The Nation Feb 23, 2014 by The Nation

Newspaper of the Year

Centenary: Jonathan to honour Queen, Lugard, 98 others

Gunmen kill S/West 29 in fresh NBA crisis Plateau attack deepens

–Page 5

–Page 4

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.08, No. 2768

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

BOKOHARAM:MILITARYSHUTNIGERIA,CAMEROONBORDER

N200.00

CHIKA IKE

–Page 5

Presidency plots trial of Sanusi –Page 4

Saraki: Jonathan can’t justify CBN Gov’s suspension

There’re limits in marriage –Page 31

NORTH

Divided over 2015 –Pages 9-12

•Buhari

•Kwankwaso

•Yuguda

•Aliyu

•Jang

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

PAGE

CAPTURED

FRSC yet to identify victims of Sokoto accident

HE Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) in Sokoto State says it is yet to identify those who died in a road accident at the weekend at Dange along the FuntuaGusau-Sokoto road. The corps public relations officer (PRO), Karatu Ayuba, said yesterday in Sokoto that the commission's officers had been mobilised to the scene of the accident. He said none of the occupants of the car could be saved, and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the details and the number of the occupants who died in it will be made available later.'' An eyewitness said that the driver of the car had allegedly rammed into a parked articulated vehicle. He was said to have been driving to Sokoto from Gusau with members of his family at around 8 p.m. on Friday.

Charles the Sheikh Heir apparent to the British throne, Prince Charles, is known for his love for adventure. He is seen here wearing traditional Saudi attire, while attending the traditional Saudi dance, known as 'Arda', which was performed during Janadriya culture festival at Der'iya in Riyadh, the capital, during the week. Photo: REUTERS

BAROMETER Amaechi's

Fayemi, APC and Jonathan's national conference

sunday@thenationonlineng.net

Obasanjo coup

Jonathan prays. Better he should weep

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

COLUMN

Furies of February

(Muri on my Mind)

nooping around

HE furies of February are here with us. February is a callous month. It is the month when all illusions are shattered; when all old hopes are buried. New demons appear, while old demons refuse to disappear. If anybody thought that the Boko Haram scourge was going to be a quick fix, the past week must serve as a cautionary tale. For the first time in its history, Nigeria has been sucked into the borderless orbit of an international war. It is a war that stretches from Niger through Chad, Cameroons, Mali, Libya and all the way to stateless Somalia. We repeat. The Nigerian mili-

tary forces were never trained, prepared or equipped for this kind of combat. We have to learn by the hoof of savage contention. Meanwhile, Nigerians, tossed and trussed in the inferno of state evisceration, are praying for a hero to rescue them, no matter where the fellow comes from. But it is not the heroism of an individual that will save Nigeria this time around. It is the collective heroism of all Nigerians. Last week marked the thirty eighth anniversary of the assassination of Murtala Mohammed. He was

A Freezing Evening with Murtala Mohammed

T has been unseasonably cold in England. An icy fog lays a brutal siege on the entire country from Inverness to Portsmouth. The ambience in Birmingham is grey and dreary as country and people are frozen into a vast mass of drooping icicles. It is the worst winter in thirty years, and February is the cruelest of months. Even this late in the year rather than retreating, General Winter has been advancing. Trapped inside the house by a ferocious sleet storm and wrapped up like a Siberian wayfarer, Snooper has hit the bottle on the rebound. Our comforter is a vicious Austrian liqueur known as Stroh”80". Known otherwise as the spirit of Austria, It is eighty per cent alcohol and a sip could take a bull out in a second. I often wonder why the immensely cultured but imperious Austrians are allowed to do this to the civilised world. But then, there are many things the Austrians will want the world to forget. The generous provider of this heady spirit is an Aeronautical Engineer friend of Kogi extraction who is based in Birmingham. A hilarious and witty fellow, our man once told Snooper of how he took a bottle of the strong stuff home as a Christmas present to the Oba of his town who happens to be his cousin. Kabiyesi often boasts of his drinking prowess. A few hours later when the engineer returned to the palace to retrieve a document, his royal majesty had passed out on the bare floor with his staff of office lying on top of him. For intellectual comfort, Snooper has been reading excerpts from the interesting memoirs of Engineer Akindele, the first Director General of the Nigerian Telecommunication. It is riveting read which shows how things used to be with the civil servants and civil service of yore. But by far the most interesting revelations in the memoirs concern Akindele’s memorable encounter with the tempestuous and unpredictable Murtala Mohammed both as Head of State and as Akindele’s supervising commissioner at the Ministry of Communication. At a point, Akindele was so exasperated by Murtala’s bullying antics that he blurted out in Yoruba that his own child was three years’ older than the menacing Mohammed. The straight-laced bureaucrat thought he was making an uncomplimentary comment beyond Mohammed’s linguistic ken. Little did he realise that the mysterious warlord spoke and understood Yoruba perfectly well. A few years later, in fact on the eve of Mohammed’s assassination, Akindele almost took to his heels when Obasanjo asked him in Yoruba language whether he had forgiven them for the shabby manner the government treated him, only for Mohammed to retort in Yoruba: A si nbe. (We are still pleading with him) Although still very controversial with regards to many aspects of his distinguished career, particularly the pogrom in Asaba and the infamous burglary of the exchequer in Benin, Mohammed has long been canonised as the nation’s most iconic leader. It is also arguable that had he lived longer, Mohammed would have unraveled

•Murtala-Muhammed

as deliberate and painstaking statesmanship became unamenable to his short-fused hell-raising and impetuous grandstanding. But give a man his dues. Mohammed was kind, humane, charitable and ever ready to make amends when and where his conduct or the policies of his government might have caused harm or grievous damage. Here was a noble ruler. From a very unflattering background reeking of supremacist arrogance, Murtala made a dramatic transition to a bold and visionary conception of the nation as an organic community of equal stakeholders. From a sectarian warmonger dripping with religious and regional prejudices, he became a Pan-Nigerian patriot of unusual mettle. It was an apostolic conversion of Pauline proportions. At a very grave time when Nigeria is once again in danger of fracturing along regional and religious lines as a result of the antics of a visionless and greedy cartel, Mohammed’s dynamic and visionary leadership commends itself to an endangered nation. These were the sober thoughts that engaged one’s attention as the ferocious sleet storm raged outside and one took a hard swig of the spirit of Austria. Suddenly, the last sentence of

also thirty eight when he fell. Had he lived, Mohammed would have turned seventy six on November 8th. Ten years earlier, the tempestuous general had been the arrowhead of a bloody counter coup in which the initial war-cry had been “araba” or secession. But he was to undergo an acute transformation to become a militant champion of a united, progressive and corruptionfree Nigeria. Many of his implacable critics would retort that it was only because the old parity had been restored.

an e-mail one had been reading on the computer screen shattered the icy complacency. “Sir, at this moment, President Yar’Adua is flying back home and is due back in the early hours.” “Coming back to where and to what?”, Snooper screamed at the computer screen in towering rage. The source of the news being too authentic and impeccable, one was left to impotent fury and implacable disgust. Forgetting how scantily dressed one had become in the intervening hours, one rushed out of the house and into the receding snow storm. It was bitterly cold outside. Snooper swept past the adjoining streets not knowing where one was going. As the fury slowly subsided, the icy frost began to bury its chilly fangs deep in the body. It was as if one was beginning to have an out of body experience as outlandish creatures from outer space started crowding the vision. Out of nowhere, a middle-aged man appeared, smartly dressed in a navy blue French conductor suit. The military swagger and the swashbuckling gait was unmistakable. It was the old general. It was Murtala Mohammed. “Talk of the devil,” Snooper mumbled in muted excitement as the teeth clattered away. In edgy contempt, the general ignored his newfound companion and then launched into a bitter tirade about the weather. “Kai, kai, it is bloody cold. Shege. Doualla, bani taba. Akoi Benson and Hedges?,” the general growled demanding for a stick of cigarette. Snooper quickly pointed at a huge neon sign prohibiting smoking. “Walahi, I will soon prohibit that your useless mouth for you,” the general cursed. “:No, no no, it’s not me, it is the whiteman. They have their strict rules and regulations,”Snooper protested. “Listen, I hate these stupid Oyinbo people. They are bloody hypocrites. They brought corruption and cheating to us and they keep calling us crooks. May Allah forgive them,” the

With

Tatalo Alamu That is neither here nor there. It is not how a person starts out that matters but how they end up. Mohammed was both hero and antihero; liberator of national will and libero of oppression; shaman of military terror and statesman of equity. But by his sterling example, he has shown us that it is possible for the innate goodness and humanity in all of us

general fumed. “Is that why you only took bribes from them?” Snooper demanded. “My brother, one bad turn deserves another,” the general began with a crooked, much endearing smile. “By the way how did you bloody rogue come by that? You have been reading classified material, eh? Yaro barawo ne?” “No, no no. I have been reading Akindele’s memoirs,” Snooper corrected. “Ah that old bugger, is he still around? He is a good man but I almost shot him. I overheard him cursing my mother in Yoruba,” the general growled. “I never knew you spoke Yoruba language,” Snooper marveled. “Ajoke, my wife is half Yoruba,” the great warlord noted wistfully. “General, how about a drink at Old Orleans at Broad Street?” snooper offered. “Drink ke? I am a devout Muslim, you know,” the general protested. “I also know something else. There was a famous restaurant in Lagos which was your watering hole. For years after your departure they use to take adverts to celebrate your patronage,” Snooper noted with a sly wink. “You are a real sonobabitch, you know. Okay, we’ll have a drink, but the Stout here is not as stout as the one back home. The one here is totally useless, like the people. I’ll have Johnnie Walker instead,” the General crowed with boyish enthusiasm. “By the way, General, Umaru is back”, Snooper said more like a complaint than anything else. “Who is Umaru?”, Murtala replied in genuine ignorance. “Umaru Yar’Adua,” Snooper replied. “What does he do for a living, and is he related to Shehu?”, the general queried. “He is our president, and he is Shehu’s brother. Obasanjo left him there after returning to power two decades later.” I replied. “Hmmmmm. That must be the boy calling himself 007,” the general began with a sardonic smirk on his face. “I don’t want to be uncharitable but has Nigeria now become a James

Okon to return Sanusi’s documents

N Thursday morning while Snooper was having an early morning reverie on the state of the nation, Okon barged in panting breathlessly. “Oga, he don happen. Dem come dumbu dem mosquito mala for Shakara Bank, abi wetin dem dey call am sef? “ the crazy boy chortled. “Okon get lost, it is not possible. The president does not have such power,” Snooper snarled, waving the crazy boy away. “President no get power. Oga, what if power come get president?”

the boy snorted and slunk away. Later in the day after the earthquake had sunk in, the mad boy returned to press home his advantage. This time, he was dressed in flowing babanriga. Before Snooper could say a word, Okon had opened fire. “Oga I wan quickly reach Kano make I return dem kulikuli and goro dem mala forget for office,” the mad boy crowed. “Okon, be careful. There is something foul and nasty in the air,” Snooper warned. “Na mala shit be dat.” the crazy boy snorted.

“Sanusi will challenge Jonathan in court,” Snooper noted without conviction. “Ha oga, mala no dey play Challenge cup. Dis no be time for yeye grammar,” the boy shot back. “Okon, get lost, now, now now” Snooper screamed. “Oga, you dey say progress no dey for Naija. But Ijaw man come dey wire mala like dat. Na so him be before before? Small time now Efik houseboy go dey hammer dem Yoruba masters.” Sensing the dawn of the dreaded apocalypse, Snooper sprang up. Okon fled.

to triumph over personal demons. If it were to put its best foot forward, the dissolute Nigerian political class may yet redeem themselves and rescue the nation. This morning, and by popular demand, we republish an ethereal encounter with the legendary general which first graced this page exactly four years ago.

Bond film? I know Shehu as a noble and first-class officer, loyal to the core. If he were to be around, I would not have been killed. Your yeye brother ran away. But this Umaru???”, the general brooded uneasily. “He is being supported by some northern elements who claim that the presidency is the north’s birthright till 2015 and that nothing should be done to disturb the arrangement,” Snooper noted without much passion. “Those lot again!!! I never allowed them near the seat of government when I was in power. They are an idle lot, forever seeking for relevance and power. If I have my way, I will put them on the farm settlement near Bagauda Lake,” the general growled. “They are led by a man called Inua Wada,” Snooper observed. “Kai mana, but that is my own uncle,” Mohammed blurted out. “I was wondering, too,” Snooper croaked with some mischief. “You see, the problem is more fundamental. By the way, what did Obasanjo himself forget at the State house that he was looking for?” Mohammed snarled. “He forgot to mess things up properly. Now for the first time in the history of the country, we have three presidents at the same time: An Acting President; an inactive President and an active President,” Snooper noted with muted relish. “I see. What is Theophilus Danjuma doing about the nonsense?” “Danjuma and Obasanjo are no longer on speaking terms,” Snooper replied. “What ? You know sometimes it may be better to die young. Longevity is a curse in Africa”, Mohammed reflected with misty eyes. “What the colonial Army put together, post-colonial oil blocs have torn asunder,” Snooper cynically pressed on even as a sad Mohammed ignored him. “And where is Akinrinade in all this?” Murtala growled. “He is out in the street protesting against all of them,” Snooper replied. “I see. It is a total disaster then. It is Abagana all over again. I must thank Sub-Lieutenant William Sheri for not missing his target. A country where Alani is a protester on the street is not worth living in”, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed noted and began moving away. “General, what about the drink?” Snooper protested. “To celebrate what?” Mohammed snapped. “But let me tell you this. Those of us who have killed for Nigeria and have been killed for Nigeria hold all of you responsible for this mess, this disgrace of the blackman.” The ferocious sleet storm was still raging in Birmingham. Luckily, the automatic heating system had come on unfailingly, rousing Snooper from his catatonic stupor. The computer screen was still flashing with the lone apocalyptic message: Umaru Yar’Adua is on his way home.

NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Presidency plots to put Sanusi on trial •CBN Governor placed on security surveillance

HE Federal Government is not done yet with Mallam Lamido Sanusi whom it suspended on Thursday as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). There are indications that the suspension may be followed soon with the arraignment of the Kano prince for ‘misconduct.’ The findings of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) on the administration of Sanusi in the CBN which government used as a basis for his ouster indicted him for financial recklessness including commitment of N168 billion of public funds to the execution of intervention projects across the country. Some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

Democratic Party (PDP) are believed to have joined the league of those pushing for Sanusi’s trial. Already, Sanusi has been placed under surveillance by security agencies. It was gathered that some forces in the presidency had a secret session in Abuja at the weekend and resolved to have a go at Sanusi. They said the that findings of the FRCN against Sanusi should be put before the court to determine his guilt or not. Some of the forces also felt the trial would humiliate Sanusi and force him to keep quiet on the $20billion oil funds. It was learnt that the moves to subject Sanusi to trial ac-

counted for the desperate bid to set security agencies after him to effect his arrest and hound him into detention. But Sanusi was, however, able to stumble on intelligence report on the plot to arrest him while making contacts in Niamey, Niger Republic. It was based on the intelligence report that Sanusi changed his landing flight schedule from Abuja to Lagos. A reliable source said that the anti-Sanusi forces are out to deal with him for ‘confronting’ the president on the $20billion oil revenue. Said one source: “They were pissed off that Sanusi ignored the president’s advice that he should resign. They said Sanusi had tried to undermine the presidency. “In fact, some PDP governors have joined the gang-up

against Sanusi because they have assumed that Sanusi is speaking the voice of the opposition.” Investigation by our correspondent confirmed that the first part of the plot is to arrest and detain Sanusi to “break his spirit.” “I think there was a leakage of the initial part of the scheme which made Sanusi to divert his flight to Lagos from Niamey instead of Abuja,” a source added. Sources said that security agencies are monitoring Sanusi’s movement. “They have placed him under surveillance because of fears that he might relocate abroad. You know some foreign missions are interested in his travails because of the $20billion ‘missing’ oil cash.”

Fresh attack claims 29 in Plateau

FRESH attack by unknown gunmen in Barkin Ladi Local Government area of Plateau State has claimed 29 lives, most of them Berom. The attack came four days after a similar one in Fan district of the same local government area. Thirteen women and children were killed in that incident. A total of 163 have been killed in similar circumstances in the state over the last two months. A vigilance group leader in the area, Julius Bala, said that 29 bodies were picked after the latest attack. Seventeen other residents were wounded, he said. The State Police Command said it established a joint security committee comprising community leaders, police, SSS, and the Special Task Force among others for the purpose of intelligence gathering

South West lawyers forum crisis deepens

HE Crisis rocking the South West Lawyers Forum (Egbe Amofin Odua), a body of Yoruba lawyers in the South West, deepened yesterday after the Mrs. Priscilla Kuye (SAN)-led screening committee of the forum failed to pick a consensus candidate for the zone. Addressing journalists shortly after a four-hour meeting, Kuye explained that the committee, made up of chairmen of the 25 branches within the zone, decided to stay action on recommending any candidate. It agreed to report back to the larger house. She said that the deadlock was brought about by six petitions written against the committee, which, she regretted, contained allegations too weighty to be ignored. Two of the contenders,

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN) and Mr. Niyi Akintola (SAN)had, on Friday, announced that they could no longer subject themselves to the committee for screening because it had been compromised. Adekoya claimed that some of the branch chairmen had been financially induced to favour a particular candidate, while Akintola said: “a situation where a senior member of the bar is being screened by a legal practitioner with less than five years post call experience simply because he/she is a branch chairman is unacceptable to me.” Although some of the branch chairmen present at the meeting of the screening committee yesterday were dissatisfied with the participants’

refusal to adopt Dele Adesina (SAN) who, in their opinion, had been humble and respectful to the committee, Kuye maintained that proceeding to do such would jeopardise the unity of the forum. She said:”We received six petitions, two from Adekoya and Akintola and four each from Okitipupa, Badagry, Ikorodu and Ogbomoso branches. While some of the branches say their chairmen do not have their mandate, the two contestants alleged financial inducement and ineligibility of some committee members to screen them on the basis that they are too young. “These allegations are weighty and capable of dividing the group. We would be further splitting the Egbe if we just go ahead and screen one candidate. Let’s understand

that the unity and integrity of the Egbe is at stake.” Kuye also spoke of the need to investigate the allegations against her committee. Her words:”Why would a lawyer of my calibre, with all the long years of reputation I have built over the years, allow my name to be soiled in the face of such weighty allegations?” The meeting turned rowdy at a point when some of the lawyers demanded evidence that anyone was bribed. “Where is the evidence of financial inducement? Where is the evidence? This is unfair!” they shouted. Kuye and other members of the committee, however, stood their ground, maintaining that the unity and continued existence of the Egbe was more important than anyone’s ambition.

aimed at checking the killings. Residents said that the gunmen came in large numbers at about 2.30am yesterday. Interim chairman of Barkin Ladi local government, Habila Dung, confirmed the attack but said he was not sure of the numbers of people killed. The Plateau State command of the Nigeria Police confirmed the attack but declined comment on the casualties. But a nongovernmental organisation known as Stephanos Foundation working on peace building in the state said 29 people were killed during the attack in the two villages. The STF is yet to issue statement on the attack, they promised to do that after investigation.

Fulani herdsmen invasion: Waku calls for state of emergency in Benue

•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (3rd right), his Adamawa, Niger, Jigawa and Kaduna States' counterparts, Alhaji Murtala Nyako (left), Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (2nd left), Dr Sule Lamido (4th left), and Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero (right), Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (3rd left), Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar (middle) and the Winner of this Year (Male) Competition from Kaduna State, Mr. Sulaiman Salis Idris (4th right) during the closing ceremony of the 28th National Qur'anic Recitation Competition organised by the Centre for Islamic Studies, Usmanu DanFodiyo University, Sokoto and hosted by the Jigawa State Government at the Mallam Aminu Kano Triangle, Dutse, yesterday

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

ORMER National Vice Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Senator JKN Waku, wants a state of emergency to be declared in Benue State to protect lives and property. Speaking to The Nation in reaction to the continued killing of people in the state by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, Waku said that only a state of emergency could save the situation from degenerating further. He said Governor Gabriel Suswam himself has admitted that the killings are beyond his capacity to tackle. Suswam had at the weekend called on the federal government to “do something” on the activities of the nomads that are threatening the economic life of the people of Benue State, adding that “the entire people of Benue are very worried how militias in their thousands are moving

By Fanen Ihyongo freely and causing destructions in the state.” Waku said: “The governor, who is supposed to be the chief security officer of the state is nowhere to be seen, having admitted that he tried to quell the killings but his efforts couldn’t yield result. “I only read in the national dailies that the situation has overpowered him, as he called on the federal government to do something. What can the federal government do? The president can only declare a state of emergency to protect lives and property before the situation gets out of hand. “If this is not done, the people may resort to self defence, which may degenerate. “Because that is how civil wars start. When people resort to self defence, it’s a recipe for civil war, which can be avoided.”

Taraba professionals tackle Deputy Governor •Insist Suntai is mentally alert

HE Taraba Professionals Group (TPG) yesterday alleged plan by the Deputy Governor of the State, Alhaji Garba Umar, to ease Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai out of office regardless of the recent declaration by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) that the governor is not incapacitated. It insisted that Suntai is mentally alert and not incapacitated as being alleged. The group also asked Umar to stop referring to himself as acting governor of the state. The TPG, which made its position known in a statement in Abuja by three of its leaders (Samson Galadima, Audu Aminu and Ephraim Atiku), expressed concerns about what it described as the ongoing “abnormal looting” by some public officers in Taraba

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

State. The group said: “As the drama surrounding the true health status of Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai continues to generate heat in the polity, it was quite a relief for us when the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) recently paid a courtesy call on Suntai in Government House, Jalingo. “Although the visit was a simple one designed to express solidarity with a fellow pharmacist (Suntai, apart from being a pilot is also an ABU, Zaria trained pharmacist), it ended up being one that has restored hopes to many and has laid to rest a very thorny matter: the capacity or otherwise for Suntai to function as Governor of Taraba State.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Army closes border with Cameroun

HE military said yesterday it had shut hundreds of kilometres of Nigeria's border in Adamawa State with Cameroon to stop Islamic extremists using the country as a haven and launch pad for attacks. Brig. Gen. Rogers Nicholas of the 23rd Armored Brigade told reporters that he was exercising emergency powers because it is "imperative" to seal the border between Cameroon and Adamawa State against illegal crossings. He said Customs and immigration officials are working with soldiers and police "to ensure that nothing crosses into Nigeria." Large stretches of that porous border are generally left unpatrolled. The border between Borno State and Cameroon, which Nigerian troops and a jet bomber crossed last month in pursuit of extremists, apparently remains open. The move will affect hundreds of traders who routinely cross the border.

NEWS

Amaechi: I won’t stop fighting Jonathan’s anti-Rivers policies G

OVERNOR Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State declared yesterday that no amount of threats, including the one issued at the weekend by the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, would cow him into silence. Wike had threatened that the governor would be arrested and the Port Harcourt International Airport shut if President Goodluck Jonathan wins the 2015 election. Amaechi vowed to continue to speak up against the policies and decisions of the Jonathan Administration

•Says Wike spoke for President over arrest threat From Clarice Azuatalam,Port Harcourt

whenever he considers them inimical to the ultimate interest of the people that voted him into office. He insisted that he is not a coward and has never liked a coward. The governor spoke through his Chief of Staff on phone to reporters in response to Wike’s threat that Amaechi would be arrested and sent to jail once President Goodluck Jonathan is re-elected next year.

“I presume Wike is speaking the president’s mind,” Amaechi said. “Nothing will stop me from fighting for the right and interest of the people of Rivers State. The people and residents of Rivers State are my primary constituency, and I have sworn on oath to protect their interests. I have repeatedly said that I will support and vote for President Jonathan if he gives back to Rivers State the five Soku Oil wells that have been ceded to Bayelsa State.” He added: “The issue of

the Soku oil wells is not about Amaechi, it is about the economic interest of our state. So, I cannot be cowed because of some imaginary threat. No! Amaechi is far more than that.” The governor who spoke through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, also revealed that although he (governor) was not aware of any plan to punish or humiliate him if President Jonathan is reelected, it was clear that Wike was speaking the president’s mind.

•From Left: Grooms father, Oluseye Osho; Bride's Mother, Mrs. Babatope, Couple: Oluwatosin and Olaseni, groom's mother, Mrs. Olayinka Osho and Bride's father, Mr. Segun Babatope during the wedding ceremony of Babatope daughter's at Hoare's Memorial Methodist Church, Yaba, Lagos yesterday. PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

He said: “Well, if you have been following the political crisis in Rivers State, especially the role of the presidency in its avowed support for the Abujabased politicians from Rivers State, you can easily deduce that Wike is speaking the president’s mind. When the evil plotter beats the drum for the innocent, the gods will not let it sound. “Wike will not stop playing God. He is an indecent mind contributing nothing than a baggage of mischief and villainy, yet he remains a senior member of the federal government. In contrast to Wike, Governor Amaechi remains a hero in our political history. His prodigies in the political landscape cannot be dwarfed by never-do-wells as Wike. Amaechi is a great achiever, erudite scholar, incorruptible and fearless.” Okocha also pointed out that Governor Amaechi’s decision not to support President Jonathan in 2015 is borne out of principles and self conviction to which Amaechi is entitled. “It is not surprising that Wike speaks so despicably of a man who threw him up politically. He is one of those who ill- advise the president that opposition is punishable by death. “Now, see where we are today. One will expect that Wike is scolded for making such gutter statement but, alas, it’s a further meal ticket for him. Nigeria we hail thee!” Wike had said that members of the PDP in the state would shut-down the Port Harcourt International Airport and all land and sea borders in Rivers State after next year’s elections to prevent the governor and his supporters from escaping from the state.

Centenary: Jonathan honours Queen, Lugard, 98 others

UEEN Elizabeth II of England and 99 other Nigerians and foreigners are to be specially honoured by President Goodluck Jonathan as part of the activities marking Nigeria's Centenary celebration. On the list are the late Chief M.K.O Abiola, Nigeria's first Prime Minister, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; first Premier of the defunct Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and the first Premier of the former Northern Region, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello Also to be honoured are the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Mohammed Dangote and business mogul, Otunba Mike Adenuga. The Presidential Committee on the Centenary

•Murtala, Obasanjo, Babangida, Abacha, Yar'Adua, Soyinka, Fawehinmi, Ojukwu, Dangote, Adenuga make list FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

Celebrations said last night that the awards would be bestowed on the recipients on Friday, February 28 at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja. Below is the full list of the recipients and the categories to which they belong. A. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MAKING OF NIGERIA 1.Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II 2. Frederick John Dealtry Lugard 3. Dame Flora Louise Shaw, Lady Lugard B. HEROES OF THE STRUGGLE FOR NIGERIA'S INDEPENDENCE/PIONEER POLITICAL LEADERS 4.Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS This is to bring to the notice of the general public that the NYSC Certificate, Tai Solarin University of Education Certificate, Birth Certificate, MSSN Certificate, WAP Certificate and NECO Certificate belonging to Mikaeel Jamil Mikaeel of No. 112, Olaniyi Street, Abule-Egba, Lagos are missing. All efforts to recover the missing certificates had proofed abortive. If found, please return to the above address or the nearest Police Station.

5. Rt. Hon. Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, GCFR 6. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE 7. Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, GCFR 8. Sir Ahmadu Bello, KBE 9. Professor Eyo Ita 10. Jaja Anucha Wachuku 11. Pa Michael Imoudu 12. Chief Anthony Enahoro 13. Chief Joseph Sarwan Tarka 14. Mallam Aminu Kano 15. Margaret Udo Ekpo 16. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti 17. Hajiya Gambo Sawaba C.PIONEERS IN PROFESSIONAL CALLINGS/ CAREERS 18. Christopher Sapara Williams 19. Chief Frederick Rotimi Alade Williams, SAN 20. Chief Akintola Williams 21. Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi 22. Vice Admiral Joseph Edet Akinwale Wey 23. Brigadier General George Tamunoiyowunam Kurubo 24. Louis Orok Edet 25. Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed 26. Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo 27. Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike 28. Capt. Chinyere Kalu 29. Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Oviemo

Ovadje 30. Professor Grace AleleWilliams D. PIONEERS IN COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 31. Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu 32. Alhaji Alhassan Dantata 33. Chief Adeola Odutola E. PROMOTERS OF DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN NIGERIA 34. Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, GCFR 35. Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola 36. General Shehu Musa Yar'adua, GCON 37. General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, GCFR F. HEROES IN GLOBAL SPORTS COMPETITIONS 38. Madam Chioma Ajunwa 39. Nwankwo Kanu 40. Richard Ihetu (Dick Tiger) 41. Chief Michael Okpala (Power Mike), MON 42. Monday Ochuko Emoghawve G. ACCOMPLISHED PIONEER PUBLIC SERVANTS 43. Chief Stanley Olabode Wey 44. Justice Egbert Udo Udoma 45. Chief Emeka Anyaoku 46. Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola 47. Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias 48. Dr. Rilwan Lukman 49. Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki 50. Alhaji Aliyu Mai Bornu H. ACCOMPLISHED CONTEMPORARY ENTREPRENEURS 51. Alhaji Aliko Mohammed Dangote

52. Chief Mike Adenuga 53. Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma I. DISTINGUISHED ACADEMICS 54. Professor Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun 55. Professor Kelsey Harrison 56. Professor Chike Obi 57. Professor Dagogo Fubara 58. Professor Jacob Festus AdeAjayi 59. Professor Claude Ake 60. Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa 61. Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi 62. Professor Umaru Shehu J. INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED ARTISTS, LITERARY ICONS AND JOURNALISTS 63. Michael Taiwo Akinkumi 64. Professor Wole Soyinka 65. Professor Chinua Achebe 66. Prof John Pepper Clark 67. Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi 68. Alhaji Abubakar Imam 69. Daniel O. Fagunwa 70. Ernest Sesei Ikoli 71. Alhaji Ismail Babatunde Jose 72. Kenneth Nnebue 73. Patience Ozokwor 74. Alhaji (Dr) Mamman Shata Katsina 75. Hubert Adedeji Ogunde 76. Fela Anikulapo Kuti 77. Stephen Osita Osadebe 78. (Dr.) Ladi Dosei Kwali 79. Ben Enwonwu 80. Oludotun Jacobs K. OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC SERVANTS 81. Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule

82. Professor Akinlawon Ladipo Mabogunje, NNOM 83. Dr. Barnabas Sanyaolu Oloruntoba, OFR 84. Honourable Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar, GCON L. OUTSTANDING BRAVERY AND PUBLIC SPIRITEDNESS 85. Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN 86. Michael Chukwugekwu Ihuka M. OUTSTANDING PROMOTERS OF UNITY, PATRIOTISM AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 87. General Yakubu Gowon, GCFR 88. General Murtala Ramat Mohammed 89. General Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, GCFR 90. General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR 91. General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR 92. Chief Ernest Shonekan, GCFR 93. General Sani Abacha, GCFR 94. Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'adua, GCFR 95. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, GCON, fss N. EXEMPLARY SERVICE IN THE PROMOTION OF PEACE AND MORAL EXCELLENCE 96. Sir Abubakar Sadiq III 97. Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi 98. Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi 99. Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye 100. Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi

News

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

President draws battle line with media over unregistered drugs

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is threatening to shut down any electronic media organisation advertising substandard and unregistered drugs. He has already directed the appropriate government agencies to watch out for errant media houses for sanction with a view to proving to all the readiness of his administration to eradicate counterfeit and fake drugs in the country. Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said yesterday in Abuja that the

From: Vincent Ikuomola and Grace Obike, Abuja

president was ‘disturbed’ by the indiscriminate advertising of such drugs. “The president held a meeting with some of us (ministers) a few weeks ago on the issue and the President is disturbed that even while he is watching the TV, he sees all manner of people advertising or organising trade fairs,” Chukwu said. He added: “I’ve told people to be monitoring all stations so that we can get

one to use as a scapegoat. We can’t continue to live this way. We need to have a legal channel against these manufacturers. It’s unfortunate that if you check, we have educated people, doctors and pharmacists working in those companies and yet they will take these products to illiterates in the market to handle. “We are not going to deprive people of their means of livelihood but if you say that you are a distributor of patent medicine, once you follow the regulations we’ll

allow you handle the drugs that you are registered and licensed to handle in the correct premises.” The Director General of Nigerian Agency for Food, Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, said that the Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs was established to check people from importing, manufacturing and distributing or selling fake and counterfeit drugs in Nigeria. The taskforce has powers to seal up any premises used for such illegalities.

Jonathan receives Udenwa, Anyanwu, others into PDP P R E S I D E N T Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, Chairman, PDP’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, and other leaders of the party yesterday in Owerri, Imo State received former governor of the state, Chief Achike Udenwa, former Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, and the Senator representing Imo East, Chris Anyanwu and

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri and Sanni Onogu Abuja

Mike Ahamba (SAN) back into the PDP. Other leaders of the party who attended the rally tagged unity rally at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, were Senate President, David Mark, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, Bethel Amadi, President Pan African Parliament, Minister of

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Rod Paige

N January 21, 2001, the United States Senate confirmed Dr. Rod Paige as the 7th U.S. Secretary of Education. For Paige, the son of a principal and a librarian in public schools, that day was the crowning achievement of a long career in education. Born in 1933 in segregated Monticello, Mississippi, Paige’s accomplishments speak of his commitment to education. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University in his home state. He then earned both a master’s and a doctoral degree from Indiana University. Paige began working with students early in his career as a teacher and a coach. He then served for a decade as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University (TSU). In this position, Paige worked to ensure that future educators would receive the training and expertise necessary to succeed in the classroom. He also established the university’s Center for Excellence in Urban Education, a research facility that concentrates on issues related to instruction and management in urban school systems. Elected in 1989, Paige was sworn in as a trustee and an officer of the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in January 1990, in which capacities he served until 1994. In 1994, Paige left TSU to become superintendent of HISD, the nation’s seventh largest school district. Inside Houston Magazine named Paige one of “Houston’s 25 most powerful people” in guiding the city’s growth and prosperity. In 2001, he was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators. Paige is the first school superintendent ever to serve as Secretary of Education. His vast experience as a practitioner— from the blackboard to the boardroom—paid off during the long hours of work needed to pass President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Now he is leading the charge—in partnership with states and districts—to implement these historic reforms. The law will give local districts the tools and resources they need to help every child learn, regardless of the color of their skin or the accent of their speech. States and districts have moved forward, working to improve student achievement, empowering parents with options and information, providing supplemental services such as free tutoring to students in danger of being left behind, and tapping new sources of talented teachers to help students excel in our nation’s classrooms. By June 2003—a watershed moment in education—every single state had an approved accountability plan in place to ensure that every single student was learning. https://www2.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/paige.html

Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri among others. Also in attendance were Governors Seriake Dickson (Akwa Ibom), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi), Theodore Orji (Abia), and Liyel Imoke (Cross River). President Jonathan said at the rally that the PDP under the current leadership is undergoing a reunion to bring back all aggrieved members that had stepped out of the party. This, according to him, will strengthen the PDP. According to him, the PDP has continued to play a critical role in the nation’s democracy, adding that, “whenever anything is wrong in the PDP it does not affect only Nigeria, but the whole of African countries. PDP is the only party that is

stable in the country; it is the only party that those that want to play decent politics should follow.” Also speaking, Mu’azu urged the returnees to win the state back for the party in 2015. “We lost Imo State because of internal wrangling which made our founding members in the state to stray away but today we are back and the journey to reclaim Imo has just begun,” he said. Anenih in his speech urged the PDP members in the state to play politics of inclusion, saying: “whatever happened in the past in Imo State is now history.” Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Ahamba, said that they “have returned to our ranks as members of the PDP. And we are going to work together to regain what we have lost.”

Experts meet to boost trade corridor

FFORTS to boost trade and investment along the important LagosKano-Jibiya route has been intensified as business leaders and senior government officials recently met in Abuja. It is the second such multi-stakeholder meeting organised by the USAID Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport project. The meeting, which was a follow-up to the Lakaji consultative assembly meeting held in Lagos attracted over 90 representatives of public and private sector companies and agencies. The team discussed challenges and opportunities to doing business on Nigeria’s busiest trade corridor. “I find this extremely interesting because now the government and the other stakeholders are coming together to find solutions to our numerous business challenges,” said Wilma Aguele, CEO of Wilbahi Investments. “It’s long overdue.” In addition to addressing issues affecting business on the corridor, the meeting al-

lowed stakeholders to connect and share information. Aminu Takunma and Hajja Gana Wakil both Deputy Directors of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission provided insight into the Commission’s efforts to open a “One-Stop Investment Centre” that is coordinating activity among 47 government agencies. The commission is also working with financial advisory agencies to devise ways of facilitating loans on single digit interest rate for investments along the corridor, said Takuma, of the Commission’s Infrastructure and Services Sector Department. Participants discussed issues affecting investment, transport and trade facilitation and identified actions to be taken to see results within six months. “Bringing together the multiple stakeholders along the corridor is the first step in realising the enormous potential for trade and investment,” said Alf Monaghan, Chief of Party for the USAID NEXTT project.

NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Jonathan charges universities on research From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has charged universities to drive researches that would help check the many problems facing the nation. Speaking yesterday at the 27th convocation ceremony of the University of Calabar, Jonathan said the institution has produced notable individuals in all facets of life that have contributed to the development of the country. The president, who was represented by the supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, also sought greater emphasis on entrepreneurial programmes to foster self-reliance and development. “Graduates should not only strive to be self employed but create jobs for others,” he said. He said the federal government has built 12 new federal universities to ensure almost all the 36 states in the country have one in their domain. He also said his administration has built 90 Almajiri schools to improve nomadic education. He lamented strike actions, which have plagued the educational sector. “Strikes should be a thing of the past. More could be achieved through dialogue,” he said.

Saraki: Jonathan can’t justify F Sanusi’s suspension ORMER Kwara State governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan cannot justify his decision to suspend Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi Saraki, who is the chairman Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, also denied reports making the rounds that the upper legislative chamber has approved Sanusi’s suspension. He said that the Senate was yet to be formally briefed on the Sanusi’s controversy, insisting that the provisions of the CBN Act are clear and unambiguous on the removal or suspension of the apex bank governor. Saraki spoke yesterday in his Ilorin, Kwara State, capital home. He said it was clear Jonathan has been ill-advised on the issue and warned that such developments will affect other institutions meant to stabilise the country. He expressed concerns

HE European Union (EU) has supported Nigeria with N6 billion (•27m) to improve access to modern and sustainable energy sources. The development is through the Energising Access to Sustainable Energy (EASE) programme. The Supervising Minister of National Planning Commission (NPC), Bashir Yuguda, signed the financial agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while EU Ambassador to

• Explains disagreement with Dopkesi

Dentists meet in Abeokuta

to say that the Senate has not at any time discussed the issue. “I think the senator who was quoted was talking on his personal recognition. “From reading the CBN Act, there is no room for the president to either suspend or remove the CBN governor. “There is no letter or request before us; maybe when we get back, we will get the letter. We must follow the laws.” On the gang-up against his political leadership in the state, the former governor, who has defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC), said any talk about taking over from him is mere day dreaming. He explained the latest figures from the registration of the APC membership in the state has shown that it can conveniently win the next elections.

•Vice President Namadi Sambo in a handshake with Citibank Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mr James Cowles, during a courtesy visit to the Vice President by Executives of Citibank at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN

From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

Clark: Nigeria won’t break

that investors would be wary of doing business again with the country given the alleged arbitrary nature of suspending Sanusi. According to him: “Today, it is the CBN governor. Who knows the president may wake up tomorrow and suspend the chairman of INEC? “With my own knowledge of the CBN Act and the relevant sections, which I have gone through, no part of that Act supports the action taken by the president. “And I think this kind of thing is not about Sanusi. It is even more about the new governor who is coming in. “Can that governor really say that his tenure is five years? There can be a new president tomorrow down the line who would say, ‘in 2014, this is what happened.’’’ He added: “The independ-

ence of the position of the governor of Central Bank is no longer there and there are investors outside the country, fund managers that will have about N20bn invested in this country who took those decisions based on the fact that the CBN is independent. “The moment those institutions are not protected, they have far-reaching effect on the economy. I think in a way the president was ill-advised. “Whatever he was trying to achieve is lost because those institutions are more important than the issue of the individual. Also the law states clearly how the governor of Central Bank can be removed or suspended.” He debunked the notion that the Senate had backed the suspension of Sanusi. Saraki said: “I was reading in the newspapers that the Senate has taken a position on the Sanusi’s issue and I want

ORMER Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has reassured that the planned National Conference will not lead to the disintegration of Nigeria. On the contrary, he said the dialogue will pave way for every group to ventilate their views. The elder statesman also spoke on his disagreement with the Chief Executive of Daar Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi. The media mogul, he pointed out, had worked against President Goodluck Jonathan and as such had no basis to be considered for any position in government. The more Dokpesi contin-

FG sets mechanism to control poisonous gas, flooding HE federal government has put in place measures to control the threats of poisonous gas and flooding that may likely occur as a result of eruption from the weak volcanic Lake Nyos located along the line of volcanic activities in Cameroun. The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, made this known while inspecting the Kashimbila multipurpose Dam site. In anticipation of the environmental disaster that may accompany breakdown of the lake Nyos in Cameroun, which may push the poisonous water to Taraba, Benue, Cross River, Kogi and Delta States, the federal government has embarked on construction of buffer dam to accommodate the poisonous water. The dam is located between Kashimbila and Gomovo Towns on River Katsina Ala, Takum Local Government Area of Taraba state close to the country’s border with Cameroun. A statement by the ministry’s deputy director (Press), Mrs. Oyeboade Akinola, said the minister explained that the Kashimbila Multipurpose Dam had an airstrip constructed to facilitate the evacuation of people in the area to a safe place if the lake eventually breaks before the Dam is completed. According to the minister, the airstrip will serve as an added infrastructure to support economic activities in the dam. She said: “When President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office, the project was about 10 per cent completion but today as we are standing here the dam is about 75 per cent completed and the President has made available sufficient fund to complete the project.” The chairman, Senate Committee on Water Resources, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, said that the National Assembly has been supporting the Kashimbila Dam project. He added that the project would be one of the landmark achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration when completed.

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

Naval chief reads Riot Act to oil thieves, pirates

EW Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Central Naval Command (CNC), Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Rear Admiral Peter Agba, yesterday warned oil thieves and pirates in his Area of Responsibility (AoR) to either relocate or face the wrath of the law. He said he had developed new strategies of flushing economic saboteurs, who specialised in illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, piracy and other forms of oil theft, from the creeks of the Niger Delta region. Agba, who was the FOC Logistics Command before his new appointment, vowed that his command would neither negotiate with oil thieves nor compromise its mandate. He spoke at the Headquarters of the CNC in Yenagoa shortly after taking over the command from his predecessor, Rear Admiral Usman Sidi. Describing the mandate as a building block in the Nigeria Navy, the FOC praised the qualities of the outgoing FOC, referring to him as a disciplined and highly respected officer. To tackle the menace of oil thieves, he said he would maintain the cordial relationship between the command and its host communities. Sidi said he relied on the mandate of the Navy to deal with economic sabotage and piracy in the region. He recalled that the command arrested many suspected oil thieves, pirates and impounded suspected vessels. He said many of the suspects were handed over to responsible agencies for prosecution. He urged the command to be proactive, adding that the Navy would continue to tackle illegalities in the region.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

ues to insult him, the more he will continue to lose in the scheme of things. He spoke during an audience with some elders from North Central led by former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, who paid him a courtesy visit. Clark noted that it is by having every ethnic nationality on board that the nation’s strive for development will be realised.

According to Clark: “The National Conference will be a success. I believe in justice and equality. Without equality there is no country. ”Nigeria will not divide. We have gone through that part before.” He appealed to all Nigerians to join hands with the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the success of the conference, which he said is for the overall good of the country.

Mantu said that the group came to join forces with the South-South to ensure that the choice of the people emerges at the 2015 general elections. Mantu paid tributes to the Clark’s contributions to the nation’s political developments, saying “there are people of your age who are dragging this nation back. “We know some who are into one letter -writing or the other. But for you, a tree can make a forest.”

HE second Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) holds from February 25-26 in Abeokuta, Ogun state. Its President, Dr Rotimi Olojede, said the theme of the meeting would be “Management of emergencies in dental practice.” He noted that managing emergencies in dental practices require adequate knowledge and preparation.

FG, EU sign N6b renewable energy financing agreement From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion, signed for the EU. Explaining the modality of the implementation, the minister said the programme code named “Energy and Restoration Programme” would be implemented through the NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) and the German Development Coopera-

tion Agency (GIZ). “There will be additional support from the International Development Association (IDA) for demonstration of the commercial viability of small scale gas processing in the Niger delta region of the country,” he said. He informed that the sum of •4.4 million has been budgeted for the energy and restoration programme, stating the EU would contribute •27

million while GIZ and World Bank/Global Environmental Facility would bring •9 million to the table. Yuguda said: ”By authorising the financing agreement today, Nigeria will be on the right track to improve access to modern and sustainable energy sources in Nigeria.” He said the programme would support the design of state electricity plans, capac-

ity development of selected institutions, development of strategies to increase access to energy and tackle deforestation. Arrion said while Nigeria had demonstrated commitment by privatising electricity, the EU was complementing its efforts with renewable energy, vocational training for the power sector and advice on energy governance.

Olubolade joins Ekiti governorship race From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

ORMER Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, on Saturday, declared that he would contest the 21st June governorship election. He made the declaration in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at a reception organised for him by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he declared his intention to contest the election. Olubolade berated the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for obtaining a N25billion bond from the capital market, noting that, "borrowing of money by Fayemi is a product of failure of governance. It is a sign that he is running a failed government." Olubolade added, "I want to assure you that I will not borrow a dime to finance the state and all I am going to execute as programmes will align with the transformation agenda of President Jonathan." Meanwhile, a swift reaction by the spokesperson of the Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Mr. Dimeji Daniels, clarified that "Olubolade's puerile outbursts are products of a befuddled power seeker." Daniels said, "Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade is not in tune with governance, because if he is, he would know that borrowing from the capital market to execute regenerative projects and bring about infrastructural development is not tantamount to failure in governance. "In all their seven and a half years of profligate and rudderless governance in Ekiti, they never in their wildest thoughts felt Ire Burnt Bricks Industry could be resuscitated because the PDP does not resuscitate, rather it kills.â&#x20AC;?

Osun College of Education introduces dress code From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

NEWS

HE management of the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun in Osun State has introduced new dress code for students of the institution. Delivering a speech at the maiden matriculation ceremony for students undergoing degree programmes of the Ekiti State University at the college, its Acting Provost, Dr. Bashiru Gbadamosi, said the introduction of the dress code had become necessary in order to ensure sanity within the institution. According to him, both male and female students of the institution must dress decently in a way that would portray them as responsible adults. He said the authorities of the institution would be strict with the enforcement of the new dress code, adding that erring students would be severely punished.

Eulogies as former Ekiti Acting Gov is buried T T

Three Osun police men die in auto crash

HE remains of the late acting governor of Ekiti State, Hon. Friday Aderemi, were yesterday interred in Ayetoro-Ekiti in Ido Osi Local Government Area of the state after a well-attended church service at the St. Stephen's Anglican Church in the town. Late Aderemi, who was also a former Speaker of the Ekiti State Assembly from 2003 to 2007, died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) on January 7, 2014 at the age of 74. Dignitaries at the event included the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; his deputy, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin; the Chief Judge of the

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, to mention but a few. Speaking at the church service, Governor Fayemi said "the historic feat" of the deceased could not have been achieved by those he described as "the lily livered", adding that the dogged insistence of the dark forces at the time could sway even the most well intentioned people. According to him, Ekiti witnessed one of its darkest points in history during Aderemi's tenure both as the Speaker of the State Asembly and later as Acting Governor, but added that the "character of the texture and

substance displayed by him and other co-missioners served to redeem the state. "Sir Aderemi belonged to the early generation of Ekiti political elite who devoted their days to the pursuit of Ekiti interest. He rose to prominence in the history of our dear state as providence thrust on him the onerous role as one of those who frontally led the resistance against the draconian leadership of the then governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose. "Though he was at the time a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his progressive inclinations as a true son of Ekiti propelled him to work with other progressive elements to cause the impeachment of Mr. Ayo Fayose," the governor recalled.

Earlier in his sermon, the Bishop of Ekiti-Oke Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Isaac Olubowale, said the deceased used his time and resources to serve God and the people. He urged politicians to emulate the life of sacrifice of the late Aderemi, saying that this is the only way for them to be remembered. Aderemi's journey to eternity started on Friday with a lying-in-state ceremony held at the new Governor's Office, an event attended by Governor Fayemi and other top state functionaries. The procession later moved to the State Assembly Complex where a session, addressed by the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, was also held for the deceased.

