The Nation February 05, 2013

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Suspect: we got N13m for Rotimi’s wife

Police defuse bomb in Abuja

NEWS

Page 5

NEWS Page 4

•Parcel ‘for Okonjo-Iweala’

•Oyo police arrest three ‘kidnappers’

www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL. 8, NO. 2391 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

CUP OF NATIONS

Nigerians reject single tenure, new states, others

N150.00

•Man dies watching Eagles/Elephants tie •Super Eagles land in Durban for Mali •Ivorian players tip Nigeria for cup •AND MORE ON PAGES 23,24&41

•President Goodluck Jonathan and former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (left) listening as the man who is said to have witnessed the 1914 Amalgamation, Alhaji Salu Gwalla, reads his speech at the beginning of Nigeria’s Centenary celebration in Abuja ...last night.

•Constitution amendment From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

N

IGERIANS have rejected single tenure of seven years for President, state creation and 20 other proposals, according to a report by the House of Representatives.

The Constitution Amendment consultation report also shows that Nigerians do not want immunity for governors on criminal matters.

Continued on page 4

Expo begins tomorrow

T

HE Southwest Grassroots Business and Investment Forum for regional growth takes off tomorrow in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The four-day programme will take place at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding on the hilltop be-

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

Continued on page 4

PDP crisis: Chairmen back governors against Tukur Faction expels Obasanjo’s men

D

ESPITE its leaders’ desperation for peace, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be sinking deeper into trouble.

Leaders of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s faction of the party’s Ogun State chapter were yesterday expelled for “anti-party activities”.

Besides, state chairmen took sides with the governors in the crisis sparked by the power struggle in the Adamawa State chapter.

The chairmen insisted that Alhaji Mijinwa Kaugama is the chairman of the party.

National Chairman Bamanga Tukur is back-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja and Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

ing Mr. Joel Madaki.

Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako is battling against Tukur for the party’s leadership .

Nyako, with the support of governors, is backing Kaugama.

At a meeting at the weekend in Abuja, the 36 state chairmen urged the party to call a meeting of its highest organ, the the National Executive Council (NEC), to resolve the Adamawa crisis.

They disowned the various congresses that produced the Madaki faction.

In a communique signed by the Benue State chairman, Dr. Emmanuel Agboh, who heads the forum, and secre-

tary, Makanjuola Ogundipe, the chairmen said they would continue to relate with the Kaugama-led executive in Adamawa State.

The communique said: “The conference expressed delight on the development in Adamawa State which saw to the re-instatement of the Kaguma-led executive and appealed for continued fraternity on the part of members so as to further enhance the party’s internal cohesion.

“Kaugama attended the PDP chairmen’s conference and we recognised him as the state chairman. We are not aware of the Joel Madaki group and he is not one of us and, therefore, we are not Continued on page 4

•COURT WON’T STOP NEWSWATCH P5

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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NEWS WAR IN MALI

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•President Goodluck Jonathan (second right), Vice President Namadi Sambo (second left), Commandant, Presidential Air Fleet (PAF), Air Commodore Uko Ebong(right) and former PAF Commandant Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu, after the change of baton at the Presidential Villa, Abuja... yesterday.

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

•Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi (second right), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)President Abdulwaheed Omar (second left), Congress’ Head of Department, Administration and Industrial Relations Emmanuel Ugboaja (left) and Omar’s deputy, Promise Adewusi, when the governor hosted the labour leaders who visited in Ado-Ekiti ... yesterday.

•Bauchi State Governor Governor Isa Yuguda flanked by District Head of Ganjuwa Local Government Area, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu (left) and Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation, Alhaji Mohammed Wabu, during the inspection of the Skill Acquisition Centre in Ganjuwa council area... yesterday.

Conflict’s f

NEW phase has crept to the conflict in Mali. French airstrikes are targeting fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in Northern Mali.

French forces are planning to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the French armed forces, identified as Capt.

Nadia, said in Timbuktu yesterday.

After taking control of the key cities in the North, forcing the Islamic rebels to retreat into the deserts, the French military intervention is turning away from the cities and targeting the fighters’ remote outposts to prevent the bases from being used as launch pads for international extremism.

French soldiers took the city last week after Islamic militants withdrew.

The French military said its troops would move out of Timbuktu to push farther Northeast to the strategic city of Gao. “The 600 soldiers currently based in Timbuktu will be heading toward Gao in order to pursue their mission,” said Capt. Nadia, who only gave her first name in line with French military protocol.

She said that the force in Timbuktu will be replaced by a small contingent of French soldiers, though she declined to say when they would arrive.

Yesterday, French troops in Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) were still patrolling Timbuktu.

In the city’s military camps, Malian troops were cleaning their weapons and holding meetings in preparation to take over the security of the city once the French leave.

There were signs that the Islamic rebels were beginning a guerrillatype of conflict from their desert retreats as land mine explosions have killed four Malian soldiers and two civilians in the Northern region in recent days.

The two civilians died in an explosion from a land mine, or an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), on the road that links Kidal, Anefis and North Darane, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement yesterday.

Four soldiers were killed last week by a land mine explosion near Gossi.

There were reports that two other land mines found in that vicinity early yesterday were detonated.

CBC reporter Laura Lynch, who was travelling with a French military convoy toward Gao, said few Western journalists have been allowed access because extremists were still hiding nearby.

She said: “That is what is the greater concern here, even though the military have managed to drive the extremists and the jihadists out

•A teacher checking the pupils’ chalk boards majority of tables and benches were taken aw Islamists...yesterday.

of the cities, the insurgentshave simply melted away into the desert and they’re still going to be in a position to mount attacks in the days and weeks to come.”

Again, airstrikes hit extremist bases AIRSTRIKES targeted the Islamic extremists’ desert bases and fuel depots in Northern Mali till the weehours of yesterday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Radio France International (RFI) yesterday that the strikes hit the Kidal region, near the border with Algeria, for the second night in a row.

US, France agree on UN force

I

•From left: Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Airtel Africa, Manoj Kholi, Managing Director and CEO Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, Chairman Dr. Oba Otudeko, Group Chairman and Founder, Bharti Airtel, Sunil Bharti Mittal and outgoing CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop, at a dinner in honour of the visiting Mittal in Lagos…at the weekend.

N Paris, France and at a meeting with President Francois Hollande, United States (U.S.) Vice President, Joe Biden yesterday hailed the French intervention in Mali.

Biden said: “We applaud your decisiveness and, I might add, the capability of France’s military forces.

Your decisive action was not only in the interest of France but of the United States and everyone.

“We agreed on the need to, quickly as possible, establish an African-led mission to Mali and as quickly as prudent transition that mission to the UN.” Biden’s was the first visit by a top U.S. official since President Barack

Obama’s inauguration last month. He also joined Hollande in vowing to keep up the pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

“We agreed on the need to as quickly as reasonably possible, establish the African-led International Mission in Mali (AFRISMA) and as quickly as is prudent transition that mission to the United Nations.” Biden said after a lunch parley with Hollande.

Biden noted that France’s lightning advance since January 11 drove Islamist rebels from key cities they had seized and occupied since last year.

Biden said: “Your decisive action was not only in the interest of France but quite frankly the United States and everyone.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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NEWS WAR IN MALI

s focus shifts from cities •Pupils in a classroom in the Gao region on the first day of resumption of schools ... yesterday PHOTO: AFP

oards in a classroom whose en away by

•Pupils in a school in Gao raise their chalk boards for their teacher to check...yesterday.

The extremists “cannot stay there a long time unless they have ways to get new supplies,” he noted.

French Mirage and Rafale planes pounded extremist training camps as well as arms and fuel depots in Kidal and Tessalit from Saturday night till early Sunday.

The French intervened in Mali on January 11 to stem the advance of the al-Qaeda-linked fighters, who had taken over Mali’s North, enforced harsh rules on the population and plotted an attack in neighbouring Algeria.

The French troops arrived when the Islamic extremists threatened to march on the capital, Bamako.

After pushing extremists out of key cities in the North, France is now

pushing to hand over control of those sites to African forces from a United Nations-authorised force made up of thousands of troops from the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).

“In the cities that we are holding we want to be quickly replaced by the African forces,” Fabius said.

Asked whether the French could pull out of the fabled city of Timbuktu and hand it to African forces as soon as today, Fabius responded: “Yes, it could happen very fast. We are working on it because our vocation is not to stay in the long term.”

But it is far from clear that the African forces — much less the weak

•A convoy of French Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) on patrol between Timbuktu and Douentza... yesterday.

PHOTOS: AFP

Malian army — are ready for the withdrawal of thousands of French troops, fighter planes and military helicopters which would give the Africans full responsibility against the Islamic extremists, who may strike the cities from their desert hideouts.

Food prices shoot up FOOD and fuel prices have shot up in Northern Mali as a result of the conflict, international aid organisation Oxfam warned yesterday.

Many traders of Arab or Tuareg descent fled the area when French troops flushed out the Islamic extremists last week and the traders have not returned for fear of

reprisals, said Oxfam in a statement.

“If traders do not come back soon and flows of food into Northern Mali remain as limited as they are now, then it is likely that markets will not be properly stocked and prices will stay high — making it very difficult for people to get enough food to feed their families,” the organistaion’s Country Director in Mali, Philippe Conraud, said.

Conraud added: “This phase of the war may almost be over, but the battle to build peace and stability has only just begun.

“If people feel that their lives are at risk and that their families are not safe, they will not return to Mali.

It’s as simple as that.”

‘Two fleeing Islamist leaders captured’

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WO senior Islamist insurgents fleeing French air strikes towards the Algerian border have been arrested by Tuareg rebels in Northern Mal, Reuters reported yesterday.

The arrest came as French troops intensified their air raids on al-Qaeda's Saharan desert camps belonging to the Islamists.

Pro-autonomy Tuareg rebels under the umbrella of the National Movement Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) said they had seized Mohamed Moussa Ag Mohamed, an Islamist leader who imposed harsh Sharia Law in the desert town of Timbuktu.

Also seized was Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed, believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of a French hostage by the al-Qaeda splinter group MUJWA. “We chased an Islamist convoy close to the frontier and arrested the two men the day before yesterday,’’ Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, spokesman for the MNLA told Reuters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

“They have been questioned and sent to Kidal,’’ he said.

France has deployed 3,500 ground troops, warplanes and armoured vehicles in its threeweek-old Operation Serval (Wildcat) which has broken the Islamists' 10-month-old grip on northern towns.

France and its international partners want to prevent the Islamists from using Mali's vast desert in the North as a base to launch attacks on neighbouring African countries and the West.

The Tuareg freedom fighters have pledged their willingness to help the French-led mission to hunt down the Islamists.

It has offered to hold peace talks with the government in a bid to heal the wounds between Mali's restive Saharan North and Bamako, the seat of government.

“Until there is a peace deal, we cannot hold national elections,’’ Ag Assaleh said, referring to Mali’s interim President Dioncounda.

Traore's plan to hold polls on July 31.

Many residents in Bamako, including military leaders, have rejected talks with the Tuaregs. They blamed the MNLA for killing some of their troops in Aguelhoc last year.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said warplanes were continuing bombing raids on Islamists in the far North to destroy their supply lines and flush them out of their camps.

Fabius told Radio France International (RFI): “The objective is to destroy their support bases, their depots because they have taken refuge in the North and Northeast of the country and can only stay there in the long-term if they have the means to sustain themselves.

“The army is working to stop that.’’

Schools reopen in Timbuktu, Gao

A

WEEK after Islamist groups fled, pupils have returned to schools in Timbuktu and Gao, both region hitherto held by rebels in Northern Mali, Teachers claimed about half of school pupils fled the troubled region when Islamist groups took over much of the North and shut down many public schools, dismantled the curricula and forced some children to to enrol in Koranic schools.

“You cannot imagine the joy I felt in returning to this classroom,” said a director of Timbuktu's main primary school, Coulibaly Ami Doucaré.

She abandoned the school last April when Timbuktu was taken over by Islamist group - Ansar Dine.

“It's important we save this school year. We'll do everything we can to catch up, even if we have to study on Sundays," she said, appealing to all teachers who fled to return.

A campaign to recruit volunteer primary school teachers has signed up 12 so far.

Aminata Touré, a student in the 9th class, told IRIN: “First of all, I feel like I've been let out of prison. I can walk around town, I can dress as I like look, I'm wearing jeans. My second

joy is that I have been reunited with my classmates, my friends, my teachers and my school-books.

“I thought the school year was ruined, but now I will be able to pass my diploma and go to the lycée next year."

Most Timbuktu pupils have lost at least four months of the school year.

Governor of Timbuktu Region, Mamadou Mangara, encouraged parents to help repair schools so that all can reopen.

Many schools were destroyed in Timbuktu and Gao, with tables and

benches looted or damaged.

Education network - Education For All and local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) - Cri de Coeur, have ordered 100 school desks and benches, as well as notebooks and pens to be distributed to schools in the north, said Cri de Coeur President, Almahady Cissé.

Half of the 5,000 students at the Teaching Academy of Timbuktu have fled to Central and Southern Mali or to neighbouring countries, according to a teacher, Mamadou Camara.

The Ministry of Education esti-

mated that 10,000 displaced children from the North had no access to education at the end of 2012.

In Gao yesterday, girls and boys made their way to public and private schools.

Gao is the largest town in Northern Mali which was deserted under Jihadist rule by many of its 70 000 residents.

At a primary school in the Eastern Aljanabandia District, “about 600 pupils” out of a normal attendance of more than 1,100 children turned up, its headmaster Abdou Cisse told AFP.

4

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

NEWS Southwest grassroots expo begins tomorrow in Osogbo Continued from page 1

hind the State Secretariat along Osogbo-Gbogan Road. Osun State Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Alhaji Bashir Ajibola, decried the report of the shut down of the centre as an immoral effort by those attempting to appropriate government property.

He said it is not true that the centre is sealed up. According to him, “what the government has done is to sanitise the management of the centre in line with government policy.”

Pavilions have already been set up at the venue of the regional expo organised

by Vintage Press Limited in collaboration with CEEDEE Resources.

The opening ceremony will be chaired by Former Justice Minister Prince Bola Ajibola. Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi will de•The suspects...yesterday

PDP crisis grows as faction expels Obasanjo’s men

PHOTO: FEMI ILESANMI

Rotimi’s family paid N13m to free wife from kidnappers, says suspect A

BDUCTORS of Mrs Titilayo Rotimi, wife of former Western State Military Administrator Gen Oluwole Rotimi, collected N13million from the family before releasing her, a member of the gang said in Ibadan yesterday.

Mrs Rotimi was kidnapped in front of her company on December 10 last year and released 10 days later.

Kingsley Udom-Johnson, a member of the four-man gang that kidnapped her, also recounted how they abducted the businesswoman at her Alakia office in the Oyo State capital after the close of work.

Udom-Johnson was paraded along with two other suspected members of the gang

by Oyo State Police in Ibadan yesterday.

Recalling how the four-man gang captured their victim, the suspect said they took off from their location at Ilasa in Lagos in a Nissan car and laid

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

a siege to the premises of her logistics firm until she closed from work.

On sighting her car coming out of the large compound, Udom-Johnson recalled that the three of them, armed with guns, swooped on the businesswoman and forced her into their waiting car.

They then zoomed off.

According to him, their victim was taken to a building in Ala, Ogun State. The building, he said, they rented for the purpose of keeping kidnap victims.

The suspect explained that they supplied Mrs Rotimi all the food she desired throughout her 10-day stay in their custody.

Udom-Johnson said the overall head of the gang, one Daniel Effiong, contacted

Gen. Rotimi’s family whose members brought the money to J4 Community – an Ogun village that borders Ogun, Osun and Ondo states - before Mrs Rotimi was released.

Effiong, according to Commissioner of Police (CP) Mbu Joseph Mbu, is now dead.

Two other members of the gang paraded by the police are Akaneyere Sunday and Godwin Mfon. They all hail from Akwa Ibom State.

Udom-Johnson said he received N2.5 million as his share of the ransom. Explaining how he spent it, he said he cleared a debt of over N1 million and then bought a Honda Accord car for use as airport taxi in Lagos.

The kidnap suspect regretted his action and called on others still in the criminal act to “repent”.

Members of an armed rob-

bery gang that robbed a family of a 4matic Mercedez Benz car in Lekki, Lagos, locking up a young girl in a wardrobe until she suffocated, were also paraded by the police.

They were arrested in Sabo, Ibadan after selling the second car they snatched from Lagos.

Two other gang members were paraded with the two robbery and kidnap gangs.

Mbu said: “We patiently went into the matter, dug into it and we were able to arrest the kidnappers in Ogun State.

They have confessed to the crime. We got information from Nigerians, worked on it and we finally got them. Very soon, the law will take its course.”

The police chief added that one of the suspects is a former employee of Mrs Rotimi’s firm, AOP Logistics Limited.

liver the keynote address.

Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) are special guests of honour. Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola is the chief host.

The fair will feature the Southwest states and private investors exhibiting agriculture produce and products.

On Thursday, there will be an investment workshop to be facilitated by NERFUND, Federal Institute of Industrial Reseach, Oshodi (FIIRO), Cocoa Reseach Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan and the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.

The Friday forum will engage commissioners and top officials of ministries of Agriculture, Regional Integration and Trade and Commerce. It will be co-ordinated by former Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. (Mrs.) Tomi Adekanye.

•Tukur Continued from page 1

aware that any other congress election took place.

“Moreover, our governors that are the leaders of the party in the states have spoken and we are supporting their position that the state executive of the party in Adamawa is the one led by Kaugama.

“As chairmen of the party in the states, we are expressing delight on the position taken by the governors of the party and that is why we are expressing our support”, the communique stated.

In Abeoluta, the governorship candidate of the party in the 2011 election, Gen. Adetunji Olurin, was expelled.

National Auditor Mr. Bode Mustapha and the Chairman of the faction believed to be loyal to Obasanjo, Senator Dipo Odujinrin, were also expelled.

In a statement, Publicity Secretary Waliu Oladipupo said Ogun PDP, under the leadership of Mr. Adedayo Bayo, expelled Olurin, Mustapha and Odujirin in line with Section 58 (1) b, f, j, k and I of the party’s Constitution.

The party also suspended Mr. Dapo Adeyemi and Mr. Yahaya Ahmed from Ifo LoContinued on page 59

Nigerians reject single tenure, new states, others Continued from page 1

They have asked the National Assembly to grant immunity to governors on civil cases.

The report on the poll survey conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, scheduled for presentation last week, was deferred at the last minute following tension over the outcome of the survey.

Although there were allegations of doctoring, the House leadership yesterday said such insinuations were false and unfounded.

The House said it only needed time to study the votes before consideration by the plenary.

According to the report, which our correspondent stumbled upon, 21 of the 43 proposals presented to Nigerians were accepted and 22 rejected.

Some of the 22 rejected proposals are as follows: state creation; state Police; five, six, seven years single

I back autonomy for councils, assemblies, says Dickson

B

AYELSA State Governor Seriake Dickson is in support of financial autonomy for Local Government Councils and the independence of Houses of Assembly.

His position runs counters to the assertion that governors are against the move to include financial autonomy of the Local Government Councils and the independence of Houses of Assembly in the ongoing Constitution Review process.

Dickson told reporters in Abuja yesterday that autonomy of the councils has always obtained in his state.

He said no one tampers with their funds.

According to him, his state does not go beyond the statutory deduction for health workers and teachers salaries and that anyone that goes be-

tenure; 20 per cent derivation for oil producing states; states stopped from controlling 50 per cent of their resources; no voting by Nigerians in the Diaspora; no to two tiers of government; and true Federalism not realistic.

The proposals endorsed

From Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja

yond that “ is on his own.”

“We do not have the habit of making deductions outside the statutory deductions for health workers and for teachers’ salaries.

“To the best of my knowledge, councils in Bayelsa State are allowed to manage their funds as they deem appropriate. And the only condition is that the council chairmen are not to work as sole administrators. The chairmen must work with the budget passed by their legislature.

“We have nothing against the autonomy of local government councils.

The constitution we have is that we have a situation where funds are shared between the federal, states and local governments.”

He however said there is a need for a

by Nigerians are autonomy for local governments; financial autonomy for Houses of Assembly; abolition of State Joint Account as in Section 162(6) of the Constitution; abolition of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs); and creation of Office of the AGF.

holistic approach to the issue of local government because the country is operating its allocation in local governments councils created by the military and that “this breeds unnecessary controversies.”

The governor said the independence of the Houses of Assembly should be encouraged, adding that Bayelsa State already has a legislation that assures the independence of the judiciary.

Dickson expressed regret that the House of Representatives gave the Houses of Assembly autonomy and they rejected it.

“We should encourage the autonomy of the Houses of Assembly.

“In the sixth House, we gave them autonomy but they themselves rejected it. We just hope when they get it now, they will value it.” He said.

The others are Minister of Justice to operate outside the AGF; a separate Accountant-General of the Federation for the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC); fresh electoral reforms to fix time limit for elections, by-elections, electoral petitions; Federal Gov-

ernment to withhold allocations for unelected local government chairmen (caretaker chairmen); constitutional roles for traditional rulers; indigeneship for those who have resided in an area for a long period; and no immunity for governors on criminal cas-

•Dickson

es.

The report reads in part: “The voters asked the National Assembly to amend Continued on page 59

ADVERT HOTLINES: 08023006969, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

5

NEWS

Police defuse suspected parcel bomb addressed to Okonjo-Iweala

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WO objects suspected to be Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were yesterday defused by the police antibomb squad.

They were reportedly planted in front of the Post Office at Area 10, Garki, Abuja.

The objects were allegedly in a parcel, wrapped and addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

An eyewitness said no casualty was recorded.

Briefing reporters on the incident, the Post-Master General (PMG) of the Federation, Ibrahim Mori Baba, who said the parcel was planted last Friday by a man he described as insane, could not confirm if it was a bomb.

He said he would allow the security operatives to determine if what was

•The scene of the suspected bomb...yesterday.

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

defused was a bomb.

The Post-Master General said: “On Friday, a man came into the post office premises.

We didn’t know whether he was sane or insane.

“He wanted to go inside

the post office, but, unfortunately for him, the gate was locked. He left the so-called parcel at the main gate. I described it as so-called parcel because there are processes that have to be followed before a parcel can be accepted.

“The processes are that we will weigh the parcel and determine how much the sender will pay. We will also examine it in your presence.

We will bring out the content to ensure that what you are about to send is not an explosive. The content of what you want to send will be shown.

“In this case, the man left the parcel at the gate, went inside, bought stamps and pasted them on it to indicate that the parcel has gone through the normal process.

But it did not go through the normal process. The man just wanted to deceive people that he had processed it and we should deliver it. The parcel was not processed. The police came, examined the parcel and found that it was a bomb.”

Baba alleged that the parcel was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Okonjo- Iweala.

250,000 Nigerians suffer cancer yearly •Akeredolu’s wife canvasses more funding, awareness

T

HE Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, has disclosed that 250,000 Nigerians suffer from different forms of cancer yearly.

The minister, who was represented by Mr. Samson Opaluwa, an engineer, said this yesterday in Abuja during the World Cancer Day. Its theme is: ‘Cancer- Did you Know?’

He said: “We record 250,000 new cases of cancer yearly and as you all know, cancer is of different types, we have cervical cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer and so many others.”

According to the minister, four myths have impacted negatively on the prevention and control needs to be corrected.

“The myths are, so many people see cancer as just a health issue, cancer as a disease of the wealthy, elderly and developed countries, cancer is a death sentence and cancer is my fate.”

Discouraging people on the myths, Prof. Chukwu said: “The truth is that cancer is not just a health issue. It has widereaching social, economic development and human rights implications. Also, cancer does not discriminate, it is a global epidemic, affecting all ages, with low and middle-income countries bearing a disproportionate burden.

“Most of the people diag-

From Faith Yahaya, Abuja and Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

nosed with cancer see it as a death sentence. The truth remains that many cancer that were once considered a death sentence can now be cured and for many more people, their cancer can now be treated effectively.”

The wife of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in last year’s election in Ondo State, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has decried the poor funding and low awareness associated with cancer in Nigeria.

She appealed to corporate bodies and well-meaning Nigerians to partner the Federal Government on cancer awareness to reduce the rate of the disease.

Mrs. Akeredolu, who is also the President of Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), spoke yesterday at a cancer awareness programme organised by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Ile-Ife, Osun State to celebrate this year’s World Cancer Day. She said cancer was responsible for one out of eight deaths experienced daily worldwide, adding that 7.8 million cancer patients die annually in the developing nations as a result of their ignorance or lack money for treatment.

Army chief to react to alleged lopsided appointments

T •Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri Erewa (left); Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb Nyohuma Obika; representative of the House Speaker, Leader Mulikat Akande Adeola; Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Maheshi Sachder; Snr Regional Adviser for Sub-Sahara Africa, International Organisation for Migration, Charles Kwenin; and Hon Ajibola Famurewa at a workshop on Diaspora Mobilisation at the National Assembly, PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE Abuja...yesterday

Court strikes out Aminu’s bid to stop Newswatch newspapers

A

FEDERAL High Court sitting in Lagos yesterday struck out a motion for a perpetual injunction seeking to stop further publication of Newswatch newspapers.

The motion was filed by two former directors of Newswatch Communications Limited, Nuhu Wada Aruda and Prof. Jibril Aminu, who claimed to be representing minority shareholders of the media establishment.

T

By Eric Ikhilae

Mr. Justice Ibrahim Buba held that he would prefer to hear the plaintiffs’ case on merit, since all parties to the matter were represented in court.

He added that there would be no need for restraining order.

Aruda and Aminu had requested the court to stop further publication of Newswatch newspaper titles pending the determination of the substantive suit.

They accused the new management under Dr. Jimoh

Ibrahim of systematically working to kill the company’s main product – Newswatch weekly magazine - and replace it with a daily newspaper to be published by a newly incorporated company - Newswatch Newspapers Limited - an organisation in which Ibrahim’s company, Global Media Mirror Limited, owns the majority shares.

The shareholders, in their main suit brought via a petition, urged the court to set

aside the Shareholders’ Agreement through which Ibrahim assumed the majority shareholding in the company.

They averred that Ibrahim, the new Chairman of Newswatch Communications Limited, and the company “have not called a general meeting since the new illegal take over of the company.”

The court on January 31 assumed jurisdiction to hear the matter, dismissing the defendants’ preliminary objection.

Jonathan is competent, says presidency

HE Presidency yesterday rejected the accusation of incompetence and cluelessness levelled against the President by the opposition.

Presidential aide Dr Doyin Okupe said President Goodluck Jonathan has lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.

In a statement in Abuja, Okupe said: “The background of President

Jonathan does not fall into the mould of incompetence or cluelessness that the opposition tries too hard to sell to the Nigerian populace.” ‘’We do not wish to assert the obvious fact that the President has the requisite qualification for effective action. Rather we will examine the challenges that faced the nation before his election as President and state how he has tackled them. This will

also probably disprove the Governor Fashola’s ‘Mechanic allegory’. ‘’Empirical evidence shows that President Jonathan has not only tackled the challenges he inherited, but has successfully solved many of them, while those that remain are part of work in progress which, God willing, will be resolved before the end of 2014. ‘’The repeated false claims

by the opposition that the President is incompetent is not only untrue and obviously cannot be supported by facts, but is also part of the opposition strategy to present the government that it has not been effective so as to advance their selfish cause.

“Nigerians should therefore ignore this wild and baseless comments and team up with the silent and effective achiever, in the person of Dr. Jonathan.”

HE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, will on Monday react to the alleged lopsidedness in appointments and postings in the Nigerian Army.

Newly-appointed Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, said this yesterday during the official handover where he took over from his predecessor, Maj-Gen. Mobolaji Koleoso.

Attahiru’s statement was prompted by enquiries from reporters, who sought his reaction to the alleged preferential treatment in favour of a particular ethnic group in the Army.

The new spokesman informed journalists of the COAS’ displeasure with the report, saying Ihejirika would officially respond to the issues raised by the pub-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

lication in his capacity as the Chief of Army Staff on Monday.

In petitions to the National Assembly, various groups and individuals alleged systematic takeover of strategic postings in the Army by officers of Igbo extraction. The Chief of Army Staff is of Igbo extraction.

The petitioners alleged that the postings and appointments carried out by the COAS violated the directives of the Army Council.

The new Army spokesman appealed to the media to crosscheck their facts from his office on issues concerning the Nigerian Army before going public.

Prior to his new posting, Attahiru was an Assistant Director in the Policy and Plans Department at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

Police ban campaign, siren by ex-governors, ministers, para-military

T

HE Oyo State Police Command yesterday banned political campaigns and use of siren by former political office holders, para-military and police on patrols.

Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu spoke with reporters in Ibadan, the state capital.

He said the ban was necessitated by “too much abuse of the siren in the state.”

According to him, it has become illegal for former governors, ministers and political office holders to use siren because it is an abuse.

Para-military agencies were also forbidden from using siren except during operations or emergencies. Only fire

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

fighters and ambulances were exempted from the prohibition.

Mbu said: “There is too much abuse of siren. The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Div and I do not use it except on emergencies.

Any police vehicle that is not on operation should not use siren. The use is also prohibited by “Operation Burst” and all para-military agencies. No former governor or minister is allowed to use siren anywhere in Oyo State as from today. Only fire fighters and ambulances are allowed to use it. Others can only use it during operation and cases of emergency.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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Ikorodu NBA condemns judgment

By Adebisi Onanuga

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu, Lagos Branch has condemned the judgment of Justice Abubakar Talba of the Abuja High Court, sentencing John Yakubu Yusufu to six year imprisonment with N750,000 fine oprtion for N32.8 billion pension fraud.

Its chariman, Mr. Sahid Owosile described the judgment as a reflection of the high level of corruption in high places within the system.

Addressing reporters in Ikorodu yesterday at the commencement of the association’s 2013 Annual Law Week, Owosile said Yusufu should have been given stiffer punishment.

He noted that in other climes, the convict would not have had the opportunity of making a plea, citing China where the punishment for corruption is death .

He lamented that corruption is thriving in Nigeria because "our legislators have not achieved anything because they are also part of the corrupt system."

Owosile said the annual lecture would hold in Ikorodu tomorrow with the theme: "Nigeria, failing Nation: Where are the lawyers?" Femi Falana (SAN) is the guest lecturer.

Former NBA National Secretary Deacon Dele Adeshina (SAN) is expected to chair the event. Chief Babatunde Benson (SAN) will be honoured in recognition of his contribution to the legal profession and the NBA in Ikorodu.

Arepo pipeline ‘vandals’ know fate Feb. 11 A FEDERAL High Court in Lagos will on February 11 determine whether to grant bail to four of the six persons charged with pipeline vandalisation and murder of three engineers at Arepo, an Ogun State community.

Justice Mohammed Idris fixed the date after hearing arguments on their bail applications on yesterday.

The six accused are Joel Inerepamu, 25; Reuben Oluwole,60; John Isaiah, 28; Ineye Okposa ,40; Timi Gunugunu,22, and Olisa Saheed,25.

They are standing trial on a sevencount charge.

At the resumed hearing in the case on Monday, counsel to Oluwole, Isaiah, Gunugunu and Saheed moved and argued their applications.

Mr George Iheanacho, counsel to Oluwole, Isaiah and Saheed, urged the court to grant his clients bail on grounds of ill-health, arguing that they had been ill since their arrest.

However, counsel to Gunugunu, Mr Charles Ovuru, submitted that his client would not jump bail, if granted.

But the prosecution counsel, Mr Toyin Ibadin, objected to the applications as he also argued that murder was a capital offence.

The prosecutor argued that the defendants could jump bail since they resided in the creeks with no traceable addresses.

Ibadin said then that the defendants had conspired on Sept. 5, 2012, at about 6p.m. at Arepo, and vandalised an oil pipeline.

Euro Global out with new brand EURO Global Foods and Distilleries Limited, makers of Sabrina Gin, Savana drinks and Seaking Premium Schnapps has introduced ‘Julius Tonic Wine’ into the market. The product, the company said, is now available across the country.

The company’s sales director, Felix Aighobahi, said: "Julius Tonic Wine is guaranteed to be an instant success because of its unique composition. Its rich red colour, nice aroma and great taste give that good feeling that can only come from a premium product."

•The suspects ... yesterday

PHOTO:EBELE BONIFACE

Strange confessions of robbery suspects F

OUR robbery suspects yesterday gave conflicting accounts of their involvement in the operation which led to their arrest. They are being held in the cell of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) at the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja.

They are Obinna Okoye, 28; Anthony Nzeako (32); Joshua Aduma (25) and Kingsley Eke (31).

Okoye, who hails from IgboUkwu Community in Anambra State is asking Commissioner of Police Umar Manko to release him because he was “wrongly arrested.”

He said: "I am a trailer conductor and I swear by the tyre of the trailer I conduct that I did not participate in the vandalism and theft of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) hangers, pipes and other equipment. I did not engage in armed robbery. I knew those who participated in the looting of the equipment. I belong to their gang, but I did not follow them. I participated in rice looting only. I belong to two gangs. I do not even know how much they sold the rice but it is worth over N5million.

"I am not saying that I am not an armed robber. I have participated

T

By Ebele Boniface

in over six armed robbery operations including looting of hundreds of bags of rice from warehouses, but I did not follow them to carry PHCN equipment to anywhere. When we wanted to go for the equipment looting, I was ordered by my driver, Otumnem, to come down and follow this driver (pointing at him), Joshua, but he (Joshua) had already got another conductor. I obeyed and went to a nearby Indian hemp bunk to smoke.

"It was the looting of fish from a warehouse that I participated in, and I was not caught; but those that were caught wickedly led police to arrest me from where I was hiding. The rice gang gave me only N15,000 and I thanked them.

They even said that I would have got more, but I only did conducting, loading and offloading during the operation. I demand my release because I am innocent."

Nzeako accused him of lying, saying: "Okoye lied small. He brought me to Joshua. I am a trailer driver. I was the conductor but he participated as loader and off-loader. I was a conductor to Ifeanyi who brought me to Joshua for the purpose of the operation.

That fateful day, we carried one truck-load of fish (kpanla ice fish) from Wharf in Apapa to Ogbomoso in Oyo State, but along the way, we diverted to Abule Egba where it was received by one Kingsley. He gave us N800,000.

Joshua (driver) collected N500,000 while I, the conductor, collected N50,000 from the person who sponsored me."

Recalling how he was arrested, he said: "Police first arrested Obinna at Ojodu Berger and he immediately led SARS operatives to arrest me where I wanted to go and carry a prostitute for a 'short time' service. He lied to police that he only sponsored me while he fully participated."

Aduma, from Iza East in Ebonyi State, described himself as a trailer driver. He said: "The iced fish was loaded at the Apapa Wharf and my conductor (Nzeako) directed me to Abule Egba where we delivered it to this guy (pointing at the receiver, Kingsley).

"My conductor gave me N500,000, out of which I gave Obinna N200,000. It was my conductor that was in charge when we went to deliver it to Kingsley.

This is my first diversion. It was Obinna who brought the job.

(Obinna confirmed it to The Nation).

Eke, who hails from Ngor Okpala village in Owerri, Imo State, said: "I am an importer, not receiver of stolen goods. They invited me. Uche, Tony's friend called me and said they had a container or truck of fish to sell. I called one person who works as staff to the buyer, but I cannot remember his name now. He gave me the phone number of a ready buyer who was later arrested. I was given N300,000 as my commission. I have not spent the money. I told police that I was ready to return it if my freedom is restored. It was greed that made me to receive the fish and look for a buyer."

The police are insisting that Okoye participated in both operations and would be charged to court.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar has given the officer-in-charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent (SP), an award for his gallantry. He was said to have exhibited gallantry on September 23, last year when three robbery suspects were arrested and sophisticated arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

Ladipo Market leader arraigned for alleged attempted murder

HE President of Aguiyi Ironsi Market, popularly called Ladipo Market in Lagos State, Mr. Jonathan Chibuzor Okoli, was yeterday arraigned before an Ikeja High Court for alleged attempted murder.

Okoli was arraigned alongside others on a 12-count charge of attempting to kill five persons.

The prosecutor, Mr. Femi Adamson, alleged that Okoli and others now at large, on March 5, last year, armed themselves with guns and machetes and attempted to kill Maduchukwu Ejike, Solomon Eze, Cyril Nwenu, and Joseph Nnaji.

The prosecutor claimed that Okoli and his accomplices unlawfully assembled at the market to act in a disorderly manner, thereby disturbing public peace. Okoli was also charged

By Adebisi Onanuga

with extortion and unlawful display of arms.

He pleaded not guilty.

In his bail application, his lawyer, Nnorom Quackers (SAN), told the court that the defendant had been in detention since October last year without bail. He contended that the offence is bailable.

Quackers told the court that his client had earlier been exonerated of the crime by the Attorney General of the Federation, adding that Okoli is just being persecuted for refusing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to step down as president of the market.

Opposing the application, Adamson told the court that granting the defendant bail

might exacerbate tension at the market.

Adamson said the defendant had not provided the court with ample evidence to warrant granting him bail.

Justice Lateefat Okunnu granted Okoli N5 million bail with two sureties in the like sum. The sureties, she said, must be resident and gainfully employed in Lagos.

One of the sureties must be a relative of the defendant and the other a company director.

The sureties must show evidence of tax payment and a police officer not less than the rank of an inspector must verify their identities, homes and business addresses.

The sureties, the judge said, must be approved by the Chief Registrar of the Court.

Justice Okunnu ordered Okoli to sign an undertaking to keep peace in the association, adding that he must not directly or by proxy interfere in its affairs except to promote peace.

She barred Okoli from physically going to the market and restricted him to within its threekilometre radius.

Justice Okunnu ordered the defendant to report once in a month at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, where he “must not be kept for more than 30 minutes by the police.”

The judge ordered the police to plant a device on the defendant to ensure that he does not violate the restrictions. The matter was adjourned till April 23, 2013.

Hundreds of Okoli's supporters thronged the court in solidarity.

The supporters sang solidarity songs on entering the court but were restrained from further doing so by security officers.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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Workers protest ‘poor’ working condition

W

ORKERS of a South Korean firm, Sophia Manufacturing Limited, makers of Xpression brand of hair extensions, protested at their Iju Road, Lagos office yesterday.

Over 200 workers gathered in front of the factory, protesting against “poor” condition of service and welfare packages. They demanded salary increment, which, they said, "is long overdue".

The workers carried placards with inscriptions like: "Exploitation must stop in Sophia"; "No N7, 500, no work"; and "Salary increment is our right," among others.

They blamed their plight on government’s insensitivity to the welfare of youth, lamenting that there were not enough employment opportunities for school leavers. They urged the government to look into their case.

"If government had created enough employment opportunities for us, youth, the Koreans would not be exploiting us the way they are doing because there would have been many options available to school leavers. We have worked here for over five years.

Yet, housing, transport and food are increasing by the day. We have fami-

By Evelyn Osagie

lies to take care of and one cannot aspire to further one’s education with such condition. We are asking that we be given what is due to us," the protesters said.

The workers are also demanding that casual staff who had served for over two years be hired.

They are aggrived that the company has refused to implement the management and the labour union agreement reached in 2010. The agreement, according to the protesters, states that as at last December workers’ salaries should have been increased by N7,500 (N3,100 for basic; N2,200 for transportation and N2,200 for accommodation).

A protester said: "They ought to have increased our salaries. Most of us have worked here for over nine years, right from when the company was in Mushin, without any remuneration.

We are protesting because the management has refused to honour the agreement it reached with the labour union in 2010 that it was going to give an increment of 7,500 to all workers by last year. By last month, they asked that the time be extended to February 1.

“We decided to protest last Friday, after the management pasted a no-

PHOTO: EVELYN OSAGIA

•The protesting workers...yesterday tice, which stated that workers earning N16, 500 and below are the only ones due for the increment, adding that those above the sum would get nothing; but they have increased the workload of each worker.

"Instead of the N7,500, they were only going to pay the basic N3,100.

And worse still, they said the N3,100 is already built into the 16,500; which means that if one’s salary is 15, 400,

instead of adding N3,100 to make the total of N18,500, they would just add the difference of N16,500 and N15,400, which is N1,100. This is the third day of the protest. We are also asking that the casual workers who have worked for two years and more be hired and the working condition and environment improved. The government should not abandon us to our fate.

They should provide job for youth."

Another protester, who has worked in the company for nine years, said he only got an increment of N84. "My salary is N15, 416. And I got just N84 increase. We have families to take care of; how far can that go?" He asked.

Efforts to speak with the management failed. As at the time of this report, management and the workers' union representatives were still meeting to resolve the problem.

Court jails 30 beggars in Lagos

T

HE Special Offences Court at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State, has sentenced 30 persons to one month imprisonment in Kirikiri and Badagry for begging and other offences.

The beggars were charged to court for constituting nuisance in the public through begging.

They were also charged with conducting themselves in a manner likely to cause breach of peace and for demanding, receiving and or collecting dues or unauthorised levy from persons in contravention of the law on Illegal Collection of Dues in public places.

The case is being prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice.

Other charges preferred against the beggars included conducting them-

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

selves as disorderly persons without visible means of livelihood in breach of the criminal law of Lagos State.

The beggars, 39 in all, pleaded guilty and were sent to Kirikiri and Badagry Prisons for one month pending judgment by the judge.

Because of their disabilities, nine of them were rejected by prison officials. They have been taken to the Lagos State Rehabilitation Home, Majidun, Ikorodu.

Some of the beggars were said to have attacked government officials in a rampage at the Lagos State Rehabilitation Home, Majidun, where they are being rehabilitated.

Thirteen more beggars were arraigned on Friday at the same court. Three of the beggars were sentenced to 72-hour com-

munity service with a N5,000 fine option.

Ten others were sentenced to three months imprisonment with N10,000 fine option each; three were sentenced to 72hour community service without fine option.

Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Youths and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru said government decided to prosecute beggars because it had exhausted its patience with them.

"We still rehabilitate some of them, but most of them don't want to be rehabilitated and don't want to work. They feel more comfortable preying on people with superstitious beliefs.

"Some people believe that if they are unlucky in certain cases or looking for certain ways to make it in life, what they need to do is to give alms to beggars so that their fortune can change. Some believe that if someone debars their progress

in life, what they need to do is to give money to beggars to change their fortune.

Badru added: "We have tried a lot to rehabilitate them by making some of them to learn trade, but they don't want to work. Some of them don't want to use the skill we taught them to work, but they prefer to be on the road because they make more money at a go than using their skills.

"What we do now is that when we have over-crowding at the rehabilitation homes, we re-unite some of them with their families. However, some people rescued from the street more than once are prosecuted. We have sent 30 of them to Kirikiri and Badagry Prisons."

Some of the beggars prosecuted are Fatima Jubril, Sanusi Muhammed,

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola Lado Amadu, Badayani Garuba, Denyaya Isali, Beto Manu, Garuba Ibrahim, Aruna Yau, Dauda Amadu, Magada Salisu, among others.

SSS parades suspects, recovers fake $1.5m

T

HE State Security Service (SSS) yesterday paraded Uche Onwuka for allegedly possessing fake $1.5 million. He was also alleged to have attempted to defraud a victim of $7 million.

Azeez Bello was also paraded for allegedly impersonating an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) director, E. Adegbite, to investigate wife of Abia State governor, Mrs Mercy Orji.

According to the SSS, Onwuka lured Livinus Yakubu, a Nigerian based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to the country under the guise that he was an agent of Mike Adenuga who wanted to invest $7 million in real estate.

Trouble started when Yakubu became suspicious following the suspect’s revelation that he had stamped $3.5 million and needed about $30, 000 to purchase chemical to wash it.

The Director, SSS, Ben AchuOlayi, said the suspect superimposed himself on pictures with prominent Nigerians including President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: "Yakubu became suspicious and reported to the command and we encouraged him to play

By Precious Igbonwelundu Staff Reporter

along.

"On January 7, the operatives of the command placed the suspect under close surveillance around Camelot Hotel, Victoria Island, where he was scheduled to come and collect part of the $30, 000 as the money to be used in purchasing items to wash the dollars and he was apprehended.

"During the search conducted at the suspect's accomodation at Travel House Hotel, Ajah, many incriminating items including 12 fake internet super-imposed pictures of the suspect in the midst of very important Nigerians and documents purportedly signed by President Goodluck Jonathan were discovered.

"He had several fake internet super-imposed pictures with different highly placed personalities like the late president, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua; the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and business mogul, Aliko Dangote amongst others.

"The worst is that the suspect super-imposed several pictures where he was with President Goodluck

•The recovered fake dollar notes and other items Jonathan in the presidential office.

He portrayed himself as a member of the inner-caucus or kitchen cabinet of the president and close ally of prominent business moguls in the country. He has used such gimmicks to lure his victims."

Olayi said the suspect has made confessional statement and will probably be arraigned in court today, adding that Nigerians should remain vigilant and be more security conscious.

