The Nation February 16, 2012

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Govt votes N888b for fuel subsidy

NEWS

Page 11

•Cuts 2012 Budget by N100b

Biu knows fate as panel ends sitting

NEWS

Page 2

•Police Commission meets Wednesday

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VOL. 7, NO. 2037 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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Southwest seeks new Constitution

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OUTHWEST leaders yesterday rose from a summit in Ibadan, Oyo State, demanding a new Constitution to reorder what they call the country’s “malfunctioning federal system”.

“Regional integration is all about a new Constitution, to reorder Nigeria’s malfunctioning federal system. The National Assembly cannot give us a new Constitution.

“That is the job for a Constituent Assembly, thereafter subjected to referendum or plebiscite. But it (National Assembly) should facilitate the process by passing a bill for setting up a Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution, which product would be

By Emmanuel Oladesu and Eric Ikhlilae, Ibadan

subject to a simple referendum of ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” they said at the end of the maiden Legislative Summit on Regional Integration.

The summit, held at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan, was organised by Vintage Press, publishers of The Nation.

The leaders resolved to hold a broader and larger meeting on the implementation of the initiative.

They also resolved to set up a peer review committee to coordinate strategies for implementation.

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola described Southwest regional integration as an idea whose time has come,

•Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola displaying the proposed Southwest flag at the summit ... yesterday

Continued on page 2

Ex-soldier wanted over Xmas Day bombings Boko Haram hits Kogi prison

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HE Federal Government yesterday declared wanted an exsoldier believed to be the prime suspect in the Christmas Day bombings of a church in Madalla, Niger State.

Habibu Bama who is also known as Shuaibu Bama and Habib Mamman is sus-

THE WANTED MAN

•Habibu Bama

Tinubu: I’m hale, hearty

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

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ATIONAL leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu returned home last night, saying he is hale and hearty.

Tinubu, who arrived aboard a chartered private jet at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, about 9 pm., described rumours of his ill health as part of the grand political design to run him down.

Dressed in a grey long sleeve French suit, the former Lagos State governor was received by scores of his supporters on arrival.

They danced and sang his praise as they milled round him to shake his hand.

Tinubu said rumours of his ill health were “wicked”, describing the rumour-mongers as “enemies of progress”.

Their evil thoughts towards him did not only provoke prayers but also exposed how cheap people could resort to in a bid to run down a political figure, he said, adding: “I’m glad to be back; nothing wrong with my health”.

Tinubu urged the government to seek

pected to have planted the bomb which killed no fewer than 44 worshippers at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla.

He might have been fingered by rearrested Boko Haram suspect Kabiru Abubakar Dikko Umar, a.k.a, Kabiru Sokoto, who is being interrogated by the State Security Service (SSS).

Declaring Bama wanted yesterday, the SSS accused him of committing crimes against the state.

Bama, according to the SSS, is an ex-soldier, who has been on the run since the bombings last year.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kabiru Sokoto, who reportedly directed the operation, Continued on page 2

•Tinubu ... yesterday

Continued on page 2

•SPORTS P23 •EDUCATION P25 •POLITICS P43 •NATURAL HEALTH P45

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

NEWS YOU, THE REPORTER Dear reader, here is an opportunity for you to join our team of reporters. You can send in stories and photographs, which you consider to be newsworthy. Our telephone number is 08082036515 (sms). The email is info@thenationonline.ng.net – Editor

Tinubu: I’m hale, hearty

Ex-soldier wanted over Xmas Day bombings Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

genuine consultation with Boko Haram leaders, to find out why they are aggrieved.

The activities of Boko Haram, he said, have continued to threaten society, urging the government not to seek foreign help to resolve the matter.

Tinubu said if he were ill, as insinuated by a section of the media, he will not hesitate to let the public know as he did in the heat of the campaign for his re-election in 2003, when he had back pain.

“After all, it is only human for anybody to be ill,” he said.

Tinubu said it was ungodly for anybody to celebrate falsehood about his health to score cheap political points.

On the appointment of the ACN presidential candidate, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, as chairman of the Petroleum Resources Task Force, Tinubu said the panel is a ploy to cover up all the political donations the ruling party received from oil and gas companies.

He said it would have been proper for Jonathan to write the ACN, to request the release of any of its members to serve in the government, which the ACN would have considered.

Tinubu said drafting Ribadu into such a panel, when the House of Representatives “is still working on the issue, is merely diversionary”.

•The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, administering vaccine on a baby during the launch of free-torch campaign to eradicate polio in Jega, Kebbi State ... on Tuesday.

was rearrested in Mutum Biu, Taraba State, last Friday, following his escape from police custody on January 16.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Ms Marilyn Ogar, the SSS said: “The person whose photograph appears above is HABIBU BAMA. “He is hereby declared wanted by the Federal Government in connection with crimes against the State.

“HABIBU BAMA is an exsoldier, Kanuri by tribe and hails from Bama, Borno State.He is also known by the following names; HABIBU BAMA, Shuaibu BAMA and HABIBU MAMMAN. “Members of the public with any information that could lead to his arrest are hereby implored to immediately contact the nearest police station, military formation or any other security agency, please.”

A top security source said: “Bama is strongly suspected as one of the masterminds of the Christmas Day bombings in Madalla. He allegedly played a key role in the devastative attacks.

“You should appreciate that we are still investigating the Christmas Day bombings.

And since the arrest of Kabiru Sokoto, we have got enough clues to get to the root of the attacks.

“The manner of the bomb-

Boko Haram bombs Kogi Prison From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja

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OKO Haram members last night invaded the Koton Karfe Prisons in Kogi, killing a warder and freeing their detained colleagues.

Eyewitnesses said the armed sect members numbering about 20 broke into the prisons with dynamite after shooting dead the warder on guard duty. The identity of the late warder could not be immediately ascertained.

Some other security men at the prison were reportedly injured.

An eyewitness living close to the facility said the sect members stormed the prison immediately after the “Magrib” (early evening) prayer.

According to him, on arrival at the prison, they opened fire on one of the security men at the entrance, killing him on the spot.

He said the sect members bombed the main gate of the prison to gain access.

The member representing Kogi/Koton Karfe in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Akawu Salihu, confirmed the Boko Haram invasion but could not confirm the casualty figure.

He confirmed the death of a prison warder.

A top security official also confirmed the incident.

According to the security agent, most of the freed inmate were those awaiting trial. ings confirmed that a syndicate, which had studied the terrain, was at work. We will soon smash the syndicate.

“The SSS is on the trail of the suspect and within a short time, the long arm of the law will catch up with him.”

Twenty of those killed in the bombings were parishioners.

The dead are: Anthony Okoronkwo; Comrade Dike A. Williams; Emmanuel Dike; Richard Dike; Lilian Dike; Lynda Chioma Ubiukwu;

Southwest seeks new Constitution at The Nation summit Continued from page 1

urging the zone to pursue the initiative with courage, determination and relentless zeal.

He also called for a peer review to be incorporated into the implementation process, adding: “there must be a formal arrangement where each state government must be assessed and its performance reviewed by its peers”.

Former Federal Director of Budget High Chief Olawale Kuye said regional integration would herald healthy competition among the six geo-political regions.

He charged Southwest gov-

ernors to tour their states, identify dead industries and factories, and revitalise them to boost employment.

The eminent technocrat delivered a lecture entitled: “Regional economy: Reviving a viable past.”

Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and a former university teacher, Prof Adesegun Banjo, emphasised the need to restructure the country to reverse the current arrangement where the centre is allocated more powers than it requires at the expense of the constituent states.

To achieve this, they called for the amendment of the

Constitution to create a weak centre and robust states that could afford the federating units’ autonomy to determine their pace and strategies for growth.

In his paper entitled: “The legislature’s role in effective implementation of the integration agenda,” Lanlehin said the integration and development anticipated in the states constituting the old Western region would not be difficult with the support of the legislature, which must work to provide the needed legal framework.

Banjo urged the leaders to give bite to their words, ar-

guing that the refusal of the federal authorities to heed calls for a Sovereign National Conference was because they believe the proponents of such conference lack the force to compel its convocation.

Deputy Governors Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (Lagos) and Titilayo Laoye-Tomori (Osun) argued that governments in the old Western region could only endear themselves to the people by initiating and executing programmes that have direct impact on the governed.

Mrs Orelope-Adefulire said the only way to sustain the success recorded in the re-

gion by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was through practical performance that the people could see, feel and relate with.

She regretted the loss recorded by the party in the rerun election held last week in Oyo State, arguing that the development should serve as a pointer to what may happen in future if the party’s members were not vigilant.

Mrs Laoye-Tomori said the integration being sought by the region should focus on providing functional education, urging the zone to leverage on the educational legacy created during the Chief Obafemi Awolowo era.

Uche Queen Obiukwu; Chidinma Cynthia Obiukwu; Linderlin Ifeoma Obiukwu; Ann-Chinedu Aigbadon; Chiemeri Nwachukwu; Cecilia Ebeku; Oluebube Faustina Pius; Chidera Sylvia Pius; Florence Nwachukwu and Eucharia Ewoh.

Others are: Joseph Daniel; Inspector Titus Eze; Obasi Jonathan Onyebuchi; Ehiawaguan Peter; Uche Esiri; Sgt. Kadiri Danjuma; and five unidentified Persons.

Twenty days after the explosions, Kabiru Sokoto was arrested at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja on January 14.

But barely 48 hours after his arrest, Kabiru Sokoto escaped at Abaji from the custody of policemen who went to search his home.

The incident led to the retirement of former InspectorGeneral of Police Hafiz Ringim. The Police Service Commission constituted a Force Disciplinary Committee to investigate the incident.

National Security Adviser Gen. Owoye Azazi also set up an investigative panel made up of senior officials from different arms of the security agencies and officials of the Ministry of Police Affairs to conduct a similar probe.

Police chief Biu knows fate Wednesday as panel ends sitting

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ID embattled Commissioner of Police (CP) Zakari Biu and five others aid the escape of Boko Haram suspect Kabiru Sokoto from custody on July 16?

The answer to this puzzle may be known tomorrow or on Monday when the Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC), which probed Sokoto’s escape, submits its report to the Police Service Commission (PSC).

Sokoto has since been rearrested and he is being interrogated by the State Security Service (SSS).

The FDC, it was learnt, concluded its assignment yesterday and immediately informed PSC that it may submit its report tomorrow or on Monday.

Based on the notice, PSC is expected to meet next Wednesday to consider, the

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

report.

PSC will also consider the appointment of new Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG) on that meeting.

Yesterday, PSC claimed that Biu’s appointment as CP was on merit and followed due process.

A top source in PSC, who spoke in confidence, said: “We are going to meet on Wednesday to look at the report of the FDC on Biu and others. The report is most likely to be submitted to the PSC either on Friday (tomorrow) or Monday.

“The police panel has really ended its trial session and it is probably compiling its findings and recommendations.”

On alleged procedural error in re-instating Biu and appointing him CP, the

source said: “The PSC was well-guided and Biu actually earned the elevation.

“Without prejudice to the outcome of his trial, CP Biu was reinstated on merit because there was no query in his records.

“Actually, he came back into the police as an Assistant Commissioner of Police. We took note of the 12year absence and we sent him on refresher course for a comprehensive re-integration.

“After the refresher course, he paid his dues by moving from a Deputy Commissioner of Police to CP. The former Inspector-General of Police (IG), Hafiz Ringim, did not give him any waiver despite the fact that they were course mates.

“The reintegration affected more than 2,000 police officers and men when Biu was

allowed to come back to the Police. We believe that Biu has no case to answer on how he became CP because he earned it. As for other disciplinary issue, the PSC will treat the report of the FDC on merit.”

Responding to a question, the source confirmed that new DIGs may be appointed on Wednesday.

The source said: “We will also use the Wednesday session to appoint six new DIGs. We have 18 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) but out of the list, we are going to appoint six to reflect the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

“Although some of the AIGs are due for retirement, we will look at the list dispassionately and constitute the Police Management to enable the Acting InspectorGeneral of Police,

Mohammed Abubakar, to function very well.”

The AIGs to be screened by PSC and the dates they are due for retirement are: Suleiman D. Fakai(1/1/ 2019); Johnson UzuEgbunam(30/12/12); Mohammed H. Zarewa(15/ 3/2015); Ibrahim Paiko Machi(1/3/2012); Abubakar Mohammed; Ibrahim Mohammed(1/3/2012); Christopher Ola(16/7/ 2015); Saidu Daya(5/2/ 2013); Bukar Maina(5/5/ 2013); Danlami Yar’Adua(5/ 6/2013); Atiku Yusuf(8/12/ 2017); Mohammed Abass(1/ 12/ 2016); Aloysius Okorie(14/2/2012); Shehu Babalola(8/7/ 2015); Ephraim Amakulor(17/5/ 2012); Madueke Dax(10/5/ 2014); Mu’azu Idris(20/8/ 2013); and Charles A. Cole(12/5/2014).

At press time, it was gath-

ered that some CPs may earn double promotion to DIGs because some zones have no AIGs; while some AIGs are retiring within one or two months.

“I think we might consider some CPs as DIGs like the case with ex-IG Mike Okiro.I do not think that the Southsouth has any AIG. Yet the DIGs must come from all the zones,” the source added.

Section 30 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution says: “The Police Service Commission shall have power to (a) appoint persons to offices (other than the Office of the Inspector-General of Police) in the Nigeria Police Force; and (b) dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding any office referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph.”

ADVERT HOTLINES: 01-280668, 08070591302, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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NEWS SUMMIT ON COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Aregbesola, Kuye:

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•Governor Fauf Aregbesola and Chief Omowale Kuye

•Orangun of Okeila Oba Adedokun Abolarin

•From right: Col Tony Nyam, Prince Rotimi Obaditti and Idowu Ajanaku...yesterday

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday described the Southwest regional integration as an idea whose time has come, urging the zone to pursue the initiative with courage, determination and relentless zeal.

He also called for a peer review to be incorporated into the implementation process, adding that “there must be a formal arrangement where each state government must be assessed and its performance reviewed by its peers”.

Aregbesola canvassed a broad policy thrust and programme outline, which would focus on the most critical needs of the people of the region. The governor listed the needs of the region, including youth employment, food security, education, and transportation.

Aregbesola said: “The critical area therefore, comes with the acronymJETA-Jobs, Education, Transportation and Agriculture”.

The governor clarified that the push for integration should not be misconstrued as the clamour for seccession from Nigeria, stressing that other states, which share the Southwest’s philosophy, are free to join the train.

Also, the former Federal Director of Budget, Chief Olawale Kuye, declared that regional integration would herald a healthy competitions among the regions in the country.

He also urged the Southwest governors to embark on the tour of their states, identify the dead industries and factories, and revatalise them for the purpose of boosting employment. He warned against relying on the Federal Government for employment generation, advising the people of the region to take their destiny in their hands.

Kuye also asked them to brainstorm on how they can build a refinery in Lagos for profit making, adding that it would also save the country from the scandal rocking the

By Emmanuel Oladesu and Eric Ikhilae

downstream sector.

He said the nostalgia for the viable past is premised on the quality of leadership at the regions, which did not derive from academic qualifications, but the patriotism to bring about the miracle of development.

Kuye, who is the Otun-Olbadan of Ibadanland, said:”Our founding fathers established a healthy competing federation. The rivalship of the regional government developed all the regions. Make your region enviable that the two regional governments would find so challenging that their government must strive to copy. Even, if they had wanted to be less competitive, their people demanded the good things that were being achieved in their neighbouring regions”.

The eminent technocrat delivered a lecture titled: “Regional economy: Reviving a viable past” at Premier Hotel, Ibadan, Oyo State, at the closing of the three-day legislative summit on regional integration organised by Vintage Press, publisher of The Nation.

Aregbesola described the threeday summit as the most important gathering of the Southwest people in the post-Awolowo era. He therefore, directed that the printed Osun State anthem, crest and logo should be distributed to all participants.

At the session, which was chaired

by Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker Dr. Wale Omirin, were Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, her Osun State counterpart, Najim Salam, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Secretary to Osun State Government Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, Osun State Commissioner for Physical Planning Muyiwa Ige, his Regional Integration counterpart Ajibola Basiru, Chief of Staff

‘ACN govts urged to impact on the people’

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•Hon. Ade AjAyi, Hon. Ogunrinde Olasende and Hon. Ogundende Gabriel...yesterday

•From right: Comrade Biyi Odunlade, Mr. Shola Aiyebola and Mr. Sola Fasure...yesterday

EPUTY Governor of Lagos State Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire and her Osun State counterpart Titilayo LaoyeTomori have argued that governments in the old Western region could only endear themselves to the people by initiating and executing programmes that have a direct impact on the governed.

This formed the kernel of their contributions at the ongoing legislative summit in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Mrs. Orelope-Adefulire argued that the only way to sustain the success recorded in the region by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is through practical performance that the people could see, feel and relate with.

She regretted the loss recorded by the party in the rerun election held last week in Oyo State, arguing that the development should serve as a pointer to the what may happen in future if the party’s members were not vigilant.

Mrs. Orelope-Adefulire called for more collaboration and assistance among the various states, saying “if we have the people on our side, we cannot be rigged out.

We should not lose any ground. We should work towards gaining more grounds.”

Mrs. Olaoye-Tomori said the integration being sought by the region should focus on providing functional education.

She urged states in the region to leverage on the educational legacy created during the Chief Obafemi

‘ ‘

We should have specialised institutions that should be affiliates of the proposed centralised university for the region

By Eric Ikhilae

Awolowo era.

She observed that current educational institutions in the area were offering non-functional education that render their graduates unemployable because they were schooled in fields not relevant to their environmental needs.

Aligning with an earlier suggestion for the establishment of a regional university to cater for the people’s educational need, she suggested specilaisation on the part of existing higher institutions in the region.

“We should have specialised institutions that should be affiliates of the proposed centralised university for the region,” she said.

Mrs. Laoye-Tomori, who lamented the existence of the area boys’ syndrome in the region, said such problem could be eliminated through the provision of functional and accessible education.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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NEWS SUMMIT ON COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

integration ‘ll foster competition Gboyega Oyetola, Director of Information and Media Bureau Semiu Okanlawon, his deputies; Sola Fasure and Gbenga Fayemiwo; Bola Ilori, House of Representatives member Sunday Adepoju, Oba Dokun Abolarin of Oke-Ila, Rev. Tunji Adebiyi, Comrade Rotimi Obadofin, and state and federal legislators from the Southwest, Edo and Kogi states.

Kuye paid tribute to the Southwest leaders who were responsible for the advantageous position of their region in the past, including Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel Akintola, J.O. Odunjo, Dr. Onabamiro, Canon Akinyemi, Adisa Akinloye, Denis Osadebe, and Ganiyu Agbaje. He noted that, during their time, the region earned more foreign exchange than it spent on importation.

The traditional chief recalled that the feat was possible in the atmosphere of true federalism, which was abrogated by the restless military which later foisted on the trembling country a centralised, unitary structure.

Kuye said the prevailing political order aided the achievements in the Southwest, especially free education, establishment of hospitals, fruit juice factory at Lafia, Cocoa House at Ibadan, and other projects, which accounted for the economic viability of the region.

He pointed out that, even, under Military Governor Adeyinka Adebayo, Western State, was able to accomplish much in road construction linking Ibadan to Benin, through Ile-Ife, Ondo,Akure, and Ibadan to Ijebu-Ode, Asejire Water dam, Bodija Housing Estates, and Surulere Housing Estates.

He said it is the recognition of their achievements that must have persuaded our current governors to decide how they could revive the viable past.

Kuye added: “We should also identify among the states where there is

supporting raw materials. The question of manpower should not be difficult as the region has an over-supply of qualified graduates. The first step should be for each governor within the region to tour his state and identify what factories that were existing which are no longer functioning.

“You should discuss with the owners what is required to resuscitate them. After the tour of all industrial establishments and identification of their needs, each state government should assist to bring them back into production. Such industrial establishments would create employment quickly and solve some of the problems of thugs on our streets.”

Urging the Southwest governors to sustain their progressive political platform, Aregbesola said contrary to the anti-developmental views of their conservative rivals, their political principle is the pillar on which integration is erected. He said it is confounding that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders who could not build the LagosIbadan Expressway in eight years are objecting to the agenda in their bid to further draw the region backward.

Aregbesola said the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is working to gain political control in Ondo State so that the state can be part of the progress, pointing out that while the governor there is trying his best, the party in power is not the party of the people.

Urging his colleagues to share experience, Aregbesola said, since Lagos State is ahead of others in best training infrastructure, the region can rely on these facilities, instead of replicating them.

The governor emphasised that since agriculture is the source of Southwest’s wealth under Awolowo, the region should return to the basics.

He added: “Lagos is one of the largest and fastest growing cities in

the world, trailing Bombay and Tokyo. In order to have an integrated development in the region, we need to make Lagso the hub of our activities and agenda. Lagos, with its N3.5 billion daily food market should be our target, Lagos has the market for the goods and services we can produce and we can take maximum advantage of one geographical proximity and the ready access it gives.

Our primary target should be the food market since the economy of our region is largely agrarian with about 65 percent of our people engaged in agriculture.

“This makes agriculture development an imperative. While not neglecting cash crops, the focus should be on food crops and animal husbandry. On many occasions, there have been threats from sections of this country to withhold the supply of vegetables and fruits to Lagos and Southwest. If this threat were to be carried out, we may find ourselves in an unpleasant situation. We must therefore, be able to grow significantly our own food by learning the right lessons of history that food security is an integral part of national security.”

Aregbesola observed that transportation is critical to agriculture, movement of goods and personnel, general social interaction, and integration, emphasising that the region should be linked together seamlessly by road, rail and air. He said the rail lines must be extended to Ekiti, Ondo, Edo states and other cities in the region, saying the move would lead to industrialisation and decongest Lagos.

He said the time was ripe for the Southwest governments to take over the construction of the federal roads in their respective states.

He said, if regional rail is in place, people who live in Osogbo and Akure can still come to Lagos to work and return to their homes on a daily basis.

•Laoye Tomori and Hon Omirin Adewale

•Senator Femi Lanleyin and Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu...yesterday

Lanlehin, Banjo seek restructuring of Nigeria

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EMBER of the National Assembly, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and a former university don, Prof. Adesegun Banjo, yesterday said there was urgent need to restructure the country to reverse the current arrangement where the centre is allocated more powers than it requires at the expense of the constituent states.

To achieve this, they called for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to create a weak centre and robust states that could afford the federating units a level of autonomy to determine their pace and strategies for growth.

While the duo blamed the nation’s underdevelopment on the warped form of government being practised, Lanlehin said progress could only be achieved with a return to true federalism, with Banjo suggesting a confederation.

They praised the initiative for regional integration, noting that the it possesses greater benefits than the current arrangement where individual states compete to provide the same services, depriving themselves the benefits of economic of scale.

These formed the kernel of their papers presented at the three-day legislative summit on regional integration and development held in Ibadan, Oyo State, which ended yesterday.

In his paper entitled: “Legislative roles in effective implementation of the integration agenda,” Lanlehin said the integration and development anticipated in the states constituting the old Western Region would be difficult without the support of the

By Emmanuel Oladesu

legislature, which must work to provide the needed legal framework.

He criticised the various growth impediments inherent in the Constitution and suggested an urgent amendment. He urged legislators from the region to work with likeminds from other parts of the country to ensure the needed change to the constitution.

“In my humble estimation, having regard to the political reality of Nigeria now, federalism is the way to keep the country together and regional integration is the way to go if federalism must be strengthened and not undermined.

“Under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, the items which can and should facilitate and hasten regional integration are unfortunately under the Exclusive Legislative List. There are constraints, and real obstacles to achieving the desirable goal of regional integration.

In a nutshell, the imperative for constitutional amendment to reflect the 1963 Concurrent List is inevitable in the quest for effective regional integration of the Southwest and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)-controlled states.

“The Land Use Act , which has been incorporated and embedded in the Constitution, must be repealed.

Land is a local commodity. States are better suited to decide how to use the same.

“These obstacles are not easy to remove, but with determination and skilful political efforts, including bipartisan collaborative effort with the leadership of the Southsouth,

Southeast and Middle Belt geo-political zones, which are also for true federalism, we will succeed,” he said.

Banjo urged Southwest leaders to give bite to their words, arguing that the refusal of the federal authorities to heed their call for the convocation of Sovereign National Conference was because it believes the proponents of such conference lack the force to compel its convocation.

“To the Yoruba people, I tell you today, if we desire that freedom, we must struggle for it, we must make sacrifices for it, we must suffer for it.

We must be prepared to fight for it.

“To expect freedom without struggling, without fighting, without sacrificing, without the accompanying suffering and inevitable suffering and deaths is like expecting a harvest without planting. It is like expecting to reach the top of the mountain without the pain of climbing; it is like expecting to develop without establishing a new order,” he said.

Banjo, who called for the urgent convocation of a sovereign conference to allow Nigerians fashion out a better and more prosperous way of cohabiting, called for a return to the former federal system and the 1959 Constitution the afforded the regions a greater level of freedom.

He suggested the need for the integrating Southwest states to devise intelligent agencies to help combat both internal and external threats; establish institutions to help harness and utilise the native medical knowledge of the people in the form of a university for native medicine.

•From left: Hon. Bola Ilori, Hon. Akintinde Adegboe and Hon. Abiodun Awolola...yesterday

•Dr (Mrs) Ilori Temitope (right) and Dr. Olalekan Yinusa...yesterday

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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NEWS JUDGMENT DAY FOR FAROUK ABDULMUTALLAB

Farouk Abdulmutallab…the road to life imprisonment His trial was expected to be a long one. But Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the then 23year-old Nigerian, who tried to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009, pleaded guilty on the first day and ended the trial abruptly. His sentence is expected today. Will the court hear his plea for a lighter sentence? Assistant Editor (News) OLUKOREDE YISHAU recounts his journey to life imprisonment

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HE trial was expected to witness a practical demonstration of how underwear bomb works. An expert witness was on stand-by for the demonstration. The prosecutors were also ready to play video recordings of three demonstrations conducted by an expert. Also planned was a video showing Farouk Abdulmutallab and others training in a desert camp, shooting weapons at targets, including the Jewish star and the British Union Jack. The tape also includes a statement , justifying his actions against “the Jews and the Christians and their agents.”

But Abdulmutallab was not ready for all that. Last October, he pleaded guilty on first day of the trial. He paved the way for his sentencing, which will come later today.

Abdulmutallab said: “I attempted to use an explosive device, which in the US law is a weapon of mass destruction, which I call a blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims, for US use of weapons of mass destruction on Muslim populations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.”

After his sentencing today, Abdulmutallab, detained at a federal prison in Milan, may be moved to a federal super-maximum prison in Florence, Colorado, where other convicted terrorists are serving their time.

His court-appointed lawyer, Anthony Chambers, some days back filed a document arguing that a mandatory life sentence for the Nigerian would be unfair for a crime that did not hurt any passenger on the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

Chambers said the only passenger injured was Abdulmuttallab, who had his groin severely burnt before the fire ignited by the bomb in his underwear was put out by other passengers.

Abdulmutallab should actually be lookig forward to a life sentence.

After all, he planned his 23rd birthday to be his last. December 22, 2009 was his 23rd birthday. That day, he was in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. At other times, the graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University College, London would have been with his siblings and parents for the birthday and the Yuletide. Rather than join other members of the family, Abdulmutallab was putting finishing touches to a suicide mission

•Abdulmutallab

that could have killed more than 100 people, three days after turning 23.

A day after what he thought was going to be his last birthday on earth, he returned home to Nigeria via the Kotoka International Airport. He did not make contact with his parents, whom he had denounced some months earlier.

His trip to Lagos was only on transit to Amsterdam. He had no plans to make the trip to Detroit, United States, the airline’s final destination.

He planned to blow the plane up with an underwear explosive device mid-air. But, the explosive failed him. He was arrested and taken into custody.

And on December 22, last year, he clocked 25 inside the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan. al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based arm claimed responsibility for the failed attack, which was also hailed by the

late Osama bin Laden, just months before the al Qaeda’s leader was killed in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan.

He lent credence to his relationship with acclaimed terrorists when during the pre-trial stage, he shouted: “Osama’s alive,” as he entered the courtroom. At some point, he hollered ‘jihad’ and stared at the ceiling when Judge Nancy Edmunds told jurors about the alleged plot to blow up the plane with a bomb in his underwear. On another occasion, he hollered: “alAwlaki is alive.” He made the remark about a week after al-Waki was killed.

There are evidences Abdulmutallab was radicalised through the Internet and his meeting with al-Awlaki.

Abdulmutallab’s plot to take advantage of the fact that his first statement was taken without his Miranda Rights read to him was

aborted on September 18, last year, when Judge Edmunds handed the President Barack Obama administration a major victory in its approach to Miranda Rights for terror suspects, endorsing the interpretation of the public safety exception.

The judge said: “The agents limited their questioning to approximately 50 minutes, a period sufficient enough to get information to address the threat to public safety.”

Edmunds said the agents handling the case were “mindful of defendant’s self-proclaimed association with al-Qaeda and knowing the group’s past history of large, coordinated plots and attacks and feared that there could be additional, imminent aircraft attacks in the United States and elsewhere in the world.”

Two days ago, details of his plot with Awlaki was released. They were contained in documents filed to back up request for his sentence to life imprisonment. The documents show that Abdulmutallab, after making contact with Awlaki, spent three days at the late cleric’s house discussing martyrdom and “jihad”. al-Awlaki introduced him to a bomb maker for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who made the bomb for him to attack an American airliner.

“Prior to the defendant’s departure from Yemen, Awlaki’s last instructions to him were to wait until the airplane was over the United States and then take it down,” one of the filings said.

To drive home the argument that he deserves to rot in jail, the U.S. government, in the document, noted: “When the airplane was about to cross over the United States border, they said, he went to the restroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, put on cologne, returned to his seat, said prayers, and then pushed the plunger on the device — but it failed to detonate.”

One of the documents added that he told his interrogators that he interpreted the failure of the bomb to explode as evidence that “it was not his time to die”.

Certainly, it is not his time to die.

It is a time to change address from the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan, to the super-maximum prison in Florence, Colorado, which is home to many convicted terrorists.

Farouk: The boy who loves Play Station, basketball

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IFE was good growing up and until he severed ties with his family, he lived a life of privilege. His father, Umaru Abdulmutallab, was, for many, years chairman of First Bank. He also has other business interests. So, the problem was not money but how to spend it.

And he spent it on Umar Farouk , his last born, who loved Play Station and basketball. He and his 15 siblings had access to a world-class education.

His mother, Aisha, is the second of his father’s wives. But, polygamy did not prevent him from enjoy-

ing life.

The family comes from Funtua in Katsina State. Abdulmutallab was raised initially in an affluent neighbourhood of Kaduna and at the family home in Nairobi, Kenya.

As a young boy he attended the Essence International School in Kaduna, as well as classes at the Rabiatu Mutallib Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies.

He had his secondary education in a British school in Lome, the capital of Togo and had his university education in the United Kingdom, where he started showing signs of extremist views, which perhaps led

him to severe ties with his family in October 2009. In school, he was nicknamed Alfa, which is a term for Muslim clerics, and “Pope”.

His father, after some exchanges of text messages, felt he might be up to something sinister and approached the American Embassy in Nigeria.

He is believed to have been influenced by the late radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whom he met in Yemen. The American-born alAwlaki was killed a fortnight ago.

Michael Rimmer, a Briton, who taught him history at the British School, Lome, told the BBC

Abdulmutallab had been “every teacher’s dream - very keen, enthusiastic, very bright, very polite”.

He also gained a reputation for preaching to other students.

Rimmer said his former student had always been “very religious” and occasionally aired opinions, which were “a bit over the top”.

After graduating in 2008, he was sent to Dubai to study for a postgraduate degree in business management, but he abandoned the course and headed for Yemen and reportedly told his family to forget about him. Efforts to talk him back home failed.

TIMELINE June 12, 2008: Abdulmutallab applied for and received from the U.S. consulate in London a multiple-entry visa, valid till June 12, 2010.

January 2009: He started a Master’s of International Business degree programme at the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

May 2009: Abdulmutallab’s attempt to return to Britain for a sixmonth “life coaching” programme at what the British authorities concluded was a fictitious school was thwarted by the United Kingdom Border Agency and his name was placed on a UK Home Office security watch list.

August 1, 2009: He visited Houston, Texas and left 17 days later.

He attended an Islamic seminar at the AlMaghrib Institute September 21, 2009: An Arabic institute he was studying in Yemen obtained an exit visa for him and arranged for a car that took him to the airport, but it is believed he never left the country November 11, 2009: British intelligence officials sent the U.S. a cable indicating that a man named “Umar Farouk” had spoken to alAwlaki, pledging to support jihad, but the cable did not reflect his last name.

November 19, 2009: Abdulmutallab’s father made a report to two CIA officers at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, regarding his son’s “extreme religious views”.

November 20, 2009: Acting on the report, the suspect’s name was added to the U.S. 550,000-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a database of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Centre.

December 7, 2009: He finally left Yemen flying to Ethiopia, and then two days later to Ghana.

December 9, 2009: He was in Ghana from December 9 until December 24, when he flew to Lagos.

December 24,2009: He arrived Lagos and subsequently flew to Amsterdam December 25, 2009: He attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.

December 26, 2009: Pre-trial began in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, where he was charged, with two criminal counts: attempting to blow up and placing a destructive device on a U.S. civil aircraft.

January 2010: A Yemeni journalist, Abdulelah Hider Sha’ea, said he met with al-Awlaki, who said he had met and spoken with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009.

January 2010: The House Committee on Homeland Security started a series of hearings across Capitol Hill into the events leading up to and after the attempted bombing of Flight 253 over Detroit January 6, 2010: Additional charges were added in a grand jury indictment, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder of 289 people.

January 6, 2010: He was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan.

September 14, 2010: Abdulmutallab dismissed his court-appointed defence team in order to defend himself.

October 5, 2011: US District Judge Nancy Edmunds rejected a woman with Nigerian root as a member of the juror October 6, 2011: He agreed that a lawyer should make his opening statement at the trial.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

7

NEWS TASUED student buried

118 bag First Class in UNILAG

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

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NE hundred and eighteen students made First Class in the 2010/2011 batch of graduating students of the University of Lagos. Josiah Akhigbe, a Mechanical Engineering student, grossed a Grade Point Average (GPA) 4.98 out of a total 5.00. It is the highest ever scored in the institution’s history.

At the university’s convocation ceremony, yesterday, 8,585 students in both the undergraduate and postgraduate fields successfully completed their studies.

“I am proud to note that our students are doing very well,” said Prof. Adetokunbo Sofoluwe, the Vice Chancellor.

“This is because of the conducive and enabling environments which have paved the way for our students to excel not only in their academics but in local and international competitions,” Prof. Sofoluwe added.

He said the school has received the green light to commence degrees in Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technology, Geophysics, Geology, Fisheries, and Early Childhood, in the 2011/2012 academic session.

A breakdown of the degrees in the First Class Division is as follows: Faculty of Engineering, 37; Science, 25; Business Administration, 20; Social Sciences, 14; Environmental Sciences, 10; Distance Learning Institute, 8; Arts, 2; Education, 1; and Medicine, 1.

No student graduated with First Class in the Faculties of Law and Pharmacy.

Akhighe, who did not attend yesterday’s ceremony, went home with the ViceChancellor’s N5,000 Prize worth of books as well a N100,000 Alumni Prize among a host of other awards.

Joining him at the summit of academic excellence was Esther Akanni, who also graduated First Class in Accounting with a 4.93 Grade Point Average.

Ten outstanding students who are in their fourth or fifth year in the Faculty of Engineering with Cumulative Point Average 4.0 - 4.9 received Scholarships worth US$15,000 each and will enjoy automatic employment at the completion of their academic programmes.

Various outstanding students received awards in various categories.

The ceremony continues today.

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HE Senate yesterday confirmed Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde as Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

This followed the consideration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for the confirmation of the nomination of Lamorde in accordance with Section 2(3) of the EFCC Act 2004.

The Senate had three weeks ago resolved to screen Lamorde in the committee of the whole due to local and international interests.

Lamorde, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, was led into the Senate Chamber by the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Affairs, Senator Joy Emo-

•Dr. Jonathan (left) receiving the communique from Bishop Gbonigi...yesterday. With them his Chief Clark

Jonathan rules out national conference

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HE President may have shut the door against those calling for the convocation of a national conference.

He advised those pushing for the idea to trust the Presidential Committee on Outstanding Constitutional Issues, headed by Justice Alfa Belgore.

The committee, he said would bring up areas of national consensus from the 2006 National Political Reform Conference for National Assembly’s consideration towards effecting constitutional amendments.

President Goodluck Jonathan spoke when he met with leaders from the Southsouth and Southwest, at the State House.

He said: “In recognition of the demands by Nigerians for a constitutional amendment, we set up the Justice Belgore Committee to bring up all

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

those issues which have been agreed upon at previous national conferences, for presentation as bills to the National Assembly, and subsequent passage into law, while a larger body will meet on issues that are still controversial for a national consensus”.

The President, according to a statement from the office of his Special Adviser, assured the people that the committee will bring up areas of national consensus from the 2006 National Political Reform Conference for National Assembly’s consideration towards effecting constitutional amendments.

Jonathan told the elders that government would strengthen the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other Miscellaneous

Offences Commission (ICPC), the Police, and ensure that people are not unduly exposed to corruptive influences.

The President said the House of Representatives probe into the oil subsidy regime had exposed the fact that continued subsidy in the petroleum sector was a catalyst to corruption. He also told the delegation that the administration was going to reduce the number of parastatals, especially those that were performing similar functions, while the staff would be retrained for other duties.

He added that the budget submitted to the National Assembly last year had been cut down. He thanked the elders for the visit and the support given to his administration, Chief Edwin Clark and Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, leaders of the delegation presented a communiqué from a meeting

held by the two groups on January 21, at Ikenne, Ogun State.

The communiqué condemned the activities of Boko Haram, requested for the withdrawal of troops from the streets to reduce tension, urged stronger prosecution of the war against corruption, requested for a reduction of size and cost of governance, and called for a national conference to produce a truly national constitution. Chief Clark also expressed the Southsouth’s appreciation to the Southwest for supporting President Jonathan’s election in April, last year.

Other members of the delegation include, Chief Ayo Opadokun, Mrs. Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Gen. Oladipo Diya, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Prof.

Tunde Adeniran, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, among others.

Shake up as Army redeploys 72 Generals

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UTHORITIES of the Army yesterday announced the redeployment of 72 senior military officers in what it described as postings and appointments.

Twenty-nine of the affected officers are Major-Generals while 43 are Brigadier Generals. The redeployment takes immediate effect.

A statement signed by Col. OU Abdul on behalf of the Director of Army Public Relations indicated that the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Maj. Gen. Joseph Shoboiki, has been moved to the Defence Headquarters, Abuja as Director of Policy (D Pol).

Former Director, Training

From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

at the Army Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Garba Ayodele Wahab becomes the new GOC 1 Division.

Maj. Gen. JO Nwaogbo is also the GOC for 3 Division.

Maj. Gen Sunday O Idoko is leaving the 82 Division to become the Chief of Logistics (COLOG) at the Army Headquarters. Maj Gen OO Oshinowo of the Special Task Force (STF) Jos is now GOC 82 Division.

The Commander, Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery (NACA), Maj Gen Emmanuel Etim Bassey has been appointed as the Chief of Administra-

tion at Army Headquarters.

Maj Gen MB Ibrahim, formerly of Defence Headquarters now commands the Special Task Force (STF) Jos. In the same vein, Maj. Gen. AT Jibrin and Maj. Gen. U Buzugbe have been confirmed as Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Military Secretary (Army). The Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Raphael Ishaku Isa, is now the Provost Marshal.

The new Commander of the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC) Jaji, is Maj Gen JS Zaruwa while Maj Gen AS Agha-Okoro who until now was at the Department of Army Train-

ing and Operations (DATOPS) at the Army Headquarters is now the Director Legal Services (DLS).

Other appointments include the Commander 3 Brigade, Brig Gen II Abbah; Commander 31 Brigade, Brig Gen Ilouga; Commander 21 Brigade, Brig Gen RO Bamigboye, 81 Division, Brig Gen CO Okoro, is now Sector Commander/Nigerian Contingent Commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Brig Gen MA Koleoso has been appointed the Sector Commander/Nigerian Contingent Commander for the United Nations Mission in Dafur (UNAMID).

Senate clears Lamorde as EFCC chair •Anti-graft chair ‘won’t disappoint’ From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

di at 11.20 am.

He was asked to “bow and go” by Senate President David Mark at 1.02 pm after answering a barrage of questions.

Lamorde said: “I have worked with two different chairmen of EFCC and the experience and training I have acquired has put me in a good position to take EFCC to another level.

“I want to assure this House that I will do what is required of me. I am aware of the high expectations not only

from Nigerians but international community. I am assuring that I will not disappoint you.

“I have a clear idea of what I should do and how to sustain it. I don’t think that after a while, I will be overwhelmed by the challenges of the office.”

Lamorde also hinted about the effort of the commission to deal with corrupt EFCC officials.

The EFCC boss agreed that “to some extent it is true” that there are corrupt EFCC operatives but added that the issue was seriously being addressed.

He noted that about three EFCC operatives are current-

ly in detention on corruption charges while the commission has initiated prosecution process against two others in court.

To address corruption in the commission, Lamorde said that he decided to establish internal affairs department as well as to introduce polygraph test.

Operatives of the commission, he said, would be made to take the polygraph test at six months interval to curb corruption.

He noted that there is another system to determine whether the life style of an officer is commensurate with his or her take home pay.