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

HREE policemen serving in the Osun State Police Command died on Friday night in an auto crash along Osogbo-Iwo road. Investigation revealed that the policemen attached to the Swift Action Response Squad (SARS) were on patrol around 10.45pm along Iwo/Ibadan road when a car coming in the opposite direction crashed into their pick-up van. Two other colleagues of the deceased inside the patrol van sustained serious injury and were rushed to an undisclosed hospital by their colleagues, who were alerted by passers-by. It was gathered that the driver of the vehicle that hit the police patrol van marked xxxIbikunle juncRobot at the Niyi tion, Dada Estate, reportedly escaped. The Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Mrs. Folashade Odoro, declined to speak on the issue.

Crisis rocks Oyo LP over new excos From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

CRISIS of leadership manifested in the Oyo State chapter of the Labour Party yesterday as groups within the party petitioned the national leadership over the composition of an interim committee set up to steer the affairs of the party. The groups alleged that some of the new members who recently defected to the party have allegedly taken over all the positions in breach of an agreement reached by all stakeholders at a meeting with the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, earlier in the month. The two groups-Oyo Labour Front (OLF) and Pace-Setter Advance Movement (PAM)-called on the national leadership to reverse its approval of the composition of the committee and honour the agreement reached by all blocs within the party at the meeting with Mimiko. They further alleged that whereas the new members are not yet carrying the membership card of the party, they have been imposed on members who had been upholding the party in the state. In a statement signed by its director, Babajide Akindiji, the OLF described the approval by the national leadership of the interim committee as an act of "impunity."

xxx

â&#x20AC;˘L-R General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Sokoto Investment Company Limited, Mallam Usman Ahmad; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer The Infrastructure Bank, Mr Kunle Oyinloye; Acting Managing Director, Ebonyi State Investment Limited, Mrs Esther Ajaero; and Executive Director, The Infrastructure Bank, Mr Taiwo Dauda, during the investiture of Mr Oyinloye as the new Chairman of Association of Nigeria Development Finance Institution, in Lagos at the weekend.

Accord me equal recognition with Alaafin, others, Soun urges Jonathan

HE Soun of Ogbomoso land, Oba Oladunni O y e w u m i Ajagungbade, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to accord himself, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Odulana Odugade, equal recognition whenever he visits the state. The traditional ruler also expressed delight over the amicable resolution of the row between the Olubadan and the president over the latter's recent visit to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, a move

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

the Olubadan considered a slight to his office and person. However, Jonathan was quick to apologise to the revered monarch, explaining that since he planned to visit the Olubadan twice between now and April, he thought an earlier visit would be an overkill. In a statement on Friday by his Private Secretary, Mr. Toyin Ajamu, the Soun commended Jonathan's position that he holds Odugade, the people of Ibadan, the citi-

zens of Oyo State and the South-West in general in high esteem. Ajamu said it was comforting that Jonathan plans to visit the Olubadan in the next few weeks, an indication that his government is a listening one that accepts constructive criticisms. He, however, urged the president to also take into cognisance the fact that Oyo State has three paramount rulers of equal standing, adding that he should accord the three the same status and respect. He listed the three mon-

archs to include himself (Soun), the Olubadan of Ibadan and the Alaafin of Oyo. Ajamu advised Jonathan to ensure that none of the highly respected traditional rulers is left out in the next presidential visit and in any matter that will require the involvement of the traditional institution in future. According to him, "The president and his aides are hereby urged to make corrections as promised, so as to promote the unity and development of this nation without creating divisions."

2014 election: 'External forces' must be checked, says Fayemi

KITI State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said the June 21 governorship election in the state would only be 'free, fair and credible' if the influence of 'external forces' could be reined in. Fayemi expressed fears that "some politicians are of the belief that the Ekiti election is the beginning of the 2015 Presidential election," insisting that "the two are distinct and different from each other and should not be lumped as one."

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

He said, "I quite believed that something was fishy when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lumped up the date of the Ekiti and Osun elections with that of the presidential election coming up in 2015. "Ordinarily, what the Electoral Act stipulated is that the timetable should be announced four months to the date of election. So, immedi-

ately INEC took the step, some people now see Ekiti as a gateway to the Southwest ahead of the presidential election, because the north seems to be a no-go-area. "But I want to believe that the two elections are different and approach to them must be handled differently." The governor made the statement on Friday in AdoEkiti, the state capital, while receiving some media executives who were in his office

on a courtesy visit. Fayemi maintained that the people of the state would resist any attempt to upturn 'the popular verdict of the people' through the election, citing the experience of the state between 2007 and 2010. According to him, "An average Ekiti man doesn't want a flawed election. They don't care about who wins or loses the election provided the election is free and fair. Ekiti is a different state, because every-

body is interested in who governs him unlike states where the people may decide not to raise a eyebrow even when elections are rigged. "The popular notion that Ekiti will be a test case to the 2015 election has been causing the crisis and that was why they were heating up the polity in Ekiti to attract the attention of those external forces who are interested in the outcome of Ekiti election," he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

•Shagari

•Sambo

•Sultan of Sokoto

2015: Knife that has divided the North F

OR the northern part of Nigeria, which was reportedly more united than any other part of the country from the First Republic up till the end of the military era, these are difficult days. Though many of the notable leaders today have voiced the region's political interest of producing the country's next president in 2015, there are evidence that a multipleedged knife has indeed pierced through the centre, which used to hold the region together and so, things have indeed fallen apart there. At the last count, more than three major northern groups have come out to campaign positions that clearly contradict that of the Arewa Consultative Forum, which used to be generally acknowledged as the apex socio- cultural organisation of the entire north, thus raising questions as to who now speaks for the north today? The Nation's investigation shows that the factors that may have combined to fan this ember of disunity in the once united region include political interests, religion, social differences and security challenges. But most pronounced is the 2015 presidential election. Some few Northern leaders, who have dared to promote views that suggest they may be supporting President Goodluck Jonathan's re-election bid have become subjects of scathing criticism. One such leaders is the leader of the Northern Elders Council and Second Republic Presidential Adviser, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai. Dismissing Yakasai's group as fake during the week, Dr Junai Mohammed in a telephone chat with The Nation said, "How these people came up to say they have formed the Northern Elders Council is what I don't understand. But ACF cannot complain themselves because they have allowed some of their members to associate with Maitama Sule. What makes Yakasai's own different is that he has gone out of his way to provoke the anger of northerners and if he continues like this, there may be some dire consequencies on him. Yakassai, stirred the hornet nest recently when he announced the formation of the Northern Elders Council (NEC). Justifying the rationale for setting up the group which not a few Nigerians view as the Presidency's counter-force to the influence of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in the North, Yakassai in a communiqué signed by Ambassador Mamman Yusuf said, "Northern Elders Council commends and fully supports the visionary and transformational policies of President Jonathan and acknowledge the socio-economic strides of the administration in all sectors. The Council pledges its full support and commitment to work for the success of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President

As the North prepares for the 2015 general elections, several groups of elders are laying claims to the leadership of the region or segments of it. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Assistant Editors, Dare Odufowokan and Remi Adelowo; Tony Akowe in Kaduna and Kolade Adeyemi in Kano, report that besides questions on the motive behind the sharp disagreements in the region, the development is raising questions about the fate of one north philosophy. Namadi Sambo. "We will work alongside all Nigerians who wish to ensure that machinations of anti-democratic forces in this country are frustrated. We reject intimidation, threat and violence. Leaders and elders must lead by example. It's unacceptable for elders to make inciting and inflammatory statement capable of breaching the peace. We say no to war-like and belligerent posture." In a recent newspaper interview, Yakassai further infuriated many Northern elites when he declared that it was too late in the day to clamour for the return of power to the North in 2015. Describing Jonathan's opponents in the North as mere noisemakers, Yakassai said, "I would say these people are mere noisemakers because they ran away when the opportunity presented itself for them to work for the retention of the Presidency when the former President (Umaru Yar'Adua) died. They simply ran away leaving me alone. If they had joined me in the fight, we would have succeeded. "Go and check the records; I am the one who wrote to the Senate President, David Mark, to condemn the 'invention' of the Doctrine of Necessity, which has no place in the Nigerian Constitution, but not many of those who are making noise today assisted me in any way.I challenge them to come and explain where they were when I started the campaign for a orthern president. Where were they when I started the fight? The noisemakers do not wish Nigeria well." This unexpected development has already kickstarted a political cold war involving members of the Arewa Consultative Forum and Northern Elders Forum

who view Yakasai's moves as anti-North, alleging that the NEC is the creation of the Presidency ahead the 2015 general elections. A prominent Northern politician told The Nation on condition of anonymity that many of them were surprised when Yakasai recently announced the formation of his group and his subsequent romance with the Presidency. The source added that Yakassai's volte-face was baffling since he had been committed to the realisation of Northern Presidency in 2015. Until now, there appeared to be a consensus among leading stakeholders in the region under the aegis of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) including some governors, who have openly voiced their opposition to the President's re-election in 2015, citing a one-term pact Jonathan allegedly signed with some Northern governors as a pre-condition to enlist their support for his election in 2011. But while quite a number of Northern elites have no qualms drawing up support for the President's alleged second term bid, Presidency strategists are not taking anything for granted. In the last few months, several options have been considered to weaken the opposition against the President, one of which is said to be the formation of a splinter group to act as the support base for the President's much speculated second term ambition among the ruling elite. Yakassai's action is not the first under this democratic dispensation. During the Olusegun Obasanjo-led government, former Senate Leader, late Dr. Olusola Saraki, spearheaded the establishment of the Northern Union (NU).

Though still in existence, the NU even while Saraki was alive failed to rally the entire North behind a common agenda. In his reaction to the criticisms against him, Yakasai told The Nation that the North remains one and indivisible region despite the politicking over President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's 2015 agenda which is threatening the region's quest for power-shift. Though different groups are springing up in the North, campaigning against Jonathan's 2015 re-election bid, Yakasai, who has been viewed by many as projecting Goodluck/Sambo 2015 presidential ticket told The Nation that it was too early to begin to argue that some people from the North are supporting President Goodluck Jonathan, given the fact that campaign for the 2015 elections has not commenced. The elder statesman categorically stated that the Northern Elders Forum did not say they are in support of Jonathan's re-election bid in 2015, adding: "Let me put the record straight, what we said in the communiqué we issued after the Forum's meeting was that we support all elected National Assembly members, Goodluck/Sambo ticket for what they have done for this country and the North since they assumed office. Let me say it loud and clear that Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo ticket has produced good governance in the country, so, we are misquoted and I will like you journalists to read our statement in the communique before you make any judgment." According to him, Jonathan has not come out publicly to declare his intention of contesting the 2015 presidential race, more so, no political party has rolled out its programme in respect of this, "so, it is rather unfortunate that some people have come out to declare that the Forum is supporting Jonathan's 2015 ambition, which is yet to be declared by him." Speaking on the formation of Yakassai's group and what it portends for the North, former Governor of Kaduna State in the Second Republic, Alhaji Balarabe Musa in a telephone interview with The Nation said, "There is no principle behind the so-called division in the Arewa Consultative Forum and the formation of Northern Elders Council. What has happened is simply a personality interest to get something. Giving a historical background of division among Northern groups, Alhaji Musa told The Nation, "The Northern group became divided many years ago. It was later the members reconciled and set up ACF. Now, it appears that they have gone back to their division. Now there are four groups. Surprisingly at the last meeting of ACF, leaders of these groups were there

•Contd. on page 10

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

NORTH: A HOUSE DIVIDED

everal elders groups have emerged claiming to speak for the north. What does it portend for the region? I have always said and I will repeat it to you, I have never claimed to speak for the north. I speak because I am a Nigerian and a northerner because I was born in that part of the country. I also speak because the constitution of Nigeria confers on me certain rights and privileges which include my right to speak up on issues whether they are national, regional, local, economic, political or social. Beyond that, those who claim to speak for the north must be put to test. They must be asked on what basis are they claiming to speak for the north? As far as I am concerned, not one of the so-called self-assigned, self-appointed pan northern groups speaks for the north. None of them has ever been appointed in the course of their entire political career. In fact, most of them come from background, culture and career that are undemocratic. The establishment most of them served was guilty of torturing and killing northerners in the name of politics. You will discover that there is a preponderance of Generals and Policemen in the so-called northern groups and among the political class are people that have been discredited and have no political base in their respective communities. If these are the people who claim to speak for the north, then, the north is in a terrific mess. In a democracy, you don't claim to represent somebody until he tells you expressly by means of vote to represent him. Beginning from the PDP which was financed with money from the treasury by Abdulsalami Abubakar in billions to so many other governors and other groups, none has ever respected the simple, but very basic culture of election whereby people should have the leaders they choose and those leaders who should be chosen through a credible voter system. Secondly, people who live in Kaduna came to northern leadership by accident because over night, people staged a tribal coup against northern leaders at the federal and state level and within the armed forces and decapitated the whole northern leaders irrespective of their tribe, religion or language. With that, the north ended up without a credible leadership and that allowed some bureaucrats, mostly ex-Kaduna College, ExBarewa College to be encouraged largely by Aminu Kano and some northern leaders who were in the opposition then and rose to the occasion to demand and insist on having the leadership of the north and they got it by overwhelming consensus. But from the time of coup of January 15, 1966 up to the beginning of the civil war in May 1967, when the states were also created, Aminu Kano was the defacto leader of the north followed by J. S. Tarka. Don't forget that they were in the opposition before and they said that what the Ibos did was a tribal affair based on tribal hatred and because they have lost hope in a democracy, that was why they carried their tribesmen who were preponderance in the officer corps to stage a coup and kill other tribesmen. Not a single Ibo man was killed and none was going to be killed. Not a single Igbo political leader was killed; not a single Igbo trade unionist was killed. After the end of the civil war in January 1970, these elements who now constituted themselves into Kaduna Mafia decided that they have the birth right to lead the north and by so doing, to lead Nigeria and they gave a lot of trouble to the political class not only in the north, but in the south too. At the end of the day, the same Aminu Kano who rose to the occasion in 1966/67; and was also the Chairman of the arms procurement committee for the government when he was a federal commissioner during the civil war, later formed a party against the main party of the so-called north in 1979. He

‘ACF has become a joke’ Former Second Republic member of the House of Representatives, Junaid Mohammed, in this telephone interview, told Tony Akowe that the ACF that was set up earlier from merger of groups "has now become a joke."

• Mohammed formed the PRP and challenged the NPN and got old Kano and old Kaduna states which today translate to Kano, Jigawa, Katsina and Kaduna states and these were very strategic states in the north. With the death of Aminu Kano and of course the earlier deaths of the political leaders, the same group who were mostly resident in Kaduna with some of them now gravitating towards Abuja, decided to resurface and form a group. If you recall, nearly 20 years ago, we had different groups which was okay. We had one under late Abdulrahaman Okene, a senior civil servant and a very patriotic northerner and distinguished Nigerian; we had another under Alhaji Sule Katagun and another which was supposed to be under Shagari called Turaki Committee that was about to be mismanaged by Umaru Dikko before it was taken over by Shagari and assigned to somebody else to manage the affairs of the Turaki Committee. Later, it was decided that it was not okay to have so many groups since we don't have divergent interest because we have one north and so the groups should go and unite and form one group. That was how we had the Arewa Consultative Forum. It was this group with all shades of people whether minorities or majority, core north or middle belt, everybody was represented and it was a very successful group. Unfortunately, with the emergence of Babangida, he went out of his way to compromise the older generation as much as possible by giving them money, contracts and those of them who have their money and property seized as a result of Judicial Commission of Enquiry, duely constituted, people like Tanko Yakasai, went to Babangida who now enacted a law

reversing the law which seized their property thereby launching them as political machineries. I know property of Tanko Yakasai which were seized and were returned to him by Babangida. Before they were returned to him, he had gone round to people who were using the property and took them over. I remember that one was being used as the temporary site of the Airforce Primary School in Kano. That was how some of them built a career as political machineries. Now, they have another group which called itself Northern Elders Forum, led by Maitama Sule. Maitama Sule refused to participate in the previous ones which had Shagari, Abdulrahaman Okene and others because he was not given the position he deemed proper for him. Suddenly, he came around about one year ago and started calling people for a meeting in his house and later announced that he has formed a group called the Northern Elders Forum. While all these were happening, Maitama Sule's finances for the activities of the group were coming from the office of the National Security Adviser and the Presidency. So, you can see that it has nothing to do with the north, but the financial ambition of this man. Also, the ACF that was set up earlier from the merger of these groups has now become a joke. First, they appointed MD Yusuf, the former Inspector-General of Police and later, he became incompetent in managing the affairs of the ACF and so, he was removed unceremoniously and inspite of the opposition, late Sunday Awoniyi

was saddled with the leadership of the ACF and he was the one who brought ACF to the status it attained susbsequently. He worked day and night, reconciling factions and he was straight forward and very honest. He depicts a man who had his career with the late Sardauna of Sokoto. After the death of Sunday Awoniyi, they went back to their squbbles and could not get a credible leader. They appointed Gen. IBM Haruna who used the organisation to further his own interest by hobnobbing with the government of the day. That government happened to be a government that sees every northerner as an enemy and so he was unceremonious removed and one fellow called Aliko Mohammed, who was an accountant and was part of the group from Barewa College who formed the Kaduna Mafia, was appointed. He came back and became a nuisance. He never did his homework; he was always claiming to speak for the north even without consultation even within the ACF. He was always confined to Kaduna and has a very lousy record of never pursuing northern interest. For example, Aliko Mohammed was Chairman of Daily Times and throughout the period he was Chairman, he never employed even a cleaner in Kakawa Street. Even his office in Kaduna was being manned by somebody who is not a northerner. How he came to became the Chairman of ACF and champion of the north is something for the forum to explain. Also, when Shagari was to re-contest election in 1983, Aliko Mohammed and one Mahmud Tukur, a friend of Gen. Buhari reincarnated the so-called Kaduna Mafia, went on national television and announced that they have conducted research and discovered that if they conduct the election, it will not be Shagari who would win the election, but Awolowo. But the election came and Shagari completely defeated Awolowo. In 1983, there was nobody, including my own Aminu Kano that could have defeated Shagari. Unfortunately, some of the NPN elements, including Umoru Dikko went out of their way to rig the election in area where they knew that they could not have won, particularly in old Ondo State and that led to violence which marked the beginning of the process that truncated the Second Republic. The Kaduna mafia became a real problem for the north. But again they have regrouped and call themselves Arewa Consultative Forum and Northern Elders. When other groups started making demands, particularly Maitama Sule, they could not caution him because some leading members of the ACF were involved with Maitama Sule's Northern Elders Forum, which is a fake thing and Olusola Saraki's Northern Union which is also fake. These were groups that were formed because of greed and selfish reasons. Anybody could be surprised, but not me when the government decided that the so-called ACF no longer has clout and other groups are beginning to spring up like the ACF and people like Jerry Useni talking about the Middle Belt, whatever that means. These characters decided to be on their own, saying why not us and the government said why not, afterall, we have been financing Maitama Sule and giving Tanko Yakasai money. With the collaboration of EK Clark, they came up with the Northern Elders Council. I can assure you that Yakasai cannot win any election even in Yakasai where he claims to have been born. How these people came up to say they have formed the Northern Elders Council is what I don't understand. But ACF cannot complain themselves because they have allowed some of their members to associate with Maitama Sule. What makes Yakasai's own different is that he has gone out of his way to provoke the anger of northerners and if he continues like this, there may be some dire consequencies on him.

2015: Knife that has d •Contd. from page 9

like Maitama Sule, Ango Abdullahi and the rest." Responding to another question, Musa said the formation of regional groups is no longer relevant in the socio-economic and political development of the country, adding, "These groups consider the region first and Nigeria second. My take is that every Nigerian should consider the country first and their region second." The Nation recalls that recently, the Northern Elders Forum, after a crucial meeting in Kaduna, issued a communique which partly reads: "Northern Elders Council commends and fully supports the visionary and transformational policies of President Jonathan and acknowledges the socio-economic strides of the administration in all sectors. The Council pledges its full support and commitment to work for the success of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo." Crack in ACF? It was the concern about too many elders' group claiming to speak for the north that gave birth to the Arewa Consultative Forum in the year 2000. The bloody sharia riot in Kaduna, which spread to other parts of the country, exposed the need to have a common front to articulate the problems of the north. At a meeting of northern Emirs and leaders of thought at the Arewa House on 7th March, 2000, the traditional

rulers raised pertinent questions about the unity of the north and what is to be done to address it. Some of the questions include how the north can unite again and its people live peacefully with each other as before? How they can, in the midst of political and religious differences, evolve an acceptable strategy for developing the north? How the north can confront and solve the problem of the acute scarcity of resources among others. The meeting took cognisance of the fact that the legendary Sir Ahmadu Bello remains the rallying point of every northerner and resolved that based on his principles of unity, as enunciated in his words that "if we remain united, there is nothing this vast region cannot accomplish" that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) was born out of the existing groups that were claiming to speak for the north. Before the emergence of the ACF, especially during the military era, there were three different elders groups speaking for the north. They were the Turaki Committee founded by former President Shehu Shagari and his associates; the Northern Elders Forum, led by late Abdulrahaman Okene and the Unity and Development Foundation, led by Alhaji Sule Katagun. Although the three groups were speaking from Kaduna, there was no cohesion in their activities and many northerners looked at them as arms of government. It was the fusion of the three groups, whose

responsibility was placed on the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, that gave rise to ACF. The body was to bring together all northerners irrespective of tribe, religion and political affiliation. In their book, entitled "Talkshops, not Gunshots: a brief history of the Arewa Consultative", the Emir of Ilorin, who became the first Chairman of the forum, was quoted as saying that the north needed to "have a platform of talking among ourselves. Something like a civil society parliament for the north. But at the time, we had several civil society groups and organisations set up by notable elders and northern leaders. We had the Turaki Committee (Shehu Shagari), Northern Elders Forum (Abdulrahaman Okene) and Unity and Development Foundation (Sule Katagun). The existence of all these groups meant that we would continue to have multiple platforms, different personalities to address the problems of the north. If there was no coordination, there could be no cohesion. So, we said there must be one organisation". He said further that "the creation of ACF was without doubt an act of bravery. We wished to confront headlong, the problems that have blighted the region. We wanted to bring together all the people of the north at an avenue where they can talk and talk even more… So, even if talking is all we can do with ACF, it is still a major achievement. But we can and have been ableto do great deal more. Northerners, who have volunteered

to be members of ACF, as leaders and as members have one goal in mind: ensure that the Arewa Mantra: 'One North, One People, One Destiny does not ever become an empty slogan. ACF was created to stop our drift to chaos; to restore peace, brotherhood and harmony in the north" But emerging trends today tends to have betrayed the reasons for the establishment of the forum as the north is gradually drifting back to the pre-2000 era when several groups were speaking for the region. As at the last count, there were four other groups speaking for the north and northern interest. They include the Northern Union that was founded by late Olusola Saraki, the Northern Elders Forum, led by Danmasanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule and Prof Ango Abdullahi, the Middle Belt Forum, led by former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana and recently, the Northern Elders Council. The emergence of these groups outside the ACF may no doubt affect the fortunes of the forum and possibly the north in the run off to the 2015 elections. It may also further throw a spanner into the wheel of unity of progress of the north. This may be so in view of the fact that the principal objective of the forum, when it was established, was to, among others "to foster and strengthen the foundation of northern unity in the context of one Nigeria; to coordinate efforts to build bridges, confidence and strengthen relationships among all the

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

NORTH: A HOUSE DIVIDED

here is obviously a split in the Arewa Consultative Forum. How would you react to this considering the circumstances leading to the formation of the ACF? The seeming split in ACF with the emergence of other elders groups surprises no one because such developments are natural concomitant of democracy. While ACF does not encourage the proliferation of elders groups claiming to speak for the same North, considering three elders groups came together and formed ACF, we must appreciate the reality that most of these groups pander to partisan imperatives, since ACF is not politically partisan through which partisan interest can easily find expression. If we agree that politics goes beyond ideals to include about who gets what, why, where, how and when, as well as matter of not individual enterprise but collective mission, then it is not hard for you to have realistic appreciation of why there is proliferation of elders groups with group interests, group goals, groups cohesion, groups coherence and even group conspiracy. It is worthy of note that the North has never been united on matter of partisan politics. And that may explain why Alhaji Shehu Shagari contested with Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri and Mallam Aminu Kano from the North and with Awo and Zik from the South. It is against this backdrop that one should see the proliferation of elders groups as purely partisan.And when ACF talks about the need for the North to speak with one voice, the forum is talking about the majority which has its say and also its way, as against the minority that has only its say and not its way. We also have the Middle Belt Forum that has insisted that the north no longer exists and that they are no longer part of the north. The insistence of the Middle Belt that it is not part of the North is not new. Recall it started long time ago and was later led by Tarka and Solomon Lar, both of whom saw the futility of such a hankering, especially with the creation of states as federating units. There is no federal government or any majority group that dictates to states on how to use their allocations from the federal government. I say this because there is no difference in the authority enjoyed by all the states as the federating units. When people from the Middle Belt talk of being marginalised by the Hausa Fulanis, I find it hard to make out. Consider Prof Madi of Gombe State University once told Northern Senators in Bauchi that Alhaji Tafawa Balewa was a northern minority ethnic extraction of Jarawa found in both Bauchi and Plateau states. General Gowon is from Plateau State, General T. Y. Danjuma is Jukun from Taraba State. Other northern minorities, who held sway in the past, include General Salihu Ibrahim, Gen Christ Ali, Gen Donkat Bali, Gen Dogonyaro, Gen J. T. Useni and many others that I cannot remember. Under the current democracy, Chiefs S D Lar, Gemade, Audu Ogbe and Ahmadu Ali were helms of the ruling party. Senators Ayu, Ebute and David Mark have been Senate Presidents, thanks to politics of zoning and support of the majority ethnic groups. With these, would you say the northern minorities have been marginalised? I have my doubts. There is the general belief across the country that the fortunes of the Sultanate and that of the Kaduna Mafia are fast dwindling and that is responsible for the current division in the north. The dwindling fortunes of the Sultanate and of Kaduna Mafia are due to changing circumstances. The traditional and religious institutions of today do not enjoy the same influence the way they did in the past. And this is because we have a republic trying to accommodate feudal system and some elements of theocracy at the same time. We expect these institutions to wane in influence in favour of the republican structure because they have no more executive authority to enforce their influence the

‘North has never been united on partisan politics’ Anthony Sani is the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum. He spoke with Tony Akowe on issues affecting the north

• Sani way they did in the past. As to the fate of Kaduna Mafia, people forget that it flourished during military regime and not a democratic phenomenon. That is why it has been said that General Babangida supplanted Kaduna Mafia with Langtang, Benue and Bidda Mafias. It is not feasible to have mafia flourishing in a democracy, which is government of the people by the people and for the people. The security challenge posed by Boko Haram has for a long time been on the front burner of national discourse. Is it not a major challenge to northern unity? Boko Haram is a challenge to not only northern unity but to unity of the whole country. And this is because we have never experienced such a security challenge before. That is why the insurgence is hard to bring under control. Nigeria is like a big river into which flow tributaries. And when one or more of the tributaries is poisoned, the whole river is contaminated. And that is why ACF has called on Nigerians to come together in order to confront the insurgence collectively for common good. As General Gowon said few days ago, we should not allow the security challenges posed by a minority to set any new agenda for the nation in the form of reconsideration of our

togetherness in one united country. This is because the situation is truly not beyond redemption, given purposeful leadership and the best in most Nigerians. What is your view on the 2015 presidency and the various views being expressed by northern elders on the issue? As to 2015, I hope the media remembers that I am no more the spokesman of ACF. But as I used to say during my public outing for ACF, the forum is not a political party and so is not in position to present candidates for elections. But I believe some northerners will aspire to be president of this country. ACF will encourage such aspirants to go round the country and canvass for acceptance and votes. The same with aspirants from other sections of the country. This way, democracy will further the cause of one united Nigeria. People must realise that even if all the 42m registered voters in the North vote a candidate from the North, and all the 31m registered voters in the South vote a candidate from the South, the law says no president will emerge. Such a scenario is neither feasible no desirable. Please note that this politics of power shift, rotation or zoning was espoused and foisted on the nation by the South. The North accepted it not because it thought it was the panacea of our political problems but because

the annulment of June 12 elections of 1993 was used to morally blackmail the North. And since the South, which brought about politics of zoning rejected it soon after the late President Yar'Adua died, and instead espoused meritocracy and constitutionalism, we have since said so be it. Let democracy as contest of ideas and reasons premised on triple foundation of liberty, justice and common decency prevail. We have no qualms. A new leadership has emerged for the ACF. What are the challenges before the new leadership and how do you think they can overcome this? The new leadership of ACF is expected to build upon what their predecessor did and improve on their performance. The problems posed by security challenges, by poverty, unemployment, ignorance and disease are still plaguing the North. Their task is made more difficult because ACF has no executive authority. It thrives through inspirational leadership which comes with moral authority. It could be pretty hard. But they cannot afford to let go, considering great leaders are defined by great challenges like the ones at hand. We wish them good luck. What is your opinion on the forthcoming National Conference and what do you expect from it? We have told Nigerians that ACF never canvassed for the National Conference, precisely because the forum does not believe the problems of Nigeria lie in the structure of the country, does not lie with the law and does not lie with the form of government. What is more, there are reports of many conferences that have not been implemented. Consider this fact that there is no federal system that is universally accepted as true federalism. That is why there are no two federal systems that are clones. A federal system depends on the circumstance of its emergence. For example, while 13 American colonies came together and formed USA, in the case of Nigeria, the national government formed the federating units. But the common mantra is that the national government is balanced by appropriate state level power in such manner that the centre is strong enough to keep the country one, but not too strong as to tilt the country towards a unitary system. The America's constitution was written by 55 people and has only few pages with just about 27 amendments in over two hundred years. Britain does not even have a written constitution. But in the case of Nigeria, there is a book called the constitution that is observed more in the breach. And when it comes to form of government, the presidential systems lives in America, the parliamentary is a success in Britain while a combination of the two does well in France. All these examples demonstrate the wisdom of those who believe our problems lie in the way we do things which need to be changed through cultural renaissance led by purposeful leadership that can dare the rest of us to follow. But since some sections of the country insist the national conference can further the cause of a strong united Nigeria, we have agreed to participate. All we ask the authorities to do is to nominate delegates who are verse in matter of public intelligence and endowed with patriotic courage needed for deliberations of real issues of real concern to real Nigerians. And when such issues are raised in the conference, I am confident that delegates from the North will not lack what to say. In addition, we do not believe three months are enough for deliberations that can engender the needed progress.

s divided the North people of the north and of Nigeria as a whole; to establish linkages and contacts with political and community leaders in order to harmonise approaches towards finding solutions to peculiar problems facing the northern states and the country as a whole and to examine and deliberate on any matter that can promote peaceful co-existence in the north in particular and in Nigeria in general". In recent times, the weakness of the pillars of unity and political strength in the north has become more obvious. The binding string tends to have been over stretched by those who are supposed to ensure that it remained strong. Personal interest has taken over the empire that was built by the founding fathers of the north. One thing that has remained clear is the fact that the north, which was once described as the most united bloc in the political cycles, has lost the needed steam. Across the north today, there is discontent among the various groups in the region as well as religious bodies. There is disharmony among the people of the region and this seems to be growing by the day. The uprising in Plateau State, the killings by alleged Fulani herdsmen in Benue and Nasarawa, the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, as well as the cry of marginalisation by northern Christians has further deepened the crisis in the north. Many had expected that the coming of the ACF will help cement this crack and bring it back to what the

founders of the north had envisaged. The early meetings of the ACF attracted a large gathering of northerners with about 400 top northerners in attendance. That number has diminished over the years. A further crack is currently tearing the region apart and unless something drastic is done, the region may find itself being consigned to the dustbin of history very soon. The first group to pull out of the ACF as an umbrella body was the Northern Union founded by Olusola Saraki who reportedly felt let down after he was refused speaking at an ACF function at the conference hall of the Kaduna International Trade Fair. That act of forming the Northern Union marked the beginning of the dwindling fortune of the body. Since then, other bodies have emerged, speaking either for the north or a section of the north. For example, the Middle Belt Forum has continued to speak for a section of the region, especially the Christian dominated areas. They have, in most cases stood solidly behind President Goodluck Jonathan while the others kick against his second term bid. Although the Middle Belt Forum has not publicly taken a stand on the Jonathan second term bid, the body language of many of its leaders have tended to suggest their support for his re-election. On the other hand, while the ACF has continued to insist that the president respect an agreement he allegedly had with PDP governors prior to the 2011 elections that he will not seek a second term, the Northern

Elders Forum have continued to insist that the Presidency must return to the north in 2015. Ango Abdullahi, a Professor of Agriculture and former Presidential Adviser on Food Security, who is a spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, has told those who care to listen that the north has the numerical strength and what it takes to produce the President in 2015. The emergence of the Northern Elders Council, led by elder statesman and Second Republic Presidential Adviser, Tanko Yakasai, a strong member of the ACF, is changing that music. Unlike the ACF and the NEF, the NEC pledges its full support and commitment to work for the success of President Gookluck Jonathan and Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo. But Prof. Abdullahi was quoted by Kaduna-based Liberty Radio as saying that the Yakasai-led group does not speak for the generality of the north, describing the formation of the new group as creating food for the boys. On his part, Vice Chairman of the ACF, Senator Joseph Waku, also said that Yakasai does not represent the interest of the north and therefore cannot be seen as speaking for the north at this point in time. However, ACF spokesman, Anthony Sani, has a more radical view of the development. He said "surely the proliferation of groups by northern elders who profess to speak for the North is not the preferred option. But ACF is not very worried, precisely because actually the North has never been a united whole unit when it comes

to partisan politics. Most of these groups springing up are partisan in intent and purposes. This is because it is unrealistic to expect all northerners to speak with one voice at partisan level. That is not possible and is not desirable either. Even the law does not allow it when it provides that the leader has to be voted by the whole country and not by only a section of the country. So, when we talk of speaking with one voice, it is about the majority, since there is always minority right in any democracy. And that was why Alhaji Shehu Shagari contested with Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim and Mallam Aminu Kano in the North and with Zik and Awo in the South during the Second Republic. So, what I believe is happening is clearly democracy in action". In an address he was to deliver to a joint meeting of the various organs of the ACF on November 7, 2007, late Chief Sunday Awoniyi said the formation of the forum became necessary "to have three or more organs speaking independently for the north portrayed the north as lacking in focus and unity and firmness of purpose. It meant that the north was incapable of articulating one central position on any issue which could be said to be the authorised northern stand", adding that "a disunited north cannot be an asset to the unity and harmony of the

•Contd.on page 12

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

NORTH: A HOUSE DIVIDED

Knife that has divided the North •Contd. from page 11 federation. The federation is so closely knit that instability in one part affects the whole. A united, peaceful and stable north can only strengthen our federation". While the meeting never held and the address, which is published in a book titled, Brief History of the ACF, the region has drifted back to the pre-ACF era and the issues raised by him are more germane now, than ever before. Awoniyi had said that in giving birth to the ACF, "the urgent need for the unity of the people of the north to live peacefully together and to defend the north against abuse and calumny was recognised. The need for the north to play its part to strengthen the unity of oneness of Nigeria was emphasised. Therefore existing areas of accord must be preserved and strengthened and new ones built wherever possible… All northerners must be made aware of the need for action to find effective ways of harnessing the human and natural resources of the north for the development and benefit of its people. It was essential also to rekindle in its leaders and the led alike the old value of integrity, fair play, justice and the accommodation of ourselves and other people which had made it possible for the north to take the giant stride of the 1950s and early 1960s". The question that is agitating the minds of followers of the events playing out currently in the run off to the 2015 elections is the chances of the north in the face of emerging groups claiming to speak for the region, especially when one considers the fact that those behind some of these groups were among the founding fathers of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), which brought together the three groups that existed before the advent of the Obasanjo regime. There are those who believe that the emerging groups are only meant to strategies for the 2015 Presidential Election while masquerading as groups willing and interested in helping to solve the multitude of problems confronting the north, such as social and economic underdevelopment, educational backwardness and the rising cases of insecurity and disunity within the region. Mohammed Abdulrahaman, a former Secretary of the Political Committee of the ACF once told The Nation that "it is unfortunate that in spite of its shared history, cultural and social integration, the North is still far from being united, contrary to what it pretends to be. Divisive factors of religion, ethnicity and now political party affiliations are used by self-serving politicians and derailed elite as instruments for the manipulation of the common people. Thus, the more the North is divided along these lines, the more the region is manipulated by this elitist group. This group of exploiters may not be at ease with any decisive and practical approach to the reincarnation of 'One North, One People, and One Destiny' as advocated then and will continue to feel that way". Some people believe that the absence of a purposeful visionary leadership has rendered the North, vulnerable to ridicule from all sections of the country. Boko Haram and a divided north One major factor that has contributed drastically to the decline in the unity of northern Nigeria is the many disagreements amongst the elites of the region over how best to deal with Boko Haram menace. Since the mergence of the militant Islamic sect on the northern political scene, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and several splinter socio-political organisations in the region have been unable to present a common front on how to curb the activities of the rampaging fighters. Given that the north is the centre of bombings and shootings by Boko Haram, there is an almost universal demand for dialogue. Several of such dialogue have been held but not much came out of it all as the discussants couldn't bring themselves to agree of certain salient issues. While the large chunk of leaders from the core part of the region want the government to negotiate with the group with a view to convincing it to dump its military aggression against the country, among northern elites from the middle belt and elites from predominantly Christian areas of the region, the prevailing attitude is that there can be no negotiation with "terrorists" until they end the insurrection that has killed more than 1,000 people, largely Christians and minority northerners, since 2010. While respected ACF leaders and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, had initiated the amnesty bid with calls on the Federal Government to grant total amnesty to the Islamic sect, groups like the Northern Christians Forum (NCF) opposed the idea and accused the ACF of being insensitive to the plight of Christian northerners. The NCF Chairman, Evangelist Matthew Owojaiye, while explaining the Forum's opposition to some of the positions and activities of the ACF in recent times, described the amnesty offer for the Boko Haram sect as 'wickedness." "The Northern Christians have been marginalised, deliberately underdeveloped, treated like vassals, seriously brutalized and slaughtered under the watchful eyes of this regime more than in any other regime before. "Government spent billions of naira on nomadic education, N5 billion on almajiri schools,

•Abdullahi

•Musa

•Gana

•Sule

which is specifically for Muslims, while Christian schools and hospitals taken over by the government without compensations are still held tight by government. "Boko Haram has tried to annihilate us and our Igbo Christian brothers and now the government is talking about granting them amnesty without saying a word about the people they bombed, slaughtered and traumatized. "Who underdeveloped the Muslim North? It is definitely not the Jonathan government, and neither is it the Christians in the North! It is the Northern Muslim elite that impoverished the Northern Muslim youth. "The Northern Muslim elite pocketed the largesse that came to the North. Only they and their families benefitted. They turned the attention of Boko Haram to the innocent Christians in the North. It is even more annoying that instead of the Northern Muslim elite releasing 50 percent of their wealth to solve the poverty problem of the Muslim North, they are crying and putting pressures and intimidating the Federal Government to set up a Boko Haram Commission. It is wickedness. Since the post election violence, thousands of Christians have been killed or maimed. Thousands of Christian businesses have been ruined, and hundreds of churches destroyed or closed down for supporting the Jonathan administration. "Contemplating granting amnesty to the people who have wrought wanton destruction of lives and property in this nation is a call to other interest groups to rise up in arms against their fatherland in order to be blessed, when such an action should be treated as treason! "Till date, the killing continues! Intimidating the Federal Government to grant amnesty is the highest display of hypocrisy and unpatriotism. Are such people not indirectly admitting that they are the shadows or ghosts behind the Boko Haram? We totally object to even discussing amnesty when nothing has been done for the victims of the Boko Haram. "Let all who collude or sponsor Boko Haram or refuse to come to the help of Christians for political or economical reasons know that heaven is watching and nobody will go free! The blood of the Christian martyrs is crying to heaven for justice. We totally object to Paul Unongo and his friends speaking on behalf of the Christians challenging the authority of CAN President. The Christians in Nigeria know their leaders. Definitely their teams are not among our leaders. Northern Minorities Commission is overdue. Do we need to take up arms before our plight comes before government?" The NCF further demanded,"The return of all

schools and hospitals taken from the Christians and compensation paid for ruining them, release of N5 billion for Christian schools as done to Muslims and henceforth equal amount given us as given them yearly. The setting up of northern minorities commission and a minister to be in charge," he said. Similarly, while the Christian community welcomes the Joint Task Force (JTF) as a form of military protection against the rampaging Islamists group, the same cannot be said of predominant Muslim communities in states like Bornu, Adamawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Plateau etc. Among the Muslims, the common opinion is that the security services are colluding with Christians to persecute Muslims. The declaration of state of emergency in the Northern States of Yobe, Borno and Yobe last year brought to fore the sharp divide amongst political elites of the north over the Boko Haram menace as it attracted divergent views that saw northern Governors differing with some elite leaders from the core region of the zone. A notable northern Elder and statesman of repute, Balarabe Musa, while reacting to President Jonathan's emergency rule declaration was of the view that "the insecurity in the northern states does not validate a state of emergency declaration". According to the elder statesman, "President Jonathan does not have moral legitimacy because he came to power through the abuse of incumbency." Balarabe Musa's position contrasts sharply in vast proportions to the endorsement of the Northern States Governors Forum, NSGF, who believed and welcomed the development as solution to the rising security problems of the region. The forum said the imposition of emergency rule will complement the offer of amnesty made to the members of Boko Haram sect to restore peace to the affected states. That was just as the Middle Belt Dialogue (MBD) has accused the northern elders of protecting Boko Haram, stating that the only concern of the Forum is how to grab power in 2015. Speaking through its spokesperson, Rima Shawulu Kwewum, MBD criticized the NEF for faulting the State of Emergency declared by Jonathan in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, adding that NEF speaks not for them but for Muslims and their political interests. "Erstwhile Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Dr. Ango Abdullahi, who has transmuted into the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has been in the news of late, castigating Jonathan, declaring war and presumptuously speaking for the "North." The statement said. "We are in a new world, where

presumably the rights of people, including the right to speak, however untruthfully, are respected. However, the freedom to speak precludes speaking for people who have not mandated you to speak for them. We, in the Middle Belt, the primary victims of the ethnic and religious cleansing embarked upon by Boko Haram and associated groups, have not mandated Ango Abdullahi to speak for us." The group said it was not surprised that the NEF is concerned about protecting Boko Haram but is not bothered about the Christian victims of the Boko Haram insurgency and the ethnic groups of Northern Nigeria, asserting that the militants are only acting out a script Northern leaders wrote for them. "For sometime now, in central and northern Borno State, commercial vehicles are stopped, Christians separated from Muslims and summarily executed; churches are primarily targeted for destruction and attack. Boko Haram members we are told, [have] a camp where they keep kidnapped Christian women and children and at such camps, they execute Christians who refuse to renounce their faith." Drawing attention to the atrocities committed so far by Boko Haram, MBD expressed regret that Abdullahi and his wayfarers have seen nothing wrong with its ethnic and religious cleansing programme, and have neither condemned the killers nor sympathized with the victims. An independent Middle Belt? The Boko Haram menace and the political build up to the 2015 presidential election, amongst other issues, have led to a situation where some non-Muslims, non-Hausa/Fulani in the states of northern Nigeria, are now challenging the concept of "one monolithic, indivisible North". According to this school of thought, there is a Middle Belt in the northern region, peopled by non- Muslims and non Hausa Fulanis who should be allowed to exercise their freedom of association freely in deciding whether to be part of the northern geopolitical zone or not. The Middle Belt people say they have been unfairly treated by the Hausa/Fulani core north over the years. They argued that they've severally been used and dumped as second rate citizens whenever it comes to matters of national security, welfare, politics and economics. They also sees the unprecedented killings of nonMuslims in places of worship by Islamists in the North, and incessant raids on their communities by alleged Fulani herdsmen as some kind of retaliation against them for voting, almost in one bloc, for President Jonathan Goodluck, in 2011. The Middle Belt points to the lopsidedness in the number of political appointments, jobs at the state and federal levels, in favour of Hausa-Fulani, despite what they described as their bigger contributions to the development of the region. For example, the Middle Belt Dialogue (MBD), made up of young academics, technocrats, politicians, business men and women drawn from the 19 northern states, recently, lampooned President Goodluck Jonathan for marginalising the Middle Belt in his appointments, despite the graphic details it gave to show that the area won the election for him in the North in 2011. Also, the Middle Belt Forum rejected the idea of "one North", saying it was a ruse used by the Hausa / Fulani to appropriate power and resources to itself, accommodating a few of its apologists from the Middle Belt. A leader of the ACF and former military administrator of Plateau and Katsina states, General Lawrence Onoja, portrayed the thinking among elites of the Middle Belt zone when he said the geo-political zone is now a geographical reality that must be taken into cognizance by all and sundry. Onoja, who is also a leader of the Middle Belt Forum, said the core north can no longer dictate to the Middle Belt as the area is ready to take its own political destiny in its own hands by taking decisions that will impact positively on its people irrespective of what the position of the north is. "There is a misconception. The North of the 60s, when the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was alive, is no long the same North today. Let me correct that misconception, I am from the Middle Belt which is a geographical reality today. I am an active member of the Congress for Equality and Change, which is a nonpolitical association. I am also a member of the Middle Belt Forum. So, if you say I am from the North, and you are referring to the old North yes, I am from the North, but now, the Middle Belt is a geographical reality and I am from the area. I am not from the core North. The demarcation has been there all along. It is just that the leaders that we had before, had the responsibility of making sure that we worked together as the same North. But yesterday is not the same as today. People have been educated, exposed, so if yesterday, some group of persons were dictating to us, today, people will not accept the dictation of anybody again. We, in the Middle Belt are strong enough to go on our own in any situation," Onoja said. As the crossfire continues, common northerners and other concerned Nigerians are wondering if this is indeed the demise of the once celebrated one north philosophy and what that prospect holds for Nigeria's future?

Ropo Sekoni

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Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

The crucifixion of truth tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

With Sanusi’s sack through the back door by President Jonathan, like Justice Salami’s, who is next?

O not get carried away by the title of this piece. Nothing in it suggests that the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was suspended (actually sacked) by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, is a saint. In Nigeria, who is a saint? A statement signed by Reuben Abati, the president’s spokesman, said inter alia: “ Having taken special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies, which indicate clearly that Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ‘s tenure has been characterised by various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline …” the Federal Government had no choice but to suspend the CBN governor. One thing that is not funny about the socalled suspension is that it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The Jonathan administration is deficient in all the qualities it has outlined as constituting Mallam Sanusi’s sins. Which financial recklessness is greater than the one in which our foreign reserves and even the excess crude account are being depleted voraciously without any tangible thing to explain the depletion? And this in spite of the fact that crude prices have been soaring far beyond budgetary projections! If the government is talking of core values, what constitutes its own core values? Does transparency exist in the government’s lexicon? As a matter of fact, this is the main reason why Mallam Sanusi incurred the wrath of President Jonathan. The CBN boss, had raised certain fundamental issues about the way billions of dollars are missing from the government’s coffers and, instead of the government thanking him (even if that is not his duty), he was asked to resign. As someone who knows his right, he refused. It was clear at that point that the President would take his pound of flesh. A predictable President Jonathan did last Wednesday. But we need to be worried, especially when dangerous precedents become a predictable pattern. I must confess that some of us heard something akin to what eventually happened to the CBN governor more than three weeks ago. What was in the air then was that the CBN governor would just get to his office and be barred from going in by security agents, and without any explanation, perhaps beyond the usual ‘order from above’. May be those who were to hatch the plot figured that might not go without incidents and so decided to wait for a more auspicious time. That came Wednesday when the former governor was in Niamey to attend the conference of the West African Currency Zone with other governors of the Central Banks in West Africa. Sanusi was reported to have hurriedly left the venue of the meeting shortly after the Nigerian Ambassador to Niger confirmed to him the directive suspending him by the presidency. When, the other time Justice Ayo Salami was the victim of presidential recklessness, we thought it was his (Salami’s) business. All we offered then was a feeble resistance.