Bello, who impersonated EFFC’s Adegbite was said to have planned with one of the domestic workers

of Mrs. Orji to defraud her.

It was learnt that he was negotiating with his would-be victims to extort money from them in his supposed capacity as EFCC’s director of operations.

Olayi said: "Acting on intelligence report received from Abia State that one suspected fraudster was impersonating Adegbite to defraud the first lady, we trailed and successfully tracked and arrested him at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

"Bello, one of the contestants for the Kogi Central Senatorial seat in the 2011 general elections, con-

fessed that he collaborated with one Nelson Ndukwe and one Chief Okafor who are presently at large to defraud the first lady through blackmail on the pretext that she is under investigation by the EFCC on trumped-up financial offences.

"We are working with the EFCC to ascertain if he is a first time offender or they have had similar cases because you never can tell the extent of damage such criminality would have done to the commission.

"The manhunt for other fleeing suspects will continue to ensure they are brought to justice," he said.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

8

NEWS Jonathan: I’m under pressure to score more goals •New ministers take oath From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

L

IKENING his cabinet to a national football team, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he is under pressure to score more goals at this critical period of his administration, as the coach of the team.

He spoke when swearing in two new ministers, Chinedu Osita Nebo (Enugu) and Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (Kebbi).

Urging them to prove to Nigerians that he is a good coach by scoring more goals for his administration, President Jonathan noted that Nigerians would rate his coaching abilities by the new vigour they bring into the cabinet.

Jonathan, who said he was impressed by Nigeria’s victory over Cote d’Ivoire and advancement into the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations, added: “We are admitting two new ministers into our fold. From the profile we have heard about them, they are qualified to serve this country at all levels.

“If it is political, they are qualified to serve as councillors up to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by their antecedents.

“Background qualification is one thing, but serving as a minister is another thing because the challenges are different.

“One thing I believe is that you will succeed. It’s a big challenge to me and you because if the coach of a football team sends his 11 players and decides to make changes close to halftime, he knows that there may be weaknesses in some areas and he is bringing in players to strengthen the team and make sure they score goals.

“So, Nigerians are expecting that if I am bringing in ministers at this time, I must be bringing people that will strengthen the team and ensure that I score more goals.

“If Nigerians don’t realise that they will feel I’m not a good coach. If they realise that then they will know I am a good coach. So it is quite challenging for me to bring you in at this time and to you because they will expect you to perform well.

“So you are welcome on board. You will be formally sworn in again on Wednesday (tomorrow) when we will hold the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. You will get your letters from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and I will assign you to where we think you will serve this great country. Congratulations.”

Among those in attendance were the Deputy Senate President, Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, ministers and families of the new ministers.

I’m bonded to Kaduna people by Yakowa’s death, says Jonathan

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he would be bonded to the people of Kaduna State because of the tragic death of former governor, Patrick Yakowa.

He died last December in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State, after the burial of presidential aide, Oronto Douglas, with former National Security Adviser (NSA), Andrew Azazi, two of their aides and the two pilots of the helicopter.

Jonathan, who made the remark when Yakowa’s successor, Ramallan Yero, led a delegation of eminent persons from Kaduna to pay a condolence and solidarity visit to him, said the death is one that the people of Bayelsa and Kaduna states will not forget in a hurry.

He urged Yero to ensure political stability in the state and enjoined him and the people of Kaduna State to be strong. He prayed God to give the governor the wisdom to pilot the affairs of the state.

Stressing on the strategic importance of Kaduna State in the political life of the North and the country, he said: “We thank you for this visit to interact with us. We appreciate it and I join the Vice-President to express my deep appreciation to my good brothers and sisters in Kaduna State.

“On my part, I promise that the relationship between me and Kaduna State has been further cemented by the loss of Yakowa and Azazi the same day in my state.

“It is something that cannot be erased. It has brought a permanent bond between me and my good brothers and sisters in Kaduna State. I will

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

continue to work with you.

“What happened on that day is a calamity that Kaduna and Bayelsa states will continue to feel for a very long time.

“To succeed requires the support of your people.

Kaduna State is a very important state. Kaduna State is the fulcrum of the Northern politics and it is where everything revolves round.

“So, governing Kaduna State is really carrying a lot of responsibilities because your duty is beyond making food available on the table of the Kaduna people. You have the duty to even stabilise the politics of Northern Nigeria.”

He went on: “This is because Kaduna State is where most things happen. So you have a big responsibility and God will give you the wisdom to handle it.

“Luckily the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and other members of the state Assembly are here with you. By working together with them and other leaders, you will surely succeed.”

•The late Yakowa

•Alhaji Turaki (left) and Prof. Nebo at the swearing in yesterday.

‘Future budgets to focus on manufacturing’ P RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said the 2014/2015 budgets would focus on encouraging the manufacturing sector, to ensure growth in the country.

He spoke in Abuja when he inaugurated the 18-member pioneer board of the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, chaired by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and aimed at increasing productivity, sales for local businesses, expansion and creation of more markets for the products.

The President noted that Nigeria would not get out of its current poor economic position, unless the private sector, especially the manufacturing sector, was encouraged to grow first.

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

He said when the manufacturing sector is growing, more jobs would be created.

He said: “You have been selected to serve on this board on account of your integrity, patriotism and sense of duty.

Government expects that you will use your experience and skill to add value to the work the Nigerian National Competitiveness Council is called upon to perform in our ongoing efforts to reform our investment climate.

“As you are aware, the objective of the Nigerian National Competitiveness

Council is to enhance the country’s competitiveness by proposing policy recommendations that will create an economy that attracts domestic and foreign investments without focusing on, or benefiting any interest group or sector.”

The policies, President Jonathan said, would be developed based on quantitative, evidence-based analysis and would align with the broader long-term Transformation Agenda of the current administration.

Said he: “For Nigeria to have its share of the global wealth, we must ensure that we im-

prove our business environment and enhance the competitiveness of firms operating in our country. It is only then that these firms will expand their operations and create more jobs and wealth for Nigerians and Nigeria.

“It is only when we have a competitive business environment that we will attract foreign direct investment and make our country the world’s investment destination. Your board owes this nation a duty to execute its task transparently and diligently. I am confident that you will not let our nation down.”

The President said members of the council were selected to serve on the board based on their integrity, patriotism and sense of duty.

‘Corruption responsible for non-completion of Ajaokuta Steel’ S ENATE Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba has identified corruption as a major factor militating against the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex.

The three-term senator representing Cross River Central, who spoke in Abuja, said but for corruption, the project, which was started almost 40 years ago, would have been completed.

Apparently worried by the pitiable condition of the steel company, believed to have the capacity of creating over two million jobs for Nigerians, he said: “I feel sad each

By Eric Ikhilae

time I remember the story of Ajaokuta Steel Company.

The project was started when I was an undergraduate. In a few years, I would be a graduate of 40 years. Yet, the project is still ongoing. That the company hasn’t functioned is as a result of corruption. For Heaven’s sake, even for the pride of the nation, I think the project has dragged on for too long that we should be embarrassed that almost 40 years later, we

are still talking about an uncompleted Ajaokuta Steel Company.”

On whether he agreed that there were external forces collaborating with some selfish individuals to dissuade the government from completing the project, he said: “I don’t have evidence. I don’t have any fact. So, I can’t draw a conclusion. But one thing I can say with certainty, if we are determined to complete Ajaokuta Steel Company, we will complete it, external

forces notwithstanding. I mean, no amount of external forces should stop the completion of a project capable of bringing transformation and advancement to our economy.”

The Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Nurudeen AbatemiUsman, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Michael Jegede, alleged that some people in government circles are collaborating with outsiders to discourage President Goodluck Jonathan from completing the project.

I’ve no hand in Wayas’ troubles, says Metuh

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HE National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has debunked reports linking him to the demolition of a part of the Abuja home of Second Republic Senate President Dr. Joseph Wayas.

Part of Wayas’ house in Asokoro District of Abuja was last Monday demolished by the officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for encroaching into an adjourning plot allegedly owned by Metuh.

But dismissing the allegation, the Special Assistant to

Metuh, Mr. Richard Ihediwa, yesterday said the PDP chieftain is not the owner of the adjourning plot and could not have had a hand in the demolition.

Ihediwa said Metuh acquired the land a few years ago but was forced to sell it last year at a give-away price after several meetings with Wayas over his encroachment into half of the property yielded no result.

He said Chief Wayas is aware that the land has been sold to another person.

Said he: “We read in the newspapers that part of the house belonging to Second Republic

‘For the avoidance of doubt, the plot of land does not belong to Chief Metuh’ Senate President Wayas was demolished by the officials of the FCDA. The report said the demolition was because the property encroached into an adjourning land said to be owned by Chief Metuh.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the plot of land does not belong to Chief Metuh. He acquired the plot a few years ago but noticed that there was an

encroachment into half of the land by Chief Wayas.

“After several meetings with him, which yielded no result, Chief Metuh sold the land at a little or no value. Chief Wayas is aware that the land has been sold to another person. In fact, he has been transacting with the new owner of the land. So, Chief Metuh has no interest in the land and is in no way involved in the demolition.”

Ihediwa said Metuh places no value on lands and material acquisitions, adding that he is not involved in a land dispute with anybody in Abuja or in his village.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

9

NEWS PDP condemns increment of fees at Owo Poly

Probe Fayose era killings, group urges Fayemi

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GROUP, the Omoluabi Empowerment Initiative, has urged Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi to make former Governor Ayodele Fayose account for “killings” during his administration.

Fayose was governor between 2003 and 2006.

The socio-cultural organisation said it was necessary to probe the killings during what they described as “an administration’s reign of death and mayhem in Ekiti”.

The body, led by its National Coordinator and General Secretary, Comrades Larry Toluwa and Olanrewaju Adewusi, spoke with reporters at the weekend in AdoEkiti, the state capital.

It said: “It is time Fayemi recognised the imperative of setting up a panel of enquiry to look into the allegations against the former governor.

“The move to probe and prosecute Fayose would, among other needs, prove that the governor is committed to his pledge to pioneer not just a responsible government, but one that is ready to call whoever errs to account.”

They said during the Fayose administration, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola was killed in his Ijan-Ekiti country home in 2006 by gunmen and Mr. Tunde Omojola was mur-

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

dered in Ifaki-Ekiti in 2005.

Others, according to the group, include the killing of five students of the state College of Education during a peaceful protest against the government; the killing of 10 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members during a supremacy battle over the PDP state executive in 2003; an acid attack on Mrs. Thatcher, a staunch member of the now rested Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ado-Ekiti in 2003 and the killing and maiming of AD members at a meeting in Ado-Ekiti in 2004.

Adewusi said: “The crimes recorded while Fayose was governor are more than the aggregate of crimes

committed in the state since its creation in 1996. I urge Fayemi to remember that he is a product of justice, rule of law, fair play and equity.

It will amount to injustice and a calculated attempt to encourage others to engage in political killings, if he fails to probe these ugly incidents.”

The Director-General of Fayose’s Campaign Organisation, Mr. Gboyega Oguntuase, dismissed the allegations as flimsy and unwarranted.

Oguntuase said anyone who has a case against Fayose should approach the police, adding that there is no case in court linking the former governor to any murder.

He said: “This agitation is

T •Dr. Fayemi

mere political exigency. If they are calling for the prosecution of Fayose or asking for a Judicial Panel of Enquiry at this point when campaign for the governorship election is high, such a demand is highly suspicious.

“Ekiti people will like to know if the group has better information than it had before. If it has proof, it should go to the police and let them do their job. If it is not doing that, it means its knowledge of the law is pedestrian, jaundiced and archaic.”

Man arraigned for ‘stealing’ goat

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N 18-year-old-man, Ade Adeyemi, was yesterday arraigned before an Ekiti State Magistrate’s Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for allegedly stealing a goat, valued at N15,000.

Adeyemi allegedly committed the offence last Saturday at Oke Ureje in Ado-Ekiti.

Police prosecutor Oriyomi Akinwale prayed the court for an adjournment to enable him study the case file.

He pleaded that the goat recovered from the accused on the scene of the crime be released to the complainant, Ms. Rabi Abele-

•’I’ve never stolen in my life’ From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

waji.

The Magistrate, A. H. Anoma, granted the accused N20,000 bail and released the goat to the owner. The case was adjourned till March 6.

Adeyemi denied the allegation, saying he has never stolen anything in his life.

He said he was arrested by a member of a vigilance group while going to buy a cigarette after 5am.

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has criticised the increment of tuition fees from N30,000 to over N80,000 at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo. The party said the education policies of the Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration are depriving thousands of youths from accessing tertiary education.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Wale Ozogoro, at the weekend, PDP urged the government to consider the less privileged and review the fees downward.

It said: “The PDP State Working Committee (SWC) condemns the astronomical increase in tuition and other fees at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo. “We are aghast by the obnoxious policies of the present administration in the education sector. A state’s educational policy should unlock long-run development, most importantly science and technology-based education.

“The government’s action is egregious and we have continually warned that this government is deceptive. It is sad that the leadership of the polytechnic, which is battling with the politically-motivated sack of some workers, muscled up the temerity to

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

foist on students such a wicked fee under the prevailing economic condition in the state.

“The students were welcomed back to campus with a hike in acceptance fee, tuition fee, faculty fee, departmental fee, hostel accommodation fee and other sundry payment, which rose above 150 per cent increase.

“The state has slid into a gruesome burden of debt incurred by the Labour Party (LP) administration, yet the government wants to further pauperise the people by denying them education.

“Citizens are groaning under this long-term servitude, even though the petroleum derivation fund accruing to the state is growing and should indicate a corresponding development.

“PDP is of the view that education is a right and not a privilege . Therefore, these fees are beyond the reach of most parents and guardians. The good people of Ondo State never witnessed such an obnoxious policy when the state was under PDP’s leadership.

“This increment is wicked, insensitive, unwarranted and outrageous. It should be revised immediately in the interest of the people.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

10

NEWS

Aregbesola inaugurates emergency response service From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday inaugurated the Special Ambulance and Emergency Response Service, O-Ambulance.

He said the 19 ambulances would be positioned at strategic locations to attend to accident victims, adding that the government would buy more ambulances to cover all accident flashpoints.

The governor lamented the rising carnage on roads, adding that accidents have claimed many “promising lives”.

He said his administration has identified accidentprone roads in the state, such as the Ife/Ibadan Express road, Gbongan/Osogbo road, Ikirun/Offa road and Iwo/Ibadan road, and is working on measures to mininise accidents.

Decrying the poor response to emergencies, Aregbesola said many accident/disaster victims

•Aregbesola inaugurating the Osun Ambulance Service, tagged: O-Ambulance. With him are House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salam (left); Mrs. Ilori and others...yesterday. (Inset: A cross section of the ambulances.)

could have been saved, if health workers had responded promptly.

He said: “The health sector has suffered neglect by past administrations. As a responsive and responsible government,

whose priority is the wellbeing of the people, we cannot fold our arms and watch our people die unnecessarily in road accidents and other emergencies.

“Our panacea to redress this ugly trend is the establishment

of the O-Ambulance and improved healthcare services, which our administration has been striving to provide since we assumed office.”

The ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art

Ondo Tribunal strikes out Accord’s, PDP’s, CPC’s petitions T HE Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday dismissed the petitions of the Accord and its candidate, Mr. Olawale Ojo. The suit, which was filed by the state chapter of the party, was challenging the omission of its candidate in last October’s governorship election.

The case took a dramatic turn when Accord’s National Executive appeared at the tribunal with a different lawyer, Mr. Ayenekan Olabanjo, to withdraw the petition.

Olabanjo argued that Article 17 of the Accord Constitution states that only the national executive can file a petition on behalf of the party.

Counsel to the state executive Mr. Michael Lana said the party’s constitution gave the state executive power to administer party affairs at the state level.

The three-man panel, headed by Justice Andovar Kaka’an, dismissed the petition, based on its withdrawal by the National Executive.

On Ojo’s petition, counsel to Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Mr. Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that the tribunal could not hear the case because the

•Accord supporters boo national chair •Panel admits ACN’s, Oke’s petitions From Damisi Ojo and Leke Akeredolu,Akure

petitioner filed at the Federal High Court before the election was conducted.

Olanipekun described the act as an abuse of court process, saying the case had been adjourned at the Federal High Court.

Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mr. O. Osaze said the petitioner failed to complete the screening for the election.

He said the nomination form for Accord’s candidate was issued by INEC in July, but the party’s primary election was held in August.

Lana, who represented Ojo, said the tribunal could hear his client’s application because the case was withdrawn from the Federal High Court last November.

Justice Kaka’an said Ojo abused the court process and struck out his application for a fresh election.

The tribunal also struck out the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on grounds that it hired a non-party executive, Mr. Omotule, to act as a member of its National Executive and sign the party’s petition.

The Labour Party’s (LP’s) lead counsel, Yusuf Ali (SAN), argued that the state PDP executive was dissolved by the State High Court before the election, adding that the party sought Omotule’s assistance to sign its petition and act as a representative of the PDP National Executive.

Ali said investigation showed that Omotule was not authorised by the PDP National Executive to sign on its behalf.

Justice Kaka’an admitted the petition of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, but said the party’s name should be removed from para-

Seventh Beko Kuti memorial symposium holds Sunday

T ON MONDAYS TO SATURDAYS

NOW N50.00 STARTING FROM MONDAY 28TH JANUARY, 2013

graphs where it was mentioned.

The tribunal rejected an application filed by Oke to include more witnesses in his petition on the grounds that the time stipulated by the Electoral Law for filing application had expired.

The panel struck out criminal charges on electoral violence filed by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the PDP, saying it has no jurisdiction to hear such a case.

The petition of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was also struck out on technical grounds.

The tribunal accepted all election related matters filed by the ACN, its candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu and Oke. The tribunal adjourned till tomorrow.

Accord’s National Chairman Mohammed Malado was booed by supporters of the state party as he left the court premises. Angry supporters prevented his car from leaving through the main gate. He was sneaked out of the premises through the back gate by security agents.

HE Seventh Beko Ransom-Kuti Annual Symposium will hold on Sunday at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, by 10am.

The topic is “Constitutional gridlock: The way forward”.

The guest speakers are Prof. Itse Sagay, Prof. Akin Oyebode, Dr. Sule Kano and Dr. Dipo Fashina. Niger Delta Activist Lady Ankio Briggs is one of the discussants.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola is the chief host and the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be the special guest of honour.

Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) are the guests of honour.

The chairman of the occasion is Solomon Asemota Esq. Comrade Baba Omojola is the Chairman of the Organising Committee, which includes a coalition of prominent Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria.

communication gadgets.

The public would be given special numbers to access the services free-of-charge.

Commissioner for Health Mrs. Temitope Ilori said the administration has upgraded state

hospitals in the nine federal constituencies.

She said the government would employ volunteer workers for the O-Ambulance scheme and urged interested persons to apply.

Suspected vandals to know fate Feb. 11

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FEDERAL High Court in Lagos will on Feb. 11 rule on the bail applications of four of the six suspects charged with pipeline vandalism and the murder of three engineers at Arepo, Ogun State.

Justice Mohammed Idris fixed the date yesterday after hearing arguments on their bail applications.

Joel Inerepamu, 25; Reuben Oluwole,60; John Isaiah, 28; Ineye Okposa, 40; Timi Gunugunu, 22 and Olisa Saheed,25, are on trial for a seven-count charge.

Counsel to Oluwole, Isaiah, Gunugunu and Saheed, Mr. George Iheanacho, urged the court to grant his clients bail on liberal terms on grounds of ill-health.

Prosecution counsel Toyin Ibadin objected to the applications. He said murder was a capital offence, stressing that the son of one of the suspects was killed in an explosion at Arepo, which was caused by pipeline vandalism.

Ibadin alleged that the deceased and his mother were also involved in vandalism.

He argued that the defendants could jump bail since they resided in the creeks with no traceable address.

The suspects allegedly vandalised a pipeline belonging to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and shot dead three engineers monitoring the facility.

NLC, TUC hail Fayemi

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EADERS of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have hailed Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi for “defying the odds to govern properly”.

They described his administration as “the kind of governance the nation needs”.

The unions spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during a visit to the governor.

NLC President Abdulwaheed Omar said: “ Fayemi has repositioned Ekiti for a greater future. This is all too evident in the state.”

Comparing Fayemi with his Edo State counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, Omar said the two have shown purposeful leadership by “first drawing up a plan with which they are now transforming their states”.

He said the country would

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

get better with leaders who are creative and have a passion for development.

TUC President Peter Esele said he was impressed by the pace of infrastructural development in the state in the last two years.

Esele said: “This commendation on Fayemi’s performance is neither flattery nor a song of sycophancy, as his efforts are glaring. The governor’s achievements are evident in many areas.

“I drive round town yesterday and saw so many changes. You have no option but to perform. As an activist, you have lived up to expectation and TUC wants you to continue the good work.”

The labour unions assured the governor of their support.

11

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

BUSINESS THE NATION

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NLNG is one of the biggest success stories in our country. From what I am told, the company has invested $13 billion so far since inception, and has become a pacesetter in terms of revenue generation for the government.

-Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga

NNPC denies $8.3b debt to Fed Govt

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

• GMD NNPC, Andrew Yakubu

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HE Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora tion (NNPC) has described the report of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

(NEITI), which accused it of owing the federation N1.3 trillion as misleading.

In a statement, it explained that the N928billion ‘debt’, has been paid since the first quarter of last year. This can be verified with the relevant authorities, the corporation said.

The Manager, Group Public Affairs, Umar Mohammed, said: “The report contains fundamental inaccuracies, which are misleading and constitutes misinformation to the public.

“One would have expected NEITI to take cognisance of

• Says NEITI’s report misleading this process in the report to avoidmisrepresenting NNPC’s debt profile.

“The N377 billion purported debt was a carry-over of 2004-2005 when NNPC was directed to buy crude oil for domestic consumption at the international market price, while the sale of petroleum products was at subsidised prices without appropriate instrument to recover the shortfall.”

On subsidy, Mohammed explained that NNPC’s subsidy claims were verified and approved for payment

by the relevant agencies, adding that the claims due to NNPC were not “cash payments as amounts duly approved are backed out from the Gross Domestic Oil revenue due to the Federation Account in any given month”. This is the extant process for this transaction, he added.

On the N1.4 trillion, he said: “The report deliberately ignored, and or omitted the factors responsible for the increasing amounts paid, especially the price of crude oil which accounts for 82 per cent

of the price build-up for petroleum products.

“It should be noted that as a fall out of the subsidy crisis of 2012, other players that constitute over 50 per cent of the market share in the downstream, refused to import petroleum products from their supply obligation. NNPC being the supplier of last resort under the NNPC Act, continued to supply the nation at huge cost while still maintaining the strategic reserve obligation”. He added that NNPC should be commended on the matter.

The corporation said its response to the NEITI 2009-2011

became imperative to clear its name.

“From the foregoing, NEITI without taking cognizance of the extant laws and regulations, guidelines and terms of relevant contracts in NNPC’s operations, has continued to portray the corporation to the public in bad light. The report contains fundamental inaccuracies, which are misleading and constitutes misinformation to the generality of the public, the statement, he said.

The corporation said it is awaiting a formal engagement with NEITI to close the report.

Loan dispute: Ubah seeks amicable settlement

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N end to the dis pute between Capital Oil and Gas Limited, its promoter, Ifeanyi Ubah and Access Bank Plc is in sight as the former is exploring an out-of-court settlement option.

Also, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Lagos, before who the disputants are locked in litigation, warned yesterday that he would not hesitate to sanction any party who scandalised the court in the media.

The information about settlement was made public by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), lawyer to Capital Oil and Ubah, Paul Usoro (lawyer to Access Bank) and Osita Mbamalu (representing Coscharis Limited, one of the defendants).

They spoke at the resumed hearing of the suit brought against Access Bank and Coscharis by Ubah and his company.

“I am happy to inform the court that parties have virtually reconciled and if all things were equal, term of

By Eric Ikhilae

settlement would have been submitted to your Loardship this morning. And parties would have gone home fully reconciled,” Olanipekun told the court.

“As far as the dispute between the parties is concerned, parties are having settlement meetings and negotiations, which I am hopeful, could resolve the dispute today,” Usoro said.

Mbamalu agreed with Olanipekun and Usoro on moves to settle.

He said though he had filed application for stay of execution of the court’s order of January 28 directing Access Bank to discontinue its case against the plaintiffs in London, he has refrained from serving the application on the other parties because of the on-going reconciliation efforts.

Earlier, Usoro told the court that his client had filed two applications before the Court of Appeal; one appealing the court’s January 28 ruling and another seeking stay of execu-

tion of the order.

He said the applications were attached to a letter written to the court, intimating it about the development.

Usoro urged the court to adjourn the case indefinitely pending the determination of his client’s applications before the Court of Appeal.

Olanipekun opposed Usoro’s application for indefinite adjournment. He also faulted the applications he filed before the Appeal Court, arguing that an application for stay of execution and proceedings ought to be filed first before the trial court.

He told the court that his client had reconciled with Coscharis. Olanipekun argued that it did not lie with Access Bank to seek the court’s indulgence or assistance, having allegedly ignored to obey its subsisting order.

Olanipekun, who told the court that Access Bank has refused to discontinue the London suit as ordered by the court, prayed the court to make an order compelling principal officers of the bank to appear

Nigeria, Indonesia trade volume hits $2b

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HE trade volume be tween Nigeria and In donesia stands at $2billion, the Indonesia Minister of Trade, Gita Wirjamwan, has said.

Wirjamwan made this known during the Nigeria –Indonesia Bilateral Trade Meeting and Business Luncheon in Abuja. He assured that a preferential trade agreement between Nigeria and Indonesia would soon be concluded as part of efforts to increase trade and investment between the two countries.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga also assured that both countries would work to double the trade volume by 2015.

He said: “Both countries will come up with strategic and implementable action plans where they can leverage the cordial bilateral trade relationship to boost trade and increase Foreign Direct Investment.”

“It is good to have country-to country discussions and Bilateral Agreements but at the end of the day, most of these things come

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

down to the people and how they put discussions and agreements into action.

“The Indonesian Minister of Trade and I have agreed that our technical teams will come together and put together a strategic plan for Nigeria and Indonesian which we will implement going forward.

“In terms of trade, we have already set targets for ourselves in terms of where we want to be and what we want to achieve. One of our major objectives is to double the bilateral trade between the two countries by 2015, particularly, when we have met and had bilateral discussions and agreements. We will work together to make sure that this happens.

“I see this meeting as symbiotic relationship between the two countries. Indonesia is about a trillion dollar economy. They have some similarities with Nigerian in terms of natural resources in agro- commodities and oil

and gas. One of the major decisions taken by the Indonesian Trade Minister and I is that we will create a vehicle that will make it easier for the private sector of both countries to flourish and coinvest in the different sectors of the economy.

“In line with our Industrial Revolution Plan, one of the things that we want to do in terms of growing the value chain, is to identify areas where we have competitive and comparative advantage so that we can attract more investment into these areas in order to create jobs, generate wealth and transform our economy”.

Wirjawan said Nigeria has been recognised globally as the biggest market for Foreign Direct Investment in Africa. This is very important for us, especially giving the huge human and natural resource base in Nigeria. There are over 15 Indonesian companies currently operating and doing well in Nigeria.

before the court to explain why they have chosen to hold the court in contempt.

Usoro could not respond immediately. He sought a stand-down to enable him to consult the authorities cited by Olanipekun and respond appropriately, a request that

Olanipekun objected to.

Access Bank had petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigerian (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, over the ruling of Justice Abang.

The bank in the petition dated February 2013 and signed by its Secretary, Sun-

day Ekwochi, accused the judge of bias in the matter.

The lender urged the CJN to probe the conduct of Justice Abang in the matter and promised to supply her with the necessary documents to support the bias of the judge in the case.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

12

NEWS Court remands Lamido’s son in prison From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned Aminu Sule Lamido, the first son of Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, on a one-count charge of money laundering before Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano.

The accused was arrested by EFCC operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on December 11, last year, when he attempted to transport $50,000 out of the country. He declared only $10,000 to the Nigerian Customs.

The charge said Aminu, on or about December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, while transporting $50,000 from Nigeria to Cairo, Egypt, falsely declared to the Nigerian Customs $10,000 instead of $50,000, as required under Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap. F34, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and Section 2(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 2(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Aminu pleaded not guilty to the charges. This prompted the prosecuting counsel, S. H. Sa’ad, to apply for a hearing date.

The defence counsel, O. E. D. Offiong (SAN,) prayed the court to grant the accused bail, who is on an administrative bail.

But Sa’ad opposed the bail application.

He prayed the court to remand the accused in prison, arguing he would tamper with the cause of investigation because he had once declined to appear for the first hearing and refused to get served when the EFCC approached him with the service.

Justice Riman agreed with the prosecuting counsel and ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody.

He adjourned hearing till today.

CPC: only merger will remove PDP

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HE Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) at the weekend said the only way to bail out the country and fix its collapsed infrastructure is for the opposition to unite and mobilise Nigerians to vote out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

Enugu State governorship candidate of the CPC in the 2011 general elections and member of the CPC merger committee, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, addressed members of the party on the ongoing merger talks between Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and CPC in the first phase and other progressive parties in the second phase.

He said: “My dear members of the CPC in Enugu State, I think it is important at this juncture, as a member of the CPC Merger Committee, to brief you on the ongoing merger talks between ACN and the CPC in the first phase and other progressive political parties in the second phase.

•Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga (fifth left); Minister of Technology, Mrs Omobalaji Johnson (fourth left, back row); Chairman, Heirs Holding Limited, Mr Tony Elumelu (fifth right); Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Dr Samuel Ortom (fourth right); former Industry Minister, Mr Kola Jamodu (right) and other members of the Nigeria National Competitive Council during their inauguration at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

Offa/Erin-Ile crisis: Kwara dissolves local govts

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HE Kwara State Government yesterday suspended the chairmen of Offa and Oyun Local Governments, Prince Saheed Popoola and Ibrahim Omoniyi.

The action followed last week’s communal clash between Offa and Erin-Ile communities, both of Offa and Oyun local governments.

The government approved the appointment of sole administrators for both councils.

They are: Alhaji Ishaq Abubakar (Offa) and Alhaji G. B. O. Bello (Oyun).

Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Alhaji Isiaka Gold said the suspended council chiefs, as the Chief Security Officers of the councils, failed to maintain public order and protect the welfare of the people in both communities.

He said: “In view of the fact that there is a clear and present danger of the breakdown of law and order, security and public safety in Offa and ErinIle towns and the need to take further action to prevent the deterioration of the situation, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, in exercising the powers conferred on him by Kwara State Law No. 4 of 2006 (Kwara State Local Government [Amendment] Law 2006), has suspended Offa and Oyun Local Governments with immediate effect.

“All public office holders in both councils, including the Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, Councillors, Secretary to the Local Government and Supervisors, are to vacate their offices immediately.

“Besides, the governor has set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the Erin-Ile/ Offa communal crisis. The commission’s terms of teference are to identify the remote and immediate causes of the crises, determine the extent of damage to property, determine the number of lives lost, determine the culprits, review reports of previous committees and commissions on the crisis and make appropriate recommendations in respect of punishment/prosecution of culprits, lives lost, property destroyed and solutions to prevent a future recurrence.”

Members of the commission include Justice Adeyinka Sikiru Oyinloye (Chairman), AbdulAzeez Ayodeji Ibrahim, Alhaji A. R. Shehu (Retired

•ACN, CPC kick •Govt sets up commision of enquiry From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin and Precious Igbonwelundu

Head of Service [HOS]), Mr. Job Afolayan (Retired Perm.

Sec), Mrs. F. A. Lawal (DCL, Mininstry of Justice), Dr. Jelili Animashaun (University of Ilorin), ACP Olatunji Ayodele (Nigeria Police), Mr. John O. Ojo (State Security Service [SSS]), Lt.-Col. A. H. Ahmed (Nigerian Army) and Alhaji A. A. Yusuf (DPFS, Governor’s Office).

The commission is expected to submit its report within six weeks.

The SSG warned that anybody found culpable would be punished.

Gold said: “Let me restate here that the full weight of the law will be brought to bear on anyone apprehended for inciting violence or otherwise disrupting public order in Erin-Ile/Offa and other parts of the state, no matter how highly placed.”

The SSG said a peace meeting brokered by the government, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari and other stakeholders could not prevent the outbreak of hostilities between both communities.

Gold noted that “despite these peace efforts and overtures by the government, further hostilities broke out between the two communities on Monday, January 28, 2013, resulting in the loss of three lives and the destruction of property worth millions of naira”.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday faulted the Kwara State Government for dissolving the Oyun and Offa Local Governments in the wake of the communal crisis between Erinle and Offa communities.

The ACN described the dissolution as a knee-jerk response to a deep-rooted problem while the CPC called it selective justice.

In a statement in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the government's action also risks aggravating the crisis, especially as the people of Offa Local Government - the only council controlled by the ACN in the state - are bound to interpret the government's action as a

‘

.

If the governor expected a standing ovation for firing the council chairmen, then he must be mistaken, because this latest move is no doubt a dangerous ill wind that blows no good

’

way of depriving them of the leadership they have willingly voted into office.

It said the Kwara State Government either acted in indecent haste in dissolving the councils or decided to cash in on the crisis to neutralise the awesome popularity and acceptability of the ACN, considering that judgment is still being awaited on the ACN's appeal against the election tribunal's award of the council to the Peoples Democratic party (PDP), and being acutely aware that any fresh election ordered in the local government will be swept by the ACN. The party said: "We at the ACN will like to say unequivocally that the Kwara State Government was wrong in dissolving the councils because it has not been found that the crisis erupted due to any act of omission or commission by the council chairmen or officials. Also, when the same measure was adopted following a crisis between the communities in 2006, it did not resolve the crisis, otherwise it would not have recurred.

"Thirdly, if these communities, which have been living together peacefully for over 300 years, only started attacking each other just about 30 years ago, shouldn't the government have been more interested in what led to the crisis instead of descending on the two councils as if doing that will resolve the crisis?"

The party, therefore, urged the government to immediately rescind this decision and

begin an all-inclusive effort to get to the root of the communal clashes between the two brotherly communities, instead of using it to deprive the people of Offa a popular and people-oriented government.

"This all-inclusive action must be pivoted by traditional rulers, community leaders and all other stakeholders, because these are the people who can help to resolve the problem, not a government that is perhaps more interested in political expediency rather than a genuine resolution of the crisis," it said.

ACN noted that when a more serious crisis occurred between Share and Tsaragi communities, also in Kwara State last year, the government did not dissolve the affected Ifelodun Local Government.

The party, therefore, queried the timing and rationale behind the dissolution of Offa Local Government.

In a statement, the CPC Deputy National Chairman Soliu Mustapha said: "If the governor expected a standing ovation for firing the council chairmen, then it must be mistaken, because this latest move is no doubt a dangerous illwind that blows no good.

"The move is as reckless and thoughtless as it is feckless and insensitive! For us at the CPC, it beggars belief that the PDPled Kwara State Government decided to ply the ignoble and treacherous route of playing cheap and potentially precarious politics, instead of decimating its energy on how to successfully bring calm and tranquility to an already traumatised population. We find it beyond comprehension that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the chief security officer of the state and the one in whose hands the security apparatus of the state resides, would shift the blame of the communal crisis to the innocent council chairmen instead of himself and the security agencies who have woefully failed to restore order.

"We make bold to say that since the obviously mismanaged bottomless pit called security vote is an exclusive preserve of the governor and his PDP goons, then the buck of securing the life and property of the people of the state stops

•Ahmed

squarely on his table.

"The PDP-led government in the state must therefore admit its stack incompetence to stem the tide of communal hostility and bloodletting across the state. At no time in the history of the state has our corporate existence as a people been so dangerously threatened by communal strife, a state-wide orgy of violence, hooliganism and cult clashes. The state, unlike never before, is now daily inundated with terrible news of avoidable deaths, ranging from cult clashes, ghastly motor accidents, ritual killings, industrial ruins and now communal hostilities.

"If, therefore, the overseeing council chairmen must come under the hammer for only presiding over volatile areas and nothing more, then the governor does not enjoy any moral right to continue in office, going by the warped logic of the PDP-led government.

"In other words, since the state is aggressively being overrun by cultists, ritualists, armed robbers and assassins, right under the nose of Mr. Abdulfatai Ahmed, and all indications point to his crude ineptitude, gross incompetence, stack lack of judgement, the least the governor must do in this unfortunate instance is to throw in the towel, if all animals are equal in the PDP animal farm.

"We especially wish to urge our revered traditional institutions, security agencies and all public-spirited Kwarans at home and in the Diaspora to rein in on the state governor to rescind his decision, as this wicked gambit is capable of precipitating a political chaos of epic proportion the end of which no one can clearly predict."

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PROPERTY

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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

* The Environment * Mortgage * Apartments * Security * Homes * Real Estate

email:- property@thenationonlineng.net

•Dry construction: A model house.

Dry construction, cheaper houses Many beautiful At last, the answer to the housing problem may be here. It is called dry construction under which building components are prefabricated off no tenants site. It is also houses, cheaper than its more popular counterpart, wet construction. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports.

•Okorocha seeks govt, surveyors’ collaboration

- PAGE 18

•CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

•Why Lagos is investing in infrastructure, by Fashola

- PAGE 47

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

Dry construction, cheaper houses D RY construction, a method whereby many building components are pre-fabricated off site, can cut the cost of building a house by 25 to 50 per cent.

Its proponents say houses can be delivered faster, cheaper and to required standards if the process is followed religiously. It is also believed that the huge housing deficit can be bridged by the efficient processes of dry construction which ensure effective use of materials, time and resources. It is energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

An architect, Mr David Majekodunmi, said dry construction holds the key to mass housing because it speeds up construction process and allows early occupancy with minimal on-site storage of materials and wastage.

Besides, he said the model ensures increased site productivity, safer construction, increased quality and reliability.

Underscoring the comparative advantages of dry over wet construction and its global acceptance, he cited China where the world’s tallest building will be constructed in 90 days.

He said: “Construction is set to begin in Changsha, China, which will be completed in just 90 days.

Following foundation work, the company said its schedule to construct the 838-metre tower, 220 floors, will go on as planned with the completion of five storeys a day.”

He said the only challenge to its success in the country may be the clash between tradition and modernity as some still want to cling to bricks and mortar despite their deficiencies.

Immediate Past President Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) and former President Association of African quantity Surveyors (AAQS), Mr Segun Ajanlekoko, said the concept is ac-

cepted globally and remains the only way to go if the housing gap must be filled. The only challenge, he said, is people’s resistance to change. According to him, in the United States, over 80 per cent of the houses are based on modular construction, which is dry construction. He said the model can reduce the cost of houses by about 50 per cent if implemented.

Calling for a national policy on dry construction, he asked the Federal Government to adapt the Kigali model where banks are compelled by a policy to give loan to every citizen that has a job to build a house.

He insisted that except that is done, many will still have challenges of land acquisition, access to finance and mortgage, which he said is almost non-existent.

On cost differential of dry over wet construction, Ajanlekoko said while a conventional and modest twobedroom house can be built with N3.5 million, with dry construction, it can be as low as N1.2 million with all the needed convenience.

Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Lagos chapter, Mr Ladipo Lewis, while lauding the model, said it is efficient in terms of speed and mass production and advised that if the government must fill the housing gap, it must embrace the technology.

Noting other inherent advantages, he said it makes for ease of transportation and accessibility to remote locations, flexible, sustainable, low waste, healthier and recyclable structure and materials.

President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr Chucks A. Omeife, lending a voice on the need to embrace the technology, said the model can reduce the number of workers involved in building operations, reduce cost as well as increase industry productivity.

•From left: Nigerite Sales Manager (Technical), Jesse Onovre; Master Ayegba Shem; Miss Eluyera Morounfoluwa (students of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State), Dr. Anosike Nwabueze and Mr Ignatus Omuh, lecturers, during training on dry construction method, at Nigerite Company in Lagos.

He also said the need to bridge the 16 million housing gap has made it imperative for policy makers to look beyond the traditional methods of construction and its attendant challenges for a new and more convenient one.

He listed some of the challenges associated with wet construction to include access to land, finance and building material. He called for a national policy and appropriate institutional framework in construction methodology to support the technology.

According to him, dry construction offers fast assembling, better quality, cheaper and ushers hope for a successful delivery of mass housing. managing director/Chief Executive Officer, Lange and Grant Ltd, Mr Tunde Okoya, a dry construction expert, said dry construction is simply building construction without moisture retaining materials such as plaster or mortar while using materials such as galvanised steel, fiber cement ,precast concrete and gypsum board.

He pointed out that it is only this model that has the capacity to mass produce house within a short time for people in need of decent accommodation.

He argued that with World Bank estimate of N59 trillion to bridge the over 16 million housing stock in the country, conventional methods can no longer solve the problem of inadequate shelter in the country.

On the benefits of dry construction, he said it include but not limited to sustainability, lower carbon foot print, significantly faster and less messy site and excellent performance in fire protection. In addition, Okoya who has delivered several hundreds of houses through the method, said it also has superior acoustic performance, longer life materials with delivery timeline of between six to eight weeks. He, however, noted that the model can only be a success story if materials are sourced locally through a deliberate government policy. He said depending on the design one can achieve over 25 per cent reduction in price

Okorocha seeks govt, surveyors’ collaboration

I

MO State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha has urged the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) to be creative in their practice and collaborate with the government to build new cities towards the country’s centenial annuiversary next year.

Okorocha, the special guest at the 19th JW Ekpenyong Memorial Lecture, organised by the NIESV at the Civic Centre in Lagos, said his administration is ready to partner with the institution in developing the Oguta Lake City.

Besides, the governor called for a review of the Land Use Act to make land easily available to citizens and to also make existing land valuable.

He said his government was working on a policy, which would require only the payment of N1000 for land owners to register same and obtain Certificates of Occupancy with ease.

“My challenge to the members of this noble institution is that they should drive the creation of new cities as Nigeria celebrates 100 years of nationhood. This you can do by partnering with government to ensure that every land in the country has value and the only way a land can have value is by registering the land and obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy”, said the Imo State governor.

He added: “With the government backing and with the name of the institution, the doors to every bank in the country will be opened to your members who wish to secure loans to develop new cities.”

Okorocha insisted that it is the lack of visionary leaders that has turned Nigeria to “a rich country with poor people” and called for the devolu-

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

tion of power.

Explaining why governments have failed to attract foreign investors despite numerous trips to Europe and America, he said the governance structure in Nigeria is akin to “a lady with a big head, big stomach and skinny legs who can never attract a rich suitor”.

He explained that the big head alluded to is the Federal Government and the big stomach represented the

state governments while the tiny legs depicted the local governments.

Condemning the concentration of wealth on Federal and state governments, Okorocha drew attention to the practice in Imo State where a community-based approach has been adopted in governance.

Earlier, President of NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh urged members to be involved in politics in order to influence policies. “Members of NIESV must become active in the politics of this country for the good of the profession and in the greater interest of

•Okorocha (middle), APGA Chairman, Victor Umeh and Eleh at the event.

Nigeria,”, said Eleh.

He added: “It is only when you are in government through participation that you can initiate and influence policies affecting our profession and other Nigerians for good.”

Speaking on the theme of the lecture ‘Honesty and devotion in Nigeria’s transformation agenda’, the NIESV chief also said the members should know that their training in project management and asset valuation places them in good stead to assist Nigeria through honest and transparent leadership.

compared with the traditional brick and mortar method.

The Marketing Director, Nigerite Nigeria Limited, manufacturers of dry construction homes, Mr Toyin Gbede, canvassed the adoption of the technology as a national policy.

He said the process is not only fast as houses can be done in about six weeks, but saves money, especially for developers who access funds through the banks and other financial institutions for building houses unlike the wet solution, which takes years to build and may eventually eat into the profit margin of the developer.

He said the dry construction method cost at least 25 per cent lower and can be lower in economies of scale.

‘Security our main challenge’ From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

T

HE Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) has charged Nigerians to patronise locally made tiles because they can compete with other products from other parts of the world.

The institute’s Chairman, 1Abuja Chapter, Mr Stanley Kolo, said at the West African Ceramic Limited in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, that the quality of the firm’s tiles is high.

Kolo said instead of patronising fake tiles from other countries, it is better and cheaper to support the firm’s quality products.

He said to meet the production capacity of the building industry, architects decided to visit the company to see things for themselves.

Mr Kolo said: “This, as a matter of fact, is to stem the importation of fake tiles. This company is the third largest factory in Africa, while Nigerians lament the outpour of fake products from China to Nigerian markets, including all kind of tiles, the West African Ceramic Ltd is not only producing what is good for the Nigerian homes but with competitive prices as well.”

The Marketing Manager, West African Ceramics Ltd, Mr Shoeb Mohommed, said the firm’s challenge is security. ”The Boko Haram insurgence is a serious threat to the company, most times raw materials don’t arrive on time due to fear of the unknown on the roads,” he said.

