The Nation January 27, 2013

Eagles demand fair officiating against Ethiopia

MEND vows vengeance over Okah’s conviction Asks South African coys to leave, banishes Orubebe JTF dismisses threat, says group no longer exists

–Page 2

Arrive Rustenburg today Cote d’Ivoire thrash Tunisia 3-0 Algeria 0 – 2 Togo –Pages 70-71

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2383

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

N200.00

JANUARY 27, 2013

•A vehicle that plunged into the lagoon at Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos yesterday being retrieved. No life was lost. Photo: NAN

Tukur steps up moves against rebellious PDP NWC members Meets deputy national officers tomorrow

Northern govs should account for N8.3tr allocation –Ribadu Blasts govs for eroding Ahmadu Bello’s legacies –Page 4 Says legislature, judiciary compound corruption

–Page 2

CBN removes Cosmas Maduka from Access Bank board –Page 62

Fines bank N3m for violating regulations

HOW NIGERIAN REGISTRAR HELPED UK GANG STEAL N1 BILLION –Page 4

NEWS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Tukur steps up moves against rebellious PDP NWC members

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EMBERS of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling PDP are sweating after confirming yesterday that their deputies have been summoned to a meeting tomorrow by the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur , in what a party source described as part of the plot to undermine the committee members.

Tukur is currently locked in a fierce battle with the governors of PDP-controlled states and NWC members opposed to him in the battle for the soul of the party.

The NWC members are worried by alleged moves by Tukur to neutralise their influence in party affairs.

He has also launched an initiative to break the ranks of the PDP governors, many of whom appear not to be disposed to supporting President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office.

Tukur was personally handpicked by the President as part of the strategy to clinch the party’s presidential nomination for the 2015 election.

However, two members of the NWC yesterday asked Tukur to watch it otherwise he may end up leading an empty party.

Party sources yesterday described the planned meeting between Tukur and those he has invited as a confidence –building session aimed at “tactically sidelining” the NWC members he considers as rebels.

Slated for the meeting are: the Deputy National Secretary; Deputy National Treasurer; Deputy National Financial Secretary; Deputy National Organising Secretary; Deputy National Legal Adviser; Deputy National Publicity Secretary; Deputy National Auditor; Deputy National Woman Leader and Deputy National Youth Leader and four other ex-officio members of the party, at least two of whom shall be women, elected from each of the six geopolitical zones.

A member of the NWC, who spoke in strict confidence, said: “Some NWC members are still unhappy with the situation of things; we hope our leaders will intervene.

“We learnt that the National Chairman has invited our deputies to a meeting on Monday ostensibly to undermine the NWC members. He is hiding behind reforms to give these deputy members of the NWC more roles.

“We are just watching how far he can go. My personal take is that Tukur as a person is a good man but running a party is a different ball game.

“I hope he will learn from the experience of some past national chairmen of PDP. If he continues to isolate NWC members and go it alone, he might end up leading an empty party or being sacrificed by those who are using him.

“All those advising him

• Meets deputy national officers tomorrow From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

to move against his own NWC will not do him any good. What is bad in NWC members criticising their leader? Is that not part of democracy? Since we took those steps, everyone has been on the firing line. There is suspicion between the Na-

tional Chairman and NWC members.”

Another NWC member said the genesis of the crisis in the party is an attempt to enthrone a dictatorial leadership style on the party.

He wondered where the party leadership would get money to pay the allowances of deputy members of the NWC now being romanced

by Tukur.

He said Tukur’s loyalists have been distorting facts to woo deputy NWC members by claiming that the sacked National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and other NWC colleagues were blocking the party from giving them their rightful allowances.

The source said: “At the

time representations were made to the former National Secretary of PDP (Oyinlola) on payment of allowances to deputy NWC members, the reactions and recommendations forwarded to Oyinlola on the matter painted a gloomy picture of the finances of PDP headquarters and the consequences of paying jumbo allowances to deputy NWC members, who have no clear-cut roles to

•(R-L) Vice President Namadi Sambo; Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Mr James Olotu; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Power Reform, Mr Olarenwaju Egberongbe during Vice President's meeting with Nigerian Independent Power Project contractors in Abuja... yesterday

perform at PDP headquarters.

“As at the time the deputies presented their requests, there was no fund. Where did the party get funds to pay the outstanding amounts when we have been running around to clear debts and pay staff salaries and allowances?

“Even as at now, some allowances for 2012 are yet to be paid. I wish them luck if that is how they want to run PDP. “They can as well start paying monthly allowances to all members of PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), including state governors, in order to lobby them to be able to continue to run PDP in an autocratic manner.

“Also, PDP must be sane and look into expenditure profile, particularly frivolous travels and the cost of aircraft charter and all those needless travels by big people who go about with their relations.”

A reliable source in Tukur’s camp said: “The National Chairman is not plotting to undermine NWC members. In line with his reform agenda, he is only trying to carry all stakeholders along including deputy NWC, members.

“The chairman is not a vengeance-seeking leader.

He has met with NWC members and urged them to forget the past. What else do you expect from a political leader? Why are they afraid of deputy NWC members?”

MEND vows vengeance over Okah’s conviction • Asks South African coys to leave, banishes Orubebe T • JTF dismisses threat, says group no longer exists

HE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), regained its voice yesterday after many months off the scene. It threatened to resume violence to register its disapproval of the Monday conviction of its leader, Henry Okah, by a South-African court.

Okah was found guilty of masterminding the October 1, 2010 bomb blasts in Abuja while one of his associates, Edmund Ebiware was jailed for life on Friday by a Federal High Court, Abuja for complicity in the blasts.

MEND, in an online statement signed by a Comrade Azizi, said it would sabotage oil installations in the country.

It also banished the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, from the Niger Delta.

But spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo (oil) Shield, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, dismissed MEND’s threats in a telephone interview yesterday evening, declaring that the security outfit was on alert to deal with hoodlums.

A former MEND commander, Ezekiel Akpasibowei alias Egbema 1

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt/ Shola O’Neil, Warri also waved off the threat which he described as the handiwork of a few disgruntled elements.

Azizi in the MEND statement said Okah’s trial was political. He said the attack would commence at the conclusion of Okah’s appeal.

Reacting, the JTF spokesman, Lt-Col Nwachukwu said: “We are not unmindful of the fact that associates of Henry Okah may want to foment trouble. We are fully prepared for them. We are on red alert.

“There is no such group as MEND again. The genuine leaders of MEND embraced the Federal Government’s amnesty offer to the repentant Niger Delta militants in 2009 and submitted their arms and ammunition.

“The people now masquerading as MEND leaders should not be taken seriously.

They are jokers. There is no cause for alarm in the Niger Delta.”

Also reacting, former MEND commander Ezekiel Akpasibowei said:”We did not take any decision to go back to the creeks because of Henry Okah or anybody. We are committed to the sustenance of the prevailing peace in the Niger Delta,” Besides, Egbema 1 said the signatory to the statement was

not known to the hierarchy of MEND. He urged Nigerians to disregard the threat.

Speaking in the same vein, Captain Mark Anthony of the defunct Niger Delta Liberation Force, described the authors of the threat as impostors.

“We know the structure of MEND and these clowns do

not feature,” he said.

The former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of MEND, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) could not be reached for comment. A source close to him said he was not even aware of the “so-called threat or its masterminds”, adding that he was not part of it.

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

A stillness on the Potomac

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Obama takes the oath at the start of his second term

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IKE most events feverishly expected and anticipated, it turned out to be something of a dismal anticlimax. The second and final Obama inauguration has come and gone, and the world has quickly recovered its breath to face squarely the pressing problems of human existence. Even the inaugural ball was said to have been undersubscribed and the crowd scantier and less lustily cheering, unlike the surging, nearhysterical humanity of four years earlier.

Unlike the scenes of wild jubilation and the tears of joy from historic Black personages four years earlier, the second coming of Obama has been a tame and less frenzied affair, marked by a polite rectitude and sober reticence even on the part of the victors. A stillness was evident on the Potomac. An arctic chill subsequently descended on the nation hugging and enveloping it with bearish resolve. There were icicles drooping from the outer armaments of the world’s principal palisade of power .

But this was not a damp squib, as they say. In a sense, then, both the stillness on the Potomac and the arctic chill that descended on the nation were profoundly symbolic of a fundamental tectonic shift of power equations or what is known as a historic rupture of political praxis between the old American order and the new realities unfolding before our very eyes.

With a demographic reconfiguration weighted heavily in favour of suppressed groups and marginalised minorities, America may be going through a fundamental re-invention. A tree does not begin to bear fruits the same day and it may take a while for the political dividends of these great geological irruptions to manifest. Before our very eyes and like a huge snake, America is casting off its mammoth slough in a symbolic ritual of renewal and regeneration .

Whatever else happens, the Obama presidency will be seen as a forerunner of great changes in the American society. If the atmosphere was tame and muted, it is because the changes are real and irreversible.

If there were no triumphalist hoopla and ululation, it is because the triumph this time was chilling in all its awesome finality. As such, Obama’s second coming was more like a consolidation and coronation rather than a mere inauguration.

Like a heavyweight contest, somebody has been beaten big time and even the victor is stunned by the scope and magnitude of the victory into a humble reverence for the forward looking society that made this

possible. Had this been some Third World jungle dominated by brutal and mentally unstable despots, the odds would have been stacked against Barack Obama. The victor could have been summarily impounded, subjected to humiliation, ritual torture and eventually put to death.

As this column once noted, the audacity of hope is predicated on the hope of audacity that there will be a level playing ground and that a society will adhere to its own stated rules. To be sure, a trigger happy rightwing loony from the lunatic fringes of American society may yet end the party. But that is precisely why such felons emerge from the margins and fringes of society rather than its mainstream. Obama’s ascendancy is a tribute to a society which, whatever its manifest imperfections, is willing to adhere to its own stated rules and principles in the conduct of human affairs.

In most human societies, it is only when electoral battles are close that there is room for manipulation and gerrymandering. It is an unstated rule of boxing that to dethrone a reigning heavyweight champion, you must not only beat him but beat him silly. The Republicans have taken a bad beat, as they say. On Monday night, they had slunk away from Washington. It was the silence of wolves that had turned into lambs.

It is a pointer to the scale and scope of Obama’s victory and its extirpating possibilities as well as the nature of the unfolding political reconfiguration of American society that a blue-eyed Republican princeling could openly whine that Obama was trying to annihilate the Republican Party. Forty years ago such a cry of abject humiliation and victimhood would have been unthinkable, not to talk of coming from the Capitol of capital fellows. The Grand Old Party has been put through the meat grinder.

In a cynical summation of developing politics, it has been suggested that it was not from any groundswell of generosity and altruism that Vice President Biden quickly reached for a Latino judge to swear him in. It was perhaps the first warning shots in the 2016 presidential campaigns. The savvy and streetsmart Biden is too mentally alert to miss the political symbolism of the whole ritual. Welcome to the new majority of suppressed minorities.

In the event, Obama’s second inaugural speech was a classic instance of a mopping up operation. The man of the moment himself was a figure of dazzling oxymoron. Perfectly coiled like a factory assembled co-

bra, mysteriously focused and exuding superior self-control, Obama is man as the ultimate political machine and mathematically engineered perfection. If you are looking for what makes this son of an African immigrant and a mother of Nordic extraction tick, you will never find it. A child of destiny, Obama is also a centrally controlled canal of conflicts, contradictions and contraries.

But contradictions are there to be exploited. Only a weak person allows contradictions and conflicts to deny or delay him. George Patton, America’s most famous tank commander and military hero, told youthful soldiers just before the commencement of the Battle of the Bulge. “If you are fired upon, advance!”. A famous French Marshal in the First World War also noted that since his flanks were collapsing, he had no alternative than to begin advancing.

Obama’s second inaugural address spoke to the fundamental ideals underpinning America as a new type of nation and a new type of society. In the process, he spoke for a new America of orgiastic possibilities. By quoting the founding fathers’ most famous line against extant realities without ever saying so, Obama was fashioning out a subtle instrument of surrender after dramatic victory in the political battlefield.

“We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal… and with inalienable rights”, the founding fathers of America famously thundered and with the moral certitude of Old Testament prophets. But if this truth was selfevident , why was it not so self-evi-

dent even in their own conduct? If the truth was self-evident why has it taken almost four hundred years after a civil war, decades of protests and series of social convulsions to get a Black person to the White House?

It simply means that in the roiling conduct of human affairs, what is self-evident may not be so self-evident. The evidence has to be thrown and thrust into the face of the most obdurate and obtuse. Forty years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a man with the middle name of Hussein and the “un-American” sounding patronym of Obama to amount to anything of significance in American society, let alone to have become a two-term president. But there we are at the moment.

In order to understand and appreciate the scope and scale of Barack Obama’s electoral achievement we need to further wind back the historic clock. Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was the son of a Palestinian- Jordanian immigrant father. Like Obama’s father, Bishara, Sirhan’s father, suddenly returned home angry and frustrated by the inequities of American society, leaving his son a roiling cauldron of resentments and seething malice. In 1968, Sirhan shot Robert Kennedy, dramatically halting the political advance of the great American liberal even as he halted his own chances in American society.

So when we hail and appreciate America, it is not as if one is unmindful of its imperfections as a human society. There is as yet no perfect human society and there may never be one. Even the old organic societies that we rhapsodize were not so organic. These are just ideological cudgels for beating the present into submission. As Terry Eagleton famously noted, one sure thing about the organic society is that it is always gone.

If there is no perfect human society, there is something to be said for a nation with a capacity for endless re-invention and ceaseless selfsurpassing. This capacity for self-renewal and dramatic rejuvenation is for this writer the basis of what is known as American exceptionalism.

America was not created as a martial empire. America was created as a land of dreamers and visionary intellectuals. While most nations are frigid and frozen in time and possibilities, America takes bold efforts to correct its mistakes of the past and present.

A grisly summons to Enfield

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S Snooper was landing in harsh and wintry London on Friday morning, we received a grisly summons to suburban Enfield to attend the funeral of Bimpe Ojerinola, nee Osibodu.

A funereal gloom descended on yours sincerely which was compounded by the cold Arctic blast.

Snooper had long been expecting a reunion with Bimpe, our late friend’s wife, but not a final farewell. Such is the ephemeral nature of life and the brutal contingency of human existence.

Snooper was too overwhelmed and exhausted to make it to Enfield, but almost all the funeral eulogies painted a life of unblemished generosity and selfless love. Bimpe lived her life at the behest of others and was the nearest thing to a secular saint. A scion of the illustrious Osibodu family

of Ilishan Remo, the departed was the wife of Segun Ojerinola, a Nigerian diplomat who fell in the course of duty to his fatherland in the Nigerian embassy at Belgrade in the late nineties where he was Head of Chancery.

The ever swankily turned out and swaggering Segun Ojenrinola, a.k.a Jagger, was one of the rising stars of the Nigerian Diplomatic Corps until sudden death snatched him away in faraway Belgrade. Affable and clubbable to boot and full of witty pranks, Segun was a pure delight to be with. He was kind, courtly and courteously solicitous of the wellbeing of others. Now, he has been joined by his equally virtuous wife. May their worthy souls find eternal repose and may their orphaned children reap the fruits of the goodwill and kindness their parents have sown.

In the end, it is important for human societies to have dreams so that human societies do not become a nightmare. It is these visionary dreams that nudge humanity to higher telos. They constitute the benchmark by which a society is ultimately judged against perennial digressions and convenient diversions. In order to achieve the possible a society must set for itself impossible dreams. This is the secret of all successful societies.

But it is a self-evident truth from the Roman and Greek empires, the Andalusian Islamic renaissance, the Lockean and Hobbesian philosophic revolution in England, the French Revolution, the revolutionary intellectual decapitation of the old order in Germany, the American Declaration of Independence, to later-day wonders like Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore and the emerging miracles of Latin America that a nation requires an intellectual master class to furnish it with dreams and to front for these dreams. Without these visionary bulwarks, it is easy for a nation to become a mere toy in the hands of unhinged tyrants and unlettered despots.

For now, not even the most jaundiced would deny that America has earned its spurs as a beacon of hope for a brave new world. There is still plenty of work to do, but it is morning yet on creation day. Presently, the stillness on the Potomac will reveal a brilliant thaw in the affairs of humanity and the cold blizzards of winter will soon retreat as the warm winds of Spring prevail. It was a glorious week to be in America.

And a glorious passage in Benin

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HILE we are still on the subject of death and its icy mischief, it is meet to report the glorious passage of the beloved mother of our friends, the late Madam Wuraola Eniye Alonge, relic of High Chief Joshua Alonge, the late industrialist and giant entrepreneur. She was laid to rest in Benin at the weekend after a Service of Songs on Thursday at St Peters Anglican Church, Lagos Street.

As we pray for mama’s blissful repose, here is wishing Chief Femi and Yemisi Akinrinade, Eunice Obaro, Ayo Alonge, Imaden EzeIyamu and Arese Alonge the strength to bear the loss of their mother-in –law and mother respectively. As mama joins her ancestors in eternal rest, here is wishing the living long life and more fruitful endeavours.

It is obvious that it has been a celebration of life rather than mournful sorrowing. When Snooper put a call through to Benin city on Thursday from faraway New York, it was obvious that Chief Femi Akinrinade, our look alike twin brother, was in high spirit and fine fettle. “Bros”, Snooper began with his usual opening gambit for reluctant veterans.

“Tani bros e, you this stupid upcountry boy?” the chief from the Yakoyo interior shot back. Snooper may be a country bumpkin, but it was not long ago when our man confided in Snooper that as a youth he used to be sent from Yakoyo all the way to Ita Akogun in Ile-Ife to buy dele, a village delicacy, by the stern, no-nonsense father of all generals, the late Chief Akinrinade himself. May they all rest in peace.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

News

Northern govs should account for N8.3tr allocation –Ribadu • Blasts govs for eroding Ahmadu Bello’s legacies • Says legislature, judiciary compound corruption

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HE pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday told the governors of the 19 Northern States to account for the N8.3 trillion that accrued to their states between 1999 and 2010.

He said there is hardly anything to show for the huge resources at the state and local government levels.

Ribadu, who bared his mind in a paper in Kano at a two-day summit of Northern Development Focus Initiative(NDFI), lamented that despite the fact that each of the 414 local governments in the north currently has budget in excess of that of the entire Northern Region under the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, successive administrations in the region have failed to meet the expectations of the people.

He blamed the problem on corruption, saying: “We have got a problem with our country and we all know it and therefore we do not need to be constantly reminded of it for it is an issue that we confront in our daily lives, in our schools, and our interaction with the police, in the army or SSS, customs and immigration offices, prisons, the legislature, the ministries, hospitals, in our courts and in the private sector as well like our banks, markets and not to mention, the media are daily awashed with mind boggling reports on corruption all over the country. Most of us here may be wondering how and when corruption took charge of our lives?

Ribadu said it is unfortunate that 90 per cent of the nation’s resources are being stolen by public officials.

He added: “When Major Nzeogwu made his speech to justify the takeover of power on January 15th, 1966, he mentioned that the military took

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

over because the first republic politicians were collecting ten percent bribes. (Though I am in disagreement with his assumption given the achievements recorded with the paltry sum) but nonetheless it is presupposed that at least they were using 90 percent of the resources to do the work.

“It would be great to pause the question ‘What is happening now’? It is either the other way around: public officials taking away 90 percent and using 10 percent to work or even out rightly looting of the treasury. In fact, from recent reports, a lot of money is stolen from the source, that it does not even make its way to the treasuries of the many governments in the country today.

“To be fair, it is important to mention that there is corruption in every society including all the advanced countries. However the irony is it has not stopped development.

There was corruption in the first republic too. But it was dealt with effectively and it was not allowed to be the cancer that it is now. It was not as widespread and as rampant in scale and magnitude as it is now.

“As I was writing this paper I stumbled on a tweet that got me thinking that read as follows, “The revenue Nigeria received for the whole of last year (2012) from the sale of crude oil is more than the yearly aid, the entire sub Saharan Africa received. Where is the money, where is the improvement?” This was a question posed to us by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The former EFCC chairman decried the under-development of the North and erosion of the legacies of the late

•Massive crowd in demonstration of support as Governor Rauf Aregbesola, his Deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye - Tomori and other State Executives led the monthly Walk to Live exercise through Ifelodun and Boripe Local Government Areas yesterday

Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello.

He said: “For starters, I would like to take a walk with you down memory lane on our recent past as a region. Sir Ahmadu Bello the first and only Premier of Northern Nigeria and his lieutenants, most of blessed memories, led this vast region effectively for just about a decade.

“Keenly look at what they were able to achieve, largely with internally generated revenue because there was no oil then or it was insignificant in the revenue profile of the country. The last annual budget by the late Sardauna for the whole north was just 44 million pounds.

“It is important to state that with this scanty resource, they were able to maintain law and order and ensure effective security of life and property for this vast region. They built Ahmadu Bello University , the largest in sub-Sahara Africa; they built Ahmadu Bello Stadium one of the largest and best in Africa at that time. They built NNDC, the largest black owned conglomerate in black Africa; they built many textile factories, good roads, market-

ing boards, efficient water supply where it was available and good sanitation, well planned urban areas with trees and good hospitals with ambulances; good primary and secondary schools; Kaduna Polytechnic that is the largest in black Africa .

“Northern Nigeria which Sir Ahmadu Bello led at independence is now 19 states, the federal capital territory Abuja and 414 local government areas. These 19 states and over four hundred local government areas got a total of N8.3 trillion from the federation account between 1999 and 2010. “ We know quite well that every one of these local government areas has budgets per annum that is more than the budget of the entire northern region of old. Can we please emulate the glowing examples of Sardauna?

“My take is that they were not corrupt and that was the reason they achieved so much with so little. What is really happening now with all these huge sums have?

“These local government areas do not even repair township drainages. They do not maintain existing markets and

motor parks amongst many other things that would take a while to mention.

“Nobody knows what they generate as revenue internally because all the sums quoted in the reports and newspapers are just what they get from the federation account monthly. They hardly meet in council except when there are subventions to be shared.

“The state governments are mostly not fairing any better. Some of the states have governors that are doing some commendable developmental initiatives but many of them just need our prayers.

Governance has been reduced to periodic elections. Once a governor gets elected, he or she will start planning for a second term; and as soon he or she gets a second term, the scheme to be president or vice president will start being initiated.

“For those who are not going to be either president or vice president, the retirement house for many governors is now the Senate on top of installing his preferred successor.

Ribadu also carpeted the Legislature and the Judiciary

at all levels for not living to expectations.

He said: “Today, if the legislators are doing their work effectively, many who are appointed ministers or commissioners wouldn’t have been there.

“Their oversight functions are now reduced to visit to ministries and agencies to get packages. Even monies that are appropriated as budgets, the committees of the legislature are part of those being awarded contracts by these departments in addition to their very generous constituency allowance that is not subject to any check and balances.

“To make matters worse, many legislators, especially from the northern states, hardly attend sittings to defend the interests of their constituents. They are mostly busy traveling to various parts of the world with their new found wealth.

“There are a few of them who are very good but I do not know when most of these distinguished and honourables will sit down to really distinguish themselves in their primary duties of making laws for the good governance of the society.

“The judiciary is supposed to be the last hope of the common man. Justice is an attribute of God and is the real foundation of any egalitarian society. It is sad to say that the judiciary in Nigeria has of recent times become the main legitimizing institution for any corrupt practice.

“When you rig an election it is the judiciary that gives validity to that election, when the politicians are not in agreement, a judge will give a helping hand to the one with more power and money.

When you steal public money and the anti corruption agencies charge you to court it is the judiciary that cleanse that illegally acquired wealth and makes what is unlawful (Haram) to be lawful (Halal) it may be made Halal by the judges but the society knows it is not and God knows one day we will account for all these deeds, if not now then certainly later; and if not here then definitely in the hereafter.

How Nigerian registrar helped UK gang steal N1bn • Azu Akpom, 46, provided fake birth certificates to create 100 ‘false children’ • Registrar helped benefits cheat gang steal at least £4 million over 20 years

•Azu

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CROOKED registrar faces a lengthy jail sentence after being found guilty of issuing false birth certificates to a gang of African fraudsters who stole at least £4million from taxpayers over 20 years.

Azu Akpom provided fake certificates to the ringleader of the gang who went on to create false identities for up to 100 children to milk the benefits system.

Croydon Crown Court heard how the Nigerian-born father of three was ultimately trapped by a text message which, despite his denial, showed he knew the gang’s chief conspirator, Ugandanborn Ruth Nabuguzi, 49.

Last year the same court heard how she was at the centre of the scam which also saw her claim to be suffering from HIV and needing costly drugs – yet in reality she sent them back to Uganda to be sold for huge profits.

Supplying the drugs for so many years cost the taxpayer more than £2million. The gang exploited false identities in the fraud relating to accommodation and sub-letting of flats at a cost of £650,000, and various benefits totalling £900,000.

This week 46-year-old Akpom’s role in the scam was

exposed as prosecutor Paul Raudnitz told the jury: ‘This case revolves around the making of false identities for children and Azu Akpom as a registrar was at the centre of helping make those identities.

‘While he denies any knowledge of knowing Ruth Nabuguzi there is an incriminating text message directly from his mobile phone to hers which was found by the investigating authorities.

‘These certificates enabled the gang to make numerous false claims for both child benefits and child tax credits and other allowances.’

The court heard how Akpom started to work for the Borough of Newham in East London in 2004 before becoming a registrar in 2006 and a senior registrar a year later.

He was later introduced to Nabuguzi and her gang and

began providing false birth certificates for use in their long-running conspiracy.

As a registrar, he had a duty to request confirmation of a birth, with an NHS number from the hospital where the child had supposedly been born. Instead, he simply filled out birth certificates after being given names by the gang.

Staff became suspicious and Akpom became the subject of an internal investigation while the UK Border Agency and police investigated Nabuguzi and her gang.

When she and fellow gang members were arrested in September 2011 a ‘kit bag for fraud’ containing documents and birth certificates was found.

These included five issued

by Akpom for false identities – all supposedly ‘born’ earlier

that year.

A text from his phone to one of Nabuguzi’s six mobiles read: ‘Just remember if anyone asks anything about you and me deny that you know me. I don’t know anyone too . . . so they have nothing.’

Investigators were unable to discover how much Akpom, from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, had been paid by the gang.

Nabuguzi claimed HIV/ AIDS drugs costing £2,280,000.

She also received £500,000 in housing benefit from Newham Council.

She came to the UK in 1991 and claimed asylum for herself and four ‘children’. Three years later, she used a different name to apply again – with two more ‘children’.

In 1999, using yet another name, she applied once more for asylum, this time with

three ‘children’. She is believed to have regularly travelled back to Uganda and bought at least three properties there.

In November she was jailed for six years while the rest of her gang received sentences totalling 19 years between them.

Akpom denied misconduct in a judicial or public office and five counts of fraud but it took the jury only 90 minutes to find him guilty of all six charges.

The judge refused his request to be allowed to go home before sentencing next week to see his family. He was remanded in custody and refused bail.

Recorder Freya Newbery told Akpom: ‘The unique feature of this case is serious misconduct while in public office and abuse of trust and that is particularly serious.’

The maximum sentence misconduct in a judicial or public office is life imprisonment.

Courtesy: The Mail

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

x Bus plunges into Lagos Lagoon

From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja X SIENNA bus with registration No. BB 974 EKY yesterday, plunged into the Lagos Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The Lagos Island Unit Commander of the FRSC, Mr Saddiq Abdulrahman, told NAN that the lone occupant of the vehicle survived with serious injuries.

He said that the incident occurred at about 10.30 a.m., shortly after the environmental sanitation exercise at the Police Post on KM. 6 on the bridge.

Abdulrahman said that a rescue team of the FRSC and the Police got to the scene of the incident at about 11.45 a.m.

He said that the driver of the vehicle, whom he identified as Mr Shola Oladimeji, was on highspeed when the accident occurred.

Abdulrahman said that Oladimeji sustained serious injuries and had been taken to the Ikeja General Hospital by the FRSC and the Police for medical attention.

IA

Motorists, commuters urge govt to repair LagosAbeokuta highway

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Motorists and commuters, plying the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway yesterday lamented the deplorable state of the road, appealing to the Federal Government to fix it before the rainy season.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a report said the road dotted with potholes have been causing gridlocks as motorists tried to manoeuvre.

A NAN correspondent reports that some of the worst portions of the road include Pleasure to Super stretch; Dopemu Bridge; Adealu to X Iyana Ipaja; Abule Egba to Sango and Salako to Ifo. NAN checks revealed that the contractor handling the repair of the road, Julius Berger Plc, had moved out of the site since June 2012, due to inadequate funding.

The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in December, 2012, rehabilitated some portions of the road from Owode to Ilogbo to reduce the discomfort experienced by road users.

Motorists and commuters in separate interviews with NAN pleaded with government to repair the road.

A business woman, Mrs Tosin Martins, told NAN that there was no proper drainage to take care of surface run-offs during the rainy season.

She explained that traffic on the highway was usually compounded by flood and appealed to the Federal Government to construct drainage on the highway.

x

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NUT, governors at war A

FRESH industrial action by teachers is brewing in some parts of the federation after the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) declared at the weekend that there is no going back on its warning to go on strike in states where the new teachers’ salary structure has not been implemented.

The president of the union, Michael Olukoya, told reporters in Abuja at the end of the 2013 edition of the union’s Solemn Assembly that at the expiration of the January 31st deadline the 18 affected states should brace up for teachers’ strike.

Some of the states are Cross River, Kebbi, Lagos,

•Union says no going back on deadline •Wants 10, 000 sacked teachers reinstated From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

Ekiti, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Abia, Nasarawa, Enugu , Benue , Kogi and Delta.

He said the teachers have been patient enough after the Governors’ Forum approved the new Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS) for public schools in 2009.

Olukoya appealed to the affected state governments to ensure that their teachers are paid all their entitlements this

month to avoid unpleasant consequences.

The NUT president also decried the decision of the Bauchi State Government to sack about 10, 000 teachers for possessing the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) certificate as basic teaching qualification.

He said the issue of NTI certificate is a matter of law.

He, therefore, urged the state government to withdraw its sack letters issued to the affected teachers for them to go back to work.

Olukoya, who also spoke on the lingering crisis in Plateau State , said the leadership of the union has approved the decision of the teachers in the state to return to the trenches.

He said after the Federal Government waded into the crisis in the state to end their industrial action, it was agreed that all workers be paid their salaries for three months in the first instance.

He added that NUT was miffed to have gathered that the state government refused to include teachers in the payment of the three month arrears paid to other category workers in the state.

•L-R: Ngozi Pat Ekeji, Nnanna Igbokwe, Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and Chairman, House Committee on FERMA, Ofor Chukwuegu, during the flag-off of the 13.5km Aboh Mbaise Douglas Road … at the weekend

G

OVERNOR Jonah Jang of Plateau State has been described as a firm believer in Nigeria’s unity.

His Senior Special Assistant, Mr.Tunde Ladapo, said in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, that the governor’s disposition as a man of peace and unity has engendered relative peace in the state.

Mr. Ladapo, a native of Ogbomoso, said despite the recent wave of ethno-religious crises in the state, Jang as a bridge builder has reached out to all ethnic groups in the state and involved them in decision making.

‘Jang is for unity’

By Olayinka Oyegbile This, he said, has gone a long way to making all feel a part of the administration.

The governor recently appointed five senior special assistants to relate with residents of the state according to their ethnic groups.

Apart from Ladapo who was appointed as senior special assistant for the South West, others are Anakwe Akuzumu (South East), Ishaku Mohammed Lawal (Hausa)

Umar Salihu Musa (Fulani) and Sunny Iyere for the South South.

Ladapo added that the peace the state is enjoying now has enabled the governor to embark on massive urban renewal that would lift the state from its present level to a new height.

According to him, part of the plan is the New Jos Plan which entails the completion of the long abandoned Jos ultra-modern stadium on Zaria Road and the expansion of the

Palace of the Gbong Gwom Jos. He said this plan has commenced and pledged that all those who are to be displaced by the new projects will be adequately compensated.

He lauded the decision of the governor in appointing non -natives into his administration, saying this is a gesture that should be emulated by other states as a way of strengthening ethnic relations.

He said the essence of the appointment was to allow the appointees liaise with their people to ensure harmony in the state.

News 5 xx Complete

NIPP projects by December, Sambo tells contractors

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ICE President Namadi Sambo on Saturday urged the contractors handling National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) projects to hasten action on meeting the Dec. 2013 deadline for completion.

Sambo gave the directive in Abuja while presiding over a project management meeting of the NIPP. He commended the level of work done by contractors handling the generation projects of the NIPP, saying that most of the projects had been completed while some were at appreciable stages.

He,Xhowever, frowned at the slow pace of work on some transmission projects across the country.

“One of the areas that is now of great challenge is to ensure that we deliver our transmission projects. 2013 is the end year, it is the end year for all NIPP projects; Nigerians must receive the power that we are able to generate, and that is why you have been given this assignment.

“I know we have all prepared our plans to meet this target, but our analysis has shown a lot of weaknesses in most of you and that is why today we will discuss these programmes and come to final understanding and agreements by all of you in ensuring that by Dec. 2013 we have 100 per cent completion of all our transmission projects in the Niger Delta Power Holding Company,’’ he said.

The vice president appreciated the nation’s power generation capacity, saying that as of December last year about 4,517.6 megawatts were injected into the national grid.

He warned that government would not take it lightly with any contractor who failed to meet the target of all the NIPP projects.

While commending those contractors handling the generation projects, Sambo reiterated government’s commitment to the service delivery to Nigerians.

x

Police Colleges: Disquiet over 11-man probe panel

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HERE is disquiet in the Police on account of the 11-man panel set up by the Ministry of Police Affairs to probe the rot in police colleges nationwide.

The disquiet is informed by the intention of the ministry, the same arm of government which Police sources say has been awarding all Police contracts, including those in respect of police colleges.

It was learnt that a sitting Inspector-General of Police has a spending limit of about N10million leaving the police at the mercy of the Ministry of Police Affairs.

Some top police officers and other ranks see the panel as a face-saving measure to shield President Goodluck

From Yusuf Allii, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Jonathan from having firsthand knowledge of how the police colleges are run and the problems facing the force.

They prefer direct intervention or probe of the rot in police colleges by an independent panel raised by the president.

Over N2.046 billion is said to have been spent on police colleges between 2009 and 2012.

The breakdown is as follows: 2009(N700m); 2010(N759m); 2011(N291m); and 2012(N296m) Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the

votes were spent by the Ministry of Police Affairs which is looking into the rot in the police colleges.

It was gathered that the Police Service Commission (PSC) , led by DIG Parry Osayande (rtd) had recommended that the Police Force should be allowed to execute its own projects but the ministry opposed the recommendation.

The crisis over alleged under-funding of the Police informed the agitation for the scrapping of the Ministry of Police Affairs before the Steve Oronsaye Committee on the Restructuring of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

A reliable source, who

spoke in confidence, said: “Left to the police management, all officers and men, they do not want the Ministry of Police Affairs to probe the rot in police colleges. Our people have been querying the rationale behind the setting up of the 11-man investigative panel by the same ministry which had been managing the budget of police colleges.

“Why will a director of Finance in charge of Police budget and disbursement sit in judgment on how the votes for police colleges had been spent?

“Our feeling is that the panel was hurriedly constituted to prove to Mr. President that action has been

taken. Police officers and men want the president to get to the roots of this matter.

“What officers are calling for is an independent investigation by President Goodluck Jonathan to have the true picture of the funding of the Nigeria Police.

“The truth is that Channels Television sought the approval of the police management in doing its story on the Police College in Ikeja but no one knew it would turn out embarrassing like this.”

Another highly-placed source said: “The Presidency should look at how the capital votes for the police were disbursed in the last four years.”

6

My fight with with Jonathan temporary - Dokubo From Shola O’Neil, Warri

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

News

EADER of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo, says the failure of the Jonathan administration to address pressing national issues ,is responsible for his recent public criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan.

But he stressed that more than anything else, the criticism was aimed at spurring the president to perform and not to seek personal benefits.