•Sanusi

Even when the judiciary that took the matter to the President (apparently in error) said it had found nothing against the former President of the Court of Appeal and that he should be recalled from suspension, President Jonathan looked the other way and ensured that Justice Salami retired from his so-called suspension. The danger in our docility or nonchalance on matters like these is that impunity will continue to beget impunity. It is already happening. This paper’s editorial on Mallam Sanusi’s sack on Friday took us down the memory lane when it said that Alhaji Shehu Shagari took time out to address the nation when, during his time, N2.8billion oil money was said to be missing. This was the result of the outrage in the entire country. These days, worse allegations of corruption involving billions of dollars are treated as if they are not unusual. Indeed, Nigerians are no longer shocked by public officials stealing in millions, the vogue now is to steal in billions since hell would not be let loose. But these are too dangerous precedents that should not be encouraged in a democratic setting. The stark reality is that fascism is fast creeping in. President Jonathan does not need to tell us that he is neither Pharaoh nor Herod; his actions have spoken louder than his voice to give us an idea of his true personality. And the situation can only get worse with the 2015 elections getting closer because most things happening in the country, particularly on the political and economic plains, including the removal of Mallam Sanusi, are all about the 2015 elections. Nigerians who felt the 2011 elections gulped money would see that the next general elections would gulp even more. What was spent in 2011 would be chicken feed to what would be spent next year. And that money must come from somewhere. All kinds of books would be cooked because there won’t be any heading for such expenditure anywhere in the budget. We may start to feel the negative impact of such unearned income on the economy by the third or fourth quarter of the year. Now that Mallam Sanusi has been fired, the allegations may die naturally because not

“Whatever arbitrariness the CBN Act sought to prevent by insulating the apex bank’s governor from an overbearing executive would have been defeated if the bank boss can be suspended the way President Jonathan has done. People get away with these things because they are hardly challenged ... It is on this score that I support Mallam Sanusi’s decision to challenge his suspension in court ... At the rate we are going under this government, truth would soon join the long list of essential but scarce commodities”

many people would want to suffer the same fate. In all these, Nigeria is the loser. Be that as it may, by saying that he suspended Mallam Sanusi, President Jonathan has merely fooled Nigerians. He is only being clever by a quarter, not even by half. It is a slap on our faces because what has happened means that the President knows that he has no power to sack the CBN governor by virtue of section 11, subsection 2(f) of the CBN Act, without at least two-thirds of the Senate members concurring. Yet, he does not like his (Sanusi’s) face (or is it his guts?) and so decided to throw him out with impunity. If all he did was suspend the former CBN governor, why the unholy haste in announcing an acting CBN governor only to follow it up with the nomination of his replacement? This kind of decisiveness in not vintage President Jonathan, except when the matter concerns people whose faces he does not like. We know how long it took us to get him remove his former Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, despite the weighty allegations against her. The other, his petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, whose case is even worse than Oduah’s remains on the beat years after Nigerians have come to see her ministry as an epitome of corruption. The truth of the matter is that whatever arbitrariness the CBN Act sought to prevent by insulating the apex bank’s governor from an overbearing executive would have been defeated if the bank boss can be suspended the way President Jonathan has done. People get away with these things because they are hardly challenged. It is on this score that I support Mallam Sanusi’s decision to challenge his suspension in court. Even a baby lawyer would know that if you lack the power to remove or sack, you cannot have the power to suspend in this situation, and especially in our kind of clime where government specialises in satanic subterfuge even as it lacks the capacity to deliver good governance. Obviously, the President too might be aware of this point but decided to go ahead with his plan in the hope that Mallam Sanusi would challenge him in court. Given the snail speed at which justice travels in the country, his (Sanusi’s) term would have elapsed by the time the case is decided. In which case, the President would still have had his way. It is high time Nigerians rose against this reign of impunity. With two vital parts of our lives – the judiciary and now the CBN - being gradually subdued as it were, we may find it difficult to differentiate between good and bad, or morality and immorality, at the rate this government is perverting the system. Ideally, one would have hinged hope on the Senate but the Upper legislative house as presently constituted cannot be trusted to stop the rampaging government. Otherwise, the starting point would have been to ask it not to confirm the appointment of Zenith Bank boss, Godwin Emefiele as Mallam Sanusi’s successor. Whatever sins Mallam Sanusi might have committed, due process ought to be followed in addressing his case. We should not leave our fate in the hands of any overbearing executive. At the rate we are going under this government, truth would soon join the long list of essential but scarce commodities.

Stop Boko Haram now

WAS tempted to join in debate over the surprised suspension from office of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan last Thursday but I would rather not. Much as Sanusi’s suspension is a major issue considering the controversy it will continue to generate in the weeks ahead, I have been haunted by the picture of children among victims of the renewed attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State that I would prefer to dwell on the worrisome endless killings in the North East region of the country which requires the urgent attention of the federal government. They looked forlorn in tears and uncertain of the future ahead of them. With details of the horrifying attacks unleashed by the terrorists on some villages where they escaped from, the trauma the children and other victims must have been subjected to is unimaginable. It is difficult to understand why any group would engage in this act of inhumanity to man in the name of whatever cause they claim to be fighting for. Hundreds of innocent persons have been killed and injured while others have been rendered homeless by the group which have not only claimed responsibility but has threatened more attacks. So much lives and property have been wasted that more than ever before urgent steps must be taken before the insurgents chase everybody out of Borno, including the Governor Kashim Shettima who claimed that the gunmen are better equipped than the men of the Nigerian Army on ground in the state. I was not surprised by the reaction of the presidency which must have been scandalized by the Governor’s statement despite the various resources and men deployed to stop the carnage. Instead of engaging any claim and counter claim over the situation in Borno and other states where the insurgents have been wrecking lots of havoc, the affected states and the federal government must close ranks and find a lasting solution to this major challenge which has brought the country into focus in the international community for the wrong reason. The federal government can definitely not be accused of not being committed to ending the crisis. It must be admitted that the presence of the residents in the battle areas has hindered the Nigerian military from launching an all out onslaught to smoke out the insurgents. It is apparent that the military is trying hard to minimize the civilian casualties and the nature of this delicate assignment for the Nigerian armed forces has to be appreciated. The scary situation playing out in Borno which may spread to other parts of the Country if not quickly checked must have informed the resolution by the House of Representatives to call for the relocation of the Army Headquarters to Borno. While there may be no need to relocate the army headquarters over this matter, there is need for better strategies, equipment and men to effectively prosecute this War against the Boko Haram group which seems determined to make the North Eastern States, if not the whole North ungovernable. Whatever should be done to stop the Boko Haram must be done. The group must not be allowed turn the country or any part to another Somalia.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

COMMENT

Conference modalities: citizens versus subjects (3) The central question that must not be ignored is whether such selected delegates have any reason to be accountable to specific nationalities

HE conclusion to last week’s piece is that though the nationalities should be the major stakeholders in the forthcoming national conference, it has been severely short changed by the modalities released by the presidency for the conference. The nationalities colonised and amalgamated (not federated) into Nigeria had been marginalised by the presidency and made to yield the position of influence to selected members of the ruling and propertied class. It is expected that pro-special stakeholders would readily remind me that all the people going to the conference have their origins in the country’s nationalities, regardless of whatever other interests they may have. The central question that must not be ignored is whether such selected delegates have any reason to be accountable to specific nationalities. If they have to be accountable at all, it would be to their sponsors or nominators. The possible effect of a national conference that is dominated by special interests is that the recommendations may not be far-reaching enough to achieve sustainable unity and democracy in a multinational federation. With a decree-like resolution to replace the option of a popular referendum by the provision that the conference should determine how to integrate its recommendations into the existing constitution through the mechanism of the national assembly that is currently dominated by PDP, the signs of a conference that may not achieve much are too unmistakable to ignore. Up till the eve of the conference, the ruling party has not made any statement of affirmation or rejection of the conference brought into being by the president. If the PDP is not openly committed to the confer-

ence, it is not inconceivable that the national assembly dominated by the party may ignore or water down whatever recommendations are sent to it from the conference. With a national conference conducted in consonance with modalities now in force, the scenarios are varied. Conference recommendations that cannot be given teeth through a referendum can produce a few cosmetic amendments that may be acceptable to a national assembly that has been interminably engaged in assembling its own amendments to the military constitution that has shaped post-military governance since 1999. If recommendations include items too radical for a conservative legislature to handle, the possibility of resorting to the national assembly’s efforts to amend the constitution will become high. Should the conference fail to garner support from 75% of delegates, then the country would be back to similar experience that obtained at the end of Obasanjo’s conference, when the regional delegates just ceased to meet after selected delegates from the Northeast and the Northwest said that they had no contribution to make because they were not aware beforehand that the conference was going to modify the architecture of governance in the country. Another scenario (God forbid) is that the conference may not be able to come up with any recommendations until the end of the year, thus getting in the way of the election and making it necessary for the president to suspend the conference until after election. In other words, the country may still be saddled with the 1999 Constitution in its entirety until the 2015 election is over. With a conference with a majority of delegates being nominees of various interest groups, citizens would have no power to call them to question nor the courage to hold the few delegates from nation-

alities responsible for any confusion or lack of progress. As discouraging as these scenarios may be, there is still no justification for nationalities to be absent from the conference. The possibility that a conference or any meeting may fall through does not provide sufficient condition to stay away from it, as doing so makes failure automatic and immediate. Nationalities that believe that there is a need to create a new constitution to drive the country’s diversity in unity should prepare for the conference with determination to make it a success, despite the bleak scenarios identified earlier. If for nothing else, the conference will provide another opportunity for the country’s nationalities to exchange their frustrations about the near failure of the Nigerian state while proffering suggestions on how to turn the corner from failure to success by identifying without apology elements of a flawed political structure that the 1999 Constitution represents. For too long, many nationalities have minced words about what is wrong with the country and what should be done to move the country in the right direction. The conference may encourage all nationalities to let each other know what each would accept or reject in terms of how to move the country away from a unitary model that has hobbled it for decades. All these may not at the end of the day amount to creating a new constitution, but they will give ample chance to nationalities to externalise their political subconscious and exteriorise hidden fears and suspicions that undermine a culture of peace, progress and sustainable unity. If at the end of such honest discussion of the worries and desires of each nationality nothing concrete happens, at least a more solid ground will have been laid for future

national conferences. Most of the countries that have succeeded in creating federal constitutions have taken time to get there. Belgium started as a unitary and centralised polity in 1831. It evolved into a federal state in 1970, improved its constitution to enhance its federalism in 1993 and has amended its constitution 29 times since 1994. Switzerland, another federal state as a confederation as far back as 1833, created opportunities in 1866, 1872, 1874, and 1999 to transform its constitution to a federal one. Germany has improved its federal constitution several times between 1948 and 2006. United Arab Emirates became a federation in 1971 and have amended its federal charter twice in 1979 and 1996. Ethiopia, the world’s youngest federal state with the most radical constitution with respect to self-determination rights for nationalities, achieved a federal constitution that declared the country an ethnic federal system in 1994 after decades of unitary rule. The United Kingdom ran its multiethnic state as a centralised one for centuries until it began the process of devolution largely at the instance of the insistence of Scotland for home rule. It is largely the consistency in the commitment of citizens to constitutional changes that matters more than the opportunity given by any particular government to dialogue with or without constraints. While delegates selected to represent nationalities should go to the national conference with optimism and enthusiasm to end the politics of domination, often euphemistically named as politics of unity by beneficiaries of the current unitary constitution, they should not be disappointed if this attempt does not solve once and for all the country’s political problems that also spawn economic and social problems. The experience will certainly serve as another rehearsal for a conference that will restore true political and fiscal federalism. Concluded

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

COMMENT

Jonathan prays By his church pilgrimages and sermons of surrender, the president is distracting attention from a corrupt and lazy administration

‘W

ATCH and pray’ is a biblical injunction that most Christians and those familiar with the Bible know. Some will say it is ‘work and pray’. In either case, the admonition is not only to pray but to either watch and pray, or work and pray. But, President Goodluck Jonathan appears comfortable with only the aspect having to do with prayers alone and has been recommending this as solution to the country’s multifarious problems. He did it at a church service last year. He repeated the charge again at a service held at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Parish, Lagos, when he said that the country would have been on the road to perdition but for prayers. According to him, it is the prayers that have mitigated the crises that would have been the country’s lot, especially concerning the ceaseless Boko Haram attacks. Indeed, he said, with an air of fatalism, that “God knows it all”, meaning that God allows all these things to happen. The implication of this is that what would happen would happen, and that there is nothing anybody, including himself as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, can do about it. God, he said, has a reason for our problems which he forgot to say were mostly man-made. Hence, he thinks that without prayers, the situation in Nigeria would probably have been worse than it is. In order to cool our tempers, he admonished us to wait for God to turn our situation around with prayers and fasting. What our President should know is that no nation can live in sin and expect God’s blessings to abound. This is probably why the Bible says “righteousness exalts a nation,” and so must be its leaders. Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources that are being wasted daily. Is this the will or work of

HE hydra-headed monster called corruption seems to be waxing strong so far. It does not seem to be affected in any manner despite the conscious efforts to bring it to its knees. As a debased moral value, it is amazing how its apostles are arrogant and shameless in their scandalous behaviours, its foot soldiers stomping like a terminal disease through the system and across the land. Shrouded in moral paralysis, corrupt elements demonstrate a brazen bravery, unabashed in their hope of never having to retreat in the war to further entrench corruption. Perceptively and evidentially, this remains a paradox in a society achingly seeking systemic integrity. It is like the more Nigerians talk about this and try to fight it, the worse the situation is getting. The culture of genuinely exposing acts of corruption as a duty to the country has not really taken any root among Nigerians. Rather, exposing acts of corruption still manifests as periodic acts of vendetta against any form of enemy, perceived or real. In addition, the political, social and economic systems prevailing in the country seem to preserve corruption rather than checkmate it. While not totally discountenancing the psycho-social ne-

God? Is it God or Nigerian leadership that caused our oil wealth to be regularly stolen by politicians and government officials? In practical terms, what has the president done to alleviate the plight of the poor, like the workers, pensioners that we watch die of hunger daily? What has the president done to alleviate the general suffering of those he is supposed to care and cater for if indeed God was responsible for his election as President of the country? If Prayers alone would do, why is it that the situation in the country is getting worse by the day despite the prayers being said in many of our churches and mosques? How do you explain the reason why our prayers for peace in the North are usually followed the next day and the day after by horrendous killings by the Boko Haram sect? Unfortunately, most of our revered clergymen have not been bold enough to tell the President the home truth; instead, they encourage him by telling him what he wants to hear, that the future of Nigeria is bright whether or not he rules in accordance to the rule of God. Apparently, the reason for the President’s nonchalance and impunity is the unparallel docility of Nigerians in the face of tribulation caused by successive governments. Stealing and other acts of impunity flourish in this country

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

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

because ours is an incurably docile community, unlike other places where government impunity and failures are greeted with instant mass reactions. Docility in Nigeria has led to what the Late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti aptly described as ‘suffering and smiling’. This precisely is what the country’s leadership has been taking advantage of to wreck the nation by allowing a few people to corner for themselves our Godgiven wealth while others suffer in silence. You cannot preach for prosperity and at the same time steal what belongs to the people. Neither can you preach or pray for peace and be beating the drums of war as President Jonathan has been doing through some of his actions and policies. To even say that the situation would have been worse without prayers is to ask us to beat our chests that Nigeria has not disintegrated or has not been treated like Sodom and Gomorrah as a result of sins for which the cities were completely destroyed through the wrath of God. Mr. President, prayers are not what Nigeria needs to solve its many problems. What we need are righteous and correct actions, adherence to due process, transparency, accountability and good governance. It is only when all these are in place that prayers become meaningful. The bottom line is – work, watch and pray, In the final analysis, President Jonathan’s call for prayers when action is needed is an admission of failure; it is also an abdication of responsibility. Nigerians voted him to lead and lead aright; and not to sermonise. It would even have been a different ballgame if he practices what he preaches. His conduct does not portray him as one who believes in prayers because prayers will hardly get answered in the kind of corrupt environment that the country is today.

LETTER

ICPC: A new approach to fighting corruption By Remi Oyeyemi

cessity and impact of going after the symptoms as in isolating corrupt elements, investigating, indicting and trying them where necessary, Chairman Nta seems convinced that undue belligerence could and would always lead to missing out on some relevant systemic challenges that have helped and continue to sustain the incubation of corruption. Thus, his calm and calculated approach to isolate these systemic challenges, evaluate them and put in systemic corrective mechanisms that would serve as incorrigible obstacles to embedded variable acts of corruption is worthy of being evaluated. The ICPC thus seems to have consummated conscious and relentless efforts to take the ICPC and the fight against corruption to the next level, starting with institution of preventive mechanism, anchored largely on effective monitoring of the Nigerian systems with a view to plucking all loopholes which had hitherto been exploited by public officers to perpetrate acts of corruption. It is

examining, reviewing and enforcing the correction of corruption-prone systems and procedures of public bodies. Instituting what he called System Review is first on the list of such preventive mechanisms. For instance, over the past few years, the ICPC had silently conducted system studies and reviews on different public and private institutions and had successfully blocked avenues for officers to engage in acts of corruption. For instance, the ICPC conducted system study and review on the 2012 budgetary allocation and expenditure profile on personnel cost of 234 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). In the process, it recovered a total of N24.8 billion in cash, “being irregular payments from MDAs paid to Sub Treasury of the Federation (STF).” In the same vein, a total sum of N14. 4 billion was returned to the STF by MDAS in 2012 as unspent balances on personnel costs with a directive from ICPC. More interesting was the intervention of ICPC in the payment of civil servants salaries direct from the Central Bank of Ni-

geria (CBN). Through this, the commission has removed the temptation of physical cash left in the ministries that can be shared the end of the year.” Results were not much different when the ICPC conducted System Review on the Pension Funds. It succeeded in “closing down illegal bank accounts used in siphoning Pension Funds through 40 banks, with lodgements of the sum of N23 billion. The ICPC also discovered the sum of N469, 325, 25 accrued interests in the Pension Accounts, and had since remitted that to the STF.” The Nta-led ICPC also launched a Corruption Risk Assessment initiative in collaboration with TUGAR, UNDP and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). “The Commission gathered 69 corruption Risk Assessors drawn from the Federal, State, Public services as well as from the Civil Society Organisations.” In 2013, the Assessors conducted Corruption Risk Assessment in the Nigerian Ports with a view to discovering old and new avenues for perpetration of acts of corruption, while plugging them completely in the

process. Added to the above is the ICPC grassroots programme that has given birth to a coordinated volunteerism. Founding and nurturing the National Anti Corruption Volunteers Corps (NAVC) across the 36 states of the federation has served the objectives of the ICPC very well as members of the corps had assisted severally in bursting corruption related crimes in different organisations leading to the arrest of culprits. ICPC staffs across the federation are well enlightened, having been exposed to training and re-training programmes. While collaborating with international organisations such as UNDP, UNODC, DFID, J4A to improve and bring its work process to international best practices, “the Commission is convinced that before long, the rest of Nigeria will fully align with the initiatives it had put in place for taming the incubus of corruption in the country.” It is also important to note that the Commission’s proactive strategy in fighting corruption necessitated the new plan to adopt surveillance approach, as

a step to reducing time spent on investigation, in the fight against corruption. This is coming along with planned strengthening of the Commission’s Asset Tracing and Monitoring Unit (ATMU) as well as training of senior officers who will head its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs) in the MDAs. The cost – benefit analysis of this approach is not only encouraging, it is very rewarding. It saves time, energy and money. The results coming in are great while much is still being expected. It is reassuring that the ICPC is recognising that fighting corruption is a war that requires depth of understanding, anatomical analysis, comprehensive accost and gradual but unhindered annihilation of the insidious debased moral value, its prowling apostles and its cavernously ensconced soldiers. The device of appropriate mechanisms and operational modalities will help in closing in on more of those corrupt elements in the public sector; checkmate them before they inflict any damage while amassing enough evidence to bring them to justice. Eventually, this will pan out to permeate the private sectors and other facets of our political, social, economic and religious spectrum. Oyeyemi writes from Abuja.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

COMMENT

State of Osun: Bishops for hire For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours?

N his article, ’Osun and Traditional Religion: A Bishop’s Howler’, the erudite scholar, Professor Moses Akinola Makinde, did such a marvellous job of dissembling Bishop Mike Bamidele’s misdirected shibboleths as they concern Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s wide ranging educational reconstruction in the state of Osun that it becomes almost superfluous to weigh in again at all –See P. 73, The Nation on Sunday, February, 2014. However, while Professor Makinde was content with taking only an intellectual view of the Bishop’s convoluted views, I am by far more inclined to see the man’s dirty politics of namecalling. He won’t be the first Bishop in this game since it looks like hiring Bishops –call them Rasputins – by some Southwest politicians has become a fad. The other day, it was Hon Opeyemi Bamidele carrying a nonagenarian retired Bishop on a farewell visit to his erstwhile political leaders, and the reader wins nothing for correctly guessing which Osun politician might have our Bishop on his payroll in the instant case. Since I had no previous knowledge of Bishop Bamidele, and in order not to be unduly judgmental, I decided to google-search him. The little I found on him was quite instructive. Left to him, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the devil itself, and, ipso facto, ill-suited to be the number one citizen in the state of Osun. What

pointed, unmistakably, to this was his UTube presentation titled: Light Make Different. In that short presentation, paganism, which he accuses Aregbesola of encouraging in the state, is presented in the most lurid of terms; it is not only the opposite of light but it is out to kill and destroy. You need not be told that in the Bishop’s thinking, devotees of traditional religion are destined for the hottest part of hell. This, he, therefore, hangs on Aregbesola who, many sensationally allege, is too much of a Muslim, as leading the good people of Osun into. Many readers of this article will be whispering under their breath: ‘touch not my anointed, do my prophet no harm’, but what exactly do you do when an otherwise very articulate Bishop forgets all about comparative religion, a study of which should have enabled him do a helpful comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world’s religions in order to have a deeper understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred and the divine. In completely writing off Yoruba traditional religion, a man who many expect to educate and enlighten is busy obfuscating, for what purpose only he knows. Let me now tell our Bishop how the Yoruba traditional religion is regarded outside our shores even as our ‘men of God’ choose to be more white than the white man. I docu-

ment below, two eye witness accounts of events that put a lie to the mindset of the Bishop Makinde’s of this world. The first is by U.S-based Bunmi Fatoye-matory who recently wrote as follows on ekitipanupo: ‘I and my hubby, a scholar of Yoruba religion, are living in Berlin this year. Berlin, Germany, is the last place I expected to find Yoruba religion and culture, but there it is. We found the Orisa temple, called Candomble by the Brazilians in a very nice neighbourhood in Berlin. It was very elegant and inviting just like it is in Brazil. The founder is a Brazilian priest who has lived in Berlin for a long time. We attended the ceremony for Iyansan, known to us at home as Oya. The crowd was mostly white and some few black Germans and Brazilians. There were songs and dances for each Orisa and that night Osun, Iyansan and Ogun came down to possess the initiates. They danced, they spoke and they offered blessings. The crowd in this place was educated, writers, film makers, anthropologists, etc. many of whom are initiated. They paid obeisance to the gods and we all danced. The officials who address the gods all spoke YORUBA. These were not Yoruba people. I later introduced myself to the Pai de Santo, the priest, and he showered me with that special honour and attention given to me as a Yoruba woman and as a person from the home of Osun, Igede. Since then, I have had several requests from the devotees to be taught Yoruba. Writing further, Mrs Fatoye-

Matory said: ‘Folks, in the 21st C., Yoruba religion is becoming a World Religion and the torch bearers are not Yoruba people. Either in Cuba, Brazil, or many cities such as Miami, New York, Berlin, Port of Spain and Lisbon, our gods and goddesses are marching on in spite of the desertion by their children, without the advantages of missionaries or The Book. I met two Danish guys who came from Copenhagen to attend the ceremony. They are initiated even though there is no temple in Denmark yet. Yoruba people – obviously the likes of Bishop Makinde are spreading Abrahamic Religions around the world; some of them are mutilating their names to get rid of the evidence of their families’ ancestral Orisas. Many refuse to teach Yoruba to their children. Europeans and Latin Americans of all races are thirsting for our gods, language and traditions. Only Eledumare knows where this is going. One bit of hope is the response of Diaspora children. Across U.S. Colleges, many of them are interested in connecting to their roots. They are learning the languages of their ancestors and researching the traditions.’ ‘Yes, indeed, my sister’, interjected Professor Akin Oyebode, a Law Professor of international repute: ‘I recall watching the cultural troupe of Cuba in Moscow in 1967 rendering songs to Obatala, Sango and Yemoja in heavily Spanishadulterated Yoruba but still somewhat understandable to my humble self. In fact, a former Cuban Am-

bassador once told me that the Yoruba religion and culture were more authentic in Cuba than Nigeria...So, I’m at one with you on the passion of the African Diaspora for their roots.’Now, has it occurred to our Bishop that the Yoruba culture and language are thriving in as far afield as Brazil, Cuba, Portugal, the West Indies –where there is a town called ‘Beokuta, according to our own WS -, even in the United States of America? Does he know that this ensures the indestructibility of the Yoruba language and culture even where, back at home, our elite no longer like to speak the language to their children because it is considered infradig if their 4-year old does not speak English? Has it occurred to Bishop Bamidele that in an age when the Southwest is fervently preaching fiscal federalism and taking it gingerly to the national conference, only agriculture can dwarf tourism as our main source of revenue in Yoruba land? For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours? Probably unknown to the Bishop, many of our states in the region have poured billions into tourism development and both Osun Osogbo and Ikogosi in Ekiti are already showing what a milch cow tourism could become for us. And as a passing shot, our reverend gentlemen, not just the Bishop, should either be content with their tithes or remove their cassocks and join partisan politics. They will be more than welcome.

The walking deaf If we had a government, we would have just said ‘Dr. Jonathan, please clean up this noise’

HAVE a horror of horror films; so I must confess I have never sat down to watch the TV series from which I have adapted today’s title, The Walking Dead. I understand however that it has a bit to do with some zombies eating up another set of zombies. Just like real life, no?! Howbeit, I just could not resist concocting my title pun from that title as you can see above. Generally, though, I regard horror films as being spawned from idle, devilish minds with insufficient grasps of reality. Reality is not made up of horror stories. It’s a lot worse. I’m sure you have heard the phrase ‘life imitating art’ or ‘art imitating life’? Well, it’s true, both ways. I mean, what else can we call the recent firing of the Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido, by the presidency if not life imitating art? If someone had put the entire scenario on stage, everyone would be rolling in laughter, throwing legs in the air and howling heads off. But it did not happen in the theatre; it happened in real life. There is just so much laughter you can throw at life. Luckily, I had warned you at the beginning of the year to be a good boy’s scout and be prepared. Anyway, that’s not why we are here today; so let’s move on. Wait, though, let me tell you about another of my horrors. Have you noticed how horribly hot the African sun has got lately? I tell you,

it’s a blistering horror story! When I venture out into it these days and I deign to look up at the sky, I am quite convinced the Almighty has turned up the volume of the rays just to let us know something. Do you know what that something is, ‘cause I don’t? Anyway, listen, I think we need some concerted effort to enable us do some talking to the sun, and maybe tell it how much we really don’t like the way it’s getting things done these days. So, how about it? Oh yeah, I do have another horror, and its noise, particularly the ones that tend to blast the sleep out of your eyes in the night or in the morning. I wrote about this before but it does not appear as if anyone heard me, perhaps because there has been so much being noised abroad lately. Let me start with the early morning ones. There I am, stretching out my paw about to grasp the check of two million Naira made out in my name and suddenly, a blast rends the air into two separate halves and I think the heavens are trumpeting my win. The persistence of the shrill eventually wakes me up and I check my palm to find nothing, only some earfuls till I realise I’ve been dreaming. Oh no, it’s not the skies, it’s my Muslim brothers calling for prayers. What’s worse, now, there is a multiplicity of such extremely loud calls saying different things and all coming from many loud speakers in

the same neighbourhood from around 5.00 am to as long as 7.00 am till I wonder. Now, one loud speaker has added a sermon to its own calls. This is just not fair, I mumble, as I stare at the horror of it all in my pillow. Then there are the churches. There are my Christian brothers and sisters who persist in conducting their vigils right inside my ears. On some designated nights, the drum taps begin gently enough just as we not so holy ones are preparing for bed. Gradually, the taps begin to grow into gentle beats and I am thinking, not bad. Suddenly, however, someone seizes the microphone and all hell is let loose. I would like to think it’s the demons flying out into outer space but the ratatat of the drums do not resemble demons, only some terrible noises threatening to throw me out of bed. The reason is that the voice that cracks into the air does so like whips and the drums refuse to be outdone by lady nightingale; they pick up their own tempo until they reach a crescendo where they are consumed into an ecstasy. Then you can feel both singer and drummer directly jostling for the inner recesses of the meshed wires of the microphone. The church walls cannot contain them; the very air cannot contain them and the wind helps by dispersing the sound right into my pillow which in turn distributes them into my ears. I don’t know about you but between the two religionistas, I have become The Walking Deaf.

What is that? WHAT DID YOU SAY? Honestly, I no longer know what our religionists are about: scaring the living daylights out of me or raising me to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. If the former, I think they are succeeding very well. I am now going about with eyes rounded from sleep deprivation; legs dragging behind me from sleep deprivation, and a dull appetite from, you guessed it, sleep deprivation. Actually that is what bothers me most: my appetite that is now no longer as sharp as it used to be. Indeed, it is no more than a shadow of its former self. I don’t want to tell you what I used to consume in a day; that would be bragging. I can only tell you that I can now no longer eat more than two meals, and that, my friend, is bad news indeed. Forget what my doctor said. Wait, there is yet a third dimension. Many, if not all, record sellers feel it is their bounden duty to suffuse the air with the harmful decibels of sound as they advertise their special numbers on the air at all times. Worse yet, the advertisements are at the highest volume which are most unfriendly to the ears. The noise is so deafening there is no hearing yourself speak or even think. That’s right; you walk away from the environment looking more like a zombie than a human; hence The Walking Dead. If the two religions mean to raise my spiritual consciousness, all I can say is that they are going about it the

wrong way. They are not thinking of the third option. That option says that it is possible for me to prefer to commune with my creator through a QUIET snooze in the morning, you know, those early morning hours when you get the promises of a car, house, wife, husband, jet, etc. from your maker. What both religions are producing right now are unnecessary noises which are no credit to worship and are only contributing to my appetite loss. You know the other things noises do, don’t you? Well, let’s see. According to doctors, when we’re exposed to harmful noise either from being too loud or too prolonged, then we can develop hearing loss. When the sound is repeated, such as a loud allnight night vigil, the ears can begin to lose their power. Ask the doctor nearest to you how loud sounds can also affect your blood pressure and your appetite, you know, that doctor who doubles as your spouse. Listen people, it is a well known fact that the government has very little respect for us. It does not need us for anything except taxes and sometimes, only sometimes, to vote. Actually, I suspect the government can do without us all together. This is why all we have is each other; that is also why we must look after each other. If we had a government, if we had a president, we would have just said ‘Dr. Jonathan, please clean up this noise’. In the absence of that, we can only plead for some mutual respect. Please, let’s have less noise.

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

(53) O

F course, I was not yet born in 1929, the year of the famous Aba Women’s Revolt against the warrant chiefs that were the agents of colonial rule in eastern Nigeria. Nonetheless, I have read as much as I can on the fateful events of that signal rebellion against unjust taxation in preindependence Nigeria. But I was already born and was a young man during the General Strike of 1964 that almost brought down the government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; beyond that, the strike also nearly ended the whole bourgeois political order constituted by all the ruling class parties in the country. Indeed, 1964 was my last year in secondary school and at that stage of my very early adulthood, I had come to an awareness of progressive class politics; I had come, so to speak, to a consciousness of the fact that if you want to understand the underlying causes of injustices and distortions in the wealth and poverty of nations, you must pay special attention to the mode of surplus extraction by the political and economic elites of a society. It was the Agbekoya Revolts of 1968-69 that finally seared this fundamental fact that the mode of extraction of social surplus by governing elites is the foundation of all politics into my consciousness. In the very midst of the NigeriaBiafra civil war when a state of emergency banning all strikes and protests was in force throughout the country, the farmers and peasants of the southeastern part of western Nigeria rose up in armed rebellion against the state and its agencies. Emergency or no emergency, civil war or no civil war, these farmers and peasants had had enough. The whole economy of the country at that point in time, national and regional, was based primarily on the so-called cash or export crops the production of which overwhelmingly rested on the labour of farmers and peasants. Which is why the literal translation of the term “Agbekoya” means “farmers reject exploitation and suffering”. In one of the most spectacular acts of armed operations by the Agbekoya militants against the state, they marched on the city of Ibadan, stormed the central prisons at Agodi and released most of the prisoners. Protests, demonstrations, rallies and strikes - and in some cases armed uprisings organized either by the working or the non-working poor - are more or less permanent features of all modern societies. These features of social and political earthquakes are more common and more pervasive in modern nations and societies in which the poor are made to endure severe and degrading forms of exploitation by their elites. For most of its existence as a nation, Nigeria has been such a nation of great exploitation of the poor. From my primary school days in late colonial Nigeria to my early adulthood in the late 1960s when I was an undergraduate at Ibadan, virtually all the protests, demonstrations, strikes and armed uprisings in our country were connected to the direct appropriation of surplus produced by farmers and workers. However, by the mid1970s when I returned from graduate studies abroad to take up a lec-

The mode of surplus extraction changed and corruption became the glue that holds things together: notes for young compatriots (1)

•Niger Delta militants

tureship at my alma mater to the mid-1980s when I was one of the leaders of ASUU, things had changed drastically. But the change was due neither to the mere passage of time nor to the indisputable factor of new and younger generations coming into the historical scene. Rather, what had changed was the fact that the mode of surplus extraction had undergone a sea change bringing in its wake new logics and forms of protests, strikes, demonstrations and insurrections. Let me explain. If I am not misreading the historical facts, the massacre of peasants in Bakolori, Sokoto State, in 1980, was about the last major brutal crushing of a peasant revolt based on rejection by the peasants of dispossession of their land, their primary means of production, of livelihood. Long before the Bakolori massacre, we had gone through horrendous social upheavals leading to and culminating in the civil war itself in which blood flowed freely through both state and non-state violence – pogroms, ethnic cleansing and alleged genocide. Unlike, the General Strike of 1964, the Agbekoya Revolts and the Bakolori uprising, none of these pre- and post-civil war upheavals had anything to do with the direct appropriation of surplus produced by the labour of farmers and workers; rather, in one form or another, they all had their roots, directly or indirectly, in the politics of the appropriation of wealth from offshore crude oil production as the primary source of social surplus extraction by our political elites.

For Nigerians born after 1980, the year of the Bakolori massacre, the benchmark expressions of social upheavals are – in no particular order of priority – Niger Delta militants; ASUU strikes; and the jihadist terror campaign of Boko Haram. To this list, we should perhaps add the periodic cycles of massacres between “indigenes” and “settlers” in some states of the North, principally Plateau State. There is of course a vast incommensurability between these expressions of social discontent in oil-rich but poverty stricken Nigeria. Indeed, given my own personal political and ideological history and experience, I would be the first to shudder at bringing ASUU strikes into the same orbit as Boko Haram and the settler-indigene massacres of Plateau State. [Parenthetically, I might note here that it was the fact of recently encountering the prominence that Chimamanda Adichie gives ASUU strikes in her latest novel, Americanah, that once again brought to my attention just how big ASUU strikes have become in the national imagination] The line that connects ASUU strikes to these other bizarre and horrendous expressions of social discontent is the simple but profound fact that the mode of surplus extraction by our endlessly corrupt elites has changed fundamentally from the means of exploitation that precipitated the General Strike of 1964 and the Agbekoya Revolt. In other words, this line takes us from direct exploitation of the products of the labor of farmers and workers to vastly expanded surplus extraction from the labor of a few thousands of oil

rig workers, the great majority of them working offshore. I do not wish to overstate this change in the mode of surplus extraction in Nigeria in the last thirty to forty years. Farmers and farming communities are still producing the bulk of food consumed in the country, even if supplementation through food imports is constantly rising. And in spite of continuing drastic declines in the utilization of installed industrial capacities leading to shrinkage of industrialization for light consumer goods production for the whole West Africa region, Nigeria is not Gabon, it is not the Central African Republic; we still have magnates who make their wealth from industrial and commercial activities. But in the course of my lifetime, things have changed profoundly with regard to how most of the rich make their wealth and correspondingly how the poor and the dispossessed are made penurious and alienated. And it so happens that since the median age of Nigerians is 19, the vast majority of my compatriots happen to be those who were born after 1980, the year of the Bakolori massacre. As I earlier observed in this piece, Bakolori was the last great revolt waged - and crushed - on the basis of direct exploitation of farmers’ and worker’s labour or means of production. The most obvious and deleterious consequence of the change from extraction of surplus from direct exploitation of labour to derivation of vastly expanded surplus from offshore oil production is that both wealthy Nigerians and the state made in their image no

longer feel any great pressure to respect workers’ and famers’ labour in particular and all labour in general. In my youth and within the radical circles in which I moved, we took seriously the slogan, “labour creates wealth”, almost like an article of faith. Perhaps to a lesser degree, so did the rest of the society, the governments of the regions and the government at the centre inclusive. Labour creates wealth. You have to treat labour with respect, fairness and dignity, even if sometimes you were forced to do so through demonstrations, rallies, strikes and armed uprisings. And if labour is the source of wealth, labour is also the source of value. And as the source of value, labour is what holds everything together; it is the cement that keeps the building blocks of social cohesion securely in their places within the united whole. Again with the proviso that I do not wish to idealize or romanticize the past, I would nonetheless argue that with all its imperfections and terrible crises that ultimately led to a harrowing civil war, the Nigeria of the first half of my lifetime so far was based on this principle. As noted in the title of this piece, I am addressing this essay primarily to younger compatriots, those of the generations that came after the great sea change from the direct exploitation of the products of labour as the source of surplus extraction by our elites to oil wealth based mostly on offshore production as a source of accumulation that seems to have little or no need for the labour of the vast majority of the populace. In plain terms, the Nigeria into which our younger compatriots were born and are being born is a Nigeria in which the elites, by an overwhelming consensus, feel and act as if labour and value do not matter, at least as long as the oil keeps flowing. It is a Nigeria in which social discontents and upheavals not only keep rising but are also taking ever more bizarre and terrifying forms. There are many reasons for this, but one big factor we must bear in mind is the fact that with the disappearance of labour and value as the linchpins of social cohesion and national unity, corruption has become the glue that keeps the society together. In lieu of equitable distribution of the social surplus through respect for and fairness to labour, corruption has become the primary means of redistribution without which everything would finally cave in. But corruption can never be a socially beneficial means of redistribution of wealth. And neither can it serve as a strong, durable glue for social cohesion. This observation, this claim will be the starting point for next week’s continuation of the series. Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

sms only: 08116759748

Hurray! Jonathan snares his quarry G

IVEN his talent for amassing enemies you didn’t need a prophet to tell you that former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure was likely to end in tears. In the end he has been nudged out of the door courtesy of some dodgy contrivance of officialdom called a “suspension.” Given the roadblock set up in Section 11 (f) of the CBN Act 2007 which requires the President to seek the approval of two-thirds of the Senate in order to remove the CBN Governor, this “suspension” was the quickest way of getting rid of him. The official line is that Sanusi’s removal was down to acts of ‘financial recklessness, violation of due process and the mandate of the CBN.’ Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, then listed a litany of sins such as “persistent refusal and negligence to comply with public procurement act in the procurement practices of the CBN; unlawful expenditure by the CBN on intervention projects across the country, deploying huge sums of money without appropriation and outside the CBN’s statutory mandate.” From where I stand it is hard to determine Sanusi’s guilty or innocence. Still, it is rich hearing this administration which stands accused of similar malfeasance levelling these allegations. This is a government that is straining to explain the whereabouts of $10.8 billion from crude oil sales proceeds which the erstwhile CBN boss insists the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is yet to pay into the Federation Account. This is an administration which is unable to explain what happened to billions expended on funding kerosene subsidy by the same NNPC. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has said the monies were spent without authorisation. This is the same administration which the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has accused of presiding over the emptying of the Excess Crude Account (ECA). The allegation that $5 billion is missing from the account remains unresolved. According to CBN figures, the ECA had $11.5 billion in December 2014 but by January 17, 2014 that amount had dwindled to $2.5 billion. Many would attribute this evaporation of cash to “financial recklessness.” In its attempt to justify the dramatic “suspension” the presidency claims that the exgovernor’s infractions and reign of recklessness lasted for most his tenure. This raises natural questions as to why wait until three months to the end of the man’s tenure to bring him to book – given that government was so concerned about the health of the CBN. What was wrong in 2009 is wrong in 2014. Why did President Goodluck Jonathan tolerate Sanusi’s excesses for virtually all of

IGERIAN politics has come a long way. In the past defectors who crossed party lines for whatever reason were viewed as a detestable subset of the political class. They were often denigrated as desperate people who stood for nothing and would flee a sinking ship at the fight sight of water. These days the defector is king. He is courted by even presidents as Goodluck Jonathan did not so long ago when he led a colourful rally in Sokoto to welcome serial defector, former Governor Attahiru Baffarawa into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). All parties are in on the act. The All Progressives Congress (APC) was the major beneficiary of the first wave of defections last year. But it is now crying foul that the eventual destination of potential carpet-crossers is being determined with generous cash inducements by the PDP.

Kano was one of the stops last Saturday on President Goodluck Jonathan’s whirlwind tour of the palaces of traditional rulers. On hand to receive him was Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, first from right, the man he would fire five

his tenure? Apparently, public officials engaging in malpractices is fine so long as they remain good boys who don’t paint the government in bad light. When Sanusi was feverishly defending the removal of petroleum subsidy on national television in January 2012 his ‘sins’ were overlooked. But they suddenly became unforgiveable and deserving of a suspension because he allegedly leaked an embarrassing letter about the mismanagement of the nation’s finances to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He exacerbated matters by his further revelations about missing monies at the National Assembly public hearings. Government spokesmen say the sacking was not about Sanusi’s utterances at the Senate. They can tell it to a platoon of marines. It is clear this drama isn’t about transparency. On that score the government is in no position to point fingers at anyone. This is clearly a vengeful political act designed to spite a man who dared the president. In any country the office of president is a powerful one – but it is more so in developing nations like Nigeria with baby democratic institutions, and where constitutional rule is still evolving. Often, presidents get away with murder unchallenged. Examples

days later. Did the president know what he was going to do by then? You bet. The closed-mouth grimace or grin effectively masked any malevolent intent. Politicians deserve Oscars for their acting ability.

abound from Cameroon to Zimbabwe to Gambia where the leaders’ very words have become law, the police and military his personal enforcers to deploy as he deems fit. But while we must respect and honour leaders as symbols of our sovereignty, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the office of president is a creation of the constitution. He’s not a monarch whose word is law. Even modern day monarchies are regulated. He’s not some infallible deity who must be worshipped and revered. He is a fallible human prone to the same foibles and frailties that are common to men. So, to President Goodluck Jonathan we say congratulations. You finally got rid of Sanusi. What an achievement sacking a man who was just a couple of months away from retirement! It must feel good letting another of your ‘enemies’ know how awesome your powers are as president. For the former CBN boss suspension may turn out to be the least of his worries. There may be something or nothing to the negative claims about his tenure. In heat of his purge of CEOs who had turned their financial institutions into personal piggy banks, he used to boast about sending offending Managing Directors to jail. I doubt whether he would want Jonathan and his men to give him a taste of his own medicine. Perhaps they may just stop at destroying his reputation.

2015: Beyond the defections As though the whiff of the scandalous that trails them wherever they turn were not bad enough, a comical turn was introduced into the matter not too long ago. Former FCT Minister, General Jeremiah Useni, who heads the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) miffed that his party had lost one of its few national legislators went public to correct certain wrong impressions. He said the instruction given to the representative by the party was actually to defect to the PDP! Apparently, the man got things mixed up and landed in APC. So far there’s no indication that he’s retraced his steps. It is tragic that as we head for 2015 the basis on which political parties would be ask-

ing us to vote is how many defectors they managed to attract into their ranks. Although I believe that individuals should be allowed to freely join and freely depart any party or organization, many of those who are fleeting from place to place are not doing so for any firm convictions. In most instances the reasons are as pedestrian as ‘I wasn’t made head of the party in my state’ or ‘I was denied ticket for some election.’ In the end when their personal quest fails they, without any sense of shame, quickly return to their vomit. I was reading about a couple of politicians in Imo State apparently afflicted by the wandering disease. They had been in APC

Some have pointed out that Sanusi’s ouster bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami. Whereas the judge still had two years to go and was clearly not in a hurry to depart, the CBN Governor had repeated again and again that he didn’t want a second term. Until the very end the powers of the president to suspend Salami was a matter of intense debate. Another issue was whether the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the judiciary were correct in surrendering the powers to regulate their branch and hand same to the president. Till date many insist it was a blunder on the part of the NJC. But once the suspension was activated it was sustained until Salami’s voluntary retirement. There are those who would say that the presidential move against Sanusi was just a cynical ploy to get a troublemaker out of the way knowing that his only option would be a re-

course to the snail-speed courts. In the end even if it is decided that Sanusi’s removal was illegal, it would be an academic exercise that would only inform any future actions by other presidents. A court ruling on whether Jonathan was right or wrong may be immaterial to Sanusi’s career progression, still it is important to test whether the constitution has made Nigerian presidents as powerful as they think they are, or whether a conniving public has allowed egotistical men to launch unending and unchecked power grabs. It would be interesting to watch what the National Assembly would say or do. Would it take a clear position on this presidential maneuver? The Presidency is throwing everything at Sanusi in a bid to destroy him. He is being investigated by every agency that has a name. That is fine. But who will examine a powerful president’s actions? The courts for one: the legislature also if they would rise to the occasion. Can we trust this National Assembly to do their duty? The courts may take the rest of the decade to decide if the President has violated the laws in this instance. Ordinary Nigerians don’t have those same constraints. They can reward him if they feel he has done well or make him pay a political price if he has overreached. Time will tell. but now have seen the light and are set to be received with fanfare by President Jonathan. Just trying to make sense of how many times two of them have switched parties makes me dizzy. There’s a lie that has been sold to the public for too long. It claims that Nigerians don’t bother with issues when they vote. Nothing can be farther from the truth. I know of incumbents who were punished by voters for their appalling record whilst in office. The electorate will focus on those things we prioritise. A celebration of defectors is not a game that will do the parties – especially the opposition much good. They must begin to focus like a laser on Jonathan’s record in office. Anything short will allow the other side to define them in those terms that play to our primordial and emotional weaknesses.

THE NATION ON SUNDAYFEBRUARY 23, 2014

‘I expect formidable opposition in Bayelsa’

Alhassan alters Taraba 2015 calculations

‘Obasanjo’s indifference won’t affect Ogun PDP’

PAGE 21

PAGES 20

PAGE 22

Can Mu’azu change PDP tide? The new Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Mu’azu, has been moving round the country in a deperate bid to save the once formidable ruling party which was torn to shreds before his emergence. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, in this report, asks if Mu’azu’s task is indeed a mission impossible?