He lauded the government’s policies, saying: “The Federal Government has not imposed any law on the organisation that will hinder them from doing their legitimate business.”

The General Manager, Mr Bhaskar Rao, said the objective of the firm is to support the country’s infrastructural and economic development and to ensure it meets the its requirement for tiles.

“The company is also involved in community projects in the locality in the area of education, tree planting and provision of employment opportunities.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

Cyberwar, out of the shadows

On course •We welcome Reps’ move to tackle weak financial control in MDAs

T

HE move by the House of Representatives to tackle frontally the challenge of weak and ineffective financial controls in our public finance system is certainly overdue. Here we refer to the planned amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) under which the House seeks to make funding for the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), a first line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.

The rationale, according to the lawmakers, is to secure the financial autonomy for the office charged with curbing the financial excesses of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government. The lawmakers also believe that this would address the issue of paltry allocation to the office in the budget, which continues to limit its ability to carry out its mandate. A good illustration is the statement credited to the auditor general, Samuel Ukura, saying that the agency could not audit the accounts of 97 foreign missions in the 2012 budget year because there was no money for his office to work. In the 2013 budget, the sum of N892milion was proposed for the office to audit the accounts of close to 600 MDAs. We share in the broad objective of weaning the office off its dependence on the finance ministry and the Budget Office. As it is, the nation has long moved beyond the debate on the need for independence for a critical office like that of the auditor-general. The challenge has always been how to ensure that the institution, as indeed similar ones, have

the wherewithal to carry out their jobs and in an unfettered atmosphere.

Financial autonomy is however only one step in the long journey to improved service delivery. Clearly, the time has come for the National Assembly to look into the books to see how, in addition to the proposed financial autonomy, the operational capacity of the office can be further enhanced. We consider that also key to the whole effort to reposition the office.

The move by the lawmakers has itself thrown up some related constitutional issues deserving no less attention; these relate to the structure and nomenclature of some of the Federal Government’s agencies, as these have implications for our current practice of federalism.

A good example is the office of the AGF itself; ordinarily, the correct appellation ought to be Auditor-General of the Federal Government since its mandate covers only the accounts of the Federal Government and its agencies. The same is also true of the offices of the accountantgeneral and the Attorney-General of the Federation which should be properly designated as those of the Federal Government.

Of course, the former is without prejudice to the demand for the separation of the office of Accountant-General of the Federal Government from that of the Federation Account. The current situation in which the Federal Government appointee doubles as both the chief accountant to the Federal Government while superintending the federation account is not only far from equitable but

also absurd.

We also urge the National Assembly to take another look at the strident clamour for the separation of the attorneygeneral’s office from that of the minister of justice. We see great merits in the arguments that the two offices be separated. Indeed, our prescription is that the attorney-general – be it Federal Government or states – as the foremost defender of the public in the matters of law and public policy, should be insulated from the topsy-turvy of executive politics. That done, the minister of justice could then be left with the roles of being the administrative head of justice ministry as well as legal adviser to the Federal Government or the states - as the case might be.

‘We share in the broad objective of weaning the office off its dependence on the finance ministry and the Budget Office. As it is, the nation has long moved beyond the debate on the need for independence for a critical office like that of the auditor-general. The challenge has always been how to ensure that the institution, as indeed similar ones, have the wherewithal to carry out their jobs and, in an unfettered atmosphere’

Judges’ welfare •There is the need to improve judicial officers’ pay and general working conditions

T

HERE is an urgent need to rescue the Nigerian Judiciary if the fight against corruption is to succeed.

This should involve a two-prong approach: drastic improvement in judges’ working conditions and a forensic weeding out of all corrupt judges. Retired Justice Olufonlula Adekeye of the Supreme Court surely sounded the alarm, when she said she could not build a private house after 36 years on the bench.

In quick reactions, two Senior Advocates put the maltreatment of our judges in clearer perspective. First, Sebastine Hon (SAN), released the humiliating salary structure for our judges; the other, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), filed a law suit, exposing the negation of section 81(3) of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

‘Indeed, if the complaint of retired Justice Adekeye is taken as a guide, then the current remuneration of our judges is perhaps the reason for a lackluster Judiciary in the fight against corruption. As things are, while those susceptible to corruption within the Judiciary easily resort to demanding for bribe and selling ‘justice’, unfortunately as a self-help measure; some others may not have the compulsion to do that and would rather act in the best interest of our common good’

We commend the steps taken by the legal practitioners, but we ask the Presidency and the National Assembly to explain why a clear provision of the constitution on financial autonomy for the judiciary is being breached. Clearly, that section provides: “any amount standing to the credit of the Judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation shall be paid directly to the National Judicial Council for disbursement to the heads of the courts established for the Federation and the State under section 6 of this constitution”. In turn, section 6 of the constitution deals with the powers of the Judiciary and lists the courts entitled by the constitution to receive direct funding from the consolidated revenue standing to the credit of the Judiciary.

Unfortunately, the current practice is that the National Judicial Council (NJC) is compelled to forward her annual budgetary estimates to the executive that reviews same, before sending the review as part of the expenditure of the federation for the coming year. When the budget is approved, the executive yet again determines how and when to release the budgeted allocation to the NJC. The result is that the Judiciary workers are poorly paid, many courts dilapidated, and there is insufficiency of manpower and modern equipment to quickly and independently dispense justice.

Also, the judicial leadership at the federal and state levels are forced to kowtow to the whims of the executive, evidently to our common peril. This constitutional aberration has been condoned since 1999,

and many believe that this clear breach of the law has seriously affected the capacity of the Judiciary to deliver on its constitutional mandate.

Since judges, by the nature of their calling, are circumspect to frontally challenge the brazen conducts of the other two arms of government, there is the need for the Nigerian Bar Association and other non-governmental organisations to insist on the enforcement of the constitution on this matter.

While such an action is going on, we fail to appreciate why the Presidency and the National Assembly find it inappropriate to obey the same laws that enable them to act on our common behalf, as it relates to the Judiciary. Unless the national leadership prefers to play the ostrich, they must realise that a deprived Judiciary will be susceptible to corruption, inefficiency and abuse.

Indeed, if the complaint of retired Justice Adekeye is taken as a guide, then the current remuneration of our judges is perhaps the reason for a lackluster Judiciary in the fight against corruption.

As things are, while those susceptible to corruption within the Judiciary easily resort to demanding for bribe and selling ‘justice’, unfortunately as a self-help measure; some others may not have the compulsion to do that and would rather act in the best interest of our common good. Again, the poor funding of the Judiciary is why judges work long hours, write in long hands, and practice their trade in unbearable environment.

P

PLANNED FIVEFOLD increase in the staff of the U.S. Cyber Command is indicative of how conflict is moving toward center stage for the military, a domain similar to land, sea, air and outer space.

The anticipated growth, described in an article by Ellen Nakashima in The Post last week, is intended to protect the country and its private sector from attack, an urgent mission. But now that the United States is going beyond defense, expanding forces for offensive attack, there’s a crying need for more openness. So far, forces exist almost entirely in the shadows.

The Post reported on plans for creation of three types of forces under the Cyber Command. Two are familiar: “combat mission forces” to serve in parallel with military units and “protection forces” to defend Pentagon networks. A third area is new: “national mission forces” that would seek to head off any threat to critical infrastructure in the United States, such as electrical grids, dams and other potential targets deemed vital to national security. These “national mission forces” are expected to operate outside the United States, perhaps launching preemptive strikes on adversaries preparing to take down an American bank or electric grid. However, senior defense officials told The Post that the forces might respond inside the United States if asked by an authorized agency such as the FBI. The national mission teams seem to be a response to growing evidence that the United States is being swamped by assaults — espionage, theft and disruption — from abroad. If U.S. forces manage to stop enemies from turning out the lights of a major city or crashing the stock market, they will prove their worth.

This is no longer a science fiction fantasy.

The attacks are real and happening every day.

What concerns us is not the growth of forces but the way it is happening behind the scenes.

The U.S. Cyber Command is a military unit, but its chief, Gen. Keith Alexander, is also director of the National Security Agency, which is part of the intelligence community.

So far, operations and deployments are being handled almost entirely in secret.

Aside from a line in a speech last fall by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and some vague language in a 2011 strategy paper, the missions, purpose and scope of conflict have yet to be satisfactorily revealed. One large missing piece is a declaratory policy similar to that used for nuclear weapons in the Cold War, when nuclear policy was openly debated without divulging important secrets. There’s also little public information about rules of engagement for forces or about chain of command and authority to use them. The nature of the threat should also be exposed to a generous dose of sunlight. If conflict in cyberspace is underway, then it is important to sustain support for the resources and decisions to fight it, and that will require more candor.

– Washington Post

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

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •Chief Internal Auditor Toke Folorunsho •Senior Manager (sales) Akeem Shoge

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness •Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) Yomi Odunuga •Press Manager Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Manager, Corporate •Group Business Editor Marketing Ayodele Aminu Hameed Odejayi •Sport Editor • Manager (Admin) Ade Ojeikere Folake Adeoye •Editorial Page Editor Sanya Oni

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: Nigeria is in the prison of corruption. Corruption is Nigeria’s Achilles heels, its bane. It has eaten off the moral fabric of Nigeria, and it is asphyxiating the country, too. Corruption rears its ugly head in all facets of our national life.

A Nigerian who is not corrupt is considered to be an abnormal human being. He is called a “mugu” – a sucker. We have a culture of corruption into which teenage youths are socialized. When parents hire surrogate candidates to write such examinations as UTME, SSCE and NECO for their children, they have unwittingly initiated and socialized their children into the culture of corruption.

It is sad that our educational system has become dysfunctional owing to corruption. Rich parents send their children to Ghana and Europe for schooling as our cult-

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The scourge of corruption infested schools have become grounds for staging beauty pageant competitions and propagation of religious bigotry. Our economy is ailing and hemorrhaging from deleterious corrupt practices that are deftly perpetrated by those minding our financial chests and collective wealth. As Nigerians perceive occupying positions of power as opportunity to amass wealth by fair or foul means, our political leaders are helping themselves to our collective wealth.

Monies that should be channeled into fixing our infrastructure are stolen by people holding positions of influence and power. So, our hospitals have morphed from consulting clinics to mortuaries. Poor people go to our hospital to die, and not to recover from their ailments.

Our roads that are filled with craters are death-traps that cause the deaths of Nigerians daily. The dilapidated East-west road has remained an open sore in the psyche of our leaders. In spite of the

humongous money injected into the power sector in the country, electricity supply has not improved. Electricity supply in Nigeria is like a maudlin lady with personality disorder, whose mood swings from being hilarious to being cantankerous. Manufacturing industries have relocated to Ghana where regular supply of electricity is guaranteed and assured. Their relocation of their industries to places outside Nigeria further compounds our unemploy-

Who manages Nigeria’s image?

IR: The above question was posed for debate on the occasion of the 50 th birthday of Nigeria’s leading perception manager Yomi Badejo Okusanya (YBO). To tackle the poser, his outfit CMC Connect staged a colloquium for the citizens to jaw-jaw.

To ex-military governor and one-time foreign affairs minister, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), “the promotion of material self interest by the elite and the ruling class to the detriment of the welfare of the people… is a threat to the management of the image of Nigeria.”

Nwachukwu condemned what he termed “ the primitive acquisitive tendencies” of the “ leadership group” and “monetization of the politics” of our age and said they “ impede social development.”

The retired General coupled these with the “violence all over the place,” and held that Nigerians are not treated well abroad because of our poor image; leadership group should work on it for a positive change; media should examine its strategy of reporting negative trends while not covering up criminality and impunity; they must strike a balance ; government alone can’t be saddled with managing the country’s im-

S

age ; individuals should imbibe right values and be “ good” ambassadors of Nigeria abroad.

The debate reignited can’t be a one – affair because of its inherent dynamics and the interconnectivity of perception and reality. As ex-Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party Audu Ogbeh said during his famous war of words with former President Olusegun Obasanjo “perception is reality.”

So it is an on-going debate. We must agree with that dictum if we are to seriously address the image dilemma in Nigeria. What we see and hear and read in the media – local or foreign – has a powerful impact on our inflection and actions. And no matter the texture or nature of these reflections and actions, we must be careful not to fix our gaze in the direction of the media for blame. For, the journalist can’t but be faithful to his job: reporting what he sees faithfully.

So the kernel of the dialectics at work is to “tamper,” as it were, with what goes on in the society, since what goes on in society is what the reporter sees to report.

He can’t manufacture or concoct what is not there. True he sometimes exaggerates. But again you embellish what is on the ground.

You don’t adorn what isn’t hap-

pening.

Those who gathered at Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos to consider the issue as they honoured YBO were aware of this link between (mis)governance and image and therefore submitted that image management is not an abstruse enterprise disconnected from reality. In that case it must be said that what we refer to as reflection or image is noting but the totality of what the citizen derives (benefits)

from his government. It is equally the reaction of that citizen to governance. Vice versa, it is government’s reaction to the citizen’s perception of its actions.

Who manages this friction – laden intercourse? Or isn’t it more instructive and practical to ask: how do we manage the inevitable friction?

• Banji Ojewale Ota, Ogun State

ment problems. So, who is not unconscious of the fact that corruption is the polio that has crippled Nigeria?

Until corruption is rooted out of Nigeria, Nigeria can’t achieve its potential in spite of its natural and human resources. Can Nigeria develop and become a great country when recruitments into the federal civil service, the Nigerian Army, FRSC, Immigration Services and others are characterized by bribery and corruption? People who are unsuited for jobs in some establishments have got jobs owing to the Nigerian factors of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

Sadly, the judiciary has become the cemetery of our hope for a better Nigeria with their questionable judgments. Last week, a High Court sentenced one John Yakubu Yusufu to two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of N750, 000.00, for stealing N32.8 billion pension funds.

Is it enough comeuppance for the crime he committed, which pauperized many retired police officers? People with Kleptomaniac tendencies will loot the treasury while in power knowing that the judiciary will give them a very light sentence when they leave power. The National Judicial Council and other regulatory bodies should address and tackle the rot in our judicial system. A corrupt judiciary spells doom and trouble for us. A stitch in time saves nine.

• Chiedu Uche Okoye Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

A most outrageous judgment

S

IR: The option of fine of N750, 000 for a criminal crime of N23 billion fraud

by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT high court against John Yakubu Yusufu of the office of the Police Pension Funds is worrisome.

Yusufu is one of the eight civil servants accused of diverting about N32.8 billion. Certainly, this sentence does not weigh balance with the offence committed.

We all must realise that corruption is a monster that should be fought by all and sundry in this country. The message from Jus-

tice Talba is that corruption pays.

If you must steal, steal handsomely.

It is quite unfortunate that people still steal public funds with impunity without stiff penalty under the laws whereas somebody will steal a handset for instance and would be sent to jail for 10 years with hard labour.

As in the case under reference, imagine the feelings of the Nigerian public especially the affected pensioners who have greatly suffered and some even died while waiting for their pittance pension after many years

of meritorious service to the nation before their retirement.

It is injustice! No doubt, our laws are defective just as our judiciary is questionable. There is an urgent need to amend the laws in such a way that the punishment will always be commensurate with the offence committed and in all other areas where amendment is necessary. The judiciary should also step up effort in the fight against economic and financial crimes or else…….

• Alani Ayo Abuja.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

21

COMMENTS

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R

beyond any doubt that many HREE events happened last week of the so-called states are a drag that, if explored, could lead to on real development but only useful talks on a Nigeria struca sop for elite greed? tured on productive federalism.

But to juxtapose a body On January 28, Boko Haram, like a bolt grandstanding for change with from the blue, declared a unilateral another grandstanding for the ceasefire, on the condition that its destatus quo, just consider the stroyed mosques are rebuilt, the state Arewa Consultative Forum, pay compensation for past alleged Olakunle ACF’s response to SNPA’s call abuses on its members and a general amfor two additional southern lordbeek@yahoo.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please) nesty is declared, setting its members in Abimbola states. ACF, in a February 1 gaol free. communiqué in Kaduna disThe pronouncer of the “ceasefire” was missed the call, noting rightly one Sheik Abu Mohammed Abdulazeez that it would only be wasteful Ibn Idris, self-announced Boko Haram “secbureaucracy. But if new states ond commander” for north and central Borno (Borno is the local council business, which ought to be an exclusive state afmust come, ACF insisted, they must be based on population epicentre of the insurrection), who claimed a (divine?) charfair, among other demands. and land mass. How convenient! ter from Abubakar Shekau, his leader, to announce the The triangular chair of SNPA appears credible enough: Alex Still, many positives can be taken from these developments. “ceasefire”. He spoke in Maiduguri.

Ekwueme, elder citizen and Second Republic vice president of The SNPA must avail itself sharper conceptual clarity on its On the same day, a conclave of “northern elders” under the Federal Republic, Bolanle Gbonigi, fiery cleric and unfazed mission, if it is to escape a harsh historical judgment of empty the aegis of the Northern Development Focus Initiative Yoruba nationalist and Edwin Kiagbodo-Clark, another elder posturing for relevance, when it had the chance to push back (NDFI), met in Kano to throw their weight behind the Boko citizen and Ijaw nationalist. the country from the precipice. ACF must manifest less of the Haram offer. Now, was this support a coincidence? Or was it Pa Clark is though, right now, burning nationwide bridges he sickening sense of northern entitlement. That has put both the choreographed to hustle the polity into some Boko Haram built over the years in the cause of his underwhelming godson, North and the whole country in this present bind. soft landing, despite the heinous crimes its members, parPresident Goodluck Jonathan, all in the cause of the 2015 Ijaw But the more exciting chimes have come from the NDFI, ticularly the hiding and cowardly ring leaders, have compresidency project; down from the pan-Nigeria mandate of notwithstanding its shopping for subversive sympathy for Boko mitted against innocent citizens?

Southern Nigeria and the Middle Belt that propelled Jonathan Haram. The body is talking of a pan-northern free primary and Certainly, the way NDFI glibly talked of post-Boko Haram to power in 2011. secondary education. That is highly welcome, for it is telling “restoration, reformation and rehabilitation” (hardly a But the amalgam of SNPA members would appear far less the North to abandon its age-old system of elite education crime), and quickly linked that proposal to amnesty for Niger credible, with many of the hoard clambering on the southern hinged on native feudalism and embrace mass education, to Delta militants, was highly suspicious of a well-crafted script unity campaign and the push for true federalism as a last straw build a future equal-access and equal-opportunity society. That to push the sop of convenient “peace”; over the rigour of to clutch for political relevance.

Nevertheless, gunning for relis strategic thinking. justice that insists on punishment following crime. evance in a political quicksand is no crime!

But in a not-so-shocking relapse into that notorious northSo, the Jonathan Presidency must not allow itself to be Still, this pot-pourri of divergent interests, and the penchant ern sense of entitlement, NDFI called on northern states to bustled into another classic Northern entitlement (that sickly for each to clutch at some gains no matter its absurdity, would compute their Boko Haram security spends; and pass the bill to rationalisation that the polity must always accommodate appear to explain the patent contradiction in the SNPA demands. the Federal Government, since the 1999 Constitution charges northern excesses) in the name of easy peace that would The body calls for a restructured federation.

Yet in another that government with security. Excellent sophistry! come back to plague everyone. breath, it wants additional two states, with one in the South Maybe Governor Babatunde Fashola and other southern Get this clear: when a deranged group of citizens slaughter East, to bring the South at par with the North. governors, busy equipping the central police even when they others as Boko Haram is doing, there must be dire consequences While creating additional states makes sense with the present are not effective chief security officers of their respective states, to avert a future recurrence. But that piece of common sense parasitic unitary system masquerading as a federation, it makes should forward their own bills to the Inspector-General of appears lost on the NDFI amnesty orchestra. absolutely no sense in a restructured Nigeria SNPA is pushing Police for settlement!

Nevertheless, it is not lost on victims whose blood and for – except as a Freudian slip that suggests that structure or no But maybe the polity should indulge these northern states. gore Boko Haram has wilfully spilled on a fraudulent creed. structure, the parasitic Nigerian power elite have a sickly conMaybe the Federal Government should settle the bills. Surely, Neither is it lost on any putative lunatic fringe sure to plot sensus on feeding fat on the system!

Nigeria needs a Marshal Plan for Northern Development, aftheir own mass murder, for whatever vacuous doctrine, Or how else does one explain the multiplication of wasteful ter its thieving elite had misused federal power and had should Boko Haram get away with a slap on the wrist. bureaucracy, which new states epitomise, when it is proved beggared their region for eons.

The third event happened the next day, January 29.

But that should be the final settlement in exchange for a At Enugu, the political capital of the old Eastern Region, a trade-off for rigorous restructuring of Nigeria along producbody that calls itself the Southern Nigerian People’s Assem“When a deranged group of citizens tive federal lines. That way, the North – and the rest of the bly (SNPA) gathered to push for a restructured Nigeria, a slaughter others as Boko Haram is do- country – can look after its own interest and develop at its own national conference to bring out that restructuring along productive federal lines, fiscal federalism to form the basis ing, there must be dire consequences pace.

That may well save the contraption of Lord Fredrick Lugard, of the new federation, recognition of the six geo-political and its ever present threat of collapse, as it lumbers to its cenzones as Nigeria’s new federating units, and shutting out the to avert a future recurrence” tenary. meddlesome interloper that is the Federal Government in

I

epublican ipples

DO not think anybody ever doubted that the federal government would, at some point, surrender to the artful manoeuvres of the Boko Haram terrorists and their hordes of sympathisers. I had predicted that it was only a matter of time before the federal government went for the old template of appeasement now described as amnesty.

Well, that moment seems to have come, finally. On Monday last week, the sect declared a unilateral ‘ceasefire’ after a reported closed door meeting with the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima and his top officials as well as religious leaders from the state.

The commander-in-charge of North and Central Borno, Sheikh Abu Mohammad Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, who briefed the media shortly after the meeting stated that the group had agreed to lay down their arms and embrace peace after due consultation with the leader of the sect, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, as well as intervention and pleading from respected individuals and groups in the state.

There was also a proviso that government immediately release all their members from custody unconditionally, rebuild their places of worship, and compensate them.

And as proof that the group still retained a shred of humanity, its leader would not just acknowledge but was actually quoted as lamenting that “a lot of Muslim women and children have suffered”! Really?

Quite expectedly, it was the moment for the weary, frustrated and increasingly out-of-depth but policychallenged federal government to swing in into frenzy.

On Saturday, Vice President Namadi Sambo sneaked into Maiduguri, the Borno State capital – the first by any high official of the Jonathan presidency and perhaps the federal government since the insurgency blew into full scale terror in 2009. Earlier the pacifist Borno Elders Forum had latched on the ceasefire offer to demand that federal government accept the offer, perhaps without preconditions! The group leader and elder-statesman, Shettima Ali Mongunno was unusually ecstatic: “we expect that they (the federal government) will embrace this positive opening and capitalise on it in order to open wider space for sustainable peace”.

Victory at last? Well, I hope.

‘It seems to me really, a different kind of call for a self-respecting government to be asked to sit at communion table with terrorists for some payout negotiations’

For the North

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

Amnesia or amnesty?

At this point, it seems necessary to look at the prognosis – possibly the events that have made ceasefire suddenly attractive. First, so-called war has become un-winnable in the increasing unlikelihood that the federal government will accede to the demand by the Borno Elders Forum to pull back the forces of the military Joint Task Force anytime soon.

Second, the Boko Haram’s tactics, by now familiar, are such that Nigerians are far less disposed to accord them further psychological advantage that they once enjoyed. The third point is that the developments in Mali and the foul mood it has spawned in the international community has made the unilateral offer of ceasefire not only pragmatic but inevitable.

Having said that however, the ceasefire offer seems to me the first of a two-part play. The first part involves the use of the template– the mechanism which apart from excusing the government of the rigour of multi-level engagement that had long been canvassed, fits snugly into the culture of trading peace for cash. The other half of the package is the push for blanket pardon for the class of mass murderers.

I must say that the latter, when it finally happens as I am sure it will, can only take the nation to a new depth of low even by Nigeria’s bizarre standards of public policy and morality. Yes, Nigeria continues to sink on virtually all indices of human development. It seems to me really, a different kind of call for a self-respecting government to be asked to sit at communion table with terrorists for some payout negotiations.

In case the federal government pretends not to know, there is a world of difference between the Niger Delta militancy and the variant of terror unleashed by the Boko Haram. At least we knew what the Niger Delta militants wanted. Theirs was a quest to control the resources beneath their soil. Their main target was the oil industry infrastructure and different

classes of actors in the oil industry chain. Kidnapping and other forms of terror were merely deployed in furtherance of their objectives. That obviously explains why it was fairly easy to draw the gangs from the creeks into the open with promises of amnesty and other goodies. It is therefore given that the current peace will hold for as long as the flow of goodies to ex-militants is not disrupted or threatened.

But the atavistic Boko Haram? How do you place a maniacal group which seeks rewards of multiple score virgins only in heaven’s tableland? Ship them to a colony of delectable virgins where they can have their heart’s content?

Has anyone considered the difficulties in reconciling the long term demands of the sect with those of a modern, secular, self-respecting and orderly society? Do we then surrender to the crazy demand for a theocratic space within the polity without altering the notion of sovereignty as we know it?

And the fundamentalist ideology which feeds the insurgency? What chance does the federal government have to extirpate it? Or is the current quest merely about purchasing peace at all costs?

What happens 10, 15, 20 years from now? Where does one begin the discussion on accommodation for the crime of mass murder?

Let’s look at what the group is putting on the table in the so-called ceasefire. They want their members released from custody – unconditionally. In other words, for the federal government to overlook the grievous crimes committed against the state. Note that the crime here is mass murder.

Also, the group wants their places of worship rebuilt. They want compensation for their members. I hear the figure of N26 billion has been proposed.

To the group and their cohorts, injury to victims and their relations, not to talk of the larger society, counts for pretty little. No, the lives of innocent citizens, many of them women and children, gruesomely terminated in their places of worship do not matter. The scores of religious houses brought down by their lethal bombs obviously means nothing? For Boko Haram and their sympathisers, justice is akin to living in mortal dread of their terror.

Still want to ask what I think of the ceasefire business?

Amnesia would seem to me as by far, more preferable. That way, we won’t have to worry about ever calling anybody to account for crimes against humanity, or contemptible aversion for basic universal standards of justice and humanity.

By all means, let’s have the amnesty – a comprehensive one at that – for all manners of crimes under the sun. After all, isn’t it said that all have sinned?

As for when the nation would rise up to say ‘no more’, I don’t think we are there yet. At least, not now or in the foreseeable future.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

22

COMMENTS

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T is early days yet to begin to count the gains of Nigeria’s decision to send troops and military equipment to Mali to help secure that country’s territorial integrity being breached by al Qeada inspired Tuareg rebels in the north. But it is very glaring from the unexpected offer of ceasefire by a faction of the terror group that has been troubling Nigeria for some time now, that at last, President Goodluck Jonathan has done one thing right.

With French fighter jets raining bombs on rebel targets in northern Mali and ground troops pursuing them deep into the desert, the terrorists collaborators in Nigeria under the aegis of Boko Haram suddenly announced last week they were ready for peace in their three-year long or so campaign of terror in most part of northern Nigeria.

Why now you may want to ask especially after series of failed attempts by the Federal government to dialogue with the murderous group? Simple. With Al Qeada in the Maghreb on its way out of northern Mali, Boko Haram’s base for ideological, military, as well as financial support is on the verge of destruction and the most sensible thing for the Nigerian terror group to do is to seek peace at home or be wiped out like their brothers in northern Mali.

So make no mistake about it, these guys are waving the olive branch now not because they are tired of killing more innocent souls or genuinely repentant but to save their necks from a brutal end that awaits them in the hands of Nigerian forces now that their main backers are on the run in northern Mali.

It is no secret that Mali, Senegal and some other countries in that region have been a source of instability to the area now called northern Nigeria way back in history.

Those conversant with the history of West Africa and its great empires of Mali, Songhai and Ghana that preceded the partitioning of Africa by European powers in the 19th century would attest to the fact that the northern belt of West Africa, the Sahara region, was so fluid that it kept on changing hands depending on which

W

HENEVER the Christmas Season is approaching, the Igbos naturally look forward to it with great enthusiasm. It is not just a moment in time to travel home to enjoy the season, but it also serves as the period when relations meet to interact, organize community programmes and end of year parties and generally be at peace with one another. But unfortunately, in the past few years, the fear of kidnappers and armed robbers and their cohorts, had so haunted the society that most Igbos did not deem it safe and wise to travel home to the East for the Yuletide.

However, this last Christmas and New Year celebrations in Anambra State, for instance, was quite remarkable for Anambrarians. Based on newspaper reports and the testimonies of some who travelled, Anambra State was very save and conducive for the celebrations. Those who were home for the first time in many years actually found time to savour the beauty and joy of Christmas because not only that security was in place, the government of Peter Obi was equal to the task.

With the dismantling of the kidnapping gangs and kingpins in the state, Governor Obi has shown that with the necessary political will, a good leader can set an enviable precedence for others to follow.

Before now, a gang of kidnappers led by Ofeakwu, a native of Oraifife in Ekwusigo Local government area of the state had held the whole state hostage. Ofeakwu’s exploits and those of his gangs were so grave and daring, that the governor quickly mustered forces with security agencies to go after them. His action was so decisive and swift that it took all by surprise.

At the end of the day, the governor made it clear to the people of the state and indeed the while nation that for one to fight criminals as organized and as rich as the kidnappers were the best thing to do was to first of all cripple and dislodge their economic and financial powers. This was what Peter Obi did and for the first time in the history of the state, a determined

As Mali begins to pay off empire was rising and which one was falling.

The Fulani from Senegal/Mali moved across the desert to destabilize the Hausa states in today’s northern Nigeria in the run up to the arrival of the British colonialists. The Trans Saharan trade of old had constantly linked the Sahara region of West Africa with the Arabs/Berbers of North Africa who largely influenced, for good or for bad, events in northern Nigeria.

Just as an average Yoruba man could move across the border to Benin Republic, Togo and even Ghana as if he was going to the next village, so is the case with movement across the border from northern Nigeria to the other parts of the Sahara region irrespective of the artificial borders created by the Europeans.

So spurred on by whatever was the reason for their taking up arms against the Nigerian state, Boko Haram operatives or recruits strolled across the border into Niger and Mali for training in terrorist

activities and on graduation returned to Nigeria to cause havoc. It is that simple, yes. You only need to go to any of our land borders either in the east, west, north or south and witness what I am talking about.

Because most of those living in the border communities most certainly have cousins, nephews and whatever relation across the border, it is often very difficult to regulate movement in those areas, so it is not a surprise that that Boko Haram could send people to northern Mali for terrorist training and they returned home even with arms undetected. So if we can’t get them here, doesn’t it make sense for us to go after them where they receive their training and indoctrination? I think that explains Jonathan’s decision to send our boys to Mali. And I think he got it right.

And with Mali too hot for Boko Haram’s minders what do we do with their offer of ceasefire back home here, even if it came from a splinter group? Two things, Nigeria can chose to ignore the offer and go after them militarily as it has been doing

The Fulani from Senegal/Mali moved across the desert to destabilize the Hausa states in today’s northern Nigeria in the run up to the arrival of the British colonialists. The Trans Saharan trade of old had constantly linked the Sahara region of West Africa with the Arabs/Berbers of North Africa who largely influenced, for good or for bad, events in northern Nigeria.

for some time now albeit with limited success, or embrace the splinter group and use it to get to the other factions either to negotiate or fight them.

While it is easier to say go after them forcefully now that the group appears to be weak it might not work out well at the end of the day especially if the group decides to damn the consequence and go for broke. I think the offer, minus the conditions attached is a window of opportunity to end this insurgence once and for all and save the nation, especially the north, from further unnecessary bloodshed.

With France leading the successful assault against terror in Mali, the rank of the Tuareg rebels aligned with al Qeada in the north seem to have been broken with some factions distancing themselves from the main al Qeada in the Maghreb and have offered to fight alongside France and the Nigerian led West African liberation troops to drive out the main terror group.

And France has not said no, in fact, these repentant factions have joined the war against al Qeada. So, why can’t we do the same?

But in welcoming this ceasefire there is need for caution. There should be no lowering of guard and there should be no preconditions. If the Boko Haram faction genuinely and sincerely believes in ending their murderous ways and embrace peace it should not give any condition. It should rather engage in negotiation with the Federal Government and collaborate with the authorities to either bring the other factions on board or assist in defeating them militarily. Anything otherwise would indicate lack of sincerity in their ceasefire offer. And if the faction eventually agree to negotiate without condition, the Federal Government should also be flexible in their dealings with them and be ready to bend over backwards to accommodate them in a broader peace plan for the north. We’ve had too much bloodshed in this country that anything that could help stop it should be welcomed but not at the expense of the country.

Obi and security in Anambra

By Edozie Udeze governor set bulldozers and caterpillars into remote villages and towns to pull down houses built by criminals with blood and ill-gotten money.

Governor Obi’s political resolve as a leader has indeed led to the peaceful atmosphere that exists in the state today. If you want to catch a thief, like it is usually said in Igbo land, you have to be smatter than the thief.

And if you can successfully puncture his ego and source of wealth and cage those who are behind him, the rest is history. This was what happened all over the state when the government began to go from town to town based on security reports and information to fish out the criminals and drive them into the abyss. This approach shows that no single person or group of persons can be stronger than the state.

Obi must have taken a lesson or two from the tactics employed by former president of Brazil, Lula Da-Silva. When Da-Silva took over as the first democratically elected president in the history of Brazil in many years, the economy was in shambles.

Ordinarily, Brazil had no reason to be a poor nation, given that there were abundant

resources to make the society great.

But Da-Silva went to work. He promised the people that he would cripple the economic powers of their generals who had impoverished the system for far too long.

As a political hawk and a no-nonsense leader, Da-Silva truly stepped on toes, very huge toes for that matter in the process of sanitizing the system. Many people kicked, while others attacked him, threatening to unleash terror on him for daring to go where angels feared to tread. But Da-Silva remained undaunted.

By the time he left office three years ago, Brazil had become the 6th largest economy in the world. All it takes to make a system work for the good of the populace is just the application of the necessary political will.

This is what Obi has done, but he needs to do more. He needs to go after the so-called untouchables and bigwigs in the state. Those super-rich people who are really the ones sponsoring crime and gaining from the sociopolitical and economic turbulence that prevail in the state, need to be taught a lesson.

No one can say exactly who these people are or where they get their money from which enables them to continue to torment the state. However, Obi can equally rely on the same tactics he has been employing so

‘If you want to catch a thief, like it is usually said in Igbo land, you have to be smatter than the thief. And if you can successfully puncture his ego and source of wealth and cage those who are behind him, the rest is history. This was what happened all over the state when the government began to go from town to town based on security reports and information to fish out the criminals and drive them into the abyss’

far or something more superior to hoodwink these people. He has to find them wherever they are, uproot them so as to make Anambra totally free from the grip of darkness, witches and wizards.

It was a good thing that Chief Tobias Okemadu, a prominent community leader in the state could travel home for Christmas for the first time in three years. “I went home due to the assurances given to us by Governor Obi. I must tell you that I didn’t have any regret. I had no reason to fear for my life or those of my household” he said.

In a place like Anambra State, a leader has to have a heart of stone to be able to rule and make the desired impact. Obi has such heart, and that is perhaps why a lot of people have chosen to call him Okwute.

Okwute simply means the rock, a man with the heart of a lion. And Christ the Messiah had told Peter the Apostle in the scripture “you are the rock, upon you I’ll build my Church… Powers of the under world cannot prevail upon you…”

Darkness and light do not meet. They have no reason whatever to meet either, if the people can fight conscientiously to free thousands from the hold of powers and principalities. In this fight to free the state, the people have to combine forces with the government to make it work; to make freedom and peace permeate the society.

No leader, no matter how powerful or strong or committed he is can fight crime alone. It is the people who provide the information while the government puts in place the logistics and financial muscle to make the fight effective and purposeful. Obi needs the cooperation of the people to make the state an Eldorado, an investment haven for all and sundry so that all subsequent Yuletide celebrations in the state will be crime-free.

• Udeze writes from Lagos.

Innocent Amomoh

REPORTING FROM

SOUTH AFRICA

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

IDEYE:

We can rule Africa

Pg. 24

Football gods

Pg. 24

favoured Nigeria —Gervinho

Taofeek Babalola Reporting from South Africa

PAGE 23

KESHI stays, says NFF

Pg. 24

Emenike wary of Mali threat Odemwingie forced to train alone

Pg. 41

Pg. 24

NATIONSPORT TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

24

NATION SPORT

41

AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013 FALLOUT OF NIGERIA VS COTE D’ IVOIRE CLASH

Mba proud to make impact

Football gods favoured Nigeria —Gervinho

•Says Eagles must show character against Mali From Innocent Amomoh, Durban, South Africa

Keshi stays, says NFF

Emenike wary of Mali threat Oliseh cautions Eagles over complacency From Innocent Amomoh, Durban, South Africa

IDEYE:

We can rule Africa •Says team is ready for Mali

•Ideye

From Innocent Amomoh, Durban, South Africa •Keshi

Irabor hails NPL players’ impact •Emenike

Okocha tips Eagles to beat Mali

Golden Eaglets duo in auto-crash

•Says Eagles’ victory against Elephants sweet to savour From Segun Ogunjimi, Rustenburg

•Oliseh

Odemwingie forced to train alone

Drogba tips Eagles for trophy

Six governors to cheer Nigeria, Mali match

By Paul Oluwakoya

By Motunrayo Saka

•Okocha

•Odemwingie

INSIDE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Page 25

Website: http://www.thenationonlineng.com

National Assembly backs aviation reform - Page 26

Lugbe residents residents tackle tackle Lugbe Housing Authority Authority over over decay decay Housing

Fruit market demolished - Page 28

R

85 private schools approved - Page 28

ESIDENTS of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Estate, Lugbe are fed up.

Their environment gives them little joy. They are surrounded by filth and, worse, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) does not seem to care.

The estate was initially designed to be a great site for tourists. Conceived to be a befitting shelter for all, it has become a shadow of itself.

Passersby and those who live there have described it as a total nightmare. Not only have people described the estate as a garbage dump, they regret that it does not have the basic necessities it requires. Such amenities like water, and good road networks, among others, are lacking, although electricity supply has been stable compared to past years. There is barely any difference in the standard of living of those who have paid and are still paying huge sums of money to stay in this estate and others who

From Gbenga Omokhunu

live in slums that surround it.

The sight of the estate which has refuse dumps clustered within it constitutes a great nuisance. Acute lack of good road network is always a rude welcome to those visiting this part of the territory for the first time.

Reports have it that various attempts by residents, especially landlords in the estate to make FHA officials live up to their responsibilities have failed. The

state of roads in the estate is an evidence of great neglect.

Motorists often have to fight their ways amidst bumps and potholes which seem to multiply by the day to get to their destinations. Despite efforts by residents to fill up these potholes, the situation doesn’t seem any better.

It is annoying to think tenants pay dues for maintenance services but do not enjoy the benefits of the dues they pay. One wonders if the dues paid are being used for any kind of maintenance

How conducive and adequate are these estates? Do they conform to standards? And if not, what action does government intend to take?

at all.

Water supply is one other thing that residents of this estate have not been fortunate to enjoy. Residents of this estate depend on water sold by vendors and the use of generators in some part. To most of them the management system is a complete nightmare no one would ever wish to experience.

The country’s current thrust on housing and urban development, as encapsulated in the seven-point agenda, which aims at evolving sustainable development in the housing sub-sector is to ensure that Nigerians do not only own houses, but also have access to decent and safe accommodation at affordable cost. With the way things are, this policy thrust may be unrealisable.

Given the fact that demands for housing in Abuja are on the increase in the last five years due to demolition exercises em•Continued on Page 26

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

26

ABUJA REVIEW

T

HE National Assembly has expressed its support for the ongoing reform in the aviation sector under which airports are being given a facelift across the country.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu conveyed the disposition of the federal legislature at the inauguration of the newly reconstructed Domestic Terminal I of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Ekweremadu launched the facility, praising the work done on it. He urged Aviation Minister Stella Oduah and other agencies in the ministry to work harder in order to bring the aviation sector and all airports in the country to the standard envisaged by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The Senator assured Oduah of the National Assembly’s support.

In October, 2010, Jonathan said the aviation sector would be reformed and the nation’s airports comprehensively remodelled. The remake would be done in two phases, he said. The president said the reform was what the country need, rather than the quick-fix approach adopted in the past.

Under the phase 1 of the project, airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Yola, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Owerri, Jos, Kaduna, Calabar and Benin will be reconstructed. The General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, was the first to be reconstructed. The facility now rechristened Domestic Terminal I, was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim on October 22. On January 14, the remodelled airport at the nation’s capital followed suit, flagged off by the Deputy Senate President.

Ekweremadu urged managers of other sectors of the economy to emulate the effort at the aviation ministry in order to develop the country.

The Minister said the brand new terminal was proof that the Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration was no empty slogan. Work on other •Continued from Page 25

barked upon by former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir el-Rufai and his successor as a way of sanitising the territory, there have been high concentration of investment in

•Filthy Lugbe

•Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

National Assembly backs aviation reform terminal would be completed according to schedule, she assured.

She also said work would soon start on the Phase 2 of the project and that 10 other airports would soon be reconstructed.

Until domestic flight operations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport were relocated to the international wing of the airport last year, the old General Aviation Terminal served as the domestic terminal. But over the years, many had been unable to hide their disenchantment with services at the facility. At the commissioning, Oduah gave reasons why the terminal never impressed many. Her words: “It was originally designed to serve as the airport’s cargo terminal at inception in the early 1980s but was improvised to serve as domestic terminal. That was why services provided there did not measure up

to acceptable international standards throughout the period it was used for domestic flight operations, despite several renovation works that were carried at the terminal to make it cope with the astronomical growth of domestic passenger traffic at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja over the years.”

The minister gave other reasons why the old domestic terminal at the Abuja airport needed an immediate infrastructural surgery.

“It was also not befitting of an airport in the country’s capital city, which has been described as the fastest growing capital city in the world. The airport also did not have general aviation and cargo terminals irrespective of the fact that it had long become the second busiest airport in the country, after the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.”

The new terminal has now been equipped with all the needed facilities. The old domestic terminal has been expanded and modernised, and, according to the minister, it will henceforth handle all non-scheduled flights at the airport. Facilities at the terminal include lounges, including one for pilots, offices, duty rooms, private airline offices, a conference room, dining hall, shops and a game room for recreation, among others. The job isn’t fully done, though. There are yet many airports still donning outdated infrastructural garb, bereft of modern facilities across the country. The minister said all that would be addressed soon. She also outlined other plans by the government for the international terminal at the Abuja airport.

Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. George Uriesi, noted

that general aviation services at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the second busiest airport in the country, was just commencing since the airport came into existence in the 1980s. He regretted that infrastructure at the Abuja airport had decayed while the facilities had gone obsolete. The FAAN boss expressed gratitude to President Jonathan for bringing a new lease of life to the dying airport. He said the president deserved encomiums for believing in the potential of the aviation industry to make Nigeria great “and for matching this belief with action, through the formulation of the Transformation Agenda for the industry.” He also lauded the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, who he noted never relented “in reminding all of us that implementing the project to the letter is a task that must be done.”

Lugbe residents tackle Housing Authority over decay the housing sub-sector.

The question remains: “How conducive and adequate are these estates? Do they conform to

standards? And if not, what action does government intends to take?

Experts are of the view that “ad-

equate shelter goes beyond having a roof over one’s head,” but entails adequate security, structural stability and durability, adequate basic infrastructure, good management facilities, suitable environment conducive to healthy living and at affordable cost.”

Estate developers say that housing delivery system in Nigeria had brought about major challenges to governments and policy makers, as the issue of shelter today remains disturbing.

“Sometimes, I wonder if those charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all is well in the Federal Housing Authority actually understood what was expected of them, especially in the housing sector,” an estate developer who does not want his name in print said.

Infrastructural development is an important element in the process of growth, which has to do with changes in every aspect, especially as it involves the improvement of social values of the people in a given society.

The drive for housing development is aimed at ending frustration of homelessness caused by the demolition exercises.

A disturbed resident of the Lugbe Estate, Mr. Shola Suleiman said: “You begin to wonder whether FHA is in charge. Look at the roads, look at refuse dump all over the place and we believe

Infrastructural development is an important element in the process of growth, which has to do with changes in every aspect, especially as it involves the improvement of social values of the people in a given society that FHA should be in charge.

There is no atom of supervision.

As a matter of fact, I wonder whether the director of the place is aware of the mess that is becoming of FHA quarters, so much so that people wait under the cover of darkness to dump refuse because there is no provision.

“So, one is saying that if FHA is actually in charge, it should be seen to be so. There is no supervision.

