The Nation Jan 15,2013

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

First Lady off to Germany

N195b pension scam: ‘Maina can’t hide’ NEWS

NEWS

Page 6

Page 7

•He must face justice, says Senate

•No word on trip

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VOL. 8, NO. 2372 TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

CUP OF NATIONS

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•Keshi tips Eagles to surpass 1994 team •Players to earn $10,000 for every win •Eagles coach slams Zambian counterpart •AND MORE ON PAGES 23,24&41

Pilots get weather alert

Oyinlola out as Tukur T names acting secretary

HE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday directed pilots flying into the country to obtain weather information of their routes from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) before embarking on any flight, as failure to do so will be met with sanctions.

News Page 6 North’s insecurity self-inflicted, Moses: I want to says Sultan play all matches

Onwe takes over Ex-Osun governor begins legal battle

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

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From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

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HE ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sank deeper into trouble yesterday, with National Chairman Bamanga Tukur appointing Deputy National Secretary Onwe S. Onwe as the Acting National Secretary, pending the determination of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s fate.

The removal of Oyinlola as National Secretary was greeted with drama as Tukur was accused of using an amended Constitution, which has not been ratified by the National Convention of the PDP, to get the former Osun State governor out.

But to avoid a contempt of court, Oyinlola stayed away from the National Secretariat of the party and a session of the National Working Committee (NWC).

Oyinlola, through his counsel, launched a legal battle at the Court of Appeal to retrieve his seat. He was sacked last week by the Federal High Court.

There were, however, strong indications that a fresh South-West Zonal Congress might be conducted within 21 days by the party for the election of Oyinlola’s successor.

In a terse statement he personally signed, Tukur said he wielded the powers, in line with Chapter V Section 35 (1), 35 (1)(b) as well as Section 36(2) of the party’s constitution as amended.

The statement said: “Pursuant to the powers conferred on the National Chairman by Chapter V Section 35 (1), 35 (1)(b) as well as Section 36(2) of the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (as amended), the Deputy National Secretary of the PDP, Barr.

Solomon Onwe, is hereby directed to assume duties as the Acting National Secretary of the PDP. “Barr. Onwe shall by this directive conduct Continued on page 2

•IN •IN...Onwe

•Tukur

•OUT •OUT...Oyinlola

WHAT THE LAW SAYS Section 36(2): ‘The National Chairman shall work with a Deputy National Secretary who shall assist the National Secretary in the discharge of his duties and shall act for him in his absence, or whenever so directed.’

HE President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday said the insecurity and other problems facing the North are self-inflicted.

The Sultan said the region should blame itself for its sundry problems.

Sultan Abubakar spoke in Kaduna at a Peace and Reconciliation Committee meeting set up by the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum.

The Sultan, who is the head of Nigerian Muslims, noted that the North has failed to address its problems.

He, however, said dialogue with aggrieved parties, rather than violence and use of force, is the solution to the insecurity in the country.

According to him, the problems facing the North will remain the problem of Nigeria because the region cannot be left alone.

Sultan Abubakar said traditional rulers tried to resolve the region’s problems, adding that they would not give up until the challenges are overcome.

The Sultan decried the inability of the government and its agencies to implement various recommendations that would have solved Nigeria’s challenges .

He said: “Let us sit and talk Continued on page 63

Boko Haram: CAN seeks foreign intervention •SEE PAGE 2

Gunmen kill two policemen in Kano attack

C

HELSEA hitman Victor Moses is training with his Super Eagles team-mates ahead o f the South Africa 2013 African Nations Cup which kicks off at that country’s National Stadium on Saturday.

He said he would want to feature in every match at the competition.

Nigeria ...

Sport Page 24

Dep governor’s aide murdered

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AZ Ayanwu, the Protocol Officer attached to the Imo State Deputy Governor, was yesterday found dead in Owerri, the state capital, four days after he was abducted by unknown gunmen.

The late deputy governor’s aide was a Director of Administration and Services (DAS).

News Page 53

Nigerian troops ready for Mali

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IGERIA will send soldiers to Mali before next week.

President Goodluck Jonathan dropped the hint yesterday during a reception for members of Diplomatic Corps at the Residence Garden, State House, Abuja.

The President, in his short remark, said...

Foreign Page 4

•CITYBEAT P10 •SPORT P23 •POLITICS P43 •ENERGY P47 •AVIATION P51

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

NEWS Fed Govt re-awards N1.49 billion Zik’s mausoleum •Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun and Pastor Michael Schadt of SOS Ministries, Florida, United States of America, during a visit to the governor’s wife in Abeokuta... yesterday

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HE Federal Government has re-awarded the construction of Zik’s mausoleum to a French construction company for N1.49 billion with a completion period of 13 months.

Zik’s Mausoleum is the final resting place of Nigeria’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe at his Inosi Onira residence in Onitsha. The project has been awarded four times by the federal government without any success.

Project Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Pat Odogwu, handed over the project documents to the representatives of Bouygues Construction Company yesterday.

Mrs Odogwu said the project was re-awarded to the company because of their competence and technical expertise adding

Oritsejafor seeks foreign intervention to stop Boko Haram

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HRISTIAN Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday urged the international community to intervene in the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.

CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor said with the recent upsurge in the activities of the sect in the North, it has now declared a war on Christians.

He spoke as gunmen believed to be Boko Haram operatives in Kano killed two policemen. Two civilians were injured in the attack.

Last Sunday, some gunmen shot indiscriminately at Christian worshippers in Jakano, Borno State, killing five of them including their pastor.

Two days before the tragedy, two members of the EYN Church in Kubruvu, Damboa Local Council Area, also in Borno State were killed by gunmen.

Pastor Oritsejafor said the Boko Haram sect was seeking to topple the constitutional order and enthrone the Islamic code as the only

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja other houses of worship or and Kolade Adeyemi, Kano persons of other faiths are be-

law in the country. He said their moves must be prevented to avoid crisis.

The CAN boss condemned what he described as dastardly and barbaric acts and urged security agencies to enhance their method of getting quality intelligence in the fight against Boko Haram.

He pleaded with the international community to intervene since, according to him, “The Federal Government and governors of the affected areas are not competent to handle the matter”.

A statement in Abuja by his Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, Pastor Oritsejafor said: “I am deeply worried by this pattern of onslaught on Christians in the northern part of this country by the Boko Haram sect, a group that is seeking to topple the present constitutional order and enthrone the Islamic code as the only law in the country.

“With this trend where no

ing attacked and killed, it is most uncharitable, devilish and mischievous for anybody to claim that these killings have no religious undertone.

These attacks on churches and killings of Christians are a clear deliberate act aimed at population cleansing, based on religion and ethnicity.

“My prayers go to the affected families. I pray that God will give them the strength to bear the losses they have suffered. I praise Christians in the northern part of Nigeria for their resilience and urge them not to flee their ancestral homes on account of their travails, but to trust in God, believing that there is always the triumph of good over evil.

“I, on behalf of CAN, condemn the dastardly and barbaric acts and call on all the security agencies in the country to enhance their method of getting quality intelligence in their fight against the Boko Haram sect members. I am uncomfortable with the blan-

ket of silence and inaction by the governors of the affected states. I am calling on the governors of these states to, not only condemn the killings of Christians going on in their states but to also take proactive actions that would protect Christians.

“I call on all Amnesty, Human Rights, Civil Society groups and, indeed, the International Community to take interest in this matter of attempts to deplete the population of Christians in Nigeria through the deployment of brutal and heinous means and also to note the abuses on Christians. As rights and corrective groups, it would be unjustifiable to turn their eyes away from what is happening to Christians and their Churches in Nigeria. I, therefore, call on the International Community to wade in and to find lasting solutions to these crimes being committed against Christians in Nigeria.”

An eyewitness account said the Kano attack was carried out at a security

checkpoint in Tinshama in Hotoro, Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.

Five members of the sect opened fire on the police officers on duty. Two civilians, who were preparing for the afternoon prayer at a road side, were hit by bullets.

Operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) cordoned off the area.

Kano police spokesman Musa Majiya, who confirmed the attack, said two policemen were killed and two civilians hit by bullets in the gun battle that ensued. They are receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the city.

Majiya said the police are on the trail of some of the gunmen who escaped with bullet wounds.

He confirmed that the suspected terrorists stormed the scene in tricycles, adding that the police and JTF operatives were combing the area to arrest suspects.

Oyinlola out as Tukur names acting secretary Oyinlola asks Appeal Court to reverse sack

Continued from page 1

all correspondences of the party, issue notices of meetings of the National Convention, the National Executive Committee, the National Caucus and the National Working Committee as stipulated in the Constitution of our great Party.

“This directive takes immediate effect and is hereby communicated to all the levels and offices of the Party.”

Section 36(2) relied on by Tukur reads: “The national chairman shall work with A deputy national secretary who shall assist the National Secretary in the discharge of his duties and shall act for him in his absence, or whenever so directed.’’

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the National Chairman invoked his powers based on legal advice received by the National Working Committee of the party.

The advice claimed that the judgment against Oyinlola was a declaratory one and he could no longer be in office until he secures an order for a stay of execution of the judgment.

S

ACKED Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has filed an appeal against his removal from office.

He is pleading with the appellate court to reverse the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which removed him from office last Friday.

In a notice of appeal filed by his counsel, Chief Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), dated January 11, Oyinlola said the judgment is against the weight of evidence before the court.

He said the trial judge erred in law by assuming that he was nominated into office as PDP National secretary by the Southwest Zonal Congress of the party.

Joined as respondents are Chief (Eng) Adebayo Dayo and Alhaji Semiu Sodipo (for and on behalf of the officers of the Ogun State Executive CommitA source said: “The party is sticking to the technical aspect of the judgment and with this. Oyinlola may be in the cold for a while. He has to go through a long-drawn legal battle before he can return to office.

“The truth is that contrary to insinuations, Tukur has the backing of some forces in the

From Yusuf Alli and Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja tee of the Peoples Democratic Party), the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) The grounds of appeal are as follows: “The Judgment and or decision is against the weight of evidence. The learned trial judge erred in Law when he overruled the Preliminary Objection to the jurisdiction of the court and assumed jurisdiction and delivered Judgment when: The 1st defendant/appellant and the 2nd defendant/respondent, against whom the principal reliefs are sought, are individual and a political party who are neither Federal Government nor an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The subject matter of this suit is an intraparty dispute, which clearly is not justiciable.

presidency against Oyinlola.

“The pro-Jonathan forces have temporarily taken over the control of the PDP. More decisions will follow in the next few weeks to whip NWC members in line.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “We will conduct Zonal Congress to pick a new candidate for the

“In the circumstances, the Federal High Court and indeed no Court of Law has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the suit, “The Learned Trial Judge erred in law when the court disregarded the Ruling of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal in CA/35/12 delivered in the 25th of June 2012 and held that the entire action does not constitute an abuse of court process.”

He listed four particulars of the error in the judgment of Justice Abdu Kafarati.

The notice added: “The Ruling of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division in CA/ 35/12 delivered on the 25th of June 2012 granted a Stay of all Proceeding predicated on Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1248/11 “Both Suits FHC/L/CS/347/12 and FHC/ CS/282/12 are predicated on the judgment in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1248/11 already stayed by the Court of Appeal.

Continued on page 63

office within 21 days. The only way the congress can be stopped is if Oyinlola gets a court order.

“So, for now, it is to the advantage of Tukur.”

Shortly after the statement, evidence of a split in the National Working Committee emerged.

Continued on page 63

•Oyinlola

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

that the federal government is eager to deliver the mausoleum.

She said the project is long over due and urged the contractors to make sure they deliver the project on time and on specification within the specified period.

She said the Ministry had kept its own part of the agreement, adding that the Ministry had mobilised the contractor up to 15 per cent.

“This project is very important to the federal government especially when we look at the importance and great influence the late Zik had all over Africa.

We want you to deliver on this project within 13 months and be rest assured that the ministry will not lag behind in the area of funding” She lamented that the setback suffered by the project was caused by contractors, adding that the new contractor would not disappoint Nigerians.

On the condition of the structure already in place at the Zik’s compound, Mrs. Odogwu said the Ministry had carried structural integrity test on it and had certified it positive.

The first son of the late Dr. Azikiwe, Chief Chukwuma Azikiwe, said the project had been politicised over the years and expressed satisfaction with the efforts by the federal government to complete work on the mausoleum.

Chief Azikiwe who traced the history of the project from the time of the late President Sani Abacha.

“The former Minister, Nduese Essien and the then Permanent Secretary, Chief Ozodinobi, did all their best to see that the project was completed but till date, we are still talking about it. I want to thank the late President Yar’Adua who tried to execute this project” Bouygues Construction Company, Commercial Manager, Mr. Benet Osuala said they were determined to deliver the project before the expiration of the construction time.

The man Onwe

O

NWE, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) acting National Secretary was born on January 1 1964 in UmugadoNgbo in Uhuakwu LGA, Ebonyi State.

He was a member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly between 1990 and 2003. He was deputy speaker (1999-2003). He holds the title Ome-Mua of Amech Iziha.

A lawyer, Onwe attended· Abakaliki High School (1978 – 1982)· Nnamdi Azikiwe University, LLB (1984); Nigerian Law School, BL (1985)· Abia State University, Uturu, LLM (2007) Career: · Pupil Counsel, Egwuato Chambers, Onitsha (1996) · Senior Counsel Okpaleke Chambers (1997) He was the Legal Adviser of the Democratic Party Nigeria (DPN).

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

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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NEWS WAR IN MALI

Nigerian troops for Mali this week, says Jonathan •Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (right) with a senior citizen during his road expansion sensitisation visit to Ijebu-Ode … yesterday

•Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole speaking with reporters after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja... yesterday.

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

•From left: Catholic Archbishop of Abuja John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Bishop of Sokoto Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah and Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III at a meeting of the North’s Committee on Reconciliation in PHOTO: NAN Kaduna ... yesterday

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IGERIA will send soldiers to Mali before next week.

President Goodluck Jonathan dropped the hint yesterday during a reception for members of Diplomatic Corps at the Residence Garden, State House, Abuja.

The President in his short remark said countries should collectively condemn terrorism and should not surrender any part of the globe to extremism, because it doesn’t pay as no one knows who the next victim would be.

He said: “We are confronted presently with a situation in Mali.

Let me assure you and the global community that as a nation we will work with other nations to make sure that the problem in Mali is solved.

“Already, our technical team are in Mali. So definitely the Nigeria troop will be in Mali before next week.

“Of course, we members of ECOWAS are meeting this weekend. Our expectation is that by next week most other ECOWAS countries that pledged troops would have sent them so that our men will be on ground to assist Mali to liberate the country.

“We can no longer surrender any part of the globe to extremism, because it doesn’t pay and we don’t know the next victim.

“We must collectively discourage individuals or group of individuals that will take laws in to their hands and make the world a place that is not safe for all of us.”

The President expressed his appreciation to all the heads of governments for standing by Nigeria during her trying period of floods, terrorism attacks and the air-crashes that occurred last year and also the death of his younger brother among other tragedies.

“I want to through you thank your heads of governments for standing with us at our various challenges and difficult moments.

“During the floods, the terrorism attacks, the air mishaps of Dana and the helicopter crashes and when I lost my brother.

“I also want to thank them for the support and goodwill for my administration last year and I look forward to work for our mutual benefits.

France set to evacuate nationals

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HROUGH its Embassy in Bamako, the French Government has directed the immediate evacuation of its citizens Segou, a battle field in Mali.

The order, which has been confirmed by an anonymous French national, resident in Segou,was given through an e-mail message.

The French citizen said the order came after the fall yesterday of the garrison town of Diabaly to the alQaida-linked rebels occupying Northern Mali.

Diabaly was seized by the extremists despite heavy bombardment by French special forces, bringing the militants to within 80 kilometres (about 49 miles) of the Southern Mali town of Segou and within 400 kilometres (about 248 miles) of the capital, Bamako.

French President Francois Hollande authorised the air strikes last week after the Islamists began their Southward push.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

“I am aware that building a strong economy will lead to a stronger country and we are committed to do just that.

“I’m not the one to diminish the challenges my country faces and that is why we are strengthening democratic institutions.

“We have our challenges but we will continue to play her international role to restore peace.”

In her earlier remark, the Acting Dean of Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Democratic Republic of Congo Mrs. Olumba Kumba commended Nigeria’s contribution to a stronger Africa through her contribution to peacekeeping missions which is the answer to a peaceful nation.

She also said that Nigeria’s support and kindness has facilitated their work in the country.

Mrs. Kumba, who spoke for other diplomats said Nigeria enjoys international trust and respect.

She also urged Nigerian historians to ensure Nigeria’s contribution to international peace and security are documented for the younger generation.

ECOWAS meets today over crisis

U •From left: Member, Centre for Human Security, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Mr Oladiran Olaniyan; Provost, School of Agriculture, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye, Prof. Olaolu Adeokun; former Executive Secretaries of the National University Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola and Vice Chancellor, Crawford University, Prof. Denola Ayanlaja, at a news conference on 2013 event of the Centre in Abeokuta ... yesterday.

NDER pressure from Paris, regional nations under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) spoke of plans to send in their forces this week.

Military chiefs from the 15-member nations will meet in Bamako today even as Nigeria, which is due to lead the mission, has cautioned that training and deploying troops will take time.

Two decades of peaceful elections had earned Mali a reputation as a bastion of democracy in turbulent West Africa but that image unravelled after a military coup in March last year left a power vacuum for MNLA Tuareg rebels to seize the desert North.

The MUJWA, an AQIM splinter group drawing on support from Arabs and other ethnic groups, wrestled control of Gao - the main city of the North - from the Tuaregs last June, shocking Mali’s liberal Muslim majority with amputation of hands for theft under Sharia law.

Last week’s drive toward Bamako appeared to have been led by Ansar Dine, founded by renegade MNLA commander Iyad ag Ghali in his Northern fiefdom of Kidal.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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NEWS WAR IN MALI

Islamists seize new town

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•A French Rafale Fighter Jet landing in N’djamena after poundin the Islamist strongholds of Gao and Kidal ... yesterday PHOTO: AFP

•People donating blood for the injured in Bamako...yesterdayPHOTO: AFP

SLAMIST fighters in Mali have seized a town in governmentcontrolled territory amid a military intervention by France.

French Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian said Diabaly, 400 kilometre (about 250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, was taken in a counter-attack yesterday.

Mr Le Drian insisted France’s campaign was “developing favourably”.

He said Islamists had retreated in the East but admitted French forces were facing a “difficult” situation against well-armed rebels in western areas.

Aid workers said many people had been fleeing areas targeted by the French.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council was billed to discuss Mali last night.

France began its military intervention last Friday in an attempt to halt Islamist rebels who took control of Northern Mali last year and were advancing towards Bamako.

The Islamists began a counter-attack on Diabaly, home to a key Mali army base, on Sunday night, hours after French warplanes had targeted the town.

Mr Le Drian told BFM television: “They took Diabaly after fierce fighting and resistance from the Malian army that was not able to hold them off at that moment.”

One resident told the BBC that the fighting had lasted for about 10 hours.

“About five [rebel] vehicles entered the town,” he said. “Now they’re stationed about 200 metre (about 650 feet) from the military camp but they haven’t taken the camp. They’ve killed a few soldiers.”

A Malian military source told AFP news agency that rebels had come from the Mauritanian border area after being attacked by French planes.

Rebels ‘in retreat’

•French Rafale Jet Fighter being prepared for Mali at Saint Dizier Airbase, Eastern France ... Sunday

PHOTOS: AFP

WHO SUPPLIES WHAT? FRANCE •200 troops from Operation Epervier •Some French foreign legionnaires and a company of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment based in Auvours, France.

•Gazelle helicopter gunships from the 4th Helicopter Regiment of the Special Forces armed with HOT antitank missiles and 20mm cannons. The 4th Regiment, based in Pau, France, has 12 of these helicopters.

•Four Mirage 2000D Fighter Jets, based in Chad, and supported by two C135 Refueling Tankers. In total, France has two Mirage F1 CR reconnaissance jets, six Mirage 2000D, 3 C135s, one C130, 1 Transall C160 stationed in Chad as part of its Operation Epervier.

•Four Rafale fighter jets from their base in SaintDizier, France UNITED KINGDOM (UK) •Two C-17 aircraft to carry foreign troops and military equipment to Mali.

•One C-17 is currently in France and the other is currently at RAF Brize-Norton in England.

•Britain is not offering any troops, but Mark Simmonds, the government minister for Africa, said British personnel also could be involved in training the Malian army.

•Britain’s involvement is expected to last one week, according to the country’s Armed Forces Minister Andrew Robathan.

•The only military personnel there would be a Royal Air Force ground crew intended to service C-17 transport.

UNITED STATES (US) •Drones •Communications, intelligence and transport help.

GERMANY •No combat troops but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Germany will offer logistical, humanitarian and medical support.

European Union (EU) •Speeding up its preparation for a troop training mission to be launched by the second half of next month or early March

•EU not planning any direct combat role.

ALGERIA •Algerian Foreign Ministry spokesman Amar Belani said on yesterday Algeria was closing the nearly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) border with Mali.

•After months of expressing grave doubts over any intervention in Mali, Algeria has backed the French attack.

•Granted overflight rights to French jets heading to Northern Mali.

BENIN •300 troops.

BELGIUM •Transport.

BURKINA FASO •500 troops to Mali •500 others to control the Northern border.

•Mounts check points on roads to its Northern border with Mali.

CHAD •To send troops, but no specific number yet.

DENMARK •Transport.

MAURITANIAN •Armed forces placed on the red alert along the border with Mali.

•Not take part in the fighting in Northern Mali.

•Mauritanian army had conducted raids in 2010 and 2011 against the bases of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Northern Mali.

NIGER •500 troops to help fight the Islamic extremists. Date for their departure not yet set.

NIGERIA •600 troops, according to an announcement Monday

by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

•Troops head for Mali this week SENEGAL •500 troops to help with combat.

TOGO •500 troops

France intensified its air strikes on rebel targets over the weekend, with its aircraft also bombing the town of Gao in Eastern Mali. Yesterday witnesses told AFP there had been air strikes on Douentza for a fourth consecutive day.

“The developments are in line with our expectations,” said Mr Le Drian. “The terrorist groups are in effect in retreat.”

But he said French forces had encountered “heavily armed militants” in the west, where he described the situation as “difficult”.

Rebels of the al-Qaeda-linked

Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), said that France would pay for its intervention.

Spokesman Abou Dardar told AFP: “France has attacked Islam. We will strike at the heart of France.”

Separately, militants in Somalia have published a photograph purportedly showing one of two French soldiers killed during a failed hostage rescue attempt. Weekend’s raid on Bulo Marer, South of Mogadishu, came hours after the French intervention in Mali.

At least 11 Malian soldiers and a French helicopter pilot have died in Mali. More than 100 militants are reported to have been killed.

Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF)said it had received numerous reports of people being killed or injured in Konna and that in Douentza, bombardments and fighting were preventing the wounded from making it to hospital.

MSF said at least 200 people had fled to Mauritania by vehicle, with many more heading to the border on foot.

‘France won’t stay forever’ French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France’s involvement would last “a matter of weeks” and rejected any parallel with the protracted Western mission in Afghanistan.

“Later on, we can come as backup, but we have no intention of staying forever,” he said.

France has sent about 550 troops to the central town of Mopti and to Bamako.

They are set to be joined by troops from the neighbouring African states of Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Togo, some of which are now expected to arrive in Mali within days.

The United Kingdom (UK) is offering logistical support, with two cargo planes made available for a week to support French operations.

Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize Northern Mali in April 2012.

But the Islamists soon took control of the region’s major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.

One Islamist group, Ansar Dine, began pushing further South last week, seizing Konna.

The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops with French aerial support.

Amnesty to parties: avoid civilian casualties

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LL parties to the armed conflict in Mali must ensure civilians are protected, Amnesty International urged yesterday as military attacks by French forces continued.

With French support, the Malian army launched a counter-offensive against armed Islamist groups last Friday to prevent the capture of cities in the South of the country.

“There are real concerns that the fighting might lead to indiscriminate or other unlawful attacks in areas where members of armed Islamist groups and civilians are inter-mingled,” said Paule Rigaud, Amnesty International’s Africa deputy director.

“Forces involved in armed attacks should avoid indiscriminate shelling at all costs, and do their utmost to prevent civilian casualties,”the director said.

Yesterday, Diabaly, 400 kilometer North of the capital, Bamako, was captured from the Malian army by Islamist armed groups.

In a marked intensification of the intervention, the French army bombed positions in the North, in Gao and Kidal, on Sunday. At least six civilians were reportedly killed

during the fighting for control of the town of Konna at the weekend.

“The international community has a responsibility to prevent a fresh surge in abuses during this new phase of the conflict,” said Rigaud.

Amnesty International is calling for the international community to support the immediate deployment of human rights monitors, with particular attention given to the use of child soldiers, children’s rights, gender, and protection of civilians.

Reports have indicated that the Islamist groups have been using child soldiers and that some of them have been wounded and possibly killed in the conflict.

Amnesty International is urging French forces in Mali to give as much advance warning as possible to civilians, and calls on the armed groups to not put military targets near civilian objects. Armed forces are bound by international humanitarian law to take all necessary precautions to minimise harm to civilians.

The organisation is also calling on the Islamist armed groups not to harm any of the 13 hostages they are holding, among whom are six French and four Algerian nationals.

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NEWS NCAA warns pilots THE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday directed pilots flying into the country to obtain weather information of their routes from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), before embarking on any flight, as failure to do so will be met with sanctions.

The Director-General of NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren, who issued a circular to airline operators and pilots, said it is mandatory to obtain en route and destination weather information because the adverse effects of harmattan may occasion heavy fog, thereby reducing visibility on the runway.

Demuren said the prevailing weather may bring about delays and cancellation of flights. He sued for passengers’ understanding in the interest of safety.

He said: “It is mandatory for airlines to obtain weather briefing from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, including departure, en route and destination weather information prior to flight operations.

“The airlines and their flight crew should keep passengers informed of the situation and the potential for flight delays and cancellation. Safety consideration must be the highest priority.”

Demuren went on: “Pilots shall recognise harmattan haze as a hazard and exercise restraint when the condition is observed or forecast.

“This advisory circular is intended to alert pilots to the hazards of harmattan haze and offer guidance to help prevent accidents caused by this weather.

The effect of harmattan is compared to that of heavy fog. Thus, air to ground visibility is reduced.

Aerodrome visibility may fall below the prescribed minima, and in severe conditions, dust haze can blot out runways and markers over wide areas, making visual navigation impossible.

“Where terminal visibility falls below the prescribed weather minima, flights are bound to be delayed, cancelled or diverted.”

N195b pension scam: No hiding place for Maina, says Senate T

HE Senate yesterday vowed to ensure that the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, faces justice, no matter how long it takes.

It said it was not sure whether the 2013 Appropriation Bill it passed on December 20 has been forwarded to President Goodluck Jonathan for assent.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said this at a news conference in Abuja.

On the 2013 budget, he said the fiscal estimate may still be undergoing “mechanical and bureaucratic processes”.

Asked whether the 2013 Appropriation Bill has been sent to the Presidency for assent, Abaribe said: “The Senate has passed the 2013 budget. Any other thing going on is the normal course of the bureaucracy involved and I don’t think there would be any problem with that.

“The important thing is that

•’2013 budget’s status unclear’ From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

the 2013 budget was passed on December 20 by a concurrence of both Houses and the passage also by both Houses of the National Assembly and this officially is the passage of the budget by the parliament.

“I will have to assume that such has been done because after you have passed the budget, what is left is simply mechanical. You get a clean copy and then, you send it. I’m assuming that it must have been passed.”

The Senate spokesman said the decision to invite Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar over the Maina issue was a collective decision of the Senate and not that of the joint committee probing the administration of pension funds.

He said the Senate should not be seen as “helpless” in

tackling the refusal of Maina to appear before its joint committee despite several summonses and an arrest warrant.

Said Abaribe: “It is necessary for Nigerians to know that a committee of the National Assembly in either House is a representative of the House.

“It means if a committee of the Senate is operating or summoning anybody, it’s not just that committee; it is the whole Senate.

“It means whatever sanctions coming are not just from that committee, but the whole Senate.

“So, if a committee says ‘we have already discussed with our leadership and this is the step we are going to take’, then, you have to assume that such is a step approved by the Senate.

“But when committees seek

further power, they bring it to the floor of the Senate.

Then, we can vote for it, but the rule is that every committee is a representation of the Senate as a whole.

“On the issue of Maina, let me say that the Senate cannot be said to be helpless.

“On the contrary, the Senate will and I want to lay emphasis on that word, the Senate will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion.”

Maina has been under fire from the Upper Chamber for failing to heed the summonses of its Joint Committee on Establishment, Public Service and States and Local Government Administration to defend himself over allegation of N195billion pension fraud.

The Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Aloysius Etok, last week said the Senate would summon the IGP to explain his failure to arrest Mania following an order from Senate President

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Alleged N281m fraud: Ex-lawmaker sues EFCC

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•Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Pat Odogwu (right), handing over the contract paper of the re-awarded Zik mausoleum to the Commercial Manager, Bouygues Construction Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Benneth Osuala, in Onitsha...yesterday. With them is Owelle Chukwuma Azikiwe, son of Nigeria’s first President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Atuche: Court rules today on recall of two witnesses USTICE Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja will today rule on whether or not it will order the recall of two prosecution witnesses, Elizabeth Ebi and Diamond Uju, for further questioning in the case between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche, his wife Elizabeth and the bank’s Financial Officer, Ugo Anyanwu.

Atuche requested the court to grant his request to recall the prosecution witnesses for further questioning based on the new facts available to him.

EFCC arraigned the accused for trial for allegations of stealing N18.2 billion.

The witnesses and directors of some of the companies allegedly fingered in the N18.2 billion loans during Atuche’s

David Mark.

The lawmaker was optimistic that the implementation of the budget could still begin this month.

He said: “I don’t think it is late. This is January 14 and whenever the assent is done this month, the budget can start to operate.

“I want us not to focus on this question of whether there is some time lag.

“I don’t think such time lag is significant for it to mean that the operation of the budget will not start from January.

“We worked assiduously to deliver to Nigerians what we have promised to do.

“In line with what President Jonathan said when he delivered the budget address in the National Assembly, his thoughts were that it was time for us to keep to schedule.

“We have kept to our own schedule and I think Nigerians will not find us lagging behind with regards to that.”

By Adebisi Onanuga

era denied knowledge of the loans, which the EFCC described as “hoax” loans.

The defendants, through their lawyers, Chief Anthony Idigbe(SAN) and Mr. Sylver Ogwoemoh, applied for their recall following a resolution allegedly signed by the duo in which they demanded loans from the bank.

The defendants argued that the recall of the witnesses was crucial in determining their case.

They told the court that the witnesses did not only have relationship with the bank but demanded the loans, which is the subject of the trial.

EFCC, represented by Mr. Kemi Pinheiro, urged the court to reject the application.

He said the defendants had the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses, but either

chose not to or never bothered.

A prosecution witness at the trial, Hamada Bello, told the court that some of his findings during his investigation do not form part of the proof of evidence.

Bello, cross-examined by Atuche’s counsel, Idigbe, denied arriving at the conclusion of his findings on the assumptions of facts supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria (the complainant).

He argued that the conclusion of his findings was based on the outcome of the investigations he conducted, which he said followed a standard procedure.

The detective, whose attempt to give a graphic presentation in the trial was rejected by the court because it did not comply with the provisions of Section 84 of the Evidence Act, said he did not

send any report to the Attorney-General of Lagos State.

He also told the court that he did not make a personal report of his findings because it was a team investigation.

Idigbe told the court that the witness’ conclusion that the loans advanced to some companies was a hoax was on his assumption that the facts supplied by the complainant and the witnesses were the truth.

The counsel queried the witness’ refusal to investigate the ownership of some companies, which facts, he said, are available at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

But the witness said his decision not to investigate some companies was deliberate because their ownership was not in doubt and he did not want to be distracted by the movement of the loan.

Bello said the purported loans were returned to the

bank in form of Bank PHB’s public offer.

When asked whether there were petitions from the affected companies that prompted his investigation, he said he was unaware of any.

Some of the companies alleged to have benefited from the loans are Futureview Limited, Extra Oil, Tradject Oil, Resolution Trust Limited and Petrosan Oil and Gas Limited.

The witness said the “hoax loans” came back to Bank PHB through some companies as the bank shares’ offer.

According to him, the creation, movement, utilisation and return of the loans to the bank depicted a case of money laundering.

The witness listed the companies to include Claremount Asset Management Ltd, Alfo Associates Ltd, Gazil Yakubu Investment, Sentron Trading Ventures Resources Ltd and Felimon Enterprises.

FORMER member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Napoleon Gbinije, has filed a motion for the enforcement of his fundamental right against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency on January 8, 9 and 10 declared him wanted through press statements and advertorials in newspapers and radio for alleged breach of trust and illegal diversion of N281 million.

Gbinije, in the suit before an Abuja High Court, accused the anti-graft agency of declaring him wanted without inviting him over the allegation.

The applicant, who represented Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta State between 2003 and 2007, in the motion by his counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju of Chief Afe Babalola Chambers, is asking the court to declare the action unconstitutional, illegal and a breach of his fundamental right.

He is praying for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC by itself, agents, officers, servants, privies or anybody howsoever described from arresting, detaining or in any manner interfering with the fundamental right of the applicant to personal liberty as enshrined in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) without following the due process of law.

In a 19-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Bamikole Aduloju, he averred that the applicant was unable to depose to the affidavit because he is not in the jurisdiction of the court at the moment as he is under close medical attention in Lagos State.

Denying the alleged fraud, the deponent said: “That the condition of health of the applicant has so far worsened as a result of the said publication and subsequent rise of his blood pressure, which may lead to cardiac arrest and death.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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NEWS NEMA tags 2012 disaster year

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HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday tagged 2012 as a year of disasters.

The Southwest Coordinator of the agency, Mr. Iyiola Akande, made the assessment in an interview in Lagos.

He said: “We have witnessed a number of disasters this past year. You will recollect that the flood that ravaged about 32 states is still fresh in our memories.

“It was of such magnitude that it attracted presidential and international attention.

“Coming back home, specifically talking about Southwest, we have witnessed a lot of avoidable and unavoidable disasters.

“Top among them are the collapsed buildings, which we responded to; tanker fire accidents on our roads; road traffic accidents and fire disasters, starting from the banger, fire cracker explosion that occurred at Jankara market, which resulted in the destruction of eight residential buildings and a number of cars. One life was lost.”

Minister urges improved welfare for military veterans From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja •From left: Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, at a meeting with the World Bank team at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja...yesterday.

Alleged N30m fraud: EFCC arraigns Kaduna Deputy Speaker, six others

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned the Deputy Speaker of Kaduna State House of Assembly, Dr. Mato Dogara, with six others at the Federal High Court, Kaduna, for alleged conversion of the N30million belonging to the state to personal use.

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the suspects were arraigned before Justice Marcel Awokulehin of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, on a sixcount charge.

The other six accused include Kabiru Tahir Malali (Interim Chairman, Lere Local Government), Ahmed Yahaya

From Yusuf Alli. Managing Editor, Northern Operation

(former Director, Finance, Lere Local Government), Billy Graham Amos (former Director, Works, Lere Local Government), Yusha’u Aboki (former Director, Personnel Management, Lere Local Government), Mrs. Hannatu Iliya (Head of Health, Lere Local Government) and Eric Alhassan (former Acting Chairman, Lere Local Government).

The statement said: “Having pleaded not guilty to the charges, the prosecution counsel, Sa’ad Hannafi Sa’ad, requested the court to remand the accused in prison custody and fix a date for the beginning of trial.

“He prayed the court to remand the seventh accused (Dr. Mato Dogara) in the EFCC custody, as there is a fresh petition against him that warrants further interrogation.”

Responding to the prosecution’s submission, Habib Ahmed, who led a team of defence counsel, told the court that they had filed applications for bail on behalf of their clients, and were ready to move the motion.

“Their prayer was overruled by Justice Awokulehin, who held that the applications were not ripe for hearing, as the prosecution would also have to respond.

“He directed that the six suspects be remanded in the prison custody and the Deputy

Speaker be remanded in the EFCC custody.”

Dogara served as the Chairman of Lere Local Government Area and Commissioner in Kaduna State.

The matter has been adjourned till January 24, 28 and 29 for trial.

The EFCC said it has also arraigned a Kano lawyer, Yakubu Mohammed Na-Allah, before Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano, on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering.

A statement by the commission said: “The 65-year-old lawyer allegedly duped two of his clients to the tune of N50million and used the money to buy a mansion in an elitist area in Kano.

Babalakin reports at EFCC office

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HE Chairman of BiCourtney Highway Services Limited, Mr. Wale Babalakin, yesterday reported at the Lagos office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preparatory to his arraignment on Thursday.

He is to be arraigned before a Lagos High Court on charges of alleged money laundering.

It was learnt that Babalakin was at the EFCC office in partial fulfilment of the administrative bail earlier granted him by the commission.

The Nation learnt that it was part of the bail conditions that he (Babalakin) should report at the commission’s office eve-

By Eric Ikhilae

ry two days pending his arraignment.

The Nation gathered that Babalakin was at the EFCC office yesterday afternoon and left hours later. Some workers of his company were seen on the EFCC premises when The Nation visited.

He is to be arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on a 27-count charge filed against him by the EFCC. An official of Bi-Courtney, who did not want to be named, confirmed Babalakin’s presence at the EFCC’s office.

He said it was normal since his visit to the commission

every two days formed part of his bail condition.

He denied a rumour that Babalakin was detained, saying such development would be unlawful and would amount to the EFCC breaching its own terms and acting illegally.

“Yes, he was at their office in the afternoon, around 3pm, and has returned home. It is not true that he has been detained.

As I speak to you (by 5.40pm), he is at home. They do not have any reason to detain him because he has not breached any of the bail terms.

He is a law-abiding citizen and has been faithful in honouring the bail conditions,” the official said.

EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren confirmed that Babalakin was in the commission’s Lagos office preparatory to his arraignment on Thursday. He said everything is being done to ensure he appears in court.

Babalakin reported at the EFCC’s office on December 24 after several failed attempts to prevent his arrest and arraignment based on the charge filed in Lagos. The two suits he filed to that effect before the Federal High Court, Lagos were decided against him.

The commission, in the charge, accused him of laundering about N4.7billion in 2006 on behalf of the convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.

First Lady leaves for Germany From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

•Mrs. Jonathan

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IRST Lady Dame Patience Jonathan yes-

terday left the country for Germany.

Though there was no

official statement to this effect, The Nation learnt that the trip was for medical check-up.

A source in the Presidency, who confirmed the trip, said the President’s wife only went for a medical check-up.

“You will recall that since she returned last year, madam has not travelled out of the country. This trip is just for a medical check-up, nothing more. Any report that she was hurriedly flown

abroad is far from the truth,” the source said.

This is contrary to the news making the rounds that Mrs. Jonathan was hurriedly flown out of the country again.

The First Lady’s last public outing was on Sunday when she accompanied her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, to the inter-denominational service held as part of the activities marking the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.

She was lively throughout the event.

The First Lady was away in Germany for about a month last year.

She was said to be seriously ill, with many alleging that she was suffering from various ailments.

She returned to the country on October 14 to a rousing welcome by her family and aides.

Female ministers were also on hand to receive her.

Her husband later confirmed during a media chat that she was ill and had recovered.

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HE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Olugbenga Ashiru, yesterday urged Nigerians to appreciate the contributions of the Armed Forces by improving the welfare of the veterans and their families.

He spoke in Abuja when he launched the Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblem at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Ashiru, the patriotism and hard work of the veterans have contributed to Nigeria’s peacekeeping missions in Africa, Asia and Europe, which have been acknowledged and hailed.

He said their efforts have promoted peace in the countries where they have been involved in operations.

Said he: “Some have paid the sacrifice and it is important that the people they left behind are well taken care of. These include their widows, children and dependant.”

Fed Govt denies budgeting N60b for mobile phones From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

EDERAL Government has again denied the report that it has set aside N60billion to buy mobile phones for farmers.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina,

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said there is no N60billion anywhere to be used for phones.

He said government would not be involved in direct procurement of phones, neither would there be contracts to import phones from China or anywhere.

Adesina added that the type of phone to be purchased and the mode of its distribution is yet to be determined.

The minister’s clarification followed the criticisms that have trailed the comment made by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ibukun Odusote, late last year that the government is planning to buy 10 million phones worth N60 billion from China and the US for free distribution to rural farmers.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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NEWS Man to die by hanging From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

A HIGH Court sitting in AdoEkiti, the Ekiti State capital, yesterday sentenced Emmanuel Etim to death by hanging.

Etim was found guilty of the rape and murder of Mrs. Funmilayo Ajayi in 2006.

It was learnt that he committed the crimes on August 17, 2006.

Justice Cornelious Akintayo said he found Etim “guilty as charged” and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Drivers storm court for Tokyo, Fele From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

JUSTICE Obaseki Adejumo of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, yesterday expressed surprise at the heavy presence of members of the Oyo State branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in court.

The commercial drivers had come to witness proceedings in the case involving a former chairman of the union, Alhaji Lateef Akinsola (a.k.a. Tokyo) and the incumbent executive, led by Alh. Taofeek Oyerinde (a.k.a.

Fele).

Tokyo sued the union over the emergence of the executive.

Midway into the proceeding, NURTW members in their hundreds besieged the court premises, making it rowdy.

The judge viewed their presence as capable of disrupting proceedings and warned them to stop thronging the court.

She threatened to fortify security around the court, if they continue to storm the court in large number.

Justice Adejumo urged both counsel to file their applications and adjourned till February 11.

‘No plot against Ede poly rector’ THE Alumni Association of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, has expressed confidence in the new Rector of the institution, Builder Patrick Hussain.

It dissociated itself from a purported plot to rubbish Hussain’s appointment.

In a statement yesterday by its National President, Mr. Festus Olaifa and National Secretary Shittu Olaleye, the association said: “Hussain is competent and his appointment was a right step in the right direction. We are confident that Hussain would sustain the legacy of the former Rector, Dr. Joseph Oke. “Those attempting to rubbish him are faceless and selfish individuals, who cannot come out to explain the reason for their action.

The pull-him-down syndrome has no place in the academic environment, where people are expected to be upright and responsible.

“Since the students, staff and the Alumni Association, who are the major stakeholders in the institution’s affair do not object his appointment, any individual that has a grudge against Hussain should stomach it and allow progress in the institution.”

•Pupils of Ijegun Junior Secondary School, Ijegun, Lagos praying at the Assembly as school resumed...yesterday.

NNPC puts out Arepo fire •NEMA removes three bodies •PPMC seeks police help on pipeline security

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HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has completed the evacuation of bodies in the creeks of Arepo, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, where an explosion was caused by pipeline vandals on Saturday.

Although the Manager, Public Affairs, Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr. Imodagbe Nasir, on Sunday said five bodies were recovered, NEMA spokesman in the Southwest, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, yesterday said only three bodies were found.

Farinloye said the fire was put out on Sunday night by engineers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He said NEMA hired local divers, who assisted in removing the bodies.

Farinloye said: “The Arepo pipeline fire was put out last night and we hired locals, who helped to remove the only three bodies we found floating on the polluted water in the creeks. The supply of products through the pipeline has resumed.”

Stern looking mobile policemen have been deployed in the area to secure the pipelines.

PPMC Area Manager at Mosimi Mr. Remi Oluyefa, said the use of close circuit television cameras in monitoring the area may not curb oil theft.

In a television interview yesterday, Olufeya said: “The use of technology may be required, but certainly not the deployment of close circuit cameras. It is not the solution. If vandals

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‘Explosion won’t cause fuel scarcity’

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HE Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Andrew Yakubu has said the vandalism on the Arepo pipeline would not cause fuel scarcity.

He said some arrests had been made with regard to the incident and urged the Judiciary to ensure that vandals are sanctioned.

The activities of vandals caused an explosion at the pipeline on Saturday and three people were killed.

The pipeline, a major fuel distribution channel in the Southwest, was repaired last November after an attack by vandals, a situation that disrupted supply and distribution of petroleum products for months and caused fuel scarcity.

Yakubu yesterday said the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC, had repaired the damaged pipeline, adding that the NNPC was exploring lasting measures to deter the vandals.

He assured that NNPC had enough stock at the Mosimi depot, saying there would be no fuel scarcity.

The NNPC chief said the corporation would collaborate with states and security agents to secure its facilities.

He said: “The collaboration has become imperative because NNPC cannot do it alone. We have a better collaboration with security agents now, unlike in the past. Every challenge comes with a different solution. We have some things on ground to solve the problem in terms of security, intervention and cooperation. Most of these may call for the highest level of intervention. For instance, the Inspector-General of Police is now involved in ensuring that security is guaranteed at the Arepo line to give Nigerians uninterrupted

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor and John Ofikhenua, Abuja

know there are cameras in place, they will destroy them.

“We are looking at several measures to curb vandalism, because the pipelines are critical public assets. From Atlas Cove to Mosimi is about 75km of pipelines. At PPMC, we know when they tamper with the pipelines from our control room. We notice reduction in the pressure of supply and shut down the line.

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

fuel supply.

“Certainly, there will be no fuel scarcity. We have enough stock at Mosimi and what we are trying to do now is ensure that we manage the situation without obstruction of product supply. We have already repaired the damaged pipeline for operations. We can go as we speak, but we just made some observation and we think we can put in additional measures with regard to further intervention.”

On the notoriety of the Arepo axis becoming a vandals’ haven and the challenge of finding a lasting solution to the menace, Yakubu said: “This is the time for action. I am glad Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun came to inspect the damage and is ready to collaborate with us. We have talked to him in the past. This is a serious challenge that needs the cooperation of all stakeholders.

“What belongs to us in Arepo is only the right of way. Every other thing is not within our jurisdiction. We need the cooperation of state governments. We need a secure environment to operate. The permanent solution is to engage in some innovation.

“I put it on record that Amosun is collaborating with us and is ready to emulate his Abia State counterpart by engaging the community in tackling vandalism.

“However, vandals should note that with this attention, their time is up and we are asking them to surrender. Already, some arrests have been made. We require the support of the judiciary to ensure that criminals are brought to book.”

“Ogun State is the biggest area with pipeline vandalism.

The pipelines through Arepo are about 60 per cent of the lifeline of supplies. It is the major artery. For now, the line has been fixed.

“Because we do not have competence in security, we have called on the InspectorGeneral of Police for help. The government has to sensitise community leaders to inform their subjects on the dangers of pipeline vandalism.

“We cannot use speed boats as some people have suggested because the blades would get stuck in the creeks. Our right of way is straight into the water, but we are thinking of how to clear the place.

“Pipelines are national assets and we have called on the police for help. There will be no fuel shortage. I advise people to keep off the right of way.

“Vandalism is not new, but if we are able to take out Arepo and other areas, 80 per cent of

the problem will be over. This is because Arepo pipelines serve as a major artery. Atlas Cove is the main supply depot and if the supply is cut off, there will be a major problem.”

The NNPC management condemned the renewed attack on the System 2B Pipeline at Arepo, barely a month after it was fixed, following a fire caused by vandals last August.

The Acting Group General Manager, NNPC Group Public Affairs, Ms Tumini Green, in a statement, said: “The Corporation is appalled by the repeated attacks on the pipeline at the same spot in Arepo. A similar attack on the pipeline last August and the difficulties the corporation had in effecting repairs as a result of security issues caused a lot of hardship in product distribution, which led to long queues at filling stations across the country in the last quarter of 2012.

“We are shocked by the statement credited to Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, alleging that the incident was as a result of NNPC’s negligence. It is sad that the governor, who should know the importance of national assets as pipelines and do everything in his power to protect them, is engaging in a blame game. Nigerians are wondering why Arepo has become such an attractive spot for pipeline vandals.”

She urged Amosun to emulate his Abia State counterpart, who has tightened security around the pipelines.

Ms Green said the NNPC/ PPMC approached the Ogun State government a few months ago on how to tighten security in the creeks, but the government is yet to respond.

She urged Nigerians to be vigilant and report suspicious movements around pipelines to security agencies, adding that the protection of public assets is the responsibility of every citizen.

Aregbesola urges journalists to always defend truth

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged journalists to always defend the truth.

He said by doing so, they would join others to build a stronger nation.

Aregbesola spoke yesterday while inaugurating a block of classrooms at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Village in Egbedi, Osogbo, the state capital.

The classrooms would serve as a satellite campus for the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in Osogbo.

Represented by the Commissioner for Information, Chief Sunday Akere, the governor said: “Journalists were in the forefront of the fight for independence and have battled military and civilian dictatorships. On many occasions, they have paid with blood and tears,

•Governor inagurates classrooms From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

but have never wavered in their commitment to justice and truth.

“This is the same path we are treading in our governance of the state. This project by the NUJ is a demonstration that our effort at providing good leadership is having the desired impact on the society.”

Aregbesola said journalists have done more for the country than is being acknowledged.

He said he was a beneficiary of journalists’ pursuit for justice, adding that they played a major role in the

fight to recover his stolen mandate.

The governor pledged his support to the media in the pursuit of truth, justice and professional excellence.

Aregbesola said lack of leaders with the interest of the people at heart was responsible for Nigeria’s slow development.

He said: “As we all know, irresponsibility in leadership is not restricted to political leaders alone; it applies to all strata of our society, from top to bottom.

“This is predictable because once a society gets it wrong at the highest level of leadership, it is only a matter of time before it begins to get it wrong in other levels. That, unfortunately, has been our untoward experience in this country.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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NEWS Ondo commissioner ‘slaps’ director

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NDO State Commissioner for Transport Nicholas Tofowomo yesterday allegedly slapped a director in the Ministry of Works, Mr. M. Afeniforo.

The ministry’s workers protested for several hours and gave the state government a five-day ultimatum to remove the commissioner.

Sources said Tofowomo approached Afeniforo for a tractor, but was told that all the tractors were on sites.

Afeniforo also reportedly explained to Tofowomo that the Commissioner for Works, Gboye Adegbenro, had gone to inspect road projects at Ilara Mokin.

Tofowomo reportedly phoned Adegbenro and told him that Afeniforo said he had diverted all the tractors to his home town.

Sources said the director took exception to this, insisting that he did not tell the Commissioner for Transport that tractors had been di-

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

verted to Ilara-Mokin.

It was learnt that an argument ensued and the commissioner allegedly slapped the director.

Workers, led by officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), converged on the Ministry of Works and protested the alleged assault.

The Chairman of the Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), Mr. Solomon Adelegan, intervened and cautioned the workers.

The Head of Service, Mrs. Kosemani Kolawole, invited Afeniforo and the permanent secretary to settle the matter.

It was learnt that Deputy Governor Ali Olanusi went to the ministry and apologised to the workers, but they insisted on Tofowomo’s sack.

Several calls made to Tofowomo were not replied.

Body found in Osun River

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HE body of a middleaged man yesterday floated on the Osun River on the Gbongan/ Ibadan Road.

It was gathered that the deceased fell into the river last Saturday while fishing with a friend.

An eyewitness said the friend ran away when efforts to rescue the victim by passers by failed.

It was learnt that Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Home Affairs Sikiru Adetona got professional swimmers to help the victim but their efforts

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

failed.

Yesterday, the body floated on the water and men of the Osun State Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had a tough time evacuating it.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sunday Akere, who was on the scene yesterday, urged the victim’s family to claim the body.

He warned people against engaging in risky adventures.

Ekiti PDP recalls secretary From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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HE suspended secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Dr. Tope Aluko, has been recalled.

In a statement yesterday, the party’s Chairman, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, said Aluko is to resume duties with immediate effect.

He said it was unanimously agreed by the State Working Committee at its weekly meeting that Aluko should be recalled.

Security crucial for growth, says Ajimobi

O

YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has described security as “the bedrock of development”.

He said without it, no meaningful development can take place.

Ajimobi spoke in Ibadan, the state capital, at a send forth programme organised for former Commissioner of Police Tambari Yabo Mohammed, who is now an Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police (AIG).

He said his a d m i n i s t r a t i o n maintained a cordial relationship with security agencies to facilitate growth.

The governor said this has paid off as the state now enjoys peace.

He said the peaceful atmosphere has facilitated development in all sectors of the economy, adding

that his administration would continue to support security agencies.

Ajimobi described Mohammed as a dedicated and disciplined officer, “who exhibited a high level of professionalism in the discharge of his duties”.

The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Adeolu Akande, said although Mohammed spent only six months in the state, his stay was eventful as it facilitated improved security.

Thanking Ajimobi for his support to the police, Mohammed said: “Even though I have served in different capacities in several states, I have never seen a governor who has been so friendly to and supportive of the police as Governor Ajimobi. Throughout my stay here, he made sure that the state command did not lack anything,’’ he remarked.

P

Gospel singer Aragbaye accuses land dealer of N6.5m fraud

OPULAR gospel singer Evangelist Funmi Aragbaye has accused an Ibadan land dealer, Mrs. Adetoun Oladeji (a.k.a. Mama ke) of defrauding her of N6.5 million.

Speaking with The Nation yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Mrs. Aragbaye said she met Mrs. Oladeji through a woman pastor in 2010, when she needed land to build a church.

She alleged that Mrs. Oladeji sold three acres of land at Gbokpa village, Ibadan, to her for N6.5 million.

The singer said though she was given documents of the land, she later found out that it did not belong to Mrs. Oladeji.

Mrs. Aragbaye said when she requested for a refund, Mrs. Oladeji gave her a cheque, but it was rejected by the bank because there was no money in the ac-

•’I’m willing to refund 60 per cent’ From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

count.

Since then, she said, all efforts to recover the money have failed.

Mrs. Oladeji acknowledged selling the land to the singer for N6.5 million in 2010, but said Mrs. Aragbaye should be prepared to accept 60 per cent refund.

She accused Mrs. Aragbaye of colluding with the family that owns the land to get a refund as well as get the land back from them.

Mrs. Oladeji said the singer had an altercation with her son, Mr. Akinyele Oladeji, and the case had been reported to the police.

She challenged Mrs. Aragbaye

to sue her.

Mrs. Oladeji said Mrs. Aragbaye could arrange to collect the 60 per cent at a neutral place.

She threatened to sue this newspaper or any other that publishes the story.

The representative of the family that owns the land, Alhaji Laoye, denied colluding with Aragbaye.

He said Mrs. Oladeji could not point to any member of the family as the person that sold the land to her.

Igbemo kicks against Orun’s autonomy

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HE Onigbemo in-Council in Ekiti State has kicked against the autonomy granted to Orun.

In a statement, President of the Igbemo General Assembly Mr. Emmanuel Oluwafemi said: “We received with shock news of the autonomy granted to Orun, a quarter in Igbemo-Ekiti. Rising from a meet-

ing of the Igbemo Community, we register our displeasure on the development.

“We know the governor is a listening leader, especially as the process leading to the announcement was not transparent. We appeal to the Igbemo Community to remain calm and urge the government to take a second look at the issue, especially as we have been living peacefully together till now.”

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

CITYBEATS Why we went into robbery, by suspects T WO robbery suspects are now cooling their heels in the cell of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos.

Tolani Adebayo (27) and Ibrahim Abayomi (23) said they took to robbery to get money to buy their working tools.

Narrating the roles they played The Nation in the December 30 robbery at Odogunyan Estate, Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, the first suspect, Adebayo said: "I am a qualified and experienced brick layer. I learnt bricklaying for one year, but I had no money to buy tools after my freedom. Frustrated, I started going from one smoking joint to the other. It was in the process that I met one guy called Kunle.

"After narrating my problem to him, he promised to show me what will help me to solve my financial problem within 24 hours. When he brought out one locally made pistol I nearly fainted.

I asked him what people, especially, my neighbours would say if they heard that I am now an armed robber.

But he laughed and said it was better for my neighbours not to know to enable me penetrate them and rob them

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

Man arraigned for impersonation

By Adebisi Onanuga

By Ebele Bonniface

conveniently.

"He said other members have what they are doing for a living. Some are motor mechanics; motorcycle repairers; petty traders; bus conductors; vulcanizers; carpenters and members of vigilante groups therefore, being a bricklayer could give me good access to houses of big men we intend to rob as I would be going to their houses to do one bricklaying work or other building work. He called it inside job.

He gave the names of other gang member as Austin, Kodnick, Bayo, himself, Tolani and Kunle. I reside at Ikorodu.

"See what happened on the day of the incident (December 30, last year). After smoking marijuana, the five of us entered one building at about 7:30pm and ordered everybody to lie face down at gun point. Austin wielded the gun. The house is in Odogunyan Estate, Ikorodu.

We woke up the tenants and ordered everybody to surrender his or her money; handsets; wrist watches; ear rings and necklaces or be shot dead. We collected N50,000, three phones and

•Adebayo and Abayomi

left with one Honda Bulldog car (which police recovered and released to the owner on bond). I was arrested at Cocacola junction, Shagamu, Ogun State by operatives of OP-MESA (soldiers) on patrol on our way to Shagamu to sell the car to one receiver/ buyer called Mr Wale."

The second suspect, Abayomi, said: "I am a shoe mender (cobbler). I used to be contented with the N1000 I used to realise daily and was saving it to get enough cash until Kunle met me at the

PHOTO: EBELE BONNIFACE

joint where I usually go to smoke in Ikorodu. He lured me into their gang.

"It was the Indian hemp I smoked that made me to listen to Kunle when he told me to join their gang. Please help me tell the police to release me on three conditions. One, I will stop smoking Indian Hemp and two, I will resign from the gang and third, I will

Lagos CJ fast tracks payment of Dana crash victims' compensation AGOS State may have waived some of the conditions spelt out at the Probate office to enable victims of last year's Dan Air crash to get their compensation immediately.

Families of the 153 victims of the June 3, last year crash at Iju Ishaga have heaved a sigh of relief as the process of getting a letter of Administration to enable them collect their compensation will now take not more than six weeks. Going by the existing rule, the process takes an average of one and a half years.

It was gathered that the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips might have conveyed the decision of the Lagos State judiciary to assist the victims' families, to the relevant aviation authorities.

"The Lagos State Judiciary and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) are working out measures so that they can get paid quickly.

L

•From left:Council Manager, Surulere Local Government Area, Mrs Basirat Akinsanya; Deputy Director, Event Management, National Theatre, Mr Biodun Abe and Deputy Director, Lagos State Safety Commission, Engr. Hakeem Liadi, at a Stakeholders’ safety forum at Surulere Local Government Secretariat PHOTO OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

go back to my shoe mending and be contented with the little money I used to get daily. I promise."

Lagos State Police Commissioner Umar Manko advised residents to be security conscious and be careful with the kind of labourers engaged to do menial jobs for them. Some of them, he said, may be robbers.

A 52-YEAR-OLD MAN, Kingsley Iheanachor , was yesterday charged before an Ikeja Magistrates' Court in Lagos with impersonation.

Iheanachor was alleged to have presented himself as a registered medical doctor.

He is facing a two-count charge of fraud and false representation.

The Principal State Counsel, Mr. Tunde Sunmonu, told the court that the defendant falsely represented himself as a registered medical doctor to facilitate the renewal of the registration of his hospital.

Sunmonu said the defendant procured a forged notification of registration as a medical doctor from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in 1990.

The offence, which was committed on January 7, at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Alausa, Ikeja, Sunmonu said, contravened Sections 364 and 378 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

Iheanachor pleaded not guilty.

Chief Magistrate A.O Isaac granted him a N200,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum and adjourned the case till February 20.

"The NCAA Director General Dr Harold Demuren has been able to secure the support of Governor Babatunde Fashola and Justice Philips.

The families will shortly be free to collect their compensation," a source said.

The source added: "The Chief Judge (CJ) of Lagos State, Justice Ayo Philips, has agreed that any victims' family requiring guardianship Order needs to apply to the court with an affidavit of urgency and same would be so treated. The NCAA is also required to forward a list of the victim families (Applicants) for the administrative spade of work to the Probate Registry, while the agency must also inform representatives of each victim family to be at the Probate Registry to complete necessary forms as individual files would be used for each victim family."

The CJ, it was gathered, has also approved waiver of some requirements for processing

of Letters of Administration only for the purpose of payment of compensation to victim families, while additional assets or properties of the victims would be processed in accordance with the regular processing requirements.

To simplify the process, only one surety who must be a registered land owner in Lagos State would be required, as against the normal requirement for two sureties.

It was gathered that the statutory 10 per cent fee payable on Letters of Administration has also been waived. Administrative fee for processing is now put at a flat rate of N6, 000 for all the applicants.

The source, however, noted that the request that the same conditions that qualify victims for the payment of $30, 000 should be adequate for payment of outstanding $70, 000 would not be considered, because the said conditions were not made available to the judiciary.

The man Ayo Ositelu, by widow •Widow of the late journalist Ayo Ositelu, Adebukunola, recounts the life and times of the man popularly known as Arena.

By Wale Adepoju

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OT many people know that the late sports commentator, Ayo Ositelu was a man of many parts.

His wife for 34 years, Prof Adebukunola Olusola Adefule-Ositelu, an Ophthalmologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said her husband played tennis, football and was a businessman before venturing into politics.

Recounting how their union began, she said: "We met in 1962 when I was at St Annes' School Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State and he was at the popular Igbobi College, Lagos. We were together until I travelled abroad in 1964 for my Higher School Certificate and he went to Chicago in the United States.

That was the only time we drifted apart."

Fate, Mrs Ositelu said, brought them together again in 1978 and we got married on August 14 of that year.

She described her late husband as loving and shy, but an active "multi-talented man."

The late Ositelu, she said, was a businessman at the early stage of his life, adding that he was a printer for some secondary schools in Lagos. "He also had an office at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

When he muted the idea of starting a business, we agreed that he should go ahead, but, he didn't know the name to call it so I suggested DORJOS, which was the first names of his parents. DOR was from Dorcas while Jos was taken

from Josiah," she said.

She said he suffered pulmonary embolism which is a blockage of the lung, as an athlete.

"Most people don't survive this because it is also a cardiovascular and respiratory system collapse. His health challenge didn't end there, he also had appendicitis which was treated through surgery at LUTH by Prof Julius Eso," she added.

She said her late husband had inspiration to write books, a passion which led him to The Punch many years ago. Explaining how it began, she said: "He was on sick bed and he asked me to get a paper which I did and he dictated the story to me. He later sent the piece to The Punch and it was published.

"My husband was thorough.

I usually describe him as an encyclopedia of sports because he was versatile. His style of expression was able to carry people along. I think he laid the foundation for good sports analysis."

Mrs Ositelu described her husband as a family man who loved his children. "We had three children together. The first, Obajimi is 33, Eniola is 31 while the third, Bababunmi, is 27. All are graduates of University of Lagos. They all took after him, especially the last child, who is also into music and sports. He is a basketball player, sprinter and footballer."

On his political career, she said, he was a frank person, but who is not diplomatic, adding that when ventured into poli-

tics he was attacked twice and almost lost his life.

Politics, she said, was something she didn't quite like but ended up supporting her husband when she brought the Inner Wheel Club of the Rotary District 9110 Nigeria to support him with free cataract and glaucoma screening, surgery and eye glasses at Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos.

She said her late husband had high blood pressure, which was well-controlled, adding that he was the patient of the Chief Medical Director of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof Wale Oke. On how her husband died, she said: "He became sweaty which made him stayed longer in the toilet. The people, who were with him,

carried him from Ejigbo to his brother's hospital in Surulere. He got there alive, but was in shock. The doctors found it hard to get his veins.

He cried I don't want to die please give me life saving injection before he finally passed on."

She said her husband died on the January 9, adding that she went to the hospital to take his body to the mortuary for embalmment the following day which coincided with his first son's birthday.

Mrs Ositelu who turned 66 on last Sunday, said there was cordial relationship between her and her late husband.

"Also, the children's relationship with their dad was cordial. My extended family members took him like their brother," she added.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

We are advocating the formation of government’s yearly budgets, multilateral agencies funding, five per cent petroleum tax, private sector fund, road bonds, toll charges, among others, into the national road fund for the development of roads infrastructure in Nigeria.

- Mr Mike Onolememen, Minister of Works

Nigeria seeks World Bank’s help on job creation From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor)

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IGERIA has appealed to the World Bank to support the government in its job creation programme.

The appeal was made yesterday in Abuja by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of finance Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, when the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, paid her a visit.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the government needed the assistance and support of the World Bank for a wide spectrum of its transformation agenda, but specifically asked for the assistance in the area of job creation in such sectors as agriculture, water resources, education and power.

The Minister said she would engage the World Bank’s official in discussions to secure the support of the bank in these areas.

Responding, Mr. Makhtar Diop said he was in Nigeria to “seek guidance in areas of support for Nigeria, saying the country was important for Africa and whatever affects Nigeria will affect the continent.”

He commended Nigeria’s micro economic policies which he said has made it possible for the country to absorb the shock from the current global recession.

He said his visit to Nigeria is an opportunity for him to learn about the country and see how the World Bank can step up it’s work in the country.

He assured the Nigerian government that his priority would be to fight poverty.

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

-N6.503 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -11.7% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending -22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $43.5b FOREX CFA -0.2958 EUR -206.9 £ -242.1 $ -156 ¥ -1.9179 SDR -238 RIYAL -40.472

•From left: Managing Director, Fidelity Bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi; Minister of State for Agriculture; Alhaji Bukar Tijani; Governor of the Central Bank of NIgeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. AkinwunmiAdeshina during the meeting of the Bankers’ Committee wth the Minister of Agriculture in Lagos on Saturday.

FAAN, concessionaire bicker over land T HERE was confusion at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja , yesterday as officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and representatives of a concessionaire-AIC Limited clashed over a parcel of land proposed for a five star hotel .

FAAN, speaking through its General-Manager, Corporate Services, Yakubu Dati, said the land does not belong to the Concessionaire, while the firm argued that the lease concession on the land had been granted to it by FAAN since 1998.

The firm insisted that the land was leased to it in 1998, saying the agreement to that effect was registered as NO 55 at page 55 in Volume 2010 of the Land Registry of Lagos State.

Addressing the media yesterday, the General Manager, Administration and Business Development, Chief Niyi Akande, said the land was leased to AIC for 50 years to build a five star hotel that will be linked to the international terminal.

He said: “There is a court

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

injunction which is still subsisting. We did not go through the back door .They leased the land to us for 50 years, we signed an agreement and we did not just come here to take the land.

FAAN should obey court decisions,”he said.

“On 18the February, 2002, Justice R.O Nwodo granted AIC Limited an injunction restraining FAAN from disturbing AIC Limited from conducting its legal business on the land.” He added that at Arbitration headed by Justice Friday Esun, AIC was also awarded a fine to FAAN to pay A.I.C Limited $46 million for lost of profit and income that A.I.C had suffered for the hotel that should have been built and opened 10 years ago.

Chief Akande said that five companies bidded for the five hotel project, saying when AIC’s bid was examined, it was discovered that its project was more feasible..

The General Manager stated that it was based on that FAAN

signed a 50 year leased agreement with AIC. He said the company was shocked to find the caterpillars hired by FAAN clearing the land, which lawfully belong to AIC. Akande said when he and other staff of AIC got to the site at MMIA, yesterday, FAAN had pull down the fence separating the property from the Diplomatic Car Park, adding that he reported the case to the Airport Police Command, who sent a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Haliru Gwandu to the scene to maintain peace.

In a swift reaction, FAAN, in a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Services, Yakubu Dati said : “ The attention of the Federal Airports Authority has been drawn to a recent altercation over a parcel of land owned by the Authority and presently being used as a temporary car park to ease up the traffic at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

We wish to state in unequivocal terms that the par-

cel of land in question which is situated beside the international airport belongs to the authority and not to any concessionaire as claimed.

About a decade ago, a concessionaire had requested for land for the development of a hotel and such was granted.

However the transaction was subsequently enmeshed in controversy which resulted in arbitration.

The arbitrator awarded damages to the said concessionaire while the land remained FAAN property.

The concessionaire cannot therefore exercise legal right over the land but can pursue their interest i.e. monetary compensation as contained in the arbitral award.

The Lagos airport premises and land situated therein are sole property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and by their location are of security significance.The on-going development around the airport environment is for the general benefit of all and therefore overrides any personal or group interest.

FAAN remains committed to fulfilling its mandate of providing a secure, safe and comfortable airport experience.”

NNPC seeks stakeholders’ support for $1.5b loan

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HE Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora tion (NNPC) has begun to engage stakeholders in its bid to secure a $1.5 billion loan to offset creditors’ debts..

The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, while fielding questions, told reporters that the organisation needs the money badly to remain credit worthy, saying all stakeholders should endeavour to approve of it.

Yakubu, who was in Lagos yesterday to inspect the vandalised NNPC pipeline at Arepo, said the corporation was very much indebted and

By EmekaUgwuanyi

has been discussing with the creditors over time on how to make repayment.

The planned loan has been severely criticised by Nigerians, including members of the National Assembly and the Debt Management Office which said it was unaware of the loan arrangement.

Yakubu, however said a lot of engagement is currently ongoing to resolve the issue and secure public understanding.

He said: “We are discussing.

We have quite a lot of indebtedness and this has affected our credit rating. We have had a lot of meetings with the

creditor. Arrangement have been put in place to resolve the issue through the current intervention we are about to embark upon. We are discussing with all stakeholders to let them understand that NNPC is taking the loan to solve its credit worthiness.

We have been trying to be as open as possible on the issue.”

The NNPC is currently working to obtain a $1.5 billion syndicated loan to enable it pay debts to its international fuel traders.

The deal, according to reports, was struck at the end of last year. The loan which was brokered by Standard Char-

• Yakubu

tered Bank, the report noted, will be provided by Nigerian and international banks.

Currently, the NNPC lawyers and those of the creditor banks are looking at the terms of the transaction to tidy up the deal.

PHCN workers block Perm Sec’s access to headquarters From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

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HE Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) workers’ union yesterday temporarily hindered the access of the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Dere Awosika into the premises at Maitama.

However, the intervention of the Managing Director, Hussein Labo, saved the day.

The Nation however, learnt that Awosika, who was due for retirement yesterday, stopped at the Transition Company of Nigeria section of the PHCN, where the PHCN boss eventually met with her.

The uprising, according to a source, was intended to ascertain the mission of the Permanent Secretary, who was in company of the Managing Director of the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), Sam Agbogun.

The source said: “We allowed them into the premise after the PHCN Managing Director explained to us that the Permanent Secretary decided to come over, since she is retiring today (yesterday) and there was no work at the Federal Secretariat (due to the Armed Forces remembrance day celebration) to brief him on the modalities she has put in place for the payment of PHCN staff salaries.

“We told them to hasten up with the payments process,so there was nothing serious.”

Attempt to confirm the incident from the Awosika was to no avail but a source from the ministry who spoke in confidence said : “it is a lie because the Perm Sec has been around for meetings.”

It will be recalled that the workers are yet to receive their severance package as agree with the Federal Government on December 11 last year.

12

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

ECOWAS urges reduction in cost of governance

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HE Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has ordered all member states to reduce their cost of governance and look for addditional sources of taxation.

The Director of Multilateral Surveillance, ECOWAS Commission, Lassane Kabore, who represented the President of the ECOWAS Commission, said this yesterday in Abuja at the 34th Technical Committee’s meeting of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

He urged “all ECOWAS member States, including the WAMZ countries, to increase domestic revenue mobilisation through effective implementation of programmes aimed at ensuring improved tax payer voluntary compliance, effective tax administration and broadening of the tax base, as well as minimising the operational cost of governance.”

He was unhappy that the perform-

• Seeks more tax From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor) Abuja

ance of the WAMZ member countries with regards to the secondary convergence criteria, “was slightly above 25 per cent, bringing to the fore the problems of low tax yield and high operational costs of governance in the entire ECOWAS subregion.”

Kabore, said as the sub-region moves towards the agreed launch date of 2015 for the second regional currency, the ECOWAS Commission expects “that the WAMZ Member States satisfy the macroeconomic convergence criteria, especially the primary criteria, and sustain their performance on the convergence scale.”

Though he admitted that achieving this goal has been a daunting challenge for the six member coun-

tries of the WAMZ, he lamented that “none of the six WAMZ countries met the required targets of the four primary criteria.”

The ECOWAS commission was also displeaed that only “three member countries satisfied both the inflation and fiscal deficit criteria, while five countries met the Central Bank deficit financing criterion. With respect to the gross external reserves criterion, no country satisfied the criterion.”

He described this development as “a dismal performance, compared to the situation in the first half of 2011.

In percentage terms, the performance score of the WAMZ countries on the convergence scale during the first half of 2012 was 62.5 per cent, compared to 79.2 per cent during the corresponding period in 2011.”

ECOWAS Commission, he said, “is committed to the establishment of a credible and sustainable monetary union in the sub-region with the ul-

timate goal of improving the standard of living of the entire ECOWAS citizenry.”

In this regard, the ECOWAS Convergence Council (Ministers of Finance and Governors of Central Banks) , “gave the ECOWAS Commission the overall responsibility of coordinating the activities in the Roadmap on the implementation of the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme, in collaboration with all the regional institutions involved in the implementation of the monetary cooperation programme.”

ECOWAS Commission is working to effectively implement the Roadmap activities, he said, and listed the activities to include, harmonisation and adoption of convergence criteria, harmonisation of statistics, and harmonisation of domestic tax policies as well as harmonisation of public procurement, public debt, accounting and statistical frameworks of public fi-

nance.”

Other activities include removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to free movement of goods, persons and services within ECOWAS, and financial market integration (money and capital markets and nonbank financial institutions insurance, Pension/Social Security Funds and industries).

Earlier, the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Sarah Alade, cautioned WAMZ member countries to “avoid taking hasty decisions that will lead to the failure of the planned monetary union.”

She said it was important for ECOWAS, the West African Monetary Authority (WAMA) and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) to “escalate their collaborative efforts in order to identify areas of improvement in addressing sound monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies which will promote macro economic stability.”

Miners seek single digit interest rate

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HE President of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Sani, yesterday called the Federal Government to lower the interest rate for mining loan to a single digit as it is applicable to the agricultural sector.

His words: “We are also advocating that a single digit interest charges should be applicable to mining loans as it is the case with agriculture.”

While urging President Goodluck Jonathan to fasttrack the process for the establishment of Solid Minerals Development Fund, he said : “We want to see the actualisation of this Solid Minerals Development Fund because it is enshrined in the Mineral and Mining Act 2007. We are calling for quicker actualisation of that fund.”

He said the provision of Special Intervention Fund, that as presently enjoyed by the textile industry could boost the mining in-

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

dustry.

Sani, who spoke with The Nation at Abuja, recalled that President Jonathan had during his presentation of the 2013 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, removed import duty on mining machinery. He urged the agencies involved in the collection of the duties to abide by the pronouncement.

The miners helmsman, urged mining companies to take advantage of the pronouncement to import the relevant equipment for their operation.

He said Nigerians should be apprehensive that the foreign consumers of the country’s oil are planning to exit oil importation, stressing that the US, EU and Australia have concluded plans to stop oil importation by 2025.

“It is therefore strategically important for the

Federal Government to start developing critical sectors, like the solid minerals to gradually take over from oil. They should invest the present oil revenue in mining to save the future . “ The miners boss, said investment in mining would create more money and jobs than what is obtainable in the present oil dependent economy.

Sani revealed that the association is presently made up of over 500 Cooperative Societies, adding that plans are underway to register additional 5000 Cooperative Societies this year.

He explained that the registration would result in the reduction of illegal mining activities in the country, adding that the association has already invited large scale miners in Nigeria the Dangote Group of Company and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to join the association.

Omatek boss lists challenges of local manufacturers G

ROUP Managing Di rector of Omatek Venures Plc, Mrs Florence Seriki, has identified funding from financial institutions, home paronage and the government policy as the major contraints bedeviling indigenous original equipment manufacturers.

She urged the government to get serious about job creation by addressing these issues..

Seriki, who is also the President of Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN), said the Federal Government should rise up to the occasion and implement the local content policy in the information communication technology (ICT) sector. She spoke in Lagos yesterday.

According to her, it is only when local patronage are sold across board that employment could be created and research and development (R&D) encouraged, adding that the communication technology minister should liaiase with other minstries and do private public partnership (PPP) and make ICT the major driver of the nation’s economy.

By Lucas Ajanaku

She said it is only through this way that ICT sector can contribute significantly to the growth of the nation’s gross domestic product.

“The minsiter should liaise with other minstries and do PPP. The government should make ICT the major driver of the economy. That is the way to go. India used software while Taiwan used hardware. Tolerance of local products is also important,” she said.

Seriki who disclosed that the firm’s new factory in Lagos has seven bays out of which three are currently being used, said with the factory and conveyor belt in place, R&D would continue while the firm will not compromise on the qaulity of its products.

On funding, she said the Bank of Industry (BoI) has promised to come to the aid of the ICT sector, adding that the managing director of the bank has already created a desk for ICT with the promise of making funding available. “Funding manufacturing is more difficult than funding finished prod-

ucts. That was why we brought the BoI. The MD has created a desk for ICT and promised to make loans available at single digit interest rate (to ICT industry),” she said.

According to Seriki, appropriate policies are also vital to the survival of small and medium scale businesses (SMEs) in the country, aclling on the Federal Government to revisit the local content policy of former President Olusegun Obasanjo so that the growth and evolution of the ICT sector could be accelerated.

Recaalling the decisions that the firm had taken to enable it function well, she said the firm had undertaken an overhaul of its psersonnel to make it function in the mould of world class technology firm, adding that though the decision was met with resistance, she said it was an advantage for the firm. She promised that when ongoing programmes put in inplace by the management are carried out, shareholders would be in for good times.

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COMMENTARY EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

EDITORIALS

A sweltering planet’s agenda

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Wastrel •Like a leopard, the NNPC cannot change its ways

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F Nigerians weren’t already familiar with the image of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as an inept, transparently opaque, and irredeemably corrupt entity, its latest attempt to corral the nation to take a dubious loan would have been something of a surprise. Even at that, the corporation would seem to have surpassed its own ignoble records in recklessness and impunity going by its reported plan to syndicate a $1.5 billion loan from a consortium of lenders, to settle trade partners. And, as if to confirm the dubious reputation of an entity that does its business in utmost secrecy, it took a foreign news agency to blow the whistle on the deal.

The meat of the story is that the NNPC owes major commodity trading houses – including Glencore and Mercuria – about $3.5 billion in unpaid fuel supply bills.

For this, it seeks $1.5 billion from a group of local and international lenders to offset the debts for which it proposes to put 15,000 barrels per day of its production as collateral.

Another instance in which legalism will come, not only handy to defend the indefensible, but would also serve as the sole armour for the wastrel, NNPC spokesperson Ms Tumini Green, cited the provisions of Sections 6 (1) and 8 (1) (2) of the NNPC Act as empowering the corporation to borrow.

The sections read: “The corporation, in fulfilment of its duties, can enter into contracts or partnerships with any company, firm or person, which in the opinion of the corporation will facilitate the discharge of the said duties under

this Act”.

It states further, “Subject to the other provisions of this section, the corporation may from time to time borrow by overdraft or otherwise howsoever such sums as it may require in the exercise of its functions under this Act and the corporation shall not, without the approval of the National Council of Ministers, borrow any sum of money whereby the amount in aggregate outstanding on any loan or loans at any time exceeds such amounts as is for the time being specified by the National Council of Ministers”.

The issue isn’t so much about legalism but the ways of the corporation that are antithetical to good business practices.

An OPEC member state –the sixth largest producer in the cartel – seeking international financing, not for its highly capital-intensive, exploration activities, but to finance fuel imports would hardly qualify as model in good corporate practices. But that is how far down the NNPC has sunk. More worrisome is the basis of the so-called loan; these are imports expected to be sold on cash-andcarry basis to marketers. Whatever happened to the proceeds of the imports for which the corporation now requires a five-year repayment plan to offset?

Before now, the question of the solvency or otherwise of the corporation was said to be academic. Not anymore.

Way back in July 2010, the then Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, had declared the corporation as insolvent. Of course, a lot of furore greeted that declaration then.

The issue then was the corporation’s

liabilities said to have exceeded its assets by $5bn or £3.3bn; the corporation was also indebted to the federation account to the tune of $3bn at this time.

What has changed between then and now? The answer is – nothing. If anything, the corporation seems to have sunk deeper into the financial hole.

What keeps it going is of course the flow of crude – the only reason it has not filed for bankruptcy.

We expect the National Assembly to stop the loan if only to prevent the corporation from wreaking further havoc on the treasury. And if we may add - the need to break up the corporation has become urgent; so is the imperative of a new national oil corporation ready to embrace global best practices.

‘We expect the National Assembly to stop the loan if only to prevent the corporation from wreaking further havoc on the treasury. And if we may add - the need to break up the corporation has become urgent; so is the imperative of a new national oil corporation ready to embrace global best practices’

PDP in disarray •Failure of the Peoples Democratic Party to elect its chairman is another manifestation of indiscipline

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HE inability of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Board of Trustees to elect a chairman when it met on January 8 is another indication democracy remains endangered in the country. The party lays claim to being the largest in Africa. It, indeed, controls the structure of governance in the country and thus exerts great influence on the polity.

Twenty-three of the 36 stage governors were elected on its platform, in addition to producing the president and executive arm of government. Also, about two-thirds of members of the National Assembly

‘Over the years, a board whose duty includes serving as conscience of the party, reconciling aggrieved members and resolving conflicts had become so unwieldy that even its secretary has no record of authentic members. There were suggestions that some of the 12 contenders for the top job are not authentic members of the board. If the national ruling party had allowed indiscipline to define its essence, why would anyone have confidence that it could impose order on the polity and chart a direction for the future?’

were elected on the party’s platform. It is therefore a source of worry that the election of a chairman for the BoT could generate such rancour.

After a three-hour meeting, the board’s secretary, Senator Walid Jibrin, announced that a six-member committee headed by a former secretary of the board, Professor Jerry Gana, had been set up to address issues raised by the contestants and their supporters. The board could not proceed with the election of its chairman because members did not know those qualified to attend and vote at the meeting. Over the years, a board whose duty includes serving as conscience of the party, reconciling aggrieved members and resolving conflicts had become so unwieldy that even its secretary has no record of authentic members. There were suggestions that some of the 12 contenders for the top job are not authentic members of the board.

If the national ruling party had allowed indiscipline to define its essence, why would anyone have confidence that it could impose order on the polity and chart a direction for the future?

Article 12.80 of the PDP constitution spells out the duties of the board. It is expected to, “ensure highest standards of morality in all the activities of the party…, ensure high morale of members of the party and that the party enjoys a good image; harmonise, coordinate, review

and advise on policies, programmes and activities of the party at the national level, coordinate the sourcing of party funds and mediate in disputes between the executive and legislative arms of government, among other functions.”

Fourteen years after its establishment, the party still cannot interpret its own rules. Dr. Alex Ekwueme was the first leader of the party’s board of elder statesmen. He was succeeded in the role

by Chief Tony Anenih and then Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. To ensure his continued relevance in national affairs, Obasanjo, shortly before he left office as president, got the constitution amended to give effect to a desire to hold the BoT office for life. This was changed shortly after he left office.

Dr. Ekwueme, Chief Anenih and former national Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, are among the dozen aspirants to the office. Obasanjo who stepped aside last April, a few months to the expiration of his tenure, did not even attend the meeting. At the root of the intractable dispute is an alleged clash of interests between President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-President Obasanjo.

How the intrigues play out is not the main issue now. The concern here is the failure of the internal democratic order in the PDP. If the 2015 elections would succeed where others failed, the parties must show that they respect the rules.

HE NATIONAL Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last week that 2012 was the warmest year on record in the contiguous United States. By far — a whole degree Fahrenheit.

Scientists can’t yet know to what extent man-made emissions influenced the heat and calamitous drought. But the result is nevertheless ominous, “a huge exclamation point on the end of several decades of fairly consistent warming,” as NOAA’s Deke Arndt put it. The year offers a vision of what will happen more often on a planet that is heating — slowly and fitfully, not every year warmer than the last, but inexorably.

There is still uncertainty. Though they have a range of estimates, scientists still do not know exactly how sensitive the global climate system is to human carbon emissions and exactly how steep the longterm temperature line will be. Predicting the consequences of a given temperature rise is also difficult. That’s an argument not for doing nothing but for managing the risks, spending now to avoid the likelihood of much greater costs later, as any good business would do in the face of certain threats of uncertain magnitude.

The smartest hedge would be a national carbon tax. It would marshal the market’s power to wring carbon out of the economy, putting decisions about the direction of energy and manufacturing in the hands of consumers and businesses that meet their demands, not Congress and interest groups that lobby lawmakers. When people must pay something for their pollution, they pollute less and invest in cleaner alternatives. A carbon tax would provide more certainty to industry and investors who currently can only guess at what climate policy will look like year to year.

But, given the dim debate on global warming in Congress, another consequence of a carbon tax might be more appealing to policymakers: revenue. Resources for the Future estimates that a tax set at $25 per ton of carbon dioxide would raise $125 billion annually — more than would be saved by eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction. Even if much of that were rebated to ensure that lowincome households weren’t unduly hurt — the right policy — a sizable chunk would be left to shrink the deficit or ease the major tax reform that Washington’s leaders have been promising.

Implementing a national carbon tax would be only one step toward addressing climate change, a problem that must ultimately be dealt with globally. But it would be a big one.

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, JANUARY 15, 2013

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: President Goodluck Jonathan has been keeping people guessing on whether he will run for president in 2015.

Guessing? Anyway, just into the new year, campaign posters for Jonathan’s presidency in 2015 started spreading in the streets of Abuja. But the president has denied having anything to do with the posters. His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati said those who were behind the posters didn’t seek the president’s permission. His words:‘Those pasting the posters are trying to express their own view. The president had stated that he will talk about the presidency from 2014. Those doing these do not have the consent of the president. What is most important now is for the president to deliver on his electioneering promise to Nigerians and not to embark on the pasting of posters. It has not come from the president. Nigerians should take the president for his word and ignore any other information to the contrary.”

But many think otherwise. They believe he must have had a hand in those posters, in fact that the whole thing was Jonathan. Why is it so hard to believe the president?

If people cannot take the president for his word, does it mean they think he has a credibility gap?

Looking back now, there are many things Jonathan said to Nigerians, many promises he made to get their votes, which today he has denied ever saying.

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Does Jonathan have a credibility gap?

I might not have bothered if Jonathan had a credibility gap or not until I heard he said that there has been an improvement in power supply¯which should be celebrated. Jonathan’s government said Nigeria’s power generation had reached an all-time high of 4,502 megawatts, up from 4,349.7MW. He also boasted that with his administration Nigerians will no longer be dependent on generators

I have not heard anything more galling. As I typed this piece I was sweating, as my generating set had used up all the fuel. And I did not want to add any more fuel into it until the next day because if I opened the doors I might let in mosquitoes. It was our light off. We usually had two days on, and one day off. This arrangement has been on for about two years now. The last time we had an improvement was during the time of Prof Barth

Nnaji as power minister. Now, even on the days we are to have light, in 24 hours it is rare to have two hours of light uninterrupted.

It was the same Jonathan who during a Presidential media chat last November said the combined average power generation capacity from all the power plants in the country had moved from less than 3,000 MW to above 5,000 MW. But thankfully the misinformation was immediately refuted by the Trans-

The military and their legacies IR: As we celebrate our fallen heroes this week, one area often neglected by most Nigerians is the contributions of our military towards the development of our nation. This is because military rule has always been associated with evils like corruption, nepotism,and other evils. But we also forget that they contributed a great deal to some of the progress that we have experienced as a nation in the last 52 years.

The most important contribution of the military to our nation is keeping us united as one country.

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The military fought a 30-month civil war which consumed several of it’s brightest minds like Majors Kaduna Nzeogwu,Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Colonel Victor Banjo to mention a few. If the politicians were the ones that were in power at that time,I am sure that they would have conducted referendum in the various regions and there would be no Nigeria today.

Most of the infrastructure we have in our country today were built by the military. The military also built several roads and bridges which dot the nook and cranny of the state.

Let us not forget that Abuja as a city was built by the military. They also built several airports and seaports that we have in our country today.

In the education sector,the military built several Unity Schools in various states of the federation.

They also built several universities thereby enhancing the availability of manpower to aid us in our drive towards industrial and technological greatness.

Most of the power stations through which electricity is provided to most Nigerians were built by the military. In fact,the regime

Northern governors and street begging

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IR: Street begging is a culture that has long been driven by poverty,religious and ethnic diversity complication. The major players in the demaning culture are the disable and their destitute families (able and disabled). This street begging not only constitute nuisance to the society,it is also taking its toll on the lives of teenagers who either act as guides for beggars or even engage in the act of begging themselves. Many of them are force to sacrifice their education through this trade and with their parent sup-

mission Company of Nigeria, TCN, which said Nigeria has never reached a peak of 5,000 MW. Credibility confers on a leader moral garland. If a leader has lost their credibility they become like dry wood, dry leaves in the harmattan, there is no life in their leadership, their legacy if any soon easily blown away. A leader without credibility is not doing term, but doing time; credibility gives a leader freedom to lead, while the lack thereof makes the leader a prisoner. Credibility is the most important aspect of effective leadership. Leaders without credibility are at best waiting on time, they will still be remembered no doubt, but only as blotches in the delicate canvas of history.

• Dr Cosmas Odoemena, Lagos.

port they end up as beggars.

Recent statistics released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), shows that over 9.5 million Nigerian children of school age are not in school with about nine million of such hapless childrens are from the northern Nigeria.

The region covers more than half of Nigeria. It is also a region with vast agricultural potentials as variety of tropical agricultural system is widely practiced there leading to mass cultivation of food and cash

crops. This also a region where a lot of mineral resources are found in commercial quantities.

However,a puzzling facthing of this region is the menace of child street begging which is pervasive especially in the core northern states of Kano, Jigawa, Borno,Yobe, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Adamawa.

Whichever school of thought one belongs to, it is pertinent to draw the attentions of political leaders, traditional rulers and religious leaders in the northern Nigeria to this

untoward social behavior, and the need to put a stop to this practice. It is unfortunate that at this age and time when children should be in school or doing something to keep body and soul together are left to roam about the street all in the name of begging. This urgly trend has it own negative consequences which include, armed robbery, violence, kidnapping, 419 and internet scam.

A stitch in time saves nine!

• John Akevi, Nitel Qtrs.

Bauchi.

of General Muhammadu Buhari almost solved the problem of erratic power supply in our country before it was overthrown. The failure of successive administrations to make critical investments in that sector has left us where we are today.

All our refineries were built by the military and they were in good working condition. Since 1999 till now our politicians have not succeeded in building a single refinery instead they increase the pump price of fuel every year and yet there is disparity in prices among the various states of the federation.

Nigeria experienced her greatest sporting glory under military rule.

The Super Eagles won the African Cup of Nations in 1994, Gold in men football in Atlanta 1996; the Golden Eaglets won the U-17 World Cup in 1985, Nigeria’s first Gold medalist,Chioma Ajunwa (1996) among many other sporting victories.

I am not advocating a return to military rule but it is high time our politicians stop blaming the military for our woes 14 years into our democratic voyage. Let them instead concentrate on how to take us to the promise land.

• Peter Ovie Akus University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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COMMENTS

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LEARLY the most damning irony about the controversial Goodluck Jonathan 2015 campaign poster, which copies flooded Abuja, is its claim that “One good term deserves another”. But even the most rabid of Jonathan supporters would concede his has been a bad, nay, terrible term.

So, what does a bad term deserve? A re-sit, as Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin, reportedly quipped in pleading the case of his son, Lucky? Lucky’s 2003 “re-sit” and the subsequent 2007 vote-fiddling meant to block positive change, only made Edo a near-total paralysis be-

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epublican ipples

lordbeek@yahoo.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please)

fore the redemption of the Adams Oshiomhole era. Lucky for Lucky. But absolutely terrible for Edo. Yet the Edo paralysis was nowhere near the chaos and gridlock that is the Federal Republic under Goodluck Jonathan.

Yet, the good luck president ogles a second term!

If free and fair election were guaranteed, it would have been electoral suicide for President Jonathan to seek a second term; and supreme electoral folly for his party to present him.

Indeed, so sure would have been the electoral rout to come that the opposition would have flocked into churches, mosques and traditional shrines for pre-election thanksgiving, doubly assured that the sitting president was a lamb being led to the slaughter, by virtue of his woeful performance.

But alas! Nothing is assured, not the least free elections, in Nigeria’s peculiar politics. That is why a personage that logs the record of perhaps the most incompetent president Nigeria has ever had would deem to flex muscles and yearn for a second term! It is a salute to the contempt with which the ruling racket holds the Nigerian people, as well as the electoral process.

Still, to be fair to the president, he has denied authorship of those posters – fair enough.

The snag, however, is there is a feeling of déjà vu over the incident: a very vivid sense that we have seen all this dissembling before.

Under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the self-made “military president” would say something and his alter ego, the trinity of Dr. Aitkins, Arthur Nzeribe and Abimbola Davies’ Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) would canvass the exact opposite, with sickening patriotic piety.

Under Gen. Sani Abacha, Daniel Kanu’s phantom Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA!) urged a thoroughly hated iron dictator and power usurper to go ahead and transmute, prompting The Economist, the London weekly, to write, in its 23 April 1998 issue, a tongue-in-the-cheek article it entitled, “Abacha, for ever, and ever”. Only “divine intervention” put paid to the Goggled One’s inordinate dreams.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, after hiding behind a finger over a botched term elongation gambit, invoked Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” cheeky nonsense; declaring that if

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T is no accident that the casualty figures from the vandalisation of the so-called System 2B pipelines in Arepo, Ogun State have been somewhat indeterminate – days after. How about a nation that has had very limited success counting itself taking so much trouble counting the hordes of the expendables blown into the creeks as a result of greed? But then, what does it matter – that scores of Nigerians have swelled the legion of the nation’s expendables?

One thing that cannot be suggested of the weekend pipeline disaster in Arepo Ogun State is that it was entirely unexpected. However, it seems to me that we are at the turning point – the terminal stage of the pathology described as the Acquired Institutional Delinquency Syndrome (AIDS), a measure of how far the culture of self-help has metastasized.

Let’s go back a bit. In August last year, the same System 2B pipeline – the main artery for fuel distribution in the South-West was destroyed by the vandals. For weeks running, the nation could not put out the fires. Or, rather, the security agencies had much trouble putting out the fire as a result of the difficult terrain. It also emerged that they had to contend with the intrepid vandals who could not sit by and watch their criminal enterprise ruined. Why should they not fight since their very lives depended on it?

We know the rest of the story. A group of NNPC engineers called in to repair the broken pipelines were gruesomely murdered; so was the attempt to retrieve their bodies from the creeks resisted by the goons. The vandals of Arepo obviously thought little of the security agencies and perhaps far less of the authority of the federal government. It took weeks before the goons were dislodged from their gangland republic and only after did the NNPC move in to fix the pipelines.

That was in September. And the pipeline was not even put into use until December 2012. The entire affair is best described as pathetic.

So, who is feigning surprise at last week’s disaster?

The security agencies lulled into sleep after claiming premature victory August 2012? The national oil corporation yet to figure out how to secure its pipelines and make them safe? Or the federal government that is as good as clueless when matters about evolving strategies to secure vital national assets pops up? How about a nation rendered complicit by fact of indifference?

I do not know where the idea came from that the

Olakunle Abimbola

One bad term ... he really wanted a third term, and had asked his God, his God would have given it to him. In Nigeria’s political jungle, Obasanjo had found his own variant of Maradona’s Hand of God! And even Goodluck Jonathan, in his caretaker presidency days, was asked whether he would run for president, during the raging zoning controversy. Instead of a simple and straight answer, he lurched into a long and winding story of how he could run for president, or team up with someone as vice president, and how, in mid-sentence, he suddenly realised he was not even thinking of such things!

Can someone please compare and contrast Jonathan’s answer back then to his current refrain that he is too busy on his job right now to be messing around with 2015 posters?

Of course, the unsure caretaker president later became absolutely sure he would be real president for only one term – the one term he is making a hash of. Though now he disowns these satanic alter egos pasting Abuja with his campaign posters, he is now even more unsure whether to stop them or tell them to continue, because he is too busy with state duties! It is the making of Goodluck Jonathan as a presidential dissembler!

It is clear therefore that, despite the empty anti-corruption posturing of the Obasanjo years, little has changed in Nigeria’s sick power chamber. And President Jonathan: his might have been a shifty, parlous and near-hopeless tenure. But the president has been clear-eyed and sure-footed in the power lessons he has allowed himself to learn. To the chagrin of long suffering Nigerians, he is no different from his far-from-illustrious predecessors.

That is why Jonathan’s pre-election dissembling could well have been from a manual straight out of the Obasanjo, or Abacha or Babangida years. When IBB was swearing for the sanctity of this so-called transition programme, state money was being funnelled

‘The Edo paralysis was nowhere near the chaos and gridlock that is the Federal Republic under Goodluck Jonathan. Yet, the good luck president ogles a second term!’

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

The vandals of Arepo derring-do vandals have suddenly become less daring or perhaps born-again because the security agencies managed to arrest a few persons.

Should it surprise anyone that the NNPC does not seem to have learnt anything from the previous incident which claimed the lives of three of their top engineers and disrupted of the fuel supply chain in the South-West? Isn’t it the way the business of governance is conducted in these parts?

I watched Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State on TV as he bemoaned the complicity of the national oil corporation in the tragedy. So unsparing was the governor as he charged that: “NNPC with their inaction, they are part of this problem. I want to believe that they are part of the people aiding and abetting this pipeline vandalisation”. That obviously was an understatement.

The corporation seems to me the root and branch of the problem.

I do not think anyone can deny the criminal complicity of a good many of our institutions in the countless instances of mass murders in the country. Do we begin with the death traps described as highways? Or the healthcare system that dispenses deaths in their thousands? Or the educational system as purveyors of tradition, ignorance and superstition? Are these institutions not part of the making of the criminal state called Nigeria?

The question of course is why anyone would expect the NNPC to be different.

There is however, another way to view last week’s development. There are those who will argue that the Arepo incident is only a tiny dot in the nation’s slow

to his alter ego trinity to create so much chaos that, at the end of the day, a brow-beaten nation would “beg” the military president to please exchange his uniform for baba riga and continue his good work. Fortunately for Nigerians, the IBB scheme collapsed on his head.

Everyone, of course, knew state money was responsible for Kanu’s thunderous YEAA for Abacha; and also behind the cacophonous racket by the musical soldiers of fortune that were part of the gravy. Goodluck

Jonathan spawned his own musical mercenaries with his Eagle Square Abuja Goodluck Nigeria concert, which has turned nothing but bad luck for Nigerians. Obasanjo, to this day, denies the alleged hefty money that changed hands for his term elongation gambit. He can tell that to the marines!

Not surprising, therefore, pre-election manoeuvring are afoot – again, straight from the IBB/Abacha/Obasanjo-era ignoble books.

Up, from nowhere, has popped a 10 million cell phone-purchase programme for farmers. Ibukun Odusote, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, disclosed N60 billion (about US $384 million) would be blown on this sweetheart deal. Akinwunmi Adesina, Agriculture minister, claimed otherwise after a public uproar.

The making of another scam? Might this sudden quixotic love for Nigerian farmers be to 2015 what the oil subsidy voodoo payment was to 2011?

Inside the PDP, a civil war has broken out – and not unconnected with 2015, even if the theatre of war is the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT). President Jonathan wants his man to head the BOT and help storm-troop delegates; and harvest nomination.

Obasanjo, doomed to life-long political hustling when he could have earned post-presidency authoritative influence is, Don Quixote-wise, throwing his hat into the ring for a laughable candidate. To these party bosses, intra-party manoeuvres to skew the nomination process are even more vital than the longsuffering electorate!

And outside, the cement cartel, unfazed poster children of Nigerian crony capitalism that reached its zenith during Obasanjo’s era of transparent corruption, is staging its own civil war! Might this high-stake manoeuvre be a bid to extract concession from a government whose party would soon come, cap in hand, for election donations?

These bewildering dramas, not what the incumbent has done or not done, are why Jonathan could deign to dream of an encore, when his present tenure is nothing but disaster. But it is also left for Nigerians to counter: one bad term begets absolute electoral rejection.

But will they? The day they do, all this rascality will stop.

regression to the famed Hobbesian jungle. No doubt, they are right to the extent that what we see is actually no more than the extension of the elaborate, individualized self-help scheme that governance has become in the country.

Of course, what we call governance is actually no more than an institution in the service of a few oligarchs, a two-way affair between beneficiaries of unearned wealth: the contractors, fuel merchants, beneficiaries of all manners of duty waivers and their cohorts and the dispensers of patronage. It is between the two that the wealth of the nation is shared. We are here talking of wealth running into trillions of naira annually. So what could be wrong with some hoodlums taking their turn?

So much for our collective outrage at what the vandals have done to themselves and the society. The question is; are they more culpable or even more rapacious in the despoliation of the nation than those whitewashed criminals in public service? Between those public servants who routinely help themselves to the public till while denying service to the public and the pipeline vandal, which is there to choose from? Howe about the high net-worth businessman whose worth is actually no more than access to the nation’s marble palaces? Are they not of the same class, the same species? Do they not represent the symptoms of the same disease of self-help, of impunity?

I do not think that anyone should suffer the illusion that they are different. They are not. That is what makes the future so frightening.

‘So much for our collective outrage at what the vandals have done to themselves and the society. The question is; are they more culpable or even more rapacious in the despoliation of the nation than those whitewashed criminals in public service? Between those public servants who routinely help themselves to the public till while denying service to the public and the pipeline vandal, which is there to choose from?’

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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COMMENTS

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IVEN the dearth of accurate statistics in Nigeria, the number of lives lost to oil pipeline explosion/ fire can only be estimated in hundreds considering the number of such disasters in the country in recent times, yet we don’t seem to be ready or in a haste to end this self inflicted tragedies.

For the umpteenth time oil thieves burst a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline at Arepo village in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, just a stone throw from Lagos State to scoop fuel for sale at the black market.

But since every day is for the thief and one day for the owner of the house, the seemingly unforgiving spirit of the petrol flowing in the pipeline decided enough was enough and fought back, blowing up in a loud explosion causing a huge ball of fire that consumed no fewer than 30 lives, according to initial reports in the media, with hundreds of others badly injured.

The criminals and accomplices were believed to constitute the bulk of the dead while some innocent bystanders/villagers were also affected.

Another round of fuel shortage is expected in Lagos and surrounding states as a result as the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company, the arm of NNPC in charge of the pipelines has expectedly turned the tap off to stop the flow of petrol through the Arepo pipelines.

A day after the Arepo incident oil thieves struck at another NNPC pipeline at Oviadge, Oghara in Delta State and were lucky to escape with their lives as no fire was reported. As it is often the case among thieves, quarrel always occur not during the operation but during sharing of loot.

The Arepo thieves were reportedly arguing over whom among them should scoop the fuel first after they had successfully burst the pipeline when suddenly one of them shot into the crowd and the bullet ignited the fire that consumed them.

The questions begging for answer here is why is it so easy to vandalise our oil pipelines and why are they so vulnerable to such attacks? What are the security agencies and the NNPC doing to safeguard this all important oil facility? I remember in the 70s, when these pipelines

P

RESENTLY, the education sector in Lagos State is receiving an unprecedented boost from the Lagos State government. When Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) took over from the Asiwaju, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he made a pledge to the people of the state that he would continue the policy of free education in both primary and secondary schools in the state. This pledge has been carried many steps further since more than five years he has been in the saddle.

Not only has the free education policy for which the state has been known for years been intensified and improved upon in many respects, Lagos State has come to occupy an enviable position in the annals of West African School Certificate Examination (WAESC) and National Examination Council (NECO) in present times. To cap it all, the government has just established what it rightly tagged Lagos Eko Secondary Education Project, a project that is being assisted by the World Bank.

This idea, in the reasoning of Ms Ronke Azeez, Special Adviser to Governor

‘This is what Governor Fashola has promptly done given that students cannot get anything good if they are not getting the best from both the government and their teachers. It is equally great to learn that Lagos State has re-introduced Saturday extramurral classes to help students with low acumen and learning process’

Yet another pipeline fire were being laid, as school children we were wondering what the engineers and technicians were doing, but when we were told they were laying pipes to take fuel to different parts of the country, we just accepted as one of those things government do, even when we couldn’t comprehend the import of that. But since they were located far away from human habitation and buried deep in the soil, we were always on the look out for danger (keep off) signs put up by NNPC near the pipelines on our way to school and tried to avoid igniting any fire or lit a match around the area so as not to cause explosion, as if the petrol was flowing on the ground. That was our mentality then as school children and we grew up as adults to respect and appreciate the economic importance of the pipelines to Nigeria. Call it economic patriotism if you like but we were proud of it, to us it was a great achievement.

I am sure those pipeline vandals are mostly youths and young adults and I wonder what they think of these pipelines; a passport or gateway to quick and easy wealth or what? What on earth would drive some one to burst a pipeline to scoop fuel illegally knowing the dangers involved; not even the possibility of arrest but the likelihood of losing his/her life to an explosion? Well it could be argued that a hungry and jobless person could do anything to put food on his/her table, but then at what cost both to himself and the larger society? Now these people because they wanted quick money went to burst these pipelines and now they are dead, putting their families in sorrow and anguish and the society at the risk of

another harrowing fuel shortage. This is the kind of selfishness that is killing this country; nobody thinks about the interest of the other person it is self first and self alone and always. The oil thieves/ pipeline vandals don’t care what happen to the rest of us as long as they make their money, and we also encourage them by buying the stolen fuel from them even when we know they don’t own or work in a filling station. Go to any of our villages and even suburbs of our towns and cities and you see people, Okada riders, grinding machine operators and owners of ‘I better pass my neighbour’ generators buying fuel from hawkers selling by roadside or even in front of their house, at home. Where do you think they get the fuel from?

Government must begin to think about our welfare as a people, how we get the fuel that we use. If the fuel is available everywhere at the right price, nobody will patronize the hawkers and the pipeline vandals will be put out of business. It is not as if they sell this fuel for cheap.

Again the argument over joblessness is not a justification to go into criminality.

And to worsen the matter, some of these vandals and their collaborators could be gainfully employed if they so wish and live comfortably within their means. A medical doctor was arrested in Kogi State sometime ago for being a member of a syndicate that specialise in pipeline vandalisation and sale of stolen fuel. His argument was that the money he gets monthly from medical practice (N100, 000 or so) is too small to maintain himself, his aged parents and siblings. What a load of rubbish. It is true a lot of our professionals

out there are just roaming the streets with nothing to do. It is also true that an idle hand is a devil’s workshop, but, these idle hands should not allow the devil to use them as the consequences are grave. The society, especially the government should also not push them into the hand of the devil.

Government owes it as a duty to the governed not only to provide employment but also create a conducive atmosphere for job creation. Most of our graduates are unemployable because they went to school to learn the wrong or old things that are not in tune with the demands of a modern economy. Government should look into that area and make our graduates not only employable but also competitive internationally.

Back to the issue of security of the pipelines; who protects them? Oil pipelines in the Niger Delta were recently farmed out to ex militants in the area to protect against vandalisation; who protects the pipelines here (Arepo et al) and other parts of the country? Should we engage OPC to do it since the government, going by the Niger Delta example has shown it is incapable of protecting this important economic facility?

On a more serious note, shouldn’t we revisit the issue of the setting up of a National Guard in this country as mooted by the Babangida administration then?

May be it wasn’t a bad idea after all.

‘What on earth would drive some one to burst a pipeline that belongs to us all to scoop fuel illegally knowing the dangers involved; not even the possibility of arrest but also the likelihood of losing his/her life to an explosion? Well it could be argued that a hungry and jobless person could do anything to put food on his/her table but then at what cost both to himself and the larger society?’

Boosting education in Lagos State

By Nick Udoka Fashola on the project, is to ensure that this World – Bank assisted initiative provides the required grants to schools to improve on students’ welfare, teachers’ training and ICT exposure and provision.

The retraining of teachers and principals of schools have since attracted the priority attention of the Lagos State government. The reason for this is to help refocus attention on teachers’ welfare so that they can impact meaningful and quality knowledge to the students. Essentially, Governor Fashola believes strongly that if teachers are in the right frame of mind and are equally given what is due to them, they can perform better.

This is why the Lagos Eko Education project as initiated by the government has come handy to solve a lot of knotty problems in the sector. Until recently, the students of the state were not performing as was expected in WASC and NECO exams.

But according to Azeez, the project was able to encourage the students to have an improved rating last year in the WAEC examination. Given the general porous results of WAEC in 2012 throughout the nation, the Lagos State over all result, nonetheless, stood out. This is highly commendable.

In public funded secondary schools, the state recorded 38.5 percent. The interesting thing here is that many students, even above the expectations of many, recorded credits in both English and Mathematics.

This is a total improvement from previous results and Azeez believes that the students can do much more in subsequent years if more teachers are exposed and retrained. In other words, this exercise is

an on-going one.

Mrs. Elizabeth Omolaoye, a principal in the state, reacted to the issue like this: “You must have heard about the Eko Project. It helped many students because we were able to purchase all that we needed to teach the children. Teachers are being trained. And we principals were also trained. I am a beneficiary of the training.” Omolaoye’s enthusiasm has also rubbed off on other such principals and teachers in the state who feel much more at home now to teach with more dedication and care.

The Eko Project, in the thinking of Governor Fashola, is to completely overhaul education. It is established to improve education tremendously in terms of upgrading ICT and other infrastructural facilities in the sector. As the students become more exposed to the modern forms of education, so do their level of intellectual acumen and sense of reasoning.

In its third year now, the Lagos Eko Project has overcome its initial teething problems. It is now totally embedded in the principle of impacting on the students, expanding and improving the lot of teachers and making them more responsible and responsive to the needs of their students. In addition to providing grants for equipments and other learning facilities, the primary focus of the project revolves around manpower empowerment and training. This, being the core area of its focus, has been wholesomely pursued in the past three years.

Part of the focus of the project is also to grade schools and give them awards. It is a sort of an encouraging exercise so as to keep the standard high and competitive.

Azeez said: “Schools are rewarded based

on their average performance. This has helped the teachers and principals to be more interested in enhancing the overall performance of the students. Indeed, the unique thing about this is that we looked at the whole schools and then rewarded those whose students made up more on the average performance” In the process of doing this, schools that did well got more funds to perform more feats.

For a government that is serious, the training of teachers is number one step towards improving the standard of education. This is what Governor Fashola has promptly done given that students cannot get anything good if they are not getting the best from both the government and their teachers. It is equally great to learn that Lagos State has re-introduced Saturday extra-murral classes to help students with low acumen and learning process.

In this regard, a lot of teachers are being encouraged to take heed so that their students can benefit from this benevolence.

Tagged Mathematical tonic and English clinic, it is formatted to impact more in these two key subjects where students have shown poor ratings in recent past.

Based on all these modalities already in place in the education sector in the state, it behoves on both the students and teachers to capitalise on them to make education prosper. The state government has demonstrated its love for the people. It has shown that leaders of tomorrow should be guided well for the responsibilities of tomorrow. Therefore, Governor Fashola needs to be commended for his foresight and direction in all spheres in the state. Eko oni baje .

• Udoka, lives Ikeja.

Moses: I want to Onazi: I'll do bigger play in every match things in South Africa Pg. 24

Pg. 41

Sport Tuesday, January 15, 2013

PAGE 23

These Eagles can surpass ‘94 feat Pg. 24

•Keshi

Ideye: We must beat Burkina Faso

Pg. 24

•Rueben

‘Rueben fit for •Ideye

Yobo prays for luck Pg. 24

AFCON’ • Eagles resume training

By Innocent Amomoh

•Yobo

NATIONSPORT TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 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...

I

Moses: I want to play in every match

IGP urges Eagles to win AFCON trophy

NATION SPORT

Onazi: I'll do bigger things in South Africa

•Seeks N500m for Police Games From Segun Ogunjimi, Abuja

•Moses

Yobo prays for luck From Patrick Ngwaogu, Abuja

Keshi: these Eagles can surpass

‘94 feat

T

•Moses

Glo to Eagles: Make Nigeria proud

HE last time Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations was back in 1994 and they also wowed the world at the World Cup same year. The team's captain was Stephen Keshi and he is now in charge of the Super Eagles at South Africa 2013 In an exclusive chat with supersport.com at the team's Faro, Portugal camp Keshi believes that the potential in this team is good enough to match that of the country's last winners of the competition.

He said: "Many Nigerians don't know how good this team is; I see great potential in them and they can go places". He then added with a clear glint in his eyes that "In Emenike I see a player who can be like Rashidi Yekini and Godfrey Obaobona will grow in his position".

Stephen Keshi as a player and captain of Nigeria played in five tournaments reaching the finals in three of them. These experiences should come in handy. The ‘Big Boss’ continued: "Maybe I might be able to help them handle the expectations. My playing will give me the insight in how to handle the younger players - those just starting out and making their way in the national team" In the build-up to the camping, and even during it, Nigerians have been quite critical as

usual in their views on the team and the squad make up. You wonder how Keshi handles the pressure of coaching a country where millions feel they can do a better job than the man employed for it. Here is Keshi’s reply: "I just make sure I concentrate on the players and make sure they understand and buy into what we want to do. Nigeria is a place that you can never satisfy every person, so we just make sure we do our best".

However, it would appear that the team is better prepared unlike previous tournaments lately, and Keshi agrees. "We have had no distractions. The NFF has been very supportive and we are just focused on the job at hand"

when it came to playing for Nigeria - he was always the first to arrive and was willing to do anything for the national team, I loved the man" "the current players are different and it is also the fault of the media who hype players to all levels because of what they do at their clubs when they have played probably four or five matches for Nigeria. You need to have played consistently for the national team for at least 5 years before you can be called a star".

•Keshi

NFF member wants Ejide dropped

N

IGERIA Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee member Austin Elumelu has called for the replacement of injured goalkeeper Austin Ejide.

Ejide sustained an injury in Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Cape Verde in Faro Portugal and

Ideye: We must beat Burkina Faso

•Ideye

Since that famous 1994 victory, the team then lost on penalties to Cameroon in the 2000 finals at home, and Nigeria has not really come close to winning the competition again.

Is there pressure from within the group on the players to win this competition? "I would not put any pressure on my players; my duty is to make them relaxed but with high concentration levels so that they can carry out the tactical plans we have during matches."

As a player Keshi exhibited high levels of patriotism when it came to playing for Nigeria but he is aware that things have changed amongst the players who play for Nigeria.

"I loved the attitude of the late Rashidi Yekini

he has been facing medical scrutiny since but Elumelu feels the time is against the Israelbased goalkeeper to make a quick recovery.

"Keshi should not take any gamble with Ejide. We were initially told he would be okay by the weekend but we are hearing reports that he needs about two weeks to recover but I

don't think its wise to still have him in the team. He should replace him with Daniel Akpeyi, the goalkeeper on the standby list. Hoping on his fitness at this late hour amounts to gambling by Keshi.”

Young players threaten Igiebor at Betis

•Igiebor

Keshi: Zambia coach ‘running his mouth’

•Onazi

Obuh impressed with Omeruo, Onazi

INSIDE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

Website: http://www.thenationonlineng.com

Page 25

Akpabio fetes the motherless - Page 26

Revelry as indigenous residents seek statehood Board arrests 144 beggars, others - Page 27

•The indigenous folks displaying at the Heritage Day

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Jonathan versus Obasanjo - Page 40

HERE was spectacle.

There was entertainment.

But there was also thought-provoking speech as indigenous people of the Federal Capital Territory celebrated the FCT Heritage Day. The indigenous people under the banner of the Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja (OIDA) topped off the day with a call on the government to accord them state status.

The event held at the Karomajigi area along the Abuja Airport Road.

They demanded that President Jonathan should relinquish his powers as Governor of the Federal Capital Territory. They also urged the National Assembly to give up its

From Bukola Amusan

powers as the House of Assembly of the FCT for the original inhabitants and residents of the territory so that they can freely elect those to govern them directly, rather than the indirect rule as obtained currently in the FCT. In a speech at the event, President of OIDA, Pastor Danladi Jeji said: “We are not asking for a new state but we are asking for the President of Nigeria to relinquish his powers as the governor of the FCT and the National Assembly to also relinquish its powers as the House of Assembly for FCT so that we can have the right to elect our governor and have an FCT House of Assembly driven by our people to make laws for

our people.

“We are also asking for the establishment of an FCT Original Inhabitants Development Commission.”

Jeji said the maiden FCT Heritage Day cultural festival “is a day to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the nine indigenous tribes of the Federal Capital Territory namely: Amwamwa, Bassa, Egbura, Gade, Ganagana, Gbagyi, Gbari, Gwandara and Koro. It was organised to show how peaceful and accommodating we have been to all Nigerians in the centre of unity.”

The President of the association said some of the achievements of the socio-cultural group included the sensitisation of their people in the 13 chiefdoms of the FCT

and a sizeable portion of the 858 communities on developmental challenges which they experience and the submission of a memorandum to the National Assembly for the full implementation of the provisions of Section 299 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states that “the provisions of this Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the states of the federation.”

The group also said it was packaging a professional documentary film to tell the story of the displaced original inhabitants of the territory and their level of statelessness since the inception •Continued on Page 26

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

26

ABUJA REVIEW

‘Demolition will affect economy’

S

UBSCRIBERS of the demolished Minanuel Estate, located along Airport Road in the Federal Capital Territory have said there is more to the demolition than their personal pains. The national economy, too, may be hurt by the FCTA’s action.

They urged President Jonathan to order the resettlement of the affected subscribers who they claimed invested millions of naira in the property.

Spokesperson of Minanuel Estate Subscribers’ Union, Mr Festus Adebayo, a lawyer, at a press conference, said with the resolve of the FCT Administration to demolish more estates in the territory, the Federal Government would not achieve its vision of providing houses for Nigerians. He noted that the victims have not received any relief from the FCT Administration or the Presidency since the estate was demolished.

“This is a threat to the economy of the Federal Capital Territory and an indirect threat to the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Housing, he added, is a tool for economic development and a tool for poverty alleviation in the world; wondering why housing was becoming a tool of depression, oppression and of frustration of people in the country.

“We want to say very clearly that our houses were demolished and since then we have been going from one place to the other seek-

•A demolished estate in Abuja From Bukola Amusan

ing for justice. Many Nigerians have condemned the action of the FCT Minister and we do not have money to take the minister to court.

“By this, we are calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to show commitment in housing development by resettling the subscribers of Minanuel estate,” he said.

Adebayo however, said the ambition of giving homes to Nigerians may not be realised if the present minister still oversees the

affairs of the territory.

“We are worried that the present government cannot realise the promise of giving Nigerians home ownership if Senator Bala Mohammed still remains the Minister of the FCT. It is impossible to believe President Jonathan’s commitment to public-private partnership in housing development if his government cannot protect the investment of the developer and the interest of the subscribers,” he said.

Akpabio fetes the motherless

From Olugbenga Adanikin

•Akpabio

A

KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has shown benevolence to the needy in some motherless children’s homes across the Federal Capital Territory.

His arrival at the homes excited the children who are in their different age groups. They felt grateful that someone has remembered them.

Items such as foodstuffs, beverages, toiletries and cash, were do-

nated to support the children of St. Fabian’s Orphanage at Efab City Estate, Garki and Mother Theresa Children’s Home in Gwarimpa Estate.

Special Representative of the State on Inter-Governmental and National Assembly Relations in Abuja, Mrs. Mary Ekpenyong made the donations on behalf of the governor. She said the gesture was a demonstration of the governor’s love and concern to the less-privileged.

According to her, the visit, apart from giving the disadvantaged children a sense of belonging, was to show that they were not forgotten.

Speaking at Mother Theresa Children’s Home, Governor’s Akpabio’s representative decried lack of social security policy in the country which, she said, would have taken adequate care of the elderly and the less-privileged children.

She said all children have the right to quality education, healthcare and protection, even as she regretted that orphans and vulnerable children were denied of these rights.

I did not only come here with entourage but I came with my children so that they can play with the less-privileged ones so that they would know what life is all about. They would also learn about the deep depth of life and would also learn the act of giving to the needy

However, she urged policy makers, opinion leaders and development agencies to make issues regarding care for the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children a priority in order to scale up response to their plight.

Ekpenyong said: “I did not only come here with entourage but I came with my children so that they can play with the less-privileged ones so that they would know what life is all about. They would also learn about the deep depth of life and would also learn the act of giving to the needy.”

The special representative, who used the opportunity to have firsthand information about St. Fabian’s Orphanage and Mother Theresa Children’s Home, commended officials at both homes for taking good care of the children. She advised them to be patient with them, show them love and to make judicious use of the items donated.

Rev. Fr. Calistus Onyeanusi who received the items on behalf of St. Fabian’s Orphanage, was full of gratitude to the governor who, over the years, has been so generous in helping the poor. The centre, he said, was established to cater for the needs of abandoned children and orphans.

At Mother Theresa Children’s Home, Mrs. Veronica Ameh who received the items on behalf of the founder of the Home, Yeye Bolanle Dare commended Ekpenyong for the visit and donations. She assured that the items would be judiciously used. She said the benevolence of Governor Akpabio towards the less-privileged at the home was unprecedented. He called on other state governments to emulate Governor Akpabio’s gesture.

Revelry as indigenous residents seek statehood •Continued from Page 25

of the FCT. Jeji said: “As we celebrate our rich cultural heritage to show how peaceful we are, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Minister of the FCT to rectify the developmental challenges facing FCT original inhabitants by not taking our patience for granted.

“As the nation embarks on another Constitution review, we are calling for the democratisation of governance structures in the FCT to fit our huge population.”

While presenting a paper entitled: “Abuja at 37: An Insider’s Assessment of the Problems and Prospects of the Original Inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory,” the guest lecturer and former INEC Commissioner representing FCT, Mr. Musa Salihu, a lawyer, also called on the government not to shy away from owning up to the fact that it had woefully failed to compensate, resettle or re-integrate the FCT original inhabitants.

“It is 37 years today and the people were neither resettled nor left in their own right to live as citizens of the FCT. They have been shortchanged, dehumanised and made to pay very dearly for the things they did not bargained for,” he said.

Salihu traced the hardship and challenges which the original inhabitants of the territory are experiencing to the defec-

tive legal framework known as Decree No. 6 of 1976 (now FCT Act, Cap 503 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.)

He said: “In legal parlance, the provision of section 6 of the FCT Act is null and void because of its obvious inconsistencies with the Constitution. But be that as it may, the Act has remained the only legal instrument that is being used” by the government to administer the FCT.” In a paper entitled “Annihilation of the Indigenous Inhabitants of the FCT, Abuja,” Professor Mailafiya Filaba of the Nasarawa State University warned the Federal Government of the consequences of neglecting the original inhabitants of the FCT. “The denial of the indigenes’ right to fully participate in the political, economic, and other rights granted to other Nigerians is tantamount to denial of their fundamental human rights. Their rights should be restored and their properties be adequately compensated for justice,” he said.

There were goodwill messages from the Federal Government by the Minister of State for the FCT, Mrs. Olajumoke Akinjide who was represented by Mallam Aminu Ibraheem.

The FCT Heritage Day was organised by OIDA, in conjunction with the Alliance for Credible Election, (ACE).

As we celebrate our rich cultural heritage to show how peaceful we are, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Minister of the FCT to rectify the developmental challenges facing FCT original inhabitants by not taking our patience for granted

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

27

ABUJA REVIEW

Church donates to the needy “G IVING is one of the best ways a church can grow and take care of the

needy.”

This was the assertion of the Pastor in charge of Welfare, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desire of Nations (DON) Provincial Headquarters, Jabi, Deacon Wumi Faniyan.

The clergy, during a reach-out to widows and other less-privileged people, stated that apart from other activities and obligations, it is imperative for the church to help the needy irrespective of the denomination or membership.

Not less than 150 individuals and families from different parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) converged on the church premises and later went home with food items such as rice, groundnut oil, tin tomato, and clothing materials.

Faniyan said: “We gave out foods, clothes among others materials to support them. At least if God can give us his only begotten son Jesus, then it is our responsibility to give whatever we have to help others.

As a matter of fact, it will be a continuous exercise.”

To further ensure the beneficiaries and other members of the church are taken care of, he disclosed that the church is planning to set up skill acquisition centre as well as free legal counsel for those who cannot afford legal fee on issues that affect them.

From Olugbenga Adanikin

According to him, giving is one of the best ways a church can grow and take care of their needy. They have to show it physically in terms of prayer. As soon as we attract them to church, the word of God and His Spirit will do the rest.”

The clergy revealed that the church will set aside a day in each month when medical doctors who are members of the church will administer free medical services to this category of people, adding that the exercise will be carried out on quarterly basis.

“Doctors in the church will give free medical advice. We will also purchase malarial drugs. We are trying to work with a non-governmental organisation in a bid to get some drugs for the people. The department is planning to set up a legal unit where legal counsels will be given to members free of charge.

Those who can’t afford legal charges will be supported on any issue,” he added.

Daniel Bulus, who was one of the beneficiaries, was excited about the exercise.

With tears almost rolling down his eyes, he expressed how much love he felt with the gesture. He said despite not being a member of the

We gave out foods, clothes among others materials to support them. At least if God can give us his only begotten son Jesus, then it is our responsibility to give whatever we have to help others. As a matter of fact, it will be a continuous exercise

T

HE Abuja Environmental Protection Board, (AEPB) has arrested 144 beggars among other destitute people in the city centre within the last three weeks, an official said.

Head, Information and Outreach Programme, AEPB, Mr. Joe Ukairo told newsmen in that the board made the arrests during a “massive

•Abuja gate church, they still remembered him.

Bulus said: “Actually, I am not a member of this church, but I sometimes worship here. I think God has used them to bless the less-privileged persons like us.

“I feel okay, and I feel loved, I feel God loves me, as he used these people to bless us. I feel members of this church care about the lessprivileged, and they remember them at times like this. So, I am happy about it. I am happy seeing what is going on.”

However, he advised the church to spend some time with the beneficiaries in subsequent edition in order to identify their true needs and make them feel truly loved.

“You know many may receive this but they still have other challenges. But at least spending little time to address them, tell them certain things for them to feel better, and letting them know that God still loves them, you never can tell what the result could be. These words might touch majority of them,” he added.

Mrs. Egwuoke Joy, who lives in Karimo, said the initiative gave her the confidence to attend the church, even as she added that it will encourage more people to worship with them.

“I want them to keep doing it because it will attract more people to the church even it attracted me.

That’s why I came,” she said.

A member of the church, Mrs. Lilian Sani described the gesture as an opportunity to help the needy.

Sani said: “I worship with Desire of the Nation. I am very happy with what they are doing because most of us don’t have. We really need help and we are getting the help from them. We are very grateful to them and we hope that next year, they will do more.

“It is an opportunity to make us feel happy and loved, because some of us don’t have, neither do we have where to run to. But at least, with these, we will eat tomorrow, smile •Continued on Page 28

Board arrests 144 beggars, others From Bukola Amusan

operation.”

Ukairo further said the board had adopted more strict measures of evacuating beggars from the

streets.

“We discovered that they still come to the streets after evacuation, but this time round, we are taking more stringent measures to make sure they don’t come back. “On

sighting our vehicle, these beggars run away. But now, there are undercover approaches adopted by the board to tackle this problem,” he said.

Ukairo said that the board would, henceforth, take pictures and personal data of all beggars arrested before returning them to their states of origin. He said the step would enable the board to know those who returned to the street. The official said that after taking the beggars to their homes, AEPB would contact their various state and local governments to be part of their rehabilitation. Ukairo also said that without proper rehabilitation, it would be very difficult to permanently get the beggars off the streets of Abuja.

He said any beggar who wished to stay back in the FCT would be taken to the rehabilitation centre in Bwari Area Council to learn carpentry, handicraft, tailoring, or soap making, among others.

“We discovered that the street

tends to be more lucrative for the beggars than the government efforts to rehabilitate them and provide vocational training,” he said.

Commenting on the re-appearance of hawkers in Wuse Market, Ukairo said the board would not tolerate their activities in the city centre.

He said that the board noticed that miscreants hid under the cover of hawkers and traders to snatch bags and other valuables from residents at night. He said the board had given 72 hours notice to hawkers to evacuate Wuse Market and its environs, stressing that “there is no amount of sentiment that will legalise illegality.

“Government is ready to support small-scale businesses. But it must be within the provision of the law.”

He advised that the hawkers should go to the area councils to start their businesses. He called on residents to respect the board’s enforcement squad and report any form of unethical behaviour from them.

Any beggar who wished to stay back in the FCT would be taken to the rehabilitation centre in Bwari Area Council to learn carpentry, handicraft, tailoring, or soap making, among others •Beggars

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

28

ABUJA REVIEW

Life in suburban Karu

K

ARU is one of the sub-urban areas in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. It is densely populated by people from all walks of life including Muslims, Christians, and traditional worshipers.

Its residential areas include Karu site and Karu Village.

Housing in Karu can be said to be affordable in some areas such as Karu Village which is said to have the highest population.

Karu is popularly known for its weekly market. The market day is usually a busy day for traders and buyers. According to some of the buyers, Karu market days are most preferable because things are sold to them by the sellers at affordable rates.

Traders find a way to convey their goods to the market. Traffic situation in Karu during the market days is hectic because activities in and around the market affect human and vehicular movement.

Residents in the satellite town of Karu describe life as not so comfortable because of erratic electricity supply, water, and bad road. They also complain about lack of infrastructural and social amenities in the area, saying that the efforts of their local government chairman do not reflect on the lives of the people.

The housing structure in Karu is

T

HE Department of Development Control of the Federal Capital Territory Administration has commenced the removal of telecommunication masts along the Airport Road at Kuchingoro (Kukwaba District).

The affected masts which belong to Airtel Telecom and Helios Towers were erected without title documents (allocation papers) and are said to situate on a plot meant for a petrol station.

The Deputy Director in-charge

•Karu market From Uma Kelechi David

usually bungalows which are not so sophisticated. Most residents who live in rented and deteriorated apartments complain that they pay so

much even as they face security challenges such as day and night time robberies.

Although residents in Karu struggle and or face difficulties in their day-to-day activities, they still make out time to relax and enjoy with their

families and friends at various recreation centres.

Just like any other sub-urban area in the F.C .T, Karu has areas that boast comfortable areas with comfortable residential buildings.

Houses in these areas are usually

very expensive and can only be afforded by the elite.

Karu also has its commercial areas where shops, mini-markets, business organisations, hotels, could be found.

These areas are usually very busy during the day and are very quiet at night.

FCTA demolishes illegal telecom masts Stories from Bukola Amusan

of Aesthetics and Amenities Adamu Abuja explained while briefing journalists that Ms Sassada Petroleum Limited came up with a complaint that the masts in question were erected on her plot. The complaint was

They were served notices on March 20, 2012 to relocate their masts within two weeks. The final notices for removal were served on them on November 23, 2012 which elapsed after seven days

backed up with relevant title documents.

Abuja further stated that the Department communicated to the concerned masts owners to present their tile documents or lease agreement.

“Even though Airtel responded, they did not have any of the required documents while Helios Towers did not respond at all.”

They were, however, served notices on March 20, 2012 to relocate their masts within two weeks. The final notices for removal were served on them on November 23, 2012 which elapsed after seven days.

The Deputy Director emphasised that more than enough time was given for them to present

their documents or remove the masts on their own. Non-adherence to any of these notices necessitated the enforcement move by the Development Control Department.

He said that all telecom operators and their facility providers should always obtain necessary documents before commencement of work at any site to avoid such occurrences.

Man, 20, arraigned for stealing

A

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD man Ishiaku Yakubu, has been arraigned before an Abuja Upper Area Court sitting in Jiwa for stealing a motorcycle.

The suspect was brought before Hon. Salisu Garba for conspiracy and theft contrary to sections 79 and 287 of the penal code law.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Noah Moses, told the court in the first information report (FIR), that the suspect connived with two others at large to collect a motorcycle from the complainant.

“That on December 25, 2012 at about 1800 hours, one Abubakar Yahaya, ‘m’ of Kubwa, came to

Gwagwa Police Station and reported against you, Ishiaku Yakubu of no fixed address that on the same date at about 1400 hours, you and two others now at large connived and asked the complainant, an okada operator (motorcyclist) to take the fleeing suspects to Airport Road and, in the process, they snatched his motorcycle to an unknown destination,” the FIR reads.

The suspect pleaded not guilty and the judge ordered that he be remanded in prison custody until the next adjourned date.

The case was adjourned to January 22.

Church donates to the needy •Continued from Page 27

•Telecom mast

and thank God for what Desire of Nation has done for us.”

Mrs. Lilian advised the church to further support the needy financially, especially with a token to cook the food.

“There are some that don’t even have the money to buy kerosene. I know you won’t believe it. But if you are out there, you will know that there are people that don’t have anything at all,” she added.

However, Mrs. Victoria Blessing from the Sanitation and Prayer Department of the church had a different perception about the exercise.

In her opinion, it would be preferable for the church to focus more on human empowerment. In her view, it will be better to teach me how to catch a fish rather than giving me fish always.

In her words: “I appreciate God as the church is helping the needy.

It is really good. In any society,

there must be the needy.

“Give me a fish is good. But training is better. It will be better to teach me how to fish. This will help the needy more, as it will make them self-reliant. I prefer the training that will help the needy in the church.

“Even at the end of the year, they should organise a love feast to show appreciation just as they are helping the less-privileged people,” she said.

Mr. Chnedu Ebeji, a resident of Dutse Alhaji and a member of the Catholic Church, praised the initiative of the church.

He said: “One of my neighbours informed me that this church usually helps the poor. That’s why I came. It is a good initiative to help the poor, especially those who don’t have anything to eat.

Asked what impact the support will make, he stated that “at least if I go back home, I know I will have something to eat. In fact, I’m very happy.”

29

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

environmental sanitation Saturdays, it is not unusual for ‘ On defaulters to end up in custody. With Saturday sittings, such cases can be processed immediately. By doing that, we decongest the prisons, we decongest the police cells and we lighten the weekly cause list of these Magistrate courts See page 31

’

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

• Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Ayotunde Phillips

Until it was made compulsory, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) was optional. Now, it has become mandatory to explore ADR before the legal option in any matter in Lagos State, courtesy of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2012. Lawyers are not speaking with one voice on the issue. ERIC IKHILAE collates their views in this report.

Catching the F ADR bug in Lagos • Lawyers disagree on mechanism’s compulsory adoption

OR the Lagos State Government, there is no going back on the mandatory adoption of Alternative Dispute Reso-lution (ADR) as a tool in the administration of justice. Today, judges are attending a workshop, where they are being trained on this new innovation in the High Court of Lagos (Civil Procedure) Rules 2012.

Still at its initial application stage, the innovation, which came into effect with the adoption of the court’s new rules, seeks to depart from the old practice where the use of any of the ADR mechanisms in resolving cases, was voluntary.

The training is one in a series being held to effectively equip judicial and court officials to drive the idea behind the modification in the application of ADR in Lagos courts; to educate lawyers, who are unsure of how to approach it and its implication on their income, and to propagate it among litigants.

As against the practice under the now rested 2004 rules, where cases were only referred to ADR with the understanding of parties, the new rules make ADR mandatory.

A litigant, whose case is assigned to what is known as the ADR Track, must go through the process of mediation, conciliation or arbitration. Such litigant is only allowed to undertake litigation when the ADR option fails.

Inside: ‘We’ve made progress in administration of ... P.31

Order 3 Rule 11 of the 2012 Rules provides: “All Originating Processes shall upon acceptance for filing by the Registry be screened for suitability for ADR and referred to the Lagos Multi-Door Court House or other appropriate ADR institutions or practitioners in accordance with the Practice Directions that shall from time to time be issued by the Chief Judge of Lagos State.”

Order 25 Rule 6 (1) states: “Where a case is deemed suitable for ADR under Order 3 Rule 11 or has by directives been referred to ADR under Order 25 Rule 2 (l) above, the ADR judge shall, in case of recalcitrant parties, consider and give appropriate directives to parties on the filling of Statement of Case and other necessary issues. “(a) The claimant shall file his statement of claim within 14 days of the Order of the judge; (b) the defendant shall file his response within 14 days of service of the claimant’s statement of claim.”

Rule 6 (2) states: “Where a party fails to comply with the directives and/or orders of the ADR judge, or fails to participate in ADR proceedings, the judge shall: (a) In the case of the claimant, dismiss the claim; (b) In the case of a de•Continued on page 30

NBA stops illegal use of its logo ... P.34

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

30

LAW COVER CONT’D • Continued from page 29

fendant, enter judgment against him, where appropriate.”

The rules, however, make provision for the setting aside of a default judgment entered against a defendant. It provides in Rule 7 that any judgment given under Rule 5 or 6 (2) may be set aside upon an application within seven days of the judgment or such other period as the judge or ADR judge may allow.

It further provides that such application shall be accompanied by an undertaking to participate effectively in the Case Management Conference or ADR, as the case may be.

Catching the ADR bug in Lagos

Mixed reactions Expectedly, the new method of case management has attracted divergent opinions, with proponents hailing the innovation. Promoting ADR, one of the motives of the new provision, many have argued, is in consonance with globally accepted pattern of justice delivery in a less acrimonious environment. They said efforts are being made to deemphasise the adversarial method of litigation.

They argued that ADR mechanisms, as a means of dispute resolution, are gaining support in more-advanced climes, globally.

They hailed Lagos State’s decision to promote the practice.

Critics are mainly querying the practicability and constitutionality of the state’s decision to compel litigants to subject themselves to ADR. They see the new provisions as an attempt to limit the people’s unfettered right of access to court.

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Dahiru Musdapher, last month, advocated the adoption of ADR by the courts to decongest the court dockets and prevent delay in justice delivery.

At the last National Mirror Second Anniversary Lecture in Lagos, the jurist noted: “When we were being trained for law, I remembered one of things they taught us was that once you are briefed by your clients, the first thing to do is to write a letter to the adversary party to see how you could settle the matter amicably without going to trial.

“It is not every case that should proceed to trial. But it is not so these days. Your duty as a lawyer is to help your clients solve their problems and not necessarily go to adjudication.”

Chief Judge of Lagos State Justice Ayotunde Philips had, at a public presentation of the new rules last December, said the modifications in the old rules were to ensure prompt disposal of cases and to avoid the delay associated with the current practice.

The Director, Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC), Mrs. Caroline Etuk, at a workshop for lawyers last Thursday in Lagos made effort to disabuse lawyers’ mind about the misgivings expressed by contributors, who queried various aspects of the provisions relating to the ADR Track.

Mrs. Etuk told the gathering that no fees will be charged on the ADR Track cases. “Your payment is limited to what you pay for filing your case at the Registry. Once it is screened to the ADR Track, you are not required to pay any additional fees. This is the present position that may well change. But I can assure you that the change will not be now. The legal community will be carried along at every step.”

On efforts to ensure lawyers and litigants comply with the provisions, she said a lot of things have been done to checkmate mischief makers. She added that the provision in Order 49 (2) which imposes cost on a party that rejected a settlement made in its favour during ADR, and some other similar provisions are meant to control parties not willing to comply with the process.

• Mrs Etuk

• Fagbohungbe

• Okunnu

• Ariyo

• Idu

• Fajimite

How the ADR Track works

U

NDER the new arrangement, a litigant files his case at the court’s registry, where offi cials of the court - Screeners – will screen the processes filed, and if found suitable for ADR, placed on the ADR Track. Notification letter, indicating the placement of the case on the ADR Track, is issued to the lawyer or representative of the claimant (plaintiff).

Filing fees are then paid, consequent upon which a colour-coded case file is opened and suit number assigned to the case file indicating the ADR Track.

Copies of the processes (court papers) and ADR Track placement notification letter are sent to the Sheriffs for service on the defendants.

The colour-coded file is then moved to the Chief Judge or Head Judge for assigning to an ADR judge to take preliminary application (where there is any). Upon assignment to a judge, the file is moved to the ADR Centre (currently the Lagos Multi-Door Court-house (LMDC), an ADR arm of the State High Court), where it is Addressing a question on whether it is a fair assumption to make that where a defendant is allowed under Order 25 Rule7 to apply for a default judgment to be set aside within seven days, it is not clear whether a claimant can relist a dismissed case, she admitted inadequacies in some of the provisions, particularly in relation to dismissal of cases under Order 25 Rule 2 Mrs. Etuk agreed that there is the need to reconsider what should be done by a claimant whose case is dismissed under Order 25 R6 (2) because the case had not been considered on merit either at the ADR stage or the pre-session hearings.

“I am sure there is a lot more in the new rules that still need to be

handed to a Case Manager 1 Case Manager 1 ensures the movement of the file to and from the ADR Judge’s court during the hearing of all preliminary applications, after which the file is handed to Case Manager 2 who schedules a pre-session meeting (PSM) and informs parties via telephone and e-mail.

At PSM, parties are introduced to the ADR process, the necessary fees, date of commencement of the process and any other business. The Case Manager 2 subsequently confirms when a neutral will be available and communicates to parties, following which mediation or any applicable ADR mechanism takes place.

Where parties reach an agreement at the end of the process, terms of settlement are drawn up and adopted by parties and subsequently entered by the court as a consent judgment. Where the ADR process fails, the Case Manager 2 writes a report which he attaches to the case file and sends same to the Assistant Court Registrar, Litigation, who forwards it to the Chief or Head Judge to assign to a trail judge for litigation.

looked at, and looked at again,” she said.

On the fear about the ability of the officials to cope with the volume of cases to be directed to the ADR Track, she said cases screened for ADR will not be considered only by the LMDC but referrals would be made to other recognised ADR institutions or practitioners.

“As a legal practitioner, a matter can be referred to you under the ADR Track for mediation or other ADR interventions,” she said.

LMDC’s Deputy Director Mrs. Adeyinka Aroyewun countered the argument that the mandatory nature of ADR under the new rules will hinder people’s easy access to the court. She said the state has provisions for indigent residents

to access courts and have their cases heard. She cited the Citizens Mediation Centres and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) where people too poor to afford the services of a lawyer are provided lawyers at no cost.

She said enough efforts had been made to train officials to be deployed for the ADR Track , beginning with the Screeners, the Case Managers and Sheriffs, who are all lawyers. She assured of the readiness of those behind the project to ensure its success.

Any conflict with the Constitution?

Despite efforts by proponents of the ADR Track concept to buy the support of all, critics are insistent

‘Critics are mainly querying the practicability and constitutionality of the state’s decision to compel litigants to subject themselves to ADR. They see the new provisions as an attempt to limit the people’s unfettered right of access to court’

on their argument that the mandatory requirement of the new rules is not only unworkable but unconstitutional in that it violates the right of access to court which is recognised under sections 6(6) and 36(1) of the Constitution.

Section 6 (6) provides: “The judicial powers vested in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section shall extend, to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any persons in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person”.

Section 36 (1) provides: “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such a manner as to secure its independence and impartiality”.

They contended that Order 3 Rule 11 of the new Rules seeks to diminish parties’ right to have their disputes determined by a court of law, a possibility frowned at by the Constitution. They argued that the right of every citizen to have access to court includes the right to public hearing and the right to an appeal.

They noted that, on the contrary, arbitration (as an ADR mechanism for instance) as an alternative to the judicial process of litigation, denies a person these rights because arbitration is not conducted in public.

They also noted that the right to appeal from an arbitration award is limited to statutorily recognised points of law There is also the argument that though the intention behind the new provision is commendable, the inadequacy in the number of existing ADR experts, low manpower training, poor pay, among others, could combine to defeat the noble idea.

Some cited the problem now associated with the Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) initiative under the 2004 Rules, meant to ensure that preliminary issues were resolved within three months before the actual trial. Today, PTC now runs into years in some instances.

Those skeptical about the new initiative expressed fears of possible abuse of the process by officials as is the case with some Court Registrars, Sheriffs and other officers of court who seek inducements before they can take prompt actions even when all the required fees have been paid.

Lawyers speak

Some lawyers examined the new provision and suggested how it could be made to achieve the intended goal. They included Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), Yomi Okunnu, Linus Idu, Hassan Taiwo Fajimite and Oluyemi Ariyo.

Fagbohungbe praised the state’s judiciary for amending and improving on the rules of the court.

He, however, condemned the decision to make arbitration mandatory. “ I do not agree with them on that. My reason is that you cannot force litigants to go for arbitration and restrict their access to court.

That would be a violation of the provisions of the constitution. You don’t make anything compulsory.

It should be voluntary.

“Access to court must be simple, must be easy. So, it is not advisable. Even it is doubtful if Lagos State judiciary would have enough personnel to cope with the complications introduced by the new rule.

I doubt if they have the personnel.

“So, it would eventually die a natural death because when they start operating it, they cannot effectively operate it because of the quality of the personnel that would manage that provision. The other • Continued on page 31

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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LAW PERSONALITY

‘We’ve made progress in administration of justice’ Lagos State is a trail blazer in justice administration. It was the first to review its Criminal Laws. Its Civil Procedure Rules are reviewed yearly. The state is setting another record with its establishment of a Court of Arbitration to look into cases mediated by its mediators, which do not have to go into litigation. In this interview with ADEBISI ONANUGA, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, speaks on the propriety of ADR and the reasons for the introduction of weekend sittings for magistrates, among others.

H

OW would you rate administration of justice in the state in the last one year?

We are making steady progress. Improved cooperation within the sector and dedication of key stakeholders yielded a safer and fairer Lagos in 2012. Crimes take place, but the important thing is that they are being detected and the criminals are being prosecuted. At the moment, about 650 prosecution cases are being handled by the ministry in various courts. In addition to that, a lot of cases are prosecuted daily by the Police at the Magistrate courts. Seven hundred and fifty-three reports of various investigations reached us for legal advice in 2012 and we have exceeded the 70 per cent mark in dealing with those. In 2013, we shall be stepping up our prosecution capacity to ensure Lagosians that criminals will not go unpunished.

What are the key achievements in the administration of justice?

There is so much to talk about. Our Civil Procedure Rules, which had already become a model in the country has been further revised and the High Court will start applying them this year. Apart from the courts, the Lagos State Citizens Mediation Centre dealt with over 18,000 disputes last year. Can you imagine a Lagos without that unique avenue to resolve disputes free? Of course, we also have the Multidoor Courthouse, the Office of the Public Defender, Public Advice Centre, Consumer Rights Protection Unit, etc. All more active than ever towards making our society fairer. On the criminal aspects, we have now an increased co-operation in the sector with the activation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, which has the Chief Judge, AttorneyGeneral, Commissioner of Police and Comptroller of Prisons as members. We meet quarterly to consider prison decongestion, criminal prosecutions and monitoring of detainees, among other issues of mutual concern.

We have also established a sub-committee where representatives of all the concerned agencies meet more regularly to discuss and resolve problems. You have seen already what is going on with prison decongestion with the Chief Judge and the Ministry of Justice taking active parts.That is clearly unprecedented. With the establishment of Community Service as a sentencing option,

the gains are enormous.

You were reported to have said that magistrate courts would start sitting at weekends from next year. What are the situations that informed the idea?

It is all about access to justice. People arrested on Friday would spend the weekend in prison or police custody, just because there is no magistrate sitting to hear their case or grant them bail. For instance, on environmental sanitation Saturdays, it is not unusual for defaulters to end up in custody. With Saturday sittings, such cases can be processed immediately. By doing that, we decongest the prisons, we decongest the police cells and we lighten the weekly cause list of these Magistrate courts. To that extent, we speed up the administration of justice. Most importantly, we promote justice and give the arrested person a fair chance to vindicate himself or herself as early as possible.

What are the offences they would be adjudicating on?

All cases they normally take. They will have exactly the same jurisdiction on Saturday as they have during the week. I expect that they will be taking a lot of bail applications though.

What are the impediments in the implementation of the new Lagos Traffic Law 2012 in spite of the high level of enlightenment?

I must say first that we are seeing a remarkable level of compliance and this has improved the traffic situation as well as the security and safety of Lagosians. You would be surprised at the number of arrests made daily. If you know where we were coming from, you should realise that we are mak-

‘We cannot dispose of the machines unless we have given a reasonable opportunity to the owner or rider to make his case or to face prosecution as the case may be. When the machines are well and truly abandoned, the state reserves the right to dispose of them in the most reasonable manner’

• Ipaye

ing steady progress. For instance, as we have few motorcycles on the road, it becomes easier to identify and arrest defaulters. However, I must say that we do not have enough policemen out there. That is a general problem, not peculiar to traffic law enforcement.

And, unfortunately, we still see some policemen and military personnel violating the restrictions. This is, however, being dealt with. We have the commitment of their superior officers that the Law will be enforced on all and they are doing their best.

Reports quoting Police Commissioner Umar Manko indicated the seizure of 6,972 motor cycles between September when the new traffic Law took off and as at date. There has been this great debate on the crushing of such motorcycles. What is the official position?

We are obliged to hold them for a while as the defaulters may be prosecuted and the machines may be required as evidence. Also, whether we intended prosecution or not, any alleged defaulter who says he has a defence

Man, 18, charged with manslaughter

Catching the ADR bug in Lagos • Continued from page 30

improvements in it are alright.

“If they said it is to makes things faster, I disagree with that because it is going to complicate things, it is going to make things more difficult. I think they still need to look at it again. This opinion I am expressing will be vindicated eventually because it is not going to help them at all,” Fagbohungbe said.

Okunnu said he believes the new rule is practicable. He said there was need for people to have a change of attitude because it is an attitudinal thing.

“There should be more enlightenment so that more junior lawyers will know that it is not all cases that must be resolved through litigation. The new amendment is intended to promote other means of resolving dispute other than litigation.

In fact, it is an ethical thing for lawyers to first notify their clients about the ADR options. Such requirement is contained in the Legal Practitioners Rules. This requirement has been in the rules before now. But the amendment is to draw lawyers’ attention to it and to ensure its application. It is also to stress the message that being a lawyer does not imply being an advocate in court alone.

You can advocate in many areas,” Okunnu said..

Idu also said the mandatory nature of the new provision is part of efforts to decongest the court and ensure prompt adjudication of cases.

“In coming up with this amendment, the authorities of the Lagos High Court thought that by creating a forum for litigants to explore ADR many cases will be settled, leaving room for the system to deal with cases that actually require to be litigated on.

“What is novel is the mandatory nature of the new provision, which is innovative in a way.

What we should understand is that ADR is a global thing that is in practice in the developed societies and has been embraced. So, the intention now is to help us key into a global trend that has become an acceptable norm in commercial and business transaction globally,” Idu said.

Fajimite he believe the compulsory nature of the new provision with help decongest courts’ dockets He advised lawyers to embrace it and not see it as what could lead to a reduction in their income.

“Lawyers should realize that the current court system marred by delay, does not work in their favour. My expectation is that if

this idea works, litigation will be reserved for cases where litigation becomes inevitable. Lawyers are involved in all the ADR mechanisms. Lawyers should not nurse any fear about the new idea.

In fact it is going to result in more money and more opportunities to everyone’s benefit.

Ariyo said the current practice that aide delay in court has led to the loss of confidence in the system by the litigants and even, by the lawyers themselves. “I think that was one of the reasons why the old rules were amended to reduce the amount of time you spend in court. “ I believe these amendments to the court rules are actually intended to bring people back to the court system. I am sure lawyers will welcome the development.

Otherwise, we (the lawyers) will remain the endangered specie.

“I recommend this to other states. I know they will follow.

When Lagos started with the idea of frontloading in 2004 other states, including Abuja copied that. I am sure when they see this working well, they will have no option that to adopt it. Obviously, Lagos has to be the trail blazer in this regard because it is the nation’s commercial capital,” Ariyo said.

must be given the opportunity to come before a judge or magistrate. We cannot dispose of the machines unless we have given a reasonable opportunity to the owner or rider to make his case or to face prosecution as the case may be. When the machines are well and truly abandoned, the state reserves the right to dispose of them in the most reasonable manner. Crushing is just one of the options that may be considered.

The world marked the Human Rights Day last week. How would you access the human rights situation in Lagos State?

Never better. All of the programmes I spoke of earlier, that is Office of the Public Defender, Citizens Mediation Centre, Public Advice Centre, Consumer Rights Unit, etc are all geared towards human rights protection or enforcement. Making their services free means that even the poor and the vulnerable are given access to justice. All our vocational centres are concrete institutions for the realisation of rights. People are given the opportunity of learning a trade and living a productive lives. Our free health screening, immunisation and health care programmes are also very relevant. The right to live must be interpreted to mean the right to live a healthy life. So are our programmes on the environment. Even where we clear illegal developments and take the hard decision to displace people sometimes, it is so that the great majority might have a functional drainage or a clean environment; or so that the displaced people would not unnecessarily endanger themselves, such as when they set up businesses and residence right under high tension power lines or when they dwell in totally unsanitary conditions. If you look at all these efforts and institutions, such as our Office of Disability, Child Rights Centre, etc., you will realise that this government is doing so much for human rights, hence our decision to commemorate the day along with our friends. What level of success would you ascribe to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for justice delivery?

Very high. I already told you that over 18,000 cases came up for mediation at CMC. The Multidoor Courthouse also achieved a lot during the last Settlement Week. The Lagos Court of Arbitration is coming up and, in Lagos State, we have one of the most modern Arbitration legislations. We really are very serious about ADR.

A

N 18-year-old man, Ganiyu Nurudeen, has been ar raigned before a Yaba Magistrate Court Lagos for alleged manslaughter.

The teenager was said to have stabbed his friend, Ganiyu Okoya to death with a broken bottle during a fight.

Although Police Prosecutor Adenike Abdul charged him with murder, Magistrate M.O. Tanimola held that it was manslaughter since the duo were fighting.

Abdul told the court that the offence which contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011, was committed on December 2, last year, at Ogombo, about 10:30pm.

The defendant pleaded not guilty.

The teenager told the court that trouble started after the deceased approached him to allow him sleep in the shop he (the defendant) was looking after.

He said: “He (the deceased) came to me and said I should give him my shop key that he wanted to sleep there.

“I told him I cannot give him since it was not my shop and I was only asked to look after it.

“Angered that I did not give him

By Precious Igbonwelundu

the key, he started pushing me and that was how we started fighting.

People later seperated us and they asked him to go.

“He later came back to my shop and hit me with a plank on one of my arms and the fight started again and neighbours came out to seperate us for the second time.

“They warned him to go and leave me alone. I thought it was over only for him to come back again to attack me.

“He hit me with the plank the second time and I got angry so, I turned around, saw the bottle and pierced him with it.

“When I saw that he was bleeding, I called people to help me rush him to the hospital. I did not know he was going to die and did not even want to fight with him.”

Magistrate Tanimola granted the teenager N200, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum each.

She said the sureties must be blood relations, gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payment.

Adjourning the matter to January 29, Tanimola ordered that the case file be duplicated to the Director, Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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LAW & SOCIETY

We lost a gem, say Chief Judge, others The remains of Justice Wasilat Ayo of the Lagos State High Court have been buried. She took ill while serving as chairman of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Delta State and died on December 30, last year, JOSEPH JIBUEZE reports.

“M

AY premature death never occur again in the Lagos State judi-

ciary.”

Those were the words of the Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Ayotunde Phillips, during a valedictory court session held at the High Court foyer, Igbosere, last Friday for the late Justice Wasilat Abisoye Ayo. She died last December 30. She was 47.

Justice Ayo, who was overseeing the court’s bid to deploy a Judiciary Information System, was interred at the Ikoyi Vaults and Gardens.

About a few minutes to 10am, her body arrived the foyer where judges, all robed, were waiting.

Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who wore a dark suit, soon joined them.

Also among the guests were royal fathers, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, dressed in their ceremonial robes, Justice Ayo’s husband, Olabode, two daughters, and other relatives.

Soon after the valedictory session, the body was taken to the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Goshen Parish, Lekki Phase 1 where a funeral service was held.

A wake-keep had been held on Thursday night at the church.

Justice Phillips, represented by the Head Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade, said Justice Ayo’s death was “saddening”.

According to her, although they knew she had been battling with a serious ailment, they still hoped she would recover.

She described the late judge as a colleague, friend, boss and sister.

“We’re especially saddened to be burying a younger judge. God knows best,” she said.

Justice Phillips said the late judge made significant contributions towards the development of law and the state judiciary, especially her role in the court’s computerisation exercise.

The Judiciary Information System, she said, would soon be launched.

“It’s not how long, but how well.

• The late Justice Ayo

She has done well. She has played her part effectively. She will be sorely missed.”

The CJ praised the widower, saying he “showed a great sense of character and deep sense of devotion to her better-half.”

She asked God to console the entire family through the dark period, praying that untimely death would not reoccur again in the state judiciary.

Justice Ayo’s younger brother, Mr Obafemi Shitta-Bey, who responded on behalf of the family, said her death left the household devastated.

“My heart is heavy right now,” he said.

“She discharged her duties honourably, impeccably. May her gentle soul rest in peace,” said Mr Shitta-Bey. Until her death, Justice Ayo was a judge in the Lands Division of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere.

She tool ill while serving as Chairman of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Delta State early last year.

Her husband said she had been going for regular treatment in England since last January, and was making a recovery before suffering a relapse.

According to him, she had completed her treatment before returning to Nigeria in November, and was to go back for a check-up.

• Mr Ayo with his daughters Kofo and Olaide.

PHOTOS: RAHMAN SANUSI

• Fashola (right) and Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Ade Ipaye • Justice Atilade

Her doctors, he said, had asked her to take a holiday. Sadly, while in Nigeria, she took ill and passed on while hospitalised in a Lagos hospital.

Justice Ayo attended the Methodist Girls High School, Yaba (19751981); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1981-1983) and the University of Lagos, Akoka (1983-1985).

She attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, and was called to Bar in 1986.

Prior to joining the Lagos judiciary, she was an Associate Attorney at S.A. Shitta-Bey & Company between October 1986 and February 1997.

Between February 1995 and February 1997, she served as Head of Loan Work-Out/Recovery and Credit Administration Department, Commercial Trust Bank Nigeria Limited, Lagos.

Justice Ayo moved to the United States where she worked with sev-

eral companies, serving as Loan Portfolio Manager at Suntrust Banks Inc., Atlanta Georgia.

She underwent further training in computing, attending courses in Microsoft Visual Basic, Web Application Development, Java Programming Language, among others.

She worked as Software Engineer, MAPICS Inc. Alpharetta, Georgia, USA. She was appointed a judge of the High Court of Lagos State, Commercial Division, on May 24, 2001.

Dispute over APCON regulation: NPAN to challenge decision

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HE Newspapers’ Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) is to challenge the decision of Justice Musa Kurya of the Federal High Court, Lagos, dismissing its suit against the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

Its Executive Secretary, Seyi Smith said NPAN members were desirous of ensuring the determination of the issues it raised in the case on merit.

Justice Kurya, in dismissing the case, did not go into its merit. He upheld the preliminary objection raised by APCON, declaring that NPAN lacked the locus standi to file the suit and declined to hear it.

In the suit NPAN questioned the propriety of some provisions of a law by APCON, requiring media houses to submit advertisement materials for vetting by the council. The case marked: FHC/L/CS/ 1067/2012 was filed late last year against APCON and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

NPAN argued that the provisions in Article 21 and 137 of the Nigerian Code of Advertising and Sales Promotion (NCASP) are inconsistent with the provisions of Section 39 of the Constitution, guaranteeing the freedom of expression and to hold opinion.

In the suit initiated by its Registered Trustees through an originating summons, NPAN urged the

By Eric Ikhilae

court to void the said provisions. It raised three questions for determination and sought five reliefs.

The reliefs included a declaration that APCON, under its establishment Act, Sap A7 Laws of the Federation 2004, lacked the powers to create offences and impose penalties as contained in Article 137 (a) (b) and (c) of the NCASP, a declaration that should void the said provisions and render them unconstitutional.

It also sought orders of perpetual injunctions restraining APCON from treating or continuing to treat Article 21 and 137 of NCASP as valid, and restraining the defendants and their agents from applying the provisions of both Articles 27 and 137 (a), (b) and (c) of NCASP. NPAN also prayed the court to declare that the said Articles 27 and 137 are ultra vires APCON particularly as it relates to its (NPAN’s) members and a declaration that Article 21 is unconstitutional in that it violates Section 39 of the Constitution.

NPAN’s General Secretary, Comfort Obi deposed to a supporting affidavit where she averred that the suit was informed by the invitation to and subsequent interrogation of some officials of two of its 24 members - Leadership and Vanguard newspapers - by the police, who

claimed to be acting on complaints

by APCON, purportedly acting on the said provisions of NCASP. She contended that APCON lacked the powers “to regulate activities of members of the plaintiff or any of their employees who are not registered members of APCON or practicing advertising. I also believe that the provisions of Articles 21 and 137 of the code are inconsistent with Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). “ Comfort stated that it was in consonance with the provision of the Constitution if the plaintiff’s prayers were granted.

APCON filed a notice of objection to the suit. It hinged its objection on the grounds that the plaintiff’s lacked locus standi to filed the suit and that the court’s jurisdiction to hear it.

APCON contended that NPAN lacked the right to challenge a law meant to regulate its members’ conduct. It argued that the suit was wrongly instituted because the law being challenged by the plaintiff was enacted to regulate the activities of advertising practitioners, who are employees of the media houses.

APCON further argued that the relationship between it and advertising practitioners is like the one existing between the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and bankers.

It contended that advertising practitioners are only using the media houses as the platform for their work just like bankers, who are being regulated by CIBN, use various banks which employed them as their own platforms.

In a counter argument, NPAN prayed the court to dismiss APCON’s objection and proceed to hear the case, hinging its position on the argument that NPAN has sufficient interest by suing on behalf of its members.

It contended that NPAN has a singular mandate of protecting the interests of its members, who are media owners and whose interests are being “adversely affected” by APCON’s “unconstitutional regulations”.

NPAN argued that contrary to APCON’s position, the suit is not meant to fight for employees of media houses being allegedly harassed by APCON and the police, but was meant to challenge the power of APCON to control newspapers.

In upholding APCON’s objection last Thursday, Justice Kurya agreed with APCON’s argument that NPAN was in error in not suing in representative capacity having admitted, in paragraphs 12 to 17 of the affidavit supporting its originating summons, that the suit was informed by the invitation and interrogation of some employees of

• Justice Auta

media houses, who were allegedly harassed by APCON and the police.

The judge relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Salako v Dawudu (1997) 7 SCNJ page 278 and held that NPAN was wrong to have filed the suit in its personal capacity as against representative capacity.

He also faulted the plaintiff for not obtaining the leave of the court before filing the case. “The leave of the court was not sought and obtained to institute the suit in representative capacity. I am of the view that the respondent’s objection to the suit succeeds. The suit is hereby dismissed for lack of jurisdiction,” Justice Kurya held.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

33

LAW & SOCIETY

Any big deal about same sex marriage?

The Senate was hailed when it enacted the law criminalising same sex marriage. The House of Representatives is in the process of passing the Bill. PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU examines the propriety of the law and queries its relevance.

S

ENATE President David Mark’s comment that the upper chamber will not amend its position on the law against same sex marriage has continued to generate reactions.

The Bill against same sex marriage was sponsored by Senator Domingo Alaba Obende. A similar one, House Bill (HB) 150, in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Chukwudi Mayor Eze and 48 others, is yet to be passed.

The Bill enjoys the support of religious leaders and Nigerians who feel that same sex union will desecrate the values and cultures of the Africa. They have proposed capital punishment for anyone caught in such an affair.

They argue that if the legislature allows Western pressure to influence its decision, same sex marriage could erase whatever is left of the nation’s heritage and upset the sensibility of a greater number of people Those in support of the Bill are also of the view that it will make homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals as well as transgenders come out of their shells to demand that their unions be solemnised or legitimised.

To them, the Senate and its President deserve kudos for standing their grounds in criminalising such unions, even as they urged the House of Representatives to follow suit in passing the Bill.

As laudable as their position may seem, others have raised constitutional issues, which they said must be addressed if the bill is to stand the test of time, otherwise, efforts put into its passage by both chambers of the National Assembly will amount to waste of time and resources.

Some of such issues are the provisions of sections 37 and 42 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to private and family life and individual’s right to freedom from discrimination. There is also the argument that as a signatory to the African Charter and International Human Rights, the nation invariably, assented to the sexual freedom of its citizens.

In effect, it is argued that the anti-gay marriage law, when

viewed against the provision of Section 1(3) of the Constitution remains invalid Also, human rights activists have argued that criminalising same sex union amounted to an infringement on the rights of the people in that minority group.

They contended that law, as passed by the Senate, contradict constitutional provision which frowns against discrimination of any kind.

To them, people who practice same-sex already stigmatized by the society and may never want to be publicly linked with the lifestyle, hence, enacting a law that will make their lifestyles an offence amounts t to depriving them their sexual satisfaction.

In this group is a human rights activist, Leo Igwe, who at several fora, has kicked against the Senate’s position and described the comment by Senator Mark as anti human.

He said that bill legitimises hatred, discrimination and persecution of persons on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity, even as he likened the proposed law to a moral version of the Boko Haram agenda which is a product of fanatical minds.

Lawyers, who also spoke on the issue, said issue was not worth considering since the country was not under any threat from same sex marriage. They are argued that the National Assembly was wasting the country’s resources by devoting time to considering the Bill.

They maintained that there were more serious issues that will affect the socio-economic well being of the people begging for legislative attention but the legislature has closed its eyes to them and choose to concentrate on a “meaningless” bill.

To them, the National Assembly was just trying to gain cheap popularity from the populace who are more religious than Godly; else issues pertaining to the bill would not have come up.

The lawyers argued that the nation does not need any anti-gay bill since it is the choice of two consenting adults to indulge in the

• Senate President, David Mark

• Speaker Tambuwal

practice, which they say, have no effect on the society.

Those who spoke on the issue include Executive Director, SocioEconomic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), Dr. Felix Morka, Constitutional Lawyer, Fred Agbaje, and Executive Director, Socio-Economic Right Action Project (SERAP), Adetokumbo Mumuni.

Morka said the idea of criminalising gay relationship was offensive to the fundamental principles of human rights especially because criminal processes and penalties are usually applied to conducts that cause harm to other individuals.

He said: ‘’I do not see how a private relationship among or between two consenting adults cause any harm to anybody else or the society in general. ‘’We cannot begin to elevate moral precepts or even cultural values to levels of criminality.

Gay people are persons, citizens of this country and have equal right like the rest of us as enshrined in the constitution. ‘’Cultural or religious views must not be turned into rules of criminal law. We cannot penalise our people because of their sexual orientation.’’

Morka insisted that there were a lot of challenges begging for leg-

islation which the National Assembly has not legislated upon.

He said: ‘’we have enormous challenges of massive poverty, relentless insecurity and complete failure of the government to provide socio-economic amenities such as electricity. In the face of all these, I do not see how the legislature should busy itself with the criminalisation of sexual orientation. ‘’They have failed in their responsibility and are just looking for cheap avenues to win religious leaders ahead of 2015 elections. What have gay people done against the society? There was a time in our culture when it was okay to kill twins but we have since outgrown that. Culture is an evolving thing, so, why should people be punished for holding unto their belief? ‘’How many laws have the National Assembly passed in order to enhance our educational sector? Instead of wasting resources to pass such a hostile bill, why did the legislature not make laws that will make the inclusion of moral lessons in our schools’ curriculum compulsory?’’

Agbaje said the Senate President and other law makers should avoid making statements or decisions that will pitch the

nation against itself.

He said as long as the nation’s constitution has not been amended to exclude cases of same-sex unions from an individual’s right to private and family life as well as right to freedom from discrimination, passing an anti-gay bill was a contradiction. ‘’I cannot rule out the fact that gay or lesbian unions offend our cultural and religious values as Africans but that is not to say that these people should be punished for living their lives. ‘’It is their lives and their way of deriving sexual satisfaction so, our legislature should devoid itself from sentiments and concentrate effort on more serious issues affecting this country. ‘’The Nigeria society at the moment is scornful to same sex amorous, that alone is enough reason to make persons with these sexual orientation lock themselves up or hide it. What then is the essence of criminalising a ‘love’ relationship between adults? ‘’As a constitutional lawyer, I shall sue the nation if that law is enacted because gay people practice it in consonance with their thoughts, belief system and religion.’’

Mumuni argued that the Bill is unnecessary. He described as derogatory the comments ascribed to the Senate President, saying it was uncalled for.

He urged the legislature to enact laws that will enhance the lives of Nigerians and allow the gay people sought themselves out. ‘’They would not cease to amaze us. It is evil to attempt criminalising the sexual behaviour of a minority. The gay bill or law has no effect on the generality of the people. Their sexual habits which are done in private should not for any reason be criminalised. ‘’ The legislature should make laws that will reduce poverty, unemployment, insecurity and corruption in this country instead of wasting tax payer’s money on frivolities,’’ Mumuni said.

Don urges youth to be alive to civic responsibility

A

UNIVERSITY don, Prof.

Segun Gbadegesin, has said no government can succeed if the citizens are not “fully” engaged.

Urging the youth to be more alive to their civic responsibility, he said individualism must give way to community involvement to promote development.

He spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital while addressing a youth group, ThinkOyo. Gbadegesin, a distinguished columnist ( he writes for The Nation) and academic, delivered the maiden edition of the organisation’s Distinguished Lecture Series. He spoke on the topic: Responsible Citizenship: The Youth in focus.

He urged members of the group to forge a united front for the benefit of their state and country.

“Civic responsibility is crucial to the success of any government. If citizens are not fully engaged, government work is one-sided and definitely impossible.

“It also occurs to me that this is what ThinkOyo as an organisation would like to emphasise with its focus on ‘ajumose’ (cooperation).

“There is the challenge of youth

By Joseph Jibueze

alienation and despair. The youth are now more than ever especially at risk of drifting in the ocean of individualism where there are only a few islands of community and social responsibility.

“As a member of the ThinkOyo organisation, you must avoid the temptation of drifting in that ocean.

You must join forces in the membership of an inclusive community of responsibility.

“That community is one that places more emphasis on what can be done for the community and less on what the community can do for it,” he said.

Gbadegesin said no member of ThinkOyo must consider him or herself as successful just because they governor.

According to him, they must believe that their success as a member of ThinkOyo is because of the success of their mobilisation of others to the cause of helping the Governor to build a new Oyo State where everyone recognises and participates in the work of reconstruction.

“Third is the challenge of inequality. Ajumose entails a shared sacrifice. But glaring inequality militates against ajumose, because it simply means that some are sacrificing much more against their will.

“Therefore an effective reduction in the gap of inequality is a prerequisite to the implementation of ajumose.”

Gbadegesin said with an uncertain future for the youth, they must play active roles towards achieving the future of their dreams.

“For the youth of today, the future of Nigeria as a nation has never

‘Indeed, it is a duty that grows out of the duty of self preservation and self promotion. For the youth of today, the future of Nigeria as a nation has never been more uncertain’

been more uncertain.

“With unemployment skyrocketing and education nose-diving, the youth have good reason to panic about the future that may be their inheritance.

“This is why they must see themselves as having a huge stake in the matter. That the youth have a duty to rally to the cause of Oyo in particular and the nation in general is no news.

“Indeed, it is a duty that grows out of the duty of self preservation and self promotion. For the youth of today, the future of Nigeria as a nation has never been more uncertain.

“Even if they have little or no memory of history; even if they are not aware of the labours of our heroes past, they can at least relate to their personal needs and appreciate the task that must be done to realise those needs.

“It is my hope that they are ready to show themselves worthy of the call of their generation to rebuild the walls of Oyo State, Yorubaland, and the nation at large. It’s all in the hands of the youth.”

Gbadegesin praised members of the assembly for the initiative, describing them as “a dynamic group of young, upwardly mobile men

• Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi

and women, determined to contribute to the transformation of Oyo State.”

Responding on behalf of the group, Mr Adedidan Alao said they aim to build social bridges, as well provide a platform for intellectual and development discussions, discovery and exhibition.

“ThinkOyo is a strategic privatepublic synergy aimed at creating bridges through networking and public participation,” he said.

Alao added that ThinkOyo aims to be a part of the on-going effort to reverse the sad state of affairs in Oyo.

34

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

NATIONAL BAR

NBA stops illegal use of its logo • Lawyers get March 31 deadline to pay practising fees

• Obegolu

T

HE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Abuja, has banned the use of its logo without authorisation.

It urged lawyers to pay their

IBA gets new President

• Reynolds

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HE International Bar Asso ciation (IBA) has an nounced Michael J Reynolds, Partner, Allen & Overy, as its new President. His succeeds Mr Akira Kawamura of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune in Tokyo, Japan, who held the position since January 2011.

Based in the Brussels and Washington DC offices of Allen & Overy, Mr Reynolds said on taking the helm, “I feel privileged to have been elected President of the International Bar Association and I look forward to building on the work and momentum of my predecessors.

“During my presidency I shall be focusing particularly on the impact of climate change on all of us, but especially on the disadvantaged.’ Mr Reynolds is determined to bolster work being done in this field in the context of the new climate agreement to which the international community has pledged commitment to the attainment of defined goals by 2015. He continued, ‘We will also look at other ways of how the lives of the underprivileged are being destabilised, and will focus on ways to enhance or preserve their access to justice.’

In addition, Mr Reynolds has stated that he will use his time in office to continue strengthening IBA engagement with legal professionals across the globe, in particular in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa); Mexico; Asia, with a specific focus on Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar; and in Africa, including the African French and Portuguese-speaking countries.

practising sees before the end of March.

A statement signed by the General Secretary of the NBA, Emeka Obegolu, entitled: ‘Prohibition on the use of Nigerian Bar Association logo without authorisation’ reads in part: “ It has come to the notice of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that some unauthorised agents and merchants use the logo of the NBA on their products for purpose of marketing and other purposes, without the approval or authorisation of the NBA. “The NBA logo has been registered since July 6, 2011 in class 16 under No RTM 88217 as at June 21, 2012, pursuant to Section 22(3), Regulation 65 of CAP 436 of the

Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

“He said Section 16 (1) of the Copyright Act Cap. C28 of Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 provides that infringement of Copyright shall be actionable at the suit of the owner, assignee or, an exclusive licence of the copyright as the case may be at the Federal High Court exercising jurisdiction in the place where the infringement occurred and in any action for an such infringement, all such reliefs by way of damages, injunctions, accounts or otherwise shall be available to the plaintiff as it is available in any corresponding proceedings in respect of the infringement of other proprietary rights.

“Section 20 of the same Act makes

anyone who infringes on the copyright of the NBA Logo criminally liable and upon conviction, would be punishable by payment of a fine or a term of five years imprisonment or both,” he said.

He advised the public to desist from unauthorised use of NBA logo without lawful consent and authorisation of the NBA, that the NBA shall seek redress in law should there be further infraction of its copyright in this regard.

He reminded lawyers that the deadline for the payment of Bar Practising Fees ( BPF) is March 31, 2013. The NBA said: “It is important to note that according to the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC), the deadline for the pay-

ment of the fees is March 31, 2013.

Section 3(2)(a)(11) provides “another member who fails or neglects to pay the prescribed Annual Practicing fees before the end of March in each year shall as long as he/she remains in default, have no right (a) of audience in court (b) to prepare, authenticate or frank any legal document including Memorandum and Articles of association.

(111) A failure or neglect to pay the Annual Practicing Fees, as and when due, shall be deemed to be an act of professional misconduct.

The Bar Practicing Fees as announced is the outcome of the intervention of the NBA President who, on behalf of the Bar, convinced the General Council of the Bar to reduce the May 2012 increase by 50 per cent.

UNILAG’s law faculty is first in NIALS’ ranking

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HE University of Lagos, (UNILAG) has come first in the maiden edition of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) Nigeria Law Faculties Annual Ranking conducted in 2012.

A statement by the Director-General of NIALS, Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN), reads: “ After assiduous research and collation of scientific data on Nigerian Law Faculties using underlisted indices, the following law faculties emerged the top 10 in the following order: University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Jos, University of Benin,Lagos State University, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Nigeria, Babcock University, University of Maiduguri and Igbinedion University “Our duty demands that we undertake a project of this nature to promote standardisation and for

Stories by John Austin Unachukwu

the mutual benefits of the students and the institutions. Thus, the essence of this ranking is to challenge Nigerian law faculties to improve standards in aspects of their academic endeavour.

“This ranking is not interminable as law faculties that were not captured in the top ten rank are encouraged to improve their standards significantly so as to stand a chance in subsequent years, while those ranked are encouraged also not to rest in their oars, but to work tirelessly to maintain already set standards.”

The research was conducted based on the strident allegation of standards of legal education being on the decline bearing in mind the statutory responsibility of the Institute to provide information, supervision, guidance and advice to researchers of any university in

the field of law. NIALS in October last year wrote circulated letters to the vice-chancellors and deans of Law Faculties.

Consequently, NIALS started the annual ranking of faculties. The project involved field and desk research using the following indices: Number of applications; admissions; Staff; Staff-student ratio; library; post graduate studies; capacity building - external and internal; Publications; International accomplishment - moot trials etc; community service; web placements; External linkages; cross culture/internationalisation of staff; conferences/seminars and roundtables; alumni support and visibility; Infrastructural development; organisation and strategic vision; research undertakings; attraction of grants; high profile personality lectures; performance of graduates at the law school; average performance of graduating

• Prof Azinge (SAN)

class; moot trial percipation; quality of dissertation; General ambience of the university; Interruption of lectures; recognition of degree overseas; placement of graduates in top law firms; hiring of graduates to teach at top 400 universities in the world and admission of graduates into LL.M and PhD programmes in top 400 universities in the world.

NBA plans peace and security summit for Jan 30, 31

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HE Nigerian Bar Associa tion (NBA) will hold a peace and security summit on January 30 and 31, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

A statement from the Chairman of the Peace and Security summit committee, Okey Amaechi (SAN) said the theme is “Comprehensive and Sustainable Peace and Security in a Plural Society: Extreme challenges to Nigerian security.”.

The state reads: “However, since the issue of the summit is of such importance that spans beyond our municipal confines, we have decided to involve foreign organizations.

Our choice of the theme is informed by the need to address both short and long term solutions to peace and security, so that the eventual action plan the NBA may recommend to the government will be comprehensive.

“To that end, we have looked at how other plural nations have handled their own problems and are today enjoying the benefits of their diversity rather than suffering from it. Of the greatest appeal in this regard is the Malaysian model, which

• NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN)

• Amaechi

is widely held to be very successful, and which many nations are copying today. We have looked at their inter-

nal organizations which have proved very effective in addressing issues of multi-cultural and multi-religious

differences, and more importantly in inculcation the culture of peaceful coexistence and tolerance in the citizenry.

“The first day of the summit will have two sessions beginning with the keynote address and the formal opening of the summit.

This will be followed by a show case session where invited speakers (including Governors) will express their views on how best to tackle this seemingly intractable problem of insecurity and lack of peace in our nation.

The second session will be the presentation of a major paper on the effects of corruption in fuelling insecurity and want of peace.

A highly respectable and reputable personality has been chosen to handle this topic and discuss same from multi-dimensional perspectives.

Legal Dairy

CLA holds conference THE Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), will hold its 2013 conference in Cape Town, South Africa Date: April 14 to the 18, 2013, A statement from the CLA President, Mrs Boma Ozobia reads in part: “ We have invited some very eminent and interesting key note speakers. “ Contemporary legal issues across the Commonwealth will be covered. As always, there will be subject specific panels comprising of experts from various commonwealth jurisdictions. In addition, there will be an exciting social program and a gala dinner as magical as the one in Hyderabad, India.”

• Former Chairman NBA Abuja branch, Mazi Afam Osigwe (left) and Chairman NBA Abuja branch, Desmond Yamah at the annual dinner and awards night organised by Global Association for Female Attorneys (GAFA) in Abuja

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

35

LEGAL OPINION

Nigeria’s quest for environment governance

By Olanrewaju Fagbohun

• Prof Fagbohun • Continued from last week

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HIS is on the premise that environmental crime (unlike ‘real’ crimes such as mur der or theft) is not inherently immoral, but, rather made unlawful only by statute. Further, they argue that most of the pollution that are sought to be criminalised are consequences of industrial activities that provide the society with significant benefits and that were hitherto perfectly lawful and considered to be acceptable.

The above has led to calls to distinguish between routine cases of environmental harm that results from general activities and environmental crimes that have been wilfully committed to personal or business advantage.

The former, it is argued, should attract civil penalties and administrative sanctions while criminal sanctions should lie for the latter.

Indeed, the fact that most environmental offences impose strict liability is an acknowledgment that mens rea and actus reus does not always coincide. All that needs to be proved is the act or omission that forms part of the offence. To, however, mitigate the potential unfairness of absolute strict liability, statutory defences are at times introduced, or ‘knowledge of violation’ is introduced as a threshold in imposing criminal penalties.

The concerns that have been raised in relation to environmental justice in criminal law are that prosecution is costly and that many crimes go unpunished. Second is that those crimes that are prosecuted are not punished severely enough either because the levels of fines are low or that sentences are significantly reduced. The reason for the first concern is that the central aim of enforcement of environmental regulation is to prevent harm to the environment or human health, rather than to detect and then punish those who caused the harm.Consequently, in the enforcement pyramid, emphasis is more on all mechanisms other than prosecution in order to promote compliance. It is for this reason that prosecution end up being used on the very small minority of trenchant recalcitrants.66 This is not to say that there is any consistency in the way regulatory officers exercise discretion in relation to prosecution.

Indeed, for Nigeria, it can be said without fear of contradiction that there is no accurate picture of prosecution and sentencing for environmental crime.

With regard to the second concern, that fines are seemingly arbitrary and insignificant is true in fact. By way of example, section 6 of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (Establishment) Act, 2006 detailed the functions of the Agency. One of its core func-

tions is its responsibility for surveillance and ensuring compliance with all existing environmental legislation and the detection of oil spills in the petroleum sector. There are also special functions stipulated for the Agency under Section 7 of the Act. Despite these enormous responsibilities, there is no general provision for offences under the Act. The only provision that has anything to do with commission of offences are sections 6 (2) and (3).

They provide as follows: 6 (2) An oil spiller is by this Act to report an oil spill to the Agency in writing not later than 24 hours after the occurrence of an oil spill, in default of which the failure to report shall attract a penalty in the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000) for each day of failure to report the occurrence.

(3)The failure to clean up the impacted site, to all practical extent including remediation, shall attract a further fine of one million Naira.

In relation to section 6 (2), reason dictates that if there is a failure to report, it will be most difficult to come to terms with when exactly the incident occurred. As is always the case, the scenario will be one of disputes, arguments and counter-arguments. Local host communities will give one date as the date of occurrence while the oil company gives another date. Failure to report is without doubt a premeditated and deliberate act on the part of the oil company with a view to profit therefrom by escaping liability. Thus, one would have thought that this should be taken into account when passing a sentence.

What will signal the seriousness of the crime in this particular instance is the sentencing option of imprisonment at the minimum and to which can then be added a monetary fine.

The implication of this is that significant as the continuing daily fine of N500,000 post conviction would appear to be, it cannot be effective. In relation to section 6(3), the negative consequences of an oil spill and the immense problems of assessment and quantification of damages are so enormous that a fine of one million naira is simply too insignificant for an offender who deliberately refused to live up to its responsibility of remediating an impacted site.

What is reflected in provisions like section 6(2) and (3) is that the true cost of crime to society and the environment have not been reflected in the law. Offenders are supposed to be punished appropriately. Not only should the law ensure that the polluter pays the price for the environmental harm caused, the offender should also not profit from the offence, even after being sentenced. Provisions like section 6 (2) and (3) leave the court with not much of a choice of sentencing options and it would be most absurd to turn around to blame the court for not imposing a sentence proportionate to the offence. The knock-on-effect of the above is that the concept of deterrence is not allowed a meaningful role in environmental crimes, while potential offenders find it cheaper on cost-ben-

efit analysis to pollute and pay a fine than to comply with a regulatory regime that will minimise or avoid pollution incidents altogether.

At the minimum, there are four principles that an effective criminal sanction regime must capture, namely, proportionality in the application of law and in securing compliance; consistency of approach; transparency about how the regulatory agency operates; and the targeting of enforcement action at activities that give rise to the most serious environmental damage or in relation to which the hazards are least well controlled.

There is obviously the need to review the use of the criminal sanctions in Nigeria’s environmental statutes. To do this effectively, there is an urgent need for a body like NESREA to coordinate cooperatively with other stakeholders the development of a general policy on enforcement and prosecution.

Such a document will not only cover the principles that will guide regulatory agencies in making enforcement and prosecution decisions, it will also guide enforcement response where an offence has been committed. This will assist to secure a more consistent approach to enforcement across the board. Environment agencies should also in the context of a policy of ‘name and shame’ set out on annual basis key data on prosecutions and convictions particularly as regards business environmental performance.

Another area that has the potential to create serious concern for prosecutors and the court is the situation under which a company may be held to account for the acts of its employees. This raises the key question of corporate criminal liability. Studies suggest that individuals are responsible for the majority of environmental crimes. The most significant acts of environmental harm arising as a result of violation of pollution control legislation are however caused by companies because of the scale of industrial operations. The structure of big companies means that it is a difficult task to identify the root cause of many pollution incidents. In the face of contentions that obscure the blame worthiness of offending companies, how are prosecutors and the courts to be guided?

The position would appear to be that where reference in the law is to a person responsible, it should be assumed that ‘person’ is to be given the broad meaning to include a body of person incorporated or unincorporated, unless a contrary intention appears. By way of example, section 31 of NESREA Act provides: A person who obstructs an officer of the Agency in the performance of his duties under section 3 of this Act commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not less than N200,000 for an individual or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment, and an additional fine of N20,000 for each day the offence subsists and in the case of a body corporate, it shall be liable for a fine of N2,000,000 on conviction and an additional fine of N200,000 for everyday the offence subsists.

‘The reality, however, is that many pollution incidents are the responsibility of operational staff whose status cannot be categorised as the ‘controlling mind’. It is thus clear that adopting a broad (rather than narrow) view of what will rest corporate liability will permit a more accurate overall contribution of the constructive role to be played by criminal law’

• From left: Hajiya Fatima Kwaku, President, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Boma Ozobia and former Chairman, NBA, Enugu branch, Nnenna Uko at the NBA NEC meeting in Asaba, Delta State.

Another approach is that adopted in the National Environmental (Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Soap and Detergent Manufacturing Industries) Regulations, 2009. After creating different kinds of offences in regulations 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 it proceeded in regulation 51 to establish a penalty provisions thus: 51 (1)Any person who violates any of the provisions of regulations 46 to 50 of these Regulations commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding N200,000.00 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment and an additional fine of N50,000 for every day the offence subsists.

(2) Where an offence under sub-regulation (1) of this regulation is committed by any facility, it shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding N1,000,000 and an additional fine of N50,000 for every day the offence subsists.

The macroscopic approach hitherto adopted is to think that corporate liability would only be established in cases in which the employees responsible were of sufficient seniority to be viewed as the ‘controlling mind’ of the company. The reality, however, is that many pollution incidents are the responsibility of operational staff whose status cannot be categorized as the ‘controlling mind’. It is thus clear that adopting a broad (rather than narrow) view of what will rest corporate liability will permit a more accurate overall contribution of the constructive role to be played by criminal law. Following therefrom, the courts have held that the actions of employees will create corporate criminal liability if it is clear that the relevant statutory purposes would be defeated if a company could not be prosecuted for the acts of its employees.

In large measure, and depending on the language of the statute, in circumstances where there is the need for proof of criminal intent or negligence it will be appropriate to seek for the individual who committed the offence. Where, on the other hand, it is a case of strict liability offences, there will be a deviation from the general rule that criminal liability is personal in order to impose vicarious liability.

In the case of National Rivers Authority v. Alfred McAlpine Homes East Ltd, the defendant AMHE caused water pollution during construction works. At the trial, AMHE was acquitted on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to demonstrate that the employees that had caused the pollution were of sufficiently senior standing within the company to bind the company by their actions. On appeal, the court found AMHE to be liable.

Moorland J. placed heavy reliance on the purposive approach to vicarious liability, namely, that the offence under section 85 of the Water Resources Act 1991 was designed to prevent water pollution. If therefore the legislation is to be made effective, there was a necessary implication that companies should be liable for the acts or omissions of all of their employees as opposed to simply the senior employees who were the ‘controlling mind’. Moorland J emphasized this by referring to the idea that companies were, in fact, best placed to control activities of even very junior employees through such things as training and supervision.

• 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.

• Liman Hassan (SAN) (left) and Anozie Obi at the NBA Human Rights Roundtable in Abuja

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

36

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

T

O demand and obtain regular and rel evant information, data or returns from any government agencies.

Every state of the Federation in Nigeria and the FCT is a member of the Commission. The states are usually represented at all the meetings of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission including the Inter-Agency meetings of April 15, 2008 and August 2008. The RMAFC, InterAgency meeting of August 2008 was convened to attribute off shore oil wells/fields to Nigeria’s Littoral States and for the purpose of calculating the derivation funds payable to the littoral states in accordance with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The RMAFC’s meeting of 15th April 2008 affirmed that Cross River State is now a non-littoral state in Nigeria sequel to the judgment of the International Court of Justice delivered in October 2002 in the Cameroon/Nigeria boundary dispute and Supreme Court judgment in A-G Federation v. A-G Abia State & ors (No.2) 2002 6 NWLR (Pt.764) Pg.542. After the execution of the International Court of Justice judgment which ceded Bakassi Peninsula and the estuarine part of the internal waters called ‘Cross River’ to the Cameroons, the plaintiff no longer qualify as a littoral state. It has no maritime boundary with the 2nd defendant. Prior to the judgment of the International Court of Justice, the plaintiff was a littoral state in that it had direct access to the sea through Bakassi Peninsula and Cross River Estuary without passing through any other state’s territory. As the plaintiff is no longer a littoral state and as it has no Maritime Territory, the 76 oil wells which now lie offshore within another maritime territory not that of the plaintiff cannot be attributed to the plaintiff. In order that any Nigerian littoral state may be entitled to the attribution of any off-shore oil field/well within the 200 meters Isobath and the derivations therefrom, the oil field/well must lie off-shore but within the state’s Maritime Territory which means that the state itself must abut and/or lie contiguous or proximate to the sea and have a Maritime Territory up to the 200 meters Isobath.

The Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission did not demarcate any boundary at the August 2008 Inter-Agencies Kano retreat. The plaintiff would have remained a littoral state if the effort made by President Olusegun Obasanjo to retain the western part of Bakassi Peninsula in Nigeria had succeeded. The plaintiff would have retained the direct access to the sea. The 1st defendant emphasized 1. The letter dated January 4, 2005 addressed to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo caption “Akwa Ibom/Cross River Interstate Maritime Boundary”.

2. The letter dated October 31, 2006 on the political solution in respect of oil wells between Cross River State/Akwa Ibom State/ Rivers State were based on the negotiation and expectation that the western parts of the Bakassi Peninsula would be retained as a Nigerian Territory. The International Court of Justice judgment was delivered in 2002.

The Greentree Agreement between Nigerian and Cameroon governments was signed on June 12, 2006 while handing over of the entire Bakassi Peninsula was eventually completed on August 14, 2008. There is now in existence a National Boundary Commission 2008 Map showing the seven littoral states in Nigeria after the handover of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon of which the

plaintiff is not one of them. The status of the plaintiff was changed by the ICJ judgment which also disentitled the plaintiff from deriving benefits from the 76 oil wells which now belong to the Second defendant.

The 1st defendant raised the following issues for determination 1. Whether there had been an agreement between the parties upon which the 1st defendant could be stopped from resiling.

2. Whether the role played by the 1st defendant at her Inter-Agency Retreat held in Kano in August 2008 could be interpreted as a usurpation of the adjudicatory jurisdiction of the court.

3. Whether from the combined effects of the judgment of the International Court of Justice and the judgment of this court in Suit No. SC.124/1999 which is reported as A-G Gross River State v. A-G Federation & anor (2005) 15 NWLR (Pt.947) Pg.71, the plaintiff has a seaward boundary, estuarine sector or maritime boundary to entitle it to oil wells located off shore.

The 2nd defendant, Attorney-General Akwa Ibom State adopted and relied on documents as follows - 2nd defendant’s 1st Amended Statement of Defence deemed filed on 14/5/2012; the witnesses statement of Okokon Essien and Augustine Dominic Odokwo the Akwa Ibom State SurveyorGeneral and Director of Civil Litigation of the Ministry of Justice for and on behalf of the 2nd defendant, the 2nd defendant’s Final Written Address in disputing the claim of the plaintiff to the attribution of 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State.

According to the brief facts of the 2nd defendant’s case, these 76 oil wells are located offshore the coast of Nigeria to which the plaintiff - the Cross River State represented by the Attorney-General of the State lays claim for the purpose of the payment of 13% derivation revenue pursuant to Section 162(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. The statement of claim of the plaintiff captions the bone of contention in this suit as follows “This unilateral removal of the plaintiffs name among the beneficiaries of the 13% derivation fund and the recalcitrance of the 1st defendant to change the position culminated in the filing of this case.”

As at the time of the institution of this suit, the controversial 76 oil wells were and are still attributed to Akwa Ibom State represented by the 2nd defendant. The InterAgency meeting of the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission held in August 2008 followed and relied on the 2008 littoral states maritime boundaries delineations by the National Boundary Commission. The letter of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to the Accountant General of the Federation in March 2009 forwarding the 2009 Revised 13 per cent Derivation Indices for the payment of Derivation funds to littoral states omitted the name of Cross River State. It was decided at the

RMAFC Inter-Agency meeting of the 15th April 2008 that in line with the National Boundary Commission Littoral States boundaries delineations The offshores oil wells will be attributed to the littoral states jointly by all the agencies using the co-ordinates to be supplied by the Department of Petroleum Resources under the supervision of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission.”

The RMAFC Inter-Agency Report was produced in August 2008. By virtue of Section 6(1)(b) of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act Cap R7 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the RMAFC is empowered toa. “Monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the ‘Federation Account and review from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities. b. Section 6(2)(b) of the Act also gives the RMAFC the power to demand and obtain regular and relevant information data or returns from any government agencies.”

On the other hand, Section 7(c) of the National Boundary Commission Act Cap N10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 gives the National Boundary Commission the power to a. Define and delimitate boundaries between states, local government areas or communities in the Federation and between Nigeria and her neighbours in accordance with delimitation instrument or document established for that purpose.

At the RMAFC Inter-Agency Meeting of 15th April 2008, Cross River State was factually affirmed as a non-littoral state in Nigeria sequel to the judgment of the International Court of Justice in 2002 in the Cameroon/Nigeria Boundary dispute.

The 2nd defendant gave the qualification of a littoral state, whether in Nigeria or anywhere in the world or whether a sovereign country or a state in a federation. Such state must have a territory which must abut or be contiguous to the sea; it must be possible to have direct access to the sea from the state without passing through any other state’s territory. Sequel to the judgment of the International Court of Justice delivered in 2002 and the ultimate execution in August 2008, Cross River State became landlocked and no part of its territory is contiguous to nor abuts the sea. The judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of AttorneyGeneral of Cross River State v. Attorney-General of the Federation and one other (2005) 15 NWLR (Pt.947) Pg.71 pronounced that Cross River State has no maritime boundary with Akwa Ibom State. The 2nd defendant highlighted that prior to the judgment of the International Court of Justice, Cross River State qualified as a littoral state because as at that time it had access to the sea through the Bakassi Peninsula and the estuarian part of the inland waters; the “Cross River”. The Cross River State used to claim a riparian territory abutting the sea through the peninsula and the estuary which then were part of Nigeria. The Bakassi Peninsula lies contiguous to the sea while the Cross River estuary empties into the sea. The fact of Bakassi Peninsula and the Cross River Estuary being part of Cross River State was the sole qualification and reason for being adjudged as a Nigeria littoral state. The National Boundary Commission 2008 Maritime Boundary Map did not reflect Cross River State as a littoral state. The 2nd defendant maintained that by virtue of Cross River State not being a littoral state and therefore not having any maritime territory, the 76 oil wells which are the subject matter of dispute in this suit and which lie offshore, within a maritime territory cannot be attributed to Cross River State.

For any Nigerian littoral state to be entitled to the attribution of any offshore oil field/well within the 200 meters isobaths, the oil field/

‘The offshores oil wells will be attributed to the littoral states jointly by all the agencies using the co-ordinates to be supplied by the Department of Petroleum Resources under the supervision of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission’

well must be offshore but within the State’s maritime territory which means that the state itself must abut and/or lie contiguous or proximate to the sea and have a maritime territory up to the 200 metres isobaths or as the case may be in some circumstances have a riparian territory abutting the sea. The plaintiff does not presently have a land/shore/baseline abutting the sea. The 76 oil wells, subject matter of dispute, lie off shore and in a maritime territory within 200 meters isobaths from Akwa Ibom State shore/base line into the sea.

The 2nd defendant concluded that the RMAFC Inter-Agency meeting report was therefore factually correct in attributing the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom while the Federal Government has been acting legally and correctly in paying to Akwa Ibom State the derivation funds from the said 76 oil wells. The 2nd defendant agrees that there was no boundary dispute between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State.

The 2nd defendant however formulated two issues for the determination of this court in this suit as follows 1. At all times material to this suit, was and is Cross River State a Nigerian Littoral State and entitled thereby to attribution and derivation revenues in respect of the 76 oil wells pursuant to the provisions of Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 1 of the Allocation of Revenue (Abolition of Dichotomy in the application of the Principle of Derivation) Act Cap A 27 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004?

2. Does the judgment of this honourable court in Attorney-General, Rivers State v. Attorney-General, Akwa Ibom State & 1 Or (2011) 8 NWLR (Pt.1248) pg. 31 apply to this case and can that judgment be relied upon to entitle Cross River State howsoever to attribution and derivation of revenues in respect of the 76 oil wells?

The foregoing is the resume of the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in the statement of claim, the case of the parties respectively and the issues formulated by the parties.

A cursory examination of all these issues reveals the crucial issues raised for determination in this suit. They can easily be identified as follows: 1. Whether there is in existence any issue of boundary adjustment between the plaintiff and the 2nd defendant in view of the binding agreement and resolution between the parties under the supervision of the 1st defendant since 2006 through its agencies.

2. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to the derivation revenue from the seventy-six oil wells which were previously located within the 200 meter water depth isobaths contiguous to its territory as stipulated in Sections 1 & 2 of the Allocation of Revenue (Abolition of Dichotomy) with the principle of Derivation Act 2004.

3. Whether the order of mandatory and perpetual injunctions restraining the 1st defendant by himself or through any of its agents from excluding the plaintiff from its entitlement to 13% derivation in relation to the sharing of revenue from the Federation Accounts as a littoral state are enforceable.

I intend to be guided by these three issues in the determination of this case.

Yusuf Ali learned senior advocate for the plaintiff predicated the case of the plaintiff on the processes filed and particularly the written statement on oath of Ralph Idiku Uche. The plaintiff emphasized that by the 31st of January 2005, the issue of boundary was mutually settled by the parties. The 2nd defendant, Akwa Ibom State wrote to the President on the 31st of January 2005 through Exhibit A to confirm her consent to the agreement. By the letter of the National Boundary Commission dated the 4th of January 2005, the agreed maritime boundary between the plaintiff and the 2nd defendant are a. The terminal point of the Akwa Ibom/ Cross River Inter-State boundary in the Cross River Estuary has coordinates 43733 N and 82439 E. b. The Maritime boundary between Akwa Ibom and Cross River State should be a line drawn from the point referred in (a) above southwards until it intersects with Nigeria/ Equatorial Guinea International Maritime boundary.

• Continued next week

37

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANAURY 15, 2013

LAW & SOCIETY

Experts seek support for Petroleum Industry Bill The challenges of passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law has been on the front burner of national discourse for some time now. Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU sought the views of experts on the problems of the bill, how we can overcome them and pass the bill into law for the interest of stakeholders

• Idornigie

T

HE Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) can turn the economy for good if passed into law.

However the bill has continued to face serious challenges in the National Assembly. Legal experts in the oil and gas sector of the economy have called on the National Assembly to finetune the Bill and pass it into law immediately, if Nigeria should remain relevant as a key player in the commity of oil producing countries. They noted that though the Bill remains one of the best things to happen to the country, it contains some retrogressive provisions that may not assist the country to achieve the desired objectives.

They are also said the hitherto operative laws, rules and regulations in the sector can no longer meet the challenges of modern oil exploration, exploitation and distribution.

Former General Counsel, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Professor of International Commercial Arbitration at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Prof. Paul Idornigie, said: “Ordinarily, the PIB has the potential of revolutionising the Nigerian economy. However, in its present form, the bill cannot achieve this objection as it contains retrogressive and anti-regulatory provisions.

“I was privileged to be the General Counsel, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) when the first version of this Bill was drafted by the National Council on Privatisation/Bureau of Public Enterprises (NCP/BPE) in 2005/2006 after the approval of the National Policy on Oil & Gas in 2005. This draft formed the basis of different versions of the bill until the 2012 Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Indeed, the first Oil & Gas Implementation Committee (OGIC) chaired by Dr Ejike I, Onyia and later Dr Rilwanu Lukman was inaugurated in April 2000 by the NCP. The NCP was chaired by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (former Vice-President). In 2007/ 2008, another OGIC was set up under the chairmanship of Dr Rilwanu Lukman.

“I would like to comment on some sections of the PIB, especially the role and functions of the Minister as they relate to regulations.

Under section 5, the Minister shall be responsible for the coordination of the activities of the petroleum industry and shall exercise general supervision over all operations and all institutions in the industry.

Under Section 6, the Minister shall exercise general supervisory functions over the affairs and operations of the petroleum industry.

This provision is similar to section 8(1)(a) of the Petroleum Act, 1969 (now Cap C10, LFN 2004). Similarly Section 6 of the PIB provides

that the Minister shall advise the President on the appointment of chief executives of the agencies (including the Upstream Petroleum Inspectorate and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (the two Regulators) established under the PIB. Section 8 deals with the powers to make regulations and this is vested in the Minister. Sections 17 and 47 of the Bill deal with the Boards of the Upstream Petroleum Inspectorate and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency respectively. These Boards are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister.

When the PIB is compared with the Nigerian Communications (NCC) Act 2003 and the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSR Act) 2005 in terms of appointment of the regulators and their independence, one wonders whether the PIB is not retrogressive.

Idornigie said: “Under the provisions of section 8 of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Act, 2003 and section 34 of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005 the Commissioners are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Similarly under section 70 of the NCC Act and section 96 of the EPSR Act, the powers to make regulations are vested in the Commissions and not the Minister. Indeed under section 23 of the NCC Act, the powers of the Minister are confined to general policy formulation and not general supervision or coordination of activities.

“One of the aims of the PIB is to deregulate the oil and gas sector.

Such regulator will involve the emergence of an independent regulator. The defining characteristic of the independent regulator is independence in decision-making – organizationally, financially and managerially. To achieve this outcome on a sustainable basis requires implementation of a number of institutional and legal principles. The most commonly recommended principles are accountability, transparency and public participation, clarity of roles, requisite powers and integrity. With the powers vested in the Minister in the PIB, the two Regulators do not possess these attributes. Furthermore and more worrisome is the composition of the regulatory bodies. In sections 17 and 47 of the PIB, the members of the regulatory bodies include two directors of the Inspectorate/ Agency, representatives of the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum, National Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN). That this is not only ridiculous and preposterous can be found in similar provisions in sections 5 and 34 of the NCC Act and EPSR Act where the NCC and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is truly independent. Section 7 of the NCC Act provides for the qualifications of the Commissioners of NCC while section 34 of the ESPR Act provides for the qualifications of the Commissioners of NERC. What we have in the PIB is a mere listing of names of those to be regulated as members of the regulatory bodies without providing for their qualifications.

The consequence is that we have dependent regulators.

“It is hoped that all these retrogressive and anti-regulatory sec-

tions are deleted before the PIB is passed into law. Indeed, Nigeria may not be able to attract the foreign direct investment expected from the oil and gas sector if there are no truly independent regulators. The National Assembly is therefore urged to take all these into account, among others, in considering the provisions of the PIB.”

• Etomi

The Pioneer Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Business Law (SBL), Mr George Etomi, said: “PIB is, undoubtedly, a revolutionary step in the management of the legal regime that governs the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. The bill seeks to effectively consolidate all the various legislations, regulations, agreements, and understandings etc that are hitherto regulating the oil and gas industry.

“It is, therefore, very desirable to have such legislation because of the certainty it will bring to the oil and gas sector. Naturally, as with everything novel, there will be issues from major stakeholders in the sector as to what should go into the law. To underscore the importance of this statement, prior to this final version of the PIB, there were so many different versions. Thankfully, the Petroleum Minister has tackled the problem head on and has finally come up with one version which is before the National Assembly for consideration.

“There are three key areas which present the most difficult problems and their resolutions will lead to building a necessary consensus to ensure a smooth passage of the bill into law and these have come from different stages of stakeholders.”

The International Oil Companies (IOCs) The major concern is with the fiscal regime embodying the taxes.

Under the bill, oil exploration companies will be required to pay company income tax as well as the Nigerian Hydro Carbon tax. The IOCs argue that this will place enormous financial burden on them to the detriment of developing the sector by way of investment. On the other hand, the Government argues that these taxes are modest and simply gives the government share in revenue as obtained in similar jurisdictions. They also hinge their arguments on the fact that oil prices have remained firm for several years without the Government asking for more. Hopefully ongoing negotiations between the IOCs and the Government should resolve this.

The 10% allocation to host communities The principal opposition to this

is coming from the non-oil producing states, especially those in the North. They summarise their arguments as follows: •The oil producing states already enjoy 13 per cent derivation •Nearly N500 billion in allocation to the NDDC •Huge allocations to the amnesty programme Whilest this argument would appear persuasive Whilst this argument would appear persuasive it should not be lost on Nigerians that the host communities are paying a very heavy price for simply finding themselves in the area where oil has been found.

Etomi said: “The severe environmental degradation which has been well documented cannot be wished away and the communities should be lumped together under any other allocation provision. It is also not enough, as has been the practice, for these to be dealt with under corporate social responsibility provisions from oil producing companies or handouts from the government.

This allocation targets not only the cleaning up of the environment which is harmful to health but it is also to re-mediate their soil which can no longer produce anything. For example, the sludge from oil producing activities is buried so deep in the ground that it is not only polluting the water but it also polluting the seabed. And as we know, oil will cease to exist someday, and what will happen to these host communities without these re-mediation efforts? They will become waste lands. Therefore those objecting to it should look at the larger picture and allow it to stand.

Governance under the Bill

structure

The argument here is that too much power is concentrated in the hands of the minister. This can yield one of two results depending on who the minister in power is.

The role of the minister is largely confined to the policy and a strong regulator (who is appointed by the minister) and takes charge of e professional side of the business. Many point to the success of the telecommunications sector where the NCC has played their role to the total development of that sector.

NERC is poised to do the same for the power sector.

In conclusion, the PIB is a good thing. We must commend the Jonathan administration for actively pushing to make it ready given that this has been 12 years in the making.

• Aye

Mr Isreal Aye, Energy Law partner in Sterlin Partnership,

said: “Irrespective of which persuasion you belong to, not passing the PIB into law is costly to Nigeria. The Petroleum Industry has been in maintenance mode for the last five years. No new major oil or gas project has been sanctioned or commenced.

As a result, Nigeria’s reserves have started to dwindle for the first time in over 50 (fifty) years of petroleum operations. Also dwindling are jobs and lost opportunities for growth and development arising from petroleum operations.

To break the deadlock, we need a paradigm shift. First, we as a people must realise that legal, fiscal frameworks (such as the PIB) should first attract businesses before regulating them.

Therefore, the old mind-set of using legislation as a framework for obtaining maximum rent is no longer tenable.

Legal, fiscal frameworks are now used first and foremost as value propositions to compete for investments globally. We cannot therefore afford to insist on passing a piece of legislation industry operators (foreign and local) are unanimous is antithetical to new and existing investments.

“Indeed, the flow of investments into Nigeria would create value within the larger economy through jobs, revenue streams from various taxes and prosperity through multiplier economic activities. The PIB’s focus therefore should be creating value throughout the economy by attracting new investors to the petroleum economy and incentivising existing operators to invest more.

Rather than exerting excessive rent that would disincentivise investment from existing and new investors.

“I propose that the National Assembly as part of the legislative process constitute a ‘Consultative Forum’ comprising representatives of key stakeholders to review the bill pending before it and propose solutions to the vexed issues in the bill that is frustrating its passage. The Forum should be given a tight schedule (not exceeding a month) to propose an economic model and legal/fiscal provisions for oil and gas onshore and offshore that are acceptable to both the government and industry operators and investors. The rest is a matter of details and implementation.

The industry adopts this approach routinely. I don’t see why we can’t use it.

“Ultimately, passing the PIB should be a matter of urgent priority. Because the moment Nigeria indicated that it would change the legal, fiscal framework that governs the petroleum industry, investors went into neutral to await the outcome. In the meantime, the dynamics of demand and supply globally are not standing still.

New technological breakthroughs in Shale Gas and Oil and new finds, especially all over West Africa and East Africa, are rapidly shifting the balance and (God forbid) when we get round to passing the bill into law, our competiveness as a global force in the oil and gas business may be largely eroded.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANAURY 15, 2013

38

LAW & SOCIETY LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com

• CJN Mukhtar

• Azekwoh

• Okowa

Delta North Senatorial dispute: CJN directs Bulkachuwa to act on petition

T

HE last is yet to be heard about the dispute between Jude Azekwoh of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and Arthur Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the 2011 senatorial election in Delta North Senatorial District of Delta State.

Last Monday, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and Chair, National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Aloma Mukhtar, directed the Acting President, Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to act on a petition written by Azekwoh.

In the August 27, last year petition to Justice Mukhtar, the petitioner complained that his appeal against the decision of the election tribunal in Asaba the Delta State capital, was allegedly subjected to “unfair, unjust and illegal termination” by the appeal panel in Benin, Edo State, headed by Justice Raphael Agbo. He is challenging the emergence of Okowa as winner of the election.

A January 7 letter signed on Justice Mukhtar’s behalf by NJCs Secretary, Danladi Halilu, directed Justice Bulkachuwa to take “necessary action” on the petition. She also attached a copy of the petition to the letter.

Azekwoh urged the CJN to ensure the investigation of the conduct of members of the appeal panel, who sat on the appeal marked: CA/B/ EPT/230/2011 between Jude Eluemuno Azekwoh and anther vs Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa and others.

Azekwoh, who averred that he was denied the right to fair hearing, both at the tribunal and appeal levels, also wants the CJN to ensure the reconstitution of a fresh panel to hear his case on merit.

He said his determination to ensure that justice was done in the case informed his petition to the CJN, in her capacity as the Chair of the National Judicial Council. He said the petition is intended as a reminder because his earlier one dated January 31 last year was left unattended

By Eric Ikhilae

to.

Azekwoh had in January 2012 petitioned the NJC under the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher. Upon his petition, Justice Musdapher, through a letter dated February 13, 2012 requested the Presiding Justice of Appeal Court, Benin to comment on the issues raised in the petition.

Azekwoh said no further action was taken in respect of his case.

He averred that the appellate court “threw out” his appeal “on no grounds known to law and morality, thereby occasioning huge miscarriage of justice.”

Azekwoh said before his January 31, 2012 to petition Justice Musdapher, he had written a similar petition to the President of Court of Appeal on November 19, 2011 and a reminder letter dated January 1, 2012, but that both were never acted on.

The petitioner exhibited Certified True Copy (CTC) of the proceedings at the Court of Appeal and argued that his appeal was struck out, four days before the expiration of the 60-day period, on the ground that he was out of time.

He said the lower tribunal had acted in similar way in dismissing his petition by holding that he applied for the pre-hearing session via a letter and not a motion.

“I have not been heard by the court, from Asaba to Benin. It is not because I was absent or my counsel did not appear, or that the processes were filed out of time or statutorily inhibited in any way.

“If I am not heard when I am supposed to be heard, my humble opinion sir, is that time starts running from the time when I was to be heard. It is, with greatest respect, my fundamental right cannot be waived. Since I have not waived the same, may I respectfully plead Your Lordship to intervene,” Azekwoh said in the petition to Justice

Mukhtar.

He said the constitution of another appeal panel and the investigation of the conduct of the panel members at the Court of Appeal, Benin, will help redress the injustice done to him and restore his right to be heard as a citizen.

In the earlier petition to the Musdapher, written by his lawyer, Oladipo Okpeseyi (SAN), Azekwoh gave a history of his unsuccessful effort so far, to ensure that as a citizen, he was accorded fair hearing by the country’s court.

Azekwoh stated that he felt dissatisfied with the declaration of Okowa as the winner of the election and decided to challenge the outcome of the election by filing a petition before the election tribunal in Asaba on April 20, 2011.

The tribunal was said to have struck out his petition on August 2, 2011 on “the technical ground that the pre-hearing session application was made via a letter and not by motion, even after parties had thereafter taken further steps in the matter.”

Dissatisfied, Azekwoh appealed the tribunal’s decision on August 18, 2011 at the Appeal Court, Benin, Edo State. On September 19, he filed his brief of argument, while the respondent filed PDP candidate filed his on September 23, 2011.

“The respondent filed a preliminary objection with its brief. Both were not served on the appellant.

His counsel only stumbled on the information on September 26, 2011 that the appeal was for hearing the next day (September 27) as we and been reliably informed by the appellant.

“The Court of Appeal, despite objection, heard the preliminary objection and struck out the appellant’s brief of argument and even proceeded to strike out the appeal for lack of time when he (the appellant) had four clear days to the 60 days for appeal, consequently refused the appellant a hearing,” his lawyer stated in the petition.

NBA President, Odinkalu for Fawehinmi Lecture today

P

RESIDENT of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Okey Wali (SAN), Chairman of the Governing board, National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, among others, are expected today at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja, Annual Lecture in honour of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). The event will hold at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

Prof Odinkalu and Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) are guest speakers.

The theme of the lecture is: Economy, politics and human rights: Wither Nigeria?

A statement by the Chairman, NBA Ikeja branch, Monday O. Ubani reads: “The Chairman of the occasion is the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

Chief host is the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).

“Special Guest of Honour is Justice Ayo Philips, Chief Judge, La-

• Ubani

• Odinkalu

gos State; other guests expected at the event include: Chairman on Information Committee of the Senate, Senator Enyinna Abaribe, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner Cross River State Mike Iginni and .

Several senior advocates of Nigeria, senior lawyers, media gurus, high profile personalities and Nigerians will grace the occasion.

“The family of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, including Mohammed Fawehinmi will be there.”

Rape in India and Nigerian laws

T

HANKS to the media, a municipal case of rape in India has put that nation of extreme vagaries on a world trial. India is like Janus, the god of the past and the future. It boasts meteoric advancement in science and technology; but it also hosts some of the world’s greatest poor and inhuman caste systems. Because it is a vast country welded to its ancient culture despite centuries of civilisation, they still practise some cultures that are repugnant and inhuman in some of their regions. The degradation of womanhood is one of such; and unfortunately, rape is merely one byproduct.

Few weeks ago, an unnamed 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped and thrown out of a moving bus by five men and their teenager collaborator, in New Delhi. Considering that rape and abuse of women is rampant in that country, the widely reported case gave rise to massive protest by the civil society across the cities of India. As the news of the extreme debauchery spread across the world, the political leadership in that country was pressured to turn the incident into a national debate, with the possibility that a new law to protect women may be promulgated.

Except perhaps, cases of forced underage marriages mainly in parts of northern Nigeria, and inhuman treatment of widows in some communities in southern Nigeria, I think our country has a better cultural appreciation of women than the Indian society. But with most of the states in Nigeria still dependent on the old criminal code, at least in the southern part of the country, the law on rape is still very tenuous, and needs to be strengthened. There is also some measure of cultural impunity, so that when a woman is abused sexually, the likely feeling among men is that the woman is responsible for the incident. Indeed, in some extreme cases, an abuse may be seen as a privilege, if the rapist is an important personality, in the society.

Interestingly, the definition of rape in section 357 of the criminal code, and the punishment in section 358 that: “any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without whipping”; appears very severe on the surface. Unfortunately, the problem from a review of case laws, lies in securing conviction; or even getting the victims to coherently lay a complaint because of social stigma. Other challenges include the inefficient criminal justice system, and also the lack of technology to investigate the crime and secure conviction. In the Indian case, the prosecution has promised to use DNA to nail the rapists.

The problem associated with social stigma is a major challenge in Nigeria as in India, where there is a provision of a law which generally prohibits the naming of victims of sex crimes. In Nigeria, the victims are by themselves afraid to be named because of social stigma, more so when the victim is most unlikely to be convicted for the offence. The reason for the difficulty to secure a conviction is because, “the essential and most important ingredient of the offence of rape is penetration and unless penetration is proved, the prosecution must fail”. There is also the issue of corroboration in criminal cases. That unsubstantiated legal requirement, has led many Judges to dismiss cases of rape before them. In practical cases, the possibility of having corroboration is always slim, as it is a crime usually committed in secret.

In Iko v State, (2001) F.W.L.R part 68, the Supreme Court tried to navigate this legal requirement on corroboration, but yet, the confusion lingers. In that case, the Supreme Court said: “the purpose of corroboration is not to give validity or credence to evidence which is deficient or suspect or incredible but only to confirm and support that which as evidence is sufficient and satisfactory and credible, and corroborative evidence will only fill its role if itself is completely credible evidence.” The court further said: “in all cases where the law provides that corroboration is necessary, a conviction of an accused can only be valid when there is such corroboration.”

The lingering uncertainty is probably as a result of the myriad interpretations that could arise from the findings of the court, in that case, as in other cases. In that case, the Supreme Court also said: “though corroboration of the evidence of the prosectrix in a rape case is not essential in law, it is in practice always looked for and the Judge must warn himself or the jury against the danger of acting upon her uncorroborated testimony.” The court however said: “even though it is not safe to convict on the uncorroborated evidence of the prosecutrix, the court may, after paying due attention to the warning, nevertheless convict the accused if it is satisfied with the truth of her evidence.”

Fortunately, the new Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2011, in chapter 25, has shown the lead in expanding types of sexual offences. While providing for the offence of rape and its requirement of penetration, there is a further offence of sexual assault and sexual harassment, which from the provision would be easier to prove. There is also the offence of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, most likely to take care of human trafficking for prostitution.

These provisions and the others are very forward looking, and I believe other states in Nigeria need to adopt same, to tame sexual offences. While the punishments for these offences are less that the offence of rape; it has the salutary effect of punishing intimidating advances, and it can also act as a fall back, when faced with the challenges of proving penetration or collaboration.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

39

ABUJA REVIEW NEWS

•From left: Under Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women, Michelle Bachelet; Speaker, House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal; Minister For Women Affairs, Zainab Maina; Chairperson, House Committee on Women Affairs, Christiana Alaaga and Nigeria Permanent Rep. United Nation, Prof Joy Ugwu during visit to National Assembly Abuja

•From left: Publisher, Vanguard Media Limited, Sam Amuka; Former Inspector General of Police, Jimeta Gambo; Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade; Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and Minister for Internal Affairs, Comrade Abba Moro; Deputy-Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi and HRH Alh. Aliyu Danesi The Aidowogie of South, Ibie Kingdom, Edo State at National Summit on Security Challenges in Nigeria

•From left: Former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro; Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide; Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and Founder of Mother Theresa Orphanage Homes in Gwarinpa, Yeye Bola Dare during the thanksgiving reception held for Onaiyekan at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pro-Cathederal, Abuja

•ACN Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council Chapter, Chief Hallmary Aipoch raising the hand of the Party’s flag bearer, Patrick Ogunyemi after the party’s AMAC primaries

•Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah Muslim organisation, Fuad Adeyemi (right) presenting his address during the 10year anniversary lecture of Al-Bibiyyah Muslim organisation in Abuja. With him are Chief of Jiwa, Abuja, HRH Idris Musa (left) and Dr Abdulfatah Adeyemi of Abuja University (middle)

•Hawkers of seasons greeting cards during the Christmas period at Area PHOTOS: ABAYOMI FAYESE 10, Abuja

40

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

ABUJA REVIEW

A

CTIVITIES shot up at the Presidency in the course of the week, with various issues ranging from governance to politics being tackled.

But one of them stood out. The presidency spared some time to respond to criticisms, especially the one from the quintessential former President Olusegun Obasanjo who tried lecturing President Goodluck Jonathan on how best to handle the Boko Haram insurgency.

Obasanjo who had earlier said that the presidency was slow in handling of the Boko Haram and suggested the Odi solution, suddenly turned around to say that the presidency is only using one part of the carrot and stick measure in the fight against Boko Haram.

The presidency’s response evoked the memory of late Afro beat king, Fela Anikulapo Ransome Kuti popular music, teacher no teach me nonsense. It rejected the unsolicited advice from the former president, saying that the elder statesman lacks the moral standing to lecture it on such an issue. Besides, the presidency reiterated that the former president has nothing to offer when it comes to the issue of addressing unrest or terrorism as his attempt in Odi, Bayelsa state was a failure. It also claimed that the former president’s latest comment is laced with contradiction. For blowing hot and cold on the same issue, the presidency said it was finding it difficult to place where the former president stands on the issue of Boko Haram.

Besides tackling former president Obasanjo, the turn of events in the ruling party also gave the president some grey hair, hence his intervention to stem the tide. This explained why on three occasions within the week the president held three separate meetings with some members of the party.

First it was the issue of electing a new Board of Trustees Chairman for the party. Though the election could not go on as expected as issues bothering on authenticity of membership of the board became an issue, with members of the board agreeing to set up a committee under the leadership of Prof.

Jerry Gana to properly align membership of the board.

The president had to also wade into the leadership crisis at the National level.

He met with the members of the Party National Working Committee (NWC) as part of the efforts to resolve some of crisis within the party.

The Adamawa PDP crisis was the main issue discussed at the parley.

The party leadership had been didvided over the crisis in Adamawa chapter of the party. The president was able to achieve the purpose of the meeting by ensuring a truce between the feuding parties. This was later confirmed with the leadership of the party rescinding it’s earlier decision on the Adamawa issue.

•Abuja

Jonathan versus Obasanjo From the Villa

By Vincent Ikuomola Having achieved this, the President yet again met with PDP governors on the need to ensure unity and oneness in the party.

Away from politics to the issue of governance, the president seems dead serious with his plan to improve on the country’s pace of development. At the first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting for the year, the president told the ministers to sit up. He was specific on his marching order as he asked his lieutenants to increase the pace of work. The president who had promised Nigerians of a better year, charged ministers to move faster and harder as he demanded to see progress and better delivery in proc-

esses.

While the president is determined to give members of his cabinet the opportunity to prove their ability to deliver on the promises, a group of Nigerians met in Lagos in the course of the week expressing their lost of confidence in the ministers. The group amongs their demands want the president to dissolve the cabinet.

Economically, things seems to be looking up for the country, as the nation’s holding in the World Bank went up by additional 119 shares. The latest development which is coming under the bank’s “voice reform programme” is seen as an indication of recognition of progress made in the economy.

This has thereby shot the country’s share holding in the World Bank to over one thousand. This according to Minister of State Finance, Yerima Ngama is expected to increase the country’s voice in the affairs of the bank The development, the minister also said has short the country into the league of nation’s whose opinions has become relevant in major decisions of the bank.

The minister argued that the development represents a positive sign of strong confidence in Nigeria’s economic policies under the President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda. This he further said is expected to among other things further drive foreign Direct Investment in 2013.

Added to this good news is the president’s promise of further action that would ensure their economic and political empowerment.This he said he will do before the expiration of his tenure. He also assured the women of greater access to elective offices and opportunities for wealth creation. President Jonathan said that he was determined to take women empowerment a step further by working to ensure that more women contest and win future elections in

•The Millennium Park at night

the country.”We have done very well in terms of appointments and placement of women in positions of authority and we are still working on achieving a greater representation of women in elective offices in the next elections.

He also assured that the presidency remains fully committed to taking Nigeria as far as is possible towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Reaffirming his personal commitment to the accelerated reduction of maternal and infant mortality, the President said that he has directed that a comprehensive status report on Nigeria’s current standing on the achievement of the MDGs be produced with a view to identifying urgent actions that need to be taken to move the country rapidly towards their attainment.

On the International level, the crisis in Mali also got the attention of the presidency as the received the special Envoy of the French government, Jeam Felix Palanon. The focus of their discussion was how best to accelerate lasting solution to the Mali crisis.

42

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Ronaldo: I’ll stay at Real Madrid

Sneijder to decide future

•Ronaldo

AFCON COUNTDOWN...AFCON COUNTDOWN

Appiah backs Ghana for title KOMPANY

No issues in Elephants’ camp, says Zokora

to serve three-game ban

•Appiah

£3M READING DEAL

ZAMBIA EXCUSE SUNZU

•Sunzu

•Zokora

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

43

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

47 YEARS AFTER NZEOGWU COUP

•Balewa

•Bello

•Ojukwu

•Aguiyi-Ironsi

•Nzeogwu

The collapse of true federalism in Nigeria has its root in the military incursion into politics on January 15, 1966. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU revisits the fall of the first legitimate government and the crisis of nation-building the military coup unleashed on the polity.

A coup and its unending controversy I

T was a day of confusion in Lagos, the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The city was enveloped in panic. Many civil servants on their way to work in the morning turned back.

Markets closed abruptly, almost at sunrise.

Around Ikoyi and Obalende, which was a stone throw from the State House, people ran helter sketer. Political, economic and social activities were instantly paralysed.

Ministers were woken up by gunshots from aggrieved soldiers. Some of them were alerted to the danger earlier, but they had ignored the warning signal. Some of them stayed in doors, waiting for information. Others drove to their offices in boldness. But the Federal Secretariat Complex, Ikoyi, was empty. Those outside Lagos were trapped in their destinations because there was no movement. Nigerians were seized by anxiety and tension.

Before January 15, 1966, coups were not new in Africa. But a political scientist, Prof. Isawa Elaigwu, said that “this date marked the effective explosion of the military on the Nigerian political arena”. Bloody mutinies have been reported in Sudan, Egypt and Togo. But the coup of the five majors still dazed the political class.

Soon, the news was all over the place that the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was missing. Many hours later, it was confirmed that the Head of Government had been killed and his body deposited in a bush on the Lagos/Abeokuta Road. Simultaneously, a pall of gloom descended on Northern Nigeria. The Premier, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, had been killed. The same tragedy had befallen the Premier of Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola, and Minister of Finance Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh was the only minister killed by the army. Also killed by the rampaging soldiers were some senior military officers, including Brigadier Maimalari, Brigadier Ademoyega Ademulegun, and Col. Ralph Sodeinde.

Anger was bold on the face of the coup leader, Major Chukwuemeka Nzeogwu, who had come on air to inform anxious Nigerians about the forceful change of government. He cited many reasons for the change of government. The ring leader and his allies; Emeka Ifeajuna, Adewale Ademoyega, and others, accused the government of corruption, tribalism and lack of discipline. They promised hard times for the ‘ten per centers in high places. To reposition the country, they said, was a priority. Nzeogwu and his colleagues portrayed the soldiers as modernising agents.

However, the euphoria was short-lived. On the second day, January 16, the tune changed.

Due to human error, there was a hollow in the execution of the coup. Killings were restricted to the North and West. Since no prominent Igbo

politician was killed, the uprising was decked in an ethnic garb. Thus, it has been observed that the way the coup was executed created suspicions and stigmatised it with ethnic colouring.

Up came the General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Major-General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, who tricked the mutineers to come to Lagos, where he asked them to surrender to him. Although he became the beneficiary of the mutiny, he claimed that the coup plotters deserved punishment to restore discipline to the military and appease the North for the death of their political and military leaders.

As part of his scheme to assert authority, later, the politically ambitious G.O.C asked the Council of Ministers, at gun point, to resolve to hand over to the military. The ministers, led by the late Dr. Kingsley Mbadiwe, could not muster the strength to resist the military’s incursion into politics. The Acting President, the late Dr. Nwafor Orizu, was also helpless. Having correctly interpreted the body language of the power-thirsty soldiers, they caved in. The parliament and council of ministers went with the wind of change.

Had the civilian leaders taken decisive steps ahead of the tragedy, the destruction would, probably, have been averted. The Minister of Information, the late Chief Ayo Rosiji, had been inundated with complaints of a likely coup by junior officers by Brigadier Ademulegun in Kaduna. The Ondo-born Army officer had urged him to convey the information to Balewa in Lagos. He advised that the Prime Minister should act with speed, warning that delay could be dangerous. Ademulegun emphasised that the lives of senior politicians and military officers were in grave danger. Rosiji’s biographer, Nna Mba, stated that when the former minister mentioned it to the Prime Minister, Balewa, “gave a characteristic fatalistic response”. He admittedly dismissed it with a wave of the hand.

Perhaps, Balewa was preoccupied with the preparations for the meeting of the Common-

wealth Heads of Government holding in Lagos that month. The Prime Minister said he was not afraid because death would be the ultimate end of existence. Also, in his memoirs, former Inspector-General of Police Alhaji M. D. Yusufu recalled that similar warnings by the police were blatantly ignored by the Prime Minister.

The result was disastrous. Following the coup, Nigeria was instantly assailed by a monumental crisis of nation-building. Ironsi’s first step was threatening to federalism. Soldiers of northern origin were angry that the coup masterminded by the Igbo officers was aimed at shifting power from the North to the East. The inexperienced military Head of State dismantled the federal structure and foisted on the country a centralised, unitary system when he enacted Decree 1, 1966. He appointed four military governors; the late Col. Adekunle Fajuyi (West), Col. Usman Katsina (North), Col. David Ejoor (Midwest) and Col. Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (East). He set up an ad hoc constitutional conference which hit the rock, although he failed to set up a federal cabinet in time. “ It took Ironsi three months to make any political move, but actually five months for him to opt for greater centralisation of power through unitarism”, recalled Elaigwu in his book titled: “Gowon: The Biography of a soldier-statesman”. “In a way, it may be argued that General Ironsi was a victim of circumstances which required the quick use of his mental capacity and political subtlety-two traits Ironsi did not possess in adequate amounts”, he added. Besides, Eliagwu pointed out that “the political pulls within the system may have made Ironsi vacillate in making radical changes in the federal-regional relations”.

Barely six months after the first coup, Ironsi was killed in Ibadan, capital of the Western State, when he was guest of Fajuyi. In the retaliatory coup, Fajuyi, who was defending Ironsi, sacrificed his life. He was killed by soldiers of northern origin avenging the murder of Bello

‘On all counts, soldiers deviated from the cause of moral decency.

Seized by greed and avarice, they pillaged the treasury and did incalculable damage to public discipline. Gowon’s method of a blend of militarism and humanism yielded under the stress of corruption and nepotism perpetrated by his lieutenants. Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, who had resolved to restore confidence in government by fighting corruption, breached human rights in the process. His successor, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, presided over a corrupt administration which wrecked the economy. Gen. Abacha became a despot’

and Balewa.

Senior officers were not prepared for the challenges imposed by the sudden regime change.

Following Ironsi’s death, a succession battle rattled he top hierarchy. Young military officers from the North refused to take orders from the second-in-command to Ironsi, the late Brig.

Babafemi Ogundipe. They insisted that the Chief of Army Staff, Col. Yakubu Gowon, should assume the reins. The governor of the Eastern State objected, saying that it was against the seniority principle. He warned that a dangerous precedent, which could erode discipline, was being set.

Gowon succeeded Ironsi as the Head of State.

Tension later brewed as cases of mistrust among the various officers from the diverse, heterogeneous country were rife. Ojukwu advised soldiers of eastern origin to return home, since their lives were no more safe outside the region. The chain of events cumulated in the declaration of the Republic of Biafra by Ojukwu, who proclaimed himself as the Military Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the new country he carved out of Nigeria. A bitter civil war ensued, with heavy casualties recorded on both sides. No fewer than one million lives were lost. Although Nigeria won the secession battle, it did not win the battle for national unity.

Analysts have reflected on the justification for the first coup. Was it the best option at the time?

Were soldiers in government better than the civilians in the first 13 years and later, 15 years of military rule? Today, coup is old fashioned, but historians have always noted that Nzeogwu may have acted out of patriotism, although the coup could also have been executed with minimal casualties. But the coup was infectious.

Other coups and blood-letting activities of the military in July 1966, 1967, 1975, 1983, 1985, 1986

by Major Gideon Okar’s group, the pre-emptied Vatsa coup of 1988, and Gen. Sani Abacha’s displacement of the interim contraception headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, were built on the foundation laid by the five majors.

On all counts, soldiers deviated from the cause of moral decency. Seized by greed, they pillaged the treasury and did incalculable damage to public discipline. For example, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. E.U. Emovon, noted that Gowon’s method of a blend of militarism and humanism yielded under the stress of corruption and nepotism perpetrated by his lieutenants. Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, who had resolved to restore confidence in government by fighting corruption, breached human rights in the process. His successor, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, presided over a corrupt adminis•Continued on page 44

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

44

POLITICS ‘Our enemies are political profiteers’ • Excerpts from Nzeogwu’s coup speech during the declaration of martial law in Kaduna

“I

N the name of the Supreme Council of the Revolution of the Nigerian Armed Forces, I declare martial law over the Northern Provinces of Nigeria.

The constitution is suspended and the regional governments and elected assemblies are hereby dissolved. All political, cultural, tribal and trade union activitites, together with all demonstrations and unauthorized gatherings, excluding religious worship, are banned until further notice.

The aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong united and prosperous nation, free from corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is strictly military, but we have no doubt that every Nigerian will give us maximum cooperation by assisting the regime and not disturbing the peace during the slight changes that are taking place.

I am to assure all foreigners living and working in this part of Nigeria that their rights will continue to be respected. All treaty obligations previously entered into with any foreign nation will be respected and we hope that such nations will respect our country’s territorial integrity and will avoid taking sides with enemies of the revolution and enemies of the people.

My dear countrymen, you will hear, and probably see a lot being done by certain bodies charged by the Supreme Council with the duties of national integration, supreme justice, general security and property recovery. As an interim measure, all permanent secretaries, corporation charimen and senior heads of departments are allowed to make decisions, until the new organs are functioning, so long as such decisions are not contrary to the aims and wishes of the Supreme Council. No Minister or Parliamentary Secretary possesses administrative or other forms of control over any Ministry, even if they are not considered too dangerous to be arrested.

This is not a time for long speech-making and so, let me acquaint you with ten proclamations in the Extraordinary Orders of the Day, which the Supreme Council has promulgated. These will be modified as the situation improves.

You are hereby warned that looting, arson, homosexuality, rape, embezzlement, bribery or corruption, obstruction of the revolution, sabotage, subversion, false alarms and assistance to foreign invaders, are all offences punishable by death sentence.

Demonstrations and unauthorized assembly, non-cooperation with revolutionary troops are punishable in grave manner up to death.

Refusal or neglect to perform normal duties or any task that may of necessity be ordered by local military commanders in support of the change will be punishable by a sentence imposed by the local military commander.

Spying, harmful or injurious publications, and broadcasts of troop movements or actions, will be punished by any suitable sentence deemed fit by the local military commander.”

A day of blood-letting •Continued from page 43

tration which wrecked the economy. Gen. Abacha became a despot.

Observers pointed out that, had the foundation laid by the civilian authorities been sustained, the coup may have lacked justification. But the warring civilian leaders, who fired salvos from their ethnically-inclined political parties, had their own inherent weaknesses. The polity witnessed political stability when the federal government and the regions shared powers in an atmosphere of cooperative federalism and critical inter-governmental relations. But electoral tensions and recurrent suspicion between the North and the South, which complained about domination, later heralded political instability. Renowned historian Dr. Mba contented that there is substance in the criticisms that they lacked courage, conviction and vision of the society they had hoped to lead after the attainment of independence. She also agreed that “the political elite had also been held responsible for promoting ethnicity for political gains”.

Mba also agreed that, in the First Republic, “corruption was practised and not checked”, adding that the inability or lack of will on the part of Balewa to insist on all his colleagues observing the rules contributed to the general demoralisation and breakdown of the government’s authority.

To avoid repeating past mistakes, the historian advised that leaders should ensure that politics is based on principles and issues, not on personalities or ethnicity, and should be conducted according to enforced rules of fair play.

Mba also advised that personal ambition must not be allowed to supersede the communal or national good, and power must not be used only or even mainly to further personal ambition. The historian had solid advice for youths who would drive the ship of the fledgling nation-state in the future. Young Nigerians must learn to unlearn the ethnic prejudices which had burdened previous generations so that they may work and socialise together freely. By so doing, they may create a more egalitarian and just society in the future,” Mba said.

Correspondent MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE writes on the life and times of the colourful Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, who was murdered in Lagos by the mutineers.

Okotie-Eboh: victim of circumstance

• Okotie-Eboh and wife at a ceremony.

I

T is exactly 47 years ago today, that the Khaki boys swooped on the nation’s fledgling democracy and sacked the Balewa Administration. The incident marked the end of the parliamentary system of government, which the British framed for the country before the colonial masters left Nigeria’s shores It was a trying moment. Key politicians were killed in the putsch. The unity of the country was threatened to its very foundation. All political structures were abruptly consigned to history as the citizens and members of international community watched the macabre dance.

By the time the martial music simmered down, one of those cut short was the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, a flamboyant dresser whose style earned him the nickname , Omimi-Ejoh, Ejoh bilele, translated as ‘the man with long feature and flowing wrappers’.

Born July 18, 1912 to Prince Okotie Eboh in Warri Division, he attended Sapele Baptist School. In 1930, he took up an appointment as an Assessment Clerk in Sapele Township Office. After a brief stint with teaching, he joined the Bata Shoe Company Limited, where he rose to the post of Chief Clerk.

He took business courses as a private worker. With a Diploma in Business Administration and Organisation, he resolved to go into business on his own.

He established schools and ventured into other businesses, including rubber and timber. His business conglomerate included the Okotie

•From left: Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, State Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chief Akin Oke and Mr. Bello Oladeji at the meeting of the Oyo State ACN stakeholders held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

Eboh Grammar School and Omimi Plastic and Shoe Factories. He was a wealthy businessman.

Going into politics in 1948 proved the icing. He played his politics with the same enterprising spirit.He won a seat in the Warri Divisional Council, following a hectic election. As a grassroots politician, he was a councillor in the Warri Provincial Council. Later, he served as a member of the Sapele Township Advisory Board, Warri Provincial Ports Authority Committee and Warri Divisional Committee.

Okotie-Eboh was never defeated in any election, either in Warri or Sapele.

A chieftain of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, he became the Chief Whip of the Western House of Assembly dominated by the Action Group (AG) in 1959. His parliamentary contributions shaped major decisions.

Okotie-Eboh was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, having excelled in the art of governance. In the alliance between the NCNC and the Northern People Congress (NPC), he became the Finance Minister, the office he held until the 1966 coup.

His reform programme in the Finance Ministry gave a new lease to the Nigerian Customs. He delegated responsibilities to the unit, instead of asking the ports to collect duties.

He established the Preventive Services Unit to confront, combat and prevent smuggling, and protect local industries.

The introduction of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system of taxation during his tenure was a novel idea. It jerked up the revenue base of the government.

Okotie-Eboh insisted that Nigeria should issue her own currency and have her own Central Bank instead of epending on the then West African Currency Board, which was responsible for issuing currencies for the colonies. This was how the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) was established in 1958. Chief OkotieEboh, could therefore, be rightly described as the founding father of the CBN. He always displayed the noble characteristics of a statesman and patriot. When the country was still grappling with post-independence challenges, and the government wanted to build the Eko Bridge, he personally sought the assistance of Britain and America for grants to execute the project, but they refused.

As a diplomat, his passionate appeal received favourable consideration from the German government which paid Julius Berger for the project.

His benevolence was enjoyed by his party, the NCNC. He sourced for grants for the party when it was broke. His colleague, Chief Richard Akinjide recalled: “In the NCNC days, Okotie-Eboh was richer than the party and everybody. He had made his money before coming into politics and whenever the party was broke, it was to him we went to collect some money for party activities.

Nigerians should be grateful for having somebody like him; he was generous to a fault and did not discriminate against tribe or tongue”.

The NPC/NCNC alliance worked very because of the cordial relations between Balewa and OkotieEboh. The Prime Minister believed that he was a loyal minister.

A well-travelled man, OkotieEboh was a personal friend of the late United States President John Kennedy in the sixties. His visit to the Papacy, where he met Pope John XX111 twice, became his greatest religious voyage. He also visited the Israeli statesman, Mr. David Ben Gurion.

The former minister was not happy because of the lingering crisis in the Western Region. He believed that it would engulf the country.

He warned that the crisis was spreading to Lagos and its repercussions were being felt throughout Nigeria. He said across the four regions, innocent people were being killed during electioneering.

Okoti-Eboh, added: “We are worried and we believe that, you the Prime Minister, who has the overall responsibility for law and order, are more worried. Although the maintenance of law and order in the Western Nigeria is the primarily responsibility of the Western Regional Government, the activities of the Nigeria Police, particularly those drafted to the West from other parts of the Federation, have brought the federal government more closely into the picture”.

Okotie-Eboh stated further: “Something must be done immediately to bring peace to the Western Nigeria.

If immediate action is not taken, good government in any part of Nigeria will be endangered. Fanatics, hooligans, armed robbers and irresponsible elements will be given the opportunity to consolidate their positions and remain a perpetual danger to all governments and political leaders. Everybody’s life will be in danger.”

At the time of his death, OkotieEboh, was survived by a wife and 14 children.They now keep his memory as a loving father and a patriot who paid the supreme price for his country and died as a “victim of circumstance”.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

45

HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

More patients are being abandoned in hospitals. Some blame it on the economic downturn; others describe it as a ploy by patients’ families to evade payment . Hospital administrators are worried by the development and are calling on public-spirited individuals and corporate organisations for help . WALE ADEPOJU writes

Left in the cold •Fate of abandoned patients in need of succour

I

T is not in the character of Nigerians to abandon their relatives in the hospital or on the street. But this is common these days.

Many sick people have been abandoned in hospital, creating the problem of space and care.

Now the hospitals think twice before admitting new patients.

Hospitals have been experiencing an increase in the number of abandoned patients.

At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), no fewer than 10 destitute and abandoned patients are housed and catered for.

One of them, Nofisat Balogun, was picked up by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) a few months ago. Her family members are yet to come for her.

Nofisat is mentally deranged and she needs social support to overcome her ordeal but she is all by herself in the ward.

An abandoned patient, Mr Ayobami Ade, has been receiving treatment at LASUTH. Nobody has been in touch with him or sees to his welfare aside his friend who visited him once or twice. Not even his parents have come to see him.

He said he was staying in Mushin with his friend before he came down with a ruptured hernia. So far, he has incurred a N250, 000 bill.

Ayobami claimed his father is in Cotonou, Benin Republic, doing business; his mother resides in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. He wants kind hearted people to come to his aid.

Since Esther Chima (not real name), who is living with HIV, was brought to LASUTH, nobody has come to visit her. She is in need of regular blood transfusion because she is also suffering from acute anaemia.

The hospital said there was a need for a place for people like her, as a social welfare intervention.

Another abandoned patient, Mr Moses Asuquo, who hails from Ikot Ayan Ntam in Ito Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, said he was hit by a vehicle while trying to cross the road to buy some food and ended up losing consciousness before a Good Samaritan brought him to LASUTH on November 30, last year.

The social welfare officer in charge of his case said he fractured his tibia and fibula bone on his left leg. Asuquo says he needs help to overcome his plight.

The story of 25-year-old Tirimi Misiyu, who is from Ibadan, Oyo

•Misiyu

•Balogun

•Asuquo

State, is similar to that of Asuquo.

He, too, was hit by a vehicle and had fractures of femur and humerus, and bruises on December 31, last year.

Writhing in pain, he explained how it all happened. “I had gone to buy food very near my house and I was knocked down by a hitand-run vehicle before I was taken to the hospital. I was attended to immediately at the Surgical Emergency ward of LASUTH.” The Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Akin Osibogun, said there are poor and abandoned patients in the hospital, adding that the hospital usually tries to support them as much as possible, but at a cost.

He said there is a platform called the Friends of the Needy through which public spirited individuals can contribute some money to support indigent patients. But the donations are not usually enough and as such cannot solve all the problems.

The hospital, he said, sometimes, has to canvass help to treat them and even waive some of their bills, adding that some

churches sometimes pay for them.

He appealed to well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies and organisations to come to the aid of the indigent patients.

The Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof Wale Oke said no fewer than 10 destitute is in the hospital.

The number, he added, varies from time to time, depending on where they are brought from.

He said: “Destitute are in two categories. There are those found on the streets which LASAMBUS usually finds either unconscious or knocked down by vehicles, and are brought to the hospital. And of course, there is no way to find out who they are because most times they don’t have any form of identification and the policy of the state is to ensure they must get treatment, irrespective of their status, and the hospital does and always renders surgical or medical treatment. It also helps in the purchase of drugs and x-rays are also carried out free.

“The policy of Lagos State is that anybody that comes in as casualty must be given maximum benefit

of care that anybody can have.

They have all these done. Some die and some of them recover and the medical social services of the hospital now take over to see whether they can find the relations or an address where such patients originate from but most of the times we never get to find out who they are or where they are coming from. These destitute are not only adults, but sometimes babies are abandoned and are brought to the hospital.

But most times they are adults picked up on the street and are usually male.”

The other kind of destitute, Oke said, are those considered as being destitute. “They are patients who come in and who have known address and to some extent are able to pay for their treatment and suddenly the relations just stop coming.

“Sometimes the medical social services get frustrated in the process because they try to go and look for their address and find that the address given to the hospital doesn’t exist,” he said.

Oke said patients who know the policy of Lagos State might also tell their relations to stop coming to avoid paying their medical bills.

This, he said, usually happens when they are aware of the date they will be discharged. “And of course before discharge they are expected to pay for the bills accumulated but if we can’t find anybody to come for them they will declare themselves as destitute. Those are the challenges but so far the state has provided succour for them that they are given treatment because we don’t want anybody to die in the hospital or suffer needlessly in the hospital because he doesn’t have money. The state policy supports and encourages that such patients are treated,” Oke said.

He said what he does

‘Some will come and we discover they are destitute who need help and we can’t just throw them out. We often help them through the hospital management. There are some who will be paying but the moment they have big issues, you will discover that they will be abandoned.....They are patients who come in and who have known addresses and to some extent are able to pay for their treatment and suddenly the relations just stop coming. Sometimes the medical social services get frustrated in the process because they try to go and look for their addresses and find that the addresses given to the hospital don’t exist’

sometimes is to allow them go when they get well. “Some of them will make a promise that they will come back but very few actually do so. But that, we put under the free health policy. It is tight, but we just have to do it because we don’t want people to die.

“The free health care they benefit from comes from the state through the internally generated revenue (IGR) and if you spend money and you don’t get it back it constitutes some form of loss. But we have been able to adapt and cope. If we get well-meaning people to donate money to the hospital that we can use to defray such bills, it will be very useful,” he added.

Oke said there are hospitals, which have Alaanu Fund, and wellmeaning Nigerians and Lagosians donate to it. “Some will say in the memory of my late father or mother I feel positively disposed towards helping the hospital I donate N200, 000.

“If you have N1.2million you can put in a fixed deposit account and the family can say every month the interest generated from that money should be spent on poor patients.

Some hospitals, he said, may spend only N50, 000 on each patient so that many people can benefit from it.

Head, Corporate Affairs, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mrs Hope Nwawolo, said relations of some patients are to blame because, “they will bring their ward to the hospital and abandon them there.”

She said some said it was because of medical bill.

Nwawolo said their continued stay in the hospital is obstructing space. This is so because if the wards are full we can’t ask them to vacate their beds, she added.

Director, Medical Patients Services, LASUTH, Mrs Olaide Latinwo, said the hospital has a lot of destitute and indigent patients coming to the hospital for treatment.

On their motive, she said: “Some will come and we discover they are destitute who need help and we can’t just throw them out. We often help them through the hospital management.

“There are some who will be paying but the moment they have big issues, you will discover that they will be abandoned.”

Latinwo said as medical and social workers, they always find the genuinity of their condition as destitute before they are allowed to get free treatment. “We usually visit them during the visiting hours to know if there are people seeing them. We also check their addresses among other information.

“But we realise that many of them tell lies all in a bid to get free treatment. Some of their family members will deny knowing them so that they are not held responsible or asked to pay,” she added.

She said well-meaning people should come to the hospital to help them, adding that more public spirited persons are welcomed.

Latinwo said the hospital will soon have a Alaanu (Charity) Fund for the indigent and destitute accessing care in the hospital.

46

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

HEALTH

Regular water intake vital to ‘sound’ health

N

IGERIANS have been urged to improve the quality of water they drink for effective function of their body organs.

According to Dr Raymond Akinlade of Royal Hospital, Lagos, water is a medium for chemical reactions in the body.

“It moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies and oxygen through the blood stream and lymphatic system,” he said.

He said drinking water is vital to health because it makes up about 60 per cent of the body weight. “Every system in the body depends on water. Taking enough and quality water reduces the risks of some diseases in the body, the energy level is greatly affected by the amount of water we drink,” he said.

Akinlade said inadequate supply of water to the body would prevent the brain from performing optimally, adding that it may also trigger headache. “Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a

By Olatunde Odebiyi

condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry on normal functions.

“Dehydration is very risky to the health of the old and the young,” he added.

Akinlade identified the symptoms of dehydration as excessive thirst and fatigue.

Others are headache, dry skin, dry mouth, little or no urination, dark colour or strong smell urine, hunger, muscle weakness and dizziness.

On benefits of water to the body, Akinlade said drinking enough water helps to regulate the body temperature through perspiration which dissipates excess heat and cools the body. He said we lose about two pints of water daily by just exhaling, so it is crucial that we take water so our lungs would be moistened as we take in oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide.

He said some diseases

are reduced by having enough water in the body.

“Asthma is frequently relieved when water intake is increased. When there is sufficient water, wastes are effectively removed, which results in improved kidneys. Water also lubricates the joints as joint pain frequently decreases with increased water intake,” he said.

He noted that nothing can take the place of water. “Fruit juice, soft drinks, coffee and others may contain substances that are not healthy, and may actually contradict some of the positive effects of the added water.

To improve water intake, Akinlade said, people should drink a glass of water first thing in the morning and first thing before, during and after meals. “Drinking a glass of water will help you to stay in control of your eating, and therefore help to keep your weight in a healthy range.

Drinking water during the meals helps in digestion of the food,” he added.

Mothers advised on prevention of child death

M

OTHERS have been advised to t a k e their children for immunisation at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) for free.

The call was made by the Matron of Iloro Primary Health Care (PHC), Agege, Mrs Tinu Badejo, while enlightening mothers on importance of Pentavalent vaccine.

According to her, PHC is a holistic health care system wherein every individual of a country can access medical facilities irrespective of his/her financial status and ethnicity. The Matron said at Iloro Primary Health Cen-

By Oyeyemi Gbenga Mustapha

tre, the main objective is, treatment based not on the income of an individual but on his/her needs.

She said, “Anyone can visit PHC setups and get the necessary treatment done. This is because, the primary objective of such organisations is equal distribution of health care regardless of age, gender, caste/social strata, colour, and religion of an individual. Patients who have insurance policies are assured medical assistance.

There are services for aged and differently able people, rehabilitation programs for drug and alcohol addicts, treatment for

mental patients, family planning, child health care, and special care for women. Patients are satisfied completely because they receive hassle free treatment.”

According to her, mothers who are observant and conversant with their children routine immunisation and vaccination would have noticed some changes in the cards given to them, to reflect additional immunisation and vaccines. “And that is Pentavalent, penta for short. Taking this and those ones on IPD will ensure a child survives most of the childhood diseases.

•From left: Chairman, Board of Trustees, Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN), Dr Emmanuel Enabulele, Dr Ajayi and HEWAN President, Mr Azoma Chikwe at the flagoff of Know Your Numbers awareness/ third HEWAN yearly symposium at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

Hypertension ‘has no age, job barrier’

W

HO are those prone to hypertension and what are the symptoms of the deadly disease? The disease is symptomless and unrelated to age and occupation, says Dr Pamela Ajayi of Pathcare Nigeria Limited.

Speaking on her company’s initiated radio awareness programme on cardiovascular diseases, Mrs Ajayi said Africans and indeed Nigerians are disposed to the gene of high blood pressure (HBP).

By Oyeyemi Gbenga Mustapha

No fewer than one in four Nigerians may be unaware that they have HBP because it is symptomless, she added.

“This ignorance means they are oblivious to the risks to their health, as uncontrolled blood pressure is associated with heart enlargement, unexpected strokes, heart attacks and sudden death. The awareness programme,”Doctors on Air”, has created the ‘Know your numbers’ series. It is a unique health initiative urging Nigeri-

ans to take steps to improve their health and live longer, healthier by choosing ‘wellness’ and getting to know their essential health numbers,” she said.

Mrs Ajayi said whether you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or normal lipids, it is important to know your essential health numbers. “Establishing a baseline, monitoring any troubled areas, understanding your risks and making the right choices to improve the quality of your life and live longer are the aims of the awareness programme.”

Society to build HIV/AIDS control warehouse T

HE Ogun State government is to cre ate an enabling environment for partners working on HIV/AIDS. It has also provided a 7,500 square metre land in Ota for the building of a central warehouse by one of the partners, the Society for Family Health (SFH).

Its Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, said the government was committed to the reduction of the prevalence rate of HIV. He spoke while conducting the officials of SFH round the land.

He said the ministry has added new six Prevention of

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

Mother-to-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) sites to the 18 existing ones and activated six Anti-Retroviral Therapy sites in addition to the 12.

Soyinka said the ministry had also established 77 HIV and AIDS Testing and counselling service delivery points.

He said the warehouse would enhance the socio-economic status of the area as it would create employment for residents, promising that other requests made by SFH would be forwarded to the State Governor, for his con-

sideration.

Director Ogun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OGSACA), Dr. Kehinde Fatungase, said the warehouse would boost the preventive efforts of his agency.

The Managing Director of SFH, Sir Bright Ekweremadu, thanked the government for the gesture, revealing that the facility would be used for the storage of condoms and other consumables relating to HIV/ AIDS prevention.

Ekweremadu said the warehouse would create employment opportunities for about 400 people, adding that when completed, more taxes would also be paid into coffers of the State.

Sleep tips for expectant mothers

•A cross section of mothers, inset Mrs. Badejo

•In the third trimester, sleep on your left side to allow for the best blood flow to the fetus and to your uterus and kidneys.

Avoid lying flat on your back for a long period of time.

•Drink lots of fluids during the day, but cut down before bedtime.

•To prevent heartburn, do not eat large amounts of spicy, acidic (such as tomato products), or fried foods. If heartburn is a problem, sleep with your head elevated on pillows.

•Exercise regularly to help you stay healthy, improve your circulation, and reduce leg

cramps.

•Try frequent bland snacks (like crackers) throughout the day. This helps avoid nausea by keeping your stomach full.

•Special “pregnancy” pillows and mattresses may help you sleep better.

Or use regular pillows to support your body.

•Naps may help. The NSF poll found that 51per cent of pregnant or recently pregnant women reported at least one weekday nap; 60per cent reported at least one weekend nap.

• Learn to relax with relaxation and breathing techniques, which can

also help when the contractions begin. A warm bath or shower before bed can be helpful.

•Talk to your doctor if you develop medical problems and/or insomnia persists.

Once her baby is born, a mother’s sleep is frequently interrupted, particularly if she is nursing.

Mothers who nurse and those with babies that wake frequently during the night should try to nap when their babies do. Sharing baby care to the extent possible, especially during the night, is important for the mother’s health, safety, performance and vitality.

•Culledfromwww.sleepfoundation.org

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

47

ENERGY THE NATION

E-mail:- energy@thenationonlineng.net

The Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF), contained in the draft Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which prescribes 10 per cent of the net profit of upstream oil companies to be paid into the fund, has drawn the ire of the North. What is PHCF and why was it provided for in the PIB? EMEKA UGWUANYI examines the provision.

PIB: Why host community fund was T created

O say that the Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF) has been controversial lately is an understatement. The controversy peaked when stakeholders felt the PIB may be stalled following the stand of the North on it. The North insists that the way the PIB is structured won’t benefit them and would use their majority strength in the legislative chamber to stop the bill. Although the bill has scaled the second reading, it is still has a long way to go to become an Act.

What is PHCF Petroleum Host Communities Fund is contained in section 116 of

the PIB. The bill in section 117 states that the fund shall be utilised for the development of the economic and social infrastructure of the communities within the petroleum producing communities.

In section 118(1), it further states that “each upstream petroleum company shall remit, on a monthly basis, 10 per cent of the net profit as follows (a) for profit derived from petroleum operations in onshore areas and in the offshore shallow

water areas, all of such remittance directly into the PHC Fund; (b) for profit derived from upstream petroleum operations in deepwater areas, all of the remittance directly into the Fund for the benefit of the petroleum producing littoral states.

Sub-section (2) states that ‘net profit’ means the adjusted profit less royalty, allowable deductions and allowances, less Nigerian Hydrocarbon Tax less Companies Income Tax. Subsection (5) states “where an

•A community in Niger Delta

Group demands N378b refund from PHCN

A

GROUP of customers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is demanding $2.5 billion (or N378 billion) refunds to customers from the utility company. The money was illegally collected under the meter maintenance charge (MMC) for at least 14 years.

The group in comprises 10 customers, including Mr Frank Oluku, Brilliant Star School, Mr Chuma Ezeyi, Mr Albert Okoye and Mr Olukoye Johnson. Others are Dr. Nduka Oyemike, Mr Dafe Omokha, Barr Ogochukwu Omolu, Mr Aliu Momodu and Dr. Festus Osagie.

They petitioned Senate President and the former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, demanding refunds to the customers on the premise that the collections were illegal.

In a document made available to The Nation, and signed by Frank Oluku, the group stated that the payment of meter maintenance charge introduced in the 1990s was a rip-off of PHCN customers as there was nothing like meter maintenance by the

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

utility company. They said their petition made the former minister to scrap inclusion of MMC in electricity bills.

In a petition dated October 19, 2011, and to the former Minister of Power, Nnaji dated February 6, 2012, entitled: ‘Unlawful imposition and collection of meter maintenance charge: demand for refund of N378 billion or $2.5 billion to electricity consumers’, which the President, Vice President, Chief of Staff, Office of the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and the Managing Director, PHCN, were copied, the group said: “We most respectfully present this petition which borders on a long standing rip-off of every electricity consumer in Nigeria including members of the Senate. Indeed, we all have been taken for a ride over the years.

“The PHCN introduced a bo-

gus charge to the account of consumers in the late 90s known as meter maintenance charge. This fixed charge is debited to every electricity consumer on a monthly basis as follows: a consumer with a single phase meter pays N204 every month. A consumer earmarked to have a single phase meter even without the meter in place, also pays N204 every month. A consumer or building with a three phase meter pays N967 or N1,019 or N1,251 per month and the same applies to consumers or buildings without meters in place. A consumer with as maximum demand (MD) meter pays N3,629 as MMC and N544 as fixed charge totalling N4,173 every month.”

These charges are independent of and in addition to fixed charges also imposed on every consumer, the petitioners said with attached proofs.

The group also raised some posers : does the PHCN or NEPA main•Continued from page 48

act of vandalism, sabotage or other civil unrest occurs that causes damage to any petroleum facility within a host community, the cost of the repair of such facility shall be paid from the PHC fund entitlement, unless it is established that no member of the community is responsible.

Experts’ views Ms Efuru Nwapa-Obua, a Petroleum Law and Policy solicitor, who examined the issues with the PHCF, said the provision is laudable if well implemented as it would radically transform the oil producing communities, which have been yearning for development.

She said: “This key and novel provision effectively confers the status of equity stake holders on the oil producing states. If implemented it will radically transform the oil producing communities in terms of infrastructural, social and economic development, create employment, check youth restiveness and lead to overall sustainable development.

“It also places a responsibility on the oil producing communities to protect the facilities in their areas and introduces a sanction in the event of vandalism and destruction of property. This system of reward and punishment will no doubt check the wanton and reckless acts of vandalism in the oil producing communities given that no community will want to lose its benefits.

A top official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who spoke in confidence, said the fund will effectively address job creation and security of oil facilities in the oil producing communities. The official noted that the idea of the fund was initiated by late President Musa Yar’Adua.

The official said: “The oil community fund – is a fund that was initiated during the time of late President Yar’Adua. The intention is good and we strongly felt we should carry it over, in the sense that we strongly believe it would create more jobs. More jobs in the sense that the host community will become part of the stakeholders in the oil and gas industry and their core responsibility will be to ensure the security of infrastructure and facilities in their areas. And in the event of

•Mrs Alison-Madueke

any vandalism of the infrastructure, the benefit they will get will not be given to them.

“We are not saying that the cost of what we give to them versus the cost of infrastructure damaged is equal, but it would serve as a deterrent and ensure that act of vandalism is not done within the neighbourhood and then the community doesn’t have the benefit.

“What it would do for us is that it would move the JTF back to the barracks to enable them do their core function. Assuming we have 200 JTF members within the Niger Delta, it would create at least 200 jobs for the community by the time they (JTF) members go back to the barracks.

“The PHCF would create jobs for the communities to continue to secure these facilities, they wouldn’t sit down in their houses, they would have to get people to do this security jobs to ensure that they spend part of their money to be able to get more money.

“It will significantly help in mitigating the current environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. In addition, new frontiers will not have to go through the pains in the Niger Delta as their predecessors because from day one, the host community is part of the oil and gas industry.

“Under the current Petroleum Act, regulation is being done by the Minister without any consultation. But in the current PIB, for you to do a regulation, you need to do a public entry either it is a private document that is contributed for a change or a Ministerial document that shows you want to make a change. That document will be debated in a public forum and based on the outcome of that, the regulation will be enforced.

This is one area the power of the minister is significantly reduced compared to what we have in the Petroleum Act.”

‘

This key and novel provision effectively confers the status of equity stake holders on the oil producing states. If implemented, it will radically transform the oil producing communities in terms of infrastructural, social and economic development, create employment, check youth restiveness and lead to overall sustainable development

,

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

48

ENERGY

Industrialist seeks clarity in BoI/UNDP financing scheme

T

HE Bank of Industry (BoI)/ United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) structural financing programme for renewable energy development could be more productive if it is transparently administered, Prince Timothy Okedele, has said.

Okedele, the country representative, Coomi Trade Sarl of Italy, a waste-to-power firm, disclosed this at a trade fair organised by Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in Enugu.

He said as commendable as the initiative is, the process of picking beneficiaries of the $30,000 credit facility still leaves much to be desired.

He said: “I am at loss on the methodology or approach adopted by the facilitators of the scheme in

By Bidemi Bakare

arriving at the outcome for selecting the beneficiaries from the 10 states chosen for the pilot scheme.

“One is certainly not sure if the criteria set for selecting the winner was faithfully followed. In fact, there are reasons to believe that the process for awarding the $30,000 may have been manipulated to favour some beneficiaries who got what they didn’t deserve.”

Besides, he said the time lag between the conclusion and implementation of a pilot scheme and the commencement of next one is unnecessarily too long, urging the facilitators to consider bridging the delay if the scheme is to be effective.

“Since the pilot scheme took off close to a year ago it is surprising that nothing has been heard again

on when the scheme would continue. As a matter of fact, I must say that the delay is rather unwarranted. If the scheme is to produce result for which it was established, we must ensure that more beneficiaries are encouraged to be part of the laudable programme without having to wait for this long,” he said.

He commended the aggressive approach adopted by the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in its development programme,andenjoined organisers of the scheme to emulate SMEDAN’s approach by stepping up actions to benefit more entrepreneurs.

He said: “I would like them to

take a cue from SMEDAN so that the initiative can cut across board.

SMEDAN, for instance, has been going round across the country organising trade fairs for entrepreneurs to exhibit and display their products and services. Just recently it held one in Enugu, which was well-attended by entrepreneurs.

These fairs are like platforms for these entrepreneurs to show visitors including individuals and government agencies what they are capable to offer them.Besides, SMEDAN also provides financial support for small businesses in need of lifelines to boost their existence.”

Okedele, also the Chief Executive Officer, Prince Adesoke International Limited, said the renewal energy programme is worth sup-

porting with investment from the government and private sector if the country is to solve the acute electricity problem in the country.

He said: “One of the reasons for calling for an aggressive approach to the structural financing of the renewable energy programme is the need for us to find a lasting solution to the erratic generation and supply of electricity in this country.Renewable energy as we all know has the capacity of complementing and helping out the conventional source of electricity generation, which is currently in dire strait. Therefore, the only way this can be possible, is to provide more funds for innovative technological solutions in renewable energy.”

NIPCO moves to check sharp practices in filling stations

T

O ensure that customers get value for their money for purchases at the retail outlets, the management of NIPCO has created a unit in the company that will oversee activities at its filling station across the country.

Managing Director of the company,Mr Venkataraman Venkatapathy, who spoke with reporters, said the essence of the unit is ensure that no sharp practice is carried out in any of its filling stations.

He said: “A department was set up in October last year to monitor activities at the stations, ensure that calibrations are properly done and right pump price and right practices always maintained.”

Venkatapathy, who spoke on other activities of the company slated for this year, confirmed that it has not been easy for the downstream sector of the petroleum industry especially last year.

He said: “Since the past two years, the industry has been undergoing challenges. Last year was particularly a difficult year because the industry is going through transformation and I must say that the government meant good and doesn’t have any negative intention.”

He noted that NIPCO had been stable and stronger because it applies world best practices in its operations.

He highlighted some of the projects the company plans to ac-

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

complish this year to include expansion of its compressed natural gas (CNG) for fuel programme.

The first CNG programme approval given to the company is Benin but it has got approval to extend the programme beyond Benin.

Venkatapathy, however, noted that the areas that should benefit from the expansion is still being kept secret and would be made known to the public in two months.

He also said the company would increase its retail outlets this year as well as its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) retail outlets. He said company plans to increase its LPG retail outlets from six to 20 this year, adding that it has the largest LPG retail outlets in Abuja.

The company is also setting up LPG plants in Yola and Abeokuta and looking at setting up one in the east but the eastern plant arrangement hasn’t be concluded, the NIPCO boss said.

NIPCO has been in the forefront of campaign for increased consumption of LPG (cooking gas) in Nigeria. Venkatapathy had at a summit held in Abuja, said his company supported the meetings and summits as part of its conscious initiative of deepening the LPG market through a well-articulated policy for the benefit of stakeholders.

Group demands N378b refund from PHCN •Continued on page 47

tain meters? Should a building not yet metered be saddled with such a bogus charge? Should a consumer who is deprived of electricity be saddled with meter maintenance charge? The answers to these questions are ‘no’ the group said, adding that yet Nigerians in their millions have continued to cry out over ‘crazy’ bills.

In the petition, the petitioners also quoted the Chairman of National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi as consistently harping on the illegality of this tariff.

But the management of PHCN rather than comply with the regulator’s directive, chose to ignore it to the detriment of electricity consumers whose number is conservatively put at 4.5 million. “We believe this

monumental injustice must be stopped without delay while all monies paid to the PHCN under this heading should be refunded immediately,”they added.

According to the petitioners, the amount being demanded was computed based on the conviction that over 4.5 million people are registered electricity consumers in Nigeria, which is about three per cent of the population of 150 million.

With the estimation, it is assumed that three out of every 100 Nigerians receive PHCN bills and pay MMC. An average of N500 is estimated to be paid as MMC per consumer each month from 1998 to 2011 when the MMC payment was stopped by Nnaji. Therefore, total amount due for refund to customers by PHCN is $2.5 billion or N378 billion.

•From left (sitting): Governor, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Ambassador Abdul Abdulkadir Musa; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, and other members of Nigeria’s delegation to OPEC in Vienna, Austria.

OPEC to focus on market stability

T

HE Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said it would focus on ensuring oil market stability this year in view of the uncertainty of the global economy, which has been lingering in the past few years.

The organisation in its latest bulletin said that when OPEC’s oil/ energy ministers gathered in Vienna for the 162nd meeting last month; they were faced with the challenge of addressing an uncertain outlook for the international oil market in 2013.

The challenge according to the bulletin, was tied to the stuttering performance of the world economy, which the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) released last month, described as experiencing “another year of deceleration” in 2012.

Although the market report noted that some indicators pointed to a tentative recovery in the second half of last year, a momentum that it said would likely be carried over into 2013. However, it cautioned that “many uncertainties remain.”

On the uncertainties, the report said that the most important would be avoiding the fiscal cliff in the United States, further decisions on austerity issues in the Euro-zone, and balancing the need to reduce the fiscal debt burden while stimulating growth in Japan. “In the emerging economies, it remains to be seen how domestic demand will be improved, given the likely continuation of low growth in their main exporting markets in the de-

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

veloped world,” it added.

Such doubts about the global economy, the MOMR added, were “causing a great deal of uncertainty for the forecast for world oil demand, which has a downward risk, especially in the first half of the year.”

On supply, the report noted that the growth in non-OPEC supply, together with OPEC natural gas liquids and nonconventional oils, was expected to outpace the increase in world oil demand growth in 2013. Indeed, this was already happening, with some notable downward pressure on oil prices since mid-September.

The conference was emphatic that the biggest challenge facing global oil markets in 2013 was uncertainty surrounding the global economy, noting that projected demand for OPEC crude in 2013 was expected to contract to 29.7 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) even though the organisation would still maintain the production level of 30 million bopd.

Besides, the organisation informed member countries to if necessary, take steps to ensure market balance and reasonable price levels for producers and consumers. This would mean responding swiftly to developments that might have a detrimental impact on an orderly oil market.

However, OPEC had in its October market report, noted that the current dampened trend for

world oil demand is not expected to change this year, with the market continuing to be characterized by high volumes of crude supply and increasing production capacity. It said that given the uncertainty facing the global economy and the ongoing downside risks, world oil demand growth for 2012 had been frequently revised down, while non-OPEC supply and output of OPEC natural gas liquids (NGLs) had continued to perform well, outpacing demand growth.

The market report also noted that the global economy had experienced a continuous deceleration since the beginning of 2012, which was the combination of an austerity-driven Eurozone, the weakening recovery in Japan and clear signs of a slowdown in the major emerging economies.

Furthermore, the report noted that despite the prevailing weakness in the world economy, the slowing momentum was expected to bottom out in 2012. As a result, global growth was projected to be slightly higher in 2013 at 3.2 per cent, compared with an earlier 3.1 per cent.

The market report warned that two major structural weaknesses represented continued risks to the forecasts and include firstly, that most of the incremental growth was set to come from developing and emerging economies, which to varying degrees were reliant on exports to the developed economies.

“Secondly, and even more of a concern, the growth forecast is dependent on the effectiveness of the global oil demand trend unlikely to change in 2013,” the report added.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

49

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

With ekpoita :funtreatsvilla@yahoo.com / 08077706130

Looking Through A Child’s Eyes When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard. My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away. My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.

When I hear music I love, I know I can’t carry a tune and don’t have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen.

My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words.

If they don’t know them, they make up their own.

When I feel wind on my face, I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk. My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it, until they fall to the ground laughing.

When I pray I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that. My kids say, “Hi God!!! Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy.”

When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and clothes, and dirty carpets. My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross and worms to play with.

I wonder if we are given kids to teach, or to learn

QUICK CROSSWORD

sHoWbliTz Smith, Jay-Z Back Obama’s Gay Stance

On May 9, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to announce support for same-sex marriage. Now two of the country’s celebrity Black stars actor Will Smith and rapper/businessman Jay-Z, are backing President Obama on his controversial stance on gay marriage. While promoting his upcoming blockbuster film “Men in Black III” in Berlin, Smith told the Associated Press that Obama’s support of gay marriage is a “brave” move particularly in an election year.Meanwhile, Jay-Z, whose actual name is Shawn Carter, also made his pro-gay stance public, backing our president in his support of legalizing same-sex marriages.

In Philadelphia, when announcing a two-day music festival in early September, Jay-Z sat with CNN’s Poppy Harlow to discuss some issues and one of them was Obama’s startling comment about his support of gay marriage. JayZ, who has rallied round Obama since his 2008 campaign days, told news reporters “I’ve always thought of it as something that was still, um, holding the country back,” In the not-too-distant-past, Smith was at the center of a gay controversy himself. There were reports that he was involved with actor and running buddy Duane Martin.

Star Magazine reported that Smith and Martin had maintained a gay relationship for years. It was implied that their union was responsible for the downfall of Smith’s marriage to Jada. The rumors of Smith’s possible sexual preference began to pick up steam after he completed the 1993 film “Six Degrees of Separation,” where he portrayed a gay college student

POETRY Mind Behind Bars As the days progress From the rising of the sun My heart won’t cease its twists Of anguish.

This cold hospitality under locks Is poison for any mind.

Yet I see faults erased On the crunch guilt’s kolanuts.

I admit, I’m lost.

The rain has departed Now the sun wears his shoes, I rust on this spot still.

There have been no wages Of all my days in this cage.

The tears keep streaming, Fuelling the heart’s drive And now a stench I wear.

My flesh swells in fear And strange sickness.

Please ring the bell of justice, I tell the angels Hovering this rusty cell.

- Habib Akewusola

Good Friend

ACROSS

DOWN

1.Complete (5) 2. Massive(5) 6. Have courage to (4) 7. One who trades (6) 10. Bow (3) 11. Uncooked (3) 13. Specialist (5) 14. Perch (3) 15. Quarrel (5) 17. Liabilities (6) 20. Lobby (5) 21. Epoch (3) 22. Pitcher (4) 23. Expands (5)

1. Mammary Glands (5) 2. Pull Forcibly (5) 3. Mix (5) 5. Thread (6) 8. Recess (4) 9. Bemoan (4) 12. Afloat (5) 14. Influence (4) 16. Stay Upright (5) 17. Sketch (4) 18. Wager (3) 19. Anger (3)

WORDWHEEL

Form as many words as you can with the letters in the wheel.

Every word must make use of the letter at the center, i.e. the letter T. A 9-letter word with the meaning “ UNPLEASANTLY NOTICEABLE” is hidden in the grid. This is the star word. 2letter words and proper nouns are not allowed. Words up to forty score excellent.

JUMBLEWORD Unscramble the word jumbled in the grid below and place the deciphered word in the blank grid.

S So many names to call a friend, The list is far from short, Like buddy, pal and good old chum, And some might say cohort.

Partner sounds too western, Confidante just doesn’t fit, We could try to use acquaintance, (I don’t like that name one bit).

We’ve tried out quite a lot here, But they all feel like dead ends, So I’ll just stick with what has worked, And call you my good friend.

- Jennifer Wilson

C

A

L

P

E

N

U

A

T

E

Humour A Nigerian Naval officer was addressing the rank and file of the force and told them of new uniforms, boots, increased remuneration the force has approved for them. As he mentioned the approved items, the crowd kept shouting “hurray!”such that the officer could not hear even his own voice again. He got angry, brought out his gun and fired in the air. Everyone became quiet and the officer, quite enraged warned “ if you hurray againnnnnnnna, you shall hurray yourself”.

Got wind of a criminal act, plan?

Alert your friend,The Police.

To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one’s own Pep Talk nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat. - Plato

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

51

AVIATION Delta Airlines announces Business Elite

•A Model of Emirates Airlines engine and overhaul facility in Dubai.

Why govt is acquiring 30 planes, by Minister •Aircraft acquistion won’t solve domestic carriers’problem’

T

HE Federal Government has spoken on why it is buying 30 planes to aid domestic carriers.

Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Oduah said the government’s gesture was informed by the need to revitalise ailing airlines Her media aide Joe Obi said the modality for buying the planes and the mode of distribution were being worked out.

The government he, said, would contact the Airlines’ Operators of Nigeria (AON) to determine the needs of each operator.

Denying reports that the planes would be acquired with a $500million loan from China, Obi said: “The fact of the matter is that the said amount was the loan secured from China for financing the remodelling of airports in the country.”

Two experts have suggested ways of utilising the aviation intervention fund.

Managing Director Capital Airlines, Captain Amos Akpan and the Assistant General Manager, AON Mohammed Tukur, said a careful application of the funds would solve many problems.

According to him, the buying of aircraft by the government for domestic operators, may not yield the desired result, if operational demands of the affected carrier are not considered.

He suggested the financing of aircraft acquisition by financial institutions, which will be guaranteed by the government.

There is, he said, stunted development in the sector because the players and the regulator are not using the best model.

Akpan said before the govern-

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor Aviation Correspondent

ment facilitates the purchase of aircraft for any airline, some issues must be clarified.

These are analysis of the aircraft, its proposed route and the operator, or the funds deployed could be misapplied, he said.

He said: “The N300 billion intervention fund that the government made available through the Bank of Industry was wrongly applied because there was no need to give individuals or institutions funds that its use could not be monitored.

“The intervention procedure of buying aircraft for domestic airlines, as we heard the government is proposing is not clear. I perceive this is another wrong application of good intentions.

Aircraft acquisition is a product of fleet expansion, upgrade, or additions based on specific airlines need at a stage. What type of aircraft is required? For what route? And for which operator?

“If an operational module has been identified; research of availability of passengers and cargo identified. The frequency and capacity required must be determined. These, then, determine the size and type of aircraft.

The safety envelope of categories of airports and the facilities they offer must be critical input too.

We should not jump into lopsided amelioration again.”

He explained that the option of the government acquiring aircraft for private operators is no longer fashionable.

Akpan said: “No person or institution should be given money to buy an aircraft. When the operator identifies the aircraft that

soothes its operations, the operator should get NCAA to inspect and approve it; the government should pay through its bank and retain the title of ownership while the airline is only the operator.

“The insurance must be paid by the title owner and he retains the right of first loss payee. Furthermore, the scheduled maintenance checks must be financed or funded by the owner when the maintenance by calendar or by hours is due.”

He said payments for salaries, training, spare parts, and line maintenance must be on an open requisition programme to avoid default as these are budget items. Fuel credit scheme must be such that payment is automated between the banks and the fuel company on presentation of audited vouchers. ‘’Monthly payment on the aircraft from the sales must be automated to avoid default on lease rentals.

“All of these will ensure there is no hiding to create excess capacity in one route because of high traffic while under developing other routes,” he said.

Tukur called on the government to carry airline operators along in the proposal to buy aircraft for domestic airlines.

Tukur said for such plan to sail through, there was the need to let the operators know the type of aircraft that would be deployed and the modalities for accessing.

“We actually requested for bailout but the Ministry is packaging another one but I am afraid, it is not being handled well”, he said.

‘Nigeria needs aircraft maintenance hangar’ C

HIEF Executive Officer Belujane Konzults Mr Chris Aligbe has canvassed the setting up of a maintenance facility for aircraft repairs in the country.

Aligbe said such a facility would reduce operating costs for domestic carriers that fly their planes overseas for major repairs.

If the facility is established here, it would create jobs for the industry’s professionals, he said.

Aligbe, a former spokesman of the liquidated Nigeria Airways Limited, said to make the project viable, the facilitators must adopt measures to sustain patronage for

the project.

He said: “A maintenance facility in Nigeria is long overdue. The government should facilitate the establishment of such a project, and ensure that the airlines have enough aircraft in their fleet to ensure that it is profitable.

“If there are not enough aircraft to sustain the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, it could be a failure. Above all, there must be competence in fleet and aircraft type to make it work.

“One sure way of achieving this is the entrenchment of standardisation of fleet and line management to boost the competence of such a facility.”

He affirmed that without standardisation of aircraft type, the industry could have issues with growth and development, as major aircraft repair facilities are driven by the development of competences in aircraft types.

He said: “Most of the airlines in Nigeria do not have commonality of aircraft type to drive maintenance and repair overhaul facilities.”

DELTA Airlines has announced the selection of wines to be served on board its Business Elite cabin in 2013.

The selection profiles wines from four continents including wines from four European countries: Italy, Spain, France and Portugal; as well as from California, Australia, Chile and South Africa. The new wines will be served on board this year. Delta chooses its Business Elite wine cellar each year in a rigorous weeklong process during which Delta Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson evaluates and samples more than 1,600 different wines from more than 50 wineries worldwide.

Numerous factors are considered including: the complexity and intensity of the wine; aesthetic details such as the image of the bottle and its label; and logistics such as the amount of production necessary to fulfill Delta’s requirements.

Twenty-two winning labels are profiled in cycles throughout the year, including eight red wines, eight white wines, four dessert selections and sparkling wines. Approximately 1.5 million bottles of each wine are served worldwide in Delta’s Business Elite cabin every year.

“Delta wants to offer an exclusive experience to its Business Elite customers who tell us they truly appreciate a great wine,” Robinson said. “This year I have made two selections label as ’discoveries’ – Banfi Rosa Regale dessert wine and Barco Reale di Carmignano. These wines are exciting because, while they are classic Italian wines, they are styles few people have tried. The Rosa Regale is a unique sparkling rose dessert wine, and the Barco Reale could be considered Italy’s first Super Tuscan.”

Wine is an important part of Delta’s overall BusinessElite offering and the airline has launched a Sky Sommelier programme for pursers to provide a deeper insight into the wines served on board.

“We want to inspire our customers to discover the world through our selection of wines and meals. Our global selections for the Business Elite cabin have heart and soul and represent the rich cultural heritage of all the countries selected,” Robinson said.

Emirates connects Bangkok EMIRATES Airlines has introduced a fifth daily, non-stop service between Dubai and Bangkok, with the announcement coming just weeks after it launched a daily service between Dubai and Phuket.

From March 31, 2013, Emirates will operate 35 flights a week between Dubai and Bangkok, plus a daily Airbus A380 service between Bangkok and Hong Kong, and a daily flight between Bangkok and Sydney, which connects on to Christchurch. These services, along with the Phuket flights, take the number of weekly Emirates departures from Thailand to 56.

March 31, 2013 will also mark the start of the airline’s fourth daily service between Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, while a third daily Manila service started on January 1, 2013 and a third daily.

Jakarta service will commence on March 1, 2013. Elsewhere in the region, the Singapore service received a boost in capacity following the introduction of a 517-seat A380 to the route in December 2012, while flights from Ho Chi Minh City were launched in June last year.

“Emirates has been operating flights to Bangkok since 1990 and this capacity increase – combined with the launch of the Phuket service in early December - demonstrates what an important market Thailand is to us,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East & Australasia.

BA pilots switch to ipads BRITISH Airways is equipping its 3,600 pilots with iPads to further improve customer service and operational efficiency levels.

The move, which follows the airline’s rollout of iPads across its cabin crew and ground operations teams, is part of the company’s £5billion investment in new products and technology to provide the best possible flying experience for British Airways’ customers.

By having access to additional real-time operational data, shared with ground colleagues, pilots will be able to plan the flight more efficiently using the most accurate information available pre-departure.

This means flight crew can provide customers with faster and more accurate flight information than ever before. With the latest operational updates customers will be better informed and able to make plans if their flight time has changed for any reason.

Pilots will also be able to use historic and current data, supplied by the customer, to provide an even more personalised service during the flight.

British Airways’ Director of Flight Operations, Captain Stephen Riley, said: “As pilots we want to deliver a safe and memorable experience for each and every British Airways customer, on every single flight.

“The iPads will help us to achieve this goal by giving us the means to provide a more personalised service and share more timely flight information with our customers and colleagues.”

Boeing 787 for review UNITED States of America aviation regulators have ordered a review of Boeing's latest passenger jet, the 787 Dreamliner, citing "concern" over a spate of technical problems in recent weeks.

Regulators said the 787 remained safe to fly but a thorough examination was needed to identify the root cause of the problems including a fire on a parked 787 last week.

"There are concerns about recent events involving the Boeing 787. That is why we are conducting a comprehensive review," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a news conference.

The review will put an emphasis on the 787's advanced electrical systems and cover their design, manufacture and assembly, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The move comes on top of a separate probe by US safety investigators into a battery fire which caused "serious damage" to an empty Japan Airlines 787 jet at Boston airport on Monday.

Adding to incidents that have tested confidence in the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner, the jet suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday.

The 787 is Boeing's newest jet and uses new technology to cut the fuel cost for operating the plane by 20 percent.

Each lightweight jet has a list price of USD$207 million.

Airlines are pleased with the savings, and have so far given the plane their approval, both by ordering more than 800 jets and mostly sticking by it through the current spate of troubles.

52

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

MARITIME CRFFN cracks down on quacks THE Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has said it will crack down on quacks at the ports.

Its Registrar, Sir Mike Jukwe, said collection of Identity Cards, which lapsed on December 31, this year, could be get at their offices in Apapa–Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt for their members.

“The CRFFN enforcement team along with law enforcement agencies will from next month carry out raids of quacks and those without the identity cards from the nation’s cargo ports for prosecution,” he said.

He also said the maiden Register of Freight Forwarders comprised those registered with the Council by the end of last year would soon be published in the Official Gazette.

Jukwe urged members of the Council to renew their practising licences before the end of the first quarter of the year.

“Please take note that renewal of practising licence will be subject to participation in the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MPCD) programme to be held quarterly by the Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarding (NIFF), which details will be released in due course,” he said.

Customs re-strategises against smuggling

• Remnant of the exploded barge.

PHOTO: OLUWAKEMI DAUDA

NPA gets two weeks to submit report on jetty fire T HE Federal Government has given the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habbi Abdullahi, two weeks to submit a report on last week’s oil barge fire at the MRS Jetty at Tin Can Island, Lagos.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, issued the directive during his official visit to the MRS Oil facility to ascertain the damage done by the multiple explosions at

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

the jetty.

He said the government is worried because of the strategic position of the port to the country’s economy.

The report, the minister said, should dwell on the immediate and remote causes of the incident and how to prevent a recurrence.

On the call by Governor Babatunde Fashola for the reloca-

tion of the tank farms because of the danger they pose to the port community and Lagos State, the minister said the report would advise the government on what to do.

MRS Oil Group Executive Director, Amina Maina, said the company is still investigating the cause of the fire, adding that the barge was empty at the time of the incident.

She said there was no casualty, adding that eight persons were injured.

Freight forwarders petition Jonathan over

T

HE National Association of Government approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President David Mark over attempts to frustrate the amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 1958.

The association claims that there are “powerful forces”within the government bent on stopping the National Assembly from amending the law.

The freight forwarders also requested House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki to intervene in the matter.

In a January 11 letter exclusively obtained by The Nation, the association’s head of Legal Department, Mr Larry Okonkwo, said the CEMA Act could no longer address the challenges facing the industry.

He wondered why some government officials are collaborating with unpatriotic elements to frustrate the amendment of the Act. NAGAFF said the amendment

Customs Act would not threaten the President’s power to appoint the Custom’s Comptroller-General. It urged the President to call to order government officials alleged to be serving the interests of their masters.

“This amendment does not threaten the power of the President to appoint the Comptroller-General of Customs. It is the Constitution that empowers the President to also appoint the Inspector-General of Police, Directors-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and ministers.

“This is a constitutional responsibility of the President as enunciated in Section 5 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.”

NAGAFF said the power to ap-

point the Customs ComptrollerGeneral and the Finance Minister responsible for the administration of the service rests with the President.

The group said it was wrong for anyone or group to insinuate that the President’s powers would be eroded by some amendments as envisaged by the CEMA Bill before the National Assembly.

NAGAFF said the bill only granted partial autonomy to Customs “which we think is good for a modern Customs to emerge”.

It urged the President to support the passage of the bill.

“The synopsis of the CEMA Bill seeks to give partial autonomy to the Nigeria Customs Service.

This is, to us, a welcome development because it is in line with modern day public management trends. This will encourage innovation and shorten bureaucratic red tape.

“The unnecessary interference with the operations of the service will create a counter-productive atmosphere that would hamper the smooth and efficient running of the service,” the group said.

17,500 tonnes of wheat expected today

A

BOUT 100 ships, including one laden with 17,500 tonnes of bulk wheat, are expected at the Lagos port before the end of this month.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said the Golden Ship carrying the bulk wheat would berth at the Apapa Bulk Terminal today.

It said 16 of the expected ships would arrive with petroleum products, 15 would sail in with new and fairly used vehicles

and 46 containers of different goods.

The document showed that other ships would arrive with rice, fresh fish, bulk sugar, general cargo, bulk malt steel products, diplomatic, semi trailers and palm oil.

About 14 ships are waiting to discharge petroleum products at the oil terminals within the port.

The document shows that six of the ships will discharge petrol,

three will discharge diesel, two will discharge aviation fuel, one will discharge kerosene and another ethanol.

It also shows that 11 other ships are waiting to discharge general cargo, bulk wheat, used and old vehicles, rice, containers.

Nineteen ships are discharging various products, such as gypsum, bulk gas, container, fresh fish, wheat, rice, steel product and petroleum products.

OFFICERS of the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Ikeja, are re-strategising to boost their anti-smuggling activities this year.

Sources said the Area Controller of the command, Mr Dan Ugo, has given his officers and men a road map to follow to achieve the objectives of the service in paralysing smuggling.

The road map, sources said, would assist the officers to secure the borders and actualise the vision of the service.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the unit, Mr Uche Ejesieme, warned smugglers to keep off the border posts, adding that the officers and men of the unit were ready to arrest and bring smugglers to book.

“We have the human capacity; we have what it takes to fight smuggling and we would not relent. We are monitoring every place in the Southwest.”

The PRO said the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdulahi, had been retraining officers and also providing some patrol equipment to complement the effort of the officers this year.

‘Don’t be involved in cargo clearance’ THE Assistant Inspector-General of Police Zone 2, Alhaji Mamman Tsafe, has directed police officers in his zone to desist from interferring in cargo clearance at the ports.

Tsafe, who gave the directive during a meeting with the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Zone A Victor Gbemudu and stakeholders in Lagos, said he has directed the Commissioners of the Lagos State Police Command and the Port Authority Police Command to restrain their officers from harassing customs agents in and around the ports.

The police boss, who was responding to complaints of incessant harassment of agents by policemen, pleaded that grievances of the agents be documented and forwarded to his office while copies should be sent to the Inspector-General of Police, Comptroller-General of Customs and the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Zone A for action.

Some senior police officers, who attended the meeting, complained of being maltreated by port users prompting the police officers’aggressive reaction.

Stakeholders at the meeting include the National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu; founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr Boniface Aniebonam; Chairman, ANLCA Tin Can Chapter, Kayode Collins Farinto and Secretary, ANLCA Apapa Chapter, Olumide Fakanlu, among others.

Ibadan container depot ready THE Oyo State Shippers’ Association has said the first phase of Ibadan Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Erunmu is ready for inauguration.

Its President, Dr Ayo Omotoso, said the concessionaire, Catamaran Logistics Limited, would move into the depot with their foreign partners after the event.

Omotoso said the rail line from Lagos to Ibadan and Kano had been rehabilitated.

He said this would facilitate the take-off of the Ibadan dry port and others across the country.

He commended the Federal Government for the project, adding that containers could conveniently be transported by rail to the ICD sites. The shipper said the ICDs and the container freight stations (CFSs) were user facilities with public authority status.

He said the Ibadan ICD would handle imports and exports under the control of the Nigeria Customs Service NCS) and other agencies.

The Federal Government, in 2006, granted approval for the establishment of six ICDs and CFSs in the country.

The ICD project was conceived by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as a solution to the problem of port congestion.

The depots and stations approved for the six geo-political zones are located in Ibadan, Kano, Isiala-Ngwa, Jos, Maiduguri and Funtua.

The delay in the implementation of the project is causing concern among stakeholders.

The Oyo State government recently adopted a more proactive stand on the ICD project, unlike the past administrations which were not enthusiastic about the project.

The Ibadan ICD has capacity for 50,000 containers (TEUS).

53

THE NATION TUESDAY JANUARY 15, 2013

NEWS ‘Ndigbo can’t afford crisis in Ohanaeze’

A

GROUP, Njiko Igbo, yesterday said the Pan-Igbo body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, cannot afford the crisis of confidence rocking its leadership.

In a statement by its National Chairman and Director of Operations (National and Diaspora), Senator Sylvester Anyanwu and Senator Emmanuel Onwe, Njiko Igbo said Ohanaeze Ndigbo needs to resolve the leadership issue quickly.

The statement reads: “The apex Igbo cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, has become engulfed in a crisis as a result of the recent developments in the affairs of its leadership.

“This distressing development has resulted in a great sense of unease among concerned Igbo citizens. The central role of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the affairs of Igbo people cannot be underestimated. Ndigbo cannot, therefore, afford a crisis of confidence to undermine the organisation and cripple it from performing its vital functions.

“Accordingly, Njiko Igbo convened an emergency meeting on the night of January 13, 2013, and set up a committee made up of five prominent Igbo persons to step into the dispute with a view to resolving it amicably and to the satisfaction of all parties.

“In the interim, Njiko Igbo calls on all parties to halt all hostilities and await the outcome of this peace initiative.”

Chime: Bishop condemns death wishes From Chris Oji, Enugu

T

HE Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Callistus Onaga, has faulted those making uncomplimentary remarks on the absence of Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime.

The bishop, who spoke yesterday in Enugu, noted that it is morally wrong for some people to wish a fellow being dead.

Bishop Onaga urged the people to be patient and wait for the governor to return to his desk.

He congratulated Acting Governor Sunday Onyebuchi and his team for effectively piloting the affairs of the state in the absence of the governor.

Bishop Onaga said: “We miss the fact that Governor Chime is not around. But there are many reasons why a chief executive of a state can travel outside...”

Imo deputy governor’s aide murdered

L

AZ Anyanwu, the Protocol Officer attached to Imo State Deputy Governor, was yesterday found dead in Owerri, the state capital, four days after he was abducted by unknown gunmen.

The late deputy governor’s aide was a Director of Administration and Services (DAS) in Ohaji-Egbema Lo-

•Body found four days after abduction From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

cal Government.

He was reportedly found dead near a bush path at Nwaoriebe in Mbaitoli Local Government yesterday evening.

It was learnt that the late Anyanwu was kidnapped

near the Government House last Friday evening.

His abductors did not contact his family or anyone else, it was learnt.

Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was to address a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House, was devastated when

the remains of the Protocol Officer were brought to the Government House.

It was gathered that no ransom was demanded by the kidnappers.

A government source said Anyanwu’s killing may have been politically-motivated.

•President Goodluck Jonathan (left) greeting the Counsellor, Embassy of the Holy See, Vatican, Monsignor John Kallarackal, during a New Year party for members of the diplomatic corps at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...yesterday

EFCC activities in Imo political, says Speaker

I

MO State House of Assembly Speaker Benjamin Uwajumogu has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias in the arrest of the Commissioner of Finance and AccountantGeneral on an alleged N40 billion loan scam.

The Speaker said the antigraft agency was acting the script of mischievous politicians, who were bent on disrupting the peace and devel-

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

opment of the state.

He noted that instead of arresting those who allegedly embezzled the state’s funds, EFCC was witchhunting other people.

Addressing reporters in Owerri, the state capital, Uwajumogu said: “The EFCC’s claim of fraud is strange and unfounded, because every financial transaction of the state government was backed

up by enabling legislation and hinged on due process.

“If there is any administration to be probed in the state, it is the Ikedi Ohakim administration. It perpetrated the highest fraud in the history of the state: N70 billion was misappropriated and of the over N480 billion collected by the administration, it had only three projects to its credit.”

The Speaker said the Rochas Okorocha adminis-

tration has borrowed only N15 billion from the idle fund of local governments.

Uwajumogu said the loan was supported by a resolution of the Assembly.

He added: “The House, based on the findings of different panels which unravelled the huge fraud perpetrated by the previous administration, is in full support of the probe of the Ohakim administration.

This will serve as a deterrent to others.”

Gunmen kill journalist in Onitsha

T

HE Editor of Anambra News, a monthly local newspaper in Onitsha, Anambra State, Mr Ik Udendu, has been killed by suspected assassins.

The late Udendu was returning from Onitsha to his home in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government, on Saturday night, when he was reportedly killed.

Police Commissioner Ballah Nasarawa confirmed the killing in Awka, the state

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

capital.

He said he would investigate the matter to know those behind the killing.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Henry Nwasike, and Secretary, Comrade Ifeoma Anumba, could not be reached for reactions yesterday.

A family source said the late Udendu visited a commercial

printer in Onitsha to know if his paper had been printed for distribution.

He did not return home, the source said.

The late editor’s elder brother, Chukwulozie, also a journalist and publisher of the paper, said the body of his slain brother had been deposited at the Iyi-Enu Hospital Mortuary, Ogidi, for autopsy.

Chukwulozie said his late brother had no misunderstanding or disagreement with

anybody that could have warranted his murder.

He, however, said he received an anonymous phone call on Saturday night that he should pick his brother’s body in front of a restaurant at Afor Nkpor.

The publisher said the family contacted the vigilance group, which contacted Ogidi Police Station.

According to him, the police took the body to nearby IyiEnu Hospital Mortuary.

Ogun PDP chief warns members From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

A CHIEFTAIN of the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Buruji Kashamu, has urged members to be wary of “gerontocratic politicians masquerading as elder statesmen”.

Kashamu said it is disturbing that those who have been in national politics since they were in their thirties, still do not want to leave for the younger generation, even in their ‘80s.

He said: “When do they want to yield space for the younger generation?”

Kashamu spoke against the backdrop of comments credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo when some party members from Ogun West Senatorial District visited him in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Obasanjo was quoted as warning party members against those he called moneybag politicians.

According to him, such politicians deceive the people and deprive them of a better future.

In a statement yesterday in Abeokuta, Kashamu said it was laughable that Obasanjo could denounce those he described as moneybag politicians.

He added: “Was it not moneybag politicians that bankrolled his elections the first and second time? Was it not the same people he hobnobbed with when it was convenient for him to wrest the party structure from the former administration in the state?

“Was it not the same set of people that he used to work for his candidate in the governorship election? This is the sort of inconsistency that Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati recently noted concerning Obasanjo.”

The PDP chieftain said though he welcomed genuine efforts to reunite the party members in Ogun State, “it was not in Obasanjo’s place to set the parametres for such because he has continually shown his bias for imposition, door-die politics, injustice and illegalities – the very issues at the roots of the Ogun PDP crisis.

“Obasanjo told his guests that some money bags want to deprive them of a better future. But if anyone is being deceitful it is Obasanjo, who pretends to be a leader of the PDP in the daytime but in the night is neck-deep in the re-election strategy of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who is his kinsman from Owu Kingdom.”

Bakare to Houses of Assembly: take action on Chime, Suntai, Imoke

F

ORMER Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Pastor Tunde Bakare yesterday challenged House of Assembly in states where the governors are abroad on medical holiday to “uphold the rule of law”.

The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), also criticized President Goodluck for his silence on what he

By Precious Igbonwelundu

called the culture of impunity in Tarab, Enugu and Cross River states.

Governor Dambaba Suntai (Taraba) and Sullivan Chime (Enugu) are abroad on medical ground.

The Taraba governor flew aircraft that crashed in Yola.

He is receiving treatment in a German hospital.

The whereabouts of Chime is unknown. The Enugu

governor who was last seen in the country on September 22, last year, is believed to be abroad battling and undisclosed ailment.

Imoke told the House of Assembly he was proceeding on a two month accumulated leave but there are speculations that he is on medical trip.

Bakare, spoke at a round table dialogue organised by the group in Lagos to

commemorate the first year anniversary of the January 2012 Occupy Nigeria protest.

He maintained that the SNG was borne out of the struggle to enthrone the rule of law when the late President Musa Yar’Adua was incapacitated and a ‘cabal’ wanted to hijack power from Jonathan.

He said: “The same culture of impunity which the SNG fought on the streets of Abuja and Lagos in January 2010

when a cabal claiming to be acting for the ailing President refused to allow the rule of law to take place is what is now playing out in the three affected states.

“It was a terrible deja vua few days ago, when the photograph of Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Suntai was published. The governor was said to have sustained a brain damage and instead of providing the true medical

report of the governor, as stated in the constitution, what we have is an amateurish photograph being staged on the front pages of the newspapers.

“Governor Liyel Imoke has also embarked on a two months accumulated leave without telling the people the true state of his health. It is now been speculated that the governor is lying critically ill in a foreign hospital.”

54

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 14-1-13

Investors push volume up by 53.5% D EMAND for stocks rose by 53.45 per cent or (165.143 million shares) yesterday as investors stepped up their appetite for blue chips firms.

Consequently, the market recorded 474.108 million shares worth N3.516 billion across 6,316 deals.

Also, the lead indicatorsNSE-ASI added 37 basis points to extend the market uptrend to two days bull run.

The Financial Services sector led with 397.766 million shares worth N2.762 billion in 4,377 deals.

The week started on a positive note in the banking sector, with mid-tier banks at the fore. Fidelity Bank, which booked a 4.0 per cent, moved up on the back of growing demand. FCMB, UBN and Sterling Bank also picked up 2.8 per cent, 2.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent apiece. Highly capitalised banking stocks however, recorded slimmer gains as buyers appeared cautious and unwilling to bid significantly above current levels.

Other actively traded sectors were the Conglomerates, Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, Services and Industrial Goods with 31.561 million shares, 13.946 million shares, 9.137 million shares, 6.513 million shares and

By Tonia Osundolire

5.945 million shares respectively.

The building materials sector was in line with current sentiments, though it recorded no change at the close of the session. Dangote Cement was skewed to the buy side. Ashaka Cement, Lafarge Wapco and CCNN however, recorded gains of 0.1 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 4.9 per cent.

The food and beverages sector was split evenly between the gainers and losers, while Dangote Flour, Nascon and Dangote Sugar headed south with losses of 0.9 per cent, 1.0 per cent and 1.4 per cent. Honeywell Flour, Cadbury and Flourmills closed on the uptick with gains of 2.7 per cent, 2.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.

Specifically, the All-ShareIndex and Market Capitalisation grew further by 0.37 per cent each. Index added 107.69 points to close at N29, 309.70 points while the capitalisation appreciated by N35 billion to close at N9.374 trillion.

However, yesterday’s uptrend was boosted mainly

by value gains recorded in the mid and large capitalised stocks, such as Access Bank, FBNH, FCMB, GT Bank, UBA, Skye Bank, Diamond Bank, Lafarge WAPCO, Zenith and Fidelity.

On the price movement tables, the market closed with positive result. Advancers (gained stocks) more than doubled the league of decliners (loss stocks) by 2.47 per cent. This means on every decliner, 2.74 stocks appreciated in value.

Investors bought into 109 equities. As fifty-five of them remained unchanged (closing with the same priced they opened), 39 appreciated while the remaining 15 equities reduced in the share value.

Lafarge Wapco led the gainers table with a gain of N1.65 to close at N60.00 followed by Chemical and Allied Product (CAP) N1.45 to close at N30.45.

Others on the list were Glaxosmithkline, Cadbury, Flourmills, Fort Oil, Conoil, Skye Bank and Diamond Bank with an increase of N1.43, N0.73, N0.68, N0.60, N0.49, N0.48, N45 and N0.37.

On the losers’ side of the table, Unilever led with a gain of N1.40 to close at N45.00 followed by Nigerian Breweries with a drop of N1.29 to close at N149.12.

Also on the table were ETI, John Holt, Dangote Sugar, NASCON, Redstar, Dangote Flour, Custodian and Allied Insurance and Ikeja Hotel.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 14-1-13

TH

55

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

MONEY LINK

Economist seeks change in monetary policy •CBN faults recommendations A N economist, Henry Boyo has called for a policy shift in the monetary policy stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying it will enable the economy and real sector to grow.

Boyo made this call yesterday at a roundtable organised by Save Nigeria Group (SNG) with theme, “Fiscal and Monetary Policy Crises-Way Out.” But the CBN Director of research, Charles Mordi faulted Boyo’s position, saying he was misinforming the public. He insisted that such

Stories by Collins Nweze

economic propositions are not correct.

He acknowledged that there is need for a single interest rate but it is difficult to have a strong naira, low interest rate and low inflation at once - especially in a developing economy such as Nigeria. He said low interest rate is desirable, but so many factors have to be in place to achieve that.

Boyo said the economy is not growing because the

apex bank’s policy has failed to bring inflation and interest rate within a single digit, thereby stifling operations of the productive sectors of the economy.

The economist said faulty monetary policy stance promotes corruption and weakens the naira because stakeholders involved in the exchange of the dollar allegedly benefit from it.

He said interest rate of about 20 per cent is neither competitive nor encourages real growth in the economy.

He said the naira has continued to depreciate because the CBN sells dollars directly to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, adding that such practice has promoted capital flight, smuggling and near collapse of the industrial sector.

He also faulted the CBN excess liquidity mop up strategy, saying the regulator spends over N600 billion to carry out the exercise on regular basis.

According to Boyo, who is also an industrialist, the

Bankers’ Committee moves to derisk agric financing T

HE Bankers’ Committee has reiterated its commitment to improved agriculture financing by derisking loans extended to the sector.

During its meeting held in Lagos, the committee said banks’ lending to the sector had risen to 3.53 per cent from 1.52 per cent in 2009.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting attended

by CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and bank Chief Executive Officers as wells as the Minister of Agriculture, the committee said agriculture financing will ensure sustainable economic growth and development of the country.

The Bankers’ Committee Sub-Committee on Economic Development said the banks will continue to increase funding for the sector and derisk

the agricultural sector and make it a profitable sector for bank financing. The theme of the meeting was “The Role of the Nigerian Financial Sector in Enabling the Agriculture Industry in Nigeria.”

It was also agreed that to ensure that the year on year lending target to the sector is achieved, there was a need to understand progress made so far in the agriculture value chain, identify commercial opportunities within the value chain, address risk issues associated with the sector and align with the Ministry of Agriculture on key priorities for the sector in 2013 and beyond.

The committee members emphasised the need for ongoing collaboration with key

ments required to achieve sustainable growth and commercial opportunities for banks.

They also agreed on ways of addressing access to funding for key players,” it said.

The committee also recognized that the agriculture sector, which employs about twothirds of Nigerians and is the highest sectoral contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, is yet to reach its potential as a key contributor to national revenues and export earnings.

“From every indication, agriculture is set to be the next growth area in the economy and when this happens, the view of experts is that it will lead to significant improvement in the nation’s economic fortunes and help to realize the Financial System Strategy (FSS) 2020 vision,” the statement said.

players in the agriculture value chain to achieve increased lending to the sector.

“The Banking Sector will continue to engage the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to strategize on ways to boost lending to the value chains to ensure sustainable growth,” the statement said.

According to the statement, presentations were taken from 11 value chain leads focusing on cassava, rice, sorghum, and cotton. Others were cocoa, oil palm, maize, soya bean and leather. There were also presentations on poultry, beef and horticulture.

“The various presentations discussed the financial viability of the value chains, invest-

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 14-1-13

SYMBOL WAPCO CAP GLAXOSMITH CADBURY UAC-PROP FLOURMILL FO CONOIL SKYEBANK DIAMONDBNK

O/PRICE 58.35 29.00 45.10 29.26 12.41 65.00 9.83 21.52 5.44 5.75

C/PRICE 60.00 30.45 46.53 29.99 13.09 65.60 10.32 22.00 5.89 6.12

O/PRICE

UNILEVER NB ETI JOHNHOLT DANGSUGAR NASCON REDSTAREX DANGFLOUR CUSTODYINS IKEJAHOTEL

46.40 150.41 11.80 2.92 6.90 8.39 3.09 8.48 1.57 0.93

C/PRICE 45.00 149.12 11.60 2.78 6.80 8.30 3.00 8.40 1.55 0.91

S

TANDARD Chartered Private Equity and Ashmore yesterday announced that they have invested in GZI, an aluminium can manufacturer based in the country.

In a statement, Head of Standard Chartered Private Equity in West Africa, Yemi Osindero, said: “We are excited to have invested in a long-term Standard Chartered client that is building a world-class can manufacturing company. From its initial production plant in Nigeria, GZI has followed a very profitable growth path, and established itself as an integral member of Nigeria’s beverage sector,” he said.

He said the investment will assist in growing GZI into a marketleading, pan-African beverage-packaging company.

Jan Dehn from Ashmore Group said: “Over a short duration, GZI has established itself as a premier manufacturer of aluminum cans, providing a platform for tremendous future growth across Africa. This investment offers an ideal opportunity for us to grow our alternatives investment footprint in Africa, and we look forward to working with GZI and our partners in achieving its full potential, creating value for all stakeholders.”

CHANGE 1.65 1.45 1.43 0.73 0.68 0.60 0.49 0.48 0.45 0.37

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 Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 136.16 125.53 0.80 1.13 0.92 100.00 1,000.00 1,763.58 11.31 1.39 1.87 9,604.49

9.08 1.00 135.80 124.60 0.77 1.13 0.91 100.00 1,000.00 1,754.53 10.75 1.33 1.80 9,353.12

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 • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor

NSE CAP Index

Name

CHANGE 1.40 1.29 0.20 0.14 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.02 0.02

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m 113m

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12

LOSERS AS AT 14-1-13

SYMBOL

StanChart Private Equity invests in GZI

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 350m 150m 350m 138m 350m 113m

Currency OBB Rate Call Rate

financial system.

He said there was no way the dollar earned from oil will be shared among the three tiers of the government in any other currency except the naira, which is Nigeria’s legal tender.

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

• CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido

DATA BANK

Tenor

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

banks have not supported the real sector and therefore have failed in galvanizing the economy.

But the apex bank Director said the monetary policy direction of the CBN is in order and has assisted the country in improving its growth trajectory.

He said there was need to rely on the capital market in accessing the desired funds needed in galvanising the economy, including supporting infrastructure because banks have short-term funds.

He said that for banks to invest in long-term projects, it would create asset mismatch, which the CBN had been trying to avoid. Besides, he said it will create instability in the

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, JANUARY 15, 2013

NEWS

•Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed (second left) greeting Secretary General, International Islamic Foundation Dr. Ali Al-Amry when the foundation visited the governor in Ilorin...at the weekend. With them are Deputy Secretary-General Human Relief, Sheikh Abdulah AlZahrani (left); Commissioner for Education Hunan Capital Developmnt, Alhaji Saka Onimago and other government officials.

•From left: Odoko of Obe Ogboro, Oba Obafemi Ogbaro; Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Obateru Akinruntan; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; and Secretary-General, Yoruba Consultative Resolution Committee, Dr. Leye Ashaye; when the Federal Government delegation visited Alaafin of Oyo over the fire that gulted his palace on Saturday.

•Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka (right); Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Rev. Felix Femi Ajakaye and govenor’s wife Mrs. Bisi Fayemi after a service for the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at St. Patrick’s Catholic, Agere, Ado-Ekiti... at the weekend.

•Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (left), with the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, during a news conference with State House correspondents on cell phones to be distributed to rural farmers in Abuja ...yesterday.

• Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State (left), welcoming the new Emir of Dukku, Alhaji Haruna Rasheed, to the Government House in Gombe...yesterday.

L-R: Minister of State for Education, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, President, American Heritage University of Southern California, Prof Tony Ogiamien and a delegate of the American Heritage University of Southern California during an interactive session with the minister ...yesterday.

•Borno State Deputy Governor Zanna Mustapha administering a vaccine of Special round of Anti-polio immunisation on a child in Maiduguri... at the weekend

•Executive Director, UNwomen, Ms. Michelle Bachelet (left), dancing with a Gbagyi Cultural Troupe during her visit to Ushafa Pottery Centre in Abuja... at the weekend.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

57

NEWS ‘Orji to resettle displaced Igbo drug traders’

A

BIA State Governor Theodore Orji has promised to resettle Igbo drug traders, who were displaced from the SabonGari Market, Kano, it was learnt yesterday.

President of the Kano State Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chief Tobias Idika said the governor has promised to build a modern drug market for the displaced traders in Abia State.

Idika said the governor deserves the support and encouragement of the indigenes to enable him develop the state.

He recalled that before the Orji administration, socio-infrastructural development was at its lowest ebb in Abia State.

The Ohanaeze leader noted that past governments only made bogus plans that never materialised.

Idika said there was a time Abia State was a no-go-area

‘64,121 apply for admission at UNILORIN’

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

because of hoodlums.

According to him, Orji has tackled insecurity in the state.

Idika said Abia has become one of the peaceful states in Nigeria, when terrorism and kidnapping are rampant in several states.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader noted that Orji’s good leadership has earned him several awards and accolades.

He said: “It is a thing of joy to observe that in Abia State, particularly in the state capital, one can move around freely, even at night, without fear of molestation.

“Our investigation showed that all security agents within the state, particularly the police, are well mobilised, supported and equipped by the state government to protect life and property of the residents, irrespective of tribe and religion.”

A

up and running.

Ogunmola reportedly added that the Federal Government was eyeing the facility, which he claimed “has offered Kwarans the benefits of secured handling, speed and geographic advantage with low cost of road or ocean container freight which are relatively expensive”.

The statement reads: “The article, coming a few days after Moronfoye (@TunjiMoronfoye) told some Kwarans on Twitter that the terminal is still under construction and was never inaugurated, saw @kwhistleblower leading other Kwara indigenes to question the claims in Ogungbola’s article, which they dismissed as ‘one of the many lies of Bukola Saraki and his publicists’.

“Pressured to clear the air on Ogungbola’s article, because of his claims a few days earlier, Moronfoye declared in a tweet on Friday: ‘Oga whistle, can you give this a rest? Is the facility there? Yes. Is it inaugurated?

No. Is it operational? No. Go there, work is still on’.

“Although Moronfoye insisted the project was never inaugurated, Ilorin.info posted a tweet showing President Goodluck

Jonathan and Saraki, the former governor, at the official inauguration of the project.

“Moronfoye’s tweets triggered a flurry of reactions from Kwara indigenes on the social media, with one of them, @omo_baba_kaduna, declaring that “the cargo terminal was one of the many uncompleted projects Bukola Saraki inaugurated before leaving office.” One such project was the recently inaugurated Ilorin Central Mosque, which the former governor inaugurated in the run-up to the April governorship election in 2011.

“It is unclear why Ogungbola painted the picture of a cargo terminal already running and profitable even when the facility has not been completed, as the information commissioner confirmed, but the Kwara State Government is believed to be pestering the Federal Government to take it over.

“Asked if there was any sense in government committing public fund into a project it knows was not sustainable or economically viable, Dr Femi Akorede (phemmmy), who is special assistant to Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed on Media and Communications, confirmed

Lawyers criticise EFCC for declaring Abubakar Audu wanted

UNITED States-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Kogi Lawyers in the Diaspora (KLTD), yesterday said the action of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against a former Kogi State Governor Abubakar Audu is a “dishonourable, low-level, cheap, shot media manipulation attempt”.

In a statement in Abuja by its President Adinoyi Malik, and Secretary Olugbenga Samuel, the group said declaring the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate wanted when there is a subsisting case in court means the EFCC is diverting attention of the public from a petition against a former Peo-

Kano businessman convicted for money laundering

Row over Kwara cargo terminal •ACN urges residents to be vigilant T

HE Kwara State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday deFrom Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin scribed as ‘worrisome but typical of the PDP-led state ABOUT 64,121 candidates applied for admission into the government’ the revelations on twitter about the non-comUniversity of Ilorin pletion of the Ilorin Cargo (UNILORIN) for the 2012/ Terminal, which was inaugu2013 academic session, its Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abdul- rated as a complete project.

The party urged the resiGaniyu Ambali, has said. dents to “open their eyes as Of the number, the univerthe Kwara State Government sity offered provisional adjust confirms our worries and mission to 8,093 candidates, suspicions that projects gulphe said. ing billions of naira of public The Vice-Chancellor spoke yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara funds may soon be turned to State capital, at the matricula- private property when the tion of the 2012/2013 academ- governor’s spokesman, Femi Akorede, confirmed on the ic session. social media, Twitter, that the He said the figure repregovernment ‘will eventually sents 18.45 per cent of those sell 70 per cent of its stake’ in who applied for admissions.

The professor of Veterinary the Aviation College to some private investors.”

Medicine added: “The numIn a statement in Ilorin, the ber of candidates that obtained 200 scores and above in state capital, ACN Chairman the Universal Tertiary Matric- Kayode Olawepo recalled ulation Examinations (UTME) that confusion and anger and applied for admissions at reigned on Twitter at the weekend after the Informathe university in 2012/2013 academic session is 64,121; the tion Commissioner, Tunji Moronfoye, contradicted the number of candidates that claims by a pro-Bukola Saraapplied and sat for postki blogger, Rotimi OgungboUTME is 43,871. This is 68.42 la, that the Ilorin Cargo Terper cent of the candidates minal was bringing revenue who applied for admissions to the government. with 200 scores and above He said Ogungbola had UTME test. The number of claimed in an opinion article candidates that passed postposted on a website, UTME test is 23,871. This is Ilorin.info, entitled: Economic 54.41per cent of the candiBoost Through cargo Terminal, dates that sat for post-UTME that the cargo terminal was test.”

•VC warns students

From left: Director, Bauchi State Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf; Deputy Governor Bappah Azare and the Secretary, Bauchi State Relief Materials Commission, Alhaji Aliyu Suleiman, at a media briefing on the distribution of materials to flood victims in Bauchi...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

ples Democratic Party (PDP) governor in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.

It added: “It is unfortunate that while Nigerians wait in vain for the EFCC, to investigate and prosecute a former PDP governor, Ibrahim Idris, the EFCC is busy fighting yesterday’s battles, repeating old lies, manufacturing spectacular new ones and over dramatising an old case just to hoodwink the public.”

The group noted that declaring Audu wanted has made the case to look like a EFCC is chasing shadows.

The group said: “It is this

same deceitful and selective approach to the fight against corruption that has made Nigerians to lose faith in the ability of this government to fight the scourge. There are questions begging for answers here: “Does the Supreme Court decision delivered on November 23, 2012 overruling Price Audu’s appeal effectively and finally terminate his trial on the 80 count charge at the High Court of Justice, Lokoja?

“Was it not unlawful for the EFCC to have invaded the residence of Prince Abubakar Audu in the early hours of

11th December, 2012 without any prior invitation and without a valid search warrant or warrant of arrest, under the pretext of arresting him and the subsequent wide publicity accorded the invasion by the EFCC in the print, electronic and internet media?

“Mr President, the EFCC is not sincere in their fight against corruption. Just as an affirmation, Nigeria scored 27 out of a maximum 100 marks to clinch the 139th position out of the 176 countries surveyed in the latest report on global corruption index released few weeks ago by Transparency International.”

the project was conceived with the intention of selling it to the central government to recoup the money spent on it.

“Akorede’s tweet read: ‘Govt recognised the potential economic benefit of the terminal and built it with the expectation that the Federal Government will take over and refund it.’ In another tweet on Friday, he said: ‘That we are securing Federal Government’s interest in cargo terminal is consistent with the original intention in establishing it.’

“He was reacting to an earlier tweet from @kwhistleblower that “come to think of it, which business concern will let go or canvass the takeover of its profitable venture? That KWSG wants it taken over says it all.’

“Femi also provoked further controversy on twitter on Saturday afternoon after he confirmed that the government ‘will eventually sell 70 per cent of its stake (to a private investor) and use the proceeds for development’.

“Akorede’s tweet followed plans by the government to buy additional 10 aircraft for the Aviation College, minus those Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed claimed the Federal Government promised to buy for the school.”

•Court defers ruling till today From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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FEDERAL High Court, sitting in Kano yesterday convicted Mallam Umar Musa Kibiya, a businessman, for money laundering in October, last year.

After the accused pleaded guilty to the charges of attempting to launder $40,000 through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, Justice Fatu Riman convicted him accordingly.

But the judge reserved ruling till today.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Kibiya of attempting to smuggle out $80,000 from Nigeria to Cairo.

The accused, the prosecution said, falsely declared $40,000, instead of $80,000, contrary to Section 2 (3) of the Money Laundering Act. Kibiya pleaded guilty to the charges.

His counsel, M. Maiyaki, urged the court to impose a lighter punishment on his client, adding that Kibiya did not waste the court’s time before pleading guilty to the charges against him.

PUBLIC NOTICE ABIODUN Former MRS. SHOKANBI IBIRONKE ABIODUN now wishes to be known and addressed as MRS. SHOKANBI RONKE CHRISTIANAH. All former documents remain valid. All embassies and general public should take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE DIVINE SEED CARING FOUNDATION The general public is hereby notified that the above named Charity Organization has applied for registration under “Part C” of companies and allied matters Act 1990.

THE MEMBERS OF TRUSTEES ARE: Pastor George Izunwa Lady Cherry Wokocha Deaconess Chioma Ochia Mr. Placid Ojiaku Prof. Chinedu B. Ezirim Pastor Ernest Nwankpa Pastor Jerry Ugolo Sir. Freedom Chuku (JP) Lady Olive Bruce AIMS/OBJECTIVE: To carry out free medical treatment in rural communities and empowerment scheme to the less privileged in the society.

Any objection to the application should be forwarded within 28 days of this publication to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi St. Maitama, Abuja.

Signed: Dr. Celestine C. Njoku (MD/CED of the Foundation)

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

NEWS Edo to demolish hospital wing From Osemwengie Ben Ogbmudia, Benin

T

HE Edo State Government may demolish the multibillion naira accident and emergency complex of the Central Hospital, Benin, due to structural deficiencies.

The two top floors of the West Wing of the four-storey complex in which the government has invested over N3.2billion collapsed last June, killing the Italian project manager.

The government ordered the indefinite suspension of construction and ordered an investigation into the incident.

The investigation showed that the collapse was caused by a malfunctioning crane. The crane was said to be carrying a bucket of concrete before falling on the decking , which led to the collapse of a section under construction.

A source said: “The action of the government is in relation to the preliminary report of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), which recommended demolition and a fresh soil analysis at the site.”

Man arraigned for ‘defiling’ daughter From Osemwengie Ben Ogbmudia, Benin

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N Executive Officer in the Academic Office of Auchi Polytechnic, Festus Joseph, has been arraigned before I.A. Osayande of the Auchi Magistrate Court for allegedly defiling his daughter in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government of Edo State.

The accused, who was arraigned on a three-count charge, was also alleged to have raised a false alarm against Pastor Felix Owolabi and Pastor Remi Oputeh, which made the police arrest and detain them; an offence punishable under Section 125A (i) of the Criminal Code.

He was said to have committed incest between June and December last year at a building opposite Foursquare Church, Auchi. Joseph, however, pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Osayande granted him bail of N100,000 and two sureties, who must reside within the magisterial jurisdiction. The case was adjourned till January 24.

You are confused, Sylva tells Dickson

F

ORMER Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva has described his successor, Seriake Dickson, as a confused man, who does not know how to tackle the responsibilities of his office.

This, according to Sylva, explains why the governor has been blowing hot and cold with spurious accusations against him.

A statement by Sylva’s media aide, Doifie Ola, yesterday expressed concern that the Dickson administration has chosen to peddle half truths and “lamentable lies”.

The statement reads: “In a seeming retraction of its earlier claim that former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva left only N4,451 in the state purse, Dickson admit-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

ted that he took over government from the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Nestor Binabo.

“Yet, the Dickson administration insisted that Sylva left a debt of N110 billion, comprising N50 billion bond and a N60 billion bank debt.

“The Dickson system suffers from a credibility deficit. But even a government of doubtful legitimacy can be consistent. Dickson and his lieutenants are confused.

“They have no idea how to run a government. They think that running Bayelsa State is about cheap propaganda.”

The aide clarified that the

Sylva administration took a N50 billion bond in 2010 following approval by the House of Assembly and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

According to him, the idea of the bond was to fast-track infrastructural development in power, healthcare, education, roads and water.

Ola said funds from the bond were not paid to the government but were paid directly to the contractors.

“At the time Sylva left office, specific projects linked to the bond were about 90 per cent completed.

“Since the bond was on a determined interest rate, it is absurd for the Dickson administration to suggest that Sylva left a N50 billion bond debt as

if it has not been serviced since 2010. This is simple arithmetic.

“More importantly, the Sylva administration inherited debts from the previous government, and some of these debts were absorbed into the bond. Thus, Sylva could not have been responsible for a N60 billion bank debt as Dickson sought to suggest.

“It is irresponsible of the Dickson administration to blame Sylva continually for its incompetence.

“Now that he is governor, even if through an ungodly process, the Bayelsa people expect Dickson to lead in developing the state, not to make excuses,” the statement added.

Akpabio signs 2013 budget From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

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KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday signed the 2013 budget of N470.08billion.

A breakdown showed that N118.79billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure while N351.29billion would go for capital projects.

Akpabio said emphasis is placed on capital expenditure at the expense of recurrent expenditure so the administration can deliver more to the people.

He hailed the Assembly for speedy consideration of the budget and appealed for cooperation.

“We have started this year well. Today, we stand on a bridge of hope. We will increase the momentum and work harder to take advantage of the dry season.”

The governor said he hoped to deliver more on his electoral promises, adding that with the pace of the uncommon transformation going on in the state, Akwa Ibom has become a reference point for good governance in Nigeria.

Akpabio had on November 20 presented a budget of N459.305 billion made up of N188.79billion for recurrent expenditure and N340.52billion for capital projects.

The House, however, increased the budget size by N10.77billion for capital expenditure and N5million for recurrent expenditure.

•The Ghanaian suspects...yesterday

Advice for MOSOP president From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

T

HE President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has been urged to press for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland.

The advice was given in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital yesterday by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee He asked the new MOSOP boss to also tackle other challenges facing the Ogoni people.

Kwanee, who is also the Chairman, Parliamentary Exchange and Mentorship Programme of the Pan-African Parliament (PEMP), implored Pyagbara to continue the philosophy of nonviolence, enshrined by MOSOP’s founding fathers.

The deputy speaker urged Pyagbara to carry everybody along, not minding the political, religious and cultural differences of the Ogoni people.

Kwanee, who represents Khana Constituency 2, admonished Pyagbara to also extend a hand of friendship to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Firm holds Trainer’s clinic tomorrow TOM Associates will hold its annual Trainers’ Clinic tomorrow at the Tom Associates Management Development Centre, Anthony Village, Lagos.

This year Trainer’s Clinic, tagged The Effectiveness of Manpower Development Professionals – Communicating with and engaging the Stakeholders, will focus on the private, public and the statutory sector.

Guest speakers expected are Director, Human Resources, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Wale Adediran; Human Resources director, Central Bank of Nigeria Ms Chizoba Mojekwu and Deputy Director, Industrial Training Funds Ibrahim Lawal .

Tom Associates annual Trainers’ Clinic is a meeting for senior human resources practitioners and manpower development, managers of various industries, government and the media.

•The Indian suspects...yesterday

Navy parades 23 ‘oil thieves’ in Bayelsa

T

HE Central Naval Command (CNC) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, has paraded 23 ‘oil thieves’.

The suspects were handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the CNC headquarters yesterday.

Ten Indians and two Ni-

gerians were arrested on a vessel, MT AKSHAY, with 157,822 litres of crude oil.

Nine Nigerians and two Ghanaians were arrested aboard MT. EVE with 75,000 litres of Automated Gas Oil (AGO).

The two vessels were intercepted by the Navy on routine patrols around

Brass River last November.

He said: “The vessels are not listed in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) tanker nomination schedule.

“They do not have the Nigerian Port Authority’s (NPA’s) bunkering permit or the Joint Task

Force’s(JTF’s) certificate of registration for the vessels engaged in movement of crude oil.

“The Naval headquarters has directed that MT AKSHAY and MT EVE with its cargo and the suspects should be handed over to the EFCC for future investigation.”

Bayelsa Speaker’s mum kidnapped

G

UNMEN have abducted the 70-year old mother of the Bayelsa State Speaker, Kombowei Benson.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs. Betinah Okunwa Benson was abducted from her home in Korokosei, Southern Ijaw Local Government, at 12.30 a.m.

A statement by Benson’s Media Assistant Piriye Kiyaramo said the gunmen stormed the octogenarian’s home and forcefully took her away to an unknown destination.

“Information reaching the Office of the Speaker indicates that the gunmen, who came in two speed boats, shot sporadically into the air to scare

away people before going away with their victim.

“The incident has been reported to the police,” the statement said.

Police spokesman Fidelis Odunna confirmed the report, saying the command had launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.

“It is confirmed that the speaker’s mother has been

kidnapped.

“We learnt of the kidnapping early this morning, but we have started work to see what we can do to free her,” Odunna said.

He assured the public of the command’s determination to rescue the victim.

Odunna said the command has sent detectives to track down the criminals.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

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FOREIGN NEWS

Obama blasts Republicans on debt ceiling A

MERICA is “not a deadbeat nation”, United States President Barack Obama has said, warning Republicans not to hold the economy to ransom on the federal borrowing limit.

He told a White House news conference it would be “absurd” to use the debt ceiling as a negotiating chip.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said a debt ceiling rise should be accompanied by spending cuts.

The US is expected to hit its $16.4trillion (£10.2tn) borrowing limit by February unless lawmakers act.

Yesterday’s press conference came a week before the inauguration ceremony in Washington DC that will begin Obama’s second term.

The Democratic president warned lawmakers that they would “not collect a ransom... for not crashing the economy”.

“The full faith and credit

of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip. And they [Republicans] better decide quickly because time is running short,” Obama said.

“America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not we should pay the bills we’ve already racked up,” he added.

“We are not a deadbeat nation,” Obama said.

Afterwards, Boehner, leader of the House Republicans, acknowledged the economic peril of failing to raise the debt ceiling. But he indicated the House would attach spending cuts to any legislation to raise the borrowing authority.

“The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time,” he said in a statement.

Speaking on a day marking a month on from the massacre at a Connecticut primary school that shocked the nation, Obama also said he would present proposals for gun control later in the week.

He said stronger background checks, control of high capacity magazine clips, and an assault weapons ban were all measures he believed made sense.

“Will all of them get through this Congress?” he asked. “I don’t know.”

The National Rifle Association and some lawmakers have suggested that any plan to ban assault weapons would not pass Congress.

Ahead of the debt ceiling fight, the White House in recent days has stated it will forgo two extraordinary measures suggested by the president’s allies and by leftleaning pundits.

The White House will not

order the treasury to mint a $1tn platinum coin - an accounting measure that would allow spending to continue.

Nor will Obama invoke a clause in the 14th amendment to the US constitution declaring that “the validity of the public debt of the United States... shall not be questioned”.

The last debt ceiling battle between Congress and Obama ended in July 2011.

The ceiling was raised $2.4tn in exchange for automatic across-the-board spending cuts scheduled for January 1.

Obama had previously said he wanted a permanent extension of the debt limit as part of a deal to avoid those spending cuts which, combined with a package of tax rises, was known as the fiscal cliff.

A last-minute deal in Congress avoided most of those tax rises and deferred the spending cuts by two months, but the debt ceiling limit was not part of the negotiations.

Court denies Berlusconi’s request

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N Italian court has denied the request of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to halt a trial where he is accused of having sex with an under-age prostitute.

The court in Milan also decided it did not need to hear testimony from the woman - dancer Karima El Mahroug.

Berlusconi’s lawyers requested the trial be halted while he runs in the current election campaign.

Both he and Ms Mahroug - better known by her stage name “Ruby Heartstealer” have denied ever having sex.

Berlusconi stepped down

from a third term as prime minister in November 2011, when he was replaced by the technocrat Mario Monti.

His People of Freedom (PDL) party is hoping to form a centre-right coalition government with another party but have not named a candidate for prime minister.

On January 7, an ally of Berlusconi said that he would not return as prime minister even if his party won the elections next month.

Berlusconi, however, has not explicitly ruled himself out of running the premiership, saying the candidate for the post “will be

decided if we win”.

Lawyer Niccolo Ghedini saidBerlusconi would be too busy campaigning to follow the case or attend court - and also feared the trial could influence the election.

But judges rejected the application.

Prosecutors have accused the defence of trying to prolong, and now delay, the trial to avoid a verdict before the election, at the end of February.

Ms Mahroug had arrived at the trial to give testimony for the defence.

She has been called twice before, but failed to show up, apparently because she was

French soldier killed in Somalia

I

SLAMIST militants in Somalia have said a second French soldier was killed during a failed hostage rescue attempt.

Al-Shabab published a photograph allegedly showing the commando, who they said had died of gunshot wounds.

The group also said it would soon reveal its decision about the fate of Dennis Allex, an intelligence agent who the soldiers tried to rescue on Friday.

Paris has said evidence suggests both both comman-

dos and Allex died during the operation near Mogadishu.

The raid in the town of Bulo Marer came hours after French troops had intervened in the west African state of Mali.

Paris says the two operations are not linked.

A statement published on Twitter purportedly by alShabab’s press office yesterday claimed that the second soldier to die had been the commander of the French rescue operation.

American killed in South Africa

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N official in South Africa says a woman suspected of murdering an American Embassy employee over the weekend will appear in court today.

The U.S. Embassy on Monday confirmed the death of Christopher “Norm” Bates, who was the information management officer at the Johannesburg U.S. Consulate. He was an 11-year State Department employee.

Police Lt. Col. Lungelo Dlamini said the 41-year-old Bates was allegedly stabbed to death Sunday morning around 3 a.m. at a Johannesburg apartment. Dlamini said a guard heard a woman screaming and saw the woman with a knife in her hand and Bates with stab wounds.

Dlamini said the 29-year-old woman would appear in court today.

Royal baby due in July

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HE baby expected by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is due in July, St James’s Palace has announced.

A spokesman added that the duchess’s condition continued to improve since she spent time in hospital last month suffering from severe morning sickness.

Her treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum - more com•Berlusconi

on holiday in Mexico.

Berlusconi, now 76, is accused of paying to have sex with Ms Mahroug in 2010 when she was 17. Sex with a prostitute who is under 18 is a crime in Italy.

monly experienced by women carrying twins - led to press speculation about a double birth.

But the latest announcement confirms Kate is expecting just one baby.

“Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in July,” said the spokesman.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1973: Nixon orders ceasefire in Vietnam President Nixon orders a halt to American bombing in North Vietnam - following peace talks in Paris.

Your Sexual Health & You: Novelty Tips, Questions & Answers Dear MD, I have been married for six months and things are not going well between me and my wife. I try my best when sexing her but she is always complaining. I ask her to contribute but she will just stay there and squeeze her face – Sola Dear Sola, this kind of problem is usually due to lack of sex education. There are movies, magazines and books that both of you can get to enable you learn about love making and how to treat one another in bed. Educational films such as 32 ways to please your Lover, What Women Really Want, and Advanced Sexual Techniques & Positions will help you a lot. Books such as Tricks to Please a Woman and Going Down will teach you a lot also - Zee Dear MD, I am unable to locate my wife’s clitoris and I have enough experience to know what a clitoris is and where to find it. My wife is rarely excited during sex no matter the effort I put into it – Moses Dear Moses, the female clitoris consists of the pieces of flesh slightly shaped like a blossoming flower that is attached to the exterior of the vaginal opening. If you cannot find it, it can only be because your wife was circumscised as a child. Unfortunately, once lost, this piece of skin does not grow back, neither can it be reattached surgicaly. There is however a secondary pleasure spot called the G spot and it is located on the roof of the vaginal tunnel, about an inch into the vaginal void. Skilfully stimulating this spot gives women pleasure as well and can lead to vaginal orgasms which are even more powerful than clitoral orgasms. This you can achieve with a G Spot Vibrator such as the Erotic Stud Vibrator - Uche Dear Sir, I cannot have sex for more than two minutes and the sperm is so small when I ejaculate. I need help – Tony Dear Tony, to last longer in bed, use Shane Diesel’s Rock Solid Erection Cream or Power Plus Delay Cream. Also, Max load is the supplement used for increaseing sperm

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Adults in need of these treatments and novelties can call us on 07038845262 or 08191978308 to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. We deliver to you wherever you are in Nigeria. For enquiries email us at custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com. - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

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AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013...AFCON 2013

Trabelsi concerned about poor second halves

•Keita

Keita carrying hopes of Mali M

ALI hope experienced campaigner Seydou Keita can lead them to the last stage at the African Cup of Nations like he did last year.

The former Barcelona midfielder led a youthful Eagles side to a third-

place finish in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea last year.

It was their best performance since they came fourth in 2004. Mali are in Group B with four-time champions Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger, and would be expected to battle the Congolese to clinch a place in the knock-out stage with strong title contenders Ghana.

New coach Patrice Carteron, who

stepped in after compatriot Alain Giresse could not agree on a new contract, has fortified the west Africans by recalling midfielder Mohamed Laime Sissoko, who missed the 2012 tournament.

They trounced Botswana 7-1 to qualify for South Africa 2013 and sent a warning signal that they are again capable of springing surprises. The class of Keita has never been in

doubt, even when he only played a cameo role at mighty Barcelona and this could again shine through in South Africa.

In the absence of central defender Cedric Kante, Keita has been reinstated as captain and at 33, will again be expected to deliver some cheer for a nation that has suffered an uprising in the north of the country.

TUNISIA COACH, Sami Trabelsi is concerned about his side's lack of focus It seems to be a case of good starts, but poor second half performances which have seen Tunisia struggle in their last two warm-up matches before AFCON 2013.

On Thursday, January 10th, Tunisia took an early lead against Gabon thanks to a 15th minute goal from Saber Khlifa, but a lack-lustre second half saw Gabon equalise through Johan Lengoualama. Gabon were actually unlucky not to steal victory as the game ended 1-1.

Then on Sunday, January 13th, against Ghana, it was another superb first half from Tunisia as they led 20 at half time through a brace from Issam Jemaa, but again a disastrous last half hour saw them fall to a 4-2 defeat.

With Tunisia in Group D at AFCON 2013, the so called ‘Group of Death’ which consists of Ivory Coast, Algeria and Togo, coach Sami Trabelsi will be concerned that his troops are unable to hold onto a lead.

Tunisia are scheduled to arrive in South Africa on January 16th and will be staying at the Hunters Rest Resort in Rustenburg. Their first game of the tournament is against Algeria on January 22nd at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium with kick-off set for 20h00.

Belhanda recovers in time for Morocco

•Vahid

K

EY Morocco midfielder Younes Belhanda should be ready to play in his country's opening African Nations

Cup finals match on Saturday despite a fitness scare at the weekend.

Belhanda suffered an adductor

injury in training last week and doctors initially delayed a prognosis, sparking fears he might have suffered a serious setback

ahead of their Group A encounter against Angola in Johannesburg at the start of the tournament.

However, team officials said on Monday it had been a slight strain only and Belhanda, who h e l p e d Montpellier to the Ligue 1 title last year, was expected to return to training the following day.

Algeria coach pleased with progress

A

LGERIA coach Vahid Halilhodzic says he was satisfied with how his side played during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against South Africa.

Although he was unhappy with some of their attacking moves, the Serbian coach believes the players have improved a lot since the start of their preparations.

“I think it was a nice game,” he told reporters. “Fortunately, there were no injuries on both sides.

“I am satisfied with my players, especially with how they have improved since we have been working hard in the past ten days.

“I am only concerned by the lack of efficiency in attack, because I think we could have scored, especially in the first half.

“The players did not do what I asked them to do, they always chose the wrong options in attack and we gave away a lot of possession.

“I think some players were tired after hard work we have put in but I noticed their dedication and commitment.”

Regarding the opponents, Halilhodzic says he was impressed

by Gordon Igesund’s side, but is focusing more on getting his team ready for their opening match against Tunisia on January 22.

•Belhanda

Debebe: we can learn from Zambia

E

THIOPIA captain Degu Debebe says they are inspired by Zambia's 2012 African Cup triumph to also do well in South Africa.

The defender from record 25time Ethiopian league champions Saint George told The Guardian newspaper of the UK that Ethiopia are going to the 2013 African Cup with the same spirit as first-tme winners Zambia.

1962 champions Ethiopia will be returning to the African Cup for the first time since 1982 in Libya where the failed to advance out of the preliminary group phase.

"We saw how Zambia performed at the last AFCON," Debebe said.

"No one expected them to win the Cup. "They won because they played as a team and didn’t underestimate any team."

Ironically, Debebe's source of inspiration will be the first team Ethiopia will play in their opening Group C match on January 21 at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.

"We can learn a lesson from them (Zambia) and make possible what seems impossible.

We will give our best," Debebe said.

Debebe, 29 is Ethiopia’s most capped player with 46 caps.

•Debebe

•Trabelsi

Togo makes statement with Niger win TOGO beat Niger's home-based national team 2-1 a pre-African Cup of Nations warm up on Sunday.

The Sparrow Hawks opened the scoring through Meme-Placca Fessou and Floyd Ayité.

But Ali Razak has reduced the arrears for the Mena. " This is a friendly so we set up some target," Togo coach Didier Six said in a post-match interview.

"Although we cannot be satisfied with the of the game but the result is good. ''We must also understand that we have worked hard physically in our training so there was a bit of fatigue but I'm not worried."

Togo's Group D opener will be on January 22 against tournament favourites Ivory Coast.

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

62

SPORT EXTRA

NFF won’t sack Keshi—Maigari P

RESIDENT of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Aminu Maigari has assured that regardless of the outcome at the 2013 African Cup Nations, the Federation will respect Keshi’s contract to lead the Eagles to the World Cup in 2014.

Revealing this in an interview on Monday Night Football, a programme on SuperSport Television, Maigari said contrary to reports awash in the media, the NFF never mandated Keshi to win the AFCON trophy at all cost.

“You know it is not in our character to relieve people of their jobs. We believe in Nigerian coaches and Keshi is not an exemption. There’s no agreement that says Keshi will be sacked if he does not win the AFCON trophy.

“He heads the technical crew and so far they have proved they can do the job. So, of

• GlassHouse ‘not indebted to anyone’

By Innocent Amomoh course, we will want them to continue no matter what transpires in South Africa.

“Not at all and there’s nothing like that. We are not God, neither is Keshi. All we have asked him to do is build a good team, go to South Africa and do well. The Technical Committee has done a good job so far giving him all the support.

“On the final (23-man Eagles) list, the board had no hand in it, rather the Technical Committee summoned Keshi to defend the inclusion of each of the players,” he said.

On whether the NFF still owes salaries as was widely reported in the media, Maigari disagreed. He said the board is not owing any one; neither is anyone owing the board any money.

Asked to comment on the recent outburst by Osaze Odemwingie in reaction to the release of the provisional 32 – man list which excluded him, Maigari said: “You see, unfortunately, I don’t play any role in players’ selection. But I can advise Keshi to invite a player if he thinks he will be relevant to his plans of serving the country.”

Eagles to earn $10,000 each per win

E

ACH Super Eagles player will be ten thousand dollars ($10, 000, about N1.5m) richer for every win recorded by Nigeria at the Orange African Cup of Nations (AFCON)

Super 4 victory: Heartland fans march through Owerri

S

UPPORTERS of Heartland FC of Owerri on Monday marched through major streets of the Owerri metropolis in celebration of the club’s victory at the Super 4 tournament in Kano.

Leader of the group, Bob Nzenwa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during the procession, that it was another historymaking event by Heartland FC.

Osaze boost for West Brom

O

UT OF FAVOUR Super Eagles and West Brom striker Peter Osaze Odemwingie will return from injury for the FA Cup third round replay with QPR at the Hawthorns today.

Odemwingie - a target for QPR - has recovered from a calf problem and is available after a shin complaint.

Midfielder Claudio Yacob (hamstring) and strikers Shane Long (dead leg) and Marc-Antoine Fortune (hamstring) are only expected to be fit for the weekend Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

The procession had started from the Dan Anyiam Stadium, through Wetheral Road and Douglas Road, terminating at the Government House, Owerri.

According to him, all the fans of the club are happy to be associated with the club, particularly because of the victory.

According to Nzenwa, with the recent successes of the club, Heartland FC has become the favourite to win the upcoming CAF Confederation Cup. He enjoined the Imo State Government, owners of the

club, to always support it with necessary incentives to boost the morale of the players.

Nzenwa also commended the General Manager of the club, Fan Ndubuoke, for his efforts at seeing to it that it performed well, urging him to remain focused in piloting the club's affairs.

Heartland defeated Lobi Stars of Makurdi 2-0 at the finals of the Super 4, to emerge the winners of the tournament.

Rangers of Enugu, Lobi Stars, Heartland and hosts, Kano Pillars, took part in the competition.

Ivory Coast beat Egypt 4-2 in final warm-up

A

FRICAN CUP favourites Ivory Coast came from a goal down to beat Egypt 4-2 in their final warm-up Monday before heading to South Africa for another go at winning the continental championship for the first time since 1992.

Gervinho scored twice and Lacina Traore and Dider Ya Konan also had goals after Egypt forced their way in front in the 19th minute through Mohamed

• Maigari

Aboutrika's header.

Gervinho equalized in the 38th from the penalty spot and Traore put Africa's topranked team ahead two minutes later.

Gervinho netted again in the 53rd after messy defending from the Egyptians.

Forward Gedo converted a low cross for Egypt in the 60th to pull it back to 3-2, but Ya Konan extended the Ivorians' advantage eight minutes from the end.

By Innocent Amomoh

slated to commence in South Africa this weekend.

Revealing this was former Nigeria international Victor Ikpeba on Monday Night Football, a sports programme on SuperSport Television yesterday.

Ikpeba, a member of the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), said though controversies trailed the decision to arrive at a suitable match bonus for the players, the swift intervention the president of the NFF board, Aminu Maigari layed it to rest.

“I must say that it took serious deliberation for us to arrive at this amount as winning bonus for the Eagles. We actually thought that $10,000 for a win was too much, but Maigari suggested that we needed to encourage and motivate the players,” he said.

Keshi gets invitation to Denmark

S

UPER EAGLES Coach Stephen Keshi has been handed an invitation to Denmark after he might have led his lads to South Africa for the African Cup of Nations.

The open invitation is from AC Horsens striker Jude Nworuh who wants the Big Boss to come check out the exploits of Nigerian players plying their trade in the Danish League, as well as other Scandinavian Leagues for possible call-ups in the run-up to qualification for the 2014 World Cup. In an exclusive chat with futaa.com in Lagos, Nworuh, who has been banging in goals for ‘The Yellows’, is positive Keshi will not be disappointed if he decides to turn his searchlight on the Scandinavian Leagues.

"I am very happy with what the Super Eagles coach has been doing with the national team; I only want him to also come over to Denmark to also see what we Nigerian players are doing there.

"So far I don’t think those of us playing in the Scandinavian Leagues have been given enough opportunity. I am sure if he comes over to see us in action he will be happy to have us on board. The League here is very competitive," Nworuh said.

Onigbinde urges strict monitoring of football academies

A

D E G B O Y E ONIGBINDE, a former Head Coach of the Super Eagles, on Monday urged the country’s football regulating body to closely monitor the activities of the football academies.

Onigbinde told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the proprietors of such institutions have deviated from what football academies ought to be.

The former Super Eagles coach stressed the need for their strict monitoring, to ensure compliance with laid down guidelines for such bodies. ``This is one of the things we are getting wrong; our academies are not guided by regulations, they act as they please, which is detrimental to our grassroots development programme. ``There are no monitoring measures put in place; there are some people that should not be allowed to watch a football match, much less a football

academy. ``A carpenter can wake up one morning and decide to build an academy; it is appalling. This is possible because there is no regulation in place,’’ Onigbinde said.

He called on the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to wake up to its primary responsibilities by paying more attention to developmental programmers, rather than focus on competitions. ``How credible is their knowledge, not to talk of what they impart?

Football administrators need to come up with policies that will checkmate the activities of these academies. ``We have to ensure that our academies are on the right track, most of them don’t know the elementary things about football. ``This probably explains why the boys don’t seem to know much,’’ the former coach added.

Aregbesola to unveil Osun Governor's Cup

T

HE face of football in the State of Osun is set to witness a transformation as the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will today, unveil the programme for the Osun Governor's Cup competition. The event scheduled to hold at the Local Government Service Commission Hall Abere, Oshogbo is one in the series of programmes designed for the development of youth and grassroots sports in the state.

The Osun Governor's Cup is an under-17 competition for secondary school boys across the the 31 Local Government Councils of the State of Osun and the state sports commissioner, Stephen Kola Balogun says, "it’s a very important project for the governor, the state sports ministry and the entire people of Osun."

"Presently, there is no football competition among secondary schools in the state but with this programme we are not only filling that vacuum but are very determined to make it very meaningful and effectively productive for the discovery and grooming of talents, and for the promotion of unity, friendship

and the spirit of healthy competition and sportsmanship among our youth. This is a significant follow up on the sports development committee earlier set up by His Excellency, Rauf Aregbesola in pursuit of the use of sports for social and economic development of our young persons," he said.

Organisers and marketers of the event, Double Accord Resources, revealed that the unveiling ceremony will also feature recognitions for citizens of the state who have excelled in active sports administration and management as conceived to serve as inspiration and motivation to the present generation of sportsmen, talented youngsters and serving sports officials.

According to Samuel Abikoye, managing director of the sports management company, the State of Osun Governor’s Cup will not only showcase the hidden soccer talents in Osun but will also be organised in such a way as to provide all the excitements and fun that football provides for the entertainment of the public and the sustained generation of a steady pool of sports ambassadors from the state.

Ehiosun arrives in Karabukspor on loan

T

URKISH Super League club Karabükspor have secured the signature of Nigeria international Ekigho Ehiosun. The onetime Warri Wolves ace will play on loan at Karabükspor for the remainder of the season.

In the 2011 - 2012 season, Ehiosun netted 9 goals in 31 games for Samsunspor, a good statistic for a player who just arrived in Turkey.

Following the club's relegation at the end of last season, he signed for Gençlerbirligi n the summer transfer market.

The 22 - year - old failed to establish himself at Gençlerbirligi , managing only four appearances in the championship. Thus, he had to look for another team where he will play regularly.

After a disappointing half season with Gençlerbirligi, Ehiosun has a point to prove that his goals have not dried up.

• Ehiosun

THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

63

NEWS Oyinlola out as Tukur names acting secretary Continued from page 2

A PDP top shot said: “When the meeting was convened, the NWC members realised that they did not form a quorum and that no decision could be taken.

“But after the meeting rose, the chairman went to his office and wrote the statement to exercise his powers based on support from above.

“Therefore, the appointment of an acting National Secretary was a unilateral one and not a decision of the NWC. “So the removal of Oyinlola was a one-man show and a mere playing of a prepared script.”

But the invocation of the constitution was greeted with a drama as the said Amended Constitution of the PDP was yet to be ratified either by the NEC or the National Convention of the party.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the party said: “How can the National Chairman invoke a constitution which has not been ratified by the National Convention? This party is really drifting because impunity is taking over.

“We should ask Tukur where he derived the legitimacy to use a constitution still being amended to remove the National Secretary. At the last discussion of NEC on amendments to the PDP Constitution in July 2012, members were asked to go and study the affected chapters or articles.

“Since then, the NEC has

not reconvened.”

The BOT member quoted Section 26(1-3) of the authentic 2009 version of the constitution in use on amendment to PDP Constitution.

The section reads: “The party shall have the power to amend this Constitution, save that no amendment of the constitution shall be valid, unless made by a motion passed by two-third majority of members present and voting at the National Convention.

“The Notice of the proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be given to the National Secretary at least two months before the date of the National Convention and the notice, which shall be in writing, shall contain a clear statement of the amendment sought and the reasons for the amendment.

“The Secretary, upon receipt of the notice, shall cause it to be circulated to the state branches of the party for publication at least one month before the date of the National Convention.”

Despite the grouses of the NWC members, shopping for Oyinlola’s replacement continued yesterday, with more candidates penciled down.

Besides ex-Governor Segun Oni, who declined the offer of National Secretary, others being tipped are: a former Minister of Education, Prof.

Tunde Adeniran, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, and Chief Ishola Filani.

The source said: “If Adeniran is picked, Oni might also

be forced to step aside as Ekiti cannot produce the National Vice-Chairman (Southwest) and the National Secretary at the same time.

“It is left to the leaders of the PDP in the Southwest to come up with an acceptable candidate.”

As at press time, it was learnt that Oyinlola stayed away from the National Secretariat of the PDP to avoid being set up for “alleged contempt of court”.

Another source said: “Ideally, Oyinlola had planned to be in office on Monday but as a lawyer, he realised that the Tukur camp might sideline the real issue and file a motion for contempt of the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

“Apart from filing papers at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, the former National Secretary (Oyinlola) has been holding consultations with his legal team on the way out of the logjam.”

It was gathered that Oyinlola’s camp had uncovered plans by some forces to frustrate his application for a stay of execution of the judgment at the Federal High Court.

The source added: “Their game plan is that they will use the legal process to frustrate the stay of execution by Oyinlola. But the former governor would enjoy his fundamental right to pursue his case at the Court of Appeal.

“And we all know how windy the judicial process is in the country. They might

not give the appeal accelerated hearing.”

Meanwhile, former and serving PDP governors began consultations last night on how to rescue Oyinlola from being edged out of office on technical ground.

A member of the PDP Governors Forum said: “Former and serving PDP governors have started consultations on the next step. They are weighing options.

“I think the PDP governors may meet on Wednesday after the National Council of State meeting.

“We will launch a counterplot. We are also calling for a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) where we can pass a vote of no confidence on Tukur.

“They can hijack the judiciary but we will also take advantage of NEC to determine the fate of Tukur and who is in control of PDP.”

Oyinlola asks Appeal Court to reverse sack Continued from page 2

“The entire action was an abuse of Court process as it seeks to “cleverly” circumvent the subsisting order of Stay of all Proceedings/execution made by the Court of Appeal.

“The Learned Trial Judge erred in law when the Court nullified the election of the 1st Defendant on the ground that his election into the office is a result of nomination to the office by the South West Zonal Congress.”

Oyinlola gave the details of the particulars of error and asked the appellate court to reverse the decision or judgment of Justice Kafarati.

He said: “The uncontroverted evidence before the lower Court, upon which it should act, was that the offices of National Secretary and National Auditor were zoned to members of the 2nd Defendant from the South West Political Zone to wit; Lagos, Ogun,

Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States.

“The 1st Defendant was nominated into the office not by the South West Zonal Congress of the 2nd Defendant.

“The 1st Defendant qualified for the post of National Secretary by reason of being an indigene of Osun State which is part of the South West Political Zone.

“The Court did not find that the Plaintiff have any special interest in the position of the National Secretary of the 2nd Defendant.

“Further and other grounds of Appeal shall be filed upon receipt of the Judgment and the entire records.

He pleaded with the Court of Appeal for “an order reversing the decision and or Judgment of the Learned trial Judge and substituting thereto an order striking out and or dismissing the entire action with costs.”

North’s insecurity self-inflicted, says Sultan Continued from page 1

freely and articulate positions that will bring us out of the quagmire we put ourselves. It is important that religious and traditional rulers from various states sit together, talk freely and articulate a position as the way out of this problem we find ourselves in.

“Whatever that is happening in the North is our own doing, because we did not do what we were supposed to do. Since we know this, we have to solve our problems ourselves. So, I think it is not a bad idea that

the committee was set up.

“We wrote a memorandum of about nine pages covering various issues affecting the country and the North in particular to the then Acting President and now President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan through the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) where we suggested solutions to the problems.”

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, attributed the security challenges in the North and other parts of Nigeria to highlevel poverty.

The cleric noted that others aspects of the problem are religious.

Onaiyekan said Nigeria’s bad image has spread across the world, adding that there is need for stakeholders to end the challenge.

He added that Christianity and Islam in Nigeria are not accidents of history.

The cleric said they are God’s designs that cannot be changed by anyone.

Onaiyekan said the main problem is bad governance, adding that once this is tackled, other problems would go.

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15-01-13

TODAY IN THE NATION

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 8 NO.2,372

‘‘What on earth would drive some one to burst a pipeline that belongs to us all to scoop fuel illegally knowing the dangers involved; not even the possibility of arrest but also the likelihood of losing his/her life to an explosion? ’ WAHEED ODUSILE

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

A

S trials of drug offenders before his court drew to a close, the late Justice Muri Okunola usually prefaced the sentencing with a lament that the drug law enforcement authorities were always arraigning the minions, the cat’s paw as it were, never the cat not the kitten.

Even when splendidly visible, the baron or baroness was untouchable.

I was reminded of Justice Okunola’s pained lament the other day by a news story with the giddy headline “Oil Theft: Two Women Bag Three-year Jail Term” (Saharareporters, January 9, 2013) detailing the conviction of two women by the Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State, on a two-count charge of illegal dealing in petroleum products and conspiracy. The sentence came with a N300,000-fine option.

Back in May 2009, the women were, according to the story, caught trucking 136 plastic drums of petroleum products somewhere in the Isoko country without a licence by operatives of the Delta State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who then handed them to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and prosecution.

In a sense, justice was not only done; it was seen to be done. Prosecution was swift and diligent. No indulgent adjournments were sought or granted. The judge was punctilious, and the court process worked as it was designed to do.

The women broke the law, and fully deserved their punishment. Some might even say that they should consider themselves lucky that they got off so lightly. After all, in some parts of the country, people have been sent to jail for up to seven years for stealing a goat.

But if this is indeed justice, it is justice most unequal.

Although the capacity of the plastic drums was not specified, let us make the very generous allowance that each has a volume of 400 litres. That would make the volume of petroleum products they were trucking illegally 50, 400 litres. In absolute terms, that might seem substantial. It could fuel a small fleet of gas-guzzling SUVs for a year.

But in relative terms – relative, that is, to the thieving that goes on in the oil industry every day and even as you read this piece — it is less than piddling.

No fair comparison can be made even between the volume at issue and the volume of gasoline products ferried to neighbouring countries daily in tankers. These are registered vehicles that drive on paved highways and across checkpoints manned by officials of immigration, customs, and national secu-

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Unequal justice as state policy

•The goddess of justice

rity, as well as the police, and finally through international frontiers to their destinations.

A Nigerian international civil servant told me several years ago that he counted 18 such tankers in one day in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, waiting to discharge, and that he had it on good authoritythat this was not a chance occurrence.

These tankers are never intercepted. Their cargo is never confiscated. The drivers and their mates are never arrested. If anything, they are guaranteed unimpeded passage.

Only those who can afford to own or hire the oil tankers, those who have access to oil, and those whom the law-enforcement authorities would be crazy to mess with—in short, only the well-connected – can play in this league.It is therefore no surprise that they are never brought to justice. Even their minions are untouchable.

I once told in this space the story of how a Nigerian diplomat in Latin America travelled to a city hundreds of miles from his base to check on the welfare of some Nigerian sail-

RIPPLES 30 PIPELINE VANDALS FEARED DEAD IN LAGOS EXPLOSION -News

You call them vandals?... they are THIEVES and ARMED ROBBERS

ors who had been detained in the local jail for mutiny on the seas. The half-starved sailors, it turned out had committed no greater crime than demanding their wages for working the ships that ferried oil from Nigeria across the south Atlantic.

His investigations uncovered an elaborate smuggling operation. Refined diesel was loaded on to the ships, which were then escorted to safety by the Nigeria Navy vessels that were supposed to be protecting the nation’s territorial waters. It had been going on for years The diplomat sent a detailed account of his findings to the Abuja and waited for instructions. None came. He forwarded a reminder.

Weeks later, he was invited home, for what he thought would be a full debriefing. After waiting for weeks in Abuja without getting to see any person of consequence, he returned to base.

Waiting on his desk was a letter brimming with contrived indignation from the Latino boss of the syndicate smuggling refined diesel oil from Nigeria. Attached to the boss’s letter was a copy of the diplomat’s cable, courtesy of those he called “his friends” in Nigeria.

Thankful that neither the syndicate nor Abuja demanded his scalp, the diplomat learned to mind his own business. It is a fair guess that the smuggling continues. Didn’t a detained ship laden with smuggled oil vanish just like that from Nigeria’s waters the other day?

The still-unfolding “subsidy” racket shows just how mired in sleaze is Nigeria’s oil industry. Trillions of Naira has gone from the nation’s coffers to reimburse oil marketers for petroleum products that were never delivered.

The only qualifications a good many of the partakers in the feeding frenzy is closeness to power as exercised by the Federal Government and the ruling PDP. If the public had not risen in sustained indignation against the so-called

HARDBALL

T

HERE seems to be no end to President Goodluck Jonathan’s inundating sermons. Every time he goes to a church, the pastors have formed a habit of giving him the opportunity to talk to the congregation on anything that catches his fancy. And quite some talk he does, sometimes as candid and esoteric as ever. It was on one such pulpit sometime ago that he made his famous Pharaohnic comparison, one that threw the entire country into dialectical uproar. And since one does not necessarily have to be anointed to mount any pulpit these days, it has become standard practice for top government officials to assail the country with exegetic flourish, with pastors having found a constructive corollary to permit secular authorities access.

It was also on another pulpit that the president spoke glowingly of the virtue of caution, or what he inelegantly described as slow governance. But every time he spoke out of turn, and the country seethed in anguish or quaked with consternation, the president became angry and his aides bespattered us with furious denunciations.

Well, Hardball will anger them one more time.

On Sunday, and on another pulpit, the president heaved a fresh supply of his politico-religious homilies at us. This time, it was about the correlation between age and divorce. Speaking during the Armed Forces

Nigeria too old to divorce?

Remembrance Day inter-denominational service at the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja, the president said: “In 2014, we are going to celebrate our centenary; our 100 years of existence. You cannot stay in a marriage for 100 years and say that is the time you will divorce. If there are issues that we have been managing, we will continue to manage them. We will not talk about separation.” President Jonathan assumed a marriage, let alone a turbulent one, could last for 100 years. But the president was simply being dramatic and hyperbolic to catch our attention. Not only is it unlikely for any modern marriage to last so long, given the sheer number of years involved, it is a bit of a stretch to expect that bitter and disgruntled partners would resign themselves in their dotage to unnatural tastes and frustrations. Moreover, judging from the president’s statement, it does seem we must prepare ourselves for a very grand centenary, one obviously based on appalling superfluities.

But the president wasn’t through with his homilies. Apart from strangely and implausibly basing what he described as

subsidy the government said it was set to end, the freeloading would have continued.

Prosecution of the suspects in the racket has been perfunctory at best. The suspects continue to live like the potentates that easy money has transformed them into. They are free to travel, and to carry on as they please.

These are not the kinds of people that prosecutors strive with might and main to deny bail on the grounds that leaving them in circulation would fatally undermine investigations.

That recourse applies only to ordinary suspects.

We should even be thankful that they have not procured the best attorneys and judges that money can buy to block the investigation that led to their arraignment, although that is no guarantee that they will face trial and be punished if found guilty.

The women convicted by the Federal High Court, Asaba, had neither the sophistication nor the resources to employ such tactics; hence the asymmetry between them and the subsidy freeloaders on the hallowed scale of justice.

He probably wanted it celebrated as another “breakthrough,” but it is nothing if not pathetic that the Minister of Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, announced with breathless excitement only three weeks ago that. “for the first time,” the Federal Government had authorised measures to stem the leakages in the oil and gas industry arising from meters that are not working, or that were installed in the wrong places.

These measures are coming more than 30 years after it came to light that the bucket being used to lift crude from Nigeria’s oil fields was four gallons bigger than the standard international barrel. Taking the intent for the deed as is the habit of the Goodluck Jonathan Administration, Aganga said the measures would this year alone result in savings of $3 million and add N1.74 billion to the government’s receipts from oil and gas.

And yet, the public was bombarded incessantly with the infantile propaganda that government “subsidy” of gasoline was the problem with the Nigerian oil industry and that the industry would die if the subsidy was not terminated.

It is an index of the asymmetry of justice in Nigeria that, whereas two women were shafted with a three-year jail sentence for illegally trucking petroleum products, supervisors of an industry in which vital meters were not installed, were installed in the wrong places or not installed at all, have never been charged – not with dereliction nor even culpable negligence, much less criminal collusion.

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•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above Nigeria’s greatness on its population and diversity, he also inspiringly declared: “Nigeria will not disintegrate. Anybody who is doing any research on sociology, psychology or political science can do his work, but Nigeria will remain one.” A researcher himself, it is indeed puzzling that the president seemed to think Nigeria’s fortunes were antithetical to scientific inquiry. Anyone interested could do research to any level, the president seemed to say, obviously in response to sceptics’ prediction of Nigeria’s breakup, but it would have little or no bearing on the country’s troubled future.

The pulpits on which President Jonathan has declaimed so fervently and ponderously in the past two years or so have enabled us interesting peeks into the president’s psychoanalytical profile. We will get more such peeks in the coming months, for the 2015 elections are still far away. At least for now, it must be reassuring to the president and his aides that economic, political and socio-cultural factors have no effect on Nigeria’s unity, contrary to what science tells us, and what history says. The president believes Nigeria’s unity depends on its age and the forced marriage of its peoples. With such strange, unscientific beliefs, it is not surprising that he and his men have been quite unable to grapple scientifically with the real developmental challenges fracturing the country so badly down the middle.

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