He also agreed that over dramatisation at the point of arrest that used to be the order

of the day has been dropped.

He said: “We have changed that method. Since I came on board three months ago, such things no longer occur. And I assure you it will not occur again.”

He listed poor funding as a major challenge the anti-graft agency faces, saying that the National Assembly has promised to look into it.

On relationship with the Code of Conduct Bureau, he noted that the commission has a very good working relationship with the Bureau just like they have with other anti graft agencies.

Lamorde also spoke on plea bargain. He said those who participated in arranging the plea bargain involving a former governor regretted the action.

OLATUNJI Fasina, a final year student of the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, who died on Tuesday night following the injuries he sustained in an accident on the way to Abeokuta, was yesterday buried near the campus.

Scores of his colleagues and sympathizers in black attires accompanied his remains in a coffee-colour casket, bore by members of the institution’s Man ‘O’ War to the Imaweje community cemetery, adjacent to the campus.

His colleagues described him as the “hero” of their “struggle.”

A lying-in-state, held in his honour at the University Auditorium, was attended by classmates and the National Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Clement Olusegun.

One of his colleagues, identified as Miss Temitope, broke down in tears and fainted in the arms of the Vice - Chancellor, Prof. Segun Awonusi, after rendering tribute to the deceased.

Awonusi consoled Temitope to no avail, and had to call for help from the health workers at the institution’s clinic, who rushed to the wards.

The late Fasina and other students were on their way to Abeokuta to protest government’s proposal to merge their institution with the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.

The government had on February 8 announced the merger of TASUED with the Faculty of Education of OOU and the merger of the four ICT Polytechnics into one.

Book presentation Saturday A Book, A House Fit for the King written by Mrs Victoria Baiye, wife of former Managin Director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Mr Edwin Baiye, will be presented on Saturday.

It is a collection of Mrs Baiye’s articles on various subjects in the Christian experience.

The venue is Amazement Centre, Olupona Close, 21 Road, 2nd Avenue, Gowon Estate, Ipaja. The time is from 12pm.

Body tackles challenges of poly education THE Association of Private Polytechnic Proprietors in Nigeria (APPPN), has promised to tackle challenges facing the nation’s polytechnic education.

Speaking on behalf of the association shortly after the inauguration of the body in Benin, Edo State, its President and proprietor, Temple Gate Polytechnic, Aba, Dr Kelvin Anyanwu noted that since the advent of private polytechnic, there had not been a common forum for tackling the numerous challenges facing private polytechnics.

According to the APPPN president, there was the need for forge a common front to confront the problems, adding that “it was these challenges that made the establishments of the association imperative.”

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

8

NEWS

Fashola blames impact of storm on non-adherence to safety rules

Boroffice declares for Ondo governorship today

By Emmanuel Oladesu Deputy Political Editor

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ARRING the unforeseen, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Senator, Ajayi Boroffice, will today declare his governorship ambition in Akure, the Ondo State capital. The declaration will be made at a rally organised by his campaign organisation, associates and supporters.

The camapign office said in a statement that the declaration is the first step in Boroffice’s bid to team up with the progressives to dislodge the ruling Labour Party (LP) from the Alagbaka Government House in November.

Boroffice, a retired varsity don and the Asiwaju of Akokoland, defected from LP to the ACN last year, sparking controversies in the state.

He was accused by the camp of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of betrayal, saying that he took the mandate of the people to the opposition party.

•Boroffice

However, the Senator fired back, saying his defection only followed the governor’s earlier step when he defected from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and later to the LP. Other ACN members eyeing the governorship seat are: Akinsehinwa Awodeyi Apata, Sola Iji, Jumoke Anifowose, Tayo Alasoadura, Wale Akinterinwa, Tunji Abayomi, Segun Ojo, Saka Lawal, Joseph Ajatta, Olu Agunloye, Rotimi Akeredolu and Olorunnimbe Farunkanmi.

Lawyer to EFCC: probe allegation against Mimiko From Damisi Ojo and Leke Akeredolu, Akure

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KURE-BASED rights, activist Mr. Morakinyo Ogele yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds against the Ondo State Government.

Ogele’s call came in the wake of alleged financial recklessness raised against the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, in seperate media interviews granted by the former state chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Olaiya Oni and a former state lawmaker Otito Atikase.

In one of the interviews entitled: “Looting Spree; Audit Report Exposes Mimiko’s Fiscal Recklessness”, Oni accused the Mimiko administration of looting the treasury with the aid of the House of Assembly.

But the Commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade dismissed the allegation as a figment of Oni’s imagination, saying no audit report emanated from the internal audit and external auditor’s office in the state.

Akinmade, who raised the alarm that some stakeholders were trying to publish a fake report to discredit the government, urged residents to disregard such publication.

Both Oni and Akase tendered some documents containing a purported signature of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Samuel Adesina in their report.

HE havoc wreaked in Lagos by the early Monday rainstorm has reopened the dispute between the state and the Federal Government over who regulates the erection of communication masts in the Centre of Excellence.

A giant mast, pulled down by the rainstorm on the Lekki-Expressway, fell on a vehicle and killed the sole occupant, while a wooden boat conveying pupils to school, was hit by the storm and capsized, killing 12 passengers, mainly school children.

State Governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) attributed the impact of the rainstorm that claimed 15 lives and destroyed property worth millions of naira on non-adherence to safety rules.

He said the consequences would have been less severe with compliance with safety measures.

Fashola made the observation, while addressing members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), at a health and safety sensitisation campaign, held at the Oyingbo Motor Park.

Lamenting the tragic incident, particularly the death of 10 pupils in a boat mishap on their way to school at a coastal community in Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA), the governor said the incident would have been avoidable, if the boat passengers had wore safety jackets.

His words: “Unfortunately and very painfully, we lost some of our children in a boat mishap in Ojo Local Government. It was avoidable, again I renew the appeal, either you want to board the smallest

Lagos Assembly sympathises with hospital

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HROUGH its Committee on Health Services, the Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday sympathised with the employees of the Isolo General Hospital over the havoc wreaked on some structures within the hospital by the rainstorm early Monday.

Members of the Committee, who visited the hospital yesterday, described the devastating rainstorm as unfortunate.

Committee Chairman Suru Avoseh promised that the government would ensure the early rehabilitation of the affected structures.

“The Monday rainstorm really destroyed so many properties within metropolitan Lagos and lives were lost as well,” he stated.

By Miriam Ndikanwu

canoe, or the biggest ship, please use a live vest. It will safe lives. Accidents will occur either in the air, on the land, or on the sea.”

On the death of a school teacher, who was crushed to death in his car by a telecommunication masts, he said; “Many of you might have forgotten, but I remember that Lagos State Government was the first to pass the Lagos State Maintenance Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA), to regulate the erection of masts and towers.

“As the Chief of Staff then, I worked on the regulatory framework that led to the enactment of the law. But no sooner had that law been passed that the Federal Government went to court with some telecoms operators that Lagos did not have the powers to regulate masts, that it was a communication thing.

And we said, look, we are concerned about the safety of those masts and towers.

“But they went to court and stopped us from regulating the

By Oziegbe Okoeki

The Committee therefore implored the management of the hospital not to relent on its oars in discharging its civic responsibilities.

The Committee members were later conducted round the wards and the affected areas.

Affected were; the mortuary, waiting room and the telecommunication mast.

Responding, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Bankole, commended the way the committee responded to the plight of the hospital.

erection of masts. We are in the Court of Appeal now. It was one of those masts that fell on Monday and killed somebody.”

He explained that the state was not interested in competing with the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Government to regulate communications firms.

The governor said: “But before those communications companies erect their masts and towers, they must come to the physical planning authority to get an approved design because a mast is a structure, which must be subjected to engineering regulations.

“Do you think that that teacher would have died if that mast had been properly built?

These are issues that concern the municipal authority of the state and the quicker we get on top of this regulation, the better we would be.

“No Federal Government has the institutional capacity to regulate masts and towers in all the 36 states of the country and the several hundreds of local governments. So, it must be a state responsibili-

ty.”

The governor used the occasion to urge the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to make a paradigm shift in the issuance of the drivers’ license and number plates to ensure maximum safety on the roads.

Fashola said: “The primary responsibility of the FRSC is safety. Are the people being issued with drivers’ licenses tested to know that they can drive safely? That is where the FRSC should focus on.”

He charged them to be on the federal highway and not inside the streets checking vehicle particulars.

“That is not safety,” he said, adding, “let me declare this. It is not criticism; it is a call to work because I see it differently.

“Where are the emergency trauma highways centres? Accidents will always happen.

We will like to see the FRSC building more emergency trauma centres on our highways, helping the Federal Government to design and articulate safety policies to make our roads safer. These are the issues.”

•President, New-Era Foundation, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, a graduand of Marine-Biology, University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the first runner-up in the 2002 Spelling Bee competition, Master Job Ewere and Chairman, Lagos State House Committee on Education, Alawiye King, during UNILAG’s 2010/ 2011 convocation ...yesterday

Ekiti motorists decry sharp practices at filling stations

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ESPITE the availability of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol in most filling stations, and the relative ease of access to the commodity in Ekiti State, motorists and other users in the capital have accused attendants of short-changing them.

They lamented that attendants have manipulated the fuel pumps to under-dispense the product.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

According to them, beyond the removal of subsidy on the product by the Federal Government, the fuel stations have further inflicted pains by reducing the quantity of every litre of fuel they dispense.

The stations have allegedly adjusted the fuel dispensing measures to give to buyers less than they pay for.

Mimiko assures of judicious use of N27b bond

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OR the umpteenth time, Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko yesterday explained why his administration raised N27 billion through the capital market.

He said the move would enable his administration finance and complete the various developmental projects being implemented across the state.

The governor, who made the explanation while speaking at the completion meeting on the bond in Akure, assured

that the proceeds will be properly applied to attain his administration’s transformation agenda.

He said: “This bond is to finance a myriad of developmental projects across the length and breadth of the state in a bid to actualise our administration’s vision of transforming Ondo state from a sleepy agrarian community into a hub of economic activities with an underlay of a hybrid of industrial, agro-allied and service-propelled economic

substructure.

“From inception, this administration has expressed its determination to harness the vast resources of the state for the benefit and well-being of the greater percentage of the people.

“In fact, more than anything else, since the introduction of our paradigm shift in governance, the distinguishing feature of our administration from previous ones has remained the emphasis and reliance on the grassroots and

people-centred policies and programmes to provide the momentum for state development.”

Outlining the progress already recorded by his administration, Mimiko said tremendous progress has been made in the areas of urban renewal, rural community development, education, health, agriculture, industrialisation and wealth creation, among others.

He informed the representatives of the issuing houses that the integrated community de-

velopment programme has opened new opportunities for the people to identify their needs, prioritise them and participate in their implementation.

“This approach has been applied in more than 250 communities with more than 300 projects identified, prioritised and implemented in almost three years of the present administration,” he said.

Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), present-

ed some important state documents including the resolution of the State Executive Council members authorising the bond and the letter of ‘no objection’ from the office of the Minister of Finance to the gathering.

The issuing houses represented at the parley are; Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, Union Capital Market Limited, Standard Chartered, Fidelity Bank PLC, FBN Capital, FCMB Capital Market Limited, Longterm Global Capital Limited and Skye Financial Services Limited among others.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

9

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

10

NEWS Two JTF soldiers killed in Delta

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WO members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) have died and several others injured in a road accident in Okpare-Olomu community, Ughelli South Local Government of Delta State.

The soldiers were killed when their Toyota Hilux patrol van somersaulted while they were chasing some robbery suspects.

Sources said the hoodlums robbed filling stations at Ovwor and OkpareOlomu, but fled through the Olomu Bridge on noticing that the JTF soldiers were on their trail.

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

It was learnt that the soldiers lost control as they were negotiating a sharp bend in Okpare, close to the bridge.

Other members of the patrol team, who were injured, have been taken to a hospital.

JTF spokesman Lt Col Timothy Antigha confirmed the accident but said he had no idea anyone died.

He said he was expecting a detailed report from the commander of the unit to which the victims were attached.

Return to work, Edo tells workers

T

HE Edo State Government has advised judicial workers to return to work.

Members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSON) had last week embarked on an indefinite strike over non-implementation of the new minimum wage for members.

The workers, who vowed not to return to work until their demands are met, said the government has refused to dialogue with them.

But Commissioner for Information and Orientation Louis Odion said the government is meeting with JUSON representatives.

He said: “The truth is that the government, through

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

the office of the Head of Service, had initiated dialogue with the workers’ representatives .

“As a matter of fact, one of such interactions held last week.

“But to our surprise, without having exhausted this window, the leaders unilaterally decided to call out workers on strike.

The government remains committed to dialogue and urges the union to show good faith by returning to the roundtable.”

On whether the government would invoke the no work-no-pay rule, Odion refused to comment.

Omehia’s petition suffers setback

T

HE petition filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Rivers State, Celestine Omehia, and his party, against Governor Rotimi Amaechi and three others, suffered a setback yesterday.

Omehia, who was in court with his running mate, Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, mounted the witness box and was cross-examined by the counsel to the respondents and petitioners.

At last Friday’s sitting, Amaechi’s lead counsel Ifedayo Adedipe(SAN) urged the tribunal to strike out some paragraphs containing criminal allegations against individuals and security agencies, mentioned in Omehia’s and APGA’s petition.

•Ex-governor mounts witness box From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

The tribunal Chairman, Justice Abdulahi Mohammed, said non-joinder of the parties mentioned in Omehia’s and APGA’s petition for alleged criminal offences, rendered the paragraphs ineffective and not in line with the Electoral Act, 2010 and other laws.

He said it was common knowledge that policemen, soldiers, officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF), were deployed

by INEC and performed their constitutional duties during the election and should have been joined in the petition,

for fair hearing.

The judge said: “All the individuals and security agencies mentioned in the petition, with serious criminal and electoral offences, including murder, have not been joined.

“So, Paragraph 10 (1- 25) and Paragraph 12 of the petition are hereby struck out.

“The petitioners can make use of the remaining paragraphs.

“The ruling will affect the evidence earlier submitted to the tribunal.

“The pre-trial is over, with the ruling on the two applications. Trial will commence forthwith.

“Counsel have 15 minutes to cross-examine each witness.”

All the counsel questioned Omehia, who insisted on standing in the witness box, during the cross-examination.

The lead counsel to Omehia and APGA, James Ezike, properly guided the former governor.

Some documents, including the election results, were tendered as evidence.

Four letters written by Omehia to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega, were also tendered .

Two were rejected by the tribunal, based on objection raised by the counsel to the respondents.

The tribunal adjourned till today.

Lawmakers to probe newspapers

L

AWMAKERS in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly are set to probe newspapers in circulation.

In a letter addressed to national correspondents and sent to the Correspondents’ Chapel office, the lawmakers asked newspapers’ representatives to appear before its ad-hoc committee investigating the activities of newspapers in circulation, today, by noon.

The letter was signed by the Committee Clerk, Mrs. U. P. Idungafa.

CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP I Mr. Olatunji Olatunbosun Oluyide of 23A Musa Yaradua, Lagos State notify the general public that I have applied to the LSDPC for its consent to change ownership of 17 Eletu way surulere Lagos state, which was originally allocated to Mr. Benson Ologho Edafiekpaku.I have made series of efforts to contact Mr. Benson Ologho Edafiekpaku the assignor from whom I brought the property, but all effort have prove abortive.

I hereby indemnify the corporation against any future claims that may arise if my application is granted, and undertake to pay cost of any dispute that may arise on same. LSDPC, Mr. Benson Ologho Edafiekpaku and General public, please take note.

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

The letter reads: “Your newspaper/medium is requested to appear before the above-named committee with the following: “Evidence of registration with the Registry, Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information and Communications as required by the law. “ Names and addresses of proprietors of the newspaper together with occupation and residence as required by the law.

“An office address within Akwa Ibom State where the newspaper has as its operational base.”

The House, had, in September last year, set up a similar seven-member committee to investigate the activities of newspapers circulating in the state.

The committee which was given one week to submit its report was headed by Nsikak Ekong, member representing Ikot Ekpene/Obot Akara state constituency..

•Comedian Ayo Makun, popularly called AY, speaking during the presentation of an award of Best Governor to Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, at the Government House, Uyo

Aluminium workers’ strike persists in Akwa Ibom

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ORKERS of the A l u m i n i u m Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday said they would not call-off their strike, until the management approves a-25 per cent pay rise on basic salaries.

The workers decried the unwillingness of the management to implement the pay rise after an earlier agreement before representatives of Governor Godswill Akpabio that it would do so.

Addressing workers during a protest, the Joint Chairman, ALSCON Labour Movement, Kelechi

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

Otuh, said two weeks after the strike, the management has not signed the agreement.

Besides signing the agreement, Otuh said the workers are also want 79 casual workers, who have been working for four years,be given employment.

His words: “Converting the 79 Nigerians who have been working as casual workers for the past four years is necessary because they are being enslaved in their own land.

“They have no conditions of service, no sick, casual, or

annual leave and they are paid taxable pittance for the days they come to work only.

“As I am talking to you, management has not signed the agreement. What management is telling us is that we should accept its offer then we can talk about the gratuity and we have told them no.”

But a statement from the company’s Director of Government and Public Relations, Albert Dyamin, said negotiations are ongoing regarding a new collective agreement with the plant unions; Metal Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (MEPROSSAN) and

Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN).

Dyamin said: “This statement is in response to recent events where a group of radical workers prevented foreign employees from entering the smelter, believing that this would influence negotiations in their favour.

“The management of ALSCON condemns the use of force and would like to highlight that such actions are illegal and violate the labour laws of Nigeria, as well as the laws governing the operations of exportprocessing zones in Nigeria.”

Dickson sacks political appointees

B

AYELSA State Governor Seriake Dickson has sacked all political appointees, including commissioners and heads of parastatals.

He has frozen the state accounts.

Government House sources said new commissioners would be announced within the week.

It was gathered that lobbying has started.

The sources said: “The pressure on the governor is

•Freezes state accounts •Appoints media team From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

so much but he is taking his time to select the best hands as his commissioners, those who can make things happen and not persons who will be there for selfish purposes.”

Dickson has appointed Daniel Iworiso- Markson as

his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs.

Until his appointment, Markson was Head Consultant of DMB Public Relations Limited, where he leads a team of PR consultants and advisers.

The governor also appointed Alfred Aremula Egbedi as his Special Assistant on Media and Public Af-

fairs.

Until his appointment, Egdedi was publisher of Izon Link, a community-based newspaper with incredible readership profile at the grassroots.

Sources said Dickson's campaign director Fredrick Agbedi may have been picked for the job of Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

They said his appointment may be announced today.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

Naira gains on NNPC dollar sales

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AIRA strengthened both on the inter bank market and at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) foreign exchange window yesterday, supported by the sale of $425 million by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two other oil firms to banks.

The naira, according to Reuters news, closed at N158.40 to the dollar on the interbank, it’s strongest in almost three months compared to N158.60 a dollar close on Tuesday on improved dollar liquidity.

Traders said large dollar sales by NNPC, Italy’s Agip and Brass LNG boosted dollar flows. NNPC sold about $400 million, Agip around $20 million, while Brass LNG sold half a million dollar to some lenders, traders said.

Forex reserves hit six-month high

T

HE foreign exchange reserves rose just over four per cent to $35.03 billion on February 13, their highest in six months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data showed yesterday.

Reserves a year ago stood at $34.44 billion.

It had been declining for the last three years despite record high prices for oil, the source of around 95 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.

But some of the broader pressure on the naira has eased, allowing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to spend less of its reserves propping up the currency while global prices for crude surge toward $120 a barrel.

Unfortunately, skilled aviation professionals like pilots, maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers and others cannot be cloned overnight. It takes time, it requires money and years of experience after training.

- Dr Harold Demuren, Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)

Govt cuts N100b from 2012 budget

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O reduce fiscal deficit and minimise domes tic borrowing, the Federal Government has slashed N100 billion from the 2012 budget, which will be transmitted to the National Assembly soon.

The Co-ordinating minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, disclosed this to reporters in Abuja yesterday.

She said the revision became necessary as a result of the need to make provision for subsidy arising from the partial deregulation under which the price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, was reduced from N141 per litre to N97 per litre.

The reductions, which amounted about N100 billion, were taken from the recurrent expenditure. Areas affected include administrative, training capital votes, transport and other costs.

Also, she said the campaign against waste and leakages has also notched up significant success as N74

• Votes N888b for subsidy From Nduka Chiejina, Asst.

Editor (Abuja)

billion has been saved through biometric verification of workers and pensioners. This has simultaneously led to a reduction in the pension budget and improved the processes for paying genuine pensioners.

The minister explained that the 2012 Fiscal Framework earlier submitted to NASS assumed 100 per cent subsidy removal and only N155billion was provided for carryover of 2011 subsidy payments. The estimated figure for 2012 is now N888 billion inclusive of some carry-over from last year.

Following the controversy over the deregulation and government’s decision to implement partial subsidy removal with PMS pump price of N97/litre and kerosene still fully subsidised, the government had faced the challenge of achieving the objectives of the budget within the context of re-

duced revenues.

“The savings made and the cuts achieved underscore the seriousness with which the Federal Government views its mandate to make a difference in the lives of the people against all odds,” says the minister.

The minister listed the steps taken to minimise the fiscal deficit and domestic borrowing, to include the squeezing of further resources from revenue generating agencies, which has led to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to increase by N53.3 billion from N393.46 billion to N446.78bilion and the recovery of about N151 billion by the Pension Task Force of which N74 billion has already been reflected in the 2012 budget.

Others include cuts in aggregate expenditure with transfers reduced by N25.34 billion; Service Wide votes cut by N24.39 billion from N337.08 billion to N312.69

billion while overhead vote was slashed by N17.75 billion.

Besides, she said Capital vote was reduced by N35.53billion from N1.319 trillion to N1.284 trillion, as a result of the removal of administrative capital items. ”These efforts resulted in savings of about N100 billion, with aggregate expenditure coming down from N4.749 trillion to N4.649 trillion,” she explained.

She said fiscal deficit increased slightly from 2.77 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as in the original budget proposal to 2.97per cent of GDP under the revised budget.

This deficit, she explained, will be financed through the traditional sources such as privatisation proceeds and signature bonus. In line with the focus on prudence, domestic borrowing requirement is kept constant at N794.4 billion. Also, the additional amount required to finance the deficit will come from the Excess Crude Account, she added.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$107/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.503 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -10.5% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $33.01b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 242.1 $ 156 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 238 RIYAL 40.472

• From left: Chairman, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chief Ernest Shonekan; Director-General, Africa Public-Private Partnership (APPP), Mr Mansur Ahmed and NEPAD Transport Infrastructure expert, Dr John Tambi, at the APPP inaugural meeting in Abuja ... yesterday.

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AfDB:Nigeria eligible for $1b loan

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HE African Develop ment Bank (AfDB) has said Nigeria could draw $1 billion loan from the bank yearly for development projects.

Resident representative for the bank Ousmane Dore disclosed this in Abuja, adding the AfDB agreed that Nigeria could have access to both of its lending windows, because of the size of the country.

One of the lending windows include the nonconcessional loan and the African Development Fund (ADF), where member countries could access loans at concessional rates.

Another window is the Nigerian Trust Fund, established by Nigeria and from which member-countries could access loans for capacitybuilding and feasibility studies.

Dore said the AfDB was set up to promote socioeconomic development on the continent, especially on the challenges of infrastructure, which the bank had been clearly pushing through these different instruments.

According to him, the bank had taken on socioeconomic challenges amounting to about $1.5 billion in various sectors of the economy.

Dore told reporters that the fund was being managed by the government while the bank implemented projects under its scope.

He said the fund had been making impact in Africa as a whole, adding that it has signed an agreement with the government of Sierra Leone for scholarships funds for the education sector.

The AfDB was set up in 1964 by African member countries to promote socioeconomic development on the continent.

Sanusi: Wealth imbalance fuels insecurity

HE increasing rates of insecurity and civil unrest in the country originated from the prevailing high level of wealth imbalance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said.

Speaking yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed Memorial lecture, he said corruption and mismanagement of the commonwealth have made just a few people super rich while majority of the population live in abject poverty. Specifically, he said a greater portion of the country’s wealth is controlled by few individuals that explored the leakages in the system to make illegitimate money.

Sanusi denied criticising

• Says growth not impacting on welfare

By Collins Nweze

the 13 per cent derivation on oil, stressing that he only advised the government to develop the critical sectors in the north, especially agriculture to get the people empowered. He said power, agriculture and transportation have to be fixed to grow the economy, adding that the crisis in the Northern part of the country can best be addressed by bringing development to the region, and empowering the people to be self-reliant.

The event organised by The Murtala Mohammed Foundation was an opportunity for Sanusi to explain that

prior to the reforms in the banking sector, some bank chief executive officers appropriated depositors’ funds for their personal uses and took irresponsible risks that led to collapse of their institutions.

The apex bank boss said some banks exposed about 80 per cent of their funds to the capital market and oil markers without proper cover for the loans.

He said the past management of the affected banks stole customers’money, adding that those facing trial will be brought to book.

He said the exposure to capital market and oil

markers created a crisis that will be resolved in four years. Sanusi advised those of the opinion that the market will rebound quickly to have a rethink because the crisis has only lasted for two years, meaning that there is still an additional two years.

Sanusi, who spoke on the theme: Towards financial system stability: Recent policy reforms in the Nigerian banking sector, said those who lost money in the capital market were ‘bigger fools’, who only invested when the price climaxed. According to him, many of the growth recorded in the market in the boomera were based on sentiments, not fundamentals or

performance of the companies. He said in 2007, the capital market was the best in the world but became the worst performing while in 2009.

The CBN governor said the CBN is encouraging banks to channel their deposits into lending to the real sector to enhance job creation and grow the economy.

Besides, Sanusi explained that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been growing at about seven per cent in the last 10 years, which paints a picture of sound economic index for the economy. However, he said the common man on the street is yet to feel the impact of these rising economic growth.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

12

BUSINESS NEWS Flight Schedule

‘Sub-Sahara Africa needs $93b yearly’

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

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

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Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1.

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40 08.50 12.40 14.10 17.20 12.15 12.45 09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

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

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

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

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LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

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

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik 1. Dana

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

08.00 18.00

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

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

F

• From left: Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Arunma Oteh; President, Association of Stockbroker Houses in Nigeria (ASHON) Emeka Madubuike; Public Relations Officer, Mr Akin Akeredolu Ale and President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) Mr Mike Itegbojie, at SEC’s meeting with stakeholders in the capital market in Lagos...yesterday.

Senate faults NNPC audit report

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HE Senate yesterday faulted the audit report on the Nigeria Na tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The legislators’ grouse came on a day the Corporation failed to defend how it will spend the N1.35trillion (about $8.722billion) approved for it in the 2012 budget.

Chairman, Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), Senator Ahmed Lawan, said KPMG, the audit firm that audited the accounts of NNPC was not accredited by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF).

He also said the reported inauguration of the audit of accounts of agencies under the Ministry of Aviation without recourse to the OAGF was unconstitutional.

Lawan said it has come to the notice of SPAC that some agencies of the Federal Government engage the services of auditors that are not accredited by OAGF. He noted that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is specific that only auditing firms duly accredited by the OAGF should be appointed to audit public accounts.

Lawan insisted that it is mandatory for all Federal Government corporations, commissions, authorities and agencies to engage the services of only auditing firms that have been accredited by the OAGF. He noted that the Auditor-General is statutorily to provide the bodies with the list of auditors (accredited) qualified to be appointed by firms.

• Corporation fails to defend budget From Onyedi Ojiabor, Asst. Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

The committee chairman urged affected Federal Government bodies to always follow due process in the audit of their accounts.

He warned that any audit report of any Federal Government corporations, commissions, authorities and agencies that was not produced by an accredited auditor is not acceptable to SPAC and such bodies would be deemed not to have audited their accounts at all.

Meanwhile,the NNPC which appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), could not convincingly tell the committee whether it got $9.387 billion or $8.722 billion as its approved budget for last year.

The National Assembly had earlier resolved that the 2012 budget would not be passed unless some federal agencies, including the NNPC, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and other critical agencies brought their books for necessary scrutiny.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr Austin Oniwon, was, however, “unavoidably absent,” according to the Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr Morrison Anthony Fiddi, who rep-

resented Oniwon at the budget defence session.

Fiddi, who gave an overview of NNPC’s budget performance for 2011, noted that the corporation achieved “125 per cent performance on behalf of government.”

He told the Joint committee chaired

by Senator Emmanuel Paulker, that although the corporation requested for $10.553 billion as its budget, only $8.722 billion was approved for the year.

He said the performance for 2011 was 88 per cent adding that security issue in 2011 affected NNPC’s operations in the Niger Delta.

“Also, pipeline vandalisation affected our target but we were able to achieve 88 percent out of the 100 percent we were expected to achieve. Hopefully, all these would be addressed in 2012,” he said.

In the NNPC presentation before the committee titled Joint Venture: 2011 performance and 2012 budget presentation, Fiddi said “$8.262 is the actual performance as against $8.722 billion that was approved.”

The lawmakers wanted to know how the NNPC came about another figure of $9.387 billion as its approved budget for 2011.

Paulker insisted that Fiddi should explain how the corporation came about $9.387 listed on page 17 of the document presented to the joint committee.

We’ll continue to support investors, says Jonathan P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has assured that his adminis tration has the political will to support investors and create an enabling environment for investment.

He gave this assurance yesterday at the Presidential Villa when he had an audience with a United States of America trade delegation, led by Mr William Fitzgerald, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa.

He said: “I am pleased you are interested in the power sector, and assure you that government has the political will to support all investors in Nigeria”.

President Jonathan said already, efforts to make business easier in the country had led to the reduc-

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

tion of the time required to clear goods at ports from two months to seven days, adding that a target of 48 hours would be attained soon.

He stated that the nation’s “power sector is a challenge and an opportunity for us as a people”. The President noted that the country faces a challenge in terms of power generation, transmission and distribution. Government, he noted, is committed to power sector reform because investment in the sector would open

massive opportunities for the youth, enable the small and medium enterprises to flourish, create jobs and change the life pattern of the people. ”Power is quite significant, it is a critical turning point for development.

We welcome your interest, and need United States’ support to extend our power generation, transmission and distribution”, he said.

Earlier, Mr William Fitzgerald, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa,commended the Jonathan administration’s focus on the power sector. “Nigeria’s roadmap to power supply is interesting and the United States strongly supports it,”he said.

ORMER Head of Interim Na tional Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, yesterday estimated that Sub-Sahara Africa needs to spend about $93 billion yearly over the next decade to bridge its infrastructure gap even as Africa’s investments in infrastructure jumped from $17 billion to $35 billion between 2001 and 2009.

Shonekan, who is the Chairman, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), disclosed this at the inaugural meeting of the Africa Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Network in Abuja, stating that 40 per cent of the amount is associated with power and 20 per cent with transportation.

According to him, while some significant proportion of this future can be saved through potential efficiency gains that can be achieved by governance reforms, there is still a yearly infrastructure investment gap of $31 billion, which clearly offers huge opportunities for interested investors in African infrastructure.

He noted that this opportunity, when seen in the light of the positive economic growth sustained by most African countries over the past decade, has redefined Africa as the new frontier for global economic opportunities.

He pointed out that six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world over the past five years are in Africa, and average African economy is likely to outpace its Asian counterparts within the next five years.

Workers’strike paralyses ALSCON From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

W

ORKERS of the Alu minium Smelter Com pany of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday said they would not call-off their ongoing strike until the management approves a pay rise of 25 per cent on basic salaries for all workers.

The workers expressed sadness over the unwillingness of the management to implement 25 per cent pay rise after an earlier agreement before the representatives of Governor Godswill Akpabio that they would do so.

Addressing workers during a protest, the Joint Chairman, ALSCON Labour Movement, Kelechi Otuh, expressed worry that after two weeks of embarking on the industrial action, the management has not seen the need to sign the agreement.

Apart from signing the pact, Otuh said the workers are also calling on the management to give full employment to 79 Nigerians who have been working as casual workers in the past four years in the company.

Fed Govt plans local patronage bill on industrialisation

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HE Federal Government is planning a local patronage bill to protect manufacturers and stimulate industrialisation, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, has said.

The Minister disclosed this during his visit to Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone in Port Harcourt, noting that the government was committed to growing the economy through

From Franca Ochigbo (Abuja)

industrialisation and backward integration.

With this the local producers will be able to source for their materials in the country and, ultimately, create jobs to plug the unemployment gap.

He said: “The lack of patronage of products produced locally is one of the reasons for the low

capacity utilisation and contribution to GDP. “We will work with the industries to enhance their productivity, improve the quality of their products and ensure that we significantly reduce the importation of substandard products as we work to achieving zero tolerance in this area.

“We are already working on a local patronage bill that will en-

sure that made in Nigeria goods are patronised. We are going to help enhance the production capacity of the industries so that they will be able to satisfy local consumption and also export.

Once manufacturers have good market for their products and produce in a business-friendly environment, jobs will be created and wealth generated.”

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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INDUSTRY Lafarge WAPCO 11 has produced about one million metric tonnes (MMT) of cement within six months of operation, raising the hope of attaining self-sufficiency. Investigation shows this has reduced the price of cement in the market. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.

Lafarge raises hope of lower cement price I

NDUSTRY analysts, dealers and users of cement are upbeat that the high price of the product, which usually occurs as a result of scarcity, will be reduced substantially to the barest minimum and importation from Asia will be stopped by the end of the first quarter of the year.

In a bid to achieve this, Lafarge inaugurated its new Lakatabu plant at Ewekoro in Ogun State recently.

It cost N75 billion and will add an extra 2.2 million metric tonnes of cement per annum to the company’s Elephant plant which has been producing two million metric tonnes annually. This states that Lafarge’s production capacity will double to 4.2 million metric tonnes per year.

The inauguration of Ewekoro II not only marks another remarkable milestone in the annals of the company and also the economic and industrial development of Nigeria and Africa as a continent With huge investments already committed by Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria to the production of cement, Nigeria is set for selfsufficiency of the product this year.

Speaking with The Nation, its Plant Manager, Mr Kunle Opakunle, said the plant has so far produced about one million metric tonnes in the last six months, adding that the plant is running at 99.38 per cent capacity.

“Today the plant is 99.38 relaibility. It is working as if it has been existing for long. We want to flood the market with cement so that there will not be room for anybody to play with the price,” he said.

On the number of Nigerians working with the company, he said: “About 95 per cent Nigerians are running the plant. We took them through training and we have confidence in them.”

On the company’s partnership with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Opakunle said Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc has commenced transportation of cement from its Ewekoro Plant by rail to its customers nationwide, adding that the company is the only cement company connected by rail in Nigeria.

T

HE Lagos Chamber of Com merce and Industry (LCCI) has criticised the House of Representatives decision to reinstate the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to the ports.

President of the Chamber, Chief Goodie Ibru said rather than reinstating the agencies to the ports, their number should be pruned down as part of efforts to improve the investment climate and accelerate the realisation of the transformation agenda of government.

According to him, since the presidential directive ordering the reduction in the number of the agencies, there have been notable improvements in the cargo clearing process.

He said: “Times like these demand strong political will to ensure progress in the economy. There is no reason for three units of the Customs to be involved in cargo examination.

The number of security agencies also involved in the process should be reduced to a maximum of two.’’

He said regulatory agencies, such as NAFDAC and SON should be given every support to discharge their quality assurance functions,

•Boosts product’s supply •Employs over 1,000

•Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga

•Joe Hudson, MD, Lafarge WAPCO

Opakunle said: “The partnership which will ensure faster and regular supply of the company’s products (Elephant and Supaset cement) will see NRC moving about 2,000 tonnes of cement per week on a short term and later 6,000 tonnes weekly.

“We will continue to partner with the government to achieve the dream of self-sufficiency and availability of cement. This is another way to demonstrate our support to the Federal Government’s policy of Backward Integration in the cement subsector.”

The complex is serviced by a 90megawatt power plant, comprising six 15-megawatt units. The N23 billion plant has a dual firing system

which enables it to work on gas and liquid fuel.

“The power plant is a major component of Ewekoro II plant and it is built to ensure effective and continuous operation of our plants without power interruption to maintain good supply of cement to the cement market,” Opakunle said.

The plant was constructed with focus on Lafarge’s number one priority-health and safety. During construction, 50 people were dedicated to this topic alone, with advice and support provided by the British Safety Council and DuPont, a recognised leader in this field.

As well as developing a plant with the latest technology, Lafarge

‘The power plant is a major component of Ewekoro II plant and it is built to ensure effective and continuous operation of our plants without power interruption to maintain good supply of cement to the cement market’

•Osunkeye

is also focused on developing the skills and experience of its team - a dedicated onsite training centre built at the start of the project, which delivered over 80,000 hours of training during the construction phase.

Ewekoro II plant is a further declaration of Lafarge’s commitment to innovation, with the capacity to produce four types of cement to better serve customers’ specific requirements. This ability to match products to customers needs is a reflection that Lafarge has the largest research centre in the construction materials incl: •opening 12 new depots across the country; •commissioning 600 brand new trucks; and •introducing a new electronic collection system to improve service delivery Commenting on the Lakatabu project, the Exective Secretary, Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr James Salako, said: “The main lesson from this is that local manufacturers of cement have enough capacity to meet lo-

cal demand. This year, we expect all the new facilities under construction to come on stream.

“Part of these is Lakatabu by Lafarge WAPCO. All things being equal, this year, we expect to install capacity of 28 million metric tonnes per annum. We do not expect anything less than 60 per cent performance from most of the new plants in 2012.”

According to him, if the Federal Government continues with the strict implementation of the backward integration policy, CMAN’s expectation is that new entrants will come into the business of cement manufacturing, adding that the tempo of growth in the cement industry would be sustained and naturally bring down the price of cement.

“The ultimate is not just to become self-sufficient in cement production, but to become a net exporter of the product. The Federal Government has given 2013 for the achievement of the self-sufficiency in cement production but we can see clearly that becoming a net exporter of the product is attainable even before 2013,” he said.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Olusegun Osunkeye, said the new plant will help keep Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and create the foundations for future economic development of the country as it will employ, and provide skills for hundreds of Nigerians.

“We are in the business of bringing materials to life, as we extract mineral resources from the earth and transform them into major construction materials. Our activities meet the basic needs of mankind, by providing materials for housing and infrastructure, shaping the everyday surroundings of millions of men and women and the way our societies are being transformed,” he said.

“The brand has helped to build edifices, brought monument projects to life, created a serene atmosphere and positively impacted the lives of Nigerians socio-economically. That is why we are a preferred leader in the cement industry.”

LCCI slams Reps on return of SON, NAFDAC, others to ports

but said the development should not be done in a way that would cripple the international trade process.

“The costs and complexities of regulatory processes have to be considerably reduced to promote investment”.

He appealed to the authorities to expedite action on condition of the roads as well as the traffic situation in and around the Lagos ports.

According to him, the process of delivering and receiving empty containers also calls for urgent interven-

tion.

“These two issues have assumed very critical dimensions at the Lagos ports and are creating new problems for importers and the economy,’’ he added.

The House of Representatives had last Tuesday ordered the immediate reinstatement of NAFDAC, SON and the NDLEA to the ports after the

Federal Government had ordered them out to facilitate trade.

The lower House gave the order at its plenary after adopting the recommendations of the Hon Ndudi Elumelu-led joint committee, set up last year to investigate the Federal Government’s withdrawal of these agencies from the ports and borders.

The coordinating Minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala had on October 10, 2011 announced the withdrawal of the agencies from the ports and borders necessitating the constitution of a joint committee on health, commerce, industries, narcotics, drugs and financial crimes to investigate the desirability or otherwise of the order.

Cashew industry loses N177b annually

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OOR handling of cashew production and defective export packaging processes for the international market may cost Nigeria about N177 billion annually.

The industry’s potential productive capacity is estimated at N200 billion yearly. While the estimated worth of local consumption is not known, the country is only realising N23 billion from exports.

This leaves a difference of N177 billion in annual losses due to lack of value addition, poor processing and inadequate support to farmers by the

government.

From production waste alone, the country loses $50 milllion (N2.9 billion) in export earnings yearly due to the rejection of poor quality nuts popularly referred to as “export rejects.”

As a result, the local cashew industry is suffering from declining productivity and dwindling export earnings, thus making the commodity less competitive in the international market, compared to other African countries, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

The N23 billion earnings represent just 7.2 per cent of the industry’s cur-

rent total production value, estimated at between 35 million and 40 million metric tonnes per annum.

But operators have expressed their determination to assume full productive capacity of over 110 million metric tonnes this year in order to realise the N200 billion industry value.

The Chairman, National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Mr Tola Faseru, said much intervention is needed from the Federal Government in the area of policy incentives and funding.

Specifically, he said the operators

were determined to take the commodity’s national yield capacity and earnings to new heights during the year, Faseru said N200 billion had been projected as earnings from the commodity by the end of the year, representing an 89.7 per cent rise in cashew income.

This, he said, would be in addition to the extra revenue that would be derived from the improved value addition scheme being developed for the local cashew processing and other manufacturing industries.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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INDUSTRY In this interview with BISI OLADELE, the Group Managing Director (GMD), Odu’a Investments Limited, Mr Adebayo Jimoh, speaks on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reforms, introduction of cash-less banking and capacity building for artisans.

‘Nigeria not ripe for cash-less banking’ DO you think the government, banks and financial institutions have put necessary facilities in place to ensure success of the cash-less payment system?

The system is not yet mature for cah-less banking because a lot of the facilities and channels have not been properly put in place. We are supposed to run a pilot programme of the cash-less system first and then look at areas of challenges and go back to correct them.