Dokubo and his fellow ex-militia lords, Ateke Tom and Boyloaf, recently went public with their frustrations with President Jonathan, accusing him of paying lip service to the development of the Niger Delta after riding on the support of the people of the area to office.

There were suggestions in some quarters that the trio were only venting their anger after the Federal Government failed to renew the multi-billion naira contract awarded to some of them in respect of the protection of oil pipelines.

But Dokubo described the report as false, saying: “The president, in the first place, did not award any contract to me; so there is nothing to cancel. My position is based on principle.

“I fought (former President) Olusegun Obasanjo and he did not give me any contract. So why will they say I am fighting President Jonathan because he refused to renew a contract? In the first place, he is not aware of the contract.”

He blamed the allegation on sycophants and said it is nothing but cheap blackmail.

According to him, the President has suddenly become inaccessible thus thwarting efforts to let him resolve the problems of the Niger Delta.

Nevertheless, he said the disagreement with the president is a temporary one, adding: “The President is our brother; we can disagree but that does not mean that we will not reconcile. We are ready to reconcile and stand by our brother.

“As I said, I have nothing personal against the President, but if we try to talk inhouse and that doesn’t work, we can talk openly.”

The NDVF leader also dismissed suggestions that the face-off could affect President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition, stressing that when the time is right his kinsmen would unite behind him.

“It is important to tell those who think they can use this opportunity to come between us and scatter us that they are completely mistaken. We will always reconcile,” he added.

He vowed that the people of the region would continue to engage in the struggle for a better deal.

“We have a principled stand and that stand is: what belongs to us we will take by all means.”

He added: “Anybody who takes food from my mouth I will fight him. I have to continue the struggle but how can I continue the struggle when I do not have anything to eat?”

Orji out to print posters in my name-Kalu

NIMET unveils laboratory to boost aviation safety A T

HE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has set up a world-class Instrument Calibration Laboratory (ICL) equipped with latest weather technology to provide accurate and precise weather information for airline operators.

NIMET’s Director General, Dr Anthony Anuforom, disclosed this during a joint press briefing with the Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Nnamdi Udo, at the weekend in Abuja.

Anuforom said: “The significance of ICL is that weather measuring is now done with better weather precision with international acceptance.

...airports commence 24-hr operation soon From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

“Gone were the days when information from weather forecast station was not accurate but with the calibration equipment one can be sure that information from the centre is accurate.”

He assured that with the equipment, all the weather measuring equipment in the country is updated and standardised.

The DG disclosed that the agency had completed the calibration of weather instrument in all the international airports

in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano, stating it will soon be deployed.

The nation’s wind shear equipment, he added, is one of the four in Africa.

Other nations with similar equipment, he hinted, include South Africa, Egypt and Kenya.

He pointed out that what is left is for the country to get ISO 9000 to certify that all weather instruments conform to international best practice.

He added that other African countries can come into the country to calibrate their weather instruments, which would generate additional

revenues for the country.

Explaining why many European countries want to fly through the nation’s airspace, The NAMA boss stated that Nigeria has one of the safest airspaces in Africa.

Udo disclosed that the agency is working towards acquiring a new technology that would allow pilots access weather information on their operation board as it’s being observed from weather stations.

He also gave on hint that all airports in the country would soon start 24- hour operation based on demand by operators.

former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Kalu, has alleged plans by his successor, Chief Theodore Orji, and some of his aides to blackmail him by printing and pasting presidential campaign posters in his name ahead of the 2015 election.

Kalu, in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewunmi, dissociated himself form such posters.

He said any poster proclaiming him as having declared for the presidency remains the handiwork of political enemies, who have become more desperate in the last few weeks.

Kalu said they perfected plans to roll out the posters all over the South East with the major aim of putting a clog in the wheel of the reconciliation efforts of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and create confusion in the party.

Kalu stated that he is not seeking any political office and does not need anybody to sponsor the printing and pasting of his posters.

He said since Orji could not stop his re-admission into the PDP, he had adopted deceitful antics and actions to cause confusion between him and the leadership of the party.

He advised the governor to face reality and stop chasing shadows.

He re-assured the leadership of PDP, party stalwarts, political supporters, associates and friends that no amount of blackmail will distract him from contributing positively to the PDP at all levels.

Martins dedicates church

By Joe Agbro Jr.

•Ekiti State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi with visiting Consul General, Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Walter Von Den Driesch, during a business dinner in Ado-Ekiti... at the weekend

Jonathan advocates private sector, universities cooperation

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged the private sector “to join hands with the Federal Government in forging partnerships with the universities in funding for research and scholarships” to improve education in the country.

Speaking at the 42nd convocation of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Jonathan also called on alumni of universities to provide greater support for

From Chris Oji, Enugu

their schools, citing examples of leading foreign universities.

According to him: “Alumni groups are strengthening long-standing relationships with their alma mater and contributing to their growth and development. ”Yale and Harvard alumni contribute over 27% of the budgets of their alma mater.”

The Executive Secretary of

the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof.

Julius Okojie, represented Jonathan at the convocation where Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, led the roll of four persons inducted as honorary alumni.

Anyim received the Doctor of Laws honoris causa while Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega,

Rural electrification: Contractors seek stoppage of new contracts

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HE Association of Rural Electrification Contractors of Nigeria (ARECN) has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to stop further award of rural electrification project contracts across the country until on-going ones are completed.

It also announced plans to complete all on-going rural electrification projects in record time.

The group, which is responsible for about 1,600 rural electrification projects across the country,

From Dele Anofi, Abuja

expressed support for the power sector reforms.

The National Chairman of the association, Chineme Obiako, in a statement after the first executive council meeting in Abuja, explained that the temporary stoppage of new rural electrification project contracts ”is the only means through which the transformation agenda in the power sector could be achieved.”

He added: “It is our be-

lief that if all necessary machinery is put in motion to ensure early completion of all ongoing projects, it will definitely bring the dividends of democracy such as rural development, rural transformation, wealth creation, employment opportunities and security among others.”

He appealed to the Federal Ministry of Finance to assist in capturing all ongoing rural electrification projects nationwide in the 2013 supplementary budget.

received the Doctor of Public Administration honoris causa.

The founding Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Fola Adeola, and Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, bagged the honour of Doctor of Business Administration.

Jonathan told the awardees to be proud of the honour from UNN, saying: “It is a thing of pride that one of Nigeria’s oldest and largest universities has found you deserving of its most prestigious award.”

He added: “I believe this honour will not only strengthen your relationship with this university, but will also enhance your contributions to national development.”

UNN Vice Chancellor, Prof Bartho Okolo, said the institution had continued to grow its postgraduate enrolment with the 1, 730 graduands representing a 38% increase from previous session.

He added that UNN has become a centre of international exchange of faculty and students, with the signing of MOU with 40 reputable institutions in different parts of the world.

T

HE Archbishop of Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev Dr Alfred Martins, yesterday, led members of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Agege for the dedication of their new cathedral.

He was accompanied by the Vicar General of the Archdiocese Msgr. Aniagu, the parish priest Rev. Fr. Anthony Eboh, as well as priests from different dioceses of Lagos and outside.

The church members, who looked resplendent in the brown Ankara uniform, turned out en-masse to witness the dedication of the building, which started three years ago.

Leading the sanctification ceremony, which included sprinkling the church with holy water, lighting of incense as well as arrangement and beautification of the altar with flowers, Martins urged members to continue to be steadfast.

He also urged members “to use this building not only for worship, not only for prayers for ourselves, but also for prayers for our nation and also for prayers for other people.”

The new church, which has a capacity to accommodate 3, 000 worshipper is fully air-conditioned, replaces the old building used since 1980.

The reception, which was chaired by Mr. Jimi Agbaje, chairman of Jaykay Pharmacy Limited, attracted federal and state legislators and other dignitaries.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

News

???????in Projects Anambra amazing, says Maku

Ogun civil servants saving scheme hits N208.8m

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

O

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HE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Labaran Maku, yesterday, at a town hall meeting at the end his Good Governance Tour of Anambra State, described as amazing the number and quality of projects that the government of Anambra State, under Governor Peter Obi, has executed in the state.

The minister commended what Obi is doing in education, the partnership with the Church and other voluntary organisations as a model worthy of emulation. He, however, tasked Obi to conduct the local government election since democracy is incomplete with only democracy at the state and federal levels of the three tiers of government.

Speaking at the Women Development Centre, Awka, venue of the town hall meeting, Maku said that the government of Obi had distinguished itself not just in the magnitude of projects he has executed, but more significantly in the even development of the projects down to the remotest parts of the state.

His words:”The governor has moved away from common practice of concentrating projects in the towns and has reached areas of the state that were neglected by past governments and has opened up the entire state with impressive network of roads and projects cutting across all sectors.”

Describing Obi’s tenure as Anambra’s glorious moment, Maku said, ‘he had restored civility, stability and honour to Anambra State due to his vision punctuated by humility.’

NEMA advises ??????? residents of pipeline vandalisation sites

T

HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has advised Nigerians who live around the areas affected by the spilling of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) against inhaling the product.

The agency, in a press statement signed by Ibrahim Farinloye, Information Officer, NEMA South West, Lagos, said, “This warning became necessary as a result of distressed calls from residents of Oluwole Bisiriyu street, Ilori Coker crescent, Kayode Williams Estate and Akute-Do area in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, over the pollution of fresh air as a result of pipeline vandalisation.”

The residents complained of serious stomach upset, nausea and coughing.

NEMA, on getting the alert, mobilised the safety personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The affected pipeline is located under the Ogun River and residents of these areas are strongly enjoined to avoid consumption and usage of the river-water now.

7

•Gov. Peter Obi (right) with the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, and others during the Good Governance Tour of Anambra State, recently

Amnesty programme ends 2015, says Kuku T

HE Federal Government yesterday announced that the Presidential Amnesty Programme will end in 2015, in consonance with the fiveyear plan inherited from the Yar’Adua Administration

by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kinsley Kuku, told reporters in Lagos that the five-year time frame will not be extended, stressing that the programme was initiated as a terminal programme. He said the number of targeted militants, which would have risen to 30,000 by 2015, would not be increased.

Kuku disclosed that an ad hoc amnesty committee chaired by Air Vice Marshall Guem is verifying the claims by some people in the South South that they have laid down their arms, adding

By Emmanuel Oladesu

that when these claims are properly verified, these arms must be destroyed. The Special Adviser gave the programme a pass mark, saying that it has restored peace to the troubled zone.

He said: “Between 2007 and 2009, oil production output was as low as 680, 000 barrels per day. It was alarming.

It was disturbing. Chevron, Total EF, Texaco were moving out of Nigeria to Angola and Ghana. Monthly allocations to the Niger Delta states dropped, due to the crisis caused by the agitators. Today, Amnesty Programme has restored peace to the Niger Delta states. Allocations to the states have also increased.”

The Special Adviser warned unemployed youths in the Niger Delta and other unscrupulous elements against mounting pressures on the Federal Government to accommodate them in the

programme beyond the last phase. Kuku said: “Anybody who wants to force the hand of government to accommodate him beyond this phase will have a date with the law enforcement agents.”

However, he emphasised that the issues that compelled the ex-agitators led by Tom Akete, Tompolo and others to disrupt oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Niger Delta have not been resolved. He said the issues include the abandoned EastWest Road, lack of schools and universities in the rural Niger Delta, environmental degradation, and collapsed infrastructure in the oil-producing states, and lack of opportunities for participation in the exploration, exploitation and management of oil business.

Kuku noted that ex-militants who have opted for academic programmes in tertiary institutions would still be in school, when the cur-

tains are drawn on the amnesty programme. He suggested that responsibility for their funding should be taken over by other relevant government agencies, including the Federal Ministry of Education, Education Tax Fund (ETF) and Federal Scholarship Board.

Kuku also urged the Niger Delta states to evolve alternative youth and women empowerment programmes to engage restless youths protesting unemployment and other problems in post-amnesty period.

He added: “The terminal nature of this programme was made clear. A five-year plan was approved. It must terminate in 2015. However, the country may review the programme so that, if the activities are not ended, they can be continued by other agencies of government. But Nigerians must know that this programme must end in 2015.”

GUN State Civil Servants Savings Scheme, an arm of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Ogun State branch, has disclosed that its members’ fund has risen from N187.3m to N208.8m as at December 2011 while net asset is put at N227.2m during the same period under review.

It explained why the Scheme’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2011 accounting year was delayed till January this year, saying the account book could not be prepared because the past administration of Governor Gbenga Daniel failed to remit funds it deducted from members’ salarier to the fund manager.

Speaking at the weekend in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during its AGM, the association’s Chairman, Com. Fajobi Olubunmi, said the Savings scheme faced hard times during Daniel’s era but added that relief came the way of the Scheme when the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun offset the unremitted fund in 2012.

The Nation gathered that “members’ contributions for four months, totalling N27, 263, 792.41, was not remitted into the scheme’s account by the immediate past administration.”

Olubunmi said: “We had some problems within the system and not the association. I mean the unpaid remittances of the civil servant by the state government in 2011.

Of course we had this paid by the new governor in 2012 and that delayed the preparation of the account for the 2011.

“With the receipt of that fund now, we are able to prepare our account for 2011 and made it available to our members and that is why we are holding our AGM for 2011 in 2013 but we have promised our members that things will get better now.”

Group tasks new Ohanaeze boss on Igbo unity

Road accidents, leading cause of deaths in Nigeria - Shell MD T T

Emmanuel Udodinma

HE Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mutiu Sunmonu, has identified road accidents as the leading cause of death among 10 to 19-year olds in Nigeria.

He also disclosed that Africa had the overall highest rate of preventable deaths, while unintentional injuries were the leading cause of childhood death, after the age of nine.

Sunmonu spoke at the finals of the National Safety Quiz Competition and Awards Ceremony for Senior Secondary Schools, yesterday at the Hotel Presi-

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

dential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, organised by SPDC, in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

He noted that road accidents were also the leading cause of child disability, followed by drowning, burns, falls and poisoning, with lives being lost needlessly.

Across Nigeria, 617 schools participated in the quiz, with Ebunoluwa International School, Ofatedo, Osun State, emerging first, followed by Community Secondary School, Ngwo-Uno, Enugu, while the third position went to Immaculate Conception School, Bauchi,

with Miss Ifejesu Salam of Ebunoluwa School emerging the overall best candidate.

The managing director of the Anglo/Dutch oil giant, who was represented by the company’s General Manager, Tony Attah, stated that road safety education at every level was necessary in improving the road safety scenario in Nigeria.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, who was represented by a senior official of the ministry, Mrs. Ibrahin Nuhu, in her remarks at the occasion, said education was one of the important priorities of the Federal Government.

The Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Osita Chidoka, who

was represented by the commission’s Assistant Corps Marshal, Zone 6, Yakubu Attah, said the scope of the Rivers State Road Traffic Management Authority (TIMA-RIV) should be expanded.

The National Chief Examiner of the safety quiz, Prof. Sarah Anyanwu, noted that the initiative by SPDC and FRSC had gone beyond a national competition, but part of nation building.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Transport, George Tolofari, condemned indiscipline and lack of road safety consciousness among Nigerians, while warning motorists to avoid driving against traffic.

HE Ohaneze Media Forum, OMF, has hailed the recent election of Chief Gary Nnachi EnwoIgariwey as the President General of the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, the apex socio-cultural group, advising him to ensure the unity of Ndigbo.

According to the body, the election of Chief Gary Nnachi Enwo-Igariwey signals a new dawn in the affairs of Ndigbo, considering his wealth of experience in the affairs of Ndigbo, which he has championed over the years.

In a communiqué jointly signed by Peter Anosike and Ngozi Emedolibe, President and Secretary respectively, the forum, while restating that he is the man for the job, also tasked the new helmsman on the area of uniting Ndigbo, describing the task as the first step towards achieving the desired progress in the land.

News

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CAN crisis: Atilade seeks amicable resolution

By Sunday Oguntola

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HE Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has canvassed for peaceful resolution of the grievances that led the Catholic Secretariat to suspend relations with the body at the national level last week.

He said blocs within the umbrella Christian organisation must learn to tolerate themselves and address differences without rocking the boat.

Atilade, who was reacting to the Catholic Church’s suspension of relations with CAN at the national level, described the development as most unfortunate and undesirable.

He said such actions are capable of emasculating ecumenical efforts and further tearing Christians apart.

According to him: “It is a very unfortunate development.

The motive for the formation of CAN is for all us to be one. That is in danger now with this development; it can never make us stronger.”

The cleric, who is also the Chairman of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) South West region, said no stone should be left unturned to address the grievances of the Catholic Church.

He also faulted the reaction of The Public Relations Officer of the 19 Northern States of CAN and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe, on the development, saying allegations that the Catholic Church is arrogant and domineering are unfounded.

According to him: “I dissociate myself and the CAN South West region from the allegation that the Catholic Secretariat is arrogant and always seeking to dominate.

“We feel that it is an unfortunate response. Nobody should do or say anything that will exacerbate the situation.

He added that nobody should disparage the Catholic Mission, which he described as the mother of all churches.

Traders hail Lagos council for reopening market

By Eric Ikhilae

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RADERS at the AgricCoker building materials and related products market in Ifelodun Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), Lagos yesterday thanked the council’s authorities for reopening the market shut on January 14.

The market was shut over poor sanitary condition.

It was reopened last Thursday after a meeting where the traders agreed to ensure the market was always neat.

They also promised to comply with the state’s environment sanitation laws.

Most of the traders lamented the negative impact of the 11-day closure on their businesses but thanked the government for reopening the market.

The President, United Marble and Allied Products Dealers Association, Charles Umezinne, told The Nation that it was also agreed that the closure was not to punish the traders but intended to ensure that the market environment was without filth.

Ani said the traders have entered into agreement with the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for refuse disposal.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Mali: Aregbesola blames military officers T

Ogun PDP dispels alleged suspension

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SUN State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has condemned the military officers in Mali that toppled the democratically elected government in the West African nation.

He linked the military incursion in country’s polity almost a year ago to the unprecedented rise of insurgency in the country.

The governor spoke at a civic reception in honour of the retired Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, and former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Muhammed Dikko Umar, in Osogbo at the weekend.

He called for professionalism in the military, saying there was no reason whatsoever for soldiers to seize power in any part of Africa.

Aregbesola said: “Last year, a tragedy befell democracy in Africa again when a

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

group of mis-adventurists in Mali toppled a democratically elected government.

“This was an unconscionable and mindless attempt to once again drag a nation and a continent back to the dark ages.

“Whereas, every nation goes through its own troubled times. But this does not call for the subversion of democratic process in such country. Subversion is simply an invitation to anarchy, chaos and destruction.

“We as a people and lover of democracy, called on African leaders to speak with one voice by restoring democracy in Mali. Not only that, Captain Sanogo and his group of tragic adventurists must forthwith be court-marshalled for their heinous act.

“It is sad that Sanogo is still walking freely today and in fact, still a serving officer in the Malian Army. The punishment must be total so as to discourage further intervention in democratic process on the continent.”

He urged military men to consider themselves thorough professionals, saying the allegiance they swore to is to defend the territorial integrity of their nation.

The governor said Petinrin and Umar are some of the finest officers of the nation’s military, noting they brought the kind of elegance almost lacking before they assumed office.

He said he was proud to be associated with these officers for their sterling performances in the course of serving their country.

Aregbesola saluted officers and men of the Nigerian Army

for their commitment to the defence and protection of democracy.

Petinrin said Aregbesola is indeed a working governor, who is deeply interested in the progress of the state.

He commended the governor for his swift response in paying compensation to the people of Ipetu-Ijesha, whose land Federal Government used in building Air Force Schools.

“Aregbesola is an action governor. He is always interested in the growth and progress of Osun.

“He runs a nationalist government. He recognises good performance. This is why he is honouring a man from Kano in the person of Air Marshal Umar,” he said.

The elated Umar thanked the government and the people of the state for considering him and Petinrin worthy of honour.

HE Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Engr.

Adebayo Dayo has dismissed reports of the purported expulsion and suspension of some of its chieftains.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abeokuta by the Publicity Secretary, Mr. Waliu Oladipupo, the party described the move as “of no consequence whatsoever, especially coming from some outlaws who have since been suspended by the only recognised and authentic State Working Committee (SWC).”

It added: “The Federal High Court in Lagos had in judgment delivered on 16th November, 2012, nullified the purported congress that they conducted, ordered their arrest and prosecution for holding themselves out as officers of the party in Ogun State.

“This was sequel to two judgments delivered by an Ogun State High Court sitting in Ilaro which on 19th June and 3rd August, 2012 affirmed our Exco as the authentic management body for the party in the state and nullified the list of candidates submitted for the 21st July, 2012 council election in Ogun State by these impostors.

“It should be recalled that the authentic State Working Committee had on Thursday, 8th November 2012 , suspended Maj.-Gen. Adetunji Olurin (retd), Senator Dipo Odujinrin, one Dapo Adeyemi, Hon. Bode Mustapha and one Yahaya Ahmed, from the party for anti-party activities.”

It vowed to press contempt charges against Odujinrin and others, while urging party members to be focused and continue to work in the overall interest of the party.

RCCG prays for bankers, accountants, others

By Adeola Ogunlade

L-R: Member, House of Representatives, Chief Ogbuefi Ozongbachi; Chairman, Godfrey Okoye University Capital Projects Campaign team, Msgr Obiora Ike; Vice Chancellor, Godfrey Okoye University, Prof. Christian Anieke and Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, at the launch of the campaign in Enugu … yesterday

STF nabs man with five human heads

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HE Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crises code named “Operation Safe Haven” has arrested a suspect in possession of five human heads allegedly hidden inside the ceiling of his room in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state.

The task force also arrested three other suspects with illegal fire arms.

The arrests followed rumours that human parts have become essential commodities in the troubled communities.

The spokesman of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, who paraded the suspects at the STF’s Headquarters in Jos yesterday, said: “On the 25th January 2013 at about 4:30am, the Special Task Force (STF) personnel conducted series of cor-

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

don and search operations within and around Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state.

“During the search operations, two suspects were ar-

rested; one of them was arrested in possession of five human skull tucked inside the ceiling of his room while the second suspect had two rounds of 7.62mm (special) in a suck- away behind his residence.”

How to check social tensions, by Alaafin

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HE Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, has declared that the much-needed peace, harmony and progress in the country may remain elusive until those saddled with governance become committed to justice and fairness.

The paramount ruler stated this when he received the Arewa Community in the South-West who paid him a

From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

sympathy visit over the fire incident that gutted parts of his palace.

The Alaafin stated: “for our tower as a nation to be above the landscape of social order, economic revival, political transition, scientific advancement, technological breakthrough and educational progress, people must

Kidnappers free Indian hostages

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IVE Indian sailors kidnapped over a month ago in the Niger Delta have been released by their abductors.

The sailors were seized on December 17 by pirates who stormed their ship, the SP Brussels, about 64 kilometers off the

Though Mustapha did not confirm if the human heads were fresh or preserved, he said: “During preliminary investigations, the suspect denied having knowledge of the human skulls in his ceiling where it was discovered.”

coast of the Niger Delta.

The men were in good health after their release and received medical checkups before being flown back to India, according to Martin Baxendale, spokesman for the ship’s operator, Medallion Marine.

“Medallion Marine

wishes to express their admiration for the crew and their families who have shown great courage and fortitude throughout this very difficult situation,” Baxendale.

He declined to comment on the exact circumstances of the sailors’ release.

be governed with sincerity of purpose, fear of God and honesty of intension.

“Otherwise, there will continue to be uproar, anger, and the much needed-peace, unity and stability will remain a problem unresolved.”

He noted that the Hausa Community has been living harmoniously in Oyo metropolis for several decades without let or hindrance, adding that this mutual relationship and understanding made him to appoint a ruler for the Hausa Community.

The leader of the community, Hajia Ramatu Lawal, described the Alaafin as an “epitome of justice, honesty, peace and progress”.

She added that his invaluable contributions towards national cohesion, progress and development are unequalled.

T

HE Redeemed Christian Church of God, Throne of Grace Headquarters Parish Lagos, will hold a special prayer for bankers, accountants and auditors on next Sunday.

The Assistant Pastor- inCharge of the church, Pastor Goke Aniyeloye, told reporters the service tagged Divine Treasurer will attract bankers, financial experts, auditors, accountants and policy makers in private and public institutions from different parts of the country.

Aniyeloye said despite economic hardship facing the country, God is still in the business of making divine treasurers of those that will trust Him. According to him: “We live in a world of uncertainties. Economic predictions by experts have failed and businesses have collapsed.

Banks have failed and gone underground but God can still turn things around for good for us”.

He lamented that many bankers’ accountants and auditors have been retrenched and roaming the streets in search of jobs.

He assured God will settle them at the service, stating: “God needs divine treasurers who can be trusted to help manage the financial resources He has committed into their hands for the upkeep of the nation”.

NEWS REVIEW

9

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

•Some of the damaged buildings

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EAR, anxiety and uncertainty have gripped the people of Ndiagu Amagu Community in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and the Adadama people of Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State following the renewed hostility between the two communities over a piece of land that has been in dispute for more than a century.

Since the dispute erupted between the two neighbouring communities, lives have been lost, people have been maimed and several properties worth billions of naira destroyed.

While the National Boundary Commission saddled with the responsibility of demarcating the land is yet to come out with its plan, the people have continued to suffer untold hardship as women, children, youths and the elderly in the two communities have deserted their homes while the boundary areas declared buffer zone with youths of the two communities keeping watch to avoid attack from either of the two parties.

Most unfortunate is the fact that the security operatives sent to ensure peace in the area, stayed several kilometres away from the crisis area. Security presence is not felt anywhere near the border areas and this has given rise to the constant attacks and hostility in the border area.

When The Nation visited the border area, security personnel declined to accompany the media to the buffer zone. It was learnt that since the security personnel could not guarantee the security of lives and properties of the people there, the community took it upon itself to safeguard what it sees as its territorial area.

At Ndiche Umuomara Community in Ikwo Local Government Area, one of the villages alleged to have been attacked by the people of Adadama community, more than 45 houses were destroyed, while the people have all deserted the place. Women can no longer farm

Brothers

at war

Ebonyi and Cross River States communities are up in war over a piece of land. OGBONNAYA OBINNA, who visited the disputed areas, writes while those who fish at the different ponds in the area recounted their losses. It has become a great concern to them, when the crisis would end and peace restored in the area.

At the epicentre Residents describe the conflict as worrisome and unfortunate. They attributed the continued hostility in the area to the inability of the National Boundary Commission to justify the huge resources the Federal Government is spending on the agency. According to them, the trading of blames between the governments of Cross River and Ebonyi States will not bring a lasting solution to the problem.

They called for immediate round table discussion to resolve the crisis.

Mrs. Caroline Uguru, 67, in an emotion laden voice regretted the renewed hostility between the two warring communities. "It is unfortunate that this is happening; we have been living with the Adadama people for more than 100 years now. Though there have been skirmishes between the two communities, it has never taken this dimension.

Our children are being abducted every year and killed, houses burnt. Our people and the

Adadama people after the war that was fought several years back came together and had a traditional agreement that none of us would kill, maim or destroy the property of each other.

"Today because of the continued provocation from the people of Adadama, our youths can no longer fold their hands and watch while their parents, relations and siblings are abducted and were never seen again. We no longer sleep with our two eyes closed likewise the people of Adadama because each of the community is suspicious of each other. The question on the lips of many people today is will this war ever end?"

Mr. Ukwa Nwankwo, the Chairman Ndiche Umuomara community while recounting his ordeal said,"we can no longer fish in our pond, our women can no longer go to the farm without being abducted." He denied allegations killings by his people.

However, the Ebonyi State Government has described as barbaric and callous the abduction of eight indigenes of Ndiagi Amegu Ikwo, in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state. The Deputy Governor and

Chairman State Boundary Committee, Chief Dave Umahi, said that apart from the houses razed in Ndiche Umuomara community, 45 others were torched by youths of Adadama community when they invaded Ochuenyim village and also abducted two persons.

He noted that the lackadaisical attitude of the Cross River State Government led to the renewed hostilities in the border areas adding that several letters have been written to the Cross River State Deputy Governor for a meeting to resolve the crisis without any response.

According to him; "The genesis of the recent hostility could be traced to November 23, 2011 when some irate youths from Adadama attacked a team of consultants working on a World Bank Assisted erosion management project at Ndiagu Amegu Ikwo. The Adadama youths arrested the workers and seized their equipment. When I got the information, I promptly alerted the Deputy Governor of Cross River State via a letter dated 23rd November 2011 while the workers and their equipment were later released."

On the whole eight persons

from Ndiagu Amagu Ikwo have been abducted since the beginning of the year.

The Ebonyi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth leader, Chinedu Ogah, an indigene of the area, said that between August last year and January this year, four indigenes of Ndiagu Amagu community had been abducted.

According to him; "They attacked our community recently and abducted a woman and a boy, inflicted gunshot wounds on our people and burnt several houses.

This recent abduction incident was the sixth from the Adadama community since August last year, all those abducted in the past have not been seen" The Chairman Ikwo Local Government Area, Mr. Celestine Igberi, said that he was initially in touch with the Chairman of Abii Local Government Area on how best to resolve the matter adding that the people of Adadama use engine boats to cross over to NdeaguAmagu side and attack the people.

Ebonyi State Governor Chief Martin Elechi urged the displaced indigenes to return to their homes, as adequate preparations have been made for their security. "Try and maintain peace and identify strangers among you, as we look into the matter," he assured. He said the state government will soon meet with Cross River State to proffer lasting solution, noting that it cannot rely on only one account of the story.

He appealed to the security officials posted to the area not to take sides but ensure that peace and order returns. "Know it that there is no war between Ebonyi and Cross River states but misunderstanding between individuals and communities, as you should ensure that there is no fracas but maintain peace."

The governor was accompanied on the visit by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Mamman Sule.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

News Review/World

10 workers die in Russia building fire

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fire ripped through a new Moscow building's underground parking lot yesterday, killing 10 migrant workers and injuring 13 others who had been working and living there, city police said.

All those who died were citizens of Tajikistan, Moscow police said in a statement. It said they were killed after a garbage heap on the floor they were working on caught fire, but the cause of the blaze itself was under investigation.

Several million migrants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan - former Soviet republics that are now Central Asian nations - have come to Moscow in search of work. While many are employed in the city's burgeoning construction industry, many work and even live on sites with nonexistent safety standards.

30 die in Egypt riot after soccer A violence verdict T least 30 people have died in Port Said, officials say, in clashes sparked by the sentencing to death of 21 local people over football riots in Egypt.

Supporters of the defendants tried to storm the prison holding them and attacked police stations.

The 21 were sentenced over riots which killed 74 people after a football game at Port Said stadium last February.

Yesterday's violence follows a day of unrest on the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's national defence council, which is headed by President Mohammed Morsi, has condemned the violence and called for dialogue, saying it would consider declaring a curfew in affected areas if necessary.

The unrest was the latest in a bout of violence that has left a total of 38 people dead in two days, including 11 killed in clashes between police and protesters

marking Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew long-time leader Hosni Mubarak.

President Morsi cancelled a scheduled trip to Ethiopia yesterday and instead met for the first time with top generals as part of the newly formed National Defense Council.

The violence in Port Said erupted after a judge sentenced 21

Suicide bomber kills 12 in Afghanistan

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T LEAST 12 people were killed in bombings around Afghanistan yesterday, including 10 policemen who died when a suicide bomber driving a motorcycle blew himself up in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, officials said.

Kunduz provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Husseini said the policemen, including the head of the provincial counterterrorism department and the traffic police chief, were killed at an intersection in Kunduz city. He said 14 other policemen and five civilians were wounded in the explosion.

Saad Mukhtar, the head of the Kunduz health department, confirmed the death toll.

Earlier yesterday, a remotecontrolled bomb planted on a bicycle exploded, killing one police officer and one civilian in the eastern city of Ghazni. Provincial police chief, Gen. Zirawer Zahid, said another five people were wounded.

Militants clash in Pakistan, 24 killed

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WO Islamic militant groups clashed yesterday over control of a prized valley in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens more, officials said. Arshad Khan of the Khyber tribal region said the fighting between the two Islamic militant groups began Friday in Tirah valley, near the Afghan border, when the militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, captured the base of another militant group, Ansarul Islam. Ansarul Islam tried to retake the base and fighting continued yesterday.

The Pakistani military has been battling a stubborn insurgency in northwest Pakistan in rugged tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The remote valley, tucked in mountainous terrain, is highly valued by militant groups as a base of operations. It's difficult for the Pakistani military to enter the area, which allows militants easy access to Afghanistan and other tribal areas of Pakistan.

•Egyptian protesters run for cover after throwing stones towards riot police during a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square yesterday.

AFP Photo

FrenchforcestakeMaliairport,bridgeinGao

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RENCH forces have taken control of the airport and a key bridge in the radical Islamist stronghold of Gao, the French defense minister said yesterday, marking a significant inroad into the heart of territory held by the al-Qaida-linked extremists.

The move comes just two weeks after France launched its military offensive to rout the Islamists from power in northern Mali. It is unclear what kind of resistance they will face in the coming days.

The Islamists first seized control of Gao and two other provincial capitals - Timbuktu and Kidal - in April last year during the chaotic aftermath of a coup in the distant capital.

French Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian announced in a statement that jihadist fighters who encountered the advancing French and Malian troops "saw their means of transport and their logistics sites destroyed."

The French and Malian forces launched the air and land operation to take Gao's bridge and airport under the cover of darkness overnight, said Col. Thierry Burkhard, a French military spokesman in Paris.

French and Malian forces came under fire in the morning from rebels in Gao and continued to face sporadic "acts of harassment" in the afternoon, Burkhard said. He had no immediate estimate available on casualties.

Phone networks have been down in Gao for days, making it nearly impossible to independently corroborate what is going on in the town.

Gao has been under the control of the al-Qaida-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad, or MUJAO, for months.

On Friday in a show of might, the Islamists destroyed a bridge near the Niger border with explosives, showing that the extremists still remain a nimble and daunting enemy.

Since France began its military operation two weeks ago with a barrage of airstrikes followed by a land assault, the Islamists have retreated from three cities in central Mali: Diabaly, Konna and Douentza.

The Islamists, though, have maintained control of the majority of the territory in Mali's north, most importantly the cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

The announcement that Gao's airport had been taken marked the first official confirmation that French and Malian forces had reached the city. Previously the closest they had been was Hombori, a town some 250 kilometers away.

The French currently have about 2,500 forces in the country and have said that they will stay as long as needed in Mali, a former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts.

people to death in connection with the Feb. 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

All the defendants - who were not present in the courtroom yesterday for security reasons - can appeal the verdict.

Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he read out the verdicts for 21 out of the 73 defendants yesterday. The verdict for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, is scheduled to be delivered March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers.

Die-hard soccer fans from both teams, known as Ultras, hold the police at least partially responsible for February's violence, which was the world's worst soccer violence in 15 years, saying officers at the game did nothing to stop the bloodshed.

They also criticize Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi for doing little to reform the police force or the judiciary since he took office in July.

The opposition says Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, and his Muslim Brotherhood allies in government have failed to restore stability amid continued political turmoil and crime, and point to a worsening economy.

In a statement yesterday, the main opposition National Salvation Front said it holds Morsi responsible for "the excessive use of force by the security forces against protesters."

They threatened to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections if Morsi does not meet their demands that include amending articles in the new constitution.

The Brotherhood said in its statement that "misleading" media outlets were to blame for "enflaming the people's hatred for the current regime and urging them to act violently."

Immediately after yesterday's verdict was read live on state TV, two policemen were shot dead outside Port Said's main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd outside the prison.

In other parts of the city, residents tried to storm the governor's office, police stations, the power station and the main court building. Residents occupied one police station in the east of Port Said.

The director of hospitals in Port Said, Dr. Abdel-Raham Farah, said two local soccer players were shot to death as they were apparently on their way to practice. He identified them as Mahmoud Abdel-Halim alDizawi, who played for the city's AlMarikh club, and Tamer al-Fahla, who used to play for the city's main Al-Masry team. Al-Diwazi was shot three times, the doctor said. The club they were training at is near the prison that residents tried to storm.

