naira notes and coins.

Currency is issued to deposit money banks through the branches of the CBN, and old notes retrieved through the same channel. Currency deposited in the CBN by the banks are processed and sorted to fit and unfit notes in line with the clean note policy. The clean notes are re-issued while the dirty notes are destroyed.

Way forward The erstwhile CBN governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had last year suggested redesigning of the currency as solu-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

BUSINESS

PZ Wilmar invests $650m in oil palm estates

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• Seeks government support to drive investment

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•Emefiele

tion to the rising incidences of fake naira notes in the country.

The CBN governor spoke when he honoured the invitation of Sanusi stated that the global practice was for countries to redesign their notes after a few years in order to beat counterfeiters.

"One of the reasons we wanted to have a restructuring of the redesign of the currency a few months ago was because, as explained, many of our notes have been in existence for upward of eight or even 10 years," he said.

"Now, the best practice is that within a period of five to eight years, you redesign the currency, because after that period, counterfeiters tend to catch up."

He, however, stressed that counterfeiting was still low per one million notes in the country.

"Even at that, Nigerian notes, in terms of what we see as counterfeit and processing, the percentage is very low. We had about 3.9 pieces per one million notes in 2007; six pieces in 2008; 8.4 pieces in 2009; 7.4 pieces in 2010; 5.4 pieces in 2011; and 8.4 pieces in 2012 of the notes processed were counterfeit," Sanusi explained.

A divergent view In the view of Mr. Matthews Akanmu, a public affairs analyst, the greatest problem of the currency is counterfeiting.

Pressed further, Akanmu said, advancement in printing technology like photocopiers and image scanners have increased the incidence of counterfeit notes, otherwise referred to as funny money or superdollars.

Giving further insight, he said, such money is printed by criminals, of course, without the legal sanctions of the state.

"It is usually spent using large denomination (of say N1,000) to buy goods of little value (say N50) in order to obtain high change (say N950) of genuine money. The idea is to use fake money to harvest genuine money that is in circulation."

Counterfeiting, he maintained, undermines the credibility of a currency just as it reduces the value of real money as well as causes inflation by causing too much money to be in circulation thus decreasing the acceptability of money and causing losses of money to those who receive it.

In addition, the instability of the naira may affect its economic importance as staple hard currency of the West African region.

FFORTS by Nigeria to reclaim its lost glory as the number one producer and exporter of palm oil and other palm produce in the world which she lost to Malaysia when crude oil was discovered in Nigeria may soon be realised. This will be made more possible as international companies are taking keen interest in the agricultural sector of the nation's economy.

A joint venture between two international companies working in collaboration with the Cross River State government is set to fully plant 26,000 hectares of land in the state with high yielding palm fruit nuts. The Joint Venture partners are PZ CUSSONS and Wilmar International Limited.

They formed PZ Wilmar JV in 2010.

Though the partnership is investing a total of $650 million in the farms and associated business, they however said they need federal government's assistance.

The company wants the federal government to extend the' backward integration initiative' which it introduced in the cement, sugar, rice and other sectors to the agricultural sector especially the palm oil sector.

This is important because it has the capacity to return Nigeria to its pride of place as the number one producer and exporter of the money spinning and employment generating sector and to assist investors like them who are out to revitalise the palm oil sector as it has the capacity of turning the economy of the country around.

The core leadership of the partnership, PZ Wilmar JV, is made up of people from the Asian countries like Malaysia and India and they are positioning themselves to tap into the federal government's agricultural revival policy. They are positioning themselves to reap from the envisage world population explosion and increased demands for palm oil and its other palm produce world-wide.

The company which already has a state-of-the-art refinery in Lagos

•Adesina addressing reporters at the farm From Uyoatta Eshiet, Uyo State where they produce and package a high-quality Nigerian cooking oil brand, Mamador, and also carries out local production of the internationally-acclaimed Devon King's brand said they are forced to import so much of the main raw material, crude palm oil, from other countries including some West African

countries, pay high clearing fees plus other charges whereas more than enough of their crude palm oil needs could be produced in the country and much more for export.

As a result of the envisaged explosion in world population, the Joint Venture partnership Managing Director said the company has decided to take steps to support the government's Agricultural

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Transformation Agenda to meet its food needs.

The J V acquired over 26,000 hectares of plantation land in four estates in Cross River state much of which was previously State-owned plantation land which was abandoned for years to become thick forest, are now working to revitalise.

"Building a sustainable future for domestic palm oil from plantation and refinery to plate will be good for the economy, good for communities and good for Nigeria's international reputation. To make this happen, it will require the government, the private companies, groups and individuals working together to the benefit of industry and Nigeria," the Joint Venture Managing Director, Mr. Santosh Pillai, told the Federal government when the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwummi Adesina, visited the expansive farm for inspection.

Expatiating, Pillai said: "Palm oil which is used in most Nigerian cooking is also used in the production of almost half of the world's consumer products, from soaps and detergents to cake, crisps and chocolate.

"For now, the global market demand for palm oil is around 50m tonnes and some estimates predict that this will double by 2020. The world needs to grow more oil palm to meet this demand. If we invest now it will give us a great opportunity to be leaders in sustainable palm oil development.

"Nigeria now imports significant quantities of palm oil, more than 350,000tonnes yearly though she was once the world's biggest exporter, this is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently."

Nigeria, Mr Pillai noted: "Has a very strong history in creating that form of investment to spur industry, in particular through backward integration. The Nigerian cement industry is a perfect illustration of how the Federal Government's policy of backward integration can turn an industry around."

If assisted, PZ Wilmar, a global beacon agricultural project, said their investment of $650 million will create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“Over 2,500 direct jobs have been created already in the last 36 months since we started operations in the country,” Pillai stressed.

Thermocool marks 40th anniversary with fanfare

F

OR Thermocool Engineering Company, 40 years of doing business in Nigeria is indeed a milestone worthy of celebration.

Little wonder the company decided to mark its 40th anniversary by not just rolling out the drums and cymbals but spared no cost to ensure that it was indeed a day to remember.

The event, which held in Lagos, was a showstopper of some sorts as the TEC proved its worth and mettle as Nigeria's leading household appliance company.

For starters, the ambience of the Ballroom of the Eko Hotel & Suites festooned with all shades of designs and décor with the packed audience made up of management staff, trading partners, distributors and dealers alike as they were serenaded with soulful music from the repertoire of Sound Sultan, Immaculate, Timi Dakolo, sensational up and coming musical sensation Kanwulia and a host of other artistes, just as drinks and assorted meal flowed freely, showed how grand the occasion was.

Besides, the multitalented artiste, Koffi ,assisted by a partner, both of who compered the event, sent audience reeling with laughter with their ribcracking jokes.

Overwhelmed with joy, PZ Chairman, Chief Kolawole Jamodu, in his opening remarks said the company had not just come a long way but has remained true to its ideal as a dependable ally in household goods, a development, he noted, that was commendable just as he promised continuous reengineering of the company to better serve its teeming clientele.

•From left: Managing Director, HPZ/TEC, TEC Appliances, Mr. Panos Katsis and PZ Chairman, Chief Kolawole Jamodu at the occasion

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf Speaking in the same vein, Managing Director, Thermocool, Mr. Panos Katsis, expressed his delight at the continuous support the company has enjoyed from its stakeholders and Nigerians as a whole.

"We are very honoured to be here to celebrate, recognise and reward our esteemed partners who have consistently demonstrated great loyalty to our company with their unflinching support to our growth and aspirations over the past 40 years. Your immense efforts have contributed to the phenomenal growth of the company, and we are indeed proud and thankful to be associated with you."

Going down memory lane, Katsis recalled that: "When we started out in

Nigeria in 1974, we were aware of the potential in the Nigerian market. We recognised the need, the desire of Nigerians to enjoy life; run their businesses and personal chores with relative ease and as an innovative company, we sought to fulfill these needs by providing world class products that were technology relevant in that era and even surpassing it.

"As we celebrate these past four decades, we are glad to make a bold re-commitment to an enduring partnership and relationship, and also a renewed pledge to our Nigerian customers that we will not waver in our resolve to constantly ensure that through all of family best moments "we will always be there" providing support through our world class innovative range of household

appliances for an enhanced lifestyle," Katsis added.

Echoing similar sentiments, the Marketing Director, Mr. Vikramjeet Singh, said: "At Thermocool, our agelong tradition of bringing peace of mind to Nigerian households remains our resolve; today that tradition is resplendent in our extensive product range including refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners, washing machines, microwaves, television sets, generator and sound systems."

The journey of the last four decades, Singh stressed, "has resulted in great successes with the expansion of our product categories, our distributions channels, our clientele and overall our esteemed brandThermocool. We have continuously sought for ways to keep to this promise of quality, which has significantly impacted on the dynamic changes made to our products and channels of distribution.

"Thermocool has a rich history of trusted innovation that accords us real insights into the demands of today's family life. Although we have earned our customer's trust in this past 40 years, we are constantly committed to making everyday life easier and rewarding through constant product innovation and novelty.

“Our promise is to always make things better, be part of your life and always be there for the Nigerian family,” he concluded.

The highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of loyalty award to 16 trade partners across the federation just as 40 members of the audience won different prizes after a raffle draw.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

BUSINESS

IKE all startups, SIMS was a child of necessity. But it has since grown like an acorn into a big oak after almost three decades.

It all started in one shop on Ogui Road in Enugu in 1987.

Recalling those early trying days, Eyisi said: "I worked for a company, Ibeanu Brothers and Company Limited, for several years. I started as a salesman and rose through the ranks to become Branch Marketing Officer, Supervisor and then Manager. At that time in the 70s and 80s, it was one of the biggest distributors of electronics in the South East. I learnt the virtue of patience in salesmanship from working with Ibeanu Brothers. I also learnt how to organise and run a business there. So you could say I gained a lot of experience in the course of working for that company. Then at some point I decided it was time to go into business for myself and begin the process of building a new enterprise. That desire gave rise to SIMS Nigeria Limited in 1987.

"In fact, I started it in one shop in Enugu at No.2 Ogui Road, capital of Enugu State. It was not easy, but gradually I built the business into what it is today. I started with selling electronics, and later went into importation.

Then we expanded and set up office in Lagos. From that stage we went into manufacturing, which is where we are now. That is why I have always believed that any young person, who is focused, determined and patient can achieve what I have achieved today."

He speaks further: "From selling electronics we bought from other distributors, I eventually got in touch with Samsung about 23 years ago. When the business grew to the point where I could start importing directly from the Korean headquarters of Samsung I got support from my bank. The bank helped me a lot. That was how the business grew to the point that it became one of the largest distributors of Samsung electronics and home appliances in Nigeria. We have expanded into the West African market. In fact our vision is to be the No. 1 electronics and home appliances marketing company in West and Central Africa. All the new models of Samsung line up of television sets we have are all digitalbroadcast compliant. It might interest you to know that Samsung was the first to begin production of digital TV sets. Usually, we launch a new product line towards the end of the third quarter of the year. We will showcase our new product lines at the trade fair."

As with most enterprises operating in Nigeria, SIMS is bedevilled by the challenges in the environment, particularly the key issue of unfavourable fiscal policies of the federal government and exorbitant cost of funds from the banks. For instance, the Customs duties regime does not favour local assembly of products from CKD (completely knocked down) parts as against fully built units imported in ready to install format.

Chief among the challenge faced by concerns like SIMS has been the perennial problem of high cost of energy cause by the near absence of reliable public electricity supply, with result that factory is compelled to run on diesel generators 24 hours daily to be able to meet production.

Currently, the duty on CKDs is between 5-10 %.

Eyisi argues that if the government could increase this

'Nigeria needs more technology incubation centres' Chief Simeon Eyisi, Managing Director/Chief Executive, SIMS Nigeria Limited, an indigenous technology incubation company whose technical partnership agreement with Samsung has enabled it to produce Samsung-branded products n the last decade, speaks on his foray in business, prospects and challenges so far in this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde •Eyisi

substantially, it would make more sense and encourage more local production of goods being imported at present. The immediate benefit if this, he says, will be increase in employment opportunities that produce the downstream benefit of reducing social problems associated with unemployment.

The payoff line in an advert published by Eskom, the South African electricity giant in Business-In-Africa magazine says: "With energy, anything is possible." In every sense, this reflects the sentiments of Eyisi, who like most other entrepreneurs in Lagos, applaud the efforts of the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to build more independent power projects across the state and the administration's determination to create industrial clusters that would source power from such power projects.

Eyisi earnestly hopes the Lagos State government would similarly build an IPP dedicated to Amuwo Odofin industrial cluster.

"If that happens, industrial manufacturing in Lagos will go nuclear," Eyisi says, a broad smile breaking out on his face.

Recalling how this whole idea of building a technology hub started, Eyisi said he was persuaded that the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola's administration friendly disposition could be to the advantage of businesses, SIMS Nigeria Limited took a bold step in 2003 to sign a special agreement with Samsung, the globallyacclaimed Korean giant manufacturer of electronics and household appliances, to begin assembling in Nigeria the same

products of the company, which it had been importing and distributing in the country and other parts of West Africa.

With the dotted lines signed, the company began building the factory located in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos in 2005, after securing a special facility from its bank.

Last year, the factory, after a very successful test run, went into full scale production, and today churns out air-conditioners, freezers and refrigerators, gas cookers and LED television sets.

Interestingly, the TV sets fully meet the requirements for digital reception under the new global convention for digital broadcasts, which will go into force across the world in 2015.

Expectedly, the Managing Director of the company was filled with joy when the factory was completed and commissioned.

Speaking in an interview with The Nation, he explained why his company established the factory and also chose Lagos as the location, saying: "We decided to go into manufacturing primarily for two reasons. First, it was in response to the call by the federal government for greater industrialisation of the country, the yearning and aspiration for growth in GDP and creation of more employment opportunities that would in turn reduce social problems often associated with unemployment.

Through manufacturing you create more job opportunities directly and indirectly through the people who form part of the distribution chain and market the products manufactured. Of course you recognise that being able to manufacture in Nigeria many of the things we currently import will

reduce the amount of foreign exchange we expend on imported finished goods.

'Besides, we can also re-export a substantial part of what we produce here to other African countries to earn foreign exchange. In essence, local production from CKD (completely knocked down) parts can help solve the problem of unemployment. China has been able to provide employment to its huge population because it has a massive manufacturing capability, and that is why it does contract manufacturing and exports to other countries."

Thankfully, he says, "As of today, SIMS directly employs a little over 600 people. It is a notable small-to-medium scale enterprise, and it is one of the largest employers in that category.