DAMU Muazu’s emergence as the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was as intriguing as the Herculean task he is expected to accomplish. His predecessor, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who, during his tenure, enjoyed President Goodluck Jonathan’s full support had run into deep waters and could no longer be saved even by Jonathan. So, aspirants for the party’s topmost job began to press buttons for recommendations. By mid January 2014, the list of leading candidates for the job included former Min-

ister of Commerce, Idris Waziri, former Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, former Acting National Secretary of PDP, Musa Babayo, a former spokesman of the party, Ahmed Rufai Alkali, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ibrahim Bunu and Adamu Mu’azu, a former governor of Bauchi State. Given the open secret that Jonathan preferred Umar to the other candidates, only very few observers and insiders gave Mu’azu a chance. That was before the final intrigues. Politics of PDP and Mu’azu’s emergence It began long before the emergence of former National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga

Tukur, in 2012. Some power brokers in the party, especially the North-East top leaders, had faulted Jonathan’s choice of Tukur. When Jonathan ignored their advise and confirmed Tukur, the long drawn battle began. Although Tukur held on until early this year, observers said his emergence, without the support of some power blocs within PDP was part of the genesis of the crisis within the PDP, which he could not manage and which Mu’azu is expected to resolve. Given this background, informed insiders were not surprised on the final day of the race for PDP top job this year’s

January, when most of the influential PDP chieftains and the governors supported North-East PDP governors to challenge alleged Jonathan’s choice in favour of Mu’azu. According to an insider source, “It was a last minute intervention that Sunday night. Mr President had held crucial meetings with top party stakeholders, including Vice President Namadi Sambo, PDP governors, Senate President David Mark and others. In those meetings, most of the power brokers supported the North-East caucus, who insisted on Mu’azu as a consensus candidate. That matter came to a head when Jonathan confidants like Akwa

Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, Bayelsa State governor, Serieke Dickson, David Mark and others also advised him to endorse Mu’azu. Probably determined to avoid a repeat of what happened when he insisted on Tukur, Mu’azu got the president’s nod ahead his alleged favoured candidate. It would be recalled that in a zonal congress election conducted by the NorthEast PDP in Bauchi to choose a consensus candidate for the zone in 2012, it was Babayo that got 14 •Continued on Page 23

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

POLITICS

‘I expect formidable opposition in Bayelsa’

OW has the journey been so far? It is has been an exciting , interesting and challenging journey so far and as I interact with my people, leaders and as I get feedback from the grassroots and particularly as I go round inspecting and commissioning projects and interacting with the common people as well as the elites, I get to hear their words of encouragement and candid views of commendation and I see smiles on the faces of people when I go round to commission project that touch their lives. I am really encouraged and that has given me a feeling that our efforts to make a difference has been worth it. As the governor of the heartland of Ijaw nation, how do you feel? It has been an exciting journey. Are there challenges? Yes, many challenges. Are we confronting those challenges? Very well so. Are we hopeful of a difference at the end of this journey? Clearly, already there is light at the end of the tunnel and people are already seeing the light without even waiting for the end of the tunnel. Bayelsa has changed, Bayelsa is constantly changing and we are making a modest effort that everybody appreciates. Between now and last year we have seen a lot of difference. Well, it is not easy for one to do all these things without having a clear blueprint. How did you come about your blueprint? The truth is that I have been involved in the affairs of governance and in public management for sometime. I served here as a Commissioner; Attorney-General and even before then, I have been involved over and over again in community service in the Ijaw movement which exposed me to the realities of underdevelopment and the pains of it, and I became very passionate about the need for change. I believe that the federal government, the government of the federation of our country from independence till now neglected our people which should not have been and that is why there is no road linking Brass till now. No federal road to Okpuruma till now or even to Ageh, which is a natural seaport. But if the federal government either deliberately or inadvertently brought his situation of underdevelopment about or did not pay sufficient attention to it for whatever reason, it is not something we want to see remain so. If we were forgotten by the federal authorities for this long, should we not do something about it by ourselves? Should we also forget ourselves? Now, these are the things that have propelled me, the pains of underdevelopment and I thought that if God in His infinite wisdom and mercy and the people of Bayelsa State gave me a mandate such as this, the least I could do is to bring about maximum impact. I want my tenure as governor to have maximum impact, not only in this generation but for a long time to come and I made that very clear in my declaration speech. I made it clear that with me as governo, Bayelsa and the Ijaw nation will never be the same again. These were things I meant and a lot of people did not know. The other thing is that I am a passionate person, I am not a person of half measures, I am either warm or cold, I am not lukewarm and I am a politician of conviction, I am not a politician of convenience. So, the things that propel me are deep things, they are not issues that come and go or change in a day. I am influenced and motivated by values that are lasting, principles that are enduring and I am compelled to pursue a vision that I think could outlive our generation and I think that is the purpose of leadership. But unfortunately, in our own enclave and even generally, that kind of a person does not come all the time, but when we have someone who has a clear vision of what has to change the society, because the political process throws up all kinds of characters as leaders, so it is not always that you have people who have the necessary preparation, the right understanding and then the commitment and passion; these three things must be in one. You may know what to do but you are not passionate about it. So, a lot of issues in political leadership, particularly through the democratic process. Democratic process does not guarantee that the best man emerges and that is the sad thing about a democratic political process and that is why societies that are not democratic also make a lot of progress and even more. Go to China, a one party state, go to Saudi Arabia, and even Gadaffi. So, for me, with my variegated background of sorts, I am a little bit of a number of things. These aspects expose me to the realities of underdevelop-

Governor Henry Seriake Dickson is two years in the saddle. He recently celebrated the second year anniversary of his regime in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State. In this interview with a select group of journalists, which included Victor Oluwasegun, he gives an insight into his desire to make Bayelsa the Dubai of Africa. Excerpts:

• Dickson

ment, the imperative for change and development and with the constant reminder that if I, with all these advantages and exposure, with all the values that I have been exposed to over the years, if I cannot make a difference, who else? So, I came prepared for change and I warned my people because some of them thought they were electing a regular politician. I told them that they were in for a big bang, they should be ready and put on their seatbelt and we are shaking our society for good and I hope to do so for quite sometime to come. The society that will develop are societies that are founded on knowledge. By September, this state will have its senior secondary compulsory boarding school completed. The state policy will be implemented and parents won’t pay a dime, we are going to bring best teachers from all over the world to teach them and then when they register for WAEC, NECO and JAMB, let us see if Bayelsa will not come first. Right now, no student pays for WAEC, NECO or JAMB, government pays, so that is where our education policy is. We just approved 1billion for those 20 secondary schools, we will do the hard work now by creating those infrastructure and then bringing the right people to man it. We are also building teachers training institute because all these will be in vain if we don’t have teachers who will impact knowledge into these kids. The Canadians are going to run the institute, every teacher must pass through that school because I want the teachers to be tested and to know if they have the skills and knowledge because all of us are products of what our teachers impacted into us. Apart from God, our parents and teachers made us into what we are. People don’t believe the campaign against me because the common people know what we are doing. For the old people, the welfare system has been instituted by law. Once you are 75 and above, you have N5000 allowance and they are paid every month. I don’t know them and I don’t need to. Also, this state will be the first to have an organised economy, planned social welfare scheme, planned medical insur-

ance cover. These have made crime rate to be low. How does it feel to be the state governor of a president? It is very exciting to be the governor of a president. They are governors who complain that they have national chairmen of their party from their state and I always tell them, if they don’t want it, they should zone it to Bayelsa because I have room for it. The good thing about Bayelsa is this, because of the years of political interaction that I have had with the president, who is not just an elder brother but also a political leader, there is wonderful synergy, chemistry and understanding at a personal level between us. He is also the person that does not interfere with what I do, we don’t feel the weight of his authority while dealing with him. He is a gentleman who believes in due process and cares passionately for this state and region as he cares for Nigeria as a whole. Having a president from your state, to me, is like having an umbrella, it is like having someone you can run to for advice, and who you can ask for support. I know that because of the kind of politics in the country, some people find it difficult in those kinds of situations because we have a situation where the president will know everybody in the state. So, everybody who deals with you also deals with the president. A lot of people could find that unsettling and I think that is part of the issue we had even though with time, you will know why my predecessor did some of the things he did. I enjoy having a president from my state and I wish to have more presidents from Bayelsa because it makes the burden of leadership easier and lighter and the president is like an umbrella and that gives me an additional responsibility and I think we are coping well and I am a very secure person. Secured and confident, I am not someone who is unsettled by all the traditional rivalries. I have a very cordial relationship with the president which has come a long way and far longer than a number of people do have. There are lots of construction going on and it is on at time where allocation is dropping, so, where are you getting money for these

works? A lot of people have also asked this question because initially when I came in, they knew the state of the economy. When I listed all I was going to do, there was a lot of cynicism which I understand then but now they saw that every pronouncement I made was followed through with action and then the talk changed to where is he getting money from? Are we sure these are not federal projects? These are processes that are very transparent, all commissioners sit and we work out the indices and it is announced. With your declaration and your constant statement of account, are you not carting problem for whoever will takeover after you? Also, are you indebted to any bank? You cannot run a government without once in awhile telling a bank that your FAC has not come, so they should borrow you something. Government is a very complex institution to run and even when money is there, you don’t want to touch the money because it is set aside for a purpose. We are not seriously indebted to any bank on account of what we are doing. Government is a very huge bureaucracy, particularly when you are doing projects, you cannot rule out the possibility of saying I want this project done and it must be commissioned in two years. The reason why I made the account known to everybody is because of transparency. I could have made it by policy but no. Yes, I am making things difficult for whoever comes after me and for all time. I want to institutionalize this culture of giving account and people coming to listen to you every month publicly and ask questions. I have never dealt with anybody in the treasury since I became the governor, I don’t even know who is who. There is no room for any bagger to steal anything in Bayelsa State, it is not possible and even of you wanted to, the checks and balances are too much, you can’t. We are servicing debt of about 3billion every month. How did it come about? My predecessor owed banks and he said he took a bond and it was very controversial but after coming in and since I am running a government, government is a continuo for the long term image of the state as a solvent and respectable entity, I thought that I should not challenge it. We are servicing the debt regularly. He took bonds of about 60billion and the bond will expire in 2017. If I have that money available to me, what you people would have been seeing will be different but don’t worry, government comes and goes and once we don’t loose focus, things will be alright. It appears some people are trying to distract your attention as regards 2015, is there any opposition? There has to be opposition, this is a democratic government and I am a democrat. I spent over six and half years in opposition, I was a leader of opposition in this state. I respect opposition and I expect a vibrant, formidable and focused opposition and also a constructive opposition. Opposition politicians are not my enemies, I take them as friends. It is their responsibility to ensure that they play by the rules and it is my own responsibility to ensure that the laws are respected and obeyed and particularly in this environment, once there is no criminality, we are all fine. I don’t promote criminality and that is why this place is peaceful and if you do that in the guise of opposition politics, I will descend on such person and no regret for that. Opposition politics and including people who have ambition to be governors are welcomed, why not? Politicians are ambitious people. I contested against somebody and I expect people to also contest against me fairly. If I wanted to be a governor for example now, I will not criticize a governor for tax because that is the right thing to do for the state, that is the kind of courageous and patriotic opposition that is needed. It was the view of experts I respected that is saving the economy of the state now. I listen to people, I am not dogmatic, if you convince me with superior reasons, I know and acknowledge it and identify my position on it immediately. I am not someone that is moved by sentiment and blackmail and the reason is because it is not right. I will support any opposition but I did not allow new PDP to be because it was illegal and they were bringing propaganda to overhaul all the legal order. APC is a registered political party, so it has the right to exist and it is my duty as the governor of the state to ensure that they are protected. I disagree with their ideology, I will defeat them, I will campaign for my party but they have a right to exist.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

POLITICS

•Alhassan

• Umar

OR trusted aides and loyalists of the Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar, his alleged ambition to contest the 2015 governorship ambition is no longer a matter of if but when he would publicly acknowledge it. Though yet to formally declare his intention to assume the governorship seat in substantive capacity come May 29 next year, strong indications have emerged that Umar has been pulling out all the stops to win his party, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), nomination. To further enhance his chances at the polls, the acting governor has quietly embarked on an aggressive lobby of influential stakeholders in the state whose support is critical to the realisation of his ambition. Despite the running battle the acting governor has been having with loyalists of his ailing boss, Danbaba Suntan, The Nation gathered that his camp has come up with a three-pronged strategy to neutralise the opposition within and outside his party. Sources revealed that the first strategy is for Umar to have a firm grip of the government and the state House of Assembly. When it became apparent that Suntai will not return to his seat anytime soon, Umar had quickly fired Ambassador Emmanuel Njiwah, a Suntai loyalist, as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), replacing him with Mr. Garvey Yawe. Besides six new commissioners Umar appointed, he also announced Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf as his Chief of Staff. With erstwhile Speaker of the House of Assembly, the late Haruna Tsokwa, also rallying the support of majority of his colleagues behind the acting governor, Suntai’s vestiges in government became even further obliterated. Following Tsokwa’s death late last year, another Umar loyalist, Mr. Josiah Kente, was elected as new speaker, a development that confirmed Umar’s consolidation of power in the North East state. Kente, a former Deputy Majority Leader of the Assembly, emerged through consensus after members agreed to zone the speakership position to Taraba South. Tsokwa was also from Taraba South. The deputy speaker, Tanko Maikerifi, was said to have been disqualified to ensure the emergence of a Christian to fill the post. With the cabinet and the legislature issue firmly settled, the acting governor, according to sources, has also been playing the ‘right politics’ in order to be in the good books of the presidency and the leadership of the party. This strategy, perhaps, explains why Umar has queued behind the position of the presidency on contending issues such

Alhassan alters Taraba 2015 calculations The much speculated governorship ambition of Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has altered the dynamics likely to shape the 2015 governorship race in Taraba State, reports Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo as the leadership tussle in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and the now resolved crisis in the PDP that led to the ouster of its erstwhile National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. The third and final strategy is the enlistment of support of influential figures in Taraba, including traditional rulers and elder statesmen, such as the former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophillus Danjuma. Unconfirmed report has it that the acting governor sometime ago allegedly undertook some whistle-stop visits to some notable traditional rulers in the north, who he reasoned can put in a word for him with the powers that be in the presidency. But despite all of these alleged schemings by Umar, his alleged ambition is not going down well with some stalwarts of Taraba PDP. The arrowhead of this opposition is the senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha, who has also declared his intention to contest the governorship in 2015. Bwacha, a former Commissioner for Agriculture under Suntai’s predecessor, Reverend Jolly Nyame, and former member of the House of Representatives, has been unsparing in his criticisms of Umar for his refusal to revert back to his deputy governorship position, accusing the acting governor of being ‘inordinately ambitious.’ The Nation gathered that in spite of his alleged underdog status in the contest for the PDP governorship ticket, Bwacha is confident of pulling the rug off the feet of Umar, perceived by many PDP members

Governor Nyame, the candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the general elections. Though a Muslim, Alhassan’s ability to gain the support of the predominantly Christian population, largely accounted for her victory, much to the consternation of her opponents who thought the religious factor would be her undoing at the polls. With speculations gaining ground that the senator, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP, is warming up for the 2015 governorship race, sources disclosed that there are fears within the PDP that the former Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court would be a hard nut to crack at the polls if she is fielded by the APC. At a rally held by the APC in Yola, the capital city of Adamawa State, Alhassan was the only woman among the other leaders of the party who were allotted time to speak to the crowd of party supporters. This development, a source in the party says, clearly portrays the senator as someone to watch in next year’s governorship race. The religious factor A Christian-dominated state, observers of Taraba politics posit that the alleged usurping of the governorship seat by Acting Governor Umar (a Muslim) may negatively affect the aspiration of any Muslim governorship candidate in the 2015 race. But supporters of Alhassan disagree with this school of thought. They are confident that the senator’s achievements as well as her pedigree are enough to defeat whoever the ruling party in the state presents as its candidate. As the countdown to next year’s polls begins, what is not in doubt is the fact that the 2015 Taraba State governorship election will be a straight fight between the PDP and the APC.

in Taraba State as the man to beat for the party’s ticket. Sources revealed that Bwacha, in order to shore up his support base, has been holding quarterly meetings with his loyalists, in addition to organising empowerment programmes for his constituents. Alhassan alters the dynamics For Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, her emergence and rise in the politics of Taraba State came like a bolt from the blues. While her admirers readily cite her grassroots appeal, philanthropy and courage as factors responsible for her meteoric rise in politics within a short period of seven years, her critics, however, argue otherwise. They are quick to point out that Alhassan’s alleged RE: OVUOZORIE MACAULAY immense wealth and contacts in high places rather Our attention has been drawn to an arthan her popularity contribticle carried on page 25 of Sunday, Febuted largely to her electoral victory in 2011. ruary 2, 2014 edition of The Nation But either for her critics newspaper about Comrade Ovuozorie or admirers, one fact that is, however, incontestable is Macaulay, We have found out that the that Alhassan, a lawyer by article contained certain assertions that training, has become a factor in Taraba politics. are not correct. A former Attorney GenWe hereby retract the article and regret eral and Commissioner for Justice in Taraba State, the embarrassment it caused Comrade Alhassan defeated AmbasOvuozorie Macaulay and his family. sador Anthony Manzo to secure the PDP senatorial Editor ticket, and against earlier permutations, trounced ex-

OUR ERROR

POLITICS

ITH the appointment of a new national chairman of the PDP, what is the situation with the party now? All is calm within the party now. The generality of the party members are happy with the emergence of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as chairman. The erstwhile national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, did not commit any offence other than his conviction that President Goodluck Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest for a second term. Because there were many grievances and many divisions within the party, Tukur decided to resign for peace to reign. The new leadership is enjoying the support of the PDP chairmen in the 36 states, the PDP governors and Mr. President. Mu’azu visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo and sought his co-operation in resolving PDP crisis. Will your group be willing to reconcile with the Obasanjo camp? We don’t have factions in the PDP. The entire PDP in Ogun State is with us. I believe the relationship between us and the Obasanjo group can be cordial if both are sincere with one another. The bone of contention is the removal of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Chief Bode Mustapha as National Secretary and National Auditor of the PDP. Both of them are Obasanjo’s men. The fact is that Bode Mustapha is not an accountant by profession. He didn’t possess requisite qualification for the office of National Auditor as specified in the PDP constitution. As regards Oyinlola, his nomination for the office of the National Secretary did not follow due process. His appointment was declared null and void by the court. Though he challenged the High Court judgment at the Court of Appeal, which overturned the judgment in his favour, we have appealed against the judgment at the Supreme Court. Until the matter is

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

‘Obasanjo’s indifference won’t affect Ogun PDP’ Chairman, Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bayo Dayo, speaks on the party’s readiness for next year’s general elections, reconciliation of warring groups, the postponed PDP South-West congress and sundry matters. Assistant Editor, Leke Salaudeen, reports.

• Dayo

decided by the apex court, nobody can say anything about it. So, the situation on ground is a legal matter, not a matter of negotiation or dialogue. The Odunjirin group in Ogun PDP chapter has petitioned Mu’azu, demanding reinstatement of Oyinlola and others and reinstatement of the dissolved party executive council for peace to reign. What’s your comment? Odunjirin and his co-travellers are asking for the impossible. The con-

gress that produced the current executive was monitored by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies. Thereafter, we went to court and the court upheld the congress. We followed due process by holding congresses at ward and local government levels, which culminated in a state congress. Odunjirin group never held any congress. How could they have held a congress without following due process? Odunjirin group didn’t hold congress and it didn’t elect party executives. The court has confirmed this. If they are not satisfied, Odunjirin and his group should go back to challenge the court decision that upheld our congress. The new National Chairman is a law-abiding citizen and believes in the rule of law. He will not condone illegality. But Odunjirin group insists that there would be no genuine reconciliation without considering their demands. What is your response? What demands are they making? They are just causing distraction. The court has authenticated the party’s executive, led by my humble self. We are working for the progress of the party using the resources of our leader, Prince Buruji Kashamu. Odunjurin has two federal board appointments, I don’t hold any. His son is the Special Adviser to the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun

Aganga. What does he contribute to the party in spite of all this party patronage? Odunjirin has no followers; he is not a grassroots politician. He can’t win an election in his Remo North Local Government. The man had been rejected by the PDP and the court. The leaders can listen to him but nothing can change the status quo in the PDP Ogun State chapter. For now, nothing can be done, our tenure ends in 2016. The PDP is one in Ogun State. When will the Southwest Congress hold? It is for the National Working Committee to decide. At the pre-National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja recently, we pleaded with the party leadership to fix a date for the congress now that there is no court injunction. On our part, we have zoned the offices to the states. Some people are working underneath to ensure the congress does not hold so that they will continue to appoint their protégés as members of the caretaker committee. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had decided to step aside from PDP activities. Will his absence affect the PDP’s performance in 2015 elections? When Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida stepped out in the midst of June 12 crises, heaven did not fall. If Papa Obasanjo decides to step aside ahead of 2015, we can’t stop

him. In 1999, he lost his ward, his local government and the state but the PDP won the presidential election of which he was the party’s standard bearer. He should be bold enough to tell Nigerians his political interest now. His absence will not affect the PDP’s fortunes in Ogun State. Everything is in the hands of God. Nobody owns Nigeria. This country belongs to us all. A new group of South-West PDP under the leadership of the former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide, emerged recently, denouncing the leadership of Prince Buruji Kashamu. What is your view on this development? Which group is that? It is unknown to us as leaders of the PDP in the South-West. I think people like Papa Akinjide should be playing the role of elder statesmen now. We have not forgotten the role he played in the two-thirds controversy in the 1979 presidential election. It will not augur well for any Yoruba man to associate himself with another two-thirds agenda. I voted in 1979, I knew all that happened then. Our people will not be part of another two-thirds controversy. INEC has released time table for the 2015 general elections. How prepared is the Ogun State PDP chapter? We are getting prepared. The PDP in Ogun is working slow and steady to win all the elections in the state. We are not going to use cutlasses or firearms to win the election. We abhor violence in all ramifications. We are not for violence and ballot box-snatching. Things are working in favour of the PDP in Ogun State. All we want from INEC is to create a level playing field for all contestants. Once that is done, I can assure you that the PDP would bounce back to power in Ogun come 2015.

‘Katsina government, most transparent in Nigeria today’ The Chief of Staff to Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema of Katsina State, Yusuf Salisu Majigiri, in this interview, speaks to Adetutu Audu on the transformational strides of his principal.

OU started as a councillor, and then local government chairman for three terms before you went to the House of Representatives, and after you became the chief of staff to the governor. How were you able to switch from a lawmaker to your current position effectively? It was easy for me to cope because, initially, when I ventured into politics, I started off as a councillor when I represented my ward. I was then elected chairman of my local government from 1999 to 2007. However, in between this, I was appointed the caretaker committee chairman of the defunct local government area. It was carved out of Mashi Local Government. That responsibility was an executive one, so, I know how the executive works. These two experiences as a lawmaker and chairman of local government assist me in my new assignment. How are you using your office to assist the governor to improve governance in the state? I have been trying to see that I put in my own contribution to this administration. The governor is a simple man, a straight forward personality to work with. He is an honest, transparent and committed leader. He decentralised the job such that it is so easy for me to operate

and coordinate all the activities around him, and this is successful because the governor runs an open government. His telephone line is open to the general public. He has not changed his line since he acquired it. Not many governors can hold on to one line. He has maintained the same line for the past 12 years. It is this same line I reach him on as well. The moment you call him, he picks it irrespective of who you are, and, in case he could not pick, send him an SMS and you will promptly get an answer. There is no government that is as transparent as what we have in Katsina at the moment. In terms of projects, how do you compare this administration to the former ones? There is basis for comparison. No doubt, the former President Umaru Yar’Adua did so much in Katsina for the eight years he was here as governor before the country asked him to serve at the highest level of service to the country. Some people are saying the governor has surpassed the administration of the late president. But I disagree. My governor is building on the legacies of the Yar’Adua era. Be that as it may, what this administration has done in terms of developments is more than what you can begin to compare. If you look at the projects since the creation of the state about 25 years ago, up till 2007 when

the Shema administration took over, the total projects executed are not up to what the Shema administration has done in the last seven years. These are projects that are verifiable. Many people think the Shema administration may be the last to be produced by the PDP in Katsina State because of the threat posed by the emergence of the APC? What is your perspective? That can’t be true; you can as well ask yourself, what happened in 2011? They said a similar thing. They said so in 2003. This is not the first time we are hearing this kind of announcement, and, funny enough, it is the same people that have been saying this. In 2003 when there was the ANPP, they used a lot of things to campaign and said by the end of the election, the PDP government would be over, we won. In 2007, they made the same statement but we won the election. In 2011, they said all sorts of things, but by God’s grace, we won again. Thus the governor is doing his second term. I am assuring you, by God’s grace, by the efforts the governor has made in the state, in terms of projects, youth empowerment, the PDP has come to stay and will win the coming election. With the crisis in the PDP, what difference will the change of the National Chairman make? From the look of things, we are seeing the end of the crisis. It is nor-

• Majigiri

mal to have a crisis in any society because, on the long run, it makes the society even better; the only reason ours appears apparent is because we are in power. I must commend my party leadership over the way the new administration of Adamu Mu’azu emerged. Already, his efforts are yielding results. There is reconciliation going on which, of course, is leading to our members returning The Shema administration says

he has engaged in projects without borrowing. What is the secret? The secret of this administration is good management under a transparent leader. We have a good manager. That’s why we can see all these projects. Many people are surprised we did this much without borrowing a kobo and are still financially buoyant. Not a single kobo, either within or outside the country, has been borrowed since the administration came in.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

POLITICS

‘APC determined to bring Nigeria back from ruin’

T is with great pleasure that I stand in front of you all at this historic event of the unveiling and presentation of All Progressives Congress (APC) political party and its logo to Nigerians in the State of Maryland. Welcome! The All Progressives Congress, also known as the APC, was formed in February 2013; the result of the amalgamation of the four biggest opposition parties in Nigeria - the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP), and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). On July 31, 2013, the APC received approval from the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to become a political party. Subsequently, INEC withdrew the operating licenses of the three previous and merging parties (the ACN, CPC and ANPP), now referred to as the legacy parties. The merger was fashioned to take on the socalled ‘all mighty’ People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and to offer a recipe for peace and prosperity to the beleaguered, longsuffering people of Nigeria. The APC is committed to the principles of internal democracy. It focuses on issues of serious concern to the Nigerian people, and is determined to bring corruption and insecurity to an end, thereby stopping and reversing the trend of increasing despair and hopelessness among Nigerians, both at home and abroad. The resolution to solve these issues, as well as the restoration of hope, the enthronement of true democratic values for Peace, Democracy, Justice and Good Governance necessitated the birth of the APC, and continue to fuel its growth, even today. This movement has not been without obstacles and challenges clearly designed to sabotage and undercut its efforts. Even at its inception, In March 2013, two other associations – African People’s Congress and All Patriotic Citizens – also applied for INEC registration, adopting APC as an acronym as well, a clever, but cynical attempt to dilute the young coalition’s brand ahead of the 2015 general elections. Undeterred, the party leadership pressed forward, offering to alter the Party name to avoid any conflicts, because its leaders were confident that the strength of this movement is not in its name, but in its ideals and its commitment to them. Thankfully, by divine order, the All Progressives Congress was registered without a change of name. The PDP has essentially ruled Nigeria unchecked since 1999, and in 15 years, its only

ruling party and the resulting problems have resulted in the blatant disregard of the constitution as witnessed by the recent debacle in Rivers State where the State Police takes direct orders from the Presidency to undermine the authority of the democratically elected Governor, who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the State. About the same time, 5 members of the State House of Assembly in Rivers attempted to impeach this same Governor of the State on trumped up charges with the support of the Presidency, all within the PDP.

By Robert Ajayi Boroffice

achievement has been to kill the optimism and dash the hopes of all Nigerians who emerged from under the brutality of successive military dictatorships. Consider, if you will, what the last 15 years have meant for Nigeria under PDP leadership: • a battered economy that increasingly marginalizes the average Nigerian into poverty, while, at the same time, enriching the cabals that have unconstitutional control over state resources in Nigeria; a rise in the impunity of the brazen use of the mechanism of Government at the highest levels by the PDP leadership to intimidate any and all opposition; the loss of manufacturing jobs to neighboring countries as a result of epileptic power supply; Increase in medical tourism to countries like India and South Africa due to the deplorable state of the health system in the country, the appalling and reprehensible condition of our educational system, where students have spent more time at home than in schools; Breakdown of the social and physical infrastructures; Budget Performance which is below 60% annually; Internal terrorism manifesting in Boko Haram insurgency and kidnapping. The APC is determined to bring this great country back from the brink of destruction and ruin by combating the seven major challenges I just outlined with the following goals: National unity and integration; A serious and holistic approach to defending against threats to security, not just a military one; A restitution of constitutional law and order; Ensuring rapid economic growth with equity, as well as economic policies built around, and for, the working class; Consolidating Nigeria’s emerging democratic tradition; Human development; And Meeting the energy needs of the Nigerian people while Instituting a sustainable management of the environment. Many of us want change, in fact, perhaps the overwhelming majority of us desire to have such a decisive and impactful change in our polity, in the way we are governed, in the processes of governance, in the dynamics of our national economy, and in the nature of social cohesion among our peoples. Under the leadership of the current government, several national issues which threaten the unity of and democracy in our great nation have become apparent. These issues include: Ethnoreligious conflicts, militancy and insurgencies; Endemic corruption and electoral malpractices. There is a clear correlation between insurgencies and the high level of unemployment,

The overwhelming majority of Nigerians is increasingly tired of, frustrated with and bewildered by the incompetence, unresponsiveness and irresponsibility of our elected officials, as they should be. Since our independence in 1960, every successive democratically elected administration has performed worse than the previous one with respect to the general welfare of Nigerian citizens and the well-being of our economy.

• Boroffice

poverty and the accompanying disaffection, especially among our youth, whose anger and frustration then make them easy targets for recruitment in these seemingly endless suicidal campaigns of terror. The Government recently declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states to curb the activities of the increasingly emboldened insurgent groups, chief amongst them, the organization known as Boko Haram. Such is the impunity with which the group operates that it hoisted its flag in 11 Local Government Areas in Borno State. And they are not alone. Far from being a regional issue, the slaughter of Nigerian citizens on a daily basis in one part of the country or the other is a stark reality our country currently faces. Armed Robbery and Kidnapping are on the rise and these threaten the security and unity of this nation. The lack of Internal democracy within the

***. Let me take a moment to briefly address our economy. While it’s both true and laudable that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP, grew by approximately 7% last year, that figure represents a net 1% shrinkage from the previous fiscal year, and is still nowhere near the 8-10% annual growth rate needed to reverse poverty trends to meet the goal of lifting Nigeria into the league of the 20 largest countries by 2020. Furthermore, in spite of the apparent growth, the Government, in its handling of the economy, has failed to make a difference in the economic plight of the average person. 1 in 4 Nigerians is unemployed; 1 in 3 among the youth. 7 out of every 10 Nigerians live in poverty. Yet, somehow, in the midst of all this, 8 of the wealthiest 15 Africans call Nigeria home. Personally, I’m amazed. With the amount of corruption, fraud and misappropriation; the mind boggling levels of organized looting being perpetrated and perpetuated by political brigands in power and their business partners, I would think we should score 15 out of 15 of the wealthiest Africans. Our oil sector alone has lost $100 billion to fraud and corruption over the last 10 years. That’s the size of three federal budgets, gone, just like that. When the top 105 Nigerians possess 41% of the national wealth, but the bottom 20%, tens of millions of people, own a meagre 4%, it’s time for a change. Not just a cosmetic face-lift, but a dramatic, genuine, transformative change. And it is within this context, as an agent

•Continued on Page 25

Can Mu’azu change PDP tide?

•Continued from Page 19 votes then to defeat the other contenders. That notwithstanding, Jonathan had given the position to Tukur, who allegedly got only four votes then. The tasks ahead Ma’azu emerged as the National Chairman of PDP at a time the party is facing its worst challenge since its formation in 1998. The 2015 presidential ticket and alleged Preident Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election ambition had created so much division and disagreement within the party. This was worsened by the emergence of the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), followed by the mass defection of PDP top shots, including serving governors, federal and state lawmakers. So, the lot today falls on Mu’azu to resolve the crisis within and save the party from total collapse, a task, which PDP opponents and critics have dismissed as an impossible task. Mu’azu disagrees. To prove that he can change the tide, especially the reconciliation challenge, Mu’azu, since his emergence, has been moving round the country, meeting with stakeholders in a desperate bid to save the party. At the last count, he had consulted with leaders like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military President Ibrahim Babangida and powerful traditional rulers. Soon

after his emergence, he also publicly begged serving governors, who defected from PDP to APC like Rotimi Amaechi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, among others, to return to PDP. As the gale of defections continue till date, there are divided opinion as to whether Mu’azu has what it takes to successfully carry out the PDP reconciliation agenda. Chief Israel Ukegbu, a grassroots leader explains that “Mu’azu may mean well but it will take a change of the PDP structure that promoted the culture of impunity and injustice to fully carry out the reconciliation agenda. Tukur could not resolve this problem, not because he lacked the skill but because the chairman alone cannot change PDP. If he can’t, I don’t know how Mu’azu can,” he said. The Obasanjo dilemma It remains to be seen if Mu’azu’s advances towards reconciling former Preodnt Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan can yield any positive fruit without first returning his sacked loyalists to their plum positions. Just before his emergence, Obasanjo had resigned his position as the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees and had since written several letters that scathingly criticised the government of Jonathan. To help reconcile Jonathan with his estranged godfather, Obasanjo, one of Mu’azu’s first assignments as the National Chairman was a meeting with the former president.

2015 presidential ticket Of all the challenges that Mu’azu has to tackle as Chairman, the issue of 2015 presidential ticket remains most tricky. This is because of the demands of the North to be given the ticket, based on alleged zoning policy and Jonathan’s desperate bid to serve another term. So, the most herculean task before Mua’azu today is the conduct of the party’s presidential primary. Can Mu’azu give the ticket to another candidate if Jonathan’s interest remains sustained? If he yields to Jonathan, will he enjoy a better treatment from his people up North than his predecessor, Tukur? Does Mu’azu have the magic wand? PDP members and supporters think he has what it takes. Former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, who recently joined PDP, said he believes a great change is imminent in PDP because “the present chairman of our party is very energetic, a listener; he is someone who can take advice. Therefore, we believe that whatever advice we can give, he will make use of. We are advising him, not for our personal interest but to move our party forward. We don’t have any problem with the current leadership of PDP, the National Chairman and the National Working Committee. I believe they are going to make the PDP better.” He told The Nation recently that “Mu’azu is not a difficult person, so by

his emergence as the National Chairman of PDP, I think God has answered the people’s prayers. This is because Mu’azu believes he can’t do it alone. He needs people’s support, people’s advice. Any leader that admits he can’t do it alone has already solved the problem. But any leader who thinks he can do it alone will soon have problems. I believe Mu’azu is ready, he is determined to bring PDP to a better position.”0 Also, the Chief of Staff to Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema of Katsina State, Honorable Yusuf Salisu Majigiri “From the look of things, we are seeing the end of the crisis. It is normal to have crisis in any society because, on the long run, it makes the society even better; the only reason ours appears apparent is because we are in power. I must commend my party leadership over the way the new administration of Adamu Muazu emerged. Already his efforts are yielding results. There is reconciliation going on.The platform and ability of the party to win election is of utmost importance. Regarding the issue of who becomes what in 2015, at this point, is not important to the party but the stability of the party is what everyone is working towards. We want to have a united, consolidated partly before taking any future action.” It remains to be seen how far he can go to justify such high rating.

POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Joathan’s 2015 bid and the constitution I

T is instructive that President Goodluck Jonathan has of late resorted to the pulpit hoping, apparently in a desperate bid, to push through his barely-disguised intention to seek re-election in the general elections of 2015. Every other Sunday nowadays it has become the expectation that the president could be found mounting the pulpit of one prominent church or the other across the various denominations of the Christian faith sermonising conveniently on issues relating to politics or public affairs. If the president’s expectation is that the clergymen will welcome the idea and key into it wholeheartedly without reservations, this has not turned out so. Taking the whole thing into perspective, no less a prominent clergyman, the Reverend Ignatius Kaigama of the Catholic Church had to publicly come out to admonish the president on trying to turn the Church into a political platform for his (the president’s) political agenda. In the unequivocal perspective of Rev. Kaigama, the danger in this is that the hallowed tradition and disposition of the Church as an impartial participant in national affairs and as sanctuary and spiritual conscience of the nation stands to be compromised if its pulpits are turned into platforms for partisan political campaigns. Accordingly, he counselled the president and other politicians for that matter to instead take their political messages directly to the voting public as is expected in a democracy. Indeed, one of the prominent clergymen from one of the churches that Jonathan recently visited to deliver one of his political sermons was more direct. He told me in confidence that his church received the president only out of courtesy to the office he occupies and also in keeping with the Christian tradition of opening doors to all who seek it. But, he added, “We all were not amused. We were not flattered that the president decided to visit us now only when elections are near and he suddenly recognised us. We have in the past made several attempts to seek audience with him in order to pray and present our views on the way the country was going and provide solutions on how to resolve them. But we

By Iliyasu Gadu

never even got a reply. And failing that, we also sent reports and documentations to his office but none was even acknowledged.” The clergyman concluded with a point which I think the president should especially note. President Jonathan, he says, should hearken to the saying that he who seeks God’s favour must come with a clean mind and a clear conscience. With all the things we are seeing and hearing about this administration, can the president truly expect God’s favour, he asked rhetorically? Indeed, Jonathan’s attempt to use the religion card for political ends is not without precedence. One remembers clearly during the administration of General Sani Abacha, when in similar fashion as Jonathan’s, Abacha had sought the intervention of clergymen of both the Christian and Islamic faiths for his attempt to transmute from military to civilian president. What subsequently happened with Abacha’s attempt at manipulating the religion card is now a sad and unfortunate part of our history and which should make anybody trying to follow the same path think deeply. Beyond playing with religion, with all the legal advice available to him, Jonathan ought to know more than anybody else that there is a constitutional question mark on his 2015 ambition. He should know that as has been repeatedly stated, the constitution which he swore to defend and which forms the ground norm of our democratic dispensation does not allow him to rule as president beyond 2015. If as his supporters keep saying, that his tenure began from 2011 when he was first elected, then it follows that as of the time of the passing of his principal, the late President Yar’adua in 2010, he should have stepped down for fresh elections to be conducted with him as a fresh candidate and not assumed office automatically as he did on that occasion. It follows that his tenure started from that point and since the Constitution does not allow him to be sworn in thrice and to stay in office beyond eight years, his terminal date constitutionally should be 2015 and no more. Are we saying that the two years in which he ruled as successor to the late Yar’adua, when he was constitutionally sworn

• Jonathan

in as president, was to use a popular Nigerian parlance, awoof? That Jonathan is probably aware of this constitutional lacuna on his 2015 re-election efforts and is still going ahead regardless, demonstrates the utter levity with which our political leaders regard the constitution. It is worse even that the president, in the full knowledge of this, tacitly encourages persons and groups to threaten the constitutional order of the country should he not stand for election in 2015. In other climes where provisions of the Constitution are strictly adhered to, the political system does not even allow such to occur. A case in point is in the United States of America where with the demise of President Kennedy in 1963, three years into his tenure, his deputy, Lyndon Johnson, was automatically sworn in to replace him as constitutionally defined. President Johnson subsequently contested the 1964 elections and won, defeating his

Republican challenger Adlai Stevenson. In 1968 when it was time for another round of presidential elections, the Democratic Party declined to field him for the post having regard to the fact that had Johnson contested and won the elections in 1968, by 1972, when elections would have been due, he would have ruled for nine years, which is against the American constitutional eight-year term limits of two terms each for American Presidents. Even though by 1968, Johnson had only spent five years in power, in order to avoid constitutional complications that would have arisen from his ruling for nine years by 1972 had he won in 1968, the Democratic Party of America, instead, fielded President Johnson’s deputy, Hubert Humprey, against Richard Nixon of the Republican Party who subsequently won the elections. Against this background, it behoves on the president’s own political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, to examine critically and resolve dispassionately the constitutional issues surrounding the president’s eligibility to contest the 2015 elections or not. As with the Democrats in America in the case of President Lyndon Johnson, the PDP is presented with an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to protecting and deepening constitutional democracy by adhering strictly to the provisions on presidential term limits which is clear and unambiguous with respect to Jonathan. Not to do so will be setting a dangerous precedent whereby future presidents would seek to conveniently tamper or ignore extant constitutional provisions to suit their whims and caprices. Indeed, as it so happens in Nigeria, it may not be out of place to expect that at some point in the future an incumbent president might point out this breach of the constitution as reason and justification for his own intention to further breach the constitution. In the overriding interest of keeping faith with the country’s constitutional democratic order, the PDP should not seek the political convenience of pandering to the president and vote-catching, at the expense of the constitution.

Re: Mark has failed the people of Benue-South P ARTISAN time is by the corner and so politicians who want to be noticed will not hesitate to make unguided statements in order to be perceived as ‘local champions’ preparatory to the declaration of their ambitions. Most often and quite unfortunately, while I concede the natural right of every human being to nurse sentiments, the colour of sentiments played at partisan times are usually devoid of any modicum of sincerity or the genuine conviction of even the authors to serve the interest they seem to project. It is on these premises that I find the statement credited to one Chief Madaki Omadachi Ameh, titled “Mark has failed the people of Benue-South”, where energy has been dissipated in a futile attempt to cast unnecessary aspersion against the person of the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator (DR) David Mark, quite laughable, amusing and inconsequential. Ordinarily, one would have ignored or disregarded Omadachi’s tantrums chiefly done to cajole Nigerians with the wave of the hand but for the purposes of putting the records straight, I hereby respond to all the issues raised in his tirade. First, Omadachi stated that “Mark, after occupying the seat for the past 16years, since inception of the current political dispensation in 1999, without meaningful contribution to the Idomas, doesn’t deserve another term”. Haba! Omadachi, why are you lying in order to be noticed? Why are you approbating and reprobating at the same time? At the beginning of Omadachi’s statement, he ingloriously stated that the Senate President had done nothing and mid way, he querried why the execution of Agatu-Oweto road is moving milipediously. What a paradox? But since Omadachi appears to be ignorant of the achievements of the President of the Senate in Benue-South, I make bold to inform and educate him and his co-political travellers. First, the very Otukpo-Agatu- Oweto road pointed out by Omadachi is Senator Mark’s brain child. The idea that River Benue could be

RIGHT OF REPLY By Adakole Elijah Makurdi

bridged at Loko for a road to be constructed in order to facilitate easy movement from and to Abuja was initiated by him. The road which today stops at Oshigbudu ranks as one of the best in the country. At least, Omadachi is a living testimony to this because the road passes through Adoka, his ancestoral home. The road before now was like a bush path. The Ogoli and Onaji bridges on that road before now were death traps. At least, with the construction of that road as facilitated by Senator Mark, people are now plying that road with comfort. Therefore, Omadachi’s postulation that the road was being reconstructed was just a mere conjecture. If he has any problem with the project, all that is expected of him was to channel his grievances to the appropriate quarters. Senator Mark, since assuming the political leadership of Benue State-South Senatorial District, has attracted the following projects to his people: Otobi, Multi-purpose Dam, OtukpoNobi Earthdam, Akpegede Dam, Otobi-Otukpo Dam, Owukpa and Otukpa earth Dams under construction, motorised bore holes at College of Education Oju, Obarike-Ito, Ogi-Utonkon, Ipolo-Ugboju and Egba-Agatu as well as over twenty bore holes at different locations in Benue –South Senatorial District. Perhaps, Omadachi is unaware that the Senate President had constructed a multi-million naira health centres at Egba-Agatu and Akpegede- Otukpo. In the area of youth development, Senator Mark, apart from locating a national youth centre each in Ugbokolo, Obagaji, Ohuma and Otoda-Otukpo, had equally built a block of three classrooms each in the following schools: LGEA primary school, Ogam-Agatu, LGEA primary school, Ugbobi-Apa, lGEA primary school, Uwokwu-Oju, lGEA primary school, Ibilla-oju, LGEA primar school, Ohuma-Obi, Community secondary school, Itogo-Obi,

LGEA primary school, Eke-Olengbecho, St. Edwarrd primary school, Owukpa, LGEA primary school, Akpoge-Ogblolo, LGEA primary school, Igumale, LGEA primary school, OtobiAkpa, LGEA primary school, AgadagbaAkwunu, LGEA primary school, Ochobo I, Devine secondary school, Ochobo. Currently, the President of the Senate is constructing a block of three class rooms each in the following schools, St.Joseph’s primary school, Otada-Otukpo, LGEA primary school, Emichi-Otukpo, LGEA primary school, Akpachi-Otukpo, Wesley primary school Utonkon, LGEA primary school, Okuntungbe, LGEA primary school, Inyuma-Oju, LGEA primary school Allan-Akpa, LGEA primary school, Ipega, Adum-Ona, Orokam, as well as Igumale community secondary school, Igumale. It might also interest the self aclaimed “Okaleya” that the Senate President also attracted a colossal eighteen federal roads to the rural communities in Benue-South. these are: Igumale-Ulayi-Ijigban, Oshigbudu-ObagajiOkokolo, Ugbokpo-Edikwu-Opaha, AdumeastOhuma-Ojou, Oju-Ebenta-Uwoku, Ukwo-AhoOwukpa, Okpudu-Idiri-Ikomija, OchoboAgadagba-Onyagede, Adoka-Umogidi-Opaha, Ugbokpo-Ojantele-Ikobi, Ogoli-Ipolo, Awulema-Aigaji-Ogene-Alaglanu, EfoyoIkpogo-Omadewu-Eboya, Adumeast-AdikoOkumtungbe, Otada-Emichi-OkpoumajuOdudaje, Egwuanokwu-Aigaji-Idekpa, OjuOjuma-Edumoga-Ohuma roads. There are also several other electrification projects initiated by Senator David Mark in various communities of Benue-South. Haven pointed out some of the physical development projects, it is necessary for me at this juncture to also inform Omadachi that through political brickmanship of the distinguished Senator Mark, the Otukpo-Enugu road is being given a face lift at least up to Ugbokolo. That Akpagede road has not been given a first class face lift like the Otukpo-Enugu road is a clear testimony that Senator Mark is

not a selfish leader otherwise, he could have done that road at the expense of Agatu-Oweto road and Otukpo-Enugu road. Mark is not a Senator of Akpegede alone but a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing the good people of BenueSouth Senatorial District. It is equally important to inform Omadachi and his hobnobbers that Senator Mark has developed an impressive humanitarian enterprise for the people, especially women and youth in his constituency. This can be periscoped from the establishment of cottage industries in the nine local government areas. Aside this, he also established a scholarship scheme where students from Benue-South and indeed the entire Benue state are benefiting. Over 10,000 students have benefited so far. Similarly, Senator David Mark has facilitated the recruitment of many Idoma youths into federal agencies and parastatals. As for Omadachi’s ambition, I do not begrudge him since that is his entitlement. My happiness is that Senator Mark has become a commodity that other products have to lean on in order to be marketed. Omadachi, who is angling to go to the upper legislative chambers after a futile attempt to go to the house of representative in 2011 should first of all endeavor to comprehend the working of the parliament before venturing into it. As it is today, he is misunderstanding the legislature as an extension of the executive hence he is viewing contract awards and executing as functions of the parliament. He should also try to utilize the instrumentality of persuasive communication to showcasing himself to the electorate instead of denigrating the Senate President with monochromatic accusations. The achievements of Senator Mark as a true representative of his people are obvious and visible. They cannot be diminished by the unfounded allegation of Omadachi — Elijah wrote in from Makurdi, Benue State.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

POLITICS

2015: Miniature Delta and relevance of Ndokwa nation

ITHER by happenstance, benevolence of nature or by purely divine design, Ndokwa nation is unique and of strategic importance to Delta State. This, however, is without prejudice to the contributions and significance of other ethnic nationalities in the oil-rich state. Considering the fact that all other ethnic nationalities in Delta State are parts of Ndokwa nation by cultural and geographical configuration, one cannot help but yield to the temptation of describing the Ndokwa nation as the political and cultural nucleus of Delta State. The description of Ndokwa nation as the central part of Delta State is not merely in terms of cultural homogeneity with, and habitation by all other ethnic groups in Delta State, such as the Isokos, Itsekiris, Ijaws and Urhobos. Physical features, climatic conditions and natural endowments further lend credence to the above truism, hence the ascription of the status of a miniature Delta State to the Ndokwa ethnic nationality. Also based on its geographical location, Ndokwa nation is a cultural bridge to Ikas, Aniocha and Oshimili parts of Delta State. I think based on its location, you find in Ndokwa land that diverse languages, such as Isoko, Ijaw and Urhobo are commonly spoken, in the same breath as Igbo language of Ika, Aniocha and Oshimili. Accident of location has promoted deep cultural intercourse that led over time to marriages and such unions that strengthen unity. Furthermore, the presence of rain and mangrove forest, savannah and desert in the region; features which other ethnic nations and groups do not possess holistically but in parts, shows that the Ndokwa nation has it all. It will amount to stating the obvious by mentioning the large deposit of valuable minerals such as crude oil and very high quality gas in the area as this is already common knowledge. Ndokwa literally translates to peace as depicted by the calm mien, kind hospitality and peaceful disposition of an average Ndokwa

• Uduaghan By Felix Ossai

man and woman. However, for the benefits of those who may not have any knowledge or the background information of the Ndokwa nomenclature, Ndokwa nation, as it is currently constituted, is the summation of the old Aboh Division. It is for administrative convenience and for the purpose of reflecting and identities of the sub-divisions to make up the Aboh Division that the name was changed from Aboh Division to “Ndokwa”, a nomenclature coined out from “Ndoshimili”, the riverine axis of the old Aboh Division and “Ukwuani” the upland axis of the Aboh Division. It is also imperative to, at this juncture, point out the fact that the nomenclatures: “Ukwuani” and “Ndosimili” do not in any way portray any division between the two groups, for you cannot raise one without lifting the other. Delta State and indeed the Nigerian nation have scored tremendous achievements in all spheres of our democratic constructions since the beginning of the fourth republic in

1999, in spite of the challenges. It is worrisome, however, and to a reasonable extent, unfair and unequitable that back to the era of the Mid-Western Region, Bendel State and since the creation of Delta State in August 1991, no son or daughter of Ndokwa extraction has presided over the affairs of Delta State as the Chief Executive in spite of the pride of place and strategic cultural and economic importance of the Ndokwa ethnic nationality. In-as-much as I praise the efforts and sagacity of those making a case for a Delta State Governor of Delta North extraction come 2015, on the basis of equity and fairness, the emphasis ought to, and should be on the axis of Ndokwa nation. It is only in a Delta State Governor extraction in 2015 that equity and fairness would have been maximally attained. Ndokwa nation has credible sons and daughters; intellectuals, seasoned administrators and managers of human and material resources, who are experienced and vast in governance and administration. This therefore is a passionate appeal for equity and fairness by all relevant stakeholders and political actors in Delta State not to allow any “golden weight”, whatsoever, to turn the scale of fairness and equity in their sight in the 2015 Ndokwa Agenda in Delta State. The leader of the ruling party in Delta State and our amiable governor, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, is a man of positive history. 2015 is yet another opportunity of adding a beautiful feather in his well-decorated cap of achievements. Uduaghan would have written his name in gold if his successor emerges from the Ndokwa axis of Delta North Senatorial District because it has never happened before; not even a Deputy Governor. The message, therefore, is a Delta State Governor of Ndokwa extraction and the time is 2015. — Ossai wrote in from Lagos

‘APC determined to bring Nigeria back from ruin’ •Continued from page 23

of this quest for change, that the APC is casting its vision towards the 2015 general elections. The Party’s platform is a seven point cardinal program addressing the critical areas of: • Energy, • Systemic corruption, • Food security, • Transportation and Education, • The balance of power between Federal, State and Local governments • The National economy, and • Health care. The party’s vision is that of a progressive state anchored on social democracy; one that is economically viable, socially secure, and politically stable; a state, where the creative energy of every Nigerian is directed towards productivity to generate wealth for the well-being of its people. The APC, with this mindset, therefore recognizes, highly values and is ready to harness the abundant energies, enterprise and intellect of all Nigerians, particularly the Nigerian youth and women, to move the country forward so that Nigeria can assume its proper place in world affairs commensurate with its size and status as the leading African nation in the world, and, more importantly, reposition it decisively on the route to an

emerging, modern, stable democracy with a productive economy that is based on equity and justice for all citizens. I wish to express my appreciation to the members of this newly formed chapter who as notable Nigerians are rising up against the tyranny, impunity and criminality of the present leadership in the country while aligning yourselves with the “change-oriented” party. You are our compatriots in Diaspora and are no less stigmatized by the cultural reputation of corruption attached to our national identity nor immune to the plight of loved ones facing hardship at home. I wish at this juncture to salute the courage of our leaders, namely Major General Muhammed Buhari, Chief Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Ogbonaya Onu for sacrificing their individual ambition to midwife the APC. I stand here to make a humble commitment to you that we shall continue to push for, and pursue an agenda that will rescue our nation from the shackles of hardship, poverty and irresponsible mismanagement of our economy by the PDP Administration. The APC will provide leadership motivated and inspired to serve our people and promote their wellbeing; leadership determined to serve with honour and integrity in a social contract with the people who will vote them into power. We are one people with allegiance to one nation under the Sovereignty of one

God who has bestowed on us His love that transcends human understanding. It is, therefore, an ultimately destructive act of ingratitude to Him for any individual or party to attempt to exploit religious divisions for electoral victory at the peril of our national unity. God has blessed Nigeria specifically with so much human and natural resources that any administration should be so fortunate as to deliver the promises of peace and prosperity on behalf of its people, providing leadership that mobilizes the creative energy of the citizenry to generate wealth through industry and lift the Nation out of poverty. It is the promise of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress that this party will always choose the path of honour, integrity, accountability and responsibility to provide good governance and life more abundant. It is therefore my pleasure to unveil the logo of the All Progressives Congress in the United States of America chapter of the party. Long live APC! Long live Nigeria!!! Thank you and God bless. — Being excerpts from a speech by Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice at the presentation of the logo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) U.S chapter on February 8, 2014

Emperor Jonathan

ES, he is the President. I do not think anyone has ever doubted this fact, after all he was sworn into that office with fanfare in 2011 following victory at the polls. The awesomeness of his powers, derived from the military-imposed 1999 Constitution, is equally clear to all. However, students of constitutionalism and Political Science know that there are limits to the powers of a President. When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was in power, Nigerians cried out over the blatant abuse of office. They complained that the Nigerian President had reinterpreted his position under the law. Obasanjo lived and loomed very large. He was in every home and said as much. He saw himself as having the power to overrule the leadership of his party. He was involved in the nomination of even local government chairmen. Anyone who stood in his way in the demonstration of absolute power and authority was scorched to the earth. The first President under the extant law is limited by the existent of a legislature. He is bound to obey court orders. He is also expected to promote public morality and act always in the best interest of the country and the people. But, Obasanjo was an emperor. He behaved like Emperors of yore and would brook no opposition. The former President chose what court order to obey and had utter contempt for the National Assembly. He posted chairmen of the ruling party as he did his ministers. Governors were regarded more like prefects and spoke only when permitted. Anyone who sought to occupy any position of high profile had to grovel at Aso Rock. When his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, queried the absolutism that was creeping on the land, he was marked for political extinction. It took resilience and doggedness for Abubakar to survive. The emergence of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan in 2007 was regarded as the dawn of a new era by many. Both men were real civilians and this was thought a positive development for the polity and democracy. Yar’Adua appeared to have a mind of his own and served notice that he would allow the reign of the Rule of Law. He set out to institute wide-range electoral and political reforms; he unquestioningly obeyed court rulings. When a national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had to hold to elect national officials, Yar’Adua refused entreaties to intervene in the ensuing logjam. Yar’Adua could do so perhaps because he was born into a political family, understood and could fluently speak the language of power. Could the same be said of the man who succeeded him when the cold hands of death took the President away? Jonathan came into office to learn. He was not prepared for the demands of the office. He was not yet adept at understanding the letters, let alone imbibe the spirit of the law. He was not schooled in the fine art of democratic leadership. And, in office, he began studying the letters of the law. This has affected the country as he became dependent on the much his teachers (aides) allowed him know. He grew to believe that the President could do all things, adopted the Obasanjo model and patterned his leadership after the former President. He sought to impose his will on the polity and made a simple distinction only by adopting subtle use of power to Obasanjo’s brutal display. He moved into the Governors’ Forum and seized its soul. He intervened cruelly in the Bayelsa governorship poll by imposing Seriake Dickson on the state. When it was time to pick a national chairman for the ruling party, Jonathan dumped the Yar’Adua model for Obasanjo’s. He settled for a 76-year old Bamanga Tukur who had been out of political calculation for about three decades. The ensuing crisis only enabled the President seize more power. The sign that we might have returned to the age of absolutism came as soon as the man assumed power. Riding the waves, he showed the unpopular Professor Maurice Iwu the way out of office. He evaded the Senate to which he ought to have submitted his wish to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission’s chairman by sending the man on compulsory leave. It pleased the public. The Senate concurred. And Jonathan was pleased. Next, he went for the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami. He illegally suspended the man, ostensibly at the instance of the National Judicial Council. But, when the same body asked him to reinstate Justice Salami, he disregarded the verdict. Many Nigerians cried out, but the majority fell victim of the President’s politicization of a simple case. Now, he has exercised the same non-existent power in suspending Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Does this President think he is a Leviathan? Does he believe he lives in a Hobbesian jungle where the mighty could simply gobble the weak? He obviously fancies himself as a monarch in the pre-enlightenment age. He perhaps wants to revive life under the French Louis IV who declared: “I am the state.” President Jonathan must be told he is not the Nigerian state. He has a duty to operate within the dictates of the law. The Senate should stop him. All Nigerians should see the danger ahead if this Leviathan is allowed to get away with this impunity. It does not matter what we think of Sanusi-voluble, impetuous, insensitive to his environment. The law is about a process. We all owe Nigeria the duty of calling this President to order. Otherwise, he would, next time, move to remove the President of the Senate or the Chief Justice of Nigeria. ERROR: Last week, we referred to the ministerial nominee accused of the murder of the late Chief Bola Ige as Awosiyan. He is Jelili Adesiyan.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

POLITICS

ripples

What next for Dimeji Bankole?