The military was deployed in Port Said to try to restore security, but assaults continued into the evening. The army was widely used to keep order by top generals who took over after Hosni Mubarak, but the military has kept a much lower profile since Morsi was elected.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

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N January 21, America celebrated the inauguration of President Obama's second term.

It also honored Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. Irony wafted through the cold winter's air on that day while the law of unintended consequences stood at the substantive confluence of the two events. King was the cardinal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Without King and the Movement, there is no President Obama. Thus, Obama's presidency represents a fulfillment. At this level of analysis, the spirit of Dr. King must be elated. The fact of an Obama White House recommends the notion America has progressed closer to where a person is judged by the content of his character and not the hue of his skin.

King would naturally be glad the commitment to which he devoted his life was not done in vain.

Following this train of analysis, Obama's second inauguration may be more meaningful than his first, albeit less dramatic. Heading into the 2008 election, he seemed imbued with something special. Normally staid, wizened observers went giddy and started drooling about that transformative historical figure who graces life's stage once in a generation, for those generations sufficiently fortunate to witness such a personage. His very rhetoric and excellent flair at set-piece public addresses underscored the mystique of the epochal man.

The subsequent four years of governance revealed Obama to be less than advertised. In this instance, less means more. Had he been the preternatural leader of brewing myth his reelection would have been guaranteed. That he was a flawed composite made of both glass and stone yet managed to be reelected, is a more instructive tale regarding the evolution of American racial politics.

Throughout his first term, Obama was the calculating, often temporizing, aloft manager of political compromise.

Most of his first-term achievements have question marks not exclamation points beside them. His 787 billion dollar stimulus program prevented economic depression. Yet, it was too modest in amount and flawed in design to push the economy into full drive. Landmark health care reform has become more of a swamp. It was health insurance reform disguised as health care reform and it had an enormous hole in it: the measure did little to contain medical costs. It mandated people to buy insurance and companies not to deny policies to applicants. However, the act shifted costs from the federal government which is able to pay to the general public, many of whom will not be able to sustain policy payments over the long haul.

Most poor people will purchase cheap policies that only offer coverage up to the time the person really needs it. At that point, the distressed person will discover the fine-print in his obtuse policy contains so many harsh conditions that the policy is more an obstacle course than a health care asset.

The custom of insurance companies to annually increase the premium payments on their policies, often by over 10 percent, continues unabated.

On a positive note in national security/foreign policy, President Obama ended America's torture policy and concluded the war in Iraq. However, he expanded America's Afghanistan commitment and brought the nation's unmanned drone bombing program into full maturity. He killed Osama bin Laden. By the time of the assassination, the feared terrorist had crumpled into a decrepit, hollow version of what he had been. Vain and slightly demented, the man struggled to hatch an attack replicating the impact of 9/11. The quixotically sinister dream of another big hit actually rendered him impotent as a leader because he ignored the modest but more easily achieved objectives of localized, daily terror. His execution served to end a subtle power struggle in Al Qaeda, allowing bin Laden's successors to turn the group from a low quantity, high impact hit squad to a spidery network more devoted to smallscale, frequent operations in numerous simultaneously. The activities of the group and its affiliates resurged, but in tinier pieces. In many ways, the world

World/Commenatry

Barack is back •The distance between word and action is that of a hungry man seeing food, yet not being able to eat it.

•Obama

BRIAN BROWNE

is no safer now than it was the minute before bin Laden's demise.

In all, the first-term score card places President Obama in the middle ranks of American presidents. Coming into the 2012 election, he was no longer superman. Obama was clearly an adept politician but a flawed commander-inchief. This should have condemned him to defeat. Fortune shined upon him by providing a relatively weak electoral opponent. To his credit and just at the concluding moments of the campaign, Obama also skillfully rekindled enough of his first campaign's magic to help him prove victorious in the second. Although not always and in all things clearly superior to his opponent, an able black man was elected. This amounts to progress of a sort. At the most elevated level of American politics, a blemished but talented black man could outdraw a blue-blooded, establishment man.

At this level, the second inauguration makes it appear that an important salient has been reached. No longer does a black man have to be nearly infallible to gain the laurels. He still must be better than his opponent but his obvious, even deep flaws no longer disqualify him outright. A black man does not have to be larger than life. He now can be smaller than life. This is both an advance and setback. Only time will determine which is the more dominant aspect of this duality.

Here, we reintroduce Dr. King once again. Popular myth aside, King was not a one-dimensional civil rights crusader who failed to comprehend the wider dimension of things. King never surrendered to the delusion that legal racial would solve all problems in America. Given his opposition to the militarism fueling the Vietnam War and to the sequelae of unregulated capitalism, King saw disease lurking in the very soul of the political economy, an infirmity that integration alone could

not cure. Instead of curing these maladies, King worried the beneficiaries of integration would be infected by them.

Just a few months before his assassination, King fretted Blacks might well be integrating into "a burning house." Here is where the celebration of Obama's inauguration and King's birthday part company as if one were playing a piano where the same key might twice be struck yet play different notes on the two occasions.

President Obama is an obvious symbol of change but not the change Dr. King sought. President Obama plays mainstream politics like a maestro. He has not tried to shake things to bring in the new; he has tried to stabilize matters to keep the old. As such, he has shown a black man can ascend to the penthouse. The only problem is the house is still on fire with him in it.

King would favor a President who endeavored to change the political economy in way that it does not demonize the rich yet equitably strives to realize the interests of the poor. However, Obama has proven beyond the hint of a shadow of doubt that intelligent, ambitious black men can be molded into as dedicated sentinels of the conservative establishment as if born into the stables of the select.

Within the narrow confines the establishment sets for acceptable political discourse and action, the President has been consummate. Rising from the ash of the Democratic Party's abject thrashing in the 2010 congressional elections, Obama turned the tables against the Republicans in two brief years. The Republican Party allowed itself to become positioned to far right by a cackle of extremist conservatives. Seizing the opportunity, Obama pitched tent on the moderate field vacated by the Republicans.

While the 2008 election tossed the Republicans into an extremist tizzy, the 2012 edition has placed them in an exis-

tential quandary. If it remains the reserve of crotchety, rightwing white men, the Republican Party risks being a minority report in presidential elections due to America's changing demographics. Yet, shifting to the center implicitly concedes that Obama outfoxed them politically. It also means they would have to temper their strident opposition to everything he attempts.

Ironically, had they agreed with his 2011 deficit reduction scheme, the axe the plan proposed was so heavy and blunt; the damage caused to the political economy would have cost Obama the election. Blinded by multiple hatreds, Republicans refused to hand the President the tool by which he would have amputated his electoral hopes.

Given the Republican confusion and the shift of the Democratic Party to areas once occupied by Republican moderates, President Obama has singular honor of altering the souls of both parties and thus the contour of American politics for the foreseeable future.

Again, Obama has proven to be more adept at political strategy than in the art of actual governance. (Given the poverty of skill of other American political figures, at least Obama is excellent at something!)

Similar to President Clinton, Obama has staked out positions in social policy, economic policy and national security in ways that minimizes political opposition. Whether the policies are salubrious to the long-term national interests is another matter.

Regarding social policy, Obama claims the liberal ideal. His inauguration speech backed gay rights, gun control and innovative climate change policy. Bridging the gap between social policy and economic policy, he stood in steadfast support of equal distaff pay. (That opponents to equal pay for women still exists in significant numbers shows the stubbornness of prejudice. Even in the best-tended garden, weeds exist.) By adhering to these social policies, Obama has wedged liberals in a tight box. They want to preserve his political muscle and goodwill so that he can push these social issues.

Thus, they will refrain from grappling with him on other issues. This provides him a free hand to follow his innate conservatism on economics. Consequently, the most important economic point in his inaugural address was about deficit reduction notwithstanding that deficit reduction will impair economic growth during a period when the

11

economy is still slack. His position flatly contravenes traditional Democratic Party values and the Keynesian economics upon which they are based.

The President seems more a follower of conservative economists like Milton Friedman or Friedrich Hayek. Thus, he hired a Republican, Timothy Geithner, as Treasury Secretary for the first term.

This time he handed the position to Jack Lew, someone who ought to be a Republican.

Regarding foreign policy, the inauguration speech stated, that because it is the most powerful, America has a larger stake in peace than any other nation. The sentiment may be uplifting but its logic needs remedial care.

Weaker nations are most interested in peace but less likely to find it. The most powerful nation is rarely a peace-monger unless peace on its terms and imposed by force of arms if needed. Powerful states are more attuned to tossing ordnance and their weight around to get what they want. Despite the peaceful rhetoric and the rejection of perpetual war, Obama appointed John Brennan as CIA Director. Brennan has been a major architect in changing the CIA from an intelligence unit into a paramilitary organization. He supported torturing terror suspects and is the lead apostle of drone bombing which is tactically effective at killing people but a failure in achieving the strategic objective of pacifying the targeted areas and groups. With Brennan at the CIA's helm, Obama likely has enlisted in the perpetual war his inaugural address rejected.

As an oratorical device, the inaugural address was of high quality, solidifying the President's status as one of America's best at delivering a prepared address. As a political vehicle, the address was cleverly fashioned to place him on footing akin to that achieved by President Clinton coming into his second term in 1996. The speech appealed to every section of the electorate except the far right - the soul of the Republican Party. Had he given himself more time to speak, he might have discovered an issue upon which they could find common ground. By locating common ground with almost every other important constituency on at least one issue, Obama has placed himself at the center of America's political universe. While he holds the commanding position, the danger exists that this universe might collapse atop him if too many missteps are made.

As a concept paper for the next four years of governance, the speech was less than met the ear. On social policy, progress on gay rights is possible but this will only directly benefit a relatively small number of people. While the issue is leavened with human rights and religious significance, the vast majority of Americans will not feel any direct consequence. Meanwhile, widespread gun control reform will be a step too far. Obama just wanted to announce it as an aim to excite the liberals; he does not want to push the issue too strenuously in fear of uniting and inciting conservatives against him. In this vein, progressive climate change policy is two steps too far. Little will come of it except the temperature rise caused by the hot air generated by empty political talk. Regarding foreign policy/ national security, America will plow the same road of mishap after incident after disaster that it has plowed for decades. While it states abhorrence to war, America will walk the globe with clenched teeth, balled fist and a short, intolerant fuse. The war against terrorism will expand yet will never bring anything to final resolution. America shall become like past empires: a land ceaselessly at war yet proclaiming to be the herald of peace.

President Obama has achieved the ultimate political goal in becoming a two-term president. A politician can neither serve higher nor stay longer in that exalted office. President Obama has done more than enter the house. He has become its chief interior decorators. As such, his speech was a pretty ornament. However, this might not suffice. At some point, someone in the spirit of Dr. King will question the very prudence of being engrossed in redecorating a house still afire.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

The old man and the governors Festus Eriye efestus2003@yahoo.com

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ROMINENT Ijaw leader and former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, revels in his unofficial role as President Goodluck Jonathan’s godfather.

On several occasions when critics had his godson on the ropes, his pugnacious intervention served to stiffen the backbone of the man who, not too long ago, described himself as the world’s most criticised president.

Well into his 80s, the old man is not your average meddlesome interloper. Indeed, anyone who tracked his role in the emergence of the current occupant of Aso Villa will find much evidence suggesting that he and Jonathan sing from the same hymn book.

Back in 2011 when the zoning palaver threatened to tear the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) apart, Clark led a delegation of South-South leaders to reason with Northern power brokers led by former Finance Minister and one-time presidential aspirant, Adamu Ciroma. His troubleshooting expedition received short shrift from the embittered leaders, but his cause will ultimately prevail after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s challenge collapsed on convention night.

Clark is still at the wars - taking on everyone from former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). His latest no-holds barred attack on those he blames for making life difficult for Jonathan, is a reminiscence of the recent attack on Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe.

These days nobody has a nice thing to say about Obasanjo so there’s nothing novel about another volley of invectives spat in the direction of Baba. I would suggest though that Clark was not so ferocious in denouncing the former president’s socalled crimes against party democracy when he was in the vanguard of those fighting for Jonathan’s enthronement back in 2011.

I am more interested in the Ijaw leader’s vituperations against the NGF, because in the past I had been quite critical of the forum – likening it to some sort of secret society. Clark, rightly, has accused the governors of demanding at the centre what they would not tolerate at state level.

He said: “The governors’ forum is now acting as an opposition party to the Federal Government. It deliberately breaches with impunity, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Constitution of the PDP, without any challenges.

The Forum has now become a threat to the peace and stability of Nigeria. Most of the governors today are more dictatorial than the then military governors.”

Ignoring the hyperbole, any fair observer will admit that while most governors would like a say in who becomes na-

tional chairman of the ruling party, they would not tolerate such impertinence were some local government chairmen to band together and insist on making input into who becomes state chairman of the party.

So, a lot of the observations of Clark are spot on. However, the only reason the chief is moaning so loudly is because his godson is on the receiving end. Try as he might he has not been able to impose his will on the PDP as Obasanjo did. Much of that is down to the make up the two men. Whereas one was willing to ride roughshod over the party – deploying the apparatus of state to achieve his goals, the incumbent would rather tiptoe around obstacles. He would rather deploy homilies where an Obasanjo would have set off Scud missiles.

But that is not the whole story. If the governors have become more formidable and better organised as a pressure group, it is down to the lessons they learnt from the Obasanjo years. Back them they also tended to band together. People forget that at the 2003 nominating convention, a good number of them were actually backing Atiku. Obasanjo and his late wife, Stella, virtually had to go on bended knees to secure their support. Of course, he never forgave them for the humiliation of making him beg.

Today, Clark would like us to believe that the NGF is this new-fangled monstrosity that is a clear and present danger to our democracy. Closer examination will, however, show that the behemoth has a soft underbelly.

They can be a powerful bloc when they agree, but they are as powerless as a congregation of strange bedfellows when their interests diverge along regional, ethnic or monetary lines.

To confirm this you only need to look at their disarray over issues like revenue sharing and state police. On the former, suddenly you had a sub-bloc – the Northern Governors Forum – taking the position that the Niger-Delta states were cornering an unfair share of our commonwealth. That divergence of opinion is also evident over the contentious Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

Not surprisingly, the governors of the South-South states find the aforementioned positions of their northern colleagues, to put it mildly, insulting.

But where it comes to more parochial matters like who controls party positions and certain political offices, a certain amity descends upon what, in reality, is a fairly fractious organisation.

My main area of disagreement with Clark, though, is that I no longer believe that the NGF – no matter how powerful it is made out to be – is such a bad thing after all.

The Ijaw leader says the governors have turned themselves into the real opposition to the government at the centre. What he does not want to accept is that in every big political party there will be all manner of tendencies each fighting for control of the soul of the organisation.

More importantly, democracy is about checks and balances. Obasanjo was often accused of running an imperial presidency where the legislative and judicial branches became appendages of the executive. Under him we saw that the awesome powers of an executive president could be deployed towards the most unsavoury of ends.

Such is the way things are stacked the

“Rather than foaming at the mouth with rage and calling the governors names, what Clark and others who are discomfited by the influence of the NGF should do is seek ways of working with the National Assembly during constitution review process to cut the governors down to size at state level”

Lekan Otufodunrin Otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net 08023000621 (SMS only)

Fact-checking President Jonathan

O •Jonathan

•Clark

•Obasanjo

even the weakest of men could be transformed into a Machiavellian monster by the powers of the office. In our practice of American-style democracy the legislative branch, and to some extent the judiciary, have failed woefully in providing the brakes upon a rampaging president.

It helps that in an environment such as ours that there are several power centers and no office holder – no matter how eminent – begins to delude himself into thinking that the sun rises and sets on his desk.

The power and influence of the NGF is a reasonable check and balance against any potentially overbearing occupant of Aso Rock. Better still, it forces all the leading players in our political space to reappraise the virtues of compromise in addressing all political issues – no matter how contentious.

Rather than foaming at the mouth with rage and calling the governors names, what Clark and others who are discomfited by the influence of the NGF should do is seek ways of working with the National Assembly during constitution review process to cut the governors down to size at state level.

NE United States-based website I find very interesting is factcheck.org. The site is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.

It monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. The goal of the project is to apply the best practices of journalism and scholarship.

It is also to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Considering how our public officers make all kinds of unsubstantiated claims and spread falsehood as facts, it would be nice to have a platform like this to keep them on guard.

Listening to President Goodluck Jonathan during the interview he granted last week to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and Stephen Cole of Al Jazeera which he has not obliged any Nigerian journalist, I find it difficult to believe some of his claims.

One valid point that cannot be faulted in both interviews is that the Boko Haram insurrection in Nigeria and excesses of this terrorists group in Northern Mali is a threat to not only Nigeria but the whole of the continent.

For this reason, it is understandable while Nigeria should be totally committed to the military intervention in Mali notwithstanding the arguments by those opposed to the government position on the matter.

Responding to the Economist reports that the death toll from Boko Haram attacks in 2012 was 1,099 – double that of 2011, President Jonathan said: “If you look at the last six months, incidents of killing started dropping,” insisting that the government is gaining control.

This claim cannot be true considering the increasing number of people killed almost on daily basis across the country by various terrorists groups who security agent are finding it hard to contain.

Just last week, daring unknown gunmen attacked the Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero’s convoy, killing four persons apart from about 20 others killed in Borno and Kano. It is even believed that some killings and kidnapping don’t get reported to avoid inflaming the tense situation in the country.

The security agents no doubt are trying hard to combat the terrorist but they really need to show that they are on top of the situation as the federal government is fond of claiming each time the gunmen strike.

President Jonathan in the CNN interview denied suggestions by the U.S. State Department of indiscriminate arrests and killings that have possibly been driving more people into the hands of Boko Haram.

“No security agency arrests anybody just for the love of arrest. We have intelligence that enables us to arrest the people who have to be arrested,” he maintained.

Again, available evidence does not support the President’s assertion. Much as the security agents’ efforts are appreciated, many residents of the troubled areas have been victims of indiscriminate arrests by men of the Joint Military Task Force.

Not only are innocent members of the community arrested, they are molested for offences they have not committed and in some cases girls and women are raped.

Is it true that Nigerians are pleased with the Jonathan’s government’s commitment to improve power? Well, it depends on what part of the country one lives. No doubt that there has been some improvement in power supply but what we have is a far cry from what we need.

Like he did during his first interview with Amanpour, President Jonathan reinstated that improvement of power supply is a priority for his government. ”Before the end of this year, power outages will be reasonably stable in Nigeria,” he stated. One can only hope that the President’s dream will come to pass this time.

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Ogochukwu Ikeje ohgeeoh@gmail.com 08084235961 (SMS only)

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Comment & Analysis

HORTLY before dozens of corpses were seen floating on a river in Anambra State on January 19, President Goodluck Jonathan paid the police college in Ikeja, Lagos an impromptu visit.

The visit, which rattled the college authorities as much as it disconcerted the august visitor himself, followed a TV report detailing the rot at the police institution. The decay and lack were said to worry the president, who may have ordered a probe. Such an investigation will help to resolve the issues that puzzled the commander-in-chief. But it must be comprehensive enough to cover other police colleges and outfits in the country and its findings must also be made public while appropriate action is taken to punish the guilty in order to correct such situations.

Such an investigation, if conscientiously undertaken, may shed enough light on the decay in the entire police force itself, whose effectiveness continues to be hindered. Our law enforcement agents are not well kitted, equipped or housed? Nor are they adequately remunerated. The force needs retooling.

If these needs are met and the men and officers better inspired and orientated, Nigerians can count on the police to answer when they call. The country will be better for everyone. Not only will lawlessness be curtailed; even those developments that deeply mystify us will be resolved with considerable ease.

Take the floating corpses case on a river in Amansea, Anambra. Few things can rival that incident in mystery. Residents of the community near Awka, the state capital, “woke up”, to borrow a favourite local

Floating corpses and the police A mystery law enforcement agents should crack media phrase, to discover dead bodies floating on their river. In other words, when they woke up the previous day and went to the river, they saw no such thing travelling downstream.

And there the mystery began. For it was not just one corpse or two or three. One report said over 15, which is horrifying enough. Another took the tally to 30, yet another to 40. One even said there were over 50 bodies sighted on Amansea river.

There are concerns, too, that there may be more bodies held down by underwater structures and were yet to bob up to the surface. There is another problem. The river, the villagers’ only source of water, is polluted.

Troubled as Amansea residents are, they have no clue as to the identities of the

corpses. They are not at war with any of their neighbours. Nobody is missing in their community. So whose bodies were seen on their river? Who killed those people? Why? Where? When?

The traditional ruler is just as distressed as the state governor Peter Obi who quickly returned from his overseas trip to tackle the matter. The police authorities in Anambra are also mystified, as are their counterparts in Enugu State whose people on both sides of their common border are at peace with one another. They say they will investigate.

That is one nasty thing about mystery.

It sometimes accompanies tragedies and when it does, worsens the problem and makes it hurt more. Imagine a tragic death accompanied by the fact that the corpse is

“Anambra people and Nigerians in general await the result of police investigations. We know we have lost people but we do not know who we lost yet or how many. We suspect that those people may have died in terrible circumstances but we have no assurances. We know we are not happy about the situation but we also know we are even more confused than sad.

Mystery deepens a loss. The police should sort all that out”

not seen. The bereaved mourn the departed but are even more troubled by the fact that they cannot bury their dead. Such a situation leaves the bereaved with eternal questions. The mystery never ends.

Anambra people and Nigerians in general are in a similar situation as we await the result of police investigations. We know we have lost people but we do not know who we lost yet or how many. We suspect that those people may have died in terrible circumstances but we have no assurances.

We know we are not happy about the situation but we also know we are even more confused than sad. Mystery deepens a loss.

The police should sort all that out.

There is another major concern. One report initially listed the police as among those without a clue as to how to evacuate the dead. The police, local governments, ministry of health as well as the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency were said not to have facilities needed to evacuate the corpses.

That is a big problem. Our police should be equipped for such eventualities. Their effectiveness demands it.

Another account said when the police recovered the bodies from the water, a mass grave was quickly dug and the corpses buried there. Such a thing as autopsy was not heard, according to the report. That is even a bigger concern. Without an autopsy, that is, if it is not in their plans, how can any credible investigation be undertaken in the matter?

Jonathan’s reported interest in probing the rot in police colleges should be extended to help the law enforcement agency perform better.

The rot in the police, as in many other public institutions in the country, did not start during his tenure. But if he can correct the anomalies that preceded him, he will be remembered as the commander-in-chief that made history.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Comment & Analysis

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Abuja job racket It reflects the rot that has taken over the country at every level

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HE recent firing of Nigeria’s immigration boss, Mrs. Rose Chinyere Uzoma, after admitting that she apportioned many slots to persons in the inner sanctum of power, including the mother of the president, has unveiled a seedy part of our culture. Few jobs, especially in the public sector, come without moral compromises.

Bribes are the key to the employment kingdom.

Also, at lower levels, a syndicate with specialty in employment racketeering characterises job placements in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The obnoxious group reportedly charges prospective job seekers in federal ministries, departments and agencies, (MDAs), huge amounts of between N400, 000 and N500, 000.

Shockingly, the syndicate reportedly fronts for heads of some MDAs with base in Gwagwalada, Karu and other strategic areas in the FCT. At a recent plenary of the Senate, some senators raised the alarm over the injurious activities of the syndicate.

Senator Abubakar Bagudu raised a motion on employment irregularities in the MDAs, which he justified by referring to a statement credited to Mrs Uzoma, the outgoing Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), who reportedly said that: “4,000 employment slots approved by the Federal Government were being sold to job applicants and some allocated to other personalities.’’

She reportedly added that due process requiring advertisement meant to arouse the notice of interested members of the public to apply was not adhered to. It is also claimed that such recruitments always favour some states of the federation, in utter negation of the federal character principle.

What the immigration boss said, more fundamentally, is a scourge that has gutted every sphere of our national life. If entry level jobs in our civil service cannot come without the greasy palm, it is because even the plum office holders of the land secured their privileges after bribing their ways. It is common knowledge that whether it is the position of local government chairman or governor or min-

U

NDOUBTEDLY, President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has made unprecedented progress across the country in the creation of access to quality education amongst less privileged Nigerians. The statistics are clear and the results are nationwide. These are facts that cannot be disputed, even by die-hard critics of the administration.

A few examples will suffice. Schools for almajiris across the country, special girlchild schools in educationally disadvantaged communities, on-going construction of schools for out-of-school boys in the south-south and southeast and direct intervention in the improvement of facilities in existing schools in the country. At the tertiary level the Federal Government established nine new Federal universities with eight already on stream, while another three were recently approved.

Within the same period, nine new private universities were also awarded licenses to operate.

This programmed improvement of education opportunities for Nigerians has been premised on the fundamental goal of creating access to basic and tertiary education of the four-year strategy plan for the development of the education sector, 2011 to 2015.

Beyond the achievements that have been recorded so far as regards the creation of access to schools for Nigerian children and adults, the Federal Government has resolved to directly involve the private sector in working out novel ways to reach those in remote communities of the nation.

The novel arrangement

ister or even president, it is almost impossible to enjoy any choice position without compromises that involve separating from huge sums of money and plying the “facilitators” with such good fortune.

Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume at that plenary supported and corroborated Bagudu’s position with his own unpleasant experience with the syndicate: “A constituent came to me that he needed N200, 000 to secure employment in one parastatal. When I refused to give him the money, he said that was the only requirement needed and if I didn’t give him the money, the job was as good as gone … After much pleading, I caved in and gave him the N200, 000 only for him to come back to me days later that the price was no longer N200, 000 but N400, 000. This person was a graduate of geography who had stayed at home for four years without a job.”

What kind of country allows an employment opening to sell this way? What has happened to competence?

Would whoever gets employed through payment of bribe not be interested in recouping his money?

Senate President David Mark bewails the desperation but could not find any tangible solution other than to blame the civil service commission and to direct victims to meet with relevant committees during public hearings and perhaps, point out those that demanded money for employment from them. He also charged

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi

the Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs and Employment, Labour and Productivity to do a thorough job in order to reduce the cankerworm or possibly eliminate the criminality/injustice in the employment chain.

The Senate leadership must realise that a good leader does not bemoan but rather inspires the followership towards a good result. In a situation like this, buck- passing will lead to nowhere; neither is the adoption of unworkable committee/public hearing method that has not brought forth any good in the past.

We see Senate’s attitude as incapable of bringing succour to victims. How can we be so sure that the affected committees would do justice over the matter when they meet with the heads of the MDAs? Given our penchant for sectional, ethnic and religious favouritism, there is no guarantee that the committees would not look the other way. After all, many members of the chamber did not exactly win their seats from local popularity based on wisdom, altruism or selfless service.

Furthermore, we doubt whether the matter’s mention would have been deemed necessary at the Senate’s plenary but for the fact that some senators are directly affected by the syndicate’s activities. It is shameful for a senator, where the minimum wage is N18, 000, to have doled out N200, 000 to a constituent, to be paid as a bribe for the constituent to get employed in a federal establishment.

The Nigerian law provides criminal punishment for a bribe giver and taker and it becomes worse where the giver is a lawmaker like we have seen in this case.

In addition, what fate awaits those job seekers in the same FCT who cannot afford such a high amount and with nobody to bail them out?

If they borrow to secure the jobs, as top political office holders do - from richer people, from the banks, from political mentors, etc – they start their jobs without innocence but with the spirit to recoup. Corruption breeds corruption.

LETTERS

Enhancing mass education through satellite television worked out between the Federal Ministry of Education and television outfit, Daar Communications Plc will ensure that education signals in all subject areas in the basic education sub-sector are disseminated to Nigerian children residing in the 774 local government areas of the country.

At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for the partnership between the Federal Ministry of Education and Darr Com-

munications on the project, Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, said that the Federal Government is ready to partner with stakeholders in the private and public sector to deliver quality basic education.

He said: “We are determined to improve quality education for Nigerians and our resolve is to involve everyone, since government alone cannot shoulder the enormous responsibility of

creating acess for Nigerian children.”

Wike noted that though the Jonathan administration has made monumental investments in the basic education sub-sector, collaborations are still required to increase access across the country.

He announced that out of the N29billion needed for the project, the Federal Government would not make any financial commitments, aside facilitating the participation of

local and statparticipates.

Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, said that the communications outfit will commit 22 dedicated channels to airing education programmes patterned in line with approved Federal Ministry of Education curriculum. He added that required infrastructure will be developed in all localities in the 774 local government councils and the rural communities of the Federal Capital Territory

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Oyo ACN’s winning team

ACN Party agents from their respective accredited polling units on the election day across Ogbomoso zone !

By these abductions, ACN was thus denied the service of the polling agents of numerous polling units, with obvious implications for the outcome of polling at the affected units .

It is a fact, that while almost every political party in the state has been bedevilled by one unending crisis or another , the Chief Akin Oke led exco has deepened cohesion in ACN and further continued to work on further popularising our party among the electorate . It is therefore a disgraceful act for some set of political scavengers and prostitutes who dubbed themselves’ Integrity Parliament’ to call for the disbandment of the exco. Such group that never existed before, or during elections, obviously do not even wish our party well. Otherwise, how can any rational mind situate their

HE current hoopla being raised by some elements calling for the disbanding of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at executive levels in Oyo State is to say the least appalling and irritating . For what it is worth, the present crop of executive has, thus far, been effective in maintaining party unity, internal cohesion and internal democracy in the party. It is worthy of note to state that the ACN under the leadership of Chief Akin Oke, contrary to these irredentist elements, played a pivotal and very crucial role in midwifing the victory of Governor Ajimobi in the 2011 election.

Need we remind these naysayers that in the said election, our party could not secure a decisive victory even in Gov Ajimobi’s Ibadanland .

Had it not been for the effectiveness of the party machinery in Chief Akin Oke’s homebase in Ogbomoso,

inspite of what was universally acknowledged as the almost insurmountable odds, could the then sitting Governor (Akala) have lost the election ?

To set the record straight, in 2007 when Chief Alao-Akala was just a deputy governor with limited power and access to the state resources, he garnered over 195,000 votes from Ogbomoso zone alone to clinch the governorship mandate. Conversely , in the 2011 Election , after Alao Akala had not only served for four uninterrupted and politically active years as the governor, he, as incumbent governor and member of the maurading PDP, virtually presided over the 2011 Election exercise .Despite his overwhelming advantages, however, and contrary to his natural desire and expectations, Alao Akala’s vote tally from his Ogbomoso home base, but

which also doubles as Akin Oke’s base was drastically reduced over 50% .If one may ask, what was Governor Ajimobi’s margin of victory over the then incumbent Gov Alao Akala in that election ?

If the Oke-led exco , along with others, worked so assiduously to snatch victory from the jaws of the defeat, should their reward be castigation and threats of removal? The Oke team secured the coveted crown for our party in the face of noholds barred onslaught from a well-oiled competitor with almost unlimited power, patronage and huge state resourcebased war chest and financial muscle. But even more importantly, a widely acknowledged dexterity ,willingness, effectiveness and courage and /or ruthlessness to deploy same, as evidenced, for instance, by the abduction of over 160 accredited

to transmit signals directly to schools. Satellite facilities to be located in the schools will be backed by electricity generators to ensure uninterrupted learning. Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala, described the project as a landmark initiative to extend the benefits of the Federal Government’s education programmes to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

Indeed, for the programme to succeed, the states and the local government areas need to buy into the initiative.

By Simeon Nwakaudu Abuja, Special Assistant (Media) to Minister of State for Education call for disbandment of our party’s team of winners ?

Differences of opinion are the norm in politics. However, when they do occur, matured, disciplined and loyal party members channel such for consideration by appropriate party organs, rather than seeking to bully and blackmail others into submission through issuance of libellous news releases and/or levying of jaundiced and unfounded accusations against otherwise respected organs of the party. One cannot but conclude that given the high level of embarrassment caused and the deep-seated animosity that these individuals have, by their actions, sought to engender in our party, serious disciplinary action must be considered against them.

Abdul Azeez Bolaji, Chairman, The Progressive Mind, Ibadan

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Comment & Analysis

Obama’s avoidance of Nigeria: Scare or signal?

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

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ODAY’S article first appeared in July 2009 during the second year of Obama’s first term and his visit to West Africa. The beginning of his second term is a good time to remind all stakeholders in Project Nigeria and other African countries struggling to remain democratic about outstanding issues that need the attention of patriotic Nigerians and sincere friends of Nigeria.

Image makers at the presidency are already at work to deflect attention from the shame inherent in the decision of President Obama to visit Ghana while ignoring Nigeria. A few days ago, agents in the image making and national re-branding units initiated a discussion in the media regarding new problems facing foreign leaders’ visit to Nigeria. In a response to the unsubstantiated view that the Niger Delta crisis scares foreign leaders from coming to Nigeria, President Yar’Adua said that no foreign leader had told him that he or she is afraid of coming to Nigeria because of the violence in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.

President Obama’s choice of Ghana as the country to visit in the West African sub-region must have been informed by factors

Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

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HETHER at the corporate level, as in when the Chairman of its Publicity Committee speaks, or individually as in Senator Smart Adeyemi haranguing us, reminding us he remains a journalist and would think nothing of leading a demonstration, it has been sabre rattling galore, threats and more threats, against any sensible voice that asks the National Assembly to drop, like hot potato, this their diversionary and, ill-advised, pre-occupation with wanting to make local governments an unprecedented, third federating unit to the Nigerian federation. What remains to be heard from these supposedly grassrootsloving National Assembly members is their readiness to abandon their stupendous, out of this world, quarterly forays into the national treasury which the Central Bank Governor once calculated to be in the region of 25 percent of the annual national budget. No, their love of country does not extend that far but it is our hope and prayer that somebody, somewhere, will have the presence of mind to demonstrate the political will to let them know it is evil to continue a waste which even the United States cannot afford, and which Nigerians know only too well is arbitrary, as it does not have the approval of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission whose primary responsibility is to fix salaries and allowances. It is also hoped that they will climb down their high horse, eat the humble pie and be gracious enough to accept that there is nowhere under the sun you have

Even Nigerians are running away from home to establish business in Ghana and buy homes there other than the battle for the soul of Nigeria between militants and security forces. For the avoidance of doubt, President Obama’s choice of Ghana over Nigeria could not have been made out of fear about security in Nigeria.

American presidents before him had visited more violent-prone countries of the world. President Obama had even visited Iraq, a country that has become synonymous with violence in the last few years. His visit to Ghana and not Nigeria could not have been based solely on the readiness of Ghana to invite him. Even if Nigeria had invited him, the chances are high that he would have said NO THANKS. If anything, the decision of Obama to ignore Nigeria in his visit to West Africa is capable of depressing or irritating Nigerians who have been under the impression that Nigeria is the giant of Africa, simply because it has one of the three largest economies on the continent. Obama must have decided to ignore Nigeria’s rebranding jingles by choosing to visit the moral giant in West Africa, the Republic of Ghana. But Nigerians who believe that a selfrespecting individual should think twice before visiting a neighbour whose house has become a toxic space in the neighbourhood should have no problems with the decision of the United States to send its president to Accra and not Abuja on a visit designed to dis-

cuss with one of United States’ trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa “the critical role that governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development.”

Without doubt, Nigeria is one of the partners of the United States in sub-Saharan Africa. It is just not considered one of the trusted partners. Why would Nigeria, Africa’s biggest supplier of petroleum to the United States, the country with almost half of the population of West Africa, and the country that had lost more lives in the course of peace keeping in Africa, home of the 35th largest economy in the world, and Africa’s largest supplier of brain and brawn manpower to the United States not be considered as one of the trusted partners of the United States? It could not have been for what Nigeria had failed to do on the international arena. President Obama must have avoided Nigeria because of what Nigeria has done to itself or has failed to do for itself.

Nigerians that are unhappy that the giant of Africa has been treated like an ant in relation to Ghana must take heart. It should not be surprising if President and Mrs. Obama had met more Nigerians (than Ghanaians) in the course of their education and their journey to power. Nigerians constitute 20% of all Africans in the United States and close to 25% of Africans that attend American universities, work in hospitals, serve as lawyers, and help even at fast-

food restaurants. They also constitute one of the friendliest communities in the Americas. Obama could not have planned his visit to Ghana to embarrass Nigerians.