Apart from having Point of Sale (PoS) at shops and other relevant places, you need to train people to use them. The Automated Teller machine (ATM) is an example. It is not different from what they want to do.

But because it would involve the economy, I think we still need time to ensure that the channels are put in place and people involved understand the value the new system will create.

Education and enlightenment are also required. If you ask me about the benefits, it is very useful and good. It is even cheaper for us to use because of the risk involved in carrying cash.

You have been in the private sector for long. What are the key problems of financing and the way forward?

First, there is a global financial problem.

This is the time when one has to be very ingenious at exploring all windows available for institutions, including the government. We are so blessed but very wasteful.

The revenue channel and income coming into this country are enough to manage and develop all the areas. But, our priorities are just misplaced. If you look at what is happening at the capital market, everyday, there is huge depletion of capitalisation of big companies.

Most companies are becoming technically insolvent. They are not able to attract investors because investors are looking at other areas of investment where the result on that investment, apart from being reasonable would be above inflation. If your investment does not go above inflation you are losing money.

The country’s income comes from oil.

Our banking sector, which is supposed to support the real sector have funds but at what cost? Recently, interest rate moved up because of the monetary policy of the CBN. It is now left for the real sector and the industries to look at options available for them. A lot of them are blocking areas of waste and idle aspects that are not contributing to growth and profitability will be revisited. That is why some of the companies are closing down . The banking sector has become more efficient and the credit goes to the CBN for monitoring.

What is the most important benefit the private sector has derived from the banking reforms undertaken by the CBN? They (banks) are able to plan better now.

There is what I call the real time for taking decision and there is adequate data and information from all financial institutions.

The banks have sections that have been channelled to support the real sector.

One of this is the power sector intervention fund and it is being properly monitored. But they need to be sure that they will be able to pay back on time. That is why only a few big institutions are able to access funds. But the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs)need this type of fund too. And that is supposed to be the foundation for the growth of any economy.

The Federal Government has to look into SMEs. The economy is no longer for charity and the SMEs are so choked. There is now proper monitoring of payback. The environment does not support the survival of industries because of the harsh economy.

Government has to open a new window of funding that will be suitable for small and medium scale enterprises.

How has Odu’a been surviving the harsh terrain?

Since I took over the management of O’dua we have not received subvention from any government. Rather, we have been paying dividends. We have been doing this and running as a business through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through some ingenious processes. I designed our revenue base on a tripod.

The first is the revenue that we are getting from our subsidiaries and associate companies, which is no longer coming because they are also being choked. The second was the revenue coming from our involvement in the stock market. But now rather than making money we are losing.

So, I close my eyes to that. But in 2008 we went into the real estate business and we started from Lagos through Property Data Bank.

What is your volume of investment in the real estate business and why real estate?

We have invested and reinvested close to N5 billion in our real estate business.

We always learn from mistakes of the past and we also have understood the environment and the growth process. The key growth sector we identified are the real estate, telecoms, hospitality, agriculture and manufacturing.

Our investment in telecoms was misplaced and wrongly done. If we had done it another way we would have been laughing to the bank. You can imagine if in 2003 when we invested so much into telecoms if we had invested five per cent into MTN we would have been smiling to the bank.

Remember Lagos, Delta and Akwa Ibom did that and they are happy for it. The dividends we get from Nigerite is more than what we get from other subsidiaries and we have only 40 per cent equity there while in our subsidiaries we have 100 per

cent. Having 10 per cent equity in good business is better than having 100 per cent of rubbish.

That is why I said let us focus on real estate. At least, if we build a house or a mall nobody will steal it. If we tell our tenants that we are taking N100 rent we have it in our database and we can monitor.

What is the implication of the delay in passing the 2012 budget on the private sector?

In this economy, unlike in advanced countries, the government is the major mover. Government expenditure accounts for over 50 per cent of the businesses that are in this country. Whenever the government does not spend there is a standstill in terms of growth in the economy. The real sector, which is supposed to be the engine or the driver to any national economy, becomes stifled.

The budget is being debated at the National Assembly but it is still at the committee level. It has not even come to the main debate by the House. However, we have seen the picture. Our budget is not growth directed. It is just a basic maintenance budget. And, that is not what the economy requires.

The economy requires a budget of growth and the budget of growth should just be in three critical sectors: infrastructure, education and health. Apart from infrastructure, which brings about massive employment at all strata of human activities: labourers, casual workers, food vendors, artisans, engineers, everybody has a bite of money when you go into infrastructural development. It enhances the GDP at every level. But we are not seeing that in the budget.

Don’t you think the late passage of budget is inimical to national growth?

That unfortunately has been the trend in developed nations. By the half year all institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) already know what they need and they are able to put in other projections.

A country is supposed to have a minimum of five years rolling plan and this serves as the foundation for budgeting for the next year by updating some of the plans that you have. The question is where is our rolling plan? If we have that rolling plan we can then say we now have a template, which you can use for all MDAs to ensure that latest by September the budget for next year would be in the National Assembly for discussion.

So, by end of the year what would be used as a guide for our expenditure would have been signed to law by the first day of

‘A country is supposed to have a minimum of five years rolling plan and this serves as the foundation for budgeting for the next year by updating some of the plans that you have. The question is where is our rolling plan?’

•Mr Adebayo the year. So, there is a major gap. Let us find out what our National Planning office is doing. We did not create all these ministries just for joke. They are supposed to be what I call the linkage and the National Planning office is supposed to be the first link that will provide a strong platform on which a template will be generated for planning and development.

Who do we hold responsible for the laxity; is it the MDAs, the National Planning office or the executive arm of government?

It is supposed to be team work but essentially the trigger should come from the National Planning Office(NPO) and we should query the NPO for the delay that we suffer. They are supposed to provide the key performance indicator.

That is why we have them and they have brains there. All the key assumptions for the budget should grow from the National Planning Commission to the various MDAs with time action chart. The Finance Ministry is just to link the revenue with expenditure. If I am going to have a deficit budget how do I fund it? That is why they have those key people. To answer your question, the NPO needs to stand up to its bidding else, we shall continue to have this kind of problem.

What would you regard as the focus of your management?

I will say my first major focus is seizing opportunities. For me, the only thing I see in difficult situations are opportunities.

Our programmes are focused on seizing opportunities by understanding our environment, and providing the teamwork that will generate empowerment for our people.

That leads me into agriculture. Three years ago, we saw agriculture as our major focus apart from real estate where we make some profit. We thought of what to plough back into the economy and we went for human capacity development. We started by opening two farmers’ academies to offer short-term courses in areas of modern commercial farming and we are satisfied with the result.

A lot of our products are now self employed. They are even employing people because we guarantee a soft loan for them from the Bank of Agriculture. The good news is that they do not default.

Foreign experts to train Nigerians on palm oil production

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HE insinuations that the economy may suffer a serious set back in the near future may be unfounded as the Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council has concluded plans to embark on intensive training in the building and construction industry for Nigerian workers.

The group has also disclosed its intention to collaborate with the Malaysian government on palm oil development in Nigeria. This is expected to boost the local and international consumption.

The project, if effectively implemented and harnessed, is expected to further heighten business co-oporation between the two countries as well as spark off even development in other sectors of the economy including oil and gas, manufacturing and agriculture. The training will be conducted by experts from Malaysia The programme, which is in collaboration

By Ambrose Nnaji

with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) of Malaysia, will train Nigerian artisans in the areas of bricklaying, tiling, plastering, painting and various other form works.

Meanwhile, it has been scheduled to take off in the first quarter of the year.

The founder and President of the Council, Larry Segun-Leen, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview in Lagos, said while the construction industry training is on-going, the Malaysian experts in the palm oil industry would come to Nigeria in April to organise a stakeholders meeting on how to boost the production of palm oil which is expected to be of benefit to the sector and Nigeria as a whole.

“We are going to strengthen trade between the two countries. We intend to pursue vigorous co-operation in the construction industry. If you observe, the Malaysian govern-

ment has been very strong in exporting their construction expertise across the world.

“We are already collaborating with the Construction Industry Board of Malaysia. We will strengthen that co-operation this year”, he said.

According to the President, the council which started actively in 2006 was to facilitate the business relationship and to engage business people between the two countries to work harmoniously and progressively. It was the idea of the two countries to help, facilitate and talk into differences where interests are affected.

Nigeria-Malaysia belongs to the Commonwealth Association. They were both colonised by the British and are members of the G-7 countries, the Southsouth co-oporation.

Segun-Leen recalled that Malaysia as an agrobased economy came to Nigeria and took a seedling of the palm fruit and they became the largest exporter of palm produce.

Economic experts, therefore, believe the Federal Government and the business people needed to put meaningful measures in place to replicate the gesture by learning from them and whatever technology that is being used in Malaysia so that we can be a net exporter of palm produce instead of depending so much on oil and gas alone.

He said: “When we strengthen the palm oil industry we would be able to create not only a refining capacity for refining oil but also create new plantation models and modules for our farmers which would bring about more cultivation of palm fruits.”

Segun-Leen regretted that the palm fruit which was rich in minerals has not been fully harnessed in Nigeria “Also the business council will be sponsoring some Nigerian furniture manufactures to Malaysia to broaden their horizon in the furniture industry.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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EDITORIAL/OPINION Comments

EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

Fingers crossed •The acting inspector-general of police will do well to match words on corruption with deeds

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N one of his maiden instructions to the Nigeria Police Force, the newly-appointed Acting Inspector-General of Police (AIGP) Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar said the police would no longer exceed 24 hours (one full day) to approve bail applications to suspects and other detainees. This was part of his sermon on “corruption, incompetence, docility and other vices that have militated against the good image of the police”.

Good talk, we may say. But we have heard many of such good talks before.

Each time an IGP was appointed to replace a retiring or removed one, it was always a ritual of good talk and tough stance on police indiscipline, with promises to do the things that would make the nation feel that a messiah had arrived in the police

‘Here, however, the only thing that will make the difference is for Mr Abubakar to be ready to enforce his directives; he should also be ready to sustain them, if the directives are to endure, given our experience with the police on such orders or directives, otherwise, he should forget it’

force. As we can see, it is not only on the bail issue that the acting IGP gave his address. He is aware of the most enduring vice in the force – corruption. He is aware that the root cause of police keeping suspects more than 24 hours in police custody is corruption, which he promised to deal with.

Now, if the new Acting IGP thought he was saying something new about the duration of time suspects could be held in police cell or custody, then he must be ignorant of the law. Already, the law prohibits suspects to be held for more than 24 hours in police cells or custody before they get bail or are charged to court.

The situation which the Acting IGP thought he was correcting was one that ordinarily needed no correction, because what he said was the law that needed no repetition. In other words, the order given by the Acting IGP is fundamentally otiose.

It is well known that ‘orders from above’ to the rank and file of policemen have almost always been given in vain. The case of road blocks is a typical example. The scenario has been stories of non-compliance with orders from either the IGP or Commissioners of Police, as the men in uniform always behave as if no orders had been given. In this connection, we wonder how many policemen are aware of directives from their bosses, what with the many public complaints about road blocks, tortures in police cells, arbitrary killing of inno-

cent people at roadblocks for nondelivery of mere N20 bribe, and many more, which the AIGP knows about and little has ever been done to correct.

However, it will be cynical to dismiss outright this recent order from the AIGP concerning bail of suspects in police custody. In the past such orders fizzled out after some weeks, as it has been in the police character to circumvent orders that are made for the public good. In normal climes, the AIGP’s order should reduce indiscipline, bribery and corruption, inefficiency, open disregard for the rule of law and lack of professionalism in the Police.

Here, however, the only thing that will make the difference is for Mr Abubakar to be ready to enforce his directives; he should also be ready to sustain them, if the directives are to endure, given our experience with the police on such orders or directives, otherwise, he should forget it.

We cannot remember how many times it had been decided that policemen be withdrawn from private individuals who are not entitled to them. Yet, every new police inspector-general has had to order the withdrawal of such idle policemen only to see them return to the influential people over time.

We however keep our fingers crossed on whether or not Abubakar’s directive on bail and sundry issues will endure.

Lagos storm •A rage of wind that swept through Nigeria’s major city hints at a turbulent year

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OT many people, including the elderly persons could recollect when last they witnessed the kind of violent storm that swept through parts of Lagos State on February 13. The day had begun like any other day without any inkling of the possibility that it would turn out tragically as it did; ending in anguish and death for many Lagosians.

The storm wreaked havoc in Yaba, Obalende, Ikoyi, Ijeshatedo, Ago Okota, Jakande and Bucknor estates, as well as some areas on the Lagos Island. Many people were hit by telecommunications masts and billboards that were uprooted from the ground, even as poles belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) also collapsed in some

‘While acknowledging that the magnitude of the wind was unusual, necessitating the coming down of masts and billboards, we call on the state government to come up with more stringent guidelines for the erection of such facilities to prevent a recurrence of such experience. We commiserate with the relatives of the dead and commend the state’s rescue and emergency agencies for rising to the occasion’

places. Rooftops were not spared either.

Many trees literally bowed due to the intensity of the wind while many others that could not withstand it fell, compounding the traffic situation caused by the falling masts and billboards. At least five people were reported killed in the disaster and property worth millions of naira was damaged. Indeed, it would take some time to have an appropriate estimate of the magnitude of destruction and loss of lives, with many victims still counting their losses. The Meteorological manager at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Mary Iso, put the speed of the wind accompanied by light rain at 74 miles per hour.

To say that this was heavy, especially in an environment not used to such natural disasters, is an understatement.

But it was a disaster foretold. The Lagos State Government had hinted of the possibility of such an occurrence, especially in the light of the experience in the state last year when a heavy downpour led to the deaths of many people in the state, and the loss of valuable property. The state government, in December, last year told Lagosians to brace up for weatherrelated challenges due perhaps to climate change.

On its part, the state government has committed huge sums of money to the construction of roads in many floodprone areas, complete with drainage channels. It has also widened and reconstructed some of the major canals to ease the flow of water and prevent flooding.

Moreover, blocked drainages are being cleared regularly by drain ducks em-

ployed for the purpose. Although Monday’s tragedy was not caused by rain, the fact is that even with the little rain that fell, it could have been worse had some of these measures not been taken earlier by the state government.

But the people also have to play their own part. No matter what the government has done, it would amount to naught if people do not desist from the habit of blocking drainage channels, either with refuse or through the illegal construction of structures on their path.

Lagosians have to guard these facilities so as to make the impact of these investments felt. This is also important because Monday’s experience could be a foretaste of what to expect this year.

Inasmuch as we agree with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) that such disasters do occur unannounced sometimes, we beg to disagree with it that it is a normal transition from the dry season to the rainy season. We have always had such transition but nothing near what we experienced on Monday.

While acknowledging that the magnitude of the wind was unusual, necessitating the coming down of masts and billboards, we call on the state government to come up with more stringent guidelines for the erection of such facilities to prevent a recurrence of such experience. We commiserate with the relatives of the dead and commend the state’s rescue and emergency agencies for rising to the occasion. We hope however that appropriate compensations would be paid for the loss of lives and property arising from the occurrence.

Immigration, deportation - and no right to return?

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HE Justice Department says that deported immigrants who win their cases on appeal can return to the U.S. But it appears that’s not true.

Three years ago, the Justice Department assured the Supreme Court that although it sometimes deported immigrants while they were challenging unfavourable court decisions, it would bring those people back to the United States if they won on appeal.

That was U.S. policy, the department asserted. The justices relied on that statement in deciding that immigrants would not suffer irreparable harm if they were forced to leave the country while still appealing their cases.

Now it turns out, according to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, that the government’s assertion may have been false. In fact, it may be that those who are wrongfully deported stand little chance of returning.

That has come out only because the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University challenged the government’s statement after the fact. The clinic filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking more information about the policy. But the government has refused to release much, and what has come out doesn’t support the assertion that such a policy exists. Indeed, in one email that was released, a federal official wrote: “As I always tell people at parties who ask for immigration advice, ‘I know how to kick people out, but not how to get them in.’”

The government’s response so far has been inadequate. If the solicitor general makes a factual representation to the Supreme Court, the public should be able to verify it. The details are particularly important in this case because if the policy is shrouded in secrecy, how is an immigrant to make sure that the rules apply to him or her? Consider the case of David Gerbier, who was deported to Haiti in 2002 but later won his appeal. He spent eight years unable to return because federal officials rebuffed his requests. He rejoined his family in the U.S. only after the NYU clinic took his case.

The government should come clean. If it has no policy for returning the wrongfully deported, it should adopt new rules that do what it told the Supreme Court it was already doing. What it can’t do is continue to exact punishment first and worry about miscarriages of justice later.

– Los Angeles Times TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

S

IR: The Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu is dead, but his legacies persist.

One of his enduring legacies is the unrelenting hold of his propaganda on Igbo minds. Ojukwu was mostly driven by personal ambitions. That was why he disagreed with the Igbo political elders who were more motivated by the collective good of the Igbo. These included his father, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu (before his death) and Nnamdi Azikiwe.

To portray what was essentially Ojukwuism as Biafranism demanded excessive falsehood.

Through propagandist exaggerations, the Igbo were convinced that they were innocent victims of a murderous machination of an alliance of the other Nigerian ethnic groups. That these ethnic groups bound by a common hatred for the Igbo and led by Yakubu Gowon

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Ndi Igbo and culture of victimhood plotted to exterminate the Igbo nation. And then, Ojukwu, in his messianic role, saved the Igbo from what would have been total annihilation.

The inevitable consequence of such stultifying misinformation was paranoia and an attendant culture of victimhood. Not surprisingly, the Igbo are refusing to take responsibilities for their repeated political blunders. They blame them on the Yoruba and Hausa/ Fulani and other ethnic groups of

Nigeria. To recognize your mistakes and take responsibility for them is unpleasant but necessary.

To blame others for your problem is enjoyable but destructive.

Over the years, for example, the Igbo whimpered over the marginalization of the Igbo. But have we forgotten that human beings are inherently predatory and those that make themselves easily prey will be preyed on? Secondly, politics is not a game of love and kindness. It is a coldhearted power

game. People are marginalized in politics because they allowed themselves to be marginalized.

The earlier Igbo political leaders (before Ojukwu) realized that the Igbo’s conscientious hard work, love for knowledge and effervescent entrepreneurial spirit will inevitably spill beyond the confines of their regional borders. For a number of reasons, including giving the Igbo a more expansive frontier to harness their enormous potentials, they advocated the unity

Who’s afraid of Ngige?

S

IR: ‘Ngige appeals to Andy Uba for help’; “Ngige afraid of Dora”; Ngige this! Ngige

that!!

These catchy headlines and newspaper posts continue to catch the attention of many who are normally given to the habit of reading. Now this is not a problem as if there is one thing we should encourage amongst our people and our leaders, it should be to pick the reading culture and probably make it a habit like taking snuff and watching the premiership.

Who is afraid of the man whose love for the people of Anambra State, Igbos and Nigeria as a whole is so monumental? Who is afraid of the man that liberated the state from the grasps of the godfathers and largely reinvented governance as service to the people and not the other way round? Who is afraid of his popularity and style, his native intelligence and principled stand, his frankness and philosophy?

Why are they afraid of this diminutive folk hero from Alor?

Certainly he is no terrorist and controls no standing army. He has never believed in violence and would not surely pick to new habits at his glowing age of 59, so why the fear, the paranoia, the obsession with the pull Ngige down project? What has he done to earn

such?

It is all about 2014 and who becomes the governor of Anambra State. It’s all about the permutations, the matrices and the abutting factors. For some time ago in 2006 when Governor Peter Obi mounted the seat as Anambra State Governor, he literally coasted on the love and popularity of the people not because he was in anyway popular but for the fact that he was of the same party as the Grand Commander of the Igbo Nation, Dim Emeka Ojukwu. Sooner than later, this businessman turned politician

found out that governance wasn’t similar to merchandising wine and juice neither had his plethora of executive courses prepared his wit nor will to solve the myriad of challenges facing the people of Anambra.

Thus it didn’t take up to six months for the people of Anambra to realize that the former glory was greater than the latter. Soon Mr. Obi’s popularity began taking a decline and he would only blame one man for it, Dr. Chris Ngige.

However, is it not preposterous that an election that is yet to be held

two years from now is attracting the attention of Mr. Obi? Even as his evil empire built on rigged votes begins to crumble with the nullification of the victories of their candidates for various elections in Ogbaru, Anaocha, Dunukofia and Njikoka, Anambra West and many more, one would have advised Mr.Obi to rather face the issues of governance seriously rather than choosing to suffer from what seems to be a withdrawal system.

• Igboeli Arinze Napoleon Abuja

of Nigeria. Our boundless courage and determination, industry and prudence, enterprise and creativity took us to the ends of Nigeria. All over Nigeria, we excelled in business, the professions and politics.

It is therefore inconceivable that Ndi Igbo can ever cry over “marginalization” or believe that they are victims of Nigerian politics. We cannot be victims of Nigerian politics because we have been a dominant player in Nigerian politics and society. We lost out in the struggle for power in Nigeria.

It was not the Yoruba, Hausa/ Fulani or any ethnic group of Nigeria, but naïve and woolly-headed leadership, as personified by Aguiyi Ironsi, and the reckless leadership personified by Chukwuemeka Ojukwu that undid the Igbo nation.

To deal with our present political predicaments, we must first snap out of our feeling of victimhood.

To do this, we need to discipline our emotions, to dispassionately analyze Nigerian (including Biafran) history and see beyond the myth-encrusted image of Ojukwu, and thus, behold him with his human frailties and limitations, and not as an infallible superman.

So that we can find out what went wrong with the Igbo nation, take responsibility for our actions and learn how to win in the Nigerian power game in future. These are the indispensible ingredients for a renascent Igbo nation.

• Tochukwu Ezukanma Lagos, Nigeria.

Day Zambia rose from the dead

S

IR: Sunday, February 10, will go down in the annal s of Zambian Football history as the day her football team lifted the African Cup of Nations for the first time in history. As the Ivorians fluffed their chances in the epic encounter, the Zambians maintained their cool and ensured that it was the flag of Zambia which was hoisted in the Gabonese city of Libreville, the very place where her team was tragically killed 19 years ago.There and then,I knew that the dead had spoken.

It is not mere coincidence that Zambia’s first ever triumph was

almost at the scene of the mishap which killed an entire generation of national team players. It would be recalled that the aircraft carrying the Zambian team to a World Cup qualifying game in Senegal crashed off the coast of Gabon on April 28, 1993. All the players died.

Although a hurriedly assembled squad valiantly fought to the finals and semi finals of the 1994 and 1996 editions respectively, it did not prevent the down slide of her team.

Political interference, administrative mismanagement, financial recklessness and a complete bastardisation of the game became

the order of the day. Square pegs were dangerously fitted into round holes. Consequent upon this, Zambia transformed from a super power to a minion.

But it is quite commendable how the authorities arrested the slide. I noticed this when they played in the African Cup of Nations 2010.

They had hired a foreign technical adviser who tutored them and by the time our own Super Eagles played them in the quarter finals, any person with an objective mind would agree that we defeated them more by luck than better team performance. That, to me, was the first

sign of their resurgence.Then during the AFCON qualifiers, they clinched a berth in the finals with relative ease.

The Zambian experience is an exercise in resilience. They have shown that when one falls from the precipice of a hill down into a valley, there is no other place to go other than finding one’s way back to the top. Nigerian football which is currently wallowing in the depth of the valley must not be allowed to remain there. Nigeria must reform her football.

• Emeka Floyd Nwosu Owerri,Imo State.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

21

EDITORIAL/OPINION

Survey of Nigeria’s foreign policy - 4

T

HE Murtala Mohammed/Olusegun Obasanjo regime carried forward the policy of de-colonisation by its support for the MPLA regime in Angola and the provision of arms and materials for the intensification of the war of liberation in Southern Africa. The use of Nigeria’s economic power as leverage against British interests in the case of the nationalisation by Obasanjo of British Petroleum over the disagreement on Rhodesia, showed that Nigeria had come of age.

There is no doubt that the threat of further action in the economic area convinced the British government that Africa was no longer to be taken for granted. This facilitated the emergence of democracy in Zimbabwe. Since that time Nigeria’s voice has been listened to carefully in the process of decolonisation and removal of apartheid in South Africa. In and out of office, Obasanjo, whether as head of state or member of the Commonwealth’s Eminent Persons Group, played a role in Namibia’s independence and in the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.

Nigeria under President Shehu Shagari was pre-occupied with the consolidation of democracy at home, but did not back down from sending Nigeria’s troop as part of OAU peacekeeping force in Chad. This unsuccessful intervention does not vitiate the fact that Nigeria demonstrated foresightedness and ability to project power in seeking to contribute to peaceful resolution of conflict outside its immediate neighbourhood and national territory. This was to be carried to its logical conclusion when General Ibrahim Babangida intervened in the civil war in Liberia. This has been a costly intervention in manpower and money. The winding down of this operation by the Abacha regime and its intervention in Sierra Leone confirm the fundamental questions about Nigeria’s national interest in the West African region.

In his book: The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama has in detail argued that no country can develop without a free market economy and also political liberalism.

Essential to this is democracy. In a world dominated by the victory of western liberalism after the protracted cold war, it has become obvious that the way of market determined economic planning is the way to economic progress. Economic development must also be anchored on democracy. This is why it is in our interest to embrace the tenets of democracy, transparency, rule of law and accountability not because we want to please the international community but because that is what is necessary for our national development. Our foreign policy must therefore be aligned with our national interest of rapid economic development within the shortest time possible.

During the Babangida regime, the matter of economic development dominated Nigeria’s foreign policy. A careful analysis of Nigeria’s internal problems showed that the lack

T

HE Central Bank of a country holds the key to the fiscal and monetary policy of that nation. The bank plays a pivotal role in shaping this policy for the betterment of the society. Thus, the bank is crucial to the survival of a country. The bank and its country are like Siamese twins, if one can put it that way.

It is because of the centrality of the Central Bank to a country that governments worldwide usually conduct a painstaking search for the head of that institution. The head of the institution must not only be grounded in monetary matters, he should also understand the political dynamics of his country. Any head of a Central Bank who does not pay attention to this core value may sooner than later run into trouble.

In a society like ours especially, such a person must also be mindful of the socio-cultural differences of the people. I believe that the late Pesident Umaru Yar’Adua took all these into consideration before appointing Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2009.

As expected in a pluralistic country like ours, some people were against Sanusi’s appointment not necessarily because he is incompetent but for what they believe to be his radical Islamic posture. If the truth must be told, he has shown flashes of this in his past two years in office. But to me that does not matter because so far he has acquitted himself well despite his penchant for controversies. Should a CBN governor court controversy?

I will say this is a matter of choice.

of economic growth had impacted negatively on our politics and ethnic relations in the face of competition for scarce white collar jobs. Our economic regression and depression had telling effect on our social welfare, education, internal security and Nigeria’s power position within the international system.

Realising that a strong economy at home would bring respect abroad, Nigeria with prodding from the Breton Woods institutions, the IMF and the World Bank, decided to restructure her economy and allow the market to determine the rate of exchange of our national currency as well as market prices generally. It was in these circumstances that Nigeria decided to put the weight of her foreign policy behind her economic development under the policy rubric of economic diplomacy.

As a result, Nigeria embarked on South-South cooperation and intensification of economic contacts with China, South Asia, India, Korea, Brazil and Argentina. Ministerial delegations were sent to virtually everywhere in the investing world to drum up support for the Nigerian economy.

There was considerable success as can be seen in trade with Jamaica, Brazil and Argentina. Members of the organised private sector were encouraged to be involved in opening up opportunities through their cooption as members of official trade and foreign affairs delegations to several countries. It was not only South-South trade that was promoted. Nigeria’s traditional allies in the West were encouraged to invest in Nigeria through our policy of deregulation.

A trade and investment department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was created to help foreign investors with appropriate information on how to set up industries without going through hitherto complicated bureaucratic process. This department was charged with the responsibility of packaging information that was widely circulated throughout embassies to appropriate chambers of commerce and industries overseas.

The government also created the Corporate Affairs Commission so that incorporation of companies could be done in one office instead of going to several offices to secure signatories before the simple incorporation of companies could be effected. The indigenisation decree, which barred foreign interest from certain category of business, was abrogated. The process of facilitating easy repatriation of dividends and profits which finally culminated in the abrogation of the Foreign Exchange decree was put in place.

Whenever Nigeria found a forum, whether in the non-aligned conferences, the OAU, ECOWAS, the Commonwealth and the UN, economic concern and preoccupation dominated our declarations and speeches. Starting from the Non-Aligned Conference in Nicosia and Belgrade in 1988, Nigeria prevailed on members to address the issue of economic development rather than getting bogged down in the old refrain of railing against

imperialism!

The question of the debt overhang was then weighing everybody down. Nigeria also proposed the establishment of the Group of Fifteen (G-15) a group of developing medium income countries in Africa and Asia to properly articulate the economic priorities of the developing world. The United Nations was also prevailed upon to declare the 1990s Africa’s development decade.

This was backed up by Jide the Programme for Osuntokun African Economic Reconstruction and Development.

Nigeria received support from most of our creditors at least in terms of debt rescheduling and occasional grants, especially for disease eradication, protection of the rain forest and programmes of bio-diversity. There was always the promise of debt write-offs provided we continued to deregulate and to transit from military rule to democracy.

Nigeria in the 1990s realized that with the demise of apartheid in view and with the rest of the world moving in the direction of closer economic integration as seen in the example of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area), Nigeria should also move in the direction of continental free trade. It was the belief of the government that a continental market of 800 million people would enjoy economy of scale for local producers as well as serve as an attractive market for foreign investors. It was decided that the regional economic organizations should be strengthened as a building block for eventual continental union.

‘Nigeria in the 1990s realized that with the demise of apartheid in view and with the rest of the world moving in the direction of closer economic integration as seen in the example of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area), Nigeria should also move in the direction of continental free trade’

Donor of ‘last resort’ A CBN governor may decide only to be seen and not be heard, another may opt for being seen and being heard. Sanusi is in the latter group because of his belief in conversation. This came to the fore during last month’s fuel subsidy removal protest which grounded the country. As an economist and CBN governor, he knows how much the strike cost us in terms of naira and kobo. Eventhough as CBN governor, Sanusi is entitled to his right of opinion and expression, he ought to know that he must be circumspect in exercising this right in order not to send the wrong signals.

The office of the CBN Governor is a sensitive position which the occupier should not seek to draw into needless controversies in order to avoid distractions. I make this submission because if the CBN governor spends all the time in the world putting out political fires, what time will he have left to attend to his duties. I think this is why occupiers of this post elsewhere do less of talking. They face their job squarely and leave socio-political and religious issues to politicians and religious leaders. Sanusi is neither a political nor religious leader.

As CBN governor, Sanusi should have shed his seeming extremist religious toga in deference to his high office.

It will not do the nation any good if the people whose collective wallet he keeps in trust begin to perceive him as an Islamic fundamen-

‘The CBN is not a donor agency, but the keeper of public funds, which those at its helm cannot take and use at will to boost their egos at home’

talist. He should remember that he narrowly escaped being roasted literally over the introduction of Islamic banking because of his handling of the laudable concept.

Sanusi talked down on those opposed to the idea, urging them to go to court.

He forgot that if they took his advice, Islamic banking with all its fine objectives would not have taken off smoothly today. Despite the way he talks, Sanusi from my assessment of him means no harm.

He is just someone consumed by the passion to express himself no matter whose ox is gored. He was free to do so when he was in FirstBank, but now that he has become a gold fish; he must, whether or not he likes it, mind his speech.

That is not to say that his rights are being curtailed. Not at all.

After all, is it not said that discretion is the better part of valour?

Why can’t he take a cue from the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britain and Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the United States, who are his counterparts? Does he see these people courting controversy through their actions either in words or deeds? Granted that no two persons are the same, eventhough they may look alike, the high office they occupy is expected to make them sober and highly reflective.

From afar, I must admit, I admire Sanusi atimes for his interventions on developments in the polity. He is frank and can be even brutally frank if the need arises. The other day, he took on the National Assembly, revealing how the institution gulps over 50 per cent of the overhead cost of the budget. He is so pained that the nation spends so much on governance. The cost of governance, he believes like many

Nigerians, is too high. He is a man who acts his beliefs. At the 80th birthday of renowned educationist and former University of Benin ViceChancellor Prof. Adamu Baike, Sanusi declared most of the 36 states broke.

S CBN governor, he should know if this is so. But many of the states faulted his claim.

Their denial amounts to nothing because most of them may be playing politics with the issue. The bottomline of Sanusi’s position is to drive home the point he has made over time for the overhauling of political structures which make states to spend 96 per cent of their resources on payment of salaries and allowances. Why then will a man who holds these strong views donate N100 million just like that to victims of the Kano bomb blasts?

The donation is not in consonance with Sanusi’s known positions on critical national issues, except he is now telling us that he has been playing to the gallery all this while.

There is no way anybody can convince Nigerians that Sanusi did not in his capacity as governor influence the CBN donation. The Kano bomb blasts were not the first in the country. Besides, there have been similar incidents in other parts of the country before the advent of Boko Haram.

What did the CBN do for the victims of those blasts? It did nothing.

In order to justify its donation to the Kano victims, the CBN decided to extend the gesture to victims of the Madalla Christmas Day blast.

The trick cannot work. Sanusi has stepped out of turn on this one.

What this shows is that he is as ethnocentric and self-centred as the political leaders he has been criticising. What a shame! But he should realise that the people will

A

Lawal Ogienagbon lawal.ogienagbon@thenationonlineng.net

not allow him to take our CBN from being lender of last resort to donor of last resort. Nigeria will resist that with all their might, especially when such donations are propelled by native primordial interests.

If Sanusi wishes to wet the ground for his emergence as emir of Kano (an ambition which he nurses with passion) in future, he should play the humanitarian game with his personal money and not the people’s money. To do otherwise, is to breach the trust reposed in him.

As a blue blood, if he wishes to help his people in Kano, he is free to do so, but he should not play games with public funds by getting the Committee of Governors (CoG) to approve such a donation.

The public cannot be fooled. The CoG cannot do anything without the approval of the CBN governor, who chairs it. Sanusi has offended the people’s sensibilities by this improper conduct.

The CBN is not a donor agency, but the keeper of public funds, which those at its helm cannot take and use at will to boost their egos at home.

SMS ONLY: 08056504763

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION

I

SYMPATHISE with President Goodluck Jonathan. He is a very lonely man. He is largely adjudged by the disingenuous and dishonest approaches of his predecessors. Betrayed by self-serving friends, hoodwinked by economic saboteurs, pilloried by critics and harassed by Boko Haram and its sponsors, it cannot be any less unsettling for a leader doing his best to serve his nation.

Not even his latest valiant efforts aimed at addressing the monumental corruption in the oil sector are appreciated by the cynical public. The setting up of Kalu Idika Kalu’s ‘Refineries Special Task Force’ by his Minister of Petroleum Resources, was not only greeted with cynicism but has been dismissed as superfluous and in character with the periodic betrayal of our nation by his predecessors.

But the consolation for the shoeless boy who has schemed his way to presidential palace is that he is not the first victim of Nigerians’ cynical mob that never see anything good in their leaders. In fact few of his predecessors in office are considered by Nigerians as men of honour. They have all been accused of fighting corruption when in fact as Awo , whose fear while alive was the beginning of wisdom for successive governments, put it in an interview with ‘Africa’ in April 1979, ‘governments are as a matter of a few holding the cow for the strongest and most cunning to milk’.

Shehu Shagari who conferred Awo with the highest Nigerian honour confirmed Awo’s characterisation of Nigerian governments when he told ‘Africa Now’ in November 1982 of his regret about ‘moral decadence, corruption and bribery’ during his five year tenure.

Babangida’s ‘Structural Adjustment Programme’, (SAP) was said to have merely transferred corruption from one level to another and most cynical Nigerians in fact be-

‘The problem with the critics of Jonathan, a leader ordained by God, sanctified by prosperity prophets and now hijacked by his South-south brethren, is their failure to see that governance is as much of an art as it is of science’

W

E were in a large religious gathering when a man came to me, opened his wallet and offered me a N20 note. “No, thank you”, I said cautiously. At another time, as I was climbing the staircase to the fifth floor of Lagos State Ministry of Health, a woman who was descending same route stopped in my front, opened her purse and offered me a N200 note. “No, thanks”, I said again. I have cited these two examples out of myriads of cases. For the purpose of this article and by any standard, I am not a rich person. But thanks to God, I am not a beggar also. I have authored two books and I am gainfully employed, thanks to Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the governor of Lagos State, our responsive governor for giving me a job at my first call. So, by local or international standard, I can never be rated as a beggar. I work hard to achieve whatever I want, including the registration of my anti-polio outfit, Polio Rescue Association.

Why do people treat me like a beggar? Polio! That is the simple answer. I contracted polio at a tender age of three and lost my left limb and may live with the attendant deformity for the rest of my life. Polio dehumanises, polio degrades, and more dastardly polio reduces to mere animal status by making us to walk on our limbs. Polio is cruel, wicked and callous in dealing with tender and defenceless children in our country.

Polio is (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria) PAIN. No, polio is PA-N. There is a missing link in the second acronym. That is the new acronym. India is missing. I give thanks to God for India for being out of the cycle, breaking the jinx of the endemic nature among her people. India had interrupted the wild poliovirus circulation within her borders and therefore out of the list of the polio endemic countries.

Can Nigeria get out? Yes, we can. Can polio circulation be interrupted among our children to give us a healthy nation? Yes, it can. How?

Refineries special task force lieve he institutionalized corruption. The quantum of dollars government has recovered from Abacha’s family and his foreign bankers, professional critics of Nigerian leaders have said only confirmed their allegation that the man merely behaved like a common thief.

Distrustful Nigerian government critics have also claimed Obasanjo never really designed the EFCC as a veritable weapon against corruption, but as instrument of terror against political foes. Was it not at the height of Obasanjo and his EFCC war against corruption we had Halliburton contract kickback scandal, the ID card scam and the systematic looting of state treasuries by state governors?

Is it by accident that corruption under Obasanjo was a mere rehearsal for the systematic plundering of the nation in the last five years? They self righteously ask?

It should also be of relief to President Jonathan that long before him, his predecessors have also been said to be deficit in honour.

They claimed Babangida’s SAP was fraudulent, as it merely transferred corruption from one level to another. His Political Bureau which was given a mandate to ‘search for a viable political future and provide guidelines for attainment of this objective’ which lasted for 15 months instead of six was seen as part of his strategy for self perpetuation. Abacha constitutional conference dominated by “Abacha today, Abacha tomorrow Abacha for ever’ group of praise singers was self-serving. The constitutional review under Obasanjo was designed by his minions to rubber stamp a third term agenda.

Yar’Adua, faced with crisis of legitimacy after the massively rigged election of 2007, set up the Uwais commission. But Nigerian critics, notorious for disparaging all efforts of

government had accused the dead man of picking the areas that would advance the interest of his party as if that was a crime. Jonathan is therefore in a good company if as those who take delight in pouring scorn on all governments accused him of using the Danjuma Committee to buy some respite for his then tottering administration.

Poor president Jonathan; the cynical Nigerian critics have now said the setting up of ‘National Refineries Special Task Force’ is the president’s own cynical response to the monumental fraud and corruption t going on in his government. The only thing conceded to him is that members of the task force are credible Nigerians with track record of industry and selfless service. Kalu Idika Kalu, the Babangida Finance minister of ‘no alternative to SAP’ fame is an accomplished economist. Mallam Yusuf Alli was a former MD of Unipetrol; Imo Itsueli, Chairman of Cadbury, was former chairman of NNPC, and the founder of Dubri Oil Producing Company; Prof. Ayo Ogunye, a distinguished retired professor of chemical engineering from the University of Lagos. Mallam Aba Dabo, is a veteran journalist and Director of Media and Publicity , Presidential Campaign Council, (PCC); Engineer Alex Ogedengbe, was the pioneer MD of Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC). Other members, including the current MDs of the three refineries are all achievers and eminent Nigerians.

But as usual, ‘incurable cynics’ disagree with government on all other things including the arduous task assigned to these men and women of honour. It begins with a complex issue of ‘ensuring self sufficiency of petroleum products in Nigeria within a strong framework in the shortest possible time’. But cynical government critics, incurable victims

Polio immunisation: pass the word around

By Olugbenga J. Kuye I had washed part of my dirty linen outside. I had exposed part of the ridicule I am daily subjected to as part of my contribution and cost of polio eradication. I have written this article to gear us up in the coming days.

Another round of NIPDs is coming soonan opportunity to prove that we can and that we are combat ready for this fight. Let all of us as a people rise up. Let us fight with determination to win. This fight should not be against polio survivors. Neither should the fight be against any religion or any group of people. In fact, to fight and win, we must pull down all seeming barriers in whatever semblance it may take- religion, ethnic, class, colour, language or even political.

Why have I cited these seemingly disgraceful examples? Just because of you. I did it for you, for our children and the future of our country. No price is too much to pay to safeguard the future of these defenceless, innocent beings. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t say all this in a public domain like this knowing the social implication. By the grace of God, I am mature in mind and can handle any form of insult. I have fortified my inner man with ingredients of indomitable prowess. Though the road seems rough, I can sail through and reach my desired haven. I can and I will; no negotiation.

With all these virtues that I have as gift from God, can I go to sleep? I dare not. I must write, I must speak and I must join in campaign against polio in all the ways I can. I enjoin you to join me in this noble crusade. Let us rise in unison and defeat this hydra-headed

monster called poliomyelitis.

How does the fight against polio affect me?