Currently, we produce Samsung air-conditioners, freezers, refrigerators, gas cookers and LED TV sets on various assembly lines at our factory located in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos. The factory commenced operations on February 24, 2005, but the technical partnership agreement with Samsung was signed in 2003. Initially, the production capacity was 100 units per day, but today it has increased to over 500 units per day."

Further reiterating his company's commitment towards buiding its technology hub, Eyisi said: "We decided to site the factory in Lagos because of several factors. In the first place, Lagos is the centre of economic activities in the country and there are vital collateral benefits that we would enjoy by having the factory in Lagos. For instance, it will be easier for our Korean technical partners to come in and offer

assistance to our engineering team whenever the need arises.

"Besides, it will be easier for us to export to West and Central African markets, which we are targeting in line with our vision to become the Number One Marketer of Electronics and Home Appliances in Nigeria, West Africa and Central Africa."

Thus this positive disposition towards Lagos made good music in the ears of the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu. The happiness of the Lagos State government over the company's vote of confidence in Lagos and its decision to contribute to the internally generated revenue of the state through payment of corporate and payroll tax as well as local government levies, was demonstrated when she was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Wale Raji, at the formal opening ceremony of the first Samsung Premium Brandshop built by SIMS Nigeria Limited in the highbrow Lekki axis of the megacity.

In his brief remarks before cutting the tape to declare the twostorey building open, Raji had said: "I want to commend the managing director and chief executive of SIMS Nigeria Limited for his entrepreneurial initiative that led to establishment of the company and the building of the Samsung Premium Brandshop in Lekki. The Lagos State is also very pleased that SIMS also chose to site its factory in Lagos in the Amuwo Odofin area. Through this, SIMS has created employment in the Lagos State. We shall strive at all times to provide an environment that is conducive for businesses like SIMS to thrive in Lagos State."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY

BUSINESS

DECEMBER 7, 2014

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OR Mrs. Onyeche Tifase, who sits atop as the Managing Director/ CEO of Siemens Limited, and the first Nigerian CEO of the German multinational company that has had a long impressive history in the country, her appointment which took effect from November 1, 2014 is a worthy testament to her excellent career thus far.

Graduating with a 2nd class degree upper in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 1999 and completing her Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in the University of Cambridge UK, her over 14 years' professional working experience combined with her extensive business, leadership skills and expertise in the utilities, energy and consulting markets, has stood her in good stead.

From 2001 to 2005, she worked in various functions with Siemens UK, Siemens Germany and Siemens USA mainly in the power transmission and distribution, sales and marketing divisions.

Shortly after her sojourn abroad, she returned to Nigeria and started her career as a management consultant with Accenture from 2006 till 2009. She later participated in the FGN's Vision 2020 project during this period, leading the manufacturing and SME technical working groups on their visioning and planning.

As the first Nigerian CEO of Siemens, Tifase is determined to make a success of her career at the conglomerate.

“I feel empowered and determined to ensure this new era for Siemens is focused on the customer, where we excel in our performance, goals and provide outstanding products, services and solutions. It goes without saying that there are great expectations being the 'First Nigerian MD' and a woman, but I am ready to take on the challenge.”

In its over 165 years of its existence, Siemens has leveraged on its passion for engineering by making real what matters, working with their customers to help improve the lives of people today and in the generation to come.

Her agenda which she has laid out is to ensure first and foremost that “My role, in brief, is to have a general oversight on the operations of the company. It entails being the proverbial 'work ant' creating a strategic plan for Siemens Nigeria, implementing the plan alongside my leadership team and monitoring the plan to ensure it is sustainable. As CEO, I aim to drive new long term growth initiatives, develop earning opportunities and advance the Nigerian subsidiary of the Siemens brand,” she maintains.

Siemens, she boasts, “Is setting the benchmark in the way we electrify, automate and digitalise the world around us. Ingenuity in providing products, services and solutions is our driving force.

The Siemens brand is established in other African countries such as South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Angola, Algeria, Ghana and so on and impacts any economy for the better where it is found.

“Siemens is committed to investing in Nigeria and has confirmed this through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Nigeria with a focus on local content development through establishment of a workshop to provide after sales services and conducting trainings aimed at sustaining the economy of Nigeria in key sectors energy, manufacturing, healthcare, to mention a few,” Tifase states matterof-factly.

Given the nature of their business,

'Leadership style can make or mar businesses’ Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf profiles Onyeche Tifase, Managing Director/CEO Siemens Nigeria Limited, the first female calling the shots in arguably one of Germany's foremost multibillion dollar investment companies in Nigeria Siemens is always evolving, thus novelty is part of their culture. As at October 2014, they took steps to streamline the company structure making their management even more effective. This new structure is geared towards customer focus and a performance driven team.

“Our approach to the Nigerian market is focused on providing Nigerians with what really matters. The seemingly basic things where the opposite has become the norm such as driving on road with street lights, having access to healthcare in Nigeria without the need to spend fortunes abroad, flicking a switch and certain that there is a power supply regardless of the time of the day, doing your laundry when you want to as against when power is available. We believe a sustainable power sector is Nigeria's prerogative, where it increases from its current level of less than 3000MW to the minimum

power generation required for our populace of about 200,000MW.” Her background in strategy consulting and operational management notwithstanding, Tifase is quick to admit that businesses out there are assailed with real-life challenges, thus business leaders should, as a matter of course, develop a shock-absorber against failures and other related challenges that could affect the ultimate goal.

“There are a plethora of challenges I am faced with on a personal and professional basis, such as competition for the market, work/life balance, ineffective marketing, customer satisfaction and poor sales, but amidst these daily challenges I consciously lean on my strengths strategy formulation, innovation, and effective leadership, to surmount them.

“Leadership style is what differentiates between a business thriving, sinking, or soaring,” she adds, highlighting various leadership styles

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and the implication of effective implementation on profit, work culture, organisational and individual goals.”

As to why there are fewer women on board in the engineering profession, she quips: “Leadership is imperative to any living human being man or woman. I believe the world is guided by the signals you emit and where these signals do not point in the direction a corporation wants to head, then the corporation is compelled to explore another route to help it attain its goals and this route could be either a man or a woman. Undoubtedly, there is a worldwide significant ratio gap on company boards which favour men; nonetheless, there remain testimonials of women who successfully 'man' and have literally salvage companies playing the CEO roles, fortune 500 companies included.

“It is no small feat for a woman in corporate executive leadership as there is a presumption of non-capability despite the experience and educational background of that woman. Most times, this opposition comes surprisingly from the women folk. With over a decade experience as an engineering professional (an alleged 'men's only' club) where the women are clearly outnumbered by the men, I am of the view that the responsible factor against women in leadership is you and I we are conformed, and where we yield, confined by our respective mindsets. We can only move forward when we realise that a CEO role, just like a teacher, doctor, lawyer, driver, nurse and so on can be performed by either a man or a woman there should be no stereotype assigned to job roles.

“We as parents must transfer the right mindset to our children; the girl child should be informed that she can juggle the roles of a wife, mother and her chosen career and succeed in all three and much more.”

For over 160 years now, Siemens is recognised in Germany and all over the world for its innovation and excellence.

Well established in more than 190 countries, they offer an ever-growing spectrum of products and systems in the areas of industry, energy and healthcare.

Since 1970, Siemens Limited Nigeria has been an integral part of the Nigerian community providing its products and services to the country and its people.

The Siemens boss who holds the view, and very strongly too, that since businesses share the same characteristics with projects, ramping up project management skills could be of great value to business owners in the longer term.

Explaining the nexus between project management and business recently on the Mara Mentor Talk Show, Tifase said: “Businesses could be classified as projects, thus by acquiring requisite skills and planning with industry-specific knowledge, entrepreneurs can overcome the challenges of building sustainable businesses in Nigeria.”

She also comments on leadership in business with focus on young entrepreneurs. Admonishing young Nigerian entrepreneurs, Tifase who is also a mentor on Africa's largest entrepreneurship community, Mara Mentor, says “entrepreneurs should always seek to add value to customers and employees.”

The newly appointed MD/CEO of Siemens Nigeria also encourages young entrepreneurs to be meticulous in assessing market trends and competitors, identifying a unique value proposition with direct focus on customer education and communication of brand values, even before starting out.

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JILL OKEKE

jillokeke@yahoo.com, 07069429757 THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

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opened my mail box and saw one of the most beautiful customised digital Christmas cards I have ever seen. It was from an old friend of mine residing in Kaduna. Really excited, I called her and asked her how she came about the card and she explained that it was through an Online company, '123 Greeting Cards.com'.

To say I was impressed will be an understatement because I was really amazed at the sheer beauty of the card. 123 Greeting Cards is a company founded in 1997 but is now one of the world's largest providers of digital greeting products. I quickly logged in to their website and was overwhelmed by the various Christmas cards and options which include personalising and writing your own thoughts. What's more, you have the opportunity of sending a maximum of 100 cards to your loved ones.

Scanning through the internet, I saw a host of other companies that also offer online seasonal greetings and invitation cards free too.

Getting home, I beckoned to my daughter to show her the digital card but to my disappointment, I could not gain access to my email as both my laptop and phones needed to be charged. Of course, in my area, electricity is rationed. Today, there is light and the next day no light. Unfortunately, that day was our off day; not that being our 'on' day guarantees that we will have light.

As at that time, (5pm), generator was out of the question as we do not start it till 7p.m.

Exasperated, I started to wonder the wisdom in sending digital messages especially in this part of the world. Besides that, I started wondering if the beauty and all the advantages of paper cards can actually be surpassed by all the attendant benefits of digital cards.

E-greetings and e-cards are the digital equivalents of physical post cards and greeting cards. They are typically delivered electronically through the email to one or more recipients.

As digital content, e-cards are considered more environmentally friendly than traditional paper products.

123 Greetings.Com estimates that in 2012 alone, the 2.5 million valentine messages sent through the company's website saved over 1,000 trees which would have been necessary to create physical greeting cards.

Whether e-greetings or paper cards, they are sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season.

Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas day by many people including non Christians.

The first Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in st London on the 1 of May 1843. 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.

Now with 17 days to Christmas, am yet to receive a Christmas card from anyone. By this time about five years ago, my table in the office and mantel at home would have been adorned with various cards. What is happening? Are Christmas Cards going extinct or is it that my popularity is waning?

But I know it cannot be the latter as my friends, colleagues, family members are bemoaning the same fate.

The popular Hallmark Cards recently announced that it will close the United States Kansas factory that used to make about one third of the company's cards. According to a US postal service study, correspondence such as greeting cards fell 24 per cent between 2002 and 2010. Invitations also dropped nearly 25 per cent just between 2008 and 2010.

The survey attributed the decline to changing demographics and new technologies. It also added that younger households both send and receive fewer pieces of correspondence mail because they tend to be early adaptors of new and faster communication media.

Coming to the home front, the story is almost the same thing. According to a

Season’s greeting: Will you use online or traditional card?

management source at the foremost International Cards Nig. LTD, which produces and sells cards, things have not been as rosy in the industry especially with the advent of online greetings.

According to the source who spoke to me in a telephone conversation from the company's head office at plots 2 and 3 Block G, Oluyole Industrial Estate Ibadan, “The demand for paper greeting cards of all types has greatly dwindled. We have been producing less than what we used to produce as demand is not as high as before.”

Ascribing it to email and telephones, he said that they allow for more frequent contact, adding that most websites also offer

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free email Christmas cards.

Declining to specify the percentage of the decline in the demand for seasonal cards in recent years, the man who insisted on anonymity, lamented that “Just know that business is not as good as before and it has already affected our staff strength.”

At No. 3 Arepasanwo Street, off Allen Avenue Ikeja, Mrs. ChiomaIwu, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Living Links Communications Ltd, also disclosed that their company had not received orders for personal seasonal greeting cards unlike what was obtained in the past.

“Unlike in the past, by this time we would

have been very busy with calendar jobs, invitation and seasonal greeting cards but the main orders we have now are for calendar with few orders for customised Christmas and New year cards,'' revealed the amiable lady.

However, thanking God for his provisions, the CEO of the Corporate Gift Company acquiesced that government establishments and private companies are still placing orders for seasonal greeting cards.

To what can you attribute the low demand for seasonal greeting cards? Cutting into the sentence before I finished, she sighed and said “Internet.”

Last Tuesday at the General Post Office, Marina, Lagos, the story was not different.

At the parcel office which is usually a beehive of activities, especially at this time of the year, staff were seen idling away.

A government staff who agreed to speak strictly under anonymity, though agreeing that people no longer send paper greeting cards like before, regretted that a lot of people have lost confidence in the services of the government postal services especially as they have the option of emails, telephones, and courier services.

“However, NIPOST EMS and Speed Post are still faster, cheaper and more reliable than the privately owned courier companies,” he added.

But the heart warming news for traditionalists like me is that a lot of people we interviewed still prefer to receive paper greeting cards. According to Engineer Michael Ofili of GTB bank: “I want to physically touch it, caress it, I want it to adorn my office and living room. I want to see it beautifully displayed, adding more colour and festive air in the home.”

luggage has surfaced at Heathrow, London. I replied Air France that same morning by email that I was already in Nigeria. In the email, I gave the London Hotel address I stayed asking that the two packets (200 copies) of PFN books in my luggage be delivered there while the remaining baggage contents be delivered at my University of Ibadan workplace address On 22/09/14 morning, I got a call from an unknown person claiming to call from KLM that I should go and pick my luggage from "Unclaimed luggage" section of MMA. I told the caller that I found the call offensive because my luggage was NOT unclaimed but undelivered as due by AF and I have given the address to deliver it to. I also asked for an email from the caller on what he was saying; he promised to send the email that day, I am yet to get any mail or communication from Air France since then.

On 29th September 2014, I visited the Air France (Nigeria) Complaint site: h t t p s : / / w w w . a f klm.com/passage/ecomplaints/index.html . After filling all the information required on the 'Contact Customer Service' site above, I tried sending the above complaint six times over 24 hours to send my complaint without any success. The response all of the six times I attempted has always been "We could not process your request. Please try again later".

On 30th September 2014, I sent by email the above experience to Air France Luggage Info, 'airfrance-klm@connectpassengers.info'. To date 20th October 2014, Air France is yet to respond to my observations and complaint. I was to later learn online that the Air France Customer complaint site has been inactive for years, thereby denying customers the online

opportunity to send complaints.