He must have used the avoidance of Nigeria to send a message to the trustees of the country that most things are falling apart.

How many Nigerians would choose Nigeria over Ghana to visit or even do business? Even Nigerians are running away from home to establish business in Ghana and buy homes there. Nigerians themselves prefer to spend their free time in Accra rather than Abuja or Port Harcourt. Ghana is such a preferred country to visit by Nigerians to the extent that there may be more Nigerians than Ghanaians in Accra if President Obama chooses to hold a special summit on democracy in Accra during his visit.

It is true that Ghana is much smaller than Nigeria and not as wealthy as Nigeria. Nigeria would ordinarily have more resources to entertain the Obamas and the people on their entourage than Ghanaians are likely to be able to do.

But Ghana has used its meager resources more prudently and more strategically than Nigeria. Even though Ghana got its independence at the same time that two regions out of the three regions in Nigeria got their self-government in 1957, the leaders that God had given Ghana had succeeded in doing better than Nigeria in many respects.

Constitution review: Time this national assembly got serious These people are there to make laws and conduct oversight functions; not become emergency contractors ments, its creation, its numbers and three federating units in a federation.

Rather, what the civilised world has come to know is a federation of the centre and the composite states and this principle and practice had long been cast in stone.

This is the simple truth governors like Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Musa Kwankaso have this past week, and for the umpteenth time, tried to drill into them. But this has cut no ice with them since their primary intention is to divert our attention, and rather than accede to the popular demand of reducing their unearned, completely immoral allowances that eat up billions every three months, they want to replicate additional centres of ‘independence’ at both the state House of Assemblies and Local Governments by providing the two with constitutional provenance to ravage the treasury as they will be answerable to no higher authority. That way, they would have succeeded in muting the peoples’ opposition to their own financial recklessness at the federal level.

In order to perfectly understand this looming travesty of a constitutional review, we would need to quote, at some length, the views of governor Rabiu Musa Kwankaso who described this plot against the people most poignantly in a recent newspaper interview.

Dismissing the entire constitution review as a charade which will add no value to the lives of Nigerians whose needs are potable water, good roads, improved agriculture

and other life-changing amenities, the governor said: “You see, what we have in the National Assembly is what they want to transfer to the 36 state houses of assembly. Only the Almighty Allah can moderate what is happening in the National Assembly today, nobody else.

“We hear that some get N45 million or N50 million per quarter. This amounts to N15 million per month and half a million naira per day for every member, whether you are speaking, whether you are in the beer parlour enjoying yourself, you are getting that every day. What sort of business will you do in this country to get half a million naira every day?” ’Were these honourable members alive to their responsibilities and not keen merely to further create centres of unnecessary waste of national resources, they should need no lectures in realising that state governors are in a much better position to understand the needs of the people more than the most astute Local Government Chairman. They would also have known, without being told, that local governments exist solely as an arm of state governments for the propagation and execution of state programmes and policies at that level. All these chest-beating and sabre rattling by the National Assembly amount to nothing more than a sterile fishing expedition which is bound to fail at the end of the day.

Everything about local govern-

administration, should completely be under the purview of state governments which can much more meaningfully arrive at the appropriate number of local governments required for its needs. It will, therefore, be a mere waste of time for the National Assembly to attempt to formalise its many threats by granting autonomy to local governments because, we the people, more than the governors, will prevail on the state Houses of Assembly to ensure that fails.

Finally on constituency projects, what exactly should, in a corruptionfree society, be the concern of the legislature with executive functions beyond its oversight function? What their colleagues in the U.S do- and they should be happy to be so compared - is to request that packs be approved for specific projects in their respective states and these, unlike here, are never executed by individual legislators but go straight to the approved projects. For Christ’s sake these people are there to make laws and conduct oversight functions; not become emergency contractors for projects that get mostly abandoned halfway as such funds are most often misapplied – apologies, Late Augustus Aikhomu.

This misnomer, if we remember, is a direct result of a succession of PDP rigged-in, weak and unsure presidents who subsequently had to do everything to crave the support of the National Assembly especially in passing their heavily compromised budg ets. Should the practice continue,

For example, Accra airport, streets, and hotels are more likely to have electricity to carry out all hospitality activities than would have been the case in Abuja or Lagos. Obama and his wife are likely to be harassed by noise pollution from German, Chinese, Indian, and British generators that supply electricity to factories and homes in Nigeria. Their chances of having asthma induced by generator and Okada fumes will be higher in Abuja than in Accra. People in Obama’s motorcades are more likely to see corpses on the roads in Nigeria than they would see in Ghana, if at all. Policemen checking “vehicle particulars” are more likely to create bottlenecks for Obama’s motorcade in Lagos or Abuja than would happen in Accra.

There will be more beggars with larger bowls to collect alms in Nigeria than in Ghana. If President Obama had chosen to come to Nigeria instead of Ghana, he would have been subjected to more sound bites about the importance of democracy than he would have experienced in Ghana. But in Ghana, he would see more evidence of democratic governance and sustainable development than in Nigeria.

The beginning of President Obama’s second term is a good moment to remind him that Ghana deserves another visit to congratulate it for serving as West Africa’s poster-child for democracy and good governance. It is also the right time to remind him that it will pay the civilised world better for leaders of the free world to assist Nigeria to actualise its potential, than to ignore it or just re-echo its jingles about democracy and development. however, then our emergency honourable contractors should go learn from their colleagues from Ekiti –all A C N members – who pulled together most of their constituency allowances totalling millions of naira and have put it at the behest of the state government for the execution of a gigantic agricultural project which will fundamentally and positively impact the lives of their people back home rather than using Abuja to launch their miserable wars against their state governors as we are beginning to see in convoys running into convoys.

For once, the National Assembly should get serious and do something tangible for the poor Nigerian masses its members milk ever so easily and unscrupulously before its next coup against the Revenue and Fiscal Mobilisation Commission, as always happens; even if they have to borrow illegally from banks to meet their greed.

Happy birthday Ebino Topsy

H

AD I not so suddenly lost an uncle who impacted my youth so much, I should have , this past weekend, been ‘jollificating’ with my friend of 48 years; the one and only Chief Ebenezer Babatope, aka Ebino Topsy, who turned 70 to the glory of God. Awe, what did we not do together, what risks didn’t we take as young, budding radical intellectuals who, albeit, decided to make University Administration our forte; and actually founded its Association where, with the likes of Talib Umar,later Federal Permanent Secretary, Pat Adaba, later Deputy Governor of Kogi State and our dearly departed Charles Balogun, who would later serve as Executive Secretary NISER, we were all ranking officers?

Tinu and I send you and Biola our fraternal greetings and pray the Almighty God to continue to keep you and all yours safe. Amen.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Tunji

Adegboyega tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

O

NE of the major characteristics defining Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is his style of ‘government unusual’.

For instance, he does not believe in being addressed as ‘His Excellency’, a thing many governors cherish as if they were born with it. This ‘government unusual‘ has almost made the governor ‘Mr. Controversy’. But one thing that cannot be taken away from Aregbesola is the fact that he is pulling his weight in terms of governance and delivery of democratic dividend to the people of Osun. In a little over two years, he has started leaving imprints that would be difficult to wipe off from the history of the hitherto beleaguered state. When we consider what Osun went through in the 90 months that Olagunsoye Oyinlola was governor, we would see clearly that a lot has happened in the state in the last two years.

It is when people do not have a clear idea of what to do that they spend eternity planning. Conscious of the fact that he has only four years (at least in the first instance) to convince the people of the state that they did not make a mistake at the polls, Aregbesola hit the ground running.

In line with his campaign promise to take away from the streets idle able-bodied young men and women, he introduced the safety net programme called OYES (Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme) within 100 days of his assumption of office. With it, at least 20,000 of the idle youths

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

Oyinkan Medubi 07057012862 (SMS only) puchuckles7@gmail.com

W

HAT is with men and wars, I’ll never know, but records show that over ninety per cent of wars in this world have been initiated and executed by men. No, no, I am not starting an argument, just stating a fact. Just think, in the lifetime of any given male, the chances that he would initiate or help to execute a war is close to fifty per cent. Imagine that! I know that when they were little, my children initiated many wars against each other, mostly over nothing, but that doesn’t even count.

The fighting gene nevertheless appears to run true and deep in all men.

Most worrisome, however, is the fact that somehow, the fighting genes running loose in men are now being transfused into women and other things. Women, knowing no better and no different, proudly don the togas of war, supposedly for love and country and head out, leaving behind tearful babies, crying children and baffled husbands. Tch, tch. If those women only knew the truth – that they have been infected by the blood running in men’s veins – they would know better where to direct their heaving chests of indignation. All together, mankind has become like a couple of pigeons which seems to do nothing but flap their wings in real antagonism towards each other three mornings a week behind my

Osun: Two years on ‘Govt unusual’ is yielding results were taken away from the streets on a monthly stipend of N10,000 each.

With it, about N200million is being injected into the grassroots economy monthly. This might look so small in many big cities of the country, but it is a lot in a predominantly civil servants’ state like Osun.

It is even fascinating that Aregbesola is not thinking in terms of Osun alone concerning this programme. Indeed, he has calculated how much it would cost the Federal Government should it decide to set up such a scheme. According to his projections, about 740,000 direct jobs can be created at the federal level, and another 3.7million indirect jobs.

This would imply the injection of about N7.4billion into the grassroots economy. Of course following the Osun pattern, about 1.48million uniforms would be sewn for the participants, with about six million yards of cloths to be produced by the textile industry.

A beautiful aspect of the OYES is the fact that it penetrates virtually every strata of the educational order, from the illiterate cleaner to the roadside mechanic, as well as the graduates who may have to use the scheme as a transition camp. The scheme provides for exit strategy apparently in recognition of its limitations that it cannot serve as permanent employment for everybody, particularly the

skilled persons.

The way Aregbesola is going about the business of governance gives him away as a man who really understands the issues and is determined to address them. You see in him a man pregnant with ideas and this shows in most of his projects and policies. For instance, in education, the state operates the elementary school, middle school and the high school, without necessarily affecting the 6-3-3-4 education system of the Federal Government. The elementary school caters for children from age six to nine, and they are basically neighbourhood schools in which the pupils do not travel beyond 100 to 500 metres from where their mothers are. All the pupils in the elementary school are given lunch to help them develop mentally and physically for learning.

For the high schools, the government is working on the provision of 150,000 computer tablets (Opon imo) for the students and their teachers, in realisation of the importance of information technology to learning. The idea is to make education more attractive by storing in the computers dedicated books, lesson notes, and past examination papers for school certificate and even the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations. If the project

“In spite of not inheriting a buoyant treasury, the government does not intend to leave an empty one either. So, it is saving every kobo the state realises as its share of the excess crude account ... This is a feat in our kind of country where many governors have become gaming machines, literally swallowing money (and always asking for more) without anything to show for it”

works, it would be the first of its kind, at least in this part of the world.

Aregbesola’s ingenuity in developing the local economy also deserves mention. Apparently, the governor is not impressed with the reference to the state as a ‘civil servants state’. The implication is that it is a poor state. Most of the policies of the administration are therefore geared towards reversing this impression.

Empowering the people, as far as the government is concerned, is key. We have seen this in the OYES; it also manifests in the government’s decision to harmonise the uniforms of all its pupils and students such that the uniforms are procured and sewn centrally, thus creating jobs for the manufacturers and the local tailors, among other artisans in the chain.

In spite of all these, there is a shortcoming; Governor Aregbesola can do with less controversy. Yes, he may have his point in some of the cases, but the most important thing is that he would be assessed at the end of his first four years, not by the number of controversies he ignited or survived, but by the tangible things he has been able to do for Osun people. As much as possible, major policy decisions must be subjected to rigorous debate so that seemingly good policy initiatives do not end up in acrimony. And, from experience, such debate does not have to be done by in-house people alone for obvious reasons, but by people who have nothing to lose by saying it as it is, irrespective of whether it is sweet or bitter music to the governor’s ears.

All said, you would see the passion of a man who loves Nigeria and wants it to work in the Osun governor. Apart from, say, the projections he has made on a national scale for the OYES (just in case the Federal Government is interested), select editors who met with him in Lagos last Sunday, in the hope of dwelling essentially on his activities in his

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state in the last two years ended spending more time analysing Nigeria and trying to proffer solutions to some of the national challenges. These included the attack on the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero and the deployment of Nigerian troops to Mali. For instance, he believes the Boko Haram crisis is, by and large, a national problem that should not be left for the northern governors alone to handle, and that the problem would abate if the idle youths that are serving as foot soldiers for the sect are gainfully engaged.

Considering what the state government has been able to do in two years, the question naturally arises as to how the government is getting money for the projects. The free lunch for pupils alone is estimated to cost the state about N3billion annually; the government requires about that much for the free uniforms. Yet, it gets between N3.6billion and N4billion from the Federal Government and is only able to rake in about N600million monthly as internally generated revenue. Yet, it has other programmes, including its ambitious agricultural programme as well as massive road construction and reconstruction, maintenance and rehabilitation programmes. There are salaries to pay monthly. Perhaps amidst these competing demands and limited resources the intriguing thing is that the government is not eating up its children’s tomorrow, today. In spite of not inheriting a buoyant treasury, the government does not intend to leave an empty one either. So, it is saving every kobo the state realises as its share of the excess crude account. There is at least N10billion in that account. This is a feat in our kind of country where many governors have become gaming machines, literally swallowing money (and always asking for more) without anything to show for it.

Wars without end... Victims without end...

Nothing succeeds like good governance, fairness and justice. A good mixture of those elements can give us a world without wars fence. What the bone of contention is exactly, no one can tell, but all we seem to get from them are their emotions all flapped up.

Actually, nothing excuses mankind’s behaviour which seems to stem from the belief that only the fisticuffs can settle any and all matters. This is why we now have community, civil, international, cyber, psychological and, most worrisome of all, domestic wars.

And with the match of science, those simple fisticuffs have been translated into the rat-ta-tat-at-tat of machine guns or the booms of cannons aimed at other human beings just like them. I don’t know about you but anytime I have stumbled across TV programmes depicting war scenes, I have been struck by one question: to what purpose?

Just recently, I read the story of a soldier who was shot at the war front but instead of falling and dying quickly, he got caught on the barbed wire that separated the two sides in the war. The war continued around him however with shots from the guns but now punctuated by his own groans of pain as he slowly bled. His own friends could not come to his rescue for fear of being hit. Finally, a soldier from the side which had hit him in the first place could stand the groans no longer so he put down his gun and ran towards the dying man.

Both sides, seeming to realise what he was going to do, ceased firing at each other and watched him in disbelief as he gently disentangled the wounded man and carried him across to the enemy line and gave

him to his friends. As he turned to go back to his side of the war, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the commanding officer of the enemy troop who removed a bravery medal from his own uniform and pinned it on the rescuer and saluted. Both sides then waited for him to run back to his side before they resumed their insane game.

Today, the world remembers the millions and millions of victims of the World War 2 Holocaust but we are expanding it here to include all victims of the insane thing called war all over the world.

Sources say that presently, there are one hundred and forty-six wars being fought and from these, over one thousand people are dying yearly. This gives us a very frightening picture indeed considering that it shows a considerable buildup of victims of war who are mostly women, children and the aged. The worst part is that these victims, and the wounded and dead soldiers, have no clear understanding of what caused the war in the first place.

So, who declares a war and why? As a member of the human race, and a national of a country located somewhere on this planet, I think I have the right to know. Who the deuce feels he is obliged to declare a war where he does not often go to fight but only the young and able-bodied men (and now women) are obliged to go and be killed? I ask this because our lives, planet, children, and whether or not we wake up tomorrow depend on the answer. I believe that, and you can

check this out, whoever declares a war must have a very little brain indeed, even tinier than mine, and he would be the kind of person that cannot even get along with his neighbour. Just watch out, next time someone declares a war around you, first interview his neighbour.

There is a line that says that ‘Love has no religion, only God’. I don’t know exactly what that means but I can extrapolate that humans can choose the Christian, Muslim, Animist, Atheist, or the Love religion. Clearly, most people have not been choosing the Love religion because all wars in history have been started by someone from the other religions. This is quite different from the poster that reads ‘Make Love, not War.’ Again, I don’t know what that means either but I would guess that it still borders on what choices we make.

I honestly don’t know what war-mongers are really after: plunder, fame or power. Whatever it is, I think we should all accept right now that none of that stays if built on the sacrificed blood of innocent men and women. One can get better plunder by raiding a rat’s hideout. They are the only creatures I know who gather what they don’t need. Fame can come from a variety of other activities. Try calling the press to witness as you jump down from a ten-story building unto a bed of hot coals and sharp nails. I tell you, you will be toasted at every gathering in the country for years without end. And power?

Why, have you tried to imagine a king testing his power by standing

without his aides in the path of a herd of rampaging elephants?

Again, should that king survive, he will be toasted for ever as a very powerful man indeed. That takes me to a second line I found: ‘We should realise that we have not been put here to rule the world – God does’. Anyone who feels compelled to test that theory is free to because my third line has the answer for them: ‘Those who thought they did had to leave it’.

Most people agree that wars have never solved any problem; they are only indulgences for old men looking for their manhood.

They do not consider that wars without end only create victims without end. They also do not consider that the only things that wars leave behind are victims who do not even understand why they are being called on to be victims.

They are helpless against the insatiate appetites of men to seek and create drama everywhere.

This column commiserates with all victims of war today; they are the ones who have to deal with, and pick up pieces of lives shattered by, the insanity of war.

The long and short of it is that wars are not good; let us stop them. Only God himself can put out the flame of domestic wars, but we can try our best with the rest. Those do nothing but point to the failure of human intelligence. Nothing succeeds as much as good governance, fairness and justice. A good mixture of those elements can give us a world without wars, Amen.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Comment & Analysis

Ajimobi and the myth of Iwo Road B

Y all traditional indices and parameters, Iwo Road is qualified to be called “the crossroads that troubles the visitor”. It is a major road with several intersections. A section of the road takes you to Ife; another one leads you to Iwo Town; one also takes you to Oyo via Ojo. The other two lead you to “Gate” in the heart of Ibadan and Lagos respectively. Iwo Road also has its own traditional narratives. The myth about the road is that it is the crossroads where deities and other weird creatures converge in the dead of the night; and it is believed that such assembly is good for the state because of its divine returns. In Ibadan, as in other major Yoruba towns, the visit of the gods at any point in time is always a sign of blessing. It is therefore in the interest of the state to allow the deities ascend and descend at will to avoid blessing deficit. It is this myth that was said to have constrained past administrations in Oyo State from lifting Iwo Road from its accustomed labyrinth.

The convocation of metaphysical agents and forces within and around Iwo Road and the conspiracy of previous administrations in Oyo State, evident in their unwillingness to liquidate this evil assemblage, confirm the cultural indulgence the notorious road had enjoyed in the past years. But whatever may be the myth around Iwo Road should not conflict with its political metaphor.

Each time I pass through Iwo Road, I see the vacuity of our political leadership, the depravity of humanity and the desperation of a struggling people. I see the rejects of the society that are in the world but as mere walking corpses.

I see disgruntled and angry women strapped their future to their back with a loose sash, looking askance into a to-

By Dapo Thomas

morrow that is already dead to them. I see a colony of malcontents dramatising the vanities and inanities of an unjust society. I see a people with mangled aspirations drooping their heads in total submission to their failed visions and the remnant of their expectations.

Even in its present appearance of grandeur, Iwo Road remains the theatre of the absurd where people of diverse destinies connect with their existential realities. Iwo Road is the crossroads that leads some people to their destinations and frustrates others from reaching their destinies.

Iwo Road is home to different human characters: the money changers, hawkers of anything under the sun, madmen and specialists, beggars of diverse tactics, touts and thugs, assassins and apprentices of evil, food vendors and their consuming multitude, jobless graduates roaming around and about, urchins with their tools of crisis, labourers and their implements of grit, security agents and their revenue collectors, street sweepers with their brooms of pity, goggle-eyed intellectuals and their observatory ladders, government officials with their tax files.

The list is endless. Then the traffic. This is the major phenomenon of Iwo Road.

It is a disservice to grammatical expression to say that what people experience daily at Iwo Road is ‘go slow’. No, it is more than that. Without being hyperbolic, it is a gridlock. On a daily basis, travellers are trapped for hours in the gridlock, workers get late to office because of it. The traffic wardens end up creating traffic stalemate. They stand in the midst of the traffic not knowing what to do, where to start from or who to blame. The confusion begins from nowhere and ends at nowhere. This

gridlock is tied to its mystery.

The Abiola Ajimobi government with its ‘consensual sloganeering credo must have been intrigued by the Iwo Road mystery hence its resolve to unravel it. Ajimobi must have realised that the secret of the success of his administration lies in his ability to deal with this mystery through a systemic despatch of its nuisance contents. The governor, therefore, decided to engage the Iwo Road mafia in a battle of wits which he seems to be winning. The first move was the relocation of the parks. Though, some of them have refused to obey this relocation order, it is not as bad as it used to be. Then, some structures encroaching on the road were demolished while some traders were sent packing.

Some of the illegal bus parks are now undergoing beautification and landscaping evolution. Thus, a new Iwo Road stripped of all forms of traditional razzmatazz is emerging.

No responsible government in this modern age will subscribe to a risible myth or succumb to the fallacy of a witch-cult fantasy. Why should Iwo Road not undergo a revification simply because some weird creatures are said to have turned the place to a midnight eatery where they feast on “appeasement menu” in assorted calabashes brought by patrons of herbalists and promoters of “IÌc¹Ìce”? The best the government can do for them in this regard is to relocate their eatery to places like Dugbe, Yemetu, Orita Challenge, IdiArere, Beere, Oje and the rest. Ibadan, and indeed, Oyo State as a whole, does not appear to me like a state that will lack a convenient venue for the convocation and revelry of midnight principalities and other entities of darkness.

All previous administrations before Ajimobi were unable to solve the

Iwo Road mystery because they lacked the creativity to deconstruct its metaphor and understand the contemporariness of its social construct.

These days, governance requires depth of ideas, good thinking, poetic logic, political theatrics, oratorical dramatics and above all, divine wisdom. When you lack all these, you lack initiative.

Any inspirational and creative administration must understand and appreciate the economic dynamics of roads.

When you have gridlock spots where vehicles are trapped for several hours, there is an alarming decline in economic activities and by extension, in revenue.

Unrestricted movements of human personnel and the facilitation of their economic goods are revenue-friendly to a government that develops and maintains its infrastructure, especially roads.

The massive road constructions going on in states like Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Edo and Imo, confirm the linkage between roads, economic growth and other development indicators.

Strategic road networking is key to development and is also a major boost to regional integration. Since all the states in the South West are determined to forge ahead with the process of integration, all efforts must be made towards upgrading their infrastructure by making it trade-friendly.

This way, they will stimulate and create massive opportunities for their peoples and invariably guarantee their economic prosperity.

The rehabilitation work at Iwo Road is, therefore, the elixir that the Ajimobi government needs to provoke the inspiration it requires in unlocking the problematics of other projects and similar policy gridlocks.

With the new law banning street begging in Oyo State, the transforma-

tion of Iwo Road is nearing total completion. Besides, the Oyo State Traffic Management and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) have deployed personnel to the road for effective monitoring. These days, movement around the road is somehow smooth and stress-free.

What Ajimobi is doing in Iwo Road was what Babatunde Fashola did to Oshodi some years back.

I am not too sure if Oshodi had its own myth but what I do know is that Fashola’s intervention has demystified the notorious Oshodi. Since that intervention, Oshodi has remained quiet, fomenting no crisis, witnessing no trouble and engendering no conflict. The gridlock had since disappeared. Vehicular and human traffic now flows without the stress of the past. Ajimobi and Fashola’s action on Iwo Road and Oshodi respectively exemplifies how visionary leadership and administration should respond to obstacles of development. Myths are obstacles to progress and until they are disparaged and treated with contempt and disdain, our society will be held hostage by mere soporific narratives and antiquated traditions.

While crediting the Ajimobi administration for its creativity and sagacity in coming up with the magic for the revival of Iwo Road, I am proposing that the government should come up with the mechanisms including legislations, that will give an enduring value to the various measures and structures that are being put in place at Iwo Road.

•Thomas, a former Special Adviser to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a lecturer at the Department of History and International Studies, Lagos State University.

Alison-Madueke: A minister and her passion

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ILIFIED and often attacked for being responsible for the rot in the nation’s oil and gas industry, the minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has borne everything with strong equanimity and an unwavering determination to deliver the goods. In this report, a look is taken at those areas where the minister has acquitted herself well in the face of daunting challenges and limitations.

While ‘bashing’ public officials seems to be the pastime of Nigeria’s criticising public, only very few public officers have been subjected to attacks, both personal and official, like Diezani Alison-Madueke. While some had said she is the most corrupt minister, some said she is so powerful to the extent that she dictates to the president.

She has also been accused of being behind the recent crisis that has bedeviled the oil and gas sector in the last few years. Recently, she was accused of being behind the ugly drama that characterised the submission of the report of the committee set up in the wake of last year’s subsidy protests and headed by former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. But come to think of it, what have they not accused her of since she joined government? Some members of the committee had openly disagreed with the version of the report being presented to the President. Critics said Diezani and some Presidency officials actually colluded with the ‘disgruntled’ members of the committee to discredit the report so as to protect some friends of the president.

While these and other such debilitating criticisms have been made against the woman, they have not in any way prevented her from recording some modest achievement which even her staunchest critics could not deny her. In fact, observers of the oil and gas sector have singled her and her Aviation counterpart, Stella Oduah, another female minister, as two ministers who are really executing Presi-

By Affia Grillo dent Jonathan’s transformation agenda The local content champion…

Determined to ensure that there is greater participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector, the minister has been pushing for creating the enabling environment for more Nigerians to come in into the capital intensive but lucrative upstream sector of the petroleum industry. Diezani is said to be so passionate about this that she is more or less a lone soldier pushing the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB. Though the bill has faced a lot of opposition both from politicians and some foreign oil interests, sources said this has not deterred the woman from trudging on. Observers also state no past oil minister has helped local indigenous companies like the current minister who always jumps at any opportunity to help any indigenous company in the sector to succeed.

That the nation may have adequate fuel.

One of the reasons adduced for the rise of oil subsidy thieves and the attendant fleecing of the country that went with it was the fact that the federal government did not have adequate storage facility and even when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, imported fuel at times, it had to rely on private tank firms to store the commodity. But the minister of petroleum resources seemed to have noticed this when she initiated the refurbishment of the Benin Depot of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, which was commissioned last week. The facility was first constructed in 1978 and was commissioned the following year. But since 2005, the facility has been dormant due to lack of adequate maintenance. The depot has a combined capacity of over a hundred and twenty thousand litres of petrol, kerosene and auto mobile gas oil. Apart from this, the facility has nine loading arms which make it easy for trailers to come in and take products simultaneously. The depot was meant to serve the evacuation of products from the Warri refinery through a gas pipeline

that spans almost ninety kilometres.

Speaking at the re-commissioning of the depot, an elated Alison-Madueke said she was delighted that government of President Jonathan was living up to its promise of ensuring adequate fuel supply. “I am delighted that under the administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the depot has been put back in operation and able to deliver products to the good people of Edo State and its teaming consumers. Also, I am pleased that through the concerted effort of NNPC Management and Staff, under my leadership, we are steadily yielding the desired outcomes.” Not done yet, the minister informed her audience that “the Depot we are re-commissioning today has the capacity to hold 59 million litres of PMS, 32 million litres of DPK, and 28 million litres of AGO. The resumption of commercial activities to this very important facility is a major milestone towards the restoration of steady products supply to Benin and its environs.”

Alluding to the menace pipeline vandalism had become in the country, the wife of the former military governor of old Imo State, Rear Admiral Alison Madueke said it was worrisome “that the menace of pipeline vandalism has now become a national security challenge with the latest example being the incident in Arepo, Ogun State which forced the shut-down of an entire line segment that serves as the gateway for petroleum products supply and distribution of over 60% of national requirement. Furthermore, the cost of products losses and repairs due to vandalism has continued to grow to an alarming level. In addition, the consequential cost of environmental remediation from the resulting spillage associated with vandalism and the loss of lives and properties of innocent Nigerians are unnecessary burdens we should not have to bear as a nation.”

An obviously impressed former Labour leader and incumbent governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said he was impressed by the re-commissioning of the depot in

Benin, the Edo State capital. He said he was now sure that the trips he usually made to Warri to solicit for the supply of petroleum products to Edo State was no over with the commissioning of the depot.

“The honourable minister has demonstrated that indeed good things can come from the petroleum industry as well as the NNPC. I thank God that I don’t have to make such long walk to Warri again because the Benin depot is back to service,” he said. Another major milestone in the minister’s stewardship was the commissioning of the Oredo Gas Handling Plant last week.

Speaking at the event, Alison-Madueke said the facility, its construction and commissioning were an indication that the nation has arrived in the production of gas and allied products.

“It is of interest to note that NPDC is now the major gas supplier to the nation’s domestic market, with a current supply of approximately 400MMscfd and an expected growth to 600MMscfd by year end. Today’s commissioning of the Oredo Early first gas phase, which is currently delivering 65MMscfd to the domestic market clearly demonstrates this growing capability of NPDC to take a leading role in the Federal Government’s quest to rapidly increase gas supply, and it is my hope that by the end of this year, the complete Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) which will deliver 100MMscfd of lean gas, and about 330 tons of LPG per annum to domestic consumers will have been completed.”

The announcement by PPMC Managing Director, that the Maiduguri Depot will be rehabilitated in the next 60 days is another cheery news for people of that zone.

A it will significantly ease the fuel challenge the people of that zone face daily.

Jobs for teeming youths.

As earlier stated, one of the things dear to the heart of the petroleum minister was greater participation of Ni-

gerians in the oil and gas sector. While she has pursued this vigorously, little did critics of the government know that as at today, the participation level of Nigerian-owned companies in the oil and gas sector has moved up to an impressive eighty-seven percent.

While this might not mean so much to the man on the street, the fall-out of this is that about thirty thousand jobs have been created out of this.

Speaking at a meeting, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Diezani said by asking companies to do the ‘right thing’, they have succeeded in getting more and more Nigerians to be involved in the oil and gas industry “just by insisting on using Nigerians in the industry, we have deepened the local supply chain.”

The minister said the jobs were generated in the engineering, fabrication, marine transportation, logistics and exploration and production sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry, and expressed optimism that the job growth would be sustained.

“I have no doubt that more jobs will be created in 2013 and we shall achieve greater localisation of the industry services, manufacturing and fabrication in 2013,” she said.

Alison-Madueke noted that the Nigerian content implementation had increased the level of participation of Nigerians in oil and gas contracts to 87 per cent. “The board has to a large extent achieved consensus in most aspects of Nigerian Content implementation to the extent that there has been no major dispute amongst stakeholders on interpretation of provisions of the Nigerian Content Law.” Suddenly everything seems to be coming together under her leadership for the good of country. Now there is no denying the fact that she has done quite well; especially in the area of ensuring more local participation in the oil gas industry. Even if critics would never give her the credit.

Affia wrote in from London

POLITICS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

BoT:

•Jonathan

T

HE inability of President Goodluck Jonathan to get his preferred candidate elected as the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last Wednesday may have rekindled the rivalry with his erstwhile godfather, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sources claim a major decision to edge out some members of the BoT suspected to be loyalists of the former president, may have been taken by the President and his allies to pave way for the emergence of their anointed candidate as the BoT boss at the next meeting of the board scheduled early next month.

The party had on Wednesday constituted a committee to streamline the membership of the BoT, ahead of the planned election of a new chairman for the board.

The Nation, however, learnt that the decision to re-examine the membership of the board with a view to streamlining it may be in line with a plot to reduce the numerical strength of those not favourably disposed to suspected moves by the President to take over all the arms of the ruling party ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Sources said the belief in the Presidency and among proJonathan caucuses within the party is that members loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida led

Jonathan moves to edge out Obasanjo’s men

The procedure for the election of the new chairman of Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustee (BoT) has been further complicated by fresh intrigues, reports Dare Odufowokan the pack of those likely to oppose any move by Jonathan to foist his choice on the BoT. “Given the argument and counter-arguments that ensued at the botched BoT meeting last week, there is no hiding where their loyalties lie for the members.

Contrary to the claim that the meeting did not get close to electing a chairman, what actually happened was that an attempt to get other aspirants to endorse the candidature of a particular aspirant was rebuffed by a good number of those present.”

In fact, the leading candidate believed by the Presidency to be an ally of the former President, was schemed out of the race after he refused to step down. The current secretary, who is from the same geo-political zone as the said aspirant was endorsed to continue in office thereby forestalling the ambition of the candidate.

But further attempt to railroad the President’s man into the position met stiff resistance from some quarters at the meeting. This forced the hand of the party elders

to adjourn the meeting. But this was not until they have identified those opposed to the President’s choice,” a party source, who was at the meeting, said.

And following the wrangling among members over the criteria to be adopted for determining who will vote and the procedure that should be adopted for voting, sources said the President’s men saw an opportunity to reach for the jugular of the opposition ahead of the next BoT meeting.

“One of the major reasons for the failure of members of BoT of PDP to produce a new chairman on Tuesday was the disagreement over the criteria to be adopted for determining who will vote and the procedure that should be adopted for voting.

Some members openly accused others of not being eligible to vote at the meeting.

Others were described as not being fit for BoT membership in the first place. This generated a lot of controversy at the meeting and provided an opportunity for Jonathan and his men to

tinker with the membership of the board with a view to edging out some members perceived to be disloyal to their cause,” our source added.

The Nation gathered that members likely to be affected by the move include Senator Girigiri Lawan, Nze Fidelis Uhukwu, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Don Etiebet and Yekeen Adeojo.

Others are Sylvester Odogu, Bello Mohammed, Chris Uba, Tajudeen Oladipupo, Mogaji Abubakar, Harry Akande and Ebitu Ukiwe, to mention just a few.

Our checks revealed that given the modality for the membership of the BoT, three categories of members will be affected by the exercise. The first category has to do with the 18 elected members, comprising of three members from each zone of the country. The second category is made up of two female members from each of the six geo-political zones.

There is the category for foundation members and any member of the party that the BoT deemed fit to appoint as members of the Board, subject to ratification by the

•Obasanjo

party’s National Convention.

“These are the people Gana’s committee will be looking forward to edging out. Already, there are talks about the zone being asked to re-elect representatives into the BoT. This will affect categories one and two while the party leadership may tinker with those in the third category to suit the President.

But Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has said the committee is not out to witch-hunt aspirants or members of the board but rather, it was set up to streamline membership of the board in preparation for the election of a new chairman.

Maduekwe said the mandate of the committee was to properly align membership of the board in such a way that the election of the next BoT chairman would be a model of internal democracy.

“All distinguished statesmen that have indicated interest to contest are eminently qualified.

We are not discussing names but just procedure. When you are in a party like PDP that has been in power since 1999 without any serious opposition, you have to reinvent yourself to remain in contention.

The constitution is clear on those who are permanent members, because once you have held positions both in government and the party, it makes you a permanent member. The election takes place once every five years,” he said.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Politics

The accumulated leave taken by the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, for about five months now ought to raise a crucial constitutional issue of how long public officers could be away from their duty post, but the motives and antecedents of the members of the Save Enugu Group (SEG) who are calling for Chime’s impeachment raise serious doubts about their credibility and the genuineness of their motives, Olukayode Thomas, who was in Enugu, reports

J

OY and misery abound in equal measure on the 15th of December 2012 when news filtered in first from the social media and later other sources that the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, has gone to the realm where all roads ultimately lead in far away India.

For a majority of Enugu indigenes who believed that the state did not start reaping the dividends of democracy until Mr. Chime became governor in 2007, it was day that their hopes of a better tomorrow turned into despair.

While the period between 1999 and 2007 was regarded by many of the state indigenes as years of the locust, in Chime’s five years, they have seen some development, especially in the provision of infrastructure and security.