I can hear somebody say. I don’t know how to let you know the depth of evil polio can wreck in the life of its victim. But suffice to tell you that polio kills, maims, cripples and can make your children or wards undergo more harrowing and devastating experiences than I underwent in many years. I am not talking about the physical pain, the debilitating and tiresome walk in ordinary mobility.

The extra expenses on walking aids and gadgets places additional financial burden on survivors and their families. A polio survivor is limited. He cannot do everything that he would have loved to do. He must choose a profession allowed by his feeble nature. The long list of “cannot dos” will blow your mind if you want to raise a child without borders!

Sorry, maybe I cannot convince you. Maybe I cannot find the appropriate language that I can use to communicate the inhuman nature and cruel act of polio to you. Even with the seemingly insignificant cases cited, you will agree with me that polio is bad. And you won’t want your children/wards to contract it; neither would empathy allow you to subject your neighbour’s children nor any child for that matter to fall victim.

How do I get involved? Talk against polio!

Let others know what you know about polio.

Even what you are reading on the page of this newspaper. Know that there is only one way to eradicate polio, the way of immunisation. Tell others this truth. Another round of National Immnunisation Plus Days

of ‘selective perception’ instead of acknowledging this effort are demanding that NNPC, PPRA and their supervising ministry of petroleum with the array of articulate directors should tell Nigerians what exactly their responsibilities are.

Another intricate function of the task force is to ‘carry out high level assessment of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, review past reports and assessments and produce a Diagnostic Report complete with a change journey map’.

But of course frustrated Jonathan lynch mob cannot appreciate the intricate nature of this special task. They, tongue in cheek, are saying a minister who had time to vet and include not a few party members into the list of fuel importers, unilaterally approved the increase of fuel subsidy from about 360 billion to over N1.2 trillion in a year without recourse to the National assembly, ought to be able to create time to study past reports they now want a task force to handle. They are not done.

Does anyone, they ask, except the president and his minister of petroleum needed to be told the only ‘change of journey map’ needed is stopping fraud by which 40% of imported fuel, paid for by Nigerian tax payers are diverted to neighbouring countries supervised by government and its agents?

Another complicated task for the ‘Task Force’ according to the minister is the ‘review of the three refineries with a view to improving efficiency and commercial viability’. But myopic and unpatriotic critics who have refused to see anything good in Goodluck Jonathan government are insisting that the government does not need a task force of eminent Nigerians to stop the haemorrhage going in Kaduna refinery which in spite of obtaining crude oil without proper costing incurs loses of over N700 billion annually.

There was also the tricky issue of ‘seeking out a world class firm to audit the finances of the three refineries’. But jobless government critics are already insinuating the president and his minister are disenchanted with highly rated KPMG after its audit report that brought out startling revelations of the monumental fraud going on in NNPC. It is amazing how critics blinded by mistrust read motives to every action government takes in their interest. The problem with the critics of Jonathan, a leader ordained by God, sanctified by prosperity prophets and now hijacked by his South-south brethren, is their failure to see that governance is as much of an art as it is of science.

(NIPDs) is around the corner. Tell your neighbours to accept our vaccines as safe and effective. Tell them that immunisation remains the ONLY panacea to solving this problem.

With your participation in this renewed effort, Nigeria like India, will celebrate her exit from the PAIN club and then the future of our children would be safeguarded.

God bless you. God bless Nigeria.

• Olugbenga, a Polio Survivor writes from Lagos. He is an author and the Coordinator of the anti-polio outfit, Polio Rescue Association.

‘How do I get involved?

Talk against polio! Let others know what you know about polio. Even what you are reading on the page of this newspaper. Know that there is only one way to eradicate polio, the way of immunisation. Tell others this truth. Another round of National Immnunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) is around the corner. Tell your neighbours to accept our vaccines as safe and effective. Tell them that immunisation remains the ONLY panacea to solving this problem’

NATIONSPORT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

25

THE NATION

EDUCATION

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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

email:- education@thenationonlineng.com

Controversy trails planned varsities’ merger The Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun-Ijebu in Ogun State has been downgraded to an institute of education under the Olabisi Onabanjo University, AgoIwoye by its proprietor, the Ogun State government. But students and staff are kicking, report ERNEST NWOKOLO and WALE AJETUNMOBI.

I

T came like a bolt from the blue. Many received the news with shock. And by the time the dust settled, a university had reverted to its status quo: an institute of education. Other institutions also lost their crown. The action of the government caught staff and students napping.

The Ogun State government had announced it was scrapping one of its varsities. To match its words with action, it set up a committee to work out modalities for the merger between Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun-Ijebu with the Faculty of Education, Olabisi Onabanjo University

(OOU), Ago-Iwoye.

This is following recommendations by a Visitation Panel set up to examine the state of public tertiary institutions in the state that some of them be merged. A special committee was set up by the government to look into the reports submitted by a panel.

Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, told students leaders of the university on Monday that the committee is saddled with ensuring that none of the 272 academic staff and 10,212 students of TASUED are affected by the government’s policy.

He said the merger had become necessary to ensure that TASUED sticks to its mandate to train professional teachers.

“TASUED is not scrapped but restructured to conform with the statute that established it,” he said.

However, whether his declarations are enough to reassure the TASUED community is another matter.

When the merger was announced by the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Segun Odubela, last week, TASUED students staged a protest in Abeokuta during which they voiced their anger about the

government’s decision.

The Students Union Government (SUG) of the institution described the decision as “barbaric, dictatorial, anti-student and a move to mortgage the future of over 16,000 students.

The students, led by the National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Clement Olusegun, TASUED/SUG President, Mr Oyekannmi Abdulahi and NANS Chairman, Ogun State, Mr Mustapha Adewale, asked Governor Ibikunle Amosun to reverse the decision and ignore any proposal advising the merger of TASUED and OOU. Olusegun, who is a 300 Level student of TASUED, said: “TASUED is the first university of education in Nigeria, the second in Africa and eighth in the World. Merging TASUED with OOU would be a deliberate attempt to evaporate the long protected pride and the glory it has given to the state and Nigeria at large over the years.

“We cannot imagine our own Ogun State which has the singular honour of having the first specialised university of education in Nigeria willingly thrown away even when the world is already paying homage to our feats.”

The Academic Staff Union of Universities • Continued on page 26

• Students protesting in Abeokuta.

•AREGBESOLA’S ALMA MATER CELEBRATES GOLDEN JUBILEE- Page 27 • OGUN TRAINS TEACHERS ON HIV/AIDS - Page 39

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

26

EDUCATION

•

FUTA FILE

Deji inaugurates projects Oba Adebiyi Adegboye Adesida, Afunbiowo II, Deji of Akure in Ondo State has showered encomium on the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) for emerging best university of technology in Nigeria and 49th best university in Africa.

While speaking during the inauguration of projects at the university, as part of activities marking the exit of Prof Adebisi Balogun as Vice-Chancellor, the Deji commended the efforts of the patriarch during his tenure and described him as a man of vision and passion.

He urged FUTA workers and students to fear God and make hard work, fairness, Integrity and honesty their watchwords.

Oba Adebiyi appreciated the Management of the University for giving him

New PG students welcomed IMMEDIATE past ViceChancellor of FUTA, Prof Balogun recently welcomed the international students admitted into its Graduate Research Programme in the West African Climate System (GRP –WACS).

Balogun, who described the ceremony as special, being the last for him as Vice-Chancellor of the university reiterated that the programme was to motivate the foreign students to study in Nigeria, particularly FUTA. Responding, one of the WASCAL students thanked Management and the University Community, and lauded the security and learning facilities on campus.

Earlier, in his address, the Director of West African Science Service Centre for Climate of Adopted Land Use (WASCAL) in FUTA, Prof Jerome Omotosho tasked the students to be good ambassadors of their countries.

Ag VC steps in

AN Acting Vice-Chancellor has been appointed for FUTA following the expiration of the tenure of Prof Balogun. He is Prof Emmanuel Adedayo Fasakin who until his appointment was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

He joined FUTA October 2, 1992 as a Lecturer II in the then Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and rose through the ranks.

Fasakin who had his early education at Omuo Comprehensive High School, Omuo-Ekiti (1970-1974), bagged a Ph.D in Fish Nutrition/Management from FUTA in 1997 and was appointed a Professor in 2004.

Fasakin had at various times held positions as Coordinator of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Acting Head of same Department. He was also served as the Dean of Students Affairs.

•One of the student leaders addressing the students.

Controversy trails planned varsities’ merger

• Continued from page 25

(ASUU) TASUED Chapter is also worried about the implication of government’s decision on the future of workers.

Its Chairman, Dr Anthony Oyenuga, said it is unheard of that a university which is relatively doing well and has started turning out graduates is scrapped. He expressed fear that the measure would not only destroy both institutions, but also send many lecturers into the labour market. He also faulted the merger given that TASUED is more stable than OOU. He said: “When you submerge a university under a faculty in the name of an institute, the implications are predictable. An institute is just a research centre which cannot accommodate more than 20 teaching staff. But we have over 272 staff; the government wants to throw people into the labour market.

“What government has done is just a pronouncement and it remains a pronouncement. There is an Act establishing the university and until it is repealed or amended, nothing has changed. We can only hope that Governor Amosun would listen to wise voice and do what is right.

“What has happened is analogous to forcing a healthy person to go sleeping together with another person that has a contagious disease. The message is clear; you want the two to die together.”

However, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, the immediate past Dean, Faculty of Education, OOU, disagreed. He advised critics to apply caution and view the decision objectively so that the wisdom behind the government’s action can be seen.

“Looking at it objectively, government may have taken the step to reconcile resources with the need to ensure standard. That may be the ideal thing to do but one has to be careful about this so that nobody accuses one

of selling the idea to the state government,” Ogunyemi said.

The immediate past ViceChancellor of OOU, Prof Tola Osilesi, supported Ogunyemi, saying, “The government must have had cause to arrive at that decision. I believe what the government has done is best for the state. There is a faculty of education at OOU and a university of education in Ijagun.

“If the government has decided to merge the two, it must have seen justifiable reason for the action. As far as I‘m concerned, government has a step in the best interest of the state.”

Odubela justified the government’s decision, saying TASUED had lost focus.

The seven years old university, which began in 1987/88 as a College of Education, was upgraded to a full-fledged university in

January, 2005 by former Governor Gbenga Daniel.

It got its legal backing via the Tai Solarin University of Education Law 2005 of enrolled Bill No 24/08/2005 and assented to by the Governor in August of the same year.

At inception, NUC provisionally approved 46 academic programmes for it and today the university offers about 32 programmes.

The degrees awarded are B.A Ed in the College of Humanities, B.sc Ed in the College of Science, B.sc Ed in the College of Social and Management Science and B.Ed & B.sc Ed in the College of Applied Education and Vocational Technology.

It set out its vision to become the “preferred university of education which will excel in preparing educators who will be leaders in all discipline” while striving to enhance the quality of teach-

‘So, the purpose is to enable us have qualitative and affordable education.

If education should be qualitative and affordable, then we don’t have to proliferate, we don’t need to play politics with education’

ing and learning and continuously update the methods and knowledge of skill providers, as her core mission.

Not a few Ogun indigenes claim that the establishment of TASUED was set up to subtly kill OOU by channelling more of government’s attention to the new institution.

While the systemic underfunding of the more populous OOU persisted in the last eight years with the attendant degradation in infrastructure, teaching, research, learning and quality of outputs, TASUED with a smaller student population got generous subventions over the same period.

To boost students’ patronage through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) programmes offered in conventional universities such as Mass communication, Geography/Transport Planning, Social Work, Petroleum Science and Industrial Chemistry were introduced to TASUED. And not surprisingly, many prospective students who did not like teaching as a career and could not get admission to other universities, soon moved into TASUED where the admission policy seemed a bit relaxed.

With each passing year, the population of core education

students began to decline steadily as prospective students rushed the conventional programmes.

Odubela said of the situation: “The university has lost its focus, the vision and the reasons behind the setting up of that university. Today, they have more students on courses that are completely unrelated to education.

“We want to have a first class university. Look at the list that just came out. There is no single university from Ogun State. Whereas the best university, polytechnic is from Edo State. If we want to have a first class standard, I think it is not about how many,” Odubela said.

Also justifying the rationale behind government’s decision, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Yusuph Olaniyonu said: “Why don’t you have a very good Olabisi Onabanjo University with a good faculty of education than the two of them not well funded or well equipped? So, the purpose is to enable us have qualitative and affordable education. If education should be qualitative and affordable, then we don’t have to proliferate, we don’t need to play politics with education.”

However, the TASUED Vice-Chancellor, Prof Segun Awonusi, whose job may be hanging with the new development, told The Nation during the week that it was still early in the day to make comment.

“It is not time to comment.

The government is still working out the details and even the Commissioner of Education said so and until we have a full grasp of it, I won’t be able to say much in a robust manner regarding the implications on students, the lecturers and other staff,” he said.

However, TASUED’s Students’ Affairs Officer (SAO), Mr Dapo Oke, wonders how the government plans to implement the merger, given the number of students involved. Oke, who said he was not speaking on behalf of the management, punctured the claims by the government officials, saying TASUED was better than OOU. “The recent ranking by the National Universities Commission (NUC) shows TASUED is doing well compared to OOU. The school was ranked 30 above OOU that had 56 and came as the best University of Education in Nigeria. So, how could anyone claim that the school has lost focus?” Oke asked. He wondered why the government would move over 20,000 students to a faculty, which cannot administer the affairs of more than 4,000 students.

27

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

EDUCATION

Aregbesola’s alma mater celebrates golden jubilee

T

HE ancient town of Arigidi-Akoko in Akoko Northwest Local Government Area of Ondo State came alive when the Akoko Anglican Grammar School Old students, among who is the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, celebrated the Golden jubilee of their alma mater penultimate week.

The school, one of the best in the state, has produced prominent personalities, among who are Aregbesola, the Ondo State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Akin Adaramola, and a renowned Professor of Sociology, Abidemi Oyinlade.

At the event, the old students who passed through the school since its establishment in 1962, joyfully embraced one another.

The 50th anniversary was a week-long programme that climaxed with an event to raise N50 million development funds for the school.

Also, eight eminent personalities in the society including Aregbesola, the first student of the college to become a governor, were honoured at the ceremony.

The event was a carnival of sorts with several governorship aspirants under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo state donating to the development fund.

Aregbesola, who donated a well-equipped Information Technology Centre (ICT) named after ACN National Leader and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu was accompanied by prominent members of the party from Osun and Ondo States.

They include the former State Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Dr Olaiya Oni; Secretary to Government of Osun State, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Osun State Commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning; Mr Muyiwa Ige, among others.

The National President of

I, therefore, enjoin the teachers and students of this school to make the best use of the facility.

This centre is a preparation ground for every student that will pass through this institution to face that digital future

Old Students Association, Mr J.O. Adojutelegan,commended Aregbesola for his contributions to the school. He noted that it was time for old students to pay give back to their alma mater.

“Contribution of our alumni can never be over emphasised. In October 2000, we launched an appeal fund of N10 million to reposition the school. The renovation done with what we realised made this school look like a university campus. The evidence is still there to see.

Now, Aregbesola has donated a computer centre to our college which we believe will have great effect on academic standard of our students,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Aregbesola said he was so pleased to be part of the old students who celebrated the golden anniversary of a school that gave him so much.

He said: “Of course, every old student is always proud of his or her old school and this distinguished audience will kindly indulge me if I say that I went to the best secondary school in the world. I still have vivid memories of my years around here – the discipline, the ideological consciousness of the time, the affectations of the teachers and the hope of a better tomor-

• Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Ogun State, Mr Segun Odubela and Mrs Agusto, flagging off the 3rd Certiport National Competition

Firm to host workshop ahead of ICT competition

R

EADMANNA Ventures, an ICT training outfit, is calling on secondary pupils and undergraduate to participate in the Third Certiport National Competition on Microsoft Office, which opened last December.

To help schools understand the requirements of the competition, the firm is organising workshops in Abuja, next Friday, and Lagos, March 2.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Edna Agusto, said in addition to competing for proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word 2007, this year, participants will compete in 2010 version of the software applications, in addition to Microsoft

PowerPoint 2007 and 2010.

Last year, a student of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Zulikhat Ibrahim, won the Excel 2007m scoring 923 out of 1000 points.

Titilope Ikumapayi of Babcock University, Ilishan Remo came second with 846.

In the Word 2007 category, Ayodeji Oyewole of Thomas Adewunmi International College, Oko, Kwara State scored the maximum point of 1000; while runner up, Faithful Adia of the school scored 933.

The winners were presented with their prizes at an awards ceremony hosted by the Ogun State government last November.

Mrs Agusto urged schools to participate in the workshop and register their students for the competition so that they can provide quality ICT training for their students that would lead to the awards of certifications recognised worldwide. She said schools would benefit fromtaking part in the workshop as it would serve as a platform to learn about how to improve their ICT training.

“At the workshop, we will explain how schools can become Microsoft IT Academies. We are also encouraging old schools that have been teaching their students to participate. The competition is currently on. It will last until June 30,” she said.

• Aregbesola (right) with pupils of the school in front of the ICT centre

row for self and country which the school imbued in us. My ideological path of revolutionary engagement was set at this school.”

Speaking on the significance of his gift, Aregbesola said: “The Information and Communication Technology Centre we are presenting is actually a statement on the direction of the future. The computer has actually become the centre of the universe.

“It is interesting now that even artisans like mechanics need the computer to diagnose problems with cars and find solutions to them.

Architects and draughts men now use the computer to design precision houses.

“In the state of Osun, we are concluding arrangements to provide computer tablets tagged ‘Opon Imo’

to all senior secondary schools students in the state. These tablets will contain lecture notes, all the text books for all the subjects of study, past questions and answers for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations and tutorials.

“I, therefore, enjoin the teachers and students of this school to make the best use of the facility. This centre is a preparation ground for every student that will pass through this institution to face that digital future.”

Explaining the reason for naming the centre after Tinubu, Aregbesola described the former Lagos state governor as his mentor, symbol of true federal-

ism and democracy.

“In my assessment, nobody deserves the honour of having it named after him than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I must let this distinguished audience know that after the Almighty God and my parents, the next greatest influence in my life is Asiwaju. He is my mentor, my role model, my leader, my motivator and benefactor,” he said.

“I am also calling on old students of this school to do something worthwhile for their alma mater. It is a little way of giving back what we got from the school. While the government has the greatest responsibility for providing the best education for the teeming youths, the well to do in society must also play not a little role.

28

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

EDUCATION

We’ll resist fee hike in Anambra, says NANS

UNILORIN FILE

Varsity gets bus AS the 13th edition of the West Africa University Games (WAUG) draws near, the host, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), has received a Marcopolo bus worth N48million.

At the event, the ViceChancellor, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, expressed the happiness that the muchawaited 59-seater bus was eventually delivered.

The event coincided with the inauguration of the UNILORIN car wash.

Oloyede said the investment in the bus was worthwhile because apart from being useful during WAUG for the transportation of athletes and officials to events, it would also be useful to the workers and students in future.

Medical students get scholarship NO fewer than 20 female medical students of UNILORIN were last Thursday presented with cheques of N100,000 each by the Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust.

The event took place at the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin.

Provost of the College, Prof A. B. O. Omotosho, said capacity development is a life-long investment.

He commended the management of Media Trust Limited for sponsoring the scholarship and charged the recipients to remain the best in their studies.

“I urge the recipients of this award to make the best use of this opportunity and to justify the investment.

Justify the confidence and live up to the expectation academically and in character,” he said.

Commonwealth scholars arrive DOZENS of Commonwealth scholars from Sierra Leone, China, Romania and Cuba have arrived the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) as part of the efforts to expose them to Nigerian culture and lifestyle.

The undergraduate scholars arrived the university for an Orientation/Acculturation of the Nigerian Commonwealth and Bilateral Education Agreement Scholars, organised in association with the Federal Scholarship Board. The scholars will be in Ilorin till tomorrow.

As the university adopts a home stay arrangement, the scholars are living with the families of the members of the university community during their stay.

T

HE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has warned the management of the five tertiary institutions in Anambra State to desist from hiking their tuition fees or face their wrath.

NANS stated this at a forum of students’representatives of institutions in the state. This is coming as Comrade Fortune Ifeka was appointed the new Joint Campus Chairman (JCC) for NANS in Anambra.

NANS Deputy Senate President,Nwachukwu Okpalaoka, who represented the national body of the association at the event, called on

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu (Nnewi)

Anambra State Governor Peter Obi to attend to the plight of students and shun the increment in fees, adding that this is capable of plunging the education system into another chaos after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) just suspended its strike.

Contributing, Zone B Coordinator for NANS, Ezekiel Nwankwo, said there have been unconfirmed rumours that some tertiary institutions in Anambra are contemplating a hike in school fees, and

that such would not be condoned by NANS. Nwankwo said: “We have had increment in fees in some institutions around Zone B, that is the Southeast and Southsouth, but the thing about school fees hike is that you must follow it up immediately because once the stu-

dents have started paying, it is hard to get management to refund.

“About the unconfirmed reports we have, I want to tell the management of those institutions that are planning to hike their school fees to desist from it because NANS will reject it. On February 16,

we will inaugurate a new JCC that will feed us with facts about activities in the various campuses in Anambra State, and if they do it (increase fees), we will march the entire Southeast, Southsouth of NANS to the institution to make sure it does not work.”

Poly seeks alternative power source

T

HE Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State is seeking renewable energy as means of fighting poverty and unemployment in the country.

Its Petroleum/Coal and Renewable Energy Research Unit has organised an inaugural research training to address the problem.

Director-General, Energy Commission of Nigeria, Prof.

Abubakar Sambo, who spoke at the event, said the fight against poverty and unemployment will come to naught without the provision of modern improved energy services.

Sambo, who was represented by a Director in the

commission Dr. Obiorah Dioha, said renewable energy was suited to meet the decentralised energy needs of poor remote community institutions. He added that for this to be possible, there must be professionals to deploy the technology.

“To achieve this, professionals with broad training and understanding of renewable energy production, delivery, consumption, efficiency, economics policy and regulations are needed. Unfortunately, Nigeria is faced with two inter-twined problems: a situation of mass unemployment of relatively skilled man power produced through formal and informal educational system

• From left: Prof. Dioha; Dr. Mmuo and Dr. Mchivga Abelega (Deputy Director, Academic Programmes, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja.

and lack of man power in energy related fields,” he said.

He commended the polytechnic for sharing in the mandate of the Commission to promote training and manpower development in the energy sector.

Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Godwin Onu, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Don Muo, in a keynote ad-

dress congratulated the Research unit for organising the event.

Director, Research Unit, Mrs Chioma Awuzie, noted that the workshop was geared to ‘training, upskilling and updating the academic community on alternative energy.

“My vision is to make this unit a leading institute in renewable energy science and

engineering, which will provide the foundation for innovation in efficient and low cost renewable energy technologies.”

She called for the establishment of a renewable energy centre in the polytechnic as was done in the six universities, noting that polytechnics are technically based and practical-oriented.

‘How we tackled our challenges’ Some administrators in Nigeria do not sustain or build on their predecessor’s legacies. Not so the fifth Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, Prof Adebisi Balogun, who has not only sustained the programmes of his predecessor, but has also added this own. In this interview with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, Balogun speaks on his achievements and challenges.

W

OULD you briefly recall the events before your appointment?

I came in (as Vice-Chancellor) in January 2007 in acting capacity. That was about four months after the selection for a new Vice-Chancellor had been concluded and we were expecting the Federal Government to announce the person. During that period, three names should go to the President, who then was Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

So, it took sometime before the announcement was made even though of all the lot that came for the interview, I emerged the best with a very wide margin. When the result was not announced, the Governing Council then led

by Dr Dejo Raimi, decided to make me the Acting ViceChancellor because by that time I was the Deputy ViceChancellor (Development)

and the only DVC on ground. Naturally, the lot fell on me by the virtue of the statute of the university.

We continued and by February 8, Obasanjo announced and confirmed my appointment as the fifth substantive VC. What plans did you roll out to ensure the success of your administration?

I had nine to 10-point agenda that spanned academic, welfare development, staff development, student development, infrastructural d e v e l o p m e n t , internationalisation of the university including the students and staff, as well as an aggressive fund-raising programme.

It’s been a hectic time meeting the needs of the plan of action highlighted in terms of looking for the resources, enablement and the environment that will be conducive for us to carry out such things. I’ve always believed that challenges come to us for solutions, and so far, we have been able tackle between 70 and 80 per cent of them. All other challenges are owing to our imperfections and we have left that for the incoming administration.

One of the

things that enabled us to face the challenges was the fact that with people of goodwill within and outside the university, we were able to put a spiritual programme together for this university, and we made God a cornerstone of our activities. This paid well for us.

What were the challenges upon your assumption of office?

When you come in as a Vice-Chancellor, you must realise a university is a universal environment comprising human, physical and many other variables. Then you must also realise that this is Africa where you contested with some people and won but your co-contestants did not want to concede defeat. That was my first challenge. But because I’ve been in the system, one of the things I did upon assumption was to appoint my co-contestant who came second at that time Prof Ipinmoroti of blessed memory, as my Deputy VC (Academics).

With that, I was able to calm some frayed nerves before starting my plan.

Were you able to raise funds?

In any Nigerian university, funding is another challenge.

But I started a programme called Capital Campaign Project (CCP) aimed at fundgeneration. We planned series of activities to raise funds for many of the projects we

• Prof Balogun

planned for execution. In 2008, we had the CCP in Lagos. We had a number of people who came to our rescue, so we were able to generate some resources at that time.

As an aside, we also used the platform to popularise the university.

What of the areas of infrastructure?

Providing infrastructural facilities such as laboratories, students’ hostels, offices involved enormous capital. So we felt the best thing was to start taking them one after the other. However, our efforts over the last five years period gave rise to these beautiful infrastructure that you can see around. All these we did to make the students feel like they are in an international environment and everyone that has been here testifies to FUTA having one of the best environments conducive for learning.

There was a time when students referred to FUTA as Federal University of Torture and Agony; (laughs) that means you come into the class in the morning and you won’t leave until very late.

So, we are expanding our sporting and other recre-

ational facilities. Go see our tartan tracks overlay, upgraded lawn tennis facilities, and the newly-constructed practicing pitch, and table tennis, all these within a very short time. It was possible for us through the upgrading of our facilities to host the West African University Games (WAUG) in 2010.

For the first in the history of FUTA, we built a Postgraduate hostel. As a university of technology that is pushing for international recognition, this was part of our vision that FUTA must be a Postgraduate university of technology. So we built an imposing PG hostel. What gladdens my heart is that the vision of the university in internatinaslisation of FUTA is gradually crstalising. As I speak to you, we have students from West African countries like Mali, Cote d’ Voire, Niger, Togo, Ghana and Sierra Leone here on PG programmes in Climate Change. The history of that is that we wrote a highly competitive proposal to the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change (WASCAL) and we went to defend it in Ghana and we won.

29

Divided by a policy

Students protest high bus fares

*CAMPUSES *NEWS *PEOPLE *KUDOS& KNOCKS *GRANTS

Page 34

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THE NATION

CAMPUS LIFE 0805-450-3104 email: ladycampus@yahoo.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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

email:- campuslife@thenationonlineng.net

•Xiamen University cultural troupe entertaining the audience

Marriage of cultures at UNIZIK A few years ago, Xiamen University, China, entered into a collaboration with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. EMEKA ATTAH and NGOZI EMMANUEL report that the relationship is blossoming.

H

E moved swiftly across the stage, his feet in quick flight in what seemed like a practised succession of style.

He did a seamless turn with his hips. He was wearing a specially made dancing attire peculiar to the Chinese culture. He dragged his left foot across the floor, flung his hands in the air, and gave the audience a very enchanting smile that got most nodding at him in return. He was like light attracting insects.

His female companion scurried from the back stage to join him in the spotlight, taking his extended hand. Together, it was a mimic of magic as they tiptoed into the pathless express of an imagined moon, holding the audience spellbound.

Then others came up in various colourful dresses of yellow, green, purple, blue, orange and red that almost formed the perfect semblance of the ageless rainbow. Throughout the duration of the dance presentation, an almost angelic smile was plastered on the face of each dancer, luring every member of the audience. It was like a divine caprice that carried the audience into a world of beautiful colours.

They were from the Xiamen University Cultural Troupe from China and though they thrilled the audience with their perfor-

mances, the language- they sang in Chineseremained a barrier. The audience longed for what they understood It was then that the male compere announced another performance from the Theatre Arts Department of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, the host institution. Their entrance was grand like a set of royal dancers from an Igwe’s palace. They moved with measured grace in the best fashion of the African arts. The audience swooned at their own and the visiting Chinese cultural troupe left their various assignments backstage to join the audience in a sweet reverie, wonder clearly written on their faces.

The Africans on stage continued their show of magic in a beautifully choreographed pattern, jingling the beads that adorned their ankles. They danced tirelessly for a long time, chanting African proverbs as the Ekwe played on.

A standing ovation escorted them off the stage.

The 23-student member cultural troupe from Xiamen University, China, was led by the Vice-President (equivalent of a Nigerian Deputy Vice-Chancellor), Prof. Wu Duguang.

The day was a public holiday; yet, the multipurpose auditorium of UNIZIK was filled;

others stood outside. The one of its kind show was the initiative of the Confucius Institute of the host varsity.

Earlier in a welcome brief, the UNIZIK ViceChancellor, Prof Boniface Egboka, described the Chinese as wonderful beings. He said: “We are happy for this visit because it will give you a very good opportunity to see and interact with our people. Our people say when you climb a rare tall tree, you should collect the firewood for the winter. So far, this university is the number one in Confucius Studies in Nigeria and we want to maintain the standard because by doing that, many of our people shall benefit.”

Prof Egboka also explained that presently, the Confucius Institute where Chinese language and culture are taught offers regular programmes. The programmes also hold at the University Secondary School and the Federal Polytechnic, Oko. He said plans were afoot to establish the same programme at UNIZIK Primary School, Federal College of Education, Umunze and UNIZIK College of Health Sciences, Nnewi Campus.

In a chat with CAMPUSLIFE, Prof Duguang said Xiamen University students art troupe consists mainly of talented students with a

passion for arts. “It includes a choir, a dance club, a team for traditional musical instruments and a symphony orchestra. Our students art troupe has won many prizes in domestic and international competitions; it has also played quite an active role in enlivening campus culture and promoting the essence of traditional Chinese culture, a highlight of campus life.

“We are also inviting the UNIZIK dance performers to China very soon to display their culture and arts to a Chinese audience.

I thank the Vice-President of the university for accepting us and I know that this will strengthen the partnership between our college and UNIZIK,” he added.

The Director, Confucius Institute Nigeria and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academics at UNIZIK, Prof Joseph Ahaneku, explained that the visit was in fulfilment of the agreement between the institutions.

“The Confucius Institute in this university was established in 2008 and it is the first and biggest language training centre in Nigeria.

The institute is aimed at promoting cultural and educational exchange between China and Nigeria as well as strengthening mutual un•Continued on page 30

•Students praise management • Varsity matriculates 1,300 - P33

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

30

CAMPUS LIFE

Simply sad news (2)

I

STARTED last week with three pieces of sad news that made the headlines between the last week of January and then. The first was the beating up of a teacher by some men of the Customs Service for punishing a wayward son of their boss. The second was the unavoidable death of a student of the Ajayi Crowther University (ACU) and the attendant violence wrecked by his angry colleagues. I will get to the third presently.

In the ACU violence, the students torched two departments, the Health Centre and the security portal at the main gate. A portion of the university’s fence was pulled down. Considering this level of destruction, could there be underlying factors responsible, apart from the immediate one? I believe so. According to a former student of the institution who is now observing the mandatory youth service, the faith-based institution lacks a considerable number of the services students are forced to pay for. The Health Center, which is directly “responsible” for the violence, is said to be no more than “a mere consulting clinic”.

Students claim they are prescribed drugs which they go outside to buy.

Their hostels, they add, are inadequate. But to justify the over N100,000 paid per bed space, 10 students are packed in a room which should take no more than four. At the end of the day, the ACU authorities charge over N1 million for a room which is not your normal “selfcontained” apartment. This is in the sense that inmates of a room are still made to share toilet and bathroom with people from other rooms.

Students also complain of ill-equipped libraries, inadequate lecture theatres and untarred roads on the campus. Next to these are the restrictive nature and lack of “social

much so we don’t give these youths a chance to succeed on their own.

The following story may seem weird - it did to me initially – but it actually happened. A mother never bothered much to teach her daughter how to cook.

This daughter got married and the mother still cooks the major dishes and with secretly sends to the daughter to freeze and serve the unsuspecting husband. I won’t go into the details but sure enough 08054503104 the bubble has burst. What this mother did is what most parents do: they are (SMS only) too busy or lazy to train and discipline •campuslife@thenationonlineng.net their children. I recommend my best parenting book, Dare to Discipline, by •ladycampus@yahoo.com James Dobson. Parents who fail to do life”. Now, ACU is not the only “culprit” when it comes to the last complaint; these are com- the right thing at the right time are afraid of mon to all faith-based institutions in this coun- what choices the children would make. Reminds try. Besides, next to the lack of disruption in me of Ibrahim Babangida who, as president alacademic calendar, the restrictive nature is one most 20 years ago, did nothing to improve the of the reasons many parents prefer such varsi- country’s standard of education, complaining that the nation cannot be trusted to the same ties for their children.

All the same, young people must be allowed youth as they lack the wherewithal to lead it. to be young people. I am one of those who do Many of our columnists – parents – lashed at the not believe in parents tightening their apron man. Ironically, most are guilty of the same ofstrings over young adult children. I believe in fence.

As I predicted last week, the Customs Service the Biblical injunction that the best time to point absolved its men of wrongdoing. Infact, it dechildren the right way is when they are young and at home. Once they leave the home, apart nied that the man was ever beaten and actually from the occasional counseling and reprimand- turned the heat on Teacher Gbenga Ogunleye ing, all a parent should do really is pray for who it accused of concocting the whole story. them, trusting God that they will make the right No doubt, Allison Chukwuebuka and his pardecisions when alone. Even where they make ents are exonerated and feeling good. End of mistakes, give them that room for it is part of the story. I wish. But I rest my case here.

The third sad news is an indictment on our growing up. Hasn’t it been said that success is higher, and if you like entire, education as a not absence of failure but a result of it?

I can wager that about half of my generation, whole. It is the January Webometrics Ranking at least, had parents who never attended a uni- of Universities where only three Nigerian inversity. While they did not carry their religion stitutions made Africa’s first 100 and none in the on their heads, most of them were truly godly first 1,600 globally.

The University of Benin ranked 1,639th on the people who disciplined and pointed out the global scale, 18th in Africa and first in Nigeria; the right way for us. I can say that we didn’t do too University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, came secbadly when left on our own. In the last 15 or so th years, however, having failed utterly in living ond in Nigeria and 2,266 in the world. It did not show on the first 100 list in Africa. The University the exemplary lives for our children, we have th been hit by a compelling tendency to control so of Ibadan, third in Nigeria, is 2,515 in the world

Pushing Out Ngozi Agbo

‘Women have the answers’

and 53rd in Africa.

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Obafemi Awolowo University, and University of Lagos came 3,228th, 3,263rd and 3,486th. This made them fourth, fifth and sixth in Nigeria. They are followed by the Ahmadu Bello University, University of Ilorin, University of Jos and Auchi Polytechnic which came between the world’s 4, 300th and 6,500th. In Nigeria, they are our seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th.

None of our private universities made our first 10, or Africa’s 100.

Some of our education managers, in a bid to diminish the worth of the rankings, have argued that webometrics uses web presence (and content) mainly as criteria. They miss the whole point: in this Internet age, what best way to know what you have got than your presence on the web? Besides, which of us who have visited or even seen pictures of classrooms in Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University (all in America and world’s best three) and Mauritius Institute of Education, University of Cape Town and Rhodes University (both in South Africa and Africa’s first three), comparing them with what we have in Nigeria, will doubt that we are living nearer the Stone Age? For good measure, the Punch report of the development added a finding from 24/7 Wall St listing the United States, Japan, Canada, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, South Korea, New Zealand, Israel and Australia as countries with the most educated people. None on this continent, not even dear South Africa, made this first 10. The journal capped it by stating the obvious: countries that invest the most in education have the most educated people.

Here, almost 20 percent of our capital expenditure for the entire Education sector (N55bilion) for 2012 is being spent on cars, office furniture and other perks for just the two tiers of the National Assembly. Believe it or not, part of why they are blowing that money that way is that they were not well educated. By God’s grace, I’ll take this further next week.

Ciao

Marriage of cultures at UNIZIK

Maureen Onwukwe, former vice, is now the Acting President of the Students Union Government (SUG), Abia State Univerity, Uturu (ABSU). Like President Jonathan Goodluck, she became the helmsman after the death of her boss in a car crash. She spoke to EMMANUEL SHEBBS (400-Level Political Science, University of Calabar).

OW did your foray into student leadership start?

I started leading as a child. In my primary school days at Umuahia, I was the class prefect. In my secondary school, I was the deputy senior prefect. During my second year in this school, I contested and won the office of the Assistant Financial Secretary of my faculty and now I am the Acting President of the SUG. It wasn’t a day’s journey; it started one day.

What do you have to say about the death of your boss, the SUG President?

My President, the late Comrade Chidi Uruakpa, was a divine gift to the SUG in this school. He was a very dedicated president.

When he was running for the office, students trusted him, which was why they voted for him. But then, it was a shock to all of us when the news of his death came.

His death created a lacuna in the SUG, not just in ABSU but in Nigeria. This is because no one can do what he could do the same way he did it. All the same, we have been doing everything possible to make sure there is no vacuum. The government was less than two months when he died. I have the support of other executive members. We equally have the Students Representative Council (SRC), the students Legislature led by the Speaker of the SUG whose assistance cannot be quantified.

Other governments in the faculties and the departments have expressed willingness to equally work with the SUG as the highest students’ body in the school.

Students are resuming to meet a hike in fees; what do you have to say about that?

The issue of school fees is universal. Ours in ABSU is not different. But then, we in the students union are working hard and parents must understand that the management under Prof Chibuzo Ogbuagu means well. This informs that the students should expect development and academic excellence as soon as the semester resumes. All the same, we are talking with the management and also with Governor Theodore Orji as regards the fees.

He has already promised to do something about it. We appeal to the State Governor to

H

•UNIZIK students performing during the cultural contest •Continued from page 29

•Maureen

fulfill his promise in that regard as students and parents are crying that the fees are much higher than expected. I want to use this medium to advice and appeal to our students to be law abiding as we are on top of the situation.

As a female politician, what is your advice to female students?

I encourage them to come up. Yes, though people describe women as weaker vessels; that should not make us to lie low. God created women in a very unique way. There are more opportunities for the women than the men in our society today, especially in our country where one thing can be done in many different ways. I look at Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Prof Dora Akunyili and other female achievers as models and mentors. They have proven that the world is incomplete without women. They have also proven that, like Deborah in the Bible, women have the solution, the answers, to global challenges.

What is your advice for Nigeria’s leaders?

I don’t really look at them as leaders. I look at it as been given the opportunity to serve.

They should understand that there are chains of upcoming generations who are behind them, observing what they do.

derstanding and friendship between the people of both countries. The linkage programme involves exchange visits. Now that they are here, they are to perform with our own art group from the Music/Theatre Arts Department, Physical and Health Education Department.

“This is a way of internationalising and deepening our relationship and also selling our rich cultural heritage as Igbo people while exposing our institution to the global stage.”

Prof Ahaneku added that soon, UNIZIK students will reciprocate the visit to China with their own indigenous dance and entertainment groups.

Chekwube Uyawunne, a 300-Level student of Geology and beneficiary of the Chinese Language School, shone like a star as he took the stage to interpret and translate to the audience the stages of the programme. He paired with Ms. Yang Fan, a dance teacher at Xiamen University. Yang and Chekwube blended well as they introduced various programmes from both institutions.

The Chinese Art troupe mesmerised the audience with 13 different dance presentations while UNIZIK students presented six, bringing the total to 18.

CAMPUSLIFE cornered two students from Xiamen who spoke English, for their opinions. Shi Jiagia and Kong Jing Yuan expressed happiness for coming to Nigeria and interacting with students. “I like Nigerian people and I love UNIZIK students. They

are warm and friendly people and we look forward to hosting them in China some day.

We have many positive tales to relish about our coming here when we get back to China,” they said.

The UNIZIK SUG president, Comrade Victor Onuegbu, was all smiles that such unique event happened during his tenure and said there was need for students to maximise the opportunity.

The Dean of Students Affairs, Prof A.U Nonyelu, also described the programme as an interesting development: “This holds lots of promises for international exposure for our students and even the Chinese students too. It’s of mutual benefit and this kind of programme should be encouraged for international co-operation and for world peace.”

The Chinese delegation was not only hosted to a lavish welcome party but were taken round to see various dignitaries in Anambra State. They paid courtesy calls on Governor, Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the former vice president of Nigeria. At the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, the Chinese students also performed to the delight of the polytechnic community. They also interacted with renowned professor of music and traditional ruler of Oko, Prof Laz Ekwueme.

The three days visit was rounded off with a project tour of UNIZIK University Community, interaction at the Confucius Institute, UNIZIK, interface with about five traditional rulers in Anambra State and a grand farewell dinner at Awka where the visiting vice president of Xiamen University was given a chieftaincy title.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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CAMPUS LIFE

Divided by a policy The 2011 Batch A corps members are passing out today to pave the way for another set. This set will kickstart the new policy on posting to what the government calls the “critical sectors.” The graduates are divided over the policy, reports TUNMISE OLADIPO (Batch C member serving in Ibadan).

S part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Federal Government announced a new posting policy for prospective corps members.

According to the Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullai, it will focus primarily on rural health, agriculture, infrastructure and education sectors.