After waiting in vain for a response from AIR France after their last mail on the issue, on September 14, 2014, I decided to exploit a non-legal option to retrieve my undelivered luggage. Thus on 08th October 2014, I emailed <cpd@ ncaa.gov.ng>a complain to Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA. Attention the Director Consumer Protection after abortive attempts to fill the Complaint Form on h t t p : / / n c a a . g o v . n g / , http://ncaa.gov.ng/directorates/consumer -protection/ as thus: Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA, Attention the Director Consumer Protection 'I hereby formally complain and ask for the intervention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA on the above subject matter OFFICIAL COMPLAINT ON AIR FRANCE SPITEFUL AND SNOBBISH. HANDLING OF MY UNDELIVERED LUGGAGE yet to be delivered luggage, one month after my trip'.

To date, the message to NCAA has been returned undelivered seven times.

Are both organizations, NCAA and AIR France, collaborating to abdicate the Customer Protection responsibility?

As of today 24th October 2014, more than five weeks after Air France muddled up the delivery of my luggage, my luggage is yet to be delivered by Air France.

Sincerely, Babalobi, Olutayo Olajide, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NIGERIA

Air passenger complains

HIS is just one of the numerous complaints we have received from air th passengers since the 14 of September when we published a story 'Ensuring Air Passsenger's Rights'. In that story, we tried to enlighten passengers on their rights and obligations of the Airlines to them based on the regulation of the Nigerian Civil Avaition Authority. We also asked aggrieved consumers to send in their complaints for us to share and resolve.

Here are the words of a complainant: Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Air France (AF): abdicating customer service responsibility I wish to bring to public attention the obvious abdication of customer protection services by two aviation organisations- the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and Air France, AF; as I experienced in the incidence of AIR France's mishandling of my luggage.

On Tuesday, 09/09/14, I boarded AF3849/09SEP/AF1680/10SEP 22.00 hours from Lagos to London via Paris. I arrived Heathrow Airport London about 7.30am on Wednesday 10th September 2014, only to be informed via a 8.09am email and text message from Air France that my 'baggage item 191244 was not loaded onto flight AF 1680 from MMA Lagos and 'will not be delivered upon arrival' as 'it is still in transport'. I was asked to go to the Air France Baggage Service Desk at Heathrow for more information, which I did.

My baggage never arrived in London till Sunday night 14th September 2014 when I left London.

On 16/09/14 after I had returned to Nigeria from London, I received an early morning call from Air France that my

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

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HE dances and songs were more solemn and evocative than the audiences across the states where the performances took place actually expected. To them, the golden years of Hubert Ogunde are here again.

The era when travel theatre; when communities across the nation were given the opportunity to watch the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) perform and thrill the people.

Today, Mr. Akinsola Adejuwon the new Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria has elected once more to take theatre back to people, to the nook and crannies of the states where the presence of the Troupe are needed through performances, using dance, drama, music and more to reach out to the youths and remind them that there are plenty of aura and openings in the dance sector.

To achieve this aim, Adejuwon and his team created Ajoyo, meaning celebration, a collection of dances, infused with the stories of the different Nigerian societies to tour three states of Kogi, Ekiti and Kwara. It was to showcase the beauty of the art to the people and bring them back into the rhythm. It is a celebration deeply embedded in folk-dramas of all kinds.

The show which is an embodiment of all elements of the art into one fold is to let the world see how the interrelationship of the different performing arts can be condensed into stage. In the end, the Troupe was able to dazzle the different audiences where they performed. "Ours is to show the people across the 36 states of the federation that art is life and life is art", was how Adejuwon described the whole experience.

And so, from Kogi State where the first performance took place to the University of Ilorin where the grand finale for the first lap of the 36 states tour was held, the overall clamour by the people is that truly, art is life. At Lokoja, the Kogi State capital where the people are known to celebrate life with the art, the people were more enthusiastic to embrace the idea of the restoration of the guerilla theatre.

There, the artistes showcased the synchronisation of dance and music, embellishing them with props, crafts, designs, decorations and more. As they moved into the stage with slow, steady movements of the stage light in conformity with the solemn, songs of dirges and sorrows, love and celebrations, the audience immediately became spellbound. The silence in the hall soon became a sign that the Troupe was on course; that the dancers in their best energetic elements were ready to prove that they were prepared to take the people along in their systematic stage mesmerisation.

After the second performance at the Arts Council of the state the folowing morning, the Troupe headed to Kabba, another culturally enthusiastic town in the state. In Kabba, a new approach was adopted. The artistes opted to take to the streets to announce their presence. With plenty of music, drummings, and invocations, the people were woken from their slow, easy-going native lifestyle into the boisterous welcoming arms of the theatre. At the communty hall, the show took place outside, where the residents trooped out in their numbers to embrace the profundity of total theatre. Before the displays came to an end, it was free dances, and open shows for all. The people equally responded with their own level of artistic demonstrations, charging on with the idea that it is indeed pertinent to take live theatre to where the people would appreciate and welcome it more by being fully involved.

It is pertinent to point out that the Kabba show beame a leeway for the usefulness of the whole experiment.

Adejuwon told them to hook up to the National Troupe in order to enjoy the

â&#x20AC;˘National Troupe performing in front of the Palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State:

PHOTOS: EDOZIE

Taking theatre to the people Encouraged by the need to revive community theatre in the tradition of the Late Hubert Ogunde and to encourage the youths to show interest in the art as a career, the Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, Akinsola Adejuwon and his team created Ajoyo for a three-state tour. Edozie Udeze, who was on the team writes on how the Troupe was able to thrill people and really revived interest in dance-drama, music and so on in Kogi, Ekiti and Kwara States.

â&#x20AC;˘The Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali (2nd left) with other principal staff of the University watching National Troupe performing at auditorium of the University opportunities offered by drama, music, evocative; the open space was quite in here to ensure that the idea of live dance, painting, decorations and more. line with a typical street theatre theatre does not die. Is it possible for "This concept is for all the youths of concept. And so, as the performances live theatre to die?", he enthused and the country. It is for you people to see went on, the crowd cheered, jeered, the crowd responded in total unison how the arts can be used to offer clapped and sniggered. The ecstasy was that that cannot happen. "So let us carry employment to you all. It is not only too much and they clamoured that the on with itinerant theatre. As you football or oil, arts is alive to engage performances be extended to more people know, Ekiti people truly love as many people as can show interest in places so that more people would be theatre; we live as dancers, as in the position to experience the performers whose interests in all it," he profferred.

When the show moved to Ado, the euphoria of this era of new dance aspects of the art cannot be taken for Ekiti State capital, the total approach concepts to expand the frontiers of granted."

Of all the places visited by the changed. At the palace of the Ewi of community theatre.

Addressing the people, Yomi Troupe, the encounter at Iyin Ekiti, a Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugba, the people quickly formed the largest assemblage Longe, the director of Ekiti State Arts town, a few kilometers west of Ado of crowd ever. Performed at the Oja- Council commended the Troupe and Ekiti was applauded as the best oba market square, the crowd was told the crowd that now they can enlist organized and well received by the peopled by both the rich and the to be trained to be better artistes. He people. Iyin people trooped out in peasants. There, the audience was said, "theatre cannot die. The Troupe is their thousands as the community hall

suddenly became too small to accommodate the audience. The traditional ruler of the town promptly sent his high chiefs to stand in for him.

Both the old and the young, market women and peasant farmers abandoned their works to grace the occasion. Before too long, questions were being asked as to how this dream of making dance a lucrative business can be achieved.

Ekiti people generally were at home with the idea. Most of them did not only dance by the side to prove their deep interest in the show, they decided also to introduce their local professional artistes to be fully involved in the dance drama and to also entertain the people .The Iyin people were able to prove that the idea of community theatre is a germane one. They showed that art should not be removed from the people. Art shouldn't be made an elitist and utopian profession. In as much as it is for the people to demonstrate their own heritage, it is equally for them to find professional fulfillment. Some of their elders recounted the days of Ojo Ladipo when street theatre gave so much employment and hope for the people.

It was an era when it was poignant and prestigious to be an artiste and live on it and make investments.

From there, the train moved to Ilorin, Kwara State. The venue was the Auditorium of the University of Ilorin. Here, it was a different experience entirely. The students who were to commence their exams the following day, along with their vicechancellor, Professor AbdulGaniyu Ambali stormed the venue in their droves. It was here that the Troupe actually encountered the first modern stage throughout the tour. The electricity and chemistry of the stage craft and movements now became more charged. The idea of the introduction of durbar and palace dances, elitist in all its epitome, was to enlist the interest of the sophisticated audience. And truly this played off well. The VC was so enthralled that his speech afterwards was filled with hyperbolic and expressive sentiments for the Troupe.

"This is wonderful. The women are lovely; they are the most wonderful dancers I have ever seen. While the women danced like men, the men danced like supermen. What a beauty!

What a wonderful outing!" Ambali decided, charging the Performing Arts students of the institution to be proud of their profession. "Any university in the world that does not have a proper department of Performing Arts is incomplete," Ambali told the audience comprising all his principal officers and a beehive of the student populace cutting across all disciplines and departments.

Although this is the first stage of the nation- wide tour of the Troupe, the issue of embracing a more proper costume to suit the communality of the concept is yet to be incorporated.

Adejuwon and his team have to note that costumes of a street theatre have to be in conformity with the principles of performances. The Troupe has shown that it can deliver. Even when there is no money to do so, the artistes have proved that dancing and singing and acting are their primary role in the society, yet they should begin now to imbibe the total idea of community outlook in their concept, approach and presentation. This is an orientation that needs to be looked into and addressed with maximum urgency. It also shows that Adejuwon, whose background is in the visual arts can fuse into performance arts all these elements to give theatre its total groove; its completeness to recapture the society and tell the story of love, togetherness and peace.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

Sunny Side awards ‘Tis nigh yuletide and, in the spirit of the season as much as parody of the recent national awards, the writer hands out awards to the ‘deserving’ from all walks of Nigerian life.

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

MOST convenient response: The Committee/Probe Panel. When scandals come calling and you are caught between action and inaction, do, as the Federal Government does: set up yet another committee to investigate all but your negligence even when expulsion or suspension of errant cronies should come first. The panel rules!

Most recycled statistic: 70 per cent. It is the approximation of Nigeria’s population involved in subsistence farming as well as the size of its youth, the illiterate and the poor. And that is 70% of the story behind the country’s tango with failure.

Most popular method: Fire brigade approach. Promoted by the establishment and leaders across society, it is the convenient method of getting things done (or undone).

Most adopted baby word: NEPA. At first known as ECN (Electricity Corporation of Nigeria) and afterwards as PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) before its recent unbundling into GENCOs (Generation Companies) and DISCOs (Distribution Companies), the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) delivers scarce power and great onomatopoeic appeal, even for the infant. ‘Oh, NEPA!’ ‘Up NEPA!’ See? Most laughable idea: ‘Phone for farmers’/‘Nigerian Automotive Policy’/‘Cooking stove for women’/‘Fuel subsidy’/‘Naira devaluation’. By a mile and more, the quintet shares the prize for economic absurdity. While the first three schemes typify the product of hare-brained government officials, the last two are hinged on similarly loose morals, for, as increasingly obvious, poor citizens daily grapple with the right solution for the wrong country while officials cut all costs but their jumbo pay. Clearly, no one, least of all the government, can determine the naira to dollar exchange rate in the circumstances or the actual fuel subsidy to be withdrawn next January. All four misconceptions are closely followed by a worthy one; all hail the Typical Nigerian Home where people provide their own electricity, water and other infrastructure for subsistence in the knowledge that responsible governance remains a fable.

Most oppressive entity: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In power since the return of democracy in 1999, Africa’s ‘biggest party’ has done anything but deliver the dividends of democracy. Former chair, Vincent Ogbulafor’s declaration that the party would rule for the next 60 years merely heightened a famished people’s hope for change.

Most generous award: Kudos. Easily the most widespread gesture of commendation, ‘kudos’, as opposed to ‘knocks’, are given out in appreciation of everything, from people and places to things. At the current rate of usage, we run the risk of running out of the freebie.

Most contrived remedy: The drawing board. Often replaced with the verb ‘restrategise’, it is the point of popular return when things go wrong. Poor results in policy implementation? Go back to the drawing board. Need a better approach to personal issues? It’s back to the drawing board. Need promotion and more money? Back to the drawing board.

Most relevant symbol of change: All Progressives Congress (APC). The home of the politically brave and the port of 2015 progress following successful test run in the Southwest and North.

Most quoted moniker: ‘OBJ’ or ‘Baba’. It belongs to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one-time head of state, two-term president and third term exponent. A more intrusive politician you may never find.

Most adopted description: Clueless. The adjective never rang truer. Why would Nigeria’s most certificated leader struggle with routine acts of governance? Yet, the emergence of the country’s ‘most criticised’ leader remains linked to OBJ. As if we didn’t know, Baba confessed to grooming Jonathan and his late predecessor Umar Musa Yar’Adua, despite the former’s inexplicable run of good fortune and the latter’s illness.

Most misused adjective: Shoeless. A term never seemed more inconsequential.

Used by the president to recommend humble beginnings and great achievements to a wary nation, it falls flat in the face of underperformance and extravagance.

How symbolic that under Jonathan, corruption (stealing) festers, education suffers and poverty multiplies.

•Concludes next week

QUOTE

Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

—Francis Bacon

Jokes Humour Writing Ambition A YOUNG MAN once professed a desire to become a “great” writer.

When asked to define “great” he said, “I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, wail, howl in pain, desperation, and anger!”

He now works for a computer software maker writing error messages.

Hit and Run A SUCCESSFUL businessman parked his brandnew jeep in front of his office, ready to show it off to his colleagues. As he got out, a truck passed too close and completely tore the door off of the driver’s side. The mogul immediately grabbed his cell phone, dialed 911, and within minutes a policeman appeared.

Before the officer had a chance to ask any questions, the man started screaming hysterically. His jeep, which he had just picked up the day before, was now completely ruined and would never be the same, no matter what the panel beater did to it.

When the businessman finally rounded off his ranting and raving, the officer shook his head in disgust and disbelief.

“I can’t believe how materialistic you businessmen are,” he said. “You are so focused on your possessions that you don’t notice anything else.”

“How can you say such a thing at a time like this?” asked the man.

The cop said, “Don’t you know that your left arm is missing from the elbow down? It must have been torn off when the truck hit you.”

The man screamed. “Ahhh! Where’s my gold watch?”

The Applicant TWO YOUNG MEN with equal qualifications apply for the same job. In order to determine which individual to hire, the manager gives them a written test.

Both men score nine out of 10 on the test. However, the manager decides to go with the first applicant.

“Why would you do that?” asks the rejected second applicant. “We both got nine questions correct.”

“Your fellow applicant wrote ‘I don’t know’ for Question Five. You put down, ‘Neither do I.’” •Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain RITING BRIEFS: Writing 103— Right practices: You have or isn’t quite right with your piece, they are heard of the phrase ‘Just Do It’. Now, it’s ‘Just almost always right. But when they tell you Write’. And keep writing, even if the output is exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong. not at first fine, impressive or logical.