But for his opponents, who felt betrayed that Chime refused to follow the script laid down by their godfather, who chose Chime above other ‘more qualified candidates’ to become the state chief executive officer, the news of Chime’s death was a vindication of their earlier statement that the governor had long died and that a cabal that is ruling since he left the state since September 19, 2012, had been deceiving the public.

But within hours, the two sides soon traded places, as the news of Chime’s death filtered out as it filtered in, it was just a rumour. The State Commissioner for Information, Chucks Ugwuoke, then described the rumour as coming from the pit of hell.

But while a majority of Enugu indigenes, including Chime’s political opponents, believe he may be alive, they doubt claims that he is healthy, and that he is just enjoying his accumulated leave.

Majority of Enugu residents interviewed last week by The Nation are not only wishing Chime speedy recovery, they are also praying that he returns to Enugu immediately and continue his ‘good deeds.’

For members of the opposition or other Enugu indigenes, especially members of the Save Enugu Group (SEG), Governor Chime is seriously sick, incapable of ruling again, therefore the Deputy Governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, should be sworn in immediately as the new state governor.

Even when photos of a fitlooking Governor Chime with Governors Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Gabriel Suswam (Benue) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) in London, was released last week, SEG, the main protagonists in the ‘’Chime must surface or be impeached’’ campaign declared the photos to be fake. SEG Convener, Maxi Okwu (Ikenecheoha II), President Citizen Popular Party (CPP) and National Chairman Conference of Nigeria Political Party (CNPP) said: “The Enugu State Govern-

ment (ENSG) came up with that photo trick to meet our deadline.”

BETWEEN SEG AND THE SPEAKER Apart from Chief Okwu, other prominent members of the SEG include Igbonekwu Ogazimora, a former Commissioner of Information in the last dispensation , Chief Willy Ezugwu, National Secretary of CNPP, Mr. Ibuchukwu Ezike, a prominent indigene of the state, Mr. Victor Eneh, another prominent indigene and Mr. Ray Nnaji, a Commissioner under Nnamani and Chime.

They had demanded that Acting Governor Onyebuchi must constitute a delegation of prominent leaders of Enugu to visit Chime. They suggested Bishop Callistus Onaga, Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Revd Hyde Onuaguluchi, Prof Bath Nnaji, Igwe Paul Egbogu, Chief Mrs Grace Obayi, Chief Nduka Eya, Secretary General Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo and Dr Louis Anya Chukwuma.

But the Speaker, State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, dismissed the demand of the SEG. Odo posited that the House of Assembly could not invoke the Doctrine of Necessity because the governor followed due process before embarking on his accumulated leave.

Odo believed that SEG members may not really know what the Doctrine of Necessity is all about.

He insisted that the circumstance of Chime’s absence is completely different from that of late President Umoru Yar’Adua’s circumstances.

He stated: “And under the 1999 Constitution, section 190, whenever a governor is travelling and he intends to stay for more than 21 days, he should transmit a letter to the House of Assembly, in which case the deputy governor becomes the acting governor, which Chime had done.”

Odo revealed further that Section 189 of the constitution clearly states that if the governor is sick, only the State Executive Council is empowered to generate a resolution to the House of Assembly, the Speaker can then nominate five medical practitioners, including the governor’s personal doctor, who will examine and report on his condition. According to Odo, none of the people nominated by the SEG is qualified according to the constitution.

Investigation revealed that insinuations that the acting governor’s approval is only N500, 000, may not be true, ditto for allegations that workers are being owed salaries since Chime travelled and that all ongoing projects have been abandoned. The truth is, Enugu workers are paid as at when due. Salaries alone gulp about N800 million monthly, so if the deputy governor’s approval limit is only half a million naira, salaries would definitely not be paid.

Also, multi- million naira worth of projects are going on in various sites across the state. The state budget for 2013 was presented to the State House of Assembly last month. So all these give the impression that all is well.

IS CHIME A VICTIM OF EBEANO POLITICS? If Chime followed due process before embarking on his accumulated leave, if he has not breached

the constitution and the acting governor is in charge of the state, why has the state been in the news for the wrong reasons since Chime travelled in September?

Political observers in Enugu who spoke on the condition of anonymity claimed that most members of the SEG either have personal problems with Chime because of the volatile nature of Enugu politics or they are members of the Chimaroke Nnamani Ebeano group

who felt it is now time to get back at Chime, the ‘traitor’.

Investigation in Enugu revealed that Chime and Okwu were once best of friends and their fathers were both ministers in the First Republic.

The duo fell apart when Chime reneged on an earlier promise to host the chairmen of all political parties in Enugu. Okwu, the chairmen of CNPP had made elaborate preparation and invited all the

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Politics

Enugu without Chime: Intrigues without end chairmen to Enugu, only for Chime to renege on his promise at the last minute. Since then, things have fallen apart between the two friends.

Ogazimora and Nnaji, both prominent members of SEG, were Chime’s colleagues as commissioners under Chimaroke Nnamani, Nnaji was also at a time commissioner under Chime.

Just like Nnamani and Chief Jim Nwobodo, Chime and Nnamani fell apart barely a month after the later installed him as governor when he declared that Enugu state was not really working, a sharp contrast to the “EBEANO” slogan that Enugu was working.

Since then all hands had been on the deck to ensure that the ‘traitor’ is dealt with. In the run up to the 2011 election, the Ebeano Group dumped PDP for PDC in their bid to unseat Chime. Ogazimorah said then , “the Ebeano, which is the real PDP in Enugu State, had been floating as we were rejected by both government and leadership of the PDP. That is why we have entered this party called PDC to find a way of restoring our voice. The PDC is a small party, we don’t pose a threat to anybody, we are dealing with a very powerful incumbent government that claimed to have performed well, we are the underdog, but we just want to participate politically, and whether we win the election or not is not a priority, but to ensure that we participate in the polls.”

All efforts to speak with Ogazimorah the voice of SEG, to ask him if the present campaign against Chime were a continuation of the struggle for power between Ebeano and Chime, proved abortive. On three occasions, appointments were fixed but Ogazimorah’s busy schedules did not permit him to keep appointments.

But a source, who is on first name basis with major political actors in Enugu politics, doubts if Nnamani is behind SEG, ‘‘ Nnamani is not civil, his style is an Agbero style, and Ebeano means ‘Crush Them’.

If the former governor was behind all these, he would mobilise people to occupy the Government House. Give it to Chime, he is a fine gentleman. Under Nnamani, our state was not like this. All opponents of the governor were chased out of the state, but most of the actors are people that are close to him.”

FOR HOW LONG CAN PUBLIC OFFICERS BE AWAY But for doubts over the intentions of members of SEG, the prolonged absence of Chime and other public officers raises a serious question about how long a public officer should be away, and this calls for genuine discussion by the National and State Assemblies to help resolve an issue that the constitution is silent on. As at today, apart from Chime, the governors of Cross Rivers and Taraba State are outside the country for health reasons.

The official statement from the Enugu State Government is that the governor is enjoying his accumulated leave. Since he joined the state service about 14 years ago (eight years under Nnamani ‘s administration, six years as governor) Chime has never gone on leave. So, if Chime is entitled to a month of holiday yearly and he has not gone on leave since 1999, that means he is entitled to a 14 month holiday.

An Enugu based lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said all the hue and cry by SEG and others asking about Chime’s whereabouts may amount to nothing.” The governor followed due process.

Even if they decide to go to court, they will lose because the constitution says if a governor will be away for more than 21 days, he should transfer power to his deputy, which he did. The law does not say he must return in six weeks or six months. On that, the constitution is silent.”

Going forward, the lawyer wants the National and State Assemblies to amend the constitution and stipulate the number of weeks or months a public officer could stay away from his/her duty.

IFEOMA NWOBODO AND ENUGU CABAL Apart from Chime and his absence from the state, one person that is much discussed among the elites, politicians and civil servants in Enugu State is the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo. Politicians loath her, civil servants wish she lost her job penultimate week when the acting governor almost fired her, while those who hang around the corridors of power and contractors always pray that their files do not go through her desk.

An accountant, married to a High Court Judge in the State Judiciary, Mrs. Nwobodo was recruited by Chime from Nike-Lake Hotel where she worked as Director of Finance when he was elected Governor. Investigation in Enugu revealed that no contract file passes through her table with the contract amount not being reviewed downward. This no doubt creates more enemies than friends for her.

Secondly, with a private sector background, she is said not to have patience for politicians and civil servants. She has also been severally accused of being rude and brash.

One of the many ‘sins’ Mrs Nwobodo was accused of include sacking of the Head of Service, Mr. Dennis Eze. She was also accused of sacking the Head of Enugu SUBEB because of power tussle between them over who awards contract for rehabilitation of dilapidated primary schools in the state. Another alleged prominent victim of Nwobodo is the former head of Enugu Waste Management Board, Mrs. Thelma Ogakwu.

Efforts to get Mrs. Nwobodo to talk were abortive. Aides said she would not grant a telephone interview, while appointment for a formal interview has to be prearranged.

But a prominent indigene of the state, who spoke on the condition anonymity, revealed that Mrs Nwobodo is well loved by the masses and honest people in Enugu State, adding that it is only the elites and those that hang around government, looking for inflated contracts and politicians that hate her.

He revealed that Nwobodo’s problem stems from her profession, accounting. He said ‘’Being an accountant, she is over prudent and our people don’t like people like that’’. He also said that unlike under Nnamani where there were lots of patronage, it is not so under Chime and Nwobodo is seen as one of the people that is behind this.

On the people allegedly sacked by Nwobodo. He asked: “Where does she derive the power from? Sack the Head of Serv-

ice? Stop the Acting Governor’s allowances?

These are pure lie. Infact, she almost lost her job last week.”

Giving an insight into why the government sacked the head of Enugu State Waste Management (ESWAMA) , Mrs . Chinyere Ogakwu, the source revealed that waste management had always been a problem in Enugu and that before she was sacked four other heads of ESWAMA had been relieved of their appointments.

He revealed that it was the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Amechi Okolo, acting on the instruction of the Acting Governor that announced the sack and named Dominic Okonkwo to oversee the affairs of the agency until further notice .Ogakwu’s problem with the state government, he said, began when it became obvious that she could not successfully keep the state clean before Christmas and New Year. The Government had wanted visitors coming home to see a clean state .

By December, the state was so dirty that government had to hire trailers to move waste. In the face of the glaring failure by the agency, the head had to assume responsibility, that was why she was sacked by the state government. ‘’ Let me also tell you that Mrs. Ogakwu is not just a relation of Governor Chime, they are from the same place Udi, so there is no way anybody would have sacked her unless she actually failed in the performance of her duties’’.

He equally revealed that the Head of Service Mr. Denis Eze was relieved of his appointment by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Amechi Okolo who also asked him to hand over to the acting Head of Service, Mr. Chidi Ezema within 24 hours.

ENUGU IS WORKING –CNPP For the Chairman of Enugu State chapter of CNPP, Mr. Afam Ani, the absence of Chime has not stopped Enugu from working. Ani said he saw the letter the governor wrote to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly transferring power to the Deputy Governor ‘’he is away legally, and his absence is not causing any problem. There has been no problem with payment of salaries, projects are going on and the budget has been presented. ‘‘But we are watching the government and the moment we smell anything bad we will raise the alarm. People are worried about the condition of the governor because he is a good man,” he said.

On the insinuation that a cabal led by Mrs. Nwobodo has sidelined the Acting Governor, Ani said , ‘‘It is cheap propaganda by SEG, there is nothing like that. Mrs. Nwobodo is a very strong woman, a rare bred who is a blessing to Enugu state. When you are talking of people in charge of government it is the Acting Governor and the Secretary to the State Government.

I don’t know why they are shouting about Nwobodo, even when Chime was here they said all manner of things about her. if there is a cabal, the local CNPP will be the first to raise an alarm. She has no power to sack anybody, it is the secretary to the government empowered by the Acting Governor that has such power,” he said.

CHIME’S ADDMISSION OF ILL HEALTH AND VISIT TO UDI While controversy about his whereabout rages in Enugu, Chime has surfaced in London with three other Governors and has tac-

21

tically admitted he has been sick. “I am alive and well, I will be back very, very soon. I am great, very, very great. Tell Nigerians to discountenance all the rumours about my health.” Rotimi Amaechi, the Governor of Rivers State, speaking on Chime’s health, reportedly said, “We saw him in an atmosphere of recovery. We were able to go out with him, he is in good shape and is getting ready to come back home very soon. We thank God for what He has done, how He has helped him to recover.”

Gabriel Suswam of Benue State said: “Chime has been discharged from the hospital.” While Godswill Akpabio said: “He has recovered tremendously, I am very happy and I give glory to God. We should pray for our leaders instead of wishing them bad.”

Back home, Enugu residents are worried. A visit to Chime’s home town in Udi revealed a people who are worried and are desperate to see their son again. The palace of Igwe Chris Ogakwu, the Okwuluoha 111 of Udi, was locked when The Nation visited last week, but an elder lady said, ‘’ the king is probably in Enugu, but I cannot give you his number, but you are a journalist, you should be able to give us information about our son, we are worried, we are praying for him every day, we are sure God will bring him home soon’’.

At Chime’s expansive house in the village, two security men wearing Vote for Chime T-Shirts told this reporter that the house has been locked for a while and no member of the family who could grant an interview was around. But from white to blue workers in Udi, the only news they want to hear now is that Chime is back in town.

But some like the Chairman of Enugu State Christian Pilgrim Board and Bishop of the Enugu Anglican Communion, Emmanuel Chukwuma, is not happy being in the dark about Chime’s whereabout ‘‘ I must say that I, Bishop Chukwuma, am one of those behind the installation of Sullivan Chime as the Governor of Enugu State. I gave him support and I was the only bishop who blessed him. No other bishop blessed him when he was coming into government. Even his Catholic bishops rejected him because of how he was brought in by the former Governor, Dr. Chimaroke (Nnamani). I was the only bishop and I’m still praying for him. But the family of the governor has to be blamed for all that is happening now because they are not sincere and open on the matter. When the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was sick, his family was open to let us know he was sick. And I personally visited Ojukwu at the hospital in London. One of my visits was at the London Clinic while the other was at the Wallington Hospital. And I was able to see him and pray for him. But up till now, nobody has told me where my governor is, which hospital he is; they are hiding it. But we are praying. All I know is that he is not dead. I even received Christmas greeting card and gifts from the Government House sent by him. Okay! But what is the state of his health, nobody is telling us.’’

But another clergy, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Callistus Onaga warned against wishing Chime death and called for prayers for his recovery.

Bishop Onaga said “We miss Chime now that he is not around. But there are many reasons why a chief executive of a state can travel outside. The important thing is that he complied with the laws of the land. He’s entitled to his holidays during which he can do other things which he wishes to.”The present situation is that things are not retarding because he’s not there. So, we’re praying that his being outside would augur well for him and eventually favour the whole state. We’re asking our people to be patient and try to understand that with time, we shall all smile.

I’m quite sure that he probably has some health challenges, which are normal to every human being. But there is no reason people should hide it. Rather, we should be told the details of the whole thing so that we can intensify our prayers for him.

Many of us have set up prayer warriors for him because he has been a very hardworking governor. He has made the Coal City to become one of the best states with good road networks in the entire country. And we want him to come back and complete the work.’’

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Politics

The return of former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has generated a lot of heat in the politics of the state. In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, traces the genesis of the controversy and reveals a deepening power game in the state

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N Abia State today, the political theatre seems wired with live electric cables. Hooked to a towering pole of unending controversy with the naked wires left unattended to, there is fear that except something is done fast, the long suppressed political fire in the state may soon be lighted.

The controversy • Tukur Since the former governor of the state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, announced his return to the Peoples Democratic Party, last week, red hot tension has gripped the political atmosphere. This is because the news has sparked off verbal exchanges, as Abia State Government and the state chapter of the party have officially rejected the alleged return.

Kalu, whose return to the party has remained an issue for years, had explained that he concluded his return process on January 16, 2013, when he was issued a membership card, bearing number 9787945 in his Igbere Ward.

Before observers could react to the de- turn, Emezuo said: “The fact remains that velopment, the state chairman of the party, Kalu is not a member of PDP and he can’t Chief Emma Nwaka, came out and rejected return to the party. You will recall that the Kalu’s claims, insisting that the former last time he tried to return to the party, even governor had not been readmitted into the before Governor Theodore Orji’s return to the party, he (Kalu) was rejected by the elders PDP in the state.

Nwaka also alleged that the card is- of PDP. He has again been rejected because sued to Kalu was fake, since, according everybody knows him well enough to see to him, “Igbere cards bear numbers which that he would not add value to the fortunes begin in the series of 95…, not 97…” He of the party. Instead, he will, in his usual added that the entire executive of the par- style, continue to cause distractions. That is ty’s Ward A and B in Igbere, who alleg- not what PDP and Abians need today.”

Emezuo added that “the elders of PDP edly issued the card to Kalu, had resigned in Abia, led by Governor Orji, openly demon January 10.

This pronouncement was followed by onstrated their stand when they went to published statements from some leaders Abuja, two weeks ago, and explained to the of PDP in Igbere, Kalu’s home community, national leadership of PDP that Kalu is not Item, Alayi and other neighbouring towns a member of PDP in Abia State and that he in Bende Local Government Area, in would not be readmitted because all he which they stated that the elders of the wants to do is to cause confusion in the state party and leaders in the local government and in the nation at large. This is a man area had not changed their earlier posi- who still runs his PPA, alleging that he has tion on Kalu, asserting that he has, there- returned to PDP. “As the state chairman of PDP has said fore, not been readmitted into the party.

But Kalu was not impressed or moved already, Kalu’s name is not in the party regby all these. He said his return conformed ister. He is not a member of the ruling party to the constitution of the party, adding, “ I here and nobody is impressed by the fact that am back to PDP and there is no going back. he is now brandishing a fake PDP memberI said that I will not come back to the party ship card. He cannot return to the party if Chief Obasanjo is the BOT chairman. through the back door. That is not acceptable Now he is out, I am back and other found- to PDP leadership and elders in the state,” he ing members of the party are coming back. said.

But Prince Emeka Obasi, Kalu’s media We founded the party in 1998. And all the founding members have met and decided adviser, told The Nation in a telephone chat to come back and take over the party, and that Kalu’s return went through the due process. “So, after that process, a few selfish indithere is nothing holding us back.”

On the claim that he got the said mem- viduals cannot nullify the process. No!” According to Obasi, Kalu was required to bership card from executive members who had left office, Kalu asked: “ How can the go through his ward, and this is what he did. whole executive of two wards resign? Obasi, therefore, said, ‘Can’t you see that someWhat was the reason they gave for resign- body is trying to be smart? PDP is the people’s ing. They are deceiving the people and that party, as the name indicates, and not an ordeceit must stop. You cannot dissolve the ganisation for a few rich but misguided eleward executives and say they resigned. ments, who call themselves leaders.”

As he puts it, “the real people, the masses Emma Nwaka should take time. He is not the owner of PDP. We have come back to in Abia State, are not complaining. In fact, the people are happy and have been celebrating take over our party.”

But the Chief Press Secretary to Gover- the return of their leader. It is only a few misnor Theodore Orji, Mr. Ugochukwu guided elements that are erecting roadblocks Emezuo, speaking for his boss told The here and there to defend their selfish interNation in a telephone chat during the ests. It is disheartening because these eleweek that the former governor, Kalu, can’t ments were not there in 1998 when Dr. Kalu and other patriots founded PDP. It is, therecome back to PDP. Asked to state the position of the state fore, difficult to understand why these peogovernment over the controversy sur- ple are so desperate today to pursue a man rounding Kalu’s return to PDP and why from a house he built. They will not succeed the governor, the state government and because the former governor has returned state leadership of PDP are against his re- home. The lion has returned home and there

• Kalu

• Orji

Much ado over Kalu’s return to PDP is nothing they can do to stop him,” he said.

Reminded that the state chairman of the party has openly faulted the alleged return to the party and has described the membership card given to Kalu as fake, and that leaders of the wards in Igbere and neighbouring towns, like Item and Alayi in Bende Local Government Area, in a paid newspaper advertorial during the week corroborated the state chairman’s position, Obasi said, “They are playing politics the Nigerian way. The way desperate politicians operate in this country, anybody could have signed those advertorials. Don’t forget that the ward executive members who perfected Dr. Kalu’s return and issued him his membership card have been living under threat since then. In fact, as we speak, they have been hiding and could not sleep in their homes. So, we know what is happening. Even if those people actually signed that advertorial, we know that in their heart of hearts, they do not believe what they were made to sign. They have been pressured to say what they said and sign what they signed,” he said.

Asked who was issuing the alleged threat and piling up the said pressure on the ward executives, Obasi said, “They know themselves but the point really is that the former governor is back to his party and the people currently troubled by the return cannot stop him.”

Kalu’s return and politics of Abia PDP Given the current disposition of Governor Theodore Orji- led Abia State Government, which is outrightly against Kalu’s return to the PDP, there is the fear that if Kalu’s return is finally approved by the national leadership, the party would ultimately be factionalised in the state between Orji’s loyalists and Kalu’s and the opposition parties may take advantage of the development to win future elections in the state.

This calculation is anchored on the belief that Kalu, who said his return was informed by an agreement he had with other founding fathers of the party, enjoys the support of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led National leadership of PDP and some other very powerful members of the party outside the state, who contend that his return will boost the fortunes of the party not only in the state but also in the South-East zone, ahead 2015.

A source close to the Umuahia Government House, however, told The Nation that Kalu’s alleged return to PDP is a ploy to destroy the party in the state. “Abia State Gov-

ernment is not oblivious of the plot to use the ludicrous return to PDP as a tool to destroy the party here. We know the game and that is why we cannot allow them to succeed,” the source, who pleaded anonymity, said, adding, “the game plan is to split the party.’

Reacting, however, Obasi said Kalu and his supporters do not believe his return will lead to the alleged split. “There will be no split in Abia PDP as a result of Dr. Kalu’s return. Instead, his return will only help to strengthen the party and take it to a higher level. This development will help the party because all the sycophants, who have been unable to guide the leadership in the state, will no longer thrive when the real leader is back,” he said.

The larger picture As the exchange of verbal arsenal between the opposing camps in Abia State continues, insiders have explained that the problem may not be easily resolved because of what some of them described as the “larger picture,” or the “2015 power game.”

A source close to the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja told The Nation that the “national leadership had hoped that the return of founding members like Kalu will help the party ahead 2015 instead of creating divisions. So, the leaders consider this development as unfortunate and in my personal opinion, I think there would be need to carefully study the situation before coming out with a position.”

Another source, an aide to a leader of PDP, said, most of the leaders of the party in Abuja are worried ‘since they know that Orji can no longer contest in 2015. They would prefer full reconciliation than the current scenario. But the situation is dicey and everybody is being careful because the real issue is 2015 and nobody wants to misread the power game,” he said.

Explaining the dilemma of the national leadership of the party, the source said, “For PDP, it seems equally risky to antagonise either Kalu or Orji ahead 2015. That is why Abuja must tread with caution,” he said.

For now, the naked live wires that litter the bare floor of Abia State’s political theatre remains visible. So, both the field actors and behind-the-scene directors and stakeholders in PDP, besides verbal attacks, are still treading with caution. But as the game lingers on, the opposition groups are watching with keen interest.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Politics

Tribute to Ebino Topsy at 70 HIEF Ebenezer Babatope, any day stands out in a crowd. Avuncular by disposition, Ebino Topsy as he is fondly called by close friends and associates is cerebral while his oratorical prowess commands instant attention. He is openhearted, always warm, down to earth and ever focused. For me, the story of progressive politics in Nigeria can never be properly narrated without a fair reference to the roles played by this very ebullient and egregious politician, both in the past and in the present dispensation.

Who would not remember the vibrant days of Babatope in the politics of Nigeria’s Second Republic? He was the chief spokesperson for Africa’s best organised political party, the Unity Party of Nigeria.

With the power of pen and shrilling voice as the UPN’s curator, Babatope, brazed by the spirit of the progressives, was a main torment for the then ruling defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN). In those days, Babatope crowed like a cock, bleated like a sheep and often times roared like a lion against perceived misdemeanours of the ruling party.

Babatope was simply a huge toast in the camp of the progressives in the Second Republic. His reputation soared beyond the coast of the South-West where he operated, whirled through the South-East, the home of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Middle Belt where Chief Solomon Lar was contending, the cultural city of Kano where Mallam Aminu Kano held sway and then the Borno Empire which produced the only Nigerian politician who played politics without bitterness, Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri. He spoke in political terms and officially too for the great men who laid the basis for growth of democracy in Nigeria. Babatope! Oh what a man, what a speaker, what a politician, what a bundle of wit. To say that Babatope thought Nigerians the art of speaking for political parties is like stating the obvious.

He laid the standard for office of National Publicity Secretary of parties as we come to know today. His own voyage into politics and the manner of his rise is a good study on how a politician should be baked Babatope did not join politics because

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•Babatope

By Folu Olamiti he wanted to raise a fortune. He was a worker and a philosopher at the University of Lagos, so immersed in the propagation of progressive ideals rooted in the Carl Max doctrines before he got located. He was a columnist too. Unknown to him, the Tsar of Progressive Politics in Nigeria, Papa Chief Obafemi Awolowo secretly held him in high esteem. That was when Awo was pioneering a political group known as Committee of Friends, preparatory to the lifting of ban on politics in 1978 by then military government. Awo’s political team was complete long before full stream politics took off to establish the Second Republic in 1979. He specifically sent for Babatope to join the team which eventually metamorphosed into the great UPN. It was a party that gave Nigeria a robust visage on what politics should be.

Babatope has helped Nigeria in many ways. At a critical point in the post Second Republic Nigeria, he was part of the strong

Political

ripples Echoes of Wamakko’s big stick

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INCE the Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, shut some private schools in the state, saying they failed short of the educational, religious and cultural standards his government approved, tongues have been wagging, as some commentators and opponents even allege political and religious vindictiveness on the part of • Wamakko the governor.

Ripples learnt that some affected proprietors and redeployed educational officers and teachers are considering forming a strong body that will help them tackle what most of them described as ‘unfair treatment.’

But feelers from the Government House in Sokoto suggests that Wamakko is not perturbed by the interpretations some opponents are trying to give his actions. In a statement signed by one of his aides, Abubakar Dangusau, Wamakko said during the week, “All the private schools recently closed down by the ministry of education for operating below standards will remain closed. They will remain closed until when they are willing to operate duly and in line with the religion and cultures of the people of the state.”

men who engaged in the brinksmanship that steered the ship of state from hitting the rock. He helped the military government of General Sani Abacha to obviate the political crisis which pushed Nigeria to the edge of a clifhanger. He is a leader of leaders in his home state, Osun and an elder statesman in his country, Nigeria. A man like Babatope, so genuine and highly spirited in the struggle for Nigeria’s survival, deserves 70 applauses as he celebrates his 70th birthday. This is because he remains in the class of Nigeria’s last of the titans, given the experiences he carries as a politician and a leader I have had a long standing close relationship with the celebrant whom I call Egbon. His candour and quick wits endeared him to me. He is unassuming and full of surprises for anyone so close to him. I enjoyed part of his attitude to make surprises a year ago, specifically on 6 January, 2012, the day I committed my mum to mother earth at Alade Idanre.

The week of burial was very turbulent for me as I made preparations for visitors to my home town. It was a week Nigerian’s went to war with their government in protest against the plan to remove subsidy on petroleum products. There was no fuel anywhere, just as chaos in the land looked stout enough to rubbish all arrangements we had made for the burial. I was demoralised and helpless. But then, people like Babatope surprised me with their morale lifting presence. I could not hold my shock when he suddenly turned up in company with one of my uncles, Chief Akanni Aluko.

Today, I am paying homage to this great man who loves his country and the people so dearly. It is the reason I found this tribute on Babatope very compelling. My close relationship with Egbon Ebino is spanning four decades now.

• Olamiti wrote in from Lagos

Amosun’s flyover message

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S he celebrates his 55th birthday on Fri day, January 25, 2013, Ogun State Gov ernor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has siezed the opportunity to deliver a special message, which some of his admirers described as a political masterstroke.

The message did not come in he form of a well-composed long speech. No, it came through the opening of the N1.5billion flyover bridge in Abeokuta, which has been identified as the first flyover bridge in the state.

Already, praise singers have added the new names to his list of names.

Eye witnesses at the inauguration, however, said, the event was more or less a political gathering, that has given testimony of Amosun’s wide network. Check out the list of the high and mighty in attendance. It was not just a birthday or bridge inauguration. It was a new message that needs to be decoded.

• Amosun

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Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Politics in 2013 (2)

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T is not all about Anambra State. There is also the preparation for 2014 in Ekiti and Osun States. Already, the stage is set in Ekiti where Dr. Kayode Fayemi recently dissolved his executive council, thus signaling the countdown to governorship poll next year. There are suggestions that no less than 19 aspirants are warming up in the Peoples Democratic Party, the main opposition party.

Whereas the principle is clear in the presidential system that, where the incumbent is interested and running, no one may seek to displace him as the candidate of his party, there are suggestions that a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele cannot afford to wait till 2018 to seek the Action Congress of Nigeria’s governorship ticket. His body language tends to lend credence to the speculation.

In the PDP, some of the prominent names in the race include former Governor Ayodele Fayose, caretaker governor Segun Oni, Senators Gbenga Aluko, Ayo Arise and Sola Akinyede, as well as former Deputy Governor Abiodun Olujinmi and Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retired). Each of the aspirants is pulling strings from the centre.

There is no doubt that the Fayemi administration has outperformed all preceding governments and this may work for him. But the PDP is not giving up, hoping to ambush the governor by instigating civil and public servants.

This is a strategy that has been potent in other states, but, Fayemi being a master strategist, knows what to do to calm nerves and enlist support before the election that may be held mid next year.

The reconstitution of the Ekiti cabinet is a major issue and could come in handy in settling some political power brokers.

Budget 2013 has also been prepared in a way to consolidate on the gains of the previous two years. All things appear to be working in favour of the ACN administration.

The situation in neighbouring Osun is not much different.

The position of Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the ACN candidate is unassailable. As is the case in Ekiti, Aregbesola holds all the levers of power in the state. He is a one-man think tank who understands the politics of Osun inside out and has his men holding strategic executive and legislative position all through the state. For a man who fought a grim battle to emerge as the ultimate leader of the state, his deft moves since he assumed office in 2010 have marked him out as a man to watch keenly.

However, the PDP cannot be easily dismissed, especially as it holds and wields power at the centre. The disgraceful exit of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola makes the party a wounded lion. The PDP is determined to find a foothold in the Southwest and would do everything to snatch Osun where Aregbesola is considered the closest associate and lieutenant of Leader Bola Tinubu. Victory in the state would be so sweet that PDP would be willing to forgo its bid for others in the zone.

In both Ekiti and Osun, the first hurdle for the PDP to scale this year is ride the storm in the party. Omisore is about the oldest aspirant having started his campaign well ahead of the others. Would Akinbade and Olasunkanmi agree to step down for the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation? Would Omisore drop his ambition in view of the strident opposition to his bid in view of the many questions he has to answer on his political involvement so far? Would the governor of Ondo State get involved in the fray?

These are issues to dominate politicking in the Southwest in 2013.

At the national level, the Senate has promised to get amendment of the 1999 constitution behind it by June. Last time, an attempt to free the Houses of Assembly from the apron strings of the executive was shot down by the state legislators. Would it sail through this time? More controversial now is the attempt to alter the structure of the federal structure by making the local councils a third tier of government. A federation is classically defined as one that shares power between the centre and the federating units, in this case states.

The governors have sworn to kill the move, while federal legislators want the constitution amended to grant financial and legal autonomy to the councils. It is a robust contention.

It is good that the interests are clashing now, when the general elections are still more than two years away. It is expected that the dust would have settled before heavy politicking starts.

Is the ruling PDP set for implosion as many analysts have predicted? This may depend more on what the leading opposition figures make of the bid to create a formidable alternative. If the merger talks succeed, it would make the 2015 general elections more interesting. The electorate would be in position to decide for or against the ruling party. In 2011, many voters either boycotted the polls or grudgingly voted Jonathan and his party because there was no viable alternative.

Both General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu have promised to seal the deal by June. This would leave enough room for voter education. It remains to be seen if this dream could come true. It should not be expected that the PDP would sleep off while the poll is being hatched.

Overall, 2013 promises to be very interesting.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

•Babatope

‘I never thought I’ll be seventy’ To say Chief Ebenezer Babatope, former Director of Organisation of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), former Minister of Transport under General Sani Abacha, Afenifere chieftain and former University of Lagos administrator has packed a lot into his seven decades on earth is an understatement. Ask the fiery political activist and he will tell you he has paid his dues. Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, spoke with the Osun State-born politician on his life and times as he celebrates a landmark 70th birthday.

Let me tell you the reason.

At a time in this country, there was a cabal that believed that Nigeria was simply an extension of their private family compounds. And this feudal cabal never believed that any person from the southern part of the country could rule. They believed that the rulers of Nigeria must always come from the north. But today, times have changed. You find people who are not from the north ruling.

That is why we must give kudos to all Nigerian people from the north and the east and the west for ensuring that we have seen people who are not from the north ruling.

We must salute the maturity of northern elders and praise the courage and determination of the southern people for getting to this stage. I’m not saying we have reached the Eldorado of our dream, but I am saying things are going to get better.

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I have no regrets whatsoever working with Abacha or with anybody for that matter.

I do not do things that I will regret later.

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IR, you turned seventy just yesterday, what does it feel like being seventy years old?

Well, I feel very happy and grateful to God almighty for preserving my life up till now. I must confess to you, given what I’ve passed through in my early life, I never for once thought I will live to be seventy. I became hypertensive at twenty-three. But here I am today. God has never allowed me to suffer any major health reverse. I thank God greatly and that is one of the reasons I am celebrating my seventieth year.

Will you now say you are fulfilled?

I am a fulfilled man. I thank God for my life so far. Let me tell you this. Papa (Obafemi) Awolowo brought me out of obscurity into national prominence. Then we had people better than me around but it will remain my honour to have had the opportunity to serve a great African leader like Awolowo. I was right beside him for five years and three months as the national director of organization. Nothing can be better than that.

Apart from that, I became a minister. That was an act of God. So, I feel fulfilled. I know that I am not a perfect person but I say God has raised me to a level that I have to be grateful to him always.

Growing up sir, was this how you envisioned Nigeria to be by the time you turn seventy?

That is a different matter altogether. We want Nigeria to be better, but we should thank God that Nigeria of today is politically is much better than what we had in the first and second republics.

You were closely associated with Chief Obafemi Awolowo. What major thing did you take away from those years of close association with the late sage?

I learnt a lot. I am eternally grateful to Papa Awolowo and I thank God always for making me come in contact with him. He taught us almost all the basic principles anybody whom wished to serve the public must have. I have said many times that Papa taught us his disciples that if you are in public office, don’t enjoy what you cannot provide for yourself in your private life. If you know you cannot afford Coca-Cola in your private life, don’t go into government drinking it.

He also taught us not to take gratification from anyone so that the next morning, you will not be able to look at the person’s face. Thirdly, Papa said don’t collude with civil servants to rob government because if you do, you have bastardised the position you are holding and rubbished your own image.

So these three principles, if applied by public officials will help curb the tide of corruption in the country.

Apart from these, there is also the disciplined life the old man lived. You can be sure that when Papa woke up in the morning, he would have programmed himself for the whole day. In the morning he would take breakfast, not too much but light breakfast. He hardly takes any lunch. And in the evening by five p.m, Papa was on the table for dinner. And the average number of hours Papa •Continued on Page 25

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013 spent taking dinner would be three hours. All this kind of routine life Papa led had effect on all of us.

And that is why I say today, that those of us who are Papa Awolowo associates, while I am not saying we are perfect, I want to believe that there is no person that can come out and say that when we were holding public offices this is the amount of money we got as kickbacks or whatever.

The late Chief Awolowo was seen by many as strong-willed and firm. Can you recollect any weakness he had?

There is only one weakness I knew Papa had.

Papa was too trusting. If you go to Papa and say we saw Babatope talking against you somewhere, Papa will not believe you. If you go to him to say such thing, Papa will ask you if you are ready to repeat what you are saying in the presence of that very person. If you are not ready to do that, he will simply ask you to keep quiet.