He maintained that the new policy will ensure more efficient and effective utilisation of corps members’ manpower as a deliberate attempt to apply their skills to the sectors identified as areas of critical needs in a bid to fast track the transformation. The new policy is expected to start with the 2012 Batch ‘A’ corps members.

However, this news generated a lot of debate, especially among the prospective and serving corps members. While some see it as a welcome development as they believe it will lead to increase in labour supply, others are not in support.

Temitope Fatuase, a 2011 batch

•Some corps members at Iseyin NYSC camp, Oyo, State

A

•Nnamdi

•Temitope

•Titilayo

‘C’ corps member serving at Ibadan, Oyo State, praised the reformation. In her words: “I strongly support the new NYSC posting policy because I believe that NYSC is meant to be service to humanity. Those key areas are germane to the development of the country so if corps members are deployed there, Nigeria will not only be developed but the NYSC scheme will be scoring high on relevance”.

In the view of Oluwabisi Salami , a 2011 batch ‘B’ member serving in Adamawa State: “This is a good move on the part of the Federal

Government because it will be serving the core purpose of the NYSC which is service to the father land. Again, this new policy will force the private establishments to employ more graduates because most of these private companies like cheap labour so they don’t usually employ real workers believing that they will always get cheap corpers who after their service year will be discarded” To Titilayo Ogunbiyi, serving in Ibadan, the initiative is a good one because of the hardship most corps

members usually face when posted to private organisations.

She said: “I feel it is a good initiative because most corpers who are posted to the private sector end up being rejected or subjected to some hardships. I believe if corpers are posted to those four sectors, most especially in the rural areas, it will boost the economy because there will be increase in labour supply”.

Nnamdi Ezenna, a 2011 batch ‘A’ corps member sees it as a welcome development that should be em-

PHOTOS: TUNMISE OLADIPO

braced but adds that for it to be worthwhile, the government needs to guarantee the welfare and security of corps members. He opined that, “the state of insecurity in the country is quite alarming, so if adequate security and welfare for the lives of the corps members like the Federal Government has been promising will be guaranteed, I tell you, the policy is going to do the country a lot of good”.

But Kehinde Adeyemi, a 2011 serving at Hadejia, Jigawa State, does not share his colleagues’ enthusiasm. He opined that even though the NYSC needs serious reformation, he was expecting a totally different policy. According to him, “I was expecting the government to make a policy that will be effective and will guarantee the security of corps members, create more job opportunities by establishing more firms, among others and not to make a policy as to where or where not we should be deployed for our primary assignments”. He added that the Federal Government should be thankful to the private sector because they pay better wages to corps members and also help reduce the number of those roaming the streets on being rejected by government agencies.

“Why will the Federal Government say corps members should not be posted to their areas of specialisation? That is unfair. I am of the opinion that prospective corps member should be deployed to places that are related to their course of study as this will enable them put into practice what they learnt. For instance, I used about five years to study Banking and Finance at the university; how on earth do you expect me to serve in a school or somewhere other than in a bank? I believe I can still contribute to the development of this country by working in a bank”. This was the submission of Bola Akintunde, a prospective 2012 batch ‘A’ corps member.

In the views of Vivian Ezinne, a 2011 batch ‘C’ corps member, “not seeing it as a welcome development is an understatement because I believe that the essence of NYSC is not only to serve our fatherland but also to develop our academic and social skills. This new policy will restrict our development and limit our ability to grow academically.”

She adds that “if the aim of the NYSC is only to use corps members then the Federal Government should give us an option which is to make NYSC optional.”

Last month, the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port-Harcourt, demolished a makeshift mosque used by members of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN). This has generated uproar. WALE AJETUNMOBI writes.

Varsity, students quarrel over mosque

T

HERE is mounting disquiet on the sleepy campus of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST). The Muslim community has accused the management of religious intolerance following the demolition of a makeshift mosque where some students and staff worship.

According to the students, the site of the mosque was acquired 11 years ago but there was no structure on it. The worshipers used to observe their prayers on the floor.

However, eight years ago, when the population of the students grew, the local chapter of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) put resources together to raise a tent on the site.

“But the management replied by sending the school security operatives to remove the tent,” said an executive member of MSSN, Sulaiman Abdul-Awwal. He said:

“Thereafter, notable people from the state gave us money to construct another makeshift shelter.

But we decided to lay few blocks to separate the site from other school facilities.”

After the structure was raised, the management was said to have told the students the mosque was built on unapproved location.

“This prompted us to apply for a piece of land to build the mosque,” Sulaiman added. The MSSN said series of letters had been written to the management for permanent location of the mosque, but their efforts met a brick wall as none of the correspondences was acknowledged.

When the structure was being renovated on December 3, 2011, to make the mosque more conducive for worshipers, “the Director of Works of the university came and ordered that the work should be stopped, telling us that the mosque

•The Muslim students worshipping after the mosque demolition, leaving their property behind them

•The mosque before demolition

was the only illegal thing on the campus and promised to demolish the structure two days after,” another top MSSN executive member told CAMPUSLIFE on the condition of anonymity.

However, on January 25, the

who brought out his camera to record the demolition, was said to have been arrested and his camera seized by the authorities.

Work Department brought a bulldozer to flatten the structure. Despite pleas by the students to the demolition team, their property was thrown away as the building was reduced to rubbles. A student,

•Continued on page 36

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

CAMPUS LIFE

Group honours students

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•The Law students at the court

Judge urges students to shun social vices

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USTICE Peter Olayiwola of the Federal High Court, Awka has urged students to avoid indulging in unsalutary Information Technology (IT) activities.

He spoke at an interactive session with the members of the Liberty chambers, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, on the occasion of their excursion to the court.

He said:”Reading is the key that can open many doors:books contain wisdom and wisdom distinguishes men.I do feel sorry for the students of this generation,especially with the

From Uche Anichebe UNIZIK

presence of the unending social networks.I belong to the old school. Back in those days,reading was the major preoccupation of students.Now,things are no longer the same.Students are always glued to gadgets,indulging in activities which are only detrimental to them.Unknown to them,they are only wasting their time.”

He further advised the students to deploy the Internet services basically as a tool for their academic research. That, he said , would bring

out the best in them, both as lawyers in equity and active members of the society; and would distinguish them from their contemporaries.

Still speaking on the occasion, Justice Olayiwola advised the visiting students on the need to develop a right attitude to their career.He told them that, for all who have the right attitude and remain focused, career success and excellence would be assured.

He shared with the visiting students, his previous and present career experiences and portfolios, after which he entertained questions from them.

YMMY Associates held its 2012 Undergraduates Reading and Research Award Programme last week. The programme was held in its office in Offa, Kwara State. Those that benefited from the scholarship award were students of Al- Hikmah University, Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa and University of Ilorin, in Kwara State.

In his opening remark, Dr Emmaunel Ogah, Director of Cymmy Associates, said: “Cymmy Associates undergraduates reading and research scholarship award started in 2009 and since then we have been giving scholarship to students in different states, from Kwara, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kastina, Kogi, to Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano and Niger.” He added that promoting female education was part of the agenda of the body.

Dr A.T. Oyatoye, Provost Kwara State College of Education, Oro delivered a lecture on Fuel Subsidy Removal and Quality Education in Nigeria: Effects and Prospects. He said: “Society comprises rulers and the ruled, leaders and the led, all in complex relationship. One thing is noteworthy in every society: it is dynamic and shows that the only thing that is permanent in life is change.

A recent significant example is the fuel subsidy removal and attendant uproar in Nigeria. It is obvious that the education sector is in a pitiable state. Al-

From Wale Bakare and Hammed Muritala UNILORIN

though the number of public and private institutions at each level is daily on the increase, seemingly to match the increase in population but there are significant concerns: poor funding, inadequate staffing and facilities, high tuition fees and examination malpractice among others.

There is no doubt that the education industry requires attention. The governments and all stakeholders must rise to the occasion now to save the soul of the nation.”

The awardees presented projects base on their experience during the course of the programme in the last five months, while Dr A. Omosewo of the University of Ilorin presented the cheques to the awardees.

Dignitaries present at the event included Pastor Victor Iyogun, Winner Chapel, Ijagbo; Alhaji H.M Maigidansana, Chairman, Nigeria Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN); and Mr Samson Adediji, Executive Director, Bewise Foundation.

Some of the awardees spoke to CAMPUSLIFE. Eunice Lukman, 300Level Geology and Mineral Science student of Al-Hakimah University, said: “This reading and research scholarship has made me to be more complex in things I am doing. Im very happy the way Cymmy Associate has made me today.

Chioma Azuibeke, 500-Level Law University of Ilorin, said: “The training I received during this research work has made me to be more versatile and more open to other fields of study different from Law. I will use the training I received to reach out to other youths.”

Poly faults House resolution on students’ unrest •Rector: staff not involved in riot

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•AAUA students... filled with uncertainty

Lecturers postpone resumption date

F

OLLOWING the suspension of the eight-week strike embarked upon by university lecturers, academic activities have returned to most campuses but lecturers at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), were yet to resume. They postponed their resumption to February 27.

CAMPUSLIFE gathered that during the course of the national strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the management had issued a memo notifying the lecturers of their annual leave and this may have prompted the congress held by local chapter of ASUU on February 9, where they reportedly postponed their resumption

T

HE Deeper Life Campus Fellowship (DLCF), Cross River State chapter has got a new state coordinator. He is Prof Godwin Ozumba. He took over from Prof Andrew Uduigwomen, who was promoted to assume a higher portfolio.

Prof Ozumba teaches Philosophy and he is the Head of Philosophy Department at the University of Calabar (UNICAL).

Before his appointment, he was the former youth coordinator of Deeper Life in the state. Denis Ayim, a coordinator of

From Babatunde Alao AAUA

date.

The chairman of ASUU in the school, Dr Busuyi Mekusi, told our correspondent: “There is an agreement with the administration that all academic staff will be observing their annual leave at the end of the session but as you could see that the session did not end before the national ASUU went on strike. So, we have to go on leave after the strike; we have to proceed on our annual leave.” He further explained the management issued a memo directing all academic staff to go on their leave. The ASUU

chair said: “We will observe 15 days of the 30 days of the leave.”

Meanwhile, the students have been reacting to the development.

Olubunmi Alao, 200-Level Mass Communication, said: “When I was at home, I was bored but felt relieved when the ASUU strike was called off.

That is why I came to school immediately but I am disappointed with the situation of things. I pray the new resumption date does not change.”

Tolulope Okeya, who recently graduated from Geography and Planning Science, said ASUU strike distorted the academic calendar. She urged the management to ensure the new resumption datedoes not change because “of our NYSC posting”

Fellowship gets new head From Emmanuel Shebbs UNICAL

the campus fellowship, described Prof Ozumba’s appointment as divine and a gift to the undergraduate fellowship in the state.

The elated Prof Ozumba was welcomed by the students of the fellowship.

One of the students, Micheal Uka, said he was confident that Prof Ozumba will

deliver and take the fellowship to a new height.

Glory Okon, another student, said: “Members of the fellowship must pray for him because he needs our prayers to succeed. The other leaders under him should work with him because one day, they will be elevated if they are obedient servants of God.”

HE management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida (BIDA POLY) has faulted the recommendations of the Committee on Education set up by the Niger State House of Assembly to establish the cause of the student unrest that forced the poly to shut down activities last September. The committee indicted some of its lecturers and non-teaching staff for spearheading and participating in the recent students’ riot.

Exonerating the staff of the poly, the Rector, Mr Abdulhaman Sule, said the report of the House was false, wondering where the House got its facts from.

According to him, none of the lecturers or non-teaching staff of the institution was involved or participated in the student unrest. He said the lecturers did their best to put the situation under control.

In its sitting last week Monday, the committee indicted the Director of Continuing Education and some staff of the polytechnic, stating that they spearheaded and participated in the student riot. Also in its report, the committee stated that there were internal issued which had been left unattended by the poly management and which may have prompted the lecturers to stoke the unrest.

The Rector said when the members of the committee met him, he never said anything about the involvement of any lecturer in the riot. According to Sule, “the reports and findings of the House came as a surprise since the committee set up by the institution linked the cause

From Faith Olaniran BIDA POLY

of the riot to the SUG elections. Our committee did not indict any of our lecturers or staff, so where did the House of Assembly get their report from?”

He stated that the property destroyed by the students was worth over N20 million, adding that the students were asked to pay N10, 000 each as reparation fees, a step which was approved by the Federal Ministry of Education.

Sule said that the management has formed a committee called ‘Neighbourhood Security Committee’ which included the police, officers of NationalDrugLawandEnforcementAgency (NDLEA), the school security department and the landlords as members to prevent future occurrence of the student unrest.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) Chairman of the institution, Comrade Umar Usman, said the association was shocked to hear the report of the House committee as none of its members were interviewed.

According to him, “The statement that lecturers and staff of the institution were involved in the riot is false and malicious. It is not true. This is because the lecturers did their best to contain the situation even as the students went haywire.

“We (ASUP) have been enjoying cordial relationship with the management of the institution and have good rapport with one another. None of our member will try to strain the good relationship.”

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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CAMPUS LIFE Students praise management HE students of Federal College of Education, Umunze, Anambra State, have praised the management of the school on the new medical laboratory that was recently installed. They said the facility remained “one the best in the region.”

The students said less than two year that the Provost of the college, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu, assumed office, the college has witnessed tremendous development, one of which was the installation of automated medical equipment for the health needs of the college community.

The Students’ Union Government (SUG) president of the college, Basil Nwafor, who spoke on behalf of the students, described the provost as honest man. The facility will serve six department which included clinical, chemical, haematological, parasitological, bacteriological, virology and histopathological sections.

The medical laboratory is fitted

T

•The new executives posing with a lecturer at the department

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NEW leadership that will pilot the affairs of the National Association of Health Information Management Technology Students, Bayelsa State College of Health Technology (BYCOHTECH) chapter, has emerged in an election held last week.

The election was held at the department’s Lecture Room 1 with 150 students voted to elect their representatives.

The accreditation of eligible voters started at about 2pm through 3:30pm. At the end of the exercise, voters filed in to cast the ballot. At 5pm, the election was concluded

Dept gets new leaders From Isaac Mensah COHTECH

and counting of votes started immediately, and this was done in the presence of the students.

The election returned James Peter as president of the association.

Others are Francis Omere, Vice President; Hannah Gogo, Secretary; Peretimi Egbe, Assistant Secretary; Jonathan Ebitimi, Financial Secretary; Gloria Akpozowa, Treasurer.

Mr Ben Imoke, a lecturer, advised the newly-elected executive members to see their position as a springboard for greater responsibility. He represented the Head of Department, who enjoined the leadership not to betray the confidence the students reposed in them by living up to expectation.

James thanked the students for believing in him. He promised to organise meaningful programmes that will uplift the association.

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HE management of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa (OFFA POLY) has organised an orientation programme for the fresh students admitted for the 2011/ 2012 academic session. The programme was held at the Adesoye Hall in the mini campus and lasted three days.

The orientation programme was organised by the Directorate of Student Affairs (DSA), Deans of faculties and the Students Union Government. Lectures were suspended to enable the new intakes participate fully in all activities put together to enlighten them.

The students were taken on healthy tips by the chief pharmacist of the institution, Dr A. Adedeji, who told the students to shun in-

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HE management of Benson Idahosa University (BIU), on February 3, held its matriculation ceremony for the new students at the university auditorium.

The institution, for the first time, matriculated 1,300 freshers, the largest since its history .

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Macdonald Idu, was represented by the Dean of Social and Management Science, Dr A. Amadasun. The Reg-

Poly orientates freshers From Akinola Oluyi OFFA POLY

take of alcohol, which he said causes loss of concentration. Also, the Chief Security Officer of the institution, Ibrahim Mallam, who spoke on Campus security and you, advised the new students to be security-conscious. He urged the freshers to shun cultism, rape and acts that can terminate their studentship.

In his speech, the Dean of Students Affairs, Adeyinka Adeyemi, described the institution as a model, saying the graduates of the school were in high places in the country.

He said: “I will advise all of you to always remember your primary assignment in this school and always make all efforts to make this school proud anywhere you find yourself.”

Some of the new students spoke to CAMPUSLIFE. Hammed Omuiyadun, HND 1 Quantity Surveying, said the programme was necessary to help the fresh students in identifying the dos and don’ts of the institution. Yisa Mufutau, ND 1 Library and Information Science, praised the management, saying they should do more to help students in their academic activities.

Varsity matriculates 1,300 From Joyce Marcus BIU

istrar, Mr T.M. Dogun led the matriculating students into the auditorium to take the matriculation oath.

Families of the students and well wishers graced the occasion.

Aniebiet Obot, 100-Level Microbi-

ology, told CAMPUSLIFE: “I feel great and happy because today, I am now a bona fide student of this great institution.”

At the close of the ceremony, Rev. Laurie Idahosa, and wife to the late Bishop F.E.B. Idahosa, the president of the university, graced the occasion.

From Emeka Odogwu NNEWI

with automated equipments like Auto Haematology Analyzer, electrophoetic machine, microscope, incubator, water bath, microhaematocint, deionizer, spectrophotometer, PH meter, water distiller, glucometer , centrifuge, analytical balance and sterilizer.

Basil said further: “The students will never forget the Provost stride in the college. We have functioning library, bore hole, school buses, new hostel and the old ones are been renovated. All these show that we have a caring father as the Provost.”

‘The students will never forget the Provost stride in the college. We have functioning library, bore hole, school buses, new hostel and the old ones are been renovated. All these show that we have a caring father as the Provost’

Firm holds seminar

•Cross-section of freshers at the orientation

•Prof Ogbuagu

HE students of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa (OFFA POLY), have been trained on how to be self reliant after leaving the school in a seminar organised by the Students Union Government (SUG) in collaboration with TRUSTCO Resources Limited. The workshop was held at Adesoye Hall of the institution’s mini campus.

The Senior Consultant at TRUSTCO, Mr Daniel Ogbeifun, said the company was out to train students on ways to get good jobs and to create skills that will help them to be self employed. He admonished all the participants to make use of what they learn during the workshop to redesign their future.

Some of the participants who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE expressed readiness to combat unemployment through self-employment.

They said they were confident that their effort would yield result.

Olusegun Samson, HND I Food Technology, said: “I learned new things today. I never knew that manner of approach and door opening are values that job-seekers must

From Akinola Oluyi OFFA POLY

have.” He thanked the organiser for the seminar.

Commenting, the SUG Vice President, Kazeem Abdulyekeen, said TRUSTCO was well connected and could help graduates to secure job across different companies after leaving the school. A book titled Making money legitimately through the internet and the certificate of participation were distributed to the participants.

In a related development, the 2011/2012 executive council of the National Association of Mass Communication Students (NAMCOS), Federal Polytechnic Offa (OFFA POLY) chapter, has been elected.

The election, according to the Acting Chairman of the Independent Department Electoral Commission (IDEC), Ismail Lawal, was to have been held last session but was postponed due to various activities embarked on by the department.

The new executive has come on board and is being led by Babatunde Adewunmi. The students were sworn in a ceremony that was attended by the department Students’ Adviser, Hajia H. Ayelabegan.

Babatunde said his administration would strengthen the operation of the department’s radio station.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

34

CAMPUS LIFE

T •The front gate of FUT MINNA

•Stranded students at the school park waiting for buses

The fuel subsidy removal necessitated a 100 per cent hike in bus fares at the Federal University of Technology, (FUT), Minna, Niger State. FAITH OLANIRAN reports that students who resumed after the ASUU strike rejected the increase.

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LARGE number of students who attend public universities are from poor homes.

This can be seen in the fact that on most of these campuses, it takes them weeks, even months, per session, to pay the school fees. As most of them are unable to meet up with the speculated date for payment, their headache is worsened by the penalty of late registration levy. Thus, getting fully set for a new semester or session as the case may be most times is always hard for them.

Students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, had another challenge when they resumed, last week, from the two months’ strike of lecturers and that of fuel subsidy removal. It was a 100 per cent increase in transport fares. The institution has two campuses - Bosso and Gidan Kwano.

Fare of buses plying Bosso-Gidan Kwano route from the school bus park has increased from N50 to N100. The buses which shuttle between the two campuses are mainly managed by FUTMIN Consul; a few private buses approved by the management also ply the routes.

With this it will now cost a student at least N200 to and fro daily

Students protest high bus fares which is on an alarming rate to the days that students will need just only N100. As one student mumbled: “not forgetting that one still needs to feed”.

The student who did not want to be named added: “We will now have to be constructive about our movement and want to only go to the other campus when we are sure that the lecture will hold. Nobody will want to just waste a whole lot of money like that getting to class only to discover that the lecture which ought to hold will no longer hold.”

Students complained and so far have held some meetings with the FUTMIN Consults officers under the leadership of the Students Union Government. This led to a reduction to N80; the students insisted on a return to the status quo, but late last week, they got another reduction to N70, which the authorities say is as far as they could go, considering the new pump price of petrol as well as rising costs of maintaining the vehicles.

In a chat, the SUG President, Jefferson Akinsheye, told

CAMPUSLIFE: “It is very alarming seeing that students had to use N200 on transportation daily. So we had to negotiate for a reduction.

Considering the new realities, I believe N70 is much better than N100.”

He had words of commendation for his students: “I thank our students for their sense of maturity, diligence and patience demonstrated during the hike in transport fare. I urge them to keep believing in our leadership as their welfare remains our watchword”.

For the days the hike lasted, another person who was on his toes was the Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. I. Iyaka. Not a few students were happy the day they saw him and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof M.S. Audu, who he had brought to the bus park in Bosso campus to see the situation of things for himself.

Addressing students at the park, the VC said he heard about the increment as a surprise, and had asked those in charge to reconsider the N100 fare, in a bid to make things bearable for the students.

Speaking also, Dr. Iyaka said: “One can say N70 is reasonable for students and the FUTMIN Consult officers should run within the stethoscope, and if they are not okay by it the should come to a dialogue and not just increase the fare without proper consultations”.

An officer of FUTMIN Consult who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “We work under directives here. Before the visit of the VC and SUG president, we had released two vehicles which we took N100 from each passenger but immediately the directive came to us about the new price which was N80 we started charging that. Not until again we saw the Vice-Chancellor who gave the final order for N70, which we have implemented”.

He further explained why there was increment in the price saying it’s all over the country and though the subsidy was on petroleum and the school buses run on diesel, to run maintenance will be cost effective because there are also increment on the prices of spare parts and other things used in maintain-

Surviving the ‘hands-up’ way Students are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of tuition in tertiary institutions. GILBERT ALASA (300Level Foreign Languages, University of Benin) reports that many have found solace in a new vista.

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T the entrance of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) is a magnificent edifice befitting of royals. The elegant sweep of its grassland provides an ambience that is warm and appealing. Atop the mini-tower, the university emblem sits in solemn repose. But this glamour fades away quickly as you pick your way through the security check-point. A swarm of untidy young men kiss persistently at passers-by. They defy the scorching sun or freezing rain to earn their keep as “hands-upers”.

Hands-up is a trend that is common on many campuses across the country.

These youths are found mostly at school malls, business centres and registration points. As a form of marketing, their role is to direct potential clients to the offices (shops) of their bosses.

At the end of the day, they earn a stipend based on the number of clients

•UNIBEN gate

they get.

CAMPUSLIFE sought to know the rationale behind the practice. A shop owner said: “I am sure there might be another name for this trade on other campuses. But the term ‘hands-up’ is connected with a command language

that implies surrender or absolute loyalty. Surrender, in this context, implies that the servant must be totally loyal to the game and his master. It portends that the servant would never defraud or employ unholy practices in his deal-

ings with his boss”.

Interestingly, there are exciting dimensions to this commercial venture.

Aside guaranteeing easy entry and exit for new entrants, hands-up is a business poor students can start with zero

ing the buses.

After the visit of the VC to the park, one of the private buses shuttling the route which had earlier collected N80 was made to return N10 to the passengers by the SUG president.

Some students shared their views. Mohammed Nura of Library and Information Technology who spoke in pidgin said: “The amount wey dem they collect before no just pay boys at all, na just this N70 wey dem just dey talk still dey manageable.”

Sola Oladoja is a 500-Level student and the chief of the Kegite Club, FUTMINNA. He said: “The increment in the transportation is not what we need. It’s true that the removal of fuel subsidy triggered it, as the cost of maintaining the buses will be high now. I plead with our students to accept the N70 and move on with their academic activities in good faith”.

Alisu Abdulkadri, a student of Quantity Surveying Department, felt very bad about it stating that many students “have to hustle now to be able to pay for their transport and it will really tell on them when they start missing lectures and tests all in the name of not having transport money”. capital. A part-time student of English and Literature, who gave his name as Godspower, said: “One does not need capital to start. All that is required of a recruit is the determination and the staying power to spend extended hours under the sun or rain. The more the number of clients one gets, the more money one makes at the end of the day. More importantly, one also needs to establish some trust with a boss who already owns a shop. That way, you earn yourself a decent shot at the trade.”

Explaining how a hands-uper makes his money, he said in most cases, the business relationship works by means of a sharing formula. “For instance, when you get a client who wants to take instant passport photograph, you are at liberty to negotiate the price with the client. Once agreed, you take him/ her to your boss’s shop and business is done. Here at Main Gate Shopping Complex, the norm is to give N100 or N200 to your boss who owns the camera and printing machine, depending on the copies. And then, you keep the rest of the money for yourself.”

Generally, students involved in this trade are perceived as miserable and wretched, mostly due to the manner with which they run around. This, coupled with the energy-sapping nature of the business, explains why girls rarely ply the trade. This is the submission of a student of the Distant Learning Institute (DLI) at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

But a woman who owns a shop at the June 12 Shopping Complex, UNIBEN, told this reporter that many of the boys •Continued on page 36

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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CAMPUS LIFE

...T

HE labour of our heroes past shall Never be in vain. To

serve with heart And might, one Nation bound in freedom Peace and unity?

The above stanza in our national anthem is, sadly, not the reality presently. The labour of our heroes past has embarrassingly been plunged into murky waters of corruption, insecurity, bitterness, poverty, discord, and the list is endless! Call me paranoid, or whatever name you may want to call me, I don’t care. The fact remains that I am scared to die for this misguided country. The past weeks in the New Year have been enough to make me so frightened.

My country, our country has no care for human lives; the labour of our heroes past. When I say heroes, I am not referring to our past political leaders who gained independence for us. I refer, here, to the idealistic but helpless men who were dragooned to fight in the civil war of 1967. Whether they fought on Biafran side or on Nigerian platoon, these men fought for a purpose. They fought

Labour of our heroes past... a war that should have ordinarily taught post-war generations of Nigeria a big lesson in nation building.

The colonialists may have mixed us together for their selfish reasons, forgetting or callously choosing to ignore our sensitive differences in language, culture and religion. For some years we have managed to tolerate our differences and tried to move together despite being hobbled by fundamental issues. We all believe in oneness of Nigeria. The 1967 mistake caused us pains and human loss. Why would anyone have wished a repeat of the gory past?

If we hate unity and peace that much, I think our heroes past would have been more than happy to drop their guns and return home to their families. There would have been no need for this deluding cliché: “to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done”. The Biafrans would have gladly gone off to their own settlement in peace and Nigerians to theirs. Maybe

now, we all would appreciate each other better. Or perhaps, if I had to get a passport to cross to the North to see my friends Idris Abubakar and Zeenat Ibrahim, I would appreciate them more?

However, to further divide us more, ethnic militancy groups like Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafria (MASSOB), Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and Boko Haram are given recognition and toddlers are growing up to identify with group fighting their ethnic cause.

This is a clear indication of our disunity. Why do we prefer to exalt in our individuality as a tribe rather than in our strength as a nation? Why do we use racist words such as Omo Ibo, Onye Ofe Mmanu, Nyanmiri and other derogatory words to qualify our fellow citizens?

Developed countries that understand the meaning of love in diversity have enacted laws to

bar the use of these abusive words. Hate and disunity should be obsolete things that should make to shudder in repulsion at the thought of it. We all need each other to exist. I enjoy the vegetables my Hausa customer brings form the North, and he enjoys the palm oil my grandmother produce in my village. I swear to God I love my northern friends. God knows I want Nigeria to remain one.

Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and Iyayi’s Heroes, have exposed me to the gory sides of a war. I get goose pimples each time I recall those ugly scenes. I will hate to experience the horror in reality.

Call it a mistake, call it a blessing, the deed has been done since the 1914 amalgamation. It is a part of our history which we must live with. Nigeria is ours and it must remain so. Let the division stop, so that the souls of men and women who died in the civil war would not curse whatever remains of a country, of which cause they

Hypocrisy of our leaders

By Seyi Ijibayiwa seyicordu2@yahoo.com T is possible to store information in the mind and yet be uninformed. In a deeper

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reflection on the maxim by Alec Bourne, a writer, you begin to wonder if truly leaders in this country attain the qualifications they claimed to have. They add all sort of academic titles to their names, yet few of them could be said to be informed.

I remembered vividly how my International Relations and Citizenship lecturers used to say during my stint at The Federal Polytechnic, Ibadan: “the voice of the people is the voice of God”. But what we see today is a shift on the pattern of leadership as our leaders govern the country like a monarch who sees his own opinion as the superior.

Should we conclude that the proverbial oracle always acknowledges the opinions of our leaders only here in Nigeria? The views of people that elected them into offices are invariably treated as

For how long?

OR how long shall we stand by and watch our future erode by a generation Prof Wole Soyinka described as a failure? Nepotism, segregation, shooting, looting, killing, starvation, men are deprived of what is their own and for how long shall this continue? A moment, you are proud to be a Nigerian, the next moment, you feel resentment towards a country that suppose to give you a sense of belonging.

When did the government of the people, by the people and for the people become “The government of the minority, by the chosen and for the elite?” Is this the democracy that is meant to protect the interest of everyone both the rich and the poor?

Indeed, there are majorly two types of government; the good and the bad, and I am sure that individuals can rightly place this present administration wherever they deem it rightly belongs. A government that has misplaced its primary assignment, which is the welfare of the people it governs, is no longer for the people.

Some set of people rose up and turned themselves into enemies of the nation. Subsidy or no subsidy, increment in pump price of fuel has practically led to an increment in the price of everything in the country.

How then does a democratically elected government want the masses to survive? When things were not as expensive as they have become,

mare ranting from the uninformed. Despite criticism and rejection of subsidy policy of the president by various writers and notable citizens, President Goodluck Jonathan stuck to his guns.

When our leaders are looking votes, they will promise to listen to us. When they assume office, they will introduce reforms that will make common man to suffer and regret why he voted them into office. Their usual reply is that they embark on such reforms in the best interest of the country. But is the country a human being? Is it not people that make up the country?

In the President’s address of January 7, 2012, after the removal of the fuel subsidy, he said: “I feel the pain that we all feel… whatever pain you may feel at the moment will be temporary”.

How can you expect a leader to predict suffering for his people for a while after misapplication of the money the citizen benefit from the government?

How many people does the president think can survive if the level of poverty in the country gets deepened than the present situation?

Does President Jonathan not think that the “shoeless” children of his supporters would have been out of the school by the time his economic blueprint materialises?

Need to remind Jonathan that one aspect of his campaign that made most Nigerians to vote for him during the April 2011 polls was his own past as a pupil that went to school bare-footed and with polythene bag firmly clutched to his armpit. Nigerians believed that coming from such deprived past, he would change

What T.Y. Bello taught me

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F

By Oyindamola Fadimu honeypour@gmail.com

people still starved to death, others steal to survive, and some kill fellow humans all in the name of money.

What should we now expect? Have we forgotten that there are people who are self-employed and will not earn the minimum wage, a pittance that has increased the woes of the Nigerian workers? What about the unemployed and others who are struggling to survive? For how long will the government remain self-centered, leaving its people hopeless?

When will Nigeria be a nirvana for its own citizens? When will the government listen to the cry of the masses? When will the government of the people be restored to them?

For how long shall we stand and watch helplessly as our collective patrimony is plundered by a clique of powerful elite? Just for how long?

Oyindamola, 400-Level English, OAU

HIS is a rather unusual piece, at least different from the norm of government’s criticisms and policy remonstrations of most writers on this page. It is a story of a woman, who’s my contact with at a recent photography class of the Frontline Media Academy Abuja changed a lot about my thinking and thought pattern. She is TY Bello, popular portrait photographer and singer.

As she gracefully walked into the class that fateful day, I expected nothing much from an acclaimed celebrity like her other than the usual pomp expected of a superstar. In my mind I thought she won’t be different from the everyday Nigerian artiste we come across, so I settled to learn photography and nothing else.

Where I was seated, I took a closer look at her, “well she’s beautiful”, I said to myself, with her gaudy hair style, which had become her signature of sort and a big head phone hanging in her ears. She must be an ostentatious type, I thought but the shocker came when the first word she said was ‘let us pray’, in my mind, I mused over the statement, ‘pray’, an artiste and celeb like you start a class with prayer, sounds interesting. After the prayer, and proper introduction of the participants, she settled down to her chair to begin the class. Let me hear all she has to say, I said to myself.

So she continued, ‘I am not here to

By Dayo Ibitoye dayoz4realer@yahoo.com

only teach you photography, but to share with you some truths part of which has made me what I am today.

Ok, sounds interesting, I said. What has she to say that I haven’t heard before, I thought.

She started first by introducing herself, “I am TY Bello, I am first a child of God, I write music and I take photographs”. To me that was kinda short to be an introduction, but her claim to first of all be a child of God before anything made me bolt from the blue, as I was expecting the normal egocentric De banj- like kind of introduction, ‘I am the koko master bla bla(apology to D banj fans). Well it’s very possible to be a superstar and still be a child of God, hmmm, I think I love that, I said to myself. She then started to elucidate more on how she veered into photography. According to her, she was good in so many things which made her confused as

By Onyinye Nkwocha onyinkwocha@yahoo.com

gave their last drop of blood.

Onyinye, recently finished from English and Literary Studies, IMSU their situation if given the chance.

But now, the people have been subjected to unprecedented level of poverty.

What we see today is poor governance, incompetence, inequality, inefficiency and to crown it all, insecurity. Boko Haram activities have virtually overwhelmed the security of the country. The young people on the street no longer feel the impact of leadership. Even, a toddler knows there is a bad luck in the system.

Since the intellect has failed us, should we begin to occupy the leadership of the country with illiterates? The only hope for the common man is that garri is still relatively affordable and can still be taken with pure water produced and brought from Ghana, where companies folding up in Nigeria are relocating. I hope ‘subsidy’ on garri will not be removed after they read this article.

Seyi, recently finished from Mass Comm., IBADAN POLY to what she really wants in life. She started first as a hair stylist and a make-up artist while still a student of economics at the university. She was also a singer and was well known on campus as a rap artiste, then went on to form a singing group with her friends popularly called KUSH. Her journey into photography started when she met a man by name Pa Ajidagba who taught some of what she knows about photography.

Today that knowledge is now a success story.

After the long story about herself, it was time to show some of her work, I was astonished with what I saw, her archives consist of the most amazing people you can ever think of, from the president, to the first lady, ex- head of states, diplomats, national and international celebrites, presidents of other nations etc, and then she finally broke the camel’s back when she said “well, I just came back from the states to finish a photo shoot with Arnold Shwazzenger, the Governor of California”. “Waoh, she is even more interesting than I thought”, I said. After the slides, questions were welling up in the minds of the participants, she had hardly finished, when different questions flooded her. The answers to some of these questions are what birthed this write-up. A lot was said but little of what she said I have summarised so we can all learn, especially the Nigerian students.

“Years ago when I discovered I loved photography, I will say to myself everyday when I wake up, ‘I am TY Bello and I want to be the most desired photographer among high net worth individuals in Nigeria’ I •Continued on page 36

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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CAMPUS LIFE

Surviving the ‘hands-up’ way •Continued from page 34

•Obode (third right) with students' leaders from both factions

Oyo students’ leadership crisis settled

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HE leadership tussle within the circle of Federation of Oyo State Students Union (FOSSU) has been resolved. The two factions that emerged as a result of schism within the body have been reconciled. The union now has only one executive and it is headed by Ahmad Muili, an Adult Education student of the University of Ibadan (UI).

The differences were resolved by Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s reconciliatory committee. The students met with the committee on February 7, and two members of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Olusegun Olaniyi and Hon Adigun Ahmed were present at the meeting.

Also, Obode Godeons, Special Adviser to the governor on Youths and Students Matters, Mr Ganiyu Fawole, Special Adviser on Millennium Development Goals, were at the meeting that brought the duo of Ahmad Muili

Union opens Legal Year

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and Adekunle Adedapo, the two factional leaders, together.

While speaking with our correspondent shortly after the meeting at the assembly complex, Adekunle said he was leaving the stage for peace to reign. He promised to support the government’s efforts to develop the state.

Ahmad, who hailed Adekunle, urged Oyo students to support the programme of the government. He used the medium to unveil his plans for the union which include powerful media coverage to redeem the image of the union, championing the payment of bursary and scholarships, career exhibition, workshops and seminars, as well as cultural programmes aimed to project the image of the students and the state in general.

From Ngozi Emmanuel UNIZIK

HE Students Union Government (SUG) of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, last week, officially declared the union’s legal year open. The legal year was intended to revitalise the system of justice of the union.

Addressing dignitaries at the occasion, the Chief Judge of the SUG, Obinna Agazie, stated that the vision of the new judicial council was entrenched in a blueprint called the

On and Off Campus

From Musliudeen Adebayo IBADAN

“Transformation Agenda” through which efforts are being made to transform the judiciary of the union in line with the ViceChancellor, Prof Egboka’s programme.

In his speech, the former chief justice of Anambra State, Justice Pascal Obidigwe praised the VC for transforming the university, while noting that the degree of transformation is tremendous. He also praised the SUG judiciary, urging them to keep showing the light. The Dean of Student Affairs, Prof Austin Nonyelu, urged the union judiciary to uphold equity and stand for students’ rights.

By Solomon Izekor 08061522600

make between N2,000 and N4,000 daily. She added that when business is favourable, the take-home could be more. Peak periods for this business includes freshers’ clearance exercise, which culminates in high demand for exam scratch cards for results’ verification, photocopies, instant passport photographs, project typing, online school fees payment, hostel booking and other online registrations.

A hands-uper, Thomas Uwaila said: “I can tell you that the money I realise here at the end of the month is far more than what employers would have been paying me working for them. Looking at my background as an SSCE holder, no establishment in Benin would want to pay me N40,000 or more monthly. When fate favours your star, one makes as much as N6, 000 a day. So, I believe the venture is worth it”.

Checks by CAMPUSLIFE showed that many of these boys are undergraduates of tertiary institutions and prospective JAMBites who see the trade as an opportunity to gather some money before settling for school. An NDI Mass Communication student of the Shaka Polytechnic, Benin, said: “I come from a humble background and my parents cannot defray my school expenses. But this business has been my refuge. I come here to work whenever I am free. I believe there is dignity in labour. This business has taken care of some of my basic needs, no matter how small. So, it gives me a sense of responsibility and independence.”

The story of Adolphus Osahigbovo is not too different. A one-time student of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, financial impediments truncated his educational pursuit. He appealed to governments to consider the plight of the less privileged in their pursuit of a better life through education.

He said: “I am an orphan and family issues created a distance between my siblings and mem-

Varsity, students quarrel over mosque •Continued from page 31

The students said they were threatened by the security of the school if they dared go back to the site.

The Muslim students described the mosque’s demolition as the “new height of religious intolerance” on the campus, saying other religious denominations were allotted spaces to build their places of worship. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution, Dr. Desmond Wosu, denied the claims by the stu-

bers of the extended family. And so, help is not coming from anywhere. When I gained admission in 2010, I thought I would use my little earnings from this business to off-set my registration charges and fees. But about that time, my younger sister was in SS3 and writing her SSCE became a priority. Since there was no money for her to register for the exam, I decided to trade off my admission to give her a chance. Being a lady, she could be lured into the temptation of using her body for money; that I cannot imagine for my own sister.”

“At present, I am out of school. But I want to appeal to governments at all levels to create education schemes that would place premium on people like us. I am sure there are countless youths across the country in my shoes who equally desire to seek meaning to their lives through education.

But it’s more like a tall dream for us. We need education so we can be relevant to the society. I’m back at this business but for how long? When will I ever make enough to go and finish my first degree?”

Meanwhile, some others seem to have it settled that that business is a sure-fire route to becoming self-employed. One of them said: “I started this business with nothing. My only start-up capital was the energy I dissipated daily while scouting for clients. Within six months of doing hands up, I got money to secure an instant photo printer and a digital camera. I started by squatting in a friend’s shop for a while until I eventually got the big break. Today, I have a multiple stream of income and would start running a degree programme here (UNIBEN) soon.”

In a bid to provide succour to these youths, President of the Students’ Union Government (UNIBENSUG), Eniwake Orogun, promised that he would embark on life-changing programmes for less privileged students. This, according to him, spurred the SUG Entrepreneurial Week where students would be exposed to different avenues of making money while studying. dents, saying: “we don’t have a building or structure called a mosque on the campus.” He told our correspondent over the phone that the Muslim students only observed their worship in different locations on campus.

He said: “They always move their tent to different location to worship just as other Christian denominations that are yet to get space on the campus use empty lecture rooms for their fellowships.” He said the churches recognised on campus by the management are Chaplain of Redemption and Catholic Church only. But CAMPUSLIFE gathered that there are six churches in the campus.

Informed of the students’ claim that they had written letters in the past 11 years to get space on campus, Dr Wosu said:“The letters are being considered by the management. But I cannot tell you when the application will be concluded. Before any structure can be erected in the school, the Governing Council must deliberate on the matter. But I can assure the Muslim students that space will definitely be approved for them. We cannot deny them the right to worship.”