Fix the problem. More often than not and Put one word after another. Find the right before your work reaches perfection, you will word, put it down. Find another and put it have to let it go and move on and start to write down until you hit some rhythm or flow.

Only finish what you start to write. What- the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving. ever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

Remember to laugh at your own jokes, Then put it aside. Read it pretending you have never read it before. Show it to friends however. Scarce is the writer that will not find whose opinion you respect and who appreci- the writing exercise pleasurable.

One rule of writing, and of life, for that matate the art of writing.

When people tell you something is wrong ter, is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you can get away with so much.

So write your story as it needs to be written.

Animal matter: Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can.

•All porcupines float in water.

Few rules matter as this.

•An adult giraffe’s kick is so powerful that it No writer will truly improve without incan decapitate a lion. creasing word power. Words are the raw mate•An adult lion’s roar can be heard up to five rial of the writing craft. The greater your vomiles away, and warns off intruders or reunites cabulary the more effective your writing. scattered members of the pride.

As the English Language is clearly one of •A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. Its jaw can- the richest and most versatile in the world, the not move sideways. average writer in English should appreciate the •A chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of privilege of connecting with the rest of the its body. world.

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No room for politicians at Holy Ghost Congress

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OLITICIANS seeking endorsements and electioneering advantages at the Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG) will have to look elsewhere.

The Pastor- in- Charge of RCCG Lagos Province 12, Pastor Ola Adejubee, assured that the weeklong annual camp meeting, which begins tomorrow will not serve as a platform for political mobilisation ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He said: "The people of God are coming to the congress for

By Adeola Ogunlade spiritual renewal and they will not be distracted by politicians.

"Pastor Adeboye is credible and will keep at distance politicians who may want to take advantage of the congress."

He spoke with reporters last Thursday ahead of the congress, which holds at the expansive campground of the RCCG popularly known as Redemption camp on KM 46 Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Millions of worshippers from across the globe are expected to participate at the weeklong event with the theme

The Great Shepherd.

Adejubee, who spoke with reporters last Thursday, said worshippers will attend the programme to meet with God and not to listen to political speeches.

He assured that God will set the captives free, heal the sick, offer hope to the hopeless and bring joy to those in sorrow at the congress.

He stated that the programme is a total package for individuals and families.

The cleric added that the church had made adequate arrangements with the Nigeria Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Volunteer Road Marshal and Team Nehemiah to ensure smooth traffic control on the highway throughout the congress.

Cleric tasks youth on 2015 elections

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HE Presiding Chaplain of the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Lagos State chapter, Rev David Kolawole, has challenged youths to work against politicians who do not mean well during the 2015 general elections.

He spoke at the praise and prayer night organised by the Youth Wing of Lagos CAN recently.

Kolawole noted that the voting population consists mostly of youths but lamented their intelligence has been

By Adeola Ogunlade insulted by self-centred politicians.

He warned youths against apathy or indifference but urged them to register and vote for candidates who can move the nation forward.

"It is high time youths took their stand and move against leaders that will not give them the opportunities to develop God's destiny for their lives. They should go out and take their voters card and register to vote," he stressed.

Kolawole appealed to Christian youths with pedigree to embrace politics with a view to making the difference.

"If youth can take advantage of their population, energy, creativity and strength, they can outwit corrupt and money bag politicians who are in public offices to milk the nation dry of its resources.

"Let us reject money from those who want to use us against our conscience and take a position that will position more youth in power," he stated.

From L-R: Apostle Baba Edward Dauji; General Overseer Amazing Grace Pentecostal Church Lagos, Bishop Chioma Grace Dauji and General Overseer of Rhema Christian Church and Tower Otta, Bishop Taiwo Akinola, during the conventio/thanks giving of Amazing Grace Pentecostal Church... last weekend.

PHOTO: Muyiwa Hassan

COLUMN

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Exploring The Secrets Of Success!

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ELCOME to December, your month of total recovery and the season of blessings. God will visit you in a special way this month and you shall not miss any of His blessings, in Jesus' Name!

This week, I shall be teaching on Exploring The Secrets Of Success!Every child of God is redeemed to be a success. We are redeemed to succeed. Success is our birthright in Christ. We are called to glory, not to fail.

Recognize that the Bible is the most reliable Book on allround success. God's Word says:This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8).

Engaging Biblical principles guarantees outstanding success in every area of life (Deuteronomy 28:1-12).

Also, walking in the light of scriptures is the gateway to a world of exploits (Psalm 45:3-5; Daniel 11:32).

There are certain forces that are responsible for the success of the saints. These forces empower believers to command breakthroughs and excel in their various endeavours.

This week, I will be teaching on one of the forces of success The Power Of Love. We shall be looking at the power of love in the quest for success. Note that love is a failure-proof virtue (1 Corinthians 13:8).

Every genuine lover of Christ ends up a living wonder among men.Talking about the quality goodies God has for those that love Him, the Bible says:But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Note that God is love (1 John 4:16). So, dwelling in love is dwelling in God. Favour naturally pursues lovers of God. When you are in love with God, you will be in love with His house. No wonder, Psalm 102:1315 says:Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust there of. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. It becomes clear that every lover of God is entitled to divine favour.

When you are in love with God, you walk with the only wise God! The man called Daniel in the Bible, loved God so much that God made him to walk in His wisdom, which made him to shine (Daniel 12:3). So, walking in God's wisdom makes us to shine.

Isaiah 45:1 says: Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut. Until you are truly in love with God, your success level remains limited.

You cannot have a genuine heart for God and not make an outstanding mark on the earth. If you love God, you won't hesitate

to serve Him. Serving God does not benefit God; serving Him benefits you (Exodus 23:25-26).

So, the hotter your love for God, the greater you fly (1 Corinthians 2:9). For instance, Solomon loved God and God in return blessed him in greater measure (1 Kings 4:29-34).

God's love is not theoretical; it is practical (Psalm 119:103-105).

You have to show your love to God in practical terms. You can't love God and end up a failure. It is not possible!

Note that your exploits are products of what are in your heart. The love of God is a function of our love for others.

Our level of love, is what determines the level of success we attain or command in life.

Friend, the grace to be empowered by love for success, is the preserve of those who are born again. The question is: Are you born again? You become born again by confessing your sins, forsaking them and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

You can be born again right now, if you haven't been, by saying this prayer: "Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan, to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour.

Thank You, for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!" I will continue this teaching next week.

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books: Success Button, Success Systems andExploring The Secrets Of Success.

I am glad to inform you that from December 9-13, 2014 at Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Idiroko Road, Ota, many destinies will be transformed to higher levels of greatness at SHILOH 2014, tagged, Heaven On Earth! SHILOH isthe annual prophetic gathering of the Winners' family worldwide. Be there!

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

NEWS

First CAN Bible College graduates other CAN chapters and O fewer than 100 stakeholders. students last week students "With what we have seen graduated from the

N L-R: Chairman, Elder Council of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Province 27, Elder Seni Adegbite; Provincial pastor, Dolu Segun with Elder and Pastor(Mrs.) Ayodeji at the family week celebration of the churchâ&#x20AC;Ś last Sunday

'Why more women are starting ministries'

M

ORE women are opening their ministries because they serve God better, the founder of Victorious Prayer Evangelical Outreach, Evangelist Joy Onyeonoro, has said.

Speaking at the first anniversary of the ministry in Ajegunle-Lagos, she said: "Women were the first to see Jesus after His resurrection and

C

By Joseph Eshanokpe were more bothered by his death while the men were putting on a non-challant attitude during the period.

The guest speaker/ General Overseer, Amazing Grace Ministry, Rev Habib Asmau, berated fake pastors as well as instrumentalists,who get paid to play in the house of God. She warned them to desist or face the wrath of God.

"Some people are attaching themselves to false prophets, instead of the true ones. Where are the true churches?" she asked.

She said the work of the ministry is not for enjoyment and wealth but hard work and sufferings.

On Boko Haram insurgency, she was optimistic that it would come to pass, urging Christians to pray harder.

WHAT AND WHERE?

HRIST Apostolic Church Oke-Agbara along Mologede Obete Village along Sokoto/ Igboora, Oyo State will commence a three-day revival from Tuesday, December 9.

The grand celebration

CAC Oke-Agbara holds revival holds at Christ Apostolic Church Ori-Oke Gbogunmi headquarters at No 18, Onasanya Street, Arigbanwo Area, Mowe town in Obafemi/Owode local government area of Ogun

â&#x20AC;˘xxxx

State on December, 21st by 10am.

The host, Prophet Michael Idowu, special prayers will be offered for the nation during the celebration.

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Bible College in Itele, Ogun State.

The college is the first of its kind in CAN's history.

Tagged CAN Bible College, the institution, according to its founder, Rev. Dr. Adebowale Adelakun, is an initiative inspired by God to contribute to the growth and expansion of the gospel.

"It actually started as a dream but with God's guidance and support of other people who equally

share in my dream, we have been able to commit our resources into this bible college and today, we thank God we are witnessing its first convocation ceremony, a first of its kind in Nigeria," he said.

Adelakun, who doubles as the Chairman, CAN AyoboIpaja chapter, reiterated the college's resolve and commitment to train credible missionaries.

A co-founder, Prof. Bola Ayelabola, said the institution should serve as inspiration to

here today, it is evident that such a feat as this is possible if only we can be committed to such.

"I besiege my brethren in the Lord to commit themselves physically, morally, spiritually and financially to this kind of ventures to ensure that the word of God continues to touch every nook and cranny of the world through the type of missionaries we produce from colleges such as this," he stressed.

Eneche's album opens Dunamis Records

D

UNAMIS Records has unveiled its maiden album titled "AINYA".

The promo copy of the album by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dunamis Records, also known as Intimacy Music, Dr. Paul Enenche, has been released nationwide.

The group coordinator of the records, Adebayo

By Famuyiwa Damilare

Adegboyega, told reporters in Lagos that the promo copy serves as a working platform for the record label.

"What we are building right now is a structure and to be successful in a project like this, there should be a platform launcher.

"This is being done to ensure that any artist we bring in will have a sense of

accomplishment and fulfillment," he stated.

He added that the record label is a platform for young Christian artists, who have what it takes to be in the gospel music industry.

Adegboyega said the label is not strictly concerned about commercial success but motivated by the needs to infuse gospel culture into the society.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

71

With Adeola Ogunlade 08083127847

Hello kids I welcome you to another exciting week Remember as you prepare for your exams, read your book and strive to be the best in your class.

Don't be lazy and show good examples as you go into the exam hall by avoid cheating

â&#x20AC;˘2014-2015 School Prefects of Halcyon International School, Ilupeju ,Lagos in a group photograph after their swearing-in ceremony at the school premises on Friday,October 31st ,2014

Youth advice to invest in agric

T

HE Branch Manager, Ikeja, Bank of Agriculture, Mrs. Afolabi Oluwafemi has advise young people to embrace agricultural practice as it remain the way out of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.

Oluwafemi said this at a one day empowerment programmer organized by he Foursquare Gospel Church, Baruwa District Youth Ministry in collaboration with Project RAYS held at the church in Baruwa, Lagos.

The workshop tagged exploring and maximizing opportunities within which witness over 50 youths from across the state. It feature empowerment, money grants, micro loans opportunities for small businesses, writing of

business plan, preparing for loan application, marketing strategy and exhibiting of products and services.

According to her, there are countless opportunities and possibilities for young people in the agricultural sector because from farming to marketing of the farm produce are values that can generate income.

She noted that the need for Nigeria to diversify our economy from oil to agric economy is very apt, timely and urgent and young people must see it as an opportunity to tap into the various opportunities in the agricultural value chain.

She noted that young people must see agriculture as a business and not just a hobby for them to succeed in any agricultural scheme they are

engage in.

She stated that there are various grants and loan for people who want to engage in agricultural practices; youth people can access the youth agricultural revolution scheme of the bank of agricultural which has no collateral.

"YARN target youth between the ages of 18-35 years. The sum of 250, 000 to 1million loan with no collateral but two guarantors are needed for young people in agricultural business", she said.

Although she noted that young people are always ambitions and want to start big, she said to succeed in agric business, you must start small especially on projects they have not done before and then grow big.

Jokes Why was the math book sad?

Because it has too many problems How does a basketball player stay cool?

They sit next to their fans What don't skeleton fight each other?

They don't have the gut What was the student report card

wet?

It was below c level What goes through town, up and over the hill but doesn't move The road Name the city no one goes to Electricity Where does bad light go To prison

CAREER TIPS

What you need to know ACCOUNTANT

A

CCOUNTING is as old trade. The earliest accounting records were found among the ruins of ancient Babylon, Assyria and Sumeria, which are more than 7,000 years old. The people of that time relied on primitive accounting methods to record the growth of crops and herds. In today's fast-paced environment, accountants are also expected to do forecasting and financial planning and evaluation.

Accountants are needed in virtually every business cum

non profit establishment anywhere around the world.

Thus, this opens a world of opportunities for young people who want to study and practice accountancy as a career.

Areas of specialization Auditing Banking and finance Financial management Taxation Information management system Marketing Insurance Skills needed to thrive Ability to read wide

Trustworthy Good communication skills Flair for calculation Time management Ability to adapt in any environment Entry qualification Bsc in accounting or HND in accounting ICAN, ACA Where you can work Auditing firms Finance house Taxation office Public corporation Ministry and Agencies of government Bank Multinational companies

POEMS THE WORLD The world is a stage with no respect for age.

Full of people and different things, different planets with different characteristics, different people with different animals with different shapes.

The world is nice and harsh. The world is round and has no end.

What a wicked and lovely world.

By OYEWALE TAIWO, SSS 1 TimeOn KAIROS System of Community Colleges

GBA CONTROL Promiscuity as an order of the day Moving from one man to another Like frog with no future ambition Unable to control the temptation They sit at home with their minds abroad They are pretenders Their smiles so tender Locked in a world of their own They struggle to live yet they die

MY PET I have a pet I bought it in the fair That I can bet When it was a baby It has sharp teeth without hair And a big feet When it hops It gets to the top It has a pink nose that smells roses it eats carrot But gentle on parrots

Though it has a habit It is still my rabbit Year 7 Age 11, Ayobami Lawal, Debiruss College, Lekki, Lagos

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

They fail to listen That life isn't a bed of roses Lust has control over those that gives him control Every car that loses control while functioning, Ends up in serious accident Ya gba control Before you lose control Semilore John, SS 2 Art, Debiruss College, Lekki, Lagos

RIDDLES Riddles activities What do you get from a pampered cow?