That was the only weakness I noticed and I think that is the only weakness Papa had till he went to the world beyond.

But why was Papa Awolowo unable to win elections in places like the conservative North and core East in spite of his wide acceptance as a leader?

It was simply because like I told you, a feudal cabal believed nobody can rule Nigeria except someone from their side. This was the major reason. If you talk in terms of the minority in the North, many of them supported Awo. Even in the old Gongola State which is now Adamawa, we produced three senators.

The Speaker of the then Gongola House of Assembly was an Awo supporter in the UPN. I’m told he is dead now but we produced the Speaker. Then if you go to Plateau, go to Benue you find Awo people there. Solomon Lar was in the Action Group before he pulled out. So Papa lost elections because of that credible hold on power by the cabal. And of course the power was given to them by the colonialists. Elections were manipulated. I don’t want to talk about that now.

While he was alive, in spite of these electoral losses, was Papa optimistic that the cabal will one day lose out in the power game?

Awo was sure in his mind. He was always saying that eventually Nigerians will see through the situation and then things will change. In 1983, Papa went to campaign in Bonny and he made a prediction at that rally. He said all of you in Ijaw area, you don’t vote for me now but one day an Ijaw man will become the President of Nigeria. It is then you will realize all the points I have been making. And it has happened. Jonathan is from Ijaw and he is the President of the country.

You served under General Sani Abacha. Do you have any regrets working with the late dictator?

I have no regrets whatsoever working with Abacha or with anybody for that matter. I do not do things that I will regret later. In any case, I have a book about my years under the Abacha regime.

It came out in 1995 and it was well publicized all over the country. It was produced by a publisher in London. So I have no regrets.

When (Gen) Dipo Diya, who was then the number two in the government, extended invitation to my political leaders in the Awolowo political family, it was decided that myself, Papa Jakande, Olu Onagoruwa and Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo should go and serve government. Later, they said we should pull out. My memoirs will soon be out towards

“

If you talk in terms of the minority in the North, many of them supported Awo. Even in the old Gongola State which is now Adamawa, we produced three senators. The Speaker of the then Gongola House of Assembly was an Awo supporter in the UPN.

the end of this year and you will see reasons why I refused to pull out. If I pulled out then, I’m telling you, you will not be talking to a living Babatope now.

How do you reply those who still criticize you for serving in that government?

What do I want to reply them for? I believe that reality will come out and they will know what happened. We didn’t go to the government to steal. The records of our performances are there that on the June 12 issue, we never deviated. Solomon Lar, Jerry Gana, Onagoruwa, Jakande, myself and co. We maintained very good records all through. Eventually these records will be out and those who are criticizing us, some for selfish reasons and some for other reasons, will change their minds.

Even before the Abacha years, you were deeply involved in the politics that led to the June 12 crisis.

From your own reading of events, would you say Abiola was really committed to the fight for his mandate?

Well, I was not all that close to Abiola and this was for obvious reasons. But we were together in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and I fought ruthlessly to ensure that Abiola kept his mandate. But it was a major heroic display on the part of the Nigerian people that they voted for Abiola and Kingibe, a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Having said that I cannot answer the question for Abiola. One thing that cannot be challenged by anybody is the fact that Abiola died a martyr for democracy.

Personally now, would you say you are where you hoped to be when you are seventy politically?

What do I want to be again? I told you of how I was privileged to serve under one of Africa’s greatest leaders. Number two; I’ve been minister, no matter what people say about that era. Again I have passed through some stages in my life that I can say with due respect to Nigerians, I have paid my dues.

I don’t have pension up till now because a military minister felt that since I was anti-government, nothing of such should happen.

I have been to jail three times of my life. I have been arrested by police several times. I have a daughter that is paraplegic because of my political involvement. I thank God for what I have been. I thank him for what I am and I do not aspire for something which is not approved by him. I wanted to be a senator in 1993.

General Ibrahim Babangida disqualified me. I kept my peace but a year and three months later, I was appointed to be a minister. I just want to go to my grave contented that I have done my best for my people.

Are you not in any way missing your former colleagues within the progressive folds now that you are a member of the ruling conservative PDP? I am not missing anybody. There is no party in Nigeria today that is ideological. That is the truth.

There is none that can call itself a progressive party. When party politics started in 1998, Uncle Bola Ige virtually wrote the manifestoes of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Peoples Party (APP).

Take the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) today, which has the highest number of progressives in its rank, there are also some conservatives with them. You find National Peoples Party (NPN) people there among them. Then take the PDP and you will find some Awolowo

“

I’ve never regretted being in PDP. My friends are still my friends. Lam Adesina was my friend till he died. Segun Osoba is still my friend. Bola Tinubu is still my friend and younger brother.

When I got married he contributed at that time.

These are my personal persons and we still relate as such. Why must they hate me or I hate them because we don’t belong to the same political party?

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•Continued from Page 24

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

militants among us here. Nobody can say I am not an Awolowo militant. Professor Tunde Adeniran, Jubril Martins Kuye, Omilani, Dayo Abatan, etc.

These are all Awolowo people and they are in the PDP. All I know is that no party can lay claim to •Continued on Page 57

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Politics

Is Nigeria ready for e-voting?

F AST-FORWARD to 2015. It’s Election Day and you are an eligible voter. You are in the comfort of your living room with an internet-ready computer.

Within seconds, you have voted for the candidates of your choice. No need to visit a polling booth. No risk of standing under the sun. No threat of harassment by security personnel. No risk of ballot stuffing or snatching. Welcome to the astounding world of e-voting, otherwise known as electronic voting.

First used during the 1964 American Presidential elections, e-voting has become the preferred system across the world. Many developed democracies embrace varying forms of electronic voting designed to suit local exigencies. E-voting could be physically supervised by representatives of governmental or independent electoral authorities (e.g. electronic voting machines located at polling stations).

It could also be remote where voting is performed within the voter’s sole influence and is not physically supervised by representatives of governmental authorities (e.g. voting from one’s personal computer, mobile phone, television via the internet (also called I-voting).

However, it is still a nascent fad in Africa with only a few considering helpful (See box for Africa below). Its many advantages ostensibly informed increasing calls for its adoption by the main opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). It’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct the 2015 general elections using electronic voting.

This, according to the ACN, will drastically reduce electoral costs while also foreclosing rigging and other electoral vices. While call-

Sunday Oguntola writes on the modus operandi as well as pros and cons of the much-clamoured electronic voting ing for repeal of Section 52 sub-sections 2 of the Electoral Act, which permits only manual voting in Nigeria, the ACN said: “While electronic voting is not a magic wand, it is the surest way yet for Nigeria to join the league of countries that have wiped out electoral fraud, which is the worst form of corruption.

“It is also the best way to hand over Nigeria’s elections back to Nigerians, instead of having the judiciary determine who wins what contest. Two years is a long enough time to achieve this.”

The case for e-voting Unlike in the past when election results are not declared until days after due to collation challenges, electronic voting makes counting of results easier and faster. The human errors in tabulation and collation are eliminated especially if paper-based voting machines are not deployed.

In Nigeria, ballot papers easily run out, leaving many voters stranded or even disenfranchised. But the deployment of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines will eliminate this possibility, since unlimited number of ballots can be provided. DRE machines can also provide multiple languages to users who may not have English as a first language.

Some countries using e-voting • • • • •

USA India Brazil Venezuela Netherlands

• • • • •

Estonia Switzerland Canada France United Kingdom

For years, Nigerians living with disabilities have been disenfranchised because of inability to thumb-print. There are also no provisions for deaf, blind and dumb voters to elect their representatives. Electronic voting machines provide headphones to read off instructions to the blind users. Other tools can be added to these electronic voting machines to help with other disabilities such as people with limited mobility or the elderly.

Also, cases of ballot stuffing and snatching recorded at various polling centres will also be eliminated. The undue militarisation of polling booth, which the ACN cited, will also become history.

The arguments against But for all its advantages, e-voting can also be problematic for a complex, developing democracy like Nigeria. For example, there is always the vulnerability to hacking. Electronic voting machines are no different than web sites or software; they can be penetrated and altered by a hacker.

There is also the high possibility of fraud.

A malicious voting system created and distributed by one vendor to hundreds of thousands of polling booths can systematically falsify millions of votes. Although some may believe that tampering with an electronic voting machine is extremely hard to do, computer scientists have tampered with machines to prove that it is quite easily done.

Also, overall costs of software, machines, installations, proper software protection, and validation of results could be expensive; even more expensive than paper-based machines.

There could also be just a general error in

The strategic East-West Road was ostensibly the trigger for the face-off between the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe. But the minister also made telling remarks about the governor’s performance in office. Bisi Olaniyi in Port Harcourt takes a look at Amaechi’s record.

T

HE youthful Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (47), an Ikwerre, who hails from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years (1999-2007), and showed interest in succeeding his benefactor, Dr. Peter Odili, in 2007.

But under the leadership of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Peoples Democratic Party temporarily deprived Amaechi of the opportunity of serving Rivers people, as they rather installed his cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, also from Ubima, as governor on May 29, 2007.

The former speaker, therefore, proceeded to court. The suit dragging to the Supreme Court, while the apex court in its landmark judgment on October 25, 2007 sacked Omehia, leading to Amaechi’s inauguration as governor the following day.

Amaechi hit the ground running and immediately declared emergency in the education sector, in view of the deplorable state of schools in the state.

In fact, during his first tenure, Amaechi performance was widely adjudged as excellently as he was described as focused and committed to his transformation agenda. But it is alleged that he has almost gone to sleep during his second tenure, while his emergence as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), is more of a distraction, as he is always travelling within and outside Nigeria, without enough time to develop the state.

•Orubebe

•Amaechi

Amaechi Versus Orubebe:

Matters Arising So, since the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, recently condemned his attitude, the verbal war between the two brothers has not ceased as the governor has tried to explain his achievements, hitting back at the minister. Orubebe, who hails from Delta State, at a crowded news conference at Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on January 17, after inspecting the ongoing dualisation of the East-West Road, from Warri in Delta State to Oron in Akwa Ibom State, said Amaechi was disrespecting the Preident and has been using the state resources to bribe people.

He described Port Harcourt as a slum, ac-

cusing the governor of not respecting President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Rivers governor fired the first salvo, when he appeared on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on January 16, stating that the governors of the six South-South states would take over the deplorable, but strategic EastWest Road, being dualised by Orubebe’s ministry.

Amaechi, through his spokesman, David Iyofor, declared that the minister was involved in ludicrous, thoughtless and bizarre ranting, while suffering from severe form of selective amnesia and stated that Orubebe’s game was just to divert attention from his ineptitude and abysmal failure.

•Jega the system, without any outsider tampering.

Computer software and systems can have problems that may delay or even halt voting, or may cause errors in calculations.

The political ties of manufacturers can also be a problem. Since the machine manufacturers will be contracted by the government in power, there is always the nagging fears that the manufacturing could be tinted to favour the government of the day. How about the physical security of DRE machines, especially those stationed at polling centres? There is always the challenge of computer literacy, which is huge in a largely semi-illiterate setting like Nigeria’s.

In view of these, can INEC deliver on the demand for adoption of electronic voting come 2015? Will Nigerians be ready? Can electoral hawks afford the risk of adopting machines as against humans who are susceptible to bribery and manipulations?

The 338-kilometre East-West Road, from Warri to Oron, was awarded in 2006, but nothing was done till 2009/2010, when the job was redesigned and the contractors were mobilised to sites, with Orubebe putting the cost of the road at N348 billion. He said N134 billion had been spent, while contractors are being owed over N20 billion.

East-West Road starts from Oron in Akwa Ibom State, through Ogoniland in Rivers State, to Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ogun States, while terminating in Lagos State, with contract to extend the road from Oron to Calabar, the Cross Rivers State capital, to soon be awarded by the Federal Government.

The minister’s inspection of the road started from Warri, through Kaiama in Bayelsa State, Port Harcourt and Ogoniland in Rivers State to Eket and Oron in Akwa Ibom State, with Orubebe assuring that the road “must” be completed in December 2014.

The minister revealed that the inspected sections had 42 bridges, with 32 completed and ten ongoing, while the road also had 768 culverts, with 740 completed, while the sand-filling would be completed between now and June this year, according to Orubebe, with 120 kilometres of the 338-kilometre East-West Road tarred.

Setraco Construction Company is dualising from Warri to Eleme Junction in Port Harcourt, with Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) handling the dualisation between Eleme Junction and Eket, while Gitto Construction Company is dualising from Eket to Oron.

Orubebe stressed that the collapsing of some parts of the road was caused by heavy and “abnormal” floods of last year, with the stone-base washed away, noting that one must create land through sand-filling, to construct roads in the Niger Delta, while assuring that new works were ongoing, with more culverts, in view of the collapsed parts, but not in the original design.

It is being insinuated that the face-off between Amaechi and Orubebe has to do with the 2015 presidential election.

President Jonathan wants to seek re-election in 2015, while Amaechi is rumoured to be interested in becoming the Vice-President to a Northern candidate, with Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, being considered.

The President, an Ijaw, is from Otuoke in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State, while Amaechi, an Ikwerre, is from Ubima in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State, with Orubebe, also an Ijaw man, hailing from Delta State, while all of them are from the South-South zone, in the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta. They also belong to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

I like confusing my audience Pages 39 & 40

–Blessing Patrick

28

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

nt chic

sta 5 Steps to in

Kehinde Falode Tel: 08023689894 (sms)

E-mail: kehinde.falode@thenationonlineng.net

ioens fash ssori Be a

acce

•How to rock a neutral coloured dress

collector

•Partner red accessories with everything from your favourite little black dress

•Femi Atilade

•Tarmar Awobotu

•Bukky Tijani

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

29

Get in the

ring •Cocktail rings are also a great way to show that you have style

•Chunky cocktail rings

•Gorgeous cocktail ring

•Ruth Benamasia-Opia •April Abanulor

How to rock it

F

OR you to make a gallant statement with your cocktail ring, it has to be chunky (bold), sexy and at the same time stylish; this is the ultimate cocktail ring golden rule.

Believe it, the big rock is a solid way to highlight your individual style, you can never go wrong with one.

Get as many as possible, different rocks with different colours; you can wear a different one for each day, it all depends on your attires.

They are the classic and timeless finger pieces.

•Flower cocktail rings green pink enamel gold

•Adaora Ukoh

•Cute burgundy ring

30

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Dry Lips:

s s o l g & Balm e u c s e r e to th C HAPPED and dry lips are common during the harmattan. These occur when your lips do not have enough moisture to keep them supple all day long. For your lips to remain soft throughout this harmattan season, always protect your lips with a lip balm or gloss.

Some rules to adhere to First, the golden rule: do not lick your lips consistently. This can lead to dry and cracked lips, which will definitely result in chapped lips, because the moisture on the lips would have been licked off and the lips would then be exposed Use a lip balm or gloss to help seal-in moisture.

Exfoliate weekly. This will peel off the weathered outer covering or layer.

Go for lip balms or gloss that are thick and that contain moisturising.

And for chapped lips, medicated balm or gloss that has menthol is suitable. This will relieve pains.

For homemade lip balmgently melt African shear butter (ori) in hot water, add the coconut oil to the shear butter and stir until melted, and remove from the boiling water pot. Now add your vitamin E oil and mix in while still hot. Pour into your container of choice and let cool. You will be surprised and amazed at the result and the soothing effect. Give it a try!

•Uche Jumbo

•Coconut oil

•Omotola Ekeinde

•Moyo Adeniji

•Yvonne Nelson •Vitamin E oil for skin

•Shea Butter and Nuts

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Ebony NTA’s AM Express presenter, Rose Peters, speaks to Kehinde Oluleye about her favourite things.

31

1

Favourite shoes designer Nine west

2

Favourite bag designer Gucci

3

Favourite wrist watch designer Gucci

4

Favourite fashion designer Frank Oshodi & Giorgio Armani

5

Favourite car

Toyota Camry 6

Favourite perfume Givenchy “Hot couture”

7

Favourite earrings Chandeliers

8

Rose’s

top

10

Favourite underwear Marks and Spencer

9

Favourite sunglasses Gucci

10

Favourite dinner wear Figure hugging flowing gown

32

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

DENZEL WASHI

NGTON

I’m

tired

of

being Mr. Nice Guy gton Hollywood star Denzel Washin ed out for tells Chrissy Iley how he padd 's tired his new film Flight, and why he of playing the respectable hero

T

HE first 20 minutes of Denzel Washington's new film, Flight are possibly the most adrenalin-spiked in recent memory. We see him wake up in his crumpled hotel room. We see the gorgeous naked woman he's just spent the night with.

He gets up, and we see his body a little too soft, a little too juicy. His hair a little too long, a little too unkempt. Then we see him take a line of cocaine.

This short scene is not shocking in itself. It is shocking because it is Washington. We don't often see him being debauched, or looking out of shape. We see him as political martyr Malcolm X, freedom fighter Steve Biko, the Zen-like boxer Rubin Carter in The Hurricane. We see him righting wrongs in Man on Fire or Philadelphia, or as a charismatic crimelord in American Gangster.

Washington, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Flight, has played the good, the bad, and the conflicted, but it's a long time since we've seen him get out of bed naked. Then comes a further jolt. We see him put on his pilot's uniform, and that his girlfriend is the flight attendant. They board the plane and we see bad weather.

We see him down vodka just before the plane's hydraulic system fails. He turns the plane upside down and carries on flying.

You watch it heart in throat. Washington is the hero; surely he's going to survive? It soon becomes clear that's not the story. Flight is not about Washington being a hero; rather, it's about painful truths and redemption.

And who better to tell that story than Washington?

When we meet in a Beverly Hills hotel room he's looking bright-eyed, sparklingeyed even. His skin is fresh, he's lean and strong in a navy sweater and dark jeans, and his smile lights up the room as it does the screen. He is sitting in an oversized, overstuffed armchair with a high back. “I feel like I'm sitting on a throne here.” He is king after all. “No I'm not,” he retorts. “I just like the chair. It's a kind of Richard III thing.”

Washington has played both Richard III and Othello onstage, and the theatre is where he began. In 2010, when he was said to be on the verge of quitting acting he instead starred in a Broadway production of August Wilson's play Fences, with Viola Davis. Did this return to his roots revitalise him?

“It did,” he says. “As we get older, hopefully we get wiser and you start to realise how many shots do I have left? And the experience of working with Viola on Broadway was such a thrill. Watching her I realised I'm fighting for my life out there with this brilliant actress. The whole process is where I am in my life right now. It reawakened me. I felt alive again and I said I want to apply that same work ethic to every job in terms of preparation, investigation, everything. No matter how big a movie is, I never want it to be just another gig. I don't want that. Don't want to know.''

For Washington, now 58, there have been many gigs that seem from the outside not just another gig. His performances are consistently acclaimed. He is box office nectar, and even his rare misses don't seem to hurt him.

He's still one of the best paid actors in Hollywood, commanding a reported $20 million for the runaway train thriller Unstoppable (although he took a significant cut for Flight). His recent Oscar nomination is his sixth and he has won twice, first best supporting actor for the Civil War drama Glory in 1989 and then best actor in 2001 for Training Day, where he played a charming but corrupt narcotics detective.

Washington is drawn to ambiguous characters, bad guys who are vulnerable.

You almost never see him acting. He is always effortless, considered, and magnetic.

Or, at least, that's how he comes across.

Washington's recent question of how many “shots” he had left was perhaps highlighted by the suicide in August of his friend Tony Scott, who directed him in Crimson Tide, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable.

“I made five movies with him,” he sighs.

“I talked to him about a week before he died about our sixth movie. He wanted to do a film where I played a submarine c a p t a i n driving a submarine filled with narcotics. We were talking about it.”

Were there any clues as to his state of mind? “No.” He shakes his h e a d emphatically . His eyes flash with a k i n d o f urgency to r e c a l l everything exactly.

“First of all I've never been in a situation like this where you start to backtrack.

You think what they said to you.

You think what you said. And •Washington and his wife

then a week later they kill themselves. You might think it was something that I did. You don't see it coming. I don't know what was going on in his life.” He was depressed?

“Something. Obviously.” Shortly after the news that Scott, the brother of Ridley, had jumped from a bridge in Los Angeles, there were some reports that he had an inoperable brain tumour; this was flatly denied by his widow. “I don't know,” avers Washington.

“I haven't talked to anyone who said that he was ill.” Sharp intake of breath. “The Scott brothers,” he says heavily and with reverence, almost like it's a prayer.

Of the Tony Scott submarine project, he says, “I wouldn't touch it now. Not without him.”

Next he has a film 2 Guns with Mark Wahlberg. “We were just acting stupid. It's the first time I've ever acted stupid. We'll see what happens.” People don't expect him to act stupid. They expect gravitas.

“Exactly. Choosing parts after a great play like Fences and then to do such a dark guy like [rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost] in Safe House, you just want to do something silly.”

Washington was born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York, a mostly middle-class suburb. His father was a preacher who worked for the water company in the day and was a security guard by night; he preached in between. His mother, who was by all accounts feisty and formidable, ran beauty salons. His p a r e n t s divorced when he was 14, which coincided with his own t e e n a g e middle child rebellious phase. He ran with a bad crowd, and got into lots of fights.

His mother sent him away to boarding school, where he rebelled again but he turned himself around in order to go to college t o s t u d y medicine, then

political science, then law, then, finally, acting. Not that he wanted to recommend the profession to his daughter, Olivia, who is studying in New York. She recently did a small part in her first film, and Washington sounds protective when the subject comes up.

Is it exciting or worrying for him to see her going into the acting profession? “It's interesting. In her senior year at high school she was working on her audition and LaTanya Richardson, who is Sam Jackson's wife and a brilliant actress in her own right, was working with her, and I said, 'All right Olivia, I want to see your two pieces' and she went all dramatic and said, 'Oh dad'. And I said, 'Come on now. Nobody's going to be tougher than me. I'm going to tell you the truth because I'd rather you'd be a little hurt if you don't have what it takes than have a lifetime of pain'.

“She did the two pieces and right away I said do them again. She did them again and I said, 'OK. Here's the bad news. This is one of the toughest professions you're ever going to try to do. But you are very good and you have what it takes'. I would never have said that if I hadn't meant it. I put on my director's hat and watched a young actor audition.

And she was good.” He almost sounds as if he wishes this wasn't the case.

Washington is known for researching and intellectualising his roles long before filming begins. For Flight, this meant many hours studying flight manuals and training in flight simulators. For Safe House he wanted to experience the torture of water boarding in real life. “It's strange,” he says of the experience. “You can't breathe in, because the water comes in, and it's filling up your mouth. And that was just one time for a short time. Imagine having that done for 20, 30 seconds? You will give up the answers! You may not necessarily tell the truth, but you will tell [your captors] whatever they want to hear.”

So how did he prepare to be an alcoholic pilot? I gesture to the hotel suite minibar.

“No, nothing like that. In fact I absolutely did not drink the entire picture. Normally I might have a glass of wine after work or something like that. But on this one I was afraid I might get too into it, and I just wanted to be clear. I want to give 100 per cent of myself and I want to be focused.” How foolish of me to think that getting into the part of a man who loves to drink would involve some method drinking. “Nothing would have been worse than drinking on the set. And then you might think you were good and you'd be awful.” Instead he went into the flight simulator and listened to pilots talking about their job. He didn't ask them questions about drinking but typed “worst drunks of all time” into YouTube and looked at the people telling themselves they were absolutely fine as they fell over.

Washington gained weight for the part so the puffiness would look like it was bloating from alcohol. “I ate a lot. I ate what I wanted and I ate late at night. I would come home from work. I didn't overeat. But if I wanted a hamburger and fries and shake and a piece of apple pie with ice cream on it I had it.”

And he'd normally eat like that once a week?

“Less. But I knew this was a man who drank and did drugs. He's not going to be going to the gym and he's going to be not sleeping enough.”

Continued on page 67

Courtesy: The Telegraph

t

THEATRE

With VICTOR AKANDE

BIGSCREEN

E-mail: victor_akande

@yahoo.com

Sunny Neji bags award

O

RUKA crooner, Sunny Neji, is now one of the Peace Ambassadors for the United Nations in Nigeria, as he was on Sunday January 20, 2013 decorated with the peace robe and certificate among many other recipients.

Sunny Neji received the award in recognition of his contribution toward peace and progress course in Africa with his style of music. The brand ambassador for many

SOUND TRACK

companies described the award as timely and reward for hard work.

“The award is coming at the right time and I believe it's as a result of hard work and the support for peace course in the African continent,” Sunny Neji enthused.

It will be recalled that the love song specialist gave out an IPhone 5 to a fresh graduate of the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASUED), Wole Fagbenro, for composing a poem for him on his birthday.

GISTS

PAGE

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plus

Tel: 07029013958

Celebs gather as Ibinabo clocks another year

Karyn White set to rock Lagos on Val’s Day

O

•Karyn White

NE of Nigeria's foremost entertainment promoters, Atunda, is bringing to Nigeria, R&B legend, Karyne White, to La Campagne Tropicana on Valentine's Day. The coming of the platinum singer coincides with the launch of the Annual Queen of Queens also billed for the same venue. The Queen of Queens pageant is an initiative, by Atunda, to bring together winners of all other pageants organised annually in the country.

Dr. Wanle Akinboboye, Atunda Entertainment founder, gave this indication at a parley with journalists at the popular Seaside hide-away, La Campagne Resort, on the Lagos outskirt.

According to him, Karyn White was picked among the very many artistes considered for the Valentine's Day launch because she possesses one of the most memorable, distinctive voices ever heard in popular music.

Akinboboye noted that Karyn is an accomplished singer/songwriter who etched herself into music history with her smash hit song, the female anthem, 'Superwoman'. That song, he said, made international waves, selling over a million units, being certified Gold and named the Billboard R&B Song of the Year in 1989.

The founder of Atunda also noted that, the launch will also give some established and upcoming Nigerian artistes a rare opportunity to perform and hobnob with Karyn, the international super star and enigma.

Ruggedman set to quit bachelorhood

Peter of Psquare and May D exchange childbirth pleasantries

O

I

F news reaching us is anything to go by, then fiery rapper Ruggedman is getting ready to bid farewell to bachelorhood. Impeccable sources revealed that the Nigerian-born rapper, christened Michael Stephens at birth, is seriously neck deep in plans to formalise his relationship with Olaide Adeogun, the former Lux Soap Ambassador and actress cum TV presenter.

The two love birds, according to close sources, are planning to have their wedding before the end of the second quarter of this year, but secretly. The purpose for the secret wedding is still sketchy though as fans are smacking their lips for what would turn out to be an exciting union.

T

HE Chesney Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos last weekend came alive when A-list thespians and celebrities stormed the hotel for the birthday bash of Ibinabo Fiberesima, who is the president of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN).

Ibinabo was shown massive love with the attendance of top stars that partied with her on her birthday.

The celebs that graced the shindig included: Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Genevieve Nnaji, Rita Dominic, Stephanie Okereke Linus, Ramsey Nouah, Mike Ezuruonye and others. Others that partied with Ibinabo were Uche Jombo, Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Chidi Mokeme, Desmond Elliot, 2face Idibia, Klint De Drunk and Gloria Ibru.

The emergence of Ibinabo as the president of AGN has also seen top Nollywood stars supporting her administration.

•Ruggedman

•Ibinabo

NE half of popular hip-hop duo, Peter Okoye, and ex-Square Records' signee May D seem to be happy together, going by recent twitter exchanges by both artistes. In an apparent show of friendship, Peter tweeted,” A big congrats 2 @MisterMayD on d birth of ur son..Welcome 2 fatherhood homie. And in a reply to his tweet, the Ile Ijo crooner replied,” Tnx boss and ur baby girl too RT@peterPsquare.

Coming in the new year, no doubt, their fans will be more than happy to see them come back together after what seemed like a sour relationship between them, which saw MayD being sacked from Square Records.

•Psquare with May D

34

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

I like confusing my audience

—Blessing Patrick Burgeoning actress, Blessing Patrick, is one of the emerging talents to watch out for on the movie scene. The industrious actress cum model is also the editor of Infinity Fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom. The fair-skinned actress who hails from Cross River State opens up on her life as an actress, a model and fashion designer in this interview with AHMED BOULOR.

W

ITH the name Blessing Patrick, most Nigerians would not be able to place a finger on your state of origin. What part of Nigeria are you from?

Blessing Patrick is from the Southern part of Nigeria; from Ikori Yakuur L.G.A in Cross River State. These days, we are nick- named Cross-Riverians. My mother is from Auchi in Edo State.

How did you venture into acting?

I must say I got into Nollywood by sheer fortune; a friend invited me for an audition and that was it. The rest, as they say, is history…

What does acting mean to you?

Well, acting means a lot me; acting is life and I get

challenged and inspired whenever I am presented with a movie script. In simple terms, acting brings out the best in me and I have always wanted to be a movie star right from when I was very young.

How far do you intend to go in the world of makebelieve?

I intend to go very far in the world of acting; I intend to go as far as God wants me to. I also would like to leave an indelible mark on the scene; I want to make a lasting impression that everyone will know me by, and I am seriously working towards achieving that.

How many major movies have you been part of?

I have been part of 10 major movies which are out now though more are yet to come by His grace. I have featured in movies like the World of a Prince, Enter the

Yeah I am blessed with a captivating look, but that's not my greatest asset, please. I believe my greatest asset is what the physical eyes can't see. You have to look at me in the spiritual realm!

Christ in me is the greatest asset that I have got!...

Place; Wave of Glory, Blast of the Mafia, Sexy Vampires and Masquerade Dancer, to mention a few.

Have you been getting acting roles as expected since you ventured onto the movie scene?

When I first ventured into the industry, that was the case, but not anymore. Everything will fall into place with time as long as you are dedicated. The keyword is patience; a lot of young actors want to become super stars over night forgetting they have to earn it, you have to work for it. Yes, I have been getting roles as expected, and I say glory be to God because it's not easy!

How much will it cost to get you on set?

Well it all depends on the script and I believe my management is capable enough to handle that aspect properly.

What kind of movie script brings out the best in you?

Any movie I accept to do I will give it my best.

For me I like challenging roles because I like people to see me in different lights and to be confused when they see me playing different roles and cannot exactly say if I am the one playing the role because I look different and I play the role very well. I can fit in every role because that's what makes me an actress, but I think I will really love to do a story of a born-again girl filled with Holy Spirit!

How do you combine acting and modelling?

I'd say that if you have a passion for the things you do, combining all of them and getting the best out of them would not be a problem. That's because those things are the things you love doing. Combining acting, modelling and fashion is not a problem; I just find a way to strike a balance.

Is it true that your greatest assets are your boobs and beautiful body shape?

(Laughs out loud) Yeah I am blessed with a captivating look, but that's not my greatest asset, please. I believe my greatest asset is what the physical eyes can't see. You have to look at me in the spiritual realm! Christ in me is the greatest asset that I have got!

Can you act nude and sexy roles?

What a question! I cannot act nude, but I can act sexy and I bet you it will come out better than nude.

What's your involvement with fashion?

My involvement with fashion started from my growing up as a child through my mum who was a designer too.

You also edit a magazine 'Infinity Fashion Magazine' in the UK; tell us about it?

I must say that God has been so good to me. The Infinity international which also publishes the Infinity

Fashion magazine gave me a platform to operate without any struggle. And so, l became an editor of the fashion magazine and a designer also.

It all started in one of my visits to the UK and a friend invited me to the runway of infinity fashion week. I met with one of the top executives of the magazine and he fell in love with my African outfit.

He asked if the outfit was made by their fashion house but I told him I designed the dress myself. He was amazed and he asked me some questions about my dress which I answered and he immediately made me one of the judges of the fashion show that night. He later contracted me to be the editor for the Infinity Fashion and Style Magazine.

Tell us about your experience working as a designer It was an interesting and eyeopening experience; I got to learn new things working as a designer. I also got to find out that you must be very passionate and highly creative in a field as ours.

Can you throw more light on the 'Magic Lens Production Talent Hunt'?

Magic production talent hunt project is a platform to help our youths attain what they have always wanted in the area of getting jobs in the showbiz world.

Unemployment is a major setback in the lives of the youths in Nigeria. So, even after graduation, they are seen roaming the streets looking for daily bread and all that, whereas they could be breadwinners in their different homes. It is sad that the same talented youths are the ones used by our politicians and drug barons to perpetrate their crimes, but if jobs were provided for them, crimes would be minimal in the society. The talent hunt project is set to create job opportunities for those who are talented enough to go into acting. Magic lens is coming out very big again soon, by the grace of God my other colleagues who got me in. My big uncles in the industry such as Charles Awurum and Charles Inojie are also trying to make it come great again this year.

What was growing up like for you?

Growing up for me was okay even though I got to learn so fast than my peer group.

My childhood was interesting because l grew up before my mates and if am asked to put it into words, l would say it was wonderful because l started doing what my mates were not doing at the time. I was always with my mother who was a great fashion designer and I practically learnt all that l know in fashion, designing and making of clothes.

Who knows why my mother made it compulsory for me to learn how to make use of a sewing machine when l was only a child! Perhaps she knew that she won't be with me for long. My mother left this world when l was only a teenager, but she left me with a legacy and today I am who l am because of that.

Which comes first: fashion, modelling or acting?

Hmmm…All of them come first, but it depends on which comes when I am available.

How challenging has acting been thus far?

There have been challenges encountered thus far but I don't see them as challenges because they are price we pay to get to the top. His grace has always been sufficient for me as a child of God. What kind of man will make you say "Yes, I do"?

The entertainment industry is spiritual but most people are blind to that fact. Be you a dwarf or whatever you look like in the business, you will get passes from anyone; getting passes is not new again!

Entertainment Laide Bakare’s tripartite event

What kind of man would make me say “I do”? That would be a man with the character of an Apostle (Laughs uncontrollably).

As a beautiful actress, do you sometimes get passes from movie producers and actors alike?

The entertainment industry is spiritual but most people are blind to that fact. Be you a dwarf or whatever you look like in the business, you will get passes from anyone; getting passes is not new again!

What makes you tick?

I believe my versatility on the job makes me tick. I can act any role provided it is not a nude role as I said before. I have the fear of God in me; I am very hard working and passionate about my career.

Tell us your experience as a young girl watching your mother cut clothes and march the sewing machine I was always with my mother who was a great fashion designer and I practically learnt all that l know in fashion, designing and making of clothes. Who knows why my mother made it compulsory for me to learn how to make use of a sewing machine when l was only a child. Perhaps she knew that she won't be with me for long. My mother left this world when l was only a teenager, but she left with me a legacy and today I am who l am because of that.

39

R

ECENTLY, Yoruba actress, Laide Bakare, played host to some of her colleagues and friends at an event tagged An Evening with Laide Bakare. A 3in-1 function, the event featured the premiere of her new movie titled Jejere, the launch of her record label Simline Records artistes as well as a concert headlined by •Laide Bakare King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall.

The event was chaired by Her Excellency, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Adejoke Orelope Adefulire. The movie Jejere is described as the first African super hero movie, and stars 9ice, Emeka Ike, Fathia Balogun, Toyin Adegbola, Segun Ogungbe and Akin Lewis, among others.

Other artistes that performed at the event were 9ice, JJC, Chuddy K and one of her artistes T Code. Among artistes who graced the event were Denrele, Rose Odika, Iyabo Ojo, Fathia Balogun and Toni Payne.

M-Net unveils nominees for AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards

A

S the much-anticipated AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) gets underway, organisers have fixed Monday, January 28, for the release of nominees' list. Put together by MultiChoice, and supported by low sugar malt drink, Amstel Malta, the nominees unveiling, the company says, will take place during a special edition of glam lifestyle series, 53 Extra.

“And, in more good news, the 53 Extra broadcast will be simulcast on AfricaMagic Entertainment*, AfricaMagic, AfricaMagic Movies, AfricaMagic Movies 1 and AfricaMagic World/Magic World, ensuring that a wide range of DStv and GOtv audiences can tune in, regardless of what bouquet they subscribe to,” says M-Net's MD for Africa, Biola Alabi.