What T.Y. Bello taught me •Continued from page 35

understood the power of words and confession and today it is so” “Many people think I am a professional photographer, hell no, I am not, I am a professional photography student, I still learn photography.

Every single year, I do an introduction to photography course’, I pick up my work every year and I feel I don’t even know enough so I start all over again, that is why I do not run short of ideas.”

“Find out what your signature is, don’t try to be like another person, always be yourself. Find out what is it that people will find special about you; don’t try to be a second best.”

“Let God give you the ideas and principles, let Him show you your branding strategy. He knows how you should be thinking. That is why I spend more time with the Holy spirit as much as I can.

“I decided to stop criticising the government because I know it is not easy running one, so I turned my anger against corruption into inspiring people to see the good in their country” That was what birthed my latest album ‘ The Future’ “I got the inspiration to write ‘Greenland’ in the bathroom, it came as an inspiration at a time when I was down emotionally” ‘I charge the President the same price I charge every of my clients because he doesn’t have two heads, all of my clients are important to me” “My clients come in contact with God’s intelligence in me” “I have failed many times; failing is just part of the game. The reason why I’m still failing is be-

cause am still growing and trying out new ways to do things better.”

On whether people take advantage of her beauty to molest her sexually.

“I photograph a lot of powerful men, and I know am not bad looking of course. When you need my service, I show you who I am and what I can do for you, you are so overtaken by my gift that you don’t see me physically anymore. I make sure I look fantastic. My goal is not to make money but to make people look good; if my goal was to make money then they might want to molest me sexually. I carry the kingdom everywhere I go. I carry God on the inside of me. I’m very clear about what I carry.”

After her class, as I helped her with her bag into the car, I was reminiscing on those words.

So many things changed in me. The words were so powerful and weeks after that encounter, I still relished every second I spent with her.

And, when I realised all this, I decided that I would claim my share of the good things of life by doing the right things. I would not be one of those who stand afar off enviously watching others enjoy but would pay the price to become all what I am destined to be. I would not be satisfied with the lot of the poor and lazy who do not put their innate abilities to productive use but rather build a trade around my passion. I will be the best I can be. So help me God. Dayo, recently finished from Chemical Engineering, ABU

37

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

EDUCATION

Sokoto varsity to employ 100 lecturers

EKSU FILE VC plans housing estate

From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

T

HE Sokoto State University has concluded plans to recruit 100 academic staff.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education Prof Gajam Ardo Ardo disclosed this after monitoring the test conducted for over 3,000 candidates seeking admission into the university.

He said the government had also bought over 5,000 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) forms worth over N 23 million for distribution to qualified indigenes of the state.

The aide in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Department, Nura Bello, said the teachers for the new university will be recruited out of 193 that have applied.

Ardo said: “All the 193 applicants for the post of lecturers are indigenes of the state with second class upper degrees in various disciplines’’ "Out of them only 70 will be recruited for the teaching appointments into the university while 30 would be recruited for the school of developmental studies.

"The establishment of the school of developmental studies was part of the recommendations of the report of the technical committee on the establishment of the state university,’’ he explained.

Ardo also said the school was established in tune with the regulations of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

B

• Cross section of the matriculants

Adeniran Ogunsanya college slashes fees

T

HE Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos has cut its fees.

Its Provost, Bashorun Olalekan Wasiu, announced this during the 2011/2012 matriculation of the institution.

Earlier, the management had increased its tuition fees from N21,000 to N45,000 for freshmen, while returning students who hitherto did not pay tuition fees were told to pay N30,000.

The new fees regime, however, did not go down well with the students. This led to various meetings between the students’ leaders and the college management.

With the review, freshmen are to pay N30,000 while old students will pay N25,000.

The new students from the six

By Adegunle Olugbamila

schools in the college - Languages, Arts and Social Sciences, Education, Vocational and Technical Education and Science, applauded endlessly as Wasiu, made the announcement while delivering his matriculation address.

He congratulated them for making to the college which, he said, places a premium on training of well-grounded teachers who can face the challenges of 21st century teaching. The Provost urged them to cultivate good human relations skills to foster academic, social and economic development of the institution.

He reminded them of the college’s

‘Earlier, the management had increased its tuition fees from N21,000 to N45,000 for freshmen, while returning students who hitherto paid no tuition were told to pay N30,000’

Insecurity threat to education, says Yuguda

AUCHI State Governor Mallam Isa Yuguda has decried insecurity in the country, saying it will affecct private sector participation in developing education in the country.

Yuguda said this in Abuja when he led the Governing Council of the newly established Bauchi State University to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF) to seek intervention from the commission.

He explained that with the growing population of the country, it has become next to impossible for the government to handle the education sector alone, especially with so many developments in the sector that require a lot of capital.

‘The institution will be independent since it has a governing council, but that state government will make available annual subventions’

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

However, he said the country may be unable to access such investment from the private sector until the security of lives and property is assured.

On the new university, Yuguda said the institution will be independent since it has a governing council, but that state government will make available yearly subventions. He said the institution would be expected to seek other sources of funding as well.

“The university is an environment that is supposed to have freedom. It is an environment that is supposed to be a mini-country and it is also supposed to be an international environment. So for you to be able to attain that status, you must take the best of lecturers, best of students, and make sure it is insulated from the interference of Government. That is why I said as far as we are concerned, they are on their own now and the Governing Council and unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not see them,” he said.

Chairman, Governing Council of the university, Dr Ango Abdullahi, said the university is ready to take-off in the 2012/2013 academic session as the institu-

tion is recognised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

TET Fund Executive Secretary Prof Yakubu Mahmud congratulated Bauchi for joining the rank of other states to establish a university.

Mahmud also welcomed the idea of the university to benefit from TET fund interventions and advised its council to focus on tangible projects.

zero tolerance for anti-social behaviours, noting that the authority would not hesitate to deal with defaulters while encouraging them to make use of sporting facilities and join social organisations that can develop their minds and bodies.

“Run away as much as possible from drug misuse, substance abuse, membership of secret cult, hooliganism, gangsterism, and examination malpractices. The secret cult member of today is the armed robber of tomorrow. AOCOED has zero tolerance for secret cult activities and irresponsibility. The security unit as well as the law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to deal appropriately with erring students,” he warned.

He thanked the Moderator to the college, Governor Babatunde Fashola for releasing funds for the completion of a state-of-the-art ICT Centre, medical centre, and an administrative block.

“We thank His Excellency for being there for us. To whom much is given, much is expected. I therefore challenge all my colleagues in the academic and non-teaching areas of the college to rededicate ourselves to building a new AOCOED which will be a pride to the present and future generations,” he said.

A

SLT forms out CANDIDATES seeking admission into degree programmes in the Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) of the EKSU can now obtain the entrance forms.

According to a statement by the university, courses available are: Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physics/Electronics, Plant Science, Chemistry, Zoology, Geology and Computer Technology.

Those candidates with National Diplomas in Science Laboratory Technology with Upper Credits will spend four years on the programme, while those with SSCE or NABTEB certificates will spend five years.

Application forms are expected to be returned in four weeks.

SAN donates N.5m

• Yuguda

UBTH produces 4,440 post-Nursing graduates TOTAL of 4,440 nurses have graduated from the School of Post-Basic Nursing Studies of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) since it was established in 33 years ago.

They were trained in Ophthalmic, Perioperative, Paediatric and Accident and Emergency at the National and Higher Diploma level.

Acting Principal of the school, Mrs Lianat Abudah, disclosed this during the matriculation of new students into the programme.

Mrs. Abudah said 100 students were admitted into the Paediatric

VICE-CHANCELLOR of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), AdoEkiti, Prof Oladipo Aina, says the institution will build an estate to accommodate principal officers and other members of staff.

Aina said such a project would enhance the academic culture.

“When members of staff live on campus, it will afford the necessary academic culture expected of a 21st Century institution where lecturers and researchers can be in the laboratory for hours,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor, who was speaking at the inauguration of the university’s Multipurpose Cooperative Building pointed out that hostels would be constructed on campus for students under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement to enable them to focus on their studies.

He also spoke of his ambition to also provide boreholes on campus very soon to temporarily solve the problem of water shortage, and solar-powered street lights to keep the institution well lit at night.

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

and Accident and Emergency Units; Ophthalmic Unit had 39 students while 49 students enrolled into Perioperative Unit.

She commended the hospital management for the accreditation of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) programme by the Nursing Council of Nigeria, noting that this would upgrade the status of the institution in the West Africa subregion.

Mrs Abudah urged the students to shun cultism as there was no room for extension of the programme.

TOWARDS the successful hosting of the 13th West Africa Universities Games (WAUG) next month, UNILORIN has received a personal donation of N500,000 from Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN).

This is a response to the call of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, who has been encouraging both individuals and groups to demonstrate their spirit of service and support to the University by donating generously in cash and materials towards the success of the Games.

Seminar for staff THE Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof Chinedu Nebo, has enjoined the middle and senior management staff of the university to work as a team to fulfil the university’s mandate.

He stated this at the opening of a three-day workshop for workers of the new institution at EKSU. The workshop held at the Oodua Hall of the Ekiti State University(EKSU) was to strengthen leadership management and enhance professional skills of senior management staff of the institution.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

38

EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP

AAUA FILE VC reconstitutes committee THE Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, AkungbaAkoko (AAUA), Prof Femi Mimiko, has reconstituted the Campus Shuttle Management Committee.

A statement by the Senior Assistant Registrar (VC), Mrs. G.O. Babalola, named the members of the new Committee as the Dean, Student Affairs, Dr A.N. Duyilemi (Chairman); Mr. T.O. Ibrahim; Mr. R.W. Odewale; Mr. A.O. Olaimolu; Mr S.R. Yeiya; Mr. R.S. Adebayo; and Mr Goke Ogunmola (Secretary).

The terms of reference of the committee are to oversee the operation of the campus shuttle scheme, ensure that the vehicles are in good shape, work out an effective scheme of toll collection, and submit monthly reports to the Vice Chancellor.

Workers praise ID card policy THE mandatory photo identity cards wearing policy introduced by the AAUA Management has been applauded by members of staff of the Institution.

The workers’ commendation was a response to a reminder by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Mimiko, and the Registrar, Mr Bamidele Olotu, to the university community to always wear their ID cards as part of security measures.

They described the development as a step in the right direction.

The Acting Chief Security Officer of the university, Mr Noah Adesuyi praised the level of compliance among workers. He added that the unit has all it takes to track down undesirable elements who might want to use fake versions of the card to perpetrate evil.

The Head of the Department of English and Literary Studies and Director, Ajasin Varsity Theatre, Dr Tayo Oloruntoba-Oju, said “if everybody is mandated to carry his identity card, the security personnel will be more alert and if they see strange faces, they will call for proper identification.”

Exams for part-time students STUDENTS of the Institute of Part-Time Programmes, AAUA, will begin their Second Semester examination for the 2010/2011 academic session on Monday, February 20.

The examination which was postponed as a result of the justsuspended industrial action by the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities, ASUU will end on the 28.

In a statement last week, the Secretary of the Institute, Mrs. B.A. Aiyegbusi, warned that any student who fails to complete payment of school fees would not be allowed to write the examinations.

Pre-Degree screening holds ENTRANCE examination into the 2011/2012 Pre-Degree Programme of AAUA, which was earlier postponed as a result of the ASUU strike, will now hold on Thursday and Friday next week.

A statement by the Acting Director, Centre for Diploma and PreDegree Studies, Dr O.M. Akanbi, says candidates applying for Science and Science Education programmes will write their examinations Thursday, while those seeking admission into Arts, Arts Education, Social Sciences and Social Science Education will write their examinations on Friday.

APPROACHING DEADLINES Doctoral scholarship in Effects of management and climate on forage resources in West African rangelands at University of Bonn, Germany Study Subject(s):Effects of management and climate on forage resources in West African rangelands Course Level:PhD Scholarship Provider: University of Bonn, Scholarship can be taken at: Germany Eligibility: MSc degree or equivalent in Geography, Biology, Geoecology or related fields, with excellent academic results; Experience with empirical work in natural sciences (preferably vegetation ecology) and willingness to acquire methodical skills in social sciences; Knowledge and skills in multivariate statistics; Experience in developing countries (experience in Africa would be an advantage); Excellent command of English; Good French skills; Good team player with strong interpersonal skills; ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment; sensitivity and respect for diversity. African candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Scholarship Open for International Students: Yes Scholarship Description: The West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (http:// www.wascal.org/) is a program designed to enhance the resilience of human and environmental systems to climate change and increased variability. The WASCAL Core Research Program focuses on improving the adaptive capacity of human-environmental systems in the face of climate change. The area of investigation is situated in the southern Sudanian savanna belt of West Africa, with research sites in Burkina Faso, Benin and Ghana. Within the framework of WASCAL's Core Research Program and its work package "Rangeland monitoring for land use management and adaptation", we offer a Doctoral scholarship Effects of management and climate on forage resources in West African rangelands How to Apply: By post and Email Read more: http://scholarship-positions.com International Scholarships for Bachelor and Masters Students from India, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, USA, Vietnam students at Royal Holloway University of London, UK 2012 Study Subject(s):Courses offered by the University Course Level:Undergraduate or Postgraduate Scholarship Provider: University of London Scholarship can be taken at: UK Eligibility: -Awards are made on the basis of outstanding academic achievement or potential.

-All non-native English speakers must meet the minimum English language requirements of their proposed programme of study.

- Decisions of the Panel are final and no correspondence will be entered into with any candidate regarding the decision of the Panel.

Scholarship Open for International Students: Yes Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: India, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, USA ,Vietnam Scholarship Description: The International Excellence Regional Scholarships, worth £4,000, aim to support students applying from specific regions. Ten scholarships are available to students applying from the following countries: These scholarships are paid as a tuition fee discount and are therefore not available to applicants who are in receipt of full scholarships. Students with partial scholarships may apply. A student can hold only one International Excellence Award at any one time. Decisions of the Panel are final and no correspondence will be entered into with any candidate regarding the decision of the Panel.

How to Apply: Email, Post Scholarship Application Deadline: USA: 30 April 2012 , others- 31 May 2012 Read more: http://scholarship-positions.com PhD in the field of molecular bio sciences and chemistry at MFPL Graduate School, University of Vienna, 2012 Austria Study Subject(s):Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Signaling , RNA Biology , Structure and Interaction of Biological Macromolecules Course Level:PhD Scholarship Provider: University of Vienna Scholarship can be taken at: Austria Eligibility: We strongly encourage students to attend courses in scientific writing and presentation. Your degree will be awarded either by the University of Vienna or the Medical University of Vienna, depending on the affiliation of your group leader. The minimum requirement for a PhD degree in terms of courses is 30 ECTS (credit points). Graduate training is coordinated by Dean's Office (Graham Warren) and the directors of the Doctoral Programs. Currently, the Max F. Perutz Laboratories hosts three Doctoral Programs with a special research focus: Scholarship Open for International Students: Yes Scholarship Description: A PhD is an unusual career option in many ways. Where else can you use all of your creativity and intellectual power to answer fundamental scientific question?

Where else do you find so many people who are driven by the same passion? The Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) are committed to provide a creative space for discoveries. Our research covers a wide range of the molecular biosciences, exploring life at a cellular, molecular and atomic level. All students and scientists benefit from excellent scientific facilities.

How to Apply: Online Scholarship Application Deadline: March 15, 2012 Read more: http://scholarship-positions.com

Educationist seeks support for indigent pupils

N

OT many elite schools give thought to educating indigent pupils alongside those from more privileged background.

However, Mrs Kehinde Philips, Executive Director of Edgewood College, Lekki Phase I, says it is necessary for those with means to educate children from families in the lower rungs of the social ladder if their own well educated children are to enjoy peace and prosperity in the society.

Mrs Philips said during an interview last Wednesday that to this end, Edgewood College provides scholarships for brilliant but indigent pupils on full or partial basis and is seeking support from individuals and organisations to offer spaces to children that fall in that category so

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

they can enjoy the balanced education that the school provides.

As the college conducts entry and scholarship tests, the first of which will hold on February 25, Mrs Philips is hoping more individuals and organisations will join in the crusade to give greater opportunity for quality education to the less privileged.

“To bridge the gap, we give scholarships out to indigent children. At any given time we have pupils on full or partial scholarships. If you don’t train indigent children, they come out and affect your own children negatively. It pays you to have few indigent children on the streets,” she said.

We are not only about training children. Parents are also being reoriented in the process. It is not about the bags and clothes that they buy. I tell my children never to look down on anybody

• Mrs Philips

In addition to quality academic tuition and life skills in the college that provides both secondary and A Level training, Mrs Philips said pupils and their parents are made to realise that they should live for service to humanity.

The lawyer turned educationist who started the college in 2010 said there is a strong focus on moral and spiritual upbringing of the pupils, which she believes is necessary for a balanced education.

“A good school is not just one that pays attention to academics but moral upbringing of the children, and nurtures them spirit, soul and body depending on their needs.

“We are not only about training children. Parents are also being reoriented in the process. It is not about the bags and clothes that they buy. I tell my children never to look down on anybody. We are all meant to join our hands together and think less about ourselves and families but help others,” she said.

Mrs Philips said Edgewood is also a place for children who have to retake their Cambridge IGCSE. “I also have this burden for children who may be late starters. At one time they played and did not focus on their studies, and found that time had gone and they need to retake the IGCSE and then they shape up. I realise that most times those children need another chance. I give them a chance to retake.

“I also felt it will be a good time to inculcate some more values, especially for God; and to help them realise that they have to be selfless in their approach to life.”

The pupils take lessons in communications, etiquette and other nonacademic life skills to give them an edge.

Despite the highbrow clientele it serves, Mrs Philips said discipline is not compromised at Edgewood.

Edgewood, which started with A Level pupils in 2010, started accepting pupils into Year Seven (JSS1) last September. In five years, Mrs Philips hopes that the school would compete with the best in any part of the world.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

39

EDUCATION

Ogun trains teachers on HIV/AIDS

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• Principal, Igbobi College, The Very Revd. Moses O. Oke, Chairperson, Board of Governors, Dr. Femi Ogunsanya, Vice Chairperson BOG, Mrs Omolara Euler-Ajayi and Emeritus Prof. Ayo Banjo at the 80th Founders Day Anniversary of the School.

Navy, Lagos to partner on education

T

HE Directorate of Naval Education is seeking collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Education in improving its functions.

Commodore Isaac Mashingil Mankilik, newly appointed Director of Naval Education, made his desire for partnership known when he visited the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, last Friday at Alausa.

Mankilik and his entourage were received by the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs Omolara Erogbogbo, who stood in for the Commissioner, and directors in the ministry.

The Naval officer said given that Lagos has the largest concentration of educational institutions in Nigeria, the naval education directorate could not ignore the wealth of experience and expertise the ministry

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

has in dealing with education issues.

He added that he looked forward to exchanging ideas from the departments and units under the ministry, while also offering the directorate's assistance in its areas of expertise.

"Naval education has two clear functions - to provide technical services to the various units in the navy, and to offer welfare service through the training we give to children. We have four navy secondary schools across the country. By next academic year, we will have one at Ogbomosho in Oyo State, and Imeri in Ogun State, and we have several primary schools.

"We felt there can be a lot of benefits if we are interacting properly with the Lagos State government in terms of exchange of ideas. We have a very strong inspectorate division and we can share ideas," he said.

Responding, Mrs Erogbogbo said

the state would be happy to collaborate with the Navy, particularly in science and technical education.

"The doors are open. You can call us anytime and send emails to ask questions. From the Navy side, you too can assist us probably on the science and technical side of education.

We are willing to collaborate, even if it is just for education," she said.

HE Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is prepared to collaborate with other relevant stakeholders in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDs among the youth, particularly, students in the State.

The Commissioner in the Ministry, Mr Segun Odubela, said this while declaring open a three-day workshop for teachers and pupils on the implementation of Family Life HIV and AIDs Education (FLHE) curriculum at Abeokuta Girls Grammar School, Abeokuta.

Odubela recalled that last year, and the National Education Research Development Council (NERDC) trained 390 on FLHE. The Commissioner, in a statement by Kayode Oduyebo, Press Officer, Ogun State Ministry of Education, noted that the programme was in line with the core subjects of the curriculum of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), pointing out that HIV/AIDs remains a debilitating disease which requires the attention of all and sundry.

"This programme will encourage participants to engage and access information on sexual and reproductive health issues. The administration is committed to the

This programme will encourage participants to engage and access information on sexual and reproductive health issues. The administration is committed to the wholesome development of our youths and students’ wholesome development of our youths and students. The Ministry shall therefore do everything necessary to extend the training to teachers and students for maximum benefit," Odubela assured.

In her goodwill message, the State Director Action Committee on AIDs, (SACA), Dr Ranti Oladeinde, said the fight against the spread of HIV Infection in the state will be pointless without a specific focus on the young generation, adding that the catch them young approach is one of the most meaningful approach to fight the pandemic.

Ekiti SUBEB to build classrooms

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HE Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has revealed plans to increase infrastructure to make primary schools more conducive for teaching and learning.

The Executive Chairman of the Board, Prof Modupe Adelabu, who spoke in Ado-Ekiti while addressing some contractors, said the Board would soon embark on the

construction of 310 new classrooms while renovating about 230 others in both primary and junior secondary schools across the state in line with the government's policy of "renovate all schools."

He also spoke of plans to beautify primary schools with ornamental trees and flowers.

Prince Adelabu, however, warned contractors that the board

would not tolerate shoddy and poor quality or abandoned projects.

She commended Governor Kayode Fayemi for giving priority to the issue of education, saying his interest has facilitated the release of money for the payment of counterpart fund for the payment of 2010 SUBEB/UBEC projects.

Resource centre aids performance in sciences

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EACHERS at the African Church Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State, are attributing the outstanding performance of Abisola Lawal in last year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to the use of the Multichoice Resource Centre endowed to the school in 2009.

The girl made seven As in all subjects, including the sciences.

Other candidates who took the examination in the school also passed all their science subjects such that the school recorded the best result in Ogun State.

The Vice-Principal of the school, Mr Nicholas Olanrewaju said the school recorded a 20 percent improvement in performance in the examination.

"The centre has added to our standard and the way people see us. We have also recorded a 20 per cent increase in educational performances by the students especially in the sciences," he said.

The resource centre, endowed by satellite TV giant, Multchoice, is equipped with a television, satellite dish, DSTV decoder loaded with an education bouquet of eight channels, a recorder, chairs and tables, and a generator.

Realising the usefulness of the resource centre in concretising learning, the Speaking to journalists when MultiChoice visited its resource schools to check the effectiveness of its resource centres in Abeokuta, Olanrewaju said he ensures the generator is fuelled regularly so that erratic power supply does not interrupt learning.

He said the teachers teach theory

By Medinat Kanabe

in class and afterwards, the pupils move to the resource centre for the practical.

Mr Olabode Saheed, a Chemistry teacher in the school said the resource centre is a welcome idea. He said, it make learning interesting because it employs audio and visuals.

An SS3 pupil, Oladipo Iyanuoluwa, said using the centre has improved their understanding.

"Our teachers also give us assignment after the practical. We learn physics, oral English, chemistry.

Before the resource centre came, we depended only on our books but now, we have other methods of learning and we understand better now," he said.

At Yewa (Egbado) College, Ilaro, the Principal, Mr Adeniji Olufemi also thanked MultiChoice for giving the centre.

He however complained of loss of signal, dish problems as the school has had to replace the dish four times. He also complained about problems with recording.

The principal who said he is interested in the success of the programme told reporters that he had to fuel the generator himself many times, but that the management is really supporting him. He said the resource centre is like a backup to the traditional learning system.

While teachers and pupils at Ansa-ud-deen Secondary School are excited about the centre and even went ahead to purchase another television set and recorder so two classes could enjoy the re-

• Pupils using the resource centre in one of the schools

sources at the same time, the management has not given the desired support in terms of providing fuel for the generator to combat the challenges of power outage.

"The students bought a recorder, they have fuelled the generator about three times, and they bought another television set. But we have a problem with the new administrations, we need to explain to them that during the old administration, the generator was fuelled regularly and carry them along with what we do here. It has not been easy. Sometimes we don't use the place especially when there is no light. Our students’ performance in the last WASSCE was spectacular," some teachers said.

Speaking to reporters about the endowment, head of corporate communications for Multichoice,

Mr Segun Fayose said, more than 300 public schools across the country have been provided with the MRC and have access to channels including Discovery, BBC Knowledge, History, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet, Mindset Learn, and BBC World News.

"At present, over 200,000 students have had contact with the project, benefitting from the rich and varied learning support environment, which encourages exploration and brings subject matter to life. The key objective of the MRCs is to transform learning in the classroom, in addition to reliable technical infrastructure, this requires equipping educators with necessary skills to use the technology to improve teaching and learning practices and ultimately learner performance," he

said.

He added that MRCs are also aimed at deploying information communication technology tools in schools and assisting in bridging the digital divide between Nigeria and other advanced countries.

Fayose also praised the teachers for using the centres well.

"We have what we call the creative teachers award where we reward the teachers and even principals, this gives us the assurance that teachers are using the resource well and the principals are encouraging them," he said.

He said the schools are picked when they reply to a letter asking them if they want the resource centre. To benefit, they must have an empty classrooms, accept to make good use of the centre and must accept to fuel the generator always.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

40

EDUCATION EDUTALK

OOU/ TASUED fusion: matters arising

with

Kofoworola

Belo-Osagie

Kofosagie@yahoo.com HE Tai Solarin University of 08054503077 (SMS only) Education (TASUED), IjagunIjebu in Ogun State is in a state of flux following the government announcing its merger with the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, its much older sibling.

It is understandable for workers and students of TASUED to be apprehensive about the fusion, given that OOU is not in the best shape and has not been for some years now due to crises that has made the university unstable.

Part of the problems ailing the 30-year old university is poor funding, with the last administration led by Otunba Gbenga Daniel owing salaries for months. The institution is also said to have an over-bloated students’ population which is not adequately catered for with the available facilities, while the governing council of the institution sacked hundreds of academic and non-academic staff in its bid to trim down recurrent expenditure. The OOU chapter of ASUU has gone on strike over the issues more than once. This has resulted in students spending years beyond the time stipulated for their programmes Five-year old TASUED on the other hand, has enjoyed relative stability. It has been able to get its due from the government regularly and find a way round making up for shortfalls, particularly by mounting programmes out of its core area, which is teacher-training. It began offering programmes in Mass Communication, Geography/Transport Planning, Petroleum Science and Industrial Chemistry long before last year when Education Minister, Prof Ruqayyat Ahmed Rufa’i gave the nod for specialised institutions to embrace conventional programmes.

Unfortunately, the other programmes proved more popular than the education training that was the reason for setting up the institution in the first place. I for one was surprised when a student told me he was studying Mass Communication at the university. At the time, I thought he meant he was studying Mass Communication Education and wondered whether such programme was necessary. It is now that I understand that the university was not training them to be educationists.

The state government was right in taking a stand on the institution’s initial mandate. Given that it was set up to train quality manpower for the education sector and it had deviated from solely fulfilling that purpose, it was not wrong for the government to decide whether it wanted to fund another full-fledge conventional university, even though the Education Minister had urged specialised institutions to go conventional.

If government believes that making TASUED part of the education faculty of OOU would keep it on track, fine.

However, it must be careful not to throw the baby away with the bath water. TASUED has a large student population whose welfare must be the state’s utmost priority at this time. It was for pursuit of a better life that students flocked the university, especially attracted by the possibility of studying programmes of their interest when admissions must have failed elsewhere.

The special committee that has been set up to oversee the merger should be meticulous in charting a transition programme that will have minimal, if any, negative effects on both institutions. It will do some good for the committee to take into consideration practices in the administration of TASUED that helped the institution remain stable and consider recommending such for OOU. I believe this exercise should also give the government opportunity to address the issues affecting OOU’s development once and for all. If the state wants a world-class OOU, like Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu said, then it must be willing to invest the human and capital needed to transform the institution. If the merger is not carefully done, the state will only add the university’s burden because it would be inheriting more students and workers from TASUED when it cannot cope effectively with what it has presently.

The issue on ground is beyond scoring political points or settling scores between one administration and another. On the contrary, it is about positioning our tertiary institutions to offer our youth quality education such that they can compete with their counterparts within and without Nigeria on the world stage.

T • Ms Ugbona with Gasper and Chairman MTN Foundation, Ambassador Hamzat Ahmadu

MTNF invests N340m in technical colleges F OUR technical colleges across the country are to benefit from a N340million facility upgrade courtesy of MTN Foundation's Youth Skills Development Project.

They are: Government Technical College, Ikorodu, Lagos State; Government Technical College, Owo, Ondo State; Government Technical College, Malali, Kaduna State; and Government Technical College, Farfaru, Sokoto State.

At a contract signing ceremony in the Ikoyi office of MTN, Lagos, Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Nonny Ugboma said the project, which will be implemented by Deux Project Ltd, will cover rehabilitation of buildings, provision of classrooms furniture, and provision of equipment in six areas that are critical to the Nigerian economy namely: "Electrical installation and maintenance works", "Instrumentation mechanics works", "Refrigeration and air-conditioning", "fabrication and welding", "furniture design and construction", and "Plumbing and Pipe Fitting".

Teachers will also benefit from capacity building workshops while the facilities will be maintained by the foundation for 12 calendar months outside the N340million.

Ms Ugboma said the four benefi-

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

ciary colleges qualified after a rigorous selection process that involved assessing applications from 32 schools across the country.

She urged the schools to demonstrate their commitment to training and entrepreneurship with the facilities to be provided such that after one year, they would be self-sustaining from funds generated using the equipment and expertise.

"We hope that these initial beneficiaries will act as catalysts so that other colleges know how to put their houses in order so they can benefit in future. For a year, we will support the project and after that we hope the schools will take over," she said.

Dr Walter Olatunde, Project Director, Deux Project, said the initiative has potential to improve skills training of technicians in sectors where firms are forced to employ foreigners because Nigerians lack required skills in such areas.

He said: "Basic skills are really lacking in Nigeria. Deux Project is in the construction industry. When we need a mason, we go for Cotonou boys. We need to regain

‘The schools should demonstrate their commitment to training and entrepreneurship with the facilities to be provided such that after one year, they would be self-sustaining from funds generated using the equipment and expertise’

these skills, and through this project, it will be possible."

Representatives of beneficiary states and principals of the colleges present at the signing ceremony lauded the initiative, which they said would boost efforts already made by government to improve technical and vocational education training.

Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr Olawumi Gasper, said the upgrade would help the colleges get accreditation to issue internationally recognised foreign qualifications.

"With what you have done, most of these centres will get City and Guilds of London accreditation so their students will get certifications that can help them compete with the best all over the world," he said.

Principal of GTC, Owo, Mr Gbenga Ijanusi, said through the project, six out of the 12 courses the college offers will boast of first class facilities.

"The significance is quite enormous. My school is a premier technical college established in 1963 to offer three courses. It has increased to 12 and among the 12; six have been selected by MTNF. The impact is that it will complement the effort of the state government to provide quality training for students. It will also improve the capacity of the teachers," he said.

His counterparts at GTC, Ikorodu, Mrs Elizabeth Babalola, and GTC, Farfaru, Mr Daudu Magaji are excited about the job prospects the project would open for their students.

"The value that this programme is adding is that industries will be visiting my college to employ students," Mrs Babalola said. Magaji added: "In no small measure it will improve the youths of the state because it will help them to be self reliant."

Rotary Club donates to school

R

OTARY Club of Okota, Lagos has presented drums, and treated mosquito nets to Bolade Senior Grammar School, Oshodi, Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the VicePresident of the club, Opoola Kamal, said the nets were given to the pupils to fight malaria, while the drums were given for co-curricular activities.

Kamal said the clubs chooses schools to assist those that are in need or responding to schools that

By Medinat Kanabe

write to request support.

Also speaking at the event, the past president of the club, Mrs Busola Satuyi, said the four ways students can test the things they do at home, schools, community and other aspects of life is to be truthful, fair to all, good friends and do things that are beneficial to all.

She thanked the club for the donation.

He said: "It is a big honour to be

in your midst. We appreciate you for what you have done for us."

Osuya Blessing, Head Girl of the school, said the club has helped in many ways.

"The Rotary Club was supporting our junior school too. They built an information centre in the school, where they have computers and printers," she said.

Meanwhile, a student of the University of Lagos, Alade Kehinde was recommended for the District Educational Welfare (DEWEF) scholarship, by the club.

From My Inbox Re: Illiteracy woes in public schools (February 02, 2012) I just finished reading your article on “Illiteracy woes in public schools” in The Nation of February 2. I only hope that officials of the inspectorate divisions of all the states’ ministries of education would read it. Yes, government directs tons of resources to education every year but are these resources the ones that will enhance knowledge delivery? Instead of donating exercise books to schools, relevant textbooks should be given to each student. Reading should be made compulsory for every student from the primary school level; the teaching of English language, the pivot on which knowledge delivery stands, should be intensified. I was once a teacher and I know that the observation that teacher made that their JSS1 intakes are barely literate is true and had been true decades back. I think every arm of government should give more attention to primary education than they had, hitherto. Pitan Aina, Ado-Ekiti.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Can ANPP, DPP, ACN stop Wamakko’s return?

When it became necessary for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to wade into the internal political division that is threatening the chances of the party in Saturday’s governorship election in Sokoto, the national secretariat swung into action, working round the clock to present a united front.

ADAMU SULEIMAN reports on factors that will determine the victor and the losers.

A

T a point, there were fears within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) that the electoral fortunes of the party may not be as bright as it seemed last year. Opposition within the party was stronger than that posed by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). However, 48 hours to the poll, it appears inconceivable that anyone could stop the Aliyu Wamakko train from reaching the terminus.

As the Adamawa election was holding on Saturday February 4, the party leaders headed for Sokoto to kick off the movement towards the governorship poll. The man at the centre of it all, former Governor Wamakko, was grinning from ear to ear. He felt encouraged particularly by the presence of President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President, David Mark, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal with retinue of others, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governors Murtala Nyako, Sai’du Dakingari, Sule Lamido and Patrick Yakowa, as well as serving ministers, former governors and National Executive Committee members led by the acting national chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.

The rally buoyed the Wamakko spirit and stirred the soul of the party in the state.

On behalf of the governor, the

president committed the PDP to transforming the Seat of the Caliphate within the next four years.

His words:” I humbly thank and appreciate your support for Wamakko which has made it possible for him to ensure that dividends of democracy and good governance get across to you.”

The unprecedented support garnered by the former governor’s campaign sent fears and tension across the opposition camp. Prior to the grand event at the Sokoto Trade fair Complex, co-founder and state chairman of the Democratic Peoples’ Party(DPP) and ‘Jarman Sokoto’ Alhaji Umaru Kwabo A.A defected to the PDP. His defection perhaps crippled the chances of the DPP in the state. Renouncing his DPP membership before a mammoth crowd of supporters, Kwabo, a dependable and influential figure in the Bafarawa regime said he is a man of principle, adding that,” I am convinced that PDP has what it takes in Wamakko to drive us to the promised land.

“Opposition or not, this is our state.

Let’s come together and build the state for the benefit of our people” The former ANPP Treasurer who obtained his membership card along with other prominent DPP defections, Tukur Alkali, Muhammad Danrabi Tureta, Aminu Rijiya, Mannir Dan Iya, Attahiru Muhammad, Kabiru Umar, among 10,000 others across the state, said he is in PDP to en-

•Wamakko

•Bafarawa

‘The governor is not without some bruises. Although he warded off challenges from two worthy opponents, former minister Yusuf Sulaiman and Senator Abubakar Gada who campaigned vigorously that the performance of the former governor was below par, the crisis of confidence caused by that campaign is still reverberating months after’ sure the success of Wamakko and not for any political gain or contract. He maintained that “we will do everything possible to ensure the survival of the party for the benefit of our dear state” The campaign train of the ANPP candidate, Yusha’u Muhammad Ahmed being spearheaded by former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa seems to be the only one that still has some steam because of thise personal structure and standing.

Speaking in Kebbe, home town of the ANPP candidate, Bafarawa expressed surprise that what he left has not changed in the last five years of PDP government, adding that, “we are back on track to give people of the state a new direction for development and progress. We want you to give us your mandate.

Your vote is your weapon” The former DPP presidential candidate in the 2007 general elec-

•Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi (right) with Oyo Deputy Governor Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo during a courtesy visit on him in his palace PHOTO: FEMI ILESANMI

tions, while presenting Yusha’u, said, “this is your choice candidate.

I call on you to shun thuggery and violent attack on anyone. We will continue to be law abiding citizens.

Allah is our all in all” Senator Gada who at a point appeared a serious contender is no longer considered a threat to the return of Wamakko. Sources close to him suggest that his campaign might have been affected by funding and logistics challenge. Despite the concern that dissension within the PDP could weaken it and pave the way forward for another party, there appears no room for another major political tendency in the state.

The governor is not without some bruises. Although he warded off challenges from two worthy opponents, former minister Yusuf Sulaiman and Senator Abubakar Gada who campaigned vigorously that the performance of the former governor was below par, the crisis of confidence caused by that campaign is still reverberating months after.

There were speculations that President Jonathan had dumped the former governor because of the role that he allegedly played in the refusal of the Sokoto delegates to vote in support of the presidential quest of Dr. Jonathan at last year’s national convention of the party.

Allegedly out to extract his pound of flesh, the president was said to be out to replace Wamakko with Sulaiman. However, at the primary for election of the governorship candidate, Sulaiman’s ambition could not fly. Before then, Governor Sule Lamido, who claimed to be an envoy of the president, had told the audience in the satte that Dr. Jonathan was solidly behind the governor.

Despite the efforts of Ambassador Abdullahi Ladan Shuni and Mahe Dange , the Suleiman and Gada efforts failed, even as the duo challenged the election of Wamakko and complained that the field was not level. The two men were conspicuously absent at the grand campaign where all stakeholders in public

and private concerns participated in their multiples.

Wamakko’s path to picking the party’s flag has shown him to be an astute politician and administrator. He castrated the opposition parties and smothered attempts to challenge him from Abuja. It is still unknown how he managed to wriggle out of the legal labyrinth that had threatened to prematurely terminate his tenancy at the Government House. There are suggestions that efforts were made to reach out to the apex court in a bid to stop the Appeal Court in ruling against the Wamakko candidacy in 2007 and 2008. The case lingers as it partially resulted in the suspension of Justice Isa Ayo Salami as President of the Court of Appeal.

Like in most other states of the country, Sokoto has its political culture and history. In recent times, there has been a transition. For the first eight years of this Republic, the man who determined how Sokoto moved was Bafarawa. But, as soon as he left office, his former deputy, Wamakko, who succeeded him, took over the political landscape.

Backed by the PDP machine at the federal and state levels, Wamakko had little problem easing Bafarawa out of relevance. An opportunity came in the April 2011 legislative polls. Bafarawa was the moving spirit behind the ACN to which he had defected from DPP, while Wamakko, supported by his deputy Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari was drumming support for his party. Wamakko swept everything in view to cut Bafarawa and his party to size.

Rather than remain in ACN to plan for future election, Bafarawa who failed in his bid for the party’s presidential ticket checked out again to the ANPP, his original party on whose platform he had ruled the state.

The election is now at hand. To those conversant with the politics of this Seat of Caliphate, it is only a ritual to confirm and return Wamakko to power

44

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

45

THE NATION

NATURAL HEALTH E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

A herbal redress for urinary prostate symptoms

M

EN in their 40s have been advised to learn about Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (enlargement of the prostate) to either prevent it or avail themselves of early treatment.

Director, Michael Benjamin Nig Ltd, Folasade Filani, disclosed this to The Nation.

She said the earlier the symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) are investigated, the greater the probability of influencing ‘changes’ through remedial treatment.

Filani said as a man matures, his prostate passes through two main periods of development.

“The first occurs early in puberty, when the prostate doubles in size. At around 25, the gland begins to grow again. This second growth phase often results, years later, to BPH. Though the prostate continues to grow during most of a man’s life, the enlargement doesn’t usually cause problems until late in life. BPH rarely causes symptoms before 40. But more than half of the men in their 60s and as many as 90 per cent in their 70s and 80s have some symptoms of BPH.” Explaining what to look out for as the ‘changes’, Filani said in the early stages, in men, from about 40, the inner part of prostate tissue surrounding the urethra starts to grow and press outwards against the rest of the glandular tissue.

“Many symptoms of BPH stem from obstruction of the urethra and gradual loss of bladder function, which results in incomplete emptying of the bladder. The symptoms of BPH vary, but the most common ones involve changes or problems with urination, such as a hesitant, interrupted and weak stream; urgency and leaking or dribbling and more frequent urination, especially at night “The size of the prostate does not always determine how severe the obstruction or

•Mrs Filani

the symptoms will be. Some men with greatly enlarged glands have little obstruction and few symptoms while others, whose glands are less enlarged, have more blockage and greater problems. Sometimes, a man may not know he has any obstruction until he suddenly finds himself unable to urinate. This condition, called acute urinary retention, may be triggered by taking over-the-counter drug or allergy medicines. Such medicines contain a decongestant drug, known as a sympathomimetic. A potential side effect of this

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

drug may prevent the bladder opening from relaxing and allowing urine to empty.

When partial obstruction occurs, urinary retention can also be brought on by alcohol, cold temperatures, or a long period of immobility.

“It is important to tell your doctor about urinary problems such as those described above. In eight of 10 cases, these symptoms suggest BPH, but they also can signal more serious conditions that require prompt treatment. These conditions, including prostate cancer, can be ruled out only by a doctor’s examination,” she stated.