What did the pencile say to other pencil Why do fish live in salt water Why did the man

put his money in a freezer?

Why can't your Nose be 12 inches long What do you get when you cross a fridge with a radio?

What is the most hardworking part of the eyes?

Why is the England the wettest country?

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

72

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS REVIEW Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention Committee, ex- Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, was his usual ebullient self when he barred his mind on this week's national convention of the party. He spoke with Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Yusuf Alli.

No one can manipulate APC convention committee - Fayemi

W

HY did you choose Lagos for APC national convention?

We originally wanted to hold our national convention in Abuja because naturally Abuja is the place to hold an event of this nature. This is where we have always held national party conventions but not because we have not held this kind of convention outside Abuja before. However, we had identified a date to hold the party convention in Abuja and due to some exigencies we had to change that date. It so happened that the new date we chose now coincides with the date the PDP also chose for their national convention.

Understandably, the Eagle Square that we wanted to book had been booked for the day. But it was not just because of the day but because of the nature of this event.

As you know anywhere our president is going to appear upwards of three to four days before then, given the security situation, the venue is taken over by the security agencies. We then looked at other options. We looked at Port Harcourt, Benin and Lagos. We felt that only Lagos successfully met all the factors or criteria that are considered to be critical to the success of our convention.

What criteria are you referring to?

For instance, like comprehensive security measures, like full coverage by the media, capacity to accommodate 10,000 delegates. There is no other city that can do that outside Abuja and Lagos. Benin that was also a very high ranking choice but it did not succeed on that point because the accommodation in Benin would not meet up with the needs of our delegates, aspirants and other leaders that will be present. So those were the grounds on which Lagos qualified to be the choice of the venue for our convention.

There were fears expressed by some aspirants over the choice of Lagos that it would give undue advantage to some other aspirant. Have you allayed those fears?

I wouldn't know about that. I have not heard from any aspirant about the undue advantage issue. Indeed, some aspirants wrote to us wanting the convention committee to still stick to Abuja. But everything we are doing is in the open and is transparent. In fact, all the aspirants have representatives in the committee and they were part of all the discussions that transpired before we arrived at Lagos, so we were able to convince them. I then chose to meet with all the presidential aspirants because I felt it was important for me to explain to them as chairman of the convention committee why we arrived at Lagos.

By the time I finished with the explanation they could see that the choice of Lagos was not an arbitrary decision or accidental choice. They appreciated that we walked our way through the alternatives before we arrived at the choice of Lagos.

And for them, just as it is important to me, a successful convention is sine qua non to a successful victory. If at the end of the day we organize an election in a place that our delegates cannot get to on time, it is bound to impact on the entire process and it might dent the overall quality of the convention that we plan. I come into this with nothing but my integrity. So, if anyone wants to suggest that this is going to be a coronation for a particular aspirant that is news to me.

I have the greatest respect for every aspirant but I am not the type that can be manipulated or intimidated into working to a pre-conceived answer not even by the chairman of the party or any leader of the party. The National Convention Committee

is wholly and fully in charge of this process and we will demonstrate it to all in a manner that cannot be challenged. The convention will be credible and transparent.

It will also be seen to be transparent by every interested party because for us this is not just about the who at the end of the day but more about the how. For those who have always suggested that we have issues of internal democracy in our party, I owe it a duty, not just to the party but to those waiting with bated breath outside our party to see us collapse.

Don't forget from day one, we were not supposed to succeed with this merger. We were supposed to be Abiku - a still born but we succeeded. They said we won't succeed with the name, we did. They said the logo was going to be contentious, but we agreed on a logo. They said we will not able to choose a national executive of the party, against all odds, the Oyegun-led leadership emerged. Now they say it is the choice of their presidential candidate that will tear everything apart. I assure you they will continue to wait for that which they will not get. So essentially, we will put in our best to ensure that we deliver a convention that is acceptable to all.

Was it the decision of the committee or the party for all the presidential aspirants to go into some kind of commitment not to defect in case they lose?

The commitment is not just about defection. We were less concerned about defection. We were more concerned about post-convention acrimony that will not augur well for the work. Let's face it we have seven days to our convention from today and 72 days to February 14 for the presidential election. So if you look at it, we have a very short time to demonstrate to Nigerians the stuff we are made of. So essentially, whoever emerges from this convention would be handed our manifesto which we also plan to unveil to Nigerians on that day. He will be handed our manifesto and literarily hit the ground running from the convention ground to the campaign ground. So if we don't take steps to ensure that the process is credible and acceptable to all, then we will spend the first month on post-convention acrimony and we don't want to do that. We felt it was important that all those going into this process must also show commitment to post-convention harmony and that is why the party did what it did. More over it is not unknown in politics to ensure that people enter into a code of conduct. So that was what it was all about.

So it was not an undertaking then?

We use all sorts of names for these things; undertaking, agreement, understanding? consensus and so on. The important thing to us and the aspirants

which they have demonstrated is that we don't want to play into the hands of our opponents who are just waiting to see the collapse of this party. That would shock Nigerians if we played into the hands of Nigerians. Nigerians want a credible alternative, they want this democracy to endure and the only way it will endure is if there is fair competition and not a one-sided one.

How about the delegates? We learnt that there are some issues where in some states LCDAs were created and these LCDAs are not recognized by the constitution and the delegates cannot emerge from them. Have you overcome that issue?

Everything that we are doing in the convention committee is guided by law.

That law is the constitution of the APC. If our constitution says elected officials of LCDAs are allowed to be delegates then we don't have a choice we will abide by that. If it says they are not allowed, it goes without saying that we will not accredit those coming from LCDAs. We have looked at the guidelines and it talks about elected.

There are some places where you have caretaker LCDAs or appointed LCDAs but elected LCDAs are recognized by the constitution of the party.

Have you factored into the consideration that any of the aspirant can go to court to stop the committee from doing its work?

I will be surprised but in a democracy even the option of legal option is allowed.

Part of the reasons why we carried everybody along and ensure that whatever we are doing is known to aspirants their supporters and party as a whole is to forestall any extra-convention related method of resolving disputes. But if people want to resort to that they are very well within the law to do it. I don't envisage this and I certainly hope it will not happen because we have a window. It will be considered sabotage by people who are working on behalf of other elements if that were to happen.

Are you using Option A4 or direct ballot system?

We are using secret ballot?

Still on the undertaking, is there a mechanism that the party has put in place to punish those who may not want to abide by the outcome or agreement?

I have no doubt in my mind. That is why we have a very huge task on our hands as the convention committee. I am reasonably convinced that we have serious minded aspirants. And once we do our job in terms of the process being credible, transparent and it is seen to be transparent by all and sundry? everybody would accept the outcome. That is our own believe. But

we also have post convention conflict management mechanisms. There must be something in it for all players. We want to win an election; the presidency of Nigeria is not the only position. People want to serve and those contesting on our platform are politicians of extensive credible experience.

I would like to think that is it service that is propelling them. Of course they want to be president but the presidential candidature is not available due to the fact that they did not win the primaries there are other ways they can serve and I believe they will all want to live up to their undertaking.

Will the committee or party be involved after the emergence of the candidate in the picking of his running mate or will he be given a free hand to choose his running mate?

That is way beyond my pay cheque. I am only responsible for producing the presidential candidate of our party. That is the job of the convention committee. As per the process for the choice of the running mate I will like to think that is a matter for the national chairman, the leadership of the party as well as the candidate who emerges from the contest. It is not a matter for the convention committee?

What is the budget like for the convention?

I don't have a figure from the top of my head. I can tell you that we have almost 10,000 delegates who would have to be transported from their various states and of course we want this to be in the full glare of Nigerians so that there will be live television broadcast all through the convention and there are other cost centers.

It is not cheap but democracy is not cheap.

We have to ensure we do things properly and in a way that can sell us to Nigerians.

For us it's another campaign tool. If we do it well, openly, transparently, it will enhance our reputation as a government in waiting and that is ready for serious business; that is what we are out to show. But the cost is something that has to be put in perspective.

It is not outrageous but it's relatively small compared to what we have to spend on the campaign trail for the 72 days that I talked about. There is no way we can match those who are in control of the federal treasury.

Nigerians know that some parties may not declare how much they are spending, so people will be thinking that the APC will be different. How much is it?

Of course we are more accountable, that is why I can't recall it from the top of my head. But we are going to present a full report at the end of this exercise that will contain the details in a financial summary and properly audited too, how we have conducted the exercise and how much we have spent in organizing it.

Will you invite international observers

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and monitors for the convention?

We e are inviting local and international monitors and we expect the international media and our very respected local media to be active with us.

What is the template you are working on as an umpire?

The template we are working on is that we will be able to produce a winner at the end of the day on a simple majority. This is not a process that is based on two thirds or 25 percent of the 36 states. For this convention it is simple majority and as stated in our party constitution it is a secret ballot system and we would endeavour to make it as open as possible but anyone that is not on the delegates list will not have a vote and if as a journalist, medical worker, invited guest you are not accredited, you will not get into the venue.

Have you prepared for a situation where the aspirants get into a consensus and pick one of them as candidate? Is there a timeline for an aspirant to step down?

The assignment I have does not include consensus consideration. That is beyond my pay cheque. The leadership of the party will have to deal with that. I have not been informed that any such step has been taken by any aspirant. But in the event that it has been taken, the leadership will inform me as national chairman of the convention committee and we will factor that into the arrangements we are making.

But it has to be on time since the name of the aspirants will be on the ballot, don't you think so?

We have already provided some guidelines which had been published in some newspapers which you may have seen on the electoral process and the steps we are going to take. As far as we are concerned, all aspirants that have been screened and have received their certificates of clearance are going to be on the ballot.

Even if they dropped out for one reason or the other it will be difficult for us to remove them from the ballot.

What kind of security measures have you put in place?

We have a security committee within the National Convention Committee.

However this convention is not going to falter on two or three main things that we must guard against. One of them is a flawless accreditation list of delegates. We are determined to achieve a flawless delegates list agreed to by all the contestants on the basis of the convention that we have held across the 36 states. Secondly, there is a critical nature of security that the entire exercise requires and we are taking appropriate steps to ensure that all security agencies that are critical to the exercise will be involved in it. Some extra security measures that will relate to ballot counting will also be taken but I cant go into all those details now.

At the end of the day if your candidate emerges, what will the party be offering the losers?

Even the terminology is not acceptable to me. There will be no losers. All aspirants have come into this because they believe Nigerians need a desperate change. That is what has informed their contest and that requirement for change will not disappear simply because they did not emerge at the end of the day. I don't see them not working assiduously towards removing the ruling party which by all account has failed Nigerians. So the priority is for all of our aspirants and those of us that are not aspirants to fight to win the election. Of course the party leadership will take appropriate measures, which I may not know, in terms of post-convention conflict management that I spoke of earlier. This is a no victor, no vanquished contest.

What steps are you putting in place to check monetary inducement of delegates?

And has it ever come to your committee's attention?

I can't speculate on what people are hearing and what people have been accused of doing or not doing. I can tell you that we are making adequate preparation for all delegates. We will be responsible for their transport and accommodation.

Will the aspirants that did not follow through with their presidential ambition after purchasing the forms get their money back?

I was not part of the screening committee, my own job is different. But to the best of my knowledge, there was no presidential aspirant who paid and did not show up. There was only one aspirant who was paid for but voluntarily backed out of the race and went for another position. So in the case of that person, there is no issue.

There is non-refundable nomination fee.

Is the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, still in the presidential race?

To the best of my knowledge, yes. He was present at the meeting I held with presidential aspirants.

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POLITICS EXTRA

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

Ihedioha, Ohakim go toe-to-toe in Imo Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that the People's Democratic Party's gubernatorial primaries in the South-East states of Ebonyi and Imo will witness hot contests.

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ONSIDERING the desperation of most of the aspirants and the seeming inability of party leaders to resolve some of the thorny issues, it seems likely that Monday, December 8, 2014 governorship primaries of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) will witness red hot contests in the SouthEast states of Ebonyi and Imo. In Ebonyi, which is currently governed by a PDP governor, Martin Elechi, it is important to note that by 2015, the incumbent would have completed his second term in office and so is not eligible to re-contest. This has left the field wide open for eager aspirants both within the party and in the opposition.

For Imo, which is currently governed by a first term All Progressives Congress (APC) governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the field is also wide open for PDP aspirants.

Being traditionally PDP states at the return of democracy in 1999, the party's ticket has continued to be in high demand in virtually all the states in the South-East geopolitical zone, including states like Imo and Anambra that are no longer under the control of PDP. As a result, the quest for PDP governorship ticket in the zone has always been hotly contested.

At the last count, about 58 aspirants were cleared by the party's screening committee for PDP governorship race alone in the four South-East states of Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi.

Anambra, the fifth state in the zone, is not participating in the 2015 governorship race.

Out of the 58 cleared aspirants for the four states, 27 are for Imo State alone while eight are for Ebonyi State.

It is possible that before tomorrow's primaries, the figure may change slightly since the Chairman of the Screening Committee for the zone, Umar Ndanusa, had told newsmen in Enugu at the end of the screening exercise that aspirants who had any grouse over the conduct of the screening had Tuesday to appeal for redress.

However, judging from the campaigns so far and the issues at hand, some of the prominent aspirants in Ebonyi and Imo have emerged as top contenders. In Imo for instance, such aspirants Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, Chief Martins Agbaso, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume and Senator Chris Anyanwu, among others.

In Ebonyi, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; Deputy Governor, Dave Umahi and Dr. Offia Nwali are considered as top contenders.

In Imo it's between Ihedioha and Ohakim Ihedioha: Until the recent declaration of former Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim, for the PDP governorship ticket, insiders believed Deputy Speaker of the

•Ohakim

House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, would have easily picked Imo PDP ticket during the Monday governorship primaries.

Ihedioha is the highest public officer in PDP from the state and is therefore the leader of the party in Imo. Aside this obvious advantage, he is also from Owerri zone, the zone that is yet to produce a governor of the state.

When one adds these to the support from the national leadership of PDP where he is very influential and favoured, his large financial war chest, plus the good grassroots network and support, Ihedioha is obviously the aspirant to beat in the Imo contest.

His admirers say he has impacted on the lives of many, not just from Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency which he represents at the National Assembly but in virtually all the 305 wards, 27 local governments and three senatorial districts in the state.

These advantages notwithstanding, Ihedioha's major challenge is the sudden emergence of the former governor,

Ebonyi: Epic battle

•Ihedioha

erful supporters and sponsors were not ready to accept such a development.

They vowed to fight back, accusing the governor of taking unilateral actions.