“Most of the occupants of the houses here are tenants. So, they have no obligation to take care of •Continued on Page 27

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

27

ABUJA REVIEW

‘Propery tax bill will boost Abuja development’

S

ENATE President, Senator David Mark has said that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Property Tax and FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service Bills, when passed into law by the National Assembly, will expand revenue base of the nation’s capital.

Mark said it will improve the provision of basic infrastructure and amenities to the residents of the FCT. He disclosed this while declaring open the Public Hearing of the National Assembly Joint Senate and House Committees on FCT on the Bills for Acts to establish the FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service and FCT Property Tax in Abuja.

According to the statement issued by the Asst. Director/Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Hazat Sule, Mark praised the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed on his efforts to improve the lives of the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.

From Gbenga Omokhunu

He said that the initiating the bills and their passage into law will give FCT Administration financial muscle to tackle the infrastructural challenges of the capital city including those of the Satellite Towns.

Also speaking at the event, the

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, said that the Nigerian citizens would be the ultimate beneficiaries of the benefits of the internal revenue and property tax bills when passed by the National Assembly as it will speed up development in the nation’s capital.

Mohammed, while presenting his

We have no other option but to explore untapped sources of funding to meet the ever growing challenges of providing the social needs of the teeming population in terms of education, healthcare, water, environment, transportation, etc

Security: FCTA unveils toll-free phone lines

A

S part of efforts to improve services to residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the administration has secured phone lines to enable residents reach its officials with valuable information at no cost.

Reeling out the telephone numbers to newsmen in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Information Management System, Hajiya Jamilah Tangaza, said the measure will go a long way to tackle security challenges in the territory.

The six Etisalat toll- free lines would, according to her, enable

From Bukola Amusan

residents and members of the public have unhindered access to the administration and bare their minds on the services rendered by the administration.

“People can now have unhindered access to FCT Administration on any issue that would improve on our services and security matters on any of these lines.

The numbers secured from Etisalat are 08099936312, 08099936313 and 08099936314 while those from MTN are 0 8 0 3 1 2 3 0 3 3 0 , 08031230332 and 08031230331,”

Tangaza said.

She maintained that apart from security issues, the toll free lines will create a robust communication between the administration and members of the public, while calling on residents to take full advantage of the service.

Tangaza also emphasised the need for the public to use the toll lines to provide useful information that will enhance good governance in the Federal Capital Territory in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

memorandum in support of the establishment of the two bodies, assured that the Bills when passed would further enhance the successful delivery of services to the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.

The minister said that global practices cited in the FCT Administration memorandum, has shown that Federal Districts such as Washington D.C., Brasilia, Canberra, etc., have shifted from a centralised tax regime to a decentralized system.

According to him, “city states like Berlin, Vienna and even Lagos Nigeria’s former capital city has decentralised revenue collection”.

He reiterated that in the past when Lagos was the Federal City of Nigeria, the administration of all taxes and levies collectable by states in the Federation was vested in Lagos State Board of Inland Revenue and not Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Mohammed added that the FCT Administration should therefore be given the consideration to administer taxes in the territory for good governance and sustained provision of the required infrastructure and other social amenities to the ever-growing population of the territory.

The minister further said that the need for good fiscal administration in the tax system and steady flow of revenue for sustained provision of amenities and other infrastructure in the Federal Capital Territory is paramount in view of the dwindling allocations received from the Federation Account which is grossly inadequate towards realising its aspiration.

He said: “We, therefore, have no

•Senator Mark other option other than to explore untapped sources of funding to meet the ever growing challenges of providing for the social needs of the teeming population in terms of education, healthcare, water, environment, transportation, etc.”

The Chairman Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, reminded the public that it takes about N30 billion to develop a district in the FCT, but given the yearly budgetary allocations of less than N50 billion, it will take the FCT Administration over 10 years to complete development of infrastructure within a district.

This, according to him, explains the reasons why FCT at 36 years is still crawling in terms of providing infrastructure to meet the demands of its large population.

Lugbe residents tackle Housing Authority over decay •Continued from Page 26

•Part of the estate

the environment. But if FHA can transfer the responsibility of taking care of their houses, if there are laid down rules and regulations that stipulate that if you are an owner of a house, at the end of the year you pay and you know that the money is been meant to take care of the environment, you will not mind paying.

“You see, people have this mentality that government property is nobody’s property. If you go to individual flats, we have decent people staying in there. But outside their domain, people feel less concerned because individuals don’t see why they should be concerned about roads.

“Those of us concerned about the general healthcare, things are getting out of proportion. It will be very interesting if those of them who are supposed to be in charge of this place can spare time to even pay a surprise visit to this place. You see huge refuse dumps even close to restaurants. You see people selling suya meat very close to refuse dumps despite the unpleasant smell of the environment.

“We see all these things and close our eyes to them because we believe there is little we can do as individuals. FHA is becoming too lackadaisical about the whole thing; it doesn’t seem to care about the environment. Some of us believe that most of these officials do not reside here. Most of them are living at Gwarimpa Estate.”

One of the landlords, Mr. Anthony Obassi told Abuja Review that: “You know this house was given to me through mortgage. We bought this house

around 2006. We paid together with the road infrastructure. We paid in addition for the government to do this road. Each landlord paid almost N400, 000. If you buy a three bedroom flat they (FHA) must ask you to pay for that. Till now nothing has been done about the road including water and other amenities. Nothing has been done because I can still recall there was a time we were attending general meetings of FHA. “Then we wrote a petition which was forwarded to their office. Up till now, nothing has been done. We even went further because actually we wanted to report the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to find out what is happening, but till today, nothing has been done. Government has neglected this estate. The light issue is a different thing because it’s a general problem all over the nation. But for road and everything government has refused to do anything about them.

“There was a time we (landlords) were invited by FHA for a meeting. The issue that was raised was that EFCC should be informed about the issue because the money was alleged to have been embezzled. They have refused to do anything about it still.

“The FHA has refused to do anything there was a time people were sent to their office to see the MD over these issues. We decided that each street should take charge of its own security outfit.”

If the FHA could provide electricity and water at Lugbe Estate, it would attract plenty accommodation seekers into these estates. It will also raise the standard of living of the residents.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

28

ABUJA REVIEW

Fruit market demolished

O

FFICIALS of Development Control Department in Abuja were at Dei-Dei Market and environs for a clean-up exercise, destroying the tomato market, fruit market, Haulage Park and Tudun Fulani.

The District Officer in-charge of the area, Mr Ndubisi Nwadobeh said: “The tomatoes and fruit markets were meant to be an open space for perishable goods but have been taken over by shanties.These shanties were erected by hoodlums who turned them into living quarters’.

Nwadobeh, a Town Planner, appealed to Abuja Market Management Limited to effectively monitor the markets in Dei-Dei to ensure that traders do not misuse the purpose.

He called on the owners of properties on the road corridor, for example water tankers, plumbing, mechanic equipment etc. to immediately vacate such to avoid being towed away.

Speaking on the exercise, the Director Development Control Department, Dr Yahaya Yusuf, called on residents and visitors to the Federal Capital Territory Administration to avoid illegal development as the exercise is a continuous one.

Stories from Bukola Amusan

On another development, the Department had carried out the removal of illegal structures erected at proposed road corridor and interchange at Kafe District (Mass Housing North).

The District Officer, Town Planner Hope Thompson who led the exercise explained that such illegal structures have been removed several times by the department from the same location. He said the developer has neither title document nor made any submission to the department for building plan approval.

“Most Mass Housing developers are in the habit of not seeking and obtaining approval before commencing development and most worrisome is their attitude of encroaching into plots not allocated to them. This is posing serious challenge to the department but we’re doing all it takes to curtail such acts”, the District officer emphasised.

During the exercise, some structures built on water ways were removed as they have been served with last demolition notices since May 16 last year. Many more ongoing buildings that were previously served with stop-work notices have their structures punched in a bid to enforce the stopwork order.

•Dei Dei market was destroyed for a security reason

85 private schools approved

•Senator Mohammed

E

IGHTY five private schools in various parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have been approved by the FCT Administration to operate in the territory.

Among the schools which received their certificates were Imam Malik Academy, Phase 3,

•A demolished shanty

Gwagwalada, Asa’s Staff School, Bwari, Omosiogo Nursery and Primary School, Kwali, Olumawo College, Wuse, Satelite Nursery and Primary School, Karshi.

While presenting the certificates to the accredited schools during a town hall meeting with their proprietors, the FCT Minster Senator Bala Mohammed disclosed that he had directed the Department of Policy and Implementation to intensify its accreditation.

He, however, warned proprietors of illegal private schools to desist from their illegal business as those caught would not be spared.

“We will not hesitate to bring all erring proprietors to book. ”I, therefore, use this platform to send a strong warning to the proprietors of schools that were closed down but which are still operating illegally under different names and at different locations to stop forth with or face stiff penalties because their action is not only grossly irresponsible but criminal to say the least,” the minister said.

He told the school proprietors that educational excellence which is a priority of the administration was a collective responsibility that required hard work.

“As school proprietors, you have a sacred responsibility of ensuring that the best school standards are maintained in your schools,” he said.

He emphasised that “there are clearly prescribed rules, regulations and approved curricula which must be strictly adhered to achieve education excellence in the FCT”.

In a remark earlier, the Secretary, FCT Education Secretary, Alhaji Kabir Usman, said the secretariat

was being confronted with the challenge of refusal of some schools in the FCT to subject themselves to the process of accreditation.

“This is basically because most of the schools are yet to come to terms with the benefits of accreditation.

May I quickly remind their proprietors that the purpose of accreditation is to confer legitimacy in the operation of the educational institutions”, he added.

The secretary disclosed that the secretariat would soon embark on another round of inspections and defaulting schools would be shut down and proprietors prosecuted.

On his part, the President, Na-

tional Association of Proprietors of Private Schools(NAPPS), Dr. Bukola Dosunmu complained about the high levies being imposed on private school proprietors by the FCT administration. ”Education is the most financially burdened sector of the economy and when effectively funded produces immediate visible, positive multiplier effect on the end consumers. i.e pupils which is why this scarce resources need to be preserved for this purpose and not on avoidable taxes, levies, dues.

“These burdens are pushed to parents and it ultimately reflect on the fees charged and this fees are now being taxed.

Additional taxes will ultimately be transferred to parents already groaning under supposedly high fees,” he explained.

Councils share N1.65b

A

REA councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have shared N1,654,556,244.56 being revenue allocation from the Federation Account for December 2012.

This was disclosed by the Chairperson of the FCT Area Councils Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, during the committee’s meeting in Abuja.

Akinjide, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, FCT, Engr. Anthony Ozodinobi, noted that Value Added Tax accounted for N817.04 million of the allocation as against the N890.69 million received for the month of November.

The minister confirmed that Statutory Allocation of N757.63 million and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) allocation of N56.77 million were received from Federation Account for the six area councils of Abaji, Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.

Of the N1.654 billion, the Joint Account Allocation Committee transferred N849.34 million to the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) for payment of the primary school teachers’ salaries in the councils; N95.04 million to FCT Area Councils Pension Board (ACPB) being 15 per cent pension fund as statutorily required, and N16.54 million to FCT Area Councils Service Commission being one per cent training fund.

•Oloye Akinjide

The committee distributed the net revenue allocation of N663.62 million to the six Area Councils, with Gwagwalada receiving the lion’s share of N137.52 million.

Abuja Municipal Area Council received N137.48 million, Bwari Area Council (N120.75 million), Abaji Area Council (N103.23 million), Kuje Area Council (N99.26 million) and Kwali Area Council (N85.17 million).

Akinjide further explained that Abuja Municipal got the highest SURE-P allocation of N16.77 million, Bwari (N9.28 million), Gwagwalada (N8.50 million), Kwali (N7.79 million)

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

‘You cannot be seen to be supporting other religion over and

above other religions. The emphasis I want to make is that there are so many other religions in this country. Nigeria is a multi-religious country. Apart from Christians and Moslems, there are so many other religions See page 32

’

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

• Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Miriam Mukhtar (CJN)

Since Justice Abubakar Mohammed Talba sentenced John Yakubu Yusufu to six years imprisonment with N750,000 fine option for a N32.8 billion pension funds fraud, the judge has been under fire. The Judiciary too is not spared.

Critics are angry that Yusufu could get away with what they called “such a light sentence”, considering the “grave offence” he committed. Who is to blame; the judge, the EFCC or the law? ERIC IKHILAE reports.

Judiciary I on trial • Talba’s verdict stirs anger

T was a spontaneous reaction. Nigeri ans virtually rose as one to condemn the verdict of Justice Abubakar M. Talba of the Abuja High Court, sentencing John Yakubu Yusufu to six years imprisonment with N750,000 fine option for the theft of N32.8 billion pension funds. Yusufu was arraigned with six others. Unlike others, he pleaded guilty after entering into plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In unison, Nigerians deplored what they called a “light sentence”. Some called Justice Talba names, others defended him, saying he was only applying the law.

EFCC arraigned Yusufu and others on

March 29, last year before Justice Talba on a 16-count charge. They all pleaded not guilty; but Yusufu changed his plea last week and entered into plea bargain with EFCC, which earned him the controversal verdict from Justice Talba.

They were charged with conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under Sections 97 and 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.

Charged with Yusufu are then Director of the Police Pension Office, and later Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta, Atiku Abubakar Kigo; Esai Dangabar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila

Zira.

When EFCC entered into plea bargain with Yusufu, the charge against him was reviewed. The amended charge raised the counts to 20; included two others and changed the law under which they were charged.

Those included are Christain Madubuike and Mrs Uzoma Cyril Atang, a serving Director, Finance and Accounts, Ministry of Communications.

In line with the plea bargain, the accused were re-arraigned on January 29, under the amended charge. While others pleaded not guilty, Yusufu pleaded guilty •Continued on page 30

Inside: ‘Judiciary not insulated from self-imposed malaise’... P.31 Legal Studies DG faults govt ... P.33

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

30

LAW COVER CONT’D • Continued from page 29

to counts 18, 19 and 20 brought under Section 309 of the same Penal Code.

Following his plea and conviction, his lawyer, Maiyaki Theodore Bala urged the court to be lenient in sentencing his client.

But EFCC’s Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) urged the court to reject his request.

Jacobs agreed that Section 309 prescribes a maximum sentence of two years, but urged the court to impose “such sanction that will send out a clear message that the era of impunity is gone.”

Section 309 stipulates: “Whoever commits a crime of misappropriation shall be punished with an imprisonment term which may be extended to two years or with fine or both” In sentencing the convict, Justice Talba began by deprecating Yusufu’s conduct. He said: “The court has a duty to do justice for, not just the convict, but for the society at large.

“Today, Nigeria is bedevilled with the cankerworm of white-collar crime which has subjected the citizens to abject poverty.

It is not in doubt that the standard of living of an average Nigerian is declining day by day.”

He sentenced Yusufu to two years imprisonment with N250,000 fine option on each of the three counts and held that the sentence should run concurrently.

There was outrage over the verdict, which also threw up some questions. These include: What informed the decisions of the prosecution and the judge? The role of the judiciary in the context of ensuring social justice and whether, in deciding cases, the judge could be excused for being blind to societal mood, bearing in mind that the court operates within the society and exists to mediate social conflicts?

There are also questions on the benefit of plea bargain in resolving criminal cases?

The adequacy of the criminal justice system and criminal laws to effectively deal with crimes? The quality of mind of judges and whether it is time to review the process of appointing judges?

There are conflicting views on the reason for the judge’s decision. Those in his support argued that he acted within the law, adding that EFCC should be blamed.

Others think otherwise.

Those,who believe that Justice Talba has not erred-argued that the law under which Yusufu was charged prescribes a maximum sentence of two years, an option of fine or both, and gave the judge the discretion to apply any. To them, by applying the option that his mind preferred, the judge cannot be crucified.

Critics, however, wondered why the judge chose to exercise his discretion in favour of the accused, having earlier regretted the harm corruption and white collar crimes have done to the country.

They wondered why the plight of millions of retired policemen, whose savings were stolen by the accused, the social implication of his decision and its effect on serving public officers did not prompt him to exercise his discretion to reflect that the accused was actually punished, by combining both imprisonment and fine and even imposing a huge fine, since there is no ceiling on the fine he could impose under Section 309.

Those who query the EFCC’s motive in entering plea bargain with Yusufu, are wondering why he was charged under the Penal Code, one of the relics of the colonial era, enacted in 1916.

They wonder why the EFCC charged them before the Abuja High Court and not the Federal High Court where the more recently enacted Criminal Code and EFCC Act would have been applicable and available for more offences to tie the culprits with higher sentences.

They asked why the EFCC charged Yusufu and others with criminal misappropriation when the offences for which they were linked have elements of fraud, conspiracy to defraud, obtaining by false pretences, money laundering, administrative mismanagement and stealing, among others.

Critics also wonder why the EFCC is still pushing plea bargain when past cases have ended at the detriment of the state. They cited the cases of former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; former Edo State Governor Lucky Igbinedion and former Chief Executive Officer, Oceanic Bank, Mrs Cecilia Ibru.

On December 19, 2008, an Enugu High Court fined Igbinedion N3.5 million after a plea bargain arrangement with the EFCC. Igbinedion was initially arraigned on a 191-

Judiciary on trial

• Justice Talba

• Yusufu

• Tarfa

• Shittu

• Aturu

• Chukwuocha

count charge which, on December 17, 2008, was reduced to one-count after his plea bargain.

He was made to plead guilty to the charge: failure to make a declaration of his interest in the Account No: 4124013983110 with a new generation bank in the declaration of assets form of the EFCC, an offence it said was punishable under Section 27 (3) of the EFCC Act 2008.

By the arrangement, Igbinedion freed himself from the hold of the law in the country but the international community was not amused.

The same EFCC in 2010 ensured that Ibru pleaded guilty to a watered down threecount charge, under the same plea bargain arrangement. She spent just six months in the hospital, rather than in prison custody having earlier been charged with three other senior banking executives, in a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.

Critics argued that Ibru and all other cases where plea bargain had been deployed made a mockery of justice.

They compared the Ibru case with that of Bernard Lawrence Madoff, an American former businessman, stockbroker, invest-

ment advisor and financier who pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a fraudulent scheme, with which he defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. He is currently serving a 150-year jail term. Ibru was only made to forfeit assets worth N1.29 billion.

Others have particularly faulted the plea bargaining, arguing that it has tainted the image of the judiciary since its adoption some years back.

Plea bargain, by its nature, is an agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant, under which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor.

This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less-serious charge or to one of several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.

Although advocates of plea bargain argue that the arrangement prevents a lengthy criminal trial and waste of public

funds, critics contend that a situation whereby an accused person is offered the opportunity to plead guilty to a minor charge is unhealthy for any justice system because it sends the wrong signal that it is profitable to steal.

Those who said the judge acted within the law urged the government and all other relevant bodies to amend of the criminal and civil laws with a view to ensuring their relevance in today’s world. They argued that it is ridiculous that the nation’s statute books contain fines so ridiculous that a convict would readily pay and walk into freedom.

There is also the argument that the court must always be guided by societal mood in taking decisions. Critics argue that judges must never be blind to what the society thinks else a wrong decision that sets the society ablaze will not spare the judge and his court.

To them, this decision has not only disproved the government’s claim to be fighting corruption, it has sent a dangerous signal: That those in service should not think of pension. They should help themselves to what they can grab now. They ask: if policemen are not sure of their pension, who then is?

Others also suggest an overhaul of the process of judges’ appointment, noting that the current arrangement where external influence dictates who mans the Bench leaves room for manipulation and the emergence of individuals with flawed attributes.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and lawyers have reacted to the development and suggested ways of preventing a recurrence. Those who spoke include NBA President Okey Wali, Malam Yusuf Ali, Adeniyi Akintola, Rickey Tarfa, Emeka Ngige (all Senior Advocates of Nigeria), rights activist, Bamidele Aturu, Wahab Shittu of the University of Lagos, Allens Agbaka, Richard Chukwuocha and Abubakar Shamsudeen.

Wali, while reading a communiqué issued at the end of NBA’s meeting last week in Abuja, said: “On the conviction of Yusuf, it is obvious that the law is inadequate and so the sentence is inadequate; that is why we are calling for the amendments of the law.

“Our position on the conviction of Yusuf is that we do not speak off the cuff but from what we gathered: the law on which he was charged says two years with an option of fine, so we would be calling for an amendment of that law, because he is getting away with so much with little punishment.”

He said the criminal/penal code in use in Nigeria is a 1916 ordinance, stating that it should not still be in use this present day and age.

Wali said there was no noticeable strong will on the part of the government to fight corruption.

Ali said nothing short of death sentence or at least life imprisonment would curb corruption or reduce it to a minimum. To him, the punishment should have been more severe.

He said: “Of course the punishment is not commensurate with the gravity of the offence but we must remember that the law gives the judge discretion in awarding punishment.

“I have advocated several times that corruption should attract the death penalty, or at least life imprisonment,” Ali said.

Akintola said the laws need a review. He urged the Federal Government to revisit recommendations of the late jurist, Kayode Eso, in 1991, on how to deal with corruption.

The senior lawyer said he would not blame the judge for handing out the sentence, as he could not have gone outside what the law states.

“People should comment on issues they know of the facts. Comments should not be made based on sentiments or emotions.

We should first of all ask: Under what law was the defendant charged? What was the penalty prescribed?” Akintola said.

Tarfa agreed with Akintola, saying the issue lies with the laws. “It will depend on the law and the evidence placed before the court,” he said.

Ngige argued that the laws need to be overhauled, especially on punishment for graft.

To him, it is also not a question of whether the laws are stringent enough, but the need for the EFCC to have laid-down guidelines on how to negotiate plea bar• Continued on page 33

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

31

LAW PERSONALITY

‘Judiciary not insulated from self-imposed malaise’ Elder Oyibo Chukwu was National Assistant Legal Adviser of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

In this interview with JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU, he speaks on politics, specialisation in legal practice, the Ohanaeze crisis and sundry national issues.

H

AVE you been involved in partisan politics. What informed your involvement in Ohanaeze politics?

Yes, I have been involved in partisan politics, even though I prefer to regard myself more as a political activist and a pragmatic liberal democrat with neo-welfarist in inclinations, who only use political platform to achieve social engineering. It is this altruistic motive that led me into active participation in Ohanaeze activities, and politics. I felt that as an Igbo patriot, I should contribute my modest inputs for the wellbeing of Ndigbo, and as a nationalist, to use Ohanaeze to build bridges across ethnic lines. It might interest you to know that I founded and organised the ohanaeze youth and was its first leader. I served in the local government administration and in 1988, I was elected into the then Constituent Assembly to represent Nkanu Federal constituency.

I have also been the National Auditor of the ANPP and was a Presidential candidate in the S.D.P under the option A4 arrangement.

I also ran for senate in PDP in 2011.

I was the immediate Past National Assistant Legal Adviser of Ohaneze.

Are you satisfied with the politics of today. Why and how we can get it right?

The waters of the politics is getting murkier by each passing day and the composite respect for the Nigerian Politician, has largely diminished by each transition era or republic, if you may.

Politics is no longer considered a calling, but a profession and a means of cheap livelihood for many. It has become a battle field for a large army of the unemployed and fair weather politicians. It has also metamorphosed into an easy vehicle for vulgar acquisition of wealth and obscene rise to stardom. There are still some patriots who can still be counted among the contemporary politicians. You asked how can we get our politics right? I will put my answers in a rather simplistic form. Firstly, institutions of government must be overhauled and strengthened. Secondly, the effectiveness of these institutions must be enhanced through decentralisation in such a manner that the central government is not over burdened and do not bite more than it can chew. Finally all the centripetal forces must be unleashed to eliminate corruption, reduce waste and encourage productivity and merit. I endorse also some form of dialogue to redefine our national arrangement to encourage full Nigerianisation, equity, equality, fairness and participatory democracy.

How would you compare Law practice in your early days at the Bar with what obtains now.?

My days as a green horn in Law practice was part of the glorious days gone by. It was an era when the profession was truly professional indeed and commanded respect. Lawyers conducted themselves with decorum both in and outside the court. It was unimaginable in those days, for instance, for a lawyer to engage in unprofessional conduct like fraud or any other anti social conduct. It was a beauty to see senior lawyer show understanding in court when a junior or younger lawyer was floundering in court in his case.

Colleagues were ever ready to extend a hand of fellowship to one another. All these have changed.

It is now a rat-race and standard appears now to have fallen.

People have called for specialisation in the profession, what is your view?

I am of the school of thought that believe that specialization will bring proficiency and expertise.

But recognition must be given to the fact that ours is a developing economy and compartmentalization and division of labour in the economy has not fully taken root.

It is my sincere hope that full specialization will take root in the profession as soon as the economy develops further.

As a member of the immediate past leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo, what is your appraisal of that leadership?

Ohaneze Ndigbo has always provided sublime leadership for the Igbo people at very critical moments. It has been the Igbo Mouth piece, but some of these changed with the entrance of Amb. Raph Iwechue as the president General of Ohaneze Ndigbo. Amb. Iwechue who was drafted into that office with the singular purpose of giving a sense of inclusiveness to Igbo Deltans in Ohanaeze affairs, never understood the internal mechanisms of the organization nor its dynamics. Therefore, he deviated from Ohanaeze style, practices, conventions and constitution.

He betrayed the trust reposed in him as the alter ego of the Ohanaeze National Executive committee and pursued his personal agenda. His style was dictatorial, mendacious and selfish. I will give you a few examples. He did not consult nor sought the mandate of the various organs of Ohanaeze including the Imeobi and the General Assembly before he endorsed President Ebere Jonathan in the 2011 presidential election.

Some of us who were vociferous supporters of the president, were piqued and embarrassed. He made that endorsement which was published by him in most national newspapers without consulting any organ of Ohanaeze. We all read it like every other Nigerian to our amazement. He was thoroughly blamed in the executive meeting for his thoughtlessness. We had to give a retrospective endorsement to his action. Again, Ohanaeze is the only major social-cultural organisation that did not have a formal meeting with President Jonathan. Other ethnic organisations went and discussed issues effecting their people, most times with a shopping list and lengthy demands.

Raph Iwechue frustrated any such visits, but preferred to visit Aso Rock alone, and indeed made up to 10 trips till date. He never deemed it necessary to brief the executive as to what was discussed or the outcome of his visits. Now he has conducted an inglorious and Kangaroo election into the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze, foisting on the organisation, an army of his cronies and some of them a carryover from our now defunct executive committee.

For example the fellow he imposed into office of the National

• Chukwu

Publicity secretary, a position zoned to uwechue’s Delta State, one Mr. Tony Osita Oganah, was never a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and had indeed written and published in a news magazine that he was not an Igbo.

This is a generous picture of the executive I served in.

We have hitherto had one and united Ohanaeze, how come, the organisation is divided into factions now?

Ohanaeze is not factionalised.

We have been through this kind of challenge during the Prof. Joe Irukwu tenure and the organisation came out of it more organised, united and stronger.

We will just decapitate the uwechue-led infamous bunch of a adventurers and their very few privies and move on. Perhaps what you have called faction is Prince Richard Ozobu’s disengagement from the obnoxious election conducted by Raph Iwechue. Prince Ozobu, as you know is the secretary of the election committee Iwechue had set up to peacefully resolved in the interest of Ndigbo.

What are the issues in contention in Ohaneze now?

The first contentious issue was the way and manner Amb. Raph Iwechue, who was caught up by the sit-tight syndrome, sought to extend the tenure of his office and that of the entire Executive committee by two solid years.

That attempt, as we are canvassing in court of Law, was unconstitutional, disingenuous and immoral because the whole amendment abracadabra of Ohanaeze Constitution did not follow the constitutional procedure provided for it and was all about self. In some

instances, some of those that attended the constitutional amendment meetings of various organs of Ohanaeze, were not the approved members but mercenaries and hired hands. In the face of these illegal extension of our tenure and at the expiration of that executive tenure, I felt it was morally repugnant to continue, and I withdrew from the executive committee. Secondly, our position is that Amb. Raph Iwechue, having served out his tenure along with the entire executive committee, lacks the competence to conduct that election. Of course he lacks the fairness and balance to conduct such an election.

But we read that he has successfully conducted election of new officers of the association, what is the problem with that?

Predictably, the election Raph Iwuchue purported to have conducted has engendered wide spread agitations and protests in all the Igbo States, for example, the Chairman of Imo State traditional rulers council, has written and sent in his objections.

The election was neither fair nor credible. Again, while I served in the National Executive Committee Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Akachukwu Nwankpor, special adviser to Mr. President, had approached Ohanaeze to seek our approval, mandate, consent and authorization to register Ohanaeze foundation for Ohanaeze Ndigbo. That was freely given and he was working for Ohanaeze. But but breach of the agreement and understanding that was reached, Raph Iwechue and Chief Akachukwu Nwankpor, registered the foundation with themselves as the

‘Penalties should be stiff with the guilty person risking life sentences and total forfeitures of all their assets. There should also be special courts or tribunals to try such cases for expeditious trials. But the consolation we have, is that we still have some people in the judiciary who still maintain their honour and integrity’

only two trustees of the foundation. Worthy and credible Igbos like Retired Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Dr. Arthur Nwankwo, Chief Dozie Ikedife, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma etc. were suggested to be trustees, but were sabortaged by Iwuchue and his group, we want the duo to hand over the foundation to Ohanaeze and account for her assets. Again, we will want Amb. Raph Iwuchue to give a graphic account of all the monies he received during his tenure on behalf of Ohanaeze including from some government sources and individuals. There are many more.

Is there no way to resolve these issues be resolved peacefully and amicably rather than court action?

There are internal mechanisms within Ohanaeze for resolutions of conflicts like this. As I said earlier, Raph Iwuchue became a dictator and emasculated all the organs of Ohanaeze which would have looked into the conflicts. People were shot out from speaking in meetings he presided over. For instance, for the two years I served in the Ohanaeze National Executive Committee, Raph Iwuchue whose constitutional duty it was to call Imeobi and General Assembly Meetings, which were supposed to hold once a month or at least once in three months by Ohanaeze Convention, called a questionable Imeobi twice in two years and a rancorous general assembly once in that two years, which was for the sole purpose of seeking to sail through his infamous tenure extension agenda. It was practically a one man show. So if those internal mechanisms I spoke about are properly invoked, then the issues can be discussed and possibly resolved. But the impostors and pretenders to the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze must stop Parading themselves as such.

The judiciary has always been referred to as the last hope of the common man, do you think this assertion is true today, if not, how do we restore the integrity of the judiciary?

The Judiciary is not insulated from our self imposed national malaise. These include incompetence, corruption and partisanship.

A good starting point to checkmate these national maladies is to put in place a national legislation that can enable citizens to come to court by way of information (charge) and affidavit, detailing cases of corruption in both the public and private sectors, against an individual, and the burden of proof being placed on that individual to prove his innocence. Penalties should be stiff with the guilty person risking life sentences and total forfeitures of all their assets. There should also be special courts or tribunals to try such cases for expeditious trials. But the consolation we have, is that we still have some people in the judiciary who still maintain their honour and integrity.

We read that Ohanaeze is in court, which faction is in court?

I do not belong to any Ohanaeze faction and as I said earlier, Ohanaeze is not factionalised. My compatriot, Prince Emeka Onyesoh and I, are in court to challenge some of the excesses of Ambassador Raph Iwuchue and his cronies I have already enumerated. If they stop troubling Ohanaeze and Ndigbo, retrace their steps and make amends, there shall be peace. We are the spear-head for the aggrieved teaming majority.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

32

LAW & SOCIETY

Legal Studies DG faults govt sponsorship of pilgrimages • Lagos judges get training offer

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T is unconstitutional for the government to sponsor people on pilgrimages, Director-General of the Nigerian institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Prof Epiphany Azinge (SAN), has said.

According to him, the action favours only the two dominant religions in the country to the detriment of several others.

This, he said, amounts to discrimination, which the 1999 Constitution prohibits.

Azinge spoke to reporters after holding a meeting with the Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, on training collaboration between the state judiciary and the institute.

He said funding of pilgrimages is continuation of a practice introduced by the military and has no place in constitutional democracy.

“Constitutional democracy entails that we must have utmost fidelity to the Constitution. I know that Christians and Moslems will be happy that the government is funding their pilgrimages.

“However, fidelity to religion and fidelity to the Constitution will always have areas of conflict.

But considering the fact that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, we’re basically in a situation where we cannot run away from the provisions of the Constitution.

“Sections 10, 38 and 42 (2) talk about freedom from discrimination. They expressly forbid any form of discrimination - even bothering on religion – that tends to accord privilege or advantage to any other religion or group of persons over other persons.

“You cannot be seen to be supporting other religion over and above other religions. The emphasis I want to make is that there are so many other religions in this country. Nigeria is a multi-religious country. Apart from Christians and Moslems, there are so many other religions.

By Joseph Jibueze

“For instance, there are the traditional religion, the atheists, the members of the Eckankar, the Grail Movement, those who believe in Sango and Ofa, and those who in my place worship Onishe up till now. They are also part of a religion.

“What we’re trying to say in effect is that without any ambiguity, the provision that says that people should not be discriminated against on the basis of religion, amongst other things, is quite clear.

“If you want to fund a pilgrimage, then fund all pilgrimages, any kind – whether it’s a pilgrimage to Ife, or to Florida where the Eck have their headquaters. But for you to restrict it to Christianity and Islamism to the detriment of others invokes clearly the section.”

For Azinge, the government should not be seen to be flouting the Constitution. He however absolved the present administration of blame.

He said: “While we dialogue on that conversation, the point that should be clearly made is that we may not hold this government responsible.

“Government may have inherited what naturally was a throwback from the military era and which does not find expression in the Constitution.

“Though a Christian, but as a constitutionalist, I want to say that government may not have any business constitutionally funding pilgrimages in this country.”

Azinge, who led other NIALS officials on the visit, said it was to explore how to collaborate with the state judiciary to boost the capacity of judges and other judicial workers.

“We want to see where we can be useful to the Lagos State judiciary in terms of helping them to build capacity, training, and more significantly to see how they can key into

• Justice Phillips and Azinge during the visit

our judicial fast-track training programme for those aspiring to be judges.

“There are so many magistrates in Lagos State, and a good number of them naturally would want to become judges of the higher bench.

“We also want to get them to have judges and other non-judicial officers who are an integral part of the justice system undertake some training at the institute.

“These are the people we expect to come to the institute and get themselves acquainted with our fast-track training programme, and we’re sure that they will benefit immeasurably.

“When you have a well-trained, well-prepared judiciary, certainly the issue of integrity and performance will always be part of it,” Azinge said.

The professor said the need to further equip the judges is seen in the standard of their judgments, which he said need improvement.

“I feel that the training of the judges of the days of Chike Idigbe, Mohammed Uwais, Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Oputa may not be the same training that prepared the people that are on the bench today.

“With the greatest respect, our judges today still write impeccable, flawless judgments, but the ro-

‘If you want to fund a pilgrimage, then fund all pilgrimages, any kind – whether it’s a pilgrimage to Ife, or to Florida where the Eck have their headquaters. But for you to restrict it to Christianity and Islamism to the detriment of others invokes clearly the section’

mance of merging philosophy with judicial reasoning and a lot of jurisprudence coming into play, preparing a judgment in such a way that a reader will be gripped as if he’s reading of book written by Wole Soyinka or Chinua Achebe. I believe that those are not there anymore.

“We feel that we must get back to that stage, where people can be gripped by judgments; where you want to read a judgment for one or two hours and you’re not tired because of the analogy, because of the deductions and jurisprudence that are well espoused and articulated, and also because of the flawless mastery and delivery of the English Language.

“These are the things that may not be there anymore. In terms of conclusion and premise, I feel that the judgments are still as good as ever.”

Justice Phillips said the judiciary lays emphasis on building the capacity of judges and other officers, adding that they would be willing to collaborate with NIALS.

Businessman sues monarch for N100m over property

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BUSINESSMAN, Alhaji Kamorudeen Babatunde Shekoni, has sued a monarch, the Ojon of Ejigbo, Oba Morufu Adisa Adekunle, at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, over properties at Iyana Ejigbo, Lagos.

He is seeking N100million as general and aggravated damages from the traditional ruler, N2million as cost of the action, and 21 per cent interest on the judgment sum until it is liquidated.

The claimant, through his lawyer, Mr Theophilus Akanwa, sought a declaration that he is entitled to the statutory right of occupancy of the properties at 1-5 Egbe Road, Iyana Ejigbo and at 18, Ifoshi Road, Ejigbo.

He prayed the court to hold that defendants, including Constant Link Ventures Limited, Ruka Shekoni, Fausa Shekoni and Adekunle Adenuga, have no right to let or occupy the properties without his consent.

Shekoni sought orders of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their agents from destroying, occupying or letting any of the properties, or taking any step to acquire them or disturbing the claimant in their ownership.

The claimant asked for an order compelling the second defendant to vacate and deliver up possession of the claimant’s shopping complex at 1-5 Egbe Road, which he said it wrongfully occupied without his consent.

He also wants the court to order that an account be rendered by the first, third, fourth and fifth defendants on their financial dealing with

By Joseph Jibueze

the second defendant in the course of letting the property – which yields about N6million annually from rent – to him.

Shekoni claimed that he inherited the land on which the properties are located from his greatgrand parents and single-handed developed them, just as other members of the Ifoshi Family were also given parcels of the family land.

According to the claimant, he had been in full possession of the properties since 1981 without any disturbance until December 2007 when he was chased out of them “on the instruction of the first defendant.”

Shekoni alleged that it was after the first defendant became the Oba of Ejigbo that he and the other defendants started “harassing” him and wanting to take over his properties.

When the case came up last week, the court, presided over by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, dismissed the first, third and fifth defendants’ motion for an order seeking to join First Bank of Nigeria Plc as a defendant to their counter-claim.

According to them, the buildings at 1-5, Egbe Road are not the bonafide property of the claimant, but that he jointly owns them with other members of the family.

The defendants said they wanted to join the bank because the claimant allegedly sold a property at 1, Egbe Road, without recourse to other family members, when the matter was still pending in court.

But in a counter-affidavit, Shekoni said he did not sell any of his properties to First Bank, but leased his property at 1, Ifoshi Road, Ejigbo, to it. He added that the property is not a subject of litigation in the suit.

Shekoni said there was no cause of action against First Bank to make it a necessary party, adding that it would serve the interest of justice to refuse the application.

Dismissing the application, Justice Taiwo awarded N5,000 against the defendants.

The defendants, in their counterclaim, sought a declaration that the claimant has no right to let, occupy

or let the property at 1-5 Egbe Road without the consent and approval of other members of the Surajudeen Sabalimotu’s family.

They sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Shekoni or his agents from using or letting the property without other family members’ consent.

Meanwhile, the court has adjourned till February 13 a ruling on a motion brought by the defendants in which they are praying for an order restraining parties to the suit from further collecting rent in all the shops located at 1-5 Egbe Road pending the determination of the suit.

They asked the court to direct that the rent be paid into the High Court Chief Registrar’s Account until the dispute is resolved.

According to them, the claimant “is still collecting rent from these shops without letting it go through his other siblings.”

However, Shekoni insisted in his counter-affidavit he is “the owner of the land, shops and buildings at No. 1-5, Egbe Road, Ejigbo, Lagos State.”

Besides, he said the defendants did not even know the number of shops there, as they stated 105 when the number is actually 139.

Church sues Lagos for N20b

A

Lagos church, The Bride Assembly, has filed a N20 billion suit against the Lagos State government over what it termed as harassment, invasion and demolition of their property situated at Plot A2 Block 72B, Amuwo Odofin Industrial Estate, Ijesha.

Others joined as defendants with the state government in the suit are the Lagos state Physical Planning and Development Authority and the Attorney-General of Lagos State The church, in the suit filed at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja is asking for the sum of N20 billion as general, exemplary and aggravated damages for alleged harassment, invasion and destruction of their property.

Also, the church is asking for a declaration that the harassment, invasion and destruction of their prop-

By Adebisi Onanuga

erty by officers of the defendants during the pendency of Suit No. ID/ 1846/2009, LD/241/2012 and Appeal No. CA/L/256/2012 as unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional and an abuse of court process.

They are also asking for an order of Interlocutory Injunction restraining the defendants from further harassment, threatening to invade and demolish their property pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit already filed before the court and any other order as the court may deem fit The Writ of Summon filed by their lawyer, Emeka Ozoani, is supported by a statement of claims and a 20paragraph affidavit.

The church, in its statement of claim averred that despite the fact

that there are matters before the court on the land, the defendants invaded the premises on October 5, 2012 and destroyed properties worth N20billion without any order of court The church added further that since the day, the defendants have continued to harass, threaten imminent forceful take-over and the demolition of the claimant’s property on the land The claimant also aver that some of her properties that were demolished were also looted by the agents of the defendants.

Materials carted away, according to the plaintiffs, include air conditioner, video cameras, fridges, laptops, ceiling fans and industrial standing fans as well as flat screen televisions.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the case.

33

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

FROM THE COURT

Family sues monarch, others over land

T

HE head of the Okunnu Eleku family, Chief Tajudeen Mojeed Eleku, and three others, have filed a suit at a Lagos High Court against Oba Tajudeen Afolabi Elemoro and three others over a disputed land matter between the Oko-Olomi and OkeOdo communities in Ibeju Lekki Local Government area of Lagos State.

Other claimants in the suit number LD/1946/2012 are Chief Segun Muda Eleku, Madam Toyin Eleku and Mr. Kamoli Asoju Eleku for themselves.

Other defendants in the suit are Chief Nasiru Imam.

In their writ of summons, the claimants are seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the first and second defendants, their agents and privies from embarking on any construction or trespass on the claimants land described in survey plan number

AOO/739/057/2012/LA(A) drawn by surveyor Akin Oyegbola verged Blue and Yellow.

They sought an order of the court setting aside the gazette 19, volume 40 dated February 22, 2007 at page 132 issued in favour of the first and second defendant families and gazette 20 dated May 22, 1993 as it affects the claimants land.

The claimant also sought a declaration of the court that their family are persons entitled to the customary right of occupancy in respect of the land situate, lying at Oko-Olomi and described in their survey plan Aoo/739/057/2012/ LA(A) and measuring 33.228 hectares of land excised to the 1st defendant and 18.113 hectares of land excised to the second defendant by the third defendant.

They also sought a declaration of the court to the effect that the exci-

sion of the claimants land measuring 33.228 hectares of land excised to the first defendant and 18.113 hectares of land excised to the second defendant respectively by the third defendant, who are not traditional owners via official gazette no 19 volume 40 dated February 22, 2007 is illegal, null and void.

They further sought court’s declaration that mere gazette as exemplified in Lagos state official gazette 19, volume 40 dated February 22, 2007 given in favour of the first and second defendant families respectively is not evidence of title.

The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, has declined comments on the suit in a text message.

“I am yet to see the court process, so I really can’t comment for now. I do not know the basis for the action. “ he wrote in the text message.

The court is yet to fix a date for hearing.

• Shamsudeen

• Agbaka

without blame because he acted within the law. He said although the sentence was inadequate, the prosecuting agency and the law should be blamed.

“This is not the first time. EFCC should learn. Those, whose duty it is to put the law up to date should act. Nigerian laws are replete with ridiculous provisions and fines,” he said.

Agbaka faulted the adoption of plea bargain by the EFCC. He described it as a lazy approach to criminal prosecution. He said it was open to manipulation and abuse in a corrupt society like this. He argued that the problem was not necessarily with the laws but their application and those

applying them.

Chukwuocha argued that the decision on Yusuf mocks the government’s vaunted fight against corruption. He stressed the need to review the EFCC Act, particularly as it relates to plea bargain.

“One of the fundamental reasons for punishing criminals is to deter others from passing the same route. The judgment is unfortunate and sends out wrong signal to Nigerians.

“What difference it would have made had the convict been denied the option of fine? I cry for the helpless police pensioners. This slap on the wrist judgment must stop,” Chukwuocha said.

By Adebisi Onanuga

Judiciary on trial • Continued from page 30

gaining with accused persons.

“The commission ought to have included the fine payable by the accused in the bargain. Leaving issue of fine payable to the judge is very unsafe and prone to abuse.

This is the second time EFCC is being outsmarted by accused persons in plea bargaining deals.”

Mr Bamidele Aturu described the sentence handed to Yusuf as unacceptable. “It is very baffling and I must say, very embarrassing, not only from the standpoint of legal points involved, but also from the standpoint of the socalled war against corruption.

“The noise about fighting corruption is being exploded by this sort of embarrassing sentencing that we are getting here and there.

I think it is very clear now that the Nigerian judiciary, the Nigerian legal system, Nigerian lawyers and the Nigerian public are not able to fight corruption.

“What is being done now is to give corrupt people a slap on the wrist. This is not even a slap on the wrist any longer. It’s now a handshake, because if we call it a slap on the wrist, we’ll be wrong.