2015: Nafada may challenge Dankwambo

•Dimeji Bankole

HIS is the big question being asked by friends and associates of Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, following his recent acquittal on fraud charges by a Federal High Court in Abuja. With age on his side and his reputation still intact,

• Usman Nafada

OR those wondering what the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Usman Nafada, has been up to lately, Ripples can reveal that the former lawmaker is busy gearing up to contest the 2015 governorship race. Nafada, who has defected from the Peoples

• Ibrahim Dankwambo Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), alongside his political leader and former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, is said to be considering entreaties from supporters to challenge incumbent governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, who is planning to run for a second term.

Battle royale in Imo PDP

courtesy of the court ruling, not a few of the supporters of the youthful politician want him to declare his ambition for the 2015 general election. It is said that Bankole may not be in a hurry to re-launch his career particularly in his party, PDP, more so when there is an alleged no-lovelost between him and President Goodluck Jonathan.

PDP not giving up on Marwa, Gunduri

NCOURAGED by the defection of some APC members to the ruling party, leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are not giving up on wooing Gen. Buba Marwa and Engr. Marcus Gunduri, the former governorship candidates of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Adamawa State respectively. Sources squealed that several tempting offers are being proposed to the two politicians to dump the APC. However, there are fears among their supporters that if they join the PDP, they may be dumped once the party achieves its 2015 goals.

•Buba Marwa

George unhappy over Obanikoro’s nomination

•Emeka Ihedioha

HE battle for the Imo State 2015 PDP governorship ticket is beginning to take shape. The list of aspirants include the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, Hon. Bethel Amadi, to mention but a few. While Ihedioha is considered as the frontrunner, sources revealed that Araraume is also eyeing

•Ifeanyi Araraume

the seat. A stiff battle is also likely to play out in the senatorial primaries as the incumbent Senator representing Owerri Senatorial zone, Chris Anyanwu, who is returning to the PDP from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), is seeking a return ticket. In the Orlu zone, there are unconfirmed reports that a former governor of the state, Achike Udenwa, has an ambition to replace the incumbent Senator, Hope Uzodinma.

•Chief Olabode George

•Obanikoro

of the party in the state, Chief Olabode George, according to sources, allegedly confided in some of his associates recently that Obanikoro’s nomination is a tacit signal by the presidency that the former Senator is now the de facto leader of the party in Lagos State.

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to nominate Senator Musiliu Obanikoro as a minister is alleged not to be sitting well with some members of the PDP in Lagos State. Leader

IN VOGUE By Kehinde Oluleye

Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

GLAMOUR

32 GLAMOUR

Social

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: crownkool@yahoo.com, Tel: 08023849036, 08112662587)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

34 GLAMOUR

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

38 MAGAZINE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

MAGAZINE 39

40 MAGAZINE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

MAGAZINE 41

42 MAGAZINE

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MAGAZINE 43

44 MAGAZINE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

New WOMAN

PILLOWTALK YETUNDE OLADEINDE molaralife@yahoo.com

You can't give what you do not have

It’s all about women at Milan fashion week

HE highlights of the event included Prada, which created looks for fun-loving floozy, and pop star Katy Perry, who graced Moschino runway for a photo call. Miuccia Prada has created a fashion incarnation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Lola, Karl Lagerfeld received a homage with a Fendi fur mini-me and Australian actress Rose Byrne was up with the early morning fashion crowd to grab a front row seat at Max Mara as Milan Fashion week offered its second day of womenswear previews for next fall and winter. Closing out the day, Katy Perry made an appearance at Moschino, showing up fashionably Late for Jeremy Scott's debut at the label. To make amends, the pop star made a photo call from the runway, dressed head-to-toe in a snug black dress with matching coat and golden accents, including an oversized “Moschino” necklace. Max Mara, Fendi, Just Cavalli and Prada headlined Thursday's shows as the fashion crowd continued their appointed rounds. Highlights: FUN-LOVING FLOOZY Prada has immersed herself in German culture of the 1980s, film and music, and taken inspiration for her latest collection. The looks for next fall and winter are for Prada's Lola of the 1981 Fassbinder film, a fun-loving floozy in ephemeral sheer or silky dress, nearly lingerie, draped in a man's jacket. The looks were richly adorned in accents of fur, sometimes wisps and sometimes faux shearling. “I like this theme so much. How it is related to clothes, I don't know,” Prada said backstage, though she does have some inkling: “It is high and low, sophisticated and slightly vulgar.” British fashion icon Alexa Chung said she loved the sheepskin coats, and acknowledged that the super-high wedge shoes with a rubberised finish were somewhat intimidating, even for her. “But I will give it a go,” she said gamely. PRADA ICONOCLASTS The invitation to Prada's newly renovated shops at Montenapoleone said Harlem Renaissance. The pair of stores, men's and women's, were finished in September but only formally inaugurated in the presence of the fashion crowd. Live jazz wafted through the menswear store where a billiard table and card games were set up to suggest the back room to the Harlem Club which was the women's store down the

block. Prada no doubt wants to keep its customers feeling indulged. The Prada Group this month reported that sales in its stores rose 12 per cent last year to nearly €3 billion (Dh15 billion) the lion's share of its overall 3.6 billion in sales. BAG BOY KARLITO Fendi has a new meme: a furry figure on a string evoking designer Lagerfeld, complete with a neat white ponytail, large white collar and black tie. Silvia Venturini Fendi said it all started with the Fendi bag bugs: festive little creatures that hang from Fendi's handbags. Now that tradition has evolved into Bag Boy Karlito, for little Karl. “Not bad boy,” Fendi said backstage, “Bag Boy.” While the fun figurine also can be attached to a handbag, it had a place of pride in the runway show: carried by a model in a furry helmet as if a lantern lighting the way. Bag Boy Karlito popped out to take a bow after the show, with the real-life inspiration. Another Fendi fashion forward moment: drones hovered above the runway for a bird's eye view during the show and delivered light gusts of wind down on to the audience below. ABS OF STEEL In the foyer before entering the Costume National runway show, an artiste clad in a black leotard performed abdominal-straining stretches with more precision than most Pilates practitioners. Designer Ennio Capasa called it an exercise “in finding awareness”. The tie-in between the installation piece by Bastiaan Arler with his collection, shown at the Triennale contemporary art museum, Capasa said, was the notion of breaking boundaries “between fashion and antifashion, construction and deconstruction, masculine and feminine”. On the one side, athletic: there were trousers gathered at the ankle with rich, furry vests, white on white. At the other extreme, feminine: a flowing evening dress had as its neckline a tuxedo collar, black on black. There were admiral feats of tailoring too: an off-shoulder asymetrical dress was fashioned of strips of fabric sewn along the bias in the front, but in the back a single panel with raised vertical seams. MINING FLORENTINE TREASURES Roberto Cavalli took inspiration from Florence's artistic treasures for his Just Cavalli line, photographing and

painting the images himself that he would later incorporate into garments for the younger set. Details from such landmark Florentine monuments as the Santa Maria Novella façade and Michelangelo's David were superimposed on satin and silk viscose garments using experimental processes. Cavalli said he often consults his sales staff to find out what young buyers are looking for. The goal: “I want a different fashion, less attached to advertising and stars”. ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE, URBAN LANDSCAPE Max Mara set its English countryside-inspired collection on a cement runway in stark white light. The message was clear: the looks suggest cozy countryside, but the vibe is urban. Anyone looking for the perfect overcoat knows Max Mara is the place to start, and this collection presents a plethora of oversized coats with innovative accents. One key is the waistcoat that gets sewed over the coat, is worn layered under the jacket or is transformed out of a longer coat, left sleeveless, offering new ways of creative layering. Max Mara's cold weather looks for next year, at its heart, is a collection of basics coats, vests and knitwear that give a metropolitan edge to pretty straight skirts that cover the knee or form-fitting dresses composed of jackets and trouser-inspired pencil skirts. Colours are button-down greys, heather, golden and camel. In keeping with the English theme, tweeds dominate, accented by cashmere wools and shiny vinyllooking material and gold crocodile prints. The looks are finished with black or gold crocodile booties, and a clutch on a gold chain. AUSSIE EYES CROCODILE BOOTIES Rose Byrne says the Max Mara golden crocodile booties caught her eye. “I am obsessed with the boots,” Byrne said after the preview show. She took in the show from the front row, wearing a golden Max Mara camisole, dark jacket and wide cream pants. The actress said she long has been drawn to Max Mara's coats and knits, and feels like she “grew up with the brand”. Byrne begins filming the spy spoof Susan Cooper with Melissa McCarthy in April. They last appeared together in the 2011 comedy hit Bridesmaids. •Culled from Google

hat do you desire in the relationship that you are dying for? If your desire is to give as much as you hope to get, then you must be truly involved. Conversely, if all you do is to associate love with pain, then no matter how hard you try, safety will trump any potential for a real romance. Reason: Your unconscious deems love as dangerous territory. So whether you look it or not, the unconscious mind would always move you from pain to pleasure. These protective mechanisms of the ego are not bad. Having a strong ego served you when you were younger and was important for your survival and strong state of mind. Now that you are older, understanding the ego's defences can help you bring them to light so you can transcend the ego and move toward a higher desire based on love instead of fear. For many, love is for dreamers. It is as elusive as the day and each time they think that you have finally found what you want, it turns out to be just a dream. So what is the point falling in love? you ask. Who needs a heart when it can be broken to pieces like the chinaware? How do you continue to fool around with something or someone that you are uncertain about? Perhaps the best attitude would have been to cast away this spell called 'love' and have it quarantined for sanity to reign. But the truth of the matter is that love is the most profound emotion known to human beings. Like a shadow, it trails you about and the more you want to flee from all its trappings, you just realise that you just cannot help yourself. For most people, romantic relationships are the most meaningful element in their lives. However, the crux of the matter is that the ability to have a healthy, loving relationship is not automatic. Even when you work so hard at it and expect it to be a happy ending like you read about in story books, things still do not fall in place. Almost all of us have experienced a failed relationship at one point or the other. It sinks the heart and you just wonder if love was not meant to be that way. Like a business that you laboured for, worked consciously to master the skills necessary to make it flourish, things may go still go down the emotional drain. Of course, it is only the outstanding pair that doesn't run into a few bumps on the road. You are therefore better off, when you recognise ahead of time, what those relationship problems might be. Even though every relationship has its ups and downs, successful couples have learned how to manage the bumps and keep their love life going no matter the odds. They hang in there, tackle problems, and learn how to work through the complex issues of everyday life. The truth of the matter is that you cannot give what you do not have. This is why relationships that are unplanned most often fail. Even though every relationship has its peculiar strengths and weaknesses, it is better to plan and invest in your emotional future. The next question would be how to make core love investments. Are you sure that your investments would be appreciated as well as reap emotional dividends at the right time? Here, we must think of the type of emotional investment that we need to make, responsible investment as well as the costly mistakes that emotional investors make before forging ahead. Next, you need to define and understand the kind of investments you need to make as well as how to go about doing it in the right way. The love arena comes with a lot of complications and what you think is important may not necessarily be cool for the other party. In economics, investment is the accumulation of newly produced physical entities, such as factories, machinery, houses, and goods inventories. Investing in your emotions as well as in the emotions of the one you love is not a short-time strategy. It is about making a success about the relationship in the long run, and you must have the goal of wanting it to work out. It is only when you are sincere with the heart that you treasure, that you would be ready to make core love investment. To have your emotions given, or "invested," towards someone or something sounds like a great idea but it requires a lot of hard work, dedication as well as perseverance. It requires focusing your emotions on to something or someone that you care a lot about. No matter how hard we try we are still likely to run into emotional and economic depression. They are phases that we pass through in our finances and our emotions. The phase should not be a hindrance, setback or stumbling block. The most important thing is to understand the tools to make use of as you pass through the phase. On the other hand, the assets and investments that you have stored up over time would definitely help you to pass through the rainy day without tears. Experts would readily tell you that it is only the rare couple that doesn't run into a few potholes as the journey through and from the emotional in the road. Some even run into emotional gutters, somersault on the emotional flyovers many times and still survive because they have saved lots of emotions which they use to replenish each time they are in emotional distress.

Bridals

Charming all the way Fashion has a fascinating way of galvanising people into constantly thinking about the present and making it always about what's next. Yetunde Oladeinde takes a look at the groom as a strong contender for wedding trends.

Cover chairs as revolution in the decoration world

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

New WOMAN/Bridals

HE modern world has evolved with numerous innovations that sharply differ from what obtained in the primitive era. One notable revolutionary area is the planning and decorations of events. The interest of the modern man in aesthetics and visual-appealing scenes have culminated in conscious efforts by events planners to always live up to the aesthetics expectation of their clients. In recent times, attention has shifted to chair covers which are often used to creatively create dazzling decorations of chairs and tables, thereby making them fit for occasions. The covers are mostly knitted with linens and embroideries of complementing colours geared towards attaining the best visual effect. This aesthetic make-up is not limited to chairs, as tables are also decked with alluring apparel that complement the chairs, thereby making the whole scene glamorous. Chair covers have become household names at weddings, naming, house-warming, executive meetings and other top-notch

By Godwin Simon

occasions. Nowadays, it appears the quality of chair covers has become an index for measuring the importance of a gathering and sensing the calibre of dignitaries expected at such events. They not only contribute to serene and paradise-like settings for events, they also create a sense of dignity and decency in people present at such events, Hence, the quest for selfcomportment and order at social functions by attendees. As decoration for events has become an established m e a n s o f livelihood in Nigeria, chair covers have continued to create platforms for players in this business to showcase their aesthetics acumen and attract more

HE 2014 runways have witnessed a number of new directions, converted silhouettes, metamorphosed colour palettes, as the novelty of the season culminated with a display of evolving accessories, envisioned as to reset all grounds and lead one step closer to that bright future. As soon as you talk about a typical wedding, the suit naturally comes to mind for the groom. This is a set of outer clothes made of the same fabric and designed to be worn together, typically consisting of a jacket and trousers or a jacket and skirt. The suit and jackets worn by the groom on the wedding day have gone through all kinds of metamorphosis. These days, the trend is usually contemporary designs which come with a mix of the foreign and a touch of African fabrics like the ankara, aso oke, kente and damask. A number of men have also broken the rule and prefer to step out on their wedding day in something different. The choice, really, is yours. All you need to do is wear something that suits you and something that would make the day as memorable as possible.

Trends

Kate Henshaw talks social media

–EEDRIS ABDULKAREEM

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

‘No regrets fighting 50 Cent’

ENTERTAINMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

POLITICKLE

Memoirs of a Valentine

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

VALENTINE Kalala woke up one day to find himself in the middle of an emotional mess. Headed down the path to sure baldness, the 34 year-old also exhibited a bulging waistline, more from years of office work than the occasional bottle he indulged in with friends. To cope with the metamorphosis, he reminded himself that he merely underwent a rite of passage to middle-age. But every time he said this, an inner voice faulted his reasoning. Didn’t his colleague Jimi project the image of an athletic 45 year-old? How about Mr Pinheiro, the dapper gentleman who lived down the road? Valentine wasn’t sure if the fifty-something year-old owed his trim figure to any weightwatching regimen or the fact that he was descended from generations of relocated mixed-race Brazilians. Like many Brazilians, Pinheiro loved to eat, and drink, and dance. The lively combination bloated many a figure that Valentine knew. No, the blend would never work for him. Not particularly given to physical exertion, he wished some magic elixir would plug his plummeting self-worth and recue a deplorable love life plunged to a new low by Fibi, another co-worker and an attractive woman by any standards. At his suggestion of a date, she laughed. “That does it,” he said as he threw up his arms in despondency. “I’m going to start a new exercise regimen!” He registered with a local gymnasium and began attending aerobics classes. He pounded the treadmill. He worked out with weights. He changed his diet and engaged the services of an expensive hair stylist. In less than a year, he was a different man. Everyone saluted his new look and he made more friends. But there lingered one true test of his image make-over. He asked Fibi out again, and she accepted. Beside himself with joy, he dressed up for the date. Checking himself out in the mirror before going to pick her up on a Friday evening – a Valentine’s Day – even he admitted that he never looked better. A short taxi ride afterwards, he stood by Fibi’s door and rang the bell. No one answered and he stood there for a while until he tried the door handle. The door opened and Valentine stepped into an unlit room. Just as he unlocked his lips to call her name, he felt a bang on the back of his head followed by a blinding flash of light that sent him to the rug and halfway between pain and regret, the regret of never getting to tell Fibi how much he cared. Valentine wondered if he had died or passed out. From somewhere above, a soft voice wafted through his reverie. He forced his eyes open and beheld Fibi’s pretty, round face with anxious brown eyes. She held a cold, wet napkin with which she mopped his bruised head. His lips formed the natural enquiry: “What happened?” “I was in the bath. I came out to see a figure creeping into the sitting room. Only when I hit you with a frying pan I always thought might be that handy and you collapsed did I realise my mistake. Even with the light on, it took some time to recognise you, though. You have changed so much! … I’m so sorry.” Valentine smiled. He wasn’t so sorry. As close as he could possibly get to his object of infatuation in as short a time as possible, things were looking up, even if he felt a dull ache in his head, lying down on her living room rug. As she tended to his ache, they talked. He caught her looking at her watch once or twice during the conversation. Was she in a hurry to get somewhere? He would understand, he told her. Well, she would like to see a friend on hospital admission. His heart sank. It was too good to be true, after all, that a woman as attractive would not have someone ‘special’ in her life. “Actually, she’s my mother’s older friend, but I grew up knowing her as an aunt. We have always been close, especially after she lost the last of her children five years ago,” Fibi said, noting Valentine’s disappointment. “Aunt Madi is 87 and in hospital due to a life-threatening ailment. She’s been there for a while. I visit her from time to time and on every Valentine’s Day. Fibi finished her treatment and got up to get her handbag. Valentine couldn’t be more relieved. But now he worried for her sake. “How long has your friend, I mean, your aunt been in hospital?” “Oh, about two years and a half.” “Does she still recognise you?” “In the last six months, no.” “And you still go, even though she doesn’t know who you are?” Fibi smiled. “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.” Valentine developed goose bumps. “That is the kind of love I want in my life,” he thought. They parted by the door, promising to meet up the next weekend. She left for the General Hospital, and he started towards home, pondering the day’s morals: true love doesn’t have to be physical or romantic; and true love overcomes the shortcomings of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Jokes Humour

Mathematical Lover THESE are the exact words of a mathematician in a letter to his sweetheart: My Dear Love, Yesterday, I was passing by your rectangular house in the trigonometric lane. There I saw you with your cute circular face, conical nose and spherical eyes, standing in your triangular garden. Before seeing you my heart was a null set, but when a vector of magnitude (likeness) from your eyes at a deviation of theta radians made a tangent to my heart, it differentiated. My love for you is a quadratic equation with real roots, which only you can solve by making good binary relation with me. The cosine of my love for you extends to infinity. I promise that I should not resolve you into partial functions but if I do so, you can integrate me by applying the limits from zero to infinity. You are as essential to me as an element of a set. The geometry of my life revolves around your acute personality.

My love, if you do not meet me at parabola restaurant on date 10 at sunset, when the sun is making an angle of 160 degrees, my heart would be like a solved polynomial of degree 10. With love from your higher order derivatives of maxima and minima, of an unknown function. Yours ever loving, ‘Pythagoras’ No Return A FELLOW from the village walks into a state library and says to the stuffy librarian, “Excuse me Miss, do you happen to have any books on suicide?” The librarian stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of her glasses and says, “Get lost, you won’t bring it back!”

QUOTE Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry •Adapted from the Internet

Writer’s Fountain OW to write and win: Is conflict introduced almost at with inner conflicts such as self-doubt or divided loyalties. once? The protagonist should be involved in Does your protagonist change? The one or more meaningful conflicts almost at conflict must change the principal protagonist once. The conflict(s) may be physical, in some way. He should be a different person emotional or psychological, but they must at the end of the story. represent two or more forces opposed within Stories presented as a serial may appeal the protagonist’s mind. because the reader knows the protagonist will The conflicts in some great stories by not change character from story to story. But famous writers might appear at times to be he must still arrive at the end of the story entirely military or physical, but the having learned something significantly new protagonists are simultaneously wrestling about himself or human nature. Otherwise, Odd life: the tale is a cartoon strip. •Most honey bees die after they sting Many detective stories employ a serial people as the human skin is elastic and character, for example. Nobody expects him unsuitable for bee stingers which are meant to be a different person at the close of every for harder inelastic skins. The bees’ venom mystery he solves. But the stories usually end glands are torn out in the process. with him making some wise observation to a •Most cows give more milk when they sidekick. In the end, the great detective has listen to music. learned something new from each encounter •Head lice live on clean heads as much as and has thus been changed. dirty ones. Is there a single underlying theme? Theme •Fried cockroach with garlic is used as is the underlying significance of the plot. A medicine for the common cold. short story should have just one prevailing •In the kingdom of Bhutan, all citizens theme, and a single master plot. All sub-plots, officially become one year older on New if any, and ensuing conflicts should support Year’s Day. the theme.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

HELF off-take or consumer engagement of any brand is a culmination of so many activities prior. One of such inputs is brand communication or advertising. Depending on set-objectives, an advertising support can drive target market awareness for brand, help proper brand identification from among competing brands, stimulate tactical sales growth, enlighten target market on new developments, announce reward for patronage or loyalty, answer questions or just simply announce a given brand’s presence. Every campaign effort is capable of achieving so much, depending on set objective. Suffice that every campaign effort is objective driven. As a professional, it is the responsibility tied to a campaign or advertising that excites me. A campaign must deliver on its objective. So whether a campaign effort is to be evaluated on its effectiveness, efficiency or appropriateness, it all begins by bench-marking its effect against set objective. Advertising or campaign development – from planning to execution – is a logical sequence of activities, frontally. Starting from the client who generates the campaign brief, it runs through a careful and professional distillation of the brief, verification of claims, instructional information bothering on hypothesis contained in the brief. Full throttle on the creative process starts only after due and diligent distillation of the client’s brief, onward concept generation, creative review, process completion, clients’ final check on agency’s proposal, before campaign breaks. It is a whole and very long sequence of so many inputs. It is simply termed a process. One would reason that the process is so long and carefully broken down and methodological because of the end-result. As a matter of fact, the primary and immediate consequence of a badly managed campaign planning and development process is its boomerang. A badly or unprofessionally managed creative process results in a campaign that directly attacks own-brand – be it a product, idea, service, etc. It is easier to develop a bad or self-destructive creative end product than a successful one. So, it is instructive that the creative process and sequence of activities is driven through by professionals. Again, it seems the process is called a creative process for reasons of its importance, method, sequence, logic and scientific analysis…and so much more. The consequence of a badly managed creative process is better imagined. We at MC&A DIGEST and some others, who share similar burden, have dedicated ourselves to stating rules of advertising, reminding fellow practitioners of the MUSTS of practice, in order to help guide against bad creative products. Bed creative products are lethal, toxic to brands and destructive to investors. Brands handled by non-professionals die, resulting in failed investment and all the ripple effects down the line. Unfortunately, over 80% of brands in the market today suffer from bad creative products of unprofessionally managed development process. Interestingly, the big brands across banks and financial institutions, drinks, telephone services, food & beverages, luxury goods, travel and tours, education, entertainment make up the numbers to a large extent. Increasingly, these big brands have been so badly managed; their campaigns are now negatively posing a problem to the profession. New entrants to the profession of brands management now think what they see are the ideal, instead of what they really are: case study on how not to manage a brand. It is for the purpose of correcting this wrong impression we need to properly articulate the ideal situation. Every brand support effort in form of advertising or marketing communication

BRAND COMMUNICATION

The imperatives for brand positioning

must “sell” the given brand as a distinct personality and its offer/promise, to the extent of target audience engagement. It could all start from share of TA mind. For the purpose here, we shall have to skip part of the creative process in this analytical piece, to focus on the very critical element of brand differentiation. Basically, marketing is about differentiation. Differentiation underlines the individuality of brand in their totality, at the market place. A brand represents itself among competition at the market place, representing its individuality, with all its character traits, attribute and offer. This community of brands exists in the presence of broad and peculiar similarities that becloud their individuality, in varying degrees. Among brands in same market segment, the similarities are more pronounced. Because brands can only sell on the strength of their individuality, the most important challenge, therefore, is carving any given brand’s individuality, communicate same for the purpose of (1) creating awareness for the brand and its offer, among its target market, (2) establishing a contact or meeting point between the brand and its target market, (3) effectively tell a persuasive story (including the brand’s offer and promise) that will, at least, pull the target market towards trying the brand’s offer, believing it will deliver on its promise. These three target objectives are

primary and fundamental to every brand. When a marketing campaign or advertising achieves the above, the brand is established and ready for new targets. Unfortunately, however, brand communication or campaigns common today, do not show evidence of appreciation of these basic marketing communication objectives. As mentioned above, inadequate professionalism and/or lack of it, results in creative products that, at best attempt to create awareness for their brands. Even at that, they create the awareness with the wrong effect. All kinds of reasons are given for such weak creativity, including size of relatively similar brand offering, near-commodity posturing of competing brands. Asis commonly said, brands in particular market segments share so many similarities, it is almost impossible to successfully achieve differentiation. Take leisure and tours, snacks, carbonated drink market, body care market and recently, energy drink market. Majority of brands in the markets mentioned above are more often to suffer from improper differentiation. Consequently, a campaign developed for them neither make concrete promise nor leave the target audience with memorable information that is important for top-ofmind presence, engagement or recall after “initial contact”. But, the task of effective and functional

differentiation is primary for every creative process. It only requires deep thinking, proper and articulate understanding of the contending issues, scientific, knowing what questions to ask and where to seek what information, ability to properly articulate available information, scientific analysis of market and consumer insight and a very aggressive, bold and purposeful visual interpretation and execution. We do not think there is any brand that cannot be distinguished from competition and be made to stand alone for its offer, peculiarities, and promise and market position. For every brand communication or advertising campaign, the process must establish the operative strategic thrust, the broad creative platform and the brand’s positioning statement. All of these are the creative imperatives that set the focus towards a successful creative execution. In sequence, the creative imperatives are derived; derived from a proper application of the creative brief forms, examined at a properly constituted creative review session, seen through by a team of experts intellectually equipped enough to logically and scientifically piece the hoard of information presented at such sessions together, to tell a whole story. The job is completed when the story that emerges at the end of the creative process play out good enough to achieve the marketing and communication/advertising objective, as should be contained in the originating document: THE CLIENT’S BRIEF. The missing link and the reason we find majority of ads and campaigns that are empty of substance, ineffective and dangerous, is that this logical sequence is considered too difficult a road to travel, for many people who go about parading themselves as advertising practitioners on the one hand, and those on the clients’ side who have also become too lazy to discern who the true professional is, and how to fit in to the creative process. So many so-called brand managers today cannot read a good brief (not to talk of writing one). Most brand managers/ marketing managers/corporate affairs on the clients’ side are not trained for the responsibilities of their offices. Consequently, they corrupt the system from the start point. Brands and brands owners must begin to rethink their work system and value preferences, because until the present system changes, casualty in form of failing brands will keep rising. at them.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Page 58, 59

•Akinkuotu

Page 61

'Quick cargo clearance still a mirage' M R Uchu Block, the National General Secretary, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, says the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) has so far not been a success. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Lagos that PAAR had not met the goal of helping to quicken cargo clearance process at Nigerian ports. NAN reports that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had introduced PAAR to replace the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) as a measure to hasten the cargo clearance procedure. The RAR was usually done after the arrival of cargo

to the port thereby causing delays in most cases. Block decried the fact that agents still suffered delays because of unprocessed PAAR requests. ``For now, PAAR should be considered as post-arrival assessment report and not prearrival assessment report. This is because we have a lot of PAAR since December not yet processed. ``The PAAR is not a success and it is surprising that they brought people to come and assess the PAAR performance." He expressed displeasure that the NCS often argued over assessment for the pre-

release which usually could be reconciled by the post-audit unit on the production of PAAR. ``The pre-release should have been functional to kickstart clearance procedures and wait for the PAAR to be out, then reconciliation made by the post-audit section. ``But applying for a prerelease now, the customs will always demand you make additional payment. However, reconciliation is hard when the PAAR comes out showing a lower value,'' he said. However, the Customs Area Controller at Apapa, Charles Edike, had, during a

stakeholders meeting in January, explained that the service was experiencing some teething problems with processing of the PAAR. He said that as at December 2013, the service providers at the port left over 99,000 unprocessed RAR which they had to deal with. Also, while visiting the NCS in Lagos on Feb. 17, the Secretary-General of the World Customs Organistion, Mr Kunio Mikuriya, said that experiencing teething problems with PAAR was not unusual. The National Public Relations Officer of NCS, Mr Wale Adeniyi, said during the visit that they had started processing the PAAR in six hours since the system was automated.

From left: Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries, Mr Kufre Ekanem, Human Resources Director, Mr. Victor Famuyibo, Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr. Uaboi Agbebaku, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, all of Nigerian Breweries Plc and Vice Chancellor, Pan Atlantic University, Professor Juan Elegido, Dean School of Media and Communication, Professor Emevwo Biakolo, Registrar, Rosemary Okolo , and Director, University Development, Frank Wiggle, during the presentation of a cheque of one million dollars donated by Nigerian Breweries Plc to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, at the Nigerian Breweries Plc headquarters, Iganmu, Lagos...recently. PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Surveyors seek government's recognition to foster of Land Services R Daniel housing development Director and the Land Use Shaphant, the

Chairman of the Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors in Taraba, over the weekend urged the government to recognise the contributions of surveyors and valuers in land administration to foster housing development. Shaphant said this while fielding questions from newsmen in Jalingo.

The chairman said the failure of some state governments to include at least two surveyors and valuers in the Land Use Allocation Committee as required by law was one of the reasons for compensation problems on land across the country. ``Land Use Decree No. 24(3a) of 1978 makes it mandatory for surveyors

-- Page 53

‘Why we are carrying out audit of domestic airlines’

Much ado about cement quality

and valuers to be part of the land use allocation committee. ``Unfortunately, the valuation carried out by valuers are often ignored by government, while arbitrary adjustments done by the Due Process Office are regarded as appropriate," he said. Shaphant said the Chief Land Officer,

Allocation Committee were the only statutory bodies authorised to determine compensation on land. He, however, lamented that people were not educated on their right in this regard and appealed to government to formulate polices to address the shortfall in the housing sector.

‘Pilots are not made, they are born’ •Meggison

Page 62

Microfinance banks to create more jobs in 2014

HIEF Jethro Akun, the President, Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), at the weekend in Abuja expressed members' readiness to create more jobs by giving more loans to their customers in 2014. Akun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) this was possible with the available statistics. He disclosed that the report of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on microfinance banks as at Dec. 31, 2012 showed that they were able to create over 22,000 jobs. ``As at Dec. 31, 2012, the total loans given out stood at N97 billion, the total deposit was N125 billion and the total assets stood at N222 billion. ``By this performance, the banks have contributed about three per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ``We intend that by 2014 we will surpass this achievement by creating more jobs and giving more loans to our customers," the NAMB president said. He said the report for 2013 was yet to be released by the CBN, adding that the performance of MFBs in the year was impressive. Akun also said a number of MFBs had improved their capacity building to enhance their performances and develop new products to meet the yearnings of their customers in the rural areas. He also said most of the banks were able to increase their capital base during the year and had applied to the CBN to change from one category to another. ``A number of unit MFBs increased their capital base to N100 million to become state MFBs and some recapitalised up to N2 billion to become national in 2013,'' the NAMB president said. On the state of MFBs across the country, Akun disclosed that there were about five national MFBs and 50 state MFBs, with the bulk being unit MFBs. ``Nobody should take it that there is a deadline for MFBs to recapitalise from a unit to a state MFB or from a state to national MFB, so long as you have the minimum capital requirement unimpaired," Akun said. The NAMB president also said the association would open its training institute this year as part of strategies for better service delivery and to contribute more to the country's economic growth. ``We have obtained the registration for the establishment of our training institute from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and it will take off this year in Abuja.”

Ibadan Museum targets N1m revenue

R Bode Adesina, the Curator of the National Museum of Unity, Ibadan, says the tourist spot has set a target of N1 million as internally generated revenue for 2014. Adesina told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Ibadan that the museum planned to generate revenue by exploiting avenues such as renting out of its premises, gate fees and export permit. "We also plan to engage artisans, especially carvers, in the production of art materials. "We will also produce replicas of some objects among the museum collections with a view to selling them to the public as souvenirs," he said. The curator said the museum would set up a fund raising committee to solicit for funds from wealthy individuals, corporate bodies and other agencies for some of its programmes. "The museum intends to write proposal for consultancy services in the area of its expertise such as cultural heritage management. "We will also embark on training on local craft, encouraging the establishment of private and local museums and providing professional and technical advice on ethnographic and archaeological collections in the state," Adesina said.

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Much ado about cement q Although the issue of cement quality has been hotly debated among operators in the building sub-sector in recent times, some analysts, however, believe that this is more a bitter war among competing brands, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

THERE is war of brands. This just about describes the bitter rivalry among cement manufacturers, many of whom have been at daggers as they struggle for a share of the market." This is how an industry analyst explained away the clash of interest among the various competing brands of cement producers in the country, who in their desperation to gain the upper hand engaged in what in marketing parlance is referred to as demarketing. The genesis The media has been awash with news report about the discovery of adulterated cement in the market, warning unsuspecting members of the public to be on the alert. Dangote Group, which is major cement manufacturer, was the first to raise its voice above the din. The company stated this in a statement penultimate Sunday according the Head of Corporate Communication, Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, the company has adhered strictly to acceptable best global practices in cement production. The group stated that it had no issue with the cement quality, which had recently become a subject of controversy. Chiejina said the company had been manufacturing the best quality cement, the 42.5 grade. He explained that the quality of

products from all the Dangote Cement plants was being controlled by robot to eliminate any human error. The statement also said that the emission at all the company's cement factories had been in tandem with the global requirements because it deployed the latest technology that reduced noise and emission to the barest minimum. It recalled that the issue of environmental pollution from some factories in Ogun State had attracted a petition to the state House of Assembly which is currently holding a public hearing on the issue. "However, it should be noted that Dangote Cement was not one of the companies summoned over the issue of pollution as the Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Environment said it was satisfied with the operations of the Dangote Group within the state," it stated. Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement, Devarkuma Edwin, has explained why the company chose the 42.5 cement grade. According to him, the cement grade possesses higher strength capability and it is mostly preferred by block moulders, builders and construction workers. He said that prior to the nation attaining self-sufficiency in cement production, the Standards Organisa-

â&#x20AC;˘Bags of cement

tion of Nigeria had stipulated the 42.5 grade as the acceptable standard for imported cement and all importers complied. He wondered why SON should insist on 42.5 grade as the standard for import and then allow a lower grade in terms of local production. SON's intervention Expectedly, the Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, has intervened in the controversy over the quality

of the different grades of cement in the market, saying there is no substandard cement in the market, but that it is being misapplied by users for different purposes. Odumodu made the clarification in Lagos Monday during an interaction with journalists, saying that most people only knew the different brands of cement being produced, but were unable to differentiate them on the basis of the functions they were supposed to serve. He said the 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5

grades of cement were supposed to be used for different purposes. According to him, while the first is essentially for block making and plastering purposes, the 42.5 grade is suitable for heavy concrete, high rise structures, bridges, flyovers and marine construction, adding that ignorance of the different uses usually led to abuse. Odumodu said his interaction with some of the people who used cement showed that even professionals who had been in the building industry for about 20 years might

'Cement not sole cause of build in The spate of building collapse in recent times has been blamed on several factors, including the allegation of substandard cement. Dr. Victor Oyenuga, a building engineer and past President, Nigeria Institution of Structural Engineers, in this interview with Bukola Afolabi sheds more light on the issue.

HE quality of cement is believed to be responsible for building collapse. What is your reaction to this sir? Generally, most cement that we have around are good. It is actually the mixture that gives it the quality; if the cement is bad in form of quality, then it is the manufacturer's fault, but once cement is released and the transfer is good, then you can't fault the manufacturer. It is not the use that leads to the collapse of structure in the country; it is the proportion of the cement that is an issue. If cement quality is not basically the problem, then what are those factors responsible such? One of the factors is the quality of a building's foundation. When we are talking about foundation we are actually referring to the soil texture because once the soil texture is not good, the engineer cannot physically determine the strength of the soil that is required and once they don't know the strength of the soil then the foundation that we are providing may actually be a faulty one. So soil condition is a major parameter. We also have faulty design, that is,

the engineer did not design the way it ought to; if design is not given to a structural engineer, then there can be a faulty design as a result of that. But the major problem is the issue of construction either in terms of material or in terms of production of concrete itself. For example, instead of the common one-four we have which structurally we don't normally refer to it we refer to the strength of the concrete, if the proportion does not rise and the engineer has designed to a particular strength of concrete and that strength of concrete is not achieved, then you don't except the same strength as the man has already designed to come up as far as the production of that concrete is concerned. If for example the engineer decide to use 25 concrete and the mixing after test shows something much more less than that, because he has already designed for that, his re-enforcement is also in proportion to the 25. So, he finds out that the proportion of the re-enforcement required will probably be more if 20 were used. As a result, when the basin is loaded you end up having a collapse because the strength of the concrete is not as ad-

equate. Where the cement comes in is the mixture. If the mixture that is supposed to be used is not properly achieved, then you have problems of collapse of the structure. The buildings that are collapsing in Nigeria, Lagos precisely, are not new buildings. Is it there structure or what? Most of them are new buildings but those that are not new, everything have a life span and the average is each building structure is designed for fifty years. So, if you have a building that is much more than that, definitely it may collapse. So, every building has a life span. If know building collapse, that may be due to it. In most cases there is a modification of that building. Most of the time there are modifications. For example like the building that collapse at Oshodi. We are trying to modify a whole building to another use. In most cases there is also modification of the use of such building. So, if a building is designed as a residential and because the area is now becoming popular like ikeja, Surulere etc, you decide that no, my own is still okay, just paint it according to a com-

mercial thing, there can be a collapse because that building was not designed to carry such loads. But we found out that by and large, about 60-70% collapse under construction. And If a building should collapse when it is been constructed, it means that there is a major problem because it means that when it is carrying its own weight, and also the load that is put on it, then there is a major problem. So, you are trying to tell us that it is not true that the quality of cement is a factor in building collapse? Cement is not used as a material only in construction. Cement is used as a binder and the strength of that binder is the function of the quantity of the cement that is use in the product. Because we don't have any organization we can say is a fake cement manufacturer. The cement manufacturers we know are all major and most of them are international organisation. There is no how you mention Dangote and Lafarge any of the major who are part of. We don't have any quark cement manufacturing company here and I believe all of them are manufacturing to standard

internationally. So, it is the mixture, what the cement is put into, it is the use of that cement that is a problem. Am not saying that the cement is okay, there may be some product that comes out of the system because there is always s 95% task, the remaining 5% task is the bag. What am saying is that, is not used per say, it is used with other materials to get a particular product. And in most cases for building, it is the proportion of the cement, instead of using two cements they use one and when you use one, you cannot expect the same strength because this thing is the one that is binding. Instead of having a big quantity firm binding material you have a little of them. Definitely, you don't expect anything reasonable from there. What role that can cement manufacturers play to stop the building collapse? There is always a standard for everything, not necessarily for cement only. I have told you that for iron rod there are minimum strength the iron rod suppose to be. That is why I said when they are shipping out, they should indicate the diameter. I also expect that every cement manufacturer should be able to give a certificate that this my consignment because we have so much crises of cement, this is class 2 cement, this is the strength and so on like that. So, once they are able to meet with the stand-

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

nt quality not understand the different grades of the product, adding that problems could also arise when cement was unduly exposed. According to him, an undue exposure to the elements can diminish the quality of cement and give a false impression that its quality is low at the point of manufacture. He said in a bid to correct the misconceptions about the quality of the product, SON had been holding stakeholder sensitisation meetings with operators in the building construction sector, including regular training of block makers. He said aside the issue of ignorance on the use of cement, greed and corruption were other problems in the sector. "Cement has a life span and if it goes beyond the life span, it will fail to meet its parameters. I want to also state that there is a huge gap between what is put in the market and what the consumer take up," he said. Other stakeholders Echoing similar sentiments, the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has rejected the claim that poor cement quality is responsible for the increasing cases of building collapse in the country. The association, in a statement last Monday signed by Ashaka Cement Plc, Lafarge WAPCO Plc, Northern Cement Company of Nigeria, Sokoto, and United Cement Company Plc, Calabar, said attention should rather be on the need to improve construction practices. "The Nigerian cement industry is one of the most modern in Africa, with new technology and capacity recently installed. Cement quality conforms to the highest international standards and the industry is constantly working with the regulatory authorities (SON) to ensure up-to-date testing, certification of products and quality norms," the association said. It added that the cement industry in the country was committed to the sustainability of construction and

share public concern regarding the menace of building collapse. The association's reaction follows the recent outburst by a civil rights organisation that substandard cement was the cause of the increasing cases of building collapse in the country. Lending credence to the foregoing, Dr. Victor Oyenuga, a building engineer and past President, Nigeria Institution of Structural Engineers, while commenting on the preponderance of fake products in the country, including substandard cement, observed that "In a country where wrong is done, then you can expect anything to happen; so that is possible. But if there is a regulator like Standard Organisation of Nigeria in charge, it will be their responsibility to ensure that such a thing is curbed. "I can't see how the major manufacturers will allow that to happen; it will be in their interest to ensure that such people are caught. And if there is a problem detected in a particular cement, it can be reported or they can go back to that manufacturer. So what am saying is that it is the Standard Organisation that can catch whoever is messing up and put them in their appropriate place. Way forward In the view of many analysts, one way to stem the tide of building collapse is to pay more attention to monitoring. According to Oyenuga: "When a building collapse, there must be a lesson to be learnt and our own recommendation is that when there is a structural collapse of any project, let there be investigation into the cause , let them visit the council. There is a body call EERM, Essential Engineering Regulation Monitoring; the body should be contacted and that body will contact the specific organization especially the Civil Association of Nigeria. They will find out the root cause of that problem so that they will be able to know exactly what has happened.”

d ing collapse' ard, whoever is in charge, whoever is going to use that product, will work towards that particular standard and it as a failure, you can easily

• Oyenuga

trace, I mean we are talking of engineering, we are talking of science, but there is virtually nothing that you cannot, by the time you start taking the test from one material to another, you will know where exactly the failure is. So what am saying in effect is that, the main manufacturer just as I've said should give the certificate showing the strength of the cement that is produced. When that is done, we know where the problem is. In that case don't you think that professional bodies are expected to play the role of advocacy? It is the role of the SON to ensure that what Mr. A manufacturing company sell, and take sample from their product. They go out and take sample from the market, they go to Alaba; they go to Surulere; they go to one village in Ogun State where Lafarge is producing its cement; where Dangote is producing cement, and take sample and test. On report, we tested your cement, they are not measuring up to standard is not the problem. Ours is to give an idea that the type of cement that we require is this. We don't have the right to control anybody, we have to go through police to arrest. We are members of the regional association, it's a society. You may decide to join, you may decide not to join, it is not compulsory you should join.