But the governor, notwithstanding criticisms for his decision to adopt Chukwu, has not hidden his action.

Responding to the decision of the two aspirants who stepped down for Chukwu, Elechi said heartily: “There is no need for unnecessary struggles, mudslinging and waste of resources, as we all should support the right things whenever they are done.”

Chukwu The adoption of former Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu as the PDP's Consensus Candidate for Ebonyi governorship seat, by Governor Martin Elechi and his supporters, more than anything else, put fire into the contest.

As soon as the adoption was made public, two aspirants, Chief Sam Agom-Eze, a former banker and Mr. Ben Akpa, a former commissioner, all from the southern zone like Chukwu, said after holding a meeting with Elechi on the matter, they decided to drop their ambitions “in the interest of the state's development.”

If these two aspirants react this way, other aspirants and their pow•Chukwu

Dave Umahi One of the leading aspirants bent on challenging the adoption of Chukwu in tomorrow's primaries is the Deputy Governor, Dave Umahi, an engineer who is from the old Afikpo bloc of Ebonyi South Senatorial District.

POLITICS EXTRA 75

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

ment Area. Insiders say when the chips are down and the zone is left with the choice of settling for a single aspirant, it would take extraneous factors to prefer her to Ihedioha, who is also from the zone.

Ikedi Ohakim. Allegedly backed by top national PDP chieftains from the state, some say Ohakim may have successfully hijacked the entire local structure of the party, a development that is threatening the ambition of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

Ikedi Ohakim: Former governor Ikedi Ohakim, who a few months ago was hardly given any chance, has emerged a frontrunner after the ward congresses.

Insiders say a top PDP leader, a member of the National Working Committee, has been working discreetly to ensure his emergence.

Some swear that as a result, he may have hijacked substantial part of the party machinery in the state hitherto controlled by supporters and promoters of Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

Until the result of Monday's primaries is made known, it may be difficult to say precisely how true this claim is but one thing is clear, unless there are last minute major realign-

Ifeanyi Ararume Sen Ifeanyi Ararume's experience in politics is well known. He is also financially capable for such a contest.

This being the case, it would be suicidal for any of the aspirants to take him for granted.

But Ararume's ambition of picking the PDP ticket this Monday may be tragically affected by the zoning debate as many of the elders of the party argue that Owerri zone produce the governor while Ararume's Okigwe zone should produce the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

•Ararume

Jerry Chukwueke In the PDP, where he is currently the Director of Mobilisation, Chukwueke is relatively known and

ments this weekend, the battle may be a straight contest between him and Ihedioha.

•Anyawu

Sen. Chris Anyanwu A second term senator, Chris Anyanwu is considered a very strong politician in Imo State. During the 2011 governorship elections, her grassroots appeal was highly credited as she, alongside the incumbent governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, then in All Progressives Grand Alliance dealt a devastating blow on PDP to win the election.

Today, she is seeking the governorship ticket of PDP to challenge Okorocha's All Progressives Congress (APC).

While her grassroots support and connection at the national level may prove handy, she is contending with very strong aspirants both within her Owerri Senatorial District and in Mbaitolu and Ikeduru Local Govern-

•Amadi

respected. He is from Awaka in Owerri North.

While he is considered a good mobiliser, insiders say he lacks widespread structures that would guarantee victory.

Finance is also likely to be a big headache for him given the large financial war chest of the leading contenders.

Bethel Amadi Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Bethel Amadi, who represents Mbaitolu/Ikeduru Federal Constituency is well known beyond the shores of Imo, more so because he is also the President of the Pan African Parliament.

Other aspirants for PDP ticket in Imo include Emma Ojinere and Mike Ahamba, amongst others.

VERDICT: IHEDIOHA IS POISED TO PICK THE IMO TICKET.

•Chukwueke

between Chukwu and Umahi

•Umahi

In fact, before the sudden emergence of Chukwu, when Elechi said the governorship of Ebonyi State would be zoned to the old Afikpo bloc in Ebonyi State many people thought Umahi would be the instant beneficiary.

So, when the pendulum swung to Afikpo North Local Government Area when stakeholders of the state endorsed the former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, to succeed Elechi, Umahi, described as a loyal deputy before now, could not stomach it.

Backed by Elechi's most formidable political rivals, including former Governor Sam Egwu and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Umahi is the candidate to watch.

Umahi also has solid financial war chest, considering the forces he suc-

ceeded in surrounding himself with.

Already, he has practically hijacked the PDP machinery following the outcome of the congresses in the state as he successfully aligned with the Deputy State chairman of the party, Mr. Joseph Onwe to resist the nomination of Hon. Ben Akpa by the State Executive Committee, (SEC) as acting state chairman of PDP in Ebonyi.

Others: Other aspirants, like Dr. Offia Nwali, who are equally considered as top contenders because of their solid qualifications may not fare well in tomorrow's primaries because all the political forces in Ebonyi PDP now seem to have divided themselves in two camps, each determined to prove a point. While Elechi is leading the camp that want to crown Chukwu,

•Nwali

Egwu and Anyim are solidly behind Umahi, ready to flaunt federal might.

It promises to be an interesting contest.

VERDICT: THE RACE WILL BE VERY CLOSE BUT CHUKWU MAY PICK THE TICKET

76

POLITICS EXTRA

•Continued from Page 75 In the Oyo PDP, it is a fierce battle. No fewer than 11 aspirants are in the race.

They are Adebayo Alao-Akala, Hazeem Gbolarumi, Isaac Babalola, Taoheed Adedoja, Soji Adejumo, Ayo Adeseun and Femi Babalola. Others are Kehinde Olaosebikan, Teslim Folarin, Oluseyi Makinde and Azeez Adeduntan.

Former Minister of Power, Elder Wole Oyelese, has withdrawn from the race. A source said he may vie for the Oyo Central Senatorial ticket.

However, the major contenders among the 11 aspirants are Alao-Akala, Folarin and Makinde.

Like its counterpart in Lagos, peace has also eluded the Oyo PDP. There are various factions struggling for the control of the chapter. In Adedibu era, there is no rallying point. It is like a scattered sheep without a shepherd.

Major contenders: Alao-Akala Alao-Akala commands huge following in the party. Except in Oyo zone where his fortune has plummeted since 2011, the Ogbomoso-born politician is still popular in Oke-Ogun and some parts of Ibadan. He also possesses the financial capacity required for the contest.

But, there are at least, two odds against him. Akala is not an Ibadan man.

This factor is strong for winning the governorship election. Two Ibadan menAjomobi and Ladoja are more likely to emerge as candidates. The PDP, it is believed, would also want to field an Ibadan man to benefit from the population advantage. For instance, voters from Ibadan Southwest and Ibadan North local governments are more than those of the five local governments in Ogbomoso. Having lost the election

Kolade Adeyemi in Kano reports on the governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State

Fierce battle in Oyo

cannot match Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the general election.

Makinde He is a young billionaire and promising politician. Makinde has strengthened his structure, particularly in Ibadan, his home town. He is also one of the financiers of the party. The engineer is seen as the face of a new generation politicians by many people. But, it is doubtful, if he will get the ticket. Oyo State is not yet ready for generational shift. He may be a candidate of the future. He is hard working, focused and committed to the party. It is doubtful, if party leaders in Ibadanland are willing to support his candidacy. They feel he has not acquired enough experience and political weight like Alao-Akala and Folarin. He cannot be ignored. But, the race may be tough for him.

VERDICT: IT'S BETWEEN ADEBAYO ALAO-AKALA AND TESLIM FOLARIN

once, largely due to credibility factor, the party may want to look elsewhere for another candidate. In fact, there is an intense agitation for a PDP candidate of Ibadan origin to give Ajimobi and Senator Rashidi Ladoja of the Accord Party (AP) a good fight.

Folarin In 2011, Folarin fell into a political trap. His foes accused him of murder to edge him out of the contest. He was detained. Thus, his attention was distracted and he could not concentrate on his ambition. But, he fought back by

mobilising for the ACN flag bearer, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who defeated AlaoAkala.

The former Senate Leader is believed to be favoured by the Presidency. He controls the state executive committee of the party. He is widely connected in Abuja.

Although he was elected as senator twice, Folarin's popularity is not strong enough to win the race that involves Ladoja and Ajimobi. But, he is still standing tall in the race for the PDP ticket and observers believe he will pick it.

Although he controls the party machinery, as it were, there is the feeling that he

A three-horse race in Ogun Ogun State PDP is also crisis-ridden.

There are three factions in the chapter.

The faction led by Senator Jibril MarinsKuye is loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The mainstream faction is led by the Chairman, Chief Bayo Dayo, an engineer. The faction is supported by the billionaire, Buruji Kashamu. The three groups have different aspirants they are backing for the governorship.

The aspirants include former House of Representatives Speaker Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the former deputy governor, Chief Rafiu Ogunleye, former Minister of Power and Steel Sharafadeen Ali, Mr. Gboyega Isiaka and House of Representatives member Hon. Akinlade.

An open race in Kano

ESPITE security challenges, political activities in Kano, known for its capricious nature when it comes to political calculation, continue to gather momentum. Now, the die is cast for PDP governorship race.

While formally declaring his intention to contest, Takai said, “there is nothing like desperation to become the governor in 2015 election. It is not an issue of do-or-die and as such, there is nothing like desperation. If we emerge as the winners in this contest, we will work with all other contestants to campaign all over the state for the secondary elections. If on the other hand, another contestant emerges victorious, we pledge to fully assist him with our entire political structure at subsequent elections.''

Salihu Sagir Takai Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai is M a l a m Ibrahim Shekarau's political son any day any time. A form e r C o mmissioner for W a t e r •Takai Resources and Local Government Affairs under Shekarau's government, Takai was also a three-time Chairman of Takai Local Government Council. He contested the governorship election in 2011 under the platform of the ANPP. Kwankwaso defeated him with only 60, 000 votes and he is plotting to come back in 2015, now under the platform of the PDP. Shekarau, the Minister of Education is solidly backing him, but his critics say he is not firmly rooted in Kano politics.

Mohammed Abacha As it is, the coast is now clear for the eldest son of the late Military Head of State, Alhaji Mohammed Abacha, who recently got a clean bill from the court over allegations of money laundering.

We gathered that he is planning big. His spacious campaign office along Audu Bako Way is now wearing a new look and it has been refurbished. His political machineries are also in place. Mohammed is a political toast to K a n o masses, particularly, the youths.

He is no longer new in Kano politics as he made an i n r o a d when he clinched the guber•Abacha

D

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

natorial ticket of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) though he was openly betrayed and robbed of that ticket. He has indicated interest to rule Kano in 2015. Though he has picked the form and ready to go into primaries, he has not formally declared his intention to the people of Kano. Again, the actions and inactions of his late father while holding sway as military head of state is still haunting Mohammed's political ambition.

Abba Risqua Murtala M u h a mmad A b b a R i s q u a Murtala M u h a mmad, son of the killed Head of State is also contesting under the banner of •Muhammad the PDP. He has formally declared his intention to govern Kano in 2015 saying he has all it takes to reshape Kano and make it a modern city. A young and vibrant politician, Risqua once contested for House of Representatives and later went into political oblivion. He sudden resurfaced this time around angling to make it to Kano Government House. He said the younger generation and major stakeholders in Kano persuaded him to come

forward to deliver service to his people and to consolidate on his father's legacy.

Akilu S a n i Ndabawa D r .

Akilu Sani Ndabawa, a n a c a- •Ndabawa demic and political scientists, is a force to reckon with in Kano politics. He was one of the think-tanks of Kwankwaso during his first term when he served as Senior Special Adviser on Metropolitan A f f a i r s .

H e h e a d e d Kwankwaso/Ganduje Campaign Organisation in 2003. When he fell apart with Kwankwaso, he found his way to Abuja, served as National Youth Leader of the PDP. He also served in the late Umar Musa Yar'Adua's Government and under President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's government. Though he may have all it takes to govern Kano, some people believe he is too sophisticated to govern Kano where people of different classes and mentality dwell.

As the stage gets set, with the swinging pendulum, there is no gainsaying the fact that 2015 gubernatorial election in Kano is going to be tough. As the APC candidate has emerged and the PDP is hustling to produce one, pundits are keeping their fingers crossed.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014 CHANGE OF NAME ONOJOMETE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Obruche Onojomete, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Obruche Osunlaja. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OCHIN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Somtochukwu Judy Ochin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Somtochukwu Judy Ochin-Okereke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EDWARD I, formerly known and addressed as Juliet Edward, now wish to be known and addressed as Juliet Edward Okwando. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLADIPO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladipo, Abiola Ruth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyesanya, Abiola Ruth. All former documents remain valid.

Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, NYSC and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Atufe Isaiah and Ayanleke Isaiah Atufe are one and the same person.

Now wish to be known and addressed as Atufe Isaiah. All former documents remain valid.

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Mrs. Vivian Obonajirote Epelle is the same person as Mrs. Vivian Obonajirote Ovakpo Epelle All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADELEYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Opeyemi Adeola Adeleye, now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. Opeyemi Adeola Ogunlami.

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ABAYOMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss ABAYOMI RISIKAT ADEBINUSOLA now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. OMOTOYE ADEBINUSOLA BETSY. Federal university of technology Akure (FUTA) and the general public should please take note.

OKUNEYE I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Bankole Oladeji Okuneye, now wish to be called and addressed as MR. BOO BANKY. All former documents remain valid. General public please note.

OGUNLEYE

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OYEWUSI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyewusi funmilayo Taiwo now wish to be known and addressed as MRS Adewoye funmilayo Taiwo. All former documents remain valid. Osun state college of Technology Esa-Oke , Interlink polytechnic . Ijebu -Jesa . and the general public should please take note.

AJAYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi, Bolaji Florence, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. Fatokun, Bolaji Florence. All former documents remain valid .

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EZEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ezeh, Nnena Celestina, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ozioko Nnena Celestina. All former documents remain valid .

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ONYEJEGBE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyejegbe, Anulika Loveday, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kabiru, Anulika Loveday. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

AKANBI

I formerly known and addressed as Akanbi Sarah Ihioma, now wish to be known and addressed as Okechukwu Sarah Ihioma. All former documents remain valid .

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77

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME SALIU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Saliu, Tawakalitu Folusho, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amuni, Tawakalitu Folusho. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

OJEKUNLE

I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ojekunle, Adewole Peter, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Olaleke, Adewole Peter.

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AJAYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi, Omowonuola Oluwadamilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adekola, Omowonuola Oluwadamilola.