So it’s a handshake with corruption.”

Shamsudeen said the judge was

• From left: J. S. Okutepa (SAN); Speaker Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Terhile E. Ayua and Second Vice President, NBA, Steve Abba

LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com

Trials of the judiciary

T

HE Trials of Brother Jero, a farce by Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, portrayed in a light hearted manner, the charade of religiosity by a false prophet. The play was spot in portraying a morally challenged society, with the lead act, Brother Jero treating his followers as pawn. While nursing dubious intentions, Jero sells the dummy of prophesy as his guiding principle. Adeptly feeding on his followers’ unconscionable desire for money, power and influence, he whimsically manipulated their gullibility. His followers trusted his infallibility, and his assistant Chume lead the pack of the exploited.

Many Nigerians have become so disillusioned with public service that it is appropriate to compare Brother Jero to some of our present public officials.

Since the past week, the Judiciary has been the butt of jokes, for perceived incontinence. From the bench, an angst public was thoroughly scandalized by the judgment of Justice Abubakar Talba, granting a confessed felon, John Yakubu Yusuf, two years imprisonment or option of fine of 750,000.00 naira for stealing from the 27.2 billion naira, police pension fund. Also from the bench, Justice Joseph Abang of the Federal High Court uncharacteristically descended heavily on Access Bank and their accomplices, for exercising what many considered their fundamental rights to seek justice in another jurisdiction over a similar matter before His Lordship. But while Justice Abang is threatening Access Bank over perceived abuse of process, many are concerned about the court’s patience, needed for the requisite impartiality and disinterestedness.

The major trial for the Nigerian judiciary however came from the light sentence given to Abubakar Talba, who admitted stealing 2 billion naira from the police pension fund. For many critics, corruption was the chief inducement for that tap on the wrist. No doubt while the Judge may have acted within the confines of his discretionary powers within the law in passing the sentence, I am persuaded that Mr. Talba was not given an exemplary punishment to deter potential felons from similar aggravated crime. Even conceding that the thief had been cooperative with the prosecution and had handed over the discovered proceeds of crime, yet the Judge could have handed him the two years imprisonment without an option of fine. While dealing with the fall out of the Talba’s case, Nigerians must demand that his accomplices get adequate punishment.

Again many Nigerians were stupefied at the share audacity of the stealing and the unbelievable lack of checks and balances within our bureaucracy. In any functional society it is inconceivable that Mr. Talba could have the chance to steal a billion naira from a public coffer or even a million naira without any alarm setting off. The other angle to this mind boggling criminality and banditry among our public officials is the obvious need to study the mental psychology of the average Nigerian public official in other to understand what triggers such obvious mental disorder, as in the case of Talba. In the study, Talba’s share invidious animal cruelty of conniving to steal such a humongous life savings of fellow human beings should be a case study.

On another level, any sane Nigeria must be worried by the revelation of retired Justice Olufonlula Adekeye of the Supreme Court, that she does not have a house she can call her own, after a meritorious thirty-six years service on the bench. Offering the apparent reasons for this anomaly, Mr. Sebastine Hon (SAN) revealed through graphic details, that our Judges, including Supreme Court Justices are poorly remunerated. Comparing the incomparable though, (that is USA and Nigeria), the learned silk showed that a Magistrate in the United States is better paid than a Justice of the Supreme Court in Nigeria. There is therefore the need to compare the total annual earnings of the Chief Justice of Nigeria with that of the Executive President and the President of the Senate heading the other two arms of government.

Another distinguished member of the Bar, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), angered by this status quo, filed a public interest suit, seeking the courts interpretation and enforcement of the provisions of section 81(3) of the 1999 constitution, as amended. His grouse, which should be that of every right thinking Nigerian, is that the clear provisions of the constitution granting the Judiciary financial independence is circumvented by the executive. In an interview he granted to this paper’s Legal Editor, John Unachukwu recently, he said, ‘this year, the budget (of the Judiciary) is about 65 billion Naira, whereas the office of the National Security Adviser will get about 100 billion Naira, one man against the third arm of government.’ The learned silk fumed: ‘I now understand why judges are timid and cannot give judgment…. It is because they have no money, because their governors can do and undo…’

While putting the judiciary on trial for perceived corruption, I believe it is important that the general welfare, independence, security of tenure and a strengthened justice system is made the starting point. The majority of Judges are hard working and incorruptible. Moreover the highly charged political cases and corruption infested cases are not as many as the several disputes that go before the Judges. While conceding that a few but influential Judges may be corrupt, it will be unfair to ascribe every unsavory judgment to financial inducement. Some of the Judges may just be incompetent. There is also the urgent need to build a functional society that makes it impossible for public officials to act with impunity.

The current procedure for appointing Judges is also very unhelpful, because some unworthy persons are railroaded by the executives to the bench for future hatchet jobs. Add this critical factor to the financial vulnerability of the judiciary, and a morally bankrupt society, to appreciate the trials of the judiciary.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

FROM THE COURT

Court restrains IGP, others from arresting businessman over dispute with wife

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FEDERAL High Court in Lagos has restrained the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko and two others from arresting, detaining and treating in a humiliating manner, a Lagos businessman, Ken Uche Oraka.

Justice John Tsoso, in a ruling, also made a restraining order directed particularly at the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Force Headquarters, Abuja. The ruling was on a motion ex-parte filed by Oraka, the proprietor of KenAshley Auto Shop, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos.

The applicant had alleged, in his supporting affidavit, that his wife, Lizzy Oraka, had on several occasions, instigated men of the police to harass, arrest and detain him and sometime, compelled to do her bidding.

Oraka averred that his constant unlawful arrest and detention resulted from a disagreement between him and his wife over the paternity of the last of their three children.

He added that the alleged intimidation by the police was a ploy to frustrate his prosecution of a suit he filed against his wife at the Lagos High Court, in his effort to retrieve some of his assets he was compelled, while in police detention, to

By Eric Ikhilae

cede to his wife He told the court that unless the police was restrained, they would persist in their act of alleged unlawful breach of his right to freedom of movement before the final determination of his substantive fundamental rights enforcement suit pending before the court.

Convinced that there was merit in the application, Justice Tsoho granted an order of interim injunction, restraining the IGP, CP, Lagos and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos from harassing, arresting and detaining Oraka at the instigation of Mrs Oraka in respect of all issues relating to the pending fundamantal rights enforcement suit.

The judge particularly restrained the DCP, Force Headquarters, Abuja “from taking any step, including inviting, arresting or detaining the applicant in connection with the subject matter of this action and further directing all officers of the Nigeria Police to stay all actions in this respect.”

Justice Tsoho held that the orders were made pursuant to Order IV, Rule 4 (iv) and (v) of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure

Court upholds Oniba’s consenting authority over Isashi, others

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LAGOS High Court in Igbosere has resolved the dispute over the traditional head of Isashi land in favour of Oba Yushua Goriola Oseni (the Oniba of Iba) and Kamoru Adamu Sunmonu (Baale Odan Isashi).

Justice E. A. Adebajo, in a judgment, dismissed the suit by five leaders of Isashi land, led by Pa Suraj Jinadu on the ground that they were unable to prove their case. He upheld the claim filed by the defendants (Oseni and Sunmonu).

Pa Jinadu, Micheal Ashade, Ebenezer Babalola Ashde, Amos Taiwo and Simeion Idowu Alafia-Akapo had sued, seeking among others that the court declares them the successor-in-title to the founder, traditional heads and as Baale and traditional chiefs of Isashi land surrounding communities, including Odan Isashi and Mebamu.

They also faulted Oseni’s installation of Sunmonu as their Baale and urged the court to restrain Oseni (being the traditional head of a neighbouring community) and his agents from” intruding into the administration and suzerainty domain of the plaintiffs.”

In the judgment delivered on December 21 last year, a copy of which was made available to The Nation, Justice Adebajo “declared that the claimants are not the overlords of Isashi and OdanIsashi and are not consenting authority over Isashi or OdanIsashi.”

By Adegunle Olugbamila

He also restrained the plaintiffs (claimants) and their agents perpetually “from further arrogating to themselves the right to the ownership of Isashi land or consent to the appointment of Baale of Isashi and Oda- Isashi.

Justice Adebajo also declared that the defendants are entitled to the statutory right of occupancy over Isashi land and declared that the Oniba of Iba “is the consenting authority for Isashi and Odan-Isashi.”

Earlier in the judgment, the judge held that he was not persuaded by the evidence of the history of the founding of Isashi as told by the claimants.

“However, on their part, the defendants gave a history of the founding of Iba land, which they stated to include Isashi, OdanIsashi and Mebamu. Equally on the claim of suzerainty over Isashi, Odan-Isashi and Mebamu, the evidence before me that is convincing is the evidence of the defendants.

“I am convinced from the totality of the evidence before me that the Oniba remains the rightful consenting authority to the Baaleship of the three communities.

“Whilst by their testimony and admissible evidence on record, the claimants have failed to prove their case and is hereby dismissed, the defendants have, on their part, succeeded in their counter-claim,” the judge held.

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Rules 2009. The orders are to subsist pending the determination of the main suit.

Further hearing has been fixed for February 21.

Named as defence in the substantive suit are his wife, the IGP, CP, Lagos and DCP, Panti, Lagos. He is seeking among others, an order declaring his arrest and detention on several instances, including on June 17, 2001; April 2 and March 1, 2012 as unlawful.

Oraka, who is seeking N50million damages against the respondents, also wants an order restraining men of the Nigeria Police from further arresting and detaining him in respect of the allegation made against him by his wife and on which a magistrate’s court in Ebute-Metta, Lagos had adjudicated and discharged him.

Mrs Oraka has denied all allegations made against her in Oraka’s application. She admitted being his wife and denied any disagreement over the paternity of any of their three children.

She also denied instigating the police or any of its personnel to intimidate, arrest and detain her husband. She averred in a counter affidavit, that her husband was never compeled into ceding any of his property to her.

• IGP Abubakar

Mrs Oraka stated that she co-owned the property with her husband from the date of acquisition as they were both convinced that as a happy family then, they needed not acquire property in their separate names.

She stated that she only involved the police in their family feud when her husband allegedly threatened to kill her, using a gun.

Octogenarian accuses Ojora of demolishing property

N octogenarian, Chief Fasasi Olorunlogun, has said he may sue the Ojora of Lagos, Oba Abdulfatai Oyeyinka Aromire, for the demolition of a building situated at No 7, Alhaja Adebowale Street, Orile, Lagos for contempt of court.

The building is a subject of litigation between Chief Olorunlogun and Oba Ojora at a Lagos Magistrate Court presided by Magistrate Oyin Ogala.

Oba Ojora has, however, denied involvement in the demolished building.

Speaking through his counsel, Mr Niyi Ogunyemi, Chief Olorunlogun alleged that some men believed to be working for the traditional ruler on Thursday, January 24, 2013 pulled down the building despite the pendency of a suit challenging the ownership of the land in which the structure was erected.

“This is unheard of. Those who carried out the act cannot claim ignorance of the fact that the matter is before the court. I do not know why they are in a hurry. They should allow the court to decide

• ‘I know nothing of it’

By Adebisi Onanuga

either way.

“But one thing I can say is that we will never allow this go unpunished.

Since this case started, a lot of illegalities have been perpetuated.

But this is one illegality carried too far and we will not allow it go unpunished. I have my client’s instruction to file contempt charge against whosoever carried out this nefarious act and we shall wait to see to what the court will decide,” Ogunyemi said.

The property at Alhaja Adebowale Street is one of four properties, which are at the centre of litigation before Magistrate Ogala. The others are situated at 3, Ogungbesan Street; 6, Alhaja Adebowale Street, and 33, Alafia Street, all at Orile, Lagos.

However, reacting to the allegation, Muyiwa Kalejaiye, the media aide to the traditional ruler said the

monarch did not authorise the demolition of the building or any other one whatsoever.

Kalejaiye argued that Oba Ojora believes in the principle of law and does not take laws into his hand, adding: “It was his believe in the rule of law that made the Ojora family to wait for 37 years before they could get judgement from the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the disputed land.”

Kalejaiye further stated that Ojora couldn’t have resorted to self-help when he did not toe that line during the 37 years the case lasted in court, adding that the occupants on Ojora’s family land are based on legal agreement between the two parties.

“I do not know if the person who claimed to be the victim of demolition has any legal or valid legal title, C-of-O or any other legal authorisation for the occupation of that parcel of land. If he has, he should bring it forward so that necessary action could be taken,” he said.

Ikorodu NBA begins its Law Week

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HE Law Week of the Nige rian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch which started on Sunday will end on Friday, February 8.

According to a statement signed by the branch Chairman, Mr Sahid Owosile and chairman Organising Committee of the week, Mr Anthony Ibeh, the legal education of the bar will hold today in the

By Adebisi Onanuga

ancient town of Ikorodu.

The Lagos State Solicitor-General, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr Lawal Pedro and Mr Lai Babatunde, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria(SANs) and Mr Wahab Shittu, have been slated to address members of the bar on suc topic as Professional Ethics, Appeal Processes and Procedures and Speialised Criminal Procedure and Processes.

Lagos lawyer and activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) is guest lecturer at the eight Babatunde Olusola Benson (SAN) annual lecture entitled, “Nigeria, Failing Nation:Where are the lawyers?”

holding tomorrow while Deacon Dele Adesina (SAN) will the occasion.

The yearly dinner talk to be delivered on Thursday by Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya (SAN) will be on the topic, “The lawyer as a change agent: Opportunities and challenges” while Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) will chair the event.

The week-long activities will rounded off on Friday with a Jumat Service at the Oriwu Cental mosque, Ikorodu.

The event took off last Sunday with a Church service held at the African Bethel Church, Ikorodu and it was attended by the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba S.A.A. Oyewusi (Oguntade II).

NBA Abuja gets officers

T • From left: Chief Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo (SAN); former country President, FIDA, Mrs. Ezinwa Okoroafor; Hajiya Salamatu Mohammed; former General Secretary, NBA, Ibrahim Eddy Mark, his wife Sa’adatu, Mr. Paul Kassim and Mr. Okey Ajunwa at the inauguration of the new board of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) of which Ibrahim Eddy Mark is a Director at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

HE Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Justice M. L. Gumi has inaugurated the executive officers of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA ) Abuja branch. The branch officers are the Chairman, Mr U. M. Yamah; Secretary Mr Afam O. Okeke; Vice-chairman Mrs. Ozioma Izuora; Treasurer, Miss Betty A. Umegbulem; Publicity Secretary, Mr. D. A. N. Nwobodo; So-

• Yamah

• Okeke

cial Secretary, Miss Comfort Enejo; Financial Secretary, Mr. Rilwan A. Sadiq; Welfare Secretary, Mr. Ndubuisi; Asst. Social Secretary, Mr. Onyeka S. Obiajulu and Provost Mr. Chidiebere Udekwe

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

35

NATIONAL BAR For President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr Okey Wali (SAN), it was an accomplishment to assemble stakeholders in an effort at finding a lasting solution to the security challenges facing the country. On becoming NBA President on August 31 last year, he set up the Okey Amechi (SAN)-led Peace and Security Committee with a mandate to organise a summit to examine the causes of insecurity and recommend pragmatic solutions . Last week, the summit was held Abuja. Lawyers gave their assessment of the event.

They spoke to Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU.

How to tackle insecurity, by lawyers at summit

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HE Summit was declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister for Justice and Attorney –General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN).

He restated the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling unemployment and poverty to fight terrorism and similar social vices.

The President praised the NBA for organising such a summit at this critical point in the life of the country given the challenges posed by insurgents, militants and kidnapping.

He praised the theme of the summit, Comprehensive and Sustainable Peace and Security in a Plural Society: Extreme Challenges to Nigerian Internal Security, stating that it was timely and timeous.He said terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of threats to national security were capable of eroding the core values of the nation if not well handled.

“Bombing of innocent men and children by the terrorist groups coupled with the wide range of kidnapping must be seen as a direct attack on the core values and integrity of Nigeria.

“It will be recalled that poverty, unemployment have been identified as some of the root causes of our present security challenges.

“Government is, therefore, tackling the problem head on, on several fronts” He reassured Nigerians of government’s continued effort in canvassing for reconciliation to ensure that the nation’s core democratic values were not undermined, that the Federal Government was opened to constructive suggestions from the NBA and other stakeholders on the way forward in dealing with insecurity. ”

The Senate President, David Mark who was represented by the chairman, Senate Committee on Human Rights and Legal Matters,Senator Umaru Dahiru said that the National

Assembly had commenced the amendment of some laws on security to adequately face the challenges of insecurity in the country.

He stated that said that the National Assembly was equally amending the law on kidnapping so as to adequately tackle the problem posed by the crime and promised that the National Assembly was ready to take a look at recommendations made at the end of the summit in order to find lasting solution to insecurity. The National Assembly has gone extra mile to tackle the issue of terrorism and arrangements are almost concluded to revise the terrorism law that was passed in 2011. he chairman of the occasion and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Miriam Mukhtar (CJN) , said dialogue was one of the key factors to peaceful coexistence in the country. She called for the transformation of what she called zero or winner takes all approach to politics saying the fractured relationship among our leaders should be restored to build a lasting peace in the country.

The CJN said: “ A true new consensus must be forged among leaders to restore confidence in the system.

Royal Majesty, Oba’ Kole Ojutalayo, said: “ The diversity of Nigerian nation is a challenge but we have decided that we shall remain one. Kidnapping, Boko Haram, armed robbery, political intolerance,etc are there but we shall overcome them.

The royal father said: “ Traditional leaders make efforts to have what you lawyers call consensus ad idem” He condemned the recent attack on the Emir of Kano and prayed for his quick recovery.

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The Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who was represented at the occasion by Wazirin Nupe, Senator Isa Mohammed, lamented the activities of criminals in the society and said the only way to curb it is to empower law enforcement agencies in the country to do their job.

He called for the licensing of preachers by the government regulate the activities of such preachers because many people are indoctrinated at the places of worship.

The Sultan said: “ Traditional leaders are doing their best but violent preaching leads to destruction.”

He said Nigeria has a lot of challenges and such challenges can only be overcome by such eminent people that were assembled by the NBA for the conference.

The Oni of Ife, Okunade Sijuade, who was represented at the event by his

In his goodwill massage, the former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari said: “The topic of the summit as articulated is apt, unless this country is mobilised, secured and managed, the black man will be a disappointment in the world”

Former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, represented by Abubakar Gimba, praised the NBA for organising the summit . He said the issue of security is a big challenge to everybody, because no meaningful development will occur in a hostile and unfriendly environment. He condemned the state of insecurity in the country and called on every stakeholder to join hands in finding a lasting solution to the problem.

Welcoming participants to the occasion, the President of NBA, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN) said: “ Our choice of you as invitees to this summit was not accidental, but a product

of our well considered judgment that you are obviously among Nigerians who when we gather together, as we have today, and decide to speak frankly and freely from our hearts to ourselves, will certainly provide the much needed ideas that will usher in the great days of peace and security, that have unfortunately eluded this country for a long time now.

“We cannot continue in this state of affairs, with daily loss of lives and properties.

Just recently, - on January 19, 2013, there was an attack on the life of the Emir of Kano which led to the death of five of his aides. May their souls rest in peace.

The theme of this conference is comprehensive and sustainable peace and security in a plural society: extreme callenges to nigerian internal security.

“The vision to convoke this summit had come to me even while I was running for the office of president of NBA. And when the power to actualise the vision was vested in me by members of the NBA to be their president, I made it my primary concern.

During my inauguration as the president of the NBA on August 31 , 2012, is set up two committee that I thought should not wait for the other adhoc and standing committees where the chief Solomon Awomolo (SAN) led committee to organize Bar Leaders Summit on the future of the NBA while the second was the Okey Amaechi (SAN) led committee to organize this summit that is, the NBA summit on peace and security. Let me also place on record, the debt of gratitude of the Nigerian Bar Association to you, our dear invitees for honouring this invitation.

“I wish to state at this point, that what NBA has done by convoking this summit, goes to signpost the additional role the NBA as a stakeholder in this country.

With 100 branches spread across the country, and with our credible, non partisan, non religious platform; we will henceforth, not only hold up the mirror to the society, but will go the extra mile, where necessary, to suggest practical ways of curing the noticeable defects in the system. It is necessary to point this out, so that nobody will misunderstand our intention. For we are involved, a strong Bar can only thrive in a strong country”

M. A. Abubakar stated: “ Well, I must say that so far so good, this summit has come at a very auspicious time, because it appears to me as if all those who should raise their heads and speak, are quite feeling shy to do that and I believe that the NBA is right in coming out now with this summit. From the keynote address, the parameters were set for a summit that ended with very

In his welcome remarks, the chairman of NBA Peace and Security Committee, Okey Amechi (SAN) said: “Our committee readily keyed into the vision and passion of the NBA president , the NBA, therefore, has created this platform for free intercourse of ideas, bearing in mind the philosophy underpinning the idea is free market of ideas, that it is better to have uproars in the village square where discussions are free than to have whispers in the cellars where revolutions are hatched I hereby commend members of our committee for sparing no effort in making sure that the right ambience is put in place for this epochal summit”.

Former General Secretary, NBA, Olumuyiwa Akinboro said: “ First of all, I will like to congratulate the Okey Wali led Executive of the NBA for a job well done. This is one of the best well planned NBA event. Looking at the quality of participants, it is really awesome. I am sure that with the quality of personalities that we have here, NBA is definitely coming out with genuine contributions that will definitely move Nigeria forward.

Former President of the West African Bar Association (WABA) Mr Femi Falana (SAN) said: “We have had

some good analysis but what I have seen as a short coming of all the analysis is the absence of class dimension which has denied the conference of a rigorous undertaking. What I mean is that we have more or less concentrated attention on Boko Haram, kidnappers and the dangers constituted by them to the society, without interrogating the emergence of these organisations, without addressing unemployment, poverty, disenchantment and frustration of the youth that drives them to embrace these organisations for me I think that is fundamental. It is not enough to talk about the architecture of security, you must talk of the social implications, the social aspect of security, the human element and of course not much attention has been paid to the culture of impunity in the country which promotes insecurity, which promotes violence. If those who were caught were not brought to book, others are encouraged.

Concluding his speech, the keynote speaker, Chief A. K. Horsfall said: “We started this lecture by saying – Nigeria, nay the world is in turmoil. There is insecurity everywhere! Sadly we are going to conclude by confirming our earlier position. We must conclude that terrorism and violent extremism is now at our earlier position.

We must conclude that terrorism and violent extremism is now at our door step. Mali is actually next door. The fall out from Mali is bound to directly affect this country. The economic woes of the western world will of course also impact on our country.

“On the world scene we must recall that the two world Wars arose soon after western economic depressions. I am tempted to predict that we are perhaps likely to face such global security crisis again. Perhaps the fact that the American have returned Obama to White House, a cool-headed realist, may prolong global conflict for a while, however the seeds of major further global conflict cannot be too far away! With the scepter of Isreal versus Iran; the emerging development in the China Sea over some new found mineral rich Islands that both the Chinese, a new super power and Japan and other western allied countries claim, the flash point between China and Japan in particular are heightened; the unresolved Korean situation; and the continuing India- Pakistan dispute over Kashmir. All of these con• Continued on page 36

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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NATIONAL BAR

How to tackle insecurity, by lawyers at summit • Continued from page 35

tinuing developments must remind us that the drum of global wars are still beating and can be ignited once more, any time! On the Nigerian scene we must accept that Boko Haram and violent militancy will stay with us for a while, yet. But we must not loose hope. Timely, appropriate and properly coordinated politically, defence, security and law and order actions may bring the country back from the brink”

General Secretary, NBA Emeka Obegolu said: “The peace and security summit organised by the NBA as an intervention to what is generally agreed to be the major challenge facing Nigeria today lived up to its presummit billing as a neutral and impartial platform for effective deliberations by stakeholders in the Nigerian project. The array of resource persons and guests will lend credence to the commitment shown by the NBA towards contributing our own quota to finding a solution to our problem. e believe that a strong Bar can only be found in a strong country, thus our commitment to contribute towards the strengthening of the firmament of the country.

Chief Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo (SAN) said: “Let me first and foremost congratulate Okey Wali (SAN) of the NBA, especially for the initiative of this talk shop. It is indeed an eminent task to gather prominent Nigerians especially those who have participated in the in the governance of this country.

Former heads of State, former Secretary-General of the Commowealth, the chief Justice of Nigeria and a lot of other people. We have been able to listen to them, see through their mind and they all spoke with one mind, let there be peace in this country. Let us pursue all it requires to unite Nigeria and to save us from the catastrophe of terrorists. Terrorism has taken very serious dimension in Nigeria and I can tell you that nobody is safe anymore.

Chief Roland Otaru, (SAN) said: “This summit is awesome, wonderful, well planned and will actually provide the way forward in ensuring peace and tranquillity in Nigeria”

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Former president of the NBA, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu SAN said: “The summit in terms of organisation, in terms of presentation and in terms of the quality of the suggestions can only be classed as excellent. I am happy that the NBA has always continued to be relevant in the scheme of things nationally. As it relates to whether the contents of the communiqué will be enforced. “ I do have my doubts because the we have always had is that the executive is either reluctant or very slow in dealing with these issues and we also don’t know what the approach is, so my wish and my desire is that they should listen, because the NBA is the voice of the people and therefore they should listen to the voice of the people and take action. The who is who in security were here and they gave their insights and thoughts in these matters, whether they are in the opposition or whether they are in government does not really matter, the government should see everybody as their own and to distil the relevant material from what has been suggested and be seen to be doing something.

most I think that kudos must go to the NBA for thinking it fit to organise a summit of this magnitude. And what I like most about the summit is that almost every stakeholder was invited both traditional rulers, religious leaders, security agents, community based organisations and all that. Everybody was invited and it was a worthwhile conference, so we must congratulate the NBA for taking the bull by the horns, by taking part in proffering solutions to the security challenges of this country which is tending to tear us apart and destroy us as a country. Neverthless, I must talk about my constituency because at the end of the day, it is women and children that are at the receiving end. We have seen how the insecurity has displaced so many homes, women are displaced from their homes, they are living in the refugee camps where many of them are victims of sexual violence and all such assaults .

Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN) said: “Let me start by commending the leadership of NBA for the initiative of putting this in place it will go a long way in proffering solutions to the security challenges before us. Everybody who witnessed the formal openining and the showcase session will agree without any iota of doubt that this is coming at the right time, in the right moment, in the right place and with the right group. The fact that we have security challenges in Nigeria is as obvious as daylight is obvious and the kind of issues that have been discussed at the summit is such that people have identified the various areas of justice that have been denied which is at the root of these problems. They include social justice, economic justice, political justice, religious justice and others. Once these issues are addressed, we will be getting out of the woods. It is also important to note what Chief A. K. Horsefall said yesterday, we must not think that it is a quick fix, because that is always our mentality, we always believe that everything can easily fixed.

Country President, FIDA International, Mrs. Hauwa Shekarau said:First and fore-

Dr. Dorn Cklaimz Enamhe said: “It is left for Nigeria to accept the resolutions and outcome of this awesome Summit. The keynote speaker was deep and his paper was well researched.

The calibre of presenters was great and the NBA has effectively and efficiently discharged it mandate. The NBA cannot live in a society where all they need to do is go to court, no. It has to make its own contributions to the development of the society and stop some of these societal ills from coming over. I believe that the NBA is ahead of time and responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. It is indeed a great summit.”

An Abuja based legal practitioner, Mr. Emmanuel Ofong said: “ For the first

time, one is beginning to see the rays of hope. Before today, there was not much hope, we were living by fear day by day. But what saw, what I heard and listened in this summit has built up my confidence.

Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN) stated “First of all, I must congratulate the President of the NBA, Okey Wali (SAN) and his excecutives for conceiving and implementing this wonderful summit. We have stated our positions in a very frank and honest manner, in a very down to earth analysis of the situation on ground, very dangerous situation that we have. But we have come together to dissect it and give it its proper colouration. The elite class has failed the country, that is the truth. Not just those in government, the elite class in general, we have failed. When we talk of corruption, it has many faces and not only just taking money from the coffers of the government. We have failed to address issues as they are, we have failed to nurture institutions that will give and sustain security to lives and property in this country, we have failed to give our northern brothers education which they desperately need to be able to become major players in the affairs of this country. Yes, the South ios ahead in education, good enough, the South did not plan to keep the North educationally backward, but the North is part of this country and since they are part of this country, we must also bring them up so that we be at par in education and when everyone is educated, we know our civil rights and obligations, for now, many of them do not understand what you mean

by Nigerian project.

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said: “The communiqué that is issued at the end of this summit, if you add it to that of an earlier forum which was organised earlier this month by the Vanguard newspapers, you will discover that Nigeria will move some notch forward. There is no doubt about it that good ideas have been canvassed, the challenges have been identified and the solutions also identified. I want to say that I

am very proud to be a member of the NBA, which has played a very key role in terms of moving the country forward. And NBA President, Okey Wali SAN has been very good upstairs,I believe that the NBA has done a great job and Nigeria will move forward.”

For S. I. Ameh, (SAN) “ This Summit is quite timely and it is keeping in touch with the vision of the NBA, particularly, the Okey Wali led administration, that the NBA will not only be about ;lawyers alone, but about the welfare and wellbeing of all Nigerians. This is a good template that has been set and I wish that other associations, organisations and interest groups in the country, particularly, stakeholders in the security sector will also follow suit and let us see how we can bring to the barest minimum, this security problems of our country”

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he Chairman of NBA Lagos branch Mr. Taiwo O. Taiwo said: “The theme of the summit is very direct and straight forward, the participants are heavy weights politically, socially and economically.

And Iam sure that our communiqué has provided solutions to the security challenges of this country assuming that the government gives it the proper proper attention that it deserves”

Former Chairperson, NBA women’s Forum, Hajiya Fatima Kwaku said: “ This summit came at a very very auspicious time. I commend NBA President Okey Wali (SAN) and his executives for this bold initiative. I am particularly happy because women are the ones suffering most from the insecurity in the land. It is no gainsaying the fact that women and children are the most vulnerable class of people in the society, so anything done of purported to be done to alleviate this suffering and loss of lives has my support.

I urge the Federal Government to give serious consid-

eration to and implement the communiqué the comes out of this summit. I give kudos to the NBA and I am proud to be part of it

Former Legal Adviser, NBA, Kemasuode Wodu said: “ This summit is indeed a very important summit because security is one of the greatest challenges facing us today in Nigeria. You will remember that even at the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF), we organised one in Calabar last year. Remember that this same issue of State Police arose there. The discussions have actually focused on other new areas of security challenges in the country.

The resource persons are highly distinguished in their own respects and we have other personalities here who have fantastic ideas on the issue of security in this country. I strongly believe that Nigeria as a country will benefit greatly from the outcome of this summit”

Former Chairman, NBA Kaduna branch, Anozie Obi , said: “I think that this summit of the NBA is intended to galvanise forces from diverse sectoral groups to find lasting solutions to the challenges of insecurity in the country. Former head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was straight on the point when he emphasised that if we fail as a country, the black race would have failed. I believe that as we aggregate the experiences of our leaders, both past and present who have graciously attended this summit, for instance, Gov. Rotimi Amechi has given us his experience in Port Harcourt, Senator Markarfi has given us his own experience in Kaduna State and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has given us his own experience in Lagos State. Each of them had his own security challenges, they had to key in and addressed security and social imbalances in their respective States. They were ab le to equip the Police and were able bring up some measure of social welfare and justice social in their States.

It is my belief that we should use the instrument of law to bring about some measure of fairness, redistribution of national wealth and sanctions for criminals who loot our national resources. With these, the people will be assuaged.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

37

LEGAL OPINION

Nigeria’s quest for environment governance • Continued from last week

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OTENTIAL plaintiffs also have to contend with the additional problem of funding public litigation, and meeting existing limitations on scope of review. Consequently, the fact of grant to access alone is not to be interpreted as tantamount to giving such litigants a more or less powerful position. The time is therefore ripe for Nigeria to enact laws that will at least provide for the intermediate approach. vi) Causation Another significant hurdle in pursuing a cause of action under civil liability regime is the difficulty of proving causation. Not only is the plaintiff expected to show the connection between pollution and the personal injury suffered, he is also required to show the link between the pollution and the activities of the defendant. In other words, the alleged wrongful behaviour must be the condition sine qua non of the harm. The harm would not have occurred without the wrongful behaviour.119 For environmental matters, the problems that do occur in relation to proof of causation are several – there may be several simultaneous sources, some of which may be far away from the place where the harmful consequences appear; new pollutants may form in the air or water as a result of chemical reactions of several pollutants; contamination may not directly cause any specific death or morbidity, but may have aggravated existing health problems;120 and, the plaintiff may not be able to have access to critical information such as investigations of federal and state agencies regarding the sources of pollution.121 Following the decision in Fairchild v. Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd,122 the approach now would appear to be that in traumatic injury cases, the ‘but for’ test applies; in cumulative injury cases, the claimant need only show that the defendant’s breach of duty made a material contribution to the injury, i.e. caused part of the injury; and in ‘one off’ cases, the claimant needs only show that the defendant’s breach of duty increased the risk that the claimant might suffer the relevant injury. 123 Despite the above development, it is recognized by environmental practitioners that environmentally based injury claims are still difficult to progress in the face of causal uncertainty. This has resulted in a succession of unsuccessful environmental claims.124 Some commentators have argued that courts should not put too heavy a burden on the plaintiff as far as the requirements of proving a causing relationship is concerned and should also accept plausible presumptions as sufficient evi-

By Olanrewaju Fagbohun 125

dence . The concern with these, however, is that it would mean an explicit development of the law in a way that is inappropriate for the judiciary. 126 Further, that it would render the notion of foresight meaningless. These were the reasons why legislative action became necessary with the evolution of statutory liability or strict liability legislation.

Regrettably, the exceptions that are often made a feature of statutory or strict liability regimes are such that they end up seriously limiting the rights of a victim to compensation.

An example in this area will suffice.

Under the Nigerian law, the polluter pays principle is very much touted as applicable in the oil and gas industry. However, a polluter is exempted from paying compensation for oil pollution arising as a result of oil spill caused by sabotage unless negligence can be proved on the part of the polluter, his servants or agents, and that such negligence is the cause of the damage suffered.127 The philosophy behind this position is clearly to encourage community members to be more vigilant in the protection of oil pipeline installations and report culprits to the relevant authorities.

Not many will, however, doubt the fact that sabotage is both dangerous and difficult (if not impossible) to monitor by private individuals not directly engaged for the purpose. Consequently, what the law has done contrary to the principle of fairness is to exclude damage caused by sabotage from compensatory payment in a way that infringed on the economic rights of innocent third party victims who are not culprit in the unholy act of sabotage.

For as long as statutory or strict liability remains limited through the use of exceptions, it would always result in environmental injustice. A person who creates a risk and benefits from it should be responsible for the negative consequences of damages that arise therefrom, and fault or wrongfulness do not need to be proven. Exceptions at best should be to protect against criminal liability. Nigeria must urgently revisit her regime of strict liability to ensure that it does not only take place in a systematic way, but also in a way that is pragmatic and well balanced in its protection of the innocent. The legislature should seek to express its target more clearly in laws and regulations in order to ensure that undue and overreaching limitations are not imposed by misguided exceptions.

The utilisation of the ecological funds should also be revisited such that while arguments about liability is ongoing, it will not delay restoration and put vulnerable com-

munities in a state of helplessness.

Judicial Response to a Green Culture Mr. Director – General, judicial systems play a critical role in the enforcement of environmental policies and achievement of sustainable development. Indeed, the judiciary, more than any other institution is appropriately placed to not only adjudicate, but also to inform, guide and provide leadership. Where the judiciary is assertive, innovative and inspirational, it will consistently keep the executive and the legislature on their toes in the implementation of appropriate environmental strategies.

If past experience is anything to go by, we can learn from the role that the judiciary played in aid of the period of industrial revolution, the technology of which ironically is antithetical to green technologies that are being canvassed today.

During that era, new factories were the subject of several pollution suits filed under the common law. Applying the principles of nuisance, in particular, courts expelled with regularity nuisance causing activities to the outskirts of the town.128 This attitude, however, was not to last for long. Globally, economic development was at the time the name of the game, thus, the dynamics changed and the hitherto unfettered enjoyment of property became subject to the demands of economic value, productive use and economic development. The situation remained this way for several decades because there was no conclusive scientific evidence of what harm the industrial revolution technologies presented. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, evidence that they were harmful was beginning to come to the fore.

Today, international scientific cooperation and collaboration have placed beyond doubt129 the need for cleaner technologies if our world is to achieve sustainable development and meet the challenges of poverty, inequality, climate change, unsustainable consumption of natural resources, resource scarcity and loss of biodiversity among others. The unfolding development accounts for the judicial activism that is now taking place in a number of jurisdictions in support of environmental visions. No longer is the judiciary taking the back seat in efforts at ensuring that development is pursued in such a way that it meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations.

To be fair to the judiciary in Nigeria, as I have earlier stated, there are constraints on the Court. Fundamentally, the Nigerian Constitution does not have the kind of bold and progressive provisions as that in the Indian Constitution which

• From left: Anambra State Chief Judge, Justice P. C. Umeadi, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) and Second Assistant Secretary, NBA UFO Nnaemeka at the Peace and Security Summit organised by the NBA at the International Conference Centre, Abuja

• Prof Fagbohun

made the right to the environment a fundamental protected right for the benefit of the citizens. This handicap notwithstanding, the judiciary in Nigeria can follow the lead of those in Bangladesh, Thailand and the European Court of Human Rights to name a few, to innovatively and creatively construe provisions of law in ways that will meet the goals of sustainable development and maintenance of ecological balance.

In Dr. Mohiuddin Faroque’s case,130 the question on appeal before the Appellant Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh was whether the fundamental right to life included the protection and preservation of the environment. In its judgment, The Honourable Justice A.T.M. Afazal, Chief Justice of Bangladesh noted: Although we do not have any provision like Article 48A of the Indian Constitution for protection of the environment, Articles 31 and 32 of our Constitution protect right to life as a fundamental right. It encompasses within its ambit, the protection and preservation of environment, ecological balance free from pollution of air and water, sanitation without which, life can hardly be enjoyed.

Consistent with the above approach, the Thailand Administrative Court in September 2009 issued a temporary order of injunction that could effectively halt all 76 major investment projects relating primarily to energy and petroleum chemicals worth THB 400 billion (USD12.3 billion) at the country’s Map Ta Phut industrial estate and surrounding areas. The court concluded that the Map Ta Phut area has long suffered from pollution problems that are getting worse. It also said that Article 67 of the 2007 Thai Constitution protecting the right of the people to live in a healthy environment must be strictly enforced by concerned government agencies. In particular, government agencies should pre-determine and reject projects that can harm the environment. In the court’s view government agencies had failed to do this, and therefore the approval of the projects was a problem that may infringe on the law.131 Again, in the case of Guerra & Ors v. Italy,132 which was referred to the Court by the European Commission of Human Rights, the object of the request was to obtain a decision as to whether the facts of the case disclosed a breach by the Italian Republic of its obligations under Article 10 of the Convention. The core of applicants’ case was that in breach of Article 2 of the Convention for the Protection of Human

Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (‘the Convention’), the failure of the respondent in taking practical measures to reduce pollution levels and major accidents arising out of a particular factory’s operation,133 infringed their right to respect for their lives and physical integrity.

Further, that failure of the relevant authorities to inform the public about the hazards and about the procedures to be followed in the event of a major accident infringed their right to freedom of information as guaranteed by Article 10.

Finally, they maintained that they have also been victims of a violation of Article 8 of the Convention, which protects the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.

The Court in its judgment noted that severe environmental pollution may affect individuals’ wellbeing and prevent them from enjoying their homes in such a way as to affect their private and family life adversely. On the basis that the respondent failed in providing certain essential information that would have enabled the applicants to assess the risks they and their families were running, the Court held that the respondent state did not fulfil its obligation to secure the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life, in breach of Article 8 of the Convention.

It is to be acknowledged that one or two lower courts in recent times have in Nigeria shown deference to the green culture and in this regard have given judgments geared towards protection of the environment.134 It is respectfully submitted that such an approach may not go too far. What is required is for the Supreme Court as the apex court, to set the tone for other courts to follow. Furthermore, bearing in mind that environmental law is a fairly recent branch of law, continuous training of judges in this area as called for by Global Judges’ Symposium on the Rule of Law and Sustainable Development is critical. I am aware that the National Judicial Council has organized programmes in this area in times past. This should be made more regular in order to keep judicial officers abreast of latest development in this field.

• To be continued next week •Fagbohun is Professor of Environmental Law and Head of Department, Akinola Aguda School of Postgraduate Studies, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Lagos.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

38

LAW REPORT

Whether a state is littoral or not in Nigeria is a question of fact

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA On Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Suit No: SC.250/2009 BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS

DAHIRU MUSDAPHER....... Justice of the Supreme Court MAHMUD MOHAMMED....... Justice of the Supreme Court JOHN AFOLABI FABIYI....... Justice of the Supreme Court OLUFUNLOLA OYELOLA ADEKEYE....... Justice of the Supreme Court SULEIMAN GALADIMA....... Justice of the Supreme Court BODE RHODES-VIVOUR....... Justice of the Supreme Court NWALI SYLVESTER NGWUTA....... Justice of the Supreme Court BETWEEN ATTORNEY-GENERAL, CROSS RIVER STATE

...APPELLANTS

AND 1. ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION 2, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, AKWA IBOM STATE ...RESPONDENTS

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ROVIDED that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen percent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources.”

On the 16th of February 2004, the National Assembly enacted into law an Act known as Revenue Allocation (Abolition of Dichotomy in the Application of the Principle of Derivation) Act 2004.

Section 1(1) reads “As from the commencement of this Act two hundred metre water depth Isobath contiguous to a State of a federation shall be deemed to be a part of that state for the purposes of computing the Revenue accruing to the Federation from the State pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 or any other enactment.”

It is obvious that the purpose of this Act is to introduce a more readily ascertainable basis of apportionment of the income derived from the natural resources in a State.

It is a devise intended for the purpose of computing the revenue which accrues to the Federation Account from the littoral States.

A-G Adamawa state v. A-G Federation (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt.958) Pg.581.

By virtue of the onshore/offshore Dichotomy Abolition Act 2004, a State of the Federation can claim natural resources located within two hundred meters water depth Isobath contiguous to that State. If a State does not lie contiguous to the two hundred meters water depth Isobath, she cannot claim derivation entitlement to the natural resources that lie within that territory.

In other words, though the Federal Government of Nigeria has constitutional and exclusive jurisdiction over offshore natural resources, by virtue of Section 1(1) of the Offshore/Onshore Dichotomy Abolition Act 2004, littoral States do have some interests (derivation) in offshore natural resources located within 200 meters water depth Isobath contiguous to a state, these shall be deemed to be a part of that State for the purpose of computing the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from the state pursuant to the provisions of Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution. When the judgment of this court was delivered in the case of A-G Federation v. A-G Abia State (2002) 6 NWLR (Pt.764) Pg. 543, there were eight littoral States in Nigeria - Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and their southern or seaward boundaries are the seaward limit of their internal waters or their low water mark. This shall be used for the purpose of calculating the amount of revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from that State pursuant to Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution. This court paid particular attention to the peculiar situation of Cross River State with an archipelago of Islands. The seaward limit shall be that of inland waters in the state.

A littoral State in the Nigerian context or globally must be contiguous or abut the sea.

It must have direct access to the sea through its own territory. A littoral State shall be entitled to the attribution of offshore oil well/field within 200 meter water depth Isobaths. The oil field/well must lie offshore but within the State’s maritime territory up to the 200 meters Isobaths and in some peculiar case as it were in the case of Cross River State. Cross River State, the plaintiff had all these attributes and was entitled to and paid the derivation revenue up to 2008.

The situation in that state was changed irredeemably by the International Court of Justice judgment which found in favour of Cameroon in 2002. The implementation and final execution of the judgment was between 2006-2008.

Prior to the final execution of the judgment in August 2008, the plaintiff had everything in her favour and enjoyed all the benefits of a littoral state as follows 1. It was contiguous to the sea and had a 200 meter water depth isobath within its territory.

2. It enjoyed maritime territory boundary amicably settled with Akwa Ibom State.

3. It had 76 oil wells off shore within its maritime territory.

4. It was entitled to the payment of 13% derivation in relation to the sharing of revenue from the Federation Accounts as a littoral state.

The Greentree agreement for the implementation of the orders of the International Court of Justice in the judgment between Nigeria and Cameroon - the Cross River Estuary and Bakassi Peninsula were ceded to Cameroon between 2006 and 2008. The President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo made an effort to retain Western Bakassi for Nigeria after the first stage of the cessation.