•From left: Lagos State Team Leader, PATHS II, Dr. Ibironke Dada, DFID, South West Regional Coordinator, Mr. Sina Fagbenro, National Programme Coordinator, PATHS II, Dr. Mike Egboh, outgoing Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olufemi Olugbile and his wife, at a reception organised in Olugbile's honour by PATHS II, in Lagos...recently

PATHS2 fetes outgoing Perm Sec

OR Dr. Olufemi Olugbile, the outgoing Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMOH), his over three decades working career in the Lagos State public service has not been in vain, as he retires with full honours and recognition only befitting a select few, on account of his meritorious service thus far. Little wonder, many individuals and organisations like the Partnership for Transforming Health System (PATHS2), who crossed Olugbile's path these past years, deemed it proper to appreciate the man many have come to identify as a guardian 'angel.' And so all roads led to Zen Garden, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, where a social gathering was organised in Olugbile's honour with family and friends joining in the soirée. Setting the tone for the evening,

National Programme Manager, PATHS II, Dr. Mike Egboh, who spoke of Olugbile in affectionate terms and superlative adjectives, described him as a thoroughbred professional with a wealth of experience that benefitted not just Lagos but humanity in general. Echoing similar sentiments, DFID, South West Regional Coordinator, Mr. Sina Fagbenro, who recalled his days with the celebrator at the high school, in Ibadan, paid a fitting tribute to the UCH, Ibadan-trained doctor who he said remained a role model to many. "He has remained a source of inspiration to many of us. He is one man who has continued to bear the torch of excellence in whatever he does." In his assertion, Dr. Anthony Omolola, National President, Association of General and Private

Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) who showered accolades on the outgoing Perm Sec, observed that the latter was a largehearted individual who was always willing to offer assistance at any point in time. For Dr. Abiola Teligiado, Coordinator, Lagos State College of Health Technology (LASCOHET), which was founded in 1920, while showering encomiums on Olugbile for his sterling performance at the public service, stressed the need to be ready to share his knowledge and expertise with as many people as possible, as this would be in public interest. Also present on the occasion was the Lagos State Head of Service, Lagos State Team Leader, PATHS II, Dr. Ibironke Dada, Dr. Jemilade Longe, Dr. Taribo O, and a host of others.

PZ wins awards for CSR in education

Z Cussons Nigeria has been rewarded by the Lagos State Government for its immense support in the education sector through its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. At a Breakfast Meeting hosted last Tuesday by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), PZ Cussons and a host of others were presented with the "Support Our Schools Initiative" awards for complementing the government's effort in reshaping education standards in the state. PZ Cussons' recognition came on the heels of the ground-breaking maiden edition of a senior secondary schools competition last year. PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge is one of the numerous CSR activities of the company. The Breakfast Meeting, held at the jam-packed Lagos City Hall, had in attendance stakeholders in the education sector and top government functionaries. In his keynote address, Fashola thanked the award recipients for their contribution to educational growth in the state. He said: "I particularly salute your courage. I salute your steadfastness to work with us. Thankfully government itself has realised this is not a one-man show." The Corporate Affairs and Administrative Director of PZ Cussons Nigeria, Mrs Yomi Ifaturoti said that the company was honoured that the state government "has deemed it fit to give us an award today for the PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge. We did it in line with our philosophy of partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Education." According to Ifaturoti, PZ Cussons placed emphasis on CSR. Her words: "We do good business and we believe business must give back to the community. We have always

been giving back to the society and this is our own special way of focusing on the children whom we know as the leaders of tomorrow." Last October, thousands of senior secondary students in Lagos State participated in the inaugural edition of PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge with 16-year-old Emmanuel Ejiogu Onyekachi of Miketoy College, Ikotun, emerging the grand prize winner at the end of a rigorous three-stage contest. His reward were N700,000

cash, a laptop, a trophy and gold medal, while his chemistry teacher, Mr Jossy Ogunniyi won N100,000. Chemistry books worth N100,000 were also presented to his school. Three other runners-up, their teachers and schools also received fabulous prizes. An initiative of PZ Cussons Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, the second edition of the competition would soon commence.

•From left: Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, Chairperson of Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, Mrs Taiwo Oyemade presenting the Lagos State Government’s Support Our Schools Award to Corporate Affairs and Administrative Director of PZ Cussons Nigeria, Mrs Yomi Ifaturoti, in Lagos...recently

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

BUSINESS

'No substandard cement in Nigeria'

HE Director General, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu has reiterated that there is no substandard cement in Nigeria as claimed in some quarters. He made this disclosure during the stakeholders meeting on the Role of Standardisation in Small Medium Enterprises in Abuja, recently. He said, "I would like to draw attention to an issue that has become very popular with most media publication, and it's about the cement controversy. I would like to state that the SON is fully on top of the quality of cement in Nigeria. I say this with all sense of responsibility that

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

there is no substandard cement in Nigeria. The challenge we have today with the cement industry is that there is a mix application of cement in Nigeria. "The standard we have, NIS 4441 certifies that there are three kinds of grades of cement there is 32.5 mixing per square meters of cement which is used for plastering and block molding, there is 42.5 which are used for more serious activities like making bridges and strong works then there is 52.5. "All the cement companies in Nigeria are able to make 32.5, some make 42.5 and even one is making 52.5, and

they are all certified by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, as meeting the requisite certification of the standard. "The allusion that cement quality is the reason for incessant building collapse in Nigeria is neither here nor there, because our referred also showed that it is not just because of the quality of the cement that buildings come down, a lot of the situation we find has been attributed to the concrete mixture." He added that standard of cement has nothing to do with the grade, people go to the market, they say they want Dangote or Ibeto or other brands, it is not the grade, it is the standard,

people sometimes buy cement of good quality and apply in the wrong process. It is also about integrity in the construction industry. "We are doing all we can to ensure there is education and we are also going to work with cement manufacturers to streamline activities and that ignorance is eliminated in this process because it is a life because it is a life endangering activities." Odumodu said the SON electronic product registration is in progress, it is expected that every product in the market must have a code on it. Once this system begins to run effectively it will bring standard to Nigerian market.

Unemployment: 'Reduce interest rate to encourage entrepreneurship'

By Oziegbe Okoeki

MEMBER of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Yinka Ogundimu has expressed sadness at the high interest rate placed on loans, saying it needed to be reviewed downward to encourage entreprenureship and address the problem of unemployment. Ogundimu who represents Agege 2 constituency gave this advice while addressing the Lagos House correspondents at a special interview programme tagged: "Time out with the Press" at the conference room of the Assembly, Alausa Ikeja. He said, "there is need for the banks to support the people by reducing the interest rate, that is the only we can encourage our youth to be self employed. The current 23-25 percent is killing business," he noted. The lawmaker who is a graduate of Business Administration stressed that the problem of unemployment in the country could not be solved by too much reliance on government, adding that what is expected of the latter is "creating an enabling environment for business and entreprenureship to thrive." He added that youths should also acquire the required skills in any chosen vocations together with a good sense of identifying the need of the environment in which they reside. Ogundimu explained that whenever any society is comprised of many idle hands, it would automatically lead to increase in crime and culminate in insecurity. "Youths are easily deceived and co-opted into engaging in crime. So our youths need to be engaged so save the society and our economy," he said. The lawmaker also pointed out that over reliance on crude oil as a means of foreign exchange has crippled the economy, saying agriculture which ought to be the mainstay has been abandoned. While stating some of his achievements as a lawmaker, Ogundimu said "no other representative that had represented his constituency before had been able to surpass my contributions towards the upliftment of my people."

Lithuania, Nigeria forge strong bilateral trade relationship â&#x20AC;˘From right: Dr Tang Jie, Vice Mayor of Shenzhen receiving a message from Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's representative, Mr Paul Odili on collaboration to promote Green Economy

Delta, City of Shenzhen to promote close ties

ELTA state government and the city of Shenzhen in Southern China Guangdon province have pledged to promote close partnership in the development of green economy. This commitment to work together as reported in the Chinese local media, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily states that: "Dr. Tang Jie, Vice Mayor met the delegation of the Delta State of Nigeria headed by Mr. Paul Odili with Mr David Oladiran and Mrs Felicia Adu on the team. Mr.

Tang and Mr. Odili expressed their wishes to cooperate in new energy transportation, logistics, port, carbon trade and other areas related to green economy. Mr. Tang introduced to the Nigerian guests Shenzhen's economic performance, public transportation powered by new energy, laws and regulations on green buildings, carbon trade mechanism and other innovative practices. He said that China is building the maritime Silk Road in earnest. Shenzhen is an important transition in China; the Delta State is the gateway to Africa.

He expected great prospect in the cooperation between the two sides. Mr. Odili, the project manager of Green Economy for the Delta State, said that the Delta State is rich in oil, minerals and palm oil. The Delta State is trying to encourage the growth of green economy through international cooperation. His visit was aimed to learn about the history and present the development of Shenzhen as a special economic zone and Shenzhen's experience and practice in opening its economy to the world.

He also said that that Delta is ready to work with Shenzhen government and business interest and expressed his appreciation for the warm reception accorded the three man delegation from Delta state. Shenzhen with a population of 10 million people has per capita income of $20,000 and a GDP of $200 billion, has achieved great success in promoting environmental sustainability and by developing its economy on hitech, advanced manufacturing and high-end services.

Subsidy on kerosene, a monumental fraud, says lawmaker

MEMBER of the Lagos State House of A s s e m b l y , Gbolahan Yishawu has described the claimed subsidy on kerosene by the Federal Government as a monumental fraud which is against constitutional provision. The lawmaker gave this charge while responding to question during a special interview session by the Lagos state House of As-

By Oziegbe Okoeki

sembly Correspondents in Alausa, Ikeja recently. Yishawu who represents Eti-Osa II constituency stated that the subsidy issue has degenarated to a level where the concerned ministries have begun to exonerate themselves and making different claims and causing the masses to suffer more. It would be recalled that

the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal had disclosed during the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) investigation of kerosene subsidy between 2010 and 2013 that over N1trillion was spent in the years under review. Tambuwal who was represented by his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha had noted that despite this claim the

product was not sold in any part of the country at the rate of N50 per litre which ought to be the subsidised price. Yishawu pointed out that there was no constitutional provision backing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) determining whether the product should be subsidised, adding that it ought to be left with ministry of petroleum to decide.

HE Republic of Lithuania and the Federal Republic of Nigeria has forged a strong bilateral trade relationship in order to boost the economic development of both countries. The Honorary Consul, Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Goodie Ibru explained that this move by the two countries would also open up fresh investment opportunities in agriculture in areas of food processing and value addition. Ibru during the 2014 Lithuanian National Day celebration added that Lithuania is well known for its agricultural activities and competences and urged Nigeria to partner Lithuania since the federal government is making efforts to diversify the nation's economy from oil and gas. "Most of the perishable food crops produced in Nigeria rot away as a result of lack of food processing facilities in the country, Lithuania is calling on Nigerian entrepreneurs to partner Lithuania on areas of food processing so as to prevent food wastage and huge economic loss," he said. "This will help to save Nigeria's foreign exchange which it uses to import food. Nigeria has no business importing food because a huge part of our land is still uncultivated. A strong partnership between Lithuania and Nigerian entrepreneurs will help to correct this, he said. He noted that currently, the volume of trade between. Nigeria and Lithuania is still low but stressed that as time goes on, Nigerians we begin to see and understand the importance of synergising with their counterparts in Western Europe thereby boosting trade between both countries. "We already have a diplomatic tie with Lithuania but we do hope that in the nearest future, we would have a full diplomatic tie by establishing an embassy here in Nigeria," he added. He pointed out that Lithuania is consistently becoming very visible in socio-economic life of Europe and the world over maintaining that since July 2013, Lithuania has held the rotating Presidency of the council of European Union, and was elected in the same year to United Nations Security Council. He noted that according to the United Nations Human Development Index report, Lithuania is a very high human development country and has been among the fastest growing economies in the European Union ranked 17th in the world in the ease of doing business index. "Lithuania's economy has risen to the status of mostly free achieving its highest economic freedom score over in the 2014 index. It is ranked 11th out of 43 countries in the European region, and its overall score is well above the world and regional averages," he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

BUSINESS

'Why we are carrying out audit of domestic airlines'

ANA has just been audited by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and it has since commenced operations. When will other domestic airlines be audited? The schedule will come out soon. At the time we did the Dana audit, we did it in collaboration with other people and as such the NCAA was the lead and they had the authority to do the audit because it was an NCAA audit. But we had a challenge after Dana Airlines because we could not do the number of airlines that we had planned but we have already drawn up a programme so that we can audit all the airlines. As you know, Dana Air has successfully completed its audit as the first airline to go through such audit and others will follow suit. All the airlines in the country will go through such audit and I know that the airlines are themselves embracing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and that is the way to go. What is NCAA 2014 budget on training like? The larger portion of the NCAA budget is based on training and we are continuously training and among all the agencies, we train the most. Some airlines making efforts to come into airline business .How many airlines is NCAA processing presently? A lot of people want to come into the airline business but it is just a matter of a process and it is that process that the NCAA has in place and many of them are in different stages. I know that one airline like Discovery Air, Azman Air and another airline called Air Peace and so on, so quite a number of them are in different stages. That is what we want. We want more airlines so that we can create capacity and be able to provide better services and then create competition having in mind that it will benefit the customers. That is what we want. The Minister of Aviation at the Aviation Master plan unveiling spoke about the need for Nigerian airlines to consider interline so that passengers can use one ticket to travel on any airline to make travel seamless . What is the level of NCAA involvement to ensure consolidation of airlines? If you recall during that same ministerial meetings, one of the airlines had said based on my suggestion when I spoke that the airlines will not be bulldozed into interlining with other airlines. But we are working on it. The idea is to bring all the airlines together and let them see the benefit of it. There are instances where we have asked the airlines to voluntarily comply with this situation but it has been difficult and they have not

The Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Folayele Akinkuotu is persuaded that proper regulation of domestic airlines, in terms of technical and safety audit is necessary to achieve seamless travel for air passengers as well as improve aviation sub-sector. He said that much in this interview with Kelvin Osa Okunbor

•Akinkuotu done so but we want to bring them together again and show them the benefits of inter lining. Quite often they think that when they interline, they might be losing money but when we have that understanding I think that we can make this interlining process work. We already have a process of what it will be like; a special package and we are hoping that it will work here. I do hope that the airlines will buy into it and if that happens, it will make air transportation seamless. We have to make it that from start to finish the customers get good bargain. Not interlining with one another is not good for the economy. Come to think of it a lot of people are travelling, they have like two or three tickets in their pockets and they tie down money that should have gone into the system. What is the update on the enforcement of the Passengers Bill of Rights? On Passengers Bill of Right, we have had cases where airlines have been sanctioned. I have mentioned it before British Airways, we had another one with Ethiopian Airlines to do the right thing .Passengers have the right to report to us but sometimes they don't know the process and that is we have been carrying out sensitisation programme. Earlier in the year, we did some road shows but we are

going to continue. There will be some audio visual systems or announcement in the airport to let passengers realise that they do have rights. However, not just passengers we must be able sensitise all stakeholders just like we go to the airlines and expect to respect their contract. Everybody has to respect this contract. If you buy a ticket as a passengers and the time of departure is 11 am and you are coming at 1 pm, that cannot work .we have cases where refuellers will not give fuel at the appropriate time and they are the ones causing the delay or baggage handling company tears up the bag, you know, we have to get the whole system working. There are sanctions meted out on who ever errs. Aero Contractors recently made some forms of compensation to the passengers' .The sanctions are coming but the only thing is that they are gradual. Plus of course not holding brief for the airlines but they should tell the agency .if an airline has a defect in its aircraft and you don't want them to fly an aircraft that is technically deficient you have to communicate it to the customers .An airplane has a snag you should report to passengers .That is when we are now moving it forward. We are trying our best and some of the airlines are keeping

to maintaining such rights of the passengers and we as NCAA we are going to make sure that passengers know their rights and we are going to use some audio media system which will be stationed at the airport announcing to make the passengers know that they do have rights. Are you going to review some of the AOC's that have been issued? I would not want the court to jail me .I am not a lawyer but it is just that when a case is in court you should not talk about it. I actually got a letter from a lawyer .They are in court over some of these issues. I don't want to make any comment of these issues. We would make the comment at the right time but like I said there are people that have gone to court. Not that they took NCAA to court but that there issues in court. So I will rather stay off from making comments on that now. What is the latest on the new National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2013? The function of the NCAA is based on safety oversight, security and economic regulation and of course we are trying to excise economic regulation out of it but the whole point is to improve and enhance our safety oversight. We all know that that on issue of safety such as when an aircraft crashes, the findings are always different and they change .So we have to work with the time .Security issues we all know that they do happen and again, we have to work with time. About 20 years ago, you did not have to take off your shoes when you pass through the security screening points but today, you even have to take off your clothes. That is the way it is going .Hopefully, we would get there. How healthy are the domestic airlines flying in the country in terms of their finances and capacity considering the fact that those that are flying some of them owe staff salaries? What we do is to do a financial audit on a regular basis on the airlines. They are supposed to file their financial reports and we also go there. From what we have, they are able to operate but the issue that quite often faces them is that some of them don't pay their staff salaries. It is difficult for you to read it out from their report whether salaries are paid to their staff. If you submit a report to me, it may not show that you haven't paid but you will also expect a feedback .I discussed with The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) recently that they can come to us. We can keep their privacy. We will protect their privacy and we would go to the airline if it is true because in the past the NCAA had intervened.

What happens when you are “Polar Vortexed” (Part Three of Three)

Y alarm went off at 3:00am and I opened my eyes. It was early Sunday morning, way before twilight, and my body raised a protest from the lack of sleep. Groggily, but with purpose and determination, I dragged myself out of bed. I took a shower, got dressed and was at the airport by 4:45am. I headed for the check-in counter and got on the queue. A few people were ahead of me. When it was my turn, I went up to the agent and blurted out "I have a problem". It was definitely not my best opening line. She gave me an "It's too early in the morning for you to complicate my life with your drama" stare and said,"I am busy".Lady, I thought, you don't know where I am coming from, what I have been through and what is at stake here! Years of training on how to be sociable and engaging kicked in. I looked for her name tag and found her name. Then, I looked her in the eye and called her by name. I turned on all the charm I could muster and then some. I said, "I am in big trouble if you don't help me", and went on to narrate my ordeal of the past three days and why I was desperate to get on a flight to Houston that day. She fell for my charm and took pity on me… or perhaps her years of customer service training kicked in. She did her "thing" with her monitor and told me she had good and bad news. The good news was that there were five, not three, flights leaving for Houston that day. The bad news was that they were all fully booked. "Not to worry", she said. She would put my name on the waiting list for the very first flight and if that did not work out, my name would automatically roll over to the next flight. There were no guarantees though. I told her I would take my chances. After all, I had five of them. I was also ecstatic to learn that she had reserved a seat for me on Houston to Lagos flight leaving that night. She gave me a pass (not a boarding pass) to get through security and head to the gate.At the gate, I was told that I could not be issued a boarding pass until the very last minute when it was confirmed that there werepeople who failed to show up for the flight. While waiting, I asked the agent at the gate how many people were yet to show up. He said six. Sweet God! It seemed like I could pull this off… and I did. I was able to get on the first flight to Houston on Sunday, January 5. While all these things were happening I was in problem solving mode. It was on the flight to Houston,when I was confident that I would make it to Lagos in time to catch my flight to Dubai,I was able to reflect on the previous three days. I could easily have played victim to the weather and the capitalist airline. I could have accepted my "fate" and missed my opportunity to see Dubai. I could have surrendered to contrarian winds and allowed them to blow me wherever they wanted. But I did not. I chose not to play the victim. I empowered myself to ACT. I made phone calls, researched the web for information, thought through my options, woke up at an ungodly hour to get to the airport early and somehow all these things altered my reality. Why am I sharing this life experience? It reinforced, for me, a belief that I have come to value. If you don't like what you see as a future outcome or where your life is headed, you can do SOMETHINGabout it. Your future is not cast in stone. Only your past cannot be altered. When you ACT right, you are increasing the odds in your favor. Not every action you take will end the way you would like it to. After all, I missed my flight back from Dubai and my return trip to the United States. But you know what? I was okay because I had nothing major to lose by missing those flights. I don't know what challenges and opportunities for triumph 2014 holds for you or me. If you never face a difficult situation this year… good for you. If life does throw you a few curve balls, like a Polar Vortex, remember that you don't have to take it in the face. You have the power to ACT Rightand turn things in your favor. If I can do it, so can you. Let this CAN DO ATTITUDE guide you throughout the year. Knowing that whatever comes your way, you will give it your very best effort, and trust me when I say "Things will work out just fine in the end".

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

HE aviation sector is naturally defined by turbulence, so it was not entirely unexpected that the tenure of the former Minister of Aviation Princess Stella AdaezeOduah was characteristically turbulent from the onset. For one, her appointment was greeted with scepticism, and later; stiff resistance by the ubiquitous 'stakeholders' who frowned at the audacity of the President in giving them a total stranger as captain to pilotan otherwise technical and complex machine. It was from this group of 'stakeholders', an internecine clan that had held the sector down for decades, that Oduah faced the toughest challenge and resistance throughout her tenure. In the end, she prevailed, and was able to prove that it takes more than being a Pilot, an Aeronautical engineer, or an Air Traffic Controller to run the aviation sector. More than anything else, she has proved that with true, visionary, focused and determined leadership, government can indeed work and deliver expected results. At first sight Oduah appeared weak, even vulnerable. But behind this quiet, unassuming mien lay a steely determination. Working up-close with, and for her for two and a half years, I am not surprised how and why she achieved so much in so short a period. She is not one to be easily intimidated by challenges or distracted by some irritants. On assumption of office, in spite of the open defiance by industry 'stakeholders', she embraced everyone, held extensive and exhaustive consultations, empanelled committees, studied volumes of previous reports from the World Bank and other reputable international consulting firms, and burnt thousands of hours of the midnight oil to fashion out the Way Forward for the hitherto beleaguered industry. The result of this painstaking toil was the production, for the first time in the history of the nation's aviation industry, of an Aviation Sector Master Plan and Implementation Road. It was this document that provided the compass for the revival and transformational revolution witnessed in the sector in the past two and a half years. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to restate, for the umpteenth time, that the aviation sector was in a terrible and seemingly irretrievable state of decay and dilapidation when Stella Oduah came on board in July of 2011. All 22 federally owned airports, including the international gateways, were nothing more than glorified goat-sheds. The toilets, for instance, smelt so repugnantly. The safety and security infrastructure, the fulcrum of safe aviation operations were in most instances unavailable, obsolete or unserviceable. Managing Director of the Federal Airports Au-

Oduah and transformation of the aviation sector

â&#x20AC;˘Oduah By Joe Obi

thority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr George Ureisi readily cites the instance of the deplorable state of infrastructure in the sector with the fate that befell the generators at the MMIA, Lagos. The airport, according to him was constructed in 1977 and five brand new generators came with the airport then. As the years rolled by, and as a result of poor maintenance culture and lack of foresight by those at the helm of affairs in the sector, the generators started breaking down one after the other. But in a primitively ingenious manner, the fifth generator was cannibalised to service four, the fourth was subsequently cannibalised to service three, the third and second suffered the same faith until only one generator was left as at 2011 when Oduah came on board. That explains the frequency of the endemic power failures at the airport then. The fate that befell the generators is symptomatic of the criminal neglect of the facilities and infrastructure across all 22 airports in the country pre2011. Today, a brand new power generating system has been procured and installed, putting a final end to the disgraceful regime of power failures at the airport, courtesy of the Oduah revolution. Now, Ureisi is seeking a national honours award for the single generator that served the airport,

even if epileptically for so many years after her 'brothers' were so brutally dismembered by a succession of callous and insensitive administrations in the sector. The Oduah revolution has also seen all 22 federally -owned airports completely reconstructed, remodelled, and transformed. Today the edifices wear fresh, dignifying look and ambiences comparable to other airports around the world. The icing on the cake is the commencement of the construction of five state-ofthe-arts international terminals in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano that will be delivered to Nigerians in 2015. Construction work has also commenced in 16 Perishable Cargo terminals across the country to empower rural farmers and transform rural communities. The aerotropolis project concept will also usher in industrial clusters in and around major airports in the country, creating millions of jobs and transforming airports to global cities. In the area of safety, monumental milestones were also recorded. NAMA's Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), state-of-the-arts surveillance and communications equipment, airfield lighting, multi-lateration and other Instrument Landing Systems; NiMet's Doppler Weather Radars, Wind Shear Alerts Systems, Instrument Calibration equip-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014 ment; AIB's Flight Data Analysis Laboratory, to mention but a few are some of the safety-critical infrastructure that were lacking in the industry pre-2011 but that exist today to enhance air safety in Nigeria. The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) has been strengthened and repositioned to become the prime aviation manpower training institute on the African continent, just as the NCAA has been strengthened to provide the required regulatory oversight of the sector in line with international standards and best practice. No doubt, the reforms institutionalised by the immediate past aviation minister have revolutionised and transformed the aviation sector positively forever. The achievements intimidated and overwhelmed her traducers. Within the entrenched interests in the sector are those operating without licences, debtors who, for decades have refused to meet their obligations to the agencies, those with dubious concession and lease agreements, amongst others who hitherto operated with impunity but were rightfully reined in by the fearless Oduah. One thing is however certain - they cannot obliterate the indelible footprints Princess Stella Adaeze left behind in the aviation sector. Obviously, those who have held the sector by the jugular for over four decades neither wanted nor welcomed the Oduah brand of transformation that did not line their personal pockets with billions of naira of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. Personally, I was at onceboth fascinated and beholden by her work ethic and incredible amount of energy. She was driven by results and the passion with which she brought to bear on her vision and mission for the sector ensured she exceeded all expectations. She bows out with her head not bowed, but held up high with pride, knowing in that self-assured manner that she left the aviation sector miles ahead of where she met it and in the process, set a bar and benchmark that will take long to either match or surpass. She remains profoundly grateful to President Jonathan for offering her the opportunity to prove her mettle. And out of government, her faith in the President's ability to transform Nigeria, as in 2007, remains undiluted. The challenge before her successor(s) is that of keeping the dream alive and sustaining the tempo of the transformation already wrought on the sector. The fear, the reasonable fear is that this may be a farfetched dream, after all. Not everyone, of course is Princess Stella AdaezeOduah, the amazon of ''uncommon transformation'' in the aviation sector. â&#x20AC;˘Obi was Special Assistant (Media) to the immediate past Minister of Aviation.

Govt tackling gas pipe vandals - Dagogo-Jack Reynolds Dagogo-Jack is Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power Reform (PTFPR) where he played a key role in the recent transition of power infrastructure to private ownership. An indigene of Rivers State, he also expressed his opinion on the political crisis in the state in this interview with Steve Osuji

BOUT three months after the handover of power generation and distribution to the private sector, the power supply situation has worsened. Did you envisage this situation in the transition plan? The power situation has really not become worse as you assert. The facts are there. Our performance today with slightly over 4000 megawatts put on the grid is better than the average profile of around 3300 megawatt which was the level at the handing over date. And you know very well that but for the over five months of frustrating gas outage from one of the nation's main gas trunk lines we were well within comfortable reach of the 5000 megawatts threshold by October 2013. We understand that there are challenges being faced by the new operators but consumers are asking: How much worse will it get before it gets better? I would like to use your medium to encourage our people to place their expectations in a reality context. Indeed I truly doubt it that consumers are the ones creating this sense of stampede we sense in the public media. This is because it beats my imagination why any right thinking person would expect that all our structural problems in the sector of over 50 years shall simply vanish three months after handing over to the private sector. To your question how much worse shall it get before it gets better my position is that the transition situation will not be worse than our previous pre reform conditions before things start turning around for better. It's a teething stage and no previous such reform exercise anywhere in the world has escaped passing through this phase on the way to achieving irreversible success. Is the current poor supply situation not attributed to the perennial dry season outrages due to fall in water levels? The PTFP (Presidential Task Force on Power Reform) conducted a quick month- month comparison of performance between 2012 and 2013 which showed significant drop in the contribution from the hydros. However the shortfalls in hydros could have been very well covered by the newly commissioned NIPP plants most of which unfortunately couldn't get their due gas supply to deliver to their full operational capacity. What are the milestones set for the TCN and is it meeting target? TCN as you know is currently under management contract by Manitoba Hydro of Canada. This contract aims at a comprehensive transformation of the firm into a world class State Grid Company. It also has a board which directs and supervises the management contractor. We should give the team the required minimum time to get acclimatised. I have no doubt they will catch up and deliver as contracted. What is the gas supply situation now? I'm glad to report that the backbone pipeline in the west axis which has been out for several months due to several blow points from vandalism has just been fully restored. Unfortunately two gas plants on the same axis would require to be shut down soon for routine service and this could deduct from the gains of the restored ELPSA line. We are working closely with the project and process owners to carry out the routine services in a manner which would reduce the negative on generation to the barest minimum. The National Security Agencies have laid out details strategies for containing these acts of economic sabotage and I strongly believe they shall end pipeline vandalism soon.

â&#x20AC;˘Dagogo-Jack

Networking tips for business owners Page 66

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

HAT inspired the concept jobberman.com? I had someone who was my cousin, Dapo Lawal, he was a source of inspiration to me. He was young and at 23, he was the youngest landlord in Victoria Garden City, Lagos, and managing a range of businesses in Nigeria. More so, I had been an entrepreneur since I was 16 years. I registered my first business at 16 years. My first year in college, I started out with website and graphics design business which still exist Whogohost.com. It is the first indigenous web service provider in Nigeria. In 2009, I moved on to Jobberman Limited Trading. All my life has been technology business and it's been a good ride so far. Jobberman was a product of an industrial attachment project in my third year in OAU which I discussed extensively with my friends. We created the web site jokingly. Though, it was not running at that time, but we knew one day this idea would fly. In my final year in school, and I and my two friends decided to team up to start up jobberman.com. Launched in 2009 coupled with the fact that the idea already existed and our feasibility studies on the market helped with unemployment on the high and graduate finding it hard to get information about the available jobs out there. Most graduates out there have to buy a copy of The Guardian newspaper to look for job vacancies. We could not afford to buy the newspaper then, thus, we felt that something had to be done to address it and we also could see what was happening in India at hugo.com- an online job

'We started jobberman.com with zero capital' Opeyemi Awoyemi is the co-founder of Jobberman.com, an online portal dedicated to online jobs application launched in August 2009. In this interview with Adeola Ogunlade, the 29-year old graduate of Computer Science from Obafemi Awolowo University shares his experience on growing a start-up which currently has an asset base of $12million site providing job opportunities for over 1 billion people. We saw the similarity in Nigeria and we felt this is the right thing to do and make something out of it. We saw a huge vacuum that could be filled with the tools provided by technology and that was it. Why do you choose to use the name? Jobberman is a solution to the problem of job search. It's an internet business which provides the widest pool of talent available in Nigeria to employers. Four years ago, if you needed a job, you had to go around physically to offices dropping your CVs, or buy a physical newspaper to see the jobs available in town. Jobberman is at the forefront of making jobs info available as well as making job applications as simple as possible. Today, Jobberman is the platform (print and online combined) with the highest number of jobs and job seekers in West Africa. As for the name, a friend suggested the name and it sounded cool and we decided to use it. How were you able to tackle the challenge of funding to grow the business?

xxx

â&#x20AC;˘Awoyemi

When you are starting a business, what is important is that you should start and not just to start worry about finance which most times is not the major problem.

Finance is not always the major problem. If you want to start fashion designing, you should ask yourself what do I need which includes sewing machine,

thread and other basic requirements. Find a way to create the brand first and it might involve money and it might not involve money then find a way to sell it. Money is one of the things that might be needed but it is not everything. For us, we started with no money, though, we were consulting for people and got paid about N10N20,000. But talking seriously, for me, every single business I have done, I have started with virtually nothing. I don't believe in telling stories that I started with 50kobo. When I first started with web designing, I will go and meet people and tell them that I can build a website and that they should bring money. So, I can tell you in a sense, money is not necessarily needed to start a business, what is necessary is something valuable that you want to offer. For instance, like trade, when you buy and sell, you will need money but still you have to cut your clothe according to your material. What is the value of jobberman.com currently? People have different variation, but based on what we see, our capital based is worth $12million

now. How is the site funded? Funding came at first from our stipends, money from family and friends and other pools of other fund. In December 2009, Chika Nwobi of L5Lab approached the team and we finally met in January 2010 after which we entered into a strategic equity partnership. In August 2010, after about a year of starting the company, Tiger Global (portfolio includes LinkedIn and Facebook) invested a million dollars in the business. What's presently your staff strength? We have staff strength of about 60 people in Nigeria and Ghana. You operate mainly in Ghana and Nigeria. Is there any plan to expand to other parts of the continent and how do you manage the existing ones? Yes, we do have plans for expansion into other parts of the continent but it takes time and lot of planning if you really want to win. We do have offices in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana where operations for the countries are managed. Technology is however centralised - from Lagos, Nigeria. Approximately, how many companies do you liaise with to get applications posted on your website? More than 7000 companies at the moment, and we have not peaked yet. This keeps growing every day. How many people visit your website and the successes recorded in the last five years of existence? Over 600, 000 unique visitors come to jobberman.com to search for jobs and every single day, we have 6,000 jobs posted on our website and 5,000 people gets jobs through our platform every month at least on a bad month.

Expert tasks govt on farm centres, marketing boards

LHAJI Ibrahim Isa, an expert in cotton farming and member of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), has advised the Federal Government to re-introduce farm centres and produce marketing boards. Isa made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Funtua, Katsina State. He said that establish-

ing farm centres with skilled extension workers to educate farmers, would improve yield while the marketing boards would guarantee good pricing. Besides, the farmer said that both measure would increase the roles of the produce inspection department, to ensure grading and facilitate the achievement of the desired results. The expert said that adulteration of the commodity constituted an impediment to cotton business growth in

the country. He decried the increase in cases of cotton adulteration with water, sand, dust, wood, metallic objects and other items designed to increase the weight. He cautioned cotton farmers against all forms of adulteration to ensure the commodity's global acceptance and called on research institutes to live up to the obligation on seed quality. Isa, a former staff of the defunct Northern States Marketing Board, urged the

Federal Government to emulate other countries such as the U.S. Cameroon and Benin Republic in the area of cotton production policies, to ensure maximum gain and success in the business. According to him, policy change has also brought setbacks. He underscored the need to constitute rehabilitation, consultation, seed development and management revolving fund committees including cotton farmers.

He expressed concern that merchants, ginners recorded high gains at the expense of the peasant farmers and further urged the government to redouble efforts in check-mating textile import as well as dumping of used materials in the country. ``At present, commodity farmers are left at the mercy of commodity merchants and other stakeholders with commercial interest associated with cotton,'' Isa said.

While commending the federal and state governments toward supporting farmers, he urged cotton farmers to embrace modern farming techniques and post-harvest procedures. He lauded President Goodluck Jonathan's Agricultural Transformation Agenda and described the policy as a good development toward attaining agricultural growth.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

66 BUSINESS/SME REPORT

Nutricima launches mega cash promo N

U T R I C I M A Limited has launched its Nutricima Mega Cash promo is a loyalty reward scheme in the Federal Capital Territory. Addressing journalists at the launch of the promo in Abuja last Wednesday, Mr Penni Vakki, the Middle belt Regional Manager of Nutricima stated that the scheme was designed with the teeming millions of consumers in mind and to demonstrate to the kids, youth and adults that the company values their

â&#x20AC;˘Targets SMEs From Nduka Chiejina

(Assistant Editor), Abuja loyalty and patronage by creating a platform for them to win a millions of Naira. According to Penni Vakki, "the way the promo is designed, it is clear that we want many people to win millions of Naira and numerous gifts as possible. All they have to do is to purchase any of coast evaporated milk, Olympic

evaporated milk or family pack of Nunu powder milk, all of which bear the special label for the Mega Cash promo. There are also raffle draws which will produce 15 millionaires among our consumers cross Nigeria." Speaking further, he said, Nutricima takes part in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives "and engage the communities through various platforms like grass-

root sporting activities, ''Healthy Living'' campaign in neighbourhoods, partnership with Lagos State Government to drive ''Drink Milk'' campaign, partnering with school for kids with special needs like Down Syndrome Foundation of Nigeria (DSFN)." Giving a rundown of the promo, the company's Marketing Manager Mr Raphael Agbaje said instant prizes to be won include electronic recharge card topup to all the GSM networks; N500, N1000, N5,000 and N10,000 instant cash prizes.

Kebbi earmarks N400m for training of 125 youths

HE Kebbi Government has earmarked N400 million for skills acquisition training of 125 students at the Bradford University in the United Kingdom. The Executive Secretary of the State Scholarship Board, Alhaji Sahabi Birnin-Yauri, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi over the weekend that the training was for six months. He added that the training was part of government's efforts to reduce unemployment in the state. ``Selected participants would be trained on Information Communication Technology (ICT), meteorology, mechanical and electrical engineering and wood works," he said. He said that more students would be sponsored to study medicine in foreign universities to raise the number of medical doctors in state hospitals for improved health services. ``The aim is to end dearth of doctors and other professionals in our hospitals by 2015.''

Sokoto to purchase 300 tricycles for unemployed youths

HE Sokoto State Government at the weekend said it would spend N120 million to purchase 300 tricycles to facilitate mobility among its citizens. Malam Danladi Bako, the state's Commissioner for Information, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto that the gesture was part of the government's effort to create job opportunities for the unemployed youths. He said the tricycles would be distributed to youths in the 23 local government areas at a subsidised price. The commissioner said the gesture would assist the state government to further reduce poverty through job creation.

â&#x20AC;˘From left: Regional Sales Manager Middle Belt, Nutricima Limited, Mr Penni Vakkai, Head Trade Marketing, Mrs Ojoma Okotie and Trade Partner, Mr Niyi Ologunleko, during the unveiling of Nutricima Mega Cash Promo in Abuja...recently

R Rotimi Oloye, the National Secretary, Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) at tthe wekend attributed the increase in the demand for locally produced fish to the partial ban on fish importation. Oloye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the price of imported frozen fish had increased due to the 25 per cent reduction on imported fish by the Federal Government. He said that this had contributed to the increase in local fish production, adding that farmers were happy with the increased demand for local fish. ``The catfish industry is

Ban on fish importation boosts demand, production of local variety -Association getting better and the demand is becoming higher. Nigerians have started to rely on what we produce locally. ``The partial ban on imported fish has increased the production capacity of fish farmers in the country, which serves as an encouragement to farmers who had initially abandoned their ponds. ``The only positive difference is that farmers have now noticed that if they produce, people are ready to

buy. '' The secretary said that the association would ensure the regulation of catfish price in the market so that it would still be affordable to consumers. ``We will make sure that the locally produced fish won't experience any upward rise in price due to the increase in demand, to keep it affordable for consumers.'' Oloye noted that fish farmers were ready to increase the production

capacity to meet the domestic demand. NAN reports that Chief Tayo Akingbolagun, the National President of CAFAN had earlier said the Federal Government's ban on importation of some fish species was to stimulate local production. Akingbolagun said that the ban was also to help local fish farmers expand their tentacles to produce other fish species and make them available in the market.

Prices of agric commodities fall in markets

HE prices of some prices of agricultural commodities at major Nigerian markets decreased for the week ended Feb. 22, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. The price of a 100kg bag of drum beans, popularly called ``Olotu'', decreased by N500 at the Mile 12 market in Lagos State, the weekly market commodity prices report by Novus Agro Nigeria, said on Friday in Lagos. It said Drum beans which sold for N22,000 for the week under review was sold at N22,500 for a 100 kilograms

(kg) last week. The paint bucket measurement, however, was sold for N800 as against N767, while per kilogramme measurement was sold at N211. At Igbudu Market in Delta State and Dawanau Market, Kano State, 100kg of Olotu was sold for N28,000 and N13,300 respectively. A 60kg white Garri bag was sold for N9,000 and N400 per paint bucket at the Mile 12 market, Lagos remained stable. In Dawanau market, Kano State, 60kg of white garri was sold to N6,317 last week, but

now sells for N6,150, having a difference of N167. A measure of 100kg of maize (white) sold for N6,500 this week was sold for N6,667 last week at the Mile 12 market, while a paint bucket sold for N300 remains constant. Groundnut (edible) remained stable at N19,500 per 100kg bag and N750 for a paint bucket measurement at the market. A 50kg bag of imported rice which was N10,000 remained the same as last week, while a paint bucket sells for N800. A 100kg bag of soya beans sold at the Mile 12 market in

Lagos and Relief Market in Anambra State remain the same at N10,000 and N15,000 respectively. Red Sorghum was sold at N9,000 per 100kg bag and N450 per paint bucket at the Mile 12 market in Lagos and N5,600 per 100kg at Dawanau market in Kano State. Onion (violet) 100kg was sold for N11,167 whereas, it was sold at N12,000, recording a decrease of N833 and the 2kg went for N400 in Lagos. Also in Lagos, palm oil sold at N6,650 for 25 litres, while a bottle sold for N230, remained stable.

Exhibitors call for regulation of cost of erecting pavillions at Kaduna Trade Fair

OME exhibitors at the ongoing 35th Kaduna International Trade fair, have urged the organisers to regulate the prices being charged by carpenters for erecting pavilions at the fair ground. The fair, being organised by the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), started at the weekend. Some of the exhibitors told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that carpenters were extorting them, describing the situation as discouraging. One of the exhibitors, Mrs Hawa Saleh, lamented that erecting pavilions at the trade fair ``is like putting up a permanent structure.'' She lamented that the inflated price of woods and plywoods by the carpenters at the fair ground was discouraging. According to her, whereas woods is being sold in Kaduna metropolis at N900 per plank, the carpenters are charging N1200 at the fair ground. Hawa also alleged that the carpenters were charging as much as N200,000 to erect a 30 square meter pavillion. "If you are going to rent constructed pavillions from carpenters on your own allocated space, you will be paying N250, 000. "Renting from them means they would be the ones to take over the woods used for construction after the fair is over." Mr Amos Ayuba, a staff of the Unity Bank of Nigeria told NAN that the Bank paid N1 million for a 50 square meter space, and that the carpenters were erecting the structure at N250,000. ``We can afford it because we are financially strong, if this trend continues some exhibitors may be forced out," he said. Reacting to the complaint, Mr Blessing Adams, Chairman, Carpenters' Association, Trade Fair Branch, defended the action of his members, saying, constructing pavilions was not an easy task. Adams said they charge N100, 000 for a 15 square meter space and N200, 000 for a space of 30 sq meters. "We urge the exhibitors to bear with us. Moreover, the cost of transporting woods from the timber shed in Kaduna metropolis is one of the factors affecting the pricing."

THE NATIO N ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

BUSINESS/SME REPORT

entrepreneurs Networking tips for Women urged to legalise business to reap gains business owners A S OME of the best business relationships have been founded on chance meetings or five-minute conversations. Brush up on your networking skills with these top tips Networking event 1. Be prepared to travel If you're looking to make the contacts, you need to be prepared to go to where the contacts are. This may mean travelling outside your zone, region and probably country so make sure you have the budget and are ready to do the miles. 2. Do your research Guy Mucklow, chief executive of Postcode Anywhere, says: “Research who else is going to a networking event and use LinkedIn to find five people that will be valuable to meet. Make a mental note of common areas of interest and discussion points that will make your conversation smoother and more interesting

when you meet in person.” 3. Be confident “Look around the room for people standing on their own,” says Adam Riccoboni, co-founder of consultancy platform MBA & Company. “If everyone seems to be locked in conversation, never be afraid to approach. So long as you're polite, you'll be welcomed into the discussion but always gauge their body language, if two people are deep in conversation, best not to butt in.” 4. Don't go for the hard sell Don't monopolise a conversation or use networking as opportunity for the hard sell. That comes later, after the event. Pretend you're there to make friends rather than sell your business, keep ‘shop talk' to a minimum, and you're much more likely to make a lasting impression. 5. Don't allow yourself to get cornered

Riccoboni says: “You're there to make new contacts and widen your circle, so no one will be offended if, once your conversation has reached a natural conclusion, you shake their hand, say how nice it was to meet them, and move on to the next person.” 6. Stay on the ball Goncalo de Vasconcelos, founder of online crowdfunding platform SyndicateRoom, says, “Matching names to faces after a networking event can be tricky. Use a pen to jot down keywords from your conversation that will jog your memory later on.” 7. Always be on time There is nothing worse than being the last person to turn up to a room full of people already deep in discussion. Getting to the venue early gives you time to set yourself up and the opportunity to strike up early conversations, which are often the most memorable. 8. Take business cards

Some say that they are unfashionable and overrated but a business card can make a difference the next day when you are trying to recall names and conversations. You can use your cards to make notes on the people you meet. 9. Be ready for the question, "What does your company do?" Mucklow says: “Many businesses have complex business models in place across multiple markets. But at networking events time is tight. Be able to explain your business, what it does and what makes it different simply and in a short space of time.” 10. Don’t get in touch with someone for no reason "Always try to find a good reason to follow up with a new contact,” says de Vasconcelos. “Talking about a book or blog and offering to send them a link after an event is a great excuse to get in touch.” Culled from www.telegraph.co.uk

N NGO, NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), at the weekend advised women entrepreneurs to register their businesses to reap the benefits. Mrs Lola Okanlawon, President of the network, gave the advice at a forum organised by NNEW for Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in Lagos. Okanlawon said that many women entrepreneurs were unaware of the benefits of operating their businesses in a legitimate way. ``We have many women involved in various businesses, but they do not know that there are benefits when it is formalised. ``Some of the women are worried that if it is formalised they will pay tax. “But they do not know that it will enable them access funds when a business is legalised. ``What we learnt today showed that most women have been doing business and have never called for a board meeting nor make returns,’’ the NNEW president said. She said that the objective of the one-day forum was to enlighten women on what the government had put in place to promote and boost their businesses. According to her, NNEW, whose core value is integrity, wants to ensure that its members understand the basics of business operations. Okanlawon said that loans were being provided to over 1, 000 women entrepreneurs at 10 per cent interest rate in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt to improve their businesses. She said that NNEW would establish a microfinance bank to handle finances of its members and enhance their businesses.

Kano urges farmers to register to benefit from GES

•Research who else is going to a networking event and use LinkedIn to find five people that will be valuable to meet.

Dry season farming creates job for Bauchi youths

HE dry season rice farming initiated by the Federal Government to boost rice production is already yielding positive results, in Bauchi State, a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey has shown. The survey showed that many youths, who before now travelled to the southern part of the country in search of menial jobs during the dry season, were now engaged in dry season farming in Bauchi, thereby having a stable means of livelihood. A correspondent of NAN who visited some of the farm sites at the weekend observed that the programme had provided job opportunities for youths in the state. Malam Yau Abdullahi, the Chairman, Zingiwa Rice Farmers Association in Gamawa Local Government Area, told NAN that the Zingiwa rice cluster had engaged about 50 youths, doing various kinds of job. Abdullahi said that the youths were engaged in farm clearing, watering, transplant-

ing and weeding and were being paid between N700 and N1,000 daily, depending on the kind of job. Malam Abdulahi Usman, the Chairman of the local government's branch of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), also said that so far, more than 1,000 jobs had been created in the area. "One hundred and thirty youths are working in my farm alone on a daily pay of between N700 and N800 each, where I am cultivating about 50 hectares of rice. ``Sixteen others are employed as permanent staff,'' Usman said. In a separate interview, Malam Auwalu Saidu, the Chairman of RIFAN in ItasGadau local government area, said that another set of 30 youths were engaged, 14 of them from Jigawa State. Some of the youths who spoke with NAN commended the Federal Government for initiating the programme, saying: "the programme has given us something to do.''