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OWOLABI

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AJASA

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SEDUN

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ZAKARI

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NWANKWO

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ADEKOYA

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME INUEIKIM EDET OKON and PHILIP EDET OKON refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as INUEIKIM EDET OKON. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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EZEONWUKA

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UMAR

I, formerly known and addressed as Umar Gambo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Moses Gambo Emmanuel All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKORO I, formerly known and addressed as Anyim Okoro Joseph, now wish to be known and addressed as Joseph Anyim All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

OLARINMOYE

LAWAL

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olarinmoye, Esther Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Makanjuola, Esther Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

OSADIPE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Osadipe, Titilayo Deborah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeboyejo, Titilayo Deborah. All former documents remain valid . Ekiti State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and general public should please take note.

OLAOSEBIKAN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaosebikan, Mary Odunayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ilesanmi Mary Odunayo. All former documents remain valid . General public should please take note.

IBIDUNMOYE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibidunmoye, Kehinde Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kolawole, Kehinde Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. Diocese of Ekiti-Oke (Angilican Communion), Usi-Ekiti and general public should please take note.

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I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Tokunbo, Oluwafunmilola Mariam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Soara, Oluwafunmilola Mariam. All former documents remain valid.

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OVIE I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OVIE ELOHOR ROSEMARY, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ATTAH ELOHOR ROSEMARY. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AKOMA FAVOUR KELECHI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. KONTO FAVOUR KELECHI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEDIPE

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I,formerly known and addressed as MISS JUSTINAH OMOLAYO ADEDIPE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. JUSTINAH OMOLAYO ARINDE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajayi Funmilayo Margaret, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyelaran Funmilayo Margaret. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Hospital Management Board. AdoEkiti and general public should please take note.

AJE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obidoyin Stella lfeoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Stella lfeoluwa ObidoyinOgundiran. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, STEPHEN SILAWONI UYAINI and UYAINI SILAWONI FAVOUR refers to one and the same person.

Now wish to be be known and addressed as STEPHEN SILAWOINI UYAINI.All documents bearing the above two names remain valid. Niger Delta University and general public please take note.

OKORO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss BENEDICTA NDAWI OKORO, now wish to be known as Mrs. BENEDICTA NDAWI GODFREY. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

EJEOGO I formerly known and addressed as Miss EJEOGO NUELA IFEOMA, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIDI UDEOGU IFEOMA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

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OZURU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss OZURU IKNEZAM OMONIGHO now wish to be known as Mrs. GBADA GLORY OMONIGHO. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AKOBUNDU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss AKOBUNDU IJEOMA BERNADETH now wish to be known as Mrs. CHRISTIANA CHINWE ABRAHAM .I. EZE. All former documents remain valid, Police Force Education Unit and the general public please take note.

AJAYI

OBIDOYIN

ADEOSUN

ILESANMI

I formerly known and addressed as ILESANMI MICHAEL MAYOWA ,now wish to be known and addressed as OLABODE- JAMES OLAYINKA MICHAEL MAYOWA .All former document remain valid .The general public should please take note .

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that AMROMA ESEOWEN GRACE and AMROMA GRACE ESE refers to one and the same person ,and now wish to be known and addressed as AMROMA ESEOWEN GRACE .All former document remain valid .General public should please take note .

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ESONU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss SANDRA CHIDINMA ESONU, now wish to be known as Mrs. SANDRA CHIDINMA IHUNDA. All former documents remain valid. Spie Nigeria Ltd. And general public please take note.

AMZAT I formerly known and addressed as Miss AMZAT ADENIKE TEMILADE, now wish to be known as Mrs. OLAGUNJU ADENIKE TEMILADE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AJIMATI I, formerly Known and addressed as Miss Ajimati Iyabode Ajibike now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lajide Ibukunoluwa Ajibike.

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AMALAHU I formerly known and addressed as Miss STELLA OGECHI AMALAHU now wish to be known as Mrs. STELLA NTON-OBARI OLAKANWI NWOLU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ADEDEJI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adedeji, Mary Oluwakemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatukasi-Kolade, Mary Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. LGEA, Akure South Local government, SUBEB, Ondo State and general public should please take note.

ARAFA

I, formerly known and address as AJIMOT BOLAKOJO ARAFA and now wish to be known and address as AJIMOT BOLAJOKO ARAFAIDOWU. All documents remain valid. INEC, LASPOTECH and General Public please take note.

NWOSU I, formerly Known and addressed as Miss Nwosu, Tochukwu Victoria now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abogunrin, Tochukwu Victoria. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

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78

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

PDP attacks Kolade Contd from page 6 "Indeed, the timing and the tenor of Dr. Kolade's outburst, given the security and political situation in the land, is also very worrisome especially when a nerve-soothing statement from a person of his age and status could have encouraged our citizens and help douse the tension in the polity.

"It is mind-boggling and embarrassing that this eminent technocrat could attempt to stand history on its head by stating that President Goodluck Jonathan went to a rally in Kano State "the next day" after 59 students were killed in Yobe State.

"It is common knowledge and verifiable fact that the said PDP Kano rally held on April 15, 2014, about two months after the unfortunate killing of 59 students in Yobe in February, 2014."

In the actual fact, the said April 15 Kano rally by the PDP, in which President Jonathan was captured dancing to the "Azonto" rhythm, was held the same day that over 76 Nigerians got killed in the Nyanya bus station blast.

Also, the rally took place a few hours after the news of the abduction of the over 200 Chibok school girls by Boko Haram broke. The girls have remained in the custody of the insurgents till date.

The PDP further maintained that while it did not expect everybody to agree with President Jonathan's leadership style, the party was nevertheless encouraged that Nigerians from all walks of life "appreciate the President as a committed and sincere leader" with very strong bond with his people and their well-being irrespective of religious, ethnic and political affiliations.

The statement continued: "In the last four years, under President Jonathan, our country has witnessed unprecedented growth and verifiable achievements in all sectors with our economy ranking as the largest in Africa in spite of the daunting security challenges and the global economic recession, a fact which Dr. Kolade as a technocrat is fully aware of. We, therefore, totally disagree with Dr. Kolade when he said that Nigeria has had it much better than now.

"It is incontrovertible that the Federal Government has sustained the fight against insurgency, deploying huge budgetary allocations to reequip our security forces as well as intensified collaborations with national and international stakeholders to bring lasting peace to our country.

"We wish to restate that the PDP and all well-meaning Nigerians are solidly behind President Goodluck Jonathan in this fight against terrorism.

Those who expect the President to get distracted, demoralised or cowed through their utterances must know that they are fighting a lost battle.

"Let it be clear that the PDPled administration shall never allow terrorists and their supporters to dictate the tempo of government, which has been their direct objective. We wish to restate that it is a globally settled principle that no government allows terrorist to influence the course of its action otherwise they have achieved their purpose against the people.'

Lagos APC primaries: My relationship with Fashola is intact, says Tinubu

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ATIONAL leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, dismissed suggestions of a clash between him and Governor Babatunde Fashola on account of the just concluded governorship primaries of the party.

Asiwaju Tinubu declared in a statement in Lagos that the insinuation and similar ones about Lagos politics and the personalities involved are "pure conjectures or outright falsehood."

He blamed those he called political charlatans and en-

emies for "fuelling unnecessary rumour and insinuations and seeking to drive a wedge in an otherwise cordial and respectful political relationship."

Citing one such newspaper story yesterday, he said: "My relationship with Governor Fashola remains cordial both at the personal level and at the level of commitment to ensuring Lagos State remains on the path of political stability, growth and development "Whether Governor Fashola had a specific candidate or not isn't the issue here. What is important is to have a transparent process in the spirit of democ-

racy to which we both subscribe.

"We often debate, agree or disagree. But when it comes to concluding on the interest of Lagos State, we are on the same page. The current situation and issues around the Lagos Gubernatorial primary are been overblown.

"What we have done is ensure that no one is denied his or her rights to participate and compete for any elective position. Such a disposition should not translate into anger and divisiveness of the party as it is being peddled.

"Conflicts and disagreements are part of every politi-

cal process. The capacity to solve these conflicts in-house and not on the pages of newspaper is a tradition in Lagos.

"At my age and with my level of political experience, I am expected to seek for solutions, work for reconciliations and find a common ground where disagreements exist.

That is what I have dedicated myself to in the larger interest of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. That is what Governor Babatunde Fashola and myself are about. That is what Lagos State deserves as Nigeria's pacesetter in terms of democracy and development."

•L-R: Chief Medical Director, Gbagada General Hospital, Dr. Idowu Adekunle Dauda; Pastor In Charge of Province, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lagos Province 23, Gbagada, Pastor Brown Oyitso; Pastor Agunbiade and Pastor Ade Omokorede, during donation of hospital equipment and beddings to the hospital, in Lagos…on Thursday

Convention: Adamawa PDP stakeholders threaten boycott, protest suspension of Tukur

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EOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Adamawa State have rejected the decision of the national leadership of the party to move the National Assembly and governorship primaries to Abuja.

The primaries are scheduled for today. Already, an aircraft has been sent to Yola to ferry the delegates to Abuja.

The stakeholders are also kicking against the suspension of the immediate past National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, even as there are indications that former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, may emerge as the party's governorship candidate following his endorsement by some forces in the presidency.

Investigation revealed that the stakeholders, who were backed by Governor Bala Ngilari, met at Adamawa PDP Secretariat in Yola on Friday night.

Some of those at the session were ex-NADECO leader, Air Comdr Dan Suleiman, exGovernor Wilberforce Juta, a former Nigeria's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Gen. Haladu Hananiya, ex-Minister Dauda Birma, Senator Grace Bent, Gen. Aliyu Kamar, Awwal Tukur, key aides of Ngilari, State PDP Ex-

• Ribadu may emerge candidate • PDP hides under insecurity to shift FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Barnabas Manyam,Yola

ecutive Committee members and all the chairmen of the PDP in 21 Local Government Areas in the state.

In a communiqué at the end of the meeting, the stakeholders threatened to boycott the primaries in Abuja.

The communiqué read in part: "In accordance with pages 6, 7 and 8 of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for Primary Election 2014 approved by NEC, all primary elections shall be held in their respective constituencies.

"The Adamawa PDP Stakeholders hereby resolve not to allow our delegates to participate in an illegal Primary Election outside the approved constituencies as planned by the renegade PDP members and their cohorts in Abuja.

"As regards insecurity and issues of insurgency in Adamawa State, the recent Primary Election for House of Assembly held on the 1st of December by PDP went on throughout the state successfully.

"Similarly, the opposition party, APC, held its primary

elections for State House of Assembly and Governorship from 3rd to 5th December without any incidence."

The stakeholders also faulted the suspension of Tukur which they described as arbitrary and unwarranted suspension.

They accused Amb. Hassan Tukur, a public servant and Principal Secretary to President Jonathan of undue interference in PDP affairs and of "continuously instigating the PDP National Chairman, Alh. Adamu Muazu to destabilise PDP in Adamawa State."

They asked the President to call the affected persons "to order and distance himself from the reign of impunity which will adversely affect the electoral fortunes of the party."

But it was reliably gathered that some forces in the Presidency are keen on conceding the governorship slot to the ex-EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

A top government source said: "The thinking in the Presidency is that Ribadu should be given the ticket.

"And we have discovered that not all stakeholders are

opposed to the shift of the primaries to Abuja. A group of Adamawa stakeholders led by Senator Jonathan Zwingina, Dr. Aliyu Ido Hong and Ali Gulak were at the National Headquarters of the PDP on Saturday on a solidarity visit for the party's decision to move the primaries to Abuja."

The National Publicity Secretary of PDP ,Chief Olisa Metuh, said in a statement in Abuja that : "Further to preparations for the 2015 general elections, the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has invited all major stakeholders in Borno and Yobe states to a crucial meeting at the National Secretariat in Abuja on Saturday, December 6 (yesterday), 2014.

"While stakeholders from Borno are to meet with the NWC at 12 noon, those from Yobe will meet with the party leadership at 2pm on the same day.

"Furthermore, the NWC announced that all primaries for Adamawa State will now be conducted in Abuja beginning from Sunday, December 7, 2014.

"The party leadership also announced that the Anambra National Assembly primaries earlier scheduled for yesterday has been postponed.

Gunmen invade Minna Prison, release 270 Inmates Jide Orintunsin, Minna GANG of armed men yesterday invaded Minna Medium Prison yard, broke into the cells and set 270 inmates free.

Three members of the gang, wearing Jalamia (long male dress) entered the prison at about 4:30pm when inmates are allowed out of their cell to have a walk within the compound, they over powered prison officials and moved into the record room, armoury room from where they carted away weapons and bullet proof vests.

Other members of the gang stood outside to ward off any attempt to disturb their operation which lasted about 10 minutes.

They attacked the guard on duty and he is currently receiving treatment in an unnamed hospital in the town.

It was gathered that as soon as the three-man gang entered the facility they started to fire gun shots into the air and ordered all the inmates out.

A Prison official who spoke in confidence said that two notorious armed robbers and other 268 inmates escaped with the gunmen.

He said:"We had 323 inmates in our various cells but we are left with only 53 in one of the cells. Our gateman was injured. They broke into our armoury and carted away weapons and bullet proof vests.

"From where I was I saw Osama, one of the notorious armed robbery suspects in the facility firing shots into the air. I want to believe his gang must have brought the gun and I saw him leading Ayo (Eze Ego), a dismissed Mopol out and other inmates."

As they fled, the armed men later snatched a Honda car and escaped with it.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Prison Service, Niger State command, Mallam Rabiu Shuaibu Mohammed, confirmed the incident, but said that it was an attempted jail break.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Amore, who visited the facility directed a massive man hunt for the inmates.

Ten of the fleeing inmates had been recaptured at press time.

He also said that a Sienna Toyota and four AK47 rifles believed to have been used by the gang were recovered.

Unknown gunmen had attacked the Ado Ekiti prison last Monday, freeing 49 inmates. One prison official was killed during the raid.

The gunmen arrived in Hilux vans shouting 'Allahu Akbar', and shooting.

On Friday, President Goodluck Jonathan fired the Comptroller General of Prisons, Alhaji Aminu Suleh, and replaced him with Dr. Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014

Team Airflow emerges NBCC Centenary Golf Classics winner

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FTER a keenly contested golf tournament, Team Airflow Engineering Ltd emerged as the winner at the just concluded maiden golf tournament organized under the auspices of the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC).

Tagged the NBCC Centenary Golf Classics, the tournament was part of celebrations marking the centenary of the NBCC, the main facilitator of trade relations between Nigeria and Britain.