The request was turned down. Consequently, the plaintiff was deprived of its status as a littoral State. The judgment of this court in Suit SC.124/1999 - A-G Gross River State v. A-G Federation & anor (2005) 15 NWLR (Pt.947) Pg.77 adequately described the aftermath of the ICJ judgment on the plaintiff. This court held that the ICJ judgment wiped off what used to be the estuarine sector of Cross River State as a result of which the state is hemmed in by the International boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon. Cross River State no longer has any maritime boundary. It is landlocked. The plaintiff not being a littoral State and not having a maritime boundary or abutting the sea, the 76 oil wells which is the subject matter of her claim in this suit, which lies off shore and within a maritime territory cannot be attributed to it. The National Boundary Commission Map 2008 filed before this court in this suit was correctly relied upon by the RMAFC Inter-Agency Report to categories the plaintiff as a non-littoral State.

The 76 oil wells have legally been attributed to Akwa Ibom State by the Inter-government agencies based on the facts revealed at their meeting.

The plaintiff prayed for mandatory orders and perpetual injunctions to restrain the 1st defendant by himself or through any of its agents from excluding the plaintiff from the Federation Accounts as a littoral state, The plaintiff’s assertions in her case includesa. That the decision of the ICJ made in 2002 was taken into consideration in resolving the maritime boundary in 2005. b. The plaintiff nursed the hope of Bakassi LGA remaining an integral part of Nigeria which means that Cross River State will still have an outlet to the sea.

c. ICJ decision cannot be the basis for changing the realities now canvassed by RMAFC and NBC. d. The parties cannot resile from the binding agreement based on the political solution, Exhibit C in the plaintiff’s case. e. Plaintiff maintained access to the sea through Calabar River.

The 1st defendant emphasized that whatever benefits by way of oil wells and derivation available to the plaintiff within 200 meters depth Isobaths were lost upon the judgment of the International Court of Justice of 2002 which was fully implemented in 2008. The plaintiff lost her status as a littoral State. The determination of the status of the plaintiff as a littoral or non-littoral State will determine whether she is entitled to the Derivation Revenue and not whether she has financial commitments to meet.

The 2nd defendant contended that Cross River State not being a littoral State and not having any maritime boundary with Akwa Ibom State does not qualify the plaintiff to benefit from the provisions of the onshore/ offshore Dichotomy Abolition Act in respect of the 76 offshore oil wells. The 2nd defendant also explained that as at October 2006 when the agreement Exhibit C was prepared, Cross River State was de facto a Nigerian littoral State. As at August 2008 when the National Boundary Commission Map was prepared and ratified by the RMAFC InterAgency meeting, Cross River State was no longer a littoral State following the implementation of the ICJ judgment and the ceding of Cross River estuary and the physical handing over of Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon. The 2nd defendant explained that contract frustration had affected Exhibit C as a binding contract between the Parties.

The handing over of Bakassi peninsula by Nigeria to Cameroon was circumstance so fundamental as to be regarded by law as striking at the root of Exhibit C and practically beyond the contemplation of the parties when they entered the agreement. The intervening event which frustrated the contract was not caused by any of the parties to Exhibit C. The decision of this court in the case A-G Rivers State v. A-G Akwa Ibom (2011) 8 NWLR (pt.1248) Pg. 31 is not applicable to this case. The 2nd defendant cited the case Mazin Engineering Limited v. Tower Aluminium (Nigeria) Limited (1993) 5 NWLR (Pt.295) at Pg. 526 in support of the principle of frustration of contract, Whereas the other parties like Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State remain littoral States and share maritime boundaries thereby qualifying them for derivation revenue pursuant to the onshore/offshore Dichotomy Abolition Act. The 2nd defendant urged this court to dismiss the plaintiff’s suit in its entirety.

I cannot but refer to the contention of the plaintiff based on the case put forward before this court as followsParagraph 7.01 of the plaintiff’s brief of argument ‘’The facts of this case are clearly settled and they irresistibly point to the position of the plaintiff as the owner of the 76 oil wells which have earlier been conceded by the defendants. The agents of the 1st defendant are attempting to change the factual position by standing logic on its head.”

Paragraph 6.19 ‘’The principle of the law UBI JUS IBI REMEDIUM and it is only right that the plaintiff be compensated for all these environmental problems like her sister states in the Niger-Delta region. It is not only unjust but absolutely unfair to deny the plaintiff its entitlement as a littoral State especially in the light of the earlier decision of this honourable court in A-G Federation v. A-G Abia State (No.2) (2002) 6 NWLR (Pt.764) Pg.542.”

The plaintiff’s stand and argument failed to face the realities of the moment and the position of affairs after the loss of Bakassi Peninsula and the Cross River estuary to Cameroon after the final implementation of

‘The National Boundary Commission Map 2008 filed before this court in this suit was correctly relied upon by the RMAFC Inter-Agency Report to categories the plaintiff as a non-littoral State. The 76 oil wells have legally been attributed to Akwa Ibom State by the Inter-government agencies based on the facts revealed at their meeting’

the ICJ judgment in August 2008. Any other claim by the plaintiff after the littoral States delineation of maritime territories by the National Boundary Commission 2009 must be proved by cogent and credible evidence to the satisfaction of this court. The plaintiff’s claim to the 76 oil wells is based on declarations, mandatory orders and perpetual injunction. It is trite law that the purpose of a declaratory action is essentially to seek an equitable relief in which the plaintiff prays the court in the exercise of its discretionary jurisdiction to promote or declare an existing state of affairs in law in his favour as may be discernable from the averments in the statement of claim. In order to be entitled to a declaration, a person must show the existence of a legal right, subsisting or in future and that the right is contested. What would entitle a plaintiff to a declaration is a claim which a court is prepared to recognize and if validly made, it is prepared to give legal consequences too.

Adigun v. A-G Oyo State (No.1) (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt.53) 678.

Dantata v. Mohammed (2000) 7 NWLR (Pt.664) Pg.176.

Ekundayo v. Baruwa (1965) 2 All NLR 211.

Nwokudu v. Okanu (2010) 3 NWLR (Pt.1181) Pg.362 The facts before the court do not support the claim of the plaintiff to being a littoral State. A non-littoral state cannot claim oil wells offshore as she has no maritime territory. The plaintiff has no maritime territory since the cessation of Bakassi Peninsula and the Cross River estuary which used to be part of the State prior to August 2008. The present position of the plaintiff cannot be blamed on any government agency particularly the National Boundary Commission and the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. The two statutory bodies must perform their statutory duties based on facts and realities to compile the indices for the payment of the derivation revenue to entitled States. The existing contract between the parties based on Exhibit C and which the plaintiff alleged that the defendants are estopped to renege on it was discharged by frustration.

The doctrine of frustration is applicable to all categories of contracts. It is defined as the premature determination of an agreement between parties, lawfully entered into and which is in the course of operation at the time of its premature determination, owing to the occurrence of an intervening event or change of circumstances so fundamental as to be regarded by law both as striking at the root of the agreement and entirely beyond what was contemplated by the parties when they entered into the agreement.

N.B.C.I v. Standard (Nig.) Eng. Co. Ltd (2002) 8 NWLR (Ppt.768) Pg.104.

Mazin Engineering Limited v Tower Aluminium (Nigeria) Ltd. (1993) 5 NWLR (Pt.295) Pg. 526.

It is the duty of the court to state whether and when frustration has occurred; in other words, to determine the existence of frustration. Frustration occurs whenever the court recognizes that without default of either party a contractual obligation has become incapable of being performed.

The courts have recognized certain situations or events as listed below that constitute frustration a. Subsequent legal changes b. Outbreak of war. c. Destruction of the subject matter of contract. d. Government requisition of the subject matter of the contract. e. Cancellation of an expected event.

Cricklewood Property & Investment Trust Ltd v. Leightons Investment Ltd. (1945) 1 All ER 252 Knell v. Henry (1903) 2 KB 740 Obayuwana v. The Governor of Bendel State (1982) Pg. 167 Araka v. Monier Construction Company Ltd. (1978) 2 LME Pg.60. ln other words, a court would recognize that a contract is frustrated where after the contract was concluded, events occur which make performance of the contract impossible, illegal or something radically different from that which was in the contemplation of the parties at the time they entered into the contract.

• Continued next week

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

39

ABUJA REVIEW NEWS

•Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Solomon •Prof Godwin Sogolo, author of Nigeria Yesterday Today (left); Chairman, Safari Books, Chief Adeola Olamilekan (second left); members of the committee, Saheed Akinade Fijabi, Joop Berkhout and Director, Open Distance Education National Universities Commission, Dr Samuel Adejare, Kehinde Adeneye (left) and Permanent Secretary, Ecological Fund Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf at the presentation of the book Office, Mr Sheik Goni during their visit to the National Assembly to respond to issues on audit at Abuja

•Members of Anti-corruption Network protesting the lenient judgement handed down to the former director of Police Pensions Board, Yakubu Yusufu, by Justice Abubakar Talba of the Federal High Court Federal Capital Territory

• Chairman of the occasion, Prof Sam. Oyovbaire (left); Chief Launcher, Chief Tony Anenih, ViceChancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof Vincent Ado Tenebe and Prof.

Godwin Sogolo author of Nigeria Yesterday Today at the book presentation

•Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Media, Zakari Mohammed (left); his •South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabola (second left); Chairdeputy, Victor Ogene; Special Adviser Media to the Speaker, Mallam Imam Imam; and person, House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa (second Chief Press Secretary, James Ojo at a press briefing on the postponement of the result of right); members of the committee, Ajibola Famurewa (left) and Nassir Ali Mohammed collated public session of the Constitution at the National Assembly PHOTOS: ABAYOMI FAYESE during the committee’s visit to the commission in Abuja

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HE Special Adviser to Kogi State Governor and immediate past Chairman of Okene Local Government, Alhaji Yahaya Karaku, has exonerated himself from the killings in his local government during his tenure.

Some of the killings, which he has been accused of include massacre of church congregation at Eika-Adagu in Okehi Local Government on August 6, last year, and of two soldiers in Okene Local Government on August 6, 2012.

Others include a Catholic leader and Director in the Civil Service, James Jimoh, who was shot dead on December 25, 2011,

Wada’s aide denies involvement in Ebira killings From Augustine Ehikioya

two traditional chiefs, Mallam Ibrahim Mohammed and Mallam Rimari Ayinebe were also killed, traditional artists Mohammed Jaguda and Yusuf Momohjimoh were also killed on March 20, 2012 in the same area.

In a statement issued in Abuja, he insisted that he knew nothing about the various killings recorded in the state.

He called on the Ebira people to sincerely work with the secu-

rity agencies in order to fish out all the culprits.

While he was chairman of the local government between 2008 and 2011, he noted that he inherited the Obehira/Idoma crisis, which started since 2004.

He also believed that those linking him with the killings have not forgiven him for supporting the former Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris during the 2003 governorship election.

He said: “Silence, it is said, is consent. We have waited long hoping that those who have made

disastrous allegations would come out to retract their misconceived publications or petitions written to various quarters. Politicians found this grave situation as an opportunity for political vendetta.”

Stressing that the culprits, who were arrested and confessed killing the soldiers, were not from his Ogu clan or his political supporters, he said: “The two bomb factories discovered in Okene and Okehi did not belong to Karaku, his clan or his relatives. Those mentioned to security agents by the arrested culprits as their col-

leagues in crime have no relationship with Yahaya in any form.

“One then wonders why they are still focusing security searchlight on Yahaya’s supporters.

“One worries how a number one citizen of a local government could cause confusion in his constituency and was able to get the support of educated elite, who were supposed to uphold peace and harmony in their motherland”.

“We, therefore, appeal to them to quickly put a stop to the misleading information capable of devastating our ancestral land.” he added.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

MARITIME Govt to concession Onitsha port

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•From right: Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi and Project consultant, Mr Frederick Agbi, at the unveiling of Port Information Management System Electronic Board at Apapa Port, Lagos.

PHOTO: OLUWAKEMI DAUDA

Customs, exporters battle over EEG

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HE Customs and the Federation of Agricul tural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) are bickering over the implementation of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG).

FACAN accused Customs of rejecting Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCC) for payment.

But Customs denied the allegation, claiming that some members of the association are misusing the grant.

The Federal Government introduced EEG in 2005 and adopted the use of NDCC for payment of import duty for some machinery and critical raw materials, to cushion the effect of infrastructural deficiency faced by exporters.

The Customs said it has not stopped the use of the certificates for payment, but only embarked on close monitoring, to check abuse.

FACAN’s National President Dr Victor Iyama said the government gave the grant for the payment of import duties.

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

He said some exporters were not able to redeem their EEGs for years because of the Customs’ refusal to honour their requests.

Some exporters, he said, had not been able to enjoy the grant because of the Customs.

He said: “It is affecting their revenue collection because whenever they take it, they also lose their own seven per cent of their revenue.

“It’s a well-designed incentive by the Federal Government to grow non-oil export sector. There is still a clog in the wheel of progress.

There has always been one problem or the other.

“The Federal Government gives EEG in form of NDCC’s; that is, the Negotiable Duty Customs Certificate. It can only be redeemed through payment of import duties.

“For quite some time, exporters have been having a running battle in disposing the certificates because as an

exporter you can either use it to pay for duties for the goods you have imported or sell it to a third party to pay with, of course, a discount.

“But for some time, it has been difficult because the Customs has been a clog in the wheel of progress because they are saying that it is affecting their own revenue collection because whenever they take it, they also lose their own seven per cent revenue, which is the normal seven per cent they get from the accrued revenue.’’

Iyama said the EEG is not like subsidy. He urged the government to assist in sustaining the growing sector.

He pleaded with the government to instruct the Customs to work with the panelists set up to disburse the EEGs to the exporters.

“The people who make up the panel are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Customs. The CBN checks the fact that you have ex-

ported and repatriated the funds through your banks, while the Customs checks that you have shipped them,” he said.

Customs’ Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Wale Adeniyi told The Nation that some of the exporters were using the NDCC for purposes not meant.

Customs is concerned because some members of the group use it to bring exotic cars into the country and that is illegal, he said.

“I am not aware of any restriction or stoppage of the use of the certificates, but what we are doing is close monitoring, to stop abuse of the policy.We are only monitoring the implementation to ensure that it is in line with the objectives of the scheme,” he said.

“Discussion is on-going that it should form part of our revenue. But we are concerned that some people are using it for wrong purpose. None of our commands will reject it once it is genuine. We don’t reject them,” he added.

NPA workers protest BPE’s planned concession of marine service

N

IGERIAN Port Au thority (NPA) work ers have risen against the planned concession of the firm marine services by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

The Senior Staff Association (SSA) said the service was the only thing left for NPA after its concession in 2006.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, the association’s President, Comrade Umar Omeiza Jimoh, said the BPE’s decision as contained in a letter addressed to NPA Managing Director on Janaury 18, would amount to re-concessioning of concessioned services under public-private partnership (PPP).

NPA, he said, was healthy and carrying out the services beneficially for the nation, adding that there is no need for BPE to concession the service.

He said: “The move of BPE to snatch marine/harbours ancillary services from NPA has no legal backing and the port activities enable NPA to involve PPP in all its service. BPE should remember that the terminals concesioned by BPE, NPA and other government agencies was done under the Port Act of 1999. Based on the above premise, we believe BPE is suffering from reactive declining syndrome.

“NPA is healthy and we

are on top of maritime business. BPE should flash its touch light on areas it has not performed well like NITEL, PHCN and others not NPA,” he said.

Jimoh described BPE as an agent of some cabal in the government working to take over NPA and give it to their children.

He said the concession, carried out, would lead to security threat, loss of government revenue, high cost of services, mass sack and denial of common user facilities in the ports.

Jimoh urged the National Assembly to stop BPE from going ahead with the plan He said: “The country has witnessed enough insecurity in the recent past. With

her marine and harbours in the hand of private operators, one can imagine the chaos this will trigger security-wise.Gideon Okar’s coup issue should be remembered.

“Today, the government is earning revenue in its totality from services of marine/harbours and its ancillary services to the port users, if given to private hands, revenue coming to government will reduce tremendously while the cabals will be smiling to the bank and government will be strangulated. NPA has been effectively performing her responsibility in rendering money to Federal Government account as when required,” he said.

HE Federal Govern ment is set to concession the N4.6billion Onitsha port in Anambra State, General Manager, Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mike Dike, has said.

He made this known when the National Good Governance team visited the port.

The port is yet to start operations almost five months after it was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Dike said the port is ready for concessioning, adding that advertisement for that purpose would go out in the next few days.

NIWA, he said, was awaiting the green light from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) before placing the advert.

He said contract for the 3,000-container port with 40 tonnes each, was awarded in 2010 and completed last year instead of the previous year.

Dike said the equipment needed for the take-off was available, adding that dredg-

ing would continue later.

Importers, clearing agents and other port users are afraid that only smaller ships would patronise the port because of the River Niger bridge, under which big vessels may not be able to pass.

The port has new facilities, offices,warehousesand equipment, such as cranes and forklifts.

Founded by the Federal Government in 1983, the refurbishment was supervised

by NIWA. It restored the port to its original status and offered new levels of operational efficiency. The reconditioned river port complex will also serve as a boost and complement the newly dredged Lower River Niger.

The barges and other vessels are moving on the dredged channel of the River Niger, using the port to load and discharge cargoes, such as tiles, steel and petroleum products.

The Shehu Shagari Administration inaugurated the Onitsha River Port.

Naval chief woos Customs

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HE Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Dele Ezeoba, has called for a joint patrol with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to secure the borders.

He spoke when he visited the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, in Abuja.

“It is my belief that in the nearest future we will be able to extend our level of partnership by exercising joint patrols as appropriate within a clearly defined operational command and control structure,” he said.

Ezeoba said the Navy is constitutionally required to assist the Customs in the enforcement of customs laws and regulations.

He added that within the context of the emerging challenges, the two organisations needed to “strike a chord of strategic partnership’’ to help discharge their duties effectively.

The naval chief said it was

common knowledge that security agencies tend to exercise authority “within their comfort zone.”

He, however, cautioned that such practice did not augur well for the required synergy between security agencies.

He requested Customs to train naval officers on items on the import prohibition list.

The training, he said, would enable naval officers on patrol on the high seas to “know what to look out for, in what quantum and what defines other law infringements.”

Ezeoba, who commended Dikko for the ongoing reforms in the NCS, said the Navy has a lot to learn from his experience.

Dikko pledged that the Customs would continue to work with the Navy, particularly in the area of operations and training.

He said both security agencies had enjoyed very “cordial and good relationship.”

Ship owners flay Cabotage Act

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HE Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has berated the inability of the Federal Government for not enforcing the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable them to participate in crude oil lifting.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, its General Secretary, Capt. Niyi Labinjo, urged the government to implement the law and give indigenous companies opportunity to participate in the oil business.

The country, he said, exports about 2.5 million barrels of oil yearly, wondering why the indigenous ship owners are not empowered to lift about 1.5 million barrels.

The banks, he said, were willing to give them loans if the government could give them some contracts to lift oil.

He cited Brazil where the government approves about 700 agencies to issue certificate of compliance on local content.

Labinjo said about five years ago, the government trained 200 cadets under the National Seafarers Development Programme and regretted that since there were not enough shipping companies to employ them, the cadets had been rendered jobless.

He advised the government to provide enough funds for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron in Akwa Ibom, to enable the academy to produce more cadets for the nation.

“We will continue to press the government. We’ll continue to make our views known about the need for proper compliance with cabotage; about the need for proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act. “If I have a government that is insisting that this year out of the 2.5 million barrels of oil that Nigeria exports, 1.5 million barrels would be carried by Nigerian and they say, ‘ISAN take this 1.5 million barrels, go and carry it,’ we will gladly go to the bank.

The bank will give us money and we will do it.”

43

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

BAKO HARAM CRISES Former Military Governor of Kaduna State Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd) spoke with Assistant Editor GBADE OGUNWALE on the Boko Haram crises in the North and how the Federal Government can reposition the polity by fighting corruption and mass unemployment.

‘Forget Sharia, if you want dialogue’ F

ORMER Military Governor of Kaduna State Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd) has told leaders and members of the Boko Haram sect to forget their demand for Sharia in the North, if they are serious about talks with the Federal Government.

But Col. Umar advises the Federal Government to show commitment in the fight against corruption and unemployment - if indeed the government is sincere in its quest to end the insecurity in the land.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent at the weekend, Col. Umar blamed both the Federal Government and Boko Haram (western education is a sin) for the strings of deaths and destruction of property brought about by the bombings across many states in the North, particularly in the Northeastern.

According to the radical former military governor, it will be futile for Boko Haram to insist on Islamisation of any part of the North as the sect has often demanded as one of its conditions for peace.

He reminded the sect’s members of the secularity of the Nigerian state as enshrined in the constitution, stressing that there is no state in the North that does not have its own fair share of indigenous Christian and Moslem population.

Col. Umar said: “They should not forget that the constitution says Nigeria is a secular state. That means we cannot run the country as a theocracy; otherwise, we cannot remain as one.

“They should also know that the North is neither a purely Islamic territory nor a Christian territory. So, if they are seeking to impose Sharia on any part of the country as a condition for dialogue, it will never work.

“Let them imagine what Nigeria will be like, if every religious organisation seeks to impose its own doctrine on any part of the country. If that happens, then we can no longer remain as one country. Northern Nigeria cannot be cut off from the rest.

“So, if the institutionalisation of Sharia in the North is one of the conditions the leaders of Boko Haram are projecting for dialogue, then they should perish the thought because that is not achievable.”

The retired soldier similarly faulted claims by members of the Boko Haram that their bombing escapades are meant to avenge the killing of their leader, the late Mohammed Yusuf, who was extra judicially eliminated in captivity by security agents in 2009.

He called on the sect’s members to make a conservative estimate of the number of people they have killed in their quest for

vengeance on the death of Yusuf, saying the “frightening” number of casualties from their bombings is enough for them to stop the killings.

“Can they count the number of innocent people they have killed in the course of avenging the killing of Mohammed Yusuf?

They should know that this country has witnessed so much bloodshed and instability on account of their activities.

So, if they don’t ceasefire, then, what in the name of Allah, do they want to achieve?”

Col. Umar reminded the sect that the elimination of Yusuf was carried out under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and not under President Goodluck Jonathan, who the sect has vowed to fight to the finish.

Col. Umar urged the Federal Government to address the hydra headed challenges confronting the nation in the most critical sectors of the economy and the polity.

He identified corruption and unemployment as the two dangerous monsters that must be tamed for any dialogue to be meaningful and for the country to enjoy relative stability.

To him, the Federal Government’s approach to the anti-corruption war and job creation is insincere in the approach has thrown up a situation where about 80 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, he said.

Col. Umar lamented a situation where public servants and politicians conspire to loot the treasury, thereby depriving a teeming population of the nation’s youths the opportunities for gainful employment.

“There is an urgent need for the Federal Government to address the terrible economic situation in which about 80 percent of the population live below the poverty line.

“For now, there is total shutdown on employment. Public servants and politicians are cornering the available resources in the country. For you to get employment, you must be connected to a politician or a top public servant.

“When these unemployed youths realise they have no access to employment opportunities, they engage in drugs and other antisocial activities, like robbery, kidnapping, bombing and others, with dangerous consequences for the larger society.

“People are graduating from the university and other higher institutions only to find out that there is no job for them. In situations like this, there can only be chaos, instability and restiveness among the youth,” Col. Umar said.

He warned that if care is not taken, the entire country may implode under the

•Col. Umar (rtd)

‘They should not forget that the constitution says Nigeria is a secular state. That means we cannot run the country as a theocracy; otherwise, we cannot remain as one ... They should also know that the North is neither a purely Islamic territory nor a Christian territory. So, if they are seeking to impose Sharia on any part of the country as a condition for dialogue, it will never work’ weight of corruption, stressing that even the judiciary that the people look up to for salvation has continued to fail the nation.

To Col. Umar, the two-year jail term with an option of N750,000 fine handed a former police pension boss, Yakubu Yusufu, convicted for N32 billion fraud by an Abuja High Court is ridiculous.

Col. Umar however praised the cautious stance of the Federal Government on the dialogue offer proposed by the Boko Haram, as enunciated by the Chief of Defence Staff,

Air Marshal Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim.

Dr. Marshal Ibrahim said that the Federal Government would watch the sect for at least one month to be sure that it is sincere about the ceasefire and dialogue offer.

Col. Umar urged the government to accept the dialogue offer, if the sect is eventually proved to be sincere and if its leaders are ready to make themselves available. “It is left for the Boko Haram leaders to prove to the whole world that they are sincere about dialogue,” he said.

Ogun 2015: Why Yewa can’t produce governor

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•Ajibola

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP chieftain in Ogun State Chief Olukayode Ajibola has said that Yewa cannot produce the next governor in 2015.

The former state coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, asked the governorship aspirants from the zone to perish the thought, stressing that they are not favoured by the reality on the ground.

Ajibola, who hails from Ogun West Senatorial District, said the political equation in the state has

By Augustine Avwode, Assistantl Editor

change, maintaining that power cannot shift to Yewa in 2015.

Speaking to The Nation in his office, Ajibola, who is the state chairman of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SUREP), said the best chance to realise such a long time dream was in 2011. He lamented that the intraparty crisis aborted the dream.

He said: “Things have changed politically in the state. And if we must be realistic, it is one project

that cannot happen now. At that time, Ogun State was a one party state. All the political structures were controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We had all the 26 assemble members, all local government chairmen and councilors. Besides, the former governor made it his project. But today, another party is in power.

“The incumbent may want to go for a second term and even if he doesn’t he will make sure his party retains power. So for us in the PDP, it is not zoning the governorship to

Yewa that is important for now.

What is important is how we can overcome the intra-party crisis; form a united front so as to speak as one family and secondly, wrest power from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). These are the primary things for now.

“So, if you look at the political structure, the internal crisis plaguing and the fact that an incumbent is there with the possibility of a second term, it will be futile to begin the crusade of a Yewa for governor in 2015”.

44

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

POLITICS

‘Power must shift to Southeast’

Legislator calls for devolution of power

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Tony Osita Oganah is the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He spoke with JUDE ISIGUZO in Lagos on the agitation for power shift to the Southeast.

H

OW did the current leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo emerge at the Enugu con-

gress?

The highest body in Ohanaeze is called Ime Obi. It is made up of past and present leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo, governors, and others. The Ime Obi came up with the memo that power must be handed over early this year. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) adopted and approved the guidelines that the national election must take place on or before 15th of January. So, if you conduct the election on 1st, 2nd, 3rd or up to 10th, you are in order, but if the election is after the date, you are not in order; you are on your own.

At the end of the day, the election was conducted, although it was not perfect. What we used in voting were mere papers with names of the candidates and there were wastebaskets that served as election boxes.

So, no matter who won or lost, the will of the people prevailed.

But controversy marred the election...

There was a period when the former secretary didn’t want the election to hold. 14 out of 15 members of NEC of Ohaneze wanted the election to hold, except the secretary who walked out. The man was ignored. The elections were conducted and the elected people were sworn in. Another group came up and said, ‘We don’t recognize the leadership of Ohaneze led by Ambassador Ralph Uwechue and anything done

by Uwechue, we are trying to undo’. I am happy to report that their so-called election scheduled to hold in Abaliki recently did not happen because the militant arm of Ohanaeze (MASSOB) made sure that those elements that portray Igbos in bad light were stopped from holding a contrary election.

They did not allow the Abakiliki election to hold. This is to show that the Igbo’s are speaking with one voice now. I am happy to report that the so-called election didn’t take place.

Chief Garry Igariwey leads the new executive and the Secretary General of Ohanaeze is Joe Nwaorgu, a former University lecturer, who holds a doctorate degree in Estate Surveying. Anybody dealing with any other group or person is making a big mistake. Once we are inaugurated, we will begin a new journey of giving Igbos a befitting leadership. First thing we have to do is

to reach out to other aggrieved groups. Ohaneze belongs to people of Igbo extraction. No one needs a special invitation to attend Ohanaeze meetings. Once you are from any Igbo-speaking part of the country, it qualifies you to be a member of Ohanaeze. We want to tell the aggrieved members that this is not the time to go to court; it is time to rally round and build Igbo nation. You can see what the Yoruba people have achieved and what the Niger Delta people are enjoying today. It is because they are organized. We are begging our brothers to come together; everybody cannot be in the executive of Ohanaeze. Some of them can serve in the various committees. We are appealing to them to support the Chief Igariwey ledOhanaeze in the larger interest of the Igbo nation. We should come together to reach out to the Niger Delta, our brothers in Hausaland, our Southwest members and collapse our selfish interest for the group’s interest. This executive under the Ohanaeze Constitution would last for four years. After four years, other people would take over. Let us come together, pull our resources to achieve the Igbo agenda.

What is the stance of the new leadership on the agitation for an Igbo President?

For Igbo Presidency, we owe no apology. Anytime President Jonathan leaves, an Igbo President has to take over, but the choice is left for Mr. President to decide whether he wants to leave in 2015 or 2019. I said this based on the constitution, which allows the President to contest for a second term. So, it depends on him to decide whether to renew his mandate and also to Nigerians whether they still want him, but the issue is that, whenever he is leaving, an Igbo person must replace him because we were all there when Obasanjo ruled for eight years. It is unfortunate Nigeria is running a tribal system of government. But it appears that it is the only way we can mould ourselves together because the office of the President of Nigeria is about the most powerful office I have ever seen.

When I read the Nigerian Constitution, I am always marveled because what Jonathan is empowered to do, President Obama cannot even do them.

If Jonathan decides to step down, we have to get ourselves really or-

•Oganah

ganized. Nobody gives power; so, we have to put in our own efforts. It is a collective responsibility of all Ndigbo. We are not against Jonathan’s second term; it all depends on him, his wife and his God. So, as far as his decisions are constitutional and equitable, Ndigbo supports him till whenever he wants to step-down. So, it is the turn of the Igbo man.

How would Ohanaeze handle the challenge of disunity among the Igbo elite?

This time around, I can assure you that Igbo people are speaking with one voice. We would engage our neighbors like the Southwest, South south through peaceful dialogue.

You would agree with me now that you cannot see an Igbo person doing street begging. Our main agenda in Ohanaeze is to get the environment healthy and conducive to encourage entrepreneurial development and skills acquisition, knowing fully well that our people are businessmen. In terms of crime, 85 per cent of criminals are doing it because they want to make ends meet. So, if the environment is conducive for business, with employment opportunities for our graduates, crime will reduce drastically.

Igbo people must be united and stand firm, ahead of the future.

The first thing the new executive of Ohaneze plans to do is to go and pay courtesy visit to President Goodluck Jonathan. We would also make him understand that we are all strongly behind him. Then, we intend to go and visit the Southeast governors and governors of states where you have large population of Igbo like Lagos, Delta, and Rivers States. We are practical people dedicated to the Igbo course.

How far about the elections in the state chapters of Ohanaeze Ndigbo?

We have actually concluded all the elections. We started from the local governments to states and then, the national election, which brought us to power. Those that won in local and states were the delegates to the national election.

CTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN) member of the House of Representatives Mr. Lanre Odubote has called for devolution of power to the states.

He said the lopsided federalism operated by Nigeria has made the federal government to appropriate the powers of the 36 states.

Odubote, who represents Epe Constituency, also called for state and community police, stressing that the federal police lacked the numerical strength, capacity and resources to properly police Nigeria.

The legislator, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos, said much is expected of the National Assembly during the constitution review.

He said the exercise should reposition Nigeria and foster true federalism, to make it meaningful.

Odubote said: “The powerloaded federal government is behaving as if the statesd are its appendages. There is the need for decentralisation of powers so that the states can do some things without running to Abuja for approval.

“One of the issues being debated now is the structure of the police.

It has been established that only those who understands the lan-

Ijaw leaders decry marginalisation

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HE Ijaw in Warri, Delta State, have appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to halt what they describe as the marginalisation and discrimination by the Itsekiri against the ethnic group.

They explained that, since the creation of Warri-North Local Government Area in 1991, with the headquarter in Koko, only the Itsekiris have benefitted from political appointments.

The President of ‘Egbemas for Positive Change’, Mr. Ebimene Fetimi, alleged in a statement that Ijaw has been reduced to a second class race in the council.

He said: “Mr. President, the Itsekiri are the ones occupying all the positions, council positions. It is also on record that the Ijaws (Egbemas) are more than the Itsekiris in population, yet we are not represented, despite the fact that the council was created for both the Ijaw and the Itsekiri.

“We are dedicated and committed members of Peoples Democratic Party. Mr. President, you will recall that this complaint was brought to your attention by the Egbema Voice through our various publications in the media.

“While we were waiting for your response, Governor Udughan ap-

•Dr Jonathan

By Dada Aladelokun

pointed Mr. David Edun (a native of Itsekiri) as the new caretaker committee chairman of the local government. This clearly shows that the governor is anti-Ijaw.

“This unholy act of the Itsekiri is totally against the spirit of the amended 1999 Constitution as provided for in Sections 14(4) and 15.

It is on this note that we call for the removal of Mr. David Edun and demand for the appointment of an Ijaw as the caretaker committee chairman”.

Afenifere chieftain: Centenary celebration not necessary

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•From left: Mr. Henry Ugbolue of the Amnesty office; Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku and representative of Edo, Ondo Delta PHOTO: OLUFEMI AJASA states, Chief Dan Ekpebide, during a media interaction in Lagos.

guage of a particular community should be posted to the community. Policemen perform better when they know the terrain, not when they are affected by the language barrier.

“The federal police can remain, but there is the need for governors, who are the chief security officers of their states, to have a measure of control over the police. That is why the governors are proposing a multi-level policing arrangement”.

Odubote lent his voice to the debate on local government autonomy, saying that the federal constitution has the answer. He explained that, since there are only two levels of governments in federalism, the House of Assembly has reponsibility for the creation and control of the councils.

He stressed: “There are two tiers of government in federalism. we have the federal level and states which are coordinate with the central government. The states are not the appendages of the federal government. They are coordinate units.

“Local government exists in the states for easy administration. They are created by the states. It is abnormal to list them in the constitution”.

FENIFERE Renewal Group (ARG) chieftain Mr. Dipo Famakinwa has objected to the proposed centenary celebration, saying that it lacks justification.

He told our correspondent in Lagos that Nigeriia has not become a nation, since it was forcefully amalgamated by Lord Fredrick Lugard in 1914.

Famakinwa said the celebration may become another jamboree, urging Nigerians to reject the proposals.

The ARG chieftain wondered why the federal government was planning to devote its time and energy to funfair at the expense of governance for nine months.

He argued that, if Jonathan Administration had lived up to expectation, Nigerians would have been enthusiastic about the celebration.

Famakinwa lamented the lack of

focus by the government, adding that the President who had ruled out a Sovereign National Conference was proposing a celebration of imaginary unity.

He said: “What is Nigeria celebrating at 100? Is Nigeria a nation or nation-state? Are we living in peace,unity and harmony? Instead of discussing the basis for peaceful co-existence, government is proposing a jamboree. We need to tell the President that centenary celebration is not the answer to the problem of under-development in Nigeria”.

Famakinwa urged the President to reflect on the prediction by an international agency that the country may disintegrate, if certain measures are not taken.

He added: “The answer lies in the convocation of a national conference to resolve the outstanding issues gernmane to peaceful coexixtence”.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

45

HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

It is as if they are the ones on admission. But they are not. Everywhere you turn to, they are there. In the wards, at the dispensary and even the toilet. They are around, they claim, to give succour to their ill relatives, but should that be the case? OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA reports.

T

HE daughter in-law of Mrs Abolore Iyiola (not real name) developed acute kidney injury (AKI) that required a transplant. When the patient was being prepared for the transplant at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, Mrs Abolore chose to be near her daughter in-law.

There was a snag hospital has no accommodation for people like her. She ended up spending the eight days her daughter in-law’s treatment lasted in the open space where mosquitoes kept her company. She made do with the public toilet provided by the hospital.

At night, she slept on wooden benches used by daytime visitors.

For change of clothing and food she relied on whatever relatives brought from home.

When her daughter in-law was discharged. Mrs Iyiola was full of joy. “All my efforts were not in vain”. But then what was her input? Was her hanging around of any help?

At the University Teaching Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, mothers don’t have to stay with their children on admission. Reason: a philanthropist donated a building where they can pass the night for as long as their children are on admission. This is not the case in other departments/units.

At the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Yaba and Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, both in Mainland, the story is the same. Though relatives are not expected to stay with patients on admission, the socio-cultural milieu compels them to go.

According to an official at the psychiatric hospital, the relatives need not come and subject themselves to such harrowing experiences.

• A patient’s relative taking a nap

PHOTO: OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA

The waiting game He said: “The main reason why most stay around is for financial incapability. Other reasons include, praying or offering information to the team of experts. It is equally important to note that the system is not perfect.

“For instance, patients on admission are expected to be given adequate attention by the nurses and others, including, supplying and administering drugs, once they are paid for by the relatives or the patients. But we found out that it’s the relatives that go to pay for, purchase and even bring the drugs to the wards. It could be as bad as the relatives lifting up or assisting the patient on admission go to the toilet.

“Can you beat a case of an orthopaedic patient interfering by a novice? It can worsen the patient’s situation. We have heard of cases where relatives administered drugs on a patient that was not part of the prescribed drugs. The patient could not sleep and the relative thinking she was being kind offered a sleeping pill. The patient grew worse on observation.

“When her doctor got worried and was about taking blood samples for further investigation, that was when the patient offered the information on the pill. The doctor had to reverse her treatment so as to clear off the effect of the pill, before he was able to further commence treatment,” he

said.

At LUTH, a portion of the building housing the Doctors Lounge has been converted to ‘a waiting area’ with benches, that have been turned to beds by relatives of some patients. Efforts to get the hospital’s comment failed as the officials contacted said they were busy, promising to get back. They did not as at the time of filling this report.

But an observer said for security reasons the hospital should know who passed the night in that section. “This hospital has experienced diverse assaults from rapists, thieves and all sorts.

Even we have lost some members of staff to those nefarious activi-

ties. The crowd is teeming by the day under that building,” the observer said.

At the psychiatric hospital, an expert who does not want to be named, said because of the nature of mental health illness, most times, relatives don’t hang around the hospital premises, except at designated time. “Most of the mental disorders are associated with negative stereotypes such as violence and danger. Not only that stigmatisation and discrimination abound in our culture against mental illnesses. For instance, depression, anxiety and eating disorders have been seen as increasing public interest, schizophrenia remains associated with much more negative stereotypes.

“Schizophrenia has been found to be one of the most stigmatising conditions. To the present, most research on stigma related to mental illness has drawn conclusions on the adverse reactions faced by people with schizophrenia from studies on public attitudes or analogue behavioural studies. The views of those exposed to the stigmatising reactions, however, has largely been absent. Of all mental illnesses, schizophrenia appears to be the most stigmatised disorder.

So we don’t see many people flocking around the hospital premises. Unlike what obtains in the convention or tertiary hospitals where visitors or relatives may even sleep on the bare floor in very cold weather. As experts, if we see such here, we may want to carry out further investigations to actually ascertain the state of the mental health of such an individual.”

The expert said the problem has also contributed to loss of manhour because relatives of the patients usually stay with them for most of the period.

Firm formulates non-toxic drugs

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FTER 12 years research, a company, Bradford Pharmaceutical Limited, has recorded a breakthrough in the production of safe and affordable medicine.

It claims to have formulated a brand of paracetamol syrup, which doesn’t contain propylene glycol, glycerin and analogues considered to produce toxic, like other conventional medicines.

The company also produced bradcuff expectorant, which is a cough drug, bradferex blood tonic and a prescription blood tonic, bradferon.

Its Chairman, Mr Idowu Obasa, who spoke at the public presentation of the drugs, said the poisoning of babies in 1990 and 2008 with some brands of paracetamol and baby teething mixture informed the firm decision to develop the drugs.

He said:”We researched into the cause of those incidents of poisoning and identified the problem. We found that some vehicles (substances) namely, propylene glycol and glycerin used in dissolving the active pharmaceutical ingredient (paracetamol) were contaminated

By Wale Adepoju

or criminally substituted with a poisonous substance called diettylene glycol (DEG). We also discovered that DEG is implicated in epidemic of poisoning involving other consumer products such as other medicines, wine and toothpastes around the world. This is why our drugs don’t contain these substances” Obasa said the new formula was the firm’s unique selling point (USP). ”We are trying to make unique drugs with less toxicity but equally active,” he added.

He said three over-the-counter (OTC) and one prescription drug were formulated based on the research to ensure that people don’t suffer any side effect. The drugs, he said, had been approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as not poisonous but clean and safe for consumption.”The approval may not necessarily confirm the potency level,” he added.

The brain behind the formulation, Mr Anthony Obi, a pharmacist, said he decided to put on his thinking cap after 1990 and

•A teacher, Prof Ropo Sekoni flanked by Obasa (right) and Managing Director, Bradford Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Dr Bode Tawak, at the launch.

2008 incidences in which many children’s died after repeatedly taking ‘My Pikin teething mixture. He said: “The new drugs will not in any way put the lives of Nigerians in jeopardy. That was why I decided to do something different to safeguard the lives of

people who take drugs.”

He said the firm’s core value was to ensure care, safety and effectiveness of drugs. It also engages in intellectual inquiry.

This was the driving force in achieving the formula of other drugs: Bradcuff expectorant,

Bradferex blood tonic and and a prescription blood tonic, Bradferon.

On Bradmol, which is a brand of paracetamol syrup, he said, it is flavoured and avoids the possibility of the abuse of the toxic substances.

46

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

HEALTH

Varicose veins: Painful disease of the legs Sitting or standing for long is harmful to health. According to experts, this can lead to the development of varicose veins on the legs. These are enlarged and torturous veins which could lead to leg ulcer if not properly managed. WALE ADEPOJU reports.

T

HEY appear like lines on the legs. But they are unusually thick. Normally, the veins on people’s legs are not seen, but because these veins are growing abnormally, they shoot out. They are called varicose veins, a disease which disfigures the legs.

The disease is becoming rampant.

Why? According to experts, because of the sedentary lifestyle of people and lack of morning walk.

According to a consultant cardiothoracic surgery at the indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India, Dr Krishan Pandey, lack of regular walk and long hours of sitting can cause the blue spider-like veins in the leg.

He said the demands of employment, especially job compulsion for youth, who have to sit all day as receptionists and traffic warden who stand, made people susceptible to the condition.

Pandey said women are also prone to the condition, especially expectant mothers, saying it could lead to nonhealing ulcers in legs and feet, and disability, if there was no timely intervention.

He said people don’t pay attention to the disease until it’s worsened, adding: “We end up receiving totally multiple divergent medical advices and get really confused. Unfortunately, this kind of injudicious treatment usually leads to blackening and non-healing ulcer.”

Pandey identified computer professionals, office clerks and receptionists as the most vulnerable to the condition.

The others are traffic wardens, police control room personnel, scientists and technologists working in laboratories, among others.

He charged the people to always observe their legs and feet, saying: “If you find earthworm or spider-like blue thin veins in your legs or you notice black spots on your leg, especially in lower parts, believe me you have already developed varicose veins.”

He said surgery, laser or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatment cannot cure it at the early stage, saying a drastic change in lifestyle will address the condition. “One has to walk for one hour in the morning and another one hour in the evening. People should avoid prolonged sitting and standing. Also, those obese should reduce extra weight,” he said.

• Pandey

FORTUNATELY, treatment usually doesn’t mean a hospital stay or a long, uncomfortable recovery. Thanks to less invasive procedures, varicose veins can generally be treated on an outpatient basis.

Support stockings Self-care — such as exercising, losing weight, not wearing tight clothes, elevating your legs, and avoiding long periods of standing or sitting — can ease pain and prevent varicose veins from getting worse.

Compression stockings Wearing compression stockings is often the first approach to try before moving on to other treatments. Compression stockings are worn all day. They steadily squeeze your legs, helping veins and leg muscles move blood more efficiently. The amount of compression varies by type and brand.

You can buy compression stockings at most pharmacies and medical supply stores. Prices vary. Prescription-strength stockings also are available.

When purchasing compression stockings, make sure that they fit properly. Using a tape measure, you or your pharmacist can measure your legs to ensure you get the right size and fit according to

• Leg ulcer from varicose

• Varicose

Treatments, drugs for varicose the size chart found on the stocking package. Compression stockings should be strong, but not necessarily tight. If you have weak hands or arthritis, getting these stockings on may be difficult.

There are devices to make putting them on easier.

Additional treatments for more-severe varicose veins If you don’t respond to selfcare, compression stockings, or if your condition is more severe, your doctor may suggest one of these varicose vein treatments: Sclerotherapy. In this procedure, your doctor injects smalland medium-sized varicose veins with a solution that scars and closes those veins. In a few weeks, treated varicose veins should fade. Although the same vein may need to be injected more than once, sclerotherapy is effective if done correctly. Sclerotherapy doesn’t require anesthesia and can be done in your doctor’s office.

Laser surgeries. Doctors are using new technology in laser treatments to close off smaller varicose veins and spider veins. Laser surgery works by sending strong

bursts of light onto the vein, which makes the vein slowly fade and disappear. No incisions or needles are used.

Catheter-assisted procedures. In one of these treatments, your doctor inserts a thin tube (catheter) into an enlarged vein and heats the tip of the catheter. As the catheter is pulled out, the heat destroys the vein by causing it to collapse and seal shut. This procedure is usually done for larger varicose veins.

Vein stripping. This procedure involves removing a long vein through small incisions. This is an outpatient procedure for most people. Removing the vein won’t adversely affect circulation in your leg because veins deeper in the leg take care of the larger volumes of blood.

Ambulatory phlebectomy Your doctor removes smaller varicose veins through a series of tiny skin punctures. Only the parts of your leg that are being pricked are numbed in this outpatient procedure. Scarring is generally minimal.

Endoscopic vein surgery. You might need this operation only in an advanced case involving leg ulcers. Your surgeon uses a thin

video camera inserted in your leg to visualize and close varicose veins, and then removes the veins through small incisions. This procedure is performed on an outpatient basis.

Varicose veins that develop during pregnancy generally improve without medical treatment within three to 12 months after delivery.

Be a cautious consumer When it comes to treatment options for varicose veins, it pays to be a cautious health consumer. Advertisements claiming “unique,” “permanent” or “painless” methods to remove varicose veins may be appealing, but they may not actually measure up to those claims.

Before having any procedure, ask your doctor about any health risks and possible side effects.

You may want to inquire about treatment costs, as well. Many insurance policies don’t cover the expense of elective cosmetic surgery for varicose veins. However, in many cases if you have signs or symptoms, such as swelling and bleeding, insurance may cover the treatment.

Current treatments for varicose veins and spider veins are effective. However, it’s possible that varicose veins can recur.

•Culled from www.mayoclinic. com

Specialists canvass support for VVF

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OR Helen Manjok, a 16-yearold pupil in Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS 3), who had lived without an anus from birth, it is no longer a miserable life. She is from Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State.

She was born with the condition and has been going to school with it. Her anus has been repaired. She has been given an indispensable gift, an anus, courtesy of the cooperative relationship between Ogoja General Hospital, Calabar, and fistula surgeons from other hospitals in the country.

Under the pool repair activity, doctors from fistula centres came together for one week at a centre and carried out fistula repairs.

The operation was carried out by Prof Oladosu Ojengbede of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

According to the Medical Director, Ogoja General Hospital, Calabar, Dr Michael Okongor, the girl is doing well and is very happy. She is not the only joyful patient. Maria FidelisOmini is also in high spirits. She is a housewife from Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State.

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

She developed VVF as a married woman and it was repaired during another lap of the exercise at the National Fistula Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, last year. Unlike her colleagues, her husband did not abandon her. He stood by her before, during and after the exercise.

She said: “Throughout the period I was at the hospital at Omini, my husband was by my bedside offering encouragement. I cannot thank him enough because without his support I would have found the experience more painful, God bless him for me.”

These two are lucky among the 158,000 women with VVF in Nigeria. No fewer than 12,000 new cases occur annually. The data is obtained with “Environmental Scan” commissioned by USAID in 2010 with participation from UNFPA, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMOWA).

Presenting a situation report on the treatment (medically described as repair) Dr Okongor was full of praise to the USAID Fistula Care Project for

•Efem

•Uro-Chukwu

•Okongor

introducing the mechanism for the cooperative relationship at his hospital.

“All that we have achieved in terms of fistula repair has been because of this relationship which has enabled experienced fistula surgeons across the country to come to our centre at no cost to the centre to do fistula repairs, this has happened because of the assistance that the USAID Fistula Care Project has offered to our hospital” Okongor said.

“Our centre has received a lot of support from USAID Fistula Care Project, our theatre was fully reno-

vated with a new operating table and air-conditioners, you know fistula repair is time consuming so doctors need a conducive environment to work. They also gave us a brand new generating set, our dedicated fistula ward was also renovated and most importantly our doctors and other medical staff have been trained and retrained on fistula repairs and post operation care”.

Corroborating his story, Project Manager of USAID Fistula Care Project, Chief Iyeme Efem, said it was a very remarkable feat.

“This goes to show one of the ben-

efits that can come with doctors working together and sharing experiences and knowledge” he said.

“We were supposed to have started implementing the framework in 2010, now we are in 2013 which means we are behind by two years already. So, all stakeholders must work real hard for us to catch up on lost grounds, especially in the face of the promise made by President Goodluck Jonathan to treat one third of women with fistula this year. The promise translates to about 66,000 women (one third of 200,000) being treated this year alone.”

47

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

Why Lagos is investing in infrastructure, by Fashola

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has rendered an account of how his administration spends borrow funds.

The loan, he said, is pent on assets that would enhance the quality of life of future generation.

He said his administration was ready to take on bigger challenges.

Fashola, who spoke with reporters during a tour of projects in Badagry, Lagos, described crities of his administration voodoo economists”.

The tour took him to the High Magistrate courts, Market Road Phase II; tourism sites - Vlekete Slave Market at

Stories by Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie, Asst Editor

the Posukoh Quarters; the reclamation of the Marina Shoreline and the first District Officers’ Office, which is being rehabilitated.

“We are seeing a rehash of an old plan. They are voodoo economists.This was the same plan during the tenure of my predecessor, saying ‘Lagos has mortgaged its future for 50 years when we the first bond was taken. That bond has been repaid. The other that we took is due for repayment, the amount in the consolidated debt service account is about N62 billion as at December last year and the liability that we

have is N50billion and is not due until next year, by which time the amount in the debt service account will grow. The debt service account shows clearly that we can pay back,’” the governor explained.

Noting that some uninformed critics could find it easy to postulate that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue and Federal Allocation Committee funds should be all that should be budgeted for, the governor explained that both heads would account for just a little over N300billion yearly an amount totally inadequate for the needs of a state of over 20 million people.

•Fashola (second left) inspecting a project in Central Lagos on Sunday.With him are Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat (left) and a community leader, Alhaji Oladosu Fashola (right).

Board seeks more regulatory powers

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STATE Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) is canvasing more powers to regulate the business in the country.

Its Registrar, Mr Thomas Audu made the call at the 31st induction of 124 estate surveyors.

He said the law allows estate surveyors to register the National Association of Estate Agents to regulate the practice effectively, but regretted that insufficient funding from the government has hampered this in some ways.

He also said the Federal

Government has promised to review the boards enabling law to give them more regulatory powers, adding that any erring estate survey would be dealt with.

Audu also said the board has proposed the establishment of a college for estate surveyors after graduation to up the standard of practice.

The board’s Chairman, Mr Ayodele Sangosanya, said as part of its functions, it embarks on regular registration of qualified persons as estate surveyors and valuers, who are inducted into the profes-

sion.

He said one of the challenges faced by the board is how to accelerate the registration of new entrants to meet the growing population.

He said there are only 3,012 registered estate surveyors and valuers in the country.

The ESVARBON chief said they would continue in their quest to find ways of producing many more registered estate surveyors and valuers.

Earlier, the guest of honour, Ms Claire Chizea, congratulated the inductees on the achievement.

NDDC inaugurates eight more roads in Bayelsa B ARELY one week after the inauguration of the Odi-Trofani Road and other key development projects in Bayelsa State, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has inaugurated eight more road projects in Sagbama, Ekeremor, Ogbia and Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas of the state.

The concrete roads lined with drainages, according to Commissioner’s spokesman, Abosede I.A., include the Arere Road in Ikebiri, the Korobiri-Ogumain PoloAdagbe-Opubri road in Oporoma and the Angiama internal roads.

Others are: the Tungbabiri internal roads, rigid pavement in Adagbabiri, Oloibiri internal roads and Aleibiri concrete roads.

Inaugurating the projects, NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Christian Oboh, told the various communities that the Commission would continue to execute projects that would impact on the lives of the rural people.

Represented by Edi Orubo, the Bayelsa State representative on the Board of the NDDC, he charged the community leaders to ensure that peace reigned in their area since without peace, development would be elusive.

“I urge every one of you to keep the peace in order to assist government in the task of spreading development in our region,” he said.

The communities in their separate responses thanked

the Commission for the gesture.

At Oporoma, which now has a 1.5km concrete road, the people said they were overwhelmed with joy.

The traditional ruler, Chief King Abule, praised NDDC and the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for touching the lives of the people, while his counterpart in Ikebiri, Chief Francis Ododo, lauded NDDC for the gesture.

The people of Agiama kingdom in an address signed by their Acting Traditional Ruler, Chief M. E. Engman and 15 other community leaders while thanking NDDC urged other agencies of government to emulate the Commission.

48

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

49

ENERGY THE NATION

E-mail:- energy@thenationonlineng.net

The government and stakeholders are making efforts to develop the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector in the petroleum industry. But the plan by operators to reduce standards is akin to sitting on a keg of gun powder for unsuspecting and ignorant consumers and should be resisted, writes EMEKA UGWUANYI Assistant Editor (Energy).

‘There’s need to maintain standards in LPG sector’

•Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke

T

HE liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector, undoubtedly, requires investment, incentives and encouragement, not only from the oil and gas industry, but also from the Federal Government to deepen the country’s consumption level and support for existing and new investors to grow the sector.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani AlisonMadueke, at the LPG strategic workshop and conference held in Abuja in December, said Nigeria is ranked among the lowest consumers of LPG in Africa, having just 110,000 metric tonnes (MT) per annum as national consumption. It is in view of this that she said growing the LPG market is a critical component of the nation’s Gas Master Plan.

She said as a result of infrastructure challenges, the country cannot consume the 150,000 metric tonnes of LPG per annum earmarked for the domestic market. She noted that upstream gas suppliers were directed to dedicate an agreed volume of LPG product to the domestic market, which made the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) to release 150000 MT of LPG per annum to the Nigerian domestic market.

In an effort to address these challenges to open up the LPG market for increased utilisation and economic growth, the government came up with the LPG National Strategic Policy, which stressed safety, affordability and logistics but the Nigeria LNG Association plans to rubbish the efforts by reviewing the standards set by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) had also told importers of LPG cylinders to have a definite programme for maintenance of cylinders with trained personnel that will be inspecting and re-qualifying the cylinders. It said all importers of cylinders should sign an undertaking for taking full responsibility of the maintenance and requalification of such imported cylinders, adding that all importers seeking the renewal and approvals should meet the requirement.

SON also directed that the expiry dates of cylinders shall be engraved or embossed on all cylinders. Cylinders have 15 years life span, it said.

But the way Nigeria LPG Association is going about it showed it plans to alter the standards to the detriment of consumers of the product, which could endanger lives of users and the economy.

The Nation gathered that members of the association plan to meet this week to discuss how to adjust the

requirement set by SON in terms of mixture of components that make LPG. The two major elements that make up LPG are propane and butane. Propane has high pressure but it is about 45 per cent cheaper than butane, which has low pressure, but more costly. The SON’s requirement is that butane and propane should be mixed on equal measures of 50 per cent each. But investigation by The Nation showed marketers can mix the two elements at any percentage, or can use one element wholy, that is, either 100 per cent propane or butane.

The danger in this, is that propane exerts a lot of pressure on the cylinder and considering the age of most cylinders used in Nigeria, this could spell doom because the likelihood of cylinder explosion will be very high.

Investigation also revealed that using only propane or butane or a mixture of both at unspecified mixture is not the issue, but the danger is in the age of the cylinders.

Experts in the industry said that the standard across the world is that all cylinders be built to propane specification. The safety in this measure is that if a marketer mixes the two elements on equal or different measures or 100 percent propane or butane, the end-user is guaranteed of his or her safety.

Why the oil and gas industry regulators and SON should take the acquisition or importation of standard cylinders seriously is that there have been reports of seizure of imported sub-standard cylinders into the country by unscrupulous entrepreneurs. The regulators including SON should also refocus attention on the existing cylinders in-country and find a way of phasing out or stopping re-entry of old and expired cylinders into circulation and the market.

It was also learnt that there was a time the SON directed that the cylinders that should be used in-country should be the propane standard

so that whatever LPG a marketer imports or buys would be safe for use but most of the operators that import and use substandard and aged cylinders kicked against the directive. They insisted that the 5050 propane and butane mixture should continue to apply, however, many of them, it was learnt, are not faithful to the specification in order to make more profit putting the lives and homes of end-users in danger.

Now that the Federal Government wants to intervene on sustainable basis to grow the LPG sector with the promise of importing cylinders, which will be sold to Nigeria2ns at a giveaway price to deepen consumption and ensure

penetration of usage into the rural areas, standardised cylinders specified to take only propane should be the best option so that whatever grade of LPG would be safe for consumers.

Therefore, as the Nigeria LPG Association, meets this week to deliberate on the review of SON’s requirement on LPG, SON, Department of Petroleum Resources and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources should insist on importation and use of cylinders that should take 100 percent propane so that whatever grade of LPG sold to end-users should guarantee their safety. It is also good coincidence that the Nigeria LPG Association invited the SON to the meeting this week. SON should

refuse to be compromised because the standards were laid down for use in Nigeria was produced by experts. The technical committee that worked on the Standard for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) done under the Nigerian Industrial Standard had representatives from companies such as Petroleum Academy Limited, Mobil Oil, Chevron Oil Plc (now MRS), Total Plc, Oando, DPR, Consumer Protection Council, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Conoil Plc, among others.

Besides, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources’ LPG National Strategic Policy had made provision to enhance growth of the LPG sector by creating programmes that will lead to phased reduction in subsidy, reduction of use of kerosene and increase in use of LPG, as well as subsidy for LPG, among others.

•LPG cylinders

Labour blames govt for inefficient electricity metering

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HE National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has blamed the Federal Government for the inability of the successor companies from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to ensure effective metering of its customers in the country.

The National Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajero, said the dearth of meters for electricity consumers in the country is because there is no company that manufactures meters in the country.

Ajaero blamed the government during the inauguration of the electric power system simulator and mechanical training workshop at the Ijora Regional Training Centre as well as the newly upgraded 36-room executive hostel at Akangba Regional Training Centre, both in Lagos, by the Minister of State, Power, Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi.

The facilities are owned by the National Power Training Institute

•Minister explains payment for meter

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

of Nigeria (NAPTIN).

Ajero said the inability of the Federal Government to build meter manufacturing companies in the country caused the inconstancy pronouncement by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on payment for meter.

The NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, had initially told Nigerians that meters would be issued free of charge but a few months later, he reversed himself and said that meters would be paid for.

The NUEE scribe criticised Nigeria’s total reliance on imported meters for consumption incountry. “Most of the meters that are in use in the country were imported by government which contributed immensely to the scarcity of meters we experience. The country would no longer continue to

import meters. As big as we are as a country, we should at least have two to three meter manufacturing companies.

“Government should urgently find lasting solution to the issue of meter manufacturing in the country before the sector is finally handed over to the investors.”

The Minister of State for Power, Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi, however, quickly debunked what Ajaero said. She said that the allegation that Nigeria has no meter manufacturing company is untrue, adding that Nigeria has two metering manufacturing companies in Lagos and Zaria in Kaduna.

Speaking on the reports of reversal of free meters for electricity consumers, Kuchi said that the government could not afford to buy the meters and give them free in view of budgetary constraints.

She said: “Instead of the govern-

ment to buy and give the meters free, we said let individuals take ownership, buy these meters and install them so as your tariffs are being done, the cost of meters will be deducted in terms of supply of the electricity the customer consumed. That is what the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is saying. It is not that NERC is reversing self. We wanted to go one way to do free metering for all Nigerians, then we realised the quantum cost in terms of budgeting, which we don’t have.

“And we have privatisation round the corner, so how do we commit the successor companies?

We cannot commit them so we are looking for a way out. The metering should continue supply of light and tariffs can be sequenced into payment and then when the successor companies come, we just flow with it instead of committing them and when they come it becomes an issue; that is all NERC is saying.”

50

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5 2013

ENERGY

Production from Port Harcourt refinery hits 17m litres daily

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ITH the maintenance work carried out by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at Port Harcourt Refinery, it now produces 17 million litres of different products per day, it was learnt.

The new production level was attained as a result of the rehabilitation of the nitrogen plant of the 210, 000 barrels per day refinery, which has been dysfunctional for over a year.

However, the optimisation of the refinery is being limited by the incidence of vandalism of the pipelines that supply crude and evacuates products from the refinery.

Spokesman of the company Mr. Ralph Ugwu, had told reporters that the refinery produces about 7.5 million litres of premium motor spirit (petrol), three million litres of dual purpose kerosene (DPK) and 6.5 million litres of automotive gas oil (diesel).

Ugwu said production from the refinery now contributes to the nation’s petroleum products supply to guarantee availability of fuel Nigerians. The development, he added is part of NNPC’s plan to reduce the volume of imported fuel especially petrol as well as subsidy paid by the government.

Ugwu noted that the management

Stories by Emeka Ugwuanyi

of Port Harcourt refinery have activated processes to bring the critical units of the plant back into operation adding that the fixing of the Nitrogen plant has also paved way for the maintenance and putting other vital sections of the refinery into operation, including the Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU) and Naphtha Hydro-treating unit (NHU).

He said that when the planned turnaround maintenance of the refinery is completed, production would increase by about 30 percent.

The Group Executive Director, Refineries and Petrochemicals, NNPC, Tony Ogbuigwe, commended the management of the Port Harcourt refinery for the commitment to ensuring increased output from the refinery and assured them of NNPC’s support to sustaining operation of the plant.

The Managing Director of the refinery, Ian Udoh, said the members of staff of the company are committed noting that the modest success achieved was due to the foundation laid by his predecessor Ogbuigwe. He urged the staff to sustain the tempo despite challenges resulting from crude sup-

ply disruptions by oil thieves and vandals.

On attacks on the pipeline, he said that 199 incidents were recorded product line from the refinery to Okrika Jetty in 2012 alone. He also noted that challenges of pipeline vandalism including pollution of the environment and economic loss.

He also pointed at other concerns over the pipeline breaks to include environmental pollution and degradation, huge economic loss and possible fire outbreak in contiguous local communities.

In view of the above challenges, Ugwu said the company has embarked on massive enlightenment campaigns in its various host communities stressing the dangers and effects of pipeline vandalism and product adulteration to health, safety, environment, machinery and the economy.

“The management of PHRC passionately appeal to opinion leaders and government agencies to come to its aid in curbing the activities of vandals through the enlightenment of the citizens to enable the company deliver on its mandate of ensuring optimal and sustainable production of refined petroleum products for the benefit of all Nigerians,” Ugwu said.

Amnesty: 64 ex-militants get underwater, diving training

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HE Federal Government’s amnesty programme yesterday yielded result with the graduation of 64 pardoned exmilitants of the Niger Delta from the diving school in Lagos.

The ex-militants were trained through a joint venture partnership between the Nigerian Navy and Mieka Dive Limited at the Underwater Warfare School, NNS Navtra Quorra Command, Apapa, Lagos for 28 weeks.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the Nigerian Navy Diving Coordinator, Captain Tajudeen Osoba, said the graduating students exhibited commitment and impressive behaviour.

He said that divers are people who are specially trained to stay and work underwater for considerable period adding that no incident was recorded during the period.

He noted that the students went through five classes of training, including the swimming pool, open water, commercial trooper, class 1 and 2 commercial training.

He also noted that it was gratifying that within the 28 weeks no incident was recorded.

The Managing Director, Mieka Dive Limited, Mr Pondi Kestin, said that the public, private sector partnership between the two organisations brought about success of the training programme adding that the training institute

gave its best.

He said: “I want to thank the Flag Officer Commanding NNS Navtra Quorra Command, Apapa and his men for the synergy, understanding and doggedness at ensuring the success of this first batch of trainees. We hope that this same gesture be extended throughout the remaining part of this partnership.

“I thank the Federal Government, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Amnesty Committee, Hon. Kingsley Kuku and the Minister of Education for their foresight which brought about this training programme. My desire is for them to continue this partnership as in this first phase.

He advised the graduating trainees to be discipline, determined with positive attitude.

“The experience you have garnered here must be put to good use to enhance your communal and socio-economic life. Henceforth, you must be good ambassadors of the Nigerian Navy and Mieka Dive Training Institute.

“In the next batch of training, mistakes encountered previously would be completely avoided. An improved form of synergy will be explored to bring about better results, because success for us, is continues improvement in what we do.”

Conoil’s drive to export lubricants gets boost

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•From Left: Personal Assistant to Chairman of Mieka Dive, Paul Bebenimibo; Director, Mieka Dive Training Institute, Thompson Ogegbene; Managing Director, Mieka Dive Limited, Pondi Kestin; Adminstration Officer, Mieka Dive Training Institute, Mrs. Rachela Madudu and Chief Executive Officer, D’Alphaxristi Limited, Yemie Adeoye at the graduation of the first batch of the Amnesty trainees’ programme in Lagos.

T

ONOIL’S drive to export its lubricant brands to the West African countries got a boost with the company’s admission into the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

Its admission into the scheme, a source from the company said, would afford it the opportunity to export its high grade, made in Nigeria motor engine oils to established markets in the sub-region duty free.

The scheme was adopted by ECOWAS member states to eliminate trade barriers and facilitate trade integration, improve the foreign exchange earnings of companies of member states and create more jobs in their respective countries.

Ibadan Disco reinforces supply, seeks customers’ cooperation

HE Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (DISCO) of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has built new power facilities and upgraded existing ones to improve power supply within its network.

The company’s Principal Manager (Public Affairs), Tokunbo Peters, said the company has in the last six months commissioned five different injection substations and replaced some obsolete and problematic 11KV panels with modern ones, while also constructing new 11KV feeders and commissioning scores of distribution substations to deliver power to its customers.

He said the projects are located at different parts of the company’s network, which include Gaa - Imam, 1x15 MVA 33/11KV injection sub-station in Ilorin, Kwara State. The project has relieved the existing 1x7.5 MVA transformer at Gaa - Imam, Ilorin.

Other project commissioned include Ondo Road 2x15MVA 33/11KV injection substation in Ile-Ife, Ikirun Township 2x15MVA 33/11KV injection substation in Ikirun ,all in Osun State; Mokowa 1x2.5MVA 33/11KV substation in Niger State and Igbaja

1x2.5MVA 33/11KV substation in Kwara State.

Other projects include the replacement of obsolete 11KV switchgear with a 7-panel board at Offa 2x7.5 MVA, 33/11KV injection substation in Kwara State, 11KV switchgear with a 7-panel board at Ibadan North 1x15MVA injection substation in Oyo State and replacement of obsolete 7panel board at old Owode Road 3 x 15MVA 33/11KV injection substation in Abeokuta ,Ogun State with modern ABB 11KV switchgear with a 7 board panels; replacement of obsolete and problematic 11KV panels at Eleweran injection sub-station in Ogun State with modern ABB 11KV panels, and the replacement of obsolete 11KV panels at Abiola Way 1 x 15MVA 33/11KV injection sub-station in Abeokuta, Ogun State with modern panels and installation of 11KV Tarvida panel at Eleyele 2x15MVA 33/11KV injection substation for Ologuneru 11kV feeder in Oyo State .

Peters said that in addition to in-

jecting more power transformers to its network, the company also constructed scores of 11KV feeders in different locations within its network.

Among these feeders are GRA and Baba Ode 11KV feeders in Ilorin, and Ologuneru 11KV overhead line to separate Ologuneru leg from the existing 11KV industrial feeder in Ibadan, Oyo state.

He said: “These projects which are spread across Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara and some parts of Niger, Kogi and Ekiti States have not only improved the quality of power supply to customers in the company’s network, but it has also increased the capacity of the company to evacuate more power from the Transmission Company of Nigeria to the Nigerian public. Thus, majority of the company’s customers now enjoy longer hours of power supply with very little interruptions.

“Similar projects, which are at varying stages of completion, will be completed this year and this will bring a lot of improvement to areas still experiencing poor service delivery.

Also, scores of distribution substations were commissioned in 2012 to relieve over loaded substations, which improved the quality of power delivered to the public. The company is presently allocating more distribution transformers for replacement and upgrading of failed ones to the 22 Business Units in its network.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Bolaji Oyesiku, stressed that the company is committed to ensuring quality service to all the nooks and crannies of its network but noted that the company needs the customers’ support and cooperation in order to achieve the set objectives. He enjoined the customers to reciprocate the company’s efforts by prompt and regular payment of electricity bills.

The company sought customers to always cooperate with it especially during the execution of projects, in order to serve them better. The appeal, it noted, became necessary due to a recent incident in Ifeloju community in Ifo Local Government area of Ogun State where the community prevented its technicians from replacing a faulty 500KVA 11/0.415KV transformer with a new one.

The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) had earlier certified the quality of Conoil lubricants as export compliant.

A statement by the company proffered that the ETLS admission qualified Conoil to participate in ECOWAS Export Expansion Grant Scheme (EEG) and enjoy at least 30 per cent rebate on its yearly export earnings.

Conoil’s foray into the export market came from an exhaustive business research, which revealed a viable market for the company’s brand of engine oils in the sub-region, the statement added.

Its flagship lubricant brands, Quatro and Golden Super Motor Oil, hold top positions in the Nigerian market and are adjudged the brand of choice. Quatro, the company’s premium grade, which has the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) seal of excellence, has clinched the “Lubricant of the Year” award for several years in Nigeria, the statement said.

Quatro contains highly refined paraffin base oils and hi-tech additives that ensure minimal fuel consumption and protect car engine from rust while the Golden Super Motor oil on the other hand, has anti-wear/high detergency and oxidation resistance additives that ensure a longer engine lifespan.

Also available are wide range of industrial lubricants for applications in manufacturing, textile, cement, breweries, oil exploration and producing companies, and transmission oils for the gear system of vehicles.

The company controls about 30 percent of the nation’s lubricant market and has also committed substantial investments to upgrade and expand its lubricant blending plants at its depots at Apapa, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano with a view to meeting and surpassing customers’ ever increasing demand for its quality engine oil.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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AVIATION

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Pilots can make air returns, say experts

HOULD pilots make air returns mid-flight? Yes, thay can, say experts to save passengers.

Accrding to them, returning a plane to the airport, from where it took off, if there is any problem mid-air, is better than subjecting the passengers to the danger of a crash.

The respondents are Dr Harold Demuren, the Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA); Captain Dele Ore,President, Aviation Roundtable; Mr Chris Aligbe, an aviation consultant and Mr David Babatunde, General Manager, Medview Airlines.

They said passengers should not be disturbed over the matter, because a pilot takes charge of what happens during a flight.

The experts spoke against the background of a recent air return by the pilot of Medview Airlines Boeing 737-400 on its LagosAbuja-Yola flight 15 minutes after it took off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Demuren said air return is a standard industry practice that pilots embark upon, at any point in a flight, they realise that during either due to weather, mechanical for safety reasons. Such return may be informed by weather or mechanical reasons, he said.

Pilots, he said, should be praised for such an action, because failure to take act could have adverse effects on the aircraft.

The NCAA boss said it was wrong for people to suggest that the rising incidence of air returns by some airlines, is evidence of lack of safety.

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor Aviation Correspondent

Aligbe said: “Air return is a normal development in the aviation sector. Travellers should not be afraid; it should not create unnecessary panic in the sector. It should not be viewed as a sign of lowering standards of air safety.

“In the last instance, when Medview Airlines had an air return, the industry reacted appropriately. The reaction from the Federal Ministry of Aviation was spontaneous. Even the airline involved - Medview Airlines - also responded to the issue.

Rather, I think the pilot should be commended for his professionalism. It was caused by power surge in one of the engines, which resulted in a bang.

The pilot shut down the affected engine and initiated an air return. That is enough evidence of a knowledgeable and professional pilot.

Ore said: “First, we commend the professionalism and airmanship exhibited by the crew of aircraft. The capable handling of the situation makes the crew members to be an asset to the industry. When an engine aircraft has lost the only engine, then there could be cause for concern, but if one engine fails on a twinengine aircraft, there should be no alarm if the crew members have been well- trained. An air return could be as a result of any one or combination of the following as highlighted in Part 5:5:1:4 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations 2006 entitled: “Reporting of failures, malfunctions and defects which may occur after the aircraft must have been

airborne.”

Ore listed some of the conditions that could lead to air return to include fires during flight and whether the related fire-warning system properly operated; fires during flight not protected by a related firewarning system; false fire warning during flight and an engine exhaust system that causes damage during flight to the engine, structure, equipment, or components.”

The General Manager, Medview Airlines, Mr David Babatunde, said: “The professional decision, which is in consonance with global practice, is a demonstration of our commitment to safety of flights and passengers. We give kudos to the passengers on board the flight, who remained undaunted and waited for the airline to provide an alternative aircraft to fly them to their various destinations – Abuja and Yola.”

The Chief Pilot of Aero Airlines, Captain Russell Leefoon, described air return as a challenge that calls to test the competence of the pilot in command of the flight.

Leefoon said: “My word of assurance is that air return does not really matter. Passengers should not panic. It does not mean that the aircraft is bad. It is for the competency of the pilot. Is not that the engine has failed.?The engine has not failed, but we return for maintenance, to make sure that everything is put in place. Air return is not necessarily something that should cause panic, but something that should be corrected and get thing right.”

NIMET gets weather calibration lab THE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) Weather Instrument Calibration Laboratory at four airports are now operational, its Director-General, Dr Anthony Anuforom has said.

They are Murtala Muhammed Airport Ikeja, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt International Airport.

During an interview in Abuja, he said the laboratory was completed last year, adding that NIMET engineers have been trained on the use of the laboratory.

He described the laboratory as a component of equipment profile that will stimulate safety and assist the agency in giving accurate measurement of weather conditions.

The laboratory, he said, is designed for correcting instrument errors through calibration, for more accurate measurement of weather variables.

He said: “If you have a wind instrument, if you don’t calibrate, you cannot guarantee that the variable is accurate.”

Anuforom said five Upper Air Stations are functional in the country as against the single station a few years ago.

He spoke of plans to fix two air stations that would be functional soon.

Embraer unveils private jets EMBRAER’S Lineage 1000 executive jet will spread its wings for the second time in six months in Abuja and Lagos.

According to a statement, SkyJet Aviation Services’ Director of Sales for West Africa, Mr Bruce Fullerton, said: “It will land in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Lagos this week.”

The demonstration in Abuja will be at the new General Aviation Terminal in Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport; that of Lagos will be at the Evergreen Apple Hangar at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. He said: “We will have complete information about the Lineage 1000 and Embraer’s Executive Jet product line. Embraer factory representatives and pilots will also be available to visitors.”

NAHCO upgrades Kano warehouse THE Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO Aviance) is modernising and expanding its Kano warehouse to enhance service delivery.

According to a statement, the warehouse is situated at the company’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. It is 17,068.5m² in size and can handle 230, 000 tonnes of import cargo and 60,000 tonnes of export cargo per year.

It also has other highly automated facilities for effective operations.

The Kano project is in line with the ongoing Federal Government’s airports modernisation and expansion programmes.

FAAN repairs six fire-fighting trucks THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has taken delivery of six fire fighting trucks sent to Kronenburg in the Netherlands for repairs.

In a statement, FAAN said the vehicles would boost its drive to have adequate fire cover for the certification of the Lagos and Abuja airports.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) prescribes a minimum of three fire fighting trucks to qualify any airport for certification.

The Director of Airport Operations, Capt Henry Omeogwu, explained that the vehicles would help in containing any fire incident at the airport.

Jed Air to acquire aircraft

•A Dash 8 aircraft belonging to Jed Air used for oil and gas logistics and passenger operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

NAMA to begin 24-hour services at three airports T HE Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) will start 24-hour air traffic management services at three airports next month.

According to its Managing Director, Mr Nnamdi Udoh, the airports are Yola, Owerri and Enugu.

He said the decision was taken after consultation with the authorities.

The agency, he said, would take off after the installation of air field lightings.

He said NAMA would negotiate with the airport authority and airline operators who wish to operate night flights at the airports.

He said: “The reason we are creating 24-hour operations is to take care of late operations at such airports. Such airlines will have to pay NAMA money, but if I make it 24 hours, I think that more planes will come and pay money. So, declaring 24 hours is good; that was what informed our decision. We want to provide manpower; we want to make more airlines to fly.

“It will help to take care of situations were airlines do not have to get worried once it is 6 pm.

Pilots do not need to be running

around because you want to go and land in Owerri before they close. We are going to make all these airports 24 hours from March when the manpower is available.

“There will be notice to airmen for the airports. Critical among them is Yola, Owerri and Enugu.

We want to do that so that the airlines can schedule their operations. We will talk with them and find out which airport they want and any airport any operator wants will be available 24 hours.There is no point keeping it open and we don’t use it because most of those airports run on diesel.”

JED Air , one of the scheduled, charter and passengers’ services airlines in Nigeria, is set to acquire five Dash -8 Q 300 additional aircraft to boost its operations.

The airline, which specialises in cargo, oil and gas logistics, according to its Chief Executive Officer, Captain Nogie Meggison, is set to raise the stakes in aviation and related services.

Speaking in an interview at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Meggison explained that the airline had signed an agreement with a Canadian airline, Voyageur Airways to expand business for both organisations in Nigeria.

As part of the terms of the agreement, Voyageur will provide the aircraft, maintenance and technical expertise and Jed Air will operate the aircraft and provide crew and ground handling for the aircraft operations.

Voyageur Airways are also known to provide chartered aircraft to the United Nations and NATO, for operations in places, such as Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ivory Coast and Sudan.

Capt. Meggison said the agreement would enable us to provide first class aviation logistics services. “We are in the business to make great difference and we are proud to be associated with Voyageur Airways” The Director, Commercial Services, Voyageur Airways, Mr Cory Cousineau said: “We are excited about the JV agreement between Voyageur and JedAir. It is a milestone in our African operations and we will be positioning our aircraft in Nigeria in the first quarter of this year.”Voyageur Airways is a globally recognised and leading air operator and maintenance organisation that began operations in 1968 and has steadily grown into a diverse aviation company providing domestic and international non-scheduled and scheduled air services. Voyageur Airways with its over 350 employees, operates out of its 200,000 sq. ft. head office and MRO facility located in North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Airbus plans for battery AIRBUS has studied alternatives to lithium-ion batteries for its next jet, the A350, and has time to adapt to any rule changes prompted by the problems that have grounded Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, its chief executive said.

Airbus plans to use lithium-ion batteries on the A350, similar to the technology incorporated in Boeing's 787s, and so far has stood by the modern power packs.

"We studied the integration of these batteries on the A350 very carefully," Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Bregier told a group of French aerospace journalists, adding: "I am very relaxed about this."

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

NEWS ‘PHCN not responsible for Alaafin’s palace fire’

By Eric Ikhilae

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HE Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, has denied being responsible for the fire at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III. The company said it did not supply electricity to the palace before and during the incident.

PHCN was reacting to reports that it was responsible for the fire and should be held liable.

In a statement, the company’s Principal Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Tokunbo Peters, said: “For the records, the palace receives supply via Alaafin 11KV feeder, which radiates from Sakutu 1 x 15MVA Injection Substation in Oyo town.

Alaafin 11KV feeder was placed on load shedding by 1am on the day of the incident due to load limitation.

“Electricity was to be restored to the palace by 7am in line with our load shedding programme, but the plan was frustrated as a result of total loss of power supply on the Iseyin/Oyo 33KV feeder by 6.36am. Power supply was restored to the Injection Substation via the Iseyin/Oyo 33KV feeder by 8am, while reports have it that the fire at the Alaafin’s palace started around 6am”.

Court releases toxic waste ship A FEDERAL High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered the release of a ship, M.V Marivia, which was seized on January 9 for allegedly importing toxic waste into the country.

Justice Okechukwu Okeke ordered the release after fixing bail at $500,000.

Justice Okeke held that the amount, estimated by the prosecution to be about N80million, must be guaranteed by Zenith Bank, United Bank of Africa or Guaranty Trust Bank.

M.V Marivia, seized on Tin Can Port in Apapa, Lagos, was said to have originated from Tilbury, United King-

By Eric Ikhilae

dom.

Justice Okeke held that the bail was granted to protect international business interests that might involve the ship.

The Federal Government last week filed a three-count charge against the ship and three others - Rumok David; Mgbachi Fidelis Chibuzo and Bonicks Investment.

Their planned arraignment was stalled by the prosecution’s inability to produce the accused in court.

But yesterday, lead prosecution lawyer Akin Akintewe told the court about his intention to substitute the earlier charge with a new one.

The new charge has Rumok David and Bonicks Investment as defendants. Mgbachi Chibuzor is excluded.

Akintewe said the prosecution had found him not to be culpable for the alleged offence.

Besides Mrs. Benedicta Aitalegbe, Legal Adviser to the firm, CMA CGM Groups, which owns the vessel, the two accused were not in court.

It was alleged that the harmful wastes, comprising a mixture of functioning and nonfunctioning electrical/electronic equipment, imported into the country by David, were loaded in two 40ft containers.

The prosecution alleged that the containers carried equipment, whose cords were already cut, others with broken parts and none of them was packaged.

Akintewe also alleged that no Certificate of Testing was issued on the items in the container.

The National Toxic Waste Dump Watch was also said to have confirmed that the items contained in the vessel did not meet the criteria for importation.

The accused were not in court for their scheduled arraignment.

The case was adjourned till February 13.

Grandfather ‘stabs’ man to death From Osagie Otabor, Benin

N old man, Omobude Williams Uwadia, has been arrested by the police in Edo State for allegedly stabbing a 27-year-old man, Gabriel Aigbosuria, to death.

The crime was said to have been committed in the presence of some policemen, who came to arrest the deceased.

It was gathered that Pa Williams (73) had a quarrel with the deceased and went to the police station to report.

Sources said the police followed the suspect home, possibly to arrest Aigbosuria.

“They were taken aback when the suspect brought out a knife and stabbed Aigbosuria.

“Pa Williams was arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department.”

Police spokesman Ahwara Ejiroro said the homicide section was investigating the matter.

A

F

OREMOST entrepreneur Aliko Dangote and three others are to be conferred with honorary degrees by the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

The awardees are Dangote (Doctor of Science); ace historian Prof. Tekena Tamuno (Doctor of Letters) ; notable patron of the Arts Prince Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon (Doctor of Letters) and the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Dr. Lamine Diack (Doctor of Science).

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Joseph Ajienka, broke the news yesterday at a briefing on the institution’s 29th Convocation.

The convocation lecture, entitled: “The Idea and Uses of the University in the 21st Century,” will be delivered by Prof. Anya O. Anya, on Thursday.

From Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

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From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

N3.1b spent on scholarship

Edo lawmaker kidnapped HE member representing Esan Central in the Edo State House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, has been kidnapped.

House Speaker Uyi Igbe said Edoror was kidnapped in Irrua, the headquarters of Esan Central Local Government, in the company of his driver.

Igbe said the House was told of the kidnap by the victim’s wife.

He said the abductors are yet to contact the family.

The Speaker added that the House has suspended plenary till further notice.

Edoror, who is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was on his way to a meeting.

Police spokesman Ejiroro Awahra said the police were investigating the matter.

Dangote, others for UNIPORT award

•Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole (lett), Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands D. O Osunbor and Chief of Staff Patrick Obahiagbon during the inspection of ongoing work at the Five Junction, Benin City

How PDP tried to bribe me, by ex-judge

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RETIRING judge in the Edo State High Court, Justice Roland Amaize, yesterday said some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attempted to bribe him when he headed the Local Government Election Appeal Tribunal in 2008.

The Appeal Tribunal later removed three local government chairmen from office, following intra-party dispute in the PDP. Justice Amaize said some of those who approached him included a former member of the National Assembly, a former Deputy Governor, a former Attorney-General who allegedly took N10million to a judge to give to him.

He spoke at a special court session to mark his retirement.

“The dispute in the three local governments was an in-

Oshiomhole lauds ex-judge

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DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday lauded the contributions of Justice Roland Amaize to the nation’s judiciary.

The governor spoke during the valedictory court session held in honour of Justice Amaize, who retired from the State Judiciary as a high court judge.

“We have come to appreciate the contributions of Justice Amaize to the maintenance of peace and the Edo judiciary is proud of him.

“Judges are no respecter of status and all men and women are equal and common before the law.

“I congratulate the retiring jurist because giving the environment we live in where politicians draw them into the murky waters, it is not easy to rise to the highest level and retire without blemish,” Oshiomhole added.

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

tra-party feud.

“In each case, we had a split decision of two to one and as Chairman, I was on the side of the majority decision.

“Before the judgment, there were overtures from the side of those we eventually removed from office, which I turned down.

“A former lawmaker met me in my official residence and said he was sent by their

leader.

He mentioned the name of their leader and quoted him as saying that “my panel should please consider not removing the chairmen”.

“I told him to tell their leader I do not take dictates from anyone on how I conduct cases in my court.”

Justice Amaize said seven petitions were written against him to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The petitioners accused him of collecting N92million.

“When they did not succeed with their bogus allegations, they took the extreme step setting my official residence on fire.”

Justice Amaize said financing, manner of appointments of judges and evaluation of performances of judges by the NJC were areas of challenges before the judiciary.

2,129 write promotion examination in Ekiti

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TOTAL of 2,129 teach ing and non-teaching workers in public secondary schools in Ekiti State wrote promotion examination for various grades last weekend.

Monitoring the conduct of the examination, the Chairman of the State Teaching Service Commission, Prince Bayo Adeniran, described the turn out as impressive.

He said the workers were orderly and peaceful during the examination.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

Adeniran said the examination was conducted by his commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Education under standard and normal examination condition.

He reiterated the government’s “merit-based” approach to appointment and promotion of workers, noting that the gesture was to encourage workers to read wide and perform optimally.

Adeniran said the plan is to boost the performance of pupils by ensuring that they are taught by competent teachers.

He said the era of automatic promotion was over and workers would only be promoted on merit.

Adeniran praised the state chapters of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and Association of National Conference of Principals of Secondary

Schools (ANCOPSS) for their support towards the success of the examination.

A teacher in Oloketuyi Memorial Grammar School, Igbemo-Ekiti, Mrs. Taiwo Akinola, said the examination questions were “standard and not extremely difficult”.

She said the examination would develop teachers.

The examination was conducted at centres in four towns Ado-Ekiti, Aramoko-Ekiti, Ikole-Ekiti and Usi-Ekiti.

THE Bayelsa State Government has given scholarship of over N3.1 billion to 789 awardees in 20 countries.

At a briefing with reporters in Abuja yesterday, Governor Seriake Dickson said 137 PhD scholars, 260 Master’s candidates, 142 undergraduates and 250 secondary school pupils are studying in Nigeria and various institutions across the world.

He said N3.1billion was budgeted for the scholarship but N1 billion has been released.

Dickson said his administration is also building 400 primary schools, adding that the state is investing in primary education to raise the standard of education.

A breakdown shows that of the PhD awardees, 34 were in the United Kingdom, 65 in Nigeria and 38 across the globe.

Of the 260 scholars sponsored for the Master's Programme, 132 were in the United Kingdom, 40 in Nigeria and 88 across the world.

Oil workers give strike notice OIL workers have issued a three-day strike notice to the governments of Rivers, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo, Enugu, Abia, Anambra and Benue over alleged unfair labour practices by the management of Onne Free Trade Zone, Rivers State.

Under the aegis of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, the workers demanded immediate recall of workers sacked for engaging in union activities and stop every act of impunity and injustice meted out to oil and gas workers in the zone.

In a communiqué after a meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of their two unions, the oil workers explained that the planned industrial action would begin on February 13 and end on February 15.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 4-2-13

Equities open with N87b gains

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HE equities market sustained a positive market position yesterday in spite of losses by many highly capitalised stocks.

The market sentiment, which rose last week, continued amid increased bids from investors.

The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) the All-Share-Index (ASI) and market capitalisation improved by 0.84 per cent.

The ASI added 273.17 absolute points to close at 32,685.03 points, while the market capitalisation gained N87 billion to close at N10.457 trillion.

The market was impacted heavily by value gains recorded by highly capitalised stocks, including First Bank Nigeria Holdings (FBNH), Nigerian Breweries (NB), Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank), Access Bank, Lafarge

By Tonia Osundolire

WAPCO, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Dangote Cement, the most capitalised stock on the floor, which controls about 25 per cent of market weight, lost 3.36 per cent value.

Volume of shares transacted rose to 578.04 million valued at N4.386 billion in 7,740 deals, compared with 410.746 million shares worth N3.500 billion exchanged in 6,718 deals last Friday. Volume and value grew by 40.73 per cent and 25.31 per cent.

Sterling Bank emerged the most traded stock on trade log. It sold 114.38 million shares valued at N326.62 million and exchanged in 118 deals. Transcorp, Fidelity, UBA and FBNH followed in that sequence.

However, a total of 120

stocks were traded yesterday, 52 appreciated in value, 53 others closed flat while 15 shed value. On every declined stock, 3.53 per cent appreciated. This, operators said, portends a positive outlook for the market at least in the next trading session.

International Breweries reversed downtrend prior to yesterday to topped stocks advancers’ log in percentage terms. It added N2.27 to its previous close, representing 10 per cent maximum value growth.

PZ Cussons, Transcorp, Wema Bank, AIICO, Unity Bank, Prestige Assurance, Airservices, Diamond Bank and Skye Bank added up for the top 10. The highlighted stocks here are Market Making stocks. This best explains the over five per cent growth.

On the losers’ table, Flour Mills shed N8.09, representing 10 per cent maximum value depletion to head losers’ log in percentage terms. DN Meyer, MCNICHOLAS, UTC, Livestock, May & Baker, Multitrex, RT Briscoe, Dangote Cement and Cutix added up for the top 10 losers.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 4-2-13

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

MONEY LINK

Foreign reserves now $46b, says FBN • Dollar demand drops to $830m

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IGERIA’S foreign reserves have increased by $1.8 billiion to $46 billion in January this year as against a shortfall of $300 million recorded in December last year, FBN Capital Limited has said.

The research firm in a report entitled: ‘Return to accumulation of reserve’ attributed the decline in oil reserves to seasonal factors ravaging the country. Issues, such as flooding and hostage taking in the Niger Delta are believed to have affected the nation’s reserves.

It said: “Official reserves increased in January by $1.8 billion to $46 billion, suggesting that the decline in December of $300 million

By Akinola Ajibade

was a one-off caused by seasonal factors.

“They had increased by $9.5billion since end-July following the hike of 400bps in the cash reserve requirement for banks by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).”

The firm said dollar auction at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) window has dropped from $990 million in December to $830 million in January.

“One reason for the easing of demand at auction is the healthy supply of dollars to the interbank market by offshore investors in naira-denominated debt. This was evident from the Federal Government bond auctioned

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in January, which attracted the highest total bid for five months,” it added.

According to FBN, official reserves include the balance in the excess crude account, from which the Presidency last week sanctioned a disbursement of $1 billion.

It quoted Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as saying that the balance in the account was $9.2 billion after the distribution.

“We should expect further payouts as the Federal Government looks to assuage the governors’ opposition to the law for the sovereign wealth fund and in the run-up to the elections in 2015,” the report said.

The firm had projected that foreign reserves would hit

•Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

$48 billion in January 2013, $46 billion in December 2012, $44 billion in November 2012 and $42 billion in October last year.

‘Poor access to agents hinder mobile money operations’

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URVEY conducted by Visa International has indicated that lack of prevalent accessibility to mobile money agents as a key barrier to the adoption of mobile money in many African countries.

The report according to a statement, said that in order to drive adoption, cash and customer service will need to be readily accessible to meet expectations even as 54 per cent of consumers cited quick and easy access to cash as a key benefit of mobile money.

The study also found that security concerns associated with

By Collins Nweze

carrying cash and the need to quickly send money to family members living far away are among the key drivers for mobile money adoption.

The Visa study suggested that the success of mobile financial services is determined by how deeply a mobile money provider understands its customers and tailors the service to the needs of consumers and mobile money agents – from service menus, to marketing and education.

It also found there is high

awareness of mobile money services and capabilities among consumers in developing economies. “Eighty one per cent of consumers surveyed intend to use mobile money to send money to family members, 56 per cent to pay utility bills and 52 per cent to save money for their family. The primary driver to adopt mobile financial services is the need to protect funds from theft and the ability to more easily send funds and pay bills,” it said.

“Not having prevalent accessibility to mobile money agents is ranked as a key bar-

rier to the adoption of mobile money. In order to drive adoption, cash and customer service will need to be readily accessible to meet expectations. Fifty four per cent of consumers cited quick and easy access to cash as a key benefit of mobile money,” it said.

The study included both in-depth qualitative and quantitative research on money management needs, habits and practices as well as factors that need to be addressed for the successful adoption of mobile money services.

FGN BONDS Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 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 28-04-2012 “ 14-04-2012

GAINERS AS AT 31-1-13

SYMBOL INTBREW PZ TRANSCORP WEMABANK AIICO UNITYBNK PRESTIGE AIRSERVICE DIAMONDBNK SKYEBANK

O/PRICE 22.71 35.63 1.43 0.92 0.84 0.66 0.72 4.62 7.00 5.90

C/PRICE 24.98 39.19 1.57 1.01 0.92 0.72 0.78 4.99 7.47 6.29

CHANGE 2.27 3.56 0.14 0.09 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.37 0.47 0.39

O/PRICE

FLOURMILL DNMEYER MCNICHOLS UTC LIVESTOCK MAYBAKER MULTITREX RTBRISCOE DANGCEM CUTIX

80.91 1.26 0.81 0.82 2.50 1.97 0.95 1.75 144.87 1.46

C/PRICE 72.82 1.15 0.77 0.78 2.38 1.88 0.91 1.69 140.00 1.42

Exchange Rate (N) 155.2 155.8 155.7

Date 2-7-12 27-6-12 22-6-12

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

NGN USD NGN GBP NGN EUR NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) (S/N) Bureau de Change (S/N) Parallel Market

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

147.6000 239.4810 212.4997

149.7100 244.0123 207.9023

150.7100 245.6422 209.2910

-2.11 -2.57 -1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

July ’12

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 11.8%

7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS

ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 137.52 142.61 0.80 1.13 0.96 100.00 1,000.00 1,786.50 14.17 1.39 1.87 10,619.62

9.08 1.00 137.12 142.02 0.78 1.13 0.95 100.00 1,000.00 1,785.11 13.48 1.33 1.80 10,315.98

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor

NSE CAP Index

Name

CHANGE 8.09 0.11 0.04 0.04 0.12 0.09 0.04 0.06 4.87 0.04

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m 113m

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12

LOSERS AS AT 31-1-13

SYMBOL

U

NITED Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has introduced MasterCard for domiciliary accounts to its customers. The bank in a statement, said the product is needed to promote its role in the Nigerian financial system and is demonstration of its support for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless banking initiative.

It said the product would ease transaction needs of its teeming customers who can now upgrade their debit MasterCard for use on accounts denominated in currencies apart from naira such as dollars, Pounds Sterling and Euro.

The bank said the product is tied to domiciliary accounts instead of naira current or savings account. “It offers the same flexibility of usage anywhere in the world, including Nigeria . When a transaction is carried out with the dollar, pounds or Euro MasterCard, the customer’s account is debited according to the currency of the domiciliary account,” it said.

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 350m 150m 350m 138m 350m 113m

Currency OBB Rate Call Rate

UBA inaugurates MasterCard for domiciliary accounts

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

TERLING Bank has lauded the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah over the current efforts at refurbishing some of the major airports across the country.

Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said the exercise as being witnessed by air travelers, has added another value to the aviation sector.

In a statement from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Sterling Bank boss described the recently commissioned airports in Lagos and Abuja as landmarks in encouraging foreign investment.

He spoke yesterday at the lender’s head office in Lagos, while playing host to the management of NAMA, led its managing director, Engr. Mazi Nnamdi Udoh.

Adeola , while extolling the dynamism of the aviation minister in driving the sector to new heights, pledged the support and co-operation of the bank in the transformation agenda of the federal government.

He noted that NAMA, under its present leadership, ‘is doing an excellent job in the area of air safety’’ assuring ‘’Sterling Bank is ready to partner with the agency to enhance its activities and add value to its programmes through the bank’s various products and services’’.

Udoh said that the visit was to enable the agency and the bank explore new frontiers of partnership and initiatives that would enhance a mutual co-operation and business harmony.

He disclosed that NAMA has embarked on a number of safety critical projects such as modern air traffic equipment and staff capacity building targeted at enhancing and improving air safety in the country in line with the international standards.

DATA BANK

Tenor

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Sterling Bank lauds minister over airport overhaul

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK

Bank P/Court

Previous 04 July, 2012

Current 07, Aug, 2012

8.5000 8.0833

8.5000 8.0833

Movement

56

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

57

NEWS Imo Concorde Hotel: Govt, firm sign $20m deal From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

T

HE Imo State Government has signed a 20year lease agreement with ABM Group of Companies for $20million to revamp the state-owned Concorde Hotel.

The Managing Director of the company, Prince Alex Mbata, said the firm, which has taken over the management of the hotel, would begin intensive renovation to bring it at par with other fourstar hotels within and outside Nigeria.

According to him, the deal, which was sealed for $1 million per annum, would revive the hotel and make it a tourist destination, which will impact on the socio-economic life of the state.

Mbata said: “We will overhaul the hotel within the first six months. Already, we have started reorganising the security network to meet with modern challenges.”

The hotel chief said the new management would create jobs for youths, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, adding that the hotel’s staff strength of 297 would be doubled in the first year of its operation.

Anambra flood funds intact, says SSG From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

T

HE Chairman, Anambra State Flood Disaster Relief Coordinating Committee and Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Oseloka Obaze, has said the Flood Emergency Fund’s accounts, in which the donations from the Federal Government and others were put, are still intact.

The SSG said the money spent on tackling the flood, totaling about N128million, came from the state government.

He explained that disbursement of the funds would begin later this month, once the Board of Trustees (BoT) reviews the target sectors, the needs assessment and determine the sector that requires the most critical intervention.

‘We don’t sell guns to criminals’ From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

A

LEADER of Onitsha Main Market Amalgamated Traders’ Union (OMMATU), Chief Innocent Agudiegwu, has said the market is not the centre of arms and ammunition distribution, as being alleged.

Reacting to a report (not

by The Nation), he said: “We received the news of the false allegation that this market is the centre of illicit gun-running as unfortunate. I wish to state categorically clear that Onitsha does not sell arms and ammunition to criminals, as alleged in the report. This main market only deals with articles, such as clothes, bags, baby wears, men’s wears and other provisions, including creams. It has never been involved in any illicit gun-running.”

Obi awards N30b road contracts in three weeks From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

A

NAMBRA State Governor Peter Obi has awarded road contracts worth over N30 billion in the last three weeks.

The governor said his administration has paid over N5billion as mobilisation fee to the contractors.

He said the state has enough funds to sustain its projects.

Obi spoke yesterday when he started the road from Agulu to Nise, which, according to him, is designed to ease traffic at Ezinano and make the transportation of goods and services easier for the people.

The governor said all parts of Anambra State is his constituency because he was aware that some former governors concentrated development in their towns and local governments.

According to him, he will not, as a Christian, develop his area to the neglect of others.

Obi said: “All I can assure the people of Agulu and the entire Anaocha Local Government is that by the time my tenure ends, they will, like other parts of the state, be glad that they were not left out in the developmental stride in the state.”

Of the roads in the area, the

•Governor Obi supervising the removal of shanties and unapproved structures at Nkpor... at the weekend.

governor said the AmanseaEbenebe-Ugbene-Ugbenu road has suffered a bad fate.

He said the contract was awarded five years ago to a construction firm, adding that there is nothing on the ground to show for the 90 per cent the contractor had collected.

Obi inspected the road on Sunday and apologised to the people of Awka North for the delay in its completion.

The governor blamed Ebenebe residents and the contractor for delaying the job.

He gave the contractor two months to perform or be re-

moved.

But the people said they would not want any extension but outright termination of the contract to a more competent contractor.

The Commissioner for Works Callistus Ilozumba said Anambra State is progressing

Four dead as boat capsizes in Ebonyi

F

OUR persons were at the weekend confirmed dead after a boat conveying 40 passengers capsised at Oferekpe community in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The incident reportedly occurred at 8pm when the boat was conveying the passengers to Cross River State for a funeral.

Thirty-six others were rescued.

Police spokesman Sylvester Igbo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident.

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

He said the boat capsised when it hit a rock at night.

The police spokesman said four persons died and 36 others were rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Igbo said the police were investigating the causes of the boat mishap.

An eyewitness Mr. Chigbogu Nwite said: “The accident occurred about 8pm as Mrs. Nwaka Monday, Mrs. Jennifer Eworo, their kids, including 36 other passengers, boarded an engine boat to

Cross River State to attend a funeral.

“The only thing that divides us (Ebonyi State) and Cross River State is the river.”

According to him, the accident occurred when the boat collided with a log of wood and capsized.

It led to the death of Mrs. Nwaka Monday and Mrs. Jennifer Eworo and their children because they could not swim.

The eyewitness said 36 other passengers, including the captain of the boat, Mr. Oyom Agbor, were rescued.

Nwite attributed the acci-

dent to marine spirits.

He said the wounds on the faces of the deceased and the foams from their mouths and noses were indications of such occurrence.

The Nation gathered that the incident occurred on the Oferekpe-Ovonum waterside as the victims were going for burial at Ovonum-Obubara in Cross River State.

It was learnt that the bodies of the women have been deposited at the Specialist Hospital in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, while the two deceased children were buried by the shores.

SSS arrests six suspected ‘fake’ Cameroonian doctors in Anambra

T

HE State Security Service (SSS) has arrested six Cameroonians suspected to be fake specialists in Chinese medicine in Anambra State.

Only the leader of the suspects, Cyrille Muoafo Mekoneng, speaks little English language; others use signs to communicate with their clients.

The state SSS Director Alexander Okeiyi told reporters yesterday in Awka, the state capital, that the suspects had been attending churches for the members to patronise them.

Some of the items recovered from them include three

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

health detectors (Aka-Quantum magnetic resonance body analysers), two digital therapy machines, two big bags containing assorted Chinese drugs, allegedly unregistered by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Others are two Dell laptops, a Toshiba laptop, two stethoscopes, a 5ml Hypojent-IV syringe and an allegedly forged certificate in general medicine from Shenyang University, China.

The suspects are between 19 and 23. They claimed to cure some diseases such as hypertension, fibroid, various infec-

tions, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and epilepsy.

Okeiyi said: “Against this backdrop, the public and churches need to be wary of persons claiming to be specialists in any area of medicine.

Such persons are to be reported to security agencies and relevant regulation authorities for clearance.”

Mekoneng insisted while speaking with reporters that they were all medical Doctors.

But he admitted that the only mistake he and his colleagues made was coming into Nigeria illegally, adding that the drugs had no NAFDAC numbers.

Mekoneng said they

Dr. Paul Orhii, NAFDAC boss enetered Anambra through Enugu State, where their business blossomed.

He added that their business was genuine.

Kidnapped septuagenarian woman rescued

T

HE police in Enugu State have rescued a septuagenarian woman, who was kidnapped on December 13, last year.

Madam Theresa Udeji, 79, was abducted from her home in Awgu Local Government by unknown gunmen and taken to an unknown destination.

Operatives of the Anti-Kid-

From Chris Oji, Enugu

napping Unit of the police command trailed the suspects and apprehended them at the weekend.

Madam Udeji was rescued in an uncompleted building at Nara axis of Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State after a month’s search by operatives of the anti-kidnap unit.

No ransom was paid.

Police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu said the victim had been reunited with her family, adding that a suspect, who gave his name as Ozoemena Mbah of Onuorie Nara, was arrested. He is helping the police in their investigation.

Police Commissioner Musa Daura hailed the Neighbourhood Watch of Nara commu-

nity for assisting the police in the successful rescue of the woman and arrest of the suspects.

Daura said the command would continue to partner stakeholders to reduce crimes.

The police chief thanked his men for the feat and urged them to maintain the tempo in the war against criminals.

to the delight of men of goodwill because of the governor’s equitable distribution of projects.

The commissioner noted that one of the lessons Anambra people should learn from Obi is the virtues of equity and justice.

Rep threatens to stop road contract From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

A MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Mrs Uche Ekwunife, has threatened to recommend the termination of a road and drainage project being handled by a construction firm in her constituency.

Ekwunife, representing Anaocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia Federal Constituency of Anambra State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), spoke yesterday in Nri, Anocha Local Government.

The lawmaker was on an unscheduled visit to project sites in the constituency when she expressed concern over the poor and shoddy job the contractor was allegedly doing.

She described as “an eye sore and not good job” the Agbadani-AkankpisiAgbanabo link road’s culvert at Nri, being executed by the contractor.

Mrs Ekwunife urged the contractor to widen and deepen the drainages to contain the ravaging flood in the area.

She said: “With this kind of shoddy job, do you think people will be happy with Mr President, who gave out this job with good intentions?

“The President cannot be doing his best to ensure that Nigerians get dividends of democracy while contractors, who entered into contractual agreements, carry out shoddy jobs. If we continue to work like this, this country will not work.

“If you don’t do what you are supposed to do, then we will have no choice than to recommend that this job be stopped.”

58

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2013

FOREIGN NEWS Egyptian opposition alleges police tortured prisoner to death

A

N Egyptian opposition party on Monday claimed police tortured one of its members to death, electrocuting him and beating him repeatedly on the head - the latest case alleging police brutality in a crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Mohammed el-Gindy, a 28-year-old activist, died of his wounds early Monday at a Cairo hospital after he was “tortured to death,” the Egyptian Popular Current party said in a statement.

The Interior Ministry had no immediate comment.

El-Gindy went missing for several days after protesting on Jan. 27 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The protesters are opposed to Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi’s policies and are pressing him to amend the constitution, which was drafted by a panel dominated by Islamists and approved in a public referendum last year.

Party spokeswoman Mona Amer said she saw elGindy’s body and that it carried marks of torture. She said he was electrocuted, had broken ribs and a “cord appeared to have been wrapped around his neck.”

A medical report cited brain hemorrhage as cause of death.

Party members were organizing a funeral for el-

Gindy and Mohammed Saad, a 20-year-old protester, who also died of his wounds sustained during clashes with security forces on Friday.

More than 60 people have died in recent protests across Egypt that began on Jan. 24, the eve of the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The deaths of the two activists come days after a video surfaced showing riot police beating and dragging naked a man during Friday clashes near Egypt’s presidential palace. The man, Hamada Saber, initially denied police abuse and said protesters undressed him. But later he changed his account of what happened, saying he lied to avoid more problems.

The beating was caught on camera by The Associated Press, and the video was broadcast live on Egyptian television late Friday as protests raged in the streets outside the presidential palace.

The AP video showed police trying to bundle the naked man into a police van after beating him.

The beating prompted a rare statement of regret from the Interior Ministry, which promised to investigate the attack. The president’s office said it was pained by the images and called the assault “shocking.”

Nigerian pirates suspected in hijack of French tanker off Ivory Coast

S

USPECTED Nigerian pirates have hijacked a French-owned Luxembourg-flagged tanker along with its 17-member crew off Ivory Coast, Ivorian officials and the International Maritime Bureau said on Monday.

The Gulf of Guinea area is second only to the waters off Somalia for piracy and there has been a spate of violent attacks in vessels in recent days, prompting the bureau to issue a security alert for the region.

The Gascogne was the second vessel to be seized off Ivory Coast in less than three weeks and the first to have been taken so far from shore.

Many of the pirate gangs are offshoots of militant groups that once operated in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta and mainly target ships carrying refined petroleum products that are

easily sold on the local black market.

Ivory Coast authorities said the Gascogne had been chartered by South Korean petroleum transporter SK Shipping.

It had taken on 3,000 tonnes of diesel fuel in Abidjan on January 30 but had already off loaded a portion of its cargo when it was seized on Sunday.

The 17-strong crew comprised seven Togolese, two Senegalese, two Ivorians, one South Korean, one Chinese and four sailors from Benin, said Bertin Koffi Tano, Ivory Coast’s head of maritime and port affairs.

“The ship was indeed hijacked in Ivorian waters,” Tano said, adding that the IMB, a division of the International Chamber Of Commerce charged with fighting maritime crime, was tracking the

Gascogne off the coast of Nigeria on Monday.

“We don’t know who (the attackers) are. We don’t know what kind of weapons they have ... We don’t have the means to keep a watch over Ivorian territorial waters,” he said.

The IMB’s Live Piracy Report said the Gascogne was sailing 70 nautical miles (130 km or 80 miles) south of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan when it went missing.

SEA-Tankers, the ship’s French owner, said it lost contact with the vessel on Sunday morning.

Three tanker vessels have been targeted in attacks in the Gulf of Guinea in the past five days. The two other incidents occurred off the coast of Nigeria, with one attempted hijacking claiming the life of a crew

member early on Monday.

While attacks in the waters off Nigeria, Togo and Benin have been commonplace for years, increased cooperation between national authorities and more robust policing of territorial waters have had some success.

However, analysts believe these efforts may be driving Nigerian pirates to operate further from their home waters off countries, such as Ivory Coast, with poorly equipped and trained navies and coastguards.

Ivory Coast recorded its first vessel hijacking last October when suspected Nigerian pirates seized a Bahamasflagged tanker carrying more than 32,000 metric tonnes of gasoline near Abidjan’s port.

The 24 crew were later freed unharmed.

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban recovering after surgery

A

PAKISTANI schoolgirl who underwent reconstructive surgery in Britain after being shot in the head by the Taliban said on Monday she felt much better and was focused on her mission to help others. According to Agency reports, a team of doctors carried out a five-hour operation on fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai on Saturday to mend parts of her skull with a titanium plate and help restore hearing on her left side with a cochlear implant.

Speaking 24 hours after waking up from surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, Yousufzai said she was already walking around.

“I can walk a little bit, I can talk and I’m feeling better,” she said from her hospital bed in a video clip released by the hospital.

“I think I will just get better very soon, and there will be no problem. The thing is

my mission is the same, to help people, and I will do that,” she said.

Yousufzai was shot in the head at point-blank range in October by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education, and was brought to Britain for treatment.

Doctors at the hospital said they were impressed by her recovery so far and hopeful she would be discharged fairly soon, describing her as focused and enthusiastic.

“She should be feeling sorry for herself 24 hours after an operation like that, not talking about helping other people,” said Dave Rosser, the hospital’s medical director.

The attack on Yousufzai, as she left school in the Swat valley, drew widespread international condemnation, and the schoolgirl has become a symbol of resistance to the Taliban’s efforts to deny women education and other rights.

POLICE AUCTION SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE RACHAEL I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OMASHOR RACHAEL , now wish to be known and addressed as MRS RACHAEL OMASHOR-OJO. All former documents remain valid.

Trustfund Pension Plc and general public should please take note.

This is to inform the general public that the Nigeria Police Area Command Bori plans to dispose Unclaimed and Abandoned Exhibits, Claimants should report at the Area Command Head Quarter Bori-Ogoni. Items shall be Auctioned 21 days after this Publication 1) Blue Volkswagen Caravan Bus Reg. No AFN 390 LND 2) 9.9. Yamaha auto board engine and some Scrap Motorcycles Auctioneer VICTOR OBEAHON 08038887321

LOSS OF DOCUMENT

This is to inform the general public that the original letter of allocation and original Lagos State revenue receipt of a property lying situate at Abijo GRA Scheme with Ref num Lu/09/Abijo GRA/BIK/Pit belonging to Agunbiade Kennyis missing. All effoert to trace proved abortive. General public take note

TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP I, Mrs. Olusola Oshodi of 140 Obafemi Awolowo Way Ikeja Lagos hereby notify the general public that i have intension to apply to LSDPC for its consent to change ownership of shop 68 phase V Ijaiye Shopping Complex agege, Lagos which was originally rented

by Mrs. A Ogunrombi and I paid for the purchase of same in her name. I have made series of efforts to contact Mrs. A. Ogunronbi the original tenant whom I paid on her behalf but all efforts to locate her proved 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, Madam A. Ogunrombi and general public take note.

•Pope Benedict XVI greets Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in a private room as they attend the concert by the Orchestra del Maggio Fiorentino, directed by Indian conductor Zubin Metha, to celebrate the 84th Lateran pact’s anniversary in the Vatican City...yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP

Syria’s opposition renews call for dialogue

T

HE leader of Syria’s main opposition group called Monday on President Bashar Assad to respond to his overture for a dialogue to save the country from complete destruction.Mouaz alKhatib, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, said he is extending his hand “to facilitate the peaceful departure” of the regime and called on Assad to begin releasing tens of thousands of political prisoners as a precondition.Al-Khatib said last week he is willing to hold talks with the regime in Egypt, Tunisia or Turkey if that would help end the bloodshed. His offer marked a departure from the mainstream opposition’s narrative insisting that Assad step down before any talks.He renewed his offer Monday in an interview with Qatari-based Al-Jazeera television and said he was placing the ball in Assad’s court.”We say to the Syrian leadership, let us search for an exit for the crisis before Syria gets destroyed even more,” he said.”The regime has to take a clear stance and we will extend our hand for the sake of our people and in order to fa-

cilitate the peaceful departure of the regime,” he added.AlKhatib met separately with Russian, U.S. and Iranian officials on the sidelines of a conference on security in Munich over the weekend.There has been no comment from Syrian officials on al-Khatib’s initiative last week or his latest comments.A senior Iranian official visiting Damascus appeared to voice support for alKhatib’s call for dialogue, without naming him.”We

welcome any initiative that leads to dialogue,” said Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran’s National Security Council. He said the talks should be held in Damascus.

Jalili also commented on an airstrike on Syria last week, saying Israel will regret conducting it. He urged the entire Muslim world to be ready to defend the Syrian people.

“Just as it regretted its aggressions after the 33-day, 22day and eight-day wars, today

the Zionist entity will regret the aggression it launched against Syria,” Jalili told a news conference in Damascus.

He was referring to past wars between Israel and Hezbollah or the Palestinian Hamas rulers of Gaza.

“The Islamic world will not allow aggression against Syria,” he said. “Syria stands on the front line of the Islamic world against the Zionist regime. ... The Islamic world must react appropriately to the Israeli aggression.”

Iran says Israel will regret strike against Syria

I

RAN told Israel on Monday it would regret its air strike against Syria last week, without spelling out whether Iran or its ally planned any military response.

“They will regret this recent aggression,” Saeed Jalili, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told a news conference in Damascus a day after holding talks there with President Bashar al-Assad.

Jalili likened Israel’s attack on a military compound north-west of Damascus on Wednesday to previous conflicts including its 34-day war with Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah in 2006, all battles that he said Israel had lived to regret.

“Today, too, both the people and the gov-

ernment of Syria are serious regarding the issue. And also the Islamic community is supporting Syria,” he said.

Jalili said Iran, in its current role as head of the Non-Aligned Movement, would work on Syria’s behalf on the international stage in response to the attack.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday the attack on a Syrian arms complex showed Israel was serious about preventing the flow of heavy weapons into Lebanon, appearing to acknowledge for the first time that Israel had carried out the strike.

Diplomats, Syrian rebels and security sources say Israeli jets bombed a convoy near the Lebanese border, apparently hitting weapons destined for Hezbollah.

THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

59

NEWS PDP crisis grows as faction expels Obasanjo’s men

Killing of policemen: Soldiers take over Delta security M

ILITARY personnel have taken over security in parts of Delta State after rampaging bandits gunned down no fewer than five policemen in 48 hours.

More worrisome was the report that the service rifles of the slain policemen were carted away by the hoodlums, thereby raising concerns that the criminals are planning fresh onslaughts.

“The gunmen opened fire on the police team around Eku, (near Warri), killing one policeman on the spot and fatally wounding others. The wounded cops fled into the bush,” a source

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

said.

Our reporter also learnt that a policeman attached to a former local government council chairman was killed in the state hours earlier.

Police spokesman Famous Ajieh, said he heard reports of the incident.

He said: “I heard something like that but the report is not very clear because there are several versions of the incidents. Hopefully, details will be clearer tomorrow.”

The Nation investigation however revealed that members of the armed forces - Nigerian Airforce, Navy and Army - took over security duty on major highways yesterday.

The combat-ready troops were sighted on the EkuAbraka axis of Warri-Agbor highway, where hoodlums opened fire on a team of policemen.

The development is on the heels of the killing of an armed security aide to a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ndudi

Elumelu.

The cop, simply identified as Stanley, was gunned down when the hoodlums opened fire on Elumelu’s convoy shortly after he left the Osubi Airport.

Consequently, it was gathered that the governor called in the armed forces.

“The governor consulted some security chiefs and decided that soldiers, complemented by naval men and men of the 61 Nigerian Airforce, joined in flushing out the hoodlums,” a source revealed.

One of the stern-looking military man on duty in the area said their deployment was inevitable.

•Obasanjo cal Government and Ado/ Odo Ota Local Government for six years, in accordance with Section 58 58 (1) b, f, j, k and I of the party’s constitu-

Nigerians reject single tenure, new states, others Continued from page 4

Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution to abolish Joint Account in states so that the allocations of Local Government Areas can be paid directly to them. They said allocation should not be given to unelected local government chairmen. Instead, they voted that the Federal Government should withhold the allocations of local government areas with caretaker chairmen.

“They also voted overwhelmingly for financial autonomy for the state Houses of Assembly to ensure the independence of the legislature.

“They voted for the reform of the judiciary for quicker dispensation of justice. That the constitution be amended to separate the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the Minister of Justice for speedy dispensation of justice.

“A separate Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for the Federation Account Allocation Committee to give the nation a true picture of its revenues and disbursement.

This is necessary so that there will be equity.

“There should be time limit for conducting elections, by-elections and electoral petitions. Section 197(1) (b)

should be amended to abolish State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

“Traditional rulers should be given a constitutional role. For a Nigerian to be an indigene of any place, he or she should have resided in an area for a long period and be accorded accompanying right.”

On rejected proposals, the report said: “Most of the respondents voted against state creation, state police, five, six, seven years single tenure; 20 per cent derivation for oil producing states.

“They also said states should be stopped from controlling 50 per cent of their resources; no voting

by Nigerians in the Diaspora; and no to two tiers of government.”

A source involved in the collation said: “The votes have reflected the wishes of Nigerians.

“We will release the voting pattern so that Nigerians will know that the poll was scientifically conducted.

“If there is tension about the report, it borders only on state creation. That is why some people are insinuating that the report has been doctored.”

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep Zakari Mohammed, who

spoke with our correspondent, however, denied that the results were doctored.

He said the House deferred the consideration of the report on the survey to have more time to study it.

He said: “There is no question of doctoring or killing the report of the poll. We only need time to study the votes and I am assuring you that the report will soon be presented to the House.

“So, the issue of doctoring does not arise. Everybody wanted to be sure that what was voted for in his or her constituency is reflected in the report.”

tion.

The five former members had earlier been suspended on November 3, last year for one month, following alleged anti-party activities.

Oladipupo said the affected members failed to appear before a disciplinary committee to defend the charges against them within the 30 days stipulated by the party’s constitution.

The party said as a responsible organisation that believes in discipline and the Rule of Law, it would initiate contempt proceedings against the former members and those suspended “since they have continuously shown their disdain for the judiciary”.

The party recalled that the Federal High Court in Lagos, in a judgment delivered on November 16, last year, nullified the purported congress that they conducted and ordered their arrest and prosecution for holding themselves out as officers of the party in Ogun State.

This was sequel to two judgments delivered by an Ogun State High Court sitting in Ilaro which on 19th June and 3rd August, 2012, affirmed the Mr. Adebayo Dayo-led executive is the authentic management body for the party and nullified the list of candidates submitted for the 21st July, 2012 council election in Ogun State by the other faction.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

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SPORT EXTRA

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HE on-going African Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa has claimed its first casualty not on the pitch. In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, a resident, Mr. Moshood Owolabi, slumped and died on Sunday, following what witnesses said was caused by heightened suspense and excitement.

The Nation gathered that Owolabi, 40, and father of two, died in a crowded viewing centre at Promise Stadium in Lanlepe compound, Oke-Sokori in the Ogun State capital, while watching the match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire.

Kalou tips Nigeria for AFCON 2013 title •Forfeits shorts to Mikel for bet loss From Rasaq Oboirien in Johannesburg FTER crashing out of Africa’s biggest football fiesta following a 2-1 loss in the quarter-finals to Nigeria at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, Ivory Coast ace, Solomon Kalou has tipped the Super Eagles to win the AFCON 2013 title.

“Looking at the way Nigeria played, they are a team that can go all the way,” Kalou delared.

When the Lille Metropole of France forward was asked by NationSport if he had satisfied his bet with John Obi Mikel after Ivory Coast lost to the Eagles in the quarter-final, Kalou answered: “He won today. It was not a bet that has to do with money as I ended up giving him my jersey shorts.”

A

Eagles land in Durban

AFCON:

meets press 3:30pm.

Man dies watching Eagles, •Keshi •Players train 4:30pm Cote D’Ivoire match P From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Owolabi, who couldn’t control himself while in a fit of heightened anxiety and suspense when a seemingly goal-bound shot from Victor Moses was deflected by an Ivorian defender, jerked up suddenly from his seat and then collapsed onto the lap of another viewer, sitting adjacent to him.

Owolabi, an engineer with the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Ministry of Works in Abeokuta, was said to have started choking, foaming from the mouth and nose as he gasped for breath.

Owolabi was rushed to Success Medical Clinic and later to First Alpha Medical Centre where he was confirmed dead.

The Medical Director of Success Medical Clinic, Dr. Odede Kolawole said the late Owolabi was brought dead to his hospital and that all efforts to revive him failed.

Dr. Kolawole said the late Owolabi probably died of anoxia (shortage of oxygen) as a result of excessive inhalation of carbon dioxide.

Kolawole said: “He was brought in dead. I was told by a close friend that he had a fatal accident about two months ago and he was treated and managed.

“It is supposed to be a heart attack because the way I saw him, he looked weak, he didn’t look agile and healthy; he looked like someone who had been sick

for a very long time. He looked like someone who was managing his life and now, facing a crowd with shortage of oxygen in that area. We call it anoxia, excessive intake of carbondioxide persistently for a long period of time, but it was late before he was brought here.”

A witness, Taiwo Adebayo, said: “We were together when the match started. When Moses played a shot on target and it was deflected off by an opposing player, it was that time that he fell on someone’s laps as if he suffered from cardiac arrest and he started foaming.

“I grabbed him

immediately and rushed him to the hospital. When we got to Success hospital, the doctor was not available and the nurses tried giving him first aid. When the doctor was contacted, then he was still breathing.

“When the doctor came, he checked him and immediately referred him to another hospital (First Alpha). On the way, the gear of the vehicle got damaged and we secured a taxi after some minutes.

“When we got to the hospital, the doctor confirmed him dead. We went to his father at Kugba and the man gave the goahead for his burial."

LAYERS and officials of the Super Eagles arrived in Durban yesterday ahead of Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final clash against the Eagles of Mali.

The Super Eagles defeated the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire 2-1 in a quarter final on Sunday to set up a semi final game against Mali, who overcame the Bafana Bafana of South Africa on penalties on Saturday.

The Nigerian team led by head coach Stephen Keshi left Rustenburg early Monday aboard a luxury bus to Johannesburg to connect a flight to Durban.

The Super Eagles departed

OR Thambo airport, Johannesburg around 1pm for a 45 minutes journey to King Shaka airport, Durban.

Coach Keshi and captain, Joseph Yobo will address a world press conference by 3:30pm South African time today (2:30 Nigerian time) at the Moses Mabhida Stadium while the players will have their last training session ahead of Wednesday’s clash at 4:30pm South African time (3:30pm Nigerian time).

The training being the last for the Eagles before the game will be closed to fans and will only be open to journalists for 15 minutes.

Kanu: Eagles good for gold

E

•Godfrey Oboabona of Nigeria and Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast contest for the ball during an AFCON quarter final match on Sunday

From Taofeek Babalola, Durban

X-INTERNATIONAL and Nigeria Football Ambassador, Nwankwo Kanu has said that the Super Eagles have what it takes to emerge as champions of the African Cup of Nations ongoing in South Africa.

Opening up to NationSport yesterday in far away Rustenburg, South Africa, the former African Footballer of the Year said he is one of the few Nigerians who believed in the ability of the team to excel before the AFCON commenced, adding that his confidence in the team has not depreciated.

"If you have been following me on Facebook, you will agree that I have always believed in the ability of this team to do well in the Nations Cup.

From Innocent Amomoh, Durban, South Africa

"Before the match against Cote d’Ivoire, I told those who cared to listen that the Eagles would win. I knew if only the players could raise their game, they would carry the day and that was what happened," he said.

Kanu opined that having gone past the Cote d’Ivoire hurdle, the Eagles can go all out and wrap it up with a win against Mali, and subsequently the final match to lift the trophy.

The Super Eagles play Mali in one of the semi final matches of the Nations Cup on Wednesday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, while group C counterparts, Burkina Faso take on Ghana at the Mbombela Stadium Nelspruit on Thursday.

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TODAY IN THE NATION

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 8 NO.2,393

‘‘It seems to me really, a different kind of call for a self-respecting government to be asked to sit at communion table with terrorists for some payout negotiations’’ SANYA ONI

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

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HE last time they talked him into bidding for the PDP ticket in Anambra State’s gubernatorial race, the quest almost ended before it got under way.

The “He” in this case, is Charles Chukwuma Soludo, decompressing in London, still not fully recovered from being edged out of his perch as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The “they” here is rather amorphous, but the principal figure was President Umaru Yar’Adua, the person who had signed off on Soludo’s defenestration from the CBN, with other persons of consequence in the PDP who were forever scheming to “capture “ those states not governed by the biggest party in Africa.

In his revealing January 21, 2013, Op-Ed piece for THISDAY (“What Obasanjo and Yar’Adua told me”) Soludo recalled how, on inquiring about him, Yar’Adua had been told that he was holidaying abroad and how he had been told that Yar’Adua would like to meet with him on his return.

Their goal, Yar’Adua told Soludo when they finally met on July 26, 2009, was to get him voted governor of Anambra State in the election scheduled for February 2010 so as to finally endow the state with the leadership it had never had the good fortune to enjoy – the kind of leadership encapsulated in the technocratic skills Soludo had applied to nation’s economy and financial system, as well as his accomplishments in those fields.

Why then was he denied a second term at the CBN? But I digress.

If Soludo thought this was a fanciful goal, considering the power of incumbency in Nigerian politics and the rugged tenacity that the incumbent, Peter Obi, of the ANPP, had displayed over the years, not forgetting the malignant influence of the Ubah clan on the political life of the state, his diffidence must have dissolved there and then.

Himself The Fixer, Tony Anenih, he was told, had been mobilised for the project and could hardly wait to go into action, if only to demonstrate that, recent setbacks notwithstanding, he was still a past master at turning losers into winners and winners into losers.

Soludo did not have to make any commitment then. He should go discuss the matter with his family and associates. But if he decided to run, he would enter the race

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Soludo: A quest renewed

•Prof Soludo

knowing that Yar’Adua would “come out fully” to ensure that he won the prize.

His wife stood resolutely against the idea, but Soludo felt sufficiently buoyed by his consultations with friends and associates to tell Yar’Adua one month later that he was in the race, though not without preconditions.

The Federal Government would have to build an airport and dredge the River Niger to enable medium-sized ships sail all the way to Onitsha, where an international seaport would have to be constructed. The Anambra-Kogi road would have to be up-

graded to a dual-carriage highway. Because one-third of its land mass was threatened by soil erosion, Anambra would have to be given special drawing rights from the Ecological Fund.

Nor was that all.

The Federal Government would also have to complete the Greater Onitsha water scheme, designate Anambra an oil-producing state, and as a “pilot state” for largescale commercial agriculture. Finally, it would have to speed up construction of the second Niger Bridge.

With these things in place, Soludo said, he was confident that, after two terms of working 24 hours a day, he would have transformed Anambra to the point that Federal allocations would be devoted wholly to capital projects. Re-current expenditure would be wholly internally generated.

But with all these things in place, who needs Soludo’s intimidating antecedents and credentials to transform Anambra into “an international city”? And why would the Federal Government do those things for Anambra and not for other states?

But I digress again.

The important thing is that Yar’Adua agreed to all these demands, according to Soludo, who then asked for four more weeks for wider consultations. The deal was sealed.

Thereafter, the waters got muddied.

Yar’Adua fell ill, went to seek treatment in Saudi Arabia, and was never in control again. Soludo’s78-year-old father was kidnapped. His captors demanded a ransom of N500 million, but later reduced it to N300

million, warning darkly that “the worst” would happen if the demand was not met promptly.They freed him unharmed after six weeks, under terms that were never disclosed.

Soludo’s opponents sought to envelope him in scandal, charging that he had profited from improprieties in the printing of small denomination polymer banknotes handled by an Australian company when he was CBN governor. More than 1,300 petitions were filed, their major contention being that “outsiders “ were trying to impose Soludo on the Anambra State branch of the PDP. The petitions moved the PDP to suspend the party primaries indefinitely.

When the process finally got under way, party officials had to be imported from Benue State to conduct the election of delegates. Following a shuffling and reshuffling of the delegates, the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Soludo winner of the ticket.

The high court voided the outcome. That verdict was affirmed on appeal, but reversed by the Supreme Court, just in time for the election proper In the event, Peter Obi was reelected governor.Soludo placed third, with just under 20 percent of the vote, behind secondplace winner Chris Ngige. The Fixer apparently went missing in action, or was thoroughly out-fixed.

Running for governor of Anambra again after this ordeal should be the last thing on the mind of the average political aspirant.

No outcome is guaranteed. President Goodluck Jonathan cannot even guarantee his own re-election, much less that of another. The Ubah clan feels as entitled as ever. As for the Fixer, let us just say that his victims have wised up to his tactics.

But Soludo is not your average aspirant.

With one deft stroke, he has served early notice of his intent to enter the fray. “The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs,” he wrote, echoing Plato, “is to be ruled by evil men.”

Bravo, Chuma. May your example pervade this land of little men – and women –in big boots.

This time around, you cannot move your father and closest relations to safe locations early enough.

•For comments, send SMS to 08082036515

RIPPLES

HARDBALL

PENSION THIEF STOLE N32B -News

Obasanjo should bother about his meddlesomeness

O

He’s tried, some even left with the TREASURY

N Monday, virtually all newspapers published the photograph of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo participating actively in Sunday’s worship service at the Aso Villa chapel. He was in company with his host, President Goodluck Jonathan, the president’s family, and other cabinet aides and friends. Obasanjo was at the Villa with a few members of his own family. After the service, in which the former president prayed fervently for his host, whom he had traduced repeatedly in the past few months, he went for a private lunch and discussions with the president. Some newspaper analysts construed Obasanjo’s presence at the Villa as a sort of rapprochement with his protégé.

Perhaps it was.

Obasanjo’s visit came a few days after a news magazine, the New African, published an interview quoting him as accusing Jonathan of mismanaging the campaign against insecurity. That interview in turn came at a time when the uproar over Obasanjo’s vehement denunciation of Jonathan’s conflict resolution style was yet to die down. The former president had last November dismissed as weak Jonathan’s approach to the Boko Haram menace compared with his own vigorous approach to tackling insurrections.

The brickbat between aides of the two leaders stoked the cold war triggered by factors yet to be fully and accurately determined.

Analysts suspect those factors were probably connected with the unsuccessful effort by

Jonathan to call his soul his own in the face of Obasanjo’s obtruding and sometimes risible political behaviour.

Since Obasanjo has refused to detach himself from the government of the day, as well as from general governance, observers have been quick to judge that his obtrusion had reached a clearly portentous stage. They in fact read metaphysical meanings to his every move in favour or against the ruler of the day. Observers, for instance, equate his lunch with the president on Sunday ominously with the lunch he had with former Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, shortly before the latter’s fall. And they also recall his public show of affection for Otunba Gbenga Daniel, whom he publicly fed cake, as an indication of his ability to cynically purge himself of any feeling for his enemies, no matter how hard they try to placate him. It remains to be seen whether Sunday’s Aso Villa ‘rapprochement’ should be interpreted as a simple gesture of reconciliation or as a complex foreboding of impending apocalypse.

What is not in doubt, however, is that the country, nay, Obasanjo himself, should be worried that whereas the former president was his own man when he ruled the country, he seems reluctant to allow Jonathan to come to his own. But what worsens the whole messy interaction between the former and current presidents is that one man or two, as

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

the case may be, appear to determine by questionable deductions the fate of more than 160 million Nigerians. That galling resort to faulty reasoning led to the foisting of the late Umaru Yar’Adua as president in 2007. It also enthroned Jonathan himself two years later, which perhaps explains why he is wary of extricating himself from the bind he finds himself. That twisted logic has indeed now taken on a life of its own, gaining momentum by the week, and threatening to spiral out of control every time a disagreement spews out from the pressure pot.

Obasanjo has become the leitmotif of Nigerian politics, a reputation he obviously revels in. He will not discard the distinctive triumphalism that accompanies that exalted status, for there is no incentive for him to self-immolate. The better option would be for Jonathan to wean himself off the former president’s tutelage. But that also assumes Jonathan has the courage to cross the Rubicon and burn his bridges. More, taking that fateful step calls for a cleverness never before exhibited in these parts, one so unusual as to be sufficient to establish a president as a true leader. Obasanjo has an obtruding personality; he won’t let go of the reins of power. It is in fact Jonathan who has the responsibility of freeing himself and offering the country independent leadership, assuming he can summon the required confidence, courage and wisdom.

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