Yau Sule, a labourer at Zingiwa cluster, said he made between N700 to N1,000 daily, doing various kinds of jobs. Sule said that during the dry season, most of the youths of the area usually travelled to other states, sometimes as far as the southern part of the country, in search of menial jobs. "But this year, many of us are gainfully engaged in rice farms making money, as many of us did not have to travel anywhere. "We have no reason to, since what usually takes us away from our homes is now available at our door step,'' he said. The story is the same for Salisu Barde, who said he usually travelled to Port Harcourt or Ibadan during dry season in search of jobs. "With this development, I have no reason to go anywhere. Rice farming has filled in the gap. Now we are economically engaged during the rainy season as well as the dry season.

"My dream is that someday, I will get my own permanent space to also participate in the dry season farming,'' Barde said. Another beneficiary of the initiative, Malam Umaru Nahabu, a wash-bore maker in Rimi, Alkaleri local government area, said that the dry season rice farming had made washbore making business very lucrative. NAN reports that a washbore is a locally made borehole produced manually through digging of the soil with a sharp object to a certain depth that produces water for irrigation farming. "I charge N10, 000 per washbore and so far, I have drilled 30 of them in Rimi, making N300,000 in just a month, and there is still, a heavy demand for my service. "Dry season rice farming has really given me the needed opportunity to put my skills to proper use and make money. I really commend the Federal Government for the initiative,'' Nahabu said.

HE Kano State Government at the weekend urged farmers in the state to register with associations and the Ministry of Agriculture to enable them to access inputs under the Growth Enhancement Support scheme (GES). The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Hajiya Baraka Sani, gave the charge while monitoring the progress of the scheme in Dambatta. Sani was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Muhammed Dankadai. The monitoring team visited the redemption centres of the dry season fertiliser sale at Dambatta and Makoda local government areas of the state, where farmers were sighted redeeming their allocation. The commissioner urged the farmers to take advantage of the scheme to access fertiliser and seeds. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the GES is the flagship programme of the Federal Government under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). Under the scheme, each registered farmer receives two bags of fertiliser and improved seeds allocation via his/mobile phone through an electronic system known as the e-wallet at half the cost of the input. The Federal and State Governments pay 50 per cent of the cost. Sani commended the progress recorded under the programme in the area. Meanwhile, Malam Iliyasu Hamza, a farmer who spoke with NAN, confirmed that he benefited from the scheme through the new technology. He said that each beneficiary would have access to three bags of fertiliser and free rice seed at the cost of N8,250. The GES was designed to provide affordable agricultural inputs to farmers to increase their yields per hectare.

•Traders in Abia score council chairmen low

RADERS in Abia have rated local governments in the state low in terms of infrastructure development in the markets. The traders, operating under the aegis of Abia State Amalgamated Market Traders Association, made the observation on Friday when they staged a two-million-man march to the Government House in Umuahia. In a speech presented to Gov. Theodore Orji, the President of the association, Mr. Christian Nwaubani, noted that “local governments have failed in their responsibility to provide access roads to some of the major markets in the state.” Nwaubani called for the governor’s intervention to ensure easy access to the marketsw for both the traders and their customers. He thanked the governor for approving funds for flood control at the famous Ariaria International Market in Aba. He called on him to extend similar gesture to other markets having flood challenges in the state. He further thanked Orji for the downward review of the tax payable by traders f rom N5,000 to N3,600 per annum. Nwaubani appealed to the governor to donate a vehicle to the association, which is the parent body of other affiliate market associations in the state. Responding, the governor thanked the traders for their solidarity and support for his administration.stration of their appreciation of his performance in office.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014 Two popes attend historic cardinal ceremony

Egypt’s ousted Morsi says jail-break trial is ‘void’

N an unprecedented blending of papacies past, present and future, retired Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis at a ceremony yesterday to formally install 19 new cardinals who will elect their successor. It was the first time Benedict and Francis have appeared together at a public liturgical ceremony since Benedict retired a year ago, becoming the first pope to step down in more than 600 years. It may signal that after a year of staying largely “hidden from the world,” Benedict may slowly and occasionally be reintegrated back into the public life of the church. Benedict entered St. Peter’s Basilica discreetly from a side entrance surrounded by a small entourage and was greeted with applause and tears from the stunned people in the pews. He smiled, waved and seemed genuinely happy to be there, taking his seat in the front row, off to the side, alongside the red-draped cardinals. “We are grateful for your presence here among us,” the newly minted Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told Benedict in his introductory remarks at the start of the service, drawing more applause. Francis warmly greeted his predecessor at the start and end of the service, clasping him by his shoulders and embracing him. Benedict removed his white skullcap in a show of respect as Francis approached.

C. African Republic mob kills three Muslims

HREE Muslim civilians in conflict-torn Central African Republic were shot dead yesterday when the taxi carrying them was stopped by an angry mob, witnesses said. The three men were travelling in the Combatant neighbourhood near the airport in the capital Bangui, where French and African Union troops are headquartered. A crowd chanting anti-Muslim slogans forced their taxi to stop, and then killed them. “It was extraordinarily violent. They were executed in cold blood,” one witness told AFP. A French army spokesman confirmed three bodies had been found in the area and said French troops had fired warning shots to force the crowd away from the corpses. The bodies, which were later taken to the hospital morgue, bore bullet and machete wounds, an AFP correspondent said. The Central African Republic has been torn by communal violence since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the government in March 2013 and handed power to their leader, Michel Djotodia — who was himself forced out last month for failing to rein in atrocities by his former fighters.

•People cheer in front of the parliament building in Kiev yesterday. Ukraine’s parliament yesterday voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Viktor Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfil his duties as president.

Ukraine MPs sacks president

ROTESTERS took control of Ukraine’s capital yesterday, seizing the president’s office as parliament sought to oust him and form a new government. An aide to President Viktor Yanukovych said he had left Kiev for his support base in the country’s Russian-speaking east, but that he has no intention of abandoning power. In a special parliament session, lawmakers warned that the country risks being split in two. The country’s western regions want to be closer to the EU and have rejected Yanukovych’s authority in many cities, while eastern Ukraine — which accounts for the bulk of the nation’s economic output — favours closer ties with Russia. “The people have risen up and achieved their goals. The authorities are crumbling. Victory is in sight,” 31-year-old construction worker Sviatoslav Gordichenko said outside a residential compound believed to belong to Yanukovych, Hanna Herman, a close Yanukovych ally, told The Associated Press that the president was spending Satur-

•Protesters take over, former PM Tymoshenko out of jail day visiting Kharkiv, a city in Ukraine’s east which is the heart of his support base. “As much as some people want it, he has no intention to leave the country,” Herman said. She said the president was to meet voters in the region and make a televised address. The trip comes a day after Yanukovych and opposition leaders signed a Europeanbrokered agreement aimed at resolving the months-old political crisis that has killed scores and injured hundreds. The agreement calls for early elections and constitutional reforms that reduce the president’s powers. The protesters, who are angry over corruption and want Ukraine to move toward Europe rather than Russia, claimed full control of Kiev and took up positions around the president’s office and a grandiose residential compound believed to be his, though he never acknowledged it.

At the sprawling suburban Kiev compound, protesters stood guard and blocked more radical elements among them from entering the building, fearing unrest. Meanwhile, Yulia Tymoshenko, a former gas magnate, whose ringing rhetoric electrified thousands during Ukraine’s 2004-5 Orange Revolution and propelled her to power, sprung from jail yesterday. Tymoshenko shot to fame with her impassioned speeches against a rigged poll won by Yanukovich in 2004. With the post-Soviet establishment turfed out, Tymoshenko became prime minister, but fell out with her fellow Orange revolutionaries. Ousted after Yanukovich beat her to the presidency in 2010, she was jailed in 2011 over a gas deal she signed with Russia. She spent much of her incarceration in hospital for a back problem in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

The West said her imprisonment was politically motivated, and the European Union repeatedly pressed for her release, only to be rebuffed by Yanukovich. Tymoshenko is reported to have made millions in the 1990s as president of a company that was for a while the main importer of Russia natural gas, earning her the sobriquet “Gas Princess”. Her sharp tongue and combative style brought her both devout followers and arch enemies. Born in 1960, in Russianspeaking Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Tymoshenko studied at the local university, married while still a teenage student and had a daughter in 1980. Taking advantage of an entrepreneurial climate in the Soviet Union under leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Tymoshenko had her first taste of self-made money from a video rental store she set up. She soon crossed into the energy sector and went on to become head of Unified Energy Systems.

Italy’s youngest-ever PM Renzi sworn in

TALY’S youngest-ever prime minister Matteo Renzi and his fresh-faced cabinet were sworn in yesterday, amid widespread scepticism that the new government has the political maturity to tackle the country’s formidable challenges. The 39 year-old former Mayor of Florence was accompanied by his wife and three children — dressed in the colours of the Italian flag — to the formal ceremony at the presidential palace, and smiled widely as he watched his new team sworn in by President Giorgio Napolitano.

The centre-left leader takes over the reins of the eurozone’s third largest economy in a period of increasing frustration among ordinary Italians hard hit by a deep recession and weary of broken political promises. “It is a hard and difficult task. But we are Italy, we’ll succeed. A pledge: to remain true to ourselves, free and simple,” Renzi said in a tweet. The new premier is expected to present his programme to the upper house of parliament on Monday, before addressing the lower house on

Tuesday. In his 16-strong cabinet, half of the new ministers are women and — with an

average age of 47.8 years — it is the youngest government in Italy’s history.

•Italy’s new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (R) rings the bell which he received from outgoing Prime Minister Enrico Letta (L) marking the moment he takes office of the Prime Ministry at Palazzo Chigi in Rome yesterday

GYPT’S deposed President Mohamed Morsi yesterday rejected the right of a court to try him and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders on charges related to a mass jail break in 2011, security and judicial sources said. Morsi and his comrades, including the Brotherhood’s top leader Mohamed Badie, are charged with killing and kidnapping policemen, attacking police facilities and breaking out of jail during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. “As far as I’m concerned, these procedures are void and I don’t accept them,” Morsi said, describing himself as the president of the republic and calling on the Egyptian people to continue their “peaceful revolution,” according to the sources. Some of the other roughly 130 defendants, who were held in a different courtroom cage from Morsi, applauded him and chanted “Down with military rule”. It is not unusual for high-profile defendants to be locked up in cages in Egyptian courts. The authorities have fiercely suppressed the Brotherhood since army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled Morsi in July following mass protests against him. Thousands of Morsi supporters have been jailed and hundreds killed. The case was adjourned to February 24 after the lawyers defending Muslim cleric Safwat Hegazy asked for the judges to be replaced, a matter pending approval from another court.

Ghanaian funeral for BBC presenter

UNERAL ceremonies for BBC TV presenter Komla Dumor, who died last month in London at the age of 41, are taking place in his home country of Ghana. As is customary in Ghana, they are being held over three days. The funeral service itself took place yesterday in the forecourt of State House in the capital, Accra. It will be followed by a private family burial and there will then be a thanksgiving service at the capital’s Roman Catholic cathedral today. Friday saw a requiem mass at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Accra, where his body then lay in state until the funeral. Ghanaian President John Mahama said the nation had lost one of its finest ambassadors with the death of Mr Dumor. “He was very passionate about Africa, he was very passionate about Ghana. I think Komla is one of the gifts we gave to the world,” Mr Mahama told the BBC.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

CBN: Here comes Godwin Emefiele

NTIL last Thursday when President Goodluck Jonathan announced Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the current Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc as his nominee for the CBN top job, little was known of Emefiele. In fact, when his name was mentioned a few didn’t even figure he holds the ace at Zenith. He was such an unobtrusive man until Thursday even though he has put in a record 26 years cognate experience in the banking industry. The CBN which was established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on July 1, 1959 is modelled after the Reserve Bank of the United States of America and the Bank of England in Britain. Emefiele’s career in perspective The new CBN governor designate holds a B.Sc and an MBA in Finance both from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Before commencing his banking career, he lectured Finance, Bank Management, and Insurance at the University of Nigeria and University of Port Harcourt. Until he took over as Group Managing Director in August 2010, Emefiele was directly responsible for all the Group’s local subsidiaries, Treasury and Correspondent Banking, and Multilateral, Conglomerates, and Private Banking. He also had responsibilities for direct supervision of majority of the bank’s branches in Lagos and the Northern part. He took Zenith Bank to another height last year when he became the first GMD/CEO in the banking industry to achieve N100 billion after tax profit in a financial year. He is an astute manager of people and resources and a corporate governance savvy professional banker who has earned several personal and corporate endorsements and achievements. Emefiele is an expert in forecasting and takes steps, leveraging on his excellent acuity and calculated-risk-taking skills to crystallise any benefits from existing and future opportunities. Zenith, which by balance sheet size and other positive financials has shaped and is shaping certain critical aspects of developments in the sub-sector, is in sheer entrepreneurial energy and a bank without equal, one which has taken after its lead-manager. The several achievements of Zenith Bank Plc since he took over, analysts have argued, stands Emefiele out as an accomplished banker and an erudite manager of human and material resources. Currently, Zenith is the largest bank in Nigeria and the seventh largest in Africa by tier-1 capital. Forbes & CNBC Africa rank it as the third biggest company in West Africa. Capital Finance International (CFI) adjudged the bank the ‘Best Commercial Bank in Africa’. The bank is adjudged to be of incredibly high standard not just on a national level but an international one. Testimony to Emefiele’s leadership qualities is a succession of excellent ratings from local and international agencies. Zenith bank ranks amongst the world’s 500 valu-

The nomination of the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to arouse discussion in the financial sector. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf takes a look at a man about whom the public knows little.

•Emefiele

able brands. Brand Finance Plc ranked it as the 11th most valuable brand in Africa. Under Emefiele’s watch, Zenith Bank shares currently trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) following a listing of the $850 million worth of its shares at $6.80 each in a major step aimed at improving liquidity in the stock through Global Depository Receipts. Speaking at a forum in 2014, he said, “Year 2014 is obviously a harbinger of change in several aspects of our endeavours and it is not unlikely that even business-to-business and business-to-customer interactions will be recalibrated. The reform in Agriculture and power will begin to take roots and positively impact Nigeria and the citizenry and at Zenith, we are well poised to take advantage of opportunities there-from in a manner that would support the Nigerian government’s determination to ensure and sustain achievements in the social and economic realms of our livelihood.” A vote of confidence In separate interviews with industry experts most of them shared eloquent testimonies to what they described as Emefiele’s sterling qualities as a banker. To many of these analysts, there is going to be a different dynamics with the coming of an Emefiele. Dr. Austin Nweze, a political

economist at the Pan African University, Lagos, said by the nature of the CBN, the character and personality of those who sit atop the agency speak volume of how the economy would be managed either for the better or worse. “The CBN job requires a certain personality that is less talk but more work because if you talk too much, there is every tendency for you not to do your work as well as you should do it. Take a look at the United States of America, where the likes of Alan Greenspan served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank from 1987 to 2006 and later the mantle of leadership was passed to Ben Bernanke, who handed over to Janet Yellen early this year, you can say in all that these personages concentrated on the job rather than the glamour attached to it. “So to that extent, I think Emefiele comes across as someone who knows his onions and he is a right man for the job. He rarely speaks in public and that is the character of a CBN governor. Since he took over he has been able to sustain the winning streak of Jim Ovia, who many thought his exit was going to affect the fortunes of the bank. But things have been going the upward swing under Emefiele and that tells you a lot about his sincerity of purpose and tenacity. He is in the mould of Joseph Sanusi. Although his choice came as a surprise, his choice is safe for the

economy if you consider other options. He is the best among all the devils that were being touted as those in line for the CBN top job.” Mr. Tola Adekoya, director, School of Banking Honours, Lagos, is also on the same page with Nweze. A trainer of bankers with three decades experience, Adekoya said of Emefiele’s appointment. “Unlike Sanusi, ordinarily, Emefiele is not a young man. So, we should expect more maturity, a much more refined regime under him. Bankers are supposed to be conservative but Sanusi played to the gallery behaving more as a politician than a banker.” Chief Timothy Adesiyan, Executive National President, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association, believes he is a round peg in a round hole. “He is a cool-headed banker. He is a shrewd banker. He would not drag the CBN into politics as his predecessor did .With his kind of pedigree we have no doubt that he would deliver the goods…The growth fundamentals at Zenith Bank speak volume of the kind of person new CBN boss is. Under him, we have seen a steady growth and which shows there is a good succession plan in Zenith Bank.” Return of the cabal? However, some think his appointment could well pave way for the return of the cabal in the banking sub sector as it is believed that he would work for the interest of these privileged but well-heeled individuals with influences in high places. In the view of many analysts, it is perhaps too soon to make any firm conclusions as to Emefiele’s management style, but it will be interesting to see how he easily transmutes from a bank GMD to sit atop the apex bank of Africa’s fastest growing economy.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

‘Criticisms by men of God cannot stop me’ The General Overseer of Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministry, aka Liberation City, Dr Chris Okafor, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the many criticisms against him and his unique ministerial operations. Excerpts:

HE church clocked 10 last November. How has the journey been? We appreciate God who has been helping us to fulfill the mandate that He gave us. He’s been our helper; our sustainer and father. We are not there yet because our best is yet to come. But we give God praise for where we are. God gave us a one billion-soul mandate and we are very far from there. It is not easy to reach one billion people. So, how far have you gone in fulfilling the mandate? We have reached a lot of people. Last year, we had crusades in Enugu, Abuja, Warri and other places. We were in Cameroon, South Africa and even the United States of America. We are reaching souls. We also have our TV ministry. We have a station that reaches all countries in Africa and three in Europe. As I talk to you, we are at the verge of entering into another platform that reaches every part of Europe. We are at advanced talks with Galaxy that covers all parts of America with a view to reaching the one-billion soul mandate. I am not in the church now or at a crusade but we are reaching souls. They are seeing us on TV and other media outlets. Your environment and look depict class and excellence. Why these dashing looks, considering you are a preacher? You see, this has always been part of me. I grew up in a poor family. My father was a carpenter and my mother a vegetable seller. We were so

poor even the poor called us poor. About 11 or 12 of us lived in one room. We used to wear one clothe for a year. I went through what we used to call ‘wash and wear’. You wash in the night, spread overnight and wear the following day. So, it is not about wealth but discipline. I found out that the Spirit of God likes excellence. So, that accounts for how I always appear. Jesus was a powerful dresser. John said he was not worthy even to untie the lace of his shoes. Those scandals must be expensive. He used designer perfume because the alabaster oil that Mary poured on him was the most expensive in those days. It was so powerful that Judas, who was not there when she was pouring it, perceived the aroma, came over and said it should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. That tells us the class that Jesus belonged to. People have always wondered just where you are coming from. You just seem to have appeared from nowhere. Well, I grew up in a Christian home. I encountered Christ at eight. My parents were elders in the Anglican Church then. Everybody must wake up 5am everyday for devotion. By 9pm, we gathered for night prayers. Everybody in the family must fast three days -on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays - every week. So, the upbringing didn’t allow me anything less. It shaped my ministry and calling. Did you work in any church or under any man of God?

I was indirectly influenced by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa. We were living in Benin City then. I was privileged to be under him, though not at a close range. There were other ministers who also influenced me. Were you a member of any church before this church started? No, I was not. We started a fellowship once I was in Lagos, which metamorphosed to this church. I never belonged to any church until then. The fellowship started in the house of an Anglican priest, who was of help to me. And you know it is not difficult to kick off from that angle, considering there was no platform. Did you attend any theological school for ministerial training? None at all. I was tutored under the late Archbishop Idahosa. We always misunderstand something in life. Bible school does not make you called; it is God that calls people. You can go to Bible school and still not have the calling. I have a study where I have read over 1,000 books. The Bible says Jesus called his disciples and gave them powers. He called, not Bible school. That I did not go to Bible school does not mean I was not called. What has kept you going despite all the criticisms against you? It is God. There was a time the Apostles were arrested and were at the verge of being killed. A man in the opposition said if what they were doing was of God, they would survive and no attempt to stop

xxx •Okafor

them would succeed. Whatever is of God will last. If the opposition is not there, I won’t be on my toes. So, enmity is useful in many ways. When the Israelites were in captivity, the Egyptians left all the jobs to them. Today, the Israelites are the best doctors, engineers and so on. So, enemies can be blessings in disguise. Don’t women trouble you, considering your dashing look? (Laughs) You see, I don’t leave my house; I am always in my house. There are some deliberate walls I built around myself that are difficult to break. I don’t see anyone except on appointments. I have protocols and security men around me. So, it is difficult for any woman to access me. I don’t go to functions or any social engagement. You can’t find me outside. Why? I am not called for that. I fast every day. You can imagine if I wake up every 2am, I pray until 8am. I go back to bed and normally sleep at daytimes. So, it is difficult for any woman to access me. Many have said you are

just a flash in the pan that will soon fizzle away. How do you react to this? If I am of God, no man will be able to stop me. I will be around for as long as God wants. This is the same way they fought TB Joshua and the man is still around. What is your relationship with TB Joshua? No, I don’t know him at close range. We have never met but I know God is using him. I like his charity works and prophetic ministry. I think we are similar but there is no need to meet at all. You have a habit of calling people’s cases during services using their mobile lines, home addresses and even car particulars. Many ministers have accused you of manipulating those details. How do you react to it? I Corinthians 2:15 says a natural man can never understand the things of the Spirit. The ministers saying that don’t have understanding. Jesus told people things about them. In John 4, he told the Samaritan woman everything about her life. He saw Zaccheaus and said

come down Zaccheaus. He needed an ass one day and told his disciples where to get it. He told them to tell the owner he had need for it. Those who are talking do not have knowledge. They didn’t realise Jesus ran a prophetic ministry. God tells us everything He needs to. Sometimes, a football match is going on and God will tell us how it will end. So, when people don’t know how something operates, they oppose. I have been doing this as a prophet since eight. So, many ministers have things against you. Why is this? Listen, the level of what God is doing here is so mindboggling. I have nothing against anybody; no pastor is my enemy. If there is anything you don’t seem to understand, go to God and ask Him about me. They are not the God that called me. The meat that has fat will throw itself on the fire. If they are against me, look at their results and look at mine. Look at their ministries and look at mine. That will balance the answer.

NEWS

Anglican Church honours couples

•??????????????? The couple at the installation

AINT Thomas Anglican Church EseIkare, Ondo State last week conferred the proprietor and principal of Greater Tomorrow International School, (GTI) Mr. James Lawal, with the Otunba Baba Ijo title. It also installed his wife, Mojisola, as Iya Akorin. The officiating Minister, Right Reverend Gabriel Akinbiyi, of Akoko North Diocese, said the couple deserved the honour going by their contributions to the development of the church.

By Taiwo Abiodun

The Parakoyi of Ikire, His Royal Highness Oba Okeluse, described the Lawals as loving and Godfearing. He said: “Lawal is a great philanthropist. He is not arrogant but very humble and has contributed greatly to his hometown in Ikire.” Mr. Jide Tububo, a longtime friend of the Lawals, said: “I thank God for the great honour bestowed on him. He has turned down many chieftaincy titles but he

appreciates working for God. I will now be calling him chief.” Lawal thanked the church for the honour, saying he was ready to do more. According to him: “Now I have more responsibilities in the church. “I believe we should contribute our own quota to the development of the church, for it is our first home where morals are taught.” The couple donated an 18-seater bus and an undisclosed amount of money to the church.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

WORSHIP NEWS

COLUMN

Why morals are poor, by Martins T HE Catholic Bishop of Lagos Diocese, Archbishop Alfred Martins, has blamed loss of family values for the moral decadence in the society. He spoke last week at a press parley on the church’s Family 2014 Anniversary with the theme, the family as a domestic church. Martins also descended hard on promoters of same-sex, describing the practice as against the law of nature. On loss of family values, he said: “In recent years, the rate at which marriages are crumbling is alarming and the effect on the couples and children is unimaginable. “The effect of this aberration on the larger society is no less devastating. It is no exaggeration if we blame the many

By Sunday Oguntola

ills of today’s society on broken homes and failed and irresponsible marriages.” He said the church has consistently valued marriage as an institution ordained by God, stating that homes can fix the many challenges in the nation with the right mindset. Martins expressed the church’s readiness to teach the right marital values and principles to save the nation. He lamented the concept of marriage is being given a different meaning in the society today, especially with the agitation for same-sex marriage. According to him, “The Catholic Church believes in the

sanctity of marriage. It is a permanent union between a man and a woman entering into a permanent relationship. Anything outside this is not encouraged.” He, however, added that just like Christ, the church does not hate sinners but frowns at sins. On corruption, the Archbishop said the menace is not peculiar to Nigeria but is a worldwide phenomenon. “Corruption is a worldwide hydra-headed monster, which is also direct consequences of the decadence in societal values. “People are no longer faithful to the values of their faith because no faith encourages corruption from its members. In Nigeria, it is endemic because of the get-rich syndrome.”

•L-R: Prophet Segun Oduneye; Primate Olorunfemi Ejide and Senior Superintendent Gabriel Akinadewo at the first founder’s anniversary of Restoration Parish, Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, Akute, Ogun State... recently

Confab‘ll be a waste of time if…

HE National Director of the Voice of Christian Martyr, Rev Isaac Newton-Wusu, has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to allow discussions on the continuous existence of Nigeria at the proposed national conference. Newton-Wusu made this appeal in an interview with The Nation last week in his office in Lagos. He said that the National Conference is a welcome development if President Goodluck Jonathan and the committee are serious and genuine in their intentions to bring about a strong and a more united Nigeria. He took a swipe at the federal government’s recommen-

By Adeola Ogunlade

dation that the entity of a united Nigeria should not be discussed or tampered with at the national conference, saying this has clearly shown government has predetermined the outcome of the conference. He noted that Nigeria practices America’s democracy which guaranteed freedom of thoughts, movement, speech and religion which have been undermined with the no-go areas. Newton-Wusu decried the increasing number of people, most especially women and children, killed in northern parts of the country. According to him: “There is no point deceiving our-

selves. If we are actually wellmeaning for generations yet unborn, let us sit down and work out a nation where we can live together as Nigerians. “I want to be able to hug and show love to fellow Nigerians irrespective of tribes, languages or religions which have become dividing factors in Nigeria.” He continued: “If the north says we don’t need you, don’t they have their right? We have these situations in many Africa countries where there are divisions upon divisions but it only pays the ruling elites who benefit from these things. I will not canvass for the division of Nigeria, but it should be discussed.”

‘Polygamous clerics are fake’

HURCH leaders who have more than one wife are not genuine men of God, founder of Voice of Salvation Evangelical Ministry Lagos, Prophet Joseph Olu-Ayeni, has said. “Pastors who practise polygamy cannot be genuine men of God; they are fake. If really you are hearing from God, you will not commit adultery,” he stressed. Olu-Ayeni spoke ahead of the weeklong crusade organised by the church, which starts by February 24 in Ikorodu Lagos. He said: “As a cleric, if you can manage a woman you can manage a congregation. But if you cannot manage a woman, then how can you manage a

By Kunle Akinrinade

congregation? “So it is not the will of God for any man, let alone pastors to have two wives.” He advocated spiritual solution to the raging Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast. Olu-Ayeni explained: “Examples of how political leaders run to men of God for solutions during crisis period abound in the Bible. “Therefore, government should seek spiritual solution to the Boko Haram menace by asking notable men of God to set aside a period for prayer. “Let the federal government gather men of God together in a particular place for days and challenge them to

pray for impeccable divine intervention. “I bet the solution would come faster than expected and insecurity and Boko Haram would become a thing of the past.” Prophet Olu-Ayeni warned pastors who use crusades to make money to desist from the practice because of its negative implications on Christianity.

Living Faith By Dr. David Oyedepo

Engaging Praise For Fearful Blessings!

RAISE is a spiritual platform for fearful blessings. We also understand from scriptures that, it is the blessings of the Lord that make rich, multiply and change our stories, without sorrow coming into our lives (Proverbs 10: 22). The reason for that is very simple: every time we praise God, we are blessing Him. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34:1; Psalm 103:1; Psalm 104:1). That means, praise is a spiritual way man blesses God. Also note that, whatever good thing any man does, the same he shall receive from the Lord (Ephesians 6:8). That means, by blessing God, we are provoking His blessings on our lives (Psalm 67:5-7). This is so important. What Are The Virtues In Divine Blessings? It empowers us to live a struggle-free life: The blessing of God is the gateway to a struggle-free life (Proverbs 10:22). Divine blessing makes us indestructible: One of the virtues in blessings is our indestructibility. “...Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it....” (Isaiah 65:8). We are indestructible with implanted blessings. Divine blessing empowers us to prevail: We prevail by divine blessings, where others travail. Three major channels of blessings in Scriptures: Understand that no one can bless himself. It is a mystery! Blessings are channelled through others, which can be classified into three: From God directly: In Genesis 22:16-18, God swore a blessing on Abraham. So, we can encounter the raw bless-

NEWS

Cleric harps on essence of integrity

HE Chairman, Executive Council of Nigeria Association of Christian Journalists, Apostle Bolaji Akinyemi, has charged Nigerians to maintain integrity and work towards eradicating corruption. He spoke when he led a three-man delegate on a courtesy visit to Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation in Lagos.

Real Power Conference begins

HE convener of Real Power Conference, Pastor Toluwabori Ojo, has assured that God is prepared to restore power to the church. He spoke ahead of the conference, which starts by March 15 with the theme, If

ings of God directly from Him. Prophetic and priestly blessings: God gave Balaam commandment to bless, and because he had proclaimed the blessings, God sealed it. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it (Numbers 23:20). When prophets stand in the name of the Lord and implant a blessing, they commit God’s integrity to confirm it (Isaiah 44:26). Parental channel of blessings (Ephesians 6:2-3): The blessings of our parents are part of the making of our lives. It was the blessing of Jacob that prevailed in the life of Joseph (Genesis 49:26). It was the blessing of Isaac that caused Jacob to prevail, in spite of all his challenges in life (Genesis 27:22-29). So, there are automatic blessings that accrue to us, through the parental channel. We must get to a point where we have such blessings proclaimed on us, so we can begin to manifest them. Blessings accrued to us by the mystery of praise: When praise becomes our lifestyle, blessings will become our natural experiences; we won’t struggle for them. That is why men that are addicted to praise don’t run out of blessings. The following blessings, amongst others, are to be expected to flow to us from our praises: Divine favour: Divine presence is a carrier of divine favour, and God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3). So, when we are in praise, we enjoy divine presence, which naturally engenders divine favour. Deliverance from all forms of bondages and captivities: There was a king by name Saul, and evil spirits

came to torment him. But, every time David played on the harp, the evil spirit left him (1 Samuel 16:14-23). What does that mean? That means high praises guarantee automatic deliverance. Supernatural harvest: He that reapeth receiveth wages as he gathers fruit unto life eternal (John 4: 36). When you sow to the spirit, you reap life eternal. It is a platform for executing judgment in the camp of our enemy: Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen... (Psalm 149:6-9). Supernatural Breakthroughs: When God came in the midst of the Israelites, the sea saw them and fled (Psalm 114:1-9). Supernatural Restoration: If you have lost anything, you are getting it back sevenfolds. As Jesus gave thanks, what was stinking came back to life (John 11:40). As you give God praise, I decree the supernatural restoration of anything the enemy might have robbed you of! Receive it now, in Jesus’ name! Friend, the power to access these blessings is available if you are born again. You get born again by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. If you are set for this new birth experience, please say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sins and satan, to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now, I know I am born again! Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, you can get my books: Understanding The Power Of Praise and Wonders Of Praise. I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. respectively. I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

any man is thirsty. It holds at Golden Lamp Christian Centre, House of Impact, Ikotun Lagos by 10am. Ministers expected include Pastor Jide Dada (USA) and Rev. Joses Hezekiah (Nigeria).

By Godwin Simon

Akinyemi was accompanied by the group’s general secretary, Pastor Charles Okhai, and the prayer coordinator, Pastor Toyin Praise. He bemoaned the spate of corruption in the country and called for attitudinal change among public office holders and ordinary Nigerians. The cleric explained many public office holders loot the treasury because they lack integrity and the fear of God. He hinted that the group has been encouraging people of proven integrity through its annual Integrity Awards, noting that one of the recipients, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, has just been appointed Commissioner of Police in Rivers State.

He described The Nation as one of the leading newspapers in terms of balanced and accurate reporting. “Everything we see in each edition of your newspaper is truth in defence of freedom. Our association is committed to fighting corruption and we discovered that is the path that you are also treading. “We need to network with you for our subsequent programmes to properly channel our integrity message and we look forward to cooperation from you in this regards,” Akinyemi added. The Online Editor, Lekan Otufodunrin, promised the delegation total support, stating that the newspaper is always disposed to networking with those committed to sanitising the nation.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

GOD'S JUDGMENT ON THE CHURCH: A CALL TO MOURNING AND FORSAKING REBELLION By Olumhense Imoisili THE FAILED VISION

od created Adam and his wife and gave them one name. They were both to be called Adam (Gen. 5:2). Why did God give one name to two persons? At the heart of God is His eternal unchanging vision to have fellowship with man so that man would inherit the earth with His Son, Jesus Christ. God always had in mind men and women He would dwell in and with on the earth. God started the process of seeking fellowship with man by creating him in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). What is the image or likeness of God? God is a Spirit (John 4:24). God is Love (1 John 4:16). God is Light (1 John 1:5). God is holy (1 Peter 1:16) and God is Life (John 14:6). God has always sought for men and women to walk in His five images. God has always sought for men and women to walk in the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1, 14), to walk in love of one another (John 13:34-35), to walk in the light of His Word (Psalm 119:105), to walk in holiness and to have His life in them (Heb. 12:14, 1 John 5:11-12). It is the men and women walking in these five images of God that are ordained to have dominion over the fish of the sea or water spirit realm, birds of the air or witchcraft, cattle or idolatry and creeping things or cults (Gen. 1:26). Men and women with such dispositions or images of Jesus His Son were given the vision to replenish the earth and subdue the four realms of Satan (Genesis 1:28). Adam was the first creation of God to be called to these ministries of replenishing or restoring and subduing the earth. At the time, the earth had come under gross darkness because Satan and his co-fallen angels had their presence in it (Gen. 1:2). God created the earth for human and Divine cohabitation (Isaiah 45:18). The vision to subdue and replenish the earth was the calling of Adam and his wife. God gave them one name Adam as part of His plan for the earth. God was interested in vertical and horizontal unities with man and among men. The vertical unity would be God taking the man and his wife through trials to perfect them and bring each one to unity with Him. Adam individually would be one with God and his wife would also be one with God separately from her husband. Jesus had to go through the same process from the age of twelve to thirty. Jesus became perfected and learnt obedience through suffering (Hebrews 2:10, 5:8). In that individual unity with God, each person would have a revelation of Christ that would enable him or her enter Mount Zion. The glory of God would be revealed in each individual (Psalm 102:16, Romans 8:18). That revelation of Christ would have led Adam and his wife to possess the Kingdom of God authority to flush the devils out of the earth (John 3:5). The horizontal dimension of unity would have made the man and his wife one in Christ. The man and his wife would be one or they would be in unity with one another. A united husband and his wife along with Jesus would have become a three-fold chord not easily broken (Eccle 4:12). That three-fold chord would be Jesus at the apex and the man along with his wife at each vertex of the triangle. It is the vertical unity between man and God along with unity among God's people that is referred to as the Body of Christ. In that oneness, Jesus would be the Head and the united people of God would be one Body (Ephesians 4:4). Paul would also refer to these vertical and horizontal unities as one New Man (Ephesians 2:15). Unfortunately, Adam used his mouth to reject these unities by naming his wife woman before the fall and Eve after the fall (Gen. 2:23, 3:20). He brought schism into his marriage with his confession. His rebellion separated him from God. It is this one New Man that Abraham covenanted for with God. Moses refers to this New Man as the seed of Abraham. "... in Isaac shall thy seed be called", "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" and "thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies" (Genesis 21:12, 22:17). The seed of Abraham is Jesus and Christians in unity with Him (Galatians 3:16, 29). Such Christians must have been through the testing and trying of the cross. Such Christians must have Jesus as the author of their salvation because they walk in obedience to the Word of God (Hebrews 5:9). Adam failed to walk in this vision of oneness with God. He fell and gave authority over the earth to Satan (Luke 4:6). God raised Abraham and the nation of Israel to bring this vision of unity between God and man as well as unity among men to realisation. Israel failed and became hardened in self righteousness. Israel saw the Kingdom of God as isolation from the rest of humanity. Paul preached and the Gentiles turned to God. The Jews of the time got

offended. If the Jews of the time of Paul believed the Word, they would have found prophecies of Gentile conversion in the Old Testament (Psalm 22:27, 72:11, 86:9, Isaiah 66:19-21). They were not interested in Gentile conversion. They saw the Gentiles as unclean and wanted them to pour into hell. They saw themselves as the holy people of God. Their holiness was spurious before God. It offended God because it was not the true holiness. It was self-righteousness before God which is a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6, 65:2-5, Romans 9:31, 10:3). When Israel failed in the vision of delivering and restoring the earth to God, God decided to raise a Kingdom within His Body. The Kingdom of God would be possessed by God's righteousness and power (1 Cor. 4:20). To be part and to enter the Kingdom of God, you must go through much tribulations (Acts 14:22). It is this Kingdom of God that was ordained to dismantle the anti-Christ Kingdom establishing the rule of God and of His Christ over the earth (Daniel 2:44, 7:8-27, 1 Cor. 15:24, Revelation 2:26-27, 11:15). Let me underscore the importance of the Church in unity with God and with one another in another dimension. When Abraham stepped into Canaan, God was called possessor of heaven and the earth (Genesis 14:19, 22). When Israel became trapped in sin and rebellion and the word of judgment had been proclaimed, God was referred to as God of heaven only (Nehemiah 1:4, Jonah 1:9). He was not God of the earth. After the judgment of Judah and the seventy-year captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah led the returnees to build the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. God was called again the God of the heaven and the earth (Ezra 5:11). Jesus and Paul proclaimed this name of God in the New Testament (Matthew 11:25, Acts 17:24). The issue for God has always been to have a platform and people to dislodge Satan and his kingdoms from the rule of the earth. God has always sought for people through who He would establish His rule over the earth. Abraham's arrival in Canaan provided God that platform. Israel failed and the Church has failed for more than two thousand years in providing God the platform to deliver the earth restoring its rule to Him. God knew that Israel would fail in this vision of reclaiming the earth to Him. He then consigned this vision of subduing Satan and his kingdoms to the last days. Look at the prices David was said to have paid for the plot of land where the temple was built in the Old Testament. Ezra reported that David paid 600 shekels of gold while Samuel reported the price as 50 shekels of silver (2 Samuel 24:24, 1 Chronicles 21:26). The issue is not the exact price David paid for the land. The issue is the revelation of the end times Church that the prophets saw and reported in their revelations. Silver is a symbol of refinement and fifty stands for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Samuel saw the end time's temple as individual Christians or ministers who have been refined and filled with the Holy Spirit. You could be that temple if you embrace the walk of the cross, if you are willing to be refined. Gold is a symbol of victory and 600 represent warfare. Ezra saw the temple as the corporate Kingdom of God confronting the devil's kingdom having victory over them to fulfil the calling of subduing in Adam's vision (Genesis 1:28). It is a symbol of the Church dismantling Satan's rule from the earth and establishing the rule of God and of His Christ over the earth. This Ezra vision is the deliverance ministry of families, villages, towns, cities and nations of the earth in the Nigerian Kingdom of God. God consigned this vision to us in Igueben in Edo State in 1991 and I can assure you that we have gone far in the vision. As a matter of fact, we are at the last phase of that vision. Jesus promised the Jews that He was about to take the Kingdom of God from them giving it to a nation that would be fruitful (Matthew 21:43). All nations of the earth are vineyards of the Lord but only one nation at a time could possess the Kingdom of God. Any new revelation of Christ would always be given first in the nation with the Kingdom of God. From that nation, the new revelation of Christ would spread to other nations of the earth. God stripped Israel of His Kingdom because it was unfruitful and gave it to Rome. Rome lost it to the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom lost the Kingdom of God to the US in the early 1800's. The US Kingdom of God gave us speaking in tongues as their revelation of Christ. You have multitude who proclaim to speak in tongues and don't even know who Jesus is. Recipient of speaking in tongues lack the power of God Jesus promised us in Acts (1:8). The error in the US revelation was in seeing power to derive from speaking in tongues rather than from the revelation of Christ promised in Matthew (16:13-19). Cornelius' household spoke in tongues

and they did not receive the power of God. So did the Ephesian believers (Acts 10:44-46, 19:6). Speaking in tongues only confirmed God's acceptance of their repentance. The power of God must flow from a revelation of Christ in an individual. Baptism of fire must precede the revelation of Christ (Matt 3:11). In 1990, God stripped the Kingdom of God from the US and gave it to Nigeria with a commission that the Nigerian Kingdom of God should take the gospel of deliverance, restoration and blessings to all the nations of the earth. The Nigerian Kingdom is called to confront and dismantle the rule of Satan all over the earth restoring the rule of God to all nations. Jesus will not come until the completion of these two ministries (Acts 3:19-21, 1 Cor. 15:24). Deliverance always precedes restoration. The Nigerian churches took the blessing component of the promise to Abraham calling on even those that have never repented to bring bribes to God in the form of tithes and offerings so that they might be blessed. Yet the Bible tells us expressly that only those who obey the Word of God shall be blessed (James 1:25). The churches are back to selling indulgences. To summarise what I have said so far, God has a vision to reproduce the New Man from among men and women who are willing to be tried to possess the Kingdom of God. Look at the process of obtaining such men in Psalm (66:10-12). Such men and women must be tried as silver. They must be tested like gold. God must push them into the net of the enemy to be sifted. God must lay affliction on their loins to nurse as babies. God must cause men to ride on their heads like bicycles. They must go through fire and through water. After these trials, God must give them their Wealthy Places or the Kingdom to possess. It is such men and women who must possess the gates of the enemy. They must possess the finances of the earth (Genesis 23:18, Micah 4:13). The problem of the Nigerian Church is the absence of tried men and women in the fore-front of the Nigerian revelation. Most of those who lead us don't even believe that a Christian should suffer. They teach their followers to disdain the cross, to despise suffering. Yet they have Romans (8:18) and 1 Peter (2:21-23) in their Bibles. These ministers take the promises of God given to the tried and tested believers and assure their members to possess them by faith without going through trials or testing. They claim their members don't need to suffer. It is finished, they proclaim. Just believe and you are filled with the blessings of God. They teach their members to pay tithes and offering to them for the members to have financial blessings. Yet Deut (26:12-15) spelt out where tithes and offerings should go. They ought to go to Levites or needy Christians, strangers or unbelievers in need to draw them to Christ, fatherless children and widows. Others tell their members to fast for three days to be sanctified and possess the inheritance of God. What a cheap gospel! The churches have taken this recklessness of the preceding paragraph to the world. They tell the unsaved world to bring money to their ministries and God will bless them with more money. Imagine an armed robber who was arrested confessing that if his group had praised God before their robbery and paid tithes on their preceding robbery, they would not have been arrested. Ministers go to corrupt politicians to partake of the proceeds of bribery despite the warnings of Leviticus (22:25). A church taught its members that the mothers should pay tithes on behalf of their children so that their children would make it to heaven invariably without repentance. Girls who are into harlotry in foreign lands also pay tithes to churches to make more money from the trade. I watched a pastor cajole an Italy-based harlot that if she would increase her tithes to his church, she would have more clients. The churches of God have profaned the gospel of Jesus with rebellion and wickedness. God is angry with the churches. God has been giving the signs of His displeasure with the churches because of our gross rebellion to His Word. We ignored the signs. The first sign of God's displeasure with the churches was the collapse of Nigerian economy. The collapse was to draw our attention to the need to repent and forsake rebellion. Instead of repentance, many churches expanded all over the nation with new branches. Tithes paid in all branches must be brought to the headquarters of the church. How the branches survive is the headache of the branch pastor. Imagine a pastor with eight children who