The event, which is billed to present awards to the best and brightest of the African film and television industry in March this year, is said to have been designed to recognise and reward African excellence and creativity, with viewers participating in the exercise through SMS voting.

With the focus now on the key nominees announcement next week, AfricaMagic has confirmed that gorgeous 53 Extra leading ladies Eku Edewor and Dolapo Oni will be on hand to make public the nominees.

NGMA honours gospel acts

H

ELD recently at the NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, the Nigeria Gospel Music Awards (NGMA), honoured artistes who have distinguished themselves in the industry last year. The event which was put together by the Academy of Gospel Music in Nigeria marked its second successful edition with pomp, glitz and glamour.

21 winners emerged from the competitive categories including Frank Edwards who “stole” the show when he won three distinguished awards. These include the “Artistes of the Year”, “Best Male Vocalist” and Song of the Year” with his double CD album, Unlimited. He is closely followed by Emmanuel Benjamin, popularly known as Eben. Eben carted away two awards in the “Best Gospel Rock Artiste” category and the “Album of the Year” category.

THE NATION SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

PAGE 35

KANU'S SHOCKING REVELATION

I can't wear

£90,000 wrist watch

36

37

NATION SPORT & STYLE SUNDAY, January 27, 2013

NATION SPORT & STYLE

NATION SPORT & STYLE

By Morakinyo Abodunrin and Taiwo Alimi

F

•Ambassador Iliya A.D Nuhu and wife Her Excellency Azumi Diana Nuhu

AZUMI DIANA NUHU

Her Excellency's craze for soccer

S

HE was to play a bit part as her hussy hosted the wave-making Golden Eaglets at the Nigeria House in Bamako after they sealed qualification for the forthcoming 2013 African Under-17 Youth Championship.

But Mrs. Azumi Diana Nuhu is not one of those who believe a woman's main role should be in the kitchen. After rounding off her 'mandatory' job at the kitchen, Her Excellency took the centre stage as she spoke extempore about her passion for soccer.

While her husband displayed the revered diplomacies expected of people of such class by speaking little, the wife purred about her love for the beautiful game much to the delight of the Golden Eaglets and members of the Nigerian community at the event.

“I love sports and particularly, soccer,” stated the elegant wife of Nigeria's Ambassador to Mali, His Excellency Iliya A.D Nuhu. “I'm so happy to have you here tonight.”

Her poise and gait was there for all to see as she practically forced her way into the hearts of hitherto disenchanted guests that had been kept waiting following her delay in the kitchen.

“I'm so happy to have the Golden Eaglets here this evening and you have to bear with me for coming out late as I needed to ensure that you are well catered for,” she apologised. “That Nigerians here in Mali as well in other parts of the world are so happy with your qualification for the Under-17 Championship in Morocco is an understatement.

“I'm particularly happy that you sealed your qualification with another victory here in Bamako,” she added with the enthusiasm of a

By Morakinyo Abodunrin multi-million naira lottery winner.

The Golden Eaglets under the guidance of Coach Manu Garba made history last December by qualifying for the continental cadet championship to be hosted by Morocco in April for the first time since 2005 in a unique style winning all their six qualifiers and scoring an astonishing 21 goals - and Her Excellency paid glowing tributes to the Nigerian conquistadors.

“I really love this team (Golden Eaglets) and it is so wonderful meeting the players as well as the coaches,” she said after a warm embrace with Coach Emmanuel Amuneke (MON) and 1994 African Footballer of the Year.

“These were the people that we've been hearing their names for a very long time and I'm so happy that you guys have given Nigerians the opportunity to smile again.”

Though it is a common saying that 'politics and sport should not mix,' the setting gave Her Excellency the chance to laud the Nigeria Football Federation as well as show her other passion. “I'm a politician and I like football the same way I like politics,” she noted. “We need to commend the Nigeria Football Federation for putting together this set of coaches for the Golden Eaglets because they had all paid their dues.

“I remember Amuneke very well because of what he did when he was playing for the national team and it is nice that the football authorities have brought him back to assist these young ones.”

To demonstrate her love for the Golden Eaglets, she further promised to be part of the travelling fans that would cheer the team when they face the rest of the continent in April.

The Nigerian youngsters have been drawn in a tough first round qualifying group along with Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, but they can count on Her Excellency's support.

“I would be making a formal appeal to my h u s b a n d , t h e Ambassador, to approve my travelling to Morocco to support you in April,” she told her hugely impressed guests. “We need to mobilise support for the team and I hope to be one of your cheerleaders during the tournament in Morocco.”

OOTBALL may have brought Nwankwo Kanu fame and fortune but the former Nigerian international with legendary career for both club and country has not forgotten his humble beginning.

Regarded as the best player of his generation, Kanu has thriving businesses at home and abroad, and his unique foundation that has touched the lives of many heart victims makes him a prima-donna in the society.

Yet Kanu, two-time African Footballer of the Year, is not fazed with material possession and has exclusively told The Nation Sport & Style why he is not a spendthrift.

“Frankly, I don't forget where I'm coming from though l am a star today,” Kanu, captain of Africa's first Olympic Soccer Gold medal-winning team, said in apt reference to his rag-to-riches story. “When l look back at where l am coming from, l tend to be more careful.

“Of course, people like I who had hawked oranges and pepper on the streets need to be humble irrespective of the status you have attained and that is my kind of attitude to life,” he emphasised.

Reminded of his status as a celebrity and one who belongs in a profession that parades stars who have penchant for luxurious lifestyles, Kanu said he can't afford to be wasteful because of the enormity involved in his charity work, the Kanu Heart Foundation(KHF), which on the last count has treated 452 victims.

“I agree with you that I'm truly blessed but one of my rules of life is that 'you don't allow money to control you' and I try as much as possible to live by the rule,” stated Kanu who survived a career-threatening ailment after he was operated upon to correct a weak aorta of the heart days after leading Nigeria to a win the soccer gold at the Atlanta'96 Olympics. “Can you imagine me wearing a wrist watch that costs as much as 90,000 pounds sterling? “l can't because l know what that money can do for my foundation since it would be useful to treat so many kids suffering from heart-related diseases.

“Of course, I do buy luxury items, and why not? Even at 10,000 pound sterling, it is still expensive though there is difference between 90,000 pounds and 10,000 pounds, which is about 80,000 pounds. It is not as if l can't wear such expensive wrist watches but l am not into them, it is not my way of life,” he disclosed.

Kanu's modest lifestyle despite the fact that he's a nouveau rich is exemplary indeed. While some of his contemporaries have fleet and assortments of cars packed in their garages, he further revealed his unpretentious appetite for state of the art vehicles.

“There is no doubt that I like good cars but it is not an obsession,” noted Papillo, owner of the posh Hardley Apartments Suite in the upscale Victoria Island neighbourhood in Lagos. “Some people would buy all the latest brand of BMWs or Mercedes Benzs, Jaguars and keep them in their garage but l can't do that because that is not what l want.”

“As l'm talking to you, l have two cars in Nigeria, one for me and one for my family. Yes, they are good cars but they are just two. In England, I have three cars and that is all. It is something l learnt growing up. My father is a disciplinarian and my mother too is a Godly person and they really impacted in us selfless service,” Kanu added, as he spoke about life in retirement and on sundry details.

Excerpts...

What have you been doing in retirement? l have been busy in retirement and I now spend more time with the Kanu Heart Foundation. Now that l am free, l have to pay more attention to the foundation than before and that way we would accomplish even better result. Asides from that, there is the business side of my life and l have a lot of them on my hands. I am a Football Ambassador for all the national teams in Nigeria, so l try to be at all games of the national teams and offer my own quota. Even at the local government level, l get involved with football and right now l am involved in one. There is indeed a lot to do in retirement, but I'm doing much for the heart foundation now.

What gives you the drive for the Kanu Heart Foundation in the last 13 years knowing that a lot of resources go into the treatment of patients?

Let me start by saying that l was a victim before and I went through the same processes that most of the patients that we treat today are going through, so l can feel their pains too.

Gladly l had the resources for the operation and all that, but what about people in the village who do not have the resources to go through it? When you see a kid or family having this problem, nobody will tell you. All you need to

KANU'S SHOCKING REVELATION

I can't wear

£90,000

wrist watch

do is to look at their faces, their eyeballs and you will know that they are not normal. When you look at their eyeballs it is either red or blue and not the normal white. And they are shaky, but imagine when they go for the operation and it is successful, then you will see different people. You will see their white eyeballs and you will see happiness. They will not shake again but'll be jumping up with happiness. With me knowing all these, it keeps me going on and on. And if you ask me, every kid saved from the clutch of death is to the glory of God. In terms of cost, how much have you put into the foundation since it was started in 2000?

The truth is that we have done 452 operations in all.

We started from UK and it was quite expensive. On a kid, we spent between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds and that was just the cost of the operation alone. We are not talking about flight, accommodation and feeding. We were forced to seek alternative hospital in Israel where it is less expensive. The difference was still minimal because of the numbers of kids we were looking at. Recently, we moved to India where we can get the operation done cheaper when compared with what we were spending on each victim in the UK and Israel. But the most important thing is not the money spent on the victims, but we are encouraged to do more because of the high success rate. We have achieved 95 percent success rate with the operations we have done. But all the same it is still expensive and it is not what we wish to continue to keep doing because we can touch more lives if we have the facilities in place in Nigeria. That is what led us to what we are doing now; the Kanu Cardiac Centre and we are going to launch it on March 14, 2013 in Abuja. We are beggars now and calling on corporate bodies and well-meaning Nigerians to support us. What they are doing is not for Kanu but for the less-privileged Nigerian children. When the cardiac centre is completed, the gains to us would be huge. The huge money we use in operation, flight tickets, accommodation and feeding can be plough back to cater for more people because, l must tell you, hundreds of children are on our awaiting list but we cannot attend to all of them because of the huge cost.

How have you been able to carry

I agree with you that I'm truly blessed but one of my rules of life is that 'you don't allow money to control you' and I try as much as possible to live by the rule

government and corporate bodies along in order to have a successful launch?

We have been knocking on the doors of government, corporate organisations and well-meaning Nigerians.

Sometimes the door is opened and other times it is not.

But that is not the end of the road and we have to keep going like Oliver Twist. The federal government and state governments are doing their part, and we are also talking to corporate bodies. This is the big one and we truly need their support. We know that once we do this we do not have to come back again. Right now, if they give us N5m today we will still come back asking for more because as l talk to you we have about 200 people on the awaiting list. And the pressure is on us too. In fact many people think l am a doctor because when they see me on the street they want me to attend to their child or relative that is affected and I cannot turn them back.

We have approached Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) who has been our benefactor since when he was the governor in Bayelsa State. He is in full support of the project and it is at his instance that we are going to do the launch on March 14. We are very grateful for his support over the years because he has been a wonderful friend of Kanu Heart Foundation.

How much of time do you give to your family, given your daily involvement with the foundation?

I try to encourage people to do what l am doing. If you are a footballer or a celebrity, you have to use your name, fame, money and all what you have to help others.

Throughout my playing career, l never went for holidays since I used my time for the foundation. Mr. Onyewuchi Abia (Coordinator and trustee of the Kanu Heart Foundation) and l are always on the move trying to raise something for the foundation so we can take more kids for operation. But l have a family that understands and believes in what l'm doing. They know what l am doing and that is what l tell younger footballers; that in everything they do, they have to sacrifice for the ordinary people in the society. You are the main person and you have to do it yourself. You have to force yourself at times knowing the result lies solely on you and that result is what we are talking about now; 452 children have been treated through the Heart Foundation. But any spare time that l have l spend it with my family. I travel with them anytime we are all on holiday to spend some quality time with them. But the important thing is that l don't waste any precious time. l share it between my family, my business and the foundation.

You were in Calabar when the current Under-17 team played Mali and you spoke so well to them during the half-time when you came to the dressing room. Why

have you not become a coach?

That is a good question and l can tell you that within fifteen minutes of watching a match, l can tell you what to do to win a match. I can tell you the weakness and strong points of any team. That match you are talking about, what I told the Nigeria number 8 was that you are a supporting striker and Mali's number 4 is playing a standing role. So I told our own guy instead of standing with him give yourself a free role, just move around, to the right and to the left, just keep moving. In the second half that was what he did and their own number 4 did not even smell the ball, he was just there and that gave the Eaglets the edge in that half.

But let us leave that. l do not want to be a coach because as a coach, l won't be able to give all l have. I can give more outside coaching. The problem of football especially in Africa is not about coaching but in administration. It is from up there, with the people who call the shot and l think that is where l want to go when the time is ripe for it.

But in case I get tired of what l am doing and want to do a little coaching, l would go for the kids, teaching them the basis of football. How to shoot, kick the ball and other basic things about football; that is what is being done abroad so that kids between the ages of 7 and 8 know all these important details before they grow and it stays with them throughout their career.

•Kanu with Onyewuchi Abia

SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

PAGE 38

• Obaje

GOLDEN FEET

Shakira, Pique tweet first picture of their baby with personalised Nike trainers

H

E may only be a day old, but it looks like little Milan is following in his father's footsteps.

Shakira's proud boyfriend Gerard Pique tweeted a photo of his son - showing his tiny feet encased in a personalised pair of Nike trainers.

The trendy shoes boasted the baby's name, Milan, along the side. 'Milan's feet!' wrote Pique.

And while they looked a little big for the newborn, they were certainly cute.

As a professional footballer for FC Barcelona in Spain, Pique is obviously looking forward to introducing his son to the sport.

Colombian singer Shakira, 35, and her 25-year-old beau confirmed the arrival of their little boy on her official website on Tuesday night.

'Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth,' they wrote.

The announcement stated: 'We are happy to announce the birth of Milan Piqué Mebarak, son of Shakira Mebarak and Gerard Piqué, born January 22nd at 9:36pm, in Barcelona, Spain.

'The name Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn) means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious; and in Sanskrit, unification...'

'The hospital confirmed that the couple's first child weighed approximately 6lbs. 6 ounces, and that both mother and child are in excellent health.'

The singer took to Twitter just four hours earlier to ask her devotees to pray for her during the birth of her first child, revealing to them that she was about to go into labour.

The She Wolf singer appealed to her fans via Twitter shortly after arriving at the clinic on Tuesday, writing: 'I'd like to ask you all to accompany me in your prayers on this very important day of my life. Shak.'

She also posted the same content in Spanish and was immediately inundated with messages of support from her fans across the world, wishing her good luck.

Since the birth, Shakira has been bonding with her newborn in hospital and has been visited by her excited family.

Short and Sharp with Joshua Obaje Joshua Obaje, former junior international and current player with the Black Leopards FC in South Africa, speaks on why he has shunned the lure of body tattoo ...

Which designers do you wear?

I love Gucci. It is my best brand.

Do you have tattoo on your body?

No, I don't. That is because it is against my religion.

You can't recreate yourself by removing from or adding to what God put on your body. I am a member of Deeper Life Christian Mission. That is our belief and I abide by it.

Would you have put tattoo on your body if not for your doctrine?

Maybe.

What car do you ride?

I am using Honda Accord Hennessy in Nigeria and I drive BMW jeep in South Africa.

Why did you choose them?

I love Honda and BMW products. They are comfortable and durable, that is the reason I went for both brands. If I am buying any car later, it will still be those brands How do you unwind?

I go to cinema to watch movies Who is your ideal woman?

I love them tall and light in complexion. A woman that I will live the rest of my life with must also be intelligent.

What are your targets this season?

I want us to finish well on the table and I want to score many goals this term. I have one already and I will strive hard to have more.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Beckham, Drogba kids on trial at Chelsea's academy Female boxer beats thousands to land place in annual top Model final

A

woman boxer has proved she is a real knock out: she has made the final of a top modelling competition.

Mother-of-two Amy Williams of Port Talbot, South Wales, is swapping the boxing ring for the catwalk as she takes on dozens of other young beauties in the final of Top Model UK 2013.

But first, she has to get through a big boxing bout - and she's hoping she doesn't take any blows to the face.

Amy said: 'It is less make-up and smiles - more sweat and pain.

'I'll have to tap my opponent on the head a few times to score some points. Then I'll just run around the ring.'

Amy will step into the ring at the weekend for a novice championship bout for the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association.

And she's hoping not to spoil her good looks ahead of her appearance in the final of Top Model UK 2013 at the Hilton Metropole in London in April.

She said: 'I don't see any conflict between modelling and getting into the ring.

B

ROOKLYN Beckham is aiming to follow in his famous father's footsteps after taking part in a secret trial for Chelsea.

David Beckham took his eldest son to the club's Cobham training centre on Tuesday for his latest run-out in front of academy director Neil Bath.

It is the third time 13-year-old Brooklyn - who was in the academy at LA Galaxy during his father's time in the MLS - has been watched by Chelsea and he is scheduled for more sessions over the coming weeks.

Showing similar playing characteristics to his dad, the Beckhams' first born is dreaming of a career in the top flight.

Chelsea tried to keep Brooklyn's trial secret, but some of the club's academy players could not resist posing for pictures with David, who watched from the sidelines during his son's trial match for the Under 14 team.

Chelsea's academy is fast becoming a celebrity hangout with a number of top players' children there as the club

searches for new talent.

Former player Wayne Bridge, now on loan at Brighton from Manchester City, takes his young son Jaydon to the academy and Didier Drogba, who won the European Champions medal during his glorious career at the club, has children there.

Chelsea have long attempted to boost their youth ranks as part of their bid to become self-sufficient under

Roman Abramovich. They have had some successes and many failures with bringing through kids to the first team, although Nathan Ake is the latest to come through the ranks.

A statement on the academy section of the club's website reads: 'To produce home-grown professional footballers capable of competing with Europe's elite players. A talented young footballer wanting to play for Chelsea needs to strive to be among the best in the world.

'Producing a core of our own young talent has never been more challenging; nor has it ever been more worthwhile. The development of young players is vital to the long-term success of any football club.

'Therefore the production of home grown players through the Academy system, who can progress to first team level, is a key area of Chelsea Football Club. The financial gains are undisputed; a successful Academy has the potential to save the club millions of pounds in the transfer market.

40

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

Lynda Clems for

Group plans posthumous birthday concert for Ayinde Barrister

set

debut movie

F

Uti considers marriage

F

•Lynda Clems

P

ORMER BBA winner, Uti Nwachukwu, is seriously giving marriage a great thought and he has openly revealed his wish to walk down the aisle sometime soon. At the moment, he has not been confirmed to be romantically linked with any woman.

The closest was with Nollywood actress, Beverly Naya, which was vehemently denied by the fast-rising actress.

While responding to a marriage-related tweet days back, the 2010 Big Brother Africa All Stars winner hinted that he will marry soon but needs to get a wife first.

Uti tweeted, "I will marry soon and very soon. Na to find the wife be the first thing."

Though no specific time was stated as to when Uti would be getting married, his 'wedding announcement news' will definitely be greeted with joy and will also put an end to speculations about his rumoured sexuality.

ANS of the late Fuji music icon, Adewale Akanji Barrister, aka Barry Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, will be Showkey, and Barrister memorial band, th gathering to mark the 64 led by veteran drummer Aderoju. posthumous birthday of the musician.

The statement further disclosed that the Tagged “Barry Day”, the concert has been colloquium will be chaired by the former scheduled to hold in Lagos on Friday, , governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun February 8 2013.

Osoba, with other eminent personalities Members, who will be converging under drawn from within and outside the the auspices of Sikiru Ayinde Barrister country.

Legacy Group (ABLE) reason that the Among those being expected at the musician may have died; his legacies event are the former Speaker of the House were not interred with him. Since his demise about two years ago, his works of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, traditional rulers, ministers, political have suddenly become golden, bigwigs, top musicians and associates and enjoying robust airplay on local friends of the late music idol. radio stations.

ABLE is a group set up after the demise The event, according to Mr. of the fuji music progenitor, Sikiru Ayinde Kayode Seriki Adejumo-Bello, Balogun (MFR), by a group of over 3,000 president of the group, will feature, people drawn from across the globe and among other things, they are on a colloquium with the facebook. theme: 'Music as a Their mission was commentary on the aimed at mobilising society; Life and times human, material, of Dr. Sikiru Ayinde financial and Barrister (MFR)'. The intellectual resources lecture is to be towards the delivered by Professor sustenance and Kunle Lawal of the institutionalisation of department of History the imperishable from the University of legacy of the fuji Ibadan. music icon.

Adejumo-Bello said •Ayinde Barrister “The group is an array of interesting committed to programmes have been lined up organising annually, in memory of Ayinde to make the ceremony a big success. The Barrister, 'Barry Day' events, as well as activities, he said, include interactive periodic lectures, exhibition, charities and sessions and music galore, featuring some concert,” said Adejumo-Bello. associates of the late music idol like

B

A Wish released on DVD

ARELY seven weeks from the date of the premiere and cinema release, A Wish, a hilarious comedy featuring award-winning actress Funke Akindele, popularly known as Jennifa, Bishop Imeh Umoh, Patience Ozokwo, Afeez Oyetoro, also known as Dauda, Hellen Paul (Tatafo) and other artistes, has been released on DVD. The comedy flick from the stable of Diamond Groove Pictures was released early on DVD so as to sustain viewers' attention on the movie from the big screen to the small screen. A Wish produced by award-winning actor cum producer Elvis Chucks was a success at the cinema between December 2012 and January 2013.

The movie centres on a single mother, a petty trader with no opportunity of education but with one wish; to see her child go to school and explore the opportunities she never had. Fate, however, struck as she had to struggle to achieve her dreams against all odds. Finding out she has a few years to live after being diagnosed of cancer.

•Elvis Chucks

Commerce, Entertainment, Tourism meet at Camora

LANNED as the biggest networking fair in Africa, a cross cultural initiative for the promotion, marketing and rebranding of entertainment potentials in Africa will make debut in Lagos. Camora, as the project is called, is the brainchild of young entrepreneur, Dom Lawson, that is planned to fly in the month of April.

Lawson, who is the CEO D58 Productions, promoters and organisers of the event, said at the unveiling of the initiative in Lagos that the main objective of the project is to draw attention to the business side of the entertainment industry, while building it into a continent-wide experience that offers new opportunities for growth and investment.

A stylish coinage of the Yoruba word for 'Let's Meet', Camora, a commercedriven entertainment fair, is planned as a platform for networking among Africans on business, tourism, arts and emerging talents platforms.

The project, according to Lawson, will incorporate trade exhibition, live artiste performances and business seminars.

He said the initiative will be the largest single assembly of entertainment practitioners, consumers and investors ever in Nigeria, pooling the largest amount of entertainment stakeholders and consumers from every part of Nigeria, Africa and the Diaspora.

“The event which will attract participation by players from every sector and sub-sector of the Nigerian entertainment scene has been themed: 'More… giving the entertainment industry and Africans something more to experience at Camora,'” said organisers.

Lawson, who said that the project is planned as a four-day event, revealed that top comedian, Ali Baba, has been picked as the face of the expo. He noted that the industry was in need of new thinking and ideas that can harness the enormous potentials that it possesses.

“Unknown to many, the entertainment industry is very huge, with many segments and branches. Only very few of these segments are known and appreciated. The event will expose all sub-sectors of the entertainment industry

of which little is known, including service providers, equipment providers, leisure providers, culture and art, games and computers etc. and the potential they hold to become one of Nigeria's and, indeed, Africa's top three income earners.”

A total of 50, 000 participants, 300

exhibitors and over 3, 000 services, Lawson said, are expected to feature at the event. These figures, according to him, will have a ripple economic effect on petty traders, transporters, hotels, eateries, clubs, local joints, artisans and SMEs found within the proximity of the event venue.

•L-R: Mr. Yomi Adedeji, CEO SofcomMagio, Mrs. Temitope Jemerigbe, MDDKK and Mr. Dom Lawson, CEO D58 Productions Company

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

H

OW did your past albums fare on the shelves?

Trust me, they did quite well. But I would say my album is well known in the church. I mean my dad's church, he is a clergy in a Celestial Church here in Lagos. I did Oro Ajuso, Alashe which brought about my stage name and some others. I play gospel music, but for now I would say I do more of gospel juju. I combine them now. The new one I have now is titled Unstoppable God, which is currently in the market. But I did one titled Asepe, which is a combination of so many things that happened in my life.

Out of the albums that you have done, which would you say brought you into limelight?

Alashe was the one that brought me fame. Actually the song Alashe is from an album titled Alashe, and of all the songs in the album, that was the one that people liked most. So anytime I go for events or functions people call me Alashe.

That was how the name stuck.

Why the change of genre?

The point is that you have to go with what is in vogue. You either want to be on this side or that other side. As a musician you have to belong somewhere.

Presently, people in different fields have decided to have an association in order to belong to a particular place. I am in gospel music purely, but at times as a way of appreciating my fans and those who appreciate me in return, I decide to take them along by praising them in my songs. It is like a game of sport where you have a person that is good in playing penalty kicks; you would want to do everything you can to keep that person.

So, as a musician I sing their praises either by mentioning their names or companies in my albums. That is the reason for the change. In gospel music, though some do not see anything wrong in singing people's praises, others say it is not accepted. That is the reason I had to add the juju because they believe it is their style. To avoid a clash, I decided to join the Association of Juju Musicians of Nigeria. So if I want to praise anybody or company, I add the juju flavour to it. But if it is just telling the story of Christ, I do purely gospel.

Are you saying you do these genres separately?

No, I do them together. In my new album Unstoppable God, I combined both genres. What I do is to have them mixed in the album. So there is juju in track three, and then gospel in the other tracks.

Don't you regard adding juju to your music as a set back to your career?

I don't think it is. I say that because juju of present is also linked to gospel. When we say gospel, it is about goodness and nowadays it is hard to listen to juju music without hearing good words. Back in the days, the juju played then had lewd lyrics but we hardly hear such things anymore.

I want to be able to stand on my feet in the next decade, and say, I, Alashe, am married to just one wife. I know it is hard with the type of temptations I face when I go to shows. I believe in having girlfriends, other than marrying them because being on a platonic level will make the person realise that one day, she has to get married too

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I don’t want many wives like my mentors —Alashe Sammy Oluwakayode Jerry, known as Alashe, is a gospel artiste who started his career in the Celestial Church of Christ in Lagos with a certificate in Sociology from Olabisi Onabanjo University. The artiste talks to DUPE AYINLAOLASUKANMI about his reason for introducing Juju into his music, among other issues.

An example is Aiyefele. He sings gospel, but because he now says my God will bless you, which means he is referring to those blessing in him in different ways, he has started praising them in some ways. I see adding juju to my song as a way of gaining more fans to myself.

Presently I have fans that don't go to church or know what the bible says; all they want throughout their life is just to be in the bar by saying they don't know when they are going to die, so they want to enjoy their life. For people of that calibre, you have to use what they enjoy doing to win their souls. So when they come to the bar, you give them what you have, which is gospel, Christianity, Jesus.

Therefore, I see it as a way of bringing those far away from God closer to him.

Because they want to enjoy life, you have to take it to them, so that they can listen to you. Jesus said He came because of sinners, not you that already know him.

How is Unstoppable doing presently?

Well the new album, which is from Total Concepts theatre Group, is doing quite well. We started the production like a joke with just five thousand copies and right now we are back trying to produce more because we have more demands from our distributors and fans.

And being an artiste, I like feedback a lot, so I was very happy with the response I got from people who have listened to the album. Hearing what they have to say will ginger me to do more and put in all my best in another work or production. I got to know about this feed back not from what people are saying, but from the page I opened for Unstoppable album on Facebook. What I was doing in the past on my albums was just to introduce them to the churches and stop there, but now with the electronic media, I believe that I could do better and that is why I am using the new method of getting to know my fans and their response by opening pages for them when they are released into the market.

•Alashe

Asides from music, what are you into?

Music is the only thing I do. At times, with the condition of the country, you just want to do some other things asides it.

Was music a talent or the church that made you become a musician?

I would say the music my father was unable to do is what I am doing today.

My father is the origin of everything I have become today.

How do you mean?

My father is someone who loves life and had moved to different places with the likes of Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, and some others but ended up being a clergy. When I got to the university, that was Osun State University, I had the intention of studying music, but there are stages you get to, that you do not agree with your parents. My father wanted me to be a banker or a lawyer but when I got to school, I managed to do my sociology course. Why I picked the course was because I love Public Relations so much; I love meeting people, seeing things that I have not seen before and travelling. In my first two years, I was busy searching for music department and I was told that they had it but it was not functioning. I tried all I could to make it work. The Vice Chancellor knew me for all my efforts but we could not meet up with the criteria and amenities. Immediately I was through with my four-year programme, I picked up a diploma form in music at the Polytechnic of Ibadan.

What countries have you been to?

I would say most of the African countries.

How do you create time for the family?

I thank God for the kind of wife I have.

She understands my job and most times prepares me for my trips. Sometimes I can be away for up to five days and she will be the one to pack for me for those days. She is sincere; I married her when the time was right. I mean we were dating and the fear of what a musician can do was there, which kept us waiting for some years. Fortunately and through the help of God, we got married and we have three kids. And they all love music too. In fact I have one that does not leave the drum set, he is so attached to it and he plays for them in school. The other two, one loves singing while the other loves the keyboard.

As a celestial, you have privilege of marrying more than one wife; do we see that happening to you too?

I don't see that coming. I say that because God knows our future. If I say tomorrow I have to be in Abuja by 2pm He knows that I would not be there at that time. If God says that is how it is going to be, fine. But left for me I don't want to follow the lineage of the elders in this profession. People know Juju musicians to have more than one wife. I have an uncle who does the same work and always make sure that he marries a wife in any state he travels to. So whenever he is going to that same state again, he will just call and inform the lady that he is coming. Presently he has lost count. I want to be able to stand on my feet in the next decade, and say, I, Alashe, am married to just one wife. I know it is hard with the type of temptations I face when I go to shows. I believe in having girlfriends, other than marrying them, because being on a platonic level will make the person realise that one day, she has to get married too.

Entertainment

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

CINEMA GUIDE

BIG

LAGOS

PICTURE

Supported by: SILVERBIRD CINEMAS

The Meeting

The comic side of Rita

R

Street Of Calabar Genre Action/Adventure Life of PI 3D Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 127min Rise Of The Guidian Featured Actors Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin and Isla Fisher Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 97min Inside Story Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 100min Arinzo Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 124min Pitch Perfect Featured Actors Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson Genre Comedy Running Time 112 min The Hobbit : Unexpected Journey 3D Featured Actors Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 169min The Hobbit : Unexpected Journey Featured Actors Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen,

UNNING since October 2012, The Meeting, which portrays actress Rita Dominic, in a comic stance, was written by Tunde Babalola and co-produced by Mildred Okwo.

The story centers on a Lagos-based corporate executive, Makinde Esho (Femi Jacobs) who finds himself at the mercy of political patronage, bureaucratic red tape and love while in hot pursuit of a 'meeting' to secure a government contract.

The romantic comedy brings together a stellar cast of Nollywood thespians that have drawn audiences to the cinemas. Rita Dominic leads the roll call of actors on the movie which also features Jide Kosoko, Kate Henshaw, Basorge Tariah, Nse Ikpe-Etim, and Chinedu Ikedieze.

The film introduces two upcoming actors in Femi Jacobs and Linda Ejiofor, while showcasing a different and dynamic Rita Dominic.

Life of PI 3D

P

ICTURING James Bond on a secret mission in a global Heineken campaign, this action film stars Daniel Craig playing alongside Skyfall Bond actress, Bérénice Marlohe.

Running since September 2012, the rd flick is the latest, and the 23 James Bond adventure. Skyfall sees Daniel Craig bringing his explosive portrayal of James Bond to a Heineken advertisement for the very first time. It challenges the consumer to defy his enemies and 'Crack the Case'. It takes viewers on an epic train journey alongside stunning Bond newcomer, Bérénice Marlohe.

Building on a 15 year relationship with the Bond franchise, the 'Crack the Case' campaign takes viewers into a moving train somewhere deep in snow-covered mountains, providing them with the opportunity to be a secret agent themselves.

Transitioning viewers seamlessly from the TVC, Bond actress Bérénice Marlohe tantalises viewers by inviting them to help her crack a mysterious case and outwit the menacing villains - a challenge which encourages a virtual voyage of participation and discovery.

Skyfall: The secret mission

Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 169min Here comes the Boom Featured Actors Kevin James, Salma Hayek and Henry Winkler Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 105min Wreck It Ralph Featured Actors John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch Genre Comedy and Sequel Running Time 101min

PORT HARCOURT

Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 127min Street Of Calabar Genre Action/Adventure Rise Of The Guidian Featured Actors Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin and Isla Fisher Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 97min Arinzo Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 124min Pitch Perfect

Bryan Cranston and John Goodman Genre Drama Running Time 120 min Twilight Saga 2 Featured Actors Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 115min Skyfall Featured Actors Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Naomie Harris Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 143 The Meeting Featured Actors Rita Dominic, Femi Jacobs, Linda Ejiofor, Jide Kosoko, Kate Henshaw & Nse Ikpe Etim Genre Drama Running Time 120Min Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Married but Living Single Featured Actors: Funke Akindele, Joke Silva, Joseph Benjamin, Tina Mba, Femi Brainard, Kiki Omeili, Yemi

ABUJA Street Of Calabar Genre Action/Adventure Arinzo Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 124min Inside Story Featured Actors Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji Genre Action/Adventure A Wish Featured Actors Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Bingbing Fan Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 131min Here comes a boom Featured Actors Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Andy Samberg Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 91min Premium Rush Featured Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon and Dania Ramirez Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 91 min Argo Featured Actors Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 120 min

Sparkle Featured Actors Jordin Sparks, Carmen Ejogo and Whitney Houston Genre Drama Running Time 116 min Skyfall Genre Action/Adventure The Meeting Genre Drama Taken 2 Featured Actors Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace.

Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 91 min

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

43

g n i k r o w d I’m fulfille s e c a f ' s e i d a l on p u r t s a a H o –Bay

Bayo Hastrup, Nigeria's foremost make-up artist, needs little or no introduction. His outfit Ijade-Egbin Consult has established itself as one of the leading make-up outfits in the country and has also gained recognition in the international scene. He spoke to Adetutu Audu on his job as a male make-up artist, refuted the claim that most make-up artists are gay and why he did not join the bandwagon to float cosmetics line.

H

IS childhood's dream was to be an architect, but rather than working on edifice, Bayo Haastrup now works on ladies' faces transforming them into beautiful works of art. To him, “make-up is about representation, making a better you that is true to your charisma and personality and not a different you.”

Bayo Haastrup of Ijade-Egbin Consult may be right afterall, as he is making a bold statement in the application of the make-up business in stylish living. Hardly will you not find his signature on any fashion or bridal events in the country. His clientele base ranges from first ladies, celebrities, politicians, corporate titans, style icons, beauty queens, models and a host of others. And for his efforts, he cruises around town in a fleet of sleek cars.

But success did not come to him on the platter of gold. Upon his graduation from the University of Lagos where he studied English, he accompanied one of his cousins visiting from Cote d' Ivoire to Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, where he encountered make-up artistry for the first time.

According to him, international make-up artist, Oliver Price, who was visiting from Paris, was training models and make-up artists. So he grabbed the opportunity. After his training with Price, he went to Mason de la mode, an Ivorian modelling agency to further hone his skills in make-up, grooming and catwalk.

But what is a man doing in women's world? He was quick to answer that he has no regrets whatever. “Initially when I started, it was rare to find a male make-up artist. Infact some people termed me to be a gay, especially because I was also involved in training of models.

But I was undeterred by the rumours, which eventually paid off,” he reminisced.

“The job has been quite fulfilling because the profession has taken me to a lot of places. I never worked with my university certificate. I took part in the Cape Town Fashion Week 2004 competition, which was organised by Mac Cosmetics and I emerged the most creative and original make-up artist in Africa.”

He continued,” and that same year, I had another competition; the best contemporary makeover artist, where I came second.

Automatically, I got registration opportunity from Mac Cosmetics.

I can say I'm the only Mac registered make-up artist in West Africa. I go out to Mac events, seminars, where we discuss new techniques, ideas and skills. I have trained a lot of models and supermodels in and outside Nigeria. I have scouted a lot of models from Nigeria to foreign lands who are modelling and are doing very well. I have trained a lot of beauty queens too,” he said boastfully.