Mrs Filani added: “This process initially passes unnoticed since the newly-formed tissues are simply the result of a benign alteration. Hence, it’s described medically as benign prostatic hyperplasia, that is, benign prostatic enlargement. As time passes, however, the growing nodules may also begin to press inwards, causing constriction of the urethra and obstruction of the urine flow. This leads to the appearance of first symptoms and represents the point at which medical advice should be sought. Unfortunately, most men do not pay attention to this, disregard same or may even be silent about it, as they think it affects their virility. But this is the best time to discuss with the right health care provider,” she said.

She explained that BPH is considered to be an age-related change with dire consequences, rather than an actual illness, “If the enlarged prostate is constantly obstructing the passage of urine, increasing quantities of urine remain in the bladder after micturition (dripping). The residual urine can eventually affect the kidneys through urinary retention and inflammation. In a worst case scenario, therefore, untreated BPH could, in its later stages, lead to chronic kidney failure”.

Mrs Filani said for remedial treatment,

Prostatonin is most useful as Medication and surgery can help men with serious cases of prostate enlargement, but there is no medical treatment for mild cases. Several herbal preparations, however, can alleviate the symptoms of early BPH. A new product combines extracts of two herbs to produce what may be the most effective non-medical treatment yet.

“Nettle root and African plum tree bark (pygeum) have both been approved in Europe for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and have been widely used there for over 30 years. The new combination, marketed under the name Prostatonin, has been shown in clinical studies to be more effective than either of its ingredients. In a study of 25 men, who used Prostatonin for one month, night time urination was reduced by more than half, and residual urine volume (the urine left in the bladder after urination) was reduced by three-quarters.

Results of studies at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja also are impressive.

“Another study with 134 men reported significant improvements after eight weeks in night time urination, urine flow, and residual urine volume. In addition, the men reported significant improvements in urgency and urinary frequency (both day and night). Neither Prostatonin nor either of the extracts alone has any reported side effects other than occasional gastrointestinal upset.”

Mrs Filani explains: “Each of the herbs in Prostatonin blocks the action of two enzymes that help the body produce dihydrotestosterone and estrogen, hormones that scientists believe contribute to the enlargement of the prostate. Pygeum is much more effective at this than nettle root, but it is also much more expensive and harder to find. By combining the two extracts, Prostatonin offers a preparation that is more effective than either ingredient alone and may turn out to be cheaper, too.”

46

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

NATURAL HEALTH

A 2012 Resolution … Healthy Digestive System (6) study, the Bulgaricus -B-51 strain was used as an adjunct in cancer treatment. It was found to enable sufferers live longer than expected, slowed cancer growth and spread. When Probiotics first arrived in Nigeria, the brands had no more than one billion cells per capsule at the time of manufacture. Newer arrivals, however, parade as high as 10, 20 or 30 billion live cells!

W

E are in the armory, ladies and gentlemen, to see what arms the forests provide for defence of the intestines against Myco, exo and endo poisoning and their authors, particularly Candida, yeast, bacteria, mold, viruses and flukes.

Flukes frighten me whenever I remember photographs of human livers, pancreases and intestines they have damaged. They are flat worms which are not easily killed by regular worm medications. They eat the cells of the organs in which they live and poison them with their waste products. These affected organs are too busy repairing the damage, and trying to replace lost cells that they fail to adequately perform their normal functions. It is the symptoms of this failure, such as diabetes if the pancreas is affected, that the doctor treats, oftentimes unaware of the fingers that are playing the dirty music on the harp. Let me start by saying that, after a random blood sugar test at the Tropical diagnostic lab in Lagos, which ran as high as 120 a few months ago, I slowed down to 85 last week after two weeks on Clean Shield, Amazon Pancreas Support and Amazon Adrenal Support. Clean Shield is a pH balancer made of almost equal amounts of sodium carbonate (0. 49 per cent) and sodium phosphorus (0.514%). The taste unnerves me.

But I tolerate it. I know unpleasant taste is a signature signal of pleasant activity in the system. Amazon Adrenal support builds capacity to withstand stress, and energises. It makes those aches and pains often regarded as "normal" to suddenly take a bow. Although the producers advise that taking this seven-herb proprietary formula after 4 p.m. may lead to too much energy disturbing restful night sleep, there are probably some exceptions to the rule. It is the Amazon Pancreas Support I suspect is clipping the wings of my blood sugar. I will learn, soon, from the experiences of other people, if Clean Shield has a hand in it.

Lest we forget, we are on an armory tour of forest weapons against trouble makers in the digestive system, the colon or large intestine in particular. My eyes fall on Bellaco Capsi…

BELLACO CAPSI If physicians would like to try a more effective antifungal agent where Nystatin, the treatment of choice for many doctors when Candida, becomes too troublesome for example, Bellaco Capsi may very well be it. Fungi and Candida are major players in intestinal troubles. We all have them in our systems, but seem to get into trouble only when they overgrow their bounds and, for whatever reasons(s), the immune system cannot stop their advance from the intestines to the throat, tongue (oral thrash) and various organs, such as the ovaries, the eyes, luings, name it ... Bellaco Capsi bark was used traditionally for healing infected wounds (many of these wounds occur in the intestines), tuberculosis, syphilis and mange. Brazilian researchers showed, however, in 1998, that it could arrest fungi. In a double blind experiment in which the control group was treated with Nystatin, Bellaco capsi proved a better antifungal medicine. This finding was followed in 2004 and 2006 by other research evidence of substantial activity against "Candida, E. coli, Staphylococcus, Baccilus Nycobacterium phlei…." Bellaco capsi research has since then progressed to the terrains of cancer. In the United States, it was reported that test tube studies revealed two chemical substances in the bark of Bellaco capsi which inhibited the growth of five types of human cancer…."Breast, Colon, Prostate, lung and Lymphoma". By 2003, there were reports of Bellaco capsi activity against tumour - inducing worms.

Since then, Bellaco capsi traditional uses have expanded to include tumours and cancers of the uterus, cerix and ovaries, and for endometriosis and uterine fibroids, a plague of many Nigerian women. It is also well spoken for "menstrual irregularities, and pain, and for ovarian cysts and ovarian inflammation". Candida can be a terrible organism when it has ample leg room in the body. Imagine it growing in the eyes. Vision will dim, of course. All types of medication will be used to no avail if the doctor does not suspect the culprit and eliminate it.

MYCO When yeast, fungi, bacteria and viruses overgrow their acceptable population in the intestines, they sometimes cross into the blood during the absorption of digested food, especially if they had damaged the integrity of intestinal wall fabric. Thus, the plasma and the lymph get infected. This is often evidenced in a large number of lymphocytes (lymphocytosis) in the lymph. Lymphocytes are local white blood cells (soldiers) stationed or resident in the lymph to defend it and the lymphatic system. The lymph is the clear bodily fluid in which plasma and lymph cells are suspended. The plasma is a clear fluid or the "white" of the blood in which all blood components are suspended. The lymphatic system consists of all cells and organs that filter germs, poisons and dead cells etc from the lymph before it flows back to the heart to rejoin the "red" from which it separated to feed the cells. Actually, what gives the blood its colour are the"red" of the red blood cells. They do not enter the cells to give them oxygen which they transport.

Potassium and essential fatty acids extract the oxygen from them and transport it to the cells. And that's why cell salt practitioners combine ferrum phosphate, the iron and oxy-

ORNITHINE/ARGININE

R

gen carrier, with potassium phosphate where circulation promotion and oxygenation are required to break congestions and heal inflammation. MYCO is a proprietary bland of eight herbs which, individually, have expressed "antimycoplasmal, antibacterial" and/or antibacterial actions". Myco is another name for fungi. Mycosis is the presence of fungi on, or in the body. Mycotoxin is a poison produced by mold or fungi, such as afflatoxin on infected ground (pea) nuts, and can cause sickness or death.

Mycotoxins in the lymph can cause lymph nodes (filters) to enlarge (lymphogranuloma) or cause as many as 50 or more common ailments and auto, immune diseases against which palliative pharmaceutical drugs are often lobbed without the root causes, being addressed.

Myco has been found to work effectively where the diet is supplemented with probiotics, digestive and systemic enzymes, and Amazon A-F, a good antifungal proprietary formula. The role of enzymes is critical. The immune cells employ enzymes to fight the body's enemies. As we age, we produce less enzymes for both digestion and other functions, including the immune function. In fact, many people do not have enough enzymes for digestion, let alone other activities. A few weeks ago, this column mentioned the discovery of NEPRINOL, a proprietary systemic enzymes formula - composed of nattokinese (from soya), serrapeptase (from silk worm) and bromelain (from pineapple, especially the peel) for dissolving all sorts of growths and tumours, including uterne fibroids, and for easing inflammation and pain.

PROBIOTICS

T

his is another name for friendly bacteria. I do not mention the fancy name when I wish to have a good laugh. Asking people to take friendly bacteria for intestinal health often alarms them, as asking a peptic ulcer sufferer to try cayenne pepper which, surprisingly, heals ulcers! "Yes bacteria," I always reply, laughing when the uninitiated expresses a grave concern, or is even distrustful. But they soon relax and become more trusting when they learn that Dr Ilya Metchnikoff earned the Nobel Prize for his research on how friendly bacteria may prolong life beyond 100 years. Who doesn't wish to live for 100 years or even beyond? Dr Metchnikoff was interested in why Bulgarians lived beyond 100 years. He found that there was a common recurring decimal in their diet, which made their bowels as healthy as a baby's. The diet included unsweetened yoghurt every day. And what unsweetened yoghurt was providing them has now become known as the "Hero" of the friendly bacteria family, acidophilus, plentiful in a baby's bowel. Dr. Metchni koff's finding gave birth to the friendly bacterium named BULGARICUS. The friendly bacteria family today comprises ACIDOPHILUS, BIFIDO BACTERIA, BULGARICUS and other strains. Acidopilus inhibits the growth of Candida albicans, E.coli and other dangerous bacteria. Additionally, it helps the body make INTERFERON. In women, it resides also in the vaginal vault, to prevent infections.Women plaguedwith candidaisis which fails to respond to Nystatin will now understand why capsules of Acidophilus inserted overnight or a liquid version helps their condition. In fact, some women are known to enjoy washing up with yoghurt. Caution is important here, though, as many commercially produced yoghurt brands have too much sugar, whereas Candida loves and thrives on sugar, and the helpful yoghurt has no sugar but plenty of acidophilus which may be in short supply in some brands. BIFIDOBACTERIUM helps to lower Cholesterol level, avert food poisoning, help to digest the milk sugar lactose, which adults cannot handle and produce food for Candida. By digesting lactose, therefore, the bacterium helps to prevent overgrowth of the Candida population. Besides, it helps to make B-VITAMINS and eliminate the gas ammonia, which is toxic to the brain as we shall soon see.

BULGARICUS has been found such an immune stimulant as encouraged studies on cancer defence. In one

e-mail: femi.kusa@yahoo.com or olufemikusa@yahoo.com

EMEMBERING how Bifidobacterium helps to detoxify ammonia in the bowels reminds me of t w o amino acids, Ornithine and Arginine, and of many people I know who are always yawning despite long hours of sleep and the scorching African sun which keeps everything, including plants, active in daytime. About seven years ago when this column first reviewed the pH MIRACLE of Dr. Robert Young under the title THE PIT TOILET INSIDE ALL OF US, it drew parrellels between the cesspool of the pit toilet and the dirty, unkempt intestines. In the pit toilet, micro-organisms feed on our waste to produce the offensive ammonia gas. A parasitisised human intestine does the same. Yet, ordinarily humans do not produce ammonia as part of a metabolic waste product, according to many researchers. What we produce, says Dr. Holda Clark, for example, is urea which, when diluted with water, is excreted as urine. Some researchers say when ammonia escapes from a mycotoxic bowel into the blood, it depresses the brain, a possible reason for seemingly inexplicable tiredness and sleepiness which, in extreme cases, may result in SLEEP ATTACK or NACOLEPSY. Dr. Clark says ammonia in the blood may be cause of insomnia. She found that by killing parasites which produce ammonia, restful sleep is restored. Amonia-ridden people are likely to be ORNITHINE deprived or deficient, as this amino acid is used up in cleaning ammonia from the blood. Thus, the higher the mycosis, the higher the levels of ammonia, and, therefore, the more the ornithine required to clear the mess.

Ammonia in the blood has to be converted into urea in the liver and in the kidney by an enzyme, ornithine carbamyl-transferase, which is not present in the brain. This explains depressed state of the brain. Don't we feel like fainting in the pit toilet with a strong odour? But as Dr. Clark says: "It is known that ammonia is a strong brain irritant. In fact, a person can be awakened from a coma by being made to smell ammonia "Smelling Salts". As for Arginine, it is valuable for vasolidation to reduce blood pressure and enhance male sexual virility. It also mops ammonia and energises unlike Ornithine which produces sleep. Does the person who yawns lack orinithine and argainine?

GLUTAMIC ACID It wouldn't be for nothing that Mother Nature made Glutamic acid the most abundant protein constituent in the body. Perhaps because it helps to heal injuries?

Glutaminic acid carries an extra Nitrogen atom which it easily releases for the fixing of repair proteins. In the intestines, it is known for its value in helping to maintain, structural intergrity. Dr. Judy Shabert, M.D., and her husband, Dr Douglas Wilmore, M.D., a researcher at Havard University investigated this amino acid extensively, especially for healing after surgery. They found that, during recovery from surgery, a trauma, the body couldn't make as much Glutamine needed for healing and, therefore, pulled reserves from the muscles and immune cells. This occurs especially in cancer and is one reason people who are challenged by cancer or have just gone through surgery lose a lot of lean tissue and muscles mass. So good is Glutamine for that intestine assailed every day by microforms and their toxins that it has been named the intestinal permeability factor.

KYOLIC Dr Neinstein and his group at Columbia and Cornell universities have shown in experiments that Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract protects the colon against cancer. Dr. Wargovish in 1987 showed in another study that this aged garlic extract said to be 50 times more potent than natural garlic could reduce by 74 per cent colon cancer incidence. In 1997, Knowles and Milner found that Kyolic suppressed growth of human colon cancer tissue in test-tube experiment. Going by these and similar reports, it is advisable to supplement the diet with Kyolic.

Fibre and Oils This column always pleads that fibre and oils be included in the diet. Fibre helps to move food out before the 18-hour deadline. Oils help to lubricate and tone.

These are essential fatty acids. Recently, the use of coconut oil became popular. I try to take two tablespoonfuls with every meal.

It is impossible to conclude the armory tour of the forest in one day. So, we shall be talking more of digestive system care as the cases arise henceforth. I would be happy if the series has helped in the making of a New Year (2012) Resolution to take better care of the bowels.

Tel: 08034004247, 07025077303

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

e-Business The draft Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy by the Ministry of Communications Technology, has drawn a mixed bag of comments from stakeholders in the sector. In this report by ADLINE ATILI, the minister clears the air on various issues raised, while highlighting the importance of the policy in transforming the economy

How ICT policy will aid economic growth T

HE National ICT policy unveiled by the Ministry of Communications Technology has drawn commendations and criticisms from stakeholders in the sector.

While some industry analysts have praised the aggressive targets set by the ministry to transform the ICT sector; some, have, however, described the policy as ‘anti-investment.’

The Minister had, shortly after resumption of duties, set up a committee to harmonise the existing policies in the various segments of the industry with a view to achieving a converged industry.

According to the Minister, Mrs Omobola Johnson, the draft policy document is a platform for the overall development of the ICT industry and creation of a digital, knowledge-based economy.

She said the document will be the overarching guide and platform for the development of the industry.

Mrs Johnson noted that though there have been significant achievements in the telecommunications sector, lack of industry convergence in the ICT industry has resulted in fragmentation and inefficiency in the management of resources.

“The reality of ICT convergence has not yet been reflected in Nigeria where the institutions that regulate and/or develop the ICT sector still function as distinct actors in the industry, without much coordination.

“The goal of this National ICT Policy, therefore, is to provide a framework for streamlining the ICT sector and enhancing its ability to help address some socioeconomic and development challenges while facilitating the transformation of Nigeria into a knowledge-based economy.

“In addition, the ICT policy shall be used to develop action plans, sub-sectoral policies and specific implementation guidelines as appropriate,” she said.

Stakeholders in the sector had for long canvassed the harmonisation of disparate ICT policies in the industry to fasttrack the nation’s development into a digital economy and for sustainable development.

They praised the ministry’s policy focus areas, especially: safety and national security; software development and hardware production; local content development; capacity building and broadband.

With the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) strong directive to member countries to bring the benefits of broadband to the places where it is needed most and ensure affordability too by 2015, broadband Internet provisioning is top on the agenda of the Ministry of Communications Technology.

According to the Minister, over 70 per cent of Nigerians who reside in the rural areas do not have access to advanced ICT services, adding that some Nigerians who reside in urban areas are also either un-served or underserved.

She said broadband Internet access and proliferation of related facilities and applications are top priorities for the ministry in the drive to transform the economy to knowledge-based.

In the Ministry’s draft policy, the ministry plans to accelerate the penetration of

•Mrs Johnson

•Ismail

affordable broadband Internet and foster broadband usage for national development, through: promotion of policies that create incentives for broadband backbone and access network deployment and facilitation of broadband development and deployment.

As broadband is universally identified as underpinning economic development of any nation, the ministry has assured that through the ICT policy, it would leverage on existing universal service frameworks; provide special incentives to operators to encourage them to increase their investment in broadband rollout and promote e-government and other e-services that would foster broadband usage.

There are, however, dissenting voices in the industry. Some of them, especially the leadership of key industry associations in the country, have raised the alarm over speedy pursuit of what they described as a ‘closed door’ policy by the Minister.

President of one of the associations who spoke on condition of anonymity said the move is capable of setting the country backwards to the days of government domination of the industry with dire consequences.

According to him, members of the private sector in the nation’s ICT industry are riled by the desperation of a few Nigerians to erode all the gains achieved by private operators, especially in the telecoms sector.

He wondered how the minister expects a small committee of government officials could come up with a stance, purported to be in the interest of the industry and

the nation, when none of the committee members is an IT professional.

According to him, the minister failed to understand the painstaking exercise that went into the process of articulating the existing policies and the laws that emanated from those exercises for the benefit of the nation.

He said the draft policy’s recommendation of maintaining Galaxy Backbone and NIGCOMSAT Limited as government entities may distort full liberalisation of the sector by successive governments.

“We are surprised that the minister, who is a product of the private sector, would begin to diffuse the achievements recorded in the sector with this type of policy document.

“The presidency must call the minister to order before she does irredeemable damage to the industry,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Geoidtel, Mr Olubiyi Ismail, while praising the ministry for its prompt action in addressing convergence and creating a harmonised policy for the industry, said the draft policy offers little theory or concrete guidance for stakeholders’ involvement and interaction, especially in the area of execution.

“Some of these ideas were listed but not fully elaborated in the ICT policy. Moreover, while there has been some empirical work examining national IT policy and consequences, there is little theoretical consideration for stages of national development.

“The goal of this policy should systematically consider the factors that affect ICT

‘The goal of this National ICT Policy, therefore, is to provide a framework for streamlining the ICT sector and enhancing its ability to help address some socioeconomic and development challenges while facilitating the transformation of Nigeria into a knowledge-based economy’

policy formation and execution, leading to an enhanced e-Nigeria.”

He asked: “How does the stage of development of a country affect an ICT policy?

How do stakeholders influence ICT policy formation and execution and ereadiness?”

Ismail’s position was upheld by the President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr Deolu Ogunbanjo.

Ogunbanjo decried the non-involvement of the most important ‘stakeholders’ in the industry, the consumers, who, he said, the policies would have the most impact on.

According to him, the policy does not make provision for consumer protection.

“I have gone through the whole document, and there is no where provision is made for consumer protection, especially in areas of seeking redress.

“Consumers as we know are the most important stakeholders in the industry,” he said.

The Minister, has, however, pointed out that the document is but a draft and not the final document.

According to her, the ministry does not intend to wipe out the gains recorded in the sector through obnoxious policies as touted in some quarters, but to harmonise the existing policies governing the sector for sustainable development and continued growth.

She has promised to invite industry stakeholders to an open forum, to further discuss the document in order to incorporate their contributions in the final policy.

“We have had various policies covering the IT and the communications industry but the convergence of technologies and the industry have dictated the need for an integrated policy document.

“The role of the committee was, therefore, to harmonise all the existing policies, reflect new realities where necessary in order to provide a working document and a take-off point that could elicit robust debate and discussion by stakeholders.

“Remember that the policies that were being harmonised had much larger committees with representation of all stakeholders and they had gone through their own stakeholder debate and input.

“The release of the draft ICT document is the first step in the process of finalisation.

Over the last month, we have received comments from industry groups, companies in the industry and other stakeholders both in Nigeria and abroad.

“The comments are being collated in preparation for the public forum that we will hold next month to discuss and come to a consensus on the ‘big issues’ and ensure that we have a policy document that all stakeholders will join hands with us to implement.

“The policy document is a statement of intent for us. Once we are agreed on this statement of intent, we will then develop a country ICT master plan that will include an implementation plan with detailed implementation activities, timelines, milestones, funding requirements and funding options.

“This process will be a much broader one and will require full involvement of all stakeholders,” the minister said.

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THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

e-Business drives cash-less policy Etisalat to play major role in Interswitch with e-payment solutions broadband provisioning T

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TISALAT Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to broadband services provisioning, through strategic investments to strengthen its Third Generation (3G) and Second Generation (2G) networks.

Speaking at the launch of its EasyLife Postpaid service in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Steven Evans, said the Telco would “play significantly in the provision of broadband services this year through increased roll out and coverage.”

According to Evans, as 2012 progresses, introduction of mobile number portability, adoption of mobile money and growth in the use of data and broadband services, are among activities that will stir competition in the nation’s telecommunications sector.

He identified broadband as a veritable platform for the successful implementation of these services.

Evans argued that broadband will not only define future competitiveness in the telecoms sector, but would have far-reaching impact on individuals and organisations.

Given the defining role broadband is expected to play in ad-

Stories by Adline Atili

vancing the economy, Evans said the company’s 3.75G High Speed Packet Access + (HSPA+) network and its Easyblaze broadband service were being expanded to more locations across the country to provide services to more Nigerians.

Speaking on the Telco’s EasyLife proposition, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Wael Ammar, said the EasyLife Postpaid, which is another version of the company’s EasyLife for prepaid subscribers launched in 2010, offers customers, among other benefits, affordable call rates to all networks in the country, discounted call tariff to five international destina-

‘Easylife Postpaid was introduced to extend the benefits of the Easylife package to our postpaid subscribers. In addition to the numerous benefits subscribers get from the package, subscribers can choose a special number at the point of purchasing the Easylife Postpaid, from the available range’

tions and 600 monthly Short Messaging Service (SMS).

Ammar said with an access fee of N750, which forms part of the monthly bill, subscribers can make calls at 20K per second to all networks in the country and call two ‘favourite’ numbers, comprising an on-net number and one international number for 15K per second.

“EasyLife Postpaid was introduced to extend the benefits of the EasyLife package to our postpaid subscribers. In addition to the numerous benefits subscribers get from the package, subscribers can choose a special number at the point of purchasing the EasyLife Postpaid service, from the available range.

“As added advantage, the service enables you to set a pre-defined monthly spending amount in order to control your phone usage and also allows you block unwanted numbers from reaching you.”

In supporting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash-less initiative, Ammar said subscribers can pay subscription bills through the company’s website, Quicktellerenabled Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and through designated banks, using Verve, MasterCard or Naira MasterCard.

HE cash-less policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is aimed at encouraging electronic-based transactions and reducing the amount of cash in circulation has been given a boost by Interswitch through its electronic payment solutions, Paydirect, Autopay, Direct Debit, Verve Card, Quickteller, Webpay and Smartgov.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, stated that the solutions are aimed at assisting individuals, corporate organisations, government agencies, merchants, manufacturers and suppliers meet electronic payment (e-payment) needs seamlessly.

He said that with the Verve payment cards and others such as MasterCard, Visa, Genesis and Freedom cards issued by banks and other organisations, can perform e-payment transactions such as cash withdrawal, funds transfer and airtime top-up via the Web, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sales (PoS) terminals across the country.

He said Autopay is a Web-based online payment solution, which enables corporate organisations as well as government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) make payments from their corporate accounts to employees and customers in the country. According to him, there are more than 100 businesses, government

MDAs and religious bodies on the platform.

He added: “At Interswitch, we also have a funds collection solution called Paydirect, a Web-based, multi-channel solution that enables organisations receive immediate value for payments made into their accounts from any bank branch, website, ATM, mobile phone and PoS terminal. The solution automates the entire collection process as it solves the problem of cash movement, tracking and monitoring of payments made to the company by distributors or customers.

“Corporate organisations and billers also have the opportunity to leverage our Direct Debit solution, also a Webbased application that connects to all banks on the Interswitch network. The solution automates recurring payments directly from the bank account of the customers for services rendered.”

He said the Quickteller service enables customers perform airtime recharge and utility bills payment on ATMs, Web, mobile devices and PoS terminals. According to him, cable TV operators such as DStv, HiTV, Startimes and MyTV, in addition to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), are leveraging the convenient advantage offered by the solution to provide service to customers.

“Quickteller also offers a range of services which include airline ticket purchase, embassy payments, insurance premium payments, tax and toll payments and more,” Elegbe said.

MTN gives out N1b to subscribers

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TOTAL of N1billion in cash prize has been given to subscribers by MTN Nigeria as the Telco concluded its N1billion Mega Reward Scheme introduced in September 2011.

The initiative, according to the company, is to say ‘thank you’ to loyal customers on its tenth anniversary celebration, while encouraging them to register their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. The company also introduced a revised tariff plan to deliver great value to its consumers.

During the period of the scheme, 10 people won N10million each at each draw, which held every 10 days. Another 900 people won N100,000 each, with N10million worth of instant cash prizes given to members of the audience during the prize presentation ceremonies.

As part of the reward package, subscribers also got anenhanced tariff plan, offering airtime at 15kobo per second.

This adjusted tariff plan featured the Funlink Reloaded and Super Saver plans.

With the new Funlink Reloaded, consumers get 15kobo per second during off peak periods.

Additionally, every Y’ello Friday, subscribers were given freebies such as voice, data, SMS and hosted to exclusive concerts featuring top music acts, in Markurdi, Enugu, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Ibadan, Ilorin, Abuja, Benin and Owerri.

The company’s General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Mr Kola Oyeyemi, at the last prize presentation ceremony in Lagos, said MTN would continue to explore means to reward loyal customers and enrich people’s lives.

Nokia to connect more mobile users through apps

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•From left: Manager, High Value Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Ms Bukky Fisher; Evans and Director, Marketing Segments and Strategy, Mr Oluwole Rawa, at the launch of the service in Lagos.

Regulators seek effective utilisation of radio spectrum

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EW rules aiming to eliminate phantom satellite systems that do not exist but nonetheless are registered as using precious radio spectrum is one of several topics on the agenda for global regulators at the ongoing International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radiocommunications Conference 2012, (WRC-12).

In recent years, satellite operators that are unable to launch intended satellites within the deadlines set by the ITU, have moved other satellites nearing retirement to new slots to register that they are using the frequencies. In this way, a single satellite may, during its life, be used to register multiple networks.

A document prepared for

WRC-12 by ITU Radiocommunications Bureau Director, Francois Rancy, said the increasing demand by real satellite systems for orbits and frequencies “may soon exceed current availability.”

At the conference, other proposed regulations would provide radio spectrum for unmanned aerial vehicles communicating with telecommunications satellites from civil airspace; protection of frequencies used by earth observation satellites and new frequency bands for satellite-based maritime surveillance systems.

Speaking at the event, Executive Commissioner at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Bashir Gwandu, said developing nations in Africa are concerned

that their relatively late arrival on the satellite communications scene will permanently limit their access to orbital slots and frequencies.

He noted that Nigeria has become a major player in sub-Saharan Africa’s satellite telecommunications development. He said its NigComSat-1 was launched in 2007 but suffered onboard defects, adding that in December, it launched the replacement NigComSat-1R, which is reported healthy in orbit.

Gwandu, who doubles as the Chairman of the ITU Radiocommunications Advisory Group, said African nations can live with a range of options on how many days a satellite must remain at a slot before being declared operational in regulatory terms.

S part of efforts to connect billions of mobile phone users to the Internet, handset manufacturer, Nokia, is promoting development of applications (apps) on the company’s Series 40 mobile platform.

Series 40, the world’s most widely used mobile phone platform, is a software platform and application user interface on Nokia’s broad range of mid-tier feature phones.

To this end, the company is sponsoring a competition, Create for Millions, for mobile applications developers in West Africa.

Vice President, Nokia West Africa, Mr James Rutherfoord, explained that the competition, which has produced three winners, was part of Nokia’s strategy to deliver mobile phones and

services to the next billion of users.

He said: “It is hoped that competitions of this nature would help improve quality of locally-relevant apps on Nokia’s range of devices. It should be noted that West African developers were among the most active in the global leg of the apps competition.”

According to him, the winning applications from West Africa included: ‘My Cash’ by teXs; ‘Maths Practice’ by Sinelimit and ‘Danfo’ by Pledge51. He said ‘My Cash’ was voted overall best app, with a prize of $5,000.

He added that Nokia would sponsor all three apps developers to Barcelona, Spain for the Mobile World Congress, in order to give the developers international exposure.

Firm to establish IT centre in Lagos

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ONSUMER electronics products maker, Canon, has said it will establish a service collection centre at Computer Village, Ikeja.

According to the Japanese multinational firm, this centre would offer aftersales service to customers of its Information Technology (IT) and also serve as a distribution point for dealers and distributors; this is in addition to three existing service centres in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

In partnership with its sole country representative, Panabiz International Limited, the company has launched the latest range of office automation equipment including mono and multi-function inkjet printers; laser monochrome and laser colour printers, which also come in single and multi-function mod-

els, as well as flat bed scanners and portable photo and ID printers.

General Manager, Panabiz International, Mr Girish Sharma said the products are not only stylish and affordable, but made with cutting-edge innovative technology to give users optimum performance in the home or office.

He added that all Canon printers have been built with users’ comfort in mind, thus the compact printer design incorporates ‘fast front’ to allow easy access to the ink via the front cover while the paper input and output trays are located in the front for users’ convenience.

The company’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Mr Marc Schuster said the company’s mission is to provide need-based solutions to consumers, supported by high quality after sales service.

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

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EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 15-2-12 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. Sector Totals

No of Deals 17 2 19

Quotation(N) 0.85 21.89

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,418,145 1,141,576.20 4,000 83,200.00 1,422,145 1,224,776.20

Quotation(N) 1.71 7.20

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 162,700 280,645.00 3,048,345 22,071,131.79 3,211,045 22,351,776.79

Quotation(N) 1.20

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 402,766 475,985.18 402,766 475,985.18

Quotation(N) 6.13 2.48 4.02 1.39 10.51 14.05 7.00 3.35 0.84 1.72 8.22 0.50 0.51 12.23

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 5,453,882 32,995,632.25 10,849,666 27,022,322.72 159,888 642,550.98 8,143,626 11,605,904.52 15,516,585 163,736,459.79 7,297,326 102,474,605.55 587,420 4,120,038.32 5,392,239 17,778,659.29 2,681,441 2,218,152.40 112,104,345 191,447,049.03 25,237 197,100.97 1,203,000 601,500.00 1,043,071 530,585.50 5,547,552 67,705,494.76 176,005,278 623,076,056.08

Quotation(N) 3.64 220.10 5.70 97.00

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 190,122 692,044.08 347,581 76,228,916.60 120,960 658,628.25 4,340,978 422,590,802.86 4,999,641 500,170,391.79

Quotation(N) 10.50 4.71 110.20 43.23

Quantity Traded Value 83,102 34,550 228,217 335,764 681,633

Quotation(N) 8.79 13.78 0.97 0.91 8.59

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 150,300 1,256,508.00 59,084 819,152.22 259,000 251,230.00 11,000 9,570.00 508 4,150.36 479,892 2,340,610.58

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

No of Deals 4 81 85

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

No of Deals 15 15 BANKING

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

No of Deals 178 46 13 75 460 347 31 77 17 165 3 7 22 213 1,654 BREWERIES

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

No of Deals 3 58 10 197 268 BUILDING MATERIALS

Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 28 12 17 30 87

of Shares (N) 879,913.56 159,240.50 25,149,705.08 14,651,137.08 40,839,996.22

CHEMICAL & PAINTS Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC DN MEYER PLC I. P. W. A. PLC NIGERIAN-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 14 13 6 1 1 35

Dangote Cement loses N90b as market stumbles

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ANGOTE Cement or chestrated a major slump at the stock market yesterday as aggregate market values of all quoted equities dropped by N106 billion.

Dangote Cement alone accounted for about N90 billion of the total loss as the most capitalised quoted company dwindled by the maximum allowable percentage change of five per cent. Dangote Cement led the bears with a loss of N5.80 per share to close at N110.20.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all equities consequently tumbled from N6.513 trillion to N6.407 trillion, representing a drop of 1.64 per cent; the highest decline in a trading session so far this year.

The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the All Share Index (ASI), also slumped by 1.63 per cent to 20,329.62 points as against its opening index of 20,667.00 points. The slump yesterday worsened the return outlook at the stock market, with the average year-todate return rising to -1.93 per cent.

The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 biggest companies, fell from 934.09 points to

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

921.23 points. The NSE Consumer Good Index also dropped from 1,692.54 points to 1,677.68 points while the NSE Insurance Index slipped from 113.50 points to 112.96 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Banking Index rode on the back of gains by seven banks to 277.67 points as against its opening index of 275.56 points. The NSE Oil and Gas Index was unchanged at 209.99 points.

Analysts said the loss by Dangote Cement, which controls about 25 per cent of total market value, was the main driver for the downtrend. Other top losers included Lafarge Wapco Cement Nigeria, which dropped

by N2.27 to close at N43.23; PZ Cussons Nigeria that lost N1.40 to close at N26.60; Unilever Nigeria lost N1.39 to close at N28.91; Julius Berger Nigeria, which dropped by N1.15 to N22.01; Nigerian Breweries that lost 50 kobo to close at N97; Morison Industries dropped by 40 kobo to close at N7.77 while Dangote Sugar Refinery dropped by 20 kobo to close at N3.89 per share.

On the upside, UAC of Ni-

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 11 11

Quotation(N) 2.40

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 287,000 672,230.00 287,000 672,230.00

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

No of Deals 2 2

Quotation(N) 9.75

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 16,000 163,680.00 16,000 163,680.00

Quotation(N) 1.45 26.60 0.50 29.07 28.91

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,000 1,470.00 345,160 9,285,949.00 5,087,675 2,544,751.25 2,626,378 75,511,280.60 457,041 13,249,479.11 8,517,254 100,592,929.96

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

No of Deals 1 46 32 74 52 205

Company Name JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 10 10

Quotation(N) 22.01

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 15-2-12

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 342,885 7,546,898.85 342,885 7,546,898.85

N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC. UNIC INSURANCE PLC. INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 100,000 133,000.00 500 2,330.00 100,500 135,330.00

Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

CONSTRUCTION

geria (UACN) led the gainers with a gain of 56 kobo to close at N29.07. Cadbury Nigeria followed with a gain of 26 kobo to close at N9.30. Access Bank rose by 24 kobo to N6.13. Eterna gained 16 kobo to close at N3.41. Stanbic IBTC Bank gathered 10 kobo to close at N7. Red Star Express rose by 9.0 kobo to N2.40 while United Bank for Africa added 8.0 kobo to close at N1.72 per share.

Investors swapped a total of 222.55 million shares worth N1.41 billion through 3,330 deals. Banking subsector accounted for 176.60 million shares valued at N628.79 million in 1,712 deals. United Bank for Africa remained the most active stock with a turnover of 112.10 million shares worth N191.45 million in 165 deals.

Meanwhile, analysts remained optimistic that the market would witness moderate recovery this year, citing corporate fundamentals and expected stability in monetary management.

Analysts at FSDH Securities said they expect the average return at the NSE to be 13.3 per cent in 2012.

According to analysts, the attractiveness of corporate valuations would entice investors to equity and support a gradual recovery, although the market could swing mostly between gains and losses.

They advised investors to invest with medium to long term investment horizons while seeking bargain buys in companies with strong fundamentals and corporate governance.

13 1 4 3 1 88

0.50 0.50 0.76 0.50 0.50

37,200 500 151,000 10,000 1,000 7,678,923

18,600.00 250.00 116,800.00 5,000.00 500.00 5,288,989.24

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 817,270 408,635.00 817,270 408,635.00

Quotation(N) 0.75

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,842,396 2,849,898.82 3,842,396 2,849,898.82

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name CUTIX PLC INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 1 4

Quotation(N) 1.33 4.90

LEASING No of Deals 5 5

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Company Name NEWGOLD ETF Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 7

Quotation(N) 2,765.00

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,700 4,679,500.00 1,700 4,679,500.00

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

No of Deals 10 36 67 69 57 10 16 30 3 1 27 326

Quotation(N) 46.00 9.30 3.99 3.89 60.55 2.58 3.87 446.65 21.48 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value 9,707 546,576 981,429 2,780,848 169,747 233,500 420,960 46,135 3,760 50,000 2,054,716 7,297,378

of Shares (N) 427,685.48 4,958,306.85 3,911,264.38 10,833,043.38 10,040,624.12 602,830.00 1,576,533.61 19,878,485.24 76,741.60 25,000.00 1,027,358.00 53,357,872.66

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

No of Deals 3 10 2 3 1 1 20

Quotation(N) 0.61 0.64 22.00 2.75 7.77 1.03

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 402,912 245,776.32 478,070 309,145.50 514 11,113.00 33,600 88,032.00 191,076 1,484,660.52 12,500 12,250.00 1,118,672 2,150,977.34

Quotation(N) 1.17

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 650,000 760,500.00 650,000 760,500.00

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 25 25

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC VONO PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 21 1 25

Quotation(N) 6.83 3.38 2.88

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 12,310 80,540.20 533,635 1,795,982.75 119,974 345,525.12 665,919 2,222,048.07

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name CHAMS PLC STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1 2

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 90,000 45,000.00 2,000 1,000.00 92,000 46,000.00

INSURANCE Company Name No of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 30 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 6 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC 19 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 3 GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 5 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 1 LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. 2

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.66 1.60 0.63 1.06 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 4,581,013 2,294,244.64 335,010 220,406.60 1,133,200 1,766,288.00 90,000 56,700.00 250,000 265,200.00 90,000 45,000.00 1,000,000 500,000.00

MARITIME Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 57 57

MORTGAGE COMPANIES Company Name RESORT SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 300,000 150,000.00 300,000 150,000.00

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS Company Name ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,700 1,850.00 3,700 1,850.00

Quotation(N) 1.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 300,406 455,781.71 300,406 455,781.71

PACKAGING Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 31 31

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

No of Deals 1 6 11 3 18 211 5 255

Quotation(N) 0.50 28.00 3.41 12.18 133.00 17.48 180.50

Quantity Traded Value 4,600 6,606 170,000 2,000 41,943 1,280,219 4,448 1,509,816

of Shares (N) 2,300.00 175,719.60 571,250.00 23,160.00 5,300,406.15 22,834,206.86 762,743.04 29,669,785.65

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 1 18 22

Quotation(N) 2.09 2.81 3.06

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 30,000 59,700.00 3,000 8,010.00 810,760 2,482,317.60 843,760 2,550,027.60

Quotation(N) 11.90

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 91,878 1,040,675.18 91,878 1,040,675.18

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

No of Deals 6 6

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 6 6

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 288,180 144,090.00 288,180 144,090.00

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

Mac 72 - 58-59 - Capital Market FOLDER

No of Deals 58 58

Quotation(N) 9.95

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 584,449 5,714,487.99 584,449 5,714,487.99

3,330

222,552,486

1,411,081,780.91

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

55

MONEY LINK

T

NDIC appoints debt collectors for closed MfBs

HE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation [NDIC] has ap pointed Debt Recovery Agents (DRAs) for microfinance banks (MfBs) in liquidation to fast track recovery of debts owed to the 103 closed down nationwide.

Lagos State has the highest number of 21 recovery agents for 68 closed MFBs followed by Rivers and Ogun States with three and two agents each for six and four closed firms respectively.

Similarly, Oyo State has one recovery agent for four closed MfBs while Edo State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have one recovery agent for three closed MfBs each.

The rest are Delta and Enugu States with one recovery agent for two closed

From Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor

firms each while Osun State has one recovery agent for one firm.

A statement from NDIC’s spokesman Hadi Birchi, said a total sum of N102.6 million has so far been realised from the sale of physical assets and recovery of loans and advances owed to the 103 closed MfBs. Out of the amount, the sum of N86.49 million was realised from the sales of chattels while N16.11million was recovered from debts owed the firms.

Meanwhile, the Corporation has called on all debtors of the 103 closed

MFBs to settle their debts or face the full wrath of the law. The debtors have also been advised to crosscheck the names and addresses of the recovery agents assigned to the banks they are indebted to and make necessary arrangements to offset their debts.

Meanwhile, NDIC is training its board members on sound governance to ensure that they effectively discharge the mandate of the corporation in the new financial year.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2012 retreat for directors of NDIC in Abuja yesterday, the managing director of NDIC Mr Umaru Ibrahim,

said: “the objective of the retreat is to enhance the capacity of the board members in their critical function of formulating necessary policies and strategies with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the corporation in the discharge of its mandate.”