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

74 had been a denominational pastor for thirty-three years paid a monthly salary of N5,000! Some denominations set up foreign branches to earn hard currencies. I was told of a church where the pastor just returned from Europe with Euro currencies. He led his deacons to pray for the Nigerian Naira to depreciate more so that he would obtain more value for the hard currencies from his foreign ministry. It didn't bother him that depreciation of the Naira would mean more unemployment for his members. People who have never repented have now become "men of God". God gave us a second sign in allowing armed robbers and kidnappers to rampage our nation. Churches were invaded by robbers taking tithes, offerings, jewelleries and telephones from worshippers. Some of our businessmen were kidnapped during church worship. Some few pastors lost their lives to armed bandits and hired killers. We prayed death on the robbers and kidnappers. God looked at us from heaven and laughed at our foolishness. We refuse to see His hands in these travails. We fail to see God telling us that we have a controversy with Him. We are in gross rebellion to His Word. God raised corrupt politicians to rule us as another sign of our rebellion. Instead of repentance, we criticised the politicians and became bitter against them. Some of us made friends with these corrupt politicians inviting them to bring their corrupt finances to our churches. I know a public figure that was known to be a murderer and was the toast of several Pentecostal churches in a Southern city. God raised Muslims to kill us in our churches. The latest is the Boko Haran scourge that has bombed churches killing multitude of worshippers. Our reaction has been two-fold. We have turned our churches into military fortresses. Some churches even have armed guards around their churches during worship. Some of our ministers travel with armed escorts. Another reaction has been a clamour by many Christians that Nigeria should break up. The North and South should go their separate ways. What else do we want God to do to show us that we have a controversy with Him, that we the churches are the problem of Nigeria? In Europe and America, most of our top ministers would be in jail for tax evasion. Zephaniah (3:2, 5) summarise the current state of the churches. "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God... The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity; every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he failed not; but the unjust knoweth no shame". Thus is In the language of Amos (4:12), "... because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." GOD'S PROVISION FOR RECOVERY OF THE CHURCH God knew that the Church would backslide into apostasy. Paul gave the prophecy in 2 Thessa (2:3). He said the Coming of Jesus would be preceded by the falling away of the Church and the revelation of the anti-Christ spirit. The falling away started after the demise of the apostolic fathers and the Romans in the reign of Constantine took over the Church. They brought into the church Roman idolatry mixing it up with the gospel. The Holy Spirit left the Church leaving it in orthodoxy. Politics and worldliness took over and persecution and blood bath followed. There have been attempts to recover the Church to the truth but the attempts have never been able to take deep root. The Church has been too far gone in its backsliding and rejection of God. What we have left are rituals and programmes devoid of the power of God and the Holy Spirit. We refuse or dread to proclaim the truth and righteousness of God. We fear the congregation more than we fear God. God knew the Church would get to the level it has now sunk. In Nigeria, the sinking has been quite sudden and dramatic especially among the so-called Pentecostals. The titles and practices the Pentecostals derided in the 1970's into the 1980's have now become their main menu. In essence, their fire brand preaching then against orthodoxy was more out of envy and jealousy than of revulsion against fake Christian life and practices. The Pentecostals derided the Orthodox Churches in the 1970's for the office of a Bishop. The reigning thing now among the Pentecostals is to be labelled a Bishop. God gave us the offices of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, etc. We now have Senior Apostle, Senior Prophet, Senior Pastor, Right Reverend, etc. I have always wondered where the wrong Reverends and the Junior Pastors have escaped to. Reverend is the name the translators of the King James Bible gave as one of the names of God (Psalm 111:9). The same translators gave us Jehovah. We don't give ourselves the title Jehovah but we delight to be addressed as Reverend. Yet we have Job (17:5, 32:22) in our Bibles. Apostles and prophets are the foundation ministries in the Church (Ephesians 2:20). Where are the victorious apostles or prophets that should be pillars in the House of God? Where are the apostles and prophets that have been tried that the Church of God should rest on? A lot of those who claim to be apostles or prophets got the title because somebody laid hands on them. Some of them are not even

born again. I know a former "apostle" now called a Bishop. Jesus is the one who gives the five offices of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to the Church (Ephe. 4:11). You don't need Jesus now to appoint you into the five offices. All you need in current worldly churches is for somebody to lay hands on you and proclaim you one. We are back to Judges (21:25): "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." God promised that Zion would be redeemed with judgments (Isaiah 1:27). What is Mount Zion? It is the presence of Jesus in His people or the Church. Mount Zion is the overflow of the presence of Jesus in individual lives or the corporate entity called the Church. The individual or the Church with Mount Zion testimony becomes the city of God (Psalm 48:2). There is no Mount Zion in any church currently. A few individuals that have made sacrifices are close to the manifestation of Mount Zion in their lives. For Mount Zion to come down into a life, such a life must be prepared with refinement and sanctification (Psalm 102:16). The Mount Zion Fellowship is described in Hebrews (12:2224). In Mount Zion, you sit with Jesus on His Throne in heaven to rule the earth with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26-27, 3:21). In Mount Zion, you become God's city having fellowship with angels. You share fellowship with the Trinity, the Saints of God in heaven and on earth. You live physically on earth but spiritually you occupy a two-man Board of Directors with Jesus as The Chief Executive Officer and you the Executive Director (Rev. 3:21). In that Throne with Jesus, you alter destinies of individuals and nations without the world knowing. The tragic thing is that the Orthodox and Evangelical Churches have rejected Mount Zion and the Pentecostals have reduced the testimony to speaking in tongues. You have multitudes who speak in tongues and are not born again. Man taught them to speak in tongues. Mount Zion has long been lost to God's people. God promised to redeem it with judgment (Isaiah 1:27). Redemption is in reference to something that is lost and irretrievable. We were irretrievable as sinners. God brought Jesus to die in our places to satisfy His holy demand and righteousness. In His resurrection, Jesus imparted His life to us so that He could live His life in us. We proclaim death and resurrection as rituals every Easter but to live the death and resurrection testimony is another cup of tea. We as a Church have rejected death and resurrection as something to be lived. Yet, where there is no death and resurrection as an experience, Mount Zion is an illusion. Holiness or obedience to the Word of God and righteousness are delusions without the cross (Heb. 5:8, 1 Peter 2:21-23, 4:1-2). Isaiah (4:2-5) has provided the corporate dimension of the purging and sanctification needed to enter Mount Zion. Isaiah prophesied that the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and full of glory. The Branch is the Body of Christ (John 15:2). The fruit or economies of the earth would be sanctified and given to the escapees in the Household of God. Remember Jesus is coming for a holy Church without spots or stains of sin, a Church without blemish or any fault at all (Ephesians 5:27). How will this holiness and spotlessness be brought about in the Church? Isaiah declared that the filth of Mount Zion will be washed away and the blood of Jerusalem will be purged with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. First, judgment will come down on God's people. Those who will survive the judgment are what the Bible calls escapees or remnants. They will be delivered to burning or be baptised with fire (Luke 3:16). Such survivors of the judgment will be refined and purged so that they may be able to walk in holiness and obedience to the Word of God (1 Peter 4:1-2). Zechariah (13:9) calls it the testing of gold and the trial of silver. It is only after this refinement that God will receive the petition of His people. After the judgment and sanctification, the presence of Jesus or Mount Zion will be restored to individuals and to the Body of Christ as a corporate entity (Isaiah 4:4-5). The glory that will come down on the Body will overflow the earth bringing deliverance and healing to families, towns, cities, nations and God's creation (Numbers 14:21, Isaiah 11:9). Delivered and healed animals will eat grass instead of flesh. Deserts will recede and God creation will be full of the glory of God (Isaiah 11:6-8, 65:25). It is the first phase of this dealing of God with the Church that is the focus of this message. God's judgment is on the churches. The rebellion of the churches is the root driver of the judgment. Judgment starts at God's household or churches (1 Peter 4:17). God's judgments come in four dimensions. They include famine or financial and economic stress or hardship, pestilence or diseases, beasts or demonic torture and sword or death (Ezekiel 14:21). The judgment will start with ministers of God. Let me profile the judgment for you. Malachi (3:18) says that we must discern between the righteous and the wicked, between those who truly serve God and those who are pretenders. The first phase of that judgment will be God unleashing His power on the churches to expose them. There will be confessions by people of darkness both within and outside the churches exposing the members of their covens who we hold as men of God. Cults

will be meeting and the power of God will come down slaying all the members into a comma. People will get there and find that some of those slain are ministers of God. A minister will be preaching and a lady will show up with children she had outside wedlock for the minister. Congregational members will rise in the churches confessing the members they had affairs with. Christians in perverse sex lives will be exposed. There will be confessions within the churches to expose the work of the Kingdom of darkness in the church and the members of the church that participated in that wickedness. Ministers and churches will be arrested for financial frauds and violent crimes. The purpose of this first phase of judgment is for God to show us the rot of the churches so that the judgment that will follow will be justified before all. The second phase of the judgment will be the judgment proper. God's anger and fury will be unleashed on the churches. Ministers will be preaching and collapse right on the pulpit. Some might die on the spot and some subsequently. Stroke and paralysis will be visited on people. Christians with lucrative jobs might wake up unemployed overnight. Some people might go insane and walk the streets even though they were ministers and Christians. Some in the judgment of insanity will be at the gate of their churches pleading for monies to buy food and eat. Diverse Christians will be in hospital hovering between life and death. Some will die and head for perdition. Some will repent and be taken home to heaven. Some will repent and be restored to health. Some churches will close permanently and some ministers and Christians will return to their hometowns where they will be desolate. Some ministers will be village jobbers while others will be hangerson with politicians as cheerleaders. "... for when thy judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly and not behold the majesty of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:9-10). THOSE TO FACE THE JUDGMENT OF GOD Who are the people in the churches that will face this forthcoming judgment? Let me start the process from Matthew (7:21-23). Jesus said that just because you can call Him Lord, Lord does not guaranty you safe passage into heaven. You must know and walk in the will of God for you. In the New Testament, every Christian is a minister. Every Christian has a ministry he or she must account for at the judgment seat. That is what John (15:2-5) proclaims. Every Christian has people prepared for him or her to lead to Christ. The prepared people will only receive and hearken to the Christians or Ministers God ordained for them. Other Christians or ministers are strange to such people. If the Christian goes, his or her sheep will hear his or her voice. He or she will lead them out of captivity of Satan to the glorious liberty of the children of God. If the Christian does not go and the sheep dies ending in hell, the ChristianShepherd will have the blood of the dead sheep in his or her hand. That blood in the hand of the Christian could lead him or her to hell. It was because of the seriousness of obedience to God in our callings that Paul told the Ephesians that he was free from the blood of all men. He discharged his obligations to all men (Ezekiel 3:18, Acts 20:26). You might ask: how should I know my sheep? The parable of the ten virgins provides the clue. The five wise ones had oil in their vessels. They yielded to the Holy Spirit. They sought for and obtained the ministry as well as fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins ignored the Holy Spirit. In the midnight hour or the time of judgment (Job 34:20), the Christians with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of the Word of God stood. Those without the Holy Spirit floundered and ended up in hell (Matthew 25:1-13). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is well articulated by John (14:27, 15:26-27, 16:13-14). You are not a Christian if you don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you (Romans 8:9, 1 Cor. 3:16). Jesus Himself proclaimed that His sheep must hear His voice (John 10:27). You can be a Christian and not be a sheep. A Christian believes in Jesus and may or may not have eternal life (John 6:40). A sheep follows Jesus the Consuming Fire with the latter refining him until he is perfected (Matt. 3:11, Hebrews 12:29). The Consuming Fire turns the sheep into a flaming fire to turn the perishing world to Him and a flame of fire to be God's offensive weapon against the kingdom of darkness (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7). It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truths. If you don't know and have not gone to your sheep, the judgment of God is on you (Luke 12:45-48). Some will receive judgment of death. Some will receive judgment of severe chastisement and others will receive judgment of minor chastisement. Matthew (7:22-23) talked of people who complained that they gave prophecies; they ministered deliverance to the oppressed and did miracles. Yet they were tossed into hell. These were ministers who walked in the wrong ministries.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014 They didn't walk in their right calling. Maybe they could have been prophets or evangelists but ended up as pastors. They may have been called to international ministries but ended up as local pastors. There are people called to be apostles and prophets. Their denominations have appointed them pastors. Some denominations don't believe apostles and prophets are still needed today. The two offices are said to have died with the apostolic fathers. The problem of these ministers is that they didn't yield to the Lord Jesus for the Holy Spirit to prepare them and unfold their ministries. Multitudes of the ministers in the preceding paragraph are held captive in their denominations. They had their visions and reported to their pastors. Their pastors sent them to their denominational Bible Schools or Seminaries. They completed their training and were appointed pastors to one of the branches of their denominations. Such ministers walk in the will of the General Overseer of their denominations rather than the will of God. There are some other ministers that have moved their ministries abroad in search of hard currencies. If you are a Christian and you don't know your ministry, you have not walked in or are being prepared for your true calling; the judgment of God is on you. God has called His servants to a ministry of the revelation of the Word of God (Romans 7:6, 2 Cor. 3:6). We have been delivered from ministering the letters of the Scriptures. The letters kill those who receive them. The revelation of the Scriptures is glorious and gives life. There is a Greek Word called Rhema which is translated as the Word of God (Matt 4:4, John 17:7, Rom 10:17, Ephe. 6:17). It is the Holy Spirit revealed Word of God. The Hebrew equivalent is Dabbar (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 107:20, Isaiah 55:11, Jere 5:14). Ministers are supposed to give the Rhema or the Dabbar of the Word to their hearers. If you have not been walking or ministering the revealed Word to your congregation or flocks you have been killing them. I just got a vision of a servant giving boiled but unshelled ground nuts to people to eat. The servants wanted the guests to crack the ground nuts themselves or eat the ground nuts with shells. The un-shelled ground nut is a symbol of the Word of God with a veil over it. How do you expect your congregation to remove the veil themselves? In essence, you expect them to eat the ground nuts with the shells. That is what you have been doing if you have not been giving the revealed Word of God to your flocks. You have been feeding un-shelled ground nuts or the letters of the Scriptures to your congregation. You have been killing them. The judgment of God is on you. You might be alarmed that you have not known the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. You have never walked in the revelation of the Scriptures. The reason is simple. The veil has not been taken off the Scriptures for you to behold its glory. You have not turned to the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:1617). You have not made Jesus and God's will for you the central focus of your Christian life and walk. You have not surrendered to Jesus. Surrendering is not for unbelievers. Repentance is for unbelievers. It is those who have been born again that need to surrender. The called to surrender is to enable you to go through refinement and sanctification to prepare you for your service of God. Jesus Himself went through surrendering to His Father four times in the Scriptures. The first surrendering was when He went to Jerusalem at the age of twelve. It was to surrender to His Father to prepare Him with suffering for the will of God. Glimpses of His experiences for those eighteen years' preparation can be found in Hebrews (2:10, 4:15, 5:7-8). His second surrendering was in the Jordan River to receive water baptism. After the baptism, the heavens were opened to Him and the Spirit came upon Him in power without measure (Matt 3:13-16, John 3:34, Acts 10:38). Without that surrendering, heaven would have remained closed to Him. He also went through another round of surrendering before going to the cross. It was after the surrendering that the angel brought Him the grace to go to the cross and triumph (Matt 26:39-44, Luke 22:43). Death on the cross would have been a disaster without the grace of God that was preceded by His surrendering. The final surrendering was prior to dying and going into hell to confront and disarm the devils. "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46, Col. 2:15). Jesus went through a new round of surrendering every time He needed to move to a new level of service. The surrendering for the preparation for the three-year ministry was different from that for receiving power which in turn was different for the surrendering to die on the cross or going to hell to disarm the devil. The first primary surrendering God demands from you is to make you available to go through trials and testing. It is to teach you obedience to the Word of God as well as prepare you for the will of God. Surrendering is a requirement for all Christians. If you have not fully surrendered to Jesus to date, the judgment of God is on you. Zephaniah 1 provides additional profiles of those to fall in the judgment of God. First, God will consume man and

75 beasts, the fowls of the heaven, the fishes of the sea, the wicked, etc. The fowls of the heaven are those into the practice of witchcraft. The fishes of the sea represent those possessed with water spirit. There is also idolatry as well as cults. If you belong to these realms of Satan and you are in Church attendance and membership or you are an agent of the devil and you have fought zealous Christians in your church, the judgment of God is on you. Verses 4 to 5 describe people who live dual lives. They pretend to be Christians but have secret things they are involved in that are contrary to the Word of God. They go to native doctors or hire others to go in their behalf. They claim to be Christians but have backup power of Satan as protection. They are church members and are into fornication or adultery. Some take bribes in their offices. Some of them pretend to be holy on Sunday but are terrors in their homes and work places during the week. The judgment of God is on you. Verses 6 to 9 talk of people that have turned back from the Lord. They have backslid from the Lord and are still ministers or church workers. They have not sought the Lord either to know their places in the Kingdom of God or they don't seek the Holy Spirit in making decisions. They use their brains to crank out their decisions. It also talks of princes and king's children. They are children of ministers and have dual lives especially if they are students. On holidays they are angels. In their schools, they are chronic cult members and fornicators. They are clothed in strange clothes or the devil's righteousness. There are those who have filled the churches with violence and deceit. You have killed other Christians with gossip or slander. You are an abomination before God because you have sown discord among God's people (Proverbs 6:16-19). The judgment of God is on you. Zephaniah (1:11) speaks to the merchant people, those who bear silver or they make money the prime driver in their lives and ministries. Finances are the central focus of their lives or ministries. You pay attention to the big givers of finances and ignore the poor. You turn your ministry into a trade post. You sell olive oil for a ton of money proclaiming them to be anointed. You merchandise what you have labelled anointed handkerchiefs proclaiming them to have healing and deliverance power in them. You tell people to make offerings to you so that God will deliver them from afflictions and poverty. You tell people you know are in rebellion to sow seed faith or bring their first fruits to you. You take the money and spend it on your vanities. The judgment of God is on you. You are an employee. You resign from one job to another without seeking or hearing the Holy Spirit. Like a harlot, you offer your services as an employee to the highest bidder. Some of you could have been lecturers or teachers. You are bankers. Some of you could have been employers but fear of trials and testing has left you as employees. The judgment of God is on you. You live on presumption. You tell people that they are born again and must end up in heaven no matter their lifestyles. You teach errors to seduce people. There are some truths you know and you refuse to teach them because they will reduce your financial inflows through tithes and offerings. You preach what you don't live. You promise your hearers that Christians don't go through judgment or suffering. Judgment is for unbelievers. The judgment of God is on you. Ezekiel (9:1-7) is the spiritual judgment of Jerusalem, a symbol of the Church. God called for six men with destroying weapons in their hands. God instructed one of the six men, the one with the writer's inkhorn, to go through the city putting marks on the foreheads of those who "sign and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof" (verse 4). Only those who had the mark of the writer's inkhorn were exempted from the judgment of Jerusalem. The rest starting from the top priests in the temple were delivered to judgment. If you examined the judgment of Jerusalem, those who survived were very few. No priest in the temple was reported to have survived the judgment at all. You are a Christian and you have a call to watch and pray (Mark 13:33, Rev. 16:15). There are watchmen God has set over the Church to watch and pray to prevent enemy infiltration of the Church (Isaiah 62:6-7). God has called us to watch and pray over the churches and the nation. We are to weep and cry before God for the sins of the churches and the nation. The righteousness of Noah, Daniel and Job didn't deliver sons or daughters in the time of the judgment of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 14:13-14, 19-21). It didn't deliver spouses either. Each resident of Jerusalem stood before God in his or her righteousness. So it is in this time of judgment on the Church. A father's commitment and service to God will not be sufficient for a son, a daughter or a spouse to escape this forthcoming judgment. The Hebrew writer says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31) Have you prayed and wept for the sins of the churches and the nations? Or have you criticised the churches and the nation, Nigeria? Have you cried for your hometown, your native state, your state of residence and your tribe? Have you remembered the schools you attended and the institutions where you work? In essence, has God marked you to exempt you from this coming judgment? The frivolous ones among

you may claim that they have the mark in the name of Jesus. You are not the judge. Jesus is (John 5:22). This is not a time for frivolity. This is the time for seriousness and sincerity. If you judge yourself in the light of the Word, you might obtain mercy to escape this dreadful judgment (1 Cor. 11:31-32). "In thy light shall we see light" says Psalm (36:9). Be honest with yourself. Be candid. It will be a disaster if you allow a lying and deceitful heart to lead you astray. James (2:10) says that stumbling in one sin is stumbling in all sins. If the sins along with the abominations of the churches and the nation have not pricked you to intercession, the judgment of God is on you. IS THERE A WAY OUT FROM THIS JUDGMENT? You might wonder if there is a way out for you to avoid this forthcoming judgment. The churches cannot avoid this judgment. It is already in the Word and it must be fulfilled (Isaiah 1:27, 4:3, 1 Peter 4:17). For individuals, the Word of God has room for us to repent and turn to God. God wants all men to be saved. He hates it when He sees men pour into hell daily. Unfortunately, we must choose where we end up in eternity by the decisions we make. God has given us a will. We must exercise our wills in decision making. God cannot make decisions for us. He could give us His light to know the right decision to make. Decision making ultimately rests with the individual. God wants all of us to repent (1 Tim. 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). Jeremiah (18:7-8) provides the consolation. Let me quote it in full. "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up, and to pull it down and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them". If you repent and you forsake your rebellion, God will show you mercy (Proverbs 28:13). Let me restate the above paragraph in the language of Ezekiel (33:11-15). "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? ...as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from wickedness... Again, when I say to the wicked, Thou shall surely die, if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right... he shall surely live, he shall not die" God just wants you to humble yourself before Him. Acknowledge that you have been out of His way. You have missed Him. You have not walked in obedience to His Word. You have walked in your righteousness or interpretation of obedience. If you do, you must obtain mercy and forgiveness from your God. You must take a second step after repentance. Isaiah (30:15) says you must return and rest to be saved. Mark (16:16) says that you must believe and be baptised to be saved. Repentance is the equivalence of returning or believing. You must take the additional step of crying to God to lift you and put you into His rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). It is this rest Marks calls baptism and Luke (3:16) calls baptism of fire. You must allow Jesus to lead you through fire to refine and purge you. You must be tested as silver and tried as gold. Imagine the fire process silver and gold go through to obtain the value they have. That is what God demands from you. That is why Jesus admonishes you that you must deny yourself and take your cross to follow Him (Matthew 10:38, 16:24, Luke 9:23). Psalm (32:6) is God's serious warning to us to hasten our decision making processes. Repentance is readily available when the judgment has not fallen. During this period of grace, God's ears are open to your cry of repentance. He will receive your repentance no matter the depth of your rebellion. He has promised you that even if your sins are as scarlet or red as crimson, they shall be as white as fresh snow or wool (Isaiah 1:18, 2 Tim. 2:4). If the judgment of God starts, that is, the floods of great waters have broken, even the godly cannot get close to God to make intercession for himself or others. It is that serious. A seed of corn must die to be fruitful (John 12:24). If it does not die, it remains a hard single seed. If it dies, it produces a cub of sweet corn for others to eat. Death and resurrection is the only way to live the Kingdom life. The cross is the separator between the flesh or carnality and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. On this side of the cross lie sufferings and pain. Do you know what is on the other side of the cross? You will enter Mount Zion with God's glory revealed in you (Psalm 102:16, Romans 8:18). You will obtain your inheritance (Acts 20:32). You will enter the Kingdom of God in power and righteousness (John 3:3, Acts 14:22). You will be exalted and honoured (John 12:26). You will walk the Mount Zion fellowship (Hebrews 12:2224). Your children will be blessed and be taught by the Lord Jesus Himself. Your children will walk in your revelation of Jesus. They will possess your kingdom and the Word of God revealed in you (Psalm 112:2, Isaiah 44:3, 54:13, 59:21). Is any sacrifice too much to obtain these promises of God? Jesus is waiting for you.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Osun: Putting education thrust in proper perspective

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH A 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Lagos Police brutality T

HE GUARDIAN of February 21 welcomes us this week: “For close to five years, he raced through the banking sector like a bull in a china hall.” Get it right: a bull in a china shop. “Singapore jails senior civil servants over (for) corruption” “ANA postponements (sic) (postpones) February reading” “Peugeot plans to inject $7.26b on (into) research, development” “South African Airways celebrates 80 years (years’ or 80th year) anniversary” “LASU Management re-opens (reopens) the university” (Half-page advertisement) “You lived well and you have gone to (preferably for) a well deserved (well-deserved) rest. Rest in perfect peace.” (Fullpage advertisement) Except for graveyard peace, ‘peace’ is an absolute and does not need inflection, intensification or adumbration. So, rest in peace (R.I.P—not R.I.P.P)! Finally from the Back Page of THE GUARDIAN under review: “One has witnessed at different occasions dissenting opinions of doctors as regards prescriptions for patient’s (a patient’s) ailment.” The Guardian youth speak: on different occasions. Next is DAILY TRUST of February 20 with slips right from its front page lead story: “Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar spoke at his palace in Sokoto….” Does the Sultan of Sokoto have another palace elsewhere? Let us think as we report. “Heritage Bank plans listing in (on) capital market” “Pact with China conducive for peace, says Taiwan (Taiwan’s or Taiwanese) president” “Otherwise, there is no point we engage in importing that much on yearly (a yearly) basis.” “…he said though the institute has (had) developed 62 rice varieties for farmers, five most prominent varieties are (were) in circulation and are (were) doing very good (well).” “NEMA, stakeholders meets over displaced persons” You can readily identify the boyish slipup. “With the LG polls now fixed for next week Tuesday….” Either next Tuesday or Tuesday, next week—no jumbo-mumbo! Lastly from DAILY TRUST: “Replicate your

performance to (in) your constituents (constituencies)” “Security at airports: Police deploys (sic) sniffer dogs at (in) Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, 5 others” (AIT News, 4 p.m., February 20) “PIB: Senate to re-open probe” (Source: as above) My comment: already treated. From DAILY TRUST we move to THISDAY of February 18 for the next four entries: “I am not in FCT for politics, says Mbu” It categorically means you were in Rivers State for presidential wife’s politics! That is the latent power of words. “Absence of interpreter stalls trial of Portuguese woman charged for (with) drug trafficking” “Thumb (Thumbs) up for Nigerian refs in Mali” “Obasanjo : Amaechi’s k-leg (knocked leg) has been straightened” “Failure of Oduah to handover (hand over) stalls….” The following five solecisms are from DAILY INDEPENDENT of February 18 starting from its front page: “DHQ assures of continued offensive” Who did it assure? “Battle for soul of Ecobank intensifies” So the battle intensifies itself? “ H a r n e s s i n g potentials of local software industry in Nigeria” ‘Potential’ is uncountable, but we have ‘potentialities’, “…who had at one point or the other (or another) been to Oyo State….” “Tackling voters apathy in Nigeria” This way: voter apathy SATURDAY INDEPENDENT of February 15 disseminated all manner of school-boy mistakes right from the front page: “Fear has grip (gripped) notable politicians in Ebonyi State following findings by….” Most of the ensuing blunders were caused by sheer carelessness and loose thinking as the computer system has an in-built mechanism that detects most of the spelling errors contained herein. “The discovery was made when the SSS arrested some kidnappers in the state alleged to be the brain (brains) behind high profile (high-profile) kidnapping in the state.” “The SSS in the state said on Friday that it has (had) arrested….” “…motorists were made to watch a bizzare (bizarre) spectacle, (need-

less comma) as four policemen beat a man gave (who gave) his name as…to a state of stupour (stupor).” “The policemen, who drove to the scene in a patrol van with registration number KJA 284 AX, threw caution the winds (sic) (threw caution to the winds).” “Federal University Lafia, (otiose punctuation) matriculates 380 students” Would it have matriculated traders? Just yank off the last word in the extract! “Community sends SOS to Amosun, Fashola over harrassment” Spellcheck: harassment, but embarrassment. “When Fayemi’s wife rescued woman abandoned with tripplet (triplet)” Still on SATURDAY INDEPENDENT under focus: “…Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, has already served the people creditable well…” This is an over-kill: use either ‘creditably’ or ‘well’. Both cannot co-function in the same environment. “Adewale Ayuba is one musician (music/musical) act who has been around for years. “ “My husband usually ask (asks) me to abort my pregnancy, woman tells court” Finally from SATURDAY INDEPENDENT, a voice of your own: “Movie directors threaten sanction on (against) actress” Next on focus is DAILY SUN of February 10: “They buy at N159 and sell at N167, the CBN has (had) addressed last year when….” “But what the banks decided to do is (was) to even stop selling.” “Middle aged (Middleaged) man commits suicide in Jos…Police tries (try) to uncover his identity” “IITA creates 40,000 jobs under cassava to ethanol (cassava-to-ethanol) project” THISDAY of February 6 contributed to the pool of infelicities: “Budget: APC threatening the lifewire (livewire) of Nigeria, says FG” “Edo: Court remands killer cop (killer-cop)…” SUNDAY Sun Back Page of February 9 goofed: “CBN said money is (was) missing from federation (the federation) account.” Next on parade is The PUNCH of February 10: “Aregbesola education policy confusing—Methodist Church” This way: Aregbesola’s educational (preferably) policy…

GAINST the needless controversies and sabre-rattling over peripheral issues in Osun’s bourgeoning education policy, there is now an urgent need for a summit of all stakeholders to address the spate of misrepresentations and tension being created around the Osun public school policy. Hopefully, all stakeholders would be availed of the opportunity to dissect all the components of the policy and scrupulously prevent a situation in which an otherwise excellent public policy document will be compromised by a miasma of scurilious political intrigues and parochial religious predilections. It is sad and unfortunate that a unique and rich policy that could have translated into a national strategy for bail-out of the shambolic public school sector, has suddenly assumed religious and political colourations, fuelled largely by mischief and partisanship. The current trend of discussion relating to the Osun school system in circles expected to churn out informed opinions continues to focus solely on the reclassification of schools and aggressively attempt to rubbish the wider public spirit and mission of the policy. It is strange that the vocal minority raising hell over fringe issues in the policy conveniently forgets the holistic beneficial impact of the various components of the policy such as the OUniform, OMeal and Opon Imo, O School etc which have been adjudged as revolutionary concepts in public school management approach in the country. The on-going rejuvenation of the public school sector in Osun is at once a strong rebranding project that has begun to impact positively on the state’s overall education management profile as well as the state’s economy in key areas like job creation, empowerment and agricultural development. It is providing a much-needed fillip and boost for children to inculcate, ab initio, a frenetic and unflagging desire to excel in life through a prism that provides easy elbow room for initiatives and exemplary conduct and scholastic aptitude. It is against this backdrop that all well-meaning Osun indigenes must shun base sentiments and support the effort to create a new public school order in the state for the future of Osun children. The proposed symposium must seek to dissect the various components of the much maligned Osun policy on public school management with a view to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of its desirability. The symposium will also serve as a platform for constructive engagement of critical stakeholders to ensure the non-derailment of the noble vision behind the policy formulation. It would be recalled that while counting the modest gains recorded by the state’s new education policy in less than two years of its implementation, the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, had posited that the need for the policy as a comprehensive and holistic response to a scandalous educational rot, which had threatened the socio-eco-

•Aregbesola By Bola Oke

nomic growth of the state, was non-negotiable. “Our education policy is tailored towards making the Osun public schools system produce the complete child, to become the complete youth and grow up to become the complete citizen, empowered in learning and in character, in the best tradition of the Yoruba Omoluabi. That way, they would be equipped, culturally and academically, anywhere they find themselves in the world, aside from becoming patriots, to take care of their state and country that had earlier taken care of them,” he explained. He equally noted then that the reforms have had tremendous multi-level impacts on the Osun educational competitiveness. For instance, in the area of funding, the reforms have led to a radical increase in grants and subventions for the administration of public primary and secondary schools as total grant for the 1378 pubic primary schools in Osun jumped from N7.4 million a year to N424 million a year. Additionally, Osun, from a 34th placing among Nigeria’s 36 states in 2010, moved to 18th position in 2011 and 8th position in 2012, in performance rankings in the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE). Pupils from the state have also chalked up improved performances in national and international competitions, according to compilations by the Osun Ministry of Education. In addition, the reforms have earned a partnership with UNESCO to build a regional teacher training institute in the state, and a fresh programme in the area of adult education. And since the critical success factor for any reform is sound management and welfare, at the heart of the new education reforms is a restructured Education Administration Modality which involves creating specialised agencies to address key components in public schools management. According to Aregbesola, one such special agency created by the new education policy is the Teachers Establishment and Pension Office (TEPO). “As the name clearly implies, aside from teacher recruitment, TEPO takes charge of human capacity development in Osun public schools: teachers’ career advancement, training and retraining, teaching incentives, promotion, prompt payment of salaries and allowances. TEPO not only tackles teachers’ welfare while they are in active service; it also looks after their pension after retirement,” governor Aregbesola further explained.

Let it be also resoundingly noted that the role of the Opon Imo initiative is an integrative approach to providing qualitative learning aids by the instrumentality of ICT. Unquestionably, the initiative has been hailed as a masterstroke by many education pundits within and outside Nigeria. It has also received the commendation of the United Nations as a revolutionary learning innovation to help Africa and the rest of the Third World improve its educational capacity. A word on the standardised school uniform is most pertinent here. The concept of standard uniforms for Osun public schools, branded O’Uniform, was conceived with an eye to rebrand public schools in the state as well as reflate the Osun economy to employ as many designers, tailors, local textile workers and allied artisans as possible, in the production of school uniforms. This culture-fired indigenous and standardised uniform for 750, 000 public school pupils, which the Omoluabi Garments Factory is currently implementing, has received international commendations from UNESCO, just as the first sets of the uniforms produced under the scheme were distributed free to the pupils. It is difficult to imagine that a peculiar school uniform will prevent indiscipline in each respective school as some interests laughably pontificated. Uniform or no uniform, a child with impaired impulses will always turn out a miscreant; contrariwise, a child well nourished, properly husbanded and deliberately cultured through a full-orbed school policy can always be trusted to excel. The issue at stake is not about a parochial attachment to a uniform or to a school; it is about an egalitarian approach, allembracing, that must provide the generality of students with the boost to excel in life. This cannot and must not be left to chance. On the school feeding scheme, branded O’Meal and currently being implemented in the elementary schools with nearly 255, 000 pupils served highly nutritive daily lunch on school days, the idea was founded on the principle of good nutrition as incentive for learning readiness. The scheme has helped to boost public school enrolment figures in the state, in addition to serving as a catalyst of backward integration for a renewed Osun agricultural programme. It is on account of its eminent and laudable underpinnings that Aregbesola was invited to Westminster, London about a month ago, to share the Osun concept with other like-minded interests. Let us dissect the issues as dispassionately as it is required, especially for the sake of our children. If there are contentious issues that truly need a review, no one can reasonably oppose that. But we must be careful never to allow the chicanery of petty politicians or the folly of religious bigots to derail a policy that is sure to stand out the crop of present students as truly distinguished and accomplished citizens a decade from now. Oke is a public policy analyst based in Osogbo.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2014

CHANGE OF NAME

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CHIAZANAM

OJELABI

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I formerly known and addressed as Ineba Tom Ohochukwu, now wish to be known as Ineba Ideriah. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ominini Isobo Amakiri Jim George, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ominini Eyak James. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UGO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ugo Chinwendu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ainome Chinwendu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. OGUNDARE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogundare, Olanike Mojisola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Afolayan, Olanike Mojisola. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Local govt. Service Commission, Moba Local govt. Otun-Ekiti and general public should please take note.

UGO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ugo Chinwendu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ainome Chinwendu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BURAIMOH

OHOCHUKWU

HARUNA I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Ibrahim Halimat Oluwakemi, now wish to be known as Miss Haruna Halimat Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ELOHOR I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okedu Elohor Marvis, now wish to be known as Mrs. Edah Elohor Marvis. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ESUMEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ruth Nnenna Esumeh, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ruth Nnenna Omeogah. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AMINU I formerly known and addressed as Zainab Ali Aminu, now wish to be known as Zainab Umar Sanusi. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Buraimoh Olajumoke Adekunbi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dokun Olajumoke Adekunbi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Olaniyi, Oyebode, now wish to be known as Olaniyi Oyewumi Oyebode. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

AJETUNMOBI

I, am Mrs. Oladele, Elizabeth Oluwafunmilayo, not Mrs. Oladele Elizabeth Falola as shown in my bank account name with the First Bank Plc. and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olalekan Feyisola Ajetunmobi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Olalekan Feyisola Olatujoye. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IMEBUOGU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Imebuogu, Chinwe Blossom, now wish to be known as Mrs. Uchenna Oguayo Chinwe Blossom. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLANIYI

NWEZI I formerly known and addressed as Onyinye Nkiruka Nwezi, now wish to be known as Onyinye Nkiruka Nwabuzor. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibilola Olufolake Iyanda, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ibilola Olufolake Iyanda. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ABODUNRIN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Abodunrin Bukola Fatimo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ikudabo Bukola Fatimo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ODUNMBAKU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odunmbaku Bilqis Adesola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rasheed Bilqis Adesola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONYEBUCHUKWU

I,formerly known and addressed as MISS. THOMPSON NAOMI SAMUEL now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. NGERI NAOMI PADDY. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UMEH

CHANGE OF NAME BANJOKO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Banjoko Oluwaseun Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniran Oluwaseun Adeola.. All documents bearing my former name remain valid and general public should please take note.

AKINNOLA

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. IJEOMA EMMANUELLA UMEH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IJEOMA EMMANUELLA NWANKWO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Akinnola Funmilayo Morenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olapeju Funmilayo Morenike. All documents bearing my former name remain valid and general public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as MISS. STELLA CHIOMA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. STELLA EMMANUEL CHIGBU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

The Entire Family of Mr. Sunday Olamide Egbepeju (Head of Family) wish to change our family name to Mr. Sunday Olamide Olapeju. Note: from Egbepeju to Olapeju.

CHIOMA

EGBEPEJU

ASSAM

CO RRECTION OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyebuchukwu Queenet Chinasaokwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okafor Queenet Chinasaokwu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as MISS. ESTHER FRIDAY ASSAM now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ESTHER ASSAM ANIEKAN-JOHN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGBELADE

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, SHEDRACK EDET EFFIONG and OKON EDET EFFIONG refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known and addressed as SHEDRACK EDET EFFIONG. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I ADENIRAN OLUWATOSIN that I sat for WAEC May/June 2012 with Exam no. 4301338012 and my name was written as ADENIRAN OLUWATOSIN IFE and I also sat for NECO June/July 2012 with Exam no. 23936534IA. That ADENIRAN OLUWATOSIN IFE is the same person as ADENIRAN OLUWATOSIN. That ADENIRAN OLUWATOSIN IFE is my rightful name. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Pastor Ogbelade Emmanuel Oluwasola, now wish to be known and addressed as Pastor Oluwasola Emmanuel. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

IGBOJI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Igboji Sussanan Chinweokwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ugwu Sussanan Chinweokwu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OCHIOBI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ochiobi Nkechinyere Chiamaka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okebugwu Nkechinyere Chiamaka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ALABI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Alabi Titilayo Fatima, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oye-Adeniran Titilayo Modupe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLUSOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Olusola Rebecca Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fakile Rebecca Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EJIKE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ejike Philomina Nkechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ugwu Philomina Nkechi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NJOKU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Njoku Ernestina Chimankpam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Igwekile Ernestina Chimankpam. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Ezekiel Oyewola Opajobi is the same person as Ezekiel Oyewola Sola Opajobi. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONWUKA I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ONWUKA BEAUTY now wish to be known and addressed as MRS DAVID BEAUTY ONYEISI. All documents remain valid, LEA Bwari and UBEB FCT and the general public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME Sammy Nsiapusinya Warmate and Sammy Nsiapusinya refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as Sammy Nsiapusinya. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

ADERINLEWO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aderinlewo Omolayo Oluseye, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AZEEZ OMOLAYO OLUSEYE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ORJI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nneoma Orji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nneoma Orji Araraume. All documents bearing my former name remain valid and general public should please take note.

ASSAM

HASSAN I,formerly known and addressed as MISS HASSAN HAWAWU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS HAWAWU RACHAEL AYEDERO. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

OLOMOLA I,formerly known and addressed as MISS MONISOLA OLUWAKEMI OLOMOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS MONISOLA OLUWAKEMI JOSEPHINE LADEGBAYE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ELUSADE I,formerly known and addressed as ABIODUN VICTORIA ELUSADE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ALIU VICTORIA FOLASADE. All former documents remain valid. Adeyemi College of Education Ondo and general public should please take note.

NWOSU We, formerly known and addressed as KINGSLEY KENECHUKWU NWOSU, JULIET OGOCHUKWU NWOSU, LINDA CHINYERE NWOSU, STANLEY CHIJIOKE NWOSU & FRANKLIN OKWUCHUKWU NWOSU. Now wish to be known and addressed as KINGSLEY KENECHUKWU IKECHUKWU, JULIET OGOCHUKWU IKECHUKWU, LINDA CHINYERE IKECHUKWU, STANLEY CHIJIOKE IKECHUKWU & FRANKLIN OKWUCHUKWU IKECHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Adeleye Olaide Y. confirm that Adeleye Olaide Y. is the same as Adeleye Olaide Temiyemi. The general public and Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, OLAKIGBE AJAYI is the same person as EJIBUNMI AJAYI FOLORUNSO all former documents remain valid ekiti state teaching service commission and general public take note.

ADEGBOKUN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Elizabeth Aderonke Adegbokun and wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Elizabeth Aderonke Olaniran. All former documents remain valid. The Polytechnic lbadan and general public should please take note.

FATOKI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fatoki Oluwabusayo Folashade and wish to be known and addressed as MRS ADEWOLE OLUWABUSAYO FOLASHADE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGHANRU l formerly known and addressed as Miss. OGHAN RUTH URUEMU, now wish to be known as Mrs. ONAKUGHOTOR RUTH URUEMU. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

CO RRECTION OF NAME I,OLAJUMOKE RASHIDAT IYABO that I sat for WAEC Nov/ Dec 2011 with Exam no. 5310911023 and is the same person as OLJUMOKE RASHIDAT. That OLAJUMOKE RASHIDAT IYABO is my rightful name. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public should please take note.

OLAREWAJU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olarewaju Yoyinsola Regina now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olawoye Yoyinsola Regina. All former documents remain valid. International Breweries Plc., Ilesa and general public should please take note.

AGBANARI

I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Agbanari Samuel Jonas now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Jonas Samuel Chukwujindum. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OBAZEE

I,formerly known and addressed as Obazee, Ayah Dickson now wish to be known and addressed as B Ayah Dickson. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWOKEJI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Chioma Chinazor Nwokeji now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chioma Chinazor Fagbemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ORIBAMISE

I,formerly known and adressed as Oribamise Funmilayo Mary now wishes to be known as Mrs Leramo Funmilayo Mary. All former documents remains valid. General public please take note.

OBORAVO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oboravo, Faith Orowo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abdulaziz Faith Orowo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AROLE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Arole Kaosarat Olawunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Arole-Aliyu Kaosarat Olawunmi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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QUOTABLE “If the President (Goodluck Jonathan) wants him (Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) out of office, he should follow due process… I think it’s not in the interest of the President or the country to go through the whole process we went through in the case of Justice Ayo Isa Salami, because there seems to be some parallel between this and Justice Salami’s in terms of suspension.”

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 8, NO. 2768

—Retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to follow due process before sacking suspended CBN Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

OR the duration of his hyperactive and fairly controversial tenure, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi never quite won my unalloyed support for some of his critical policies as Central Bank of Nigeria governor. Under him, for instance, the CBN’s acts of charity rankled in many regards. His banking reform measures were also implemented with a flamboyance and uppityness that left me wondering whether his unduly feisty approach to banks and banking regulations was not more appropriate for tinseltown than for apex banking. Then he often talked nineteen to the dozen, when restraint and reticence would do, and projected himself as the ultimate Nigerian iconoclast, a sort of business and class egalitarian indifferent to the accoutrements of the wealthy as he was not incommoded by the lowliness of the classless. Indeed, as some elements of the report prepared against him by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) indicated, Mallam Sanusi, who was brusquely suspended a few days ago by President Goodluck Jonathan, might be inadequate in some respects and needed to painstakingly convince his traducers his integrity was not sullied by any identifiable form of financial and regulatory brashness. Perhaps he still will. But whatever might be said of the suspended CBN governor, no one could accuse of him of a lack of dignity and character. I had reservations about some of his policies as CBN governor, but I never stopped respecting him for what he stood for and how pluckily he fought for what he believed. He called his soul his own and displayed a robustness of principles seldom seen in public office in these parts. In contrast to the dour integrity shown by Mallam Sanusi in public office, Dr Jonathan has handled power most obliquely and impiously, if not with the irritating absolutism of a monarch. The president claims to have suspended Mallam Sanusi and describes the process as innocuously routine, but everything surrounding the suspension indicated the dismissive finality of a sack. Not only was the former CBN boss removed, his temporary and permanent replacements were hastily named with a temerity that reeked of political insensitivity and unconstitutionality, and with such absolute lack of grace and class that leaves one wondering how it was possible for Dr Jonathan to demean the Nigerian presidency to such level of pettiness. Again, in contrast to his dithering over the proven allegations against former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, and in consonance with the subterfuge evident in the suspension of former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, Dr Jonathan has choked and undermined the constitution by

Jonathan’s impunity “In contrast to the dour integrity shown by Mallam Sanusi in public office, Dr Jonathan has handled power most obliquely and impiously, if not with the irritating absolutism of a monarch. The president claims to have merely suspended Mallam Sanusi and describes the process as innocuously routine, but everything surrounding the suspension indicated the dismissive finality of a sack” removing Mallam Sanusi in contemptuous disregard for the law. The excuse he gave for sacking the former CBN boss is that he breached some financial rules. But in reality, the removal was probably due to the president’s exasperation with Mallam Sanusi’s volubility and irreverence. The suspended CBN boss had complained bitterly at least twice about the NNPC’s unorthodox bookkeeping methods and financial malfeasance. And the complaints had elicited intense controversies and triggered insinuations that the Jonathan presidency condoned corruption, body language and all. But the snag is that the oil agency reports to the Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, one of Dr Jonathan’s favourite cabinet members, if not the most favoured minister. Two attempts to reconcile the books of the NNPC merely reduced the gaps, not eliminated them, and gave impression the agency was nothing but a sinkhole and a conduit for funding the politics of the ruling party. By peremptorily sacking Mallam Sanusi, Dr Jonathan has finally given indication he will henceforth not be distracted by the constitution in the pursuit of his ambition to govern Nigeria along absolutist lines. Though he was careful not to cite any constitutional provision in sacking Mallam Sanusi, perhaps knowing full well

that no such provisions existed to back him, it was nonetheless clear that he gave indication his action was lawful. But there is no conceivable way of reading or interpreting the CBN Act, as amended, particularly the applicable Section 11, to back the president’s action. It is intriguing that any lawyer, not to talk of any rational person, could suggest that the said provision could be construed any other way. Section 11 is not only clear and direct; it is not ambiguous at all. The president himself knew this. The CBN Act doubtless empowers the president to remove a CBN governor if necessary, but that power is circumscribed by and contingent upon the approval of two-thirds of the members of the Senate. The president completely discountenanced this provision and went ahead to do the unthinkable. We may not like Mallam Sanusi, but if executive, legislative and judicial actions are to be based on whom we like or dislike, we would have complete chaos. Dr Jonathan, it is clear, is besotted to some of his ministers. Anyone that challenges his favourites pokes a finger in his eyes. When Dr Jonathan suspended Justice Salami and we failed to get him to reverse himself, we unwittingly approved the president’s resort to self-help. If we fail in checking this new impeachable breach of the constitution, we should ready ourselves for

Gov Shettima, Boko Haram and Nigeria’s future

HEN Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State hurried to Aso Villa last week to warn the president and country what terrible dangers his state and the entire Northeast confronted in the Boko Haram menace, he said a number of things that gave the impression of a paranoid speaking in hyperboles. The Boko Haram insurgents, he said plaintively but with a lot of deliberate and calculated animation, wielded more sophisticated arms than those issued to our soldiers. In addition, he wailed, the insurgents were more motivated than our troops. He was an incurable optimist, he summed up, but that didn’t make him so stupid as to deny the reality on the ground in the Northeast. And that reality, he added, was deathly and ominous. The governor’s frantic visits stand in contrast to the unimaginative, if not lackadaisical, approach of President Goodluck Jonathan to the anti-terror war. In the early months of the insurgency, the president had shown considerable ambivalence. He vacillated between strong-arm tactics one day and conciliation another day. On some occasions, he described the insurgents in flattering but quizzical terms, and on other occasions he painted them in petrifying colours. When sufficiently inspired, he prom-

•Gov Shettima

•Minimah

ised to fight them with all he had, but in the face of the sect’s sanguinary determination to plunge the country down the red gullet of war, he cowered behind his Aso Villa redoubt to celebrate the country’s Independence Day. No president ever gave such ambiguous, embarrassing and cowardly signals. And no president ever failed so disastrously to ready and inspire his people for a noble war. The consequence is what the country is facing today. Not only is the insurgency raging fiercely, the presidency and even a majority of Nigerians have failed to appreciate the urgency of the threats the country is contending with and the roots of the revolt. It is true that the Northeast is the poorest part of Nigeria, but it is a cumulation of years of neglect by regional and fed-

eral governments, a neglect they will have to combine to combat. However, it is even truer that the insurgency is given fillip by the government’s longstanding and dangerous neglect of justice in all its ramifications. Shockingly, regional and federal governments have not learnt any lesson regarding the denial of criminal, social and political justice. They have not learnt any lesson on equity and fairness between religions and between peoples. The society is riven by conflicts and by deliberately sponsored bigotry. Hearing Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declaim on religion and society recently, it became clear just how woefully leaders in those parts had failed to build a responsible society with the right values. With his governance style and now abrasive manners, Dr Jonathan is even doing much worse, nurturing and promoting a society completely shorn of justice, equity and fairness. How could his troops feel motivated to fight Boko Haram with as much dedication and decorum as Governor Shettima hopes, when they are not part of a society we all have reasons to sacrifice our lives for, a society where to serve as an example a Stella Oduah is promptly punished for infractions, and a Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is not unfairly cudgelled for stepping on powerful toes?

more flagrant breaches of the constitution in a tension-soaked election year. The sacking of Mallam Sanusi is not just a case of the president getting rid of a headache; it is an indication of the underlying methodology of the Jonathan presidency and an example of his dreadful unease and impatience with the restraining and civilising leashes of the constitution. Dr Jonathan, I have said repeatedly, lacks the depth and idiosyncratic understanding to appreciate the kind of democracy Nigeria should run, and the kind of country we should have, one that should serve as example and provide leadership to the rest of Africa, and one that should challenge even the most democratic country in the world. Lacking such understanding and discipline, Dr Jonathan has constituted himself and his government into a tyranny run by a camorra of friends, avaricious aides and petulant family members. We are in far worse trouble than we imagine, especially in an election year, for the president has more dangerous concoctions on tap. If we look forward to any salvation, it will certainly not come from the presidency. Those characters in the presidency are too far gone to be redeemable. If we look to the legislature, we would have to ponder which direction to go: is it to the House of Representatives or to the Senate? If it is to the House, it is satisfying to note that that assembly of men is fairly radical and of some use. But the constitution does not give them the kind of powers that would make them tame the president in the face of a grovelling and ingratiating Senate. And if it is to the Senate we look, we would be seeing nothing but a chimera. The Nigerian Senate is a party to the conspiracy to undermine the constitution, blissfully unaware that they are in effect undermining their own very existence. They see themselves more like an arm of the ruling party, nay, a department in the Jonathan presidency. They will do nothing radical or altruistic; and they will not lift a finger in the defence of the people or the constitution. Might the judiciary be of any help? Mallam Sanusi has already indicated he would be seeking help in its hallowed precincts. But litigation produces its own paradoxes. By going to court, Mallam Sanusi will be denying us a confirmation of the Senate’s infamy and conspiracy with the Jonathan presidency. The Senate will cite the case in court and decline discussions on the unlawful act of suspending the CBN governor. And since there is already an acting CBN governor, as it were, it would not matter whether the Senate declined to confirm the president’s nominee, Godwin Emefiele. The president can afford to wait it out. So, too, disingenuously, can the conniving Senate. In June, after Mallam Sanusi’s natural tenure expires, Emefiele’s confirmation will be done, and it will seem natural and unimpeachable. I restate once again that the problem is not Mallam Sanusi’s competence or style. The problem is that he raised fundamental and disquieting concerns about financial disparities in that most disturbing of arcana, the NNPC, and the fact that the president in sacking Sanusi acted most precipitately and brutishly by assaulting the constitution. If we condone these infringements, we will not only be exhibiting our powerlessness in the face of intense financial impropriety on the part of government agencies, we would also be signalling to Dr Jonathan that his monarchical tendencies, his contempt for the constitution, his demeaning attachment to a few of his cabinet members and his lawless predilections will be winked at. Dr Jonathan has taken the first awful steps in the direction of Somalia, Central African Republic, Sudan/South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. It is no exaggeration to say he has thus taken us closer to the precipice than at any other time in our anguished and chequered history, including the civil war era. Should we indeed be compelled to endure four more years of Dr Jonathan and his lawlessness, as some pundits are projecting, there is no telling what horrifying fate the country would meet.

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