December 18, 2011

Wamakko wins Sokoto PDP primary election

Fuel subsidy Pray for me, Jonathan begs Adeboye

Former sports Minister Suleiman kicks

Guardian publisher,

Alex Ibru laid to rest

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.06, No. 1977

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

N200.00

DECEMBER 18, 2011

BOKO HARAM

Explosion at bomb factory kills three Unknown gunmen kill policeman in fresh Kano attack Sect writes govt, vows more attacks over arrests

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T was another day of bloodletting across northern Nigeria Saturday as three suspected Boko Haram members were killed in Maiduguri following an explosion at a house where they were said to be coupling together an explosive device. The suspected bomb factory is located in Shuwari area of Maiduguri.

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano and Joseph Abiodun, Maiduguri

The incident happened on the same day unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked policemen on duty along Kumbotso rail line in Kano, killing a police constable and injuring another officer.

This latest attacks occurred barely 24 hours after suspected members of the Islamist sect killed three Nigeria Air Force officers, and injured one at the Nigerian Air Force Comprehensive Secondary School in Kano.

Three killed, one missing in fresh Jos attack –PAGE 5

•Continued on Page 4

Five burnt to death in Kogi car crash From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja

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Maiden Ibru, wife of the late Publisher of The Guardian, flanked by her children Tive and Toke at the funeral service held at his home town, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State yesterday

MULTIPLE car crash along AbujaLokoja-Okene highway yesterday, involving four vehicles, left a gory sight as five victims were burnt beyond recognition.

An eye witness at the scene of the accident told The Nation that the accident in the wee hours of Saturday involved two articulated vehicles and two Peugeot J5 buses conveying kolanuts and tomatoes to Kaduna State.

A truck, with registration number Plateau XB 326 BLD loaded with cement suddenly developed mechanical problems in the middle of the ever busy Abuja/Lokoja/Okene express way at night.

Continued on Page 5

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

IN OTHER WORDS “Democracy is not about infrastructure. If democracy is measured by infrastructure then South Africa should have continued under apartheid because most of the infrastructure in South Africa were put in place during the apartheid regime. If democracy were about infrastructure, the Germans should apologise to Hitler because Hilter developed Germany.”

Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Hassan Matthew Kukah, arguing that the success of our democracy cannot be reduced to just how much our infrastructure is transformed.

RECORD BREAKER The Guinness World Records has named Jyoti Amge, 18, the world’s shortest woman measuring 62.8 centimeters (24.7 inches)

“Removal of subsidy is like chasing your shadow. As long as our currency continues to devalue, it won’t work. If you remove the subsidy today at N160 to the dollar, if tomorrow it is N155 to the dollar, there will be subsidy. Unless your currency is stable, you cannot meet subsidy. It is like chasing your shadow.” “Professor Sam Aluko, former Chairman of National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) under General Sani Abacha, warning against moves to remove subsidy of fuel.”

WEEK NOTES And these also happened!

FORGER OF THE WEEK The police in Zamfara State during the week paraded the Personal Assistant to the state ANPP chairman, Alhaji Lawwali Abubakar Kaura, for allegedly forging the signature of the state governor, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari Abubakar and using it to award a whopping N2.25billion contract to an Abuja-based businessman, Chief Christy Onyechukwu.

The suspect, Umar Faruk, in collaboration with an ANPP local government chairmanship aspirant, Alhaji Aliyu Maizinari, awarded a fictitious contract for importation of rice, sugar, fertilizer and Toyota Camry cars for the state government to Chief

Onyechukwu, according to Zamfara State Police command spokesperson, ASP Sanusi Amiru.

Chief Onyechukwu, said police, gave the sum of N2million and a car in show of appreciation to the duo for securing the juicy contract.

Faruk, who is employed as personal assistant to the chairman of the state chapter of the ANPP, Alhaji Abubakar Kaura, forged the governor’s signature on a document for the contract award, directing the state’s commissioner of finance to effect the payment of the said money to the contractor, police said.

Alhaji Aliyu Maizinari, according to police, appended a

forged signature of the permanent secretary of Zamfara State Government House, conveying the purported governor’s directive to the finance ministry.

Faruk admitted collecting a Jaguar car as gift from the contractor, but said he did not collect any money. He also admitted to have collaborated with one Saudi Arabia-based Mohammed Nur and swindled the Zamfara State PHCN manager to the tune of N400, 000 under the pretence of allocating him a Hajj seat.

DATE OF THE WEEK The truth is sometimes stranger than the fiction you see at the movies. Deputies in Florida say a man stole a wom-

an’s car while they were on a date at a Tampa area movie theater.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that 27-year-old Michael Pratt told the woman he needed to get something from the car while they were watching the movie. She gave him her keys. When he didn’t return, she called him. Authorities say Pratt laughed, then told the woman he had stolen her car.

Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say he now faces grand theft charges. The victim, who is 35, tried contacting Pratt for two days before calling the sheriff’s office, according to the paper. Pratt called her four days after the movie outing and said he dumped the car in a Walmart parking lot in New Port Richey, authorities said.

Deputies found it and arrested Pratt on Wednesday. The car, a silver 2012 Ford Focus, was a rental.

According to the Times, Pratt previously served more than a year in prison for the same charge, as well as fraud, uttering forged bills and failing to return rental property.

He is in the Pasco County Jail.

No attorney was listed on Pratt’s jail records.

SAME SEX COUPLE OF THE WEEK. The Toronto, Canada Zoo has decided to intervene in the blossoming same-sex relationship between two resident penguins - Buddy and Pedro - separating them and encouraging them to mate.

Officials said it was necessary because the African penguins are an endangered species - but Pedro has yet to get lucky, despite his attempts at chasing female Thandiwey for the past few weeks.

Buddy paired off with Farai on November 19. He and

• Penguin, Buddy (c) sidles up to Pedro (r), as a female is left out in the cold

Pedro had shared a nest they built since coming to the zoo about a year ago, and their close bond had drawn jokes, headlines and various online spoof videos about the nature of their relationship.

Zoo curator Tom Mason described their bond as social not sexual - and said when the

birds rejoin the general population, they are likely to stay with their female matches and go their separate ways.

Buddy, who is 21, had a female mate for 10 years and produced some offspring before his partner died. Pedro, 10, has yet to produce any offspring.

NOTA BENE

Drink coffee, be happy?

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OME coffee drinkers may have a reason to smile - or keep smiling. Drinking several cups a day is linked with a lower risk of depression, according to a new study that looked only at women. The benefit seems to start at two cups a day. The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “We found that women with the highest coffee intake — those in the top 20% — had a 20% lower risk of developing depression,” says researcher Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH. “The top 20% drank about the equivalent of four cups of coffee per day.”

Ascherio is professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The link was not found for decaffeinated coffee.

Ascherio emphasizes that he found an association, not cause and effect. Depression affects twice as many women as men, he notes. About 20% of U.S. women will be affected during their lifetime. A mental health expert cautions that the research finding should be viewed cautiously. “I wouldn’t tell my patients to drink more caffeine based on this study,” says Michelle Riba, MD, associate director of the University of Michigan Depression Center. She reviewed the study but was not involved in it.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Column

The rising cost of social capital I

T was Samuel Johnson, a.k.a the Dean, who famously observed that a man should keep his friendship in constant repair.

Perhaps by sheer intuitive power, the famed essayist and celebrated gladiator of letters, was showing an uncommon insight into a social phenomenon that would engage the attention of the finest sociological minds of later generations.

Friendship is like a plant which requires careful cultivation, tending and nurturing. So is social capital. There is no agreement among sociologists about what this concept actually means.

From Pierre Bourdieu through Putnam to Francis Fukuyama, it has been the proverbial tale of blind men clutching at different parts of an elephant, and with each proclaiming his finding to be the real thing. But the elephant, a mean and viciously intelligent animal with a proverbially prodigious memory, is truly alive and with us.

Unlike its more visible and tangible counterparts—economic, cultural, political and intellectual capital—social capital is intangible. But it is real and pressing and it has always been with us since the evolution of human society. It is the vast associative and associational network of interpersonal and inter-group relationship which produces and promotes trust, confidence, fidelity and loyalty without which a society cannot move forward. It is based on healthy mutual respect and goodwill.

As the debate on the so-called subsidy stalemates into a nasty national confrontation with a dire potential for social conflagration, President Goodluck Jonathan must be wondering where he got it all wrong so drastically and within so short a time. Why is his message falling on deaf ears?

Why are majority of Nigerians and vital interest groups so implacably opposed to subsidy removal in a way that has never been seen in these climes before?

Why is Jonathan’s approval rating plummeting so catastrophically so soon after romping home with an emphatic triumph at the polls? This is a time when Jonathan would wish that he had a truly cerebral warrior with a high quotient of emotional intelligence like Samuel Johnson by his side. The Dean would have asked the man from Otueke to clear his mind of cant.

In all probability, and having lost the battle of ideas and the struggle to win the heart of the populace, the government will have its way through a resort to draconian and authoritarian measures. But that will be stretching an already stretchered social fabric to its snapping point. With the Boko Haram insurgents now directly threatening the military establishment, there is a clear and present danger to civil governance and the democratic process. All men and women of goodwill and unquestionable patriotism must gird their loins. There is fire on the mountain.

Call no man lucky until that day that he has carried his luck to the grave, says Euripides, the great Greek playwright and philosopher. With each passing day, it does appear as if Goodluck is not that lucky with political conjunctures. The social capital of the government is nil. This is another word for state bankruptcy which is always an invitation to na-

S

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Jonathan

tional disaster.

There is no trust or confidence between the governing and the governed; no mutual faith or affective cooperation. There is no bonding at the psychic base or a clear and transparent attempt to bridge the social and political contradictions which usually open up in societies suffering from the post traumatic stress of military rule.

To be sure and to be fairminded, this is not entirely of Jonathan’s making. He is carrying the can of past misrule. But he has compounded the situation by a feckless lack of moral imagination. Unfortunately, this is not the time for an overpromoted neophyte in governance. This is the time for a political wizard, a man or woman of exemplary social skills with a genius for friendship and an immense capacity for both vertical and horizontal networking across groups, classes and guilds. It calls for a miracle worker who will suture and bind the open sores of a fractured and atomistic society permanently at war with

itself.

Nigerians bitterly resent this subsidy thing because they perceive it as a product of political ambush and malicious afterthought. This is usually the graveyard of social capital. For many who saw the once shoeless boy from Otueke as one of their own, it is an epic breach of trust. There is nowhere in Jonathan’s pre-election trysts with the nation where the issue of subsidy removal came up for honourable or dishonourable mention. If he had the courage of his current conviction and had put subsidy removal as the main plank of his transformational agenda, he would almost certainly have gone down to a resounding defeat at the polls.

The fundamental error of this administration lies in its weak information management and inept handling of the politics of perception. By dredging up the whole subsidy palaver and its Trojan horse of failed expectations and aborted promises, it has aroused negative political memory in the

entire populace. Nigerians remember being embroiled for the past twenty-five years in a bitter struggle against hardened and unfeeling governments over the issue of subsidy removal.

The social and psychological costs have been immense. Their lot has worsened. The expectations have come to naught, From mass transit, rural electrification, the repair of broken down refineries to road constructions, it has been a litany of broken dreams. Some of the principal culprits are still very much around strutting and preening in their moral squalor, and without any sense of shame or remorse.

Poker-faced and backed by federal might, they taunt and mock their seething compatriots. In the light of this, the smart thing would have been for the Jonathan administration to come up with another term for punitive taxing of the populace at the expense of political and social justice. Subsidy is another word for official treachery and the collapse of social capital.

So when Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala begins to reel out incontrovertible statistics about the needs for the removal of subsidy as if she is addressing a Harvard seminar or a World Bank retreat, this is as unfeeling as it can get. Economics without emotional intelligence is a vain nullity. Human suffering cannot be reduced to statistical sleight of hand or sheer budget balancing. Let the budget go to hell.

Economics that is not in the service of humanity and the amelioration of their dire condition is unintelligent and unaffective political economy.

Reputed for her intelligence and Ivy League stellar credentials, Ms Okonjo-Iweala is widely admired and respected by many of

Okon takes charge of the Eagles

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KON has been enjoying an Indian summer since his pardon. Messages of goodwill have been pouring in from all over the country. Some of them pointedly accused snooper of being jealous of his boy’s national celebrity. Another warned snooper about ever attempting to do away with the voice of the people.

With such overblown praises and accolades ringing in his thick head, it was easy for Okon to relapse again into his evil ways. One morning, we asked Okon to prepare omelette. After waiting at the breakfast table for almost two hours, Okon barged in with a satanic smile.

“Oga, he be like say omelette o ma late”, he snorted.

“What is that supposed to mean?

“I don use dem egg to prepare Sukuniyan, the dish we dey whack for Calabar when Obong come go ceiling” “What’s my own with all that nonsense?” I screamed at the mad boy as a hunger pang seized me.

“Oga, Obong no be nonsense oo. Ten Yoruba obas and dem

(From the archives) yeye beads no fit try Obong”, the mad boy retorted turning the ethnic table on snooper and forcing a hasty retreat on him. At this point, snooper decided on a brilliant gamble.

“Okay Okon”, snooper began after a long pause. “Tomorrow, I want you to go and interview Herbert Orji”.

“Oga, that one na execution by roundabout method. If you wan kill me, make you say so” Okon replied with a quizzical gaze.

“What does that mean?” snooper snarled indignantly.

“Abi Orji no be the ibo man who dey whack Yoruba people under Iyana Ipaja bridge?” Okon asked with a worried smile.

“Rubbish. I’m talking of the Governor of Abia”, snooper clarified.

“Ah that one I fit go. I want touch base with Mother Excellency sef. Baba say make I give am Valentine card for old times sake, so I come tell baba to go siddon that we dey young people’s time.

So baba come ask make I take over dem eagles when I return”, the boy

said with a sheepish smile.

“Just like that? Is baba still in charge in this country?” I asked.

“Ah oga. Baba dey kampe. He dey digbidigbi. Dem say even when he dey talk for him sleep, Umaru dey take notes. The only man who dey give baba problem na one man dem dey call Baba Ghana Kenke. Oga wetin baba Ghana dey do for Nigerian government sef?”

“Okon, just shut up and tell me what you will do about the eagles” I snapped at the mad boy.

“Oga, that one no be problem.

First, I go bring back all our boys.

I go reach Togo bring back Adebayor. I go reach Ghana bring back Essien because him papa na one yeye Akwa Ibom man. Then I go bring back all dem Yoruba boys who dey play for Benin. That one dem call Toyosi who come beat referee for Akure and come vamoose I go put am for full back, make him just dey crush dem leg. Then I go bring Fash the bash as utility boxer…”

“Shut up Okon, that is war and not football”, I screamed at the mad boy.

“Oga, football na war”.

her compatriots. But others see her as a defender of special interests and the squalid status quo.

In other words, she is truly in a class of her own. She has never been part of the struggle to redefine the Nigerian reality or the Nigerian project itself and therefore lacks the moral and political authority to force her IMF shibboleths down the throat of affronted citizens. Intellectual capital cannot survive without social capital. It is bound to end up as a casualty of social attrition. Such is the rising cost of social capital in contemporary Nigeria.

But political ambush often begets political ambush. With Jonathan apparently hell bent on removing the imaginary subsidy, the endangered middle class across the country is in open revolt. There is an unexpected stiffening of the neck at the national assembly. Ethnic, class and cultural contradictions are playing out in that theatre and very soon we shall be reaping the ominous fruits.

In the West which gave Jonathan a measured nod of tactical acceptance while rooting for the old notion of regional integration, there is a palpable fear that federal disorder may once again imperil regional cohesion and hard won liberation. This is why once again the most strident and insistent calls for a Sovereign National Conference are emanating from their socially combustible quarters. If history is anything to go by, the calls for a Sovereign Conference are often a shorthand or sub-text for a radical loss of faith in the state of the union. It means that sovereign social capital is in critical shortage.

The North which is still smarting from what it considers Jonathan’s breach of faith in the zoning arrangement has responded with its own unique variant of political ambush. The formula combines religious and ideological volatility with economic and cultural combustibility. Even before the subsidy palaver, the Boko Haram has been engaged in an armed critique of the Nigerian state.

We have now suddenly found ourselves in a new phase of the crisis. The deliberate targeting of the military as a legitimate object of violent attack represents a dramatic and hair-raising escalation of the conflict. It raises the stakes in a manner that will test Jonathan’s deepest reserves of political skills. Whatever its past failings, the military is our last standing national institution. If it should fracture internally, we may be headed for a truly apocalyptic meltdown.

All bucks stop at the president’s desk. It is futile and unhelpful calling for his resignation at this point. Jonathan should avail himself of the opportunity of the Christmas break and the season of goodwill to go back to the drawing board. This is a critical moment for the country. The omens are scary. It is time to rekindle faith and trust in the nation and the national project.

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NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Wamakko wins Sokoto PDP primary election •Suleiman, Gada allege irregularities G OVERNOR Aliyu Wamakko yesterday emerged winner at the Sokoto State Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship primaries. He got 861 vote to defeat former Minister of Sports, Yusuf Suleiman and Senator Abubakar Umar Gada, both of whom had no vote.

However, the two camps of Gada and Suleiman have rejected the results alleging flagrant violation of acceptable processes.

Declaring the results, chairman of the five man Panel for Gubernatorial Primaries and Minister of State for Education, Chief Ezenwo Nyenson Wike, said the exercise was conducted under free, transparent and credible atmosphere.

The exercise was conducted at the famous Ginginya Memorial Stadium, Sokoto under tight security arrangement.

Speaking shortly after the announcement of the result, Wamakko thanked Allah for the exercise and commended the panel for complying with the party’s requirement on the conduct of the primaries towards the governorship election in 2012.

“You have done well on this onerous task and process of choosing the standard flag bearer of the party despite the challenges.

“I wish to also thank the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambawal, Senators and other legislators and party stalwarts at all levels for the resilience and efforts at ensuring unity of the party in the state.

Reacting to the outcome of the exercise, the DirectorGeneral of Senator Gada’s

From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto and Tony Akowe, Kaduna

Campaign Organisation and former Director-General of NITT, Dr. Mahe Dange, said as far as they were con-

cerned, there was no primary election in the state, adding that ‘’ we have rejected the exercise and the outcome in totality. It was full of falsehood.

Also reacting separately

to the outcome of the exercise on behalf of former Minister of Sport’s camp, former Ambassador to Morocco, Ladan Shuni in a letter to the election Panel alleged out that ‘’ members of our party

have had their membership cards confiscated, all wards registers across the councils in the state forcefully collected and taken away by the state government and party officials in contravention of extant rules that are supposed to be transparent.’’

•Governor Murtala Nyako and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar during a courtesy call by Vice President Namadi Sambo on Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha in his palace in Yola recently

Kuje Prison beefs up security over Ndume, others HEAVY security cordon has been formed around the Kuje Prison, in the Federal Capital Territory, which for now, houses some suspects on trial for terrorism.

They are Senator Ali Ndume, Charles Okah(younger brother of the

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From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Henry Okah), Obi Nwabueze, Edmund Ebiware and Tiemkemfa Francis Osvwo.

Already a fact-finding

team raised on the orders of Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja has visited the prison over alleged lock up of Charles Okah by prison warders when his cell was fumigated on December 9.

The fumigation was as a result of the discovery of a

scorpion in Okah’s cell.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the detention of the suspected backers of terrorists has heightened tension in the prison.

It was learnt that apart from locking up and restricting the movement of the sus-

Boko Haram: Explosion at bomb factory kills three •Continued from Page 1 The Maiduguri blast which eyewitnesses described as “heavy” occurred around 9am. Residents living close to the scene said they heard a loud bang which was followed by thick smoke.

A resident who simply identified himself as Ba'ina and who lives in Shehuri said: “I was preparing to go to the shop when I heard a loud bang. It was scary so I quickly ran back into my house.”

Men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) quickly cordoned off the area. The JTF views the discovery of the bomb factory as a breakthrough because daily bomb explosions have become the norm in Maiduguri and its environs in the last few months JTF Spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Ifijeh

Ladan who is also the Danmasanin Shuni and DG Campaign Organsiation of Yusuf Suleiman said’’ we write to formerly convey to your Committee our objection to the way and manner the whole process are being handled’’ However, scores of party members were seen yesterday jubilating in the streets of Sokoto after Wamakko was announced winner.

Meanwhile, the North West zonal office of PDP in Kaduna has intervened in the crisis in the Sokoto chapter of the party. The party said it was not aware of the existence of a parallel executive of the party in the state even as the party conducted its governorship primaries yesterday.

In a statement by the zonal secretary, Baba Lawal Aliyu, the party said the composition of another executive and the opening of another secretariat was in total violation of the party’s constitution, pointing out that it recognises only the substantive executive which has been in place in the state.

He said that the party has set up a committee to investigate the issue with a view to resolving the problem, adding that any member found to be involved in such an act will be sanctioned.

Mohammed, who confirmed the blast at a press briefing in Maiduguri said his men were quickly drafted to the scene where they discovered that a house inhabited by unidentified suspected Boko Haram members had exploded.

Mohammed said investigations showed that the house was being used by the sect as a major factory for the production of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

He added that three mutilated corpses of suspected sect members responsible for manning the factory were found inside the house.

“The suspects were killed in the process of making an IED for deployment. The house was equally destroyed by the explosion. Efforts are on to track down other suspects and the owner of the house,” he said.

Explosive items which

the JTF recovered from the scene of the blast, and which were displayed at the press briefing include three big drums filled with readymade explosives connected with wires, large quantity of unused explosive materials, three AK 47 riffles, bomb timers, a laptop and other items use in making bombs.

Available information on the Kano incident indicates the suspects opened fire on policemen who were on duty at a checkpoint at about 10 pm. Kano State Police spokesman, Magaji Majia Musa, confirmed the incident, saying “some unknown gunmen suddenly attacked our police men who were at a stop and search check point at about 10 pm.

The gunmen opened fire on them, leading to the death of a police constabulary, while another police officer sustained injury.”

The injured police officer who is currently on admission in a hospital in the metropolis, is said to be in a critical condition as doctor are battling to save his life.

Musa who claimed that the Police Command was on top of the situation, said investigation was on to unmask those behind the incident, pointing out they are yet to establish whether the attackers were members of the Boko Haram sect.

Following the incidents on Friday and Saturday, residents of the ancient city of Kano have been gripped with fear over where their next attack would take place.

Security has been beefed up in major areas of the ancient city, including the Government House, where fiercelooking, gun-totting mobile policemen are stationed at strategic positions. As at the

time of filing this report no arrest has been made.

In a related development, the Boko Haram sect on Saturday threatened to launch attacks in Kano if the security services continue to arrest its members.

Sect leader Abubakar Shekau claimed in the letter sent to the state government and the media that the group's members have been arrested over the past five months on the pretext that they were thieves and armed robbers.

"We are therefore compelled to write this letter to inform Kano residents of this development so that when we launch attacks in the city as we have been doing in Maiduguri, they should not blame us," Shekau said in a letter emailed from an address previously used by the sect.

pects, the Deputy Controller of Prison in charge of the yard, Mr. Mohammed Hussein, has also ordered the beefing up of security.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said apart from armed prison guards on duty, other security agencies have been on surveillance within the prison vicinity.

He said: “We have reinforced security in Kuje Prison. The security is now tight both within and outside the prison with the collaboration of other security agencies.

“We know the kind of suspects with us; we cannot take things for granted. The coming of Ndume who is standing trial over alleged relationship with Boko Haram has made extra security measures necessary.

“Even inmates are concerned over the presence of these suspects in the prison.

No one wants Boko Haram to invade the prison.

“Look at what happened at the Air Force School in Kano State. We just have to be pre-emptive.

The source said one of the steps the prison has taken is to deny suspects access to the use of handset.

“Some of them are also isolated from other inmates to avoid any ‘unrest’ in the prison,” the source added.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

News

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Protesters, police clash over Lekki Expressway toll A

N otherwise peaceful protest embarked upon by residents of Lekki over the planned tolling of the Lekki Toll gate, turned awry yesterday after suspected hoodlums took on the protesters prompting policemen to disperse the crowd of protesters.

The protest rally which was led by the chairman of the Lekki Phase 1 Residents Association, Chief Wole Akala began from the Epe end of the road in the early hours of yesterday.

The rally tagged: “Occupy Toll Gate” Was meant to be a sit in protest near the Lekki Toll Plaza by residents ahead of the planned commencement of tolling tomorrow by the Lekki Concessioning Company (LCC) with the active collaboration of the state government.

The residents had mobilised men and materials including the Lekki Peninsula Phase 1 Residents Association Security Patrol vehicle with the plate number, XS611 BDG which they parked at strategic locations. The protesters carried food, drinks and plac-

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

ards. Most of them wore white t-shirts with the inscription: “NOTTOLA” meaning “No To Tolling On Lekki Axis!” also carried different placards which bore the following messages: “Scrap Lekki Toll”, “ ”Three Tolls in one Local Government Area?

Madness!!!”, “No To Fencing!”, ““No To Privatisation”, “No Payment For Unfinished Road!!!”

However, as the protest began to gather steam, a team of policemen arrested Akala at the Lekki Phase 1 roundabout and drove him away in a Lagos State Environment Task Force

Black-maria vehicle with plate number LA76 BA01.

Amidst shouts of “No More Toll gate”,” All we’re saying, no more tollgates!”

“Shoot your guns!” the protest rally matched towards the tollgate just as the police had a hectic time controlling the crowd.

One of the protesters, Mr. Sotade Olayinka, coor-

It was politically motivated —Lagos State govt

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HE Lagos State government yesterday reacted to the protest saying it smacked of political sponsorship.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba said while it is the fundamental right of the citizens to protest, there should never be recourse to violence.

While expressing regrets that some journalists and media organisations were affected by the fracas which reportedly broke out at the scene of the protest, the Commissioner noted that reports reaching the State Government indicated that the law enforcement agents had to step in to prevent a breakdown of law and order when alleged thugs arrived the scene and fighting broke out.

According to the Commissioner, the Police stepped in to restore law and order and have made some arrests including a top Peoples Democratic Party candidate

who contested and lost during the last general elections, a development which showed that the protest itself was politically motivated.

Mr. Ibirogba cautioned against the politicization of every issue including developmental issues with clear implications for the welfare of the people and the image of the country as a whole.

He said broad based consultations had been carried out and several conditions set by the people in the Lekki axis including the provision of alternative routes and provision of high capacity buses had been met before an earlier suspension on tolling was lifted.

The State Government, Mr Ibirogba said, would probe deep into the issue and prosecute masterminds of the reported violence during the protest.

dinator, Youth Movement, said: “As a government you cannot ignorantly conclude that only multi-millionaires are living along this route. Over 50 per cent of the people living here are not millionaires. If you take N500 from a motor vehicle everyday, from 50, 000 commercial motor vehicles on this route is N25millioneveryday. In a month it is N750million. In a year it is N9billion. It means that in six years you would have made N54billion. And you have concessioned this road for 30 years.”

Echoing similar sentiments, ace Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, also a resident in the neighbourhood said: “We do not want any tolling on this road at all because we do not have an alternative route to follow. The so-called alternative route belongs to Oniru.

When we tried to pass there when they were doing this road, it was cordoned off, it was blocked. And there are too many lanes in here for people to pass through there.

Speaking earlier, the DPO of Elemoro Police Division, Ywamhi Bello, said he didn’t get any official notification on the protest and only heard from the grapevine that a protest was in the offing.

“We didn’t get any official notification for the protest but only heard from the grapevine as such we had to mobilise our men to be

here to prevent a breach of peace”, he said.

Pressed further, he said: “While we are not against people protesting, we shall not condone a situation where the protesters may try to infringe on the right of others by blocking the right of way. As you are aware, according to the Road Traffic Act, nobody has a right to block the right of way. We are ground to forestall any situation where this protest may be hijacked by hoodlums.

Once this happens our men will swing into action. But other than that, we will just observe.”

Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa, a lawyer and member of the Lekki Residents Association, who had sent a text message on Friday on the protest said: “We had already spread mats near the kerbs. We didn’t go anywhere near the toll gate.

There were thugs allegedly recruited by LCC who infiltrated our midst and began to beat up our members. And the police decided to seize the opportunity by firing live bullets into the air. And they started beating up our members. It was thereafter police started shooting live bullets into the crowd.

Two of our members we are lying critically ill now.

We don’t know their fate as I speak to you.” Among those arrested was Mr. Chima Nweze, a community in Lekki Phase 1.

Five burnt to death in Kogi car crash •Continued from Page 1

Representative of President, Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Yinka Akande (left) with Director General/Chief Executive, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Ikemefuna Odumodu behind them is Head, Public Relation, SON, Mr, Mathias Bassey at a-day sensitization on Review of SONCAP ''Towards Accelerated Clearance of Goods'' organized by Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) held yesterday at MAN house Ikeja, Lagos.

Photo: Isaac Jimoh Ayodele.

The two J5 buses from the South and heading for Kaduna were said to have ran into the motionless trailer from behind.

Upon hitting the truck, the buses exploded in flames, killing and burning beyond recognition five of the occupants. Another vehicle with registration number Kebbi XA 246 DRD ran into the trailer.

The hazy whether, eyewitnesses said, could be

the factor that caused the accident as the vehicles could not sight the motionless truck from distance.

Sources also said two survivors are presently in a critical condition in one of the hospitals in Lokoja.

Meanwhile, members of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Kogi State Command, were seen at the scene of the multiple accident trying to control vehicles and help remove the burnt bodies from the buses.

Pray for me, Jonathan begs Adeboye

Three killed, one missing in fresh Jos attack

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged the church to support his transformation agenda.

He also asked for the backing of Nigerians in his plan to remove fuel subsidy.

The President who spoke yesterday through the Minister of Labour and Productivity,Mr.Emeka Nwogwu at this year’s Holy Ghost Congress at the Redeemed City,Ogun State, said “I am guided by biblical principles of transparency in leadership. Government is pursuing the agenda of re-

By Nneka Nwaneri

gaining government trust in the eyes of the people through his security agenda to foster unity and peace".

Jonathan pleaded with the General Overseer GO of the Redeemed Christain Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye to pray for him and thanked the church and the GO for their support during the April presidential election which he won.

He said his victory was made possible through the prayers of Adeboye.

Nwogwu said the president won't let Nigeria and Nigerians down as he takes every decision with them in mind.

"A new thing has happened in Nigeria because your brother and friend, the president shares your vision,”the minister said.

Adeboye gave the theme for the first 2012 Holy Ghost Service in January,: 'A New Alter to the Lord'.

He prayed for the countryand expressed optimism that Nigeria would be better and “experience a new dawn.”

A total of 30 babies: 15 boys and 15 girls were born during the one week convention.

Dignitaries at the service included the wives of the Ogun State governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun;that of Lagos State, Dame Abimbola Fashola; and deputy governor of Lagos State,Mrs Adejoke Adefulire-Orelope, who implored religious leaders to keep praying for leaders.

Also present were delegates from different parts of the world.

HREE persons were reported killed in an early morning attack yesterday in Jwol and Foron all in Riyom local government area of Plateau State.

Some unknown attackers were said to have invaded the villages setting numerous houses ablaze while residents of the houses were shot as they were trying to escape from their houses.

According to the Director, Stefanos Foundation, (a faith based foundation) Mark Lipdo some people

From Yusufu Aminu , JOS

set fire “on surrounding bushes in Jwol, when the people in the area came out to put off the fire, they were shot at and two were killed while a body is still missing”.

He further confirmed that one other person was also killed in Foron in a separate night attack.

Investigation further revealed that the name of the missing person in the Jwol attack is Mr. Dung Danjuma.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

News

2012 budget : Uduaghan promises to consolidate development

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ELTA State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has assured that his 2012 budget consolidate on the infrastructure programme of his government in the last four years.

The governor while presenting the 2012 budget proposal of N383.39bn maintained that his administration will also strive with its diversification strategy which it began since coming into office by reducing overdependence on monthly allocation.

According to him, “The component of the budget proposal is made up of N169.82bn or 44.30% for Recurrent Expenditure and N213.57bn or 52.31% for Capital Expenditure.

The year 2012 budget proposal shows an aggregate increase of N21.08bn or 5.94% when compared to the year 2011 approved budget of N361.90bn.”

Uduaghan explained that the budget will make a difference in the lives of the people of Delta, adding that: “we have very good reasons to envision that this budget is capable of continuing to deepen the successful initiatives to reduce poverty and promote the general welfare of our people. Right from the beginning, the

burning passion of this administration has been to initiate changes not seen since the creation of the state and indeed in any other part of the country. It began with the articulation of our vision to diversify the economy of the state otherwise known, as building Delta without oil.

This is anchored on our three point agenda of Peace

and Security, Human Capital and Infrastructure Development.”

He explained that his administration has done enough work to ensure that the budget succeeds in its stated goals, saying: “The 2012 budget is predicated on result oriented strategies.

Government is moving away from the usual budget practices of mere allocation of

figures to a practical, structured, and robust approach that can sustain development. This budget, therefore, is crafted to address the problems that have confronted us over the years.”

He stated that the budget would help attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) which will in turn increase its revenue base.

Students to vie for Amosun Mathematics prize From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

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HE maiden edition of Senator Ibikunle Amosun Mathematics Challenge (SLAMAC 2012) is to begin among all secondary schools in Ogun State tomorrow.

The annual Mathematics competition is for all the 20 local government areas in the state and it is to start with the distribution of forms, posters, competition handbook and a range of classroom resources to support teachers in preparing their students for the competition.

According to the statement by the project co-ordinator, Tunde Solarin, the competition is free and open to both private and public secondary schools in the state. The statement said “The local government level competition is slated for January 25th, 2012 while the zonal finals and grand finale comes up on February 5th and 12th.”

The competition is the initiative of Samuel. O. Solarin, the chief whip of the state house of assembly and is aimed at mobilising support for the free education programme of the governor. It is in two categories, the senior category is for students in second year of the senior secondary schools while the junior is for students in J.S 3. Prizes to be won include laptop, computer sets, books, trophy, medals and cash. Teachers are also to receive cash prizes.

Isan Ekiti holds Unity Day

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•L-R: Corp Marshal, Fedaral Road Safety Commission, Osita Chidoka with National President, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Najeem Yasin during the stakeholders meeting on Accident Free Road Festive Period held in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO ABAYOMI FAYESE

HE 19th Isan-Ekiti Unity Day was held yesterday at St. Martins Catholic Primary School field, Isan-Ekiti.

A N200 million Ultra-modern palace fund was also launched with Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Ekiti State Governor in attendance with his wife Erelu Bisi Fayemi and the entire cabinet and legislative members of the state.

In his address, the Governor stated that his position must necessarily compel him to see the entire state as his constituency, he noted his readiness to partner as a biological son of the town in efforts to develop the town.

In their separate addresses, the Onisan of Isan-Ekiti, His Royal majesty, Oba Sunday Owolabi Ajiboye and President of Isan Progressive Union (IPU), Chief Sunday Babalola Ajulo, urged indigenes of the town to pick the gauntlet of developing the town, stating various projects the Union is set to embark on for the town’s progress.

Amosun commiserates with Ringim

‘Nigeria needs more Alex Ibrus’ O

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HE publisher of The Guardian, Mr. Alex Ibru was laid to rest in his Agbarha-Otor home town, Delta State yesterday with the Primate of the Anglican Communion, the Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh saying Nigeria required more true servant leaders like the deceased to forge ahead.

Okoh at the funeral service

...as The Guardian Publisher is laid to rest From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

for Mr.Ibru at the All Saints Cathedral, Ughelli, described him as a devoted and dedicated member of the Anglican Communion, who saw himself as God’s treasurer because of his belief that whatever riches that were

given to him by God is trust for humanity.

Testifying to Mr.Ibru’s character, the primate said: “Alexander lbru was a true servant leader and that he exhibited this while he was minister and in other offices he held across the country. A leader who always denied himself at the expense of others

Oil subsidy removal: Osun ACN warns Jonathan of consequences

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria in Osun State yesterday warned the federal government of the consequences of its planned removal of fuel subsidy.

The party told the Peoples Democratic Party-led FG to be prepared to take full responsibility for the action.

Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, Osun State capital, the state Director of Research and Strategy of ACN, Mr..

Kunle Oyatomi, described the proposed action of the Federal government as an attempt to destabilize Nigeria and further impoverish the people.

The party blamed President Jonathan for his stand on the matter despite Nigerians’ outcry against the action.

Expressing worries on the policy it described as antipeople of the PDP led federal government, the Osun State ACN called on the National Assembly not to support the President Jonathan and his economic team in going

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

against the interest of Nigerian people.

The party maintained that the proposed removal of oil subsidy would cause severe inflationary spiral and reduce the quality of lives of many Nigerians, pointing out that about 100 percent fuel price increase would result from the exercise which would in turn devalues naira in the international market.

“The magnitude of social, economic and political insecurity that this proposed fuel price increase will cause can overwhelm the PDP led federal government and throw the country into avoidable chaos.

“This is not in the best interest of tens of millions of Nigerians who are already living below poverty level.

Like other patriots the people of Osun state are totally opposed to this plan of socalled fuel subsidy removal

because it will have the effect of destabilizing the country.

“The proposed action is a fraudulent creation designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The ACN in Osun state will like to add its voice to the numerous pieces of advice and warnings which patriotic Nigerians have been giving the PDP led federal government, that subsidy removal will do more harm than good to Nigeria and Nigerians at this point in time.”

“Nigeria as a top 10 oil producer in the world has no business importing fuel in the first instance but for the corruption which the PDP has incorporated into the system that has made local production of fuel impossible or unattractive. Nigerians are as determined to resist this illadvised anti people policy as the government seems also determined to increase fuel price in the guise of fuel subsidy removal,” the party said.

and that is the legacy he has left behind for us to emulate.”

Governor Emmanuel Udaughan of Delta State, former governor of Edo State Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode and Senator Pius Ehwerido, representing Delta Central charged Nigerians to emulate the exemplary life of the deceased.

Governor Uduaghan said lbru lived a fulfilled life and for such a person to have gone too soon is painful to Nigeria.

Chief John Odigie Oyegun said the death ofMr.lbru is a colossal loss not only to the Urhobo nation or Delta State but to the nation at large. He described him as a rare gem and a humble Christian.

The senator representing Delta Central and South Senatorial Districts Senator Pius Ehwerido and Senator James Manager while exalting the exemplary life of Dr. Alex lbru they said he is a blazer of media industry and he was also an industrialist, an articulated one.

Deacon Onosode said.Mr.lbru was an extra ordinary person, a symbol of humility and hard work whose impact was felt in the larger society before his demise.

Chief Oskar lbru, nephew of the deceased said: “he has left us behind to continue from where he has stopped. l noticed something from the life that he has lived that it is not how far but how well you have been able to use your time while alive”.

GUN State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has commiserated with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Hafiz Ringim and President Goodluck Jonathan over the death of Mr. Ganiyu Dawodu, a Deputy Inspector General of Police.

Dawodu, was until his death in charge of Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID). In a statement by Mrs Funmi Wakama, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Governor, Amosun described the late Dawodu as a fine officer who was committed to the service of his father land.

“Nigeria has lost a foremost police officer whose experience and dedication to duties will be sorely missed, especially at this time when the services of men like him are needed to contain the security challenges confronting the nation,” the governor said.Amosun expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family members of the late DIG. He prayed to God to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss and grant the departed soul eternal rest.

Community protests alleged marginalization

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HEAD of the Local Government election in Akwa Ibom State slated for the first quarter of 2012, stakeholders from the East Itam- Northern geo-political zone in Itu Local Government Area of the State over the weekend decried the marginalization of the community, insisting on the return of chairmanship slot to the area.

The 31 councils are currently administered by interim regimes that would oversee transition to elected grassroots government early next year.

Former Commissioner for Education in the old Cross River State, Prof. Effanga James Usua, who convened the meeting to address, described as painful, the marginalization of the area in every political dispensation and according to Usua, the essence was to chart a way forward for the area long shielded from political positions over the years. The meeting held at Nkim Itam primary school.

Have Your Say What is your view on the warning by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan that a revolution could happen in Nigeria because of youth unemployment?

— Send SMS with full name and location before Wednesday to 08074473182 Responses to previous week’s question are on pages 52

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

News

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governors felicitate Nigeria spent N720m Northern with Buhari at 69 on Hajj, says Sultan T From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

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HE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar said yesterday that Nigerian pilgrims to the 2011 hajj exercise paid a whopping $4.5 million (About N720million) to aviation agencies for the exercise.

Speaking while commissioning the new Hajj terminal at the Kaduna Airport, the Sultan said that the 4.5 million dollars paid by Nigerian Moslems was in spite of the government subsidy for hajj fares.

According to him, “the 2011 hajj exercise, those Moslems that went for the hajj paid a whopping $4.5 million to aviation agencies as fees. We are also contributing our quota to the development of the aviation sector because we

•Lauds aviation minister over BASA agreement From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

pay dues.

“This amount is as a result of the percentage the government reduced.

Instead of paying the whole amount, we had subsidy and yet, we still paid $4.5 million. So, the Muslim community too is contributing to the development of aviation agencies”.

The Sultan who commended the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah for successfully fighting the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Britain however told the minister to tighten her belt as more problems are likely to come her way in the near

future.

He told the minister that “we have seen how you started; not just by renovating this building, but we have seen some hard issues that you have tackled, especially the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between our country and other countries across the world.

“We must place it on record that Nigeria is Nigeria and any Nigerian servant must place Nigeria first before any other thing.

We have seen that you have placed Nigeria first before any other thing and have taken up Nigerian issues and put them on the front burner.

“We want to commend

•Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (left) addressing labour leaders and civil servants at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan with him are his Chief of Staff Dr. Adeolu Akande (centre) and the Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu.

PHOTO: OYO STATE GOVERNMENT HOUSE

you for courage and urge you to tighten your belt the more because we believe that more and more will be coming your way. More problems will come up and by the grace of Almighty God whom I believe that you believe in, He will see you through.

“We are proud of your achievement and we want to thank you for renovating this building and like Oliver Twist, we urge you to do the same in the other 11 hajj terminal across the country. That may not be at a go because we know that you have constraints and you have priorities.

“For you to singlehandedly pick this one out, a hajj terminal of all places shows that you are a true Nigerian who believe in equity. Being a Christian, you felt that it was your duty to give your best to all sectors of the society. The Muslim community in Nigeria is very pleased with this development. We have done our part.”

Speaking with newsmen after the commissioning, the minister said the ministry has a planned programme for the rehabilitation and renovation of facilities in the nation’s airport, pointing out that Nigerians deserve the best facilities whenever they are travelling.

The minister who was however silent on the cost of renovating the hajj terminal at the Kaduna Airport said that other hajj terminals across the country will also be renovated as well as all facilities in the nation’s airports.

INEC will deliver credible elections in 2015, says Jega

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HE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega has promised that the Commission will take every step possible to ensure free, fair and credible general elections in 2015.

Jega, who spoke yesterday through the Chairman Information and Publicity Committee of INEC, Adedeji Soyebi at a post election workshop in Kaduna for journalists covering INEC, also assured that there would be transparent electoral process in the remaining rescheduled governorship elections.

According to him, the upcoming governorship elections in some states would be test cases for the Commission, stressing that all arrangements have been made to ensure further

From Augustine Ehikioya, Yenagoa and Isaac Ombe, Abuja

improvement on the last elections.

He said: “Elections to be conducted from now till the next general elections in 2015 will be progressively better than preceding ones. We are also determined that by 2015, INEC would have been restructured and professionalised, and processes put in place to institutionalize the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in our country.”

Also, the Head of Department of Mass Communications, University of Maiduguri, Prof. Umaru Pate in a paper he presented said the media as part of the political structure of the society must operate within economic and political parameters to

facilitate and strengthen the processes of elections.

He pointed out that there are some specific responsibilities that are most appropriately discharged by the media in consolidating the electoral process.

Speaking earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the INEC Press Corps, Jude Opara thanked INEC and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for facilitating the workshop, which he said will enhance the productivity of the journalists reporting electoral activities.

The commission has reechoed its preparedness to use the law against persons that may go against the electoral law.

Mr. Emmanuel Omenga, INEC national Director of Public Affairs in an interactive

session with journalists in Yenagoa said that only 200,000 out of the 870,000 offenders of multiple registration in the last April elections have been prosecuted.

He said “We have a mechanism for detecting multiple registration because we want to sanitise the register to make it credible and less accessible to manipulation by anybody” He warned that INEC will descend heavily on any of its staff being used by desperate politicians to perpetrate fraud during the exercise.

According to him, the number of prosecutions was few because INEC is over stressed, and this made the Commission to contact members of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to assist.

HE Northern Governors Forum (NGF) has congratulated former Head of State, Major- Gen Muhammadu Buhari on his 69th birthday. They stated that the former leader and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has lived a disciplined and purposeful life.

Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu said Gen Buhari excelled in his chosen career and went on to preside over Africa’s most populous nation, during which period the country witnessed tremendous growth and development.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, Governor Aliyu said as Head of State, Gen Buhari demonstrated uncommon courage, vision and exemplary leadership resulting in development of critical sectors of the nation’s economy.

According to the statement, “There is no gainsaying the fact that General Buhari left legacies in all the sectors of the economy with marked transparency and accountability in the management of resources.

“The former military leader reinforced this commitment when he did excellently well as Chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund”, the statement added.

Aliyu said the people of the 19 Northern states were proud to be associated with the achievements of the former military leader who attained the age of 69 years yesterday.

He then prayed God to grant Gen Buhari excellent health, courage and many more years of selfless service to the country and humanity.

Legal Aid decries poor funding •To open centres in LGAs From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

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HE Director-General of Legal Aid Council (LAC), Mrs. Joy Bob-Manuel has decried poor funding of the organization, which, she noted is affecting the operations of the council.

She hinted this at a stakeholders’ conference on ‘legal aid national transformation through access to justice’, in Abuja.

She, however, noted that by the LAC amended Act, the Council could receive funds from the members of the public to enable it reach out to the police stations across the country.

Mrs. Bob-Manuel however pointed out that it is the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) that decides which case goes to the court and the ones that cannot after looking at the reports brought to him.

She stressed the need to engage more lawyers to effectively prosecute cases brought before the council in addition to the 80 lawyers in the services of LAC.

Bayelsa holds environmental summit •Sylva decries lack of bio-diversity

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From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

UT to tackle the teething environmental challenges in Bayelsa State, Governor Timipre Sylva yesterday launched the state’s first environmental submit as he decries the gradual disappearance of biodiversity.

The event which was tagged ‘maiden summit on the environment and the launching of the Bayelsa State Fresh Air Initiative/Climate change Policy’, was described by the governor as a dream fulfilled. He noted that the importance of the environment should spur all stakeholders’ interest in how the environment should be sustained, noting that without the environment there won’t be food, and death would be the order of the day.

He said, “So it is very important for us to pay close attention to our environment especially in the Niger Delta region which is the third largest Delta in the world”, adding that “if we do not protect the Niger Delta environment, it may be the first to disappear”.

In his speech, Mr. Robet Enogha , the Commissioner for Environment, who described the problem of the environment in the Niger Delta as the main problem of the people noted that the initiative is being considered in line with the fresh air transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign days.

The outcome of the summit is expected to form the environmental policy of the state government.

Ammasco trains 200 auto technicians

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MMASCO International Limited, the leading engine lubricants manufacturer in the North has trained 200 auto technicians otherwise known as car mechanics in the proper use of lubricants and proper diagnosis of engine problems related to sub-standard or inappropriate lubricants.

The series of training workshops which was held in Kano and Kaduna drew car mechanics from several parts of the North and was facilitated by trainers from Lubrizol America, a globally renowned oil and gas lubrication engineering company and the Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), North Branch.

Justifying the training, the company’s Managing Director Mr. Babalola said: “The recent training of auto mechanics is a demonstration of the company’s commitment to maintaining high quality standards both in the manufacture of lubricants and in other areas concerning the industry.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

News

Fuel subsidy: Jonathan meets NLC, others on Tuesday A

S part of his ongoing consultations on the proposed removal of fuel subsidy, President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to meet with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other labour leaders on Tuesday.

According to findings, the date has been communicated to the affected labour unions although the time was kept under wraps.

Investigation by our correspondent showed that the meeting is meant to avert strike by the labour unions to protest against withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

It was learnt that the government is not too comfortable with threats from the labour unions, especially the NLC, to ground the nation’s economy over the deregulation of the downstream sector of the

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

petroleum industry.

A reliable source in the NLC said: “We have been scheduled to meet with the President on Tuesday. But we have done enough homework to prove that it is untimely to withdraw fuel subsidy now.

“We will go to the meeting with our fact-sheet on the state of the economy and the way forward. We also want the government to look beyond the removal of fuel subsidy to sustain the economy.

“We hope the government will listen to us and appreciate our position too. We are being accused of planning to wage war against the government. But that is not the truth. Those in powers do

not foresee the outcome of deregulation as much as we have done.”

A source in the presidency, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent last night, said: “It is a rescheduled meeting with labour leaders; it is part of the consultations with all groups in the country.

“So, the session will focus on deregulation.

The President will use the opportunity to highlight the merits in the proposal of the government. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala will also confront them with statistics on why it is inevitable to deregulate.

“The government will expect input from the labour leaders too on how best to manage or drive the deregulation process.

“The session might as well

touch on a few labour matters especially the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).”

“You will recall that the President had wanted to dialogue with the labour leaders last week but the TUC leadership said it would not be available. The union formally wrote that the date was not comfortable.

“Instead of meeting only a segment of the labour community, the President acceded to the request of the TUC. But what we read in some newspapers was that the TUC shunned the President.

There was nothing like that.

Both the President and the Minister of Finance had recently maintained that there is no going back on deregulation.

Oguntoyinbo, Ekiti Labour Party bigwig joins ACN From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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AMIDELE Oguntoyinbo, a lead-ing Labour Party member from Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State has officially joined the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Oguntoyinbo, who is currently a Special Adviser to Governor Kayode Fayemi on Rural Development, lauded the development and administrative efforts of the state governor which he said accounted for his joining the party.

He said Fayemi was “brought by the Almighty God Himself to redeem Ekiti and redirect affairs at a time when governance appears to be least understood by those who demanded and got opportunities to govern.”

The former LP chieftain who said this at his official declaration for the ACN at Oye-Ekiti at the weekend was admitted alongside scores of his supporters from Moba, Ido/ Osi, Ilejemeje, Ikole and Oye local government areas by High Chief Olajide Awe, the ACN State Chairman.

Oguntoyinbo urged “ACN party members and entire citizenry of the state to rededicate themselves to Ekiti redemption assignment of Governor Kayode Fayemi”.

He said: “It is clear to all now that politics may not be helpful in real efforts to bring desirable governance to the people.

“Many people like me have been attracted not only to the ACN as a party but to Governor Fayemi and his astounding leadership qualities. We continue to see justifications for the praises he receives from all quarters all the time.”

Benue gets new police chief From Uja Emmanuel,Makurdi NEW Commissioner of Police has assumed duties in Benue State. John Haruna, before his new posting was Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations and Training, Force headquarters in Abuja.

Haruna replaces Emmanuel Obiakor who has been transferred to Police headquarters in Abuja.

The sudden movement of Obiakor barely six months after arriving in the state may not be unconnected with the petition against him by the chairman of Kwande Local Government council , Chief Terlumun Akputu.

The Kwande council boss had sent a petition to the Inspector General of Police calling for the removal of Obiakor. The former commissioner on learning about the petition in retaliation withdrew the police security attached to the Kwande council boss immediately.

The chairman then filed a N5million suit against the former commissioner for unlawful withdrawal of his police security without notice.

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Bauchi Federal Poly runs post graduate diploma courses •First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola (2nd right), Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Hon. (Mrs.) Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (2nd left) and other guests during the State Christmas Carol Service with the theme, “King of Kings” held at the Year 2011 House, Marina, Lagos, on Thursday, December 16, 2011 at the weekend.

Lack of security worries bankers in Ogun

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ANKERS in Ogun State have identified “security” as the “chief challenge” they have had to contend with routinely in 2011 banking year.

According to them, incessant robbery attacks and attendant loss of cash, profits, disruption of banking hours and even forced closure for days were part of the problems faced.

The bankers however,

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

lauded the efforts of the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and the Commissioner of Police, Mr Nicholas Daaru Nkemdeme, for rising to the security challenges to ensure safety of cash and lives when they “cried out” for help.

Speaking in Abeokuta at the weekend, during the end

of year party and Award Night of the Abeokuta Clearing House Committee, Chairman, Ogun State Bank Managers Committee [OSBMC] Mr. Bola Onifade, said 2011 has been a “challenging and turbulent” one for the industry.

“In Ogun State, coupled with the general banking sector challenges, we had several challenges: chief amongst them is our security.”

Northeast women, youth back Abba Aji for PDP chair

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JOINT Forum of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth and Women from the Northeast geopolitical zone yesterday rose from a meeting held at Zaranda Hotel, Bauchi to endorse Senator Abba Aji’s candidature as the party’s National Chair.

They also appealed to other interested aspirants for the position to step aside for the interest of what they said is collective national progress and development and peace.

Secretary of the Forum Aliyu Musa Ladan, speaking to reporters shortly after the meeting attended by over 2000 members from the six states that form the Northeast Geopolitical Zone, described Abba Aji as a seasoned

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi technocrat with proven track record of people-oriented development.

He also said of Abba ‘’as a man with unquestionable integrity, dedication, experience, and whose focus does not entertain discrimination irrespective of religion, social status, region and self-centeredness’’.

According to him, as youths, we are leaders of tomorrow, and we are duty bound to look at the track record of people who seek public offices, because, we the youths must have a mentor, we must have a person whom we can learn positive things that will advance our course of leadership when our time

comes’’.

The Forum’s scribe assured that with Abba as the party’s national chair’’, injustice of the past will be addressed and PDP will be re-engineered to achieving national reconciliation with the integrity of both individuals and groups recognized and respected’’.

On the fuel subsidy removal, the Forum scribe noted that, Nigerians elected President Goodluck Jonathan because he promised them good things of life, and Mr. President deserves a chance to provide those things promised.

Commenting on insecurity in the North, Ladan admonished Northern leaders and politicians to stop pretending that they do not know the source of the insecurity.

He urged the governor and the security agencies particularly the police for more assistance in sustaining the current prevailing security standard in the state not only for the remaining part of 2011, but also in the coming year to ensure “unhindered services” to the banking public.

“However, like the proverbial Oliver Twist, we are still soliciting for your assistance in maintaining the security standard to enable us continue to render unhindered services to our customers and the Ogun state banking public.”

At the event which also featured Award presentation, Guarantee Trust Bank emerged the best bank under Abeokuta Clearing House Committee closely followed

by Skye Bank Plc while Oceanic bank came third.

First Bank Plc emerged number one bank with the highest volumes of cheques cleared while Folashade Oreka emerged the best dressed banker in Ogun State.

Meanwhile a minute silence was observed in honour of two of their departed ones - the duo of Messrs Bayo Adesina, former manager of Bank PHB, and Tayo Aderinokun, the former MD of GT Bank Plc.

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi HE General Manager of the Bauchi Federal Polytechnic Consult, Auwal Bala Aminu has said that 10 new courses have been added to the institution’s curriculum which include post graduate diploma in Engineering, Banking, Finance, and Construction.

Aminu said only four of the ten added curriculum have students in classes, explaining that the construction course would extensively dwell on roads, residential house and earth dam construction.

The manager while receiving executives of correspondents’ chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Bauchi said the consultancy also conduct seminars, workshops, among others.

He stated that with the abolishment of tuition fees in tertiary institutions by the federal government, the need for the consultancy to look inwards for more sources of revenue cannot be overemphasized.

The consult explained that students in such institutions nowadays only pay for registration and other charges which, he opined, could not meet the growing need of running cost and other administrative activities.

The Consultancy, Aminu further revealed, would by early next year establish petrol filling stations, pure water factory, poultry farm, and animal husbandry just as it already established a cottage hospital in Dass, headquarters of the council area in the state.

T

BAOBAB empowers women politicians

By Rita Ohai EMALE political veterans as well as heads of organisations gained fresh perspectives on political strategy at the recently held BAOBAB empowerment seminar. The three-day training which was organised in line with BAOBAB’s mission to educate and empower women across the globe was held in Lagos.

Justifying the need for the training, Assistant Coordinator of BAOBAB, Lagos Chapter, Mrs. Angela Bekederemo said: “We have found that over time, many of our women have been relegated to the background because we live in a male dominated society, so we are seeking for a situation where more females will be confident enough to vie for top government positions without fear.”

“For this to be achieved, women will have to rally round as a unified force, that is why we are calling for the coalition of women groups so that we speak with a unified voice while trying to reach our set goals,” she stressed.

The workshop which was aimed at developing inherent leadership capacities of the women in attendance saw facilitators and participants calling for more women involvement in governance.

F

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

COMMENT and ANALYSIS

11

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

T

HIS article encompasses more than the political fate of two black men. It is a lament about how black America has become a confused host that no longer rallies under the chevron for political equality and economic justice. It loiters in the densest political fog it has ever encountered with no leading hand to guide it from the thick mist. Almost imperceptibly, the political bonds uniting black people are stretched to the limits of their tensile strength. If this trend persists, this once united, liberalminded cohort will disperse and become . atomistic. It will no longer serve as the moral voice in American politics. The race will descend into a time of every black man for himself. This means most will fall off. They shall drop into an existential oblivion where every good thing is within sight but little of it lies within the people’s ability to hold.

The people of the Civil Rights movement will become the fodder of the approaching Age of Inequality.

For the first time in its history, black America has no clear idea of its strategic objective. Prior to the American Civil War, ending slavery was all that mattered. After that, we concentrated on replacing legal racial discrimination with legal racial equality. The laws are on the books but the vast majority of blacks remain in the mire. Yet some of us never had it so good.

They have been provided the enjoyable illusion that it is the best of times. For the majority of blacks, no illusion can veil that this is the most trying of times in the past fifty years. In this vast difference of life experience and perception tragedy sharpens its blade. There is little hope for a drowning people when those who would lead them are enjoying the scene as if they are first class passengers lounging on the upper deck of a luxury cruiser of misanthropes.

This tale is a strange one indeed for it speaks to the rise of the individual black leader to national prominence yet the denigration of the black community to levels redolent of an ugly past. The ascent of this type of the black politician has provided scant benefit to the black community save for a brief gust of psychological uplift. The psychic gift now wears thin. It is difficult to eat, wear, drive, hold, or otherwise lean on the intangible and symbolic.

This is a brief account of two black men who have sacrificed greatly to attain national status. Do not feel sympathy for them.

Most of what they sacrificed did not belong to them. They wittingly did injury to the interests of their own people to advance their personal ambitions. Whatever soulfulness they had, it was jettisoned to gain entry into the big political game. This is the predicament of black America. Being a mainstream politician who happens to be black is more lucrative than being a black leader.

If this is the way of the modern black leader, I would that we go back to an earlier edition. Yet, these two men have the brazen temerity to publicly claim to be the by-product of Dr. Martin Luther King’s (MLK) life’s work.

What they say is true but so inaccurate as to be categorized among the worst of lies. They are indeed byproducts of MLK but unintended ones. Everything done by man, even by MLK, is flawed and vulnerable to being fouled by other men. If a person uses a fire to cook a meal, ash from the fire is as much a by-product of his efforts as is the food prepared. Yet none of us would be gladdened if handed a platter of ash to eat. These men have feasted on a King’s banquet yet are so cynical as to feed us the ashen waste.

They have twisted King’s teaching to fit their swollen aims. King sought to merge into the very core of the American political economy the moral conscience that black America had developed due to the decades of repression it suffered. These false visionaries have turned the condign merger into a bankrupt proceeding by seeking to

A tale of two (black?) men One becomes good by overcoming his faults.

One becomes great by overcoming his strengths

Lekan Otufodunrin lotufodunrin@yahoo.com 08050498530 (SMS only)

Christmas for all

B

• Barack Obama

By Brian Browne

hypothecate the moral conscience in exchange for a box of milk chocolates and two front row seats in the game of power politics.

Who are these two men? They are President Barack Obama and the Republican jester of the year, Herman Cain.

Despite their stylistic differences both have decided similarly on an important matter. To attain the national stage, they turned their back on the black community.

Thus, President Obama and Cain mount the salient not so much because of talent but because their lack of shame allows them to execute deeds that would appall those with a deeper sense of racial heritage and a political vision that encompasses more than the expedient. In their ability to disgorge themselves of principle, this duo has few peers. As such, the two superficially polar opposites happen to be the same man at the core. While Obama is elegant and erudite, Cain is coarse and ignorant. Obama is aloof. Cain is folksy. Obama is a slick city boy and Cain is as bumpkin as a country mile. Yet, there is little substantive difference between them; they merely serve different facets of the same master: the conservative financial and corporate elite.

There exists an unbecoming character in 20th century entertainment and racial lore in America. This character embodies most of the grotesque stereotypes about black men except this figure is neither rebellious nor violent. He is servile to a fault. His name is Stepin-Fetchit. White racists loved him; black people cringe at the mention of the name. While the character is fictitious, the

• Herman Cain

spirit behind it is all too real and in vogue.

Obama and Cain are afflicted with it. While Cain represents a down-home, cornbread and fried chicken version, Obama is the ultra-modern, champagne and caviar edition, yet he is Stepin-Fetchit nonetheless. Both men have pocketed the pieces of eight given for them to play the malign role. Both hoped that in acting the part, they would be invited into the power club as full-fledged members with no asterisks by their names and no one mistaking them as butlers. (It bends the mind that they believed they could escape being treated like a servant by acting like one.) Try as they might, they cannot escape the color of their skin. It always catches them because it never leaves them. The cheap gifts they have enjoyed have proven to be provisional and easily confiscated by the true owners. After all the happy, assiduous service given their boss and the exalted tables at which they have supped, these men found that they are not members of the club but merely part of the day’s entertainment.

The unscrupulous Mr. Cain was the first to be shown the bitter dividends of the witch’s bargain to which he affixed his name.

This cunningly smart but ignorant man calculated he could rise to prominence by taking a stand as an arch conservative. Positioning himself as a black man who spoke against the black community’s political and economic interests, he could endear himself to the racist mass of the Republican Party.

The extreme conservatives would exploit his smiling face and glib commentary as their main evidentiary exhibits to refute allegations that they were the racists they actually are.

• Continued on page 70

“In the end, President Obama and Herman Cain are the results of a political system too lubricated by money and molded by prejudice”

•FESTUS ERIYE’S COLUMN RETURNS NEXT SUNDAY

EING a widow can be very tough, especially in a society like ours where they are subjected to all kinds of deprivations and dehumanising cultural practices. Having to take care of themselves and their children in the absence of their husbands is one Herculean task that they need all the support they can get.

Unfortunately most of them don’t. Despite all the assurances and promises to support them during the mourning period, only few keep their promises. Some relatives don’t even wait for the burial of the deceased before taking over their properties. They are not concerned about how the immediate family will be taken care of. Widows in some communities are accused of killing their husbands even when they are innocent.

Mrs Aderonke Falobi, widow of the Omololu Falobi, founding Executive Director of Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) considers herself a lucky widow. Unlike the harrowing experiences of many others, she told the gathering at the recent 5th anniversary of her husband’s death that she has enjoyed the support of her in-laws and some friends.

Falobi, 35, an award-winning journalist and foremost African anti-HIV/AIDS media crusader, was killed on his way back home from work in Lagos by some unknown gunmen in 2006.

Though she still needs more to support herself, she is more worried about the plight of other widows who are not as fortunate as she is. To ameliorate their plight, Mrs Falobi has initiated a Widows Support Programme as part of the activities of the Omololu Falobi Foundation.

On Thursday, at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Lagos, a token amount will be presented to the widows of some deceased journalists for the Christmas celebration.

“I know that it is at a time like this that widows feel the impact of their hubbies not being around as I have experienced in the past years” Mrs Falobi said in a statement on the programme.

The lesson of Mrs Falobi’s initiative is that we don’t have to have excess to support the needy around us. We can be our true brother’s keepers if we really care to. It is not the amount or the quantity of what we give that matters but the interest and desire to offer a helping hand when it matters most.

The festive season which we are now is an excellent opportunity to give to others who need our support. The real reason for the season of Christmas is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life to save mankind.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, let’s reach out to as many as we can with whatever we can afford.

The only way everyone can feel the joy of Christmas is if those who have share with those who don’t have like Jesus would have done.

The popular widow’s mite is all she has.

Mrs Falobi’s gesture is out of the little she has and the support she can raise for her programme. What about you and I? To support outreach to families of deceased journalists send your financial support to : GTBank: Account Name: Journalists Against AIDS-Omololu Falobi Trust Fund.

Account Number 0001020349.

Contact: Sanmi Falobi, Programme Officer: 08023626281

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Comment & Analysis

Indian Point: The next Fukushima?

N

INE months after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan and set off the world’s worst radiation crisis since Chernobyl, the Japanese government finally announced on Friday that the plant’s reactors had been stabilized.

But federal regulators have yet to absorb the lessons from this crisis. The owners of the Indian Point nuclear plant in Westchester County, 25 miles north of New York City, are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend their operating licenses for 20 years. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo strongly opposes those renewals.

However unlikely, the possibility of a major meltdown at a plant in the United States can’t be dismissed. And yet Gregory B. Jaczko, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told Bloomberg last week that there would be enough time for millions of people in the region to get away “because nuclear accidents do develop slowly, they do develop over time, and we saw that at Fukushima.”

But even if that were true, many might never be able to return. Some 160,000 Japanese are still displaced because the radioactive contamination — in an area far less populated and less dense than the New York area — was so intense and farreaching. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s cost-benefit analyses for Indian Point and other nuclear plants in the United States do not factor in these possibilities. The consequences of land contamination should be weighed in any decision to re-license the plant’s two reactors, which are up for renewal in 2013 and 2015.

The reason the contamination is so long-lasting is that Cesium 137, the most dangerous isotope released in a severe accident, has a half-life of 30 years. A con-

• Fukushima nuclear plant

By Victor Gilinsky

taminated area — one that was, say, four times above the maximum permissible post-accident radiation level for human habitation — would stay above that level for nearly a human lifetime.

The standard for a mandatory evacuation at Fukushima was set at about 20 times the maximum radiation level allowed for normal operation. That is not a life-threatening level, but it is high enough that the International Commission on Radiation Protection warns

against year-round human habitation.

Hundreds of square miles around Chernobyl, site of a meltdown in 1986, are still off-limits. The Japanese evacuated a comparable area northwest of the Fukushima site. It’s not practical to decontaminate an area that large, and few people are going to want to live there even if they are allowed to.

Dr. Jaczko said it was unlikely that a nuclear accident would require prompt action beyond “more than a few miles.”

That might be correct in terms of avoiding immediate health effects from radia-

tion (though after Fukushima, he advised United States citizens in Japan to stay at least 50 miles away from the reactors).

But his remark does not begin to capture the human and economic devastation in Japan. At Fukushima, some areas more than 25 miles from the reactors were contaminated beyond the mandatory evacuation level.

The lack of attention to possible land contamination is a major gap in the American system of nuclear safety regulation. After Fukushima, it should be the main safety concern — and one that is not addressed by evacuation, no matter how efficient.

A severe accident at Indian Point, whose two reactors opened in 1974 and 1976, is a remote but real possibility. We’ve had two severe accidents with large releases of radioactivity in the past. The Chernobyl accident was dismissed in Western countries on the grounds that it was the product of Soviet sloppiness and “couldn’t happen here.” But the Fukushima accident involved reactors built to American designs.

The essential characteristic of this technology is that the reactor’s uranium fuel — about 100 tons in a typical plant — melts quickly without cooling water. The containment structures surrounding the reactors — even the formidable-looking domes at Indian Point — were not designed to hold melted fuel because safety regulators 40 years ago considered a meltdown impossible.

They were wrong, and we now know that radioactive material in the melted fuel can escape to contaminate a very large area for decades or more. It doesn’t make sense to allow such a threat to persist a halfhour’s drive from our nation’s largest city.

Victor Gilinsky, an energy consultant, was a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1975 to 1984.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Comment & Analysis

13

Gowon’s admonition The President should listen to the elder statesman before he forces his fuel subsidy decision down our throats

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan may have made up his mind to remove fuel subsidy, with the obvious goading of the World Bank and other Western allies. of ButGeneral he must pause to ponder over the admonition Yakubu Gowon, former military head of state.

Gowon, at a Carter Foundation Centre event in Umuahia, Abia State last week, declared: ”If all the refineries in the country are working at normal capacity and importation of petroleum products is stopped, the price of fuel will stabilise and the suffering of the people will be reduced.”

As a statesman and someone that was once in Jonathan’s shoes, this statement is just a decent way of telling the president not to bite more than he can chew on the fuel subsidy removal issue.

This is because, according to Gowon, the aftermath of the removal might be ‘too much for those in authority to handle’.

The official cliché by President Jonathan of trying to save Nigeria from economic annihilation so that the country would not in 15 years be importing fuel from Ghana and Cameroon is untenable. The truth is that for as long as refineries in the nation are in bad shape, it might take less than the president’s projection before the nation starts importing fuel from these and other lessendowed countries.

For instance, Nigeria currently imports fuel from Singapore that is not blessed with crude oil but presently refines two million barrels of crude daily.

It is sad to note that Niger Republic, in partnership with the Chinese built Zinder refinery designed to produce 30,000 barrels per day, far in excess of its daily 10,000 refined oil needs, around its border with Nigeria. It is plausible to conclude that because of our inept and corrupt leadership style in the country, Niger Republic had Nigeria in mind to be its biggest customer while building the refinery. The four refineries in Nigeria are moribund.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

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

officially-professed fuel subsidy. The House of Representatives, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Organised Private Sector (OPS), the Civil Society Organisations, opposition political parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) have vehemently and publicly derided the idea.

We unequivocally condemn the support given the unpopular idea by the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Nigerian Governors Forum. The regrettable position of members of the latter group would have failed the people’s test if subjected to a referendum in their individual states.

The president seems to have remained unwavered in his resolve to remove fuel subsidy but the National Assembly must halt his recalcitrant move to blindly inflict more pains on Nigerians under the erroneous impression of liberating them from officially prodded oil cartel.

President Jonathan should be ready for a robust national debate on the issue of fuel subsidy removal in the spirit of true democracy.

Sadly though, we note this to be what the government is fervently trying to avoid. Gowon, a statesman who once occupied that exalted position and should know, has spoken brilliantly. Other meaningful Nigerians that are truly interested in the development of the country and its people must rise up to stop the move by the president to present Nigerians with fait accompli. It is a major step in a series already known from President Jonathan in the descent to dictatorship. The president cannot claim to love the country more than Gowon or other eminent Nigerians. Above all, General Gowon is not noted for flippant talks. The president should listen to him.

LETTERS

T

HE above article written by one of your ace columnists Mr. Tunji Adegboyega in the Nation on Sunday, December 4, 2011 is a complete compendium on the oil subsidy removal conundrum.

Aristotle taught that men band themselves together to form society, “not simply to live, but to live well.” Political power can never be exercised apart from its ultimate purpose, which is the common good. John Locke, a philosopher stated the fundamental principles of freedom

President Jonathan should not allow the World Bank or its agents working in the country to mislead him through unwise counsel on fuel subsidy removal which to us is a lie. Why didn’t the global bank help the president establish more refineries in the country that will be effectively administered? More importantly, it is on record that last year, the European Union countries spent a colossal sum of •39billion on agricultural subsidies. Quite interestingly too, the United States reportedly spends daily nearly $1billion on different types of agricultural subsidies. If citizens of the West deserve to enjoy agricultural subsidy without interference of any kind, why is the same West or World Bank prodding Jonathan to remove fuel subsidy derived from crude oil, a resource endowed in the nation?

We are sure that the entire fuel subsidy brouhaha is a lie because what is so termed is nothing but corruption in official circles. The Senate has gone a step by listing/publishing the beneficiaries of subsidies and none amongst them is a common man. The president ought to have gone a step further by probing the list to find out whether those listed are not the saboteurs behind the mysterious breakdown of the country’s refineries for decades.

Nigerians have said ‘no’ to the removal of the

Averting “Revolution Jonathan” inter alia; that there can be no subjection to power without consent. There is therefore an obligation on the part of government to submit to the decisions of the majority.

To ignore this age old tradition by which power is gained in a democratic set up is to risk impeachment.

Ultimate power belongs to the people. There is need to introduce a fresh voice to the struggle for the emancipation of the poor in Nigeria.

Recently, the CBN governor told Nigerians that oil subsidy must go. He called for robust contributions from the ivory tower. I think what

the egg heads should do for the sake of the oppressed is to the make robust research into how Ghana is making it work by unilaterally bringing the new cedi to be at par with the dollar. Our aristocrats think they can fool us all the time. The patience of the oppressed has run out. It’s

time for mass protests and sitins.

Peasants, artisans, workers, veteran soldiers, market women and the seemingly splintered civil society groups should form a powerful association for the mass struggle to protest among others the advocacy

Still on doctors and other medical professionals

T

HE write-up on the above by Michael Afolabi published in the Nation’s Sunday newspaper of December 11, 2011, page 13 refers. I sincerely commend the writer of the article for his courage and brilliance. Everything in the said article was nothing but the truth. However, I will be glad if you could publish this additional information: It is only in Nigeria that medical doctors are egodriven. In the other advanced countries of the world, health care is a team work. No health profession is superior or inferior to the other.

A friend in the United Kingdom once sent an e-mail

on the relationship between Pathologists who are medical doctors and Biomedical Scientists (Medical laboratory scientists) in Nigeria. This was what he said: “Frankly speaking, there should be no problem between medical laboratory scientists and the pathologists who are medical doctors. In the setting where I work in the UK, pathologists do not work on the bench in the laboratory.

They only relate or interpret the lab results to the clinicians/ physicians and give advice on the choice of drugs. They liaise with the General Practitioners (GPs) and other clinicians on how best to manage or treat the patients based on the re-

sults generated from the medical laboratory. The lab managers run the laboratory and not the pathologists. We normally have weekly laboratory meetings chaired by a lab manager who is a biomedical scientist.

It is a pity that pathologists in Nigeria do not have idea of their specific responsibility as trained medical doctors. They need to wake up and run special clinics to help patients and their fellow clinicians and not to struggle with medical laboratory scientists over medical laboratory testing….. ’’ It has been said times without numbers, that hospitals in the UK, USA, Canada, etc are administered by experts in

Health Management-Hospital Administrators who do not belong to any of the health professions. And the health system there is excellent. This arrangement is also needed in Nigeria so as to improve health care services. Medical doctors as Chief Executives of hospitals in Nigeria are obviously not good administrators. The various directors of administration in hospitals equally lack courage and brilliance to call errant /incompetent MDs/ CMDs to order. They are merely experts in writing queries to any other health professionals who dare challenge their competence.

This is quite unfortunate and is counter-productive for an ef-

fective health system.

In various universities, heads of the various faculties or departments training students of the different health professions such as medicine, medical laboratory science, pharmacy, nursing , physiotherapy etc are lecturers who are licensed to practise their professions. Why should the headship of the various services be by medical doctors on graduation of such students! It is high time medical doctors in Nigeria discard their ego and embrace practices that will advance and promote quality health services to the patients.

Toyosi Y. Raheem Yaba, Lagos.

of rigid laisez-faire economics which are harmful to the well being of the underprivileged in a land of plenty. Taxation is a tool that can be effectively used to redistribute the common wealth gravitating among the few privileged ones through deliberate government patronage, policies and appointments, to the chagrin of the underprivileged who are always sidelined and who also alone bear the brunt of any harsh economic policies of government.

To lead the people to freedom and from the quagmire of poverty, there must be a resounding “NO” to the pursuit of austerity for the poor majority alone as against the continued enrichment of the privileged few in the Nigerian society. Employing the tool of education negatively to further enslave the already famished poor is wicked and evil.

Nigeria is a country of corruption par excellence. At any rate when a government usurps the power of the people, the social compact or contract is broken, and when such happens not only are the citizens no longer compelled to obey but they even also have an obligation to rebel.

This is the faith in representative democracy.

John R. Jimoh Ijebu-Ode Ogun State

SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 500 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS: sundaynation@yahoo.com

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Comment & Analysis

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

T

HE size of the 2012 budget for security can create excessive optimism in the mind of those who see money as the be all and end all of all forms of governance. That over 20% of the over 4 trillion naira budget is allocated for securing the country next year is enough to engender confidence in trustees of the federal government that pumping more funds into the central police is the only way to solve what has appeared to be a perennial problem of insecurity in the country. It is therefore not surprising that with the unprecedented size of the security budget, the President said on the eve of presenting his budget to the National Assembly that Nigeria is not ready for state police.

However, the problem of law enforcement in the country is certainly more than the size of budgetary allocation to security. It is a structural problem that started about forty years ago. The failure of law enforcement over the years has nothing to do with the psychological and emotional stamina of Nigerians who live and work in the states, as the President has indicated in his recent statement on the call for state police. The problem derives from the myopic view of law enforcement in a federal nation that also happens to be multiethnic. The inability of the Nigeria Police Force (for over forty years a monopoly of the federal government) to secure the nation derives

Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

“W

E'LL solve the problem," . "Every problem that comes up has a solution. It's just a matter of keeping everyone focused and working together’. –Melinda Peters, Project Director, Maryland Intercounty Connector Highway’ in the USA. 'I was thinking of my dear country Nigeria while driving on Malaysia road even within the last 2 days!

Interlocking bridges, smooth roads, interconnectivity with proper signages, etc. A senior pastor of RCCG visited Malaysia of recent and was stupified enough to ask at the LCCT (local airport); is this a local airport?

He was later driven through a SMART toll-an underground tunnel of 5km-with modern facilities.

Through the SMART toll, you get to your destination faster. Of course, you have to PAY. Imagine, a journey through MMIA, Ikeja through a SMART toll ending up at Ojota/Maryland, all undergroud! You expect that to be FREE!! No way in this 21st Century!!!'- John Moyo Ope EkundayoA Nigerian living in that country who recently completed his doctoral programme.

This article could appropriately have been titled 'A TALE OF TWO TOLL ROADS.' I am currently on a month-long vacation in the United States and I guess being in the country was what reminded me of the story of the pains and travails of those who shouldered the massive responsibility of building Maryland’s 18.8 mile Inter-Country Connector Highway, a story from which comes the

State police is the answer (1) The brazen abuse of authority under the central police system today would have been materials for folktales if they had happened forty-five years ago from the view that appearance of unity supersedes the reality of effective security in a federal system.

Historically, Nigeria had used two police systems in the past – one central (the Nigeria Police Force) and the other variants of local government or native authority police systems in Western and Northern regions. The monopoly of law enforcement that the federal government enjoys today came after the military coup of 1966. There is no sufficient evidence to suggest that the local government police was used with less fairness than the Nigeria Police at any point in the nation’s history up till now. There is also no evidence that the trustees of central government exercised at any point a superior sense of morality and duty than those in charge of local government police. In both cases, each system served as part of the right hand of government, a coercive force to keep order. I grew up in Western Nigeria to observe both police systems during and after the colonial period.

If anything, the sense of ownership between local government police and the communities limited to a large extent the corruption and abuse of authority that has been the case with the monopolistic federal police since 1966. The brazen abuse of authority under the central police system today would have been materials for folktales if they had happened fortyfive years ago. Ten percent of extra-

judicial killing of citizens by the federal police in the last few years would have led to riots in Yoruba cities if they had happened under local government police forty-five years ago.

When local government police existed, it was generally seen as an enforcer of order to enhance quality of social life in the communities to which local government police men and citizens jointly belonged. But since 1966, the federal police force has acted to be seen as an army of occupation deployed by the federal government to repress the natives on behalf of a federal government that is isolated and insulated from the people.

The ubiquitous nature of demands for state or community police indicated that people believe that the central police system has not worked, despite several efforts to reform the system. What is needed is to move away from a model that citizens believe has alienated them from the process of securing life and property in the nation, despite several rhetorical assurances by government leaders that security is the business of all citizens. It makes sense for the government to encourage debate about a police system that has become in the minds of citizens synonymous with corruption, inertia, and repression, particularly on calls for thinking outside the box, to provide impetus for borrowing from best practices in other federal systems across the globe.

There is no doubt that the unity of

the country is important and desirable. But it is not any more important and desirable than effective law enforcement that engenders trust in those that the system is designed to protect. To insist, as military governments did, on a one-size-fits-all police system under full control of the federal government as the only way to ensure unity and sustain the appearance of unity is to adopt a business-as-usual approach to creation and sustenance of order in the country. This approach is tantamount to intentionally losing the advantages of re-inventing the country’s security system in response to the realities on the ground.

Joining the blame game that was popularized by military governments in the past can be counterproductive in the contemporary democratic ethos, as limited as our democratic culture may be. Military governments created the discourse of demonizing other competitors for power so well for three decades. They came into power ostensibly to stop corruption and grow the culture of unity. They bequeathed to the country begging bowls for asking for debt forgiveness with little or no evidence for what over 30 billion dollars borrowed from international creditors was used for during their regime. The country that military dictators handed back to civilians in 1999 was more divided than the one they seized in 1966. Today, Boko Haram

is a graphic illustration of a divided nation and of one that is groping for solutions to growing insecurity. Part of the agenda setting in support of military dictatorship was the notion that states or regions could not protect and promote the unity of an indivisible Nigeria. This notion accepted the re-structuring of Nigeria away from federalism that the first military government met in 1966.

The country’s constitutions, like the police systems, were casualties of military dictatorship.

The statement by President Jonathan that states are not mature enough to be given the power to establish and operate state police is reminiscent of the discourse of disparagement of civilians and states in the era of military rule. This is a part of the blame game that must be discouraged and avoided by leaders of a government whose vision and mission of governance is driven by transformation. If two former state governors had graduated in the last five years from state governorship to the presidency, this suggests that those who rule in the states are not inferior to those who become rulers at the centre. With centralization of law enforcement that puts all forms of security in the hands of the federal government, there is no doubt that the country is over policed but under protected.

To be continued next week.

Let the Lekki-Etiosa- Epe Expressway be (1) Is it not laughable that some people insist government must provide everything free first of the two openers to this article. I read the story online over a year ago, and had wondered, how cruelly the story of another huge infrastructural programme, thousands of kilometers away, bore an uncanny resemblance to what has become the unending fight of the opponents of the Lekki project, in spite of the efforts of both the Lagos State government and the Lekki Concession Company to bend over backwards to meet the critics even more than half-way.

For instance, to show how effectively it intends to partner with communities in Eti Osa and Iru-Victoria Island, the Lekki Concession Company put in place the following as evidence of its Social Corporate Responsibility: Donation of 4 x 500 KVA electricity Relief Substations to generate a total of 2000KVA power for communities in Ajah Ilaje and Sangotedo on the 17th December 2009,while Badore and Ajah McCarious was commissioned on the 8th of April 2010 Landscaping, Upgrading of a football pitch and beautification of Ikota Primary School at Ikota commissioned on the 7/05/2010 "Safety First" Campaign; Installation of Road Safety signs as education tools at Ikota Primary School Upgrade of drainage, landscaping and beautification of Maroko and Ilasan police stations commissioned on the 15/11/2010 Donation of Police patrol van and communication equipment; upgrade

of access road and painting of Bar Beach police station in 2008 Donation of raincoats, rain boots and communication equipment to Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) and Man 'o' War bay in 2009 Training and re-certification of commercial bus operators operating along the axis at Lagos State Drivers’ institute on 26/07/2011.

Organized 5-Aside football competition among Primary School within Eti-Osa and donated drum set and white boards to the schools in December 2010.

LCC continues to build effective partnerships with NGOs, private organizations and Government agencies engaged in innovative schemes to address safety, education, water and sanitation, healthcare and hygiene. The schemes it has chosen to invest in will be discharged with good governance and clear deliverables, monitored to see that it achieves a win-win solution.

The Lagos State government on its part empanelled a committee to specifically interrogate all the issues in conflict and came out with decisions which most Nigerians believed should have paved the way for a more cordial relationship between the opposing camps, but that optimism obviously did not factor in the thoroughly political motivations of the critics.

Rather than abate, therefore, the grounds of opposition appear to lengthen by the day. But who will tell these people this road will be

built, and tolled, in their very eyes, to the glory of God and to recoup the massive investment being deployed into its procurement, even with profit? In this year of our Lord, when even our own federal government is promising to remove oil subsidy – remember Prime Minister Thatcher snatching milk from infants? – Is it not laughable that some people insist government must provide everything free?

That story, told in part below, will be interspersed with my own comments.

The rough road, yes, that’s the title of the story, ‘saw Melinda Peters’ three-inch heels tap in frustration beneath the conference table. It is December, and the rain hasn't let up for months. Construction on the largest -- and most controversial -- highway built in the Washington region since Interstate 66 has turned into a muddy mess and is weeks behind schedule. A large digital clock hangs on the wall behind Peters’ head. Its glowing red numbers tick down to the day in late 2011 when the state of Maryland plans to open the 18.8-mile Intercounty Connector highway to thousands of vehicles traveling between Montgomery and Prince George's counties."

Like at its Lagos counterpart, one of the project’s latest problem: Workers haven't had enough consecutive dry days to lay asphalt. That means a new bridge that will carry Georgia Avenue over the ICC in Silver Spring remains out of commission. With-

out pavement to connect it to the existing road, the bridge is useless.

Without the bridge, traffic can't be rerouted to keep work moving. Lane closure restrictions during rush hours -- and, worse yet, more rain -- would cause even further delays.

But the authorities at LCC would have popped champagne were their problems limited to the elements.

Rather they have to contend, perennially, with what it succinctly described as follows: ‘the state of the Eti Osa Lekki Epe Expressway and adjoining infrastructure, for example, the drainage systems, was in quite a poor condition before construction started. Besides, not having sufficient capacity to carry the volume of vehicular traffic using the road at the time or as projected to arise in the foreseeable future, there was also little or non-existent road maintenance, nor was there any structured Incident Management System as the one that LCC has implemented since 2009. All this meant that the road condition was deteriorating continuously, and that knock-on effects such as extremely high traffic congestion, widespread flooding, go-slow highway robbery, and widespread indiscipline on the road, were standard features of the road operating environment. In this regard, it is worth noting that the progress of the works has greatly helped to reduce crime and improve road safety and discipline along the axis.

•To be continued next week

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Tunji

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

E

VEN as we await the breakdown of the poisoned chalice

by President Goodluck Jonathan in the name of ‘Budget 2012’, we can still make informed comments about aspects of it that have crystallised, especially the budgeted vote for security. In the N4.7 trillion budget unveiled by the president, security takes the lion’s share of N921.91 billion. Education came a distant second with N400.15 billion; then health N282.77 billion; works N180.8 billion; power N161.42 billion. Agriculture and rural development got N78.98 billion; Niger Delta N59.72 billion; petroleum resources N59.66 billion; transport N54.83 billion; aviation N49.23 billion. Others are Federal Capital Territory N45.57 billion; water resources N39 billion; science and technology N30.84 billion; lands and housing N26.49 billion; and communications technology, N18.31 billion.

Now, the first question that came to mind is: whose security are we allocating N921.91 billion for? It is gratifying that even the House of Representatives is asking the same question. That is one of the beauties of democracy. I can imagine what would have happened in the immediate past National Assembly dominated by the ruling Peoples Democracy Party (PDP). The N921.91 billion voted for security is slightly above 20 per cent of the entire budget. Are we at war? If the U.S, gave so much to defence and security, we can understand. At least that country has

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

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

T

HE subject of death is so repulsive to some of us that whenever the topic comes up in conversation, we tiptoe away in the hope that its representative, the grim reaper, will not catch us discussing it and report us to its master. Many are therefore loathe to putting some thought to the possibility of leaving this world. So, when we must discuss it, we do so in euphemistic metaphors, whispers or sign language. As a result, many of us are now more familiar with the metaphors of death than the actual word because obituary announcements hardly ever use it anymore. So, people now ‘pass on’, ‘sleep’, ‘go off’, ‘depart’, ‘leave the world’, occasionally ‘kick the bucket’, and in royal terms, ‘climb the rafters’ rather than the more prosaic word.

But don’t worry; they are just people’s attempts to put some poetry into something considered mean, ugly and unpleasant. Indeed, when someone mumbled some solicitations about the fact that he was glad to see that a famous figure had not succumbed to death, so disgusted with the subject was the famous man that he was heard to quip: ‘Die? That is the last thing I will do’.

Many people have died and the world has heaved sighs of relief for

Comment & Analysis

15

Jonathan’s budget of lamentation National Assembly should return it to sender projects worldwide that it is prosecuting, necessitating its having to watch its back always. Apart from this, it has conquered most of its basic problems whereas we are still battling with teething problems that have condemned us perpetually to potential greatness. What we need such huge vote for are the things that can reduce security threats, like education and infrastructural facilities that can make our country conducive to business.

I am so glad that many people, including surprisingly, the lawmakers, are taking more than a passing interest in the budget. Gone were those days when we leave such an assignment in the hands of economists alone. Indeed, part of the problems we have been having is leaving the interpretation of our budgets and many other economic issues that affect our lives totally in the hands of economists. That is part of the reasons why we have had ‘budgets of hope’ that really took hope away from us and should have in fact been christened’ budget of hopelessness’; that is why we have named all our budgets so fancifully and in highfaluting, yet say-nothing catch-phrases. In the end, those budgets left us worse than they

met us. In the end, the economists that had lauded those budgets were never tired to tell us why the budgets failed: they were not faithfully implemented.

That so far, the budget has not found favour in the eyes of Nigerians is heart-warming. It shouldn’t. And the reason is not far-fetched: the sensitive issue of fuel subsidy removal that the Jonathan administration is so fixated upon as if its life depends on it. The good news from me is, if the Jonathan administration will stop breathing if subsidy stays, so be it. As it is obvious, Nigerians are not on the same page with the government on this matter and it is almost certain that Jonathan is hell bent on ramming the policy down their throats in a take-itor-leave-it fashion, even though it claimed it is consulting widely with Nigerians. The president and those who made him to believe that Nigeria would crash if subsidy is stopped cannot deny that they have known the position of Nigerians on it by now.

Even if they continue to consult till thy kingdom come, the position is likely to remain the same because the entire argument by the government is unsustainable. I am yet to see a people who would willingly submit their heads to the guillotine, which

“What is being called security on which N.9 trillion will be spent cannot be more than more and new-improved bulletproof jeeps for our leaders so they could cruise about in, such that whatever weapon fashioned against them by angry Nigerians would not prosper. They really need it. But they should not forget too to begin to award contracts for body bags for anti-subsidy protesters when the time comes. If the government does not owe them a decent living, it should at least give them memorable last respects”

is what the Jonathan administration wants Nigerians to do on the subsidy matter.

The National Assembly should not accept the budget as it is. As a matter of fact, the lawmakers should return it to sender so that he can veto it and take personal responsibility for whatever may be its consequences. As tough as President Olusegun Obasanjo was, he did not go this far when a writer asked whether ‘dem swear for this president (Obasanjo)’. That was when the then president began to commit serial blunders like Jonathan is now doing.

It is so annoying when people in leadership positions behave as if they have greater stakes in the country, or as if they always mean well than the rest of us. Every government that we have been unfortunate to have always behaved as if it meant well for us, only to leave us disappointed in the end. If Nigerians had been fortunate to have just a few good leaders, we would have been far better than we are today. Although the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Jonathan ‘hails’ from has never given Nigerians any cause for cheer at any year end since 1999, his administration is likely to end up the worst of all. But why is President Jonathan behaving as if we elected him to solve all our problems? No president can, not even in the developed countries.

If only his PDP had removed corruption from our lives since the last 12 years, we would not be talking about some people making money off Nigerians via fuel subsidy because everybody would be afraid of a life in jail.

God gave us oil; yet we cannot utilise it for the common good, and have thus made it a curse rather than the blessing that God intended it to be. In fact, it just dawned on me that God must have had Nigerian leaders in mind when he decided to take personal charge of the supply of air to human beings. Imagine what would have happened if He had left that in the hands of the successive governments we have had in this country!

We now have to make security a nebulous concept on which to splash hard-earned resources simply because government has failed to be responsible. What is being called security on which N.9 trillion will be spent cannot be more than more and new-improved bullet-proof jeeps for our leaders so they could cruise about in, such that whatever weapon fashioned against them by angry Nigerians would not prosper. They really need it. But they should not forget too to begin to award contracts for body-bags for anti-subsidy protesters when the time comes. If the government does not owe them a decent living, it should at least give them memorable last respects.

President Jonathan is treading on a path no one has ever trod. Not even our most dreaded generals, including the one who hid behind his pair of dark goggles to perpetuate evil went this far. The National Assembly would do well to reject this budget because if passed as presented, then, our lamentation has indeed just begun, contrary to Jonathan’s promise at the beginning of his tenure in May that it was over. A good way of admitting that we have been lamenting under the PDP misrule since 1999!

Is there a right way to die then? that, e.g. tyrants like Idi Amin. Many have also died and the sighs of sorrow have not ceased, such as many of our dear ones. Life, say the poets, is death. Actually, only poets can say that kind of thing, but you and I know they live on a different diet from the rest of us normal people: they live on a loose soup of mushrooms. When someone dies, however, we the living take the opportunity to appraise our own situation and make up our minds either to be like the dead or be afraid, unlike the dead. In other words, we get to choose a right or wrong way to die.

In the past number of weeks, a number of well-known individuals have died, notably Alex Ibru and Odumegwu Ojukwu. I considered not writing any tribute to them since I never met either of them in real life, therefore did not know anything about them that has not been reported in the media. Then I remembered that I have written a few things about people I have not met, e.g., the Nigerian government. Everything that crawls successfully on the surface of the earth does so to provide a lesson for those still at their learning post. This is why the holy book contains these golden admonitions: ‘Consider the lilies…’, ‘Consider the bees…’, or even ‘Consider the ants…’

Today, therefore, I have chosen to consider the ways of these two gentlemen in the hope that we can draw out some useful lessons for the rest of us laggards still left floundering on this game-board called life.

From newspaper reports, these two gentlemen impacted our national socio-political life meaningfully. Much has been said about how the one led a news industry revolu-

tion, and even more has been said about how the other led a political revolution of a sort. As interesting as these are, they are not our focus today. We are more interested in how they constituted a veritable team of teachers and showmen called forth to example for us the true art of nationalistic passions and what they mean.

From quite a distance, I was privileged to witness Ojukwu’s passionate commitment to issues. Well, there was the civil war for starters. Then there was the post-war period. I remember the occasion in the nineties, I think, when Ojukwu camped for days outside his father’s property in Lagos, bracing discomfort, in order to make a point about that property.

I remember that doggedness of purpose which helped him to endure all kinds of weather, scorn and deprivation. If my memory serves me right, I still recall him huddled against the early morning gloom in that episode, and I remember thinking: what is so important about the point he’s trying to make that he will not even take time to go to a restaurant?! Looking back now, I find nothing but admiration for that steadfastness of purpose, commitment and singleminded pursuit of a goal and can only wish these qualities can be replicated in our leadership cadre.

Listen, there have been many stories going the rounds. Sometime in the not very distant past, a European ambassador to Nigeria was said to have taken a look at the country, shaken his golden locks and declared that between all the Nigerians he met, he could not find one with a credible IQ. Therefore, it was very likely the case that black peo-

ple are a little wanting in the upper regions. And every black man of any repute went up in an uproar of disgusted refutations. It was not our portion, they said, as they snapped their fingers across their foreheads. Subsequent events, such as the mindless stashing of billions of Nigeria’s money abroad by Nigerians, bungling of governmental issues, outright disinterest in anything remotely resembling good governance in the country’s leaders, lack of provision of the most basic signs of modernity such as electricity to even last more than one hour in two days, and sooooo on, are sort of proving him right, no?

There is also the story of a past Prime Minister of some foreign country who found herself at an international or world meeting with some African leaders back in the seventies. Her interactions with them revealed that the Africans were more interested in taking measures that led directly to selfgratification rather than those that led to the development of the continent. This led her to exclaim that she was amazed that African leaders had no kind of developmental plan or vision for their continent!

It’s no wonder I’ve not had steady electricity since then.

I read in the papers that Alex Ibru had begun to make his millions while in his twenties and I thought, wow! In my twenties, I was still cutting my teeth! Seriously, Ibru’s feat could only have been achieved through a dogged pursuit of a dream. This is a combination of vision and hard work, the kind that mountain climbers have.

I have always said that only people who have said all they need to say in life and done all they need to do will set out to climb a mountain.

For one thing, I can’t understand why anyone sets out to even climb a mountain. Just to get to the top and tell the world that they had reached the top? What is the purpose in that? Anyway, Alex Ibru borrowed a leaf or two from them to create his own purpose, i.e., a business empire. By dint of hard work, and perhaps a little smile from lady-luck, he succeeded in not only creating, but in keeping his empire. We all certainly need to borrow a leaf or two from him, such as being focused workers, in order to create the country of our dreams: where water and electricity are constant; rail, bus and air travel is painless; and where we will not be afraid to let our children inherit our work ethics.

These two gentlemen left trails in the forest of life which can easily be seen, even by the pathologically blind. There rests their being sung in death. I sometimes wonder just how many of us will receive this kind of encomium at our passing? Sad but true to say, there are among the rich those who will be hissed at after they’re dead. Stealing millions from the government treasury to marry many women and then giving out paltry sums to a few people is not the way to invite praise at death. People know. In the long run, what matters is not how much an individual amasses but what impact he is able to achieve with his living. Let us live well, my brother and sister, so that we can get to die the right way.

16

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

POLITICS

17

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

•Ekwueme

•Sambo

Recent moves by political leaders in the north, under the auspices of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the reaction of some Igbo leaders to the death of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu have revived the ageold debate over which of the two zones would produce Nigeria’s president after Goodluck Jonathan. In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, examines the state of preparedness and strategies employed by the zones so far.

T

HE next general election, billed for 2015, is still four years away, but it has been observed that serious underground preparations, especially for the office of the president, may have commenced in earnest.

Some political analysts have said the battle would be between the North and the South-East zones.

While the North is anchoring its claims on an argument that one of their own, the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, did not

2015: North vs the South-East

exhaust the zone’s two, four-year tenures, the South-East zone, which has been complaining of marginalisation on all fronts, are saying that it is their turn to produce the country’s president, However, other Nigerians are arguing that, if we have come to agree that a zone’s tenure should be eight years at a stretch, then, by 2015, it would still be the turn of the South-South zone.

Building on this premise, they said President Goodluck Jonathan, who hails from the South-South zone, will vie for reelection in 2015 as he would not have served the maximum eight years at a stretch.

Indeed, some insiders confirmed that primary structural and operational environment may have been put in place for effective presidential campaign of President Jonathan.

A source, who played active role to ensure his victory in the last presidential election, confirmed that the massive campaign apparatus that was used in the last elections is still in place and is being discreetly fortified for a better outing.

The source said unlike what happened during last April’s election, Jonathan’s campaign team are not going to take any political party for granted. “We are taking every state and region very seriously. The country is our constituency and we cannot afford to joke with any section. Mr. President has started very concrete initiatives, which as you know may require

years to be fully implemented. An example is the ongoing revolution at the power sector and the desire to open up the oil sector. Criticisms apart, continuity should be encouraged,” he said.

He dismissed claims that President Jonathan did not and still do not have control of any formidable political structure.

According to him, “Mr. President is in charge. Although he is paying more attention to national issues and needs, he has shown clearly that he is now poised to be politically relevant and effective.”

If the claims of this source are anything to go by, then, the 2015 presidential race may not be a clear cut case between the North and the South-East.

But The Nation investigation shows that the two geo-political zones are anchoring their claims on alleged promises made by President Jonathan’s camp during the last presidential election campaigns.

According Alhaji Adamu Usman, a politician from Bauchi State, “Mr. President assured us last year that if he was allowed to fly the party’s flag, he would not seek reelection. This meant that he would allow the North to have its turn. I believe he would be gentleman enough to honour that promise.”

But Mazi Ukonu Ojike from Abia State said President Jonathan’s ticket is a joint ticket with the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar”Adua. So, the North has had its turn, there is no doubt that the nation owes

Ndigbo the obligation of allowing them to produce the next president after Jonathan.

These claims not withstanding, it remains to be seen how these two zones have been preparing for this grand political battle.

The North In the North the political class is evidently awake and ready to grab power.

Since the 2015 dateline is still years ahead, preparations had, until recently, remained in the secret.

However, some aspirants to the plum job have been identified. Within the PDP in the North, popular names that have been mentioned include: Vice President Namadi Sambo, former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, Senate President, David Mark, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and General Buba Marwa, amongst others.

Sources confirmed that virtually all these aspirants, including the ones serving in the current government, have well funded campaign structures with workers that are working round the clock.

We also learnt that the aspirants had, before now, been operating individually without any formal move to be united as a zone and strategize for power in 2015.

Recently however, the region’s apex socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), which has been engaged in serious consultations with northern natural leaders and other stakeholders since the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan, made bolder moves to unite the political forces in the region.

The most publicly advertised effort was the recent Northern Peace and Unity Conference held in Kaduna, the traditional political headquarters of the region. The event was ostensibly organised by ACF to find lasting solution to the problem of peace in the northern part of the country.

•Continued on Page 18

18

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Politics

2015: North vs the SouthEast •Continued from Page 17

But we learnt that beyond Boko Haram and security, the meeting was the first major outing for 2015 race and other political scheming.

Although, according to our sources, some leaders of opposition political parties, like the former Military Head of State, General Mohammadu Buhari of CPC, disassociated themselves from the meeting, alleging that they were betrayed by some leaders of the North and that it was a PDP affair, the meeting was “unbelievably fruitful in the area of political engineering towards 2015.”

The Nation also gathered that traditional rulers from the region, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, are putting on the table a proposal urging political leaders in the region to see beyond their various political parties and unite in the interest of the region.

This position was however dismissed by the opposition as a PDP ploy to use them again.

Plateau State Governor, David Jonah Jang, and many traditional rulers from Plateau State and most of the Middle Belt, who are allegedly accusing the Northern oligarchy of bias, are, according to our sources, yet to be convinced that the new initiative would be in their interest.

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo in a way captured the sentiment of this sect of Northerner when he said at the Peace Conference that: “It is the hope of all Nigerians everywhere that this conference succeeds in its primary objective of providing a platform for a very frank, robust and honest dialogue among members of the same family. A validity test for the quality of the discussions should include whether answers should be found to this question: How come a people who only a few decades ago would proudly proclaim their unity now see themselves separately?”

He wished that at the end of the conference, “we may well realise that this drift away from being your brother’s keeper and the new wave of strife did not happen overnight.

The point being made is that the once united North has been lately divided by many unfortunate developments. It remains therefore to be seen if the opposing forces can still be harmonised for effective mobilisation towards 2015 presidential quest.

The host governor, Yakowa of Kaduna state, acknowledged this fact when he said that the conference was a practical demonstration by ACF to actualise one of its main objectives, which is “to set up machinery for regular consultations and dialogue to ensure that issues likely to cause breach of the peace or undermine northern

•Mark

unity are settled amicably and promptly.”

Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, held similar view at the event. “In fact, I believe that we can also think of the theme in terms of “Development for Peace and Unity” because part of our problem is the political disconnect between the elites and the people that has led to our de-industrialisation, disrespect for good governance and lack of confidence in public service, to the extent of bursting our Northern reality and corresponding myths.

I am, therefore, of the view that unless we are all committed to ‘work the talk’, by signing up to the decisions on all the issues on the agenda of this conference, we will continue to have well organised events of this nature and beautiful recommendations that may not have meaningful bearings with the realities on the ground and in improving the quality of life of the average Northern citizen of this country.”

Amongst distinguished guests in attendance at the conference included former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, the Sultan of Sokoto and Head of the Muslim community in the country, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the forum, Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni, President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Joseph B. Daudu (SAN), former Petroleum Minister, Prof.

Jibril Aminu, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

South-East Until the sudden death of Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, not much concerted effort has been made in the open towards realising the quest to produce the next president of Nigeria after Jonathan.

Of course, quest for Nigerian President of Igbo extraction is almost 20 years now.

So, though 2015 is still years away, it has always remained a major issue in the zone. More than any other major ethnic group in Nigeria, the Igbo, who fought a civil war, feel strongly marginalised in the present day Nigeria and rightly or wrongly

•Atiku

“However, some aspirants to the plum job have been identified.

Within the PDP in the North, popular names that have been mentioned include: Vice President Namadi Sambo, former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, Senate President, David Mark, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and General Buba Marwa, amongst others.” believe that emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction would be the most concrete way of demonstrating total reintegration of the tribe after the civil war.

So more than any other time, the quest for the emergence of an Igbo president of Nigeria has seemingly become more topical with the passing on to glory of the Igbo leader and President of defunct Biafra Republic.

Ojukwu’s death and Igbo Presidency Incidentally, renewed quest for Igbo Presidency in 2015 commenced shortly before Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu’s death.

The most public function that confirmed the move to outsiders was in September 26 and 28 when the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex pan-Igbo cultural and socio-political group, in conjunction with the Igbo World Congress (IWC) held the last Igbo Day celebrations in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

As would be expected, the possibility of the emergence of an Igbo as president in

2015 was one of the major issues that were discussed.

At that meeting, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, (PDP Abia North), kicked off discussion on how to ensure the realisation of Igbo presidency.

In a lecture titled “Wake up call: Path to Igbo self – Realisation”, Senator Chukwumerije said: “It was the Niger Delta militancy that ensured that President Goodluck Jonathan became President of Nigeria, while the Boko Haram sect is being used by the North to achieve its presidency bid in 2015.”

Pointing out that that the Yoruba sociocultural organisation, Afenifere, used the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, to achieve the presidency 12 years ago, he argued that “The Igbo should, therefore, incorporate the MASSOB into its system to ensure that an Igbo emerges as President of Nigeria.”

This reasoning, it seems, derives from widely held view that Igbo political leaders have so far done very little in achieving the canvassed Igbo presidency. "All they do is to talk at public forum and when the time comes for them to act as a group; they allow themselves to be divided." This was the position of Dr. Chika Ahamefule, a political economist who attended the occasion and left, as he puts it "with many unanswered questions." He told The Nation that the major problem with the current Igbo leaders is lack of strategy.

Presidency, he warned, "is not a joke.

Nobody will offer Ndigbo the Number-one position on a platter of gold. Everybody wants to occupy the prime room in Aso Rock. So, the only way is to work for it. I do not also agree that there is a coordinated conspiracy anywhere to deny Ndigbo the opportunity of producing Nigerian president. We are to blame and so must wake up."

Investigations show that as at today, most of the top politicians in PDP, who have presidential status, appear not to be ready for the contest. This is because it is difficult to point to any formidable structure.

Insiders however dismissed such fears arguing that the people are ready and working in the background.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Politics

19

APGA’s surviving strategies in Imo, Abia •Okorocha

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HE All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) could be described as a party that has just began to find its feet in Imo State politics. This is because the party has follower-ship in the state and could not muster enough courage to win election in the past. Just recently the party began to stamp its feet strongly on the state’s political arena.

•Ojukwu What we had in the past was a party that apparently had mass fellowship and no notable character to turn the mass follower-ship into an From: Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri and election winning party. As a result, Imo Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia State politics had been revolving around the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since across the states up to the national level. almost all the notable political big wigs A concerned observer, Chief Innocent belonged to the PDP. Every thing politi- Ukonu, warned that if the party wants to cally in the state revolves around them. avoid what happened to PDP in the state, However, with the slide of the party, it must put its house in order and evolve a APGA now took over the scene. structure that would promote peace in the Structure state and at the national level. If this is not Structurally, APGA is not as cohesive done, he warned, other political parties as the PDP in the state. What the party has might be waiting in the wings to take adgoing for it is its acceptability by the vantage of the succession disputes among masses. top members of the party.

This recognition is as a result of the level of confidence the people placed on …Abia the late National Leader of the party, Dim The Abia state chapter of All Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. The party supporters in the state believe that Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA] has once Ojukwu has spoken, it is final. There been very weak. For some time, it barely was no doubt therefore that the people survived when it was mainly sustained were ready to give him their support, by the state chairman, Morgan Anyalechi. anytime.

Gov Orji’s influence This notwithstanding, APGA until reThings however changed when the cently did not pose any serious threat to Abia state governor, Theodore Orji, at the the PDP in the state.

However, it can be said that today, height of the crisis in PPA, joined the party.

But unfortunately for APGA, the roAPGA seems to have gotten its acts together. Owelle Rochas Okorocha’s entry mance was brief, as he left barely three into the scene has indeed changed the months after.

The negative impact of the governor’s political tide of the party. Nobody gave the party a chance of producing the gover- sudden exit from APGA in the state was so much that some of the leaders of the nor of the state.

Our investigation shows that when party resorted to propaganda, claiming Okorocha joined the party, he pulled some that the governor was still a member of notable politicians from PDP and All Ni- APGA, as he did not resign from their party geria Peoples Party (ANPP) into APGA. before joining the PDP. At a point, the govInitially people did not believe that the ernor had to explain that he duly resigned entry of Okorocha could spring any sur- from APGA before going over to the PDP. The state chairman of APGA, prise in the polity, however as the days passed by, it became clear that the party Anyalechi however insisted that Govermay likely grab power from the incumbent nor Theodore Orji of Abia state remains an authentic member of the party. Coming governor then.

The PDP in the state then, which held amidst the controversies and speculations power then, thought that nobody could surrounding the governor’s second term muster the courage to challenge it, not to bid, this claim fueled the rumour that the talk of wresting power from it. At the end governor was flirting with another politiof the day, APGA was able to rise to the occasion and before you knew it, power changed hands in the state.

As things stand today, APGA seems to be riding the political waves in the state.

However, the party is faced with disputes among its top members, who are fighting for positions. This has resulted in a situation where there is still argument over the actual chairman of the party in the state.

For now names keep coming up on a daily basis, an ugly scenario that seems to cut

•Umeh

cal party.

Addressing stakeholders of the party, including members of the state executive, local government and ward leaders in Umuahia then, the APGA state chairman, Mr. Morgan Anyalechi, said the governor was still a card-carrying member of the party.

Anyalechi, who said the governor had reassured the leadership and members of the party at several fora of his steadfastness, added that the governor complied with all the laid down registration rules of the party.

He told them that Governor Orji, according to APGA’s membership registration procedure, resigned from PPA, his former party and also registered at the ward level before his public declaration for the party.

He vowed that the party would do everything possible to make the governor remain in APGA, describing his membership as a blessing and declaring that the party witnessed a lot of new entrants with the arrival of the governor into the party.

However the spirited efforts of the party to ensure that the governor remains was a total failure as the governor moved over to the PDP and equally picked the ticket of the governorship election with which he contested and won with a wide margin.

Ufomba and APGA The fortune of the party was to change appreciably with the emergence of Reagan Ufomba as the governorship candidate.

Ufomba caught public attention when he vowed to change the face of Abia state in the first six months of his being sworn-in as the executive governor. He boasted that he would resign from office if he fails to perform.

He made the vow in Aba when he addressed the members of the Aba Sports

“What we had in the past was a party that apparently had mass fellowship and no notable character to turn the mass follower-ship into an election winning party. As a result, Imo State politics had been revolving around the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since almost all the notable political big wigs belonged to the PDP.”

Club to tell them his aspirations to be governor of the state, adding that he would prepare his letter of resignation in advance.

Ufomba also said he had no intention of going for a second term whether he does well or not, stressing that there is enough room for any governor of the state to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

His pledge to give the state a holistic overview on all aspects of structural development, such as providing water, good roads, schools, health care delivery system and others which will help to fast track the development of the state and its people further projected APGA under him.

However trouble started when a faction in a meeting held at Umuahia decided to pass a vote of no confidence on Chief Victor Umeh, its national chairman, and also called for his removal from office for several misdemeanors as National Chairman.

The vote of no confidence and call for his removal from office was contained in a communiqué which was released after its meeting in Umuahia and signed by the state legal adviser, Charles Elodi, state vice chairman, Christian Umeugo and forty others.

The stakeholders accused him among other things of crass incompetence in his running of the party and also turning it into his personal estate, “combining both the office of national chairman with those of treasurer, financial secretary, cashier, auditor, deputy chairman, PRO, legal adviser among others”.

He was also accused of not accounting for huge party funds running into several billions of naira for the past seven years he has been overseeing the affairs of the party since 2004, “including INEC subventions, nomination fees, membership subscriptions, donations and others”.

This was contained in press release signed by the chairman of body of local government chairmen, Onuka Udo Kalu and the secretary of the party, on behalf of the state executives of the party, Isaac Ngwakwe after their meeting in Umuahia.

The resultant factionalisation notwithstanding, most of the members accept Ufomba as the leader and current unifying force in Abia state. “We have no other leader in the state than our governorship hopeful, Reagan Ufomba and those who are blackmailing him that he has been settled to abandon his stolen mandate should know that he is now busy pursuing his case at the Appeal Court,” Kalu said.

On the question that the party may disintegrate if it fails to win its governorship seat at the Appeal court, Kalu said that the party will survive even if it loses at the tribunal, stressing that the party is bigger than the case they have now at the tribunal.

His words, “In the event our governorship candidate loses at the Appeal court, the party will survive and wait for the next election.

In this business you win some and lose some. We will rather go back to the drawing board and perfect our strategy for other elections”.

Kalu said that those who had earlier passed a vote of no confidence on their national chairman, Victor Umeh and led by one of their suspended member, Charles Elodi, have no platform for their actions as they are not executive members of the party, stressing that they are pleading for forgiveness for their illegal action.

20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Politics

Political Politics

R

ECENTLY, while I was going through some documents in my study room, I stumbled on a historical document which was not what I was looking for, but all the same, it attracted my attention because it has to do with an issue agitating many minds about the future of Yorubaland.

From time immemorial, hardly could anybody explain the line of demarcation between the people of Oyo, Ibadan and others spread across Osun, Kwara and Kogi, they are all known as Yoruba Oyo. They are still called so till date, i.e, the Oyos in Osun, Kwara and Kogi states.

To all the people of such extraction and even beyond, the Alaafin remains their father and leader- King.

The interesting thing I want to write about is a particular Government Gazette No. XV11 of Sept 24, 1904 (Lagos Colony), entitled YORUBALAND JURISDICTION ORDINANCE 1904, enacted some 107 years ago by the Colonial masters. I got the material from the Federal Ministry of Information, National Archives, Ibadan.

For the purpose of my exposition here, the contents of the Gazette are relatively lengthy, however, the provisions delineated therein are historically, traditionally and culturally very revealing and I will try to reproduce some salient parts thereof verbatim.

These were direct declaration of the Bale, Chiefs, and authorities and the people of Ibadan.

“This Ordinance may be cited as the YORUBALAND JURISDICTION ORDINANCE 1904. And whereas the Bale, Authorities and the people of the Province of Ibadan recognise the Alafin of Oyo to be the King and Head of Yorubaland. And whereas it has been agreed that the said King Alafin of Oyo and Head of Yorubaland should confirm and approve of the Agreement dated 18th Day of August 1904, entered into and concluded between His Excellency, Charles Herbert Harley Moseley, Acting Governor... and the Bale and Authorities of the Province of Ibadan...

And further, the King Alafin and Head of Yorubaland for himself, his heirs and successors and the people of Ibadan do hereby agree and acknowledge...’’

On 8th of August 1904, the Government Gazette No. XV11 of 1904, formalising the YORUBALAND JURISDICTION ORDINANCE was signed and sealed. ‘’In witness whereas of the said parties have hereunder set their hands seals.

Signatories: 1. C.H Harley Mosele, 2.

MOSADERIN...Bale Ibadan, 3.

DADA ...Otun Bale, 4.

OLAFA...Osi Bale, 5.

OYEBODE.... Ashipa Bale, 6.

IREFIN... Ekerin Bale, 7.

AKINALE...Maye Bale, 8.

OBALANO...Abese Bale, 9.

APAMPA...Balogun , 10.

BAMBGEGBIN...Otun Balogun, 11. AKINTAYO...Osi Balogun, 12. SHITTU...Ashipa Balogun, 13. SUBERU...Ekerin Balogun, 14. OLA...Maye Balogun Signed and sealed at Lagos by the said Charles Herbert Harley Moseley in the presence of WNICLI... Chief Justice of Lagos; R.J.B Ross...Acting Attorney Gen-

turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

The Jonathan budget

T

On Oyo, Ibadan relationship

By Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi

eral. Signed and sealed in Ibadan by the said Bale and Authorities in the presence of C.H ELEGEE...Capt/Resident.

“The Bale and Authority of the Province of Ibadan having duly signed and sealed at Ibadan, on 8th August 1904, to the provisions of the YORUBALAND JURISDICTION ORDINANCE with the Colonial Authority, needed earnestly, to scale two hurdles, i.e.(1). The Confirmation and ratification of the entire provision of the said Ordinance

by King Alafin of Oyo and Head of Yorubaland, especially having regard to the interpretation clause in paragraph 2 at page 628 which says Yorubaland includes the Province of Ibadan and the territory of the Alafin of Oyo.’’ The second hurdle was the passage of the YORUBALAND JURISDICTION ORDINANCE by the Legislative Council. To facilitate smooth clearance of the first hurdle, Schedule 11 was enacted by AGREEMENT made on 16th day of August, 1904 between HIS Most Excellency, Majesty Edward V11 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and all the British Dominions, beyond the seas, King, Emperor of India, his heirs and successors on the one part and the King Alafin and Head of Yorubaland for and on behalf of himself, his heirs, successors and the people of Yorubaland on the other part.

The signing of the above quoted “Agreement” was necessitated consequent on the historical validity lucidly enunciated in the clauses of the “Preambles” to the “Yorubaland Jurisdiction Ordinance, 1904” as faithfully confirmed, signed and sealed by all the “Parties” thereto.

It may be germane, therefore, to quote here verbatim some of these timeless “clauses” enshrined in “Schedule 11 of Yorubaland Jurisdictional Ordinance, 1904”. (i) Page 633, paragraph 3 “AND WHEREAS the Alafin of Oyo is King and Head of

Yorubaland”. (ii) ibid, paragraph 4 “AND WHEREAS the Bale and Authorities of the Province of Ibadan have entered into an agreement with the Government of the Colony of Lagos dated the 8th day of August, acknowledging that certain powers and jurisdictions in the Province of Ibadan are vested in His Excellency Majesty, King Edward V11.”

Ibid (iii) Paragraph 5 “AND WHEREAS the Province of Ibadan forms part Yorubaland.” (iv) Page 634, paragraph, 1 “AND WHEREAS the Bale and Authorities and people of the Province of Ibadan recognise the Alafin of Oyo to be King and Head of Yorubaland”.

Ibid (v) Paragraph, 2, “AND WHEREAS it has been agreed that the said King Alafin of Oyo and Head of Yorubaland should confirm and approve the agreement between the Governor of the Colony of Lagos and the Bale and the Authorities of the Province of Ibadan.

“Signed and sealed by both parties on the 8th of August, 1904.”

Consequently, King Alafin of Oyo and Head of Yorubaland agreed, confirmed and signed the agreement:- “Signed as relative to the agreement entered into by me this 16th day of August, 1904 with the Governor of Lagos “This mark X ADEYEMI Alafin Oyo”. Witness C. HORNBY PORTER Colonial Secretary, (Acting).

Subsequently, it was “signed and sealed at Oyo by the said King Alafin of Oyo in the presence of, C. BORNBYPORTER, Colonial Secretary, (Acting) G.A. Oyeshile, Alafin’s Clerk.

“I do hereby certify that I have truly and honestly interpreted and explained in Yoruba language the terms of the foregoing Agreement to the Alafin of Oyo H.Y. LIBERTY, First Class CIK. Native Affairs. Signed by the said H. LIBERTY in the presence of G. A. OYESHILE,...... Alafin’s Clerk”. (i) “This printed impres-

sion has been carefully compiled by me with the Bill which has passed the Legislative Council and found by me to be a true and correct printed copy of the said Bill” SIMON I de SOUZA, Clerk of the Legislative Council. (ii) Presented for authentication and assent as a correctly and faithfully printed copy of the bill as passed by the Legislative Council C. HORNBY -PORTER, Colonial Secretary (Acting), I.M.M. DUNLOP Attorney General (Acting). (iii) Assented to in His Majesty’s name this 17th day of September, 1904 C. H. HARLEY MOSELEY, Acting Governor. This is one of the many imperishable legacies which King Alafin of Oyo and Head of Yorubaland bequeathed to Yorubaland.

The most germane thing from the above document was the free will of the Ibadan progenitors who recognised and accepted the Alaafin as their King and leader without any prompting. If that was the position of the law in 1904, nothing has ‘substantially happened to change that position in 2011. The clamour for equality and or legless claim of superiority of any traditional ruler in this part of the country, particularly in the present day Oyo State, to the Alaafin is nothing but an attempt to turn the Yoruba race into a laughing stock in the eyes of the comity of nations. It is a theatre of absurd when a child attains certain heights and begins to challenge his father, for superiority in the family.

Without any iota of personal aggrandisement, the Alaafin cannot be in contention with any traditional title holder in Yorubaland.

Well documented historical facts cannot be falsified even as our revered progenitors and ancestors appended their signatures to documents they prepared for their future siblings.

Oba Adeyemi III, is the Alaafin of Oyo

HE character of the Jonathan presidency is still unfolding. As my brother, comrade and friend, Kayode Komolafe, said recently, it appears that some content can now be fixed to the new administration's policies. The 2012 budget just presented last Tuesday was a full indication that the Jonathan government may sloganeer on job creation and pretend to have empathy for the vulnerable, but it is ultra-conservative.

Any government that would, within the prevailing clime, opt to increase the price of gasoline from N65 to N140 cannot be described as a friend of the people. Even if we take away the ideological framework, anyone who appreciates what would happen when prices of basic commodities soar in obedience to the dictates of higher cost of energy without an attendant increase in wages would agree that the times ahead can only be very tough and rough.

I have a fairly good grasp of the laws of economics. I have an understanding of the concept, opportunity cost. But, I find it difficult to understand the rationale behind the move to remove fuel subsidy, a euphemism for another sharp increase in the price of fuel.

What really does the President want? He is reintroducing the toll gates to make the people pay for roads that are in the most deplorable condition. To placate the people, he has promised palliatives. IBB made similar pledges. Obasanjo, too. In the first place, why should anyone believe or trust him? At the moment, the price of diesel is dictated purely by what their economists call market forces. It has continued on the rise since they removed the cap. Yet, we are not told how much comes in through the deregulation of diesel. The cost of engine oil is fully borne by the consumers, but, what value has that added to the life of the common man in the country?

Government is neither open nor transparent. At the National Assembly the week preceding presentation of the budget, the minister in charge of the critical sector said she did know how many litres of refined PMS are produced from a barrel of crude oil. Do they know the actual figure of barrels of crude oil produced and exported by the country?

The most nauseating argument that I have heard in support of the inflation-promotion measure is that it would displace a mafia that controls the fuel import business. What a fallacy. Take a look at the list unveiled at the Senate and compare to the list of those who have been donating heavy cash to the PDP campaign since 2003 and you will understand why the game continues. They are the contractors. They have the capacity to move to any other phony business that may be introduced in place of subsidy.

If the government were pro-people, I would expect that the first thing to do is plug the holes. The economy continues to buckle under the weight of heavy plundering. There is no doubt that parasites are adept at siphoning what belongs to all. What is the Jonathan government doing to arrest the trend? How can he take steps when he travelled the road of his predecessors in arriving at the Aso Villa? He can say, as some old politicians once did, that he was not voted in. He bought the prize. What was the source of the fund?

I have heard some analysts claim that he could do some magic with the budget. I don’t see anything progressive or different with his proposal. He wants to change the face of agriculture by importing more tones of fertilizer. All the states have taken a cue from that. Anytime you ask a governor what he is doing to wean his state economy from dependence of oil money shared from the federation account, he does not have to rehearse before reeling of the increase in the tonnage of fertilizers procured for the farming season. I cannot see any new thinking on education and health. Defence is allocated as much as the summ earmarked for Education, Health and Agriculture The difference now is that there appears to be a sharp young man in charge of the ministry who is not tired of telling us that there would be a boost to production of cassava to replace wheat in the production of bread. What Dr. Adesina has forgotten to tell us is the effect this could have on our health. This is a time that the world is transiting to the consumption of whole wheat bread.

Our government, under the guise of conserving fund, wants us to take the retrogressive step of eating cassava flour bread. Perhaps the President and his audience think we are deceived by the public show at that Federal Executive Council meeting where he handed a small bite of supposedly cassava bread to Vice-President Namadi Sambo. He even made the show the more incredible by claiming that he had been taking the cassava bread for some time. Who are the bakers?

From where have they been sourcing the flour?

The President may be a zoologist, but he has a competent doctor as Minister of Health. He should ask Professor Chukwu statistics on the diabetes epidemic in the land and the causes. I think what the government should do is institute measures that would halt the trend and promote the health of the citizenry. But, because this is a government of the rich for thr privileged, our President knows that, if the price of a loaf of whole wheat bread jumps to N1,000, he and his ilk could afford it. The poor may die off for all those in government care.

Mr. President, I refuse to be deceived.

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COVER THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Yuletide: When travelling is hell It’s that time of the year once again when people hit the road and travel home. In this report, Joe Agbro Jr., Jennifer Mordi, and Gbenga Oyewole write on what do when embarking on the journey.

B

RINGING Christmas and New Year along, the yuletide connotes celebration, with merriment and sharing of good tidings floating in the air. And for many people, it is time to spend time with family and friends.

But what happens when those families and friends stay far away?

“We visit them,” said Nkechi Nwangaga, a teacher residing in Lagos. “As a child, my brothers, sisters and I would spend it with our cousins. Either we visit or they visit. But it was fun when we visited because then, we would have to travel.”

The yuletide, with its positioning at the end of the year when most workers go on break, and atmosphere becomes convivial is also a good time to travel. The number of travellers at this period is such that, for those who do not make their travels on time, the gains might just measure up to the pains.

In the first week of December, Akpos Obire sent his wife and two children home for the Christmas holiday. To Akpos’ family that resides in Ikorodu, Lagos, home is Ughelli in Delta State. He plans to join them in the week of Christmas. “That way, even if I have to leave to join on Christmas Eve and the journey becomes tough, it is only me that would face it,” he said. This advice is suitable for families that must not necessarily travel together.

With visits peaking around the yuletide, travelling is very high but despite the hectic nature, many people still endure gruelling times in transit. On a visit to the Jibowu Park in Lagos last week, passengers at the different transport companies in the vicinity were in a relaxed mood, waiting for their buses to fill. But, going by precedent, situations in many motor-parks is likely to be chaotic in the week before Christmas.

Then, there would be jostling, shoving, and pushing to get tickets, which at this time have had their price doubled in overloaded buses on crowded roads.

•ASUU President, Prof. Awuzie Ukachukwu

ASUU/FG SHOWDOWN •Rushing home for Christmas “There is no way that the roads would not be blocked. Everybody is travelling at the same time and there are a lot of bad spots on the roads,” said Kayode Best, a driver who plies between Lagos and Port Harcourt.

In the wake of the rush to travel home the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has increased its campaigns in motor parks and on major roads across the country.

This, according to the commission is to emphasise the need to make drivers and commuters realise that there is life after the yuletide. At this time many like to travel at the last minute and would be ready to board any vehicle no matter how rickety.

The Lagos zonal commander of the commission, Jonas Agwu, on a weekly basis on a radio programme called “Oga Driver” has made it a point to use warn commuters and drivers to be wary of the way they drive and vehicles they board at this period. The road are liable to be over crowded and many vehicles are likely to overheat or breakdown because they were serviced a few hours before embarking on a long journey.

Paying for bad roads

It is this traffic stress that another manager said is responsible for the fares hike. She said, “most times, a journey meant for a day might extend to the next day, so we are forced to increase the price.”

But Mr. Peter Ozawe, a driver,

“There is no way that the roads would not be blocked. Everybody is travelling at the same time and there are a lot of bad spots on the roads”

PHOTO: BADE DARAMOLA

thinks that an increase in the price of fuel may also lead to a hike in transport fares. As at last Wednesday, the bus fares to Benin, Edo State from Lagos ranged from N1,350 to as high as N2, 050 for the air-conditioned buses. However, by the week of Christmas, it is not unusual to experience over 100% hike in the fares. Nelson Okoh, a passenger said he boarded the Ibadan bus for N800. As the dates of Christmas approaches, and more passengers swarm the park, this fare is set to go higher. To assuage the stress of its citizens, some state governments commandeer buses to transport their indigenes home at subsidized rates.

Ezekiel, a manager of a bus transport service there said, as part of preparation for expected surge, the company has already beefed up its fleet of luxury buses. On the issue of fare hikes associated with the yuletide, he said, “during this season, we have buses that travel down to the east with customers and the buses over there have to come back empty because the demand is not in the east anymore but down here. And coming back with an empty bus just to meet demand is a loss on the company.

So we have to increase the fare so as to reduce our loss.”

Also, as road usage increase, coupled with drinking, the risks of accidents generally increase. Only last week, at a joint safety awareness rally organised by the FRSC and Nigerian Breweries Plc. at the Ojota Motor Park in Lagos, FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Osita Chidoka had said, “we should note that alcohol when taken above limits, reduces our sense of judgment.”

But, his advice should not only be for the commercial drivers.

According to Chidoka, FRSC officials would continue checking drunk driving, use of mobile

Tips on travelling *If travelling with your vehicle, you must ensure vehicle has been thoroughly checked *Start preparation a few days ahead of the travel *Pack essential clothes and toys for children *Don’t forget phone chargers, cameras etc. *Remember to pack medications *Endeavour not to travel at night *Do not accept free ride from strangers *While travelling do not eat or receive food ordrinks from strangers phone while driving, overloading, and non-use of seat belts. Richard Adebayo, an auto mechanic also said, to avoid breakdowns, drivers must check their cars. “Not checking things like tyres, alignment, and worn-out parts,” he said are capable of causing havoc while on the road. “And many of these things can easily be checked.

But many car owners think it doesn’t matter.” He advised that all those who wanted to travel with their vehicle take it for service to have it diagnosed.

It is not only road travellers that must plan their travels properly at this time. Even airports are stressed and due to increased patronage, the harsh weather, many flights tend to be cancelled.

Because of this, passengers who intend flying must book their flights on time to avoid last minute rush and also have some contingency plan.

Joel Nwokedi, a regular air traveller recalled being stranded in Lagos for two days during the

yuletide last year. “The airline I had booked kept saying the weather was not good enough,” he said.

With different modes of travelling, many travellers now think of comfort, though comfort is relative. While some just hop on planes and arrive at their destination in a blink, others must endure hours. But, there are still little comforts to be had even while the hours stretch on asphalt. Mr. Eweka Ewemade, a business man who resides both in Lagos and Benin, would be celebrating Christmas and New Year in Benin.

To him, Benin is more welcoming and relaxing than Lagos. Though, he said he would be travelling by road, he is one of the discerning travellers who prefer comfort. “I prefer to board the bus with AC and Television facilities,” he said, “because it will make me feel more relaxed through the long journey.”

A breath of comfort Already there are reports that the Niger bridge is getting choked with heavy traffic as millions of easterners have begun to move down home to celebrate the season.

The rush is also compounded because many weddings, funerals, engagements, bestowal of titles and so on are done during this period. Things are bound to be crowded in the spirit of the times.

However, one upside in all these, is that some transport companies now draw up plans to assuage passenger’s stress. For instance, ABC Transport is offering its passengers the opportunity to book their travels ahead. Same applies to some airlines too. But, one thing that is certain is that with or without any accompanying stress, many Nigerians are going to be travelling this yuletide.

Whatever way it goes, the thing is to prepare, plan ahead, and hope all turns out well.

Bon voyage.

22

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Cover

T

O say that Christmas has assumed the toga of a universal festival of sorts is simply stating the obvious.

Whether in New York, Paris, Downing Street in London, Shanghai in China, Abu Dhabi in Dubai, Lagos metropolis, or the back street of Ikot-Ekpene in Calabar and other remotest part of Sabon-Gari, in Kano, the desire to keep the Christmas “fire” aflame, is reflected in the frenzied preparations which usually herald the universally acclaimed festival, which is exactly seven days away!

Will you have bank Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report looks at people’s spending pattern during the yuletide

Enter December ‘rush’

A huge industry has since been built around this month of the year, little wonder the catch-phrase ‘December rush’ has come to symbolise the glitz and glamour that goes with the rather frantic preparations by many people out there.

Like the rest of the globe, Nigerians have also begun preparation in earnest for the D-day by going shopping.

Investigations by The Nation revealed that just like the previous years, the spending patterns are varied, but the common feeling which resonates is that December is probably one month in the whole year, when a lot of individuals irrespective of their social class are wont to spend most of their disposable incomes mainly on items which are otherwise considered mundane.

Spending Christmas

patterns

at

Like previous years, the buying behaviour of shoppers especially for the upwardly mobile and high-heeled individuals at the yuletide may not have changed significantly.

Christmas shopping in major cities across the country is already upbeat with most shopping centres recording brisk sales in the pre-Christmas period.

At separate visits to the City Mall, Shoprite and major marts on Victoria Island and the newly opened one in Alausa, Ikeja and other parts of Lagos metropolis, the collector’s items were mainly Christmas decors such as Christmas trees and other accessories.

Buyers were seen making good bargains and carting away their purchases. Home entertainment appliances, books, perfumes and toys were in strong demand while shoppers showed little interest in sports equipment including luxury items such as state of the arts electronics.

To encourage sales of such luxury items, however, interested buyers were assured of some rebate on every purchase.

This according to Mr. Onyeka Edwardum, a shop attendant at Ikeja, became necessary to woo buyers because “not many people buy such items, as such the prices of electronics during this period have to be reduced more so when there have been lots of promo by the parent company which produce them.”

The price of an LG flat screen 21inches which used to be sold at N32,000 is now on sale at N29,000 and other branded LG items, he said.

“Any reasonable shop owner is expected to offer various discounts on purchases to raise the interest of customers in economically difficult times”, Edwardum stressed.

Another industry that has recorded an upward swing this period is the hamper sales.

A visit to Maryland, Lagos, where the hampers are being woven to specifications and sizes, was an eye-opener of sort.

In an interview with The Nation, Mrs. Juliet Omoworare (Iya Anu) said the hampers that are sold for N600 before are now sold for N900 due to the festive season while those which used to be sold for N400 and N500 is now N600 and N700.

“Most of the people that buy the hampers from us are the big companies

•Happy shoppers

like UTC, Leventis, Mr. Biggs and the traders from Apogbon who sell gift items and we also have individuals coming to buy once they feel they have someone important that ought to be appreciated, they will come and buy the hampers and package the gifts to that special person.”

On the quantity being sold at the moment she said “during the normal period except for when some companies like Mr. Biggs place orders we sell up to five baskets daily at most if luck is on our side. Since December sales have picked up.

Right now, we sell 10 and 20 pieces daily.”

For Mr. Chike Anyanwu, a boutique operator in Central Business District, Lagos, he usually looks forward to December for a good reason: he is convinced that this is one month he records boom in sales compared to other months.

“This is the period when people buy more clothes and they are not concerned about the cost especially those who would be travelling during the period. For instance, shoes that are sold for like N10,000 before this period now go for between N15,000 to N18, 000. The same thing applies for shirts as well”, Anyanwu said, betraying a ghost of a smile.

Probed further, he added: “Business has picked up since last week. But I expect it to reach its peak few days leading to Christmas and before the New Year.

Already I have stock-piled wares in anticipation of the boom sales.”

Food items are also a must-buy at the yuletide. Expectedly, the prices of some food items such as staple foods like beans, rice, among others have soared in the last few days. A bag of beans which hitherto sold for N10,000 is now between N11,500 or N12,000.

Some business people said the expected boom in business was yet to be

felt in some segment of the market, as consumer buying was anything but fantastic just yet.

Shedding light on the change in purchasing habit of people living in the Gowon Estate axis of Lagos, the Managing Director of Neighbourhood Pharmacy and Stores, Mrs. May Ohaedoghasi, recalled that: “There’s a popular phrase tagged ‘December rush’ that we use to describe the rate at which we buy and sell products especially between November and December. This phrase is used to properly describe the sales-pattern around here until a few years ago when the state of the economy started going downhill and things became really hard for people.

“Right now we have a scenario where, there are goods in the shop but people are not buying as much as they want because they cannot afford it. So because customers are not buying goods, we can’t replenish our stocks and the cycle continues but since we record our highest sale on the 24th of December every year, we are hoping that somehow, things will improve.”

Seasonal buying

An overwhelming majority of parents expressed their readiness to give their wards a treat this Christmas with many planning on spending up to N5, 000 per child or more.

Besides, they said they were willing to present gifts for their loved ones, including family, partners, children and friends.

One of the parents, Mrs. Bimpe Adenike, said she always looks forward to Christmas because it is period of the year where family members get together to express love and affection for one another.

Justification for spending

In the view of Dr. Jonathan Aremu, an

economist and former Deputy Director, Research and Planning at the Central Bank of Nigeria, spending at Christmas is expected giving the significance a lot of people attach to the occasion.

According to him, “Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Like other secular activities, it is one ceremony that attracts a lot of spending.

In most parts of the country, it is not surprising to see people committing a lot of resources to celebrate during the yuletide season. Christians especially believe that there is no amount of money too small to mark this day because they have this belief that God is the supplier of their needs.”

But he would rather individuals and governments at all levels err on the side of caution when it comes to spending during this festive period.

His reasons: “As much as individuals and governments would be tempted to spend on sundry items, they have to weigh such spending on priority areas bearing in mind the incoming year will usher in a lot of measures which may task their finances more than ever before.”

Continuing, Aremu, who sits on the board of different multilateral agencies, where he handles consultancy briefs in diverse areas, further argues that: “Efforts should be aimed at reducing wasteful spending rather than get carried away in the festivities.”

Echoing similar views, Dr. Fred Odutola, General Secretary/Chief Executive, Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) said while not averse to spending at Christmas, he would advise moderation.

“The culture where the rich people buy gifts for themselves is actually at variance with the traditions of Christmas. There should be a clear departure from that this Christmas. What we do in my family over time is to reach out to the needy during

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Cover

23

balance after Christmas?

this period. A lot of people out there who cannot afford good meals deserve to have a feast this season. That’s what we have been doing overtime and we enjoy it a lot”, Odutola said.

Funding for Xmas

Unlike other climes where people save up for Christmas and possibly take a raise

A

LL over the world, one of the major attractions of Christmas is the display of pyrotechnics known in local parlance as “bangas.”

At this time of the year, in the past the deafening sounds of firecrackers could be heard in neighbourhoods as they boom in high decibels to the admiration of the prospective happy-go-lucky individuals enveloped in such revelry.

But there is a passive lull in the use of firecrackers this year. This development may not be unconnected to the ban on the use of explosives at yuletide by the members of the hallowed chamber in the National Assembly.

Investigation by The Nation revealed traders who hitherto sold such explosives could not do so because there is a high tariff, in form of import duty placed on such items.

Okonkwo Emmanuel, a freight forwarder observed that there is high import duty placed on items like firecrackers because they fall under the import prohibition list.

A random sampling in neighbourhood markets however revealed that traders are selling off some of their old wares discreetly to avoid any collision with the authorities.

Mr. Samuel Jinadu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police and the

to enable them shop for Christmas, majority of Nigerians plan their finances around this period.

Some organisations are known to give bonuses to workers at this period of the year to cushion expenses expected at the yuletide. A cross section of respondents shared their experiences on how their

organisations contribute in cash and kind towards celebrating the yuletide.

A staff of a manufacturing outfit in Lagos, who simply gave his name as Alabi said as a member of the cooperative society in his company he is entitled to a lot of perks during this period.

“At the cooperative we slaughter at

least five cows, purchase bags of rice, assorted drinks as well as distribute gifts among ourselves during this period. Our families also have the opportunity of going out on a picnic all at the expense of the cooperative society. So, I don’t really feel the impact on my finances”, he said.

Talk of different strokes for different folks.

Bang, bang, bang!

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

public Relations Officer of the Lagos Police command, said he was not aware of any ban on the use of firecrackers at the yuletide. According to him, “What I’m aware of is that the members of the public have been warned to exercise restraint in the use of firecrackers during the yuletide. And the reason is this: there is every tendency for people to mistake a normal firecracker for arm robbery incidents.”

Expatiating, he said, “Don’t forget, some people have obtained license to import firecrackers. But even at that we are mindful of the fact that some unscrupulous individuals may commit mischief using firecrackers and that is why we are ever on the watch out for such individuals who may want to breach the public peace under the guise of celebrating Christmas feast.” •Christmas fire crakers ...still legal?

24

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Cover

Christmas decor for every budget C

HRISTMAS is a season of showing love and being loved. It is also believed that Christ was born on this day. To many, Christmas has different meanings.

There are different things involved in this period, i.e. the food, decorations, shopping for outfits, relaxation spot etc Decoration comes in various designs and pattern, ranging from the Christmas tree which is the most used and the lights too.

Halo, stars, Santa’s chariot, Christmas bunny, horses, little cherubim with arrows and bows and even Christ in the manger.

Stories by Blessing Joseph

These decor some of which our reporter saw at Party Perfect, Shoprite, Surulere can be in the interior or exterior of homes, offices, parks or gardens. These decor help create the mood of the season and are mostly effective in the night because of the lightening effect it has. A good example is the Falomo roundabout in Lagos.

Some materials used in the decor include fabrics, wood, metals among others. Colours also have a way of adding its feel; the popular colour for this season is green and red. Others include white, gold and brown.

Christmas delight HRISTMAS is a period when people celebrate and enjoy the end of the year with family and friends. Here are different dishes you can prepare at home this Christmas if you are tired of the conventional rice and stew with chicken this period as recommended by top chef Joseph O. Udoh of Ocean Suit Hotels, Gbagada, Lagos.

C

Sea food rice: Ingredients: vegetable oil, onion, carrot, egg, seasoning, green pepper, rice, shrimps Method of preparation: wash and boil the shrimp with seasoning. Add vegetable oil in a sauce or frying pan, allow to hot for some minutes, add onion, shrimp, carrot, whisked egg, parboiled rice, seasoning and green pepper and allow to cook till it’sready to eat. Serve with beef, chicken, or goat meat. Enjoy!!

Shredded beef: Ingredients: beef, cabbage, green pepper, onion, red pepper, sweet corn, rice, seasoning.

Method: Boil beef, adding the necessary seasoning, and then shred it when it is tender. Add vegetable oil in a pot, allow to hot, add the shredded beef, cabbage, green pepper, onion, red pepper, and sweet corn and allow to simmer for ten minutes. After that it is ready. It comes out colourful and you can serve with white rice or boiled yam.

•Rice with shrimp

•Christmas tree on display

•Sea food rice

Chicken and chips: Ingredients: Irish potatoes, chicken, ketchup or tomato sauce, vegetable oil, seasoning Wash and season your chicken, place on a grill. If you don’t have a grill, you can fry the chicken after that you deep fry the Irish

potatoes that has being peeled and washed clean in a deep fryer, allow to fry remove from the fryer place in a drainer to drain out the oil. Your chicken and chips is ready. Serve with ketchup or tomato sauce with an orange juice by the side.

•Christmas wreath

SUNDAY INTERVIEW

25

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

‘Why our roads are expensive and bad’ W

HAT is the cost of constructing a kilometre road in Nigeria?

That is a very big question (laughs)... because the cost depends purely on the players; it’s not scientific, so somebody may decide that his own will be N10 billion and another may decide that it is N1 million, it depends on which angle each player is thinking about. The cost of roads actually should be determined by the type of design by the engineer. If it is just ordinary bulldozing and having the arc then the cost will be very different from the design of an expressway with wide span or narrow span and the details of the engineers’ design. These are the factors. So, we cannot say this is the cost of a road anywhere because it is different all over the world. Those who have been to Germany, you see they have Autobahn in Germany, that is their main expressway where your car can go for 400 kilometres per hour nonstop. That depends again on the design and the cost of such designs. So that is why I said it is a big question.

When you say it depends on the player, does that take into account politics and what have you?

In Nigeria, politics is the overriding factor, not the science or the engineering. This is the hard fact and we all know it. What is quoted for any road at all depends on the whims and caprices of those concerned with the construction of the road in the first place.

The World Bank has said Nigeria has the highest cost of road construction across the globe. This is probably why the Federal Government has decided to set up a template through which cost of kilometre roads can be measured. Do you think this is a right step in the direction?

That will be counter-productive because you cannot just react because they say your road is the most expensive, you now say one kilometre road should be XYZ cost. Before one can determine the cost of a road in any terrain, there are many factors you have to consider. These are studies, these are investigations. This is what is called research.

But we all pretend we don’t know it (research). We know it. Every university person knows what a research is, even those who are professors who have gone to politics will turn that idea off; they will pretend they have never been to research area before. So, when the government says now a road will cost so much, it is painful. It is always counter-productive because if I want a road from UNILAG to Bariga, I should send people who are knowledgeable in the investigation to UNILAG and Bariga, study the place, and make your field notes, what are the obstructions? What are the pros and cons? Then you all sit down and cost it. Then the road engineer will now design to comply with the fact that you have found out, that is what the quantity surveyor will now cost. So the road from UNILAG to Bariga and another from Bariga to Oworonshoki, you cannot compare the cost because there are physical entities that you will meet in the different areas. There are areas where you have bulldozed a whole hill within one-eighth of a kilometre.

You have to cut the hill to get a good gradient and there is another and another quarter kilometre where you don’t have to do such a thing. So you cannot compare their cost, they are both in different physical settings and what is required to make roads in each areas are different from each other. So if you say now one kilometre of road is N10

Dr. Ebenezer Meshida, an Engineering Geologist at the Faculty of Science at the University of Lagos in 2008 won the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Science Prize. He won it for his ground breaking research on road construction. In this interview with Olayinka Oyegbile, Deputy Editor and Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he talks about why our roads are still in bad shape and other issues

•Meshida

million, ok. A good contractor, a sensible contractor, which in English they say is astute contractors, they have brains, they can study their clients, they know what the client is and they know how rich the client is then I can make my bill of quantities and give to him. And watch it, where you have five foreign contractors bidding for the same job, they all meet in the club, five of them they are friends because of their white skin, they meet in the club and discuss the rest of us and call us anything, even bastards, idiots, monkeys that is what they call us. Then they say ok you take this job, what is your cost? Then copy, then they amend and they submit, then the man in the ministry will say contractor A is the cheapest give it to him and in the evening when they meet at the club, they will all laugh. When you award the thing they will say these people don’t know right from left, they will give us big equipment and bulldoze the thing, in two hours they are through with it and we clap and shout: “They know it, they did it very well.” Then the first rain will come and the whole thing is swept off. Ok, we are not calling this one, we are calling this one. They will call another person to come and do the thing for us. Then they do the slipshod thing again and wait. They don’t want to go, the whole five of them will not go because they

PHOTOS: RAPHEAL OLUSEGUN

know you will call them one by one and all your billions and trillions will go into their pockets. At the end of it all they will leave you, and then they laugh at you. That is what they are doing to us; can they try it in their country?

The government probably took that step because of the issue of corruption that is steep in government contracts, where you have people inflating the cost of projects and all that.

Well, it is good. I sympathise with us.

Then I ask myself who is not corrupt, who is not corrupt? Can you mention a name (laughs). Can I mention a name and can the president mention a name? That I know this person, he is not corrupt...What is corruption? Nobody has defined it. We are fighting corruption, yet we don’t know it. We have not defined corruption.

What is your own definition of it sir?

My own definition of corruption is very difficult. I don’t know it... (general laughter). I have thought about it so many times but I don’t know it, honestly.

We are talking of the issue of research and all that. We don’t take that into consideration in Nigeria or do we?

Research, in road construction we don’t.

As far as I know, we do not. As far as I can see, we do not. And I’ve been 40 years old in

the construction industry. I started serious participation in the industry in 1971 that makes it 40 years.

Let’s comeback to your 2008 NNLG award; since the research is about constructing roads without potholes, why are our roads still not motor-able and littered with potholes?

I think I should just have a broad smile.

(Laughs)... Because nobody has even invited me in the construction industry to ask, “what is this your thing?”

Not even the Federal Ministry of Works?

No. I have been the one even before the award, in 2004 I was the one pushing the Federal Ministry of Works to have a look at it when it was first done and we made a lot of test in the UNILAG lab here. I called (Senator Adeseye) Ogunlewe (then minister of works); I wrote to him, sent my letter to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

FERMA came to see me, we discussed and that was the end of the show. They are not interested, up till today, no link.

And if it is a foreign organisation or person we would have got across and say ok let us see.

They are interested in the foreign ones.

FERMA has been buying the foreign stabilizers.

•Continued on Page 26

26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Sunday Interview

‘Construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway will fail’ •Continued from Page 25 Which have not worked for us or we are not applying it correctly?

I’m only a scientist. A very humble and simple scientist; I just observe. They buy the foreign ones, use them, and the thing fails and nobody talks. I tell my research students go and take the foreign ones. They bring them and we test them here in the lab and we just burst out laughing.

How do we remedy this?

There are so many things I don’t know... (Laughs). There are so many things I’m so ignorant about. What I prescribed nobody looked at it, so I just hold my peace.

To take you back, what was the motivation for the invention you came up with?

I gave a long discussion of it during the celebration of the award. I was attached by the company I was working with as a geologist to a British company that designed the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

What year was that sir?

That was in 1972, at the Nigeria Soil Engineering Company in Ikeja. I was a young graduate. I was listening to the British engineers, they were discussing our soils and because I was a geologist I was interested. They said these soils were poor. When the soils were compacted as soon as they came in contact with water, they disperse. So they were telling us that these soils were not as good as they thought and that it would be a big problem. So, I just picked interest. And when I became a research student in the University of Ife in 1975, I just decided to pursue that line of research; what will I add to this soil to make it a good engineering material. That’s all.

And like a child’s play I started with mixing alum, it failed. I used wood, it failed. I also used potash, it failed as well. I used several things that they also failed. So because nobody sent me into the dungeon...(general laughter) It was a mental dungeon, I started just working and looking for anything that I think will be good material to obtain and add to the soil chemically and it lasted till 1st January 2001. That was the day the thing clicked. I have been to all sorts of places taking minerals, grinding them. That New Year day was the only day that I did the thing and it achieved the aim I was looking for.

Giving the problem of theft of copyright and intellectual material, have you been able to apply for its patent?

I patented it in 2005 in Abuja and have obtained the form to patent it in the United States in Atlanta, because it worked for their soils.

You mean they are already using it in Atlanta?

My brother is there. I gave him the samples, he tested it and I went there, I checked it and I saw it worked but I said let us wait, let’s go back home, let’s see what it will be at home. You see, there are so many engineers, scientists and all sorts in the US that are Nigerians, they are doing very well. They are leaders in computing, mathematics, mechanical engineering; we are the ones driving those sectors abroad. But sadly they are not known here at home. Nobody wants to see them, they consider them irrelevant here. So I just said ok wait, let’s see what we can do.

The only thing I can do that I have been doing is to be teaching my students. I’ve given it to about eight generations of engineers.

This same techniques have given it to them, they know it but they cannot talk in this country, they’re

not in the political realm. So nobody wants to hear them.

Is it possible to mass produce in large quantity?

Yes it is possible. But my fear is, even though I’m not an industrialist, I see what people are suffering in Nigeria; you don’t have electricity to run your machine, you go and buy generator then you go and buy diesel to fuel the generator. You don’t have water and all that. But I don’t use water to produce anything. I just need to grind and mix, so I need an industrial grinder which I see is very common. In Oregun, there are so many mixers there. So, if I go to the field with a trailer load of the soil, and they grind and mix, we can produce millions of tons.

Now, Bi-Courtney is working on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and you started the research when you were working with the company that designed the road. Has there been any effort made by you to talk to them that this is what I have and can we do something like this?

Yes, as soon as we heard that Dr. Wale Babalakin won the contract, I was one of the first persons to go to their office at the old toll gate. I met the engineer in charge, I spoke with him and I said this is what I have for you. I went along with a sample of the soil I stabilised. I showed him and to my surprise he was nonchalant. Then he said, “Well, go and take a portion of the lorry park opposite MFM at Ibafo and stabilise it for us.” I was happy. I said I produce this thing.

But in engineering you don’t just go and be pouring your powder, you go first and test the soil. I went on my own, tested the soil of course, the soil was very loose and bad. Then I got my results, came back to him with a letter to say I have tested the soil, the upper two and half to three metres are very poor. But despite that let me have your design because in engineering you don’t build anything, you don’t think of anything, until there is a design you want to work with.

I’m not an engineer but I’m what they call Engineering Geologist.

I’m the type of geologist trained to understand the problems of civil engineers and to assist them in my own professional way.

So he (Bi-Courtney engineer) was angry with me because he started talking to me saying: “We asked you to go and do a piece of work, you now come back to us, to say we should give you a design.”

I felt somehow. While he was talking to me I simply did this...(laughs) covered my ears...

And he was looking at me. So I said, well I know you are a very experienced engineer and as I’m looking at you have so many years behind you. But if you have a scheme, will you work without a design?” Then it dawned on him that he made a mistake by addressing me that way.

Then he said: “Alright, alright, the design is not ready yet. Give us three weeks.” So I just said to him, “When you see me near you, I’m here to help you. You don’t need my help, goodbye.” So I packed my papers, took my file and left him.

The only thing I can assure anybody who is going to reconstruct that road (Lagos-Ibadan expressway) is that he is bound to keep failing... He is bound to keep failing. And you want to construct that road and you want to make profit, I doubt. If you are doing the normal engineering such as bulldozing and compacting, it is not possible. How many contractors have worked along that road, what success have they obtained? Never!

I’m waiting because I want to see

“In Nigeria, politics is the overriding factor, not the science or the engineering. This is the hard fact and we all know it. What is quoted for any road at all depends on the whims and caprices of those concerned with the construction of the road in the first place.” the magic. What the British designed, they altered it. They said the British design was too expensive; they altered it and did their own. That’s what we have now.

So it’s because we don’t want to spend and we don’t want to do research, that is the crux of the problem?

Perfectly correct. They harass universities, mind my words oh!

I’m not just talking from sentiments. Our governments harass universities in their own way. I think I’m too stiff, but we need it.

They say go and do research, go and do this, go and do that. We finish the research they don’t look at it. Go and look at the Road Research Institute in Abuja and Ota, if you have been there, you will see what I’m talking about. They are doing any other thing apart from research. They do anything civil service but not road research. If you’ve been to the Road Research Institute in London then you will know there is road research. They started mapping British Isles in year 1066 when William the Conqueror crossed from Holland to become King of England. He (William) ordered the manors, the land users to map the entire Britain. He wanted to see the land use map showing all the roads, all the farmsteads, land scheme. And that was the time they started controlling land use in Britain, in Scotland, Wales, Isles of Man. Here we don’t even know maps. Honestly, we don’t know maps. I studied Geography at the University Ibadan that was my first degree in 1967. The maps we used were drawn by the British like contour maps, among others, they are the ones we still use today. And you cannot even obtain them, they give you photocopy in the Ministry of Lands you won’t even see the contour lines. It’s a predicament.

Then, as a geologist, my country has no geological maps. We use British maps to study and American maps to study geology. So, it is now the British Geological Survey from Nigeria that is trying to draw geological maps in different parts and they are not giving the funds.

A colleague of mine is the director at the Geological survey. They just doled him some little stipends here and there. But I have told all my colleagues that look I’m almost at 12 midnight because everybody has a lifespan. When I’m gone, I will leave what I have for you...(laughs).

There is an emerging interest in geographic information system (GIS) by the government. Don’t you think this is part of that effort to get Nigerians to appreciate the importance of GIS? The Lagos State governor is the first government official that I’ve seen who is aware of the importance of digital maps and he has

•Meshida

ordered for them to be produced.

At the federal level, yes they may have such things but because I’m not there I don’t know the extent they have gone. But what is painful to me is that people construct roads in my country without using maps. And I’ve been to other people’s countries, I did part of my research in Federal College in London just partly for a few months in 1980-1981. There is no part of Britain that doesn’t have engineering geological maps. The county has maps. So when you are talking about one minor road they simply know them, within two seconds they type something and the map has appeared. They know the formation, they know problematic ones, they know good ones. Then the engineer who is to do that knows what to do. And no contractor in Britain can be given a road contract, if he has no mobile laboratory. All your testing equipment must be there. It will be inspected and everything must be working before you can be given any contract. And where you cannot handle the whole thing, they go to some other place to test their own soil.

What is your take on the move by government to partner with the private sector to undertake infrastructural development.

When they say private investors they are foreigners from China, Germany and so on. And we are back to the same stories. They will do the work, we don’t have Nigerian companies that can handle such things because our history has not been along the positive side to develop. Our history has been in the area of buying. We buy everything, borrow money and they say they are helping and giving us financial aid to make sure we don’t develop. Everything will be done, there is no doubt about it but at what cost do the intellectual development and practical development of Nigerians? How many engineers know about what they are doing?

Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) what are they about? I don’t know what they are doing, they say they are Council of Registered Engineers in Nigeria (COREN). What is COREN? If you are COREN registered it doesn’t add to your brain.

When they bring Chinese engineering company, they come with their big equipment two or three Chinese will come with those equipment.

Let me also say here that all these foreigners that come here are really not engineers. Ask them any engineering question they cannot answer back, they will say go to our head office. Some will even tell you they don’t understand English. So is that development that you have trillions to spend, it is not development, you’re retrogressing, they are riding on us.

It is a serious matter...

(Cuts in)... Yes very serious. I’m sufficiently old now and nobody can intimidate me...(laughs). The Benin-Ore road is a very important road. Everybody has been careless about it just as they have been careless about Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Such important roads you should precede them by studies.

And it takes time to study so that you know what you’re to do and go straight to it. If it were British people that own that area will that road still be like that? So studies, geological studies, soil engineering studies, engineering design that will take into cognizance all the previous studies, and have impeccable design then construction under strict supervision of the researcher. Supervision is not just standing there to see what they are doing. If you land in Gatwick Airport and you are going to London City, that terrain is one of the worst in the entire world, more problematic than Niger Delta terrain. But look at the road; have you ever seen any bumps on the road before? It has a superb design, which is the result of a research.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Why I p o r d t ’ n ca e m a n e th ’ n u g o l a ‘B

—Fathia Balogun

–PAGES 36-37

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Kehinde Falode Tel: 08023689894 (sms)

E-mail: kehinde.falode@thenationonlineng.net

Dress

smart

for Christmas

•Nneoma

•Rita Dominic •Vixen

Merry Xma s to you all!

•Funke Akindele

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Xmas E ssentials

•Everyone needs a great beach bag

Hit the beach

in

style •For a bikini & swimsuit combo tankinis is your best bet

•Sarong Teal

31

32

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Twinkle up your hair for

Christmas

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, December 18, 2011

Glamour

33

The year 2011 is almost gone and quite expectedly, social circles have been abuzz with all sort of event.

At the recently held Nigeria Music Video Awards young dames strutted their style on the red carpet. But did they get it right? Kehinde Falode provides the answer.

Photo: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

She looks refined and elegant, letting the Ankara do the talking.

Jumai Shaaba looks pretty good in this simple but eye-catching enssemble.

Kudos!

Yemi Oyekan looks uncomfortable in this outfit; maybe she is not used to rocking strapless apparel.

Oops!

Ekuedewo dared to do something different. Her Egyptian neckline looked chic and flawless. Kudos!

Perfectly okay from the waist up, but Temitope Omotayo left it totally visible from waist down for all to see. Oops!

This mistake is huge! Those little berries are gasping for fresh air!

Oops to Adeola Obagun

34

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Favourite sunglasses I am a Ray Ban girl anytime and any day

Favourite wrist watch Fossil

One of Nigeria's top female vocalists, Aituaje I r u o b e ,

Favourite hairstyle I style centre part most time

Favourite food These days I started craving for Eko/Agidi/Pap with pepper soup okro

Favourite shoes designer

Favourite fashion designer(s)

Christian Louboutin

Deola Sagoe, Ituen Bassi, House of Nwocha, Toju Foyeh and Mai Atafo

Favourite attires Jeans and shirt

Favourite perfume I love Heat

by BeyoncĂŠ

Favourite drink I like Mojito cocktail because of the mint in it.

Favourite designer bag Russell and Bromley

Waje’s

top

10

THEATRE

With VICTOR AKANDE

Armed with a hit single entitled “Something About You” fast rising songstress Jennifer Azubuike a.k.a Jennik seems set to take her pride of place on the music scene.

She became active in the world of music at 17 when she recorded her first single and ever since has not looked back. The model and song writer revealed more about herself and her music

t

BIGSCREEN

Tel: 08077408676

SOUND TRACK

plus Yes I am. I date my music s (laughs). That' I the only thing have time for er now; every oth thing is t secondary. Tha m is not to say I a at not the type th t falls in love bu in when I do fall love I'll let you know (winks)

GISTS

PAGE

35

e-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

Oshiomole lauds Comedy Overdose

e n i b m o c How I d n a g n i mod el g —Fast risin ik da ncin g songstress, Jenn I Go Dye, Bovi, Buchi for Rhythm Unplugged

•Bovi

36

Entertainment It is often said that stars do not reign forever but that maxim may not be totally correct. With a career spanning two decades, Fathia Balogun’s name resonates as far as Nollywood Yoruba film industry is concerned. Born to a Delta State father and Anambra State mother, a lot of her fans would swear that the versatile actress sure has Yoruba blood. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the mother of two and estranged wife of equally popular actor cum producer, Saidi Balogun, opens up on scandals, 'bad girl roles' in recent times, relationship, and other things.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

ith the w t u o e I cam logun. a B a i h t a name F me as w o n k l l a My fans o do my s , n u g o l Fathia Ba no reason why kids. I see hange it. I see I should c on why I no reas name e h t r a e b shouldn't

Why I p o r d t ’ n ca e m a n e th ’ n u n g u o l g ‘BBaalo

Entertainment

37

Anike Agbaje Williams, Toolz, others shine at NBA

YEM calls for entries

Choc City emerges runner-up at the entrepreneurship awards

—Fathia Balogun There was this scenario of me and one actress fighting on the street over some stupid thing, over someone. You won't believe that my son's teacher brought the publication to school and gave to my son to read

•Chocolate City

38

Entertainment

Exciting time on TV with Nigerian Idol

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

•Nigerian Idol judges

Angela Okorie turns producers’ toast

Daniel Ademinokan to bury father in style

•Daniel

Top 10 Mics gathers momentum!

Tonto Dikeh gives back

•Tonto

•Uti

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

39

Wedding Expo competition gets date

Amaka Igwe pulls crowd!

•Akin Eso

Grand premiere of Victims of the Society

MTV launches Comedy Central

Broadcaster out with album Musa Odoshimokhe

•Jola Afolabi

•Cossy

40

Entertainment

Peak Talent Show

Battle of the finalists

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

BIG

CINEMA GUIDE

PICTURE Supported by: SILVERBIRD CINEMAS

Puss in Boots

The real adventure begins

Courageous: The choice between family and career

•Shortcut (evicted)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

41

42

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Though still in his mid-30's, this young man better known as Tee-A, started his stand-up comedy career at a time the industry was in its infancy. Fifteen years down the line, Tunde Adewale has a success story to tell. In this interview with Kayode Alfred, the popular comedian relives his rise from obscurity to fame

f i e r a c t ’ n o d I y a s e l p s u peo o r e n e g t o n I’m A E –TE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

43

Social KAYODE ALFRED

(E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com, Tel: 08035733605, 08099400057)

Taiwo Odukoya gets new bundle of joy

Razaq Okoya plans high-octane shindig

R

ECALL that last week we told you that Rosemary, the South African wife of Pastor Taiwo Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church was due for the labour room? The latest gist is that the beautiful woman has been delivered of her second child for the amiable man of God, who was once married to one of Nigeria's most celebrated female pastors, Pastor Bimbo. The new baby arrived on the 6th of Decemb e r , 2010 at

Linda Mesrob, Lolu Sodeinde's marriage plans in trouble

Aisha Adeseun in fresh romance

Femi Otedola, Aliko Dangote in final reconciliation

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

43

Social KAYODE ALFRED

(E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com, Tel: 08035733605, 08099400057)

Taiwo Odukoya gets new bundle of joy

Linda Mesrob, Lolu Sodeinde's marriage plans in trouble

Razaq Okoya plans high-octane shindig

Aisha Adeseun in fresh romance

Femi Otedola, Aliko Dangote in final reconciliation

44

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Glamour

Oba Adedapo Tejuosho and his Oloris

&

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

Jumoke Oyeneyin marks th 40 birthday, renews marital vows

Pastor Olufemi Paul

Lola Adefusika

Jumoke Oyeneyin and her husband Noah

Mrs Bukola Faleke

Mrs Joko Oni and Ayo Balogun

Mr and Mrs Okesanjo

Mrs Joke Shogunro-Umeh and Lawunmi Bibilari

FROM THE CAMPUS PAGE 46

With Prof. Emmanuel Ojeme

THE NATION SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

CLUB WORLD CUP FINAL

REDEVELOPING AFUZE COLLEGE:

Adams Oshiomhole’s challenge

T

•Messi

•Neymar

Barca vows to win for Villa E

U R O P E A N champions Barcelona have pledged to capture the Club World Cup for striker David Villa, who suffered a sickening leg break in Thursday's semifinal in Japan.

The Spanish giants crushed Qatar's Al Sadd 4-0 in Yokohama, hardly breaking sweat, but the victory was marred by the injury to Villa, who snapped his left shin in the first half.

"The players all felt sick for David after the game," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola told reporters.

"They are very down. I told them it can happen to anyone at any time.

"David is going to be out for a long time and now we will have to win the Club World Cup without him. It will take a long time to return from this kind of break."

Barca, bidding to win the seven-team tournament for the second time in three years, take on Brazil's Santos and their talented teenage striker Neymar in tonight's final.

The Catalans closed training to the media on Friday following the injury blow to Villa, who is expected to be out for up to five months.

"This will be an extremely difficult time for David,"

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol said, echoing the sentiments of his coach.

Villa's injury is also a setback for World Cup holders Spain as they prepare to defend their European Championships

title in Poland and Ukraine next year.

"Our thoughts are with our player who must return for an operation," Guardiola snapped when asked who would replace Villa in the final. "Don't ask me about

FIFA under pressure to review World Cup bids by FBI

T

HE US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into allegations of misconduct in the awarding a year ago of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

FBI investigators last month interviewed in London officials of England’s 2018 bid campaign, according to The Daily Telegraph. The paper reported that the FBI had collected “substantial evidence” documenting efforts to hack into emails of US bid executive, who alongside their colleagues from South Korea, Australia and Japan lost to Qatar.

The FBI is further looking into the charges that Mr. Bin Hammam, a Qatari national, who was closely associated with the Qatari bid, had bribed executives of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to back his

failed FIFA presidential campaign earlier this year to unseat the group’s fourth time president, Sepp Blatter.

The FBI bases its investigation on the grounds that the bribes may have crossed US borders.

Bin Hammam, who was dismissed as FIFA vice president and banned for life from involvement in soccer in July, following a FIFA investigation into the charges, has denied any wrong doing as has Qatar with regard to allegations of corruption in its World Cup bid campaign.

Australian soccer federation president Frank Lowy, speaking last week days after Mr. Blatter opened the door to an investigation of Qatar’s bid, said he believed that the Gulf state could be deprived of the right to host the tournament. The "last word hasn't been heard yet,'' Mr. Lowy said.

tactics now."

Puyol grimaced when asked about stopping Neymar, who has turned down a fortune from several top clubs in Europe to stay at Santos until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

"It will be very difficult to mark Neymar," Puyol said of the 19-year-old. "He's got such great speed. He's already a great player and has fantastic potential for the future.

"He has quick feet and does amazing things. He can switch from right to left or left to right so he's very unpredictable when he gets on the ball.

"Everyone is talking about Neymar but Santos have many dangerous players."

Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano, who also picked up a knock against Al Sadd, promised Barca would not underestimate the South American Libertadores Cup holders.

"Santos are a very good side and they have some quality players in attack, like Neymar and [Paulo Henrique] Ganso," said the former Liverpool enforcer.

"They have experience and their coach [Muricy Ramalho] is very clever. We have a lot of respect for them.

Right now though we all feel terrible for David and need to support him."

HE name Afuze became nationally known and popular mainly due to the establishment of the College of Physical Education in the town in 1972.

This College was established by Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia, the Visionary Sports philosopher, to be a sanctuary for the incubation of sports talents. It served as a ground for most effective camping of Mid-West athletes as they prepared for national competitions. This College of Physical Education later translated to what was then known as Afuze Miracle due to the awesome results posted by the Mid-West and later Bendel athletes in national competitions. Since Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia left governance, this College has become orphaned and a huge savannah land. Inspite of it being named after Nigeria’s legendary labour leader, late Pa. Michael Imoudu and with Adams Oshiomhole, another, accomplished labour leader, in the saddle of governance, most of us expected that this College would retrieve its past glory. This is yet to happen.

This is an appeal to the Governor and well meaning people of Edo State to rise up to the challenge of ensuring that this legendary College is back, firmly on its feet.

If the current leaders are confused as to what to do with the College, I believe that a few lessons from its initiator, Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia, can be very useful. Edo State and indeed Nigeria needs this College. Edo State Sports is definitely not at its most glittering level of performance.

As a traditionally gifted zone and nationally acknowledged prowess in Sports, the quality of Edo’s performance in the last national Sports festival shows that the government and people of the State must revup the throttle in order to reclaim its leadership position in sports. In this process, I believe that the College of Physical Education, Afuze has a huge role to play.

It is somehow intriguing that football receives all the attention. The convertion of Ogbe stadium to an artificial turf means that athletics particularly field events would suffer disadvantages. Edo State is traditionally a glorious track and field area with many blistering performances by her indigenes. Something needs to be done to ensure that track and field which is indeed the jewel of all sports do not take back seat. So are the other key sports.

Where is school sports? School Sports which has physical education as its foundation must be well entrenched. Which also means that physical education teachers must be on ground in primary and secondary schools. In addition to promoting athleticism, a well organized and managed College of Physical Education, Afuze, can produce competent and pragmatic teachers, youth coaches and professionals to service the State and the nation. This College must not die.

At the peak of its glory, it became recognized as a centre of excellence in sports. I believe that this College remains a useful sports institution. This is a call to the Governor of Edo State, to take necessary steps to revive the Michael Imoudu College of Physical Education, Afuze.

•Comrade Adams Oshiomhole

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

47

VOL 1 NO. 034

F

ROM all of us at MC&A DIGEST, we say Merry Christmas to consumers around the world, as we settle in to the last week before Christmas. It is a period of celebration, especially to Christians of all shades, in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Christian tradition, Christmas season is the period of time comprising the troika of Advent (Latin word meaning “coming” of Christ), Christmas (Christ's Mass) and Epiphany (commemorating the visit of the Magi to infant Jesus). Epiphany is traditionally recorded to take place on January 6.

Perhaps we should quickly note at this point, the benevolence of the Magi when they visited baby Jesus at the Manger. Theirs was a humble demonstration of worship, love and obeisance; they came with gold, frankincense and myrrh to demonstrate the divine nature of the birth of Jesus. So, Christians will always connect with the celebration of the birth of Jesus as the overriding reason for the season.

Generally, however, Christmas is a period of the year significant for the holidays leading to the end of prevalent year, in preparation for a new year. So what obtains then, therefore, is centrally focused on merry-making embodying exchange of gifts, feasting, general entertainment and allied occurrence. It is a period of many colors as different as individual imagination leads. Most interestingly, it is a period for big purchases for all.

Of interest to us is the buying pattern at this period.

Studies have recorded that in America, a quarter of annual aggregate personal consumer spending at holidays take place during Christmas holiday. For the purpose of this article we shall anchor our data on that of America, on the strength of her data management process. This information immediately resonates with the general consumer spending pattern across the world, considering that over three quarter of the world population identifies with the Christmas period for reasons stated above.

Characteristic of this period, purchase decisions are mostly influenced by emotion rather than rational thinking, across the divide of the affluent and the not so enabled. All shop for reasons far disconnected from rhyme and reason. From clothing, accessories, electronics, food, drinks, travel, automobile, household products, cosmetics and so many others, the dynamics change totally during this period in favor of luxury goods/items. For instance, nobody likes to think in the direction of healthcare products or any such product outside the category of luxury and merry-making at this time. It is a period of permissible recklessness for the buyer.

Brands owners/managers and sales people know it, and have laid out sales strategy to take advantage of the period for optimal sales performance at the expense of the consumer, we must say. The road signs have remained constant over the years, only that it progresses in potency as the years go buy. I remember in the 60s up until late 70s, when parents at that time do seasonal purchases at Christmas; it was always a period everyone waited for in anxiety, sure to get good purchase deals in terms of measure, quality and pricing. Those were days when the consumers truly celebrated. Sales promotions were true and sincere, designed to actually reward consumers (for varying many reasons). Qualities of products on offer then were not open to compromises, given the sincerity of purpose prevalent. In fact, I remember at that time, how we used to opt for end of year purchases for those rare opportunities to own personal luxury items such as a pair of French suit, shoes and belt. Considering the fact that those were days when parents take feeding and education as the basic needs, one would rather that he or she take advantage of the spirit of Christmas to buy that sandal or shoe you know should last long enough to cover that period your parents are not likely to think of celebrating you in such luxury!

So, products on offer were designed to deliver on promise. They truly resonated at the consumers' value touch-points, with durability, user-friendliness and performance as paramount. I remember then how parents will supervise the transfer of footwear from the older to the younger sibling because such products remained very good, well after the original owner outgrows it.

MC&A DIGEST concerns itself with the welfare of consumers, a great deal. In keeping with our commitment we like to remind our consumers of the danger

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2011

Season's greetings to all consumers

signs likely to be at play at this period of the year, such that will guide us towards making safe and profitable purchase decisions.

PRICING. Seasonal sales are basically predicated on promotions for purposes of rewarding consumers for loyalty at year-ends, sales volume optimization and ostensibly, to achieve stock clearance in readiness for the new business year. Given that luxury goods and FMCGs (fast-moving consumer goods) lead in purchase items this season, they are most likely to lead sales offer at this time.

Suffice, therefore, that at this time we must let comparative price consideration influence our buying decision. If we can manage the frenzy that influences our buying this season, we would be in a position to optimize return on our naira investment for every purchase we make because much as we are anxious to buy, the sales teams are even more anxious to sell over competing brands. The seller should be at our mercy at this time. Consumers should be patient enough in the midst of the rush, to compare sales offer prices within product segment before making buying decisions. It is even more so now because most brands are likely to take advantage of consumer insensitivity to advertise promo prices that are not true. We must negotiate our way through the confusion and possible deceit.

MEASURE. I almost became a victim of price manipulation by use of packaging within the year, but for the careful consideration I made at point of purchase.

There was this brand cocoa beverage that just introduce its new pack and priced the new pack marginally higher than the new pack (of same brand) but of lesser measure. On careful observation I discovered that the premium pricing on the new pack is only because of the pack, while in real sense I was to pay more for lesser actual quantity of the core product if I settled for the

new pack.

We like to reiterate what we mentioned earlier in the year concerning brand/consumer dialogue at point of sales, to the extent that every information on a brand's label should be taken as true, not minding the veracity of such claims. To the extent where such information appears untrue, the brand is liable, since the label is a legal document in supervision of the relationship between the brand and the consumer. Therefore, we advise that this season, as indeed all seasons, consumers permit careful consideration of pack sizes as written on their labels, to guide their purchase decisions.

EXPIRATION DATE. We must be careful how we buy at this time, to avoid buying expired goods in a hurry. Because it is end of year, some products are running very short in shelf life, fast-nearing expiry date. In desperation, many sales people could be compelled to push such products at seemingly give-away prices. We must be careful not to be used to clear stock of products that are not fit for consumption.

In all of these, our worry is the passive posture of our consumer protection council, and the community of NGOs who profess consumer protection. Complaints abound of consumer rights violation across product segment in this market without interference from this community. A lot of road travels will happen this season, yet we hear of all kinds of unfair treatment consumers go through at fuel stations paying more for less. We really wish the consumer protection council come alive in the New Year.

Lastly, we implore consumers to be wary of sales promotion offers at this time, as some of them could be false and insincere. Some people say they have been looking for letter “S” for over three months now. One can not tell when the promise is true. Please buy wisely this season.

48

With Patience Saduwa

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Shareefah Andu may not be a name known to many. But the name Arabel is a household name in the Nigerian Muslim fold. Andu, an ex-banker owns a chain of stores and a publishing firm.

Risikat Ramoni spoke to the journalistturned-business woman recently and she x-rays what it takes for a woman to be successful.

•Shareefat Andu

•Patience Jonathan

'There are no short-cuts to success’

“In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”

•Shareefat Andu

- Margaret Thatcher (Former British Prime Minister)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011 Cont'd from last we

ek

New WOMAN

49

Real life love stories

y b d e t n u a H t s a p k r a d a •Great desire: I keep praying that God will bless me with a child so my in-laws will stop pestering me

Tips for treating children's fever and pain (1) Parenting

Relationships Deola Ojo 08027454533 (text) Pastordeegfc@yahoo.com

Loving you when it seems nobody does (6) Continued from last week

50

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Arts & Life

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi olubanwo.fagbemi@thenationonlineng.net 08060343214 (SMS only)

POLITICKLE

Contemporary acumen In the last of a series of pointed narratives adapted from the internet, the writer concludes a study in intellectual witticism.

Finding time

THE GReggs

A lecturer at a university is giving a pre-exam lecture on time management. On his desk is a bag of sand, a bag of pebbles, some big rocks and bucket. He asks for a volunteer to put all three grades of stone into the bucket, and a keen student duly steps up to carry out the task, starting with the sand, then the pebbles, then the rocks, which do not all fit in the bucket.

“This is an analogy of poor time management,” says the lecturer, “If you had put the rocks in first, then the pebbles, then the sand, all three would have fit. This is much like time management, in that by completing your biggest tasks first, you leave room to complete your medium tasks, then your smaller ones. By completing your smallest tasks first you spend so much time on them you leave yourself unable to complete either medium or large tasks satisfactorily. Let me show you.”

And the lecturer re-fills the bucket, big rocks first, then pebbles, then sand, shaking the bucket between each so that everything fits.

“But sir,” says one student, slouched at the back of the theatre, “You’ve forgotten one thing.”

At which the student approaches the bucket, produces a can of soft drink, opens it and pours into the bucket. “No matter how busy you are,” quips the student with a smile, “There’s always time for a quick drink.”

The elevator cleaner

OH, LIFE!

A new hotel employee was asked to clean the two elevators in the building and report back to the supervisor when the task was completed.

When the employee failed to appear at the end of the day the supervisor assumed that like many others he had simply not liked the job and left.

However, after four days the supervisor bumped into the new employee.

He was cleaning in one of the elevators.

“You surely haven’t been cleaning these elevators for four days, have you?” asked the supervisor.

“Yes sir,” said the employee, “This is a big job and I’ve not finished yet – do you realise there are over forty of them, two on each floor, and sometimes they are not even there?”

Unwary helper One afternoon, an old lady, laden with shopping, noticed two small boys on the front step of a house. With their bags and uniforms they were obviously going home after school. They were reaching for the door-bell with a stick.

“Poor little lads, they can’t get in,” she thought. “Parents these days just don’t seem to care.”

So she marched up the path, reached over the boys and gave the bell a long, firm push.

The surprised boys turned around and screamed, “Now, run!” and promptly disappeared over the garden wall.

Mental exam

CHEEK BY JOWL

A party of suppliers was being given a tour of a mental hospital.

One of the visitors had made some very insulting remarks about the patients.

After the tour, the visitors were introduced to various members of staff in the canteen.

The rude visitor chatted to one of the security staff, Mathew, a kindly and wise ex-policeman.

“Are they all raving mad in here then?” said the rude man.

“Only the ones who fail the test,” said Mathew.

“What’s the test?” said the man.

“Well, we show them a bath full of water, a bucket, a jug and an eggcup, and we ask them the quickest way to empty the bath,” said Mathew.

“Oh I see, simple – the normal ones know it’s the bucket, right?”

“No, actually,” said Mathew, “The normal ones say pull out the plug. Should I check when there’s a bed free for you?”

Jokes Crawling Drunk A MAN, whose level of drunkenness was absurd, stood up to leave a bar and fell flat on his face.

“Maybe all I need is some fresh air,” thought the man as he crawled outside.

He tried to stand up again, but could only do so if he held on to something.

“Darn,” he thought. “I’ll just crawl home.”

The next morning, his wife found him on the doorstep asleep.

“You went out drinking last night, didn’t you?” she said.

“Uh, yes,” he said sheepishly. “How did you know?”

“You left your walking stick at the bar again.”

The Negotiator A LAWYER is sitting in a bar having a drink when a beautiful woman sits down next to him. The lawyer seeing opportunity buys the women a beer and proceeds to hit on her. He then asks her, “Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?”

The woman looks at him and says, “You know for a million dollars, sure.”

The Lawyer then asks, “Would you sleep with me for 20 dollars?”

The women is instantly upset and yells, “Twenty

SUDOKU

dollars, what do you think I am some kind of whore?!”

The lawyer then looks at her and says, “Well, we have already established that fact. Now we are just negotiating.”

Recalled Charge THIS is a true story from a bank. The bank concerned had introduced a charge to be levied when people paid in money to be credited to an account held by a different bank. The charge was N50 and had been in force for about six months or so.

A rich, influential lady entered the bank and presented the cashier a cheque which she asked to be paid into an account held by a different bank.

The cashier duly informed the lady that there would be a charge of N50. Indignantly, she told him, “I wasn’t charged the last time.”

To which the cashier immediately replied, “Well that will be N100 then.”

QUOTE If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

–Frank A. Clark •Culled from the Internet

1ST STEP IN SOLVING PUZZLE: (362) Look at the 3 middle horizontal (DEF) 3x3 boxes. The right box has 1 in cell Eg, while the middle box has its 1 in cell Df. The left box must, therefore, have its own 1 in row F, where all 3 cells are vacant. But, since column b

PUZZLE 362

A B C D E F G H I

6 7 3 1 7 4 a

b

c

d

e

f

already has a 1 in cell Bb, and column c a 1 in cell Gc, the only space available to accommodate 1 in the left box is cell Fa. Reasoning along these hiaes, try and fill in all other cacant cells.

Solution on SATURDAY. Happy Puzzling!

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE 361

9 6 5 7 4 1 3 1 2 7 4 8 6 9 1

1 3 6 5

18/12/2011

g

h

i

4 9 8 3 7 2 1 5 6

6 7 5 1 4 9 3 2 8

1 2 3 6 5 6 4 7 9

7 5 9 8 6 4 2 3 1

2 4 1 9 3 5 8 6 7

3 8 6 7 2 1 5 9 4

8 1 2 5 9 7 6 4 3

5 3 7 4 8 6 9 1 2

9 6 4 2 1 3 7 8 5

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

51

With Joe Agbro Jr. 08056745268

Hello children, Hope you’re enjoying your holidays. Do try to learn something new everyday

• The School Orchestra of Pampers Private School, Alaka, Surulere Lagos performing at the school's Christmas carol night last Tuesday

Word wheel NINE LETTER WORDS: Diverging Deign, den, deriving, die, dig, digger, din, dine, diner, dingier, dire, dirge, dive, diver, divine, diving, drive, driven, driving, edging, end, gird, girding, grid, grind, nerd, red, rend, rid, ride, ridge, riding, rigged, rigid, rind, ringed, vend, vied

WORD SEARCH Websites

CHRISTMAS FACTS In 1647, Christmas was made illegal by a law that was passed by the English Parliament.

Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry as immoral actions that were performed on the holy day that Christmas was. It was only when the Puritans lost power in 1660, that the strict ban on Christmas was lifted.

In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of straw.

Scandinavian Christmas festivities feature a variety of straw decorations in the form of stars, angels, hearts and other shapes, as well as the Julbukk.

WORD WHEEL

The World Wide Web (WWW) was created in 1990 by CERN physicist Tim Bernes-Lee. It consists of websites which are a collection of related web pages containing images, videos, or other digital assets. Websites may be organised by functions such as personal websites, commercial websites, and government websites.

Usually, a website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web.

ADOBE ASK BAIDU BING BLOGSPOT FACEBOOK GOOGLE MICROSOFT TAOBAO TWITTER WIKIPEDIA WORDPRESS YAHOO YOUKU YOUTUBE

This is an open ended puzzle.

How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We’ve found 39, including one nine-letter word.

Can you do better?

Riddles with Bisoye Ajayi 1. I am friendly when am happy but wicked when hungry. What am I? 2. I am something when I appear in the night everyone sees me. What am I? Miss Ajayi is a JSS 1 student of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos.

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

Answer to Riddles:

1. Dog

2. Moon

52

HAVE YOUR SAY

DIS GENERATION

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

L

IKE Joseph’s clothe of multicolour, so are the choices of respondents of who they consider to be their 2011 man of the year. Evident in their various choices are the very reasons informing those choices.

Have a ball.

My man of the year? He’s no other person but the renowned man of the people: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. You ask me why?

He is a very fair, frank and fearless visionary leader of the masses with a mission — the great liberator of the politically and financially oppressed people not only in Yoruba land but in Nigeria as a whole.

Dr Taiwo Ademola Taye, Ketu, Lagos State.

My man of the yr is Pastor W.F. Kumuyi. He’s one of the few still preaching the undiluted words without compromise. Pastor of all pastors, he has a spirit that is dead to a world where wealth and hedonism are seen as the mother of all virtues. “GS”, as he is called by his admirers, is the lone true man of God that has resisted the end time wind. Heaven-bound believers need men like him.

Gaius Kataps, Jalingo, Taraba State.

My man of the year is: Hon. Farouk Lawan from Kano State, currently in the House of Reps.

Reason: His yes is always yes, and his no is no. He is Mr. Integrity.

Alo Franklin Chibuzo, Ebonyi State.

My Man of the year is no other person but Alhajl Aliyu Dangote.

The reasons are enormous.

Topmost are his business organizations such as textiles, Sugar, cement, rice, sugar etc., which provide employment opportunities to well over 18,000 Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike.

Samuel Ishaya Shammang, Mangun Town, Plateau State.

Gaddafi. He fought and died for his conviction. Whether positive or negative, a man should be able to lay down his life for his conviction. Buhari for his principles.

Jacob Owan, Calabar, Cross River State.

General Buhari is my man of the year because he is the only opposition left in Nigeria and he is the hope of the masses. Despite the blackmail he still lives a holy life that produces the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they only shine.

Podar Johnson, Plateau State.

Pastor T. B Joshua is my man of the year because he impacts on people’s life without discrimination, both the able and the disable.

Amodu Muyiwa, Akure, Ondo State.

My man of the year is Gen. Muhammed Buhari because of his ambition to eradicate poverty and corruption in our dear country.

Com. Naziru Aminu Shehu, Taura, Jigawa State.

My man of the year is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his doggedness in ensuring that the rule of law prevails in our democracy. His resort to courts instead of violence in settling election disputes is commendable.

This and other developmental strides gave the ACN victory at the polls.

Bello Lukman,

Who is your man of the year?

And why?

Pol. Science, UNIJOS. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national leader of the CAN, is my man of the year. A committed, fearless and courageous democrat who has given credibility to democracy in Nigeria despite the persecution the opposition are facing. He has consistently remained focused, unperturbed and determine in his struggle for a true federalism and democratic Nigeria prevails. I like his courage and urge him to keep the flag flying.

Onah Ogbeche, Okuku Yala, Cross River State.

Barr. Jimoh Ibrahim for his effort towards job creation by establishing many industries, home and abroad.

Adeola Opadere, Kwara State.

My man of the year is Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti for bringing rare brilliance into governance. Fayemi recently introduced special allowance for rural teachers. This is laudable.

ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos State.

My man of the year is Prof.

Chinua Achebe for refusing for the second time CFR from the FG, citing bad governance as his reasons. This is a country where people lobby to get honour.

Aloy Anigbogu Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA, Anambra State.

My man of the year is Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives.

Today he is among very few political office holders that truly represent and symbolise democracy in Nigeria today. His colleagues in the House, irrespective of party and political differences, refused Ghana Must Go and naked intimidation from the so-called ruling party and elected him as their Speaker!

Muhammad Nasiru Ibrahim, Gwarinpa Housing Estate, Abuja.

My man of the year is Very Rev. Prof. E.M.P Edeh ( cssp). The Father founder of the Catholic Prayer Ministry, Elele, and founder/chancellor of Madonna University and other educational and religious institution. He has been able to articulate and give definition to what real education should be through his schools (primary, secondary and tertiary) and industrial centres.

Dr Iwouno, J.O., FUT-Owerri, Imo State.

My man of the year is Odumegwu Ojukwu. He saw Nigeria’s future and tried to remove Easterners (S/E and S/S) from it.

Tony Ojo, Abuja.

The Nigerian common man is my man of the year because he has endured all the atrocious political and economic policies their government from the military to civilian till date without revolting.

However, one day “monkey go go market inogo return”. lchie Emma Ezeh, FCE, Eha-Amufu, Enugu State.

Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu is my man of the year. His charisma, boldness, finesse and intellectual disposition marks him out as a leader’s leader. Republic of Biafra would have been a case study in developmental studies.

Toyin Akilo, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

For flagrantly rejecting the already bastardised National Merit Award, Professor Chinua Achebe is, no doubt, my man of the year. No time in recent memory has the National Merit Award consisted mostly of discredited individuals than the 2011 list.

Olaniran Afolabi .A., Benin City, Edo State.

President Goodluck Jonathan is the man of the year because he conducted the most free and correct election in Nigeria.

James Obasa, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu for his rugged defence of democracy, human rights, insistence on and enthronment of good governance in all parts of Nigeria without tribal discrimination as evident in his contribution to the struggle for enthronement of good governance in Kwara, Akwa-Ibom, Benue and of recent Kogi State. He is also the first political leader in Nigeria that willingly surrenders himself for trial by a Federal Government Agency on corruption charges, even as vindictive as it was and come out clearly unscathed at this time when corruption is another name of some leaders that hide under immunity and court injunction to escape trial proving, that he is a leader that preaches and lives his preaching.

Gabriel Kayode Olawepo JP, Ilorin, Kwara State.

Prof. Chinua Achebe. He is the man who refuses to be corrupted with a national award against his conviction, which is shared by many Nigerians, that nothing has changed since he first rejected the award. Only few highly placed Nigerians can do that.

Dapo Alabede, Ilorin, Kwara State.

My man of the year is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his rare political sagacity, his intrepidness, altruism and determination to free Nigerians from political bondage in the face of feral federal persecution. He is a quintessential democrat and a federalism activist!

If l have a second nomination, Justice lsa Ayo Salami perfectly fits the bill for his outstanding incorruptibility and courage to uphold the truth always.

Ayo Aregbesola, ljesa-lsu, Ekiti State.

President Jonathan is my man of the year. My reason is that his unrefined economic policies and lack of direction in matters of power generation, educational development and national security will one day unite Nigerians to rise up against poor leadership we are forced to live with.

Aliyu Saidu Alkammawa, Sokoto State.

Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance, is my man of the year for the ongoing reforms in the insurance industry.

Mohammed Saleh, Abuja.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is my man of the year and also my mentor because he’s the only honest banker.

Nyitse Erdoo Faith, Makurdi, Benue State.

My man of the year is Ikemba Ojukwu, an honest man.

Leo, Oyo State.

My man of the year is Mallam Ahmad, the Director of PENCOM. Since he has been in charge with trillions of naira, no fraud or embezzlement has been recorded against him.

Omotoso J.B., Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

My man of the year is the Senate President for leading the Senate in passing the satanic anti-gay bill.

Gideon Olowo, Ibadan, Oyo State.

My man of the year is Mr Fashola (SAN), Lagos State Governor, for his tenacity and leadership quality which has given the state a new face and possibilities.

E. Inyang, Calabar, Cross River State.

My man of the year is Governor Umar Tanko Almakura. He was the first to pay minimum wage. I chose him for his simplicity in governance, for cutting the cost of the executive by 700%, for reintroducing trust, honesty and transparency to the system in today’s Nigeria.

Alhassan T. Ahmed, Nasarawa Town, Nasarawa State.

Babatunde Omidina (Baba Suwe), for using African computer (Juju) to defeat oyinbo technology!

Adebayo Ogorry, Jos, Plateau State.

His Excellency, Executive Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, remains my man of the year. He is a young man who came into government within a short time of seven months and he has transformed the state. He is a great leader.

Osita Ugwu, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Lamido Sanusi Lamido, CBN Governor, is my man of the year because of his sustained fight against graft in the banking sector.

Tavershima Ernest, Makurdi, Benue State.

My man of the year is Alhaji Dangote because he has contributed to the growth of our economy through his entrepreneurial zeal.

Gordon Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

My man of the year is an average Nigerian who cannot afford three square meals per day. The hewers of firewood and fetchers of water.

The usual annual jamboree of the man of the year does not reflect the true choice of the people. The poor, the down- trodden are the true men and women of the year.

Anonymous.

By Jennifer Ehidiamen 08054503875 (Sms only)

CrowdOutAIDS.org: Influencing decision makers online and offline

O

VER the past 5 weeks, I have been working on a youth focused project called CrowdOutAIDS, an online collaborative forum and thought to extend it to young people offline, through this column in the newspaper.

My responsibility has been to pass on the message to different youth groups and encourage and trust them to in turn disseminate it to other networks they are active on. This way we have been able to reach thousands of young people around the world.

CrowdOutAIDS has an online blog where we communicate the process of the crowdsourcing as well as issues affecting young people in relation to the project. Every week, writers and journalists are invited to guest blog and share their perspective on different themes, such as HIV and youth, youth leadership and engagement, How NGOs, the government and the UN agencies can better work with young people etc. We have published some really interesting articles with authors from Nigeria, Tanzania, to Tunisia, Nepal and Chile, all sharing their unique perspectives and experiences.

Offline forum One of the critics I heard at the beginning of this project was why we were only reaching out to the elite youth; that is young people who are mobile or connected to the internet. Many people wanted to know what we are doing in terms of engaging youth offline/youth at the grassroots.

It is interesting to see how CrowdOutAIDS team have been able to integrate an offline twist to the whole process of crowdsourcing. Thus, no youth are left behind.

A tool kit was created for young people online to adapt to their local communities and take the lead in hosting offline forums with youth at the grassroots.

I had the opportunity of attending one of the Offline forums that was organized by Kikelomo Taiwo, a young Nigerian advocate and peereducator. The Offline forum took place in Abuja and had young male activists in attendance.

It was interesting to see the high level of energy and strong sense of ownership expressed by the participants.

The usual sense of detachment that can often be seen among young people in HIV-related seminars was absent. Personally, I also think that model of engaging people in conversation, rather than just throwing information at them is truly empowering.

As expressed by a participant in a CrowdOutAIDS forum hosted in Lesotho: “I strongly believe that this strategy is going to work. This must be the first time the UN and its Member States are trusting us completely regarding addressing challenges brought Continued on The Nation website:

by AIDS particularly amongst www.thenationlineng.net, click on the YOUTH…”

Sunday Magazine, then Have Your Say

53

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011 CHANGE OF NAME OLOWOLAIYEMO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olowolaiyemo Blessing, now wish to be known and be addressed as Mrs Samson Blessing. All former documents remains valid . Amodu Bello University, Zaria (KABBA Division) and general public should takePOPOOLA note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Popoola Adebisi Olanrewaju, now wish to be known and be addressed as Mrs Olukayode Adebisi Olanrewaju.

All former documents remains valid . General public should take note.

EKPO I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ekpo, Nsikan Victor, now wish to be known and be addressed as Mr. Ekpo, Victor Francis. All former documents remains valid . WAEC, University of Calabar, UNIJOS and general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

MUHAMMAD

JOSEPH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Muhammad Raji Khadijat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ibitoye Khadijat Motunrayo. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Local government Education Authority, Ila LG and general public take note.

ABDULSALAM I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Safiya Abdulsalam, now wish to be known and be addressed as Mrs Safiya A.B. Adeyemi. All former documents remains valid . General public should take note.

EKPO

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ekpo Nsikan Victor now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Ekpo, Victor Francis. All former documents remain valid.

WAEC, University of Calabar , University of Uyo and the general public should please take note.

ASUKU I formerly known and addressed as ASuku, Martha Ohunene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi, Martha Ohunene.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

SECKO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Secko Haidara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sekou Haidara. All former documents remain valid. Oceanic and general public take note.

UDEALOR I formerly known and addressed as Udealor Rigina, now wish to be known and addressed as Kwazu Rigina Ifeoma. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AKINGBADE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akingbade Busayo Veronica, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olanipekun Busayo Veronica. All former documents remain valid.

College of Education, Ikere Ekiti and general public take note.

YUSUFF I formerly known and addressed as Miss Yusuff Adewumi Sarafat Nihmatallah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adewumi Nihmatallah AfunkuYusuff . All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OYEWOLE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyewole Iyabo Oyenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fadipe Olanike Esther. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OLOJA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mercy Onyeje Oloja, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mercy Onyeje Agada. All former documents remain valid.

BSU Makurdi, NYSC and general public take note.

AKINOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinola, Oluwafunmilayo Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olasoko, Oluwafunmilayo Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

OMOYENI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Omoyeni, Oluwagbemisola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Folorunso, Oluwagbemisola. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

OBALEYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obaleye, Opeyemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi, Opeyemi Adesola.

All former documents remain valid. Ido-Osi Local government, Area Ekiti State and general public take note.

OSHIFISAN

I formerly known and addressed as Oshifisan Oluwafunke Kemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Ojo Oluwafunke Kemi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OKOMAYIN

I formerly known and addressed as Okomayin Onaseremi Oiza, now wish to be known and addressed as Daniyan Onaseremi Oiza. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FALOWO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Falowo Nike Florence, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebisi Nike Florence. All former documents remain valid. Odo-Otin Local government Okuku, Osun State and general public take note.

NWAIWU I formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Nwaiwu Ngozi Victoria now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Eze Ngozi Victoria. All former documents remain valid. Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, NYSC and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Felix Destiny Joseph, now wish to be known and addressed as Ughulu Felix Destiny. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FAGBOHUN

OYESANYA

ABIYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogidi Ogochukwu Gladys, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Imarhobobhor Ogochukwu Gladys. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADEYEMI I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Adeyemi Kayode, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Adebisi Tunde. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Modupe Oluwaseyi Oyesanya, now wish to be known and addressed as Modupe Oluwaseyi Oshin. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,Raji Ishola Rashidi is the same and one person as Raji Rasheed Bolanle. All former documents remain valid. School Authorities concern and general public take note.

SOMIDE

OMOGOKE

YAKUBU

SHONEYE

I formerly known and addressed as Shoneye Muyinotu Omotola, now wish to be known and addressed as Onakomaiya Biola Minat Omotola. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board Maryland and general public should please take note.

ADEOGUN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeogun Ramot Abosede, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olusoji Ramot Abosede. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BALOGUN I formerly known and addressed as Faderera Odunayo Balogun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olorunyomi Faderera Odunayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BABATUNDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Babatunde Mercy Oluwapelumi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ilesanmi Mercy Oluwapelumi.

All former documents remain valid. Demostration Secondary School, Ikere Ekiti and general public should please take note.

ADEOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Framcisca Adebola Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Francisca Adebola Fanola. All former documents remain valid. Civil Service Commission and general public should please take note.

ALLI

DANIEL-ADEBAYO I formerly known and addressed as Daniel-Adebayo Abiodun Muka, now wish to be known and addressed as Ayeyemi Mukadasi Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

KOLAWOLE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Kolawole Temilola Olabisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olajumoke Fatimat. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Health Management Board (OYSHMB) and general public take note.

AYEBOGBON

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Helen Opeyemi Ayebogbon, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Helen Opeyemi Bayode. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

DURU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Duru Mauren Amaogechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Maureen Amaogechi Basil Ekwebelem.

All former documents remain valid. FMC Owerri, Alvan Ikoku Fed. College of Education, Owerri and general public take note.

ADEDEJI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Abisoye Olaide Adedeji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abisoye Olaide Mosuro. All former documents remain valid. INEGEA Ijebu-Igbo, Ogub SUBEB and general public take note.

ADEFUYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adefuye Adetutu Adebimpe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Awe Adetutu Adebimpe. All former documents remain valid.

TASUED, Ijagun, NYSC and general public take note.

SOLARIN

OPASOLA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Solarin Funmilayo Dorcas, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odusanya Funmilayo Dorcas. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

JIMOH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Odubena Aderonke Roseline, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rahman Aderonke Roseline. All former documents remain valid. TASUED Ijgun, NYSC and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Opasola Racheal Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adetola Racheal Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jimoh Rafiyat Romoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajibade Rafiyat Romoke. All former documents remain valid. Oyo TESCOM, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti and general public should please take note.

UDOH I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Udoh Asuquo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Asuquo Akpan. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aminot Ajoke Alli, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aminot Odindinore AlliAgboola. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NIBUCAA) and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Yakubu Muniru Gbenga, now wish to be known and addressed as Adesoye Isreal Gbenga. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OLASAN

ASUQUO I formerly known and addressed as Beneditha Olawumi Asuquo, now wish to be known and addressed as Beneditha Olawumi Victor. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olasan Abimbola Adewola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeyeye Abimbola Adewola. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

DADA

I, formerly known and addressed as Omogoke, Folakemi Esther , now wish to be known and addressed as Oniru, Folakemi Esther. all former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ARO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aro Olabisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Arowojolu Olabisi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mojisola Fagbohun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kola-Ajibade Moji. All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State Health Service Commission and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Somide Pauline Olubimpe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idowu Pauline Olubimpe. All former documents remain valid. State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Alimosho Local government Education Authority and general public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Dada, Funmilola Omolayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeleye, Funmilola Omolayo. all former documents remain valid. Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State and general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ODEBENA

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Abiye Godwin Olurimisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Abiye Godwin Adefisayo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADEBOYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeboye Funmilayo Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ariyo Funmilayo Esther. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ARANSIOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aransiola Omolola Felicia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olatomiwa Omolola Felicia. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADESUNLOYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adesunloye Taiwo Bosede, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesunloye Taiwo Bosede. All former documents remain valid.

Basic Health Centre, Igbole and general public take note.

AINA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aina Omolara Olufunke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kehinde Omolara Olufunke. All former documents remain valid. Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti and general public take note.

LAWAL I formerly known and addressed as Miss Lawal Sidikat Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adetiloye Sidikat Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AFE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Afe Remilekun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeyemi Remilekun. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AREMU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aremu Omolade Olanike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adewumi Lois Omolade Olanike. All former documents remain valid. Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti and general public take note.

FASAKIN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fasakin Nihinlola Itunu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omolewa Nihinlola Itunu. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

AGU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Uchenna Modesta Agu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uchenna Modesta Samuel Nwankwo. All former documents remain valid.

The National Institute for Cultural Orientation and general public take note.

ADENEKAN

I formerly known and addressed as Adenekan Adenike Olufunmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Onupe Adenike Olufunmilayo. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AGYEBIA

I formerly known and addressed as Danlami Akumokoni Agyebia, now wish to be known and addressed as Danlami Akumokoni Danjuma. All former documents remain valid. FIDEI Polytechnic, Gboko, Benue State Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and general public take note.

ABDUSALAM

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Safiya Abdulsalam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Safiya A.B. Adeyemi. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

FOLA I formerly known and addressed as Fola Vincent Abibi, now wish to be known and addressed as Vincent Ifeanyi Samuel. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

YETUNDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Yetunde Odeneye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Yetunde O.A. Martins. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

OGIDI

AKERENYI I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Akerenyi Rosemary Wandoo, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Timbee Rosemary Wandoo. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

ADENAYA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adenaya Kafayat Opeyemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dairo Kafayat Opeyemi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FAKEHINDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fakehinde Bukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adubiaran Bukola. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AKINTELURE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akintelure Mojisola Seeke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fifo Mojisola Seeke. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

TAPERE I formerly known and addressed as Tapere Tawa Abike, now wish to be known and addressed as Olupitan Christianah Abike. All former documents remain valid.

Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria and general public take note.

OLUSOGA I formerly known and addressed as Olusoga Temitope Omolara, now wish to be known and addressed as Banmeke Temitope Omolara. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AKINROTOHUN I formerly known and addressed as Akinrotohun Esther Bunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi Esther Oluwabunmi.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ALIU I formerly known and addressed as Shodimu Aremu Aliu, now wish to be known and addressed as Shodimu Aremu Oseni. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AWEH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Tolulope Deborah Aweh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tolulope Deborah Shobukola. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AJIBOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajibola Florence Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adekunle Florence Oluwaseun.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

HUSSAIN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Idera Nimota Hussain, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idera Modupeoluwa Adebayo. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC and general public take note.

JOKOTOYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jokotoye Mofoluke Riike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olufemi Mofoluke Riike. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OHAEGO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ohaego Mary Jane Eberechukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okoye Mary Jane Eberechukwu.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME IROJAH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Elizabeth Ebunoluwa Irojah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Elizabeth Ebunoluwa Akewusola. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

ADEYEMI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeyemi Abosede Taibat Aduke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinola Abosede Favour. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

IDEMUDIA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ofure Idemudia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ofure Eghobor. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AKPOTOWHO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Rita Ejiro Akpotowho, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rita Ejiro Ehigiator. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,John Akpefe Ikoro and John Akpuvie Ikoro are one and same Person. now wish to be known and addressed as John Akpefe Ikoro.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

EKE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Eke Osasumwen Doris, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ediae Osasumwen Doris. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

UDORO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mfon Gabriel Udoro, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mfon Ofonimeh Thomas. All former documents remain valid.

UNIPORT and general public take note.

AMADI

I formerly known and addressed as Amadi Nyebuchi, now wish to be known and addressed as Wonjuku Nyebuchi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

TAMBARI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Tambari Jerry Deemua, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tambari Eric Aso Kalu. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

KUSIMO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Kusimo Oluwakemi Titilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayodele Oluwakemi Kusimo. All former documents remain valid. Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta and general public take note.

EWEDAIRO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ewedairo Funmilola Bolatito, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Malachi Funmilola Bolatito. All former documents remain valid. Skye Bank Plc. and general public take note.

ATOYEBI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Atoyebi Oluwafunmilola Kemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ekemode Oluwafunmilola Kemi. All former documents remain valid.

Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta and general public take note.

OLADAPO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Motunrayo Beatrice Oladapo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Motunrayo Beatrice Yepwi. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

OGUNMADE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunmade Modupe Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oderinde Modupe Esther. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

YUSUFF

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Yusuff Adijat Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Shorinmade Adijat Yetunde. All former documents remain valid. FCAH Ibadan and general public take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just (N3,500.)

The payment can be made through FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 1892030011219 Account Name - VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide@yahoo.com or thenation_advert@yahoo.com For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, Emailgbengaodejide @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 18, 2011

54

EBERE WABARA

PICTURE THIS !

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Fuel subsidy masqueraders

T

HE PUNCH Headline of December 14 contained an elementary subject-verb inaccuracy: “Mirrorless (Mirror-less) cameras that manipulates (manipulate) shots and angles.”

From a reader, Mr. Nduka Uzuakpundu, a graduate of the old Daily Times: “There is nothing wrong with feminization of pronouns for countries (last week’s column). Ebere, it is right. You must accept it!” As a gender advocate, I insist on de-feminization of formal language. In colloquial or folkloric circumstances, it may appeal to me. “…the governor was demanding for additional money which….” (THE NATION ON SUNDAY, December 11) Remove the ‘for’ flaw so that this medium can remain Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper. Another reader, Mr. Charles Iyoha, is amazed that this misunderstanding still persists.

“As part of the deal (comma, please) she won a N1 million cash prize and contract with one of Nigeria’s leading modelling agency.” (Source: as above) In defence of freedom: agencies.

“The masquerades behind fuel subsidy” (SATURDAY INDEPENDENT, December 10) A voice of your own: masqueraders wear masquerades. Got it?

THE GUARDIAN of December 9 was without conscience as it nurtured copious lexical falsehoods: “Public university teachers on Sunday removed their robs….” Weekend: their robes.

“With these interrupts and incessant closures….” Verb: interrupt; noun: interruption. “…including criminal activity (activities) such as internet fraud, arms and other trafficking and terrorist activity (activities).”

“But he discovered this one day and beat me up. I cannot forget this (that) day.”

Wrong: bossom; right: bosom.

The December 9-11 edition of BUSINESSDAY WEEKEND circulated five infractions: “HMD Nigeria berths with cost saving equipments” News you can trust: cost-saving equipment (noncount).

“Alcoholic-induced road (vehicular/ auto) crashes worry FRSC” Business Life: alcohol-induced “Officer’s daughter (daughter’s) kidnap: Army beef (beefs) up security in barracks” “Plateau expresses displeasure over (at/with) comments at Arewa forum” “Naira falls to its weakest in 9-weeks” Market Report: 9 weeks “To me, the strike action is unnecessary….” It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to keep correcting this particular solecism almost every week: strike; industrial action; work stoppage; or service withdrawal, among other terms, depending on context …certainly not ‘strike action’.

The ‘arrest’ fault continues: “Four officials arrested over Bauchi bank robbery” and “Police arrest four over Azare” (THE NATION and THE GUARDIAN Headlines of December 9) When will this faux pas stop? ‘Arrest’ takes ‘’for’—always—not ‘over’!

“Youths condemn Fashola over (for) hike in tuition fees” (DAILY INDEPENDENT Headline, December 9) Still on the preceding medium: “By acquiescing to (in) the mercenary intervention by the Americans….”

“As long as they are operating within the context and spirit of the Companies

Allied Matters Act….” (DAILY INDEPENDENT Editorial, December 9) A rewrite: As long as they are operating to the letter of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. There is also ‘the letter of the law’, in another related context.

“Take your rights…or trade it” (Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC Full Page Advert, THE GUARDIAN, December 8) Get it right: rights/them or right/it. “…that for all the security agencies in the state have involved vigilante groups….” (THISDAY EDITORIAL, December 8) This way: vigilance groups.

“Mutual Funds allow managers pool various sizes of investment (sic) together and invest them in various asset classes like….” (BUSINESSDAY SPECIAL REPORT, December 8) In modern writing, ‘pool’ is independent. So: pool various sizes of investments and invest…..

“Security: North must get its acts (act) together” (THISDAY Headline, December 8) “And so we wait for it to run and redress the abuse of recklessness of yesteryears.”

Fixed expression: yesteryear.

“Just as the banning of books and newspapers give (gives) rise to an illicit trade in them….”

“Perhaps it may interest you to note that the average take home (a hyphen) pay of a fresh university graduate a month, in any of the Federal ministry (ministries), was slightly above N18,000.” “...the PPMC had neglected the leakage for the past five years despite series (a series) of letters from the state’s LASEP alerting it on the inherent danger of the leakage.” One disaster too many: alerting it to (not on).

“The Nigerian Prison Service has always run adult literacy classes that was (were) organized by the Welfare Department.” “…plans are afoot to foster (foist) the PDP on the nation again in the 2015 general elections, its present very low rating notwithstanding.”

“The commission had gone to these places with many of the petitioners and witnesses in tow (toe)....”

“It is the year when we, the people, will be opportuned.…” Morphological issues: ‘opportune’, which applies here, does not admit ‘d’ or simply, the people will have the opportunity!

“Of course, it would be naïve to expect the politicians now benefitting from….”

No distortion: benefiting.

“There was hardly a tear-free eye, as muffled sobs and wails rented (rent) the mid-afternoon air….”

“At last, artist body gets new exco” This way: artists’ body.

“The vote count had kept changing figures with each recount narrowing the margin in the state between the two candidates.” I insist on between the candidates.

“When in 1979, a privilegded (privileged) triumvirate was faced with the arduous task of choosing who to take over the reigns (reins) of government from them....”

“Abia governor pointed at the federal roads in the South East which he said are (were) the worst in the country.”

“NBA passes no confidence vote on Jonathan” For a better society: confidence vote in (not on) Jonathan.

“How we wish they knew that Nigerians, not those on (in) the corridors of power….”

•In the spirit of the season.

PHOTO: BADE DARAMOLA

Safety and Security Alert!

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)

C

RIME prevention practitioners’ such as the Nigeria Police Force, etc, should fast recognize the importance of infrastructural design and planning in crime reduction. They are to influence the design of both public and private facilities through the various authorized institution.

However, they must understand a number of perceptions about the relationship between physical design of buildings, estates and other facilities vis-à-vis probability of crime occurrences. These include the concepts of territoriality, natural surveillance and defensible space.

1. Territoriality As the nation’s population continues to grow, the need for housing has increased, therefore, architects, planners and designers of structures have to pay attention to crime prevention and control.

The following mechanisms encourage residents identify their neighbourhood and assume responsibility for its protection.

•Site design is a situation where the area has a set of quarters that can be directly identified with a particular building and the residents take personal interest, they will play role in protecting it.

•Street design is when the nature of a particular area is changed by enclosure, placement, rerouting of streets and traffic.

•Symbolic barriers. Both physical and symbolic barriers installed inform an individual that he/she is passing from public to private space. Such includes open gateways, light standards, etc.

These are identified as boundary lines for comparative safety.

•Internal design. A building’s interior may be designed for specific groupings of apartment units and shared entrances. These help to develop concerns and interest in its maintenance and use.

•Facilities and amenities. Particular facilities like play/sitting ground give high intensity and allow for casual surveillance to screens intruders.

2. Natural Surveillance. The ability to observe and respond to the victim depends on: •The degree of observer’s personal and property rights violated by criminal acts.

•The degree to which observer feels the event is within his/her area of influence.

•The observer’s ability to clearly iden-

tify whether the act is unusual.

•The observer’s identification with victim or the property.

•The observer’s believe to alter the course of events he/she is observing.

These mechanisms are to be designed for the grounds and internal areas of apartment units, housing developments and other residential areas to facilitate natural monitoring of activities.

The following are natural surveillance techniques: 1.Position service areas and access paths 2.Design facilities to view commonly used paths, entries, etc during normal household activities.

3. Regroup housing areas for improved visual surveillance.

4.Defensible Space. This is combined security measures that bring an environment more under the control of its residents. It’s a residential environment used by inhabitants for the enhancement of their persons’ while providing security for their families, nieghbours and friends. The following are some methods that could be applied: •Widen major pathways and using coloured decorative paving.

•Design play areas as an integral part of open space.

•Redesign parking and play areas around buildings to create the illusion that the buildings are grouped where natural opportunities exists.

•Modernize building entrances to create breezeways into building courts.

•Provide video surveillance of public grounds and central paths by security of public monitors.

•Install audio surveillance capabilities in elevators and at the doors of residences.

Crime Prevention Model The model is based on the theory that action must be taken to counter crime before it occurs by environmental-engineering components. This provides: •Direct and indirect control the use of science and technology.

•Various urban planning and design techniques.

•Support for crime prevention.

Please,sendcomments,responsesandcontacttheundersignedfor securityandsafetychallengesbysms ore-mail.

By: Mr. Timilehin Ajayi (Safety and Security Consultant) E-mail: timilehinajayi@yahoo.com 08095683454, 08075518732

55

Your HEALTH THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Nutritional Supplements:

Do they work or just money down the drain?

As more Nigerians turn to nutritional supplements to boost their health and wellbeing, Patience Saduwa and Jennifer Mordi in this report examine the benefits as well as downsides of these drugs

A cocktail of nutritional supplements Supplements are taken by many people purportedly to boost their health and wellbeing

Dr Taiwo Fadeyi is the Medical Director of F and G Clinic and Laboratory Services, Lagos.

In this interview, he spoke on the benefits or otherwise of supplements and the need to avoid self-medication

Fadeyi

HIV no dey show for face

By Fredrick Adegboye

55

Your HEALTH THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Nutritional Supplements:

Do they work or just money down the drain?

As more Nigerians turn to nutritional supplements to boost their health and wellbeing, Patience Saduwa and Jennifer Mordi in this report examine the benefits as well as downsides of these drugs

A cocktail of nutritional supplements Supplements are taken by many people purportedly to boost their health and wellbeing

Dr Taiwo Fadeyi is the Medical Director of F and G Clinic and Laboratory Services, Lagos.

In this interview, he spoke on the benefits or otherwise of supplements and the need to avoid self-medication

Fadeyi

HIV no dey show for face

By Fredrick Adegboye

Your Health

56 THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

WELLBEING

Simple home remedies for cold and catarrh Fresh fish pepper soup

Ginger

Hot tea

Healing honey

Continued from last week

Holiday party guide:

Eat, drink without weight gain (2) Taste a little bit of everything

Honey biscuits

A buffet

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

ALEX IBRU There goeth a man —PAGES 58 -59

From the war front to his days in exile in Cote d’Ivoire, the late Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu was noted for his ways with women. But he was also a great raconteur according to Obinwa Nnaji

H

ISTORY will always remember General C h u k w u e m e k a Odumegwu Ojukwu as a courageous soldier and man of muscular determination - never to say die even in the face of total extermination of a people he led to war. But students of contemporary African history will be unkind to humanity if they fail to document for posterity that the General was a ladies’ man.

He had charm, poise and an irresistible aura which pulled bees of the opposite gender to his nectar. They came in droves and he reveled in every moment. After all, the soldier believed he owed his life to just one bullet, so why not live life to the fullest?

Ever wondered why great world leaders and many successful men fall prey to Cupid, the Roman god of love? Osagyefo, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the late Ghanian President, for all his great exploits in Pan Africanism, still went down as having kept an Egyptian mistress. Somehow, men of valor and warriors of old always managed to find themselves ensnared in this feminine web.

Ojukwu had all the attributes to endear him to women. He was endowed by nature with rich background, exposed at a young age to life overseas, coupled with leading Biafra to war as its Head of State at a most difficult time in history.

So, the myth around his person, and his special gift of oratory laced with poetic verses, were enough to spin heads. He combined romantic poetry with effective love letter lines, and deployed very soothing words for his women as few other men will do.

He was blessed with a rich glow and prosperous skin - so robust and plump like tomato puree ready to burst if needled.

Watching him at close range in Ibadan several years ago during a cocktail party organised by Spectrum Books for its authors, I was amazed that he had managed to keep such attractive chocolate arms and skin. Little wonder, women came and stuck to him like chewing gum.

Ikemba was also a good story teller. One account from Ivory Coast, and then a visit by yours sincerely in company of two sen-

• Ojukwu and Bianca

ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU

An insider’s account of his romantic exploits ior Customs officers to his Enugu residence a couple of years back, would support this assertion.

Whilst in exile in Ivory Coast, our General according to my friend and professional colleague, Kanayo Esinulo, was upbeat and constantly admired by female folk each time he stepped out of his Yamoussoukro residence. Even his late wife, Njideka, did not mince words in a newspaper interview when she blamed the women in his life for her leaving Ojukwu in Ivory Coast.

Kanayo, who was also in exile with Ojukwu, and was sponsored by him to study journal-

ism in Ghana, before going to The Hague for post graduate studies, replayed this enchanting encounter.

Take One‘I was in the same car with the leader one breezy evening and he was driving. As we passed through the beautiful boulevards of Abidjan, Ojukwu asked me in Ibo language ‘Kanayo onwe li ifuinulu ekwulu maka mu?’

Literary translated, it means ‘Is there anything you have heard said about me?’ I braced up and replied immediately ‘No, Your Excellency. ‘So onwelono ife •Continued on page 59

• His first wife, Njideka in her younger days

57

58

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Life

ALEX IBRU There goeth a man TRIBUTE

By Reuben Abati

“T

HE song is ended, but the melody lingers on…” (Irving Berlin) “How old are you?”

“33 sir” “Then, you are not too young. Why do they say you are young? I’ll give you the job. And I am the one giving you the job, not anyone else. I won’t disturb you. I believe you understand the company’s philosophy. If you do a good job, I’ll promote you and stand by you”.

“Thank you, sir” “The only thing I ask of you is don’t quarrel with anybody. If you have any issues that bother you, tell my wife. If she cannot solve the problem, come directly to me.”

That was Mr. Ibru. He kept his word.

He promoted me three times within a year; whenever there was a problem, he stood by me. A newspaper house is a hotbed of intrigues, journalists being very egoistic professionals, and those in the support services, even worse, with every little man in the corridor, an ambitious tale-bearer, within and outside the organization. After many years of experience, Alex Ibru had mastered the art of separating the false tales from the truth and so he related to his senior staff according to his own codes. Mr. Ibru, a graduate of Business Studies (something he was very proud of)

hold government accountable and to promote humanistic values. For him, the newspaper is the platform for revolutions, to dislodge hypocrisy and enthrone the truth, and to mobilize positive energies for societal renewal.

He was faithful to this creed, and regularly, he’d ask his senior staff to read “What The Guardian stands for”: the newspaper’s famous mission statement. He’d not give you an editorial position if he thought you had never read this statement! He was a man of many means and investments, but The Guardian was the centre piece of his passion. He encouraged us to be fearless in our writings because according to him, he did not owe anybody a penny, he was not looking for government contracts, and he was not beholden to anyone. He kept a spartan life style, and stayed away from aso ebi, owambe parties, the glitterati and the fashionista, and any form of ostentation. And because he didn’t have to look behind his own shoulders, reporters and editors working at The Guardian could do their job with great confidence and independence.

Mr Ibru did not interfere in the recruitment of staff; he did not dictate what stories or editorials should be published; and because he did not dictate to us, a Guardian editor till tomorrow would readily take offence if any outsider tries to dictate how a material should be treated.

“Even Mr Ibru who owns this place will not do that!”, is a common refrain on the lips of editors trying to get meddlesome interlopers off their backs. And jokingly among ourselves we would add: “No be so?”, one of Mr Ibru’s pet phrases.

A man of great faith, he always referred to God and divine Grace. He reminded his staff at every turn, that money belongs to God. He told us we were all working for ourselves, not for him, was also a master of human psychology and that we were very lucky indeed! He and strategic business planning. had set up the newspaper, he would add, He took his management staff very se- as a public trust to serve the Nigerian peoriously, kept in constant touch, always ple, and to provide opportunities for brilsupportive without interfering, and forever liant persons to realize their potentials to planning ahead and insisting on fidelity the fullest. The Guardian is perhaps the to company philosophy. The gain was only newspaper with the best assurance of that he built an army of fierce loyalists job security. Management restructuring whose most important achievement was was rather rare, in 28 years, the newspaper having worked at The Guardian. How- has had only three Managing Directors and ever, many of his staff misinterpreted his four Editors. It is curious, however, that insistence on company philosophy. He over time, many of the staff took Mr. Ibru’s had once taken time out to explain this spirituality for granted. Believing that the subject, on one of those rare occasions company indeed belonged to them, some when he called us upstairs to outline the staff got carried away. They wanted to philosophy of his newspaper business. A dictate how much they should be paid. newspaper, Mr. Ibru would argue stands They monitored the company cash flow as at the intersection between government, if it belonged to them personally and colprivate sector and civil society, and its key lectively and if the Chairman, or members business is to defend the powerless, to of his family enjoyed any privilege, they

“My brother warned me, you know”, he said. “When I told Chief (his brother, Michael Ibru) I was going to set up a newspaper, he told me Alex, don’t you try it, you want to go and get yourself killed? They’d try to kill you.” Thirteen years later, Michael Ibru’s admonitions proved prophetic”

wanted the same for themselves!

On those occasions when the Publisher asserted his rights as owner, a lot of resentment and bitterness erupted. Did he not tell us that this is God’s company and that we could work here until our walking stick fails us? Yes, we know we are working in “the Lord’s vineyard”, but even “missionaries” would love to inherit a part of the estate. Such staff soon lost their walking sticks before they got a chance to use it! In fact, a few years ago, Mr Ibru sacked everybody, paid all entitlements and shut down the newspaper for about two months. The same aggrieved staff went to beg him to reopen the company. Always, there were happy endings. Many who left the company in a huff usually returned to ask for fresh appointments at The Guardian and Mr. Ibru always graciously took them back, without any trace of bitterness.

His contributions to Nigeria’s newspaper industry are outstanding. When The Guardian arrived on the newsstands in 1983, it transformed the image of the newspaper business in the country, with its robust and detailed analysis of issues, intellectual character, innovative page planning and the sassiness of its team. The Guardian style and tradition, now a subject of enlightened scholarly interrogation, would occupy for all times, a special chapter in the history of Nigerian journalism, and the credit for that, belongs mainly to Alex Ibru.

He provided the ambience, the resources, and even more importantly, the strength of character and vision which sustained the organization through thick and thin. He was always quick to remark that the credit for the newspaper’s success belongs to the staff (“you are the experts, my job is to help you, I am only God’s vessel”); it is of course axiomatic that an organization is only as successful as its people. But beyond the people, there is the ownershipleadership factor. Mr Ibru was fiercely competitive; having his newspaper described as the best in the country, and his staff as the brightest, was all that he wanted, and in all seasons, The Guardian has always been lucky to have extremely dedicated staff.

“I worked so hard in this place, I almost forgot to marry,” a senior colleague once lamented. The good news is that in the end he did, and had enough presence of mind to father a brood!

In his last years, Mr. Ibru spoke a lot about succession and sustainability, and he worked hard at it, taking clear steps to prepare for a post-Alex Ibru era, by involving his wife and children in the business; in private conversations, he spoke endlessly about what I termed his “back up theory of business”. By this, he meant that there must always be a back up for every staff, even for the Publisher, and the cleaner, so that if anyone leaves, or dies, the company remains. Now, the challenge to Mr. Ibru’s successors is to sustain the tradition, to keep the fire of the enthusiasm of dedicated staff aglow, and take the newspaper to greater heights.

Illness of any sort erodes the human spirit and it is obvious why that is so. Those who loved Mr. Ibru felt every bit of pain, as they watched his struggle with debilitating illness in the last two years. His spirit was nonetheless strong. He remained active and articulate, and it could be said of him, that he faced death with sheer equanimity.

The Alex Ibru I knew was intensely political. Nigeria meant a lot to him. He read newspapers, and monitored the broadcast channels with the thirst of an insatiable knowledge-seeker. He loathed corruption of any hue and reports of it infuriated him. He never wasted any opportunity to express his concerns about the governance of Nigeria. Many may not remember his contributions in this regard but he was one of the major supporters of the Niger Delta revolution, as he insisted on equity and justice and the rights of all ethnic minorities. During the 1993 electoral crisis and the aftermath, he supported the Democratic Coalition. He had joined the Abacha Government as Minister of Internal Affairs and Vice Chair of the Provisional Ruling Council out of the conviction that change could be achieved •Continued on page 59

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011 •Continued from page 57

inuluekwu lu maka mu? He repeated the same question and still got ‘No, Your Excellency. How on earth can I claim to have heard Sir…’ Take Two‘Kanayo onwero no ihi nuru? (You mean you never heard anything.) I persistently replied His Excellency in the negative.

Take ThreeOjukwu then broke the calabash. ‘Ha si na onwele ife meru umuwanyi diplomats.

Ha si ni melu ma ima ni imero, then imesia.’

Translated, it means: ‘I am being accused of having affairs with wives of diplomats. Well, if you are being so accused and you know you haven’t done it, the best thing therefore is to do it.’ Kanayo said he chuckled and gave no immediate response.

The General almost escaped being roped into a controversy after his return when he was sheltered by a notable traditional ruler east of the Niger. We’ll spare him the embarrassment by not mentioning his name. As the toast of all, the ‘Onyije Nno’ (‘traveler welcome’ – a phrase that followed him at every turn), had everyone falling head-over-heels to give him a befitting reception. So, he found his way into the home of this notable chief, and began writing poetic verses and love letters - thus leading to the collapse of the chief’s marriage to one of the sisters of a top political figure in the Second Republic.

A few years back, I and two very senior Customs officers, a Muhammed Umar, who had missed headship of Customs by inches, and one Ambrose had emplaned from Abuja as guests of Ojukwu. On arrival at his residence, the queen of the house, Bianca, was away on school runs to pick the children. She later drove in full of apologies that we arrived in her absence. At this point, the reporter in me was switched on observing her petal-like of fingers, the ostrich ribbon neck, and comely face adorned with eyes and lips that can bewitch a Bishop.

And right there before us, Ojukwu made for his Princess of Nnewi and Ngwo and he planted a mouthful of kiss.

We averted our eyes, but subconsciously, the writer peeped to record this gracious moment that might not be played back.

Life

Ojukwu’s romantic exploits The queen and king of love swallowed each other’s saliva, and in the warm embrace which was more than a bear hug, sent signals to the visitors that this is my wife in whom I am well pleased.

Ojuwku adored Bianca - we shall come to this aspect later.

Bianca served us some refreshment and was pacing round. It was safe to keep our eyes off this pretty specimen of womanhood in order not to incur the wrath of the General. He then began to thrill us with two love stories. Savor them.

‘Field Marshal Jean Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic (CAR) had this incurable love for women. He will come on state visits to Ivory Coast and after the visit, the then President Houphouet Boigny mon per, would see the emperor and his entourage off to the airport. He would see their plane take-off. Hardly would Boigny get back to his residence than a security report would come to him that Bokassa had made a detour and flown back! This time on private visits to relish his Ivorian beauties! Boigny would laugh and leave Bokassa to enjoy himself. Bokassa did that severally and it became a life pattern.

He, thereafter, narrated a chilling account of his friend who was driving to Lagos on the ever busy Benin-Lagos expressway. On approaching the gates of University of Benin, he found a pretty girl standing by the roadside - supposedly

traveling also to Lagos. The friend gave her a ride and as they approached one of the rivers on the way, she insisted on stopping there and after much argument, the man pulled to a halt. She simply made for the bank of the river and poured what seemed like some coins.

The journey progressed with the girl refusing to explain this strange act. On getting to Lagos, the man had thought she would go along with him but she just came down and slammed the door. The man then left for his office that night to check on some documents only to find, to his amazement, the same girl sitting on his seat. How did she get into an office that had been locked up? At this point, the man was on his knees begging not to be harmed. He had messed up his pants and trousers with urine in fright.

It dawned to him that he had a ghost to contend with. The girl simply warned him to be careful next time and stop picking anything in skirt. Although, we were chilled by the narrative, we all laughed heartily.

As we made to leave, the twosome clasped hands together – re-enacting scenes prevalent to lovebirds in Europe.

It was crystal clear Bianca and Ojukwu were two lovebirds and Ojukwu treasured her every foot step. He must have sung and won her heart with sentimental old blues songs like ‘Let’s Get It On’, or ‘Sexual Healing’ by Marvin Gaye, or ‘Some Broken Hearts Never Mend’ by

“Ojukwu then broke the calabash. ‘Ha si na onwele ife meru umuwanyi diplomats. Ha si ni melu ma ima ni imero, then imesia.’ Translated, it means: ‘I am being accused of having affairs with wives of diplomats. Well, if you are being so accused and you know you haven’t done it, the best thing therefore is to do it”

Don Williams, or Dolly Patton’s ‘Coat of Many Colours’. Or it was ‘Take a Message to Mary’ by the Everly Brothers and ‘Dear John’ by Sketter Davis. Only Queen Bianca can tell us the sonorous songs hummed in her ears by Ojukwu.

LAST LINEWhere will you be in February? Nigeria’s prose masters and finest in the breed owe the anxious readers and the international community a graphic presentation of the events leading to and after the burial of this great Nigerian who returns to mother earth. Let them arise and do justice. Wordsmith Dan Agbese, Emma Okocha who fetched Satellite Newspaper then in Enugu, with major military exclusives of the Biafran war and went on to author the award winning ‘Blood on the Niger’, the Sam Omatseyes, duo of Mike Awoyinfa/Dimgba Igwe, Uche Ezechukwu, Femi Adesina, Prof.

Inno Ooye, Pro Olu Obafemi, Festus Eriye, A. B. Ahmed, Mohammed Haruna, Innocent Oparadike, Austin Akagu of the ‘First person fame’, Sonala Olumese, Prof Tony Ndibe, US Africa Chido Nwangwu , Andy Ezeani, Emeka Omehie , Alvans Ewuzie and C Don Adinuba, the Ishyaku Jonathans, Rufai Ibrahim and Nick Dazang. How would the electronic media cover and run commentaries? Emeka Odikpo, Tony Akiotu, Dr Segun Aderiye, Richard Asiegbu and Gbenga Onayiga…

The list is a litany. Nigerians are waiting to read your various approaches to this magnitude of media harvest. Let’s see the very colors of the best in literature - onomatopoeia, metaphor, allegory and their bi-products.

So see you in February with my final tribute. How will they welcome him with cymbals and tambourine as our hero goes home?

This is the concluding article of a threepart series by Obinwa Nnaji former editor of Daily Satellite Newspaper and a onetime Lieutenant in the Biafran Army Engineers (BAE), at the Umuakpu-Omanelu sector on the Owerri-Portharcourt road before the war ended January 10, 1970.

There goeth a man •Continued from page 58

from within the corridors of government. To show his commitment, he paid his personal aides from his pocket and he neither took a salary nor allowances.

As Minister of Internal Affairs, he renovated the prisons, ensured that prisoners were better treated and championed the protection of fundamental human rights. When he felt convinced that the Abacha regime was derailing, he promptly resigned. It was a principled stand that was characteristic of him.

What followed however was a comment on the failings of the Nigerian system. In 1996, an attempt was made on his life. He narrowly escaped. But the incident left a scar. Attempts were also made to destroy The Guardian, the newspaper that was his life and passion. The military junta was vicious and cruel. “My brother warned me, you know”, he said. “When I told Chief (his brother, Michael Ibru) I was going to set up a newspaper, he told me Alex, don’t you try it, you want to go and get yourself killed? They’d try to kill you.” Thirteen years later, Michael Ibru’s admonitions proved prophetic. But Chairman, as we called him, was undeterred. He bore his scar, stoically, and urged his editors never to compromise the newspaper’s standards. Five months ago,

59

when he and President Goodluck Jonathan discussed my going to work for the President, he initially opposed the idea. But when he saw that I was determined to take a leave of absence, his last response was: “I don’t want you to go.

But whatever decision you take, I promise you, I will stand by you and support you.” Again, he kept his word.

When friends and family gather to pay their last respects, they’d be bidding farewell to a man ahead of his society, a visionary, a philanthropist, an astute businessman, and a true newspaper man. He touched and transformed many lives and gave me and others, an opportunity to discover ourselves. He was a very kind and loving man. His exit, like his entire life and career, was not without a touch of the poetic. He gave up the ghost on November 20, on his wife, Maiden’s birthday. He and Maiden are thus forever united, not by death, but love. “When a great man dies, for years the light he leaves behind him, lies on the paths of men.” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).

So let it be, with Alex Uruemu Ibru. “…God seeth the sons of Israel and God knoweth… (Exodus 2: 25). Sleep well, sir.

Dr. Reuben Abati, spokesman to President Goodluck Jonathan, was Chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian, 2001 2011.

•Governor Babatunde Fashola consoling Ibru’s widow, Maiden

60

Life

• Ojomo

O

WO is gradually wearing a new look with the massive construction of roads embarked upon by the state government. However, many residents whose buildings have been marked for demolition are not smiling as they are complaining that the compensation paid to them was miserly and not enough to cushion the effects of their losses.

The Ondo State government had engaged the services of estate agents to value hundreds of buildings, shops, and landed properties marked for demolition.

Most of these were old and dilapidated.

About 300 landlords were listed by the Ministry of Physical Planning, Akure, and directed to collect their compensations following the names pasted on the Mapo Hill Local Government Secretariat.

However, about 200 claimants turned up to collect their cheques.

Some received collected theirs with joy while few others were unhappy. They complained that the compensation was poor and unfair.

Julius Agbede who claims to have been operating his blacksmithing business from his former shop for four decades, praised the state government for the money given to him.

According to him, “In fact, I had been in this shop for more 40 years so I need a new place that is more decent than here. I will only need to buy local dogs to appease the gods.’’ He added that he would use part of the compensation money

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

•Adagbadu

•Ojomo’s ancestral building.

Owo residents groan over demolition Some residents of Owo, Ondo State whose buildings have been marked for demolition in order to pave way for dualisation of some roads are not happy with the state government. Taiwo Abiodun reports given to him to buy dogs to appease the gods for leaving a place where many of his ancestors have operated the blacksmithing business for generations.

Chief Jimoh Adagbudu, aged 90, who is also the family head of the Osula family said the demolition of his ancestral home was painful but added “They have given the family some money.

What will I do if we are not given?

I am the head of family and I still need to thank God and the Mimiko Government for even listening to our cries.”

To him, it there was no need to engage in any battle with government since it has agreed to pay them some compensations. He wonders what they would have done if the government decides not to pay anything.

However, a few others believed they were shortchanged by the government and the estate agents who valued their properties. They believed their

properties were worth more than they were being paid. A few others complained that the properties were not even visited before values were placed on them thereby paying pittance them pittance.

Pa Jacob Oladoyinbo Ojomo[76], rejected the N600,000, which was the value place on his property. In a petition to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land and Housing, Akure, he pleaded on behalf of the Ojomo Dynasty for the government to look into their case and make amends.

In his petition, he wrote, “I believe we are shortchanged. It is a paltry sum. The sight purchase of the land attracts N10m by market valuation not to talk of the house. Our dead ancestors have their memorial tombs in the house which is about 80years old. Many people are buried there and we have to perform some rituals before exhuming their bodies.

How much is the money? We shall still need to purchase land where to rebury them. I am pained that the paltry some of N600,000 can go nowhere. I am passionately begging the state government to please intervene in this matter.”

He asked the state government to consider the interest of the families that are being displaced and to think of the pain of having to relocate the remains of those that have been buried there for generations.

Another affected family, Sunday Sola Adaja thanked the state government for compensating the family with N700,000 but said the money has been rejected by the family. Toeing the thread of argument by Ojomo he said, “We buried five people in this place and before we can exhume the bodies we must perform some rituals; buy necessary materials, and purchase another land.” He wonders how N700,000 could

PHOTOS: TAIWO ABIODUN

achieve all this.

Agbaminoja Alaba described the amounted allocated for compensation to each family as embarrassing. He said many of them have returned the cheques to the government and pleaded for a reconsideration of their cases. He said the landlords were hoodwinked by the agents and accused them of not doing a thorough job because they were mostly after their ten percent interest. He added, “The agents came with some government officials who scribbled down notes and just gave them what they thought would make them (government officials) happy.

However, one of the estate agents, Olaseinde Filani who paid the compensation said the exercise was peaceful, and satisfying. He said “We should appreciate what the state government did. They are trustworthy and straightforward.

Only a few individuals returned their cheques. Their complaints will be forwarded to the state government who I believe will still look into their cases.”

Investigation however reveals that about N500 million was earmarked to be paid to the claimants and for their relocation and compensation.

The Press Secretary to the Ondo State government Mr. Eniola Akinsola described the exercise as a kind gesture from the state government and said “It shows how kind hearted the governor is”, adding that the process has been fair and well carried out.

Former Post Express editor, Emeka Nwuka buried

T

•Emeka Nwuka (Jnr) performing the dust to dust for his late father

O his friends and professional colleagues, the news of his death came like a jolt that caught everybody unawares. What was more shocking, was the fact that Emeka Maxwell Nwuka, a former Saturday and Weekend Editor at the defunct Post Express newspapers, died on September 25, three months to his 51st birthday.

The late pen pusher, who died as a result of a kidney ailment, began his final journey to the great beyond on Saturday, November 26, 2011, when he was committed to mother earth. Expectedly, the atmosphere at the burial

ground in the deceased’s village, Ikpokwu, Asa in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State was as emotional, just as it was solemn.

Nwuka’s widow, Mirian led her two children and other relatives to the large ground in the family compound where the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church had set up for the funeral service.

At the graveside, prayers were offered for the family and the departed one, while the late Nwuka’s 10-year-old son, Emeka Jr, performed the customary earth-to-earth rites.

THE ARTS

61

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

The resurgence of an artist

•Abraham trials

•Nwosu in his studio

W

ITH shadows, mountains and valleys, as the theme of his art exhibition, Uchechukwu Nwosu is set to storm the art scene from 22 to 30 of this month. The exhibition which has been postponed several times due to logistic problems is Nwosu’s first solo outing in the past six years. About five years ago, he was struck by stroke which left the right side of his body paralyzed. But within this period, he struggled to bounce back on his feet with the help of friends and close associates who have encouraged him morally and financially.

While he struggled to survive the sickness, Nwosu took time to learn the use of his left hand. That effort, indeed, took him time to perfect, that today, he has gone back to the studios to paint and draw. “That’s why I insist that this exhibition goes on now”, he managed to say in an interview. Nwosu does not still speak fluently. He picks his words slowly and carefully that sometimes you are the one to piece everything together to complete his statement for him.

Yet, he is a bold and courageous artist, whose love for the brush, the canvass and the paint remain solid. “The exhibition is so titled,” he reminisced, shaking his head, “just to announce my resurgence, my re-entry into the profession. Am back, yes am back,” he enthused, smiling profusely.

On why he chose the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Iganmu, Lagos, as the venue of the exhibition, he said, “You know I am a staff of NGA and this is my primary constituency. Yes, this is where I work…” At this juncture he trailed off, punching his left hand in the air. He was full of energy and vibe.

With over 30 works which cut across acrylic, mixed media and painting, Nwosu has so many ideas, colours and statements embedded in the messages he has for the

With shadows, mountains and valleys as the theme of his exhibition, Uchechukwu Nwosu, just recovering from severe stroke, is set to recapture his artistic essence, writes Edozie Udeze public. In the work entitled Community, he spreads the gospel of love and appreciation and gratitude. He shows that with the help of those who love you, no matter your predicament, you will always over come. To him, love overcomes all travails. “Many people have been good to me”, he said, giggling.

Embossed on a large canvass, Community seems to be the height of his works. He has on it the names of over 60 artists and other individuals who have been of help to him in the past five years. “Ha! Ha!”, he laughed. “These are great people; great, great people” he said, displaying the work for attention. “They helped me a lot”, he said once more grinning and signalling to me to follow him further into the studio, to see more of his art works and the materials with which he works.

Inside, he has already assembled most of the paintings for the exhibition. Conspicuously embossed on the Community are names like Odia Ofeimun, Obiora Udechukwu, Folu Agoi, Joe Musa, Abdulahi Muku. Others were Ndidi Dike, Paul Dike, Maria Obi and many more who rallied round to save him from the agony of the sickness. Together, these names blended with the deep background in the work to make it a complete classical experiment. “Am proud of this work”, he said quietly.

What is noticeable in most of his works are the ulli etchings which he said defines

most art works with profound Igbo bearings.

“Ulli symbolizes Igbo art works. You can notice this mostly in the works of artists across the Niger”. Yet the application of ulli, a symbol of beauty and charm, is just deep-rooted in love and passion. It is mainly a decorative object and ornament to ensure that a woman wears a new look to endear her to the man. It is an ornament of tradition and custom.

In his own art application, Nwosu showed that beauty and nature go hand –

in – hand to give an art work its own blend, surrealism and form. This also manifested in Indian temple, another work that hinged on the old religious beliefs of Indians. “It is simply an act of prayer and devotion”, he explained, demonstrating. In it, a devotee was kneeling down quietly to offer his supplications to a supreme being. The usage of colours here further depicted Nwosu’s great love for surrealism and form. “Yes it is different”, he said.

In Abraham trial, he still rummaged in old religious norms of the ancient east.

This goes to show an artist who has been ‘converted’ over the years due to his condition. But that may not seem to worry him too much, for, to him an artist sees beyond today. Nwosu is not primarily concerned about the dictates of religious faiths in what he does, but what the forms can give to those who love them. “An art work has to give meaning to events, issues, to everything that matters to mankind”, was how his gesticulations and body movements gave vent to it.

Before now, Nwosu had exhibited at the Museums and Monuments, Onikan, Lagos, Goethe Institut, Victoria Island, Lagos and other places. He had travelled to several parts of the world for the sake of the art.

Today he looks forward to such a time when he will be fully on his feet for more artistic exploits. “Ha! ha,” he laughed, saying, “God dey. We’ll get there”.

Niyi Osundare’s Katrina poems

P

ROFESSOR Niyi Osundare and his wife Kemi spent over 26 hours in the attic of their home and watched Hurricane Katrina swamp their house and destroy everything the family owned. Only a somewhat divine intervention by a neighbour saved them from perishing in the flood.

This new volume of poems is not just about the devastation caused by the flood, the agonizing journey through the evacuation centers, and the four-month ‘exile’ in New Hampshire; it is also about the indomitability of the human spirit, a celebration of the ‘rainbow vernacular’ of New Orleans, and the thank you song to people from all over the world who reached out to him and his family, thus making sure that “Katrina

did not have the last word”…

Coming on the sixth anniversary of Katrina, this volume sings of the experiences we must never forget and the lessons we need to learn.

Osundare is one of the foremost Nigerian poets of his generation. His works span over two decades of his romance with the Ivory Tower. When a few years ago he applied to leave the University of Ibadan, the authorities were reluctant to release him, citing his indispensability as the reason. But Osundare had to leave to give an opportunity to one of his daughters to have unfettered access to education in the United States of America. That dream is now actualized.

‘I’m a lawyer but I prefer drama’ Wole Oguntokun is a play director, playwright and a lawyer. In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, he talks about his passion for theatre and lots more THEATRE

Y

OU have a play on stage now called The Waiting Room.

What does it symbolize?

What I did was create a room, a room which doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical one. But inside it are all kinds of people – people from all walks of life. The idea is that people pay for what they do, that you cannot escape it.

Not necessarily retribution this time around. What I am saying is that you have to finish what you started.

Everything you do has a fall out. It is like when we use the word butterfly effect.

Whatever action you take has repercussion. Or what you call ripple effects. It is like when you throw a pebble inside a river, it keeps creating ripple effects.

So, I was playing with parallel dimensions to create the play in order to teach the audience this ripple effects about life.

The play itself has to do with mankind as a whole – that is the universality of man. Irrespective of where you reside or who you are, The Waiting Room talks to you in one form or the other. There’s some place there in life where you have to complete what you started. This is why they have to stay in a room to complete that task they started.

How did the play come about?

Oh. I just sat down and thought about it. Often we write linear plays, that will start from the middle and then end. I didn’t want to follow the usual rules of writing a play. I needed to write something totally out of the box.

The play came out in 2009. It was the play we used as part of The Black Heritage Festival. It will be used again this year as part of the festival plays by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) coming up this month.

• Oguntokun

How long have you been in this business?

Well, I have been writing since 1998. The play I wrote that year was Who is Afraid of Wole Soyinka? That was during the military rule. I also initiated Theatre Terra Cultural Centre along with Mrs. Bolanle Peters. So, I have been on this for a while and it has been fun.

Why Who is Afraid of Wole Soyinka?

Oh, that was the satire of the military era. The play is on the activities of the military people. In fact it is in book form now. From time to time, we revive it on stage to show people the other side of leadership. It is a play that chronicles the dark side of Nigerian history.

I wondered who the military were really afraid of – was it Soyinka or Tai Solarin?

You know there is a play: Who is Afraid of Solarin? I then began to write that play to show that the military were really more afraid of Soyinka than Solarin. But it is a total satire.

Where were you trained?

I trained as a lawyer actually. I trained at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife. I was called to the Nigerian bar and I also have a Master Degree in Law. But it is interesting to fall back on theatre. It gives life and you feel the pulse of the society. The people around you enjoy what you do and you know too you are doing what you love.

How far do you think you can go in this profession?

Very far. Very far indeed.

I am directing a play in the Shakespearean Olympiad during the Olympics next year. It is the only West African entry called The Winter’s Tale which is a very fantastic play. So, we know we can go places with what we do. I still have great moments in theatre.

Have you abandoned law?

Well, theatre is what I do.

It is what I live on.

Works Other plays written by him include Anatomy of woman, Gbanje Roulecte, The other side, Piper-piper, Ladugba, The Slave Boy and many more.

Book for willing minds

By Ademola Adesola

I

THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Reviews

62

T is no moot point that the inability of many young Nigerians to understand and use one or two other major Nigerian languages other than their mother tongue is one of the cancerous hands that continues to feed the rabid and gluttonous monster of ethnic jingoism and tribal disaffection in the continuously regressing modern Nigeria. Some are so far gone in their myopic view on the relevance of learning other Nigerian

language(s) that they consider it debasing, the manifold advantages derivable there from notwithstanding.

Abdullahi Kolawole decides to intervene in his own little way with what he thinks will contribute to other genuine efforts aimed at stemming the shaming tide. This commendable intervention is his 74-page book entitled Learn Hausa with Ease (Koyi Hausa Cikin Sauki, in Hausa).

Written in lucid and easily accessible fairly elegant expressions laden with copious and apt examples and illustrations, the handy little book makes a bold attempt to teach non-speakers of Hausa language how to speak the language. What is more interesting about the way the book is written are the ample illustrations that accompany the teaching of the Hausa language that the

author concerns himself with.

However, the challenge that may easily confront the reader of the book, if you like the chink in the armour of Abdullahi’s offering, is the evident absence of pronunciation guide for the novitiate learner, for many of the Hausa words are not pronounced just by the way they are spelt. For instance, the letter “c” in “cikin” (which as used in the cover page means “with”) is pronounced as if one is saying “ch”. This simply presupposes that a learner cannot pore over the book alone without a guide.

But the challenge is surmountable. Touch wood!

Still, Abdullahi’s book has what it takes to endear itself to readers. Students, corps members serving in the North, and other willing souls will find the book good enough for an inauguration into the knowledge and use of the Hausa language.

A

CCOUNTING as a discipline connotes a mixed grill of a dreadful and pleasant subject to students. Most view the subject as difficult but quite rewarding. However, many students of accounting have fallen by the wayside because of its perceived technicality and difficulty. Like in other numerate subjects, the manner the students are introduced to the subject is quite important. In other words, the author attempted to provide a student companion in financial accounting to meet the needs of various students at the General Certificate of Education, tertiary institutions and professional levels.

The author who has a rich blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in accounting spanning over four decades sets out to introduce accounting to beginners.

And one of the pedagogical values of the book is its emphasis on double entry bookkeeping. The importance of dexterity in opening relevant ledger accounts and recording appropriate accounting entries in them cannot be overemphasised. Many Nigerian businesses are run without complete accounting records. This

At home with numbers BOOKS

By Semiu Babatunde Adeyemi

makes the technique of incomplete records germane. The technique is also required to prepare the accounts of Not for Profit Organisation which are run mostly by non-accountants who do not usually keep and run complete records of accounting transactions.

In future, the value of this book can be enhanced by also providing a chapter to cover the absorption of one sole trad-

er’s assets and liabilities by another sole trader. This is sometimes found in practice and will assist the student in appreciating the relevant accounting techniques. The author divided the presentation of relevant questions into three: in-text questions which are answered in the relevant chapter when the relevant principles are treated; Revision Objective and Short Answer Questions (Chapter 39); and Revision Theory Questions (Chapter 40). For improved values, it is suggested that the author includes some additional questions at the end of each chapter with short answers provided as a feedback and to instil confidence in the students in relation to the relevant materials studied.

The book suffers from some typographical and grammatical lapses which could have been avoided through a painstaking editing of the manuscript. It is however recommended to accounting students as a prime text, and to lecturers and accounting practitioners as a teaching and reference material.

Yarns from the heart

D

EEP Sighs is a profound book of seven short stories which examines some everyday realisms. Written by Bob MajiriOghene, the eerie theme common is the rustlings of life.

In ‘Reflections’, one of the short stories, the author scripts a moving letter to a dead dear friend. The story depicts a relationship which death cannot sever. And in ‘Further Reflections’, a sequel to ‘Reflections’, the author refuses in his mind to agree that his friend, Paul, is dead and long gone. Rather, he chooses to see death as another continuation of life.

“By everybody’s expectation, you must’ve decayed or decomposed by now but I can hardly believe or conceive of this, especially as it concerns you,” he writes in the letter.

In ‘Do I have regrets?’, the case of Kunle Aja, who sold his father’s house to seek the American dream, is pathetic.

It did not take 48 hours after his arrival for him to begin

By Joe Agbro Jr.

to run into despondency.

From a narcotics official who singled him out and inspected him for drugs because of the tribal marks which scarified Kunle’s face.

But bumping into Amanda, a white New Yorker, would turn his fortunes around. Or, so he thought. Within weeks after meeting her, she gets him an ‘easy’ job of just dropping a sealed parcel in exchange for ‘big money.’ Kunle is unaware of what he couriers but he is curious over the content till one day he pries open the parcel to discover he has been peddling cocaine. Kunle attempts bailing out and runs to another state but before long, Amanda’s wide nets catch up with him and he is deported back to Nigeria.

His consolation is however his haul of cash which he has with him which he uses to build his father another house and continue life as a ‘big man.’

In ‘Come back,’ after

basking in a four-year relationship as campus sweethearts with the author, Kate, finally working in a bank now considers the smoking habits as not fit for her. After being dumped by Dele, she now comes back to the author. Her treachery is chord striking.

His other stories also involve other situations of supernatural life. It is also the deep conflicts which tear the fabrics of many individual’s social lives. For anyone ready for a short twist in fiction, Deep Sighs offers a good read.

Keeping the family together

F

AMILY Again, by 13year old Gbemisola Akinsipe, a secondary school girl, is a powerful sermon on pre-marital sex, immorality and youthful exuberance. It advises youths, especially girls to keep their bodies pure and chaste, to keep away from peer pressure, in order to avoid all sorts of problems and complications that might arise later in life.

The protagonist is a 16year, old girl from an affluent family who becomes pregnant. This unexpected pregnancy triggers off a chain of events. She encounters a wide range of sad experiences and condemnations reducing her to a victim of various societal stigmata, gossips with countless accusing fingers pointing in her direction.

By Edozie Udeze

Psychologically she was overwhelmed by shame and regret, socially she was a misfit and a failure to her family. What would be her future educationally as a teen-age mother? The pains were all over and excruciating, arising from an avoidable mistake. God’s intervention was essential for Lonke’s restoration.

The novel directs young girls to shun immorality, sin and peer pressure groups.

The book is very timely in this age of STDs, HIV and AIDS and other ills.

Now, when Lonke and her family are caught up in the web, they are on the verge of collapsing. Lonke, a girl just like any young girl, gets pregnant at 16, and this makes her mother’s confi-

dence in her snap. Even her love for her is betrayed and everything is in disarray.

Then the question is, what happens to Lonke and what is the fate of the unborn baby? The book tells it all in a way that readers will find fascinating.

BUSINESS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

63

‘Blame lawless Chinese, African businessmen for inferior goods’ -- Page 65

Whither Nigerian legacy companies? Briefs

U

NLIKE other climes where businesses have survived many generations and are still waxing stronger to the enviable status of legacy companies, in Africa, nay Nigeria, most businesses have had the misfortune of dying with their founders for reasons which border on the superficial to the complex.

Making of successful legacy companies Some existing businesses with long years of history dating back over a century and counting include the following: Ford Motors, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Walmart, MacDonald’s, Johnnie Walker, Coca Cola, General Electric, Sony, Panasonic, Julius Bergers, General Motors to mention just a few.

The common thread which runs through most of these companies is their “survivability”, which according to Mr. Sola Oladipupo, a brand specialist, is the ability to sustain brand equity.

Expatiating, Oladipupo said: “Compared to most of our indigenous businesses, a lot of companies that have survived centuries and are still in existence have been able to achieve that longevity simply by adopting winning techniques which has stood them in good stead. Winning techniques, if you may, is not cast in stones.

The world is dynamic, and so it also requires any business set for the top to be able to think out of the box.”

“There are also bad stories out there. For instance, IBM type writers, Polaroid cameras to mention just a few are no longer in vogue.

The promoters of these businesses probably didn’t take the initiative when their contemporaries did and hence were driven out of business”, he stressed.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Ifeanyi Nwade, General Manager, Finance, Nigeria Import Export Bank (NEXIM), at a public forum in Lagos recently, observed that any businessman worth his salt must adopt what he described as “the IMF, the three nuggets of business success, which are ideas, management and finance.”

In the view of Funso Olaolu, an ICT expert, studies have shown that most businesses that have stood the test of time was because their founders had sound vision, ideas, clear succession plan, and governance structure to drive same.

Longevity As far as longevity is concerned, Johnnie Walker has had to weather more than 200 years of existence on the global market and 92 years on the Nigerian scene.

Giving some insight on the company’s history, Thomas Jones, Global Brand Ambassador of Johnnie Walker says, “Nearly 200 years ago, a farm hand named John Walker began a journey – selling blended whisky from a small grocery store in Kilmarnock, Scotland.

John Walker was born at Toddriggs Farm, Ayrshire, Scotland in 1805.

“After the death of his father,

Hotel offers 30 % off 60 days

P

•Some of the thriving corporate brands

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Rita Ohai

he opened his grocery shop in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 1820 selling malt Scotch whisky, before long he started blending his own whisky; hence the Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky was born.

Jones attributed the success of the Johnnie Walker brand to the consistency of “flavours, commitment to our connoisseurs and building a brand that is recognized by all for its enduring qualities.”

Local examples Adeola Timothy Odutola, who, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, is the foremost Nigerian and perhaps, African industrialist in history, had businesses that were household names in the country. His fleet of companies included: Odutola Nigerian Industries Limited - manufacturers of bicycle tyres and tubes in Ijebu-Ode, Odutola Tyre soles Company Limited with factories in Ibadan, Kano and Onitsha - rethreading automotive tyres, Odutola Tyre & Rubber Company Limited etc.

Investigation by The Nation however revealed that some of the businesses like the Odutola Tyre is no longer in existence as the premises which used to house the company, at the old Lagos Road, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, has been converted to a residential building.

Like Odutola, the late Hamzat Adebowale founded Adebowale Stores as a retail outlet in Lagos.

Taking advantage of the Federal Government’s favourable industrial policies later on, Adebowale incorporated Adebowale Electrical Industries Limited as a manufacturing concern. The move marked a turning point in his career from a businessman to a manufacturer, especially in 1975, when the young company rolled out its first set of locally manufactured electrical/ electronics products, opening branches in Ibadan, Kano and Lagos.

Investigation by The Nation also revealed that following the death of Adebowale few years ago, his estate, which comprises his vast business empire is no longer what it used to be.

An insider who used to work with the patriarch of the Adebowale family confided in The Nation that the lack of proper succession plan has been the bane of the once thriving business empire of the late business mogul.

Akintola Williams at the vibrant age of thirty-three years founded his firm in 1952. The company which grew organically and through mergers to become the largest professional services firm in Nigeria by 2004 was the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa.

Before his retirement in 1983, Williams gained business from indigenous companies including Nnamdi Azikiwe’s West African Pilot, K.O. Mbadiwe’s African Insurance Company, Fawehinmi Furniture and Ojukwu Transport.

By March 1992 the company had 19 partners and 535 staff. Between April 1999 and May 2004, Akintola Williams & Co merged with two other accounting firms to create Akintola Williams Deloitte, the largest professional services firm in Nigeria with a staff of over 600.

Being at the helm of affairs of any organisation can be a herculean task, more so when the leader is swamped with the responsibility of resuscitating a thirty-eight year old company on the verge of collapse. This is the fate of the Managing Director, Xerox H.S (Nigeria) Limited, Mr. Femi Okunade, who was saddled with the job of turning around the fortunes of Xerox Nigeria from almost a moribund and debt-ridden company to a successful business enterprise.

Okunade who addressed a crowd in Lagos recently recalled that in his determination to restore the fortunes of Xerox Nigeria, his team set out a five-year turnaround plan for the company.

“We set clear cut precise objectives aimed at first understanding what our business model is. We also set out to create a new culture of hard work, results, reward system and recognition as well as hard and ethical work culture from leadership downward”, he recounted.

At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, he said: “Transforming a business requires not only a brilliant innovative strategy, but also faith,

focus, fortitude and more.

These are the internal realities of transformation. Transformation requires relentless and aggressive leadership.”

With rapid local and global expansion as the core interest of dynamic companies with a long term vision, Peju Adebayo, CEO, Mouka Limited speaks on the transformation and growth of Mouka Foam, a family-owned company founded over five decades ago.

“In 2007 Actis which is a private equity company headquartered in the UK and with investments all over the world invested in Mouka and took the majority stake in Mouka. I came on board in 2007 after the Actis investment.

In 2009 we have two plants in Lagos and Benin”, Mrs. Adebayo recalled in an interview recently.

Continuing, she said: “In 2009 we were already expanding and we opened the third plant in the north when we noticed we were actually absent from the north. Right now our priority and expansion in the northern part of Nigeria is still very fresh.”

Sharing his company’s experience, Segun Ajasa, Head of Corporate Communications at Onward Paper Mill’s recalled that Onward which was incorporated in 1972 was involved in printing mainly exercise books but later diversified into customised envelopes.

The company, Ajasa stressed,has since gone into printing calendars and diaries.

“In the last five years, we invested over N3 billion through private placements and other equity funds from investors into the business and in doing this they bought into the hi-tech printing machineries and also did a lot of restructuring within the organisation so that we could move from mainly manufacturing to a service-based company.”

The few success stories notwitstanding, economic analysts, however, believe that a lot of factors determine the success or otherwise of businesses.

ROSPECTIVE lodgers at the Lekki Oxford Hotel, tucked away in the serene Lekki environment have been assured of a fantastic get-away holiday this yuletide at a relatively cheap cost.

The management of the hotel has since announced a 30 per cent discount lasting 60 days from November to January 2012.

Addressing journalists recently, the chairman of the hotel’s board, Dr. Ausbeth Ajagu said the hotel’s philosophy is that “luxury must not be expensive if wellplanned”, adding: “This is why as an hotel chain, we are determined to serve different class of people in the market because we believe that if we satisfy you and you will feel absolutely satisfied, you’ll bring your friends along.”

The hotel, is being managed by Thornberry Africa, which prides itself as Africa’s premier hospitality management and marketing company, Ajagu said, has over 50 rooms and suites as well as offers its guests good accommodation, WI-FI connectivity, DSTV, Air-conditioned rooms, a 120 and a 100 seater conference facility, a executive boardroom which can accommodate 20 people and more.

While sharing his views on the unique selling point of the hotel, Francois Booyse, Regional General Manager, Thornberry Hotels, said the hotel also has a business centre, a Chinese restaurant, a sports bar and restaurant and a private swimming pool.

STOCK MARKET REVIEW

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HE NSE All-Share Index moved up by 122bps at the close of this week.

Stanbic IBTC had a good run, with growing demand and weak supply leading to a five-day rally. It subsequently inched up with a 27.3% cumulative gain at the close of last week. Similarly, Fidelity Bank and Access Bank finished the week with price appreciations of 8.2% and 8.1% respectively. On the flip side, glutting offers continued to repress the price of Diamond Bank, as it lost over 16.0%.

First Bank also booked a 5.0% gain, with buying pressure throughout the session clearing available offers. UBA consolidated on previous gains with a 4.9% gain, while demand for Access Bank led to a 5.0% mark-up.

Healthy demand for Unilever - the only company that was divergent from the bearish trend in the conglomerates sector soared with 4.7% cumulative gain.

On the contrary, UACN and PZ Cussons lost 2.0% and 3.4% respectively.

Selling pressure was the bane of the petroleum marketing sector this week, leading to losses of over 4.8% for MRS Oil, Conoil and Forte Oil. Eterna Oil and Oando also shed 9.5% and 13.7% respectively.

Crossed deals and a dearth of offers led to a 5.0% gain for Guinness, closing with unsatisfied demand at the upper end of the market. Closing demand was however not strong enough to suggest a continuation of this rally in coming sessions. NB also recorded a 1.0% gain, with current support at N97.01.

In the food and beverages sector, limited offers at the upper end of the market and crossed deals resulted in a 5.0% uptick in Nestle.

Dangote Sugar held steady at the lower N4.00 levels, closing at N4.02. On the flip side, Dangote Flour, Nascon, Cadbury and Flour Mills all caved in to selling pressure.

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Ship chandelling at a glance

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Business Intelligence

Ship chandelling: Nigeria’s untapped goldmine

HIP chandelling activity is as old as ship building and ship sailing. It is a profession saddled with the responsibility of providing supplies and services aboard vessels in transit. It is an important aspect of the maritime industry. It has to do with the supply of everything needed to make the sailing of a ship possible.

Such items include all the food and water needs of the crew members, all the fuel, lubricant and spare parts needs of the vessel as well as other supplies that the crew and vessel may require in order to make the sailing possible as determined by the United Nations Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and other regulatory bodies.

Ship chandelling services are regarded as the software that enables the driving of the hardware (the ship) possible. It is an internationally practiced profession.

Chandelling as a profession which offers support services to vessels is older than Nigeria itself. But the irony, however, is that this profession that is capable of generating millions of jobs has remained underdeveloped, reports Uyoatta Eshiet

Evolution of ship chandelling in Nigeria

The profession has been in existence in Nigeria before the Second World War but the law establishing it in the country was enacted in 1958 and later reviewed in 1968.

In 1990, the Customs and Excise Management Act (C.E.M.A) Cap 84 laws of the Federation, was enacted, with provisions on ship chandelling.

By the provisions of Section 74 of the Act, the Minister may delegate the Board of Nigerian Customs to make regulations for the licensing and practice of the profession.

Practitioners in the country have an association known as the Nigerian Ship Chandlers Association (NCLSA), which was registered in 1985 with the Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) with over 50 registered members.

Giving an insight into the trade, Dr. Martins E.Enebeli, the Secretary, Board of Trustees (BOT) of Nigerian Licensed Ship-

Chandlers Association, said it is regulated by the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) while at the international level it is regulated by UNCTAD.

Profitability and job creation capabilities

Enebeli said chandelling business has the capacity to create millions of jobs and generate nothing less than N3 billion if properly harnessed and protected by the government.

He, however, said it is disheartening to note that Nigeria is yet to fully harness the potential.

Enebeli, who also is the Managing Director of E-Tiana Ventures Limited, disclosed that over 45 per cent of ships that come into Africa are from Nigeria while over 70 per cent of all ships that come into West Africa head for Nigeria yet, most of these ships go to other countries like Ghana, Egypt, South Africa to take full food supply and other needs before coming to deliver their cargoes in the country.

He said for every ship that comes into Nigeria, the importer is made to pay for the ship ‘to and fro’. Ninety-five per cent of ships that come into Nigeria go back in –balance.

That is the importer has paid to and from because there is no export cargo to carry as they return. If we are made to lose the

PHOTO SHOP

chandelling service also then it is a great loss for the country.

The scribe of the association further said that a 3,000 Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) vessel requires about $50,000 worth of supplies ranging from food to lubricants and spare parts to undertake an international journey. Much bigger ships could require supplies worth $200,000 to set sail and over 90 per cent of all these are handled by foreigners to the detriment of Nigerians. We are missing huge revenue, he lamented.

Foreign domination

According to the legal framework that governs the practice of ship chandelling services, Nigeria reserves 90 per cent of the activities within our territorial waters, but it is however regrettable that the Nigerian chandlers contribute only a dismal two per cent out of the 90 per cent allowed by law.

Foreigners are having a field day in what is supposed to be a business reserved for Nigerians by the Local Content Act, lamented Enebeli.

On how that is possible, Enebeli said more often than not, they collude with unscrupulous Nigerian officials to outsmart the Nigerian chandlers as the government does not enforce the enabling laws in Nigeria.

Echoing similar views, Mr. Kingsley Onojaife, Managing Director, Jessco Maritime Resources Limited revealed that the foreign chandlers raise cheap funds from their countries and their banks are always there for them so their supplies come cheaper hence Nigerian chandlers cannot compete with them.

The ship chandlers, operating in Nigeria, Onojaife stressed, “operate under a very harsh condition. Their supply seems to be at a higher price than what the ship owners/operators get from other countries and from the foreign chandeliers.”

Corruption

•Dr. Adetunji Haastrup, Registrar, Institute of Certified Professional Management (ICPM) and the guest speaker, Dr. Austin Nweze of Lagos Business School during the 12th anniversary award ceremony of the Institute in Lagos.

Apart from the money spent to provide power for their services, operators spend a lot for the security forces in order to make a single supply.

Corroborating this, Onojaife further disclosed that “within a space of five nautical miles from the shore to the anchorage where most of the ocean going vessels stay, there are about 20 security check points comprising the Navy, Customs, Police, NDLEA, Immigration etc.

They stay there not so much for security purposes but to extort money from the chandlers.

•Enebeli

“For each of this check points, you must part with at least N1000.00 before you can pass to make a single supply. This means they spend about N20,000.00 to make a single supply, he lamented. By the time you now pass this extra cost to the ship owner, it becomes more expensive to request for supplies from the Nigerian chandlers compared with what is obtained in other countries like Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, etc.”

Besides corruption, the operators face other critical challenges.

According to Mr. Adohe G. Rex, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Glorado Maritime Nigeria Limited, there are challenges from the security forces, financial challenges, payment challenges after supplies and power challenges among others, that they have to cope with.

The ship chandler, Rex stressed, is also faced with a challenge of getting his money after supply. “This is because business is done without physical contact. The ship owner usually holds on to the money for 30 to 60 days. That is why the government should come in and act as security, to back up ship chandlers.”

Obstacles

According to Enebeli, another major challenge facing the chandelling business in Nigeria has to do with the non implementation of its provisions.

He said the Nigerian Customs that is saddled with the responsibility has too much on its hands with very little manpower.

He said to police the about 20,000 various kinds of ships that find their way into the country’s eight international seaports, 11 oil terminals and about 124 private jetties, requires more than what the customs is doing now.

The result, he said, is the harvest of failure in the sector, with the country reportedly losing more than N3 billion annually.

Way forward

In the view of some of the ship chandlers, there is need for the government to put in place a status establishing ship chandelling regulatory services with a view to reviewing all existing laws and charting a way forward for the business of ship chandelling in the country.

Business Week

Awards galore at FATE annual celebration

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•L-R: General Manager, Lekki Oxford Hotels, Mr. Felix Irri; Chairman CEO, Lekki Oxford Hotels, Mr. Ausbeth Ajagu and Regional General Manager, Thornberry Africa, Mr. Francois Booyse at a media roundtable recently.

PHOTOS: BADE DARAMOLA

OLE-MODELS whose achievements and commitment to economic sustainability in Nigeria were recognised at the FATE Foundation Annual Celebration & Entrepreneurial Awards Ceremony recently held at the MUSON Centre, Onikan last Thursday.

Group Chief Executive officer, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, who was the special guest speaker at the event, in his address, reflected on the challenges he faced while starting his business and his achievements. He also spoke on the importance of ethics, integrity and persistence as an entrepreneur and

By Rita Ohai

concluded on the need to focus in order to succeed.

Following the graduation ceremony, five outstanding volunteers were presented with awards.

Among them were Mr. Chris Okocha, MD/CEO of Thotline Concepts, Mr. Adinnu Steve Ogamba, General Manager, Fugro Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bayo Adeyemi, Vice President, Investment Banking Team at Chapel Hill Advisory Partners; Mr. Wale Diamond, CEO of Black Diamond and Mr. Ralph Rapu, CEO RCJ Services Nigeria Ltd. Other winners included the FATE Small

and Medium Enterprise Journalist of the year, Miss Yinka Alawode, a senior correspondent with BusinessDay newspaper.

According to Elizabeth Olofin, Head, Training FATE Foundation, “Our Volunteers in 2011 have contributed over 7, 680 hours working with aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs; and this award ceremony gives FATE the opportunity to celebrate their diligence and passion.”

The highlight of the ceremony was the award presentation of the FATE Model Entrepreneur Award to Dr. Cosmas Maduka, President of Coscharis Group.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011

Business

‘Blame lawless Chinese, African businessmen for inferior goods’ With the influx of some inferior goods labelled ‘Made-inChina’ into Nigeria and other African markets, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Deng Boqing, has put the blame on dubious Chinese and African businessmen. In this interview with Augustine Ehikioya, he also addresses controversy over working conditions of Nigerians in Chinese companies in Nigeria.

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HAT is your reaction to the allegation that inferior goods are often imported into Africa from your country?

Chinese economy, especially its manufacturing industry, has experienced rapid development in recent years. China has been hailed as the “World Factory” with its products reaching every corner of the earth. Out of the 12,000 Boeing planes currently in service, those equipped with crucial made-in-China parts take up one fourth. The world famous brands like IBM PC, VOLVO and so on, have become Chinese brands.

Behind the success of Chinese manufacturing industry and the popularity of made-inChina products, lies the great importance that China has attached to the quality of the products. As a matter of fact, quality has always been regarded as the lifeblood of Made-in-China brand. The way that China became the “World Factory” has been a process to improve the quality of its products. Nevertheless, as a Chinese saying goes ‘in a big forest there is every kind of bird.’ Among the huge volume of Chinese products, and besides the ones manufactured for the high end market, there also exist fair quality products targeted for the medium and low end market as well as disqualified ones manufactured by a small number of lawless businessmen. The fair and low quality products sneak through different channels into the international market, where Africa has become the preferable destination. Why Africa, instead of Europe or the United States? In my mind,

A

T first sight, the array of luxury buses parked at the airport reminds one of the Abuja and Eastern Nigeria-bound buses at Christmas and other festivals.

The buses were however far from the shores of Nigeria.

They were commissioned to convey Nigerians and other nationalities to holy sites in Israel, Egypt and Palestine.

The bus owners are not alone in the brisk business.

Restaurateurs, tour guides and shop owners were all smiling to the banks.

The shop owners insisted on transacting business in US dollars as against Israel’s currency- Shekel. Even water was sold in dollars. Pilgrims from across the world willingly parted with their dollars.

The luxury buses,

there are the following reasons. Firstly, African people, due to limited consumption level and capability, prefer cheap products which propel some African businessmen to import low end and low price products from China.

Secondly, many African importers, when making orders of products from Chinese manufacturers, always press for a lower price, which leaves little room of profit for the manufacturers and thus low guarantee of quality for the products. Thirdly, relevant authorities of African countries, where smuggling and gray customs clearance are quite common, have not conducted effective supervision against the low quality products. What is also worth mentioning here is that, some of the inferior products in Africa though labelled “made in China”, are actually not Chinese products, but have been mistakenly categorized into the low quality made-inChina products. Although inferior products only take a minimum proportion of the total volume of Chinese exports, they have a very adverse effect not only on the interests of the consumers, but also on the image of made-in-China products. To curtail the spread of inferior products, the Chinese Government has set up various monitoring and complaint platforms, conducted special controlling programmes, urged enterprises to take responsibility for quality and safety of their products, enriched the quality and safety standard system, and

INTERVIEW worked to speed up the perfection of the quality inspection and supervision system. It has attached particular importance to the quality of products for export, and taken measures to do a comprehensive quality inspection of those goods to prevent outflow of substandard products. Besides that, the Chinese government is actively seeking the cooperation of African countries in strengthening the quality of Chinese products exported to Africa. Take Nigeria as an example. The governments of our two countries are currently working together and negotiating on the establishment of a mechanism for quality supervision. In March this year, the Chinese embassy in Nigeria, together with the National Association of Nigerian Traders, co-hosted the seminar on China-Nigeria Trade Promotion to exchange ideas on how to raise the quality of Chinese products in Nigeria and push forward with the sustained development of bilateral trade relations. It is our strong belief that, with the joint efforts of relevant stakeholders, there will be a continuous reduction of inferior products from China and better protection of the rights and interests of African consumers.

There are also allegations that Chinese companies operating in Nigeria exploit Nigerian employees with poor pay and inhuman working conditions and sometimes spend more on their pets monthly than the least paid salary of Nigerians in their employment?

I would like to give a collective response here. As I mentioned at the reception

•Boqing

“We have always required the Chinese companies in Nigeria to treat their local employees as friends and brothers, and kept reminding them that only in that way could they continuously develop themselves in Nigeria” commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nigeria earlier this year, China has always regarded Nigeria as a good brother, good friend and good partner.

Accordingly, we have always required the Chinese companies in Nigeria to treat their local employees as friends and brothers, and kept reminding them that only in that way could they continuously develop themselves in Nigeria. The overwhelming majority of Chinese companies have so far done that quite well. They always attach great importance to the employment and management of local staff.

While stepping up the implementation of local content and enlarging the proportion of local employees, they have strictly observed relevant laws and regulations

in giving equal and unbiased treatment to both Chinese and Nigerian employees, and actively safeguarding the rights and interests of local staff. Recently, I attended a celebration event commemorating the 30th Anniversary of CCECC Group Company entering Nigerian market, where there held an award ceremony for the outstanding employees.

Among the ten representatives of the awardees, four were local employees. One of them even went up under the spotlight to give some remarks on his pride of working for the company.

That sense of pride and happiness of our Nigerian friends working in those Chinese companies is attributed not only to their friendship for China, but also to the welfare they could receive there. Generally speaking, as inconclusive statistics show, monthly salary

Nigeria, others boost tourism business in Israel

By Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, just back from Israel

numbering over 80 were labelled for easy identification. Ours had the label- “LAGOS STATE, 14: Operated by International.”

The bus drivers were so disciplined and efficient.

Their numbers however spoke volumes of how transportation business booms in Israel.

A Nigerian based in Israel, Mrs. Beatrice Obasoro, a native of Ondo town, who had no restaurant also benefitted from the tourism cash flow.

She was commissioned to prepare Nigerian dishes for home-

sick pilgrims. Her contract was perfected by restaurant owners who wanted to satisfy their Nigerian clients.

The first contact with her was when she cooked poundo yam and semovita with egusi soup for our group in Nazareth. We met her again at the Nissan Restaurant, Bethlehem, where she prepared the same type of Nigerian food. She told this reporter she was making good money. And that she was always looking forward to meet Nigerian pilgrims.

All the shop owners had one memorized Nigerian phrase or the other to welcome Nigerian customers. Some market men and women took their wares to hotels where

Nigerians stayed.

A particular Israeli trader actually transacted business with Nigerians in Naira. He called out to them, flaunting N1000 notes. “Buy my bags; I am not a Boko Haram. Bags, N400, N600, N1000.” Trust our people. They scrambled to patronize him. “He is collecting Naira, he is collecting Naira”, they chorused.

The Jaffa market is another pilgrims’ delight.

There, most things that were bought in the shops, recommended by the tour guides were seen to be cheaper.

Jaffa is just like our own Balogun market, where you haggle prices. Your luck would

however depend on your bargaining power. The market does not open on Saturdaysthe Sabbath day. It also has its own pickpockets, beggars and fraudsters.

Jaffa has connections with the story of Jonah and the whale, for Jonah set sail from Jaffa, on his journey to Nineveh.

In 1909, a number of Jews, in order to escape the cramped quarters of Jaffa, founded Tel Aviv, in the sand dunes north of the city. Today, Tel- Aviv is a modern metropolis, Israel’s most cosmopolitan city, and the commercial nerve centre.

Wine is another hot cake in Cana, believed to be the town where Jesus turned water to wine. Wine is sold in

of Nigerian employees working in Chinese companies ranges from 20,000 Naira to 200,000 Naira or even higher. Among that, ordinary technical workers usually receive a salary of over 30,000 Naira, while senior technicians and management staff enjoy the highest salary of over 200,000 naira. Besides salary, Chinese companies in Nigeria also attach great importance to the provision of comfortable environment and good facilities for the local employees. For those who work for the projectcontracting companies with tough working conditions, safety equipment like safety hat, labor protection shoes, etc. is fully guaranteed. Some of those companies even provide regular bus service, dining hall, medicare center and other facilities.

Equipment like laptop computers is provided to senior local employees. Some Chinese companies organize regular training for Nigerian employees, which contributes many specialists to relevant local industries. Some local employees have even been selected and sent to China for visiting and further training.

As for the pet issue you mentioned in the question, however, I have never heard of similar cases. Objectively speaking, local employees in Western companies usually enjoy better welfare than in Chinese companies, as West countries and China are in different development circumstances, where the labor cost in China is quite lower and Chinese workers in those Chinese companies earn less than Western workers in Western companies. In some cases, the salary of Nigerian employees paid by the Chinese companies is even high than that of domestic employees of the same industry in China. It is common in Nigeria that Chinese and local employees share the same dining and rest places and work together under the difficult conditions of sun scorch and rain drench.

In my mind, it is the shared experiences that, to certain extent, have better showcased the brotherly friendship between Chinese and Nigerian people. I believe that, with the development of Chinese and Nigerian economy and growth of Chinese companies in Nigeria, the welfare of local employees in those companies will definitely be further improved. almost all the shops in Cana.

They would welcome pilgrims with a taste of wine, then tell you how good the wines are. People bought Holy Communion wine, packaged stylishly in designer packs. Olive oils and mustard seeds were also in high demand.

One of the pilgrims, Otunba E. A. Solanke, Principal Partner, Solanke and Solanke, Olagunju Chambers said Nigeria can also make good money out of tourism, if our government diversifies, and stops focusing all its attention on oil. “Israel has no oil, but you can see that it makes money all year round from tourism”, he said.

The Group 14 bus driver, Jawad, said tourism is a good business in Israel.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

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WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Living Special children are God’s gifts’ Faith T

By David Oyedepo

Wonders in God’s word! (3)

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ELCOME to your regular column. Last week, I showed you the wonder genes in the Word of God. Some of the genes in God’s Word that I showed you are: the Spirit of life, the power genes, the creative genes, breakthrough genes, divine light genes, victory genes, prophetic genes, spiritual wine and healing genes.

This week, I want to show you how you can enjoy total health via the Word of God. God’s Word is the carrier of God’s power. It’s through the Word that we take delivery of our inheritance (Romans 1:16; 2 Peter 1:3).

The Bible says: And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching…the power of the Lord was present to heal them (Luke 5:17). The power of God was being transmitted, bringing healing to the people. Our inheritance is transmitted through the power of His Word. There is power in the Word of God. We serve a covenant-keeping God. He said: My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalms 89:34). While this earth remains, God’s covenant remains binding.

The Bible is a Book of covenants. All those things stated in Deuteronomy 28:1-13 are based on man cutting a covenant with God. When your part of the covenant is fulfilled, the blessing thereof is sealed and delivered. Every time the condition for a promise is met, it graduates spiritually to a covenant. You need a covenant mentality to command dominion in the affairs of life. The word ‘testament’ simply means ‘covenant.’

What is a covenant?: A covenant is a deal between two parties, to which they subscribe in totality to the terms thereof. God, the Covenantor, is constant; the only variable is the covenantee. When your part if fulfilled, no devil in hell can stop the delivery of your blessings. The revelation of the covenant on any issue puts you supernaturally in command in that area (John 8:32).

How to cut a covenant of total health with God: 1. Living on the Word: Living on the Word is the principal key to cutting a covenant of total health with God (Psalms 89:34).

2. The love of God: Love is presented in 1 John 3:14 -15 as a vital source of life. So, when you begin to operate on the frequency of perfect love, you operate where there is no room for sickness (1 John 4:16-18). The Holy Ghost is the One that fires the love of God into our hearts, which empowers us to live a super healthy life.

3. Supernatural utterance: The Word of God says: Death and life are in the power of the tongue…(Proverbs 18:21). Your wellbeing is a function of the things that come out of your mouth (Mark 11:23). When the Holy Ghost gives you utterance, heaven will respect it.

God’s principal power channel: God’s principal power channel is the Holy Ghost. According to Jesus’ diagnosis, every sickness is an oppression of the devil (Acts 10:38).

Oppression only bows to power (Psalms 66:3).

When Jesus saw Peter’s sick mother in-law, He stood over her, rebuked the foul spirit of fever, and He set her free. Jesus could see an oppression behind fever. It takes power for the oppressor to bow. So, the Holy Ghost is God’s principal power channel (Acts 1:8). That is your principal access to the power of God. Where is the power of God?: God’s Word is the custodian of God’s power. The Holy Ghost is the channel to it, while God’s Word is the source. You will access power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you (Acts 1:8). The Holy Ghost is the Messenger and Interpreter of the Word of God (Malachi 3:1-5). God’s Word is where our total health is domiciled (Psalms 107:20; Proverbs 4:20-22).

Friend, come for a life-changing encounter at Faith Tabernacle in Canaan Land, Ota, from December 6-10, at Shiloh 2011. Shiloh 2011, tagged, Waves Of Glory!, is an annual prophetic gathering of the Winners’ family worldwide. At this event, God will surely visit you and deliver you from stagnation, frustrations, failure and destitution. Don’t miss this great opportunity!

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books — The Force Of Freedom, Walking In Dominion and Exploring The Riches Of Redemption.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO, Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Or call 7747546-8; Or E-mail: bishop@davidoyedepoministries.org

HE Executive President of Tender Hearts International, a faithbased family support organisation, Pastor Taiwo Odubiyi, has advocated support and assistance for children with special needs.

Special children, she said, should be given all the support, encouragement and care to excel in life.

Odubiyi said such children should not be written off as failures or nonentities but assisted to attain their potentials.

She spoke last week at a Christmas party organised by her group for children with special needs at Local Government Primary School, Ipakodo, Ikorodu Lagos.

Hundreds of free copies of her books and various gift items were distributed to children at the party that also attracted their parents, teachers and well-wishers.

Odubiyi said, ‘’These children are special to God. They may look disadvantaged but there are inherent talents in them that must be unleashed. ‘’That is why they need all the support they can get.

We must show them love, care and understanding

• Oduyiyi with some children

By Sunday Oguntola

and never look down on them’’.

She called on their parents not to waver in providing and caring for them, assuring they will come out fine if supported.

Odubiyi also charged

the society not to discriminate against them, saying their disabilities do not make them any less human.

The government, she said, should provide free education for them and provide an enabling environment for their success.

According to her, ‘’Gov-

ernment should support them with all they need.

They are God’s gifts to this nation because they carry what some of us do not have. ‘’To look down on them or discriminate against them is ungodly and inhuman.’’

‘Blame church leaders for Nigeria’s woes’

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IGERIA’S backwardness and underdevelopment is all down to the failure of the church to spearhead moral revival and transformation, Apostles and Prophets Global Mission, a coalition of gospel ministers and Christians committed to restoring biblical Christianity, has declared.

The group last week stated that many religious leaders have compromised and failed to emphasise righteousness and truth.

This, it said, is why greed and corruption have become prevalent in the nation.

Its coordinator, Bishop Abraham Olaleye, told reporters that religious leaders, not political leaders, should be blamed for the nation’s challenges.

He explained, ‘’We(church leaders) are encouraging people to perpetrate more evils. Over 40 million Nigerians give undivided attention to pastors on weekly basis. If our pastors preach the right messages, Nigeria would have been transformed’’.

According to him, ‘’we as religious leaders have neglected our responsibility. We have developed a non-challant attitude towards truth and righteousness. ‘’The message from our

By Sunday Oguntola

pulpits is 98% egocentric.

People go to church to seek personal help and not to serve God’’.

He went on, ‘’Religion has become commercialised and there are some many things to purchase at our gatherings today.

‘’Month after month, we pray for first, middle and last born. We ask parents to redeem their children so that miracles can happen’’.

These ills in the church, Olaleye pointed out, are responsible for Nigeria’s backwardness.

Olaleye said to reform Nigeria, the church must first

be reformed.

He assured that the group will henceforth confront ministerial abuses and expose ills in the church with a view to correcting them.

If the church is fixed, Olaleye said it won’t be long before Nigeria becomes better.

Invest in charities - Iruobe

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HRISTIANS have been charged to invest in charity works and put smiles on faces of millions of less-privileged, orphans and widows in the country.

General Overseer of ElShaddai Covenant Ministries, Dr James Iruobe, gave the advice at the dedication service of Restoration Covenant Church, (Worldwide) in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.

Iruobe, who preached on ‘’Secrets of Job’s wealth’’, said giving to the poor is a key to attracting God’s favour.

He said wealthy Christians must always remember to give to the poor.

According to Iruobe, ‘‘It is important for individuals to give back to the society that made them. If God has lifted you up try and lift other people up too.”

He said if Christians

By Vincent Nzemeke

invest in charities, the security challenges in the nation will be minimal.

The cleric identified vow and fear of God as other two secrets of Job’s wealth.

Job, according to him, never oppressed his workers and paid their dues or sala-

ries as agreed.

The host, Pastor Enobong Hephzibah, expressed gratitude to God for the completion of the edifice.

Iruobe later dedicated the building with a prayer to God to make it a place of rest for people.

Cleric tasks Nigerians on 2012

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S the Year 2012 approaches, the superintendent of the Apostolic Faith, West and Central Africa, Reverend Emmanuel Adebayo Adeniran has tasked every Nigerian to let a new Nigeria begin with him or her.

According to him, a new Nigeria must start from our individual life through acknowledgement of Christ who purges lives of corruption and other social devices bedeviling the nation.

Adeniran who as well

called on all Nigerians to make it a duty to pray for the country regularly as the year 2012 approaches was also of the view that “All Nigerians seeking goodness and glory of God will find it in godly living….”

The cleric spoke during the week, while briefing the press on their 2011 Christmas Concert, holding today at the Apostolic Faith Tabernacle, Anthony village, Lagos, and other activities lined up for the rest of this year .

Worship

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What will I be celebrating this Christmas?

Focus on soul winning, Olaleye urges religious leaders W B

ISHOP Abraham Olaleye of the Abraham Evangelistic Ministry has called on religious leaders and the Christendom to de-emphasise the preaching of material wealth and focus more on winning souls for God. Olaleye who was the guest speaker last Sunday at the second annual convention of the Evergreen Christian Church of God, Obanikoro, Lagos noted that such doctrine was not helping the spiritual development of the country.

He said Nigeria was one of the most religious countries in the world yet corruption was on the front burner in daily lives. According to him, the preaching of prosperity in churches and other places of worship has made an average Nigerian to feel that life was all about living in affluence.

He said: “It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria a very religious country has not had this reflected on its citizenry, the country has taken many leads in the world corruption index. Our religious leaders have not even helped matter because each time they go to the politicians it is to seek patronage.”

Citing relevant verses of the Bible to his argument, the

• L-R Conference Health Secretary, Deaconess Ronke Oworu, Bishop of Ikorodu Diocese, Bishop Olumuyiwa Odejayi, Prelate of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde; Bishop of Evangelism, Methodist Church Nigeria, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, and the President, Malaria Society of Nigeria and the Medical adviser of the Methodist Church of Nigeria at the flag off ceremony of the National Medical Evangelism programme of the Methodist Church of Nigeria in collaboration with Malaria Society of Nigeria at Hoarse Memorial Church, Yaba, Lagos

By Musa Odoshimokhe

cleric noted it was the duty of religious leaders to denounce corruption and preach the message the way it should be done.

“This is no longer the norm as most churches only emphasise the sudden accumulation of wealth as a reflection

of God’s favour, a situation that has created conflict on moral values and the attendant consequence on the generation.”

Responding in similar manner, Shepard of the church, Pastor Philip Babalola urged the people to seek God’s face all the times and not only when they were in dire need or con-

fronted with problems.

He maintained that God is always sincere in His covenant with man and as long as the people serve him faithfully their needs will be made available and not the fire brigade approach they often applied in their quest to seek the face of God.

Cleric gives tips on giving

“I

F you want to be rich, then give, if you want to be poor, continue to receive, if you want riches in abundance scatter all that you’ve got,” this was the challenge a Methodist cleric, Very Revd A.K. Olu Ogunrinde, threw to Christian faithful and anyone that desired God’s blessings, in his message at a harvest service penultimate Sunday.

Ogunrinde, who represented the guest preacher, the Bishop of Diocese of Nyanya, Abuja, The Rt. Revd. Samuel Nortey, spoke at the second diocesan harvest of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland, at the Hoares Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos.

Ogunrinde who spoke on the theme: harvest of hope said that “God was so touched by what he called the uncommon and unusual sacrifice of Noah, after the flood to enter into a covenant not to destroy the earth with water again.”

Quoting copiously from Gen 8: 22; and Galatian 6: 9, the cleric added: “Noah took many of the clean animals and offered them as sacrifice to God. The aroma of Noah’s sacrifice was so enchanting that it changed God’s heart and brought back the hope of harvest.”

The cleric therefore challenged Christian faithful to continue the pursuit of good works, and seek to improve on the lot of humanity in the hope of working for the promise of eternity.

He listed the laws of harvest to include reaping much more than we sow, through God’s benevolence; reaping

By Yinka Aderibigbe

the same in kind as we sow; reaping in proportion of what we sow, and urged members to sow in order to have returns in abundance.

In his words, The Bishop

of the Diocese, Rt Revd Oladapo Babalola, said this year’s harvest is meant to recommit our members to keep thanking God for his goodness in their lives. While all our local churches have held their different harvest ceremo-

nies, this is a combined harvest and the biggest. It is also meant to also remind them of the last harvest that though the society may be going astray, those that wait upon the Lord must rekindle their strength.

Feast of songs at Pampers

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S part of activities to celebrate the birth of Christ, Pampers Private School, Lagos, last Tuesday hosted parents, guests, staff and pupils of the school to an evening of praise and funfair at their annual Christmas carol programme.

At the event, the school pupils treated the audience to a memorable and fun filled evening with their presentations. The nursery pupils of the school in their drama presentation titled ‘Prophesy’ showcased the biblical account of the prophesy about the coming of the Messiah.

The lower grade pupils’ presented a drama titled ‘Confirmation’ where they showcased the biblical account of the sending of the Messiah to the world and His earthly ministry of healing, deliverance and liberation.

On their part, the school choir and the orchestra team thrilled the audience with melodious songs and instrumentations.

Parents and staff choir were also not left out of the fun as they also presented their Christmas carol to commemorate the annual event.

The School’s Director of Studies and Admin., Mrs. Phyl Ojudoh in her remarks said

By Michael Orodare

the essence of the event was to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to inculcate the spirit of giving and sharing into the pupils.

She also revealed that the annual event was the grand

finale of a week long programme which started with the presentation of gifts and materials to some selected charity homes in Lagos.

Ojudoh also reiterated the commitment of the school to breeding God-fearing pupils and ensuring academic excellence.

Prophet Tibetan: 2012 will be tough for Nigeria

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ROPHET Marcus Tibetan has predicted that the year 2012 will be a tough one for Nigeria. Tibetan who is the General Overseer of the Celestial Church of Christ, Elisha Parish Lagos was speaking at a press conference to announce the release of his new book titled Prediction 2012 which will be launched today.

According to the prophet, the new year will be full of calamities which will take many people by surprise. He said: “We are expecting a lot of things to happen in the new year. As the bible rightly says, there is time for everything under the sun, so it is time for those things that has been confirmed in the spirit to take place next year”.

While urging Nigerians to brace up for the challenges, the prophet specifically predicted that some prominent politicians will die before the end of the year.

“Our Politicians are rotten already. They are confused because they don’t know how to run this country. It has been revealed to me that the political landscape of this country will be troubled next year by the death of prominent politicians.

Speaking about the new book, Tibetan said it contains prophecies about every sector of Nigeria. Dignitaries expected at the launch include the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha and some leaders of the Celestial Church in Nigeria.

By Abi Colthrust HEN Christians first decided to take the pagan feast “Yule” and re-name it ‘Christmas’ they were making not only a corporate but a personal decision. They resolved that they were going to take the existing festivities and use them as an opportunity to publicly celebrate something far greater than food, drink and lights; namely, the birth of Jesus Christ – God in human form – into this earth. As a young Christian today at the build up to Christmas, I am faced with the same choice. What will I use this time of holiday and festivity to celebrate? As I thought about it, I realised that in choosing to celebrate the birth of Christ it would be worth pondering over why it is a cause for celebration. I listed all the reasons that came to me to celebrate Jesus’ arrival into this earth 2007 years ago. Here are my thoughts.

I can celebrate a real Saviour .

God is a spirit, and He could have kept it that way. But because He loves to have relationship with us and understands that we find it difficult to relate to Him in that form, he came to us in human, tangible, flesh and blood form. John 1v18 says about Jesus “no one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” And in Hebrews 1v3 we read that “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”. Praise God for reaching out and showing us the reality of who He is through Jesus!

I can celebrate an understanding Saviour When Jesus came to earth He experienced humanity in all its ugly fullness - rejection, betrayal, pain, hatred. He’s seen it all; which means we can be certain that He understands and cares about what we go through in our lives. See Hebrews 4:15.

I can celebrate a humble, servant-hearted Saviour Jesus is the ultimate Servant-King. Born into a dusty manger among animals because there was no room in the inn, he was hunted down to be killed from the moment he was born, and grew up with suspicion and malicious rumours about his ‘virgin’ birth. Of course this was no mistake. As Mark says, “The Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This year, let’s not miss the point and celebrate the cradle without looking to the cross.

I can celebrate a returning Saviour Because Jesus has come to earth once, we can be sure he will come again. As we celebrate Jesus’ first coming, we can look forward to the second coming, when this time he will return not as a servant but as a mighty judge. He will set the world to rights, and take all those who trust in him to be with him forever in eternal heaven. “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11 “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” Revelation 1:7.

What Christmas Means to Me

By Ian Conza

W

HEN I think of Christmas I think of Christ. When I think of Christ, I think of Him on the cross. When I think of Him on the cross, I think of the spear being thrust into his side and water and blood flowing out.

When I think of the blood of Christ I think of what it means to me and all mankind.I think of the victory over satan and his demons it gives me and all others in Christ Jesus. I think of the sacrifice God’s only Son made for all mankind.

I think of the life giving words he gave during his short life span. I think of the many miracles He through the Father performed. I think of the persecution He faced by men and how He walked right on through it.I think of how He gave everything and asked for nothing in return.

I think of His Father in Heaven sending His Son to earth. I think of the Father knowing what His Son must endure in His time on this earth. I think of the anguish and grief the Father must of gone through watching His Son on earth.

I think of the Love the Father and Son have for all mankind.

I think of that this plan was set in stone by them from the beginning of time. I think then of how they were thinking of me and How to bring me home to them even then and the price that would have to be paid. This is what Christmas means to me.

Nowhere does religion come into the frame. Nowhere does pretty flashing lights and trees fit into the picture (only tree involved is a wooden cross stained with the blood of Christ).

Nowhere does spending money that one cannot afford for gifts for others show in the picture of the crucifixion of Christ.

Nowhere do men in brightly coloured gowns and hats enter this picture either. The only uniforms I see are the men doing the crucifixion and they are soldiers under command.

I think of how He appeared to the many left behind to show them He had risen as He once did state before men. I think of how He is a living God, King, Captain of the Hosts, Provider and protector to all His children and brothers and sisters.

I think of the many of mankind who have since followed Christ and given their all. I think of their Love which covers all and How He continues to call to those that will hear. I think of the final victory that will happen on that fateful day for all to see.

At this point with the picture of Christmas is complete and I fall on my face in worship and give thanks and praise to the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit for all that they have done and continue to do for me and all those that walk with Him on this day called Christmas.

So I say again this is what the word and time period called Christmas means to me. Christmas by man’s hands has become filled with lust and greed and a way for the fallen one to bind many in debt and forever keep them in financial and spiritual poverty.

Return unto the Lord of all and He will teach you the true meaning of this word called Christmas.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011

Foreign

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UNDREDS of Egyptian soldiers swept into Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday, chasing protesters and beating them to the ground with sticks and tossing journalists’ TV cameras off of balconies in the second day of a violent crackdown on antimilitary protesters that has left nine dead and hundreds injured.

TV footage, pictures and eyewitnesses accounts showed a new level of force being used by the military against pro-democracy activists the past two days. Military police openly beat women protesters in the street. Witnesses said they beat and gave electric shocks to men and women dragged into detention, many of them held in •Continued from page 11

Cain was more than happy to play the role because he holds President Obama in great contempt. Had President Obama been refused the White House in 2008, Cain would not have entered the present Republican nomination contest. He was angered that another black man beat him at the game of being given a position by whites by disarming them of their fear of his blackness. Both men had risen by enabling whites to see their blackness as assets that would both assuage black frustration and white guilt. However, President Obama had risen much higher. Cain resented it.

Moreover, President Obama had broken the rules by playing StepinFetchit while not acknowledging doing so. Cain had been proud of the servile role while President Obama played it on the sly. For Cain, there could only be one Stepin-Fetchit on stage and he was it.

Thus, he entered the race. He did it not to win but to exert himself to the extent possible so that he could contribute to President Obama’s loss.

At first, Cain played his attack role even more artfully than he imagined.

However, he allowed the attention to get the better of him. Although the support he attracted was part lark, part protest, he began to entertain the idea of winning the Republican nomination. He had gone too far if not mad, the Republican machine decided. In short order, that machine “uncovered” instances of old sexual harassment allegations and one affair, all involving white women. The image of a black man assaulting defenseless white women is one of the most overworked but effective themes in the racist arsenal.

All of a sudden, StepinFetchit was unmasked as slave insurrectionist. While Cain was not cooked, his campaign was. Although his peccadilloes were similar to fellow candidate Newt Gingrich, the treatment meted to Cain was as different as night and day.

Gingrich has emerged as the Republican frontrunner.

Egypt’s military clashes with protesters, nine killed the nearby parliament building, witnesses said.

Mona Seif, an activist who was briefly detained during violence Friday, said she saw an officer repeatedly slapping a detained old woman in the face, telling her to apologize for joining the protests.

“It was a humiliating scene,” Seif told the private TV network Al-Tahrir. “I have never seen this in my life.

With Egypt in the midst of multistage parliamentary elections, the violence threatens to spark a new

cycle of fighting after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead. The clashes in November involved the widely disliked police force. But in a key difference, this time the police have stayed away and the crackdown is being led entirely by the military. That could indicate a new confidence among the military that it has backing of the broader public — after elections held under its watch that saw heavy turnout,

were largely peaceful and the fairest and freest in living memory.

But the heavy-handed crackdown is likely to rally its opponents — and some in the broader public.

Among those killed Friday was an eminent 52-year-old Muslim cleric from AlAzhar, Egypt’s most respected religious institution. At the funeral Saturday of Sheik Emad Effat, who was shot in the chest, hundreds chanted “Retribution, retribution,” and began to march from the cemetery to Tahrir.

A tale of two (black?) men Cain was pressured to leave the race. We have not seen or heard from him since.

President Obama’s collision with reality has been more subtle and its implications much graver than with Cain. For all he has done for it, Money Power has no affection for this black man. He authorized the great bank bailout of 2009 that saved the financial sector from its own misdeeds and returned its largest members to profitability. Yet, the bankers have proven to be a rather racist, incestuous bunch that even the obsequious Obama charm could not penetrate. If current trends continue, campaign donations President Obama attracts from Wall Street will be a fraction of what he received in 2008.

Next year, Money Power is set to give more to the Republican candidate if that candidate is fellow Wall Streeter Mitt Romney. For all of his fine service to them, big money is primed to smack a large white foot against his black derriere. Even the phlegmatic Obama must feel the sting of betrayal in this.

Thus, last week, President Obama visited a small town in Kansas where President Teddy Roosevelt delivered in 1910 one of the most progressive speeches ever made by a national political figure in America. Seeking to kindle the aura of Roosevelt, Obama mounted the rostrum to deliver an address where he claimed to be the champion of the middle and working classes against the overreaching of the wealthy and powerful. The speech sounded nice but did not ring true against the reality of the first three years of his term where he lavished the financial sector but did the bare minimum to lift average citizens from their economic doldrums.

President Obama’s repeat metanoia to progressive rhetoric is electoral politics mingle with a tinge of anger.

It has little to do with principle. He has been jilted by the partner so assiduously courted. After all the floor sweeping and windowwashing done to please Wall Street, it promised itself to another without a second thought. While elegant and

eloquent, this black man remains an outsider, even in the White House.

He thought he had pierced the veil but, in reality, the wool had been pulled over his eyes.

This had been with an eager complicity on his part, naïve in one aspect and cynical in another. He did the bidding of the financial houses thinking he would be accepted as one of the gang. He did all they asked but they turned their backs on him to give their support to their blueblood brother, Mitt Romney.

President Obama spent three years turning his back on the poor, the middle class, and minorities only to have those whose favor he curried turn against him. The irony is brutal. Now that his bosses have turned on him, he has rediscovered the humble masses previously discarded.

He has two large tasks ahead of him.

First, by this tactical turn to the left, he is trying to frighten big money. Either support me and I deflect away from you the people’s desire for reform or I channel the people’s desire directly at you is the message he sends to Wall Street. However, this message will not have the desired effect. It is akin to the butler telling his master to give him a raise or else he will buy the mansion from under his boss. By challenging Wall Street, Obama now says he is tired of servitude and wants to be treated with the respect given an equal. Like Cain, his ambition has caused him to forget his place, to forget the muddy deal he entered with big money that got him into the White House. For the financial houses, this effrontery will not do. They will side even more heavily to make sure Mitt Romney gains the Republican nomination then the White House. On this point, the President’s best hope for rapprochement with the financial sector now hinges on the erratic Newt Gingrich winning the Republican nomination. Here the banks may be more frightened of a crazy white president than a previously servile black one who has become slightly uppity.

Second, he now must persuade the forlorn middle and

work class constituencies that the past three years were prelude and now he is prepared to deliver the goods. He has a lot of convincing to do and not much time to do it.

Yet, he likely will not accomplish this. While proclaiming reformist goals as he did in 2008, his policies remain tepid and angled toward the rich. He still insists on cutting Social Security and the federal budget during this period of economic weakness. Had he this wish, the economy would lose thousands of jobs, the elderly poor would be more heavily burdened and the economy closer to recession. After three years of his artful misdirection, the people are keen to his knack for promising one thing in order to create the political space that will allow him to do the opposite. Given the large body of evidence of this tactic, it is unlikely he will be able to fool as many people in 2012 as he did in 2008. If he does not place his policy actions where his words are, the people will show him their backs on Election Day next year.

In the end, President Obama and Herman Cain are the results of a political system too lubricated by money and molded by prejudice. This system relentlessly farrows an endless stream of inadequate, narrow-minded figures whose vision of the national interests is limited to the elite class to which they belong or think they belong.

Nowhere is this reality more pitiable than with these two black men who have abandoned their natural constituencies in search of fool’s gold. They have done their utmost to tend the interests of the moneyed elite only to have that elite ride past them without a wave or the hint of a smile. In their heart of hearts, both men must now wonder if the sacrifices they made have been worth it. We know the answer. It is written on the face of the poor people they refused to champion and protect.

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http://www.thenationonlineng.net

QUOTABLE "Let us put it in this other way that corruption is probably the biggest industry today, and with the level of the population growth today, we need as many bodies as possible to tackle corruption.”

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 6, NO. 1977

— The Acting Chairman of the ICPC, Mr Ekpo Nta, speaking with reporters after his maiden meeting with the Commission’s staff last Friday.

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DAY after some newspapers interpreted President Goodluck Jonathan’s unusual and even ghostly silence on fuel subsidy in his 2012 budget speech to mean he had ended it, the Finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sallied forth with news that subsidy remained inviolate. The president was still continuing his consultations with special groups and interests in the country, she said. According to the minister, subsidy was still intact, and though it would be removed sometime early next year, that wouldn’t happen until a few months into 2012. The minister almost fooled us.

As the president himself said a day after his Finance minister tried to deflect public anger over subsidy removal, the pains of the measure would be temporary. His mind and that of his economic team are apparently made up. This was why subsidy was not given any allocation in the 2012 budget.

The president was silent on subsidy because he and his cabinet judged the timing of its announcement wrong. He wasn’t silent because he was still consulting, though he keeps up a show of doing that. He was silent because, being made of cautious stuff, the president felt the opposition was still too strident to be taken for granted.

The budget is expected to be passed not later than March next year. Both the executive and the legislature think that by that time the job of assessing the president’s budget proposals would have been completed. By a show of legislative legerdemain, they have already technically agreed that the 2011 budget could continue to be used for a few more months until the 2012 budget is ready. So, the president was not under any urgent obligation to announce the removal of subsidy. However, it is easy to know that subsidy has been removed because, for all their denials, neither the more reticent president nor his eager Finance minister has answered why there is nothing for subsidy in the budget for lawmakers to consider. Do the president and his team hope to present a supplementary budget in April to cater for subsidy removal and do revised revenue estimates after they might have convinced the country of the need to remove subsidy?

Uncertainty over subsidy removal

• Jonathan

•Okonjo-Iweala

It is simple logic that by not making any provision for subsidy the government has ended it. It only remains for the measure to be implemented at a later day, possibly April, as a newspaper speculated last Friday. No one should be deceived that Jonathan is still consulting or that he has not made up his mind. He has fully made up his mind, and has followed it up by clearly removing subsidy from the budget before the National Assembly. He has only deferred the implementation. It is of course a relief that the implementation of subsidy removal would not be starting from January, but this relief was achieved on the strength of popular opposition to the measure. That opposition must now be intensified as Jonathan intensifies his consultations.

We must understand that opposition to subsidy exists not simply because we are reluctant to make sacrifices for the revival of our ailing economy or that we enjoy oppos-

ing Jonathan because of who he is, his lack of real democratic credentials, or what his party stands for. The truth is that for all his consultations the president has still not convinced us that there is really subsidy. Let him present statistics instead of grammar.

Even the European Union (EU) has asked Jonathan to persuade his countrymen with statistics and facts rather than attempt to force the measure down the people’s throats.

It is estimated that over 90 percent of refineries in the world are public sector-owned.

However, if it can be proved that our government, by its refusal to build refineries, knows economics more than the rest of the world, then we must end our opposition.

Second, as I said in this place last week, it is important for the government to co-operate with the Senate probe in getting to the bottom of the oil importation bazaar. We must be made to understand arithmetically why and how a provision of less than N300 bil-

Yar’Adua: Altruistic or Machiavellian?

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HE late Umaru Yar’Adua was a man and president of many parts. To some he was a decent, altruistic leader and even statesman; and to others, he was the complicated exponent of realpolitik with the perpetual woebegone look. Your impression of him was likely to be coloured by your interaction with him when he was alive, and how perceptive you were of his politics and motives. The recently published book by former presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, gave a few persons among those who attended its public presentation the opportunity to tell the world how they perceived the immediate past president whose poor health probably deprived us a comprehensive and accurate appreciation of his personality.

One of those who courageously and frankly gave us an appreciation of the former president was Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State. He described Yar’Adua as “one of the finest leaders we have ever had as president,” and “one of the few statesmen that have presided over Nigeria.” Still exulting over the late president’s attributes, and showing that he was not sentimental about not speaking ill of the dead, Oshiomhole proceeded to praise him for not being obsessively partisan in politics. “I was not in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” said the Edo governor, “but he called me and said, ‘your own candidature is not a party matter.’ He gave me generous support for my campaign, and when I lost, he offset the cost.”

It is a different matter entirely whether it was wise of any politician to disclose how

he was offered this sort of ‘trans-party’ help, and received it, or what impression it gave of one who received such help, and what possible strictures it imposed on him if their parties had clashed across issues and ideological lines. Oshiomhole’s disclosure, which weight he tried to mitigate by jocularly and posthumously assessing the late president’s membership of the PDP, raises the issue of the president’s motive in politicking across party lines and even working against the interest of his own party, not to say subverting his own leadership of the PDP. Oshiomhole thinks such unearthly and idealistic candour qualified Yar’Adua to be a fine and statesmanlike leader. But were statesmanship to be formed by such unpretentious betrayals, simply because one gained by it, the world, and indeed every relationship, would be the poorer.

However, the late president probably had the brilliant motive of securing friends across party lines, friends who could be useful when parties clashed, when he would need supporters across party lines, when he would need to weaken the resolve of the opposition. For a president who preached party unity when he was alive, and was prepared to punish party dissent if it became unavoidable, it must be extraordinary indeed that he ignored his own counsels and principles to finance and promote the failure of his party’s candidate. Of course, it is possible that Oshiomhole is so principled that he would be ready to fight Yar’Adua if the need arose.

But that would raise the spectre of Oshiomhole’s principles clashing with Oshiomhole’s conscience, the conscience of

a man unwilling to bite the fingers that fed him.

I do not know whether Adeniyi’s book answers the question of whether Yar’Adua was altruistic or Machiavellian. But even if it attempts to, it is unlikely to answer it anymore convincingly than Oshiomhole has failed to do. In fact we need to remind ourselves how the canonised late president, considered by many to be an exemplary politician and democrat, offered himself to be used by the manipulative Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, supinely acquiesced to being imposed on the party as standard-bearer, and mortifyingly accepted victory in the 2007 presidential election. More, we also need to remember how this “statesman” and “patriot” held on stubbornly to the reins of power even when he knew he was no longer able to govern, and when it was obvious that his wrongly applied tenacity was ruining the republic.

I suspect that Yar’Adua would have preferred to go to his grave with the secret of helping someone who fought against his party. But now that Oshiomhole has done us the service of revealing some of Yar’Adua’s dark secrets, it opens a new line of inquiry into the politics and personality of the late president. I do not know what enthusiasm overcame the Edo governor to make that disclosure about his late friend and mentor, but surely he cannot claim to be unaware of the image crisis engendered by the notion of help when it is given and received across bitter party lines.

lion for fuel subsidy in 2006 grew to over N1.3 trillion this year. In addition, as the Senate has heard, we must also understand why a little over 20 companies involved in fuel importation suddenly grew to over 160 in a few years, with some of them having no business with the oil industry. The fuel importation bazaar and the subsidy balloon must be explained to us patiently in order for Jonathan to stand a chance of persuading the people who voted for him to drop their opposition.

Given the facts the president and his economic team have brought before the public so far, they do not stand a cat chance in hell of convincing the majority of us that the socalled subsidy should be removed. They have not even shown us that they fully appreciate the cost of subsidy removal, let alone design appropriate measures to tackle the pains. The president said a few days ago that the pains of subsidy removal would be temporary.

What are those pains, and how can he be so sure they would be short-lived? He has talked of palliatives, but they are palliatives to be put in place only after the subsidy is removed.

What sort of socio-economic engineering is that?

We must not be fooled. Jonathan was silent on subsidy because he has removed it and only deferred its implementation. He has made no provision for it in the 2012 budget because he expects its implementation to be a matter of time. We must make sure that his government, which was elected on the assumption that he has a more-than-average grasp of social and economic issues, must live up to the responsibility of engineering a revolutionary makeover of the country. If he does not have the competence we thought he possessed to do the job, he should be honourable enough to throw in the towel. No one told him governing a complex country of about 160 million people was going to be easy or without the sort of opposition that grieves his delicate spirit and put him in dismay and despair.

Wonders in Asaba

L

AST Thursday, the Daily Sun newspaper reported that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State was held hostage by some protesting youths after he presented the 2012 budget at the state House of Assembly in Asaba, the state capital. The youths were said to be angry that they were used in the last elections but not compensated. They demanded that the governor promise to address the problem by considering some of them for political appointments rather than only female politicians they claimed he was giving plum jobs. Instead of forcing his way out of the cordon, the governor was reported to have placated the angry protesters with monetary gifts and promised to enter into dialogue with them.

The governor was not doing anything new. Nigerian leaders are adept at throwing money at every problem. They threw it at kidnappers, militants and, in the days when Obasanjo sought for third term or extended tenure, at politicians. Even the Goodluck Jonathan government briefly considered buying peace off Boko Haram. If money could buy peace and get the job done, why not? The propriety or otherwise of a governor paying ransom to hostage takers is lost in the fog that envelopes politics in these parts.

As in other things peculiarly Nigerian, we are likely to hear a fanciful definition of what constitutes or does not constitute hostage taking. It would, however, have been much better and inspiring if the governor had braved the protests and either talked himself out of the quandary the youths placed him or browbeat them one way or the other to end the protest. There is indeed sublime symbolism in whatever government, as the repository of our power, values and humanity, does. When they surrender, as they are used to, they do not surrender alone; they take us with them, a dispiriting alloy fated to be led to tragedy. And when they stand as a rampart against anarchy and trouble, we are one body with them.

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