The tournament, played over 18 holes at Ikeja Golf Club (1968) on Saturday 29th November, 2014 saw Airflow Engineering scoring a total of 104Stableford points, an aggregate of the best 3 scores of the 4-man team. Team Captain, LadiDurojaiye said: “we prepared very well for this tournament and went all out to win the trophy for our Team Sponsor. It's an honour to win such a prestigious tournament considering the quality of players on the field. NBCC has created a viable golf property”.

Team Digital Marketing Ltd was 2nd with 102 points while team Bentley Energy Ltd (100 pts),Frijay Consult Ltd (100 pts) and Meristem Securities (97 pts) were third, fourth and fifth respectively.

President of NBCC, Prince YemiAdefulu, obviously very excited, stated that the tournament would be played annually as it has proven to be a very good platform of interaction among businesses.

“We had high hopes for this tournament and I'm glad to report that we are very pleased with the outcome.

The NBCC is all about promoting trade via many platforms. This is the first time we have employed sport and golf has proven to be truly the sport of business”.

The NBCC Centenary Golf Classics was conceptualized and managed by I Golf MDC Ltd, a golf marketing and management company. The tournament was sponsored

by Staco Insurance Plc, Light Level Limited and data Sciences Limited.

SPORT EXTRA

Women's World Cup: Falcons draw U.S, Sweden

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IGERIA'S Falcons have been drawn in Group D, which is rated as one of the toughest groups, at next year's Women's World Cup in Canada.

Of all the pools drawn on Saturday, the hardest one to predict appears to be Group D, and the most highlyanticipated clash of the first round is likely to be USASweden.

The Nigeria female team will have to contend with former champions United States, Australia and Sweden.

The Final draw in Ottawa also gave a clearer picture of what the prestigious tournament will look like next summer. The 24 qualified teams discovered which nations they will face in the group stage, while their fans, who will travel from all over the globe to support their heroines, now know which stadiums in Canada they will need to attend.

During an hour-long ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History, punctuated by wonderful vocal, musical and cultural nd

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L R : Team Airflow Captain, Ladi Durojaiye, President NBCC, Prince Yemi Adefulu, Kunle Dada & Femi Ajala, receiving the winners' trophy.

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WORLD CUP Cisse celebrates Newcastle’s second goal against Chelsea

England Newcastle 2 - 1 Chelsea Hull City 0 - 0 West Brom Liverpool 0 - 0 Sunderland QPR 2 - 0 Burnley Stoke City 3 - 2 Arsenal Tottenham 0 - 0 Palace Spain Elche 0 - 2 Atletico Germany M'ngladbach 3 - 2 Hertha Cologne 1 - 2 Augsburg Hannover 1 - 3 Wolfsburg Paderborn 1 - 1 Freiburg Stuttgart 0 - 4 Schalke

performances showcasing the host nation, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, and Tatjana Haenni, FIFA Deputy Director of the Competitions Division and Head of Women's Football, determined the fate of competing countries.

The only thing that was certain prior to the decisive event was that Canada would be the seeded team in Group A and would play its first two matches in Edmonton. The

hosts now know that they will Group A lock horns with China PR in Canada the opening match on 6 June, China PR before taking on New Zealand New Zealand Netherlands and the Netherlands.

Reigning champions Japan Group B were placed in Group C and Germany will kick off their World Cup Cote d'Ivoire campaign in Vancouver, as Norway will section rivals Switzerland, Thailand Cameroon and Ecuador. Group C United States and Germany, Japan Switzerland who have both previously Cameroon lifted the trophy twice, will be Ecuador regarded as favourites to win

Group D United States Australia Sweden Nigeria Group E Brazil Korea Rep. Spain Costa Rica Group F France England Colombia Mexico

Naija Freestyle football holds in Lagos today

he final of the second in the series of the Naija Freestyle football competition, organised by Superforce FC of Lagos kicks off today at the Nigeria Port Authority football ground in Surulere, Chairman of the football club; Remi Olukoya

has said.

Olukoya said all necessary arrangements at making sure that the event goes as planned has been put in place.

He said the need to take kids of the street and engage in profitable venture like freestyle football and contribute to the

growth informed the staging of the event in Lagos Though the freestyle football competition is more exhibition of ball juggling and heading of football, it has a long standing part of major competition.

“If you are conversant with football competition al over the

world there are things that happened even before the event, one of those things is the football juggling and exhibition of other skills. You also find that with time this skills is becoming a major part of football competition in the world”, Olukoya said,

QUOTABLE On my part, I promise never to waiver or fail. I promise to energise and mobilise our teeming supporters in the next phase of this struggle.

I put myself to the task, knowing fully well that the foundation laid must never be destroyed but built upon.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3057

—Lagos APC gubernatorial candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode on his next line of action after winning the primaries.

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NTIL Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives, dropped out of the six-horse race to pick the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the presidential contest, it was hard to tell whether former military head of state, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, would have achieved runaway victory. I rooted for Hon Tambuwal for reasons I had spelt out in this place at least three times. I expected he would win or come near doing so for possessing believable democratic credentials, for being liberal and gregarious without being populist and pedestrian, and for being modern, expansive, intellectual, intuitive and full of solicitudes, as his fellow lawmakers can attest. But as I warned here last week, would the country still be ready for him some four years or more down the road?

Of the five aspirants left in the race, I think that notwithstanding his weaknesses and adeptness at courting controversies, Gen Buhari is today easily the man to beat. This will be his fourth try, and the last. His 2011 effort was his best attempt ever, physically, emotionally and logistically. However, I think he will run the 2015 race virtually in a state of suspended animation, buoyed up by other people’s emotional capital, logistical deployment and physical rigour.

The other four aspirants can’t hold the candle to Gen Buhari, notwithstanding his advanced age and sworn mendicancy.

Abubakar Atiku, for reasons best known to nature, is dogged by bad press, some of it actively cultivated and insinuated by his former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Nothing was ever really proved against him, but Chief Obasanjo and many others seem to believe that the former vice president lives above his means, procures favours with disarming malfeasance, and dispenses them equally mala fide. Chief Obasanjo is notorious for never proving any allegation he makes, and is in fact never interested in substantiating anything were he to be deliberately and violently prodded. The country has unfortunately embraced the same notoriety, against which Alhaji Atiku will constantly come a cropper. And given the military and political exigencies of the moment, it is doubtful whether the easy-going affirmation of Alhaji Atiku, his selfassuredness, his accessibility and consensual politics, and his talent for head-hunting excellent technocrats will avail much or persuade the electorate to give him a chance.

Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State holds a lot of promise both as a thinker and as an administrator. In Kano he has provided the state a safe pair of very steady hands, and has handled governance with the care, trust and even-handedness the constitution quintessentially envisages. He has rebuffed the xenophobia rage that lathers many parts of Nigeria, and promoted the kind of ethnic amity Nigerians have always dreamt of, and a commercial city like Kano cannot do without. But Kano has been to Governor Kwankwaso a cocoon, from which he had before his presidential race seldom ventured. His visage and inner qualities show him quite capable of ruling a complex society like Nigeria, but running a presidential race, let alone winning it, requires long preparation, venturing out to other parts of the country, and staying evocatively and munificently in public glare.

I am afraid I am not persuaded that either of the remaining two aspirants, to wit, the intrepid publisher Sam Nda-Isaiah and Governor Rochas Okorocha, is actually serious or prepared for the race; nor is it clear they can muster enough goodwill to run a race against such an implacable foe as President Goodluck Jonathan, or whether they have the calibre to trigger excitement and emotions in Nigerians seeking romantically for knights and miracles against the unrelenting harassment by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Nda-Isaiah is young, energetic and a gifted columnist. But as his columns indicate, he is also impatient, and often acerbic and cocksure of everything.

Owelle Okorocha is eloquent, empathetic

Buhari, APC and 2015 but sometimes grandiloquent. But either as governor or presidential aspirant, he is often detached and distracted, quite unable sometimes to match input with output, his modest talents with the lofty goals and accomplishments of his boyish dreams.

The APC presidential primary will in my opinion revolve around the challenges Nigeria is facing. The economy is not yet in a tailspin, but it is nearly spinning out of control, its managers lacking in the requisite initiative and discipline to rein it in. Insecurity is rife in all parts of the country, with emphasis on the insurgency in the Northeast. If it persist for much longer, there is no certainty the entire country will not be engulfed. Nigeria is at the moment truly distressed, buffeted on all sides by political rancour, socioeconomic paralysis and decay, deliberate attacks on the constitution and civil liberties by the government and secret service, and wearied by a terrible feeling of ennui that has lingered for more than four or five years. Few

doubt the incapacity of the Jonathan presidency to grapple with these monumental problems, and no one doubts his government’s absolute lack of discipline, motivation and ambition. Whatever doubts exist concern the ability of the APC to give us a candidate able to provide effective leadership at this trying moment.

The PDP has offered Dr Jonathan, and he is absolutely feckless.

Perhaps in quieter times, the talents of Alhaji Atiku, Governor Kwankwaso, Mr Nda-Isaiah and Owelle Okocha would recommend them suitably for the presidency. But at this time of pressing danger and mortal threat to national security, the electorate and the APC would be disposed to someone with a safe pair of hands than the dreamy and distracted Dr Jonathan has offered or is ever able to offer. It seems to me that the only man in the APC able to subdue the threats of the moment is the inflexible and emotionless general from Daura.

He has been head of state once, and he has had the experience of many battles from which he

never flinched. He has expressed his readiness, even covets the chance, to lead once again and re-establish order in this increasingly fissiparous country. The APC will give him the ticket, for he seems both prepared to do battle, and he appears the only one among the five aspirants able to face Dr Jonathan implacability for implacability, toe-to-toe, head-to-head, and if necessary, malice for malice.

The APC is not unduly finicky to worry that a Buhari presidency could become intractably distant from constitutional reality, a sentiment the country itself has expressed many times given the general’s antecedents. But if they desire to win the election, and if the country hankers after order and discipline without which development cannot take place, their best bet will be the retired army general. He often seems too set in his ways, surrounds himself with a coterie of often hawkish and insular officials and technocrats, and some of his ideas hark back to distant times and eras. But the party will assume the confidence to mould him and reorient him, and as a disciplined officer and leader, he will constantly remind himself of the supremacy of the constitution. These sentiments will be shared by the country, for the alternative is too grim to contemplate, an alternative replete with Jonathan induced failures, paralysis, indiscipline, mismanagement, cowardice, poor judgement, gaffes, unfathomable avarice, arrogance, nepotism and parochialism.

I think the choice before the APC is clear. They will have a few misgivings about the stubborn general, but the know which side their bread is buttered. As for the country in February 2015, it is presumed they understand they have reached a fork in the road, where the wrong turn will unleash catastrophic consequences. Unlike the APC which is expected to choose right in their presidential primary this week, the country may still entertain the view that it has the luxuries of time and choice. I don’t think they do. Indulgent and hardhearted as they may seem, they will probably, at the last moment, step back from the brink.

Yoruba leaders’ presumptuous OAU meeting and endorsement

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T is not certain why the Yoruba politicians and conservative opinion moulders who convened a Yoruba conference at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife two Fridays ago described their gathering as Yoruba Unity Conference. Nor is it clear why they needed to bring the conference down to a university in the Southwest simply to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan. However, in line with their customary indifference to the genuine feelings and agitations of the Yoruba, and their natural presumption of what the Yoruba want, they do not really owe us an explanation. For even if they offer us one, it is unlikely to be satisfactory. Indeed, the conference speaks very eloquently to the political decay afflicting the country, a decay that has not spared the Southwest.

The conferees, all of them PDP members or sympathisers, acknowledged that the meeting was convened by the Committee on Yoruba Progress, an organisation based suspiciously in Abuja and reportedly inspired by the eminent sybarite, Bode George, a former military governor of Ondo State, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) and now vicious hater of the political opposition.

Fittingly, the communiqué issued at the end of the conference addressed him as chairman of the conference. In his address, he rhapsodises the Yoruba, quite unmindful of just how painfully derelict he himself is of the values he so copiously attributes to the people he claims to represent. If nothing else, it was clear the purpose of the conference was not any altruistic reiteration of Yoruba unity or advancement of their manifest destiny, as they incoherently and inexpertly suggested in their communiqué.

Their aim was to position themselves openly, unashamedly and obscenely as PDP politicians to curry the guileful Dr Jonathan’s favour of.

Chief George was not unsurprisingly supported by other Southwest politicians purporting to be the leaders of the Yoruba.

•Fayose

•George

They include the garrulous Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, a man whose mind is so fevered that it is continuously agitated either by external and internal stimuli; Iyiola Omisore, the troubled and troubling candidate of the PDP in the Osun governorship race; Senator Femi Okunrounmu, the most ardent legitimiser of the recent barren national conference; and Ebenezer Babatope, the former progressive whose conscience has mummified over time into extreme conservatism and reaction. Others were Hon Mulikat AdeolaAkande, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and servile legislative opportunist, and a host of traditional rulers mouthing dubieties, small-time politicians eager to sell principles they never had, and vengeful elder statesmen roaming and hoofing the Southwest.

In their haste to organise a conference, they forgot that OAU would be writing their semester examinations, for which the conference would be a major disruption.

Naturally, a controversy has broken out about how the peeved students reacted to Dr Jonathan’s disruptive presence. Some students clearly demonstrated against the needless visit; but others, including some leaders of the students’ union, welcomed the president and

even gleefully posed for photographs with him.

It is unusual for OAU students’ union leaders to be so inured to progressivism as to feel honoured to take photographs with a president who has done his worst to destroy the constitution, undermine the rule of law, prove so impotent in the face of insurgency in the Northeast, fatally ignore the fate of the 219 abducted Chibok schoolgirls, and enunciate and implement series of divisively ethnic and sectarian policies. Did such odiousness escape the OAU student leaders? Second, the students justified their hobnobbing with the president on the excuse that they needed to place their protest against hike in school fees before him. If the president agrees to reduce the fees, could the students correspondingly get him to increase the subvention to their school?

The rot everywhere has obviously spread beyond the political class, a subset of which is the fractious, vindictive and retrogressive Yoruba political elite that convened in Ife simply to endorse Dr Jonathan and massage his ego. Even students now show a disturbing lack of sensitivity to the salient issues of their time and other grave issues with far-reaching implications for the future. Nigeria is in far worse trouble than its people imagine. And the Yoruba, alas, are in the deep end of the trouble. Those who gather at OAU two Fridays ago to endorse Dr Jonathan claim to be more Awoist than anybody else. But would Chief Awolowo in his mildest progressivism ever think of endorsing Dr Jonathan, especially after Chibok, invasion of National Assembly and harassment of the opposition? Would Chief Awolowo ever countenance a shift in election date as Ayo Adebanjo, an Afenifere chieftain has insensitively done?

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Website: www.thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE