The Nation December 03, 2012

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

News Traditional ruler leads protest over Auchi bombings P12 Sports Onyali, others in talent hunt as athletics events begin P24 Business CBN to release N220b for small, medium enterprises P26 www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL. 7, NO. 2329 MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

F

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

Four in race for FIRS chairman

OUR professionals are in the race for the vacant office of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), sources said at the weekend.

The office became vacant in April after the completion of the twoterm tenure of the former

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

Executive Chairman of the agency, Ifueko OmoiguiOkauru.

Alhaji Kabir Mashi was appointed as acting chairman of the agency. But, shortly after OmoiguiOkauru left office, the jostling for the office by exter-

nal and internal candidates began.

FIRS workers are believed to be in favour of the appointment of one of the coordinating directors and directors, including the acting chairman, Mashi.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Coordinating Minister for

the Economy, who is also the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has hired Phillips Consulting to screen more than 12 applicants for the top job.

Those short-listed are Mashi; non-executive director and board member Dr. Mark Abani; and two direcContinued on page 4

Generals likely to face trial for Jaji bombings CDS to officers: sit up or get out Nigeria is safe, says Presidency Gunmen attack churches, police From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

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HERE seems to be more trouble for the two military chiefs removed in the aftermath of the Jaji bombings.

The Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Kaduna, Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Abdullahi Kure and the Corps Commander, Infantry Corps Centre, Major General Mohammed Danhanne Isa, may be courtmartialed, sources told The Nation in Abuja yesterday.

A Defence source, who pleaded not to be named, said the two commanders are to face trial for negligence of duty over the November 25 suicide bombing of St. Andrew’s Protestant Church inside the Jaji military base, near Kadu-

•T AKE HEAR T: Former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (second right) speaking when he received a delegation led by Action •TAKE HEART Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (second left) who paid him a condolence visit over the death of his daughter Zuliaha in Kaduna...yesterday. With them are: Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (right) and Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi

•SEE P AGE 5 PA

Governors, Tinubu visit Buhari over daughter’s death •CITYBEATS P10•SPORT P23 •CEO P32 •MOTORING P45 •POLITICS P43 Continued on page 4

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

2

NEWS

Contracts In the last three months, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its Wednesday meetings, has approved several contracts aimed at making life better for Nigerians. But not a few are worried about the completion of the projects, writes VINCENT IKUOMOLA

T •Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, Sir Samson and Lady Comfort Onyeso-Nwachuku during their 50th wedding anniversary thanksgiving service at the St. Micheals Cathedral Church, Aba, Abia State ... at the weekend.

•Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole (middle), the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar 111 and the Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji J.B Momoh during the Sultan's visit to the governor in Benin City...yesterday.

HREE days ago, President Goodluck Jonathan was billed to flag off the Federal Government’s distribution of free text books to pupils for the 2012/2013 session. But the event was put on hold.

Reason: publishers, such as Evans Brothers, Universal Press Plc, Spectrum, Lantern, Macmillan, Learn Africa and Africana First Publisher Plc, which got the N6,98billion contract to supply the books, could not meet the six weeks’ deadline specified in their contractual agreements.

It was a livid Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike who announced the government’s decision to sanction the publishers at a meeting with them in Abuja.

The minister said the sanction would also serve as a lesson to others.

Wike said letters had been written to revoke their contract “with a minimum clause”.

He said: “So, if they cannot deliver the books, then we are handicapped.

But let it be known that it is not on the part of government that these promises are not fulfilled.

“The Federal Executive Council emphasised in its meeting that if we cannot deliver these books to Nigerians at the appropriate time, then there is no need in awarding the contracts.

“They all signed that they were going to deliver the books within six weeks; it is more than eight weeks and the books have not be delivered. Why should the government suffer for the inability of these contractors? If we have made promises to Nigerians, then it is within our responsibility to make sure that they can see it.”

He said the action of the publishers has impacted negatively on the programme of the Federal Government to flag off the books distribution on November 30, adding that future erring publishers would be blacklisted.

This contract, whose benefits to Nigerians have been delayed, is one of the several the Presidency has approved in the last three months. The contracts cut across various sectors, from roads to schools.

Last month alone, over N400 billion contracts were approved. At the

last FEC meeting, which also represented the last for the year, in accordance with the dateline set by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal Executive Council approved N28billion contracts.

The contracts cover rail lines, including the Lagos-Kano track, which is to open for use before Christmas. A new National Identity Card scheme is to take off with N6.3 billion. About N4.3billion was approved for two sets of five-car Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs), each with a capacity for 540 passengers and an additional six 60-seater passenger coaches for intra city mass transit services. The contract has a completion period of 13 months.

The contract for consultancy services for the residence of the supervisor of the construction of inland river port at Jamata- Lokoja was also approved . The contract is N121,114,875 million, with a completion period of seven weeks.

Besides, an N189.7million contract was approved for the supply of radiation and explosive detection devices to be used by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).The contract has a completion period of four months.

For health sector, N297.87 million was approved for the supply of anti-Tuberculosis drugs. The drugs, according to Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, are capable of treating 500 multi-drug resistant cases. No less than N400,000 is needed to treat one patient.

Also approved for the ministry is the purchase of vaccines worth $2.10 million (N333m) for routine immunisation, which has since 2006 been supplied through UNICEF, for safety reasons.

Also, the Council approved N4.9billion for the construction of a new Presidential Banquet Hall in Abuja and rehabilitation of selected roads in Garki and Wuse 1 Districts.

The banquet hall will cost N2.2 billion.

Resurfacing of some roads and remedial work on bridges in Garki and Wuse 1 Districts will cost N2.78 billion.

On November 21, road contracts worth N176billion were approved. A breakdown of the contracts shows that the dualisation of Lokoja-Okene-AuchiBenin road will cost N45.8 billion and Gashua-Bayamari across Borno and Yobe states N6.58 billion. Also, the augmentation of the contract for the

Reps to investigate Capital Oil’s petition against Aig-Imoukhuede committee

By Wale Ajetunmobi •Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu( middle) and winners of The Elumelu Legacy Prize for Top-Performing Graduating Students. From left Atiku Jibrilla Usman, Medicine; Muhammad Sani, B.Sc Economics; Salihu Umar, Masters in Business Administration, and Shadi Sabeh, M.Sc. Economics, during their Convocation at Othman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto and the institution of Elumelu Legacy Prize by The Tony Elumelu Foundation in the University...at the weekend.

•From Left: Area Sales Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc Odion Peter, Innovation Manager Sola Oke, Divisional Sales Manager, Faith Abad and Divisional Activation Manager Dennis Ebaye at the launch SNAPP in Benin...at the weekend.

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HE House of Representatives will wade into the dispute between Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited and the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy.

The House’s intervention is based on a petition by Capital Oil and Gas Limited.

The lawmakers are expected to discuss the petition on Thursday.

Explaining why Capital Oil and Gas decided to take the matter to the House, the company’s spokesman Nick Hayes, in a statement yesterday, said: “It is for the company and its CEO to show Nigerians that they have nothing to hide as well as to clear some representations in the media.”

He said the petition would afford Nigerians the opportunity to see how some highly-placed people using fronts were determined to create artificial fuel scarcity in the country.

Hayes said: “The company is confident that the House will, given its integrity and sense of purpose, handle the matter in a way that hidden truths would be revealed.”

In the petition, which was sent to Speaker Aminu Tambuwal about two weeks ago, the company’s CEO, Chief Ifeanyi Uba, urged the House to “intervene, mediate and redress the various injustices being meted out to it.

Some of these are serious breach of fundamental human rights, gross misrepresentation, suppression and concealment of material facts, threat to life of its CEO, Chief Ifeanyi Uba, as well as infringement and gross violations of banking rules and regulations by Access Bank”.

Also, the petitioner wants the House to look at the report of the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy, which allegedly recommended Capital Oil and Gas for further investigation without due process, the refusal of the Finance Ministry to remit its subsidy payment of over N20 billion and alleged breach of Section 18 and 20 (2) of Banking and Finance Industry Act (BOFIA) 2004

by Access Bank and Mr. Cosmas Maduka.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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NEWS

bazaar...any hope for the people? ‘

They all signed that they are going to deliver the books within six weeks, it is more than eight weeks and the books have not be delivered. Why should the government suffer for the inability of these contractors?

‘ Some of the contracts at a glance

•Aviation Minister Stella Oduah (left), Wike(second left), Chukwu and Labour and Productivity Minister Emeka Wogu PHOTO: AKINOLA OLADOKUN (right) at last Wednesday’s FEC meeting.

dualisation of Kano-Maiduguri road, which was awarded in 2006 but not executed because of inadequate funds, was approved, thus raising the figure from N172 billion to N285 billion.

Other projects awarded on November 20 include Suleja-Abuja (N1.1 b); Mararaban-Yorro Road, Taraba State (N1.18 billion); Falali Bridge in Sumaila, Kano State (N1.16 billion) and a flyover at Kundila roundabout in Kano will cost N2.5 billion.

The Utor Bridge, with approaches along Asaba -Ebun-Ahia-Uromi in Delta and Edo states, was re-awarded after 42 per cent completion at N4.4 billion, from its original contract sum of N2.9 billion.

Also, augmentation was made in respect of the rehabilitation of the 23km Calabar-Ugep-Ogoja-Katsina Ala road, raising the final contract sum from N5.2billion to N9.13 billion.

Another major approval at the meeting a fortnight ago was that of the purchase of two-patient capacity aircraft at $23.17 million and local content sum of N909 million. Additional excavators and payloader/tractor head are to be purchased for N554 million and N52 million respectively.

Also, N184.78 million was voted for National Emergency Management Agency’s existing CISCO VIOP infrastructure. The supply and installation of digital Motorola two-way radios, repeaters and base stations at its headquarters and its zonal offices will cost N271,694 million.

FEC also approved the contract for the terminal building, control tower and power house for the proposed Yenagoa Airport at N13 billion.

The November 20 meeting did not end without the FEC voting N5.1billion for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of sections of the United Nations building destroyed by suicide bomb attacks in 2011.

At its November 14 meeting, N275.82 billion was voted for various contracts.

The projects spread across key sectors of the economy, including roads, power supply, education, health, water resources and tourism.

The contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the 700 megawatts Zungeru Hydroelectric power project had the largest chunk , N162.990 billion. The sum is inclusive of all taxes and project consultancy and supervision.

Twenty-eight contracts were also approved for the Niger Delta at N98.589 billion. The projects, which were initiated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), cut across roads construction, bridges, land reclamation, erosion, electricity supply and market.

Also, about N2 billion was approved for the purchase of 80 Image Mass Readers Scanners for the marking of examinations conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO). Each of the scanners is at the cost of N24.9million.

The projects approved for the Ministry of Works include the construction of Wudil-Utai-Achika-Darki-Jigawa Road in Kano/Jigawa states for N4.39 billion with

•N6,98b for the supply of books to pupils •Rail lines, including the Lagos-Kano track •N6.3b National Identity Card scheme • N4.3b for two sets of five-car DMUs •N121,114,875m for the residence of the supervisor of the construction of the Jamata-Lokoja inland river port •N189.7m for explosive detection devices for NPA •N297.87m for the supply of anti-Tuberculosis drugs •Purchase of vaccines worth $2.10m (N333m) •N2.2b for new Presidential Banquet Hall in Abuja •N2.78b for roads and bridges in Garki and Wuse 1 •N45.8b to dualise Lokoja-Okene-Auchi-Benin Road •N6.58b for Gashua-Bayamari Road •Review of the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road •N1.1b for the Suleja-Abuja Road •N1.18b for the Mararaban-Yorro Road, Taraba State •N1.6b for the Falali Bridge in Sumaila, Kano State •N2.5b for a flyover at Kundila Roundabout in Kano •Review of the Utor Bridge from N2.9b to N4.4b •Augmentation of the 23km Calabar-Ugep-Ogoja-Katsina Ala Road from N5.2b to N9.13b •Purchase of two-patient capacity aircraft at $23.17m •Excavators and payloader/tractor head for N554m and N52m •N184.78m for NEMA’s CISCO VIOP infrastructure •N271,694m for two-way radios, repeaters and base stations •N13b for the terminal building, others for Yenagoa Airport •N5.1b for sections of the UN House, Abuja a completion period of 24 months; the construction of section II of the Phase I of Kontagora-Rijau-Tunga Magaji Road (Gulbiri Boka - Shambo village, km 49+500 - k74+000) in Niger State at the cost of N3.6 billion with a completion period of 48 months; the Nnenwe-Uduma-Uburu Road in Enugu/Ebonyi State comprising of Section I: Nnenwe-Uduma-Uburu road (26.274km) and Section II: Spur to Ishiagu-Mile 2 road (14km) in the sum of N11.6 billion with a completion period of 30 months; the completion of Auchi Poly-Ekperi-Uzea-one (with Spur to Fugar) - Afuda Road in Usugbenun road, Waterworks-IvueIbore-Irrua Road section II; and the construction of Pedestrain bridge at Auchi Poly Main Gate in Edo at N8.9 billion.

Council also approved the augmentation of the rehabilitation of Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road Section III: Sokoto-Talata Mafara, in Sokoto State for N3.12 billion to N3.431 billion.

Also on November 20, approval granted was the release of $3 million each year from 2012 to 2014 to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as counterpart funding for the procurement of contraceptive for the Ministry of Health.

The contract for the Shagari Irrigation Project in Sokoto State was also reviewed upward from N847.14 million to N1.17 billion, an augmentation of N317.922 million. The project, which was awarded in 2007 has reached 80 per cent completion, said the Ministry of Water Resources. The ministry said the original contract sum was exhausted as a result of in-

•N162.990b for the Zungeru Hydroelectric power project •N98.589billion for NDDC projects •N2b for 80 Image Mass Readers Scanners for NECO •N4.39b for Wudil-Utai-Achika-Darki-Jigawa Road •N3.6b for Section II of Kontagora-Rijau-Tunga Magaji Road •N11.6b for the Nnenwe-Uduma-Uburu Road •N8.9b for Auchi Poly-Ekperi-Uzea-one and Pedestrain bridge •Augmentation of Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road to N3.431b •$3m annually for UNFPA as counterpart funding •Review of Shagari Irrigation Project to N317.922m •N2.3b for expansion on service lane of the Niger Bridge •N444m for Ibadan-Oyo section of Ilorin-Ibadan Express way •N3.3b for ECOWAS parliament building •N3.555b for Sagbemi, Kiribo, Gada, Egbekigbo •N8.7b for the construction of CCB headquarters •N3.028b for a 220 bed-General Hospital at Gwarimpa •N671m for East-West road consultancy work •N1.5b for the completion of Zik’s Mausoleum •N1.334b for work on new standard gauge railway lines •N6.8b for Kira-Dere-Mogho Road, shore protection •N13.3b for the third phase of Abuja’s development plan •N3.6b for the Defence Health Maintenance Organisation •N65.223b for a section of the Benin-Sagamu Road •N161,406,388.00m for search and rescue operation items •N10.901 billion for the construction of Southern Parkway •N2.835b for Phase II of Apo Estate layout infrastructure •N1.501b for the Sagbama erosion control rehabilitation

crease in the prices of construction materials and variation in scope of work.

The ministry noted that at completion, it is expected to irrigate over 220 hectares of land.

On November 7, N12 billion loan ($77million) was approved for water projects in Lagos and Cross River states. The loan, which is concessionary, is from a French agency. The breakdown shows that $43.9 million (N6.8bn) goes to Cross River State and $33.8 million (about N5.2bn) is for Lagos State.

Council also approved N2.3 billion for expansion work on the service lane of the Niger Bridge at Onitsha. N444 million was voted for the completion of the Ibadan-Oyo section of the IlorinIbadan Express way.

Another approval granted was that of the rehabilitation of the ECOWAS parliament building at the cost of N3.3billion. Council also approved contract to construct the Sagbemi, Kiribo, Gada, Egbekigbo in Ondo State at the cost of N3.555 billion with a completion period of 24 months. The work also involves the construction of a bridge at N2.39 billion.

Also, Council approved a contract for the extension of service lanes from Kilometer Zero on the Niger Bridge at Onitsha to Kilometre One along the route of the bridge at N2.393 billion.

On October 31, FEC approved N8.7billion for the construction of a 13-storey office headquarters for the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). The contract’s initial cost was N3.51 billion. The sum was revised to N8.7billion so as to accommodate car parks. The completion period of the

project is 36 months. FEC also approved N3.028 billion for a 220 bedGeneral Hospital at Gwarimpa, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

On October 24, the meeting approved N671m for East-West Road consultancy work. On October 3, FEC approved N1.5 billion for the completion of Zik’s Mausoleum. The project is in memory of the country’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The project, which is already ongoing, is sited in Onitsha, where his remains were interred.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ms Amal Pepple said: “It was given out for a sum of N1, 496,531,483 with a completion of 13 months.”

She said N530 million was included in this year’s budget. N1billion has been included in next year’s budget proposal.

On September 26, FEC announced the approval of N1.334 billion for work on new standard gauge railway lines. The contract has a completion period of seven months. The contract is for consultancy services for feasibility studies of five Fast Train Lines across the country.

The Fast Train Lines are for LagosOsogbo-Abuja (615km), which could be covered within three hours with five stops; Lagos- Shagamu- Benin (300km); Ajaokuta- Obajana-Abuja (533km); Zaria-Sokoto- Illela (520km) and Benin-Onitsha- Aba (500km).

The meeting also approved N1.04 billion for the construction of Manyam-Ushongo-Lessel-KartyoOju-Agila-Ongba, an inter-state road linking Benue State with its South Eastern state neighbours on the

Enugu-Abakaliki road.

The proposed road contract is awarded to Messrs Tilley Gyado & Co, with a completion period of 14 months on completion.

In the same vein, N6.8billion was approved for the Niger Delta, to offset the bill for three infrastructural projects in two states. The projects, which are expected to create about 100 jobs, are Kira-Dere-Mogho Road in Rivers State, land reclamation/Shore protection at Ogbeinana town in Delta and Umuada Layout Road in Asaba, with a completion period ranging between 19 to 104 weeks.

On September 12, the Federal Government approved contracts for the commencement of 44 infrastructural projects for Cross River, Akwa Ibom, River, Delta, Imo, Abia and Ondo states under the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) mandate.

The cost was not disclosed.

The FCT at that meeting also got approval for the second phase of the provision of infrastructure at a cost of N13.3billion for Mbora district, within the third phase of Abuja’s development plan. The contract was awarded to Messrs Sammya (Nigeria) Limited, the same company that executed the Phase I in the sum of N6.6billion, thereby bringing the total sum to N19.95 billion.

It also approved the inclusion of military retirees and their immediate families in the National Health Insurance Scheme’s (NHIS) benefit package, and thereby approved N3.6 billion per annum in the first year for the Defence Health Maintenance Organisation.

The September 5 FEC meeting approved N65.223billion for the BeninSagamu Road. The contract is for the reconstruction of outstanding sections of Benin-Ofosu-Ore-AjebandeleShagamu Expressway Phase 111. It was awarded to Messrs RCC Nigeria Limited, with a completion period of 36 months.

The Council also approved the purchase of N161,406,388.00 million for various search and rescue operation items for NEMA. The contract for Rapid Intervention Vehicles was awarded to Messrs DAN-CLINTON (Nig) Ltd, at the cost of N400,551,272.00; the one for fully equipped Emergency Rescue Vehicles was given to Messrs B.T.L Brothers Ltd, at the cost of N251,680,000.00; and the contract for NEMA’s 328 sets of Helmets, Harness, Lanyards & Absorbers, Descenders, Fall Arrestors, Ascenders, Allunimium & Steel Carabineers was awarded to Messrs DOM Communications Ltd, at the cost of N120,227,377.64.

Another N10.901 billion was approved for the construction of Southern Parkway, bringing the total contract sum to N16.235billion. The Southern Parkway runs from the Christian Centre S8/S9 to ring road 1 comprising 10 lanes, to complement the existing Northern Parkway.

Council also approved N2.835 billion for Phase II contract for the provision of infrastructure to Apo Estate layout, thereby bringing the total sum of Phase I and II to N5.755 billion. The contract is to be executed by Messrs Cat Construction Group (Nig.) Ltd. The council also ratified the president’s anticipatory approval for the Sagbama erosion control rehabilitation works in Bayelsa State in favour of Messrs Nigerian Westminister Dredging and Marine Limited at N1.501billion, with completion period of 12months.

These contracts, said analysts, will go a long way to improve the lot of Nigerians. But they fear that many of them, as has shown by the contracts on books distribution to pupils, may not be delivered as and when due by the contractors or the Federal Government may not fulfil its own part of the deal on time, thus delaying the completion of the projects.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEWS Fed Govt shortlists four for FIRS top job Continued from page 1

•Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Waziri Tambuwal being congratulated by theVice Chancellor of University of Sokoto Prof. R.A. Shehu after the conferment of Honourary Doctorate Degree on the speaker by the institution...at the weekend.

With them are: The Registrar Mallam M.K. Jabo (second left) and Secretary, National Universities Commission Prof. Julius Okojie

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CDS to officers: sit up or get out

WO options are open to the two military chiefs removed at the weekend following the bombings at the elite Cmmand and Staff College, Jaji.

The former Commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Air Marshal I.A. Kure and the Corps Commander, Infantry in Jaji, Maj-Gen. M. D.Isa may be retired or asked to voluntarily retire.

The two officers were removed from their respective positions following last Sunday’s bomb blast at St. Andrew’s Protestant Church at the Jaji Military Cantonment.

The two chiefs were removed for what a military source described as “embarrassing to the armed forces and the nation.”

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the preliminary investigation into Jaji bombings indicated some lapses which made the CDS to go tough.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim will no longer condone security laxity from service chiefs and commanders of all military formations, sources said.

It was learnt that the CDS told the security chiefs during an appraisal that all officers and men should sit up or get

Generals likely to face trial for Jaji bombings Continued from page 1

na.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, at the weekend ordered the immediate redeployment of Air Vice Marshal Kure and Gen. Isa. The redeployment of the top commanders was contained in statement by Director of Defence Information Vice Marshal Col. Mohammed Yerima.

A military source told our correspondent that the redeployment was a prelude to “other necessary action.”

He noted that though it was still premature to say exactly what the officers would be charged with, “a charge of negligence of duty has already been established”.

Preliminary findings, he said, showed “some level of complacency on the part of the commanders in security arrangement.”

He said the Board of enquiry instituted by the Defence Headquarters to unravel the circumstances that led to the twin bomb blasts had long swung into action.

Another military source told our correspondent that the recommendations of the Board of enquiry set up by the CDS should determine the steps to take.

He said: “Whatever recommendations by the Board of enquiry into the incident will be From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

out if they cannot live up to their service oath.

A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The CDS has read the Riot Act to all service chiefs and military

considered and necessary steps taken to avert future occurrence.”

He added that all options are open at this stage, pending the conclusion by the Board of enquiry.

Contacted to confirm the pending trial of the commanders, Director of Defence Information Col. Mohammed Yerima, said the military authorities have not considered the trial option.

The report, he said, could not be true.

The procedure for special military court (special powers) was introduced under the Military Act cap 225, 1990.

The Act provides that the Court is established for the enforcement of discipline in the armed forces.

The court may be convened by the commanding officer of a unit in the Armed Forces. The court when convened under the Act excludes the jurisdiction of other courts.

According to the Act, the court shall have all the powers of a general court-martial order than the power to impose a penalty of death or a sentence of imprisonment exceeding five years.

“Any sentence imposed or awarded by the court shall be subject to confirmation by the Service Chief concerned and in the case of a commissioned officer, such sentence shall be channeled through the Service Chief concerned to the Army Council, the Navy Board or the Air Force Council for confirmation.”

commanders.

“From preliminary report, the Defence Headquarters is of the opinion that the manner in which the terrorists invaded the Command and Staff College was inexplicable in a military formation.

“The DHQ and the government considered the security laxity as embarrassing to the Armed Forces and the nation in general. That was why the two officers were Continued on page 63

tors of the FIRS whose name were not immediately known yesterday.

It was gathered that a former woman deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who is a specialist in anti-money laundering policy, may also be considered.

The selection is, however, generating tension, following the allegation that there are plans by the Minister of Finance to bring in an “expert from outside” to be the chairman.

A source said: “The competition for the FIRS job is keen; Phillips Consulting has rated four of the applicants as suitable for the job. Another applicant is also said to be reputable and on standby.

“Two of those short-listed are highly favoured. They are the acting chairman, Alhaji Mashi and Abani, a first class graduate, who had worked for HM Revenue & Customs in the UK since 1990.

“Mashi(an internal candidate) is also going into the race with records of exceptional performance. Under his leadership, the FIRS has generated N3.401 trillion in the past eight months. The figure was N468.65 billion higher when compared with the total collection of N2.93 trillion for the same period last year, out of the N3.6 trillion provisional annual budget estimates for the year 2012.

“Of this amount, oil accounted for N2.202 trillion.

Non-oil taxes recorded N1.187 trillion of the cumulative figures from January to August.

“The Service has less than N233.57 billion to achieve the N3.63 trillion target set for it by the government. An average monthly collection of N302.95 billion was set for the FIRS in the current fiscal year.

“It is left to the Finance Minister to make his recommendation to President Goodluck Jonathan.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “The staff are clamouring for the appointment of one of them as

the next Executive Chairman of FIRS. They are advocating adoption of NNPC policy where successive GMD of the oil firms had come from within the corporation over the years. They also cited the example of the Nigeria Customs Service which does not outsource its ComptrollerGeneral of Customs.

“The grouse of the staff borders on the fact that it usually takes any outsider up to one or two years to understand the FIRS operation and consolidate. They hardly come with any new idea; it is the same staff that they are saying are not good to head the agency that always put them through. We want one of us as the FIRS chairman.

“If care is not taken, the appointment of a new chairman may result into an internal labour unrest if there is imposition of an outsider on FIRS staff.

“The FIRS has over 700 qualified chartered accountants in its employment. Are they saying that none of them is good to head the agency?

We have many co-ordinating directors and directors fit for this job.

“We are appealing to President Goodluck Jonathan to show more than a passing interest in the choice of a new executive chairman. This agency is not a typical government parastatal at all. The government cannot afford to politicise this appointment.”

•Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala

Nigeria’s safe, says Presidency as gunmen attack churches, police, others

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ESPITE the recent upsurge in the activities of gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram, the government yesterday assured Nigerians and the international community that the country is safe.

Government also said it had acquired sophisticated equipment to carry out proper intelligence gathering to nip activities of gunmen in the bud.

Yesterday, about 50 gunmen attacked a Borno state town which shares border with Cameroun. Three churches, a police station and an office of Nigerian Immigration Service were attacked. The churches were set on fire by men chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great).

Last week, gunmen attacked a church inside the top military training institution – the Command and Staff College, Jaji in Kaduna State – which also houses a military post and the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) facility in Abuja where inmates were freed.

Auchi, the major town in Edo

North, was under bombardment of gunmen who attacked a police station, banks and other places in hours of raid.

But, in a statement by Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, The Presidency said everything is under control.

The statement said: “In the last few days the nation has witnessed attacks in strategic places-The Military Church in Jaji and the SARS Headquarters in Abuja.

“It is in the character of insurgency worldwide to audaciously attack institutions that will promote maximum fears in the heart of the citizenry. It will be recalled that in its last days, the IRA bombed the hotel in which the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and core members of her Cabinet were holding a meeting.

“It is not surprising therefore that as a consequence of the recent activities of the insurgents; some dailies reported

that “nowhere Is safe in Nigeria.” In truth and in reality this statement is not correct.

“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan wishes to assure Nigerians that in spite of this situation, the country is still largely safe and secure.

“President Jonathan wishes to state categorically of his unwavering commitment and determination to fight insecurity wherever they are found in Nigeria.

“Government efforts and preparedness will be further enhanced to ensure the security of lives and property of all Nigerians, irrespective of their locations within the country.

“As for intelligence gathering, the Government has acquired and deployed highly sophisticated security equipment and members of the security agencies have received and continue to receive adequate training such that our intelligence gathering capacity has witnessed a monumental increase in capacity to gather

information.

“This is why over 70 per cent of the activities of the Boko Haram and other sinister plans are aborted before they occur.

But, unfortunately, these are not made known to members of the public.

“The President wishes to assure Nigerians that Government will not rest but will continue to work tirelessly with all the security agencies in the country to bring to a complete end as soon as possible, cases of insecurity, while those found guilty to have perpetrated criminality and acts of terrorism either by promoting it actively or passively engaged in it, are made to face the full wrath of the law.

“However, it is in times like this that we need the fire of patriotism naturally within us as Nigerians, as individual citizens, organisations including the media, to bring us together as a nation and rally round the Government in its efforts to root out the criminal elements with-

in our society.

“We should not allow fear and despair to overcome us rather we should draw strength from our well-known spirit of nationalism and forebearance to support the Government and the security agencies in their effort to curb the menace.

“The media particularly should join hands and key-in into the transformation agenda and ensure that sensational reports that could tarnish our image and bring the country into disrepute and create anxiety and panic are avoided as much as possible.

“This Government is committed to moving the country forward. The reform in the power, Agricultural sector and current infrastructural rehabilitation and development are taking shape and these will encourage the growth of local enterprise and increase in foreign direct investment in an unprecedented manner which will in turn provide more jobs, create wealth amongst the citizenry

and reduce tendencies towards criminality and other social malaise in our nation.”

According to residents of Gamboru Ngala – 140 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the gunmen set fire to churches and the border post office. But it could not be ascertained if there were casualties.

Around 50 gunmen in cars and on motorcycles carried out the attacks on three churches and opened fire on policemen while chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great).

Among the security posts Continued on page 63

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

5

NEWS

Reps summon Okonjo-Iweala, Sanusi over non-release of N4b audit allocation T HE House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Director-General of the Budget Office Mr. Bright Okogu over the nonrelease of the N4 billion allocated to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in the 2012 budget.

They are to appear before the Solomon Olamilekan Adeola-led House Committee today to explain the nonrelease of the amount, which has frustrated the audit of the Federal Government 2012 Budget spending.

Besides shedding light on the reason behind the small allocation to the AuditorGeneral’s Office, they are also to explain why no allocation was made in the 2013 budget for the audit of the Federation Account.

The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, who spoke before the committee at the weekend, said though his office proposed N5.2 billion to audit the 2012 Budget, only N892.5 million was released by the Ministry of Finance of the N4 billion eventually approved.

Ukura shocked committee members when he told them there was no allocation to his office in the 2013 Budget to audit the Federation Account.

He said as a result, the accounts of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) could not be audit-

‘Nothing is abnormal with Jombo-Ofo’s appointment’ From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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OLLOWING the refusal by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar to administer the oath on one of the 12 new judicial officers, Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo, a lawyer in Ibadan, Alhaji Olasunkanmi Sanusi (SAN), has said there is nothing wrong with her appointment into the office since she is a Nigerian.

He spoke yesterday when he dedicated his law chambers named “Iman Chambers”, at Odo-Ona, Ibadan.

Sanusi said it doesn’t matter where the judge comes from, adding that she should have been sworn in based on her qualification and citizenship.

He added that Americans see themselves as Americans before considering the states they hail from.

Sanusi noted: “We lay emphasis on the states we come from in Nigeria, saying because this one is a Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo, he should not be given a specific role he is qualified for. This is wrong.”

To avoid a recurrence, Alhaji Sanusi appealed to the CJN, chief judges, the Judicial Service Commission and National Judicial Council to review the policy that married women cannot reach the apogee of their careers in their husbands’ states of origin.

•Want Auditor-General’s Office on first line charge

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ed in 2012.

Said he: “With the meagre allocation to our office, we cannot even audit some ministries.”

Ukura noted that such a trend was threatening to render the Federal Audit Office redundant, adding that since he assumed office as the Auditor-General on October 16, 2010, it had been the practice of the Ministry of Finance to frustrate financial allocations to his office.

According to him, his office in 2012 “audited only 44 of the 97 foreign missions because of paucity of funds.”

Members of the committee agreed that for the Auditor-General’s Office to be independent and functional, it must be on the first line charge.

They decried the inability of the Auditor-General’s Office to examine the accounts of many MDAs due to the dearth of funds.

A member of the committee, Pally Iriase(ACN-Edo

State), said: “If you look at this budget (Auditor General’s), it shows how unserious we are about tackling corruption in this country.

“This budget ought to signpost our seriousness in tackling corruption headlong, but the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office in their own strange wisdom have decided that the best thing to do is frustrate the Office of the Auditor-General.”

Another member, Karimi Sunday (ACN-Kogi), noted: “There is a continuous at-

tempt to frustrate and render the Office of the AccountantGeneral redundant. They (Finance Ministry and Budget Office) don’t want the office to do their work, but there is need for this committee to do their work.”

Mr. Adeola believes that the Auditor-General’s Office was not given the opportunity to defend its budget before the executive.

He alleged that the Minister of Finance and the DG Budget “sit together to draw budget for the Auditor-General without giving him the opportunity to defend it.”

•Gen. Yakubu Gowon (right), Prince Bola Ajibola (left), Prof. Jubril Aminu (second left), Chief Remi Olowude and wife, Bunmi, at the investiture of Chief Olowude as the Chairman of the Nigeria Insurance Association of Nigeria, held at the Federal Palace PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos...yesterday.

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ACN, Tinubu, others commiserate with Buhari on daughter’s death

he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has commiserated with Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on the death of his daughter, Mrs. Zuliaha Ibrahim, saying the party’s leadership and members share the pain brought by her untimely death.

In a statement issued in Kaduna yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said although no words are strong enough to ease the pain brought by Zuliaha’s death, “Gen. Buhari should be assured that he is in our every thought and prayer at this difficult time.”

ACN said it has no doubt that his faith in God and strength “will see him through this difficult period.”

“Please, accept our condolences on your loss. As we grieve with you, we pray that God will comfort you and the family and strengthen you to bear this loss,” the party said.

It prayed: “May God grant eternal rest to the departed, and may His light shine upon her.”

Action Congress of Nigeria National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has also condoled with Gen. Buhari, former head of state, on the death at childbirth of his first daughter, Zuliaha.

“To you, Your Excellency, I say take heart,” Tinubu wrote in a condolence letter to Gen. Buhari, which he

signed. He said: “As good Muslims, we know Allah giveth and Allah taketh away.

All we owe Him at all times is thanks. I pray that Allah should give you the equanimity of the spirit to weather this storm.”

The former Lagos State governor, however, admitted that losing a grown-up daughter, and at childbirth, was painful and irreparable, adding that he received the news with great shock and sadness.

“I pray that Allah grant her soul sweet repose.”Condoling with the Muhammadu Buhari family of Katsina in Katsina

State, Tinubu prayed for Zuliaha’s widower and their three children, Amira, Mohammed and the two-day old baby girl.

“May the children grow up healthy, and may God guide the hands of the widower as he raises them without their loving mother,” he wrote.

Eminent national leaders under the aegis of the Project Nigeria – National Consensus Group – also commiserated with Gen. Buhari on the death of Zuliaha, 40, who died on Saturday night from sickle cell anemia, following complications after being delivered of

a baby two days earlier at Chasel Hospital, Ungwar Sarki in Kaduna.

The political group, led by leaders such as Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, Chief Audu Ogbeh, among others, in a statement issued at the weekend in Lagos by its National Secretary, Sir Olawale Okunniyi, condoled with the former head of state and the husband of the deceased.

The group prayed that God should give the Buhari and Ibrahim families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Oil sector is threatened, NEITI cries out •Urges investment in solid minerals From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

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OLLOWING plans by the United States to exit from oil importation by 2025, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has cried out that the oil and gas sector is threatened.

Speaking at a collaborative event between the Miners Association of Nigeria and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, the NEITI Executive Secretary, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the organisation must ensure that the management of the depleting revenue is transparent.

She called for increased investment in the mining sector, which is the alternative to the crashing petroleum market.

Speaking, a representative of the Nigeria Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, Mr. Hope Yoyo, said the bank has planned to promote the mining sector.

He said: “NEXIM is willing and ready for the investment of valuedadded minerals. We have friends coming from China and other countries.”

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Sada, said the association is a key partner of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in its efforts at developing the minerals and metals sector of the economy, considering the roles “members of this society play in the development and exploitation of the nation’s mineral resource endowment.”

The Chairman, Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Shehu, said the association has adopted a policy of encouraging the Artisanal and Small Scale miners in the area of documentation for formalisation.

He added: “In the last one year, the association has been operating in a temporary accommodation in Abuja.

“We seek the support of the major operators in the industry for financial and material contributions towards the actualisation of our laudable goals for securing a decent accommodation.”

Sultan seeks collective action against bombings

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HE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111, has urged Nigerians to unite in the fight against terrorism and other crimes.

Speaking when he visited Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, the Sultan said terrorism, robbery, kidnapping and other crimes are not restricted to a particular religion or region of the country.

The Sultan, who congratulated Governor Oshiomhole on his re-election, said: “The Edo State people brought you back to contin-

ue your good work. The challenge is now for you to continue with the good work. When I came I saw many changes. I think the Edo State people did the right thing by allowing you to continue to steer the ship of state so that you can continue the good work you are doing.”

On the crimes pervading some areas in the country, the Sultan said: “Some years ago, we watched with amazement on the TV, suicide bombers and car bombers. We thought we could not experience such things

FINAL OK

in our country. But we are experiencing them now. It is not a particular religious or ethnic group that specialises in terrorism, kidnapping or armed robbery. We must unite and resolve the problems.”

He stressed that the “challenges that come our way can ginger us to strengthen our resolve to meet them headlong, defeat them and forge a national cohesion.”

Governor Oshiomhole said the honour bestowed on the Sultan by the Igbinedion University, Okada,

was well-deserved.

He said: “I appreciate the leadership which your eminence has continued to provide by way of building bridges across the length and breadth of the country and telling us what unites us as a people and those values of unity, hard work, tolerance and brotherhood.

A lot of Nigerians admire you.”

Oshiomhole added: “At this period, Nigerians need leaders like your eminence on the side of truth, peace and unity to help build the nation.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEWS Accountants urged to reform economy

By Ambrose Nnaji

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HE nation’s economy could be reformed for fast growth, if accounting professionals come together, the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), has said.

Speaking during the sixth Annual Public Lecture and Dinner Award of the association in Lagos, the Chairman, Ikeja Branch, Solomon Oladimeji, said no nation would meet the expected economic growth, if its financial sector was mismanaged.

He said the economy has been crippled by fraud, corruption, mismanagement and called for an overhaul.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Kadri Hamzat, urged the accountants to come up with policies to improve budgetary processes and infrastructure.

At the ceremony, The Nation received the Annual Award of meritorious service and contribution to the nation’s economic growth.

Expect flooding by 2015, expert warns From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

Court approves probe of Presidency, Jega, others J

USTICE A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has granted Bedding Holdings Limited to proceed with a suit seeking the go-ahead to compel the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to investigate allegations of fraud in the award of contracts by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiff said under former INEC Chairman Prof Maurice Iwu, billions of public funds were allegedly stolen through a scheme involving officials of the Ministry of Commerce and In-

By Eric Ikhilae

dustry and INEC .

It alleged that phony companies, purportedly acting with the connivance of INEC, bidded for contracts they were not qualified for.

The plaintiff claimed that the scheme, under which the President and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) were allegedly misled into approving such contracts, was sustained under the era of Prof Attahiru Jega.

It stated that the scheme

was used to award contracts for the purchase of transparent ballot boxes for the 2007 and 2011 elections.

The firm gave the names of the companies as Emchai Limited, Tambco United Nigeria Limited, Anowat Projects & Resources Limited, Cass Engineering Nigeria Limited and Stusal Engineering Nigeria Limited.

Justice Mohammed granted an order of substituted service of processes by way of publication in a newspaper.

Also sued are some Nation-

al Commissioners, AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF), the Registrar of Patents, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, former Registrar of Patents & Designs, Mrs. J. K. Ahmadu-Suka, Tony Chukwu, the Inspector-General of Police, EFCC, Code of Conduct Bureau, Cass Engineering and Casmir Anyanwu.

The plaintiff is seeking four declaratory reliefs and an order of mandamus, compelling the listed agencies to investigate its complaints.

Bedding stated that the suit was informed by the fact that the anti-graft agencies have refused to investigate its allegations.

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HE Federal Government has been advised to prepare for a likely reccurrence of flooding by 2015.

Former Assistant General Manager (Hydro), Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Iyanda Ajibade, gave the warning at the weekend during his book launch, titled: “Tears of the River Niger” in Abuja.

He said the country has been experiencing flooding in a four- year interval since 1985.

Ajibade said: “This is not just an observation; we have data to back it up. The first time we experienced flood in Nigeria was in 1985 in Jebba followed by 1988, 1991, 1994. This was repeated in 1997, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, you can see it now though it is still subject to research because it is a preliminary observation.”

He noted that there was need to consider flooding as a resource rather than threat.

Speaking on compensating flood victims, Ajibade stated that the reward was only a temporary measure.

He said it is necessary for the Federal Government to delineate the flood zones and provide an alternative settlement rather than compensating the victimss.

According to him, the migration assures their safety as well as improving their livelihood.

‘PH Airport’ll change’ HE Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State, would become the international hub of business after its reconstruction.

FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate Communications Yakubu Datti spoke after inspecting the airport.

Datti said the remodeling was the first since the airport was built 33 years ago.

He said the airport was

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among the first 11 of the 22 airports designated for reconstruction in the country.

“Port Harcourt particularly has been segmented as an international hub; in the aviation master plan.

“There is a clear demarcation and deliberate development in particular airports for specific purposes, and because of the nature of Port Harcourt as a hub of activity it is being developed to develop in the area of the export processing zone and free trade zone.”

Group to partner physicians

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RESIDENT of the Africa-Middle East Association of Gastroenterology (AMAGE) Prof. Hussein Abdel-Hamid has pledged the group’s support for Nigerian physicians in the research and management of diseases of the digestive system.

Speaking at the closing dinner of the sixth AMAGE congress at the Tinapa Business Resort near Calabar, Abdel-Hamid said hosting the congress in Nigeria has

removed the barrier between the medical community in the sub-Saharan Africa and their counterparts in North Africa.

He said Nigeria was chosen because of its position as one of the important gates to SubSahara Africa.

“We can now cooperate and share ideas and AMAGE will ensure this is followed up.

“Our ambition is to extend operations to more countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. We will not forget Nigeria,” he said.

IRC launches appeal for victims

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HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received a delegation from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which is in Nigeria to render technical assistance to victims of the recent flood disaster in the country.

The Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad SaniSidi, who received the delegation at the weekend in his office, said various groups have shown concern and commitment towards the plight of the displaced

people He said: “We are impressed with the support from local and international organisation to the victims.”

The leader of IRC team, Suzanna Tkalec, said her team has ended its impact assessment and launched an appeal for provision of about $4 million to provide water sanitisation and livelihood through provision of seedlings.

She said the support, which is targeted at over 40,000 households, would help the victims’ rehabilitation.

•The on-going upgrade work of Ayinke House at the General Hospital, Ikeja during an inspection tour INSET: Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (third left); Commissioner for Establishment and Training Mrs. Florence Oguntuase (left); her Health, Works and Infrastructure counterparts, Dr. Jide Idris (second left), Dr. Obafemi Hamzat (third right) and the Acting Director, Ministry of Work, Adebayo Ogunsanya (fourth right).

Osoba decries abuse of social media

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ORMER Ogun State Governor and veteran journalist Chief Olusegun Osoba has decried the growing menace of the “social media” in the country.

He said the “fiction” it permits untrained hands to circulate is dangerous to journalism and peoples’ reputation.

Osoba noted that persons, who were neither trained as journalists nor obliged to abide by the ethos and ethics of the profession, have latched on the social media to spread falsehood about people, ostensibly to “blackmail and malign them”.

The former Managing Director of The Daily Times spoke at the weekend in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the Maiden National Convention of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism Alumni Association(NIJAA), tagged: “Olumo 2012”.

He lamented the helplessness of traditional journalism in tackling the danger and threat social media constitutes.

Osoba called for efforts by institutions such as NIJ and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in regulating the practice of

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

journalism.

“There is nothing we can do now about social media, it is becoming something else, this is a terrible thing and dangerous to the trend of journalism.

“NIJ, NUJ, the Guild of Editors and other sister bodies should regulate the practice of journalism.

“We should not leave the practice in the hands of those who know nothing about the profession,” Osoba said.

A former Information Commissioner, Doyin Ogunbiyi, urged journalists to make the profession a chartered one and move away from political unionism.

Ogunbiyi lamented that the social media was taking over the profession.

He recommended that journalists should begin to think of journalism without pen and paper.

Envoy, 17 others lose N46.5m plots in Abuja

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N ambassador and 17 others have lost plots worth about N46.5million in Abuja.

The plots were illegally sold to them by Minanta Enterprises Limited.

The company sold the plots, which belonged to the Kano State Government in Lokogoma District.

Eighteen houses have been pulled down.

But attempts by the victims to get a refund have failed.

The development forced them to approach the Abuja High Court through their agent, Bamiday Properties Limited.

The hearing is expected to start today.

The plaintiff, Bamiday Properties Limited, is seeking an order directing the defendant to claims from the court as follows •“Refund N46.55million being the money collected from the subscribers; and •“Pay the plaintiff 10 per

Diplomat alleges threat to life

By Emmanuel Oladesu

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RETIRED diplomat, Dr. Olarotimi Ajayi, yesterday alleged that assassins were on his trail since he petitioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the alleged fraud in the Nigerian Embassy , Caracas in Venezuela.

Ajayi, who retired a few months ago, told reporters in Lagos that his retirement entitlements were not paid because he was perceived as a whistle-blower by ministry officials.

The former diplomat said he would be in court today to protest the allegation that he was involved in fraud and drug peddling during his time in Venezuela.

He said: “I will tell the court how embassy money was kept in personal accounts. I will confirm the passport racketeering before the judge. I will reveal the details of many diplomatic falsehood.”

The former diplomat urged President Goodluck Jonathan, the anti-graft agencies, police and State Security Services (SSS) to beam a searchlight on the activities of the embassy in Caracas.

“The Presidency, Inspector-General of Police, and SSS should, please, protect me from assault, assassination and instigated arrest for being a whistle blower.”

In a 21-paragraph affidaFrom Yusuf Alli, Managing vit, the Managing Director Editor, Northern Operation of Bamiday Properties Ltd, cent yearly interest from the Ifedayo Ajayi, said: “Somedate of judgment until the totime in March 2011, the tal liquidation of same.” plaintiff through its chair-

man, Ahmed Tijani Umar, engaged the defendant as its agent to market plots/housing units at Minanta Estate at Plot 119 Lokogoma District, Abuja.

“Eighteen subscribers paid the deposit for the plots/ housing units through the plaintiff to the defendant and 14 duly completed the subscription forms provided.

“Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) came to site on July 21, last year.

“Houses were demolished on grounds that the plot, which is claimed by the defendant, belongs to the Kano State Government.

“That following this development, the subscribers besieged the plaintiff’s office and demanded the refund of their money and investment.

“That the defendant failed to fulfil its promise to refund the payment and relocate the subscribers, despite several undertakings.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

7

NEWS ‘Rolling plans, panacea for underdevelopment’ From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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RENOWNED philanthropist and founder, Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, has said the rolling development plans offer the only way out for Nigeria’s underdevelopment.

Lamenting extreme underdevelopment in the country, which he traced to disjointed project/policy executions by successive administrations, the legal icon noted that incoming governments must accommodate good and useful ideas handed down by outgoing ones.

He said by this “we can ensure continuity in governance as good projects will not suffer the kind of neglect we are familiar with today.”

Babalola said governments at all tiers of administration must begin by having a rolling development plan of between 10 and 20 years, which successive governments must see as sacrosanct and adopt if they mean well for the citizenry.

Fayemi urges participation in development

Falana: sack Wogu for alleged complicity in subsidy fraud R

IGHTS activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, following his alleged involvement in an illegal payment of N2.7 billion to a company for fuel that was never supplied.

Falana also faulted the appointment of Steve Oronsanye and Ben Otti, members of the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF) into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The activist-lawyer argued that the President, having earlier fired the Minister of Energy, Prof. Barth Nnaji, in a similar circumstance, would help the government’s integrity to also sack Wogu.

Falana noted that it would be detrimental to the government’s reputation and President Jonathan’s earlier pledge to confront the rot in the oil sector should he retain Wogu both as a Minister and Head of the White Paper Committee on PRSTF. He argued that the call for Wogu’s sack was appropriate in view of the fact that despite

•CNPP calls for Wogu’s, Orubebe’s resignation

By Eric Ikhilae and Chris Oji, Enugu

the President’s pledge at the last media chat to tackle corruption in the oil sector, his aides have given the impression that the report by PRSTF would be ignored.

The lawyer said the inclusion of Oronsanye and Otti on the NNPC Board negated the provision of sections 2 and 3 of the NNPC Act, which provide that the Board shall consist of the Petroleum Minister, who shall be the Chairman, the Managing Director of the NNPC, three persons appointed by the President and an alternate chairman.

Falana threatened the Federal Government with a court action before the end of the year should the government decline to sack Oronsanye and Otti from the NNPC. He said: “In his recent media chat, President Jonathan reiterated the resolve of his

administration to fight the rot in the petroleum industry.

“In particular, he undertook to implement the reports of the various committees that probed the oil industry once the White Papers on them are issued by the Federal Government.

“To assure the nation of the determination of the administration in prosecuting the war against corruption, more suspects have been charged to court in connection with the fuel subsidy scam.

“However, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Wogu, who is heading the White Paper Committee on the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, has been indicted in the illegal payment of N2.7 billion to a company for fuel that was never supplied.

“As he cannot be a judge in his own case, Wogu should be removed from the White Pa-

per Committee forthwith.

More so that Reuben Abati, Doyin Okupe and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources have given the impression that the report of the PRSTF would be swept under the carpet.

“Since a minister was recently forced to resign from the Federal Government due to a “conflict of interest”, President Jonathan should not hesitate to remove Mr. Wogu from the cabinet.

“It has also been confirmed that while the PRSTF was carrying out its assignment, Messrs Steve Oronsanye and Ben Otti were appointed into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

“Although President Jonathan has denied the imputation that the appointment was designed to bribe and compromise Messrs Oronsanye and Otti, it is illegal, null and void as it violates sections 2 and 3 of the NNPC Act, which provide that the NNPC shall have six members and alternate Chairmen.

“Specifically, the Board shall consist of the Petroleum Minister who shall be the Chairman, the Managing Director

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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KITI State Governor Kayode Fayemi at the weekend sought more participation from community leaders in the 16 local governments of the state.

He said the meeting was necessary to elicit the opinions of the leaders who lived in the communities on what had been achieved in infrastructural development and other areas.

The meeting, held at the Isan Ekiti country home of the governor, brought together leaders and representatives of the various communities regardless of political affiliations.

Governor Fayemi summoned the meeting to access feedback in the areas of need of the communities.

He said: “The people, rather than the government, know better where resources should be directed.”

Olanipekun: more resources for education From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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OREMOST lawyer Chief Wole Olanipekun has said half of the country’s wealth must be devoted to bringing education to an acceptable standard.

He spoke at the weekend at the 16th edition of his scholarship programme, tagged: “Wole Olanipekun Scholarship Scheme”, held at his country home, IkereEkiti, Ekiti State.

Olanipekun noted that unless government decided to “throw that much weight behind education, the lamentable woes, which have bedevilled learning and education in the country will not stop.”

•(from left) The Alajase of Ajase Porto-Novo Republic of Benin HRH Oba Onikoyi Abesan, President-General African peace Foundation Prof Ola Makinde and Vice Chancellor Littoral University (Institut D’enseignement Superieur De Littoral) PortoNovo Republic of Benin Prof Ayeni Oyebode at the third matriculation and award ceremony of the university held at National PHOTO: ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA Stadium Porto-Novo…on Saturday

of the NNPC, three persons appointed by the President and an alternate chairman.

“Instead of the seven members, the NNPC has nine members with the appointment of Messrs Oronsanye and Otti.

“Since the NNPC Act has not been amended to validate the increase in the membership of the Board, Messrs Oronsanye and Otti should be removed.

“In view of the serious implications of the illegal appointment on the activities of the NNPC and the national economy, the Federal Government should fire the duo as soon as possible.

“However, if both are retained in the NNPC Board in contravention of the law, the Federal Government should be prepared to defend the illegal appointment at the Federal High Court not later than December 31.”

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) rose from a consultative meeting in Enugu yesterday with a call on the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godspower Orubebe, to resign.

The call was contained in a statement issued after the meeting by the National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu.

According to the statement made available to reporters, CNPP reviewed the state of the nation and came to the conclusion that corruption was taking a toll on the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, hence the public trust deficit.

The umbrella body of registered political parties said if urgent steps were not taken to arrest the situation, the administration might end up being labelled as the most corrupt in the history of the country.

CNPP stressed that the Jonathan government needs urgent cleansing “to erase this ugly label either by compelling the two ministers who have been publicly found to have abused their oath of office and code of conduct for public officers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution, to resign, or sack them if there is no honour left in them to resign.”

Flood impact on agric won’t be severe, says Bureau of Statistics

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HE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has confirmed the position of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) that the recent floods in some farmlands in 12 states would not lead to a food crisis.

In its just-published Third Quarter 2012 Gross Domestic Productivity (GDP) report posted on www. nigerianstats.gov.ng, it said its analysis suggested that the impact of the recent flood in some parts of the country would not be severe because each crop type has a gestation period and prevalence in each state.

The bureau’s findings confirmed the minister’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s position that extensive surveys carried out based on technology-driven satellite images, remote sensing and vegetation data, showed

Tony Elumelu Foundation supports flood victims with N1b HE Tony Elumelu Foundation has given fillip to the ongoing efforts for the rehabilitation of victims of the recent flood disaster in the country with a donation of N1 billion.

The foundation, a not-forprofit institution committed to the economic transformation of Africa by enhancing the competitiveness and growth of the African private sector, was established by the former Group Managing Director/Chief Exec-

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utive Officer of the United Bank for Africa, Mr. Tony Elumelu.

An Africa-based and African-funded philanthropy whose mission is to identify and groom African business leaders and entrepreneurs to achieve the foundation’s central objective of enhancing the competitiveness and growth of Africa’s private sector, the donation has distinguished Tony Elumelu Foundation as a committed partner in ensuring that the internally- dis-

placed people are rehabilitated and given a new phase of life.

Tony Elumelu is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings Limited, an African investment company deploying proprietary capital for the long term in the most promising sectors of the continent and Tenoil Petroleum and Energy Services Limited.

Mr. Elumelu is the leading proponent of Africapitalism: the private sector’s commitment to the economic transformation of Africa

through investments that create economic prosperity and social wealth.

Elumelu, while announcing the donation, said government should not be left alone to cater for the victims.

He urged corporate organisations and multinationals to come out in the joint task of providing relief for the victims. According to him, “these organisations make their profits from the society and it is time to give back to the society as corporate responsible citizens.”

that there had been exaggeration of the impact of the floods on crop production.

The NBS report said: “In addition to the prevailing (though gradually improving) security challenges facing most agricultural producing states in the North, growth in the sector was

also partially affected by floods, which reached a peak between late October and early last month, affecting several states in the country.

“However, due to the fact that the peak of the flood was towards the end of the third quarter, the impact on

agricultural production was less observed during the quarter. It is conceivable that the full impact of the floods will be more visible in Quarter Four 2012 and Quarter One 2013.

“NBS’ preliminary analysis suggests that the impact of flooding on agricultural

GDP may not be as severe as feared. This is because agriculture in Nigeria is such that each crop type has a different gestation period and prevalence in each state leading to different harvesting periods in different parts of the country.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

8

NEWS Dirt scares investors away, says Ajimobi

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YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi at the weekend said an unplanned and dirty environment scares investors away.

He said his administration was determined to make Oyo one of the cleanest states in the country.

Ajimobi spoke at the Governor’s Office in Ibadan, the state capital, while inaugurating 39 mini refuse trucks meant for 13 local governments.

He said the state had lost alot because of the impression that it was a filthy place.

The governor said: “Today at the inauguration of these mini refuse trucks, we are fulfilling a major kernel of our promise to the people to institute an urban renewal programme that will reposition our state and our people as lovers of a clean environment and the aesthetics that go with it.”

The governor said the procurement of the trucks was based on the requests of the 13 local governments.

He said the remaining 20 local governments, which are agro-based, requested tractors and other farm implements.

Ajimobi said the trucks would enhance a clean environment and urged the people to cultivate the habit of healthy living.

He said: “Our administration will leave no stone unturned in making sure Oyo State wears a new toga of a clean and aesthetic state, as against the general belief that we are a filthy people, which we are not.

“This is why I call on the people to cooperate with this administration in ensuring that the government’s efforts at ensuring a clean environment are fulfilled.”

Giving reasons for the demolition of structures under the Molete Bridge and in Dugbe, Ajimobi said people must obey town planning rules.

He said: “We do not have any interest in destroying the livelihood of our people, but it is also incumbent on us all to adhere to town planning rules and regulations by not erecting houses or stalls on set-backs and not selling at designated road paths.”

Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Oyo State branch, Yekeen Popoola said the trucks would address the delay in the evacuation of refuse and prevent epidemic outbreak.

The council caretaker chairmen pledged to maintain the trucks.

Eleven local governments in Ibadan, Ogo Oluwa council and Ogbomosho North council were the beneficiaries.

Three trucks were given to each of the councils.

Also at the weekend, non-indigenes, under the aegis of the Association of Non-Indigenous Residents of Oyo State (ANIRO), pledged their support for the state government.

ANIRO President Dr Camillus Asumu spoke with reporters at the group’s secretariat in Ibadan on the association’s objectives.

Asumu said the task of maintaining the peace and unity in the state cannot be left to Ajimobi alone.

He said: “They have realise that not only soldiers die in wars, therefore, the task of security cannot be left to politicians alone. If we can sit and talk together as a united body, we can assist the government in securing peace and prosperity. This association was established for all non-indigenes to come together and play an active role in advancing the state.”

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N Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure, the state capital, has dismissed a suit filed by the former Deji of Akure, Mr. Oluwadare Adesina. Adesina was challenging his deposition by the state government in 2010.

The court said the deposed monarch’s case lacks merit because his counsel, Mr. Olusola Oke, failed to produce his two witnesses in court.

Oke said he would need a subpoena to summon the first witness because some people were threatening to deal with him, if he appeared in court.

He said the second witness, who is the plaintiff, had been flown abroad

•Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (second right); widow of the late Justice Kayode Eso, Anne (second left); the deceased’s daughter and Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Women Affairs Mrs.Funmi Eso-Williams and the deceased’s son, Olumide, during Aregbesola’s condolence visit to the family at the deceased’s Ikolaba home in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital...yesterday.

Mainstream politics is a fraud, says Aregbesola •’I’ve no apologies for backing Akeredolu’

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SUN State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola at the weekend described mainstream politics as the “main fraud used by selfish elements to befuddle the sensibility of the Yoruba people”.

He was reacting to the position of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the Southwest that mainstream politics would speed up development in the zone.

Aregbesola spoke at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in Osogbo, the state capital, during a seven-hour live interactive broadcast programme, tagged: “Ogbeni Till Day Break”.

The programme was part of activities marking the second anniversary of the Aregbesola administration.

It was attended by Deputy Governor Titi Laoye-Tomori, House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salaam, top government officials, the media and the public. Aregbesola said those canvassing mainstream politics could not be compared with the leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who are championing the campaign for regional integration in the Southwest.

He said regional integration has created an avenue for ACN-controlled states in the Southwest to work together to create wealth.

To prove his passion for regional integration as a means of advancing the course of the Yoruba people, Aregbesola said after he assumed office, the first person he visited was Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko, to discuss ways of working together in the interest of the Southwest people.

He said: “Ondo State, with its gas, would have been a great asset for generating power in the Southwest, if its leadership could work with the rest of

Osun ACN alleges politicisation of employment scheme

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun State has alleged that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has been politicised.

In a statement at the weekend, ACN Acting Chairman Elder Adelowo Adebiyi said information available to the party showed that the Federal Government scheme, financed by the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme (SUREP), has been restricted to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters.

The statement reads: “We are reliably informed that the current allocation of 3,000 slots to Osun State has been shared among PDP members across the 30 local government areas.

“This arrangement is a gross misuse of a federal institution for political patronage and the abuse of federal power against Nigerians, who belong to political parties other than the PDP. “The SURE-P scheme is designed for all Nigerians and not exclusively for PDP supporters. The proceeds from the fuel subsidy removal were saved to help the jobless and should be distributed nationwide by a federal institution, such as the NDE, to benefit all Nigerians, regardless From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

us.”

Aregbesola said the only thing the zone got from mainstream politics was the use of security agencies to terrorise innocent people.

He said past PDP administrations in the zone failed the people in many ways, including education, food production and security.

The governor said: “What we want to use regional integration to achieve is create a new lease of life for our people. We are establishing a final relationship among states to create wealth for the people.

“Mainstreaming is a fraud. The crusaders are only using it to befuddle the people. Ask them what they have achieved all these years in the Southwest with the so-called mainstream politics. The mainstreamers cannot, in anyway, be compared with us and what we are planning for our people.”

He said his administration has improved infrastructure, health, education, food production, and created jobs, among others.

Aregbesola said many Osun PDP leaders, including ousted Governor

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

of their political affiliation.

“For the NDE in Osun to handover the 3,000 allocations meant for the state to the PDP is irresponsible, illegal and at variance with the constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government to be there for all Nigerians and not supporters of the ruling party alone.

“It is not clear if this is a direct order from the minister of Finance as well as Labour and Productivity counterpart or both, or whether it is a conspiracy between the NDE and PDP in the state to corner the SURE-P allocations meant for Osun State indigenes and give it exclusively to members of the PDP. “ACN rejects the action and calls on the Federal Government to compel the NDE to do its job fairly to cover all Osun citizens, no matter their political affiliation.

“We urge the NDE and the Ministries of Finance and Labour and Productivity to ensure that the proper thing is done. Unnecessary politicisation would not facilitate a united Nigeria, where national consciousness is very necessary.”

Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Iyiola Omisore, failed abysmally in their constituencies during the 2011 general elections.

He said Oyinlola won only two wards in his home town, adding that Omisore won with only three votes in his polling booth.

Aregbesola said: “What that simply means is that Oyinlola is not better than a councillor in his constituency and Omisore cannot become anything. Where will the support come for them to be able to defeat our party in any free and fair election?”

On the victory of the Labour Party (LP) in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo, Aregbesola said the ACN has put the loss behind it.

He said the defeat was not the end for the ACN in Ondo State, adding that the party was preparing for future polls.

Aregbesola said: “We are allowing them (LP) to enjoy the victory. They are bragging now, but their bragging will soon be over. Our loss should

Court dismisses deposed Deji of Akure’s suit •Counsel says his client has cancer From Damisi Ojo, Akure

for medical treatment.

Adesina’s lead counsel prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable his witnesses appear in court.

He said: “We intend to call two witnesses; the first witness was with me on Friday at about 8am and we had a pre-trial briefing. I also spoke with him at about 6pm on the same day and at all these times he gave me assurances that he would be in court this morning.

“It was today that he told me his family and agents of the defendants came to his house, requesting him not to come to court. In the circumstance, I will need a subpoena to summon him.

“Regarding the second witness, who is the plaintiff, his deposition, banishment and permission to travel overseas were gazzetted. His permission to travel overseas is on medical grounds. Going by the arrangement I have with him, I was to call him a week to the hearing date. That I did and he told me he has cancer.

“Considering all this circumstance, I urge the court to grant us one more adjournment and I undertake on behalf of the plaintiff that, if by that next date, neither he nor his witness is in court, we should be barred from asking for further adjournment.”

The state government’s counsel, F.K Salami, urged the court to dismiss the case, saying it has been adjourned too many times at the instance of the plaintiff.

Salami said: “Pursuant to Order 37 Rule 8 of the Order State Rules of the

not be seen as a weakness. The beauty of what happened is maturity in democracy.

“The loss in Ondo is helping us identify our weaknesses and plan how to move on. We are taking stock. We have received our own bashing. The time for them to take their own bashing will soon come.”

He said if Mimiko decides to attack him for supporting the ACN’s candidate in the Ondo election, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), as is being insinuated in some quarters, he is well prepared.

Aregbesola denied the rumour that he contributed about N4 billion to Akeredolu’s campaign.

He said: “I did not use Osun State’s resources to fund the Ondo governorship election. If I had spent Osun’s resources on the Ondo election, I would not have been able to pay workers’ salaries and execute many projects we are doing now.

“What I did in Ondo State was what any democrat in the world would do.

I went to Ondo State to campaign for the candidate of my party and I have no apology for doing that.”

High Court, 1987, I urge the court to dismiss this suit.”

The Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, who presided, said: “This suit was filed on June 15, 2010, almost twoand-a-half years ago. If by now we are still not sure of when trial will commence, we cannot continue to keep the case in the court’s record book.

“As I told the learned counsel to the plaintiff, this case can be relisted until they are ready to prosecute it, provided it is done within the provisions of the rules.”

Adesina was deposed for engaging in a brawl with one of his wives, the late Bolanle.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

9

75TH KANO STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING

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n Wednesday 28th November, 2012 (14th Al-Muharram, 1434AH) the Kano State Executive Council held its Seventy Fifth (75th) sitting in continuation with its constitutional role of deliberating on important issues, policies and programs aimed at impacting positively on the lives of its citizenry for the overall development of the State.

It could be recalled that during the Seventy Fourth (74th) sitting, the Council approved an expenditure of N1, 081,087,451.28 for the execution of various capital projects across the State. At this sitting, which was presided over by Governor Engr. RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO, FNSE a number of memoranda were submitted by MDAs for deliberation to the Council where an expenditure of N1, 804,639,292.23 was approved for the execution of different projects as well as directives on certain policies and programs were given as enumerated below: 1.

(A)

OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE Request for revisiting the issue of delay in the payment of monthly salaries of teachers in the state: Following a communiqué signed and a copy issued to the Office of the Head of Civil Service by the State wing of the Nigerian Union of Teachers at the end of its Executive Council Meeting, in September 2012, the union agreed to commend the efforts of the State Government on the success recorded in the educational sector especially in providing additional classrooms, awards of scholarships to a number of Kano State students to study abroad and providing vehicle/ motor cycles loan to teaching staff.

The content of the statement expressed the concern of the union over the persisting delays of the payment of salaries to teaching staff in the State by Authorized Banks as well as the need for the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Kano State Senior Secondary Schools Management Board (KSSSSMB) and Science Technical Schools Board (STSB) of un-timely implementation of teachers’ and other staffs’ promotion.

After deliberation, Council directed the Accountant General to express government displeasure on the delays and discuss with the major banks; Unity Bank, Access Bank and GT Bank on how to improve the payment of salaries to SUBEB staffs. Council directed KSSSSMB, SUBEB and STSB to revisit all pending cases of staffs promotion for necessary actions.

(B) Request for funds for the 18TH Batch ASCON workshop/examination of officers aspiring to managerial positions in the State Civil Service: The content of this memorandum reminded the Council that every year the State Government in collaborating with the Administrative College of Nigeria (ASCON) organizes a workshop/examination for GL level 13 officers willing to attain managerial positions in the State Civil Service. The present administration since inception has demonstrated interest in the training and career development of the civil servants, and this kind of collaboration is always welcomed. This year, 490 staffs on GL 13 are verified and selected to attend the workshop and examination, which will be conducted by ASCON. The memorandum solicited for the Council’s approval of the sum of N21, 157,500.00 to cover the cost of the program for the 490 participants.

Considering the importance of the program, Council approved the release of N20, 3,000,000.00 and directed that same should be charged from local training code 24/0251.

2.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH (A) Request for funds to host Kano Medical Mission: This administration believes that the well-being of Kano State citizens depends to a large extent, on the level of health of its citizens. As such, this Government is bent on doing everything possible to improve and bring meaningful improvement in the State health system. Daily new programs are being introduced and implemented that attach importance in both preventive and cure aspects of the health delivery system. The government encourages partnership with self-help organizations either within or outside the country that are ready to assist in carrying out its laudable programs.

This explains the proposed collaboration between the Kano State Government and Sustainable International Medical Mission of the United States. Under Kano Medical Mission program, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Sustainable International Medical Mission has planned to conduct one weekfree delivery of medical services to the citizens, which is scheduled to take place from 3rd -8th December 2012. Amongst the benefits expected during this exercise are the conduct of about 500 surgeries, treatment of 5000 patients with different ailments and many other medical services. It was also highlighted that the United States visiting team will comprise various professionals ranging from Obstetric & Gynecologists, Orthopedics, General Surgery, Urology, Plastic Surgery and Primary healthcare. These professionals with the collaboration and support of the State Government and its staffs from the Ministry of Health will treat different ailments free of charge. To achieve a smooth running of the program, the State Ministry of Health requested for the release of N16,879,740.00 for logistics for the implementation of the program. Council approved the release of the sum of N16, 879,740.00 as requested for the program to be a success.

(B) Training and distribution of Malaria Test Kits : Kwankwaso led administration has a track record in the development of healthcare delivery in Kano State. That was why it evolved a number of programs such as free ante-natal care and Lafiya Jari medical assistance programs to mention but a few. Under the Lafia Jari program, 1200 qualified medical personnel were trained and financed to operate patent medical stores.

This is besides government’s commitment to improving the standard of its hospitals and clinics. More staffs are being recruited as hospitals are being equipped with medication and best medical equipment. The administration is willing to support through either training and/or funding health-related issues so that the teeming populace of the State will remain healthy. To supplement the government efforts in that direction, the Ministry of Health reminded the Council of the danger associated with Malaria, which has become endemic in the society causing infant and maternal mortality. To prevent the menace, the State has received a large consignment of Rapid Malaria Diagnostic Kits from the Federal Ministry of Health as part of the Malaria Booster Project. The memorandum intimated the Council on the need to train health workers on how to use the kits before they are distributed to the hospitals and clinics. This kind of training was usually financed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was suspended now. Thus, the need for the State to provide funds, to that effect, as the Ministry has come up with a budget of N11, 043,600 for the training exercise.

Council considered and approved the release of N11, 043,600 for the program to be successfully implemented.

(C)

Procurement of delivery trucks for the Kano State Drugs & Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA): The attention of the Council was drawn on the recent directives given to the Ministry of Health for the relocation of the State Medical Stores, Kano State Drugs & Medical Consumable Supply Agency situated at Kofar Nassarawa with a view to providing a space for the newly established Governor’s College.

The content of the Memorandum also reminded the Council of its approval for the construction of Administrative Block with Conference Hall, Wall fence, Ware House, Generator room and supply of 500 KVA generating set at the relocated site in Kwanar Kwankwaso in Madobi Local Government Area at the cost of N217,467,099.40. While further intimating the Council on the development recorded on the site, it expressed the need for the procurement of 3 heavy-duty trucks and one light-duty truck to support the existing ones thereby addressing the transportation problems the agency is presently facing.

The memorandum requested for the approval and release of the sum of N46, 347, 281, 25 for the purchase of the 3 vehicles.

The Council after a thorough review of the memorandum, approved for the release of N18,815,625.00 for the procurement of one each of heavy and light truck vehicles for the agency.

(D)

Request for the improvement of 4 Zonal Medical Stores and construction of Wall fence at Rano, Gwarzo, Gaya and Dambatta : This memorandum acknowledged the commitment of the present administration in the total re-invigoration of the State healthcare system, which has yielded positive results thereby attracting the confidence of Development Partners to support the efforts of the Government. In view of that, the Ministry of Health requested for the release of N44,882,237.52 for the improvement of the

4 State Zonal Medical Stores, which will assist in decentralizing the main stores at Rangaza and also to accommodate the expected 100 containers from the DFID PATH2 and an additional 50 containers from Medshare International of medical supplies estimated at the sum of N1.4billion.

Council considered and approved the release of the sum of N44,882,237.52 for the improvement works at the 4 State Zonal Medical Stores in the affected Local Government Councils.

3.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE DRAFT POLICY ON SOLID MINERAL DEVELOPMENT IN KANO STATE Kano State is endowed with mineral resources and therefore is bent on making concerted efforts into taking the advantages of exploring and exploiting such potentialities. With the recent shift to reduce dependence on the oil sector, the State Government found it necessary to secure other possible ways that will assist the State in diversifying its economy, hence the resolution to establish a Standing Committee on Solid Mineral Development in Kano State with Alhaji Gambo Danpass as the Chairman of the Committee.

The committee is to amongst other things collaborate with the Federal Government Agencies and other relevant stakeholders in promoting the working of mineral endowment in the State for wealth creation, employment generation, poverty eradication and growth of the rural economy in a sustainable manner.

Cognizance to that fact, the Committee drafted its policies, seeking for the Councils blessings and approval.

The Council deliberated, blessed and approved the draft policy in the interest of the development of the State and its economy.

4.

MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (A) Request for the Establishment of Monitoring and Evaluation Unit: The content of this memorandum raised the reasons for the establishment of Monitoring and Evaluation Unit in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, which would have components of a Databank and Web Site.

The unit if established will help the Ministry in tracking public expenditures and managing its information system in line with the policy of the present administration.

It is on this note that the Ministry solicited for the Council to approve the sum of N4, 829,000.00 for the procurement of the required facilities to equip the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit.

Subsequently, Council approved the release of N4,829,000.00 from code 140124 for the procurement/provision of the necessary facilities for the smooth take–off of the unit.

(B)

Proposal for the renovation of Social Welfare offices at various locations in the State: This memorandum has drawn the attention of the Council of the deteriorating conditions of some of the Social Welfare offices at various locations in the State, which calls for the government’s attention and concern for necessary renovation in order to make them conducive for official activities. On this note, the Ministry solicited for Council’s approval of the sum of N9, 573,906.40 to enable it carryout the renovation exercise.

Considering the importance of the offices, Council approved and directed for the release of the sum of N9, 573,906.40 for the project.

(C)

Request for the renovation of social welfare office in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development: The Social Welfare office situated in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development like others across the State as highlighted by the memorandum deserved a total renovation so that it will have a new facelift and be equipped with modern facilities required.

To facilitate the renovation exercise, Council approved the sum of N11, 203,019.30 as requested by the ministry.

5.

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION Request for the conversion of Tiga WRECA Workshop to a New College of Education: In compliance with the directives given by the State Government for the establishment of a new College of Education at Tiga, the Ministry of Higher Education proposed the utilization of the abandoned WRECA Workshop Tiga to serve as the permanent site for the proposed College.

The content of the memorandum recalled that the sum of N1billion was approved in the 2012 budget for the project. The proposal requested Counci’s approval for the transformation of the proposed site into College of Education.

Council deliberated, considered and approved the usage and transformation of WRECA Workshop at Tiga as the site for a Craft School. The Ministry of Education was directed to visit the site, prepare Bill of Quantities and submit a comprehensive memorandum for the establishment of a Craft School instead of the proposed College of Education submitted by the Ministry of Higher Education.

6.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (A.) Request for selection criteria for the sponsorship of WAEC, NECO TAHFEEZ and TAJWEED (NBAIS): The Council was reminded that every academic year after the conduct of qualifying examinations, the State Award Committee for the Sponsorship of Qualified Students is tasked with the responsibility of scrutinizing the mock results in order to select and recommend to the government, students that qualified for the agreed criteria for sponsorship.The Committee during its recent sitting came up with resolutions, which include that students in the 5th year of Secondary School should be subjected to a “mock” examination to prepare them towards achieving better results in WAEC, NECO etc. It also opined that looking at the present economic situation government should assist and sponsor those from poor families as well as students who score a number of required credits. It is in light of this that Council after reviewing the criteria approved that for a student to be sponsored, he must be able to have credit in 4 subjects including English. A total of 16,916 candidates are expected to be sponsored for the upcoming WAEC examination. Council also approved the criteria for the sponsorship of candidates who secured credit in any 4 subjects including a credit in Arabic for NBAIS Senior Arabic and Islamic Secondary Certificate Examination (SAISCE). A combined number of 5,407 students representing 60% of the entire number of candidates who sat for the examination will be sponsored by the State Government.

(B)

Request for the renovation of 8 Women centers and 2 Area Offices of the Agency for Mass Education in Central, South and North Senatorial zones of the State: The present administration of the State as noted by the memorandum is keen in ensuring the proper utilization of public buildings and other properties, resulting to several directives on renovations and the conversion of some to other schools or other public offices for the development of the State.

This, as further stressed by the memorandum has triggered the Ministry of Education to remind the Council on the need to renovate 53 dilapidated Women Centers of the Agency for Mass Education across the State. The memorandum sought for the renovation of 8 Women Centers (out of the 53 Women Centers) and 2 Area offices in the 3 senatorial zones at the cost of N20, 729,845.66 and N19, 474,048.77 respectively.

Council approved the release of the sum of N40, 303,894.41 for the project and charge code 31150/051418 of the 2012 budget of the Agency for Mass Education.

7. MINISTRY OF WORKS HOUSING AND TRANSPORT (A) Request for the construction of Road, Drainage and Interlocking Tiles at the Ceremonial Area of the Government House: In order to give the ceremonial areas of the Government House a befitting and attractive look, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport thought it important to request for Council’s approval to embark on the above-mentioned construction projects at the cost of N77,993,004.72.

Council in its wisdom and in line with the present administration’s beautification initiative, approved the release of the sum of N77,993,004.72 for the project.

(B) Renovation works and construction of Guest Chalets at Kano State House of Assembly Guest House: In furtherance to the contract earlier awarded for the renovation works at the Kano State House of Assembly Guest House at the initial cost of N53, 259,782.73, some observations were made for the improvement of the properties such that

structural works were added to be executed by the same contractor.

Such additional works necessitated for an upward review of the contract sum from N53,259,782.73 to N149,087,706.05, which was subsequently vetted down to the sum of N136, 134,137.55, hence the request to the Council for the approval of the balance payment of N82,874,354.82 for the project to progress.

In view of that, Council approved the sum of N82,874,354.82 as the balance payment, which should be charged from code 140137 of the 2012 budget.

8.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT (A) Request for the purchase of a Water Tanker to the office of the Senior Assistant to the Governor on Urban Beautification and Development: Council acknowledged the Rabi’u Musa Kwankawaso great transformation taking place in metropolitan centers, with the construction of major roads along Zaria, Gwarzo, Hadejia and Sheik Jafar roads to ease commuting in and out of the State Capital. In addition, over N500million was expended in the provision of street and traffic lights on metropolitan roads beside the laying of interlock tiling, which has cost over N200 million. These projects have transformed Kano into one of the most modern centers in the country attracting domestic and international attention. Of recent, the effort of the Government was recognized by a respectable NGO, and the Governor was given an award for being the best in the country in the provision and maintenance of streetlights.

It is in this vein, one can understand a request that emanated from the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on urban beautification and development for the supply of a water tanker. This vehicle is required for the regular watering of plants/trees along the major metropolitan roads, as the rainy season has stopped at the proposed cost of N14, 800,000.00.

Council approved the purchase of the Water Tanker and directed for the release of N14,800,000.00 from code 132105 of the 2012 budget.

(B) Request for the Establishment of Amana Luxury Taxi: Since the inception of this administration, the government has identified the problem being faced by commuters due to lack of enough taxis and buses in and around the metropolitan centers. To ameliorate this, Council at its earlier sitting had approved the procurement of 1000 Golf and 500 Toyota Haice Buses under the Amana Transport Scheme program, which were distributed on lease for intra-inter State services. This program is expected to consume over N2billion.

The success of this program led to this memorandum intimating the Council on the need to provide more commercial vehicles to be branded Amana Luxury Taxis. These vehicles are meant to be for intrastate services and are to be supplied with the latest communication equipment for ease of communication between the drivers and prospective passengers. Under this arrangement, a proposal for the procurement of 250 brand new Toyota Corolla manual transmission car was proposed at the cost of N1, 106,000.000.00.

Council approved the procurement and directed for the release of the said sum of money for the smooth take-off of the transport scheme.

Meanwhile, the Council has suggested that those to handle the vehicles should be the holders of Degree, NCE and Diploma certificates respectively.

(C)

Request for the Supply and Installation of ICT Components in the Elibrary, Desktop Computers and accessories for the Non Academic staff Offices of the Northwest University:The newly established Northwest University has already concluded a plan to start academic programs before the end of this year, hence the need for the procurement of the state-of-art ICT equipment for teaching and official purposes.

Construction of the new site, which is expected to consume over N12billion is now in progress as some Faculty structures and the administrative block are almost completed. As a temporary campus has been identified and is ready for occupation at Ado Bayero House, Council recalled the presentation of a memorandum for the procurement of ICT equipment to be installed for the take-off of the academic program. While deliberating on the request Council set up an Executive Council Committee to verify the quantity and quality required and to submit its finding for its decision. The Committee studied the proposal for the procurement of the items, made changes and recommended for the purchase of the ICT equipment worth N169,959,810.84.

At today’s sitting, Council deliberated on the recommendation of its Committee and approved the proposal and directed the release of the stated sum for the execution of the project.

9.

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES Request for funds to cater for the Balance to Augment for 1st Batch of post Training Package 2nd Batch Training at Bagauda Livestock Institute: The memorandum appreciated the laudable initiatives of the present administration on youth empowerment and the establishment of various institutions in the State with the aim of boosting education, and self-reliance drive of Kano State and its good people.

To complement this effort, the Bagauda Livestock Institute, one of the twenty institutions established by this administration has commenced training activities in October 2012 and graduated its first batch of trainees in Bull and Ram’s fattening as well as Rabbit production modules.

In view of the above development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources reminded the Council that the sum of N5,344,400.50 is required to augment the existing balance of N8,070,800.00 in the Institute’s account for the 1st batch of post training package and funds for the graduation ceremony.

Considering the importance of the training to the development of the beneficiaries and the State at large, Council approved the release of the sum of N5,000.000.00 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

UPDATE ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 75TH EXECUTIVE COUNCIL SITTING 1.

PRESENTATION OF AWARDS Council noted with delight the two awards given to Governor Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso. LP Nigeria Gas Association gave the Governor award for his contribution to the Gas sector, while Project Light of Nigeria in Lagos awarded him with Governor of the 2012 award for his effort on the installation and maintenance of Streetlights.

2.

HEALTHCARE DELIVERY Council noted with appreciation the launching of Maternal New Born Child Healthcare week in Sumaila Local Government Area in the State and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a tripartite agreement with the State Government, Bill Gate Foundation & Dangote Group. Similarly, 10nos. mobile van clinics costing about N119million were procured for the emergency rescue program of patients from rural communities to General Hospitals across the State.

3.

SWEARING-IN OF THE STATE-FEDERAL TASK FORCE ON COUNTERFEIT DRUGS & UNWHOLESOME FOODS Council noted the swearing-in of the State National Task Force on Counterfeit drugs by the DG NAFDAC where members of the committee were urged to discharge their duties with honor and diligence. The government declared its intention to fight counterfeit drugs and sensitize the public on their dangers to public health. The Governor also led the Taskforce in burning counterfeit drugs worth over N500 million confiscated from importers. The destruction of these drugs was witnessed by the DG NAFDAC and other dignitaries.

4.

OFFICIAL VISIT TO KANO BY THE PAKISTAN AMBASSADOR Council noted the recent visit to the State by the Pakistan Ambassador to Nigeria where issues on Education and Agriculture were discussed. Accordingly, the Governor had attended the 19 & 36 State Governors’ meeting last week where issues ranging from the constitution, the economy and polio were discussed.

SIGNED: HON. COMMISSIONER, Ministry of Information, Internal Affairs, Youth, Sports & Culture

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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CITYBEATS

FERMA, Lagos repair roads REHABILITATION of major roads in Lagos has begun to ensure smooth ride in the Centre of Excellence during the Yuletide and beyond, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) said yesterday.

FERMA's Zonal Coordinator, (South West 2), Mr Oladipo Fagbamila, who spoke in Lagos, blamed the delay on the rainy season.

Fagbamila assured Lagosians that the menace of potholes would become a thing of the past when the agency's asphalt plant begins operation.

He said:"I assure motorists of a smooth ride during Christmas because the commissioning of our asphalt plant, which is expected soon, will make us more efficient.

"There will not be any pothole on our roads and I assure all Lagosians and those travelling of smooth rides

soon," he said.

He commended the state government for selling asphalt to the agency.

According to him, Governor Babatunde Fashola's directive that the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (PWC) should sell asphalt to FERMA would boost its operations.

Also yesterday, the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (PWC), Mr Gbenga Akintola, said the corporation was proactive in carrying out repairs.

Akintola said the corporation was always working towards a year-round rehabilitation of roads, irrespective of the season.

"We do not work because there is festival or any programme coming up, because we are proactive, we work at all times," Akintola said.

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

Monarch lauds establishment of Citizens’ Mediation Centre T HE Onibeju of Ibejuland, Oba Rafiu Olusegun Salami, has praised the establishment of the Citizens’ Mediation Centre CMC) by the Lagos State Government in his domain.

It was when he received officials of the Centre at his palace.

The visit was to commemorate the re-location of the centre to its permanent office at Ibeju Lekki. The centre was sharing the Ibeju-Lekki Local Council Development Authority (LCDA) Headquarters.

He said the establishment of the centre would reduce the busy schedules of Obas who have had to resolve dis-

By Miriam Ndikanwu

putes in their various domains.

The monarch noted that he and his chiefs have been inundated with enormous cases similar to services rendered by the centre.

He promised to encourage Chiefs and Baales in his domain to direct all civil matters to the centre for professional and prompt resolution.

Oba Salami urged the centre to brace for the task ahead as more cases would be referred to it now that residents are better informed about its services. He added that issues that would be brought to the centre would

be predominantly land matters because of the peculiarity of the area.

Chairman of Ibeju-Lekki LCDA, Kemi Surakat, said the presence of the centre in the locality would reduce litigations. He promised his administration’s support for the centre.

The Director of the centre, Mrs. Sedoten Ogunsanya, who was represented by the Unit Head of Amukoko Centre, Mrs. Olubunmi Obadan, said the CMC has resolved about 16,948 cases through amicable resolution this year.

She noted that the aim of the sensitisation is to educate and enlighten residents

about the services rendered by the centre and how they can benefit from them. ‘‘The essence of the programme is to make the public be aware of provision of free mediation services to residents of Lagos State on civil matters, which will prevent some cases from being heard in court, so as to reduce the pressure on courts and cost of litigation,’’ she said.

Mrs Ogunsanya urged indigent persons not to shy away from availing themselves the opportunity provided through amicable dispute resolution by the centre which according to her is free and devoid of tribal sentiments.

500,000 expected at Lagos concert BOUT 500,000 participants are expected in this year’s musical concert tagged: ‘The Experience,’ Senior Pastor, House on the Rock, Paul Adefarasin , has said.

The event, scheduled for 7pm on December 7, at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, will feature gospel artists and groups, including Don Moen; Chevelle Franklin; Fred Hammond; Dietrick Haddon; Isreal Houghton; Mike Aremu; Micah Stampley; Chosen Treasures; Timi Dakolo among others.

Adefarasin told reporters

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CHANGE OF NAME OGALA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogala Naomi Nkem, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odanlumen Naomi Nkem.

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

By Miriam Ndikanwu

at a news conference that adequate security would be provided throughout the duration of the concert. He said despite the challenges being experienced in some parts of the country, measures have been taken to strenghten security.

‘We have done our surveillance. We have a large contingent of serving security personnel and ex-service men in our congregation and we have also employed security firms to boost our security outfit. We have also installed surveillance equipment and the entire arena will be properly lighted up so that everything that is happening will be seen,” he said.

According to him, about 600 youths, whom he referred to as ‘Jesus Boys,’ have been incorporated into the

Banking Customers’ Sur vey Survey The nation’s banking sector has evolved over the years.

Customers are pivotal to the sector’s development.

• • •

WHY DO CUSTOMERS CHOOSE THEIR BANKS? WHAT DO THEY WANT IN A BANK? WHY DO THEY STAY WITH THEIR BANKS?

Is it based on the bank’s financial performance, perception, customer’s relationship, use of technology, safety, banking ethics, confidence, accessibility, environment, credit facility?

The Nation Survey on Efficiency and Satisfactory Customers Banking Service on December 17, 2012 will answer these posers.

The report will also showcase the competitive products and services of banks and related institutions.

For enquiries, please call; Simeon on 08023254106 Email: smsebulu@yahoo.com Daniel on 08033010395, 07026272619 Email: danailemen@yahoo.com

•From Right: Pastor Adefarasin, planning committee member, Pastor Ifeanyi Adefarasin and one of the guest artistes, Mr Wale Adenuga...weekend

security team.

“We have a working partnership with them and many of them have benefited from that relationship because some of them have been empowered through scholarships that have been awarded, but beyond that, we trust absolutely in God for protection,” he said.

He said the concert will be different because the organisers have put health facilities in place for pregnant women, who may go into la-

bour during the programme, asthmatic patients and others who may need medical attention.

“We have medical facilities and qualified personnel for those that may need them. Sufficient ambulances have been provided and airconditioned tents have been provided for pregnant women and others who may have health challenges of any form. Even though we do not wish that such events occur, if they do, there will

be no cause for alarm because everything needed to handle health situations have been provided. Besides health and security, our welfare, technical, production and coordination departments are full prepared” he said.

The musical concert at inception in 2006, he said, attracted 80,000 guests; 300,000 in 2007; 350,000 in 2008; 500,000 in 2009 while 2010 edition was “described as a glorious time of unfettered

fellowship with God’s people. In 2011, it featured Chevelle Franklyn, Kirk Franklyn, Nigerian Panam Percy Paul, Micah Stampley, Bishops Tudor Bismark and John Francis.”

Adefarasin, said the free all-night concert would feature praise, worship and prayers. “It is going to be an evening of excellent music delivered by some of the greatest and Nigerian recording gospel artistes,” he said.

Govt stresses need for strong manpower

F

OR Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mrs. Oluranti Odutola, only a trained workforce can effectively communicate the government’s programmes and policies to the people.

Mrs Odutola said this informed the commitment of the Lagos State Government to the training and retraining of its workers.

She spoke at the closing of a four-day training for workers of the ministry at the weekend. It was held at the Public Service Staff Development Centre, (PSSDC), Shangisha, a Lagos suburb.

She expressed the hope that the 40 public relations officers selected for the training across the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), would justify government’s investments by being more effective in their various offices.

By Yinka Aderibigbe

She said: “To remain as Centre of Excellence, Lagos State needs workers who would be able to communicate effectively and relate well with everyone whether at the level of a ministry, department or agency or parastatal. If you communicate well, you would be able to pass across the right information relating to government’s programmes and policies which would in turn, guide the people right.”

She said the training is the only legacy the government can give to workers to ensure that they are capable of succeeding the older ones and continue the tradition of excellence.

Mrs. Odutola challenged them to make use of the tips received at the training and train their subordinates.

PSSDC’s Director-General, Mrs. Olubunmi Fabanwo,

said the growing sophistication of the people and the emergence of social media have made it mandatory for government’s information managers to be armed with modern tools that would enhance their efficiency and effectiveness on the job.

Mrs. Fabanwo praised the participants for their readiness to learn, adding that the report she got from the course coordinators showed their readiness to give the public service the best.

Earlier, the coordinator, who is also PSSDC’s Assistant Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Oladiran Ajetunmobi, said the four-day training tagged: “Effective media relations,” have exposed participants to global trends in information management.

He said the resource persons were carefully selected from within the civil service

and outside, especially the print and electronic media, to give participants, skill on managing information for internal and external communication.

Ajetunmobi added that the centre would monitor the performance of participants.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the training, participants not only hailedGovernor Babatunde Fashola and the Information and Strategy Commissioner, Mr. Adebisi Ibirogba, for their commitment to manpower development.

They promised to use the knowledge imparted on them at the training.

One of the participants, Mr. Musbau Rasaq, said there is little doubt that participants have immensely benefitted from the training, adding that there would be remarkable improvement in the jobs assigned to them.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

11

NEWS Imo students to NANS: you betrayed us From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

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CHILDREN AND WIDOW: Oluwafemi (left); Bosede; Oluwaseyi; Oluwabukola and Mrs. Wuraola Abetesola after the funeral service for a member of staff of The Nation, Mr. Oluwole Joshua Abetesola at his Ilesa, Osun State home... at the weekend. PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Why we’re against Kalu, by Abia PDP elders

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HE plot against the readmission of former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thickened at the weekend.

At a town hall meeting organised by the indigenes in Abuja, chieftains of the party said Kalu’s re-entry would cause problems instead of uniting members.

A former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, blamed the former governor for the crises in the party.

He said: “Since he left the party, the rancour and quarrel in Abia have stopped. We, the

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

stakeholders of the PDP, took a decision that we don’t want Orji Kalu back. Since he left, there has been unity and peace in the state. That is what we want to be sustained. Where there is no peace, there will be no development.

“Not long ago, people associated Abia with terrorism and kidnapping. Companies in Abia even left, but now the presentgovernment has been able to restore confidence; now the companies are gradually coming back, which is what we don’t want to be hampered.”

A former PDP National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor,

who chaired the meeting, hailed Governor Theodore Orji for restoring peace to the state.

He said: “No matter what you do, people must find fault in you. However, we need peace in Abia.”

Labour and Productivity Minister Emeka Nwogu said: “We were exiling in Abuja before now; most of us lost our ‘manhood’. We thank God that it has been restored.

“At a time, we lost what made us men. The other time, some of us could not make it to a meeting in Abia due to fear of being kidnapped; we felt so bad about it.”

Orji urged the indigenes to give his administration the benefit of doubt.

He said: “The major problem I inherited was the personification of governance. We were all at daggers-drawn before now. I gave life back to Abians, there was a time that people ran away and nobody wanted to come home. Now, the security is restored and as at today, we have 250 health centres in the state. That is why I tell people, when are accessing me, access me as a person that receives only N3.5billion as monthly federal allocation and pays salary with N2.5billion.

We have already given employment to over 4,500 youths, but some people will go to their newspaper and start writing rubbish about the state...”

Udenwa decries ‘ailing’ Imo economy

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ORMER Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa has decried the “poor performance” of the state’s economy.

The former governor blamed the state government for what he called its crippling economic activities through unhealthy policies.

He noted that the state’s economy needed intervention to avoid further damage.

Udenwa addressed reporters in Owerri, the state capital.

The former governor said the collapse of the local government system in the state was responsible for the hardship the residents were experiencing.

According to him, the government needs to open up the economy to encourage public participation and job creation.

Udenwa said: “There should be concerted efforts to get the local government system in the state working again, to boost the economy of the rural communities and engage local contractors who are now jobless and languishing in poverty.

“The people are groaning under the harsh economic policies of this administration.

There is poverty everywhere and money is no longer in circulation. The government should open up opportunities that will engage the people.

The government does not give out money to the people.

“I don’t like comparing my administration with that of others. Running a government is not easy. You must know what the people want; you must listen to them and carry them along to ensure that they are part of the process of governance. You shouldn’t foist unpopular policies on them.”

The former governor decried the mounting insecurity in the state.

He noted that in the last one year, Imo State has recorded high criminal activities.

Udenwa said: “Most of our wealthy people are afraid of coming to the state to invest or

A

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

12.30pm on Saturday; the market is always busy on Saturdays. While we were attending to our customers, we started hearing sounds of gunshots in the market. At first, we thought policemen were chasing robbers. But we later observed that some armed robbers had invaded a beer parlour.

“As information came that robbers were in the market, people started running for safety. Traders closed their shops for fear of being attacked by the robbers. It was by the grace of God that no life was lost because there was stampede in the market.

“Fortunately, some mobile policemen arrived on the scene. When the robbers saw them, they entered their vehicle and drove off. We later gathered that the robbers stole about N1.3million

from the beer depot.

“We have not had such experience in the state for quite a while. Ebonyi State has been crime-free. If not for the quick response of the police, the robbers would have had a field day.”

A passenger at Peace Mass Transit, Mr. Ifeanyi Bassy, said he was travelling from Abakaliki to Onitsha when the incident occurred.

He said: “While we were at the park waiting for our bus to be filled, we saw people running from Vanco Junction to Afikpo Road. Following an enquiry, we were informed that some robbers were at the main market.

“Suddenly, we saw some heavily armed men parking a vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, in front of the park.

They started shooting into the air and rushed into the park.

They went to where tickets were being sold and carted away huge sums of money

Kalu calls for 38 states

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ORMER Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the creation of two more states in the Southeast to balance the Nigerian equation.

In a statement by his spokesman, Prince Emeka Obasi, Kalu said: “We are talking of equity. With the present 36 states structure, the North enjoys 19 while the South has 17.

To strike a balance, two states should emerge from the South to give Nigeria 38 states and achieve a 19/19 balance.”

The former governor advised the President to send an Executive Bill to the Senate to correct the anomaly.

He said: “We may not have to go through all the long haul of Constitutional grammar. This is a national emergency. The Southeast must get another state and one from the Southsouth, possibly Anioma, from the Old Mid-West.

“At Amalgamation in 1914, Nigeria was carved into North and South. The Richards Constitution of 1946 divided us into three regions, one in the North, two down South. This went on till Independence in 1960. By 1963, when the First Republic was born, the Mid-West Region was created to make it three in the South, one in the North. General Yakubu Gowon quickly balanced it when he came up with 12 states in 1967: six up, six down. No victor, no vanquished. However, General Murtala Muhammed changed all that shortly before he died in 1976...”

Abia gets N3.5b federal allocation From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

A •Udenwa

visit their kinsmen because of the fear of being abducted by rampaging kidnappers.”

Robbers steal N2m in Ebonyi SIX-man robbery gang at the weekend stole N2million from a popular transport company, Peace Mass Transit, at its Afikpo Road loading bay and a wholesale beer depot on Lagos Street, both in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

An eyewitness, who spoke in confidence, said the robbers drove a Mitsubishi Space Wagon.

They first invaded the beer depot, after shooting into the air to scare off residents at 12.45pm.

The hoodlums reportedly stole about N1.3million from the beer depot.

The eyewitness said the nearby Abakpa Main Market was thrown into confusion by the sounds of gunshots.

Most of the traders closed their shops for fear of being attacked.

The eyewitness said: “We were in the market at

HE apex students’ organisation, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has come under attack for its visit and presentation of award to Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha.

Imo State students, under the aegis of the National Association of Imo State Students (NAISS), described NANS as a betrayal of student unionism.

It berated the apex students’ body for allegedly placing selfish interests above the outcry of indigenous students.

NAISS criticised NANS for endorsing the “purported free education” of the Okorocha administration without seeking the opinions of the beneficiaries.

A NANS delegation, led by its National President, Comrade Dauda Mohammed, presented an award to Okorocha for his free education programme during a solidarity visit.

NAISS National President, Comrade Madunezim Chukwuma, noted that the actions of the NANS did not reflect the position of Imo State students.

He said NAISS did not support the free education policy of the government.

and immediately entered their vehicle and zoomed off.

“We were lucky nobody was shot. But some people were injured while they were trying to escape from the robbers. Four members of the gang came into the park; one stood outside while the driver was at the wheel.”

Efforts to get the Manager of the Peace Mass Transit and the owner of the company were unsuccessful. They were said to have gone to a nearby police station to report the incident.

Police spokesman Sylvester Igbo, a deputy Superintendent (DSP), confirmed the attack on Peace Mass Transit.

He, however, added that he had not received a formal report on the beer depot.

The police spokesman quoted the manager as saying the robbers stole N660,000 from the loading bay.

BIA State Governor Theodore Orji has said the state pays a N2.5billion monthly wage bill from its N3.5billion monthly federal allocation.

The state has N1.5billion for capital projects.

This is besides the monthly N400million the state receives as oil derivative, being an oil producing state, the governor said.

Orji spoke at the weekend in Abuja during a town hall meeting with Abia State indigenes resident in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and in the Diaspora.

The governor said it would be unfair for people to compare his developmental projects with other states with fatter allocations.

Orji said he can only work within the resources available to the state.

According to him, despite the fact that many other states get bigger federal allocations than Abia, the state has recorded appreciable development with the limited resources.

He added: “I should be assessed based on the income of N3.5billion I receive every month from the federation account.

Our derivation as an oil producing state is less than N400million.

Without mincing words, Abia is one of the states that are performing.”

The governor said his administration has recorded some modest progress in the security of the state, after shaking off the shackles of political godfathers.

Orji decried the rate of kidnapping in the state.

The governor said it was a plot by those he called undesirable elements to discredit his administration.

Group calls for integration of Southwest states

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GROUP, the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Group (COSEG), at the weekend rose from its monthly national leadership meeting in Lagos and urged Southwest governors to put Yoruba interest first in their agenda.

The group called for the promotion of sincere, genuine and total integration of the region, irrespective of political affiliation.

In a communiqué by Dayo Ogunlana and Razaq Olokoba, Chairman and Secretary, COSEG called for a “systematic support for growth and uniformity of development in education, agriculture, technology, industrialisation, economic and commercial areas, where they have comparative advantages”.

It urged state Assemblies in the region to ensure they meet twice a year for a resolution that would promote uniform and quick development in the region.

The communique added: “We also call on the National Assembly members from the region to agitate, in conjunction with the governors in the Yoruba states, for a special status for Lagos.”

The clamour for a special status for Lagos, the group insisted “is of paramount importance to us.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEWS Auchi attacks: Police arrest 10 suspects •Monarch leads protest

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HE EDO State Police Command has arrested 10 suspects in relation to last week’s attacks on four banks and a police station in Auchi.

Gunmen invaded Auchi, Estako West Local Government Area, last Monday, killing three soldiers and 12 civilians. The police said seven people were killed.

The hoodlums used grenades, dynamite and sophisticated weapons in the attacks that lasted for more than three hours.

Police sources told The Nation that the suspects were arrested at different joints and that three of them hail fromAuchi.

It was gathered that one of the inmates released by the gunmen at the police station was a driver of the gang, who was earlier arrested in connection with a robbery at Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government.

The source said the gang members were negotiating the driver’s release before the attack.

The Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Alieru Momoh, led a protest march on Auchi after three days fasting.

My village had no access road for 29 years, says Akpabio

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KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday said for almost 29 years, his village, Ukana in Essien Udim Local Government Area, had no access road.

Akpabio spoke with The Nation yesterday at the new Government House in Uyo, the state capital.

He said the federal road between Ikot Ekpene and Aba was bad and riding on commercial motorcycles to his village was an headache.

The governor said: “Every research in Africa and in the world shows that Nigeria ‘s

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

problem is not the availability of resources but how to utilise them.

“Leadership has been the bane of Nigeria’s situation. In those years, I was angry with the situation and I prayed to God to make me a leader, so that I could make a difference.

“I lived in Lagos then and every time I came home, I could not drive my car to my village. My village is on the road between Ikot Ekpene and Aba, the road that comes from Umuahi in Abia State.

“For 29 years, I had no road to my village. The

federal road between Ikot Ekpene and Aba was totally out of function and all the filling stations on that road were closed down. To even get a motorcycle to ply the road was a problem.”

On his former deputy’s, Mr. Nsima Ekere’s, resignation, Akpabio said it had nothing to do with the 2015 governorship election.

He said: “I do not think his resignation had anything to do with 2015. That is my personal opinion. I think it was the personal decision of a public servant, who decided to face other things.

“For instance, some people could be drivers and feel fulfilled and others could be managers and feel unfulfilled.

It really depends on what make you fulfilled as a person.

“So, I do not think it has anything to do with 2015.

There is nothing wrong in reading political meanings to anything that occurs in a political atmosphere, but as for me, I focus more on delivering the dividends of democracy to my people, rather than thinking of 2015.”

Akpabio assured the people of greater things to come.

Akwa Ibom to fight AIDS with N185m

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

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OUSE of Representatives’ Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, will host the Pan-African Regional Parliamentary Conference in Port Harcourt.

The conference will begin tomorrow and end on Thursday.

The venue is the Auditorium of the Rivers State House of Assembly on Moscow Road.

The African Union’s (AU’s) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, speakers of national parliaments in West Africa, members of the PanAfrican Parliament (PAP) from West Africa, representatives of the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and ministers are expected at the conference.

Participants will discuss the promotion of values and principles of public service, administration, democracy, elections and good governance, in accordance with the AU’s Legal Instruments and African Governance Platform.

‘Niger Delta, least developed oil region’

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HE Akwa Ibom State Government has approved N185 million for the Ministry of Health to sensitise the public on the prevalence of HIV/ AIDS in the state.

Governor Godswill Akpabio spoke at the weekend while hosting Dr. Kwame Ampomah, the United Nations’ (UN’s) AIDS Co-ordinator of Nigeria, at the Government House, Uyo. Akpabio decried the upsurge of HIV/AIDS in the country. Akwa Ibom State tops the chart with a 10.9 per cent prevalence rate.

He said: ‘’I am saddened that some donor agencies do not use the money given to them to take care of those living with the scourge. ‘’So with the assistance of the Federal and state governments, we would provide them with drugs.

With the usage of the drugs, the infected are bound to live long.”

Akpabio said the state government would send a bill to the House of Assembly for the creation of an AIDS agency to be inaugurated next year.

He said the agency would focus on preventing the spread of the disease and assisting people living with the virus.

The governor pledged to educate infected mothers on how to nurture their children without infecting them.

He urged people not to discriminate against people living with HIV/AIDS, but to assist by taking care of them.

Akpabio said: ‘’I call on people living with HIV/ AIDS to come forward for proper medical attention’’.

Ampomah said they were in the state to mark the World’s AIDS Day celebration and sensitise the people.

Tambuwal, Amaechi to host Pan-African conference

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

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•Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan (left) receiving a copy of the Collection of Poems written by Prof. Ogaga Ifowodo, a United States (US) based lecturer, activist and lawyer from the writer during a literary session at the Government House, Asaba...at the weekend.

IgbinedionvarsityhonoursKufuor, Sultan, others

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HE Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, at the weekend honoured former Ghanian President John Kufuor; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar and former Kogi State Governor Abubakar Audu with honorary doctorate degrees.

Others honoured included Chief Alfred Eghobamien, Mr. Edoghogho Ogunbor and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Services, Mr. Dikko Abdullahi.

The institution’s Chancellor, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, who is also the Esama of Benin, said he spent nine years pursuing the university’s licence of

•Sultan advocates skills acquisition From Osagie Otabor, Benin

operation.

Igbinedion said the establishment of nine federal universities by President Goodluck Jonathan has not solved the problem of paucity of space for students seeking admission.

He urged the President to introduce an intervention fund for private universities to support research and the knowledge needed for national transformation.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof. Eghosa Osaghea said over 7,000 students have graduated from the institution.

Prof. Osaghea said the statutes of the National Universities

Commission (NUC) and other regulatory bodies should be reviewed to enable the growth of private universities.

The Sultan of Sokoto, who gave the vote of thanks, called for the endowment of the younger generation with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the globalised and competitive world.

He said the higher educational sector should be reformed to focus on strategic goals.

Abubakar said: “States and the Federal Government will need to rise up to the challenge and raise the requisite financial resources that will make a real

difference in the system.

“There is also the urgent need to improve on organisational effectiveness, build the capacity of lecturers and managers and put in place a robust regulatory framework.

“The time has also come for us to stop paying lip-service to leadership development in our tertiary institutions. We are a nation of rich cultural and religious values and we must strive to impact these values in our younger generation.”

The Sultan urged Nigerians to work together to address the nation’s security challenges.

He said the current state of ethno-religious crisis, armed banditry and terrorist insurgences threaten national development.

DON, Prof. Augustine Ikelegbe, has decried the “deplorable condition of living” in the oilrich Niger Delta.

The professor of Comparative Politics and Public Policy at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) said the region is one of the least developed and most deprived oil-rich communities in the world.

Ikelegbe spoke at the inauguration of the Tompolo Foundation in Warri, Delta State, last weekend.

The don, who chaired the event, said: “The region’s struggle for special developmental attention since the 1950s has not yielded substantial fruit. Poverty is extensive and endemic in the region. The local inhabitants of the riverine and coastal areas and even the urban areas are daily subjected to abject poverty, misery and suffering.

“The youths have suffered disrupted education and the deprivation of basic health care and other social services.

They are not employable because of the lack of education, skills and relevant training.”

Military panel probes killing of six in Bayelsa

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MILITARY panel of investigation into the killing of six youths in Agge, Bayelsa State, last weekend took the evidence of eyewitnesses and members of the bereaved families in Warri, Delta State.

The Captain I.A Suleimanled panel, sitting in the Effurun Barracks of the Nigerian Army, took

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

evidence from the parents, wives and children of the deceased.

A source at the meeting said one of the women broke into tears while recounting the last hours of her late husband.

The six youths were killed by troops of the Joint Task Force, code-named ‘Operation Pulo Shield’, around Agge,

Bayelsa State, on July 23 in unclear circumstance.

The Coordinator of the JTF Joint Media Campaign Centre, Lt. Col Onyeama Nwachukwu, in a statement after the incident, said the deceased were sea pirates, who engaged troops in a gun fight.

“On sighting our troops, the sea pirates opened fire and the troops retaliated

immediately, leading to the killing of six pirates,” he said.

Nwachukwu’s claim was contested by an Ijaw human rights group, the Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI), which accused the JTF of cold-blooded murder.

IPDI, in a statement by Comrade Austin Ozobo, said the youths were taken alive by the troops and were later

paraded in Agge before being taken to an unknown destination where they were shot dead.

Ozobo backed his claim with a photograph, which was allegedly taken during the parade of the six youths in Agge Community.

The photo showed six youths handcuffed and naked to the waist.

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PLATEAU STATE UNIVERSITY, BOKKOS P.M.B. 2012, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

V A C A N C I E S Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the post of BURSAR and UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN of the Plateau State University, Bokkos. The Governing Council of the University has therefore decided in accordance with the law establishing the Plateau state University wishes to commence the processes for the appointment of qualified candidates to fill up the vacancies..

for the overall administration of the University Library, its branches and extension and for providing library services for the entire University community.

1. VACANCY FOR THE POST OF UNIVERSITY BURSAR

d) SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE The successful applicant will be placed on CONUASS 7 with relevant fringe benefits, and will equally enjoy all allowances normally attached to the position of Principal Officers in Nigerian Universities.

A. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE Applicants must possess the following: i) A good first degree in Accounting, Economics or Business Administration. ii) Members of any of the following Professional Accountancy bodies: • Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria.

• Association of National Accountant of Nigeria.

• Association of Corporate and Certified Accountants.

• Institute of Chartered Accountants of United Kingdom, Scotland or Ireland (UK).

• Institute of Cost and Management Accountants.

Candidates should have at least fifteen (15) years cognate postqualification working experience in a university or similar Institution.

B. DUTIES The Bursar is the Chief Financial Officer of the University and shall be responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the day-to-day administration and control of the financial affairs of the University.

2. VACANCY FOR THE POST OF A UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the post of UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN of the Plateau State University, Bokkos. The Governing Council of the University has therefore decided in accordance with the law establishing the Plateau state University wish to commence the process for the appointment of substantive University Librarian.

Interested candidates who meet requisite qualifications and experience as specified below are invited to apply: a) Qualifications and Experience Candidates for this post must be professionally qualified and practicing librarians; possess a good honors degree in Library Science from a recognized University, plus a higher degree (preferably Ph.D) with at least 15 (fifteen) years relevant experience, preferably in a University or other institutions of higher learning; have contributed to knowledge through research and publications in reputable journals, as well as possess proven records of sound administrative leadership; must be ICT compliance; not be below the rank of a Deputy Librarian; not be more than 60 years of age or 65 years in the case of a Professor on assumption of duty. b) DUTIES The University Librarian shall be responsible to the Vice-Chancellor

c) TENURE The tenure of the University Librarian, as a Principal Officer of the University, is for five (5) years.

e) COMPUTER LITERACY Candidate must possess evidence of computer literacy and a demonstrable ability in the use of computer and access to the internet. f) METHOD OF APPLICATION Applicants should submit twenty-five (25) copies each of their applications and curriculum vitae, indicating full names; post sought; date and place of birth; nationality; permanent home and current contact addresses; marital status; number and ages of children; academic/professional qualifications (attach photocopies of all certificates); previous working experience (giving duration, posts held and salary); details of research work and publications (attach evidence where applicable); extra-curriculum activities; names and addresses of 3 persons to supply academic and/or professional reference.

Applications should be address to: The Registrar & Secretary to Council Plateau State University, Bokkos PMB 2012 Bokkos, Plateau State, Nigeria NOTE THAT: Applicants are advised to write boldly at the left hand corner of the envelopes containing their Applications, the position to which they are responding. a) Reference Letters: Referees are advised to send their reports on candidates under confidential cover, directly to the Registrar and Secretary to Council as addressed above. b) Closing Date: The closing date for the receipt of the applications is six (6) weeks from the date of this publication.

C. B. Longpoe Ag. Registrar/Secretary to Council ANNOUNCER

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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COMMENTARY EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

EDITORIALS

Press freedom at risk

Unconscionable country •Ex-banker had to resort to hunger strike in quest for terminal benefits

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T must be a symptom of a decadent institution and a failing state when a citizen is pushed to the point where he has no other recourse than to wish for death. Such is the case of 53-year-old Olubiyi Odunaro and 14,000 other former banker colleagues who were yanked off their bank jobs about seven years ago for no fault of theirs, and without requisite severance benefit. Frustrated that nothing was being done by the relevant authorities to pay him and his colleagues their dues, Odunaro embarked on an indefinite hunger strike on November 12, to press home their collective grievances.

Uncannily, two weeks after he made his home on a lawn along the busy Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos, none of the three concerned entities that ought to act - the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), did as much as notice Odunaro lying waste out there in the open. If they did, they never showed it.

Notably, Odunaro had made direct and indirect appeal to the Presidency to look into his plight but with nary a word from Aso Rock. He had made a bold banner which he hung over his mattress by the roadside where he put up for two weeks.

The inscription on the banner reads: “I am on hunger strike to press home (the) request of 14,000 ex-staff of non-consolidated banks for their terminal benefits.

President Goodluck Jonathan, please show you care for the welfare of all Nigerians…”

Not a wink from Abuja. It took the in-

tervention of the Lagos State Public Advice Centre to reach him, to mediate and to seek to lift him from his prostrate, debilitating and sub-human state. A perspicacious Lagos State Government has managed to rescue Odunaro from selfstarvation and possible death, but the reason for the action remains.

During the era of banking consolidation and recapitalisation when the CBN had drastically reduced the number of banks in the country from about 100 to 25, many banks which could not merge had been hastily de-licensed and wound down. In that exercise, most workers of the defunct banks had been left in the lurch. For many of those banks that could not recapitalise or merge, it was convenient for their sponsors to allow them go through the process of mercy killing because they were mere hollow shells. Most of the sponsors, directors and top management had become more affluent than the banks anyway. It was the workers and depositors who suffered in that hastily executed banking reform policy.

Up till now, the CBN never resolved the issues of disengaged workers and the depositors. While thousands of staff lost their jobs without terminal benefits, most depositors whose funds were trapped never recovered them. All their entreaties to the CBN, the Federal Government and even their recourse to the courts ended up in utter frustration.

Apparently, it is because the CBN is culpable, that is why it would watch Odunaro go on hunger strike for two weeks and it maintained a callous si-

lence. Perhaps the CBN wished that Odunaro would pass on so that the matter would be forgotten for good. But we do not think that is going to happen. The CBN would have to show Nigerians how it resolved issues arising from its consolidation and recapitalisation policy of 2005.

Apart from the fact that some of the reform policies of that era are being reversed today, and again with attendant casualties, we urge the CBN to endeavour to initiate a concrete policy about the status of bank staff as it goes about its endless experimentation in the name of reform. The CBN must revisit the matter of depositors and bank staff who were casualties of that whirlwind reform. They must be met some way.

‘Uncannily, two weeks after he made his home on a lawn along the busy Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos, none of the three concerned entities that ought to act - the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), did as much as notice Odunaro lying waste out there in the open.

If they did, they never showed it’

Shocker from PPPRA •249 staff take home N5.7bn as salaries and allowances!

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HE joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Petroleum (Downstream) is correctly scandalised as to how a whopping sum of 5.7 billion naira can be spent on the emoluments of the staff of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). This incredible budget expenditure was shared as salaries of merely 249 members of staff, for the payment of their Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and National Health Insurance Scheme, according to the Executive Secretary of the agency, Reginald Stanley.

He made the revelation when he appeared before the joint committee in Abuja, to defend the 2013 budget.

But for this revelation, many Nigerians would not know that the PPPRA is deeply

‘It is necessary for the National Assembly to conduct a thorough probe into this scandal, to see whether the budgeted money is a conduit for other higher interests. It needs to find out, what impact and leverage the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have over the PPPRA and its budget process. Considering the predilection of the petroleum sector to act as conduit for state corruption, there is the need to spread the enquiry to find out who was responsible for this audacious rip-off of our national resources’

racketeering in-house just as it aligns with external accomplices in the subsidy regime, in terms of fleecing the national treasury. It is incredible that such amount of money can be spent as the budgetary need of that small, but notorious agency.

Our curiosity is furthered by the fact that its 2012 and 2013 budgets were supposed to have passed through the scrutiny of the Federal Ministry of Finance. Specifically, we ask the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, how such a scandalous pay packet passed through her brief. It appears that despite the hullabaloo about scrutiny and coordination, budgetary process is still devoid of rigour.

The proposed entitlements show that the PPPRA members of staff may be among the top earners in the country, in addition to their other sundry incomes.

When it is factored in that the PPPRA is the primary agency presiding over the biggest corruption scandal in our recent history, commonly called the subsidy regime, there is a need for the anti-corruption agencies to look more closely at its modus operandi. In seeking responsibility for this inhouse scandal, it may be necessary to find out how the agency arrived at the salary structure, vis-a-vis the approving authority, and the extant regulations guiding such acts. Or is the agency independent of the extant Federal Government’s regulations on salaries and emoluments?

It is necessary for the National Assembly to conduct a thorough probe into this scandal, to see whether the budgeted money is a conduit for other higher interests. It needs to find out, what impact and leverage the Ministry of Petroleum Re-

sources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have over the PPPRA and its budget process. Considering the predilection of the petroleum sector to act as conduit for state corruption, there is the need to spread the enquiry to find out who was responsible for this audacious rip-off of our national resources. Obviously this revelation explains why the NNPC did all it could to avoid its budget passing through the National Assembly.

The claim by the PPPRA that it has saved 671.706 billion naira in subsidy payments, if indeed true, is a further confirmation that what happened last year as subsidy regime was unabated criminality. It is unbelievable that the same agency that shares, even if partly, the blame for the previous year’s scam and outlandish payments of phantom subsidy for products that were never supplied, would regard any form of restraint in this criminal act as saving the government money; when none of its staff has been indicted or punished for the confirmed malfeasance.

If we may ask, what has happened to those responsible for those payments that the agency is claiming to have saved the nation, or is the claim enough restitution for criminality? By the time the joint committee receives the agency’s payroll; it would be interesting to find out what the huge pay amounts to per person. This issue and all similar queries raised since the budget defence started must be pursued to logical conclusion, in the country’s interest.

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ILLIONS of Britons were justifiably outraged over last year’s serial revelations of illegal and unethical behaviour by the powerful and influential tabloid press in Britain. But the regulatory remedies proposed Thursday by an official commission of inquiry seem misplaced, excessive and potentially dangerous to Britain’s centuries-old traditions of a press free from government regulation.

In a nearly 2,000-page report, the commission, led by Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson, catalogued the glaring misdeeds of Rupert Murdoch’s sensationalist tabloid, The News of the World, which is no longer published.

Noting, among other things, the tabloid’s “reckless disregard for accuracy,” and “lack of respect for individual privacy,” it called on Parliament to create an independent regulatory body with the authority to fine newspapers up to $1.6 million for violating its guidelines. This new organization, which newspapers could join voluntarily, would replace the largely ineffective Press Complaints Commission, run by the news industry itself, which is supposed to uphold a code of ethical journalistic practices agreed to by participating publications.

Creating an independent regulatory body would require new legislation. To his credit, Prime Minister David Cameron seems opposed to proceeding in that direction. Conscientious members of all political parties should oppose it as well.

British newspapers operate in a harsher legal environment than the American press.

They must navigate an Official Secrets Act, which criminalizes the publication of classified information and a plaintiff-friendly libel law, which lacks American-style exceptions for public figures. But they have been free from government licensing since 1694.

A regulatory panel backed by law is a big step in the wrong direction.

Press independence is as essential a bulwark of political liberty in Britain as it is everywhere. That independence should not, and need not, be infringed upon now. Much of the conduct described in the report on Thursday — hacking into voice mail messages of ordinary citizens and illegally obtaining medical records — is not news gathering. They are illegal acts under British law.

So are bribery, corrupt relations with police officials and political figures and other abuses attributed to the tabloid press.

In such instances, newspapers can claim no shield against civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution. Those remedies, not government regulation, are the right ways to stop the kind of behaviour alleged against The News of the World, and good deterrents against misconduct by other papers.

– New York Times

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

•Editorial Page Editor Sanya Oni •Chairman,Editorial Board • Executive Director Sam Omatseye (Finance & Administration) •General Editor Ade Odunewu Kunle Fagbemi • Gen. Manager •Editor Online (Training and Development) Lekan Otufodunrin Soji Omotunde •Managing Editor Northern Operation •Chief Internal Auditor Yusuf Alli Toke Folorunsho •Managing Editor • Senior Manager (Sales) Waheed Odusile Akeem Shoge •Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon •Advert Manager Robinson Osirike •Deputy Editor (News) •IT Manager Niyi Adesina Bolarinwa Meekness •Group Political Editor Bolade Omonijo •Press Manager Udensi Chikaodi •Abuja Bureau Chief Yomi Odunuga •Manager, Corporate Marketing •Sport Editor Hameed Odejayi Ade Ojeikere •Group Business Editor Ayodele Aminu

• Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: Of recent, the Ekiti State Government has been beaming its searchlight on primary and post-primary education in the state, an effort that has, in no small measure, pitched members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) against the Kayode Fayemi administration. However, my observation of education and its minders in the State has shown me that the rot and celebrated mediocrity do not stop at these levels, but extend deep into the recesses of the newly christened Ekiti State University (EKSU) and the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti.

Higher education is a learning that captures universality (the world view). It is an institute where talents and potentials are discovered, nurtured and groomed to partake meaningfully in creating a better world for the convenience of its inhabitants.

Gradually, the world is progressing from an energy-based economy to a knowledge-based economy where technology is shaping our lives and world view.

In Korea and the East Asian, human resources rooted in cerebral creativity, have moved these countries from the backstage of economic doldrums to the centre-stage of economic advancement. In all these countries, the university

EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Let’s remake Ekiti State University plays a crucial role in developing and grooming the drivers of these economies. Can the minders of Ekiti State University (EKSU) seriously say they are grooming students for leadership positions? Can they beat their chests and proclaim that the knowledge they are dishing out is in tandem with the 21st century?

The university represents hope, exposure, expression and exploration for students and would-be students - someone coming from the rural parts where native knowledge is in excess and modern knowledge is in shortfall.

Ekiti State University can barely boast of any aesthetic beauty. You are confronted with structures, poorly executed in some instances.

Recently, I was at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB). In fact, the lush surroundings of FUNAAB seem to be better-minded than that of OAU.

It seems that year in, year out, the minders of EKSU have concerned themselves more with infighting, politics, and fraud-related crisis. Rather than create conducive environment for learning from the tuition fees they take and their yearly subvention, the school authority seems to have lost the purpose of its calling. As a patriotic Ekiti man, after 30 years of the university existence, with its chameleonic nomenclatures, I still feel that my state does have a university. And this is why I agree with the scrapping of the mushroom universities established by ex-Governor Governor Segun Oni which could have worsened our already festering situation.

Besides the stifling environment of the university, there are some of the university’s lecturers (and this is verifiable) who still use the lesson materials of early nineties when in fact there are changing

views on the world stage on a daily basis.

Governor Kayode Fayemi and his Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Eniola Ajayi, have got their job cut out for them. We simply cannot continue to add to Nigeria’s problems by producing ill-prepared graduates. If we fail to do anything, in future, these students would curse us all for ill-preparing them and making them worthless in the labour market. Ask graduates of Ekiti State University (or UNAD) who apply for Masters at UI or OAU; they would share their ordeal with you. Should our university become a brand for rejection or excellence? Now is the time to make our choice? Fayemi is trying his best but he needs to make the necessary changes now.

Professor Akin Oyebode was in the process of setting the school on the path of glory before Ayo Fayose yanked him off in the name

Nigeria needs urgent revival for rebirth

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IR: Consequent upon the challenges Nigeria is passing through in terms of unrighteousness among the rank and file of its citizens, widespread corruption from the leaders to the followers, insecurity, immorality, organized mass killings motivated by religious, economic, political and ethnic hatred, bombing, mass poverty, electoral fraud, violent crimes, kidnapping, financial fraud, human/ drug trafficking, cultism, greediness, and lack of fear of God, I want to state prophetically that Nigeria needs revival courtesy of the reli-

gious leaders in the country especially in a time like this when everything seems to be fighting against the peace and progress of the nation.

The revival in Nigeria will put to shame the devil and his agents that have united more than ever to wage war against Nigerians and break up the country (God forbids) hence, the revival will liberate and revive Nigerians from the shackles of the wicked and make Nigerians submit to God (Isaiah 66:3).

God has heard the cry of His people in Nigeria and the revival

will make the enemies of Nigeria and Nigerians submit by freeing them from all sins and unrighteousness. As this is also a time for Nigerians to seek the face of God for Him to restore peace and bless the country.

Through the revival and by the greatness of God’s power, all the enemies troubling the nation will submit - Isaiah 59: 19. Nigerians need to tow the path to genuine repentance, trust and fear of God so that with our collective prayers, Nigeria shall overcome her problems and rise again, as God will deal with the Pha-

raohs and Egyptians of our nation.

Most Nigerians do not know or understand the efficacy of God’s power, such that, there is lack of Knowledge, as recorded in Hosea 4:6. Most people exalt the power of Satan and his agents more than God’s because they are ignorant of God’s power. They cherish human beings, worship lesser gods and disobey God. • Prophet OIadipupo FunmiladeJoel (Sekunderin) General Overseer, The Way of Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (TWOREM) Int’l.

of politics. Governor Fayemi should discountenance these coatwearing multi-degree-parading so-called university administrators with no exposure and administrative competence. Now is the time to shun theory and give vent to practical if Ekiti State University must truly become a university.

• ‘Dimeji Daniels dimejidaniels@gmail.com Ekiti State.

We need citizenship education IR: Over half of the entire populace of the country are not grounded in the nation’s ideals. A therapy for this ailment is the introduction of the study of Citizenship education in our institutions of learning.

As the family plays its part in building veritable citizens, so should the schools and institutions of learning play their part for things to work well together. Of importance should be the secondary schools because this is when the individual’s formation of character begins. I was filled with satisfaction when a secondary school approached me to see him through his assignment on the subject. It is a step in the right direction. If such an attitude is sustained, it will be good for our nation.

Section 23 of 1999 Constitution which states that “The national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-reliance and Patriotism” should be the foundation, which can be followed by upholding the contents of Section 24 and other similar sections.

Nigerians stand to gain a lot with the inclusion of this scheme to the curriculum of different institutions of learning.

S

• Ekpo Uduakobong, LagosState.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

COMMENTS

What is wrong with Pastors owing private jets?

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ECENT criticisms generated by the increasing number of our religious leaders acquiring aircrafts should be expected. This is so because such men of God are seen to be above the board and should be men not cut-out for worldly things. They are supposed to be men that should be distracted by the vanities of this world so that they can effectively discharge their duty of winning souls for Christ.

They are expected, against all odds, to stand firm in faith even in the face of daunting earthly trials, persecutions and tribulations.

But failure to adhere to this disciplined life is fast on the increase among a reasonable number of such high-flying Nigerian pastors.

Basically, the church is founded on the principles of virtue and sacrifice for the sake of Christ – a foundation laid on the threshold of propagating Christ’s teachings - to win souls by helping to bring those who have gone astray into the fold and to lead the faithful to salvation, being the ultimate desire of every devout Christian.

It is regrettable that many of our pastors and churches today have strayed away from this original obligation and purpose of pursuing righteousness, at the altar of chasing earthly material things as they never practiced what they preached.

But contrary to popular position, the ownership of private jets among pastors is not a luxury but a necessity and an essential tool for their pastoral and public duties. These pastors claim that evangelism will be made easier and more efficient through the use of jets.

However, the wealthy American, Warren Buffet recently punctured this line of argument when he said, “Everyone who says he needs a private jet to make important appointments is a liar. They need it for their ego. Name one of them that is busier than I am or who owns more US corporations than I do”. Buffet, who was once the richest man in the world, does not even own a jet as he often flies in commercial aircrafts!

Forbes magazine claimed that the nation may have spent about $6.5 billion in the purchase of private jets by government officials and pastors, a trend that had grown exponentially from about 20 jets in year 2000 to the current level of more than 160.

Top on Forbes’ list are pastors, especially, those of the Pen-

‘Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, is said to own a Gulfstream Jet 5 brand worth $30 million. Pastors Joseph Agbodi of the Victorious Army Ministries, Sam Adeyemi of the Daystar Ministries and Temitope Joshua are said to own private jets, among others’

By Adewale Kupoluyi tecostal churches, which have allegedly spent over $250 million on their new found hobby.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigerian is, perhaps, the latest but he’s really not the only one who now flies around the world in the comfort of his luxurious aircraft.

Pastors David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (Winners’ Chapel) is also said to own three private aircrafts, namely the Gulfstream G550 said to cost over $40 million, Gulfstream V Gulfstream G450 and a Lear Jet, which cost about $15 million and $14 million respectively.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, is said to own a Gulfstream Jet 5 brand worth $30 million. Pastors Joseph Agbodi of the Victorious Army Ministries, Sam Adeyemi of the Daystar Ministries and Temitope Joshua are said to own private jets, among others.

With the array of jet-owing pastors, the general feelings among the people is that the expensive lifestyles of these pastors are in contrast with the teachings of Christianity, especially, amid the glaring poverty and hardship in the land.

Such resources committed to flamboyance and misplaced priorities like the purchase of jets as well as the cost of maintenance could have been deployed into more useful activities that will have direct impact on the lives of the pastors themselves and the people, in terms of generation of employment, social services and municipal facilities that will, in turn, spawn income for the churches and invariably reduce the burden of imposing frequent levies on the already drained members.

Apart from the controversial private jets, churches are now seen as places where religious leaders own choice properties, fortunes and to an extent, join the political train, to acquire power to become relevant in the society. This is made worse when religious leaders compete among themselves to own fleet of aircrafts, travel in expensive jeeps in convoys of siren-blaring vehicles or have chains of businesses - these acts call to question, the sincerity of those who claim to have such divine calling.

Apart from some missionaries such as the orthodox and the Catholic Churches that have established schools, hospitals and other social services for both the rich and the poor, most of the churches that we now have run such ventures to secure their investments.

In a desperate bid to get money, some religious leaders go extra miles to make clearly unsubstantiated, cynical and spurious claims from their followers, who attend these churches, in a bid to get miracles, which in most cases, are non-existent.

From time-to-time, they organize vigils, crusades, deliverance services and other crowd-pulling revivals, to bring together as many multitudes of worshippers to contribute to a pool of offerings

that are managed absolutely with largely low level transparency and devoid of accountability.

Many of the so-called men of God are highly dictatorial as they engage in various antics such as divide-and-rule that tend to nefariously solidify their grip on the financial fortunes of their churches and weaken the collective will of their congregations and resist any form of lawful challenge.

Proliferation of churches is, no doubt, a recent phenomenon in Nigeria as most of the existing ones were born in the late 1980s, after the economic depression occasioned by the Structural Adjustment Programme and the painful Breton Wood institutions induced policies. This is coupled with the prolonged military rule that had induced some negative socio-political consequences for the nation – endemic corruption, unemployment, sectarian crises and increased poverty.

These societal problems, fostered by bad governance over the years had led not a few adherents to quickly wish for a way out of such problems that governments, as a constitutional duty, had failed to offer any succour – so the fastest and easy way-out - visit mushroom churches, dance and smile away sorrow.

And at the end, people’s pitiable conditions remain same or even become more critical as the religious leaders smile home with financial resources at the detriment of these hapless people. It is instructive to note that recently, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, observed that ‘the acquisition of private jets by Christian leaders diminishes the moral voice of the church in the fight against corruption’.

Kukah spoke against the backdrop of the presentation of a private jet to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, by members of his church, at the 40th anniversary of Oritsejafor’s ministry.

The Prelate, who was guest speaker at the annual Founder’s Day Anniversary lecture of Providence Baptist Church in Lagos, described the exhibition of such opulence by church leaders as ‘embarrassing’.

“The stories of corrupt men and women being given recognition by their churches or mosques as gallant sons and daughters and the embarrassing stories of pastors displaying conspicuous wealth as we hear from the purchases of private jets and so on clearly diminish our moral voice”, he had stated.

The nation is in dire need of change, due to the near collapse of all known social institutions – government, economics, education and marriage. For other pastors that may be contemplating of purchasing their own private jets - which in all frankness is nothing but a status symbol - they should shelve such plans and be made to realize that the church, more than ever before, must be real agent of the much-desired change in the nation.

•Kupoluyi wrote in from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

Regional integration needs collective efforts

I

Recently, at a South-South Economic Summit, the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, re-proposed regional partition of the huge cauldron called Nigeria for effective administrative governance.

Short after, the former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku recommended a division into six regions instead of the existing 36 states. His reason, like that of the Nobel Laureate, is for effective and easy administration of the nation as opposed to the present gigantic central arrangement.

With the incessant calls from eminent Nigerians, it is becoming increasingly apparent that if the country must achieve and attain greatness, the central government has to be unbundled – the centre should be decentralised so as to give more effective administrative roles to the composite units, this time round, the regions; as it once was during the First Republic.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the present over-bloated Federal system constitutes a great and serious impediment to growth, progress and development. This explains why there have been repeated calls for drastic reduction in the size and cost of running the federal octopus if the nation must realize its aspiration of becoming a great country. Small, they say, is sometimes better and preferred because the bigger the head the bigger the headache.

Against this backdrop, the Governor of the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola with his fellow governor colleagues in the south-west have firmly resolved to look inward in search of lost value-based leadership, which can propel the fortunes of the region to greater height.

Hence, the renaissance of regional integration aimed at realizing a people’s collective potentialities that are necessary ingredients for nation building. To achieve this uphill task requires that all hands must be on deck; for any discordant tune carries within it a destructive seed.

Thus, Aregbesola, recognizing the spirit of collectivism and team-playing, intends to rally with other colleagues to discuss on how to take the south-west back to its days of glory

By Kunle owolabi in order to lift it out of its present doldrums.

In consonance with this intent, a summit tagged Yoruba Developmental Agenda was organized on September 23, 2010 at the Cultural Centre in Ibadan by all stakeholders across the Yoruba nation.

The summit offered a platform for exhaustive discussion on the way forward for the region; the outcome was a documentation of action plan by intellectual think-thank and politicians called Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN): A Roadmap.

Since then, the Governor of the State of Osun has been working tirelessly with others to make sure some of the enunciated proposals in the document sooner than later transform into concrete development for people of the region.

To Ogbeni, what urgently must come to reality are concrete steps towards a regional cooperation and integration among the south-western states –focus is also on Edo State – so as to boost the region’s socioeconomic growth and development and improve upon its fortune collectively.

Collectively in the sense that to obtain prime result, the key word is ‘team-playing’ or what is called ‘consensus ad idem (meeting of the minds), in legal parlance, among the six states, the absence of which nothing meaningful could be achieved. Ogbeni’s passion stems from the need for sister states to come together and approach the multifarious developmental programmes highlighted to be vital to the region’s development.

This is how he succinctly puts it: “So if we want to integrate, it means we are formalizing a process that naturally existed before by our common heritage, language, history and uniformity of culture. It is an economic programme that cannot be affected adversely by anybody. It was natural. Traders will go to Owena Market whether any government wants it or not. Ditto for Akure Market or any market in the region for that matter.”

Further more, he said: “We are looking at a programme where all our governments can work and support ourselves officially with government resources. That is all. It involves conviction and commitment of a government.”

It requires team play. A team player is one who objectively believes in a cause of action and is ready to unflinchingly cooperate, genuinely join efforts, willingly collaborate, assiduously work with, support others, readily prepare to pool resources together and adroitly work in partnership with others to achieve their set goals.

These are, in Aregbesola’ opinion, the necessary components a team-player must possess to be able to participate in the developmental agenda. Going a step further, he also identifies the essential areas in need of urgent attention to include the following – education, commerce, Agriculture, transportation and wealth management and distribution.

Lagos unarguably needs help to boost its agricultural practice. In fundamental nature, in Aregbesola’s viewpoint, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti State have the potential to farm for Lagos.

In other words, with the current available resource, both human and materials, at the disposal of the six states, some revolution could be stirred in agriculture if they are jointly administered.

It is also Ogbeni’s observation that Lagos, with a population of about 15 million, has and provides a vast market for the whole region, the largest West African sub-region.

Lagos needs food crops as well as raw material for industries, which exist in commercial quantities in other sister states.

What ought to be done is to facilitate easy and direct access of the farm produce to Lagos market as well as direct finished products from Lagos to the hinterland states. To this extent, intra-state trade and specialization would be established and promoted simultaneously among member states.

This is where transportation comes in. It

was reported that the six states have sent a blue print on rail system within the southwest to the Federal Government for concession.

The state signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), whereby it undertakes to foot the bill of farm produce transported from the state to Osun as well as finished products returned to the state.

There is also preference for education.

Today, there are numerous universities scattered across the six states – some wellestablished and some hurriedly and haphazardly put together. Aregbesola holds the belief that if the spirit of collectivism operates, the whole southwest can have just one big university with the existing campuses across the six states serving as colleges, with the field of studies allocated based on the need, the prevailing factors and existing resources as well as comparative advantage in those areas.

A typical example is the Harvard University, which has its main campus at Cambridge but also has colleges scattered across other states in the US. For instance, apart from its major Cambridge/Allston and Longwood campuses, Harvard owns and operates Arnold Arboretum, in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston; the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington; the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts; and the Villa I Tatti Research Center inFlorence. This is in addition to its operating theHarvard Shanghai Center in China.

In this way, resources allocated in different states for education would be pooled together so as to achieve best possible results.

All that it requires to achieve these laudable objectives is for the six states to work cooperatively by subordinating their personal interests in order to achieve a common goal. Kunle Owolabi is of the Bureau of Communications and Strategy, office of the Governor of the State of Osun.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

22

COMMENTS

I

F you ask the average Nigerian the likely reaction of people of the south-east to any political issue that concerns their common destiny, his most probable answer would be disagreement. In line with this perception, the zone has been constantly portrayed as incapable of reaching consensus on issues affecting them. And sometimes, this contrived dissonance has proved a very convenient excuse to deny them their rights within the larger federal set up.

Not unexpectedly, the actions or inactions of some of those who have been thrown up as their leaders in the last 42 years or so have not helped matters in sustaining this negative ascription to once a very organized and very cohesive group. In the competition among the dominant groups for the spoils of our common being, no body has cared whether this malignant culture is real or imaginary; imposed or part of the social formation of the people of the area.

As the so-called inability or incapacity of people of the south-east to speak with one voice is being elevated beyond reasonable proportions, nobody has given a thought to why this has been so. No body seemed to have realized that it was the same group, armed with bare hands and crude implements that waged a 30-month war against the rest of the federation. If they were such a culturally disorganized group; if they had no leaders and respect for leadership; if dissension is part of their political culture, could they have carried out that feat as a people?

‘Obasanjo who became the president in 1999 took serious steps to ensure that this culture of imposition of sundry characters as Igbo leaders continued. Events in Anambra state then were ample testimony to this conclusion. Even though there was a governor elected by the people, Obasanjo raised surrogates who never allowed the governor to rest’

T

Emeka OMEIHE 08121971199 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

South-East discord This poser takes us closer to the main thesis of our presentation and it is that the Igbo are not a culturally disorganized or disoriented group as they are being portrayed. They are also not incapable of reaching consensus on issues of their common existence. It will be helpful to locate the source of this conduct and subsequent stigmatization. Put in another way, we need to locate at what point in the relationship between the people of the zone and others this schism set in. Without fear of contradiction, it would appear to me that this stigmatization is of a very recent history; and it is largely an imposition from the outside. It derives it force from events since after the civil war and was deliberately created by Nigerian leaders so that no strong voice could ever rise up again from that zone. It was in the interest and part of the strategy of the Nigerian government to ensure that the people do not easily reach common grounds for fear that cohesion could lend itself to actions supposedly against national unity. This assertion might sound controversial or even absurd or both but it finds ample justification from events since after that civil war.

It started with the appointment of marginal Igbo people into key federal slots meant for the zone during the years the military held sway. These yes members ensured they did the bidding of those who appointed them.

They were neither answerable to their people nor did they have compelling reasons to identify with their genuine wishes and aspirations.

They were constantly under the prying eyes of their masters who ensured they did their bidding. Any attempt to identify with their people is viewed from the prism of trying to resurrect the memories of the civil war. It be-

HE coverage in the western media of leadership changes at the Chinese Communist party’s 18th congress has been almost uniformly negative. Critics say corruption pervades the upper echelons of the party, policy issues are not publicly discussed and the Chinese people are completely left out of the process.

There is some truth to such criticisms but they miss the big picture. The Chinese political system has undergone a significant change over the past three decades and it comes close to the best formula for governing a large country: meritocracy at the top, democracy at the bottom, with room for experimentation in between.

There is a good case for popular participation at local levels. People usually know what’s needed in their communities and they have a good sense of the competence and character of the leaders they choose. In fact, most Chinese participate in local-level elections.

In a big country, however, one person, one vote is problematic. From a moral point of view, citizens should vote for the common good because their votes affect not just themselves but other people. Yet voters tend to vote with their pocketbooks. Many can’t even do that well, since they lack economic competence. One group of voters – the rich – has a better understanding of economics and finds it easy to skew the system in their favour.

To remedy the problem the economist Bryan Caplan proposes tests of voter competence, but that’s a non-starter in democracies because nobody wants to give up the vote once they have it. Hence, it really is the end of history, but in the bad sense that no improvements are possible once the system of one person, one vote is in place.

There is a deeper problem with democracy. It confers voting rights only to adults within national borders. But it’s not just voters who are affected by the policies of the government: non-voters such as future generations and people living outside the country are also affected. In Europe and the US, the public repeatedly votes for lower taxes and higher benefits, recklessly mortgaging the future of their countries. And let’s not mention global warming.

So how leaders should be chosen at the central level?

Ideally, the process should be meritocratic: the mechanism should be explicitly designed to choose leaders with superior competence and virtue. Over the past three decades or so, the CPC has gradually transformed itself from a revolutionary party to a meritocratic organisation.

came very fashionable for such appointees to take pride in not identifying with their people. In some instances, they openly stood against the collective interests of their people. And who are you to query them?

With the departure of the military, we had thought that such impositions had gone for good. But we were wrong. Obasanjo who became the president in 1999 took serious steps to ensure that this culture of imposition of sundry characters as Igbo leaders continued. Events in Anambra state then were ample testimony to this conclusion.

Even though there was a governor elected by the people, Obasanjo raised surrogates who never allowed the governor to rest.

Those thrown up and who overnight became the conscience of the people in a state that had people like Alex Ekwueme, became a source of immense consternation to many.

This charade continued even when Chris Ngige emerged the governor after his predecessor Chinwoke Mbadinuju was refused the ticket of his party by the same powers that be. We cannot forget in a hurry the abduction of Ngige and the unsuccessful attempt to depose him by a band of faceless people. We cannot also forget the criminal assault on the government house Awka and the destructions that followed. Till date, nothing has come out of it and no body to the best of my knowledge has been held culpable for that show of shame and an unmitigated assault on democracy.

But somebody somewhere was stoking that assault and division in that state. Is it not surprising that that act of criminality was very conveniently covered up as if nothing went wrong? Those who traduce the

people of the south-east for failing to reach consensus on issues affecting them will soon turn around and cite these sponsored official malfeasance as evidence of their claim. But as proposed earlier, the Anambra case demonstrates very poignantly that these divisions are largely inflamed from outside.

As soon as this institutional interest in keeping the people permanently divided wanes, we will come to realize that the Igbo are not that a disorganized, fragmented and non consensual group. But for the same conspiracy, Ekwueme was sure to emerge as the civilian president in 1999 after he worked tirelessly to build the People’s Democratic Party PDP. Was it the much orchestrated lack of consensus among his people that denied him the fruits of his hard labor? Was he not sidelined and relegated to the background even as some charlatans from his state were constantly beamed to us as genuine leaders of the party?

And you want consensus to come out of that madness? That is the real source of the problem and we need to admit it.

The point being raised here is that the much touted discord is a direct consequence of the policies of the federal government of Nigeria towards that zone since after the civil war. It will therefore not be out of place if this policy has some influence on the people on whom it has been applied over these years. Expectedly, sundry characters basking on the enormous influence of outside sponsors have gotten swollen headed; not amenable to group influence and discipline. But that cannot represent the conduct of the majority who are intricately linked to their zone through their various unions and associations.

It will be grossly unfair to stick to this transitory discord as an excuse for constantly denying the zone its due within the larger federation.

Two key issues the zone yearns for among others are: a shot at the presidency and the additional consensual state. No matter how cohesive the zone can be on these issues, they cannot possibly go it alone. They need the cooperation and goodwill of all other groups in the federation to realize them.

Lack of cooperation from other zones rather than the envisaged discord from the southeast is going to be the greatest impediment to the realization of these genuine aspirations.

We need to prove this conclusion wrong by appreciating the merits of the demands and giving effect to them rather than focusing on observed shortcomings of the zone.

In defence of how China picks its leaders

By Daniel Bell and Eric Li Today, universities are the main recruitment grounds for new members. Students need to score in the top percentile of national examinations to be admitted to an elite university that grooms future leaders. Then they compete fiercely to be admitted into the party. Only high-performing students who have undergone thorough character checks are admitted.

Those who want to serve in government then usually need to pass government examinations, with thousands of applicants competing for a single spot. Once they are part of the political system, further evaluations are required to move up the chain of command. They must perform well at lower levels of government and pass character tests.

Then there are more position-specific exams that test for specialised skills.

The advantages of Chinese-style meritocracy are clear.

Cadres are put through a gruelling process of talent selection and only those with an excellent performance record make it to the highest levels. Instead of wasting time and money campaigning for votes, leaders can seek to improve their knowledge and performance. China often sends its leaders to learn from best practices abroad.

Yes, meritocracy can only work in the context of a oneparty state. In a multi-party state, there is no assurance that performance at lower levels of government will be rewarded at higher levels, and there is no strong incentive to train cadres so that they have experience at higher levels because the key personnel can change with a government led by a different party. Hence, less talent goes to the bureaucracy, because the real power-holders are supposed to be chosen by the people.

In practice, Chinese-style meritocracy is flawed. Most obviously, there is widespread corruption in the political system. Term and age limits help to “guard the guardians”, but more is needed to curb abuses of power, such as

a more open and credible media, more transparency and an effective legal system, higher salaries for officials, and more independent anti-corruption agencies.

When it comes to political systems, western opinion leaders are still stuck in a narrative of dichotomy: democracy versus authoritarianism. But the competition in the 21st century, as the scholar Zhang Weiwei writes, is between good and bad governance. The Chinese regime has developed the right formula for choosing political rulers that is consistent with China’s culture and history and suitable to modern circumstances. It should be improved on the basis of this formula, not westernstyle democracy.

• The writers are a professor of political theory at TsinghuaUniversity and a Shanghai-based venture capitalist

In a big country, however, one person, one vote is problematic. From a moral point of view, citizens should vote for the common good because their votes affect not just themselves but other people. Yet voters tend to vote with their pocketbooks. Many can’t even do that well, since they lack economic competence. One group of voters – the rich – has a better understanding of economics and finds it easy to skew the system in their favour.

I

President’s N45m reward will encourage ‘win at all cost’ syndrome —Niger sports commissioner Pg. 24

Gombe SA Sports, five supporters arrested for fracas Pg. 41

Sport Monday, December 3, 2012

PAGE 23

Eaglets soar to Morocco 2013

•Beat Mali 2-0 in Bamako

EKO 2012 MEDALS TABLE as @ 5:30pm on Sunday 2, December

•Both team exchanges pleasantries

T

HE U-17 National Team, Golden Eaglets, on Sunday made certain confirmed their place at next year’s African U-17 Championship in Morocco with a 2-0 whiplash of Junior Eagles of Mali away in Bamako.

Widely touted as the future of Nigeria football, Manu Garba’s teen terrors took charge of their return leg, final qualifying fixture against the Malians right from the first blast of Guinean referee Ahmed Sekou Toure’s whistle, and in spite of the raucous home crowd at the Stade Mamadou Konate.

The bean-pole figure of effervescent midfielder Alhassan Ibrahim, scorer of the second in the Eaglets’ 20 home win in Calabar on November 18, tormented the hosts all evening, and was inevitably involved in the first goal by big striker Success Isaac after 23 minutes.

Bernard Bulbwa wiped clean any hopes the home

crowd might be nursing of a spectacular comeback by their team, when he scored the second goal 10 minutes after resumption. Nigeria qualified with a 4-0 aggregate.

Morocco will be Nigeria’s first outing at Africa’s kindergarten party since lifting the trophy in Togo in 2007.

The Golden Eaglets failed to qualify for the 2009 championship that took place in Algeria and the 2011 finals that was held in Rwanda.

Sunday’s win in sunny Bamako also capped a sunshine year for Nigerian football, in which all the National Teams qualified for all major tournaments for which they took part in qualifying campaigns.

Other countries that have qualified for Morocco 2013, which Draw Ceremony will be staged alongside that of the Algeria 2013 African Youth Championship in Cairo next Sunday, are: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, CongoBrazzaville and host Morocco.

No.

States

G

S

B

Total

1

Delta

21

13

17

51

2

Rivers

15

10

14

39

3

Lagos

9

9

13

31

4

Edo

4

5

10

19

5

Bayelsa

4

2

5

11

6

Oyo

3

4

2

9

7

Ebonyi

3

1

0

4

8

Ogun

2

7

8

17

9

C/River

2

2

2

6

10

Niger

2

2

0

4

11

Kano

2

0

6

8

12

Plateau

1

4

4

9

13

FCT

1

4

2

7

14

A/Ibom

1

2

3

6

15

Bauchi

1

2

1

4

16

Benue

1

1

5

7

17

Kaduna

1

1

3

5

Continued on page 61

24

41

NATIONSPORT MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT

NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL...NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL

Itemuagbor hails minister over NSF policy ...Wants states' Sports Festival

F

OREMOST sports marketer and Chairman, Pamodzi Sports Marketing, Mike Itemuagbor, has saluted the speech of Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi, during the opening ceremony of the National Sports Festival. Abdulahi had said at the occassion that the festival will henceforth be thrown open to both the elite and budding talents.

"I just hope the Minister's speech will not just be mere rhetorics but will be implemented and I must also say that competent men and women should be drafted to help organise a proper National Sports Festival as those presently saddled with that task are lacking in the proper organisation of a games of the magnitude of the National Sports Festival".

Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, Itemuagbor said that throwing the festival open from the next edition will not only make the games a commercial attraction to corporate organisation and government but make states to jostle to host the event as well as attract the right crowd to venues.

"Closed festival has actually killing the original ideals of the games. We need young talents to slug it out

with the established ones and that will bring out the right competition as well as create the right ambience for the festival".

He recommended that the National Sports Commission should make it mandatory for all the 36 states of the federation and Abuja to host state sports festival as a condition to participating at the NSF, where athletes for the National Sports Festival will be selected to join the various invited elite athletes to compete. "I just imagine that a new athlete is competing today and Blessing Okagbare is invited and the new athletes is able to beat Okagbare, that will instantly be a future star and the world and corporate organisations will line up to support the new discovery. That is why it's important to throw open the festival and we must commend the Minister.

There had been controversy over the status of the NSF, with many holding different positions.

Itemuagbor's position has now helped to strenghten that of government at the highest level as Nigeria hopes to use the festival to prepare for the next Olympics in Brazil in 2018.

Deplorable state of the National Stadium worries sports minister

M

INISTER of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has expressed concern over the deplorable state of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

Despite the fact that some of the facilities at the stadium are being used to host some events of the National Sports Festival, there were no major changes witnessed at the venues in terms of facelift.

Speaking with NationSport at one of the facilities in deplorable condition, the Boxing Arena, which is incidentally hosting the weightlifting events, Mallam Abdullahi revealed that strategic plans are being made on how to manage all the national stadia across the federation.

“Of course I’m concerned, but the concern is not just with specific arena, generally it’s about the whole National

By Innocent Amomoh and Akeem Lawal Stadium itself. The National Stadium has suffered great neglect over the years and that is why it’s mandatory on us now to find alternative strategy for managing the National Stadium. The President has directed us to come up with a model for managing the National Stadia across the country, so of course with the main focus on Lagos. So I’m confident that if we are able to make progress on that, some of these things will be taken care of.

“Even more personally, if you look at the festival itself, this is the biggest national sporting event, but we’ve not been able to

Eng Sanni Ndanusa believes Lagos State has performed creditably well in terms of hosting of the on-going 18th edition of the National Sports Festival.

In a chat with Nation Sport, the President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation commended the state for going traditional by showcasing the tradition of the state during the opening ceremony of the festival.

“I must first of all thank the government, the governor and the people of Lagos State for packaging this festival and I want to say also, in line with the honourable minister’s statement that they have raised the bar. I’m quite excited with the

•Ndanusa

and Akeem Lawal opening ceremony because of the local content; it has a very high level of local content. It is an opening ceremony by Nigerians for Nigerians and it is a Lagos show, congratulations.”

Speaking further he said, “On the event so far, I’ve been to a number of venues, they’ve commenced favourably, medals have already been hauled and so far I think we are in very good direction.”

Cross Rivers will be hosting the next edition of the festival and Ndanusa believes the state also has what it take to package another commendable festival.

“I know Cross Rivers have their people on ground, to look at, monitor and see the things they can pick and the things that they can improve upon and then I believe they have the capacity and the capability and we have every confidence in the Cross Rivers government and people and the governor. They have proved that during football, Cross Rivers now especially Calarbar seems to be the Mecca of football and we’ve been having luck there, so we are waiting and I believe they will deliver.”

R

By Akeem Lawal mentor. I’m grateful to him for his words that he continue to spread around.

“It wasn’t exactly easy but with the Holy Spirit that was in me, it gave me a smooth ride. The Holy Spirit is my strength, my inspiration, my everything. It was a bit tough because I had serious challenges but thank God I scaled through.

“I also want to thank my mum and my younger sister for the encouragement and support, they are really wonderful people”, she said.

N

By Akeem Lawal sports than just monetary rewards. This is because by the time you are introducing monetary rewards at the federal government level, you are encouraging teams to win at all cost. People won’t bother to develop but go extra mile to ensure that they win. By the time you win at all cost, you’ll feature the wrong set of people to go for the Olympics and history will repeat itself. When you have best hands, because of poor officiating or one thing or the other, they are not chosen and those that won at all cost are chosen to represent the country at international outing such as the Olympics, they cannot bring any medal. It goes down to our grass roots. If we can groom lots of talents and they are taken outside the shores of the country to go and compete, I’m

sure they will do very well.

“However, my major concern now is that after the festival, what is next? Most times after the festival, nothing happen until another festival. So after festival, we should be thinking what next. The winners how do we sustain them, how do we build on what they’ve achieved, the looser, how do we develop them to win tomorrow. If we don’t think in that direction, we still have problem on our own part.”

Niger State finished in the 27th position after winning one gold, three silver and nine bronze medals and Abdullahi expressed confidence that the state will improve this time around.

“We came with 163 athletes and we’ll be competing in 19 events. We had our closed camping for two weeks and the events we entered for are the ones we are sure we are capable of winning more medals than what we had at the Garden City Games in Port Harcourt.”

T

WO PAIR of Muhammad Ali fightworn boxing gloves, one of which he wore in a 1964 fight against Sonny Liston and the other in a 1971 loss to Joe Frazier, went for a combined $771,696 in an auction that closed on Friday.

The estate of Angelo Dundee, the legendary ex-heavyweight champion's trainer, sold the gloves and other memorabilia. Part of the proceeds of the memorabilia sale, which went for more than $1.3 million, will benefit the Muhammad Ali Foundation. Another portion will go for the care of Dundee's daughter, Terri, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis.

The two most popular items in the sale, handled by SCP Auctions, were the gloves. Ali, fighting for the heavyweight title against Liston under his birth name Cassius Clay, wore a pair of Frager gloves to stop Liston after seven rounds in Miami.

He wore Everlast gloves in his March 8, 1971, match in New York's Madison Square Garden against Frazier, which remains the most significant bout in boxing history. Frazier won that bout, punctuating his victory by knocking Ali down in the 15th and final round.

Each pair of the gloves sold for $385,848, which according to David Kohler, the president & CEO of SCP Auctions, is a worldrecord price for any piece of boxing memorabilia sold at public auction.

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My ‘silver’ is like gold

Newcastle

—Bauchi athlete

By Innocent Amomoh

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AUCHI STATE ATHLETE, Adaeze Asigbe has expressed happiness over the silver medal won at the ongoing National Sports Festival, saying she cherished it as if it was a gold medal.

Adaeze lost 15-18 in the final round of the Individual Pomsae Category (Individual demonstration of Skills and techniques) to Rivers State’s Josephine Esuku.

In a chat with NationSport, a visibly excited Adaeze gave her husband the credit for achieving such feat.

“I feel great to have won silver. In fact, this silver is just like gold medal to me because in so many competitions, I usually drop out in the stage. This is the first National competition that I will be winning a silver medal. So as far as I’m concerned, this is my own gold medal.

“To have competed among the best when it comes to this sport and still finish second is a great achievement for me and I will like to express my sincere appreciation to my husband, who is also my personal coach. He has really supported me, giving me all the encouragement, making me to believe that I have all it takes to excel in this sport.”

miss Ameobi

•Coach rues Nigerian international’s injury

N

EWCASTLE BOSS Alan Pardew has said he would have wished for the return of Super Eagles prolific striker Shola Ameobi for today’s clash against Wigan.

Nigeria international striker Ameobi has been out of action for more than a week due to groin.

Pardew said he expects some of his injured players back for the Wigan home game but was unsure about Ameobi, Gabby Obertan and Ben Arfa. “One or two are due back.

But I don’t know if they will make the next game, it is a bit tight. We can take plenty of heart into the game. I feel sorry for the players. In fact all three should be fit for our game at Craven Cottage, where we will try to

‘Holy Spirit’ gave me gold 'Jay Jay' Okocha fires hat-trick —Rivers’ Josephine Esuku IVERS STATE athlete, Josephine Esuku believes the Holy Spirit was responsible for her winning gold medal at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival, ‘Eko 2012’.

Josephine who competed and won gold in the Individual Poomse Category (Individual demonstration of Skills and techniques) also expressed gratitude to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, saying that she was inspired by the words of the pastor “I feel very elated, I’m very excited and I owe thanks first and foremost to Almighty God, then secondly to Pastor Chris, he is my pastor and my

Assessing the hosting of the ongoing 18th edition of the National Sports Festival, the minister said, “So far it has gone very well, the sport event that has hosted more than 10,000 athletes, even the Olympics does not have 10,000 athletes. So the sheer logistics is quite challenging. But so far it has gone quite well and I’m also excited by what I’ve seen in the arenas today. I’ve gone to the boxing arena and I can see the atmosphere is charged and here too is well attended and we have seen a couple of athletes here that look very promising especially in the female boxing arena. And I have a team that is going round all events and looking at this king of opportunity to identify some athletes that we can invite after the event.”

IGER STATE Commissioner for Sports Development, Alh Abdullahi Hassan has faulted the federal government’s introduction of monetary rewards to states that finish top at the National Sports Festival, saying such will encourage win at all cost syndrome among the states.

President Goodluck Jonathan had announced during the opening ceremony that the sum of 45 million naira will be shared among the states that finish in top three, with winner getting N20million, second placed team, N15million, while the third state will pocket N10million.

In a chat with NationSport, Hassan believes more attention should be focused on development of the discovered talent rather than announcing a prize money just before a competition commences.

In my opinion, government should pay attention to the developmental part of

PARDEW LAMENTS

Muhammad Ali Lagos has raised the bar —Ndanusa fight-worn gloves •Tips Cross Rivers to also deliver at next festival fetch $771,696 ORMER SPORTS Minister,

By Innocent Amomoh

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attract the right profile of sponsorship and funding that should come to event like this.

Lagos State has spent, I understand, close to 7billion naira to host the event, how many states in Nigeria can do that and that is why we’ve announced now that it is going to be an open competition because if it becomes an open competition, it means that your top athletes from all over the world can come and compete here. So that itself will make the event even more glamorous, so more funding will come in, then you can also invest some of that into improving the quality of facilities that we have and attract the right kind of sponsor.

These are some of the approaches we have to look at. I absolutely agree with you it should be better than this.”

President’s N45m reward will encourage ‘win at all cost’ syndrome —Niger sports commissioner

Chief host of the game was former USTIN ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha netted a hat-trick for past Eagles stars Nigeria head of state Yakubu Gowon. against Nollywood celebrities in a benefit game to mark World AIDS day in Lagos.

The Eagles stars, who paraded several ex-greats like Nwankwo Kanu, Daniel Amokachi, Benedict Akwuegbu and Celestine Babayaro, won the match 9-3. Other ex-Eagles stars scorers were Kanu, Amokachi, Akwuegbu and Jonathan Akpoborie.

Former Eagles stars who starred in the benefit game include Emeka Ezeugo, mobi Oparaku, Teslim Fatusi, Taiwo Enegwa. The Nollywood celebrities who featured include Segun Arinze, Uti Nwachukwu, Sound Sultan, Klint da Drunk and •Okocha Nonso Diobi.

get the win against Fulham,” said the Newcastle manager.

All three though are close to full recovery, while Shola’s younger brother, Sam

Gombe SA Sports, five supporters arrested for fracas

my, is in line to replace S h a n e Ferguson on the left wing.

By Innocent Amomoh

H

Wizkid to headline opening day of Copa Lagos

O

RGANISERS of the upcoming Beach Soccer tournament, Copa Lagos 2012, have revealed that Wizkid will be headlining the Copa Lagos concert on the opening day. The tournament which is being sponsored by banking giant FCMB begins on the 14th December 2012. It willinclude a mixture of Beach Soccer, Concerts, Parties and a fashion show over a 3 day period.

Wizkid has an army of loyal fans, on Twitter alone he is followed by over 400,000 people they will no doubt be looking to show their support by seeing him perform live at Copa Lagos.

The EME star is no stranger to Copa Lagos he was one of the leading acts last year for the maiden edition. He thrilled thousands of Copa Lagos fans

last year with his stunning performance on the beach. His presence this year will be eagerly anticipated, the announcement will make tickets for the opening day a must have.

Speaking about Copa Lagos, Wizkid revealed, “I am definitely looking forward to Copa this year, because from my experience last year definitely this year is going to be bigger and much, much better. I am really, really looking forward to performing in front of my fans.”

Other performers on the opening day include the likes of Eva, Ajebutter 22, Solidstar, Tillaman, Shaydee and others. Copa Lagos gets underway from the 14th up until the 16th December this year. Nigeria is the

defending Champion and will take on, Lebanon, Argentina and 6 times European Champions Portugal at EkoAtlantic.

•Wizkid

Arsenal's chairman suffers heart attack Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood has suffered a heart attack and is recovering in hospital.

The 76-year-old's heart attack followed a bout of pneumonia, the club said. A statement from the club read: "Peter was taken ill at home on Friday and is currently being treated in hospital. He is making a good recovery.

"The club wishes Peter a full and speedy return to health and our thoughts are with him and his family at this time."

Hill-Wood has been chairman of the club since 1982, and is a former vice-chairman of the Hambros Bank.

He is the third member of his family to serve as Arsenal chairman, following on from his father Denis

(1962-1982) and his grandfather Samuel, who had two separate spells in the role between 1929 and 1936 and from 1946 to 1949.

• Peter Hill-Wood

ELL was let loose this morning at the Yaba College of Technology Football pitch one of the venues of the ongoing 18th National Sports festival holding in Lagos as supporters of Team Gombe descended on Team kwara football team beating one of the officials mercilessly.

The incident occurred when the Coach of Team Kwara, Moshood Adebayo was ordered to leave the pitch by the Centre Referee in the added time following his complaint of alleged poor officiating as Team kwara was leading by a lone goal scored by Taofeek Moshood in the first half.

In the process the Gombe fans descended on him beating him and the person that came to rescue him mercilessly.

The late arrival of security men did not help matters as Sportswriters were not speared as the aggrieved fans beat all the people that came from Kwara state.

At the end, five of the hooligans including the Special Assistant to Gombe State Governor, Farouk Yarima were arrested by the Security personnel.

This will be the second time Team Gombe will be disrupting proceeding as they fought in their match against Team Zamfara on Thursday at the same venue.

25

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

Much ado about a terminal - P. 27

‘We can’t assess insurable value of flood’ - P. 32 N220b coming for MSMEs ABOUT N220billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) fund set aside for microfinance institutions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be released in the first quarter of 2013, it was learnt.

- Page 26

Incentives for steel producers THE Federal Government has assured that it will do everything possible to assist in steel production in the country.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mohammed Musa Sada, gave the assurance during a visit to Western Metal Products Company Limited (WEMPCO) in Lagos at the weekend.

- Page 26

‘Prestige, Dana Air insincere’

FIVE months after the Dana Airline crash which claimed about 200 lives, families of some of the victims have accused the insurer of the illfated aircraft, Prestige Assurance, of insensitivity for refusing to pay the claims of their dead beloved ones.

- Page 40 DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$107/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N7.560 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion

RATES Inflation -11.9% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $35.8b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 242.1 $ 156 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 238 RIYAL 40.472

- Dr Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology

ISSUES

THE CEO News Briefing

In the coming days, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) would curtail or stop all promotions that either increase subscribers base, minutes or that are causing additional congestion on the network.

‘How ALSCON was fraudulently sold’ F RESH facts have emerged over the circumstances surrounding the shoddy privatisation of Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) at Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State.

Mr Nicholai Nicoshelivy, it was alleged, singlehandedly endorsed the share purchase agreement (SPA) of the aluminum smeltering firm with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), although he had no authority to do so.

Dr Reuben Jaja, Chairman of BFI Group, the consortium that was declared winner of ALSCON by the Supreme Court told The Nation that Nicholai alone signed the SPA with the BPE under fraudulent circumstances.

He said: “When we pressed Nicholai in the US court, he testified under oath and submitted written document that he had no such power or authority to sign that document. In other words,

From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

the agreement is null and void.

“He has realised that he has committed a fraud against Nigeria. He is not going to come to Nigeria if the judge transfers our case from New York to Nigeria.”

According to Jaja, the company that bought ALSCON is known as Daison Holdings Limited and it is registered in the British Virgin Island. It is the only name on the SPA between Nigeria and RUSAL, adding that there is nothing about RUSAL in the document.

“If you want to enforce anything on ALSCON, it will be against Daison Holdings Limited. We sued them all in the USA (Daison, RUSAL all of them). We forced them to come and tell the world who they are. Daison came and they have only Mr John Martin Parker as the sole director with no overlap of

Banks mull foreign collaboration to check rising fraud

B

ANKS are considering securing international partnership with foreign banks to fight rising cases of fraud and forgeries in the sector, The Nation has learnt.

The 2011 financial report of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) released last week showed that the banking sector reported N28.40 billion fraud cases last year, representing 33.4 per cent rise from N21.29 billion reported in 2010.

Chairman, Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), Emmanuel Obaigbena, disclosed that there is a plan by banks to partner with their foreign counterparts to fight fraud in the system because of the global dimension the issue is now assuming.

He spoke at forum’s monthly meeting in Lagos.

Obaigbena said: “It is advisable for banks to give accurate data on fraud cases.

They should not be scared of sharing statistics with each other.”

He said the forum has set up a committee to sanction erring banks, stressing that the objective of the forum was for banks and relevant agencies to share data to eliminate fraud in the industry.

According to him, fraud does not only translate to operational risk losses to banks, it erodes the confidence of the public in electronic platforms/systems as a channel for business transaction.

By Collins Nweze

He said the need to protect customers from fraud cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the electronic payment system is international and, therefore, requires to be approached from global perspective.

Chief Technical Officer, Digital Encode, Seyi Akindeinde, said the Internet and mobile banking constitute the most frequent avenues through which frauds are perpetrated.

Also, the NeFF is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Judiciary to fight fraud. He added that the forum was also working with the Nigeria InterBank Settlement System (NIBSS) to enhance the fraud reporting format in banks.

According to him, fraud not only translates to operational risk losses to banks, it erodes the confidence of the public in electronic platforms/systems as a channel for transacting business.

Also, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said it is taking measures aimed at reducing the volume and value of fraud perpetrated in the banking sector.

NIBSS Executive Director, Operations, Niyi Ajao, said one way it is achieving this objective is through the use of its anti-fraud portal developed by the firm to check financial frauds in the banking sector.

•Vice President N. Sambo

board or management position with RUSAL,” the BGI Group boss said. The company has no ownership interest with RUSAL. RUSAL, he said, also denied this and fraudulently described Daison as an indirect subsidiary of an unknown company.

Jaja said three Nigerians identified as a former security topshot, the son of a former military head of state and another son of a civilian president, colluded with Daison to perpetrate the fraud.

“They all hid behind Daison, so John Martin Parker is like a trustee of a blind trust and the Daison Holding is a commonwealth trust registered in Totola British Virgin Islands,” he explained.

He said as a result of this development, BFIG has requested to be joined in the case at the International Court of Arbitration. “We will reveal that there is no valid contract. They illegally occupied the plant and ran the plant down thereafter, the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) will take over the case because it’s an absolute crime against the nation,” he said.

Jaja noted that before BFIG went to court, “RUSAL made sure that the share purchase agreement specifically made mention of us that if we should come after them, the Federal Government of Nigeria will pay.”

RUSAL has threatened to go to the International

Court of Arbitration demanding that Nigeria pays $500 million when its audited financial statement says that the plant it got for a value of N127 billion is worth N14 billion.

Speaking as a leading Niger Delta figure, Jaja disclosed that following government’s inability to execute the Supreme Court order instructing the government and the BFIG to adopt a mutually agreed share purchase document with the government collecting 10 per cent of whatever is the agreed price of the plant, the Niger Delta people have vowed to resist any disobedience to the country’s rule of law by a foreign business interest.

Jaja said the involvement of the Niger Delta region in the ALSCON saga “is the struggle of the Niger Delta people, my great grand father was a pioneer of the struggle in the region, King Jaja of Opobo.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

26

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

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

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

By Akinola Ajibade

that the fund will be released in the first quarter of next year, going by the CBN’s efforts to make the banks start 2013 on a positive note.

The apex bank is making frantic efforts to finalise some issues pertaining to the operations of the banks by the end of 2012. One of the issues has to do with the conclusion of the recapitalisation and subsequent grouping of MFBs into unit, state and national levels.”

CBN is waiting for December 31, this year to categorise the banks into different levels, based on their recapitalisation efforts.

Chairman, National Association, Microfinance Banks (NAMBs), Southwest, Mr Olufemi Babajide, said the MSME development fund could not come earlier than 2013.

He said the banks were expecting the apex bank to release the money to them early next year, arguing that this year was almost gone.

12.15 12.45 09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

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

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

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

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LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 1. IRS 11.15 13.15 2. Arik 15.50 18.00 08.00 18.00

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

“Though CBN has not made an official statement on the issue of releasing the fund, but I think it would certainly be next year. The reason is because the banking watchdog would like to conclude the issue of categorisation of the banks by December end before releasing the fund. The categorisation is going to determine what each bank would get from the fund,” he said.

He assured that the banks would meet the deadline, since recapitalisation has been made more flexible for the operators.

He said operators were free to discuss mergers and acquisitions, in the event that they would not get the recapitalisation fees.

‘Problem with Land Use Act’

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst. Editor

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BOUT N220billion set aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be released in the first quarter of 2013, it was learnt.

An official of the CBN, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Nation, said the fund might be released in the first quarter of next year to enable the banks to strengthen their liquidity position for growth.

He said: “There are indications

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40

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

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N220b coming for MSMEs

•Sada (right) and Tung at the press conference after the Minister’s inspection of WEMPCO’s plant on the LagosIbadan Express Way. PHOTO:NIYI ADENIRAN

Fed Govt to provide incentives for steel producers

T

HE Federal Government has assured that it will do every thing possible to assist in steel production in the country.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mohammed Musa Sada, who gave the assurance during a visit to Western Metal Products Company Limited (WEMPCO) in Lagos over the weekend, said the government believes that steel is the backbone of industrialisation.

“Government is passionate about what is happening in WEMPCO because we believe that steel is the backbone of industrialisation anywhere. There is no country that industrialises without using steel.

That is why we are not leaving anything to chance that is available to us to participate in the production of steel products. It is something that we have to support and encourage for the interest of the economy and the country, “ he said.

Sada said the 700,000 metric tonnes projected steel output from WEMPCO, would go a long way to meeting the government’s tar-

By Simeon Ebulu

get of three million metric tonnes steel output for the country.

He said products from the company would find use in the auto mobile and truck-body building sector, roofing sheets, pipes, as well as all kinds of metal containers for food storage.

The Minister said steel furniture, enamelware, electric appliances and input for motor cycles are some of the products to be obtained from the WEMPCO plant.

He described the WEMPCO plant as part of a comprehensive effort to actualise the country’s industrialisation effort, adding that the production of flat sheets is central to attaining an appreciable level of growth and development.

On the nature of assistance for the sector, he said the government would provide “an enabling and appropriate environment for the private sector to function.”

He said the government’s support for the sector is segmented and that “the government has introduced

sector specific incentives.”

He explained that machinery for the mining industry are brought in duty free. He said there are other areas the government is supporting the private sector initiatives.

He listed these as tax holidays, waivers and capital gain tax, adding that the government was relaxing the rules to encourage the private sector.

Musa said the biggest incentive to drive development in the steel industry is for the government to partner with the operators in setting up rules for the sector.

The Group Managing Director, WEMPCO, Lewis S.N.Tung, who conducted the the Minister round the factory, said the steel plant was built with the strictest adherence to safety in mind, adding that there is full complement of water treatment plant, air and other waste products.

He said the plant’s design eliminates human contact with machines in the production process, thus eliminating the possibility of work place accidents.

HE Land Use Act of 1978 has done more harm to housing delivery, the President, Association of Housing Corporation of Nigeria, Dr. Ifenna Chukwujekwu, has said.

He stated this while presenting a paper entitled: Access to land at affordable prices at a forum by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV in Lagos.

He said: “The implementation of the Act has brought to the fore the cumbersome and costly procedures for obtaining Certificates of Occupancy, Consent to Mortgage, Assignments and leases thereby hampering housing delivery.”

He called for the enactment of supplementary legislation to facilitate the effective and efficient implementation of the Land Use Act. While criticising government for the high cost of serviced plots, he called for an effective land administration system involving secure, registrable and marketable titles on land.

He said “because of the perceived security and genuineness associated with government allocation, the demand for such land is very high and government has been using this to increase cost of allocation yearly. Land charges keep going up every year as government sees these as avenue for income generation.”

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, said his administration is continuously reviewing land documentation procedures to make them more investor-friendly.

He also revealed the creation of a mortgage division to ensure that matters relating to mortgage transaction are expeditiously handled.

He called on real estate investors to take advantage of the enabling environment to invest in the state for greater advantage.

Insecurity threatens growth, says NESG

N

IGERIA’S economic thinktank, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has decried growth in the economy that does not translate to development, lamenting that the security situation in the country has also become worrisome.

The body spoke in Lagos when members of the Communication sub-Committee of the Group, led

by Tunji Olugbodi, co-chairman and Essiet Essien, also a co-chairman and Chris Ubosi, member, paid a courtesy visit to the Headquarters of Vintage Press, publishers of The Nation.

Olugbodi, who spoke about the forthcoming 18th summit of the Group billed for Abuja between today and Wednesady, said it is a paradox that the economy is said

By Lucas Ajanaku to be growing while there are signs of ravaging poverty in the country.

“There are so many things that are not adding up. There is a heavy paradox of growth without development. It is clear there is so much poverty in the land (in the midst of plenty),” he said, adding that whatever the average Nigerian earns, there are people who are dependent on the income.

He described the state of insecurity in the country, arguing that even during war time in Afghanistan, the situation was not as bad as it is in the country now with sporadic attacks on military targets carried out with clinical precision.

According to him, the recent

attack on the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja and another in at a military cantonment (Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State), which is also the power-house of military intellectualism, make frightening statements about the security in the country.

Speaking on the Summit proper, he said the title for this year’s summit is titled: ‘Deregulation, Cost of Governance and Nigeria’s Economic Prospects’ is consistent with the Group’s commitment to continually focus on contemporary issues of public policy which does not only constrain improvements in the nation’s governance system but undermine economic development and the welfare and well-being of the citizens of the country.

•Ms Ama Pepple, Minister for Housing

27

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

ISSUES

•Interior of the remodelled General Aviation Terminal at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos

Much ado about a terminal What does the concession agreement between the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited say about the General Aviation Terminal (GAT)?

Does it cede control of the terminal to Bi-Courtney? Bi-Courtney says it does, but FAAN disagrees.Who is telling the truth? KELVIN OSA OKUBOR asks.

•Continued on page 28

28

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

ISSUES •Continued from page 27

T used to be a random facility. But now the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, can compare with any of its kind in the world.

When it was being remodelled, airlines moved to the other terminal commonly referred to as MMII. Now, they are planning to return to the refurbished GAT over which the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited are squabbling.

Their quarrel borders on control of GAT.Bi-Courtney is claiming that the ownership of the terminal is covered in the concession agreement it signed with the government some years ago.

FAAN disagrees, saying BiCourtney’s position, is at variance with the terms of the concession agreement.

On their part, airline operators, workers and passengers, who are fascinated by government’s efforts within a few months to deliver such a world-class remodelled terminal, have expressed concern over what becomes of the facility because of their rift.

Speaking through its General Manager, Corporate Services, Yakubu Dati, FAAN insists that the agreement the authority signed with Bi –Courtney only covers a 12-year tenure. The arrangement, he said, did not confer the ownership of the GAT on Bi-Courtney.

Dati said it became imperative to clear the air over the issues because of the misinformation being fed to the public. The agreement conceived under the (Build, Operate and Transfer BOT) model, may be jeopardised because of the rift, he added.

He said: “We are constrained to restate that the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, is not included in the Build, Operate and Transfer concession agreement between the company and the Federal Government. The authority is constrained to ask to members of the public, especially aviation stakeholders, to discountenance that oftenbandied claim because it is false, misleading and mischievous, to say the least.

“We observed, with interest, quotations from questionable documents or portions of documents that suits their assertion about the duration of the BOT concession and government’s directive for the so called takeover of the General Aviation Terminal. We consider this unfortunate because Bi-Courtney knows that the only authentic documents on the agreement, limits the duration of the concession to 12 years and that the area of land occupied by the General Aviation Terminal is clearly outside the area of land granted Bi-Courtney for the concession. These facts have been stated for the umpteenth time.”

Dati said Bi-Courtney was only crying foul because the Federal Government has decided that there should be transparency and fairness in a concession agreements with government agencies. He added that it is convenient for Bi– Courtney to deceive unwary Nigerians into thinking that the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Terminal One (which is named MMA 2, by Bi-

I

•Stella Oduah

•Babalakin

• Uriesi

Much ado about a terminal Courtney) controversy will discourage private investors in the industry. Ill-motivated, manipulated and unbelievable concession agreements skewed against the interest of the Nigerians cannot stand the test of time, Dati said.

“No amount of playing to the gallery, twisting the law and facts, or appeal to undue sentiments can change this,” he said.

He noted that the transformation agenda of the government in the aviation industry, among other things, is geared towards eliminating selfish business models that create personal business empires, and not a level playing field for stakeholders capable of contributing meaningfully to genuine growth of the sector.

As the feud over the ownership of the GAT heightens, skeletal services have started at the terminal, even as the installations of operational facilities are on-going.

But, Bi-Courtney, speaking through its Public Relations Manager, Mr Steve Ajulo Omolale, said FAAN should keep to the terms of the agreement it signed with the firm, insisting that the terms of the agreement gave it control of the GAT. He said it was a show of lawlessness, the insistence by FAAN that the tenure of its concession agreement remains 12, and not 36 years, describing the action by FAAN as a disdain to the judiciary.

Omolale said: “By insisting that the General Aviation Terminal is not Bi-Courtney’s and that our

concession tenure of 36 years is now 12 years, despite the court order to that effect, they have further shown how lawless they are, as well as their disdain for the judiciary. They should allow the Supreme Court to hear their appeal over the concession agreement they signed with us instead of putting forward shallow and irrational argument.

“We are aware of their grand conspiracy to render MMA 2 useless, send over 2,000 Nigerians into the job market, and also render our billions of naira investment in MMA 2 useless, with the building of the General Aviation Terminal. If they so much love Nigerians, they should go and answer the several summons of Nigerians’representatives in the National Assembly to x-ray their Ministry’s activities.

“For now, the General Aviation Terminal belongs to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited and will continue to be until they are able to overturn the appellate court’s judgment.”

The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, said the government would not allow the interest of businessmen or investors to dwarf the overriding national interest.

“The GAT belongs to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This terminal does not belong to him; this General Aviation Terminal belongs to FAAN. Nobody, I mean nobody, can hold the entire nation to ransom. We must protect what belongs to all of us.

Nobody will usurp what belongs to the people of Nigeria; we will not allow it and we must protect the interest of the nation,” she

stressed.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr George Uriesi, explained that in general, the principle that concerns the concession with Bi-Courtney, it has a limitation on the specific plot of land upon which to build a terminal and to operate and transfer it after 12 years.

He said: “But, in general principle,the concession to BiCourtney is a very specific plot of land upon which they have a concession to build a terminal and to operate and transfer it after 12 years. That is what they have, within that concession. It does not prevent us from operating the General Aviation Terminal. The government, absolutely, is not contravening any aspect of the concession agreement.”

The former Secretary-General of African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Mr Nick Fadugba, cautioned on how concession agreements are delivered in Nigeria, saying that they are not well-packaged to attract investors.

He said: “Before we sign deals, whether they are concession agreements on airport terminals, including the General Aiation Terminal, we should ensure that they are favour of Nigeria. Many deals have been signed that were not properly done including the agreement involving BiCourtney.

“Before we put pen to paper, we must have a solid deal that would be all-beneficiary and all- encompassing. This presents a problem; so I believe the government has to bring the private sector but ensure they make the transactions thoroughly planned or agreed; so it is a win win situation for the gov-

‘Perhaps it is pertinent to emphasise the point that most of the concession and lease agreements in the aviation sector prior to the coming on board of the Minister were heavily skewed against national and public interest.

The review and cancellations of some of these agreements is, therefore, done in the overriding public and national interest.The interest of an individual investor or corporate entity cannot be allowed to override that of the public’

ernment, the country and the private sector.”

The Head of Research and Strategy, Zenith Travels, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said until issues on public-private partnership are sorted out as they affects concession agreements, contention over the GAT would continue to pose a distraction to investors.

Speaking through her Media Assistant, Mr Joe Obi, Oduah said: “Information at our disposal indicates that Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd, the Concessionaire to MM2, is apparently threatened by the imminent opening of the newly reconstructed and remodelled GAT, Lagos.

To be sure, the area where GAT is located has never been part of the area concessioned to BiCourtney Ltd. The agreement with Bi-courtney has a Survey Plan clearly marked in Square metres and the area of the GAT was never contemplated to be part of the area leased to Bi-Courtney.

“Nigerians can vividly recall the dilapidated and decrepit state of the nation’s airports, including GAT prior to the assumption of office of the Minister. Today, 11 airports, including the GAT are an elegant testimony of the desire and determination of the Minister to give Nigerians what they truly deserve-airports of their dreams that compare to any such facility anywhere around the world.

“It is inconceivable that anyone would not only contemplate, but also hold fast to the jaundiced belief that a nation as big and great as Nigeria ought not to progress beyond having a terminal like MM2. “ Mrs Oduah further said: “Regarding allegations that there are subsisting court orders restraining anybody, including FAAN, which is the landlord of Federal airports in Nigeria from further development of the GAT, we need to stress that the cases are still ongoing. In fact, our case is before the Supreme Court, challenging the orders being referred to mainly, but not limited to the fact that in several of these cases, FAAN, as a principal interested party, was never fully represented.

“Most of the cases and attempts at arbitration were conducted without the full incorporation and participation of FAAN. Those behind Bi-Courtney, relying on their privileged positions and closeness to the corridors of power at the time conspired to leave out FAAN in most of the adjudication and arbitration processes.

“Perhaps it is pertinent to emphasise that most of the concession and lease agreements in the aviation sector prior to the coming on board of the minister were heavily skewed against national and public interest. The review and cancellations of some of these agreement are, therefore, done in the overriding public and national interest. The interest of an individual investor or corporate entity cannot be allowed to override the public.”

As FAAN and Bi-Courtney sort out the ownership status of the General Aviation Terminal, airlines, including IRS Airlines, Overland Airways, Medview Airlines and Arik Air, have taken space at the terminal to boost their flight operations.

Scores of passengers continue to salute the courage of the government in delivering a terminal that could only be compared with what is obtainable in most developed countries.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

29

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

30

MONEY LINK

P

CBN: Fed Govt earns N5.5tr in six months Stories by Collins Nweze

ROVISIONAL data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that total federally-collected revenue stood at N5.5 trillion as at June this year. This represents a 15.1 and 17.2 per cent increase in both the proportionate budget estimate for fiscal 2012 and the actual revenue in the corresponding period of 2011, respectively.

The apex bank’s Half Year Economic Report released at the weekend showed that oil-revenue contributed 78.1 per cent and non-oil revenue accounted for the balance.

Also, at N1.7 trillion, the government’s retained rev-

enue was 12.4 per cent lower than the proportionate budget estimate but higher than the level in the first half of 2011 by 33.4 per cent.

The report said aggregate expenditure of the government was N2 trillion, 20.9 per cent lower than the proportionate budget estimate, but exceeded the amount expended in the first half of 2011 by 3.3 per cent.

It said the lower expenditure performance reflected the delayed disbursements of capital budget and transfers. However, the fiscal operations of the government

resulted in an overall notional deficit of N281.82 billion or 1.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with the proportionate budget deficit of N568.31 billion and the actual deficit of N650.23 billion at end-June 2011.

However, at N7.1 trillion, government’s consolidated debt comprised domestic N6.1 trillion billion and external $6.04 billion (N950.61 billion) rose by 17.6 per cent above the level at end-June 2011.

Also, aggregate institutional savings, at N7.5 trillion, declined by 11.5 per cent from the level in the corre-

sponding half year of 2011.

The commercial banks remained the dominant savings institution, accounting for 91.2 per cent of the total.

Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange were bullish as the All-share Index (ASI) and aggregate market capitalisation rose by 4.2 and 20.4 per cent, to close at 21,599.57 and N12.4 trillion, respectively, at end-June 2012.

The GDP at 1990 constant basic prices grew by 6.4 per cent, compared with 7.4 per cent in the corresponding period in 2011. It attributed the growth to the non-oil sector which rose by 7.8 per cent

Nigeria, South Africa lead region's growth

N

IGERIA and South Africa account for major portion of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report has shown.

It said intra-regional trade and financing links within sub-Saharan Africa have been expanding significantly in recent years. However, it recognised that there is a long road to travel in terms of achieving close economic integration at the regional and subregional level.

“As this integration proceeds and economic linkages deepen, the importance of spillover effects from large countries to the rest of subSaharan Africa, and within their own subregion, will grow: closer economic link-

ages inevitably imply increased exposure to shocks, both favorable and unfavorable, in partner countries,” it said.

IMF African Department senior economist Cheikh Gueye said that to a large

extent, South Africa is shaping the structure of trade within sub-Saharan Africa.

He said that at least 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa export to South Africa and this represents one per cent of their GDP.

“On the investment side, we have noticed that South African companies are investing in the rest of Africa, and this has an impact in shaping trade flows. Third, there are linkages in the financial system,” he said.

Business Continuity Institute forum inaugurated

T

HE Business Continuity Institute (BCI) forum has been inaugurated by the governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The apex bank boss was represented by the patron of the BCI forum Nigerian chapter and CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Tunde Lemo. Mr Patrick Mcilwee FBCI, and Lyndon Bird, Director of the Business Continuity Institute

United Kingdom.

Also, the BCI Gifted Grades and Global Awards 2012 paid tribute to some of the talents in the BCI. “There were special awards given by the board of the Institute in recognition of exceptional service and significant contribution to both the Institute and the Business Continuity Industry,” a statement from the institute said.

It added that the BCI Global Awards is instrumental to rais-

ing the profile of the BCI, worldwide. It also marks an important event in the global business continuity calendar, forming part of the BCM World Conference Gala Dinner.

Over 350 guests from across the global business continuity community gathered together to celebrate and applaud some of the outstanding achievements of business continuity professionals working worldwide.

FGN BONDS Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

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

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2012 “ 14-04-2012

GAINERS AS AT 3-12-12 SYMBOL

O/PRICE

MANSARD UNILEVER BOCGAS PORTPAINT NPFMCRFBK TRANSCORP NAHCO WAPIC DIAMONDBNK HONYFLOUR

1.80 44.62 5.69 3.99 1.10 0.90 5.55 0.52 4.20 1.93

O/PRICE 1.98 0.57 19.39 12.38 4.47 1.90 0.67 0.52 2.12 0.56

ments easier, quicker and more convenient.

Formerly ValuCard Nigeria Ltd, Unified Payments is owned by a consortium of 18 leading Nigerian banks. The firm is into processing, merchant acquisition, switching, payment terminal service provider and provision of valueaddedservicesandsolutions.

According to the statement,Unified Payment Services pioneered the issuance and acceptance of EMV Chip + PIN cards in Nigeria, leading to reduction of ATM fraud in Nigeria by over 95 per cent.

“The company enabled Nigerian banks and merchants for the first time ever to accept foreign cards at ATMs and Points of Sale (PoS) and has maintained the highest risk management standard in sub-Saharan Africa,” the statement read in part.

C/PRICE

1.89 46.85 5.97 4.18 1.15 0.94 5.78 0.54 4.35 1.99

CHANGE

5.00 5.00 4.92 4.76 4.55 4.44 4.14 3.85 3.57 3.11

C/PRICE 1.79 0.54 18.43 11.77 4.25 1.81 0.64 0.50 2.08 0.55

CHANGE -9.60 -5.26 -4.95 -4.93 -4.92 -4.74 -4.48 -3.85 -1.89 -1.79

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m 113m

Exchange Rate (N) 155.2 155.8 155.7

Date 2-7-12 27-6-12 22-6-12

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

NGN USD NGN GBP NGN EUR NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) (S/N) Bureau de Change (S/N) Parallel Market

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

147.6000 239.4810 212.4997

149.7100 244.0123 207.9023

150.7100 245.6422 209.2910

-2.11 -2.57 -1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

July ’12

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

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

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 11.8%

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

NSE CAP Index

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

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

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

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

LOSERS AS AT 3-12-12

SYMBOL ACADEMY AIICO NNFM STANBIC MORISON LEARNAFRCA UTC IPWA FIDELITYBK JAPAULOIL

U

NIFIED Payment Services at the weekend began live services as a MasterCard third party processor. In a statement, the firm said the service underscores the company’s drive to be a onestop-shop and a shared infrastructure that offers clients electronic payment solutions cut across different card schemes.

The firm said it does not discriminate against any card or payment option.

MasterCard Worldwide is a leading payments technology company with over four decades of experience in stimulating commerce globally through its best-in-class dynamic electronic payment solutions. MasterCard offers cardholders innovative payment solutions specific to their individual needs, making pay-

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 350m 150m 350m 138m 350m 113m

Currency

Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Unified Payment begins as MasterCard processor

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

MANAGED FUNDS

OBB Rate Call Rate

•CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido

ward to 11.3 per cent at endJune 2012, compared with 12.3 per cent at end-June 2011.

DATA BANK

Tenor

NIDF NESF

and contributed 85.2 per cent of the GDP. Inflationary pressures which persisted through the first and second half of 2011 continued into the first half of 2012 as the composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 135.3 compared with 119.9 and 126.0 at end-June and end-December 2011, respectively.

The year-on-year headline inflation edged-up to 12.9 per cent at end-June 2012, from 10.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2011.

However, the 12-month moving average trended down-

Offer Price

Bid Price

ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH 9.17 KAKAWA GUARANTEED 1.00 STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE 129.24 AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND 124.61 LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL 0.79 BGL SAPPHIRE FUND 1.11 BGL NUBIAN FUND 0.96 NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. 1,746.93 PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND 11.31 CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST 1.39 CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST 1.87 STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY 8,829.17 THE DISCOVERY FUND 193.00 FIDELITY NIGFUND 1.67 • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

9.08 1.00 128.96 123.81 0.76 1.11 0.94 1,739.08 10.75 1.33 1.80 8,604.30 191.08 1.62

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK

Bank P/Court

Previous 04 July, 2012

Current 07, Aug, 2012

8.5000 8.0833

8.5000 8.0833

Movement

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

31

MONEY MARKET REPORT FGN Expenditure (N’bw)

•Dollar

•Sources:CBN, FBN Capital

Dollar demand rises on petrol, consumer goods imports

D

OLLAR demand increased last month, driven by companies bringing in petrol, consumer and household goods for Christmas and year-end celebrations in December.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) offered and sold $800 million at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) in the last two weeks.

There has also been increased dollar demand across market segments within the period, mainly from International Oil Companies (IOCs).

The drive for consumer goods increases during religious festivities in the country especially at Christmas. The country also relies on imports to meet 70 per cent of its fuel needs because of inadequate refining capacity.

The apex bank has also left benchmark interest rate at a record high 12 per cent this year to ease inflation pressures and stabilize the naira. Inflation, which accelerated for the first time in four months to 11.7 per cent in October, remains above the bank’s target of less than 10 per cent.

Yields on 10-year naira debt fell six basis points to 12.3 per cent, according to yesterday’s prices compiled on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website. Borrowing costs on the nation’s $500 million of Eurobonds due January 2021 fell two basis points to 4.256 per cent.

This has pushed the naira for the first monthly decline since June against the dollar. The currency depreciated 0.1 per cent to N157.41 a dollar as last Friday, and headed for a monthly drop of 0.2 per cent, according to data from the CBN website.

Cleared cheques The value of cheque transactions declined by 13.5 per cent to N10 trillion during the first half of the year over increasing use of electronic payment channels. A report on the first half of the year released by the CBN said the value of electronic card (e-card) transactions rose by 32.8 per cent to N1 trillion from N764.14 billion in the first half of 2011.

Data on various e-payment channels for the period under review indicated that Automated Teller Machine (ATM) remained the most patronised, accounting for 96.4 per cent, followed by mobile payments with 1.3 per cent and Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, 1.2 per cent. The web (internet) was the least patronized, accounting for only 1.1 per cent of total e-payment transactions.

Loans Small banks otherwise called Tier-2 banks have outpaced the Tier-1 banks, bigger banks in loan growth this year, report from Renaissance Capital (RenCap), an investment and finance firm has shown.

Loan growth index reviewed by the firm showed that United Bank for Africa and Access Bank grew their loan portfolio by three per cent year to date. Diamond Bank, it said, grew its loans portfolios by 38 per cent, year to date.

RenCap said that for 2013, in the absence of significant progress in power sector reforms or upstream oil and gas projects, the Tier-1 banks are likely to repeat similar levels of loan growth to those they achieved this year.

However, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratios as at September 2012 did not raise many

through training and retraining.

By Collins Nweze

alarms bells. “In our opinion, most of the banks under our coverage cannot sustain NPL ratios of around five per cent without impairment expenses of around two per cent.

Nevertheless, given the magnitude of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) clean-up in 2011, we would expect the banks to continue reporting belowaverage charges into fiscal year 2013, with normalisation likely to start coming through in fiscal year 2014,” it said.

Agency Banking Framework that would define the mode of operation for Agency Banking will be out by the middle of December this year, the CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, has said.

Speaking at the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) forum held in Lagos, he said that the CBN Committee of Governors was fine-tuning the draft exposure the agency banking, which would be issued soon.

He said issues relating to the number of agents, type and nature of agents, including considerations for super agents are critical areas being considered in the draft exposure.

He said the processes for this line of banking to become functional in the country will be finalised by this year-end.

He said there have been a lot of improvements in the Nigerian payment system, including the drive for financial inclusion. The apex bank boss said lenders have to address the need for special products that consider women and the handicapped to ensure that everyone is carried along.

Taxation The President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), John Sunday Jegede has said that taxation, and not oil, remains the engine-room for sustainable economic development in the country. He said oil and gas will in the very near future dry up but taxation will always remain a source of revenue for countries.

Jegede disclosed this during CITN’s 27th induction where 546 new members were inducted. According to him, “It is no longer news that what is needed to drive our economy and assist in the realisation of vision 20-2020 and the transformation agenda of the Federal Government is the diversification of the economy with emphasis on taxation”.

He said the Institute is determined to collaborate with various stakeholders to enhance manpower capacity of tax experts

US oil stockpiles The United States increasing oil stockpiles, deepening global uncertainties and weak global demand are likely to suppress oil prices and slash Nigeria’s revenues, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Bismarck Rewane has said.

In the FDC Economic report for November, he said since Nigeria obtains over 80 per cent of its fiscal receipts from oil, a reduction in fiscal revenue especially if production drops will deplete earnings for the country. “ Any oil price and or production disruption could easily deplete the government coffers to as low as $20 billion, a depreciation of the exchange rate, loss of market confidence and a possible rating downgrade,” he said.

The FDC boss said pointers are in favour of an end to the CBN’s tight monetary policy stance and the need to boost growth and lending to the real sector. He said the current contractionary policy stance has been in play since October 2011 when the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was raised by 275 basis points.

Leasing The leasing assets have hit N623 billion on rising commitment to providing loans for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), the Chairman of Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN), Mr Kahinde Lawanson, has said.

He spoke at a business forum on the “implications of tax regime on equipment leasing business in Nigeria”.

He said the subsector has continued to grow despite difficulties being faced by operators in acquisition of productive assets.

Lawanson stated that the leasing industry was engaged in providing access to finance to the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing domestic capital base, financial product innovation and development of secondary market.

He, however, noted that the continuous growth and development of the industry depend on strong infrastructure including, conducive tax and legal frameworks which are part of the major pillars that drive the industry.

Capital market The economy will fully recover until the capital market is given its place as a longterm security provider, Sanusi has said.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to CBN Lagos office by members of the Chartered

‘

The drive for consumer goods increases during religious festivities in the country especially at Christmas. The country also relies on imports to meet 70 per cent of its fuel needs because of inadequate refining capacity

’

Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) he said without a strong and deep capital market, the economy will continue to depend on banks for investment funds.

He noted that banks do not have what it takes to provide the kind of long-term loans required to grow the economy. For this reason, he said, the capital market becomes handy in the provision of the needed funds for growing the economy.

Infrastructure The Federal Government requires N32 trillion to provide needed infrastructure and housing needs in the economy, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) have said.

Both groups declared this in a combined statement issued at the end of Stakeholders’ Forum on Nigeria’s Pension System held in Abuja. Both the infrastructure and housing needs will require N16 trillion each, to be addressed.

The highlights from the presentations and discussions at the forum indicated that Nigeria’s pension sector currently has 5.32 million registered contributors.

PenCom said that there are N2.93 trillion in pension assets with 5.3 million registered pension contributors, about 64 per cent of whom are below 40 years. It said that only 25 to 30 per cent of quoted stocks are active on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The Commission also said about that percentage meets minimum criteria for pension funds investment and this form up to 80 per cent of the trading activities in the market.

Bank to bank report First Bank of Nigeria and United Bank for Africa (UBA) last week won the 2012 The Banker award. FirstBank was announced the winner of the “Bank of the Year in Nigeria 2012” Award by The Banker magazine, a publication of the Financial Times of London.

Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications received the award plaque from Paul Wallace, Africa Editor of The Banker and Michael Buerk, a former CNN Correspondent and Award Host.

Also, The Banker magazine, named UBA the Bank of the Year, Africa. UBA carted home the regional award for the continent, joining other regional winners such as ScotiabankGlobal Americas, Nordea-Western Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International -Central and Eastern Europe, DBS-Asia/Pacific and Qatar National Bank-Middle East.

The “Bank of the Year” is selected based on the overall performance of the financial institution and the opinion of leading financial analysts from the world’s financial markets.

Winners were recognised and presented with awards in the presence of over 450 leading bankers across the globe.

Fidelity Bank has given out five cars to five of its customers that emerged winners in the ongoing cars and cash promo. Muhammed Isah Shemsu, Saidu Sanusi, Benita Onwuneme, Odo Ngozika Blessing and Blessed Maka Ventures were the winners of the first set of cars in the first mega draw, held to pick winners across five zones in the country, Northeast/ west, Southeast, Southsouth, Abuja/ Northcentral and Lagos/Southwest.

32

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

THE CEO Despite efforts to get Nigerians to embrace insurance and reap its numerous benefits, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the sector’s regulatory body, says about 90 per cent of Nigerians do not have insurance cover. This is worrisome, says Godwin Ejembi Odah, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Union Assurance Plc, who in this interview with UYOATTA ESHIETaddresses the issue and other challenges facing the industry. Excerpts:

‘We can’t assess insurable value of flood’ W

HAT is responsible for the lack of interest in insurance ?

I think a lot of it has to do with lack of awareness, because you have to embrace something that you know. If you don’t know about something, it will be difficult for you to deliberately embrace it. If Nigerians are not embracing insurance to the extent that they should, I would say it is because they are not fully aware of the benefits.

Having said that, there are some Nigerians who have unsavoury experience in the past with some providers of insurance services, and some of these Nigerians point to that fact that they did not have a good experience with past dealings with some insurance firms. There is also the fact that the economy is not doing as well and so disposable income is low, and when people want to allocate their disposable income, they allocate them in order of priority; insurance is not likely to be the first priority. So, when you put all these together, you can see why the demand for insurance is not as high as it should be.

What is the level of acceptability of insurance?

The penetration of insurance is better in virtually every other developed country than in Africa. And within Africa, it is still deeper in many other African countries than Nigeria. South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and others have deeper insurance penetration, relatively speaking. In many places, it is better than Nigeria.

There are reports that poor legal framework and low perception are also responsible. How true are these?

Image arises from experience sometimes, though there are people who despite not having any personal rely on the experiences of others. There are also misinformation and speculations about what insurance companies do, and all these will affect the industry. On legal framework, there is enough legal frameworks to encourage demand for insurance and that is why National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) came out with the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI). This is a strategy that is built around the existing legal framework, in the sense that NAICOM wants to enforce laws that are already in our statute books, existing laws that make insurance compulsory in several situations. Motor insurance, insurance of buildings under construction, insurance of employees, and all that, so I would say that there is a reasonable legal framework within which to encourage Nigerians to take up insurance in crucial situations.

What are the other major constraints?

In countries where insurance has thrived

• Odah

successfully, there are one or two things that are in place that we do not have in Nigeria.

Where credit is very low, you are bound to have problems because if you have to have money before you access anything you want to buy, if you have to pay cash in order to buy whatever you want, then when you don’t have cash, you are not able to get what you really want. That really is a problem.

The absence of credit is a problem in Nigeria. Elsewhere, if you want to buy a house or motor vehicle or other assets, you have credit facilities granted you by the banks and the way the banks protect this credit is by ensuring that you insure the asset acquired with the credit. In Nigeria, it is very difficult to have facilities to buy a house or a car,

people have to struggle to save money to buy these assets, this is why when they finish buying them, because there is no framework to force them to take insurance, as would have happened if there was credit institution that granted him the credit facility, so they don’t bother. This is a major factor; we don’t have a credit system that would have automatically ensured that assets that are purchased with this credit are insured.

That is a major problem confronting insurance penetration in Nigeria.

There is the issue of compulsory insurance.

Why should people be forced to insure?

It is like saving someone from himself. If someone is trying to commit suicide for instance, his family and friends have the re-

sponsibility to prevent such a person from committing suicide. If you want to, for instance, drive your motor vehicle anyhow you like – at the expense of other road users who could be motorists themselves or pedestrians, it is not right to allow that to happen. The idea behind compulsory insurance is to protect other individuals against the harm that you can cause them. If you have a motor vehicle for instance, the government expects you to take at least a third party insurance. The idea behind that third party insurance is to protect other road users against your recklessness. If you want to be reckless, let it be that at least you have insured a •Continued on page 33

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

THE CEO

‘We can’t assess insurable value of flood’ •Continued from page 32

potential damage you can do to this other third party.

There is also the law that says if you employ up to five people, you must provide them with an insurance cover against certain risks. Even though this is in the interest of both the employer and the employees, the employers often see it as they are being forced to do what is good. If they are being forced to do what is good for the sake of other people, I think it is for a good course.

If you have a building under construction and the government says you must insure it because there is a possibility that it can collapse and kill other people, if you the builder do not see any good reason in ensuring that other people are protected and the government sees a good reason, is it a good or a bad thing? It is wrong to say people are being forced to insure; rather they are encouraged to or compelled to take insurance in the interest of other people.

Are insurance firms doing enough to expose the business to as many Nigerians as possible?

I think there is a lot that has been done, and a lot more can still be done under various umbrellas. Under the umbrella we belong to, that is the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), where all the underwriting companies belong, we regularly advertise in the newspapers. National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), being the insurance industry’s regulator, also does the same. Individual insurance companies also advertise in various media, both electronic and print.

A lot of efforts have been put in, and a lot more can still be done.

Insurance seems to be a city-based issue in Nigeria as one can hardly hear of it in the villages. What is the industry doing about this?

Insurance should not be a city issue. It is like when you want to begin a fight you pick the easiest fight first. The cities are where you have the most literate people; it is where you have the most economic activities, so the city is where most demand for insurance is. That is why insurance companies seem to concentrate in cities. But with time, these efforts also will have to go into the hinterland because economic activities will also gradually spread into the hinterland. If you take agricultural insurance, it will be more relevant to people outside the cities. So, when agric insurance becomes more and more potent than what it is now, you will find out that people outside of the cities, farmers in the various villages will then become subject of agric insurance; so it is a matter of time, we are just at the beginning of a long and important journey and that is the journey of providing insurance for virtually everyone who is a Nigerian because every Nigerian needs some form of insurance, or the other.

Which other factors affect insurance in Nigeria?

Poverty certainly negatively affects insurance because you should be able to afford it to pay for the services, the premium, which is what you pay in order to be granted a cover. The level of education also affects insurance because you need to understand the contract you are going into. Our contracts today are written in English language. In other words, you have to read and understand what your rights and obligations under the contract are, you have to be literate.

This should not be a barrier because there is nothing that stops us from writing our contracts in our local languages, but even to do that, you should have some indication of demand. With time these things will come to pass.

There are complaints also of the issue of technicalities in the trade. Are these technicalities not putting off potential clients from its acceptability?

It is a very simple thing. There is nothing too technical about insurance. Insurance is about you handing over the risk when you run to a company that specialises in handling such risks and you pay them a little amount of money called ‘premium’. When the risks crystallise, that is what you never wanted to happen, if such ever happens, then they pay you and put you in the same position you were before you started taking that risk.

What people complain about may be the wordings of the contract and insurance companies have started making efforts towards simplifying the wordings of the contract.

Because it is a legal contract, it has some level of technicalities to it. The relationship be-

• Odah

‘Poverty certainly negatively affects insurance because you should be able to afford it to pay for the services, the premium, which is what you pay in order to be granted a cover. The level of education also affects insurance because you need to understand the contract you are going into. Our contracts today are written in English language. In other words, you have to read and understand what your rights and obligations under the contract are, you have to be literate. This should not be a barrier because there is nothing that stops us from writing our contracts in our local languages, but even to do that, you should have some indication of demand. With time these things will come to pass’

• Odah

tween the insurance companies and the person being insured is a legal relationship; legal contracts are not always very simple but despite that, efforts are being made to simplify the wordings in a manner that people

will now understand with ease.

Union Assurance has held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where an impressive result was posted. What made that result possible and what are you doing to sustain and

improve on it?

Sustained hard work and the benefits of the Enterprise Restructuring Program (ERP) that we put in place in 2009, that is the goal of the transformation programme that we courageously began in 2009.

How is Union Assurance driving insurance penetration?

We sell all the normal insurance products and we are also working hard to develop new products. We have five new products that are awaiting the approval of NAICOM before introducing them into the market. We are a company driven by the desire to innovate, that innovation can only show by way of new products. We sell all the products that other insurance companies sell, both on the life and non-life side, but in addition, we are developing new products based on our observation of the needs of the insuring public.

Do you see the efforts of NAICOM, yielding the desired results?

What you are talking about is the Market Development and Restructuring Indicatives (MDRI). It is a courageous project and also one that have a lot of potential. We may not reap all the benefits this year but there is the likelihood that things are going to work better in terms of the income, the increase in premium income in the industry.

Nigeria recorded the worst flooding ever, where millions of people were displaced in most parts of the country, and over 140 were said to have died. What is the insurable value of the assets destroyed during the disaster, because the cost of Hurricane Sandy that happened in the United States after the flooding in Nigeria has been put at over $20 billion?

We don’t have accurate statistics for it. It is not every policy holder that has flood policy. Right now, it is difficult to say what percentage of the affected population that has flood policy or what percentage of those that have flood policy that were affected in the flooding in Nigeria. It is statistics that need to be obtained. The American environment is driven by statistical information.

That environment is different from our own and that is one of the major problems we have as a developing country.

The government is said not to match words with action when it comes the issue of insurance premium payment. How does this affect the industry?

The government does pay premium. It is only that it takes time. They don’t pay as at when due, but the government does pay. The government generally take time in everything; for instance, the budget that is the basis for everything does not usually become operative immediately because of the process that it goes through. The National Assembly has to approve budgets before they can become operational. That is why the government takes time before paying premium but it does pay. But we hope that there will be changes because we are moving towards a state of ‘no premium, no cover’. If you don’t pay premium, there will be no cover for you.

In the capital market the insurance stocks are often referred to as the ‘penny penny stocks’ because they are at nominal value of 50 kobo except for about two stocks. What is the cause of this pathetic situation and how can it be rectified?

The value of stocks is mainly driven by demand. What causes the demand for a particular stock is the potential or prospect of profitability of that stock. The day insurance companies begin to declare reasonable profits for their shareholders, other potential shareholders will begin to look at the stock and think about buying them.

Right now, many insurance companies are struggling and that is not unusual because when an economy is struggling, it is difficult to for a component of that economy to outperform it and insurance in particular because demand for insurance in Nigeria is pretty lower and what causes how much income you get is as a result of the demand you get for your product. So, as long as the demand for insurance remain low, insurance companies will have little money to play with and with the cost of operations and other overheads, at the end of the day, you don’t have much money to declare by way of profit. The low profitability of the insurance industry is the reason insurance stocks are not attractive. The stocks will become attractive when people begin to demand to buy them and that is when they begin to become profitable.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 3-12-12

Investment One promises one-stop investment services •Key indicators return northwards

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TB Asset Management Limited (GTBAM) at the weekend changed its name to Investment One Financial Services Limited with a promise to create a one-stop investment services that meet all the requirements and peculiarities of all investors.

The name change followed the sale through management buy out (MBO) of the former investment and wealth management subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc. The divestment by GTBank was in compliance with the new regulatory regime of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

CBN’s Scope of Banking Activities and Ancillary Matters No 3, 2010 requires banks to fully concentrate on core banking functions. The new model requires banks to either sell all non-core banking businesses or form a holding company to hold such non-core banking businesses including activities such as insurance, asset management and capital market operations.

Most banks including GTBank, Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank, Unity Bank and Wema Bank have chosen to divest from non-banking subsidiaries. GTBank had earlier sold its insurance subsidiary Guaranty Trust Assurance, which subsequently changed its name to Mansard Insurance Investment One Financial Services Limited is now owned by management and staff of the company and few select investors that share the philosophies of excellence and service that

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

form the core values of GTBank and its former subsidiaries.

Speaking during the announcement of corporate rebirth in Lagos, managing director, Investment One Financial Services Limited, Mr Nicholas Nyamali said the company remains essentially the same in terms of its adherence to the tradition, vision and values that have been its guiding light since its formation as a subsidiary of GTBank.

He said Investment One would build on its pedigree as an investment and wealth management firm of choice noting that except for the exit of executive directors of GTBank from the board of the company, Investment One was a full complement of the human resources, technologies and know-how of GTBAM. “The name ‘Investment One’ mirrors our desire to be a onestop shop for comprehensive investment services and the first point of call for insightful and innovative financial solutions. The name also reflects the firms’ strategic positioning as a service-oriented firm that is responsive to the investment needs of its customers,” He pointed out that the firm’s payoff-forward thinking investment solutions, underscores its commitment to delivering financial services solutions backed by its longstanding core values of service excellence, innovation and market insight to individual and institutional investors.

He noted that the firm’s chain

of services from advisory to brokerage, fund management and trusteeship allow it to meet the lifetime investment requirements of all investors adding that the company’s innovative products allow lowincome and high-income earners to participate in the investment marketplace.

“With the rebranding, the company’s business is further broadened to deliver exceptional investment solutions in advising, executing, managing or transferring wealth to future generations, through its full complement of investment solutions,” Nyamali said.

Nyamali said Investment One would commit itself to investment education and inculcation of savings and investment habits in the people pointing out that adequate knowledge about investment opportunities would empower the people.

Meanwhile, investors last week staked N8.89 billion on 1.22 billion shares through 18,902 deals on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The banking subsector was the most active during the week with a turnover of 471.559 million shares worth N3.856 billion in 7,836 deals.

Turnover in the banking subsector was driven by activities in the shares of Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc, which altogether accounted 185.284 million shares, representing 15.83 per cent of the total turnover recorded during the week.

The overall share pricing trend was positive with both the benchmark index and aggregate market value on the upswing. The All Share Index (ASI)- which tracks prices of all quoted companies, trended upward by 0.65 per cent from opening index of 26,322.18 points to close the week at 26,494.44 points. Total market capitalization of listed equities improved by 1.01 per cent to NN8.466 trillion as against its opening value of N8.381 trillion.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 3-12-12

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 , 2012

35

EQUITIES WATCH

Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (GSK) Plc posted a stunning weekly return of 21 per cent last week, few points below the overall market's average year-to-date return. The steep capital appreciation followed the proposal by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) UK Plc to increase its majority equity stake in the Nigerian company. TAOFIK SALAKO reports that the planned acquisition underlines the inherent values in the healthcare company but also raises concerns about the continuing future listing of the company.

How far will the wind of acquisition take GSK? G

LAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK) UK Plc, the multinational foreign majority shareholders in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, has unveiled an ambitious share purchase bid to increase its shareholdings in the Nigerian subsidiary to 80 per cent. GSK currently holds majority equity stake of 46.4 per cent GSK Consumer Nigeria through two wholly- owned subsidiaries. With total current outstanding shares of 956.70 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, GSK UK holds 443.91 million shares while Nigerian institutional and individual investors hold the balance of 512.79 million shares. Now, GSK UK wants to buy 321.45 million shares out of the shareholdings by Nigerians to increase the foreign core investor's controlling stake to 80 per cent. In the bid for the 33.6 per cent additional equity stake, GSK UK is offering N48 per share.

The offer price represents a premium of 28 per cent to the closing price of a GSK Nigeria on November 23, 2012 and a premium of 34 per cent to the volume weighted average closing price of GSK Nigeria for the three months prior to November 23, 2012. Under the terms of the proposal, GSK UK would acquire additional shares of GSK Nigeria on a pro rata basis from existing shareholders through a Scheme of Arrangement.

The share purchase bid strengthened the already impressive pricing trend of the healthcare company. GSK Nigeria opens today with a year-to-date return of 97.8 per cent.

At N45.50 per share, GSK opens today at its highest price in four years. It had traded within a range of N31.50 and N20.85 in 2010.

In 2011, it trended downward to a range of N29.65 and N22.47. It surmounted initial scare of a record low of N18.97 this year to reach attain its current peak of N45.50. With the offer price of N48, full-year return for 2012 would peak at 108.7 per cent.

Going for higher stakes GSK UK's bid is the latest of the string of foreign acquisition of additional equities in Nigerian subsidiaries. Major multinationals including Nestle, Cadbury, PZ Cussons and Lafarge had recently reinvested in their Nigerian businesses with Lafarge and Cadbury thereby acquiring additional equity stakes.

GSK UK's bid might not be unconnected with the huge potential of the Nigerian healthcare industry and relative stability of the Nigerian economy. With population of more than 160 million people, Nigeria's growing population and huge gap between healthcare needs and actual provisions present huge opportunities for multinationals with extensive capacity for research and capital for investment.

Nigerian healthcare industry has witnessed many landmark changes in recent years including a law that mandates compulsory health scheme for employees and a step-up in the anti-counterfeit and substandard campaign. These have seen massive investments by healthcare companies with GSK leading with reinvestment programme estimated at about N5 billion.

Opportunity or threat?

GSK’s 35-Month Random Walk Pricing Trend

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increased GSK ownership underlines GSK's long term support of GSK Nigeria's strategy.

The board says it unanimously believes that the proposal is in the best interest of the continued growth of the GSK Nigeria, the shareholders, employees, customers, the community and Nigeria.

According to directors of the company, by maintaining a 20 per cent free float, the shareholders will also continue to benefit from the company's performance. But this is also dicey.

Eighty per cent equity stake will empower GSK UK to undertake any restructuring of GSK Nigeria without any legal challenge from the minority Nigerian shareholders. These restructurings could include delisting from the secondary market. At 80 per cent, GSK UK will have more than 75 per cent equities required by extant Nigerian laws for companies to effect profound changes in their share capital structure. Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) had last year bought out Nigerian shareholders and delisted its shares from the secondary market after nearly six decades as iconic stock on the stock market. NBC had also relied on its ability to muster additional shares to push through its delisting in spite of the uproars and stiff opposition from the minority Nigerian shareholders.

The board of GSK Nigeria is rooting for the increased foreign equity stake, stating that

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Improving fundamentals The higher-than-market offer price buttresses

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several valuations indicating that most Nigerian quoted companies have been significantly undervalued by the lingering recession in recent years. Many pundits said they expected GSK UK could still increase its offer price if Nigerian shareholders insist on better value.

GSK Nigeria has witnessed appreciable improvements in key fundamentals in periods.

Third quarter report for the period ended September 30, 2012 showed that turnover improved from N15.84 billion in third quarter 2011 to N18.75 billion in 2012. Profit before tax also rose from N2.44 billion to N2.79 billion.

Profit after tax increased from N1.68 billion to N1.89 billion. With these, earnings per share for the nine-month period stood at N1.97 as against N1.76 recorded in comparable period of 2011.

Interim report for the first half ended June 30, 2012 had shown resilience. Turnover stood at N12.85 billion in first half 2012 as against N10.18 billion in comparable period of 2011.

Gross profit improved from N4.32 billion to N5.08 billion. Profit before tax increased to N1.94 billion as against N1.65 billion recorded in 2011. After taxes, net profit improved to N1.31 billion compared with N1.14 in corresponding period of 2011. With this, six-month earnings per share closed June 2012 at N1.37 as against N1.19 in 2011.

Audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2011 had also shown appreciable growth in sales and profit. Total sales

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•Chairman, GSK Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye

rose by about 28 per cent while pre and posttax profits improved by 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. Group turnover trended upward to N21.53 billion in 2011 as against N16.86 billion in 2010. Gross profit stood at N8.99 billion in contrast to N7.44 billion in 2010, representing an increase of 21 per cent.

Profit before tax closed at N3.50 billion as against N2.94 billion in 2010. After taxes, net earnings stood at N2.30 billion as against N1.98 billion. Per share earnings analysis showed that basic net earnings per share improved from N2.07 to N2.41. The company distributed 49.9 per cent of total profit after tax totaling N1.15 billion as cash dividends to shareholders. With a dividend per share of N1.20 per share for the past two years, sustainable dividend outlook improved in 2011 with a dividend cover of 2.01 times as against 1.73 times in 2010. Net assets per share improved by 15 per cent to N9.41 in 2011 compared with N8.20 in 2010.

With the company rounding off the fourth quarter, further improvement in earnings would strengthen the bargaining power of Nigerian shareholders and put pressure on GSK UK to increase its offer price. Such increase in offer price will simultaneously lead to a match-up from the secondary market as bargain hunters seek to take profit from the gap between market valuation and offer valuation.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL

US economic growth rate rises by 2.7% T

HE United States economy grew at an

annualised rate of 2.7 per cent in the third quarter of the year, revised data has suggested.

The figure is significantly higher than the two per cent initial estimate that the Commerce Department released just before the presidential election.

Much of the growth was due to companies rebuilding their inventories, and is not expected to be sustained.

The first estimate itself had beaten analysts'expectations, and fuelled the suspicions of some Republicans.

The growth rate for the second quarter was confirmed at 1.3 per cent.

Housing rebound The revised data confirmed that a 9.5 per cent jump in spending by the federal government during the quarter - compared with a 0.2 per cent decline the previous quarter - played an important role in the pick-up in growth.

What the first estimate had failed to pick up was the scale of restocking by private-sector businesses.

This inventory build-up effect which typically provides a temporary boost to economic activity early on in the recovery from a recession - added 0.77 percentage

points to the pick-up in the overall growth rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said.

Other factors that boosted growth included the continued rise in consumer spending, stronger exports, and a slight rebound in homebuilding activity from historically low levels.

There were also some negative factors in the data, including further cuts in state and local government spending, and a fall in construction of commercial property.

Developments in the US housing market are being watched closely by economists, as they are likely to determine the durability

of the recovery.

Normally, periods of recovery in the US economy are led by residential construction, as building firms quickly get back to work on a backlog of projects as soon as the recession is over.

But this time round, the recession was in large part caused by the bursting of a housing market bubble, that left behind a glut of unsold homes, bankrupted many homebuilding firms, and saw the sharpest and most sustained collapse in homebuilding activity in recorded US history.

Some Republicans had expressed incredulity at a string of

Indian economy to grow at 7.7% during 2012-16

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• Spectators admiring a Lamborgini aventador car at this year’s Los Angeles auto show.

French bank reform to have wide scope, draft shows A

SOON-to-be-finali sed French banking reform law will have a widerthan-expected scope as Francois Hollande's administration seeks to rein in several related sectors, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

Extra powers will be given to France's banking and capital-markets regulators to keep banks, brokerages, insurers and consumercredit providers in line and to protect taxpayers from the cost of bailing out failed institutions, the document said.

It marks a flagship attempt by the administration of President Hollande to deliver on a campaign pledge to shake up the financial sector by separating speculative banking businesses from those

deemed useful to the economy.

The reform holds back from curbing banks' market-making activities, as previously reported by Reuters, putting France at odds with tough proposals by the EU's Liikanen Commission for a broader ring-fencing of trading activities.

"The option chosen by the French government is to not entirely separate activities," said a source close to the situation. "France wants to pave the way in Europe."

The centerpiece of the reform demands banks like BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) put their proprietary trading activities and financing

for certain types of hedge funds and private equity into separately regulated entities, according to the draft law due to be unveiled in December.

These entities will be banned from high-frequency or commodity-derivatives trading. Client-related activities like market-making, hedging and other investment services will be spared, as will banks' own investment and cashmanagement operations, keeping them with the parent group.

However, non-bank entities such as securities trading firms and brokerages will also have to submit to "objectives, limits, rules on organisation and on good conduct", that depend on the definition of risky and non-risky trading.

EU to propose joint bank resolution in 2013

T

HE European Commission next year will propose a common policy for shutting down banks to accompany a plan for a single euro-area supervisor, Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said.

This will follow existing plans to coordinate national bank deposit guarantee schemes, which the EU should agree on in the first part of the year, Barnier told reporters in Brussels. The proposal for jointly handling failed banks will go further than prior bank resolution programs by spelling out how to share costs.

“The Commission in 2013 will propose the creation of a European resolution authority,” Barnier said. “It’s a complex endeavor but essential to guaran-

tee the efficiency and robustness of the banking system.”

The EU is racing to meet a yearend deadline to agree on a framework for the new bank supervisor. As planned, the European Central Bank (ECB) will take the lead on oversight of banks in the euro area and other participating nations by 2014.

The ECB urged the EU to speed work on the resolution authority, in a legal opinion on the single supervisory mechanism published today on its web site.

“The ECB is of the opinion that such a single resolution mechanism, focused on a European Resolution Authority, is indeed a necessary complement to the SSM to achieve a well-functioning financial market union,” the

ECB said. “Therefore such a mechanism should be established, or at least there should be clear deadlines for its establishment, when the ECB assumes its supervisory responsibility in full -i.e. at the end of the transitional period.”

ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure urged Barnier to move quickly with the joint proposals for how to handle and pay for bank stabilisation.

“There cannot be a lasting situation with one single supervisor and 17, or more, uncoordinated resolution authorities,” Coeure said in a speech today in Hong Kong. “I look forward to the European Commission proposing a single resolution mechanism as soon as possible in 2013.”

unexpectedly strong economic figures released in October, in the run-up to the presidential elections.

The initial growth estimate followed jobs figures that showed the unemployment rate falling in September from 8.1 per cent to 7.8 per cent - its lowest rate since January 2009, and well below market expectations.

The positive jobs data came shortly after Mr Obama put in a poor performance during the first of the three presidential debates, and prompted some Republican supporters to call foul.

NDIA’s economy is likely to grow by an average of 7.7 per cent during 2012-16, a report by leading financial services firm ING has said.

"We expect the economy to grow in 2012-16 by 7.7 per cent on average. On the demand side, private consumption and investment will be the main drivers of growth," the report said.

It added that on the production side, the main contribution to growth will come from the expanding labour force, increase in capital stocks and improved productivity.

From a high over nine per cent GDP growth for many years prior to the 2008 crisis, the economy grew 6.5 per cent last year and is projected to slow down further to a decadal low 5.5 per cent or even lower this fiscal.

In the first quarter, the GDP clipped at 5.5 per cent and the second quarter numbers will be announced on Friday, which is also expected to be as tepid as the June quarter. It, however, said that lack of coordinated government poli-

cies along with rise in commodity prices may endanger the favourable growth prospects.

The report also said it would take at least another year to bring the economy back to its potential output growth rate of 7.5 per cent per year.

Talking about short-term growth prospects, the report said investment activity will pick up later this year on the back of easing inflation and the resultant lowering of interest rates.

It also said due to lack of policy measures, the fiscal deficit is likely to end up at 5.5 per cent of GDP this fiscal and current account deficit at 4.5 per cent during this period.

Despite the structural issues faced by the economy, the report said the country will become the world's fourth largest economy by 2030.

"We still expect India to become the world's fourth largest economy by 2030, as Goldman Sachs forecast in 2003. This will largely be achieved the Indian way, based on domestic strengths with some help from outside," the report said.

‘World economy in best shape in 18 months’

T

HE world economy is in its best shape in 18 months as China’s prospects improve and the United States looks likely to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, according to the latest Bloomberg Global Poll of investors.

Two-thirds of the 862 surveyed described the global economy as either stable or improving. That’s up from just over half who said that in September and is the most since May 2011.

The US came out on top for the eighth straight quarter when investors were asked which markets will offer the best opportunities over the next year.

China ranked second, reversing a decline to fourth in the September poll of investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers. The European Union, beset by a debt crisis, was seen offering the worst returns.

“The global economy is improving, recovering and healing, thanks to the U.S. and the emerging markets,” said Andrea Guzzi, a poll respondent and vice president of IST Investmentstiftung fuer Personalvorsorge, which manages money for Swiss pension funds.

“More people are becoming wealthy, less and less are poor.”

Stocks were seen as the asset of choice, with more than one in three of those surveyed on Nov. 27 forecasting equities would have the best returns in the coming year. Real estate came in second: Just less than one in five investors singled it out favorably, the best showing since the quarterly poll began in July 2009. Bonds were seen as offering the worst returns.

The Federal Reserve is expected to

provide continued support to the bond market after its Operation Twist program ends next month, according to the poll. About three in four said the U.S. central bank will begin outright purchases of Treasury securities after its plan for swapping short-dated securities for longer-dated ones expires.

A plurality - two in five - said the Fed also will continue buying mortgage-backed securities into 2014, a strategy dubbed QE3 by investors, shorthand for the third round of quantitative easing by the central bank.

“The Fed is being very clear about monetary policy,” Gala Prada, a poll respondent and portfolio and asset manager for Fiatc Mutua de Seguros y Reaseguros, a Barcelona-based insurance company, said in an e-mail.

“If the economy doesn’t improve, there will be a QE4 or more asset purchases.”

The growing optimism among investors about the world economy was not reflected in their views of the prospects for the financial services industry. About seven in ten said they expect large banks to reduce payrolls further in the next year after cutting at least 188,000 jobs over the last two years. A majority blame regulatory changes for the reductions.

Banking authorities have tightened rules and raised capital standards on banks after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression forced governments to spend billions of dollars to rescue ailing financial institutions.

“Many countries have oversized banking sectors, which need to go back to more sustainable sizes,” Guzzi said in an e-mail from Zurich.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

38

BOOK REVIEW

Simlifying the principles and practice of For accounting Management Accounting students, any myth surrounding the subject as a difficult one has been unveiled by the Author of Management Accounting, James Majebi Oguns. Any diligent studious will find this book an i n v a l u a b l e companion, writes, SIMEON EBULU

I

n this era when everyone is craving for knowledge and quality education, the entry of this book can be said to be very timely.

For those in the tertiary institutions and others preparing for their professional examinations, especially in Accounting and the management sciences, this book will serve as a veritable source of knowledge, as well as a reference material. In addition, the book will be an invaluable asset for related students and teachers engaged in holiday coaching, preparing students for various examinations The beauty of the book, or rather one of its appeals, is its simple and expansive treatment of the subject matter. With 33 chapters spread over 800 pages, the book comes complete with a glossary, an index, references and end of chapter questions to aid review and for ease of understanding.

Going through the volume, there's hardly a section on the subject at this level that was not given exhaustive treatment.

The first chapter opened with the introduction. It is split into 13 subtitles for ease of understanding, and also to engage and sustain the readers interest and attention. Here,

Title: Management Accounting: A Simplified Approach Author: James Majebi Oguns Publisher: GIRAFFE BOOKS Published: 2012 Reviewer: Simeon Ebulu Management Accounting was defined. Other concepts, such as Financial and Cost Accounting, the Role of the Management Accountant in Management decision making Process are also examined.

Chapter Two opened with the question of What is Cost Behaviour. The answer to the question and the different forms of Cost Classifications, as well as the approach adopted by economists in its treatment, form part of the issues treated in this section.

In the succeeding chapter, the author discussed the difference between cost reduction and cost control. He explained that while cost control deals with not allowing the cost to rise beyond the planned levels, cost reduction involves a real and permanent reduction in unit cost of production. He offered practical steps that should be taken to keep cost within acceptable limit.

He devoted about 75 pages (pages 83-161) to address three other areas, viz; Absorption Costing and Marginal Costing Techniques; Activity Based Costing (ABC) and CostVolume-Profit Analysis (CVPA).

In his introduction to costing techniques, the Author

•James Majebi Oguns advocated that the costs that vary with a decision should only be included in decision making analysis, adding that decisions that involve relatively small variations from existing practice, or such that are for relatively limited period of time, are not relevant to the decision. His argued that fixed costs tend to be impossible to alter in the short-term, or managers are reluctant to alter them in the shortterm.

In a tabular form, the author listed the various costing techniques with the concise description of each, as well as a comparism of Absorption Costing, versus Marginal Costing for easy assimilation. The discourse also included presentation of cost data under absorption and marginal technique. He also provided data and worked examples under the various cost techniques.

Under Activity Based Costing, he said the procedure require that the major activities taking place in the organization must be identified, adding that the is need to create a cost centre/cost pool for each major activity, and also determine the cost driver for each major activity as well.

The author explained that the CVPA (Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis) is concerned with understanding the relationship between fixed cost, variable cost,

sales revenue and profit or loss.

This is to enable management to draw useful conclusions from the production and sales process. This is variously referred to as the Break-Even Analysis, or contribution analysis.

He listed the advantages that are inherent in the break-even analysis, saying it assists management in determining what sales volume is required to breakeven; what sales volume is necessary in order to earn a desired profit; what profit can be expected on a given sales volume and how a change in a mix of products, or changes in selling price, variable costs and output can affect profit.

Having addressed the cost issues, the author went on to examine Managerial Decision Making. He defined management accounting decision making as choosing a course of action among possible alternatives. He also listed the various types of decision making, the rules and concepts required in decision making.

In addition, he provided an expose on short-term make or buy decision, saying in order to properly evaluate, 'make or buy decision, management will need to factor in the quantitative and qualitative consideration.

"Management will be interested in analyzing whether any of the two

options will result into economic savings or deficit to the organization," he stated.

Another area addressed in the book is, decision making under conditions of uncertainty, to which the author devoted 16 pages. As distinct from decision making under certainty, which connotes one event, decision making under uncertainty, involves an event, or several events with each one producing more than one outcome, and each outcome with its probability of occurrence.

Therefore a decision maker is faced with a choice among several alternatives, and whichever decision is made will depend on the criteria used by the decision maker in judging between the outcomes of events.

He posited that decision making is an all pervasive activity in organizations, covering both short-term and long-term plans.

Nonetheless, he underlined the necessity to draw the line between uncertainty and risk. He provided different techniques to manage situations under both scenarios Among several other topics, the book addressed pricing, control of divisionalised operations, learning the curve, inventory control, simulation technique and the decision tree model.

Budget Principles and Budgetary control are also handled in the book. He explained that budgeting is an integral part of planning and control, adding that it is about making plans for the future, implementing those plans and monitoring activities to see whether they conform to plan.

The tail-end of the book centred on management theories and principles. The last chapter treated Modern Day Issues in Managerial Accounting. It captured key discourse on current thoughts, concerns and issues in management accounting that are being increasingly adopted by major companies globally.

Among them are, Total Quality Management, Total Quality Control, Strategic Management Accounting and Materials Requirement Planning, just to mention but a few.

The book is due for presentation on Saturday, 8th December, 2012.

BUSINESS AFRICA South Africa posts record trade gap

S

OUTH Africa posted a record trade deficit in October as mining strikes cut output and machinery and chemical imports surged.

The shortfall widened to 21.2 billion rand ($2.4 billion) from 13.8 billion rand in September, the Pretoriabased South African Revenue Service said today in an e-mailed statement. The median estimate of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey was 15.5 billion rand.

South Africa’s trade gap of 104.6 billion rand in the first 10 months of this year is more than 10 times bigger than a year ago as a series of strikes since August shut mines owned by companies including Lonmin Plc (LMI) and Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) The labor turmoil will reduce this year’s economic growth rate by 0.5 percentage point and lower exports by more than 12.5 billion rand, according to the National Treasury.

“South Africa’s trade performance will remain weak in the coming months on the back of the unfavorable global and local environment,” Dennis Dykes, chief economist of Nedbank Group Ltd. in Johannesburg, said in a note to clients. The current account deficit, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, “will deteriorate to

well over 6 percent.”

Mineral exports, which includes iron-ore and coal, increased 2.9 billion rand, or 22 per cent, in the month. Shipments of precious and semi-precious stones and metals, which includes gold and platinum, dropped 1.9 billion rand, or 14 percent. Total exports rose 7.8 per cent in the month to 61 billion rand, the revenue service said.

Imports climbed 17 percent to 82 billion rand, led by a 27 per cent surge in machinery and 19 percent increase in chemical purchases.

The widening trade gap is adding to pressure on the current account and threatening to undermine the rand. South Africa posted a current-account deficit of 6.4 per-

cent of gross domestic product in the second quarter, the most in almost four years.

Africa’s biggest economy relies on foreign investment in stocks and bonds to finance the shortfall, inflows that have fluctuated this year as slower economic growth led some investors to sell riskier, emerging-market assets.

The monthly trade figures are often volatile, reflecting the timing of shipments of commodities such as oil and diamonds.

The rand erased its gain after the data was released, dropping 0.7 per cent to 8.8443 per dollar at 3:30 p.m. The currency has declined 8.5 per cent this year, the second-worst performer of the 16 major currencies

‘Imports climbed 17 per cent to 82 billion rand, led by a 27 per cent surge in machinery and 19 per cent increase in chemical purchases.The widening trade gap is adding to pressure on the current account and threatening to undermine the rand’

Rwanda's biggest bank makes $18.4m profit

B

ANK of Kigali, Rwanda's biggest bank by assets, posted a 34 per cent rise in pretax profit for the first nine months of the year, driven by higher interest income, and said it had diversified into stockbroking.

The bank has established a wholly-owned subsidiary to offer brokerage services and launched five mobile banking vans to reach more isolated customers in the landlocked central African nation.

It said that it had also received approval to start branchless agency banking and has already recruited 300 agents.

"We are pleased with the bank's performance year-to-date as well as our performance this quarter.

We received the necessary approvals and licences to begin our stockbroking operations," Chief Executive Officer James Gatera said.

Pretax profit increased to 11.5 billion Rwanda francs ($18.4 million) while net interest income rose to 15.8 billion francs

from 11.6 billion in the first nine months of 2011, the bank said in a statement.

Its total assets were up 14 percent to 311.6 billion francs, while gross loans were up by close to a third at 172 billion francs.

The bank has in the past said it plans to expand by opening limited banking facilities in Kenya this year and Uganda in the future.

Rwanda sold its 45 per cent stake in Bank of Kigali for $62.5 million in a heavily oversubscribed initial public offering last August.

The country's economy has expanded steadily over the past few years and is set to meet a 7.7 percent growth forecast for 2012. It's gross domestic product grew 8.6 percent in 2011.

Rwanda has escaped the worst of soaring inflation and weakening currencies that hit larger neighbours such as Uganda and Kenya. This was thanks to agricultural production helping to control food prices and policies such as the removal of fuel import duties.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

39

LABOUR

Civil servants ask lawmakers to stop govt’s borrowing T

HE Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has called on the National Assembly to stop Federal Government’s plans to borrow to execute projects in the country.

ASCSN’s President Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama stated this at an interactive session with reporters after the asociation’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos.

He said: “We hereby challenge NASS to be more resolute in its oversight function to stop not at merely criticising the borrowing plans of the Executive arm, but to protect present and coming generations by forbiding new loans plans under any guise, and insist on prudent management of our resources through diligent performance of their legislative duties.

“We are worried that we will soon be back in the forest of mounting debts that may this time around consume the entire country because from records, Nigeria is negotiating a new debt deal of about $7.46billion, which has nothing to show that our earning from daily crude oil sales is being judiciously used.

“We also call on well-meaning Nigerians, including the labour movement to reject this loan move as keeping quiet may translate into

Stories by Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu

mortgaging the future of our unborn children,” he further said.

Kaigama, who said the nation’s leaders have bad track records on borrowed money for executing projects, said: “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report reveals that for every N100 Nigeria spends as service, about N80 goes into private pockets.”

According to him, ASCSN insists on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), both at the federal and state levels, to embrace trade union best practices and act proactively to promote industrial harmony in the system, adding that the use of strikes to address labour issues was not the best.

He advised MDAs, particularly the Federal Ministry of Education, to embrace dialogue with labour, it is done in other parts of the world. ”I wish to recall that in 2009 the leadership of this union and the management of the Federal Ministry of Education agreed to institutionalise quarterly meetings where outstanding labour issues and nascent ones including the vexed issues of non-payment of promotion arrears and inappropriate place-

ment of officers after promotion will be discussed and amicably resolved in line with contemporary trade union best practice,” he said.

He noted that the formulation and implementation of policies without taking input from stakeholders, is not in tandem with democratic cultures.

“It is, indeed, surprising that a country that wants to be among the best 20 economies in the world by 2020 cannot guarantee basic social needs, such as electricity, potable water, and good road network, decent housing, and healthcare delivery, affordable and qualitative education, among others for its citizenry eight years to the envisaged Eldorado.”

“We call on the federal, state and local government to open up more frontiers of employment opportunities to engage millions of idle youths who are willing and eager to earn a living because there is no doubt that if the various government embark on massive road construction, building of housing estates, extensive agriculture farm projects, there will be lots of job opportunities for the able-bodied youth to be productively engaged,“ he said.

He, however, pleaded with them to unit e, preach love and avoid acrimonious tendencies that would not add value to the system.

Ex-banker suspends hunger strike after Fashola’s appeal

A

FORMER employee of Hallmark Bank Plc Mr Olubiyi Odunaro, who has been on hunger strike for 14 days over non-payment of his terminal benefits has suspended his action following an appeal by the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

The governor promised to intervene in the human rights aspect of the matter before Odunaro agreed to suspend the action.

A delegation from Fashola, along with officials from the Lagos office of the Public Complaints Commission urged Odunaro to suspend the strike.

Fashola’s Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reforms, Lanre Akinsola, who ledof governemnt officials to the tent Odunaro had turned to his home on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Lagos, promised to intervene.

Akinsola said: “The attention of the Lagos State Government was drawn to the various media reports about the protest being embarked upon by Odunaro and it’s quite pathetic.

“Governor Fashola, who was worried about his state of health, formed an inter-ministerial committee comprising medical, legal and welfare officials and directed me to lead the team to persuade him to end his hunger strike.

“As a responsible government, we don’t want a dead casualty in our hands as a result of this protest. Once he ends this protest, we would first provide him medical service while the Lagos State Directorate of Citizens Rights would engage the authorities concerned in a comprehensive dialogue.”

Akinsola said the Lagos State Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, had promised free legal services to Odunaro and other ex-workers of non-consolidated banks seeking the payment of their entitlements if the negotiations become unfruitful.

In his words, “We will mediate and talk to the right people and we believe reason will prevail in this matter and if not, lawyers from the Lagos State Ministry of Justice will work in conjunction with the lawyer of the group and ensure that justice prevails and everyone of them gets their entitlement.”

More ex-militants get employment

A • Kaigama (left) and General Secretary, Bashir Lawal at the event.

SSANU may reject report on education sector

S

ENIOR university workers have told the Minister of Education, Prof.

Ruqayatu Rufa’i, that unless they are included in the NEEDS Committee she set up to investigate the problems in the education sector, they may reject its report.

The General Secretary, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Promise Adewusi, said the union was not happy with the Minister on the constitution of the committee because his colleagues were not part of it.

He said the union would reject the report of any committee that marginalised its members.

He said: “We urge President Jonathan to be suspicious and cautious of this report and call for a more all inclusive committee to establish the real reason for the rot. We have always maintained that it is not just about

financing. There has been relative industrial peace in the universities. The universities are gradually returning to normal calendar.

SSANU is determined to further entrench this welcome development. Nobody should be allowed to truncate this because of egoistic inclinations. One wonders what has become of the various visitation panels on the rot inthe system.

“It is obvious but very unfortunate that the Minister is programming the universities for another implosion. The President Jonathan administration had managed to return relative industrial peace to the campuses through his equitable resolution of some long standing schisms in university administrations.

But with the way the Education Minister is proceeding now, it is certain she is intended to rubbish all of that and return the campuses

to turbulence.

“When she set up the so called NEEDS committee, the non-teaching staff unions had complained about their non-inclusion for a more rational and balanced report. She had said it was an oversight which would be corrected. One is, therefore, surprised to read snippets of a report already skewed against the non-teaching staff without fair hearing.

What kind of equity or natural justice will suggest shaving a man’s head in his absence? How come the Minister is making persons judges in their own case without a neutral opinion or hearing from the other party. Those who have introduced politics of greed and selfishness into the university system which has resulted in the rot must not be allowed to use this so called report as a smokescreen to cover their tracks and witch-hunt others.”

Labour ministry’ll implement budget, says Wogu

A

LTHOUGH it is less than a month for this year to end, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu has assured that the ministry would implement fully the budget.

The Minister said in Abuja, during the 2013 budget defence and performance presentation of the current budget before a Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Labour and Employment.

In a statement by Mr Samuel Olowookere, the Assistant Director (Press) of the minis-

try, Wogu said the ministry was on track to achieve its target by the end of this year.

It added that the ministry had made some achievements in some areas as stipulated in the performance contract being driven by the key indicators.

The statement said the ministry had achieved eight out of 12 per cent on the provision of industrial peace and harmony.

It said the ministry had strengthened employment policies as no fewer than 2,556 jobs were generated by 639 enterprises under the Entrepreneurship Development Pro-

gramme (EDP).

It added that the ministry and its agencies had complied with the budgetary provision of 2012.

The statement said Senator Wilson Ake, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the ministry.

It said Hon Ayi Essien, the Chairman, House Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, promised to examine the ministry’s new budget.

BOUT 113 former militants have been offered employment in maritime, welding and fabrication companies at home and abroad, the Presidential Amnesty Office (PAO) has said.

In a statement signed by Mr Daniel Alabrah, PAO’s Head of Media and Communication, it stated that Proclad Group of Companies in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) offered employment to 30 of the 150 ex-militants, who were trained by the Proclad Academy because of their conduct and performance.

“The office, in collaboration with the International Centre for Non-violence and Peace Development (ICNPD), secured the employment through a partnership with Proclad Academy.

“Mr Kingley Kuku, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and the Chairman of PAO, also facilitated the immediate employment of 40 maritime trainees by the Century Energy Group in Nigeria,” the statement said.

It said the office also offered employment to another 24 maritime trainees “Four welding and fabrication trainees have been employed in Nigeria by Plants and Processing Service Company, while five were offered jobs in South Africa by Ashland Investment Services.

“Ten were offered employment by Learning Resources in Ghana,” the statement added.

It added that the office was working with partners and stakeholders in the Niger Delta and abroad to employ some of the exmilitants who had successfully completed their training.

The office urged companies in the Niger Delta to comply with the Local Content Law by employing graduating students under the programme to enable them to contribute their quota to the development of the country.

It will be recalled that out of the 26,358 former militants whohad been documented, 12,000 had been trained.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

40

INSURANCE

‘Prestige Assurance, Dana Air insincere’ F

IVE months after the Dana Airline crash which claimed about 200 lives, families of some of the victims have accused the insurer of the ill-fated aircraft, Prestige Assurance, of insensitivity for refusing to pay the claims of their dead beloved ones.

A lawyer said the law stipulates that within 30 days from crash date, the advance payment of $30,000 should be made to those who are entitled to it.

Some of the family members, who spoke with The Nation, lamented that they have been subjected to untold hardship since the sudden death of their breadwinners and the failure of Prestige Assurance to pay them. They also lamented that they had submitted all the papers demanded by Dana Air and the insurance firm for payment only for them to remain mum.

Mr James Okafor, who lost his brother, Nwabuwa, in the crash, said he conveyed the body from Lagos to Anambra State, bore

Stories by Uyoatta Eshiet

his burial expenses, and has since been taking care of the late man’s children from his meagre income.

Also, Mrs Titi Shobowale, who lost her husband, Femi, said she had submitted the papers demanded by the airline and the insurance firm but had not received any response from them.

"I have completed all the fromalties, yet I have not recieved any positive response from either Prestige Assurance or Dana. I am tired of the ‘come today, come tomorrow’ by the two of them,” she said.

For Chief Obi Awani, a retiree, who lost his daughter and a nine- month-old grandson, it was a bitter tale too. According to him, after submitting all the documents demanded by the airline and the insurance firm, he was told that there was a division in his family and was advised to go and sort it out. "That was strange to me because there

was no such problem among my family members,” he said.

Efforts to get the reaction of the management of Prestige Assurance proved futile as phone calls put to its Managing Director, Dr Anand Prakash Mittal, were not picked while the short message service (SMS) sent to him failed to elicit any response.

But the spokesman of Dana Airlines, Mr Tony Usidameh, said it was not true that Dana is uncaring. According to him, the families of about 80 families out of all the victims have been paid the mandatory $30,000. The balance would come from the reinsurers abroad, he said.

He said the cause of the delay was not from Dana and that it was difficult for the families to obtain letters of administration from the court as demanded by law. He assured that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Dana Air were working with the Lagos State government to simplify the process.

He said the insurers would only pay if they have the right documents.

He said Dana does not delight in the suffering of the families of those who died in the crash. On the $15,000, he said it was not true. He said the law stipulates $30,000 as compensation for a victim and that is what they were paying.

He added that another cause of the delay for payment was of multiple family members coming for claims.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing some of the victims’families have accused the airline and its insurer of playing games with Nigerians and the families of the dead to frustrate them.

They said it was a deception against Nigeria and its people and wondered why the management of the airline and the insurance firm were treating Nigerians like that.

They appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to prevail on the Prestige Assurance’s and Dana Air’s management to pay the mandatory $30,000 due to the surviving family members of the victims.

They called on the Senate and House Committees on Aviation and the NCCA Director-General, Mr Harold Demuren and other Nigerians to compel Dana Airline and Prestige Assurance to pay the mandatory compen-

sation to alleviate the sufferings prevailing in these families A group of legal practitioners, Dr Bunmi Awoyemi of the M.O. Awoyemi & Co., Mr Gbenga Eguntola, an aviation lawyer and Mr Aminu Ayama of H. Ibrahim & Co, Kano, who represent about 40 of the affected families, said they had done everything possible to get Prestige Assurance and the airline to alleviate the sufferings of the family members of the victims.

Awoyemi said the law states that within 30 days from the crash date, $30,000 should be paid to those who are legally entitled to it.

But after over five months, he said, Dana and its insurers have only paid 13 out of the 40 families. He said Prestige Assurance paid $15,000 instead of $30,000 to four more.

He gave their names as: Rajulie Oyosoro; Ugabio Oyosoro; Jessica Ibe and Echendu Ibe. He said the others had not had any payment even after submitting their documents.

Eguntola accused the airline and its insurer of not doing enough for the 18 ground victims whom, he said, had approached him to help seek redress.

Dana Air was not interested in bearing their responsibilities, he alleged.

Ayama said of the five families he represents, about 25 orphans were left without resources, adding that many of them were out of school.

CIIN holds induction Wednesday

T • From left: Head, Inspectorate & Compliance, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Bede Obayi; DirectorGeneral, Dr. Joseph Odumodu; Plant Manager, LG Fouani NGR Ltd., Khalil Elabed; Managing Director, Mohamed Fouani and Director, Special Duties, SON, Mr George Okere, during a facility visit to LG Fouani in Apapa, Lagos.

PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID

Staco pays N1.34b claims

S

TACO Insurance Plc has recorded a 27 per cent increase in claims settlement in the third quarter of the financial year.

In a statement, it said it paid a total of N1.34 billion as claims to its customers covering various areas of its operations by the end of the third quarter of the year compared with N1.06 billion it paid as claims within the corresponding period in 2011.

An analysis of the claims shows that N513.77 million was paid on the motor insurance

policy, N272.04 million on fire insurance policies, general accident policies claimed N204.54 million, N178.68 million on oil and gas, N113.92 million on marine and aviation policies while N49.60 million was paid on bonds.

The firm also said it has not only confirmed that it had lived up to its promise of prompt claims settlement to the public but had also proved to meet its various claims demands from customers.

The Executive Director, Staco Insurance, Mr Bayo Fakorede,

said it was part of the firm's policy to process and settle genuine claims promptly.

For the company to align its strategy with its objective of being the first choice provider of superior financial services with delivery being an integral benefit to all stakeholders, it seeks to add value to its customers' needs, particularly in service delivery and meeting its clients obligation, he said.

Bayo said it was part of the strategy of the company to ensure that its customers to assist its customers.

Insurer to pay $3m to avoid prosecution

A

BETHESDA-based insurance company that gained advantage over competitors by allowing its employees to inappropriately access a federal Medicare database has agreed to pay the federal government $3 million to avoid criminal prosecution, according to the Maryland United States’ attorney’s office.

According to an agreement

with prosecutors, top officials at Coventry Health Care Inc., which is incorporated in Delaware but headquartered in Bethesda and provides group and individual health insurance to some five million members nationally, knew of the inappropriate use of the database and did nothing to stop it until a federal agency raised concerns.

The agreement says employees

with Coventry, which administers Medicare Advantage plans for some of its customers, or its subsidiary First Health Priority Services, in appropriately accessed the federal government’s database between 2005 and 2006 to obtain eligibility information for customers who had separately filed a worker’s compensation claim, prosecutors said.

HE Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) is set to induct new fellows and associates into its fold on December 5.

In a statement CIIN's Director of Corporate Communication, Joseph Obah, said 16 fellows and 134 associates would be inducted at the event where the Commissioner for Education, Lagos State, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye would be special guest of honour.

According to him, the fellows are Deputy President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr Ayodapo Ajayi Shoderu; a former President, Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), Mrs Folashade Onanuga; and Abubakar Sabin Bello of the National Insurance Commission.

Others are Chairman, CIIN, Port Harcourt chapter, Mr Uche Aniago; Managing Director,

UnityKapital Assurance PlLC, Mr Kins Ekebuike; Aremo Adeniyi Ogunsanya of Oriwu Insurance Brokers; Abidogun Ademola Ayotunde of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Adekeye Oluseyi Olasunkanmi of SCIB Nigeria & Co Ltd, Mrs Adekoya Adeyinka of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Akingbade Akinjide Ajao of Sterling Assurance Nigeria Ltd, Apampa Moruf of AIICO Insurance Plc, Mrs Arusiuka Adetutu of AIICO Insurance Plc; Duru Japhet Ogueri, International Energy Ins. Plc; Olabiyi Festus Idowu, AIICO Insurance Plc, Popoola Samson Olugbenga, of Hogg Robinson Nigeria Ltd and Sogbesan Gregory Olanrewaju, SCIB Nigeria & Co Ltd. Obah said a lecture entitled: The professional and nation building, would be delivered by Mr Wole Oshin, Managing Director, Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc.

Insurance directory coming

A

MEDIA group, Inspenonline, has got the nod to produce a directory for the insurance industry.

The supporters include the National Insurance Commission, and Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

The Project Consultant, Mr Nnamdi Duru, said the project would benefit operators as their services would be brought close to the public who in time past have been defrauded by fake operators due to inadequate information of registered operators in the industry.

The Editor of the group, Mr Chuks Okonta, said the production of the directory has started.

He said the project became nec-

essary due to low level of awareness about insurance operations in the country. He noted that the project when completed would bring insurance closer to the public and help stem the rate of fake insurances, which often occur due to inadequate knowledge of locations and names of organisations operating in the industry.

He noted that a recent study by GIZ, a German agency for sustainable development and RiskguardAfrica Limited, has revealed that no fewer than 15 insurance firms in Nigeria are known by the public.

“The project would help the public to access with ease information of the various arms of the industry,” he said.

EKO 2012 IN PICTURES

•Hockey action with Ogun state in Yellow and Kebbi state in Green

•Delta (Red) and Kogi (Blue) athletes competing in local boxing

42

•Lagos (Red) and Abuja (Blue) in Taekwondo action

Monday, December 3, 2012

•Gloria James and Oluchi Onuoha of team Lagos at the Para Table Tennis

•Ekiti and Nassarawa states in Taekwondo final

•Artisans making brisk business

•Athletes relaxing

•Team Abia (Red) and Team Imo at the Para table tennis event

PHOTOS BY BOLA OMILABU •Auta Papa in blue shorts for Kaduna and Segun Aluko for Ogun slug it out

•Kadri Ibrahim blue from Niger and Owoiya Ibrahim from Lagos during a boxing event

Ondo state female hockey team disqualified

T

HE General Manager, Games Services at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival, Brig.Gen Emmanuel Okaro (rtd) yesterday announced the disqualification of the Ondo State female Hockey team for fraudulent practices. The Ondo State team was found to have altered the accreditation card for

two female hockey players by imposing pictures of other persons other than the registered athletes.

According to Gen. Okaro all matches played by the Ondo State Female Hockey team have now been awarded to their opponents. He seized the opportunity to warn participating states that his Committee has the

wherewithal to detect fraudulent practices that would be punished according to the rules governing the tournament.

He advised Supervisory Officers to be up and doing in ensuring that fraudulent acts are detected.

Speaking during a courtesy call to the Games Services section of the Games, Delta State governor,

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, commended organisers for a job well done.

He said he is impressed with what he has seen in his tour of the various Games Centres he has visited. He said he was sure it is only the federal government that could be able to fund the enormous costs of the National Sports Festival. Also

yesterday, Fatimah Bello a table tennis player was disqualified from the games for dual registration. Fatimah who was registered with Team Lagos was also discovered to have been registered with the Delta State team from where she was collecting salaries for the past one year.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

43

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

•From right Emeka Ojukwu Jnr and another sibling of his at the one year memorial for their father, the late Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu at Umudim Nnewi, last week.

• The late Ojukwu

Last week, family members, friends and political associates of the former Biafra leader, the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, gathered to mark one year of his demise. Also in the week, his Will was made public, stirring controversies. Correspondents CHRIS OJI and NWANOSIKE ONU present the inside story.

Ojukwu stirs more controversy in death N

OVEMBER 25, 2011 started like any other day. But when news came from a London hospital about the demise of former Biafran leader Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the day literally ended in the entire Southeast. Although the East is known as the land of the rising sun, that day, the reaction to the news of the man who became a folk hero among his people at a young age, portended an eclipse of the sun.

It was thought that the world had come to an end. In one year, however, political, economic, social and religious activities have resumed, even at his home town, Nnewi, Anambra State.

Last Sunday, November 25, a one-year commemoration service was held for the late Ikemba Nnewi at the Saint Michael ArchAngel Catholic Church, Umudim Nnewi.

It brought together Igbo leaders from the five states in the region. Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), leader Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and his Deputy Chief Romny Ezeonwuka led their “troops” to Nnewi. It was a beehive of activities as Biafra war veterans and members of MASSOB, clad in a black and green attire, with the Biafran Flag, sang war songs, eulogising the defunct Republic..

Political leaders at the service included Anambra State Governor Mr. Peter Obi, Mrs.Virgy Etiaba and the national chairman of the crisis-ridden All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, among others. Notably, the one year commemoration of Ojukwu’s death, afforded both Governor Obi and Umeh the opportunity of close contact for a very long time.

Governor Obi, who had been at the forefront of Ojukwu’s remembrance, said that the memory of the great Ikemba Nnewi would stick in the memory because he lived for something worth remembering.

Others, according to Obi, who lived such life were Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis XIV, General MacArthur, Alexander the Great, King Philip of Macedonia and many others. “You know that Ojukwu’s motto was ‘to thyself, be truthful’..

“For us to have a better and prosperous Nigeria, we must be truthful to one another and confront the problems that face us in the spirit of truthfulness” he said.

The state chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Patrick Orjiakor, hailed the qualities of Ojukwu even in death.

He said if the late Ikemba Nnewi had been alive, the crisis rocking APGA, would not have happened. He added that since his demise, things had fallen apart for the party. Orjiakor called for unity of the people of South East.

But the remembrance was without four of the

region’s governors, namely Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha; his Abia counterpart, Theodore Orji, Ebonyi’s Martin Elechi and Enugu State’s Sullivan Chime.

No reason was given by anybody for the absence of the governors and no apology was sent.

They had actively participated in the burial of the Igbo leader. Sources in Nnewi confided in The Nation that though the family had been entangled in squabble over the estate left behind by Ojukwu in recent times, the Nnewi community had waded into it to ensure an amicable settlement.

Many traditional rulers in the state equally offered respect to Ojukwu even in death as they all attended the Holy mass, including the traditional ruler of Nnewi, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III. Umeh pleaded that everybody should give peace a chance as Ojukwu stood for peace and love. “They should know that Ojukwu hated persecution and intimidation, he hated lies being told against anybody, we encourage people to work hard and reap from where they worked”.

He said that Ojukwu never humiliated anybody, and that, rather, he encouraged all parties while alive. He asked those influencing the crisis in APGA after the demise of the founding National Leader of the party to think twice.

At his grave side, Rev. Fr. Cletus Chukwuemeka said that his soul will have eternal rest, while his son Chukwuemeka junior commended Obi and others for being with the family since the death of their father.

The noise and parade by the MASSOB members added colour to the event, with the Director of Information of the group, Uchenna Madu saying, it was part of the respect for their hero.

Squable over estate Ironically, the Ojukwu anniversary failed to quell the raging war in the family over property inheritance even though his will was made public last week and there is no enough assurance that the crisis in APGA has come to an end.

In the Will read last Friday in Enugu by the Chief Registrar, Enugu Judiciary and Probate

Registrar, Mr. Dennis Ekoh, the late Ojukwu not only literally disowned look-alike ‘son’ Debechukwu Odumegwu Ojukwu but also shocked all by acknowledging a hitherto unknown daughter, Teny Harman.

Widow of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Bianca, was mostly favoured. Moreso, Emeka Ojukwu (Jnr.) only got a property in Nnewi.

Bianca, the late Igwe of Oraukwu, Emeka Ojukwu and James Chukwuneme were listed as trustees and executors of the Will, while the names of Ojukwu’s children were next.

Besides, the deceased stated that only those listed as his children in the Will, and no other person, should be regarded as his children.

Those listed as his children are Tenny Harman, Emeka Ojukwu, Mmegha, Okigbo, Ebele, Chineme, Afam and Nwachukwu.

The Will awarded Ojukwu’s GRA, Enugu mansion, ‘Casabianca,’ in her favour. She also got two properties located at Plot 20, Jabi, Abuja, with Certificate of Occupancy number 4405, as well as another located at Kuje, Abuja.

The late Ezeigbo gburugburu also willed to Bianca all personal effects, money and cars for her upkeep her children’s. He also allotted to her two hectares of land at Umuezeani Umudim Nnewi on the condition that she does not remarry.

His strange daughter, Tenny, was allotted Jubilee Hotels in Kaduna State, but when the codicil was read, it was observed that the hotel had been sold, thus she would receive the proceed from the sale.

The deceased further willed a hectare of land each to all his daughters but directed that his Nnewi property is “to remain a binding legacy to us for generations to come.”

The Will, expectedly has sparked real crisis within the family.

Ojukwu’s kinsmen of Umudim Nnewi and kinsmen of the mother of Ojukwu’s son, whose name was conspicuously omitted in the Will, Debe are out for a show down with the said administrators of the Will.

Ojukwu’s kinsmen are not favourably dis-

‘They insisted that the first son is the proper person to occupy the obi and not the wife, “will or no will.” Doubting the contents of the said Will, the source said he agreed with Emeka Ojukwu (jnr) that the Will was doctored and wondered why it was only the widow of Ojukwu that was present during the reading. We will straighten out things when we get back home. And for the information of the public, Debe is one of us and we recognise him as Ojukwu’s son. Is there any of his children that looks more like him? Time will tell’

posed to the contents of the will, hence a traditional crises is likely to brew in the family.

The Umudim Nnewi who fully recognise Debe as Ojukwu’s son and relate with him as such were wondering how Ojukwu could have willed his obi to a woman.

According to a source close to the late Biafran leader’s hometown, “we will not allow a sacrilege on our tradition as it’s unheard of that a woman occupies the obi of the husband after his death.”

They insisted that the first son is the proper person to occupy the obi and not the wife, “will or no will.” Doubting the contents of the said Will, the source said he agreed with Emeka Ojukwu (jnr) that the Will was doctored and wondered why it was only the widow of Ojukwu that was present during the reading.

We will straighten out things when we get back home. And for the information of the public, Debe is one of us and we recognise him as Ojukwu’s son. Is there any of his children that looks more like him? Time will tell,” said the source.

And Debe’s mother’s kinsmen from Ezeagu, Enugu State, yesterday met and resolved that they would not allow their “grandchild” humiliated just because of the “greed of an individual.”

Debe, who is a Lagos legal practitioner said he is not perturbed that his name was not listed as Ojukwu’s children in the Will, adding that through a DNA test a person could lose his paternity if it is proved that he is not the rightful child of his father.

Debe had dragged the Ojukwu family to court for preventing him from performing ‘dust to dust’ rites at his father’s burial.

In a sworn affidavit to enforce his fundamental human right before a Federal High Court in Lagos, filed on his behalf by Chief Mike Ozekhome, (SAN) Chief Debe averred as follows: •That he was born on August 3, 1956 to the late Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and his late wife, Margaret.

•That his father was then an Assistant District Officer at Udi, Enugu State, and his mother a primary school teacher at Udi. • That he is the first and the eldest surviving son of the late Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

• That after his birth, his poor mother was responsible for his welfare and upbringing from her meagre income as a school teacher.

• That he joined the police as a recruit in 1976 and through hard work he went to the University of Nigeria, Enugu, and was later called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986.

• That his promising career in the Nigeria •Continued on page 44

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

POLITICS Secretary-General of the National Summit Group (NSG) Tony Uranta spoke with Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU about the reservations of the group and ethnic nationalities on the ongoing constitution review by the National Assembly.

Constitution amendment cosmetic, says Uranta

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HAT is your reaction to the public hearing on constitution amendment by the National Assembly?

I was part of a Presidential Retreat for civil societies where papers were presented by Justice Belgore, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha and even an address which was very cogent made by the President, both at the opening and at the end. At the retreat, very prominent civil society leaders, professional association leaders, including the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Nigerian Bar Association, National Council of Women Society, youths and different groups made presentations and it was consensually understood that we all were in favour of, not of a constitutional review per se but, a national conference or dialogue at which the peoples of Nigeria will sit down, discuss the basis for mutual co-existence. We made a case for referendum to herald a peoples’ constitution. It was at this point that the leadership of the house stood up to say that there was no provision in the constitution for a referendum and that they do not see why they as ‘representatives’ of the people, having being allegedly, putatively voted for by the people, could not deliberate on behalf of the people and whatever the deliberations be seen as a national conference or quasi-national dialogue as having represented the people.

Does that mean that the National Assembly is against national conference?

They said there was going to be a national dialogue worked out by a National Assembly. As far as I was concerned, it was not the position we wanted. Therefore, we did not make too many winds about it. As it had stood out, we had anticipated this process that the national assembly had gone through and wanted to make us believe is a genuine reflection will be at the end of the day a genuine full reflection of the Nigerian peoples will and wishes. But as it is, it has shown that it cannot be. To start with, I attended all the hearings at the constituency level, senatorial and zonal and I am telling you that there were a plethora of prayers being made which all cannot be heard in about six hours. How do you find out what people want within six hours or even if we start 12 midnight and end 12 midnight. It will be impossible for the people to fully voice a position whether united or not that will be so clear to allow you to distill all and articulately represent the wishes and will of the Nigerian people.

Whereas a national conference would presume that whoever or however they are elected to represent any constituent part of the country would have carried out this same thing that we went through and the national assembly went through which is a bit of a charade carried out in less than one day would have done so over a period of weeks, months . People will submit positions, they will be debated, reviewed and they would be slept on and returned for debate and the final position will be arrived at at the constituent level and to the state level. After this, you will now come to the national conference.

The national conference from our experience is the one that was done by civil societies under the aegis of PRONACO which I was a Chief Officer or say the one that was done by the government of President Obasanjo . It will take days and weeks of deliberating solely on those issues that are brought on the table by the different constituents parts whereas even these submissions both verbal and written that were supposedly captured by the national assembly through this ongoing process will not and cannot be the

• Uranta

only subject of discussion of the national assembly unless they want to seize to carry out the functions which they swore to carry out when they became members of the national legislative. As lawmakers, they have oversight duties which means that each and everyday issues will be thrown up at legislative levels. If they concentrate only on issues they supposedly have captured through the verbal and written submissions of the people through this quasi process that cannot fully capture all that the people want and the people will come in there and talked haphazardly because they have not had time to consult even within the lowest level of the constituency and arrive at a common position which you must encourage for a national conference. The national assembly is now going to pay only a half hearted attention, if half at all to the issues that the people have submitted. I therefore want to submit that the process can not therefore bring a proper or the best document or with the reviews they are bringing .

Can this process lead to genuine constitution amendment?

I will not condemn it outright. Why? Because there are two issues prayed at the retreat that the legislature should do and from submissions at the hearings, I know that the NBA and others emphasised it. People are saying that Chapter Two of the 1999 constitution should allow room for Nigerians to make provisions justifiable by giving opportunities for them to sue the government for breach of the fundamental objectives as a breach of human rights. Then, they are saying that a law should be enacted that will make any future constitution subjectable to a referendum of the people before it can become a constitution. I am not saying that the reviews or whatever is gathered now should be subjected to a referendum. That will be unconstitutional because there is no space for

‘People are saying that Chapter Two of the 1999 constitution should allow room for Nigerians to make the provisions justiceable... Then, they are saying that a law should be enacted that will make any future constitution subjectable to a referendum of the people before it can become a constitution. I am not saying that whatever is gathered now should be subjected to a referendum. That will be unconstitutional because there is no space for referendum in our constitution’

referendum in our constitution, but we are asking them to amend this constitution, including at the very least those two items.

What do you want the amended constitution to achieve?

I am now speaking from the national common good point of view. Of course, the Niger Delta, the Southwest and even the Northeast; even recently, the Zamfara State governor said that he wanted a truly federal system in the country. The oil mineral producing parts of the country have said that they want the derivation clause to be amended to accomodate the setting up of a national derivation board that will be able to share the 13 per cent that is set aside directly to the oil mineral producing communities so that those money will not continue to be used by different shenanigans of the governors whom we have learned from both past and present use the money mainly in pursuing either their own personal political gratification interests or things that are not sufficiently beneficial to the people of the oil community. Now that’s one area. Of course, the people of Bakassi are saying that they want to be resettled or that they want independence to be called Amazonia.

However, I want to believe the National Assembly has the good interest of Nigerians at heart but then as happened most places with not ‘Made here syndrome’ and not welcoming of any process that will supposedly challenge what they call ‘sovereignty’ but we must say again that sovereignty resides in the people.

Whether the national assembly fully represent all the people of Nigeria is another debatable issue for another time.

In the wake of all these, how close are we to the convocation of a national conference?

I think we are very close. When the PRONACO existed, to my knowledge, PRONACO became comatose and all its principal officers except a few pretenders and they have not met even before the passage of the late sage, Pa Anthony Enahoro. Even that time, there wasn’t consensus. It was more of a sovereign proboscis with a few Northern interest joining in. Now with the National Summit Group (NSG) creation, when it took off publicly in February, there were few protest that it was not representative of the nation and those protests were backed with claims that certain group were not present or were not invited or did not make a relevant input. Since that period, the NSG have been Kris crossing the nation with different groups like the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Arewa, Middle Belt Union, Eastern Mandate, OPC, Niger Delta Youths, IYC, different ethnic groups, NBA and other civil societies even diplomatic missions. And by the meeting we had before this last one, everybody had bought into it. Why I said everybody is that if I take major ethnic groups that has organised representations, like the Igbos have the Ohaneze and MASSOB, the Yoruba have Afenifere and the OPC. The North has the Arewa Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum.

There is the Middle Belt Forum and so on. The Niger Delta too has different groups too that are fully represented. We have traverse far and near, we have met with the leadership of all this group and they have all sent their members to different meetings. At the last meeting of the National Working Council, we had representatives even if some area seems to be more represented. For example, those that represented the South West, some of them didn’t belong to the same group. We had an Awolowo, an Akintola, we had the Fasheun and in all, it was a diversity that represents the commonality of the people and so also the North. We have one of the trustee of Arewa who is also the Chairman of the NSG, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai. We have a member of the North Eastern Progressive Union, Engineer Bunu among others. What I am trying to say is that we are carrying along nearly everybody.

Anti-graft body calls for sanity in oil sector

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

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HE Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has urged anti-graft agencies to halt the corruption in the oil and gas sectors in national interest.

The group, a coalition of over 150 anti-corruption organisations, deplored the rot in the sector, pointing out that it is scandalous, monumental and shameful. Its chairman, Lanre Suraj told reporters in Lagos that the culture of impunity and conspiracy being encouraged by the federal government had opened the sector to graft.

He warned against the creation of artificial scarcity of petroleum products in all parts of the country, which had been compounded by the hike in prices at petrol stations. Suraj stated that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which is responsible for monitoring the fuel stations had condoned the nefarious activities of the unscrupulous marketers.

It alleged that the conspiracy on the part of government meant that plans are underway to force another price hike on Nigerians, adding that this could deepen the economic hardship in the country. Warning against further fuel hike, Suraj disclose that the group would mark the January 2012 protest in Lagos. He said that the federal government would be risking another massive protest.

CSNAC frowned at the rot in the power sector, saying that President Goodluck Jonathan has failed Nigerians. The group said the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has generated more darkness than electricity in the country.

The group queried: “Why is electricity so rationed and why, after the tons of money that continues to be thrown at PHCN, while the corporation continues to plunge the country into darkness?” CSNAC said the probe of the sector should be extended to the time of Obasanjo Administration.

The group also beamed its searchlight on the judiciary, alleging that judges are more interested in hearing election petitions more than other civil matters. CSNAC wondered why allegations of inducement of judges by politicians with vested interest in electoral matters are on the increase. Urging a clean break from the sordid past, the group charged judges to shun sharp practices and promote the culture of transparency and professionalism.

The group said the national Assembly’s effort at building an enduring democracy cannot succeed, if corruption thrives and if legislators contribute to the menace.

The group called for the independence of all anti-graft bodies so that they can discharge their duties without fear or favour. It also called for synergy among the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), NDLEA, ICPC, Code of Conduct and police.

•Basorun

Ojukwu stirs more controversy in death •Continued from page 43

Police was abruptly truncated when Professor Joseph Okwuabudike Ojukwu, Engineer Emmanuel N. Ojukwu, Mr. Lotanna Ojukwu and Mrs. Margret Nugbo invited and begged him to come and manage the business of Ojukwu Transport Limited on their behalf despite the fact that they did not contribute anything to his upbringing.

• That Chief Emeka OdumegwuOjukwu during his lifetime never contested newspaper publications recognising him as his first surviving son.

• That when his father became ill in 2010, he donated blood to him at the University Teaching Hospital, Enugu, before he was flown abroad for further treatment.

• That he, thereafter, visited him in London with his wife and children.

• That upon the demise of his father on November 26, 2011, a meeting was convened by Professor Joseph Ojukwu with a view to reaching an amicable settlement as to who should control and manage the personal property owned by Ojukwu Transport which belonged to their grandfather, Sir Louis Ojukwu, and the ones belonging to their father, Emeka Ojukwu.

• That there and then, Professor Joseph Ojukwu, Engineer Emmanuel Ojukwu and Lotanna Ojukwu threatened to maim or kill

him if he did not cease forthwith from interfering with the management of the property owned by Ojukwu Transport and the late Sir Louis Ojukwu.

• That they also barred him from attending the burial of his late father despite the fact that he spent over N100 million during the funeral.

• That up till today, they are still threatening him on the basis of the circumstances of his birth, claiming that he is not the legitimate son of his late father.

• That this has caused a great distress among his peers and his business partners.

Joined in the suit are Ojukwu Transport Limited, Professor Joseph O. Ojukwu, Engineer Emmanuel N. Ojukwu, Mr. Lotanna Ojukwu, Emeka Ojukwu, Mr. Patrick Ojukwu, Mrs. Margret Mogbo, Nee Ojukwu, the Inspector-General of Police and Mr. Ibrahim Mukhtar, former Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, now an Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police.

Debe prayed the court to restrain the defendants and their agents from threatening to kill him, if he does not cease from interfering with the will and personal property of Ojukwu Transport Limited and Sir Louis Ojukwu.

The presiding judge, Justice Okon Abang, has adjourned the case to December 13, for hearing. If Ojukwu’s time on earth was marked by controversy, he stirs even more, now in death.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

45

MOTORING

•From right: Managing Director,Pirelli and CEAT Mr. Arshi Chadha; Head of Marketing Mr Vikas Bahl and Business Head, Sanjay Singh

•From left: Ford Lekki Head of Operation Olowu Yomi; General Manager, Operating Officer Laura Oloyede and Executive Director Raju Sawlani during the launch of Ford Environmental at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA

NDDC begins roads projects in Abia IGER Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has commenced construction of 15.5 kilometre AmabaEzere-Ozara-Acha-Ivo Road with two bridges and three double culverts.

The commission’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Iditoye Abosede, said this in a statement in Port Harcourt last Friday.

It stated that the 15.5 kilometre road project in Abia North Central district

N

would connect Abia and Ebonyi states.

It also stated that the construction of Lekwesi-Isiagu Road and UgwubeNkwoagu-Mbala Road projects had commenced.

The statement said Sen. Uche Chukwumerije, representing Abia North Senatorial district, said the road projects would improve the living standard of the people.

“We will collaborate with the NDDC and the contrac-

tor to ensure the early completion of the roads which will connect two states in the Southeast,” he said.

He said the host communities would provide the necessary logistics that would fast-track the early completion of the projects.

The statement said the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Christian Oboh revealed that the commission is giving priority to “big-ticket projects” that would fast-

Stallion opens support centre

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TALLION Motors Nigeria, has inaugurated an ultramodern Sales, Service and Spare Parts (3s) facility in Sokoto State.

The centre will provide full scale support for all brands of vehicles distributed and marketed by Stallion Motors’ dealerships.

Stallion Group Managing Director, Mr. Parvir Singh, said the facility became imperative to meet its growing clientele spreading across the country.

“Stallion Motors has crisscrossed all nooks and crannies of Nigeria and we feel honoured

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

to reassure our growing clientele that we are determined to help our customers derive the most favorable value for every product purchased from us,” Mr. Parvir assured.

The new Sokoto 3s facility will complement Stallion’s facilities in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Kano.

The initiative, Singh said, is to restore customers’ confidence in the company’s dealerships which cut across all strata of automobile class.

“As representatives of global brands with reputation for ex-

cellence, we will continue to invest in after sales support to meet our principals’ corporate identity for quality service and customer satisfaction. This is one of the reasons why we are always keen on expanding our network to cater for all customers irrespective of their locations,” he said.

3s phenomenon in automobile dealership gives existing and future customers the convenience of complete one-stop facility, covering all aspects of vehicle ownership and ensuring seamless access to global standard practice.

Emergency vehicle speed limit plan announced

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LANS to extend the number of emergency services allowed to break speed limits to save lives have been announced by the United Kingdom government.

The proposals, now out for consultation, examine the possibility of extending speed limit exemptions to other services apart from police, fire and ambulance.

These would include those carrying organs for transplant, bomb

disposal units and coastguard vehicles.

The consultation will also look at amending road safety legislation so that emergency drivers would be required by law to complete high-speed training before exceeding the limit.

But this will not place any additional burden on police, fire and ambulance services which already run an effective voluntary training scheme.

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: “Police, fire and ambulance service drivers are highly trained individuals who are at times required to exceed the speed limit in order to save lives.

“It is only right that we look at allowing other services whose duties can mean the difference between life and death to exceed the speed limit when responding to emergencies.”

track development of the Niger Delta.

Oboh, represented by Mr Aniete Usen, an official of the commission, called on the people to cooperate with the contractor to ensure early completion of the project.

According to the statement, the Chairman of Isukwuato Local Government Council, Mr Enyinnaya Nwosu, promised to assist the commission in monitoring the performance of the contractor.

“These are good projects that have come to our communities; so we will do everything within our powers to ensure that the projects are delivered on time,’’ he said.

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OGS and coffee cups are among causes of accidents to car drivers, according to a poll.

Inappropriate footwear is also to blame for some crashes, a survey by insurance company More Than found in London.

The poll found that empty drinks containers, including coffee cups and bottles, were the main in-car items that cause accidents or nearmisses.

Those surveyed reported that the containers rolled underneath their pedals and led to a smash or a nearsmash.

Dogs clambering on to drivers’ laps to seek attention were another in-car hazard, as was inappropriate footwear such as high heels.

Dogs, coffee cups ‘cause accidents’ Scrapes or near-misses from such incidents were most rife in London, followed by the West Midlands and Wales.

More Than Managing Director Janet Connor said: “The potential dangers and distractions outside the car are well known but, as the evidence suggests, those within the car are often forgotten.

“It is not always possible to control what happens on the road but it is clear that motorists can go some way in making their driving safer by paying closer attention to the hazards in their vehicles.”

Firm kicks off Value Drive Promo

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NFINITY Tyres Limited has commenced its annual value drive promo.

Infinity Tyres is the sole agent and franchise owner for premium tyre brands such as Goodyear, Pirelli, CEAT as well as first-rate battery brand, Infinity Batteries in Nigeria. The eleventh edition of the promo is in line of its signature scratch card incentive schemes of previous years.

The company’s Executive Director, Mr Kanwal Bajwa said the company has plans of expanding its reach to serve its customers better.

Bajwa said said the promo is a way of rewarding all its customers this Yuletide season.

To participate, customers are required to visit any authorised Infinity Tyres sales outlets nationwide and purchase any of their brands of tyres or batteries. Every purchase en-

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

titles the customer to a scratch card containing instant exciting prizes.

Head of Marketing Mr Vikas Bahl said the promo will run till the end of December.

Infinity Tyres, he said, has been offering premium products to the motoring public in Nigeria for over three decades.

Managing Director Mr. Arshi Chadha said customers are the reason for the company’s success and they were therefore, obliged to find suitable ways to reward their patronage.

Chadha said: “The previous editions have made our customers happy; hence we decided to make it a tradition. We use this medium to reward their loyalty to our brands. They are the reason why we are here and we truly appreciate them”.

He said the company was concerned about the safety of the commuters and would therefore, not rescind on its promise to deliver the best automobile solutions.

Chadha stated the need to go beyond sales and include services as part of its offerings to guarantee the well being of its customers on Nigerian roads.

He mentioned the launch of ‘Infinity Manatec’ which provides high quality range of equipment for motoring maintenance.

According to him, it affords garage business owners to get more efficient solutions that can deliver wheel balancing, alignment, tyre changing services and more, for their customers at affordable running costs.

He assured the public that Infinity Tyres will continue to deliver safe products of the highest quality.

SAFE DRIVING

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Security surveillance and road safety N several occasions, we have

heard of policemen abandoning their duty post when armed robbers strike, leaving the unarmed drivers and passengers to face the wrath of the armed robbers.

The retreat of the policemen is not mainly because of the sophistication of the firearms of the armed robbers. Inadequate training, surveillance and commitment are

more prominent factors.

For example, there was an armed robbery attack some years ago near the Ketu police station in Lagos. The policemen outside quickly ran into their station and shut the station gate, leaving the members of the public to face the robbers.

A policeman with a gun who was trying to run into the police station as well was sited by an unarmed soldier.

The soldier collected the gun from him

in a dramatic and military technique.

As if watching a film, the soldier was demonstrating his combative skill, firing at the armed robbers and avoiding their bullets. He brought down one of them and the rest escaped. They could not carry out their evil act that day because of a single soldier in an environment where there were over 30 armed policemen.

The police officers later come out and carried the soldier shoulder-high to

appreciate his bravery and skill.

When policemen stop a vehicle for search, all of them will gather round the vehicle, exposing themselves to an easy one-time attack just because they all want to witness how much the driver gives them.

As soldiers have been drafted to some roads, you will notice they don’t crowd themselves around one vehicle at a time. Rather they will scatter themselves so that all of them will not be

gunned down at a go thus making it possible for others to counter-attack, when one of them is attacked.

It is equally important for all drivers to have a sound knowledge of security surveillance and countersurveillance as the security system in Nigeria is not yet foolproof.

Drivers should know how to apply security s u r v e i l l a n c e strategies.

Jide Owatunmise •Registrar / Chief Executive , Professional Driving and Safety Academy

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

DISCOURSE

The challenge of change Text of an address delivered by Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, at the Chatham House, London, United Kingdom, on November 27, 2012.

• Continued from Friday

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GAINST this backdrop, in Ekiti State, within two years, we have restored the core Ekiti values of passion, courage, integrity, meritocracy and honour; we have restored confidence in Ekiti State among local and international development partners and investors with our people-oriented policy thrust in all the units of governance. Our 8-point agenda include Participatory Governance; Infrastructural Development; Modernising Agriculture; Education and Human Capital Development; Healthcare Services; Industrial Development; Tourism; and Gender Equality and Empowerment. Planning, prudence and a hundred percent commitment to the agenda we have set to achieve, that is putting the people first, have produced a change that was unimaginable only a few years ago.

To cast our mind back to when our administration came on board an took on the reins of public office in October 2010, after a protracted judicial struggle against electoral heist and brigandage, we met a state that evinced several indices attesting to a paucity or decline of leadership and apposite planning – there were the deficits of vision, holistic strategy and service delivery, which were accentuated by administrative neglect and poor infrastructure.

Corruption was rife within the system and the unstable political culture that had been operative was one that depended on and was sustained by patronage and rent-seeking. Ekiti State was beholden to a debt peonage in excess of N42 billion, while several infrastructural projects had stalled or were already sliding into a terminal condition, with the federally granted revenue allocations to the State being burdened by a recurrent expenditure overhang, making it virtually impossible to execute capital projects. More so, the State was hemorrhaging greatly through leakages in the revenue and tax collection system. The failure of previous political actors in the State to carry-out the responsibilities attached to public office, whilst drawing on its privileges, etc all resulted in a state of “arrested development” that deepened the cynicism through which the people related to government and its functionaries. That was the ‘tabula rasa’ upon which we had to inscribe a new narrative.

The first challenge of change that we faced in office therefore was how to restore and rebuild public trust in governance; how to re-create the necessary institutional architecture required to deliver change; how to implement policies that would combat poverty, inequality, unemployment, the diversification of the economy and industrialisation; how to promote democratic governance; and how to provide social security. Our essential purpose in government – on the basis of which we sought and campaigned for public office – was the necessity of making poverty, alongside its attendant manifestations, history in Ekiti State. To that end, the change that impelled our efforts was driven by the desire to put our people at the centre of development, to promote freedoms and human rights, and to combat the systems and structures that impoverish our people and engender oppression. Importantly, our mission was to activate the institutions that would help to attain the goals of development.

Ekiti is a State in the South-West of Nigeria that is a rapidly transforming urban, peri-urban and rural geography hosting about 2.5m people who are renowned for their passion for education, agriculture, and cognate activities. And, one of its enduring features has been its serving as a very large repository of highly skilled human capital, with possibly the highest number of university intellectuals and scholars per capita in Africa laying claims to it as their home state. In recognition of the peculiarity of our circumstances, geog-

raphy and comparative advantage, we have focused on governance on Agriculture, Infrastructure and Education as well as building a healthy population. Consequent upon the implementation of programmes and activities opened up by the 8 Point agenda, our administration has achieved, in the past two years of its existence, substantially more than what our two predecessors were able to achieve in the preceding seven years of our advent into power.

Yet, while change and the processes leading up to it has been our mission in the past two years of, and through which we have attained much mileage in our project of providing good governance to the people of Ekiti, we must also admit that our regenerative blueprint has encountered practical challenges resulting from economic and political limitations. While the expectations on us to ‘perform’ has been higher than can be possibly met with the constraints of resources determining how fast the government could run with its intentions and projects, pockets of resistance have equally emerged to resist change.

Some of these confrontational attitudes have, no doubt, arisen from human nature which tends to become ossified in its conventional ways of doing things – particularly when it also benefits from these – and thereby resists change, but others have equally resulted from the political context and dynamics even when the policies in contention are not only technically sound but also ultimately in the best interest of the populace.

Definitely, some of our decisions have been controversial, but we are a government that has not shied away from taking very difficult decisions that would ultimately restore our pride of place and positively impact on the lives of our people.

Ready instances in this direction include the teachers’ competency appraisals to determine their skills gaps and training needs, and the forensic audit of local council workers who demand increases in wages but refuse to conform to procedures that would assist the government in blocking the financial leakage that would make such increment possible.

The reclamation of trust that has promoted the compact between our administration and the people of Ekiti State is constituted on the premises of openness, transparency, selfless-service, probity and accountability in the management of public funds and resources. We are not only in the business of government to deepen the commonwealth and create sustainable value for our people, but equally to make information about the government and its processes as publicly accessible as possible. This is the effort to enhance participatory governance through engaging with critical stakeholders in development planning, and to come to the ‘table’ and leave it with clean hands.

As an open administration, we were the first State in Nigeria to demystify governmental insularity by passing the Ekiti Freedom of Information Law 2011 on the 12th of April 2011, making the information of government to be readily available and publicly published. The Ekiti FOI legislation – a domestication of the national Freedom of Information bill that was forwarded to the State parliament as an executive bill – provides for the free access of public records and information in a manner that is consistent with public interest, while also protecting serving public officers from the adverse

•Dr. Fayemi

consequences of disclosing certain kinds of information without due authorisation.

This coupled with the assent of the Ekiti State Fiscal Responsibility Bill into law and the public declaration of my assets and those of my Deputy and aides, signaled our government’s commitment to the reinstatement of a climate of transparency in public office, which has restored and increased the public’s confidence in our administration.

A vital aspect of openness that we have inserted into the business of government in our State pertains to the process of participatory governance in which critical stakeholders across the lengths of Ekiti cities, towns and communities – civil servants, artisans, market women, educators, private sector professionals, farmers, and the regular folk, etc – are carried along in the making of decisions that determine their welfare and affect their lives. They are actively incorporated into the setting of agenda for governance, in terms of the identification and projection of their developmental choices and preferences. Rather than past approaches in which the conception and implementation of budgets were Top-Down affairs involving officials, policy-makers and ‘experts’ who drew-up the projects and funding priorities of government and foisted these on the public, our administration brought the people of Ekiti into the heart of budget-making in 2011. We met up with them in their rural, urban and peri-urban locations through town hall meetings carried out in all the 16 local government areas of Ekiti, and sought their inputs into the budgeting process. With their identified needs and concerns, we were able to put together a people’s budget for 2012. Hence, with their contributions to the composition of the current budget of the State, we have not only been able to co-generate a realistic people-driven financial plan, but also secured their collaborative ownership of the development process.

As a major flank of participatory governance and the operation of an open government at this juncture in history when the necessity of harnessing information for greater productivity has become an essential feature of our reality, we have taken on the notion of E-governance very boldly. And, further to the launching of our digital online channels in February 2012, we responded to the need for intense transparency in governance by uploading the 2012 budget of Ekiti State on our website (www.ekitistate.gov.ng), thereby becoming the first State in the country to have its full budget located on the Internet for public contemplation.

Yet, the change in governance being operationalised in Ekiti State under the direction and watch of our administration,

‘Yet, while change and the processes leading up to it has been our mission in the past two years of, and through which we have attained much mileage in our project of providing good governance to the people of Ekiti, we must also admit that our regenerative blueprint has encountered practical challenges resulting from economic and political limitations’

takes cognisance of the responsibility of government to enhance the efficacy of the available pool of resources (material and human) to deliver on robust services for the good of the people, whilst innovating alternate resource generation directions. A major aspect of our programme in this regard involved the introduction of a biometric system that not only audited the existing stock of resources but plugged the loopholes and leakages that had been hemorrhaging the capacity of the State to implement its developmental endeavours.

Through this procedure, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile of the State increased in multiple folds from a measly N106 million ($650,000) a month to over N600 million ($3,75m), and it is anticipated to hit the N1 billion ($6m)-amonth mark in the near future. Worthy of note is the fact that this surge in IGR occurred was without increments in taxes or levies, but through the deployment of epayment options, the blockade of tax seepages, and the elimination of remunerations traditionally accruing to ghost workers, from which the State lost about N3.5 billion yearly, etc.

Importantly, in widening the human safety net, our administration evolved a Social Security Scheme – the first of its kind in the country – that is responsive to the care of elderly citizens who are incapable of surviving properly without the intervention of a support structure. Through this plan, a stipend of N5, 000 ($35) a month per individual is granted to the elderly folk above the age of 65, who are demonstrably unable to financially care for themselves, and this along with the free health services equally available to them, are administered without recourse to party affiliation or political following. Over twenty thousand elderly people are currently benefitting from this scheme on a means tested basis.

With the understanding of the Civil Service as being the engine-room of the government, from which developmental policies and programmes percolate to the people, we have embarked upon the reformation of this highly critical institution. The Service is increasingly undergoing re-engineering to make it more flexible and adaptive, and to motivate its force to greater productivity. In line with these, appointments and promotions in the Service are now based on merit, and the issue of capacity gaps in workers is being addressed through the design of continuous training schemes.

This is particularly the case with teachers in primary and secondary schools in Ekiti who are undertaking Teachers’ Development Needs Assessments in the effort to tackle their capacity gaps.

In addition, our administration has been involved with embarking on a large scale commercial development and expansion of agriculture (attendant upon the overhaul of the State’s agricultural policy) as a means of expanding jobs and boosting Internally Generated revenue (IGR), through such schemes as the Youth Commercial Agricultural Development (Y-CAD) project targeted at creating over 20, 000 jobs. Equally, we are developing the full value-chain of the production of crops like cocoa, cassava, rice and oil palm. These initiatives in the area of agricultural transformation are designed to attract commercial agricultural players into large-scale farming in the state.

Also, we are making massive investments in human capital development through declaration of free education in primary and secondary schools in Ekiti State, the renovation of all dilapidated schools building across the State, and the promotion of an ICT culture in which we provide one solar laptop per student in secondary schools. Equally, we have ensured the access of healthcare to children, pregnant women, senior citizens, and the physically-challenged in hospitals in Ekiti State in the past two years, while healthcare centres have been established in all localities. Further to these have been the jumpstarting of industrial development through the establishment of technology parks for small and medium-scale enterprises; urban renewal; the creation of micro-credit facilities; development of the agro-allied and solid minerals sectors; and massive investments in the tourism corridor.

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NEWS Sambo, Tambuwal, others for Ilorin

ACN to Offa defectors: resign or be sacked •‘Kwara PDP lied over councils’ pay’

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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HE Kwara State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday urged the three supervisory councillors in Offa, who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resign their appointment or be sacked.

The three men, who are loyalists of a former senatorial aspirant in Kwara South, Lola Ashiru, were appointed by the ACN-controlled Offa Local Government but defected last week to the PDP. “We have always suspected them to be disloyal but we don’t build our judgment on mere suspicion. Now that they have jumped ship it is only honourable for them to also resign their political appointments since they got there as ACN members,” Kwara ACN Chairman Kayode Olawepo said in a statement in Ilorin.

“We give them a 14-day ultimatum to resign their appointments, failing which we have the prerogative to show them the way out.”

Olawepo also criticised the PDP over claims that local councils have no reason to owe workers, saying such statement was hypocritical because Kwara State Government hijacks council funds and only doles out stipends to the councils when it deems fit.

“Equally irritating is PDP’s claim that the councils have paid their workers up to November when this is not so and even when some councils have not paid October salary,” Olawepo said.

“So who is the PDP fooling: itself or the people of Kwara who already know what terrible liars the party and its government have been? We see PDP’s comment as a cunny and wicked attempt to undermine the legitimate, though still silent, frustration and agitation of the council workers.”

Customs to pursue passage of CEMA Bill From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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HIS year’s Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Comptroller-General’s conference, which ended in Katsina yesterday, has resolved to pursue the passage of the CEMA Bill , which is before the National Assembly.

The service promised to cooperate and collaborate with other government agencies involved in international trade for an improvement in trade.

These were part of the resolutions contained in the communique issued at the end of the conference and made available to The Nation in Katsina yesterday.

The communique called for a better funding of government agencies as well as enhancing the security of international trade supply chain through easy movement of legitimate people and goods with the introduction of a single window clearance process.

Others are: to encourage the development of one stop-shop for importers/licensed Customs agents while creating a customer-centric service environment with a single window clearance process.

•Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, addressing community leaders at a Town Hall meeting, at his Isan-Ekiti home... at the weekend

JTF: we’ve killed Boko Haram commander G AMBORU Ngala, a boarder town in Borno State, was yesterday attacked by about 50 gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) said it killed a commander of the sect.

The residents fled their homes when the heavilyarmed sect members invaded the town about 8.30am, sources said.

The fundamentalist shot sporadically into the air.

They reportedly raided three churches and set them ablaze after the worshipers abruptly ended services and fled on hearing gunshots.

Sources said the gunmen attacked Customs and Immigration posts. Officers of both

Joseph Abiodun, Maiduguri

services abandoned their duty posts and fled into the bush.

The gunment reportedly attacked a police station but they were resisted by the policemen on duty.

Though there were unconfirmed reports that the fundamentalist killed two policemen in the siege, they were, however, repelled after about 30 minutes of gun battle.

A source, who said the sect lost its members in the attack, could not confirm the casualty figure last night.

Many telecommunication masts belonging to GSM pro-

viders have been destroyed by the sect members.

Police Commissioner Abdullahi Yuguda could not be reached for confirmation. He did not answer his phone.

But Police spokesman Gideon Jubril confirmed the incident. He, however, could not give details.

In a statement, JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa said: “In a follow-up operation to arrest some key commanders of the Boko Haram sect in Bulabulin area of Maiduguri on November 29, where the JTF lost an official with one other injured, the task force, with members of the Department of State Security and

Police parade 19 suspects over Nasarawa communal crisis

CPC accuses PDP of plotting impeachment of Al-Makura

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HE Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of instigating its members in Nasarawa State House of Assembly to serve impeachment notice on Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who was elected on the platform of CPC. The party cautioned against what it called an ongoing abuse of legislative privilege in Nasarawa State.

The Assembly, controlled by the PDP, last week threatened to remove the governor if he failed to end the violence in Agyaragu, where many residents have died.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, the CPC urged the Assembly to avoid an act that could cause unimaginable instability in the state.

The party noted that with the spate of bombings and insecurity across the country, no one has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to step down.

The statement reads: “The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) took notice of the impeachment threat issued to Governor Umaru TankoAlMakura by the House of Assembly on account of the violent crisis in Agyaragu.

“This appears to be a wellrehearsed plot, orchestrated by the PDP high command, in furtherance of the political gerrymandering and destabilisation

the Nigeria Police Force Dog Section, in a combined operation (yesterday) launched a special raid on Damboa–Biu Road to capture a major terrorist Commander, Abdulkareem Ibrahim, top on its wanted list.

“During the operation, Ibrahim and two of his lieutenants were killed and an AK47 rifle with other arms and ammunition were recovered.”

Col. Musa claimed that Ibrahim was a notorious terrorist Commander who has been responsible for recent assassination and bomb attacks in Maiduguri.

“He is one of the top”Amirs” (Commander) recently declared in the Bounty list released by the JTF to members of the public,” Col. Musa added.

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

agenda of the ruling Party.

“The governor showed his determination to tackle the problem when he announced in a state-wide-broadcast that: ‘It is, indeed, sad that our state is being made to assume the status of a theatre of a communal violence. This is regrettable and unacceptable.’

“But the state legislators, urged on by their National Leaders, are committed to bringing the state into unimaginable instability with their legislative impropriety.

“As a party, we are forced to react, through this statement, to the admonition of well-meaning individuals and institutions on the very precipitous path the state legislators have chosen to tread.”

The CPC said violent clashes were more pronounced in the past PDP administrations in the state without any impeachment threat on the governors.

The statement added: “The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) queried why the CPC governor was unfairly burdened with a problem that predated his tenure and was not resolved by previous PDP-led administrations.

“Truly, on April 14, 2000 (under a PDP-led administration), Nasarawa State was thrown into a communal crisis in the Agyragu area because of the location of the local government head-

T •Al-Makura

quarters.

“Furthermore, under the same PDP-led administration, on January 18, 2002, the clash between two communities in Awe Local Government led to a few fatalities.

“What is curious is that there was never any impeachment threat on the previous PDP governors that were helmsmen during the previous dispensations of crises in the state.

“What is more, has Nigeria ever been enveloped under the cloud of insecurity as severe as with this PDP-led Federal Government? Yet, the President has never been threatened with impeachment because of the intractable insecurity within the nation space.

“But because of the massive majority of the PDP in the Nasarawa House of Assembly, the lawmakers have chosen to tread the path of reckless partisanship and legislative indiscretion to resolve a problem of the state. Indeed, this smacks of an abuse of legislative privilege and authority!”

HE Nasarawa State Police Command has paraded 19 suspected militiamen over the communal crisis in Agyaragu.

Nine people were reportedly killed in the communal feud.

The police displayed some of the weapons the suspects allegedly used during the crisis.

Police Commissioner Abayomi Akeremale paraded the suspected in Lafia, the state capital.

He said: “Some of the suspects were arrested on the scene of the crisis following information that some criminals were operating on the railway line at Agyaragu.

“When policemen got to the scene, they discovered that the incident was beyond robbery as houses and shops were razed.”

The police displayed one AK 47 rifle, live ammunition, militia uniforms and assorted charms, allegedly recovered from the militiamen, called Ombatse.

Akeremale accused the suspects of killing, stealing and assault.

The police chief said the suspects would be charged to court.

He urged parents and guardians not to allow their children or wards to be used for crimes.

VICE-President Namadi Sambo; House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal; Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, are among top Nigerians expected in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on December 14 for the inauguration of the remodelled Ilorin Central Juma’at Mosque.

Former President Shehu Shagari will chair the occasion.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, has directed the closure of markets near the mosque to ensure a hitch-free ceremony.

The Chairman of the Central Working Committee for the inauguration, Alhaji Shehu AbdulGafar, yesterday addressed reporters in Ilorin.

He said: “The Emir, who is the President of Ilorin Juma’at Central Mosque, has directed that all markets around the central mosque be closed on December 13 and 14 to allow a successful inauguration of the mosque. We urge our people to comply with this important directive.”

Minister redeploys new NSCDC Commandant From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

THE Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has approved the redeployment of a new Commandant for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nasarawa State Command. He is Mr Andekin Amos Musa.

The new Commandant took over from Mr Nweze Emmanuel Okemini, who was redeployed to the Niger State Command.

Col. Musa has served as the Commandant in Taraba, Rivers, Oyo and Delta states’ commands.

Addressing officers and men at the command headquarters in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, Musa hailed the efforts of his predecessor for taking the command to a higher level.

FCT to inaugurate fish farming estate tomorrow From Bukola Amusan,Abuja

THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will tomorrow inaugurate its first farming estate in the territory.

The Secretary, FCT Agriculture and Rural Development secretariat, Mrs Ovaldi Bema Madayi, said the fishing estate would create jobs for the residents.

Speaking through the Director Agricultural Services, Mr Adamu Zinze, the Secretary explained that the fish farming estates, besides reating jobs, would also boost food production.

Mrs Madayi said the training of the workers in the estate was to prepare them ahead of the inauguration and beginning of full scale fish production in the estate.

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FOREIGN NEWS

Egyptian court stops work

Pope to open Twitter account TODAY, Pope Benedict XVI will officially join millions of people around the globe by launching his own Twitter account. The formal announcement is set for a press conference today at the Vatican with Catholic and Twitter officials.

A Vatican official told CNN the pope will be composing the tweets for the new account himself. For the first tweet from the account, the pope will also press the button to send the tweet himself, but after that others will send the tweets on his behalf.

In June 2011 the pope sent his first tweet from the Twitter account for the Vatican news site, @news_va_en, to launch the new site www.news.va. He wrote, “Dear friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” That signature has led some to guess that @BenedictusPPXVI will be the account name for the 85-yearold pope’s personal account, although @Pope would seem to be fitting as well.

(Benedictus PP XVI is the pontiff’s signature in Latin, with the “PP” standing for papa, the Latin word for pope.)

More details on the longexpected event will be revealed at the press conference featuring Vatican officials, including spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi and Greg Burke, media adviser to the Secretariat of State, who will be joined by Claire DíazOrtiz, who heads social innovation at Twitter.

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EGYPT’s Supreme Constitutional Court has said it is halting all work indefinitely in protest at the “psychological pressure” it has faced.

Islamist protesters earlier prevented the judges from meeting in Cairo to rule on a draft constitution.

The supporters of President Mohammed Morsi wanted to block any ruling that would question the document’s legality.

The court said yesterday was “the blackest day in the history of Egyptian judiciary”.

Yesterday’s developments are the latest in an unfolding confrontation between President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political op-

ponents and the judiciary on the other.

Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on November 22 that stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions, so it is unclear what effect any Supreme Constitutional Court ruling would have.

However, analysts say any ruling opposing his decisions would be a direct challenge and would bolster the opposition campaign to have his decree annulled.

Morsi has said a referendum on the draft constitution will be held on December 15. His opponents say the draft constitution undermines basic freedoms.

The court issued a statement after demonstrations outside the building pre-

vented judges from getting in.

The statement read: “(The judges) announce the suspension of the court sessions until the time when they can continue their message and rulings in cases without any psychological and material pressures.”

It added: “The court registers its deep regret and pain at the methods of psychological assassination of its judges.”

The court was scheduled to rule on whether to dissolve both the constituent assembly that passed the draft constitution and the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, the Shura Council.

However, Morsi’s decree was passed with the intention of making any such rul-

ings unenforceable.

The president’s supporters are wary of the court, as it dissolved an Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament in an earlier confrontation in June.

The BBC’s Naglaa El Emary in Cairo says the Supreme Constitutional Court was effectively the only high-profile judicial body still working, after most of the courts of appeal halted their work in protest at the November 22 decree.

The draft constitution was rushed through the constituent assembly on Thursday night.

After receiving a copy of the document on Saturday, Morsi called on “all Egyptians” to take part in the referendum, whether or not they agreed with the draft.

Stalemate in US budget talks NITED STATES Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said there will be no deal to avert a “fiscal cliff”, unless Republicans accept a tax hike for the wealthy.

But House Speaker John Boehner has dismissed a 10year plan, which aims to raise $1.6tn (£1tn) through tax rises and spending cuts, as “silliness”.

The two men met on Thursday as time runs out to broker a deal.

Economists warn planned tax rises and spending cuts due to take effect on 1 January could trigger a recession.

Geithner, negotiating for the White House, has drafted

U

a plan that includes more spending to help for the unemployed and struggling homeowners, as well as cuts in Medicare and other benefits.

On Friday President Barack Obama warned of a “Scrooge Christmas” if soon-to-expire tax breaks for households earning below $250,000 were not renewed as part of the deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

But Boehner, negotiating for the Republicans who control the House of Representatives, said talks with the administration had so far gone “almost nowhere”.

Geithner and Boehner’s appearances on a number of

yesterday television talk shows showed how entrenched their positions were.

“There’s not going to be an agreement without rates going up. There’s not,” Geithner told CNN’s State of the Union.

He called on Republicans to make a counter-offer to the Obama administration’s plan.

But Boehner said he was “flabbergasted” by Geithner’s proposals - which he said asked Congress to give up its power to set the nation’s debt limit.

What do you think would happen if we gave the president $1.6tn of new money?”

Boehner asked Fox News yes-

terday. “He’d spend it.”

Boehner says asking the top two per cent of US taxpayers to pay more would deal a “crippling blow” to a fragile economy, and has criticised criticised the Obama administration’s proposed spending cuts as inadequate.

The White House has suggested it would not support any deal that did not increase tax rates on the wealthiest.

The fiscal cliff would suck about $600billion (£347bn) out of the economy.

The measures were partly put in place within a 2011 deal to curb the yawning US budget deficit.

Abass returns home

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ALESTINIAN leader Mahmoud Abbas has returned to a hero’s welcome in the West Bank after his successful move to upgrade the Palestinians’ UN status.

“Now we have a state,” he told cheering supporters in Ramallah. “Palestine has accomplished a historic achievement.”

On Thursday the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognise the Palestinians as an observer state.

In response Israel halted the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The decision, announced yesterday by the Israeli finance ministry, means 460million shekels ($120million; £75million) will be withheld in December.

The PA, which governs in the West Bank, is heavily dependant on tax revenues Israel collects on its behalf.

A ministry spokesman told the BBC the money would instead be used to offset the PA’s debts, which include millions owed to Israel’s electricity company.

The Israeli decision was announced as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas returned to the West Bank from the UN in New York.

He told thousands of flagwaving supporters in Ramallah that the vote to upgrade the Palestinians’ status from “non-member observer entity” to “nonmember observer state” had shown the international community stood behind the Palestinian people.

NEWS

•Managing Director, NEXIM Bank, Roberts Orya (third left); founder/Chief Executive, Beloxxi Industries Limited, Obi Ezeude and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Jones Onyereri when the Committee and NEXIM visited the company.

•From left: Ven Funso Ogini, Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, Anglican Communion. Rev Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, Ven Chiedu Ekponobi and Ven Chudi Obi at the Institution & Installation of Canons and the collation of Archdeacons at the Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos...yesterday.

•From left: Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, his son, Tobi, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Senator Babafemi Ojudu at the call to Bar reception party for Tobi at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

•Publisher, Ovation Magazine Bashorun Dele Momodu condoling with Hajia Ramatu AliuMahama, widow of former Ghanian Vice-President Aliu Mahama in Ghana

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FOREIGN DR Congo rebels pull out of Goma EBELS in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have withdrawn from the key city of Goma under a regionally brokered agreement.

The M23 rebels boarded trucks and headed out of the city, 11 days after seizing it from government troops backed by UN peacekeepers.

The deal calls for the rebels to withdraw towards the town of Kibumba.

The M23 rebels deserted from the army in April, with some 500,000 people fleeing their homes in ensuing unrest.

The last remaining 300 rebels sang as they left Goma on flat-bed trucks, AFP news agency reported.

“Now Congolese government policemen are controlling the central bank, the governor’s office and the border post,” Ugandan Brig Jeffrey Muheesi, who serves on a mission sent by regional leaders to observe the withdrawal, told the Associated Press news agency.

More than 270 Congolese policemen have arrived in the city port as part of the transition.

According to the withdrawal accord, mediated by Uganda, the rebels are to pull back to a 20km (13 mile) buffer zone around Goma.

The accord had stipulated that the M23 would leave behind 100 soldiers to guard the airport in conjunction

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•Rescue workers and police gather outside the Sasago tunnel ...yesterday.

PHOTO:. AFP

Road tunnel collapses in Japan

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MAJOR road tunnel has collapsed in Japan, trapping a number of vehicles and leaving at least seven people missing, media reports say.

Survivors described how large sections of concrete fell on top of cars in the Sasago tunnel.

A fire broke out and rescuers said a number of charred bodies had been seen.

The incident started at 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT Saturday), about 80km (50 miles) west of Tokyo on a road that links it to the city of Nagoya.

The tunnel is one of the longest in Japan.

Pictures from closed circuit TV cameras inside the tunnel showed a section of up to

•Seven missing 100m (328ft) that had caved in on the Tokyo-bound lanes on the Chuo Expressway in Yamanashi prefecture.

Thick black smoke blew out of the tunnel, hampering the rescue, which had to be suspended for several hours because a further collapse was feared.

When it resumed, the first fatalities were found.

A spokesman for Yamanashi Prefectural Police told Agence France-Presse: “A number of charred bodies were confirmed inside. The number of dead is not known.”

The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield Hayes, in Tokyo,

says CCTV pictures now show rescuers moving freely over the collapsed roof sections.

He says there has already been criticism of the rescue services, which media say took three hours to reach the collapse site.

One woman who made her way out of the tunnel said she was with five other people in a van, but added: “I have no idea about what happened to the others. I don’t know how many vehicles were ahead and behind ours.”

A reporter for the NHK broadcaster described driving through the tunnel as it began to collapse, seeing other

North Korea to launch rocket soon

N

ORTH Korea is to launch a long-range rocket between 10 and 22 December, its official news agency says.

The KCNA agency said the aim was to launch a satellite.

Previous - unsuccessful launches have been criticised as breaches of a UN ban on North Korean ballistic missile tests.

The announcement is likely

to increase tensions with North Korea’s neighbours, with South Korea expressing concern over Pyongyang’s announcement.

South Korean officials called the move a “grave provocation” and a “challenge to the international community”.

The atmosphere in South Korea is especially tense as the country prepares for a presi-

dential election scheduled for December 19, the BBC’s Lucy Williamson reports from Seoul.

North Korea’s most recent rocket launch, in April, was a failure.

The US, Japan and South Korea said the rocket flew only for a short time before breaking up and crashing into waters off the Korean peninsula.

DAME holds 21st edition Dec. 14

A

DECEMBER 14 date has been picked for this year’s edition of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

The trustees, in a statement said print journalists and broadcasters who have distinguished themselves in various fields would be honoured with trophies, certificates and cash gifts at a three-hour dinner.

According to the statement, prizes will be given in such categories as Informed Commentary, Newspaper of the Year, Editor of the Year, Television Reporting, Radio Reporting, Radio Presenting, Televi-

sion Documentary, Editorial Writing, and the reporting categories of sports, politics, agriculture, development, and the judiciary.

Ahead of the presentation, DAME has given a breakdown of the list of the nominees for the award. In the breakdown, The Punch and National Mirror have been nominated in five categories; The Nation and Tell in three, and Newswatch, in two.

Categories. In broadcasting, FRCN has three nominations; AIT, Anambra Broadcasting and Anambra Television in two categories each.

First held in 1992 to reward excellence, talent, enterprise and creativity, this 21st consecutive edition makes

DAME, Africa’s most consistent media award.

It is a private initiative that operates from the premise that the media as keepers of public conscience and morality need to be encouraged to tread the path of responsibility for the good of the society.

At least, 415 names have been inducted into the DAME Hall of FAME. The annual DAME presentation provides a state of-the-media assessment and serves as a useful forum for leading names in the media to interact with leaders of thought in various spheres of endeavour.

Its verdicts enjoy industrywide respect, the statement said.

cars trapped and on fire. His car was badly damaged, he said.

Another survivor told the broadcaster that he saw “a concrete part of the ceiling fall off all of a sudden when I was driving inside. I saw a fire coming from a crushed car”.

with a UN contingent and a government unit.

However, Sy Koumbo, a spokesman for the UN in Congo, told Associated Press that the rebels had tried but failed to force their way into the airport to seize weapons on Friday.

The rebels said recovering the materiel was part of the withdrawal process.

Koumbo said an agreement was reached and the rebels were not given the arms.

However, one Goma resident told AFP that the rebels had “stolen so much - vehicles, ammunition, everything” and was happy to see them leave.

The UN has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the region because of the recent fighting.

Goma is the key city in an eastern border area that has seen years of conflict sparked by ethnic and political differences, and grievances over mineral resources.

Some five million people died during the 1997-2003 DR Congo conflict, which drew in several regional countries, including both Rwanda and Uganda.

The UK has suspended aid to Rwanda, amid concerns about the country’s role in the conflict.

Both Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda strongly deny UN accusations that they are backing the M23.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

57

PREMIERSHIP ...PREMIERSHIP ...

Bale could miss Everton clash says Villas-Boas

SPORT EXTRA

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• Anderson

Anderson out for four weeks for Manchester United

J

UST before half-time against Reading on Saturday, Anderson was

substituted due to injury for Phil Jones.

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed after the match that Anderson had indeed sustained an injury to his

hamstring that could see him on the sidelines for up to a month.

Anderson had featured for Manchester United in their last eight games included the victory over Reading, his fitness has always been an issue but recent performances for the reds

have been very impressive, one of which he changed the game against Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford the other week.

With Manchester City away now only 7-days away, the injury does come at a bad time for United.

Sir Alex Ferguson spoke

with MUTV after the Reading game and had this to say about the injury: “It’s a hamstring unfortunately. He’ll be out for a few weeks, he’s been playing really well and scored a great goal today.

I’m very disappointed for him.”

Wenger won’t consider leaving RSENE Wenger has insisted that the thought of quitting as Arsenal manager has not crossed his mind.

By their standards, the Gunners are having an awful Premier League season. They sit 10th, with their latest poor result being Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Swansea.

Boos rang out around the Emirates Stadium at the final

A

whistle, but Wenger has insisted that he wants to stay on and turn the club’s on-field fortunes around.

Asked if he had considered quitting, the Frenchman responded: “Not at all. You make your assessment at the end of the season.

“I know we’ve got unrest everywhere. It’s a good opportunity to stick together and show we’re a strong

club.”

Wenger, however, admitted that being in mid-table was upsetting. He said: “Of course (it is a concern to be 10th).

But I’m not as worried about the places. We need to get the quality of our game back.”

R

• Wenger

“Gus Poyet would be a good choice. He is cutting his teeth at Brighton, he has been at Leeds and Swindon so he knows the trade and he is a Chelsea legend, as Roberto Di Matteo was.

“The options are now being closed down rather rapidly.”

Wilkins put Chelsea’s recent woes down to the absence of John Terry at the back and Frank Lampard’s goalscoring contribution from midfield.

“When you lose those goals from the middle of the field, you have a massive problem,” Wilkins said.

“Whether it is the club who spends money or Rafa who spends money, it has to be done because the season is coming to a rather rapid halt and we are not even at Christmas yet.”

• Benitez

form. He has scored three goals in the last four Premier League games and has helped Tottenham move up to fourth in the league, ten points behind league leaders Manchester United and five points ahead of their north London rivals Arsenal.

If Villas-Boas’ fears are confirmed Bale will miss the visit of Greek side Panathinaikos to White Hart Lane on Thursday, the trip to Goodison next Sunday, but could return for the home game against Swansea on Sunday the 16th.

• Bale

Redknapp ready for vital month

Wenger said that he was able to “understand” the frustration of the fans, adding that “the quality of our game wasn’t there.

“But I’m in this job to turn it around and I’m confident that we will.”

Wilkins: Chelsea won’t sack Benitez AY WILKINS believes it is “out of the question” that Chelsea would sack under-fire new manager Rafael Benitez before the end of the season.

Benitez has overseen two draws and yesterday’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham since he was recruited on an interim basis to replace Roberto Di Matteo The Spaniard admitted he was “not 100%” certain of his future but Wilkins, the former Chelsea assistant boss, cannot see Roman Abramovich making another managerial change.

“I would think that is totally out of the question,” Wilkins told Sportsweek on Radio Five Live.

“They have asked him to come in and do a job and no doubt he is trying to work very hard to do it.

“Unfortunately the results are going against him at the moment. It has been a very difficult period for Chelsea Football Club and at the moment they are struggling.”

Benitez is in charge until the end of the season but Wilkins suggested Chelsea are running out of options for the permanent managerial post.

“If Pep Guardiola was to come in and was sacked then where do you go?” Wilkins said.

“He is supposedly the best on the planet. He is a young man of 41. You have Mourinho out there but would Jose come back? I have no idea.

O T T E N H A M HOTSPUR could be without their Welsh winger Gareth Bale for at least a week according to their manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Bale injured his hamstring after attempting a shot during Tottenham’s 3-0 victory against Fulham in the Premier League yesterday.

Bale was removed in the 62nd minute and replaced by Icelandic midfielder, Gylfi Sigurdsson.

It is thought Gareth Bale may be missing for Spurs’ trip to Goodison Park as they take on Everton next Sunday, but it is hoped he may be back shortly after. Tottenham also saw defender Michael Dawson removed due to injury.

On the injuries Villas-Boas told Reuters , “One (Bale) looks more serious than the other but nothing too major, both players will come in for treatment very soon.

“When there is a muscle (injury) you have to take into account one or two weeks.

We will try to restrict that as much as we can.”

Bale’s injury will be of serious concern to Villas-Boas given the winger’s current

• Redknapp

H

ARRY REDKNAPP believes the next month will prove decisive to QPR’s hopes of beating relegation from the Premier League The Hoops sit bottom of the Premier League after a winless start to the campaign that extended to 15 matches on Saturday, equalling a record set

by Swindon in the 1993/94 season.

QPR have just six points to their name after the 1-1 home draw with fellow strugglers Aston Villa - a game that kicks off a month that recently-appointed boss Redknapp believes will be vital.

“I think this December is decisive,” the experienced boss said. “You’ve got to see where you are then, haven’t you?

“If you’re in touch, we can get a couple of wins and keep ourselves in there, then great have a go.

“If not, you’ve got to be careful.

We’ve got to look at it and see where we are.

“Hopefully we are in touching distance and can get a couple of players in that can make the difference and get out of it that way.

“At the moment, I’ve got what I’ve got and we’ve got to get out of it with this lot.

“We’ve got to close the gap, get ourselves within at least touching distance of fourth from bottom and if we can do that I am sure we will have a go in January.”

A key problem for QPR seems to be their unbalanced squad,

with some areas overloaded with players and others severely lacking.

Redknapp hopes a good December will persuade the powers that be to bring in some new faces when the transfer window reopens, although he is wary of the high turnover of players at Loftus Road in recent times.

“We are okay in some positions and desperately short in others,” the former Tottenham boss said.

“Obviously we’re short of front players, we’re short at centre half.

“I wouldn’t spend any money if we were still in a dangerous position in January like we are.

“I wouldn’t want to spend any money. I don’t think it would be fair on the owners to spend any money. I’d advise them not to.

“If you’re still adrift, what’s the point? What you going to do?

Load yourself up with players and have more big wages? That’s not the point.

“If we’re within touching distance come January, I am sure they will have a go and get one or two, but if they’re not then I don’t think they should, really.

“They bought 12 or 14 players in during the summer and they can’t keep buying players, spending their money, upping the wage bill. They can’t keep doing it.”

Rather ironically, the star players on Saturday were those that helped them achieve promotion from the Championship a year and a half ago.

Jamie Mackie’s header earned QPR a point after they had fallen behind to an early Brett Holman goal, while Clint Hill hit the bar late on as they desperately searched for a winner.

“We needed that goal,” Redknapp added. “If it had gone in, I think the place would have lifted off and we would have come in absolutely flying.

“To go to Wigan next week weekend with a win under our belt would have been massive for us, but we have to go there and try to win.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

58

SPORT EXTRA

• Gonzalez

• Beckham

Gonzalez: It's a very emotional moment A LTHOUGH hard to imagine, Omar Gonzalez almost managed to steal team-mate David Beckham's thunder in the MLS Cup on Saturday evening. While most eyes were on the former England captain as he played his last game for Los Angeles Galaxy, the unheralded defender was writing the final chapter of a story of his own as he helped his team to secure a welldeserved win.

Back at the end of 2008, the California side were still waiting for their first title since the arrival of Beckham, and frustration levels had reached an all-time high after a mediocre season. Coach Bruce Arena had been taken on a year earlier to make the most of the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder and get a return on the enormous investment the club had made.

And he certainly made a bold move, getting rid of no fewer than 19 players.

"We decided to rebuild everything from scratch, helped by the fact that with David and Landon

[Donovan], we had two key pieces already," said the former USA coach.

A few days later, the Galaxy acquired a 20-year-old centreback, fresh out of the US college championship, by the name of Omar Gonzalez. He could not have realised it at the time, joining a team that was undergoing a complete rebuild, but it was the start of an amazing period for the youngster.

In relative anonymity, Gonzalez went from strength to strength over four seasons before rounding it all off on 1 December 2012 in the City of Angels, where he won his second MLS Cup and was named man of the match just four months after coming back from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

"It's a very emotional moment – after my injury, I never thought I'd experience something like this," said the Texan barely an hour after the Galaxy's 3-1 win over Houston Dynamo. "I never thought for a second that when I made my comeback this season, I'd be MVP in the final.

"After my operation last winter I really had my doubts.

I was seriously wondering what kind of level I would be able to play at again. I didn't know whether I'd get back to being the player that I was before my injury," added an obviously relieved Gonzalez, whom Arena believes will be a fixture at international level for years to come.

And among the champagne, laughter and triumph in the locker room at the Home Depot Center, the depths of his recent despair already seemed a distant memory.

Having been voted best defender in the MLS in 2011, Gonzalez suffered a serious left-knee injury after his first training session in the Bundesliga during a try-out with Nuremberg. He went under the knife on 13 January and though doctors estimated that he would be out for seven to nine months, he was training again at the end of May. By mid-June he was back in the first team squad, and on 28 July he started his first match after the injury, in his home city of Dallas.

Was it just a coincidence that as soon as 'Gonzo' returned, a team that had been on the

point of meltdown two months previously suddenly started showing championship form?

"When I started my individual training again, the team wasn't at its best," said Gonzalez, whose parents moved to the USA from Mexico. "I was only there once a week, but I could see that they were having problems.

And then in the middle of the season, everything changed.

We got the right attitude back, we started fighting for one another, and that helped us become the best team in the country once again."

The 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year was at the back for six of the nine clean sheets which the Galaxy kept, but it was his game-changing headed goal when the team met Houston Dynamo for the second consecutive MLS Cup final that will go down in the history books.

"One chance came and went, and David [Beckham] told him to attack more on set-pieces," explained Landon Donovan after the match. "The next time we got a corner, he took his chance and scored the goal

that changed the match."

Arena had already told his men at half-time: "If we can get an equaliser, plenty more goals will follow."

Gozalez remarked: "We knew we'd win, nobody panicked. I'm good in the air, it's one of my strengths. I know I'm back to where I was before the injury, but the best is yet to come."

"After my operation last winter I really had my doubts. I was seriously wondering what kind of level I would be able to play at again. I didn't know whether I'd get back to being the player that I was before my injury," added an obviously relieved Gonzalez, whom Arena believes will be a fixture at international level for years to come.”

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

SPORT EXTRA

59

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL...

Gervinho: Arsenal can win Champions League A RSENAL striker Gervinho insists Arsene Wenger’s men can cause a surprise and win the UEFA Champions League this season for the first time in their history.

The Ivorian has not been impressed with Barcelona and Real Madrid and believes the North London giants can replicate Chelsea’s success from last season and walk away with the trophy at Wembley in May. The Gunners have already

Ferguson: City needs Europe

S

IR Alex Ferguson has suggested Roberto Mancini may struggle to keep his top stars if they Manchester City are not playing in Europe.

Manchester United have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after comfortably finishing in top spot in their group with two games to spare.

Meanwhile, City know they must defeat Borussia Dortmund in Germany to have any chance of finishing in third place and making the Europa League.

And Ferguson claims Mancini will do well to keep all his players happy in the new year if they are not playing in European competition.

The United boss told The Sunday Mirror: "The Europa League has been a failure if you look at the way our league clubs have treated it.

But I don't think losing is ever healthy for a big club and City need to beat Dortmund.

"On the one hand you can play a fresh team every week for the rest of the season if you are not in the Europa League, but how do you keep all your players happy?

"They are out of the League Cup and the Champions League - and for a club of that size it means they've not got enough games to keep the momentum and the interest going.

"There's nothing better than big European nights. I think back to some of the quarter-finals and semifinals we've had in the European Cup and they were unbelievable games.

qualified for the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition, but they travel to Greece hoping to collect three points against Olympiakos which would see them finish top of Group B. And Gervinho told the People: “I don’t think Barcelona and Real Madrid have been at their best this season.

“Chelsea are not through yet and Manchester United have had to work hard to win their games too. There is no big favourite.

“You have to expect the unexpected this season once again.

You cannot underestimate anyone going into the last 16.

“One of the objectives of the club is to win the Champions League. We will do anything we can to do it.”

Marchisio: Juve can now turn attention to CL

C

L A U D I O MARCHISIO says Juventus can now turn their attention to the Champions League following the win over Torino on Saturday night.

The Bianconeri recorded a 3-0 victory with Marchisio getting two and Sebastian Giovinco the other.

“It’s important that we got back to winning ways after a bad performance against Milan. It’s good for our confidence to win so convincingly,” Marchisio

told the press.

“It’s a great sign that Giovinco and I both scored, as we grew up in the Juve youth academy.

“Now we have notched up important points that ensure we stay top of the table, we have to turn our attention to the Champions League.”

Juventus face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League next week and need one point to be guaranteed qualification to the next round.

Hart focused on Dortmund trip

M

ANCHESTER CITY goalkeeper Joe Hart wants to keep the focus on Tuesday’s Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund rather than looking ahead to next weekend’s Manchester derby.

City, already eliminated from the competition, travel to Germany looking to secure a consolation place in the Europa League.

They then host Manchester United next Sunday when top spot in the Premier League will be at stake.

Speaking after Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Everton, Hart said: “We move on to the derby now, and we’ve obviously got Dortmund on Tuesday.

“We’ve got a tough one in

Dortmund. We need to finish the Champions League group with a bit of pride.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good result there and we’ll get into the derby. We’ll deal with that when it comes.”

The draw against the Toffees extended City’s unbeaten home run in the Premier League to 37 games.

Hart added: “It’s a great record - one we need to keep going, but with more wins than draws.

“It was a tough game. It is always going to be tough against Everton. We’d like to win but we haven’t lost.

“They are a good team, they work for each other. They have got some good players and a good manager, and all that added together makes them a tough team to play against.”

Benitez warning for Shakhtar

R

• Fergie

• Gervinho

AFA BENITEZ has told Shakhtar Donetsk “the world are watching” as he allayed fears Chelsea would be victims of a Champions League stitch-up.

Wednesday night sees interim Blues boss Benitez return to the competition where he made his name in England for what could be one match only.

The game which proved the final straw for Roman Abramovich in the rein of Roberto Di Matteo - the 3-0 defeat at Juventus 11 days ago - left Chelsea on the brink of becoming the first holders to crash out of the Champions League before Christmas.

Even if they secure the victory expected against Nordsjaelland

in their final Group E match on Wednesday night, their campaign will be over if leaders Shakhtar do not beat Juve.

The Ukrainian champions have already qualified for the last 16 and need only a draw to hold on to top spot, a result that would also see Juve progress at Chelsea’s expense.

Benitez said: “We know that a draw would be bad for us but the positive thing is that Shakhtar has a lot of good players and everybody is talking about them, so they have to show the rest of the world that they are really good players.

“When you know the top sides in Europe or in the world are watching you then you have to perform.”

ADVERT

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

60

SPORT EXTRA Retired judge to lead UCI’s Armstrong probe

A

• Gebrselassie

Gebrselassie falters in Japan

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ENYAN Joseph Gitau produced an upset victory in the Fukuoka International Marathon after former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie pulled up after 32km of Sunday’s race.

The 24-year-old clocked a winning time of two hours, six minutes, 58 seconds with

Japan’s Hiroyuki Horibata runner-up in 2:08:24 and Henryk Szost of Poland third in 2:08:42.

“I never imagined I could win this race,” the Japanbased Gitau told reporters after his first marathon victory. “My past results haven’t been good.

“But I wanted to sharpen my

focus on the marathon and I’ve been running in Japan since high school so the environment suits me.”

Gebrselassie ran in February’s Tokyo Marathon in a bid to launch his bid for an Olympic swansong in London but flopped to a fourth-place finish and eventually failed to make the

Fury eyes Klitschko world title shot after Belfast points victory

T

YSON FURY moved a step closer to a shot at Vitali Klitschko with a patient victory over American Kevin Johnson in Belfast.

The 24-year-old won the WBC world heavyweight title eliminator by a unanimous points decision, stretching his unbeaten record to 20 fights.

The first five rounds were largely uninspiring, although Fury was rarely troubled by his durable 33-year-old opponent, whose 2009 defeat to Klitschko was one of only two defeats prior to this bout.

Fury looked more convincing in the sixth round but he had a point docked in the seventh and was not making a notable impact on a

slow-paced bout.

He made more of an impression with a combination in the eighth which saw the Wythenshaweborn fighter raise both arms aloft.

Although he was rarely troubled in tonight’s contest, Fury’s cautious approach was in stark contrast to several of his previous bouts.

cut.

The 39-year-old Ethiopian, twice Olympic and four-times world 10 000m gold medallist, had even less joy on his return to Japan.

Among the leading group of six runners, Gebrselassie pulled up at the side of the road with around 10km left.

Gebrselassie’s latest failure is set to further fuel speculation over the future of the man dubbed the “Emperor” after another year of disappointment.

McDowell on course to end year on high

G

RAEME McDowell remains on course for victory at the World Golf Challenge after a solid third round at Thousand Oaks.

The Northern Irishman soared to the top of the leaderboard yesterday with a six-under 66 and heads into the final day two clear at the top after following up with a 68.

It was a bogey-free round from the European Ryder Cup star and also included four birdies as he moved to 13 under for the tournament.

Keegan Bradley, in the news

recently for his vocal defence of the endangered bellyputting technique, sits second on 11 under after signing for a 67 - the joint best round of the day alongside Bubba Watson.

He made six birdies but dropped a shot at the par-four ninth.

Competition host Tiger Woods is tied for third with Bo Van Pelt five shots off the lead.

England’s Ian Poulter failed to crack 70 for the third time in a row and is way off the pace at even par.

Formula 1: Proud Alonso wants to do even better

W

HILE attending Ferrari Day in Valencia, Fernando Alonso said, “We were the only team that fought for the title to the bitter end and now we must do even better.” The Spaniard ended the championship in second place, only three points behind the winner. More than disappointed Alonso is proud of his results and wants to do even better.”

former high-level judge will lead an independent probe into the cycling world governing body’s handling of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.

The panel, to be headed by former England appeals court judge Sir Philip Otton, “will look into the issues and allegations contained in the USADA decision relating to the Armstrong affair,” the International Cyling Union (UCI) said on its website.

The commission’s eventual report and recommendations “are critical to restoring confidence in the sport of cycling” and in the governing body itself, UCI president Pat McQuaid said.

He insisted his organisation would “listen to and act on the c o m m i s s i o n ’ s recommendations”.

The International Council of Arbitration for Sport had appointed the members of the commission which also includes UK House of Lords peer and paralympic champion Tanni GreyThompson and Australian lawyer Malcolm Holmes, UCI said.

“The appointment of these three eminent figures demonstrates clearly that the UCI wants to get to the bottom of the Lance Armstrong affair and put cycling back on the right track,” said McQuaid.

A hearing is scheduled to be held in London from April 9 to 26 next year, and the commission will submit its report to the UCI by June 1, the statement said.

“Rather than simply attacking the UCI, our critics now have an opportunity to be part of the solution,” McQuaid said.

It remains to be seen though whether the inquiry’s recommendations will be enough to satisfy the federation’s many critics, who are furious about the UCI’s handling of the debacle, which culminated last month in Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

Talking to Sky the racing driver said, “I will remember this season as the most special one so far. I was always 100% with my driving, training and motivation. and that is something I had not previously managed to do. I had a number of unforgettable races, such as here in Valencia. I am proud of the team’s work; there are aways improvements to be made, but I am proud of the team’s attitude.”

Federer’s South American Exhibition Schedule

R

OGER FEDERER will be back on the court upcoming week for a special exhibition series in South America. Federer, who hasn’t played on the continent since joining the pro ranks, will begin a six-event stretch through three countries starting Thursday, December 6 in Brazil.

Federer reportedly will receive $2 million dollars per event! And Federer is already making plans (he’ll need some extra baggage to carry all that money!).

“Starting to pack for the Gillette Federer tour through South America and I was excited to receive these new Nike RF hats in the colors of Brazil, Argentina and Colombia….very cool!”

Federer posted on Facebook accompanied by a picture of three of his signature “RF” hats.

Last month, Federer spoke in depth about his December trip.

“It’s true, if you haven’t been to a place, you just don’t know as much as you should,” Federer said of the three countries.

• Armstrong

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

61

SPORT EXTRA NTTF bans Bello for three years

NSF: SoldiersbeatupDambeathlete T L AGOS State Traditional Boxing (Dambe) athlete, Usman Amao yesterday received the beating of his life in the hands of men on the Nigerian army after he allegedly protested against the decision of the officials after awarding the fight to his opponent from Yobe.

Speaking with NationSport after the incident, a visibly brutalized Amao said he does not know what he did to warrant such treatment from those that are supposed to be protecting the citizens.

“What happened was that in the first round I had more points than my opponent, the second round, he had three points and I had three points. So the officials didn’t tell us what was the result of the last round, they just declared him winner. I therefore protested to the officials, I didn’t even talk to the Military men, two of them just clamped down on me, started hitting me with guns, the other started kicking my head with his boot, why? I don’t know what I did to deserve such a treatment, are they not supposed to be protecting the citizens? he queried.

However, contrary to Amao’s claim, an official, John Gana who is the coordinator of Dambe sport at the venue, said the men in uniform saved them from being attacked by the athlete, though he could not confirm if he was beaten or not.

“I wouldn’t know if he was beaten or not, because I was concentrating on other matters.

I know there was a time Lagos people came to protest against Yobe State. After the winner was declared the boy from Lagos felt aggrieved and started approaching us, using abusive language while the Military men were just seated behind us here. When he was still coming right at us, the men in uniform just approached him and took him away so that he might not

By Innocent Amomoh and Akeem Lawal

influence others.

“Only God knows what would have happened if he was left alone. He could have vandalized this place but thank God for the intervention of the Soldiers. But whether they punched him or not, that I cannot say,” he noted.

Also an eye witness, who did not want his name in print said Amao displayed low level of

sportsmanship by accusing the match officials of being biased.

He said the officials did their best to calm him down but he refused.

“Discipline is very important; I know why they (the protesters) were talking just because he (athlete) is from Lagos. If he is from my state, I will query the boy. The match officials tried to control him but he refused to listen to them.

You know how military are,

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held on Saturday December 1, on the fraudulent action by Fatimo Bello who took up an appointment with Delta State Sports Council from April 2010 to date and collected salary up till September 2012. After thorough investigation, the federation unanimously agreed that Bello of Lagos State has been suspended from all table tennis event for three years with effect from December 1, 2012.”

Also, former national coach, Lateef Sunmola supported NTTF’s decision, saying, this would help to curb the excesses of some players in the country.

With this development, Team Lagos has been disqualified from the female team of the competition.

NFF endorses new date, venue for Nigeria Pitch Awards

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•Handball event between Borno and Lagos state

Photo: JOHN EBHOTA

Lagos continues unbeaten run in Men’s basketball

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O put their dream of claiming the title on track, Team Lagos yesterday affirmed its supremacy in the men’s basketball event at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012, after the Coach Mark Baloguntutored side defeated their Kwara counterpart at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports

Complex, Rowe Park.

The team remains unbeaten after beating Kwara 76-47 in its fifth game of the competition.

Prior to yesterday’s match, the team had defeated Enugu 63-43, Plateau 53-41, Ekiti 83-33 and Imo 58-37.

An elated Coach Balogun said his lads are in top form to actualize their dream of

Swimming event starts today, as tourney Director warns athletes, officials

HE swimming event of the ongoing National Sports Festival (NSF), Eko 2012, starts today at the Swimming pool section of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Billed to last for six days, starting from today to Saturday, 40 events will be competed for in the different categories.

NationSports gathered that proceedings are expected to start 10 am to 12 noon for the morning session, while the afternoon session will start from 4pm to 6pm.

Meanwhlile, Tournament Director of the Nigeria Swimming Federation (NSF) Navy Captain Olugbenga Lawal (RTD), has cautioned officials and athletes of the various participating states to adhere strictly to the festival rules and avoid delays.

“One of the areas we should be expecting challenges is in the area of registration. Unlike the international tournaments, where you are expected to have registered your athletes before the competition, here we’ll still find states coming to register their athletes on the day of competition. And because we want to encourage more athletes to participate, we give room for such anomaly.

“We expect the various states to cooperate with the managers of the tournament, especially in keeping to the festival’s

ones they say you should stop and you refuse to, they can calm you down by force, that was what happen. Let me tell you, the combination of the officials are not the Hausa people only, there are Yorubas there that are very good in officiating.

“The military just cornered him though I can’t say whether he was beaten down seriously or not, but I know they cornered him while I was coming out”.

HE Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has banned Fatimo Bello of Team Lagos for three years to serve as deterrent TO others.

According to the secretary general of NTTF, Segun Oguntade, Bello was initially engaged by the Delta State Sports Commission without the knowledge of the federation, while she was formally registered by Lagos State with the federation.

The statement signed by the NTTF President, Kayode Abdulwahab-Omotose and Oguntade, Bello has been suspended from all table tennis events for three years with effect from Saturday.

The statement states: “At an emergency meeting of NTTF

By Innocent Amomoh eligibility rules.

The swimmers should also be encouraged and instructed to adhere to the rules so that proceedings will go smoothly,” he said.

Lawal, however, said the major challenge is that the swimmers may have no extra Swimming Down pool to relax their muscles after each round of fighting, but assured that this will not be a situation he and other officials can’t get around.

“We will need to manage this one swimming pool for both

Eko 2012 Medal table continued from page 23 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Kogi 1 0 2 3 N/wa 1 0 1 2 Ondo 0 1 5 6 Imo 0 1 4 5 Enugu 0 1 2 3 Borno 0 1 1 2 Anambra 0 1 0 1 Osun 0 1 0 1 Kwara 0 0 2 2 Yobe 0 0 2 2 Ekiti 0 0 1 1 Abia 0 0 0 0 Adamawa 0 0 0 0 Gombe 0 0 0 0 Jigawa 0 0 0 0 Katsina 0 0 0 0 Kebbi 0 0 0 0 Sokoto 0 0 0 0 Taraba 0 0 0 0 Zamfara 0 0 0 0 TOTAL 75 75 115 265

the tournament proper and for the purpose of an extra swimming down pool. Though this might cause some delays, but we are finding a way round it,” he emphasized.

clinching the gold medal. “"We are getting stronger day by day, although the Kwara team is no pushover. But my boys in on form and we remain committed to our objective of claiming the gold medal and we shall surely make Lagosians proud at the end," he said.

In other match played yesterday in the men’s event, Bayelsa defeated Zamfara 5347.

Also yesterday, Team Abuja recorded its fourth victory after beating Niger 82-52 in the women’s event.

Coach Pastor Emmanual Odah of Team Abuja said he was optimistic that they were capable of winning the gold medal.

HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Matchmakers Consult International Limited announced at the weekend that the inaugural edition of the much-anticipated Nigeria Pitch Awards will now come up on Sunday, 24th March, 2013.

Originally billed to hold on December 15, 2012, the Nigeria Pitch Awards is the first football awards on a national scale to be blessed with active collaboration of the country’s football governing body, the NFF. Already fully endorsed by eminent personalities such as the Honourable Minister/ Chairman, National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke (CON) and Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, the Nigeria Pitch Awards is billed to be Nigeria’s first red carpet event in sports and will honour all actors/ actresses on the football pitch, as well as sponsors, footballfriendly State Governments and other stakeholders.

Shina Philips, chief executive officer of Matchmakers Consult International Limited, said: “Our local and international sponsors and partners, who have affirmed their commitment and support for the Awards, are of the opinion that they would need more time to

build football fans’ support and followership for the Awards.

“The earlier date of 15 December 2012 also became impracticable because of the FIFA Club World Cup holding in Japan within this period and the Glo-CAF African Football Awards taking place in Accra, Ghana on 20th December, 2012.

The new date will also, invariably, offer the added opportunity of having most Super Eagles players in attendance at the Awards Ceremony since Nigeria will be hosting the Harambee Stars of Kenya in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match that weekend.”

NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu, said the new date also affords the organisers time to plan the several pre-Awards events and the Awards Ceremony proper.

“There is a Night of Stars that will celebrate our football superstars and entertainment celebrities on 24th February, 2013, and then an international seminar to draw awareness to human trafficking in football, on 22nd March, 2013.

“The Night of Stars will take place at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos with the Seminar to hold at the Conference Hall, TINAPA Hotels in Calabar.

The Nigeria Pitch Awards ceremony will take place at the Calabar Cultural Centre,” Amadu stated.

Ogun wants improved Emeka Ike kicks off desert football tournament electricity supply

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GUN contingent to the 18th National Sports Festival TEAM OGUN has called for an improvement in electricity supply to their Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka camp venue In a Statement signed by the Press officer of the state Ministry of Youth and Sports Mr Rotimi Oduniyi the electricity supply to the teams camp venue at night is not only appalling but demoralises the competing athletes and the entire contingent who have to sleep without electricity According to him " there was total blackout in the Camp last week Thursday for 24 hours aside from incessant power cuts daily He, therefore, called on the organisers of the festival to improve on electricity supply to the camp venue so that its athletes can perform at their utmost best as only the best is good for Ogun state

By Akeem Lawal Meanwhile Ogun state has continued to improve on its performance at the festival In Traditional Sports Ayo Sadia Sokunbi won the women singles Gold beaten Rivers state counterpart while Ogun State Bukunmi Afolayan won the Gold in Women Singles of Scrabble As of the last count Ogun state has won 3 Gold 7 Sliver and 7 bronze medals.

•Local wrestling action Photo: JOHN EHBOTA

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HE desert football tournament involving 16 teams, organised by the Unity Football Association (UFA), has kicked off at the weekend.

Sponsored by Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike and the school he founded, St Nicholas College, the games will last for two weeks.

The winning team will go home with N500, 000; first runnerup will get N100, 000, while the second runnerup will get N75, 000.

Ike said Tottenham and Togo striker, Emmanuel Adebayor has promised to assist some stars to be identified at the tournament.

He added that some major clubs in Europe are also sending scouts to the games.

The participating teams are Sparrow FC, Ogudu; Omega FC, Ojota; Boston FC, Ogudu; Kosofe United, Kosofe; Golden Stars, Ogudu; Mowe Bombers, Mowe; Hob FC, Obanikoro; Intelligent Stars, Alapere; CCC FC, Ogudu and Gazar FC, Ikorodu.

Others are Erotic FC, Ogudu;

By Stella Bamawo

All Stars FC, Ibafo; Ultimate FC, Ogudu; Lakeside FC, Ifako; All Stars, Oworonsoki and Mowe United, Mowe.

Speaking during the flagging off at Booben's Club, Ogudu, the Nollywood star said he decided to support the tournament to help young football stars discover their talents, and thereby reduce crime.

"The only way I can affect young people is by coming close to them this way. This is to see how we can support young people and see how we can augment the little talents they have to see how they can achieve greater heights.

"When I go out everyday, I see young people with great talents in football, and they only need someone to help them acheive maximum greatness. That is the whole idea.

"Basically, the motive is to see how I can positively touch the lives of young people and help them facilitate their journey to success," Ike said.

THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

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SPORT EXTRA

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HE Group Sports Editor of the Nation newspaper, Adetokunbo Ojeikere yesterday beat Kunle Solaja of Soccer Star and Dare Esan of Complete Sports to clinch the Best Sports Editor of The Year award, (sports based) newspaper.

The award organised by Hally Sports International, is a Sports Business and Media award held at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja and instituted to recognise outstanding sports Journalists across the country.

Ondo set for medal rush Nation’s Ojeikere wins A Best Editor of the Year •Beats Complete Sports, Soccer Star Expressing appreciation after the award, an elated Ojeikere thanked the organisers of the event for a job well done as he

dedicated the award to the management of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of the Nations Newspaper and NationSport.

•Retired Capt. Olatunde (L) presenting the Sports Editor of the Year (Sport cadre) to The Nation newspaper’s editor Adetokunbo Ojeikere (M) while the CEO Hallysports International Godwin Spiff Sagbama (R) looks on Saturday night at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

Photo: BOLA OMILABU

AFN’s Technical Director promoted Navy Commodore

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HE Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Omatseye Nesiama was last week promoted to the rank of Navy Commodore.

Nesiama who is a board member of the AFN and the

chairman of the Security and Discipline Committee of the Federation, is also the current chairman of Nigerian Navy Athletics Association.

His military career shows Nesiama attended the Young Officer’s Intelligence Course

Athletes, officials, spectators besiege HIV centres for tests, Condoms •An average of 400- 500 packs of condom per tent •Officials say Nigerians are more aware

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THLETES, Officials, and spectators at ongoing National Sport Festival (NSF), are taking advantage of the free HIV test at the various stipulated centres in the Teslim Balogun Stadium venue and the National Stadium, as packs of condom are being exhausted on daily bases.

The centre numbering five in the venue has played host to numerous people since the festival started as the awareness continues to spread.

NationSport learnt that an average of 400 to 500 packs of condom is being distributed to athletes, officials and spectators alike per tent.

According to Dr. Justina Enweremadu, there have been more cases of negative out comes than positive, results that it is an indication that more Nigerians are getting aware of preventive measures in contacting the deadly HIV virus.

“Initially a lot of them didn’t want to come forward either for the test or collection of condoms. But I want believe that the few ones that are bold enough did and spread the message to others. Now we have an influx of people besieging us for these materials.

“What we do is to first and

By Innocent Amomoh

foremost counsel them before the test. Not a lot o9f people know how to use the condom as well and so we have to teach them. We can not really ascertain the total number of positive cases, except we complete the collation after the exercise, but I am impressed with the turn-out so far,” she said.

in 1993 and the Officers Long (Specialization) Course in 1998. He is an Above Water Warfare (AWW) specialist and graduated with major awards at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji-Kaduna State and the National Defence University, Beijing- China.

He was the deputy director of Intelligence Training at the Nigerian Navy Headquarters, Abuja before leaving for the National Defence University, China where he recently graduated.

The technical director who graduated with distinction in Sports Management at the National Institute for Sports, Lagos in 2001 also holds a post graduate diploma from the Certified Institute of Shipping, Lagos as well as a Master Degree in Transport Management from Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

“I am happy and I want to appreciate the organisers for putting a wonderful show. I also want to appreciate the management of Vintage Press Limited for their encouragement and support. Next year we will be back,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s reporter, Olalekan Okusan was at the weekend named the Sports Writer of the Year (regular newspaper), at the first Sports Business Media Awards (SBMA).

Okusan beat other nominees; Innocent Amomoh (The Nation) and Wale Ajimotokan (ThisDay) to the coveted prize.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Hally Sports International, Godwin SpiffSagbama, the essence of the award was to celebrate sports writers for their efforts at making stars out of athletes.

“There is need to celebrate those that make stars of unknown athletes because without them some of the sports stars will never be known nationally and internationally. This is a way to honour them and we hope to make this an annual event. But the nominees for this maiden edition has been carefully selected based on their contribution to the sector,” he said.

The event held at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos saw Punch newspaper scooping the awards as the Sports Newspaper of the Year (regular newspaper), while its sports editor, Pius Ayinor also won the Sports Editor of the year award.

For the Sports Writer of the Year (sports-based), Romanus Ugwu of Soccer Star scooped the award, while, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos was named as the Sports Loving Governor of the year.

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By Tunde Liadi In the final matches of the first round decided in the male category, Rivers continued their impressive run in the handball event with another routine 36-18 win over hapless Abia.

Lagos also underscored their credentials as a team to be reckoned with after smashing Borno 37-18.

One of the technical officials Shina Sanya described the handball event as hitch free and entertaining thus far.

He gave kudos to all the participating states who he said have played by the rules, while urging that same should be sustained throughout the remaining matches of the event.

"I am pleased to tell you that we have been having interesting games in the handball event of the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival.

All the states have been co operating and have all taken to

By Akeem Lawal determination of the Ondo State athletes to do the state proud and confidence reposed on them by the governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko with his motivational packages.

He said more medals are expected from athletics where the state chunk off 8 gold medals in last edition in Port Harcourt, stressing that the state will also lay claim to gold medals in swimming where her strong hold in sports lies.

In a related development, the General Manager, Ondo State Sports Council, Joyce Idowu Akinbolumo corroborated the claims of her chairman by saying the Ondo state medals always come at the middle of the festival event using Garden City Games as a case study.

Boxing preliminaries end today •Quarter final bouts start on Tuesday

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HE preliminaries of the boxing event of the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival will end today an official has said.

The remaining 20 bouts will be decided at the gymnasium of the Brai Ayonote Sports Complex, National Stadium, Surulere today, while quarter final games will come up on Tuesday.

An official of the boxing event who also doubles as the Technical Director,Lagos Boxing Association, Sangotokun Joseph told NationSport that all the 20 bouts would be decided today to open the floor for the crucial stages of the event which starts on Tuesday.

"We are going to conclude all the bouts in the p r e l i m i n a r i e s tomorrow(today) to usher in the quarter final bouts slated for Tuesday," Sangotokun told NationSport.

By Tunde Liadi

In some of the bouts staged on Sunday, Lagos continued its impressive run in the event with two boxers progressing to the quarter final in the 64kg and 69kg through Fijabi Olaide and Abu Christian who pummelled their opponents from Ekiti (Yusuf Mufutau) and Akwa Ibom's Akpan Ifiok respectively.

Oyo also had two boxers which moved to the last 8 in Asien Francis and Ganiyu Kabiru.

The head coach of the Oyo boxing team, Gowon Odaderia told SportingLife that he was happy with the outstanding form of his boxers but said he would keep his predictions regarding the number of medals to be won by the state in the event to his chest until when they get to further crucial stages.

AFN appoints Onyali, Falilat, others scouts for athletes

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HE Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has approved the appointment of five eminent former athletes to scout for talents and produce those that will the country's youth team.

The President of the AFN Solomon Ogba in a chat with NationSport at the National Stadium, Surulere noted that the 5 people: Tony Osheku, Falilat Ogunkoya, Mary

Handball quarter final matches hold Tuesday HE quarter final matches of the male and female handball event of the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012 Games will take place on Tuesday at the Sport Centre, University of Lagos(UNILAG).

In the female category Plateau will slug it out with Imo; Lagos entertains Edo in an enthralling pairing between the hosts and the defending champions; Kaduna try Rivers for size, while Oyo and Ondo contest the last quarter final fixture.

In the male event, Kano and Ondo will do battle, while Sokoto and Rivers have another duel between them.

In the concluding matches played in the female category on Sunday, Plateau held Edo to an 11-11 scoreline to avoid a clash with Lagos, while Lagos thrashed Kogi 35-18 to secure Imo's place in the last 8. Ondo also pipped Borno 17-14 to book a passage to the quarter final at the expense of the northerners.

S the 18th edition of the National Sports Festival enters the final week, Ondo State Sports Council Chairman ,Hon Bamido Omogbehin has told his contemporaries from other states to brace up for the challenge ahead in the quest for medal rush at the festival.

The chairman who raised his voice as the trio of Yemisi Olatunji, Kehinde Adebayo and Damilola Oluwafemi picked the first gold medal for the state in Squash female team final at the Teslim Balogun Stadium said this is the beginning of Ondo State medal rush.

The chairman who said the egg heads of the council had expected the gold rush to come earlier than now more especially in the Judo event as he reiterated the

the rules and we have not had any serious incidence that could warrant any problem.

We appeal that the remaining matches should reflect same way," Sanya told NationSport.

By Tunde Liadi Onyali Omagbemi, Sunday Uti and Moses Ugbesa are all achievers in their own ranks and he expressed optimism that the quartet would be able to spot athletes that would later turn world beaters.

He said the AFN has given them the mandate to revive the fortunes of the youth team of athletics in the country towards ensuring that athletes that are produced at major events are not allowed to rot away owing to lack of adequate attention.

"We have appointed 5 Nigerians who are made up of mostly olympians to turn the

•Sharon Itala (Jigawa state) on 2nd attempt in the women’s 63kg category clean and Jack weight lifting event at the on going 18th National Festival Surulere Photo: JOHN EBHOTA

fortunes of athletics around at the youth level.

"They have been charged with the responsibility of raising a good youth team for the country as we countdown to another Olympic Games in 2016 among other competitions," Chief Ogba said. The athletics event of the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival will start on Tuesday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Benue State Sports Director assures indigenes of medals from Uja Emmanuel, in Lagos.

The Benue State Director of Sport Mr. David Orngu has assured Benue people despite athletes at the 18th National Sports Festival holding in Lagos will not disappoint on Medal table. So far Benue has one Gold medal and 4 bronze, are currently standing 14th position on the medal table, Benue has a Gold medal prospect kick boxing, Ayo and athletics,weight lifting, chess and Boxing. Mr.David Orgnu stated that Benue athletes are in high spirit and determined to do the state and people of benue state proud by improving upon their Port Harcourt record which they came 8th position.

He described EKO 2012 organisation as perfect just as he commended the officials and athletes for the orderly manner which they conducted themselves in the various camps. Surulere, Lagos.

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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEWS

North’s leaders behind Plateau crises, says Jang

CDS to officers: sit up or get out Continued from page 4

• ‘Governor oppose state police because of Plateau’

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HE lingering crises in Plateau State which has led to killings, is not ethnic but sponsored, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang said yesterday.

Jang alleged that some north’s leaders and some security operatives are fuelling the crises.

He also accused north’s governors of opposing state police because of Plateau state.

The Plateau governor spoke in Abuja at a church programme tagged ‘Plateau Prays’ organised by the Plateau State Indigenes Development Association (PSIDA) in Abuja.

He expressed regret that he called meetings to find a lasting solution to the lingering crises to no avail.

The governor who was represented by his Special Adviser on Religious Affairs, Rev. Choji Gyang said: “We keep asking ourselves why Plateau State is in crises. Why they are against Plateau is because we call ourselves Plateau the Christian state. And Islam is a very strong religion in the northern part of the country. So for Plateau to come out to say it is a Christian state it is against the wishes of those who don’t want any other religion outside Islam in northern Nigeria.

“Plateau is different from other northern states. That is why the enemies are causing

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

crises. We need to go back to God our creator. The crises in Jos have taken a new dimension. The crises can best be described as a Gorilla war in the military terms. A strategy of hit and run, a strategy of getting them from the side, then the centre cannot hold.

“We say we are Christians and the recent killing is a clear indication that it is not just an ethnic crisis. It is more sophisticated than that from investigations.

“As I am talking to you now, it is obvious that some security people are involved in the attacks on the Plateau.

In the last attack, one of the security men was caught in the act and he was shot and was rushed to the Plateau hospital and investigations are going on. Before that incident, one other person was caught and he said there are people somewhere in the far north who are sponsoring the Plateau crises.

“Recently when the National Assembly called for constitution amendment, the issues of the state police came up.

A governor said he spoke with one of the governors from the far north as to the reason why they were not supporting the state police.

And the governor told his Southern colleaugues pointblank that they were not supporting the state police because of Plateau State . This statement calls for so many interpretations as to why they do not want to support state police.

“The governor (Jang) said recently one of the governors told him that one of the problems that he is having with those on the top is because he is the one helping out in the issues that concern Plateau.

That he shouldn’t be the one talking. Jang said I do not have a voice on the Plateau so if I do not speak who will?

We do not have a voice on the Plateau. I have gathered the who- is- who in the state to discus on the way forward

•Jang

but all to no avail. The governor is delighted to be part of this programme today. We need prayers to solve Plateau crisis.”

President of PSIDA, Mr. Bako Nabasu expressed disappointment that the economy of the state has been badly weakened by the crises.

Nabasu expressed frustration at the attitude of the elite in Plateau, adding: “The divisive tendency employed by the political class at the detriment of the state is worrisome and must stop if we must succeed as a people. We must all put hands on deck and together as a people come to God in prayers. We must not make the mistake of coming to the Almighty as a divided people.”

Nigeria’s safe, says Presidency as gunmen attack churches, police, others Continued from page 4

burned were offices for immigration, customs and the secret police and a quarantine building in the town.

“The gunmen believed to be Boko Haram were around 50 in

number and came in cars and on motorcyles around 8:30 am and attacked the security offices at the border posts, burning them,” resident Modugana Ibrahim told AFP. “They opened fire on the security personnel but it is hard

to say if anybody was hurt or killed,” Ibrahim said.

Another resident, Hamidu Ahmad, said the gunmen went into town “chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and burnt down the divisional police station and three churches”.

removed on Saturday.

“There were twin bombs.

The terrorists used primary bomb as a decoy to draw out the worshippers to enable them detonate the secondary bomb with more impact.

It was exactly the same method adopted during the October 1 bomb blast in Abuja.

“In a military formation, there ought to be a counterresponse that could uncover the masterminds.

“The probe is still ongoing and more officers and men might be sacked. Some of these senior officers and men have been placed on special surveillance.”

Another source spoke of an intelligence report, which seems to be pointing at “an insider’s knowledge” and “some level of sympathy for those behind the bombings” by some officers and men.

“We are certainly investigating all bends, we will not limit ourselves to any factor,” said the source.

Responding to a question, the source added: “The two officers might be retired by their various services or advised to proceed on voluntary retirement.

“If the CDS said that he could not work with these officers, do you expect any service chief to pat them on the back and give them command postings again?

“They might not be directly involved in the incident but as commanders, they have to pay the price. Mili-

064

tary command is about leaderhip and being in total control.

“The Jaji incident almost killed the Deputy Commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College.”

There were indications last night that about 20 police officers and men are still undergoing interrogation over the invasion of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Office in Abuja last Monday.

Those being grilled are mostly those on duty.

It was also gathered that some suspects of the SARS invasion were arrested in Kobi village in one of the valleys within the landscape surrounding the office.

Some of the re-arrested 25 detainees in SARS custody were also picked up in the village.

The arrest informed the mass raiding of hills and valleys in Guzape and Apo districts in the last seven days.

Another source added: “So far, investigation is zeroed in on those armed who were also on duty last Monday. With about three to four armoured tanks, these gunmen were still able to attack SARS office.

“Members of the Special Investigation Panel have visited SARS office and about 20 officers and men are being interrogated at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID).

“A few officers and men initially arrested but who were not involved have been set free.”

03-12-12

TODAY IN THE NATION

‘Obasanjo who became the president in 1999 took serious steps to ensure that this culture of imposition of sundry characters as Igbo leaders continued.’

MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL 7 NO 2,328

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

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OU might have thought him a teenager, seeing him for the first time that night.

Except for his sometimes seamed face, his white-flecked goatee and a pair of eyes deep in the cares and plays of this life. Otherwise, the febrile energy of his hands, eyes, feet and even the easy mobility of his face can pass him off as a partisan of that species still enraptured by the sweet oat of life: the teenager.

But Rauf Aregbesola is no teenager. The Ogbeni only carries the strength of one. The night was last Friday when he engaged his fellow citizens in a programme called Ogbeni Till Daybreak. It was an interactive affair in which questions came from all walks of life: journalists, civil servants, farmers, the jobless, the elite. And the questions streamed forth from different agencies: direct from the variegated audience, through phone calls, Twitter, Facebook, emails, etc.

The questions, propounded sometimes with probing defiance, sometimes with flattering fatuities and sometimes with superficial candour, reflected the range of the anxieties, hopes and befuddlements of the citizens. There were questions about roads not completed, jobs not offered, actions perceived to carry partisan mischief, etc. But at bottom was the sense, even from the most adversarial questioner, that the man fielding the questions was on a high pitch of performance.

Those who asked about roads not completed acknowledged the many roads at work, in virtually all communities in the state. Those who asked about jobs not offered wanted to be part of the new élan of opportunities, especially with the engagement of the youth employment scheme that puts 20,000 young men and women out of the giddy despair of indolence.

He answered with the gusto of a natural politician and the knowledge of a technocrat. He reeled out songs and wiggled with dance moves that infected the crowd, made up of party faithful, journalists, and wide range of citizens. It was a night that was simultaneously sombre and festive. At times so sombre as to be warlike, just like when he answered questions about his predecessors reign of terror and paralysis for seven and half years. He also celebrated when he compared the statistics of performance between them, dwarfing already in two years all that the Oyinlola offered in three quarters of a decade.

He spoke with confidence, and you could not escape the infection. I attended having also gone around the state to see what his story has been about. I came off with a distinct impression of a man in constant wrestle with his dream. He is a man of great enthusiasm, and if it were possible to turn the dream into reality with a span of 24 hours, Ogbeni is a man who would want to accomplish that feat.

That is why he has put in place a system of multipliers. Look at three distinct areas: infrastructure, agriculture and education. For instance, the pupils in class one to four feed every day all across the state. Caterers are employed to cook, and the farmers have to provide the farm produce for the caterer. The multiplier effect is inevitable. The farmer gets a market, the caterer gets employed and the student gets

RIPPLES CHURCHES SHOULD PAY TAX - Activist

for operating like PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

To set this in motion he followed the Lagos example: financial engineering. He met a mess and the state had to borrow one billion Naira every month just to pay civil servants salaries.

He turned this financial desperation into advantage. Now Osun is not broke. By saving money over a period, he turned the fat purse to leverage development. That is the genius of financial stimulation. Having achieved that, he became Keynesian, throwing huge sums of money into developments in various parts of the state, giving jobs, stimulating demand and setting to work an energy that has not been matched in the state. So good was it that he even paid civil servants bonus at the end of the year.

In my drive around, I saw some of the projects.

One of them is the road that moves from Gbogan up to Ijebu-Igbo, and the idea is to provide an alternative to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway for those travelling to Osun, Ondo, and even to the Niger Delta and the Southeast. This is the power of thinking. I visited the road that some of the government officials call Hongye, which is the name of the Chinese firm working the 44 kilometre road. I drove about half of the road, which was originally intended as a farm road. It used to be a serpentine monster of a dirt road, dipping, rising, twisting like a reptilian booby trap, narrow with menace and lurking with death, dust-laden, besieged with bushes and imposing shortsightedness to a journey of many miles.

That is what is being salvaged as alternative to a road – Lagos-Ibadan Expressway – that the Federal Government has somersaulted for years without putting it on an even keel of work. As I

travelled the road, which has been expanded with shoulders and furniture for about 18 kilometres so far, I saw the work of a dreamer. I spoke to Hongye officials on site and they said they will be done by April next year. The contours and dips have been corrected, with earth work, stone work, etc, and it is wearing, in expanse, feel and ambience the atmosphere of an expressway. It is a great work. Another impressive activity is the road leading from the state to Kwara. In a mark of fortitude, setbacks have been drawn and many structures are coming down, showing a sense of an expressway of the future. One of the questions on Friday night.

Compensation for the affected? Ogbeni: all those with documents shall be paid back.

Some of his critics often peddle stories about his lack of restraint. When the people have suffered so poor and deprived for so long, how can a person of enthusiasm not show zeal when opportune to do it? His critics have a staid way of looking at development. To quote Epicurus, “do not spoil what you already have by desiring what you have not, remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

That is a recipe for paralysis. That is the spirit of the conservative of the worst tradition. He just had a dream to change a state, he is going about it, and a few people are shaken out of their torpid lack of ideas. The shock crystalises into fearful, aggressive tirades of criticism.

That is the way of the visionary. “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of us,” noted the inimitable Oscar Wilde.

They forget as playwright Goethe writes that “what is not started today is not finished tomorrow.” Civilisation as we know it today with cars, television, internet, cell phones did not come without what is called disruptive thinking. It is the sort that multiplies, and it is the multiplier effect that changed man from the hewer of wood and drawer of water to the prosperity of the highway and aircraft and brain surgeon. In his novella, Man from the Underground, Dostoyevsky caviled at a civilisation where one plus one equals one, and he says it is the beginning of death.

That is not the civilisation that transformed the world. It is the multiplier one, the sort Ogbeni is pursuing with boyish zeal. He reminds me of the words of the Canadian musician who travelled West Africa by bicycle and wrote a book, Masked Rider. He noted, “A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission.”

So, I tell Ogbeni’s critics, quench not the spirit.

HARDBALL

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchsam@yahoo.com 08054501081(sms only) •Winner, Informed Commentary 2009& 2010 (D.A.M.E)

Quench not the spirit

•Aregbesola

nutrition. Prosperity builds on prosperity. The instant benefits as testified to by the job of the caterer and the farmer. The future enjoys, witness the student who gets nourishment. The other instant benefit is the rush of parents to enroll their kids. Again, the major farms in the state have roads constructed, giving jobs to construction, encouragement to transportation. This is a seamless connection in governance.

A tailor walked up to thank the Ogbeni for keeping his fellow tradesmen engaged. The same multiplier takes place with school uniforms, OYES cadets, etc. The local tailor works and feeds the seller of the threads, etc. It is a gain chain.

His main love is food security as a driver of prosperity. The farms are offered free, for all who are serious from the small farmer to the large-scale entrepreneur.

T

HE assumption of sweeping powers by President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt on November 22 has triggered widespread protests that are sharpening divisions in this North African country of ancient fame and modern underachievement. On the one hand is the Freedom and Justice Party, which consists of the Muslim Brotherhood, and on the other hand are liberals, leftists and Coptic Christians who form a rainbow coalition of opposition groups. The controversial powers assumed by Morsi preclude the Supreme Constitutional Court from challenging his decisions.

In effect after gaining presidential powers, and with the parliament still dissolved and legislative powers inhering in the presidency, Morsi has now with the new decree also assumed judicial powers. This has prompted many respected opposition politicians, including Mohammed ElBaradei, former United Nations nuclear watchdog chief, and ex-Arab League chief Amr Mussa, to suggest that Morsi had become Egypt’s new pharaoh. Morsi on the other hand claimed he needed the wide powers to safeguard the revolution, retry Mubarak loyalists accused of murder, and guarantee that the transition to democracy would be on course and the new draft constitution concluded and subjected to a referendum.

Recall that in February 2011, the military command had enacted an edict dissolving the constitution and parliament. But after Morsi assumed office in 2012, he immediately and summarily revoked the dissolution and or-

EMEKA OMEIHE

Brinkmanship in Egypt dered the parliament back to session. The order, however, led to a politico-judicial crisis requiring the intervention of the Constitutional Court, most of which members were appointed during the Hosni Mubarak era. The Court ruled that Morsi acted outside the confines of his powers. With this background in mind, Morsi’s supporters have argued that the Court was again poised to bring the sledgehammer down on the Constituent Assembly that was drafting the new constitution. This was because leftists, secularists and Christians had boycotted sittings due to what they observed was a draft constitution that looked even more Islamic than the suspended 1971 constitution.

In at least 13 of the provisions in the new draft constitution, there is little doubt that if passed in a referendum, Egypt would become more Islamic than it had been under the 1971 constitution. Does this amount to a betrayal of the January 25, 2011 revolution? Liberals, leftists and Christians think so. The Muslim Brotherhood says no. Will the divisions heal soon?

That will depend on many factors. Already, the judiciary, which is beginning to bear the brunt of the illiberal tendencies of the Muslim Brotherhood, is on strike to protest the ouster of court powers. What is certain is that the manner Morsi has gone about “protecting the revo-

lution” has rankled with many groups in Egypt and raised suspicion about the ultimate goals of the Muslim Brotherhood. Work on the draft constitution was supposed to be concluded in January. But because of widening divisions in the Constituent Assembly and the boycott by many groups, the work was cut short and hastily and perhaps shoddily concluded last Thursday.

If Morsi hopes to ensure a smooth transition for Egypt and obviate the protests and counter-protests rocking Egypt, he will have to begin to act like a statesman rather than leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He must recognise and respect Egypt’s sectarian pastiche and focus on the goals of delivering prosperity to a people currently dependent on sizable foreign aid, and enthroning a stable and progressive country, albeit with a dose of Islamic flavour. He cannot afford to forget that he narrowly won the June presidential poll with 51.73 percent after a run-off, and that those opposed to his party’s non-secular platform are nearly as many as those in favour. He cannot also afford the brusqueness his government now seems noted for, or the brinkmanship the Muslim Brotherhood is foisting on so tentative and vulnerable a polity. It would be a shame if the Arab Spring were to flounder in, of all places, Egypt, due to his excesses and especially the promulgation of judicial and constitutional measures that are apparently needless and avoidable.

Tomorrow: Silent tremors in Turkey.

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