The NDIC board members would be coached on current financial sector issues by the deputy governor of the

Council advises banks on assets evaluation

T

World Bank President exits in June

T

HE World Bank Group Presi dent Robert Zoellick announced yesterday he would step down at the end of a five-year term ending June 30 this year. He said the transformed bank played an historic role during the global economic crisis, using record replenishments to provide more than $247 billion to help developing countries boost growth and overcome poverty.

“I’m honored to have led such a world class institution with so many talented and exceptional people. Together we have focused on supporting developing countries to navigate crises and adjust to global economic shifts.

The bank has recognised that we live in a world of multiple poles of growth where traditional concepts of the “Third World” are now outdated

E

COBANK Nigeria Plc yesterday said it is offering 600 of its non-core staff an opportunity to become permanent employees.

The lender however, said there would be job cuts.The bank said that the disengaged staff wil be providedseverance pay in agreement with the respective employee

By Collins Nweze

and where developing countries have a key role to play as growth drivers and responsible stakeholders,” he said in a statement.

According to him, the bank has scaled up its support to poor people, countries, and communities and shown that it can be an indispensable innovator, catalyst, and driver of a modernised multilateralism.

“I am very pleased that when the world needed the Bank to step up, our shareholders responded with expanded resources and support for key reforms that made us quicker, more effective and more open,” Zoellick added.

He explained that the bank is now strong, healthy and well positioned for new challenges, and so it is a natural time for me to move on and support

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Tuned Lemo; group managing directors of First bank and Access bank; managing director of Augusto and Co; managing partners of KPMG and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC); Ms Angela Adeboye of Roland Berger; officials of the World Bank, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation of the USA.

new leadership.

Zoellick had during his tenure, provided a record $247 billion of support in the key areas of infrastructure, the private sector, agriculture, trade finance, social safety nets, education, health, and the environment. He also said the first general capital increase for the bank in over 20 years, with over half the new capital from developing countries; and a record $90 billion raised for International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest, against a very challenging backdrop of donor austerity.

He also created a new International Finance Corporation (IFC) Asset Management Company to channel sovereign wealth funds and pension resources worth $3 billion to the private sector in Africa and other emerging markets.

HE Financial Reporting Coun cil (FRC), yesterday said that wrong evaluation of assets would hinder Banks and Non-Banking Institutions from adopting the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS).

The body, in a statement, said inability of such institutions to properly identify certain assets and liabilities would affect their chances of migrating to IFRS. According to the Agency’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Jim Obazee, the issue of recognition and de-recognition of certain assets and liabilities is crucial to the implementation of IFRS. Obazee said bad disclosure requirements, components, and format of financial statements, changes in revenue and expenditure patterns, and measurement bases for certain assets and liabilities are impediments to the realisation of IFRS’s goals and objectives.

He said FRC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have agreed to work together to promote corporate governance in the country. He said both agencies have agreed to harmonise the sepa-

rate codes of corporate governance in the country.

According to him, CBN has co-opted the Financial Reporting Council into the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC) to address issues that are germane to growth of the country.

He said CBN’s Governor, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has expressed commitment to the realisation of the goals of IFRS Academy, during a visit to his office in Abuja last week. IFRS Academy was established by the Financial Reporting Council to train stakeholders in the area of implementing the internationally acceptable accounting standards.

He said the Council has tasked CBN on the implementation of the Financial Reporting Council Act as it relates to professional ethics, certification of financial statements, registration of professionals, attestation of Internal Controls and Information System, among others.

the new enlarged Ecobank is to ensure a smooth integration of the two banks as soon as possible whilst working to improve the quality of service to our customers and our operational efficiency”.

According to him, the bank understand that people are its key asset, and

therefore have emphasised the need to reward its best performers, and open up new opportunities for talented, committed people to join it as permanent employees.

The institution added that it is taking steps to ensure that all disengaged staff are treated fairly and in line with industry practice.

By Akinola Ajibade

Ecobank to cut jobs, reward top performers

By Collins Nweze

unions.

Ecobank has equally announced the promotion of its top 1,000 performing staff.

“We are giving a unique opportunity to 600 non-core staff to become permanent employees,” the bank said in a

statement.

The bank explained that it was taking this step following its recent merger with the former Oceanic Bank.

It also reiterated its commitment to rewarding and acknowledging exceptional performance by its workforce.

The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr. Jibril Aku explained: “Our focus in

DATA BANK Tenor

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

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

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES OBB Rate Call Rate

7.9-10% 10-11%

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

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 5-02-2012 “ 6-02-2012

GAINERS AS AT 15-2-12 SYMBOL STERLNBANK LIVESTOCK ETERNAOIL UBA CONTINSURE JAPAULOIL ACCESS REDSTAREX CUSTODYINS CADBURY

O/PRICE 0.80 0.81 3.25 1.64 0.63 0.72 5.89 2.31 1.55 9.04

C/PRI CE 0.84 0.85 3.41 1.72 0.66 0.75 6.13 2.40 1.60 9.30

CHANGE 0.04 0.04 0.16 0.08 0.03 0.03 0.24 0.09 0.05 0.26

LOSER AS AT 15-2-12 SYMBOL PRESTIGE AIRSERVICE DANGCEM PZ CUTIX WAPCO JBERGER CHAMPION DNMETER MORISON

O/PRICE 0.80 1.80 116.00 28.00 1.40 45.50 23.16 3.83 1.02 8.17

C/PRICE 0.76 1.71 110.20 26.60 1.33 43.23 22.01 3.64 0.97 7.77

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

450m

452.7m

450m

156.8

08-2-12

250m

313.5m

250m

156.8

03-2-12

250m

250m

245m

156.7

01-2-12

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

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

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

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

(S/N)

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Dec ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

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

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 10.3%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 121.47 98.43 0.76 1.04 0.88 1,642.73 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,329.39 193.00

9.08 1.00 121.33 97.65 0.73 1.04 0.87 1,635.25 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,142.17 191.08

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

CHANGE 0.04 0.09 5.80 1.40 0.07 2.27 1.15 0.19 0.05 0.40

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

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 23 Dec 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 24, Dec, 2011 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Dec, 2011

Bank

8.5000

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

8.0833

Movement

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

56

NEWS Edo Assembly to probe clash

T

HE Edo State House of Assembly has ordered its committees on Security and Lands to probe the intra-communal clash in which two people died and property destroyed at Ogheghe Nikhwa village in Uhunmwode Local Government.

Ogheghe village is now a ghost town after residents fled the village, following an atttack by hoodlums, who shot sporadically last Thursday and Friday.

The matter was raised during plenary by the lawmaker representing the constituency, Ms. Elisabeth Ativie.

Ms. Ativie told the lawmakers that the commu-

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

nity has been embroiled in crisis, which, she noted, arose from the feud between the Ohen and the Odionwere of the community over control of lands.

She said members of the community are now staying in neighbouring villages and farms and urged the Assembly to help restore peace to the community.

The lawmaker canvassed for the construction of a police post with adequate manpower to maintain law and order in the community.

The committees were given two weeks to submit their report.

Neurosurgeons conference opens

A

FRICAN Neurosurgeons are seeking new ways of approach to brain and spine surgery.

To this end, a two-day conference of neurosurgeons from Africa on contemporary spine management would hold in Enugu today and tomorrow.

The facilitator of the conference and founding president of the African Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, Prof Sam Ohaegbulam, said the conference would seek new methods of performing brain and spine sur-

From Chris Oji, Enugu

geries locally and discourage patients’ from travelling overseas for treatment.

Ohaegbulam, who is the Chief Medical Director of Memfys Hospital for Neurosurgery, Enugu, said: “The conference with the theme, ‘Contemporary Spine Management’ ,would host some of the best African neurosurgeons.

He said during the conference, the medical experts would dwell extensively on latest discovery in neurosurgical practice.

•Eldest son of the late Head of State Murtala Muhammed, Risqua (left), eldest daughter , Mrs Aisha Oyebode and Central Bank Governor Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi at the 2012 Public Policy Dialogue Roadmap for Change and Nigeria Economic Development in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA

Abia PPA suspends Kalu, mum, others

F

ORMER Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, his brothers, Nnanna and Mascot and their mother have been suspended by the state Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) for alleged anti-party activities.

Speaking with reporters in Umuahia after a meeting of the State Working Committee, the party chairman, Emeka Onuoha, said those

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

suspended were observed to be working against the party.

Onuoha said the suspension is an indefinite one and warned that those who have party materials in their possession should return same within 24 hours.

He said while the 14 members of the SWC were

meeting, those who were suspended allegedly brought thugs into the party office to disrupt the meeting.

“Their behaviour is unbecoming of party members who want the party to succeed,” Onuoha said.

The PPA Chairman said the decision was not influenced, adding that they were determined to bring sanity into the party.

He said the suspension of Kalu and his family “does not mean the end of the party.

“No single individual can own a party, so their indefinite suspension will serve as a deterrent to others.”

Kalu was the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman; his mother, Eunice, was the party leader. His brothers are stakeholders in the party.

Obi apologises to civil servants

A

NAMBRA State Governor Peter Obi yesterday bemoaned the laxity of some civil servants, which culminated in nonpayment of January salaries.

A statement from his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Valentine Obienyem, said he would no longer tol-

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

erate delay in the payment of salaries to workers.

Obi apologised to the civil servants and noted that severe disciplinary measures would be taken against anybody who is responsible for

such delay.

He recalled that part of his campaign promises was prompt payment of salaries.

Obi said he was sad that the promise was not fulfilled, not because there was no money but due to what he called “laxity of civil servants”.

Daniel’s counsel angry with EFFC’s aides R Yemi Oke , one of the counsel to former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel yesterday got angry and allegedly made threatening gestures at the media officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).

He was annoyed with the officials over what he considered unfair coverage and misrepresentation of his principal, Daniel, by the agency in its television programme.

The EFCC media officers Mr. Kamilu Gebi and Miss Sheyi Folarin sat behind Daniel in the courtroom. Oke allegedly shouted at them, pointing his fingers in their direction.

But the audience intervened and pleaded with Oke. The incident occurred after the court rose for some minutes.

Daniel is on trial for a 43 count charge, bordering on stealing, conversion of Ogun State landed property to private use and failure to declare his assets truthfully.

At the last sitting on February 10, Justice Mabekoje had summoned Gebi and Miss Folarin, over a video tape evidence submitted by Daniel’s lead counsel, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan The duo were said to have

D

•Court cautions against media bias From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta anchored a television programme on Channels Television on January 28, in which they claimed that the court had dismissed Daniel’s application, which sought to quash the charges levied against him by EFCC. When the matter came up yesterday, EFCC’s counsel Rotimi Jacobs said he had watched the video recording and admitted that the claims made by the EFCC officials in it was a mistake.

Jacobs added that EFCC action was a grievous offence and pleaded with the court to have mercy on them.

According to him, the mistake emanated from technical error as neither the prosecution nor the management of the agency knew anything about it.

But Justice Mabekoje after listening to the arguments of Mr Tayo Oyetibo, one of Daniel’s counsel ordered that the video tape be replayed. The tape was replayed and the claims of Daniel’s counsel were confirmed.

Oyetibo decried the action, saying the offence was more

than an innocent mistake.

He, however, pleaded with the court to caution the agency from running his client down through its (EFCC) sponsored programme.

In his ruling, Justice Mabekoje said: ‘’I have considered the plea of the prosecuting counsel and the submission of the defence counsel, the affected officers are hereby pardoned and that contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them. ‘’But they are hereby seriously warned to ensure that court proceedings in any of the programmes of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are accurately reported in future. ‘’Any conduct which is capable of interfering with the administration of justice or which tends to bring into disrepute the authority or dignity of the court will not be tolerated and shall be appropriately sanctioned. ‘’Inaccurate report made in this case, however, should be retracted by the affected officers in the next edition of the agency’s special programme. ‘’Accordingly, the affected officers of the EFCC are hereby discharged.’’

THE NATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

57

OPEN FORUM •Continued from Back Page Over the past sixteen months, I have worked with various stakeholders to ensure that we have more women in decision making at all levels in the State. Before the April 2011 elections we had no women in the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

Now we have four. Again, in June 2011, Ekiti State became the first state in Nigeria to domesticate the National Gender Policy. After being faced with a wave of violent attacks on young girls and women in the state, I pushed for the Gender Based Violence Prohibition Bill which was signed into law on November 25th 2011. I advocated for the establishment of the Multiple Births Trust Fund which is managed by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. In order to bring back to Ekiti what I have done in the field of social change philanthropy, I launched the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF) on June 10 2011.

Since then we have supported a range of women’s organisations across the state, reaching out to hundreds of women in remote places. We have also supported several government projects with funding we have raised from donors. The funding for EDF comes from collaborations with various institutions, corporate sponsorship, wealthy philanthropists and support in kind.

I have been involved in all these things because I want to remain true to who and what I am. I am acutely aware of the dreadful baggage my position carries, and how easy it is for people to cast aspersion on the motives of people such as myself, based on the experiences they have had with many spouses of occupants of State Houses at the national and state levels. I however know that I am in a position where I can make a difference in the lives of people and for once, allow myself to be held accountable, the same way in which as a member of many social justice movements over the years, I have demanded accountability from leaders across the African continent. My main responsibility as the wife of a governor is to support my husband.

The husband I have been married to for over twenty-two years needs me to work with him and his team to help build our beloved Ekiti State, the Land of Honour, and to make good on all the promises he made to the electorate who stood by us all through our legal battles to re-

The First Lady Debate: Speaking for myself claim his mandate. That is the ‘home front’ support my husband needs from me right now. My husband will be very disappointed in me if I opt to spend most of my time sitting at home and attending social functions to show off my latest lace and head-ties. He will consider it a terrible waste of my experience, skills and talents.

Many commentators on the First Lady debate raised the issue of the ‘illegality’ of the position, since it does not exist in the Constitution. The fact that it is not written in the constitution does not make the office ‘illegal’. There is nowhere in the constitution where it is written that there shall be an Office of the Chief of Staff, for example. However, it is hard to see how a President or Governor can operate without appointing someone into that position, even if the designation is called something else. One of the problems with the Office of the First Lady is that over the years, we have allowed our experiences with powerhungry, unscrupulous women listening to poor advice to cloud our judgement.

In my own opinion, the question of legitimacy can be addressed if we can engage in conversations devoid of the usual venom, hypocrisy, sexism and ignorance which bubble to the surface every time the First Lady question comes up. If there is legislation and a budgetary provision recognising the office of the spouse either at national or state level, then there will be more transparency and accountability around their activities. I know many people will raise hell at this suggestion of mine. The Office of the First Lady of the United States evolved over time. It is not in the American constitution, and for many years the Office was not funded, except for the use of seconded, temporary staff. All this changed in November 1978 when President Jimmy Carter approved Public Law 95-570 which provided for the First Lady’s budget and staff. Till today, debates still rage in the US about the various occupants of the office, their politics, choices, their value addition or subtraction and so on, but there is consensus that the Office itself has come to stay and it does have a vital role to play.

There are many historical, cultural and social reasons why we might never do this in Nigeria.

When I have raised this in private discussions, people ask about those who have more than one wife, and how this will work? My response to this is – let the laws provide for one spouse and let the husband and spouses concerned figure it out amongst themselves! Please note that I am asking for recognition for ‘spouses’ and not ‘wives’ in anticipation of when we will have women in these key positions. As I agree that this is not something people are prepared to countenance at a time when we have serious debates around the cost of governance, what I am calling for is for us not to conflate our apprehensions, no matter how legitimate they might be, with the reality that this despised ‘Office’ cannot be wished away. First Ladies are not a homogenous group. We have different contexts, interests and abilities. Just as is done in other places like the US which we are often fond of quoting, why don’t we try separating the Office from the individuals who transit through it and allow for processes of accountability, monitoring and assessment based on individual merit?

I often tell people that we can have lengthy debates about the constitutionality or otherwise of my office but the fact remains that if you have been trying to see my husband for three months and he will not return your calls, I can arrange for you to have breakfast with him tomorrow morning. Now you can debate the constitutionality of that! Just because we have had Presidents who have fallen short of our expectations or Governors who cannot govern does not mean we should stop having them. It means we should ask hard questions about the quality of leadership we need in our country right now and ensure that we stop scratching the bottom of the barrel. It is true that we have experienced First Ladies at all levels with little or no understanding of strategic thinking, good manners, decorum and protocol. This, however, does not mean that we should not try to learn how to do things differently.

We simply need to add this to the long list of good governance issues we have to grapple with. There is no point electing a saint as a leader

if he is going home to the warm embrace of a dragon.

I now believe that some of the things expected of people such as myself is silence on things that matter and invisibility in things that can truly make a difference. For those who would like to know, I do have an opinion on the fuel subsidy crisis. I do have an opinion on the gap between the kind of leadership we deserve in Nigeria and the kind we have right now. I have an opinion on the breach of the social contract between the leaders and the people. I have an opinion on the kind of legacy I would like to bequeath my children. I have an opinion on the conduct that is expected of wives of top government officials, particularly First Ladies. I have strong opinions on our national and human security challenges and the implications for women and children.

All my opinions are channelled through my work as a pan-Africanist, political activist, human rights advocate, women’s rights defender, social change philanthropist and being the wife of a progressive, brilliant, visionary governor.

Every day I work hard at ensuring that I exercise my informal power and authority with the utmost discretion, respect, sensitivity, and integrity. I might not always get it right, but I try.

I did not decide to write this article to appeal for sympathy for First Ladies. I needed to find my voice and speak for myself. I wanted to let people know that things are not always what they seem. The few First Ladies I am close to work extremely hard. People see the glamour, the glitz, the fashion parades, the perks, the gaffes, the slights—both real and imagined. No one ever talks about the loneliness, the vulnerability, the toll on relationships, the hard work, the unbearable pressure from family, friends and political associates, the sacrifices, loss of privacy and the claustrophobia. As a governor’s wife I don’t have the luxury of thinking or talking about these things. I am too focused on not taking things personally.

•Mrs Fayemi is wife of the Ekiti State Governor

•Dapo Fafowora returns in a fortnight

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NEWS Text of the communique issued at the end of the First Legislative Summit on Collaborative Agenda by Southwest and Edo State goverments in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital yesterday

‘Our stand on integration’

S

EQUEL to the First Legislative Summit on Collaborative Agenda (South West and Edo State), held from 12 to 15 February 2012, at Premier Hotel, Ibadan, Oyo State, the participants made the following resolutions: •Given the glaring failure of Nigeria’s present federal arrangement, regional cooperation, collaboration and integration offer the best approach to saving Nigeria as a federal republic; and delivering development and prosperity to Nigerian citizens.

•Regional integration is not to break up Nigeria. It is rather to renew the Nigerian federation and deliver its capacity to deliver the greatest good for the greatest number of Nigerians, in the six geo-political zones. Simply put, it is regional growth as a strategy for national integration.

•Regional integration is erected on the pillars of true and fiscal federalism, aimed at weaning Nigeria from centralised sharing of resources, which has created mass poverty; to regional creation of wealth, which has the capacity to create mass prosperity.

•Regional integration is all about a new Constitution, to reorder Nigeria’s malfunctioning federal system. The National Assembly cannot give us a new Constitution. That is the job for a Constituent Assembly, thereafter subjected to referendum or plebiscite. But it should facilitate the process by passing a Bill for the setting-up of a Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution, which product would be subject to a simple referendum of “Yes” or “No”.

•Issuing from this premise, the states in present Political South West of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, as well as the contiguous Edo, are better off integrated into an economic zone, sharing resources and attaining economies of scale for economic growth and development.

•Though integration is on the surface economic, its basis and driving force is political. Therefore, the

•Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola

•Babatunde Fashola (Lagos)

•Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti)

•Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun)

•Isiaka Ajimobi (Oyo)

••Adams Oshiomhole (Edo)

‘

Regional integration is not to break up Nigeria. It is rather to renew the Nigerian federation and deliver its capacity to deliver the greatest good for the greatest number of Nigerians

’

present ruling progressives in the South West and Edo states must make the people the centre-piece of their policies and programmes. That will ensure they retain political power and continue to drive the South West integrated regional agenda.

•But beyond politics, winning or losing power, there must be a robust legal framework for South West regionalisation, so that the laudable agenda is not reversed. To this end the summit called for a South West Consultative Assembly, made up of legislators in the South West states and their members in the National Assembly, to serve as clearing house

for such legislations and give adequate advice to the legislatures in the South West states.

•For the regional integration agenda, the Legislature is key. So, the South West Executives must closely work with the Legislatures, both in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, to achieve the desired goals of the agenda.

•South West members in the National Assembly must network, lobby and sell regional federalism among their peers from other parts of the country, to demonstrate its mutual benefits to all; and as a better alternative to the present failing federal arrangement.

•Also, South West legislators in the National Assembly must lobby their colleagues, across party lines, for the repeal of anti-federal laws in energy/power, mining and minerals. If regional federalism must deliver the goods, states constituting the regions must have legal backing to prospect economic activities in such areas as mining and minerals, railway, aviation and other strategic areas like energy/power in which the present laws give the Federal Government absolute or near-absolute monopolies.

•In the area of security, South West

legislators in the National Assembly must lobby their colleagues to press for constitutional amendments to establish State Police.

•In the envisaged regions themselves, State Houses of Assembly are very crucial to making such strong legislative frameworks. For this task, the South West legislatures would require sound legal advice.

•In the 1999 Constitution, even as amended, there are strong legal impediments to regionalisation as a panacea to save Nigeria’s failing federalism. However, the South West states can work around these impediments to jump-start the process, pending the requisite constitutional amendments.

•To preserve Yoruba as a living language, the summit called for all legislatures in the South West to conduct proceedings in Yoruba for at least a day in the week. The summit also resolved that Yoruba language be made a prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions in the South West from 2015.

•To deepen good governance and best global practices in public sector management, the regional executives and legislatures must subject themselves to institutional peer review.

•As a result, South West states and Edo can start with close collaboration and cooperation in agriculture, with each state concentrating on areas in which it has core competence and comparative advantage.

•To boost agriculture, the summit resolved, as a matter of urgency, to push for regional investment in research, innovation, access to land and training of young farmers. There is also an urgent need to invest in agricultural extension services to boost improved crops and seedlings. There is also need for a regional commodity exchange to protect farmers and guarantee good prices for farmers and make farming profitable and sustainable.

•In education, the South West states can start with integrating their state universities into a better funded South West University, along the model of the University of Cairo, or even the multi-campus University of California. State universities should be turned into colleges offering specialised disciplines. Aside, the region should urgently consider setting up a University of Native Medicine to maximise the economic use of Yoruba flora and fauna, particularly in processing them for drugs to curtail killing diseases like cancer. It also calls for setting up specialised science laboratories to take advantage of modern strides in genetic research and engineering.

•Still on education, the summit resolved that the region declare a state of emergency in education to restore

Body of eight-year-old Lagos storm victim still missing

Supreme Court to determine sacked Kwara CJ’s fate tomorrow

T

HE Supreme Court will tomorrow decide the fate of the removed Chief Judge of Kwara State , Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb.

The Chief Judge was removed on May 4, 2009 by the House of Assembly following a request by ex-Governor Bukola Saraki.

But without hearing from the Chief Judge, who was at a conference in Abuja , the Assembly approved her removal the same day it received the request from the ex-governor.

The embattled Chief Judge however decided to seek redress from the Federal High Court, Ilorin .

Her prayers were as follows: The sack was without fair hearing; a State Chief Executive cannot remove a Chief Judge without input from the National Judicial Council; and immediate reinstatement into the same office.

The Federal High Court upheld her prayers and or-

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

dered her reinstatement.

The Federal High Court said that a State Executive has no power under the 1999 Constitution to remove any judicial officer without input of the National Judicial Council.

But the state government filed an appeal in July 2010 at the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division.

The Court of Appeal also ruled that there must be input of National Judicial Council in the removal from office of any judicial officer in the country.

The appellate court, however, stated that the case ought to be determined by the Kwara State High Court and not the Federal High Court.

The decision of the Court of Appeal prompted the appeal at the Supreme Court.

The apex court will determine whether it is the state high Court or the federal

High Court that can adjudicate on the matter when the National Judicial Council is a party to the case as a federal agency.

The appeal was heard by the Supreme Court on November 28, 2011 by a panel of seven justices presided over by Honorable Justice Mohammed Mahmud (JSC).

The panel will deliver its judgment tomorrow.

Due to the legal stalemate, Kwara State has no substantive Chief Judge till date although the state has had three acting CJs. The acting CJs had been Justice Fola Gbadeyan (three months) Justice Ayinla Bamigbola (six months) and Justice Suleiman Kawu (for more than one year).

Worried by the logjam, there were attempts by some forces in the state to prevail on Justice Raliat Elelu- Habeeb to resign but she insisted in seeking redress from the court.

effective and qualitative basic education. There should also be a revamping of vocational and vocational technical education to equip youths for self-employment.

•On transportation, the summit resolved that the South West state government approach the federal government for the take-over of federal roads in the area, as a cheaper alternative to building a new network of roads. The summit also moved for the South West government to prevail on the federal to create the enabling legal environment for the region to develop fast trains as part of a multi-modal transport system that would seamlessly link every part of the region by road, air, rail and water.

•In sports, the South West states can pool resources to fund a regional football club in the Nigerian Professional League, in the mould of Enugu Rangers, which approximated the Igbo spirit after the Nigerian Civil War, or the former WNDC, later IICC (now known as 3SC) that was popular enough in the whole of Western Nigeria to approximate the spirit of the people of the region.

•The summit also resolved to promote cultural integration in the form of regional cultural festival to further propagate Yoruba traditions, mores and norms. It also resolved that culture should be used to promote tourism in the region, even as each part of the region can invest in specific tourism products to create gainful employment for our teeming youth.

•The region should save cost by integrating manpower training and development. For instance, it suggested that Lagos State serve as specialist centre for training regional civil servants.

•There is urgent need for a clearing house for regionalisation; and to gauge specific areas in its progress and implementation.

•Osun State has shown leadership by establishing a Ministry of Regional Integration. Other South West states should establish their own regional integration ministries.

•Without prejudice to the anthems of other South West states, the gathering resolved to adopt the State of Osun Anthem as the South West Regional Anthem. That anthem was composed by our late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and it captures the correct spirit and sentiment behind integration for regional development and greatness. In the same token and for the same reason, the crest of the State of Osun should be adopted as the regional logo.

•The current South West must recreate and even surpass the glory of the old Western Region. The old West is rediscovering and must rediscover itself.

By Joke Kujenya

•Hassan

D

IVERS continued yesterday the search for the remains of the last victim of Monday storm at Ojota village, Lagos in Ojo Local Government area.

Mr Dauda Hassan, 60, told The Nation that the remains of his eight-year-old son, Hawat, a primary three pupil, has not been found.

He said: “My son, Hawat, is the only one yet to be found. That is why I am here to work with the divers so that we can find his body. My daughter Ramat Hassan, 12,

who was also in the canoe, was a primary six pupil till her death. She died trying to rescue her brother. She couldn’t swim.

“This fate befell our children because we have no school in Ojota Village. The nearest town, Esofun, has a school. But getting there is more dangerous because the road is hilly and rocky. It would also take the children about two hours because of the distance. That is why our children come to school in Igbede here, which is considered a town.”

The canoe conveying 10 children and two women, was uptured by the rainstorm on Monday.

One of the passengers, a 60year-old wife of the Baale of Ojota Village, Madam Hassan died in the mishap.

Mrs. Basirat Hassan-Atiku, 40, daughter of the Baale said the family is in a very sad

mood because of the mother’s demise.

“My mother was a fish trader at Igbede town. In fact, she could swim. But the way the weather turned dark on that Monday made things difficult for her. She was in the same boat with the children. They had all left about 7.00am before the clouds even formed.

The pupils were usually beaten when they get to school late.

There was also another woman from a nearby village called Ilegba, who came to this town to buy her wares to be sold elsewhere.

“Now, we need a school in this village and we will be happy if the government can begin to consider us in the scheme of things. I was born in this village but now live with my husband elsewhere, where I teach. But this village cannot be left like this. We also need good drinking water, health centre.”

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SPORT EXTRA INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

Eagles beat Lone Star 2-0 T

•…Keshi hails team

HE rebuilding process of the Nigerian national team continued on Wednesday in far away Monrovia , Liberia , when the Super Eagles made up of wholly home-based professionals smashed their hosts Lone Star 2-0.

The game which was played at the Antoinnette Tubman Stadium in Central Monrovia , was watched by Liberian President, Ellen Sirlif Johnson, who took the kickoff at exactly 6pm , Nigerian time. The friendly was actually organised to mark her inauguration as President of Liberia for a second term.

Liberia took the kick-off and took the fight to the Nigerians but desperate headers and shots from Alpha James, Martins Karadu and Isaac Pupo, were repelled by Papa Idris, Azubuike Egwueke and skipper and goalkeeper of the side Chigozie Agbim.

This got Head Coach Stephen Keshi enraged and the players more serious and their first real attack paid off, when Reuben Gabriel clever pass was neatly slotted in by Sunday Mba for the first goal in the 9th minute.

From then on, it was Nigeria all the way, as the Liberians suddenly realised that the Eagles were the better

of the two sides and the 18,000 seater stadium was kept quiet by the Eagles gallant display.

It was going to be a matter of time before the second goal came and that happened in the 30th minute,when a pass from Ejike Uzoenyi, again found Mba lurking and he coolly took his chance to further deflate the hosts.

Several other chances were created by the Nigerians, but centre referee Ebeneser Konah and his two assistants Augustine Gooding and Sylvester Johnson ensured that the Eagles did not rub more salt on the injury of the hoosts with questionable offside calls and freekicks.

It got so bad that Keshi had to confront the assistant referee on the sideline and Johnson told him, that he was a Liberian and would not watch and see his country’s President disgraced.

Keshi said at the end of the encounter that the players had fulfilled their own part of the bargain in the rebuilding process but warned “this is just the beginning we must go to Rwanda and win and go to any part of Africa and indeed the world to continue this good performance for the world to know that our football has seen a real rebirth.”

WOMEN AND SPORT CONFERENCE

Obajimi, Onyali storm Los Angeles

T

WO former Nigeria track and field internationals,Gloria Obajimi and Mary OnyaliOmagbemi have landed in Los Angeles in United States of America (USA) for the 5th World Conference on Women and Sport.

Obajimi,who is the President of the National Association of Women in Sport (NAWIS) and leader of the Nigerian delegation to the conference told our correspondent before her departure that the conference,under the theme “Together Stronger: the Future of Sport”,is organised jointly by the International Olympic Committee (IOC),the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games. ''It's going to be a three-day event starting on Thursday February 16 (today) through Saturday February 18 and it will cover a range of subjects,in both plenary and dialogue sessions,associated with the efforts to strengthen women’s representation both on the sports field and in leadership positions'',she said revealing that over 600 delegates will be participating at the event.

She further revealed that the conference will bring together high-level speakers from a

variety of backgrounds. ''Some of the speakers will include IOC President Jacques Rogge; the IOC’s Women and Sport Commission chairperson, Anita DeFrantz; Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Sebastian Coe; H.E. Marjon V. Kamara, Chair of the UN’s Commission on Status of Women, as well as Geena Davis, Academy award winning actress and founder of the Geena Davis Institute in Gender in the media.

Mrs Obajimi further revealed that discussion topics will cover a variety of subjects associated with the efforts to strengthen women’s representation in sport leadership positions such as:Leadership views on women in the world of sport; partnerships for progress; women, sport and the media; empowering women and girls through education and role models and leadership. ''NAWIS is determined to ensure that IOC's policy of gender equality is also enforced by member federations.

RESULTS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Zenit 3 — 2 Benfica AC Milan 4 — 0 Arsenal

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www.thenationonlineng.net

WHO SAID WHAT

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 7 NO.2037

‘I want to assure this House that I will do what is required of me. I am aware of the high expectations of not only Nigerians but the international community from me. I am assuring that I will not disappoint you. I have a clear idea of what I should do and how to sustain it.’

IBRAHIM LAMORDE

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

T

HREE weeks ago I was at a meeting in Accra, Ghana, in preparation for the biennial African Feminist Forum, which is convened by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), an Africa-wide grant-making foundation for African women which I co-founded twelve years ago. I was told at the meeting that someone had made comments on Facebook during the fuel subsidy crisis, asking, ‘Where are the Nigerian feminists? Where are the voices of activists like Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi’? The Facebook comments implied that I had stopped being a feminist because I am now the wife of a governor. Soon after I returned home, there was an article in the Sunday edition of one of the national newspapers that was serialised over a two week period.

It was a blistering attack on First Ladies, and how they constitute a drain on resources while they conduct themselves in ways which raise questions about credibility and probity. In the article, the writer also made reference to the fuel subsidy crisis and the fact that nothing was heard from any of the First Ladies in the country. The writer then went on to say, ‘anyway, such issues are probably beyond them’. A third, and this time, more direct attack on my activities in Ekiti came from Steve Osuji, a columnist with The Nation unequivocally that my job as the wife of Ekiti Governor, was to look “after the home-front” rather than meddle in the affairs of state. I cringed reading through these articles.

Shortly after my husband became Governor of Ekiti State in October 2010, I spoke to Mrs Kemi Mimiko, wife of the Governor of Ondo State. She said something to me which I have never forgotten. She said ‘My sister, whatever happens, never take anything personally. It is never about you, it is about the position you are in’. Reflecting on the discussion with my colleagues in Accra about the Facebook comments and the articles I referred to above, I knew that the advice I had received would come in handy. I however confess, with all sincerity, it is hard.

I have often spoken and written about the fluidity of identities, and how important it is for us to invest in managing our various transitions from one identity to another, whether these identities are claimed by us or thrust upon us. From being a women’s rights activist, gender specialist and social change philanthropy advocate, on October

OPEN FORUM By

BISI FAYEMI

The First Lady Debate: Speaking for myself

•Mrs Mandela

16th 2010, I became the wife of a governor.

My own understanding of what happened to me did not translate into abandoning all the things that are important to me - my world view, values, affiliations and principles. I was aware that to make this work, I would need to strike a balance between the things I truly care about, and the expectations of the position I found myself in. I also knew that I would have to work hard at ensuring that my theoretical understanding of power and transformational leadership would be matched by sound, ethical practices.

For many years I have engaged in debates about the role of First Ladies and the pros

and cons of the use of informal power structures. The historical use and abuse of non-accountable, unconstitutional power has fuelled suspicion and hostility towards First Ladies, and rightfully so. As a feminist activist, I have been very critical of the ways in which women married to men in power hijack the spaces, voices and resources of others, particularly civil society, and use this as a platform to dispense political favours and elevate other elite women. The abuse of the Office of the First Lady and the questions about its legitimacy are not a solely Nigerian phenomenon. These debates continue to take place elsewhere. The problem we have in Nigeria is the unique ways in which this position has been so grossly abused that people find it hard to be objective or flexible in their assessments of either the position or the occupants. I have also always known that it is precisely because First Ladies wield so much power and influence that it is very dangerous for such power to fall into the hands of ignorant, uninformed and unethical persons. I have had the opportunity of working closely with such great role models as Graca Machel Mandela, who taught me that it does not matter if people are suspicious of you or your intentions just because of who you are married to – if there are things you feel strongly about go out there and get the job done. Till this moment, Mama Graca as some of us fondly call her, remains one of the most credible and consistent advocates of gender equality, children’s rights and good govern-

ance that we have on the continent.

I accept that because I am the wife of a governor, I can no longer go to Aleshinloye market in Ibadan (a favourite place of mine) or Balogun market in Lagos without causing a stir. I agree that it is not appropriate to stop the convoy just because I want to buy Gala. I however do not agree with the assumption that because I am the wife of a governor, my IQ has dropped to single digits. I do not agree that I cannot find a way of working with government officials without making them feel that I am bossing them around. I do not agree that working collaboratively and respectfully with people in government amounts to meddling. I do not agree that I cannot do things different from the norm. I find it hard to understand why people will believe that because my husband is governor of a state, my only role now is to make his bed, wash his clothes, take care of the children, cook his food and rub his feet when he comes home.

This is what is called ‘looking after the home front’, and it seems to be the preferred and only role for First Ladies. This is fine by me, as long as we can also accept the fact that ‘looking after’ and ‘home front’ means different things to different people.

Since October 2010, I have been spending my time ‘looking after the home front’ in my own way. I resigned from my full-time, extremely well remunerated position as Executive Director of AWDF in Ghana and moved back to Nigeria to be with my husband. I figured out how to run our own homes in Ibadan and Isan-Ekiti, as well as living in State House. My husband is adequately fed, healthy, well groomed, and on top of his game. I am involved with government agencies such as the Ekiti State Agency for AIDS Control which I chair, as well as the Ekiti State Consultative Committee on Arts, Culture and Tourism. I also do a lot of work with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Health to mention a few. My involvement with these agencies is mainly advisory and based on tremendous mutual respect. In addition, I have commitments to national and international organisations such as the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (as Chair), the African Women’s Development Fund and the African Grantmakers Network.

•Continued on Page 57

RIGHT OF REPLY

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OME commentators have raised a hue and cry over President Goodluck Jonathan’s reference to “the throwing of stones” during the presentation of the PDP flag to the then PDP Gubernatorial candidate, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson and his then running mate Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd.) in Bayelsa. These include, among others, Ayodele Akinkuotu, “He who lives in Aso Rock does not throw gaffes”, TELL, February 20, 2012; The Nation, “Stoner” -in -Chief?” (Editorial, February 8) and Sam Omatseye, “Circus show” (The Nation, February 11).

The commentators have been unfair to President Jonathan, taking his words out of context, interpreting him literally to convey an impression that “unguarded words” are becoming his “trademark”. If the purported advice in the pieces were offered in good faith, it would have been understandable, except that they seem calculated to please former Bayelsa Governor, Timipre Sylva. What’s more, they all read as if they originated from the same factory.

I find it difficult to accuse the writers of a certain lack of understanding, for these are well-informed commentators, but there is a certain penchant abroad, evident also in these comments, namely the theatrical attempt to play to the gallery, by those who seem to believe that belittling the Jonathan Presidency will make them popular no matter how unfair their conclusions may be. They miss the point.

When the President said he would join others to throw stones if Hon. Dickson failed to deliver on his promises as Bayelsa Governor, in the event of his being so elected, he certainly was not saying he would go onto

Much ado about stones

By Reuben Abati the streets, pick up stones, and lead a riotous assault on the Chief Executive of a state. Nor does that statement translate into an admission of involvement in the stoning of ex-Governor Timipre Sylva at a previous occasion, or “an endorsement of political thuggery.”

The commentators should know that words have embodied meanings, and that in cultural contexts, languages lend themselves to idiomatic and metaphorical expressions which may carry heavier weight as signifying codes.

The word, “stones” in the present context need not be read literally. Rather, President Jonathan was urging Messrs Dickson and Jonah to be prepared to deliver good governance if elected into office. He was also reminding them of the cost of failing to do so, namely the anger and rejection of the people, which may not necessarily be in the form of actual “stonethrowing,” but may manifest as civil apathy.

To transpose that expression out of context, and construe it literally to make a simplistic point, points not to a lack of intelligence, but to wilful mischief. To go further and claim that the people of Bayelsa are “fishermen and mechanics” who cannot understand metaphors is simply ludicrous.

And it is fast becoming a fashion to twist Mr. President’s statements out of context. The same has been done with his statement on another occasion, that Boko Haram members are everywhere. This has been twisted to mean an expression of “self-indictment” or “helplessness” or “cluelessness”, depending on the tex-

ture of the writer’s cynicism, whereas the President made that statement to underscore the seriousness of the national security challenge, and the need for collective vigilance, also to illustrate his view that Nigerians are dealing with an unconventional enemy: seemingly ubiquitous, mercurial, without a certain identity, stealthy in form and operation; he could even be next door without the potential victim knowing.

President Jonathan has also argued that terrorism is an emergent global security challenge, which requires a rethinking of the national security architecture and such issues as capacity building, and the training and retraining of security personnel. If he said “we should be ready to live with the menace of terrorism” (not his exact words by the way); he was again underlining the urgency of the need for active responses.

Subsequent developments have since indicated the seriousness of that challenge, but the literalminded have continued to harp on their convenient interpretations!

In some of the commentaries under review, the tone is abusive, and at least one columnist seems to be deriving too much sadistic pleasure from abusing President Jonathan. Rather than provide illumination, he resorts to name-calling, week after week as if he writes solely to entertain an imaginable political audience.

It is especially curious that the commentators did not deem it necessary to comment on ex-Governor Timipre Sylva’s stewardship in Bayelsa, his abusive press release signed by his media aide in which he heaped insults on the President, purveyed discreditable lies, and sought to denigrate the office of the President.

His media allies have been parroting the same lies, hoping that by piping Sylva’s dictated tune, they will force the public to accept their lies as truth.

I had responded at length to Sylva’s press release in ThisDay - the only newspaper that tried to balance the story. I can only reiterate that whatever the matter is, it is between the people of Bayelsa and Sylva. He certainly will need more than a press release, or hired pens, to render an account of his stewardship as Governor of that state.

I conclude by insisting that President Jonathan is not “a stoner-in-chief” as The Nation claims. He is President and Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is committed to the rule of law, and will not be found in any situation promoting lawless behaviour. His administration’s growing legacy of credible and transparent elections is an incontestable illustration of his commitment to law and order.

While the cynics are free to be disagreeable, President Jonathan deserves to be assessed on the basis of facts, not partisan presuppositions.

Perhaps if these writers had enough sense of literary appreciation I might even go further and play on words and like Mark Antony to the Roman crowd, ask them to lend me their ears as I outline the tangible progress Nigeria has made under President Jonathan, but I fear that they may interpret my words literally: without the understanding that it is a figure of speech and therefore go to town with the headline that I want to cannibalise their ears! So, I rest my case.

•Abati is Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to President Goodluck Jonathan

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