Bayo charges between N360, 000 and N.5m for a single look.

Why are his charges are on the high side? According to him, he

does not have apologies for that.

His clients, he says, know his worth and are willing to pay.

Having been in the industry for so long, does he have plans to have his own range of cosmetic lines? Bayo said he would not join the bandwagon. He explained that having a cosmetic line is what anybody can do. All it takes is to go to China, pick a product and have one's name on it, and then bring it to the country and sell, he said.

“If you want to stay long in business, you must take a deep look into the industry in the sense that you have to take into cognisance the climatic condition of Nigeria, which is very hot,” he advised.

Instead of floating a cosmetics line, the Osun State-born makeup artist is mostly into research.

“I have been mostly into research. I am not a cosmetics dealer, I am an artist. Anybody can make a product in his or her name, but it is not everybody that can be a professional make-up artist. Doing a make-up range is something I would fall back to later. A lot of make-up artists do not even know about exfoliating, ultra violet peeling, chemical peels or even the skin. They just apply products on the skin. It is not like that. You have to know what it takes when it comes to make up,” he stated.

As a professional make-up artist, what make-up errors has he noticed? The major thing he has noticed that is common in Nigeria, even in home videos, he said, is a lady with black hair

wearing a red eyebrow. “They use red eye pencil to line the brow. It is wrong. You have to use brown pencil. We are Nigerians; no matter how light or fair you are, you can never have a gold or bronze hair, so you can't have red pencil on your eye brow. It is not possible.”

But are there situations where that is applicable? He revealed that it is only when one is doing a dramatic look like a fashion look, or a constructive look like high fashion. But it is not on the streets.

Why does he think people use wrong foundations and powders? The professional makeup artist said that the people selling make-up products in Nigeria are not professionals.

“You don't just buy things off the rack. Things that can be bought off the rack abroad are things that are displayed on the counters. In England or elsewhere in the world, there are professional make-up artists hanging around in the shops to assist you. They do a test sample for you whereby you know the shade of your powder, the kind of lipstick you should wear, the kind of eye shadow for a normal day. If you like, you buy everything that they used for you and continue the process,” he explained.

Speaking further, he said in Nigeria, shop owners just bring in any secondary school leaver to manage the shop. “Even graduates must undergo professional training to know what they are doing before selling the products to people.

Our climatic condition here is different. If you buy a powder in England, it will not be the same shade when you come here. The ultraviolet rays will sort of darken it. So, when buying powder, buy the one that is slightly lighter than your shade so that when you apply it, you have the normal shade and a touch over,” he advised.

He counselled that must-have basic items include mascara, because the eyes say a lot. An eyebrow pencil, especially for those who are not hairy. Those who are hairy just need to tread, wax or shave their brow.

Mascara, lip gloss and a lip liner and powder are also a must-have.

For men who are in the movie industries, he said the first important thing they need is powder and brush. The everyday man that goes to work needs a good cleanser, hair brush and moisturiser, he stated further.

But there is misconception that make-up artists are gay. The graduate of University of Lagos offered that “People engage in what they like, and I don't come against anybody picking whatever he or she wants. I have chosen my path; anybody else can choose his or her own path. It is a free world.”

Does he get advances from gay persons? 'Well, I don't go to places where I can get that. These days, you seldom see me. I have built a wall around myself in the sense that if you are not doing business, there is nowhere you can see me, except outside the country,” he said.

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Glamour

Social

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

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Glamour

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

45

Rosemary Tunde Oshinowo now a lawyer Okeke still rules N

S Iyiola Omisore starts on a fresh note

HE shot into limelight in 1984 as Miss Nigeria. The pretty lady beat other contestants to win the coveted crown and she became an instant celebrity. No doubt the crown came with its own pain and gain, but trust Rosemary who runs a fashion outfit, Rose Fashion, she had indeed learned from her bitter experiences and moved on with her life. The mother of one is still rocking the social scene; she was spotted at different shindigs despite her failed marriage. When she is not doing her fashion business and not partying, she involves herself in a lot of charity work.

O

TUNBA Iyiola Omisore is a man of many parts. Apart from being an engineer of repute, he is also a politician. The former deputy governor and senator has been a PhD student at the International School of Management, Paris, France. But the man whose doctoral dissertation is on Public Private Partnership, we scooped, has concluded his PhD which has been keeping him busy and out of public glare.

Yomi Akinruntan’s other side W HEN you talk of philanthropy, his name comes up among the youths in Ondo State. The first son of billionaire Oba Obateru Akinruntan, Abayomi knows how to make his people happy.

The young man, a law graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University, recently staged a feast and skill acquisition programme for the less-privileged in his state.

The party which held in Ilaje/Ese-Odo constituencies of Ondo State has children and the aged trooping out in their hundreds and were treated to sumptuous meals, drinks and good music by the prince who threw the party in the name of his ABA Foundation.

The skilled acquisition programme also saw over a thousand people enrolled in training in fields like hair-dressing, barbing, aluminium-production and fashion-designing, with tools that go with their trade presented to them.

Abayomi who has been at the fore in the fight against poverty and president of ABA Foundation and Youth Empowerment is a force to reckon with among the youths in Ondo State as he sure knows and tries to meet their needs.

The crowned prince who has been touted for a political position in Ondo State is into private business. He recently ventured into entertainment business with the opening of De-Ark beach club which has become the haven for the rich at Elegushi private beach in Lagos.

OT so may people know that Tunde Oshinowo, aka Teddy Shine, husband of Hon. Folake Olunloyo-Oshinowo, is highly educated and has an impressive C.V. Despite his busy schedule, the socialite took time out to study law at the Lagos State University. We gathered that Teddy Shine was one of those called to the bar recently. The sudden demise of his friend and associate, Toyin Hamzat, sources revealed, took the shine off the call-to-bar celebration.

Late Bimbo Odukoya’s ex-PA gets baby

B

UNMI Adams, nee Amusan, the personal assistant to the late Pastor Bimbo, has every reason to smile. The lady who had close shave with death on the ill-fated Sosoliso air craft of 2005 but survived has welcomed a baby after seven years of marriage. Bunmi married Jide Adams shortly after her ordeal in the plane crash.

Ishioma Onyebo gets busy

I

SHIOMA Onyebo, the gorgeous model who rose to stardom courtesy M-Net Face of Africa 2006 has not rested on her oars since then.

The Delta State-born model worked for Nigeria's biggest and best fashion designers before moving to South Africa, and has featured in major editorials in Elle South Africa. Now back in the country, Ishioma has ventured into fashion retail business with the launch of Esther's Closet.

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Glamour

Alhaja Bintu Tinubu holds prayer

&

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

L

AST week Thursday at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, Alhaja Bintu-Fatimo Tinubu, President and Founder of Fatima Charity Foundation gathered other Faithful at the annual Prayer and Lecture of the Foundation, titled “Role of Prayer in Nation Building� among those that were present at the event are Lagos State Deputy Governor Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulure, Justice Ishola Olorunnimbe and National Missioner, Ansar UdDeen Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Among others.

L-R: President, Fatima Charity Foundation, Alhaja Bintu-Fatimo Tinubu and Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke OrelopeAdefulure

L-R: Alhaji Demola Fashola and Justices Ishola Olorunnimbe L-R: Hon. Falami Ismail and National Missioner, Ansar UdDeen Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Ahmad L-R: Lagos State Commissioner for Education Hon. Saidat Oladunjoye and Baba Adeen of Lagos, Chief Afis Abu L-R: Former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith and Yisa AlaoArisekola

L-R: Hon. Abdul Lateef Hakeem and Proprietor, Director ZJS International, Sheik Habib Adam

L-R: Mrs. Mujidat Shittu , Managing Director, Arabel, Alhja Sherifat Abiola Andu and Mrs. Ajibike Osokoya

L-R: Engr. Tuned Soile and Chairman, Abeko Gold, Tunji Adeyemo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

S

HELF off-take or consumer engagement of any brand is a culmination of so many activities prior. One of such inputs is brand communication or advertising.

Depending on set-objectives, an advertising support can drive target market awareness for brand, help proper brand identification from among competing brands, stimulate tactical sales growth, enlighten target market on new developments, announce reward for patronage or loyalty, answer questions or just simply announce a given brand's presence.

Every campaign effort is capable of achieving so much, depending on set objective.

Suffice that every campaign effort is objective driven. As a professional, it is the responsibility tied to a campaign or advertising that excites me. A campaign must deliver on its objective. So whether a campaign effort is to be evaluated on its effectiveness, efficiency or appropriateness, it all begins by bench-marking its effect against set objective.

Advertising or campaign development from planning to execution - is a logical sequence of activities, frontally. Starting from the client who generates the campaign brief, it runs through a careful and professional distillation of the brief, verification of claims, instructional information bothering on hypothesis contained in the brief. Full throttle on the creative process starts only after due and diligent distillation of the client's brief, onward concept generation, creative review, process completion, clients' final check on agency's proposal, before campaign breaks.

It is a whole and very long sequence of so many inputs. It is simply termed a process.

One would reason that the process is so long and carefully broken down and methodological because of the end-result. As a matter of fact, the primary and immediate consequence of a badly managed campaign planning and development process is its boomerang. A badly or unprofessionally managed creative process results in a campaign that directly attacks own-brand be it a product, idea, service, etc. It is easier to develop a bad or self-destructive creative end product than a successful one. So, it is instructive that the creative process and sequence of activities is driven through by professionals.

Again, it seems the process is called a creative process for reasons of its importance, method, sequence, logic and scientific analysis…and so much more. The consequence of a badly managed creative process is better imagined. We at MC&A DIGEST and some others, who share similar burden, have dedicated ourselves to stating rules of advertising, reminding fellow practitioners of the MUSTS of practice, in order to help guide against bad creative products. Bed creative products are lethal, toxic to brands and destructive to investors.

Brands handled by non-professionals die, resulting in failed investment and all the ripple effects down the line. Unfortunately, over 80% of brands in the market today suffer from bad creative products of unprofessionally managed development process. Interestingly, the big brands across banks and financial institutions, drinks, telephone services, food & beverages, luxury goods, travel and tours, education, entertainment make up the numbers to a large extent. Increasingly, these big brands have been so badly managed; their campaigns are now negatively posing a problem to the profession. New entrants to the profession of brands management now think what they see are the ideal, instead of what they really are: case study on how not to manage a brand.

It is for the purpose of correcting this wrong impression we need to properly articulate the ideal situation.

Every brand support effort in form of advertising or marketing communication must "sell" the given brand as a distinct

47

BRAND COMMUNICATION:

The imperatives for brand positioning

personality and its offer/promise, to the extent of target audience engagement. It could all start from share of TA mind. For the purpose here, we shall have to skip part of the creative process in this analytical piece, to focus on the very critical element of brand differentiation.

Basically, marketing is about differentiation. Differentiation underlines the individuality of brand in their totality, at the market place. A brand represents itself among competition at the market place, representing its individuality, with all its character traits, attribute and offer. This community of brands exists in the presence of broad and peculiar similarities that becloud their individuality, in varying degrees. Among brands in same market segment, the similarities are more pronounced. Because brands can only sell on the strength of their individuality, the most important challenge, therefore, is carving any given brand's individuality, communicate same for the purpose of (1) creating awareness for the brand and its offer, among its target market, (2) establishing a contact or meeting point between the brand and its target market, (3) effectively tell a persuasive story (including the brand's offer and promise) that will, at least, pull the target market towards trying the brand's offer, believing it will deliver on its promise. These three target objectives are primary and fundamental to every brand.

When a marketing campaign or advertising

achieves the above, the brand is established and ready for new targets.

Unfortunately, however, brand communication or campaigns common today, do not show evidence of appreciation of these basic marketing communication objectives. As mentioned above, inadequate professionalism and/or lack of it, results in creative products that, at best attempt to create awareness for their brands. Even at that, they create the awareness with the wrong effect.

All kinds of reasons are given for such weak creativity, including size of relatively similar brand offering, near-commodity posturing of competing brands. Asis commonly said, brands in particular market segments share so many similarities, it is almost impossible to successfully achieve differentiation. Take leisure and tours, snacks, carbonated drink market, body care market and recently, energy drink market.

Majority of brands in the markets mentioned above are more often to suffer from improper differentiation.

Consequently, a campaign developed for them neither make concrete promise nor leave the target audience with memorable information that is important for top-ofmind presence, engagement or recall after "initial contact".

But, the task of effective and functional differentiation is primary for every creative

process. It only requires deep thinking, proper and articulate understanding of the contending issues, scientific, knowing what questions to ask and where to seek what information, ability to properly articulate available information, scientific analysis of market and consumer insight and a very aggressive, bold and purposeful visual interpretation and execution. We do not think there is any brand that cannot be distinguished from competition and be made to stand alone for its offer, peculiarities, and promise and market position. For every brand communication or advertising campaign, the process must establish the operative strategic thrust, the broad creative platform and the brand's positioning statement. All of these are the creative imperatives that set the focus towards a successful creative execution.

In sequence, the creative imperatives are derived; derived from a proper application of the creative brief forms, examined at a properly constituted creative review session, seen through by a team of experts intellectually equipped enough to logically and scientifically piece the hoard of information presented at such sessions together, to tell a whole story. The job is completed when the story that emerges at the end of the creative process play out good enough to achieve the marketing and communication/advertising objective, as should be contained in the originating document: THE CLIENT'S BRIEF. The missing link and the reason we find majority of ads and campaigns that are empty of substance, ineffective and dangerous, is that this logical sequence is considered too difficult a road to travel, for many people who go about parading themselves as advertising practitioners on the one hand, and those on the clients' side who have also become too lazy to discern who the true professional is, and how to fit in to the creative process. So many so-called brand managers today cannot read a good brief (not to talk of writing one).

Most brand managers/marketing managers/ corporate affairs on the clients' side are not trained for the responsibilities of their offices.

Consequently, they corrupt the system from the start point.

Brands and brands owners must begin to rethink their work system and value preferences, because until the present system changes, casualty in form of failing brands will keep rising.

48

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

o t t l u c i f f i d s ’ t ‘I tear yourself away from ’ n o i s s a p r u yo

H

OW did economic power s y o u A thought-provoking TV series From Al Jazeera tagged Tutu' house. Even for become ship, Nigeria to become Children sponsored by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu fellow part of the part of the G20. We the e chang will who rs project? leade g youn of world takes you into the need to look at intraYou have to be that pack, you find Amy Jadesimi and A f r i c a t r a d e .

In ry. histo a's Afric of e cours nominated, and Personally, I am lady so one of the two other Nigerians. In a chat with Yetunde Oladeinde, the thinking of how we at with d people that starte she LADOL can put who has her hands in many pies talked about how attended in 2011 together a coalition of grand the of one as life her and ing nominated me. medicine, went into bank Nigerian companies Then once you ie-Eboh.

Okot in our sector who are s Festu late the of hters daug are nominated, strong in local you have to fill an content and having application form ourselves and the way others see us from that body reach out to countries in West and get various people to write references negative to positive.

Africa. for you. I was lucky enough to be accepted How do you feel being referred to as one There have been some positive qualities in and they accept 21 people each year. There of the children of Desmond Tutu? the work I did, being someone who was not are two other people from Nigeria: Elijah I think the title of the programme was Onyeagha, a real estate executive and Ada chosen because they were trying to be just working hard in business but someone Ogejuma, regional manager of a pharmaceu- emotive. If I have to be anyone's child in that who had a vision for Nigeria beyond just tical company. We did the first two weeks in sense then it would be Nigeria. One thing we surviving and getting by everyday.

Can you tell us about your antecedents?

April, took a break in summer before moving were passionate about is the African in us. on to the community work in Nigeria. After We spent a lot of time debating what the I actually studied medicine at Oxford this, we are to supposed to come back to the West does; they present us as this monolithic University for 6 years. After I got my medical university for the final phase of the island that has a whole lot of black people qualification, I was due to work in a hospital programme. There is a complete list of without distinguishing one from the other. in London. I also got an opportunity to work fellows on Aljazeera website.

So we were very clear that our countries are with Goldman Sachs and I was with them for When you got the nominations, how did different. It is important that Africa collabo- three years. I did my MBA at Sanford you feel? rate, work together and this way we can University in the United States and then I was grateful, I was also very excited. It negotiate. It is in our interest to look at came back to Nigeria.

Why did you change from medicine to was the first course I'd been on where you are ourselves as allies.

In what ways are you going to replicate banking? actually sitting with leaders from across Africa. It was a very unique experience. And some of the ideas you learnt from the For me, it wasn't really a change. It was when I got there it was even better than I fellowship? more about a poem I read talking about We have started working on different treading a path. The time I left, I was actually expected. These are not people from privileged background but people from community projects. We recently sponsored going to come back. The idea was to go back different walks of life. Some even had a very the New Era Foundation initiative. This had but one road led to another path and I just hard life but had managed to overcome. The to do with educating young people. We have went further down the path. It's been good thing that unified us all was that we had a our own foundation on preserving and and I have had a lot of wonderful experipassion for our country in particular and highlighting Nigerian heroes. We are also ences. When you work in the hospital, you setting up a library where we will focus on see different aspects of humanity and I think Africa in general.

Nigerian heroes and have people look for And there is a sense in the world that heroes within their own families. We believe that is what partly helped me see everyone as Africa can't do for ourselves and that we that by understanding that we have heroes equal. Banking is different but very challengneed the West to come to our aid. So in the within our culture, this would give us ing. You pick a lot of useful skills, work long house these young leaders had this drive and strength to face the challenges we have on a hours and learn to be self sufficient. That is philosophy that there is nothing that we daily basis in a more positive way. We what you need when you come back to need anyone to do for us. We need to do for should stop looking out first. It is important Nigeria. You need to be a jack of all trade and ourselves and equally important is that we that the educational element of who you are the work you do has to be of high standards. need to protect what is ours. The final thing as a Nigerian is better told and it is more You can't allow the challenges to be an excuse and not produce an excellent is that there definitely has been a change in widely accepted. product. the past 20 years. In terms of the level of self The other aspect of it is in terms of Tell us about life as Managing Director respect, we, as Africans, have for ourselves practicality in business. One of the things we the amount of power we have by the way we decided amongst us (the 21 fellows) is of LADOL (Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics portray ourselves in the media. More and collaboration. We talked about the different Base). more media is controlled by Africans. So, conditions under which Africa can survive.

When I came back to Nigeria, I joined my this is changing the perception we have of We need good governance; we need to be an father at LADOL. He had just started the first

warehouse and the company is a hundred per cent Nigerian.

We have managed to achieve several milestones since that first day. From just the skeleton to the facilities we have. We have come a long way and still have a long way to go.

I am talking about the challenges and particularly the fact that people cannot believe that this can be done, let alone be done by a Nigerian. So going through some of the things we did on the course was very emotional for me. Having gone through what we passed through, I have seen the low regard the international community has for us. I also see that if we ignore and show them what we can do, we can turn that around.

To a layman, how would you explain what your company does?

LADOL provides services that enable offshore, oil ridge and other installations to function 24 hours a day. If you are operating a vessel about 1000 miles out of sea, you need a base to provide what you need.

Throughout the world, this base is set up in the same way. Effectively, each of this base is like a small industrial town. Not only do you provide warehouse base but a management system.

We do a whole range of other services, which up till now has not been done in Nigeria before. The most high profile we have achieved is the ridge repair. Those ridges are being done in the country for the first time. Repairing the oil ridge requires a lot of things. You employ up to a thousand people, you train them and domesticate tens of millions of dollars. It is not that you bring the oil ridge and it sits there. We are lucky that we have a fantastic and hardworking team.

So how do you reach out to the community?

When I first came back, the first community project that I was involved with had to do with women's health. One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) is to reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we would achieve this by 2015. We have the second highest rate in the world. 25 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by Post Partum Hemorrhage (PPH). I worked with an institute and we partnered with Emzor Pharmaceuticals. In the process, we found a miracle drug that treats post partum hemorrhage called Miso prostol.

One of the reasons why maternal mortality is high is the drug. It is a liquid and it has to be refrigerated because it has a short life span. So how can we use this successfully with our electricity problem and all that? So we carried out a research, got the drug registered and partnered with Emzor. I am happy to say that five years after, Emzor is producing the drug locally. The drug empowers women and saves life. It is a little white pill and women in rural parts of the country can get it.

Who are your role models?

I would say that Chief Emeka Anyaoku is my role model. He is a great man and there are lots of institutions that he has put in place. I am half Itsekiri and half Yoruba.

Nana of Opobo in history is my personal hero. He was someone who showe4d that all the stereotypes about us were not true. He outsmarted the British and put in all a lot of institutions and structures. On a personal level, my grandfather, Festus Okotie Eboh who was assassinated is someone I really admire.

Do you find time to relax?

I love my work; I am very passionate about what I do. I understand when people talk about a work and life balance. I am not yet married. When you are passionate and engaged in what you do, it is difficult to tear yourself away.

New WOMAN

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27 , 2013

49

with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

Rescued by a scavenger

I

Grow your self-esteem, you are worth it!

W

ITH a busy family life, social calendar and work schedule, a woman's self-worth may suffer if she's unable to fulfil her responsibilities with ease.

A large portion of our self-worth is defined during our youth. Being constantly criticised by family, friends, and society tends to slowly strip many of their feelings of self-worth.

Having a low self-esteem strips one of their self-confidence to make even the smallest of decisions. Improving your self-esteem increases your confidence and is a first step towards finding happiness and a better life Low self-esteem can negatively affect virtually every facet of your life, including your relationships, your job and your health. But you can take steps to boost your self-esteem, even if you've been harbouring a poor opinion of yourself since childhood.

for the best in others, you indirectly others, but think before sacrificing your own needs to please them. Bending bring out the best in yourself. over backwards for strangers, mere e.)

Sit in the front row. Most acquaintances or people you don't trust people prefer the back of a classroom or may leave you with the short end of the office because they're afraid of being stick. In short, don't allow yourself to noticed. This reflects a lack of self be used. confidence. By deciding to sit in the g.)

Avoid negative people. front row, you can get over this irrational fear and build your self People who have a negative attitude confidence. You'll also be more visible which may rub off on you are not good to the important people talking from for you. If you're timid, loud and aggressive people are probably not the front of the room. good for you, and vice versa. Whatever f.)

Don't always try to please you do, do not compare yourself to others. It is great to be considerate of others. Just be the best that you can be!

Women now more likely to die from smoking

a.)

Start from within. Forgive yourself for any past mistakes and ignore any and all destructive criticism or insults, including any from your past. Your opinion of yourself is the most important opinion of all, because you know yourself better than anyone else. Many of us have been hurt by others at some time. It is crucial not to internalise that abuse and let them continue to hurt us, because that means the other person wins. If we let go of the past, ignore hurtful negativity and make ourselves happy, then we win. b.)

Dress nicely. No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you do not look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people.

This does not mean you need to spend a lot on clothes, but buy clothes that fit you and will last longer so that you save money in the process. Take care of your OMEN smoking nowadays personal appearance. In most cases, are far more likely to die as a significant improvements can be made result of their habit than by bathing and shaving frequently, wearing clean clothes and brushing they were in the 1960s, according to a new study. your teeth twice a day.

Changing habits such as starting c.)

Practice good posture. People earlier and smoking more cigarettes with slumped shoulders and lethargic h a v e b e e n b l a m e d f o r t h e movements display a lack of self dramatically increased risks of lung c o n f i d e n c e . T h e y o f t e n a r e cancer.

Speaking after that study, Prof Sir unenthusiastic and don't consider themselves important. By practicing Richard Peto, at Oxford University, good posture, you'll automatically feel said "If women smoke like men, they more confident. Stand up straight, keep die like men."

The first generation of women your head up, and make eye contact.

You'll make a positive impression on smokers started during the 1950s and others and instantly feel more alert and 60s. In those early years, women who smoked were nearly three times more empowered. likely to die from lung cancer as d.)

Compliment other people. people who had never smoked.

Break the cycle of negativity by getting Looking at medical records from in the habit of praising other people. In women between 2000 and 2010 the process, you'll become well liked showed they were 25 times more and build self confidence. By looking

W

likely to die from lung cancer than their non-smoking friends.

It follows a similar pattern in men, who reached a similar level in the 1980s.

Lead researcher, Dr Michael Thun, said: "The steep increase in risk among female smokers has continued for decades after the serious health risks from smoking were well established, and despite the fact that women predominantly smoked cigarette brands marketed as lower in 'tar' and nicotine.

Research published last year suggested that lifelong female smokers died a decade earlier than those who never started.

However, those who gave up smoking by the age of 30 almost completely avoided the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases with those stopping by 40 died a year younger.

n every relationship, the key factor is attraction. You are either attracted to the other person or not. From this point, you would begin to examine the similarities and differences to see if it is going to work. You are on top of your game if you attract a quality partner who appreciates you for who you are.

Here's the truth about attraction: It's not about being a great beauty, or about seducing a man into having feelings for you. Actually, it's about something deeper and more long-lasting. And the best part is that once a man feels this level of attraction for you, almost nothing can keep him away from wanting to be with you.

But if you don't get to this level, then you would feel abandoned and you may just need someone to rescue you.

Talking about rescuing something, here the item in question must have been lost forgotten or even rejected. Here we are also likely to be talking about something that has been thrown away, something you do not need anymore or something that has now become useless.

Naturally, this item would be heading for the trash can and ultimately on a dunghill. After the first few days in its new abode you can be sure that it would begin to lose its colour (beauty); it stinks and the maggots clinging onto it makes it so unattractive. A heart that is rotting in the midst of other emotional garbage is depressed. A stinking heart has low self-esteem.

When you are lost in the land of emotions, you would definitely be at the receiving end. At this point, just anything would do and all you would be craving for would be a fresh lease of life. Someone to rescue you from this heap of emotional garbage. This usually is not a place where you would find someone looking cool and nice.

A scavenger readily comes to mind, and with your level of desperation, he could just be the best man for the job. Well, luckily for our dear friend, a scavenger surfaces just when all hope was almost lost. There is a lot of rot around here and in frustration the search began. He finds some things but they are not so exciting. He digs deeper and the stench from a decomposing cat takes him off balance.

Oh dear! It's a familiar face, the cat with nine lives. In the neighbourhood, this love cat had actually conquered hearts and in the process actually came to near death scenarios but had escaped.

The scavenger went on digging into and sorting out the heap. Suddenly, he ran into a Barbie doll which he almost ignored. Then he turned it upside down and it looked so beautiful and colourful. The only snag was its dirty hair as well as the folds and holes in the doll's dress.

This doll (heart) has indeed seen better days. It is a plus because our dear scavenger has helped to fish out a lonely heart from the heap. Nothing to cause a major stare in the corridors of emotional power.

He decided to give the doll a good wash immediately, and behold the transformation made the scavenger's heart to skip. It is a great relief indeed. Life in the hands of this scavenger feels warm and refreshing. A new lease of emotional life? Could this be the turning point that she had always been dreaming of?

Well, don't be in too much of a hurry. This scavenger isn't a saint when it comes to emotions. Just take a look at his hands and you find a different story. It's rugged, dirty and stinking. You can't eat or drink from the stream of love and not be contaminated.

Even though what she just experienced was a good relief from emotional suffocation, you are not likely to go far at all.

In a short while, this lonely heart would get back to reality.

Here, she would be stuck reaping emotional cholera, diarrhoea and of course typhoid. If the damage that has been done is worse, then the diagnosis may just be cancerous.

Unfortunately, this is the type of emotional ailment that may just claim this rescued heart if care is not taken. It would ultimately terminate all her love dreams and adventure.

So what happens to our dear scavenger and his new found romance? Not a big deal! It would only be recorded as one of the many adventures. Besides, he wasn't really keen about a long-time romance. What did we all expect the poor guy to do with such a na誰ve heart, a heart that was almost gone, a heart on life support?

All he wanted was an 'interlude' and when this expired he was going to pass the heart on to another. An emotional trade by barter would help win a more adventurous heart over. He was right, there is no point sitting on the fence when you are at the centre of a love storm.

If you do not make up your mind about what you want, then the scavenger would frantically search for a substitute.

You can be sure that a fair weather 'heart' would be willing to fill in the vacuum, no matter where it is pushed to by the affectionate pendulum.

Wouldn't it have been better if this aching heart had been allowed to rot in the bin? Why didn't this scavenger just allow sleeping dogs to lie? Sometimes, it is better not to dream at all because it's worse to dream and wake up only to realsie that you just cannot actualise this dream.

50

Etcetera

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

Crisis and comportment •Or Canal Road

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

THE list of excesses on Canal Road was as lengthy as the road.

About three kilometres long and riddled with potholes that made driving tortuous and walking perilous, it meandered through three different slopes and was generally referred to in two parts: before and after the canal. For many residents, the part of the road before the canal was the liveliest. With the most colourful of characters, it had to be.

Mama Camillus, chief gossip, was ever ready to extend the latest rumour, and not without embellishment. She was bound, mass of rotund flesh and folded wrapper, to be seen operating the pepper grinding machine in front of her house most mornings. “Good morning,” I often greeted in passing. “Good morning to you, Akowe,” she would reply with undisguised pleasure at the opportunity of noting a detail on which some new rumour could hinge.

But the road’s tale would be half told without mention of the 37in-one room tenants. For them, unruly is but a poor adjective. If the cacophony and stench that permeate their quarters do not fully describe conditions, consider the perpetual appearance of fresh rat carcass on the road every morning as sufficient evidence of cheek-byjowl existence.

The antics of drunks and omo ganfe – local jargon for street urchins – around bus stops and street corners in the evenings completed the picture of despair and disorder on the road. In a deceitful show of redemption, they would gather at ‘Sister’ Celia’s roadside bar – their favourite spot – ‘experiencing baptism’ and bawling Christian choruses with frenzied gyration.

Everyone thought the tempo of revelling would be checked sometime, and so it was on an awful August evening. Celia’s bar had been especially rowdy earlier. The wayward patrons raised such commotion that the most thick-skinned of residents anticipated revolt as they watched from behind house gates. Sooner than later, something or someone would have to give, they reasoned.

A fight that started from the street behind – for the affections of a girl, someone whispered – spilled over to Canal Road and, naturally, to Celia’s. A muscular fellow with his shirt all torn ran up the street, making straight for the joint. Seconds after, he emerged with a broken bottle in his hand and eyes fiery with rage. He ran back where he came from, even as a crowd that gathered tried to stop him.

At the edge of the joint, another skirmish simultaneously ensued between the enraged man’s supporters and a group opposed to them for whatever reason. From the latter group, a fellow was hounded until he was toppled – battered and bruised – into the open drain in front of the joint. Amidst the din, someone yelled. “Police!”

Upon the signal for dispersal, the mob instantly thinned out.

Everyone but a tall, thin man who earlier attempted to save the fallen fellow from further bashing vamoosed. He was bold enough to explain preceding events to gruff anti-riot policemen on patrol. With pertinent facts of the matter ascertained, the policemen brusquely reached for the fellow wallowing in the murky gutter. Held by the scruff of the neck, he was lifted and tossed into the van by the policemen. Then they went for Celia and, ignoring her entreaties, bundled her into the van as well.

But the lull that permeated homes of the good folk on Canal Road following the arrests was short-lived. Celia was back at her place the next evening, vending cheap wine, beer and pepper soup as if service never stopped. It would take more than force to eject the despicable lot, apparently.

About a year after though, diminished patronage ensured that Celia and her bawdy crew cleared out for good – to enduring relief.

QUOTE Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour.

—Truman Capote

Jokes Humour Way Out RUKKY was selling tickets at the movie house when she got a phone call. A woman on the line said, “How much is a ticket?”

Rukky said, “1, 500 naira.”

The woman said, “How much for children?”

“Same price, 1, 500 naira.”

“But airlines charge half fare for children.”

“Okay, put the kids on a plane somewhere, and you come to the movie.

You’ll enjoy it a lot more that way.”

Quick Deal A VERY successful real estate broker had a meeting with his new son-in-law. “I love my daughter, and now I welcome you into the family,” said the man. “To show you how much we care for you, I’m making you a 50-50 partner in my real estate office.

All you have to do is go to the office every day and learn the business.”

The son-in-law interrupted. “I hate office. I can’t stand agents,” he said.

“I see,” replied the father-in-law.

“Well, then you’ll work in the office and

take charge of some the paperwork.”

“I hate paperwork,” said the son-in-law.

“I can’t stand being stuck behind a desk all day.”

“Wait a minute,” said the father-in-law, “I just made you half-owner of my real estate office, but you don’t like office and won’t work in an office. What am I going to do with you?”

“Easy,” said the young man. “Buy me out.”

Between Six and Half-dozen A MEMBER of the National Senate, known for his hot temper and biting wit, exploded one day in mid-session and began to shout, “Half of this Senate is made up of cowards and corrupt politicians!”

All the other Senators demanded that the angry member withdraw his statement, or be removed from the remainder of the session.

After a long pause, the angry member acquiesced. “All right,” he said, “I withdraw what I said. Half of this Senate is not made up of cowards and corrupt politicians!”

•Adapted from the Internet

C

OMPELLING Writer ’s Fountain ways to open a story: Why is the opening of a story in. Today’s successful writers instead hit the crucial to sustaining readers’ interest? Before ground running, slipping in the background we can garner applause, we must coax colour when the reader isn’t looking. readers to read. Modern openers are terse But what makes a good opener? and simple, even in novels. And they Anything arresting but not too offensive will usually involve no more than two or three serve but, unlike infamous attentioncharacters. grabbers, the promise must be fulfilled. The Earlier novelists could afford a long- use of shock, riddle, intriguing emblem and winding history and genealogy of a threat are four arresting ways that novelists hundred families before the plot even kicked have often used to open a story. The stories succeeded essentially because they fulfilled Note that: •A body decomposes four times as fast the promise suggested in first paragraphs.

Furthermore, learn to cut to the chase in water than on land.

Open any number of successful novels •Chewing gum while peeling onions will at random and you’ll find many, seemingly keep you from crying.

•A person who is lost in the woods and different openers. But most will fall into one starving can obtain nourishment by of the four categories examined earlier. And chewing on his shoes. Leather has all, or nearly all, will thrust the reader straight enough nutritional value to sustain life into the heart of the story.

Note that nobody writes a strong opener for a short time.

•A ton of potatoes will yield 28.6 gallons at the first, or even tenth, attempt. So don’t of absolute alcohol. Potatoes are an try to perfect it in your first draft. Finish the important source for commercial alcohol. story and then return to the start.

It may take you as long to hone the opener •A notch in a tree will remain the same distance from the ground as the tree as it did the entire story because the opener is the most important part of your story. grows.

THE ARTS

51

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Human Cargo for Black History month O

N Monday, February 4, the trio of Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Godwin Kanu (Rtd.), Ayo Opadokun and Fred Agbeyegbe will at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos formally declare open this year’s Black History Month celebrations. In a press parley in Lagos last week, veteran artiste, playwright and lawyer Fred Agbeyegbe said the event is to formally make Nigeria part and parcel of the one month celebration since Nigeria contributed the largest number of slaves during the Trans Atlantic Slave movement to the New World, the Americas and Europe.

Coming under the auspices of Lagos Theatre Associates, the celebrations will start on Friday, February 1st with a Jumat service at the Folawiyo Mosque, Surulere, Lagos, and a Church service on Sunday, February 3rd at the Ikate Baptist Church, Surulere, Lagos, and will attract dignitaries from all walks of life.

“For too long, Nigeria stayed away from this epoch-making event,” Agbeyegbe declared. “In fact, Nigeria’s joining the league of celebrators of Black History month in the world is long overdue. If countries like Canada, United Kingdom, the United States of America and others celebrate this special month, then Nigeria, with over 3.5million slaves exported within the period under review and recipient of so many returnees, should do more than celebrate,” Agbeyegbe, a lawyer – turned playwright and a human rights activist, explained.

Owing to the importance attached to the event, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) commissioned Agbeyegbe to write a play for the purpose. Entitled Human Cargo, the play dissects the role of local leaders in the historic transportation of Blacks into the New World. The play tells the story of the capture of slaves through different guises and how the suffering and the eventual journey out of the Coast of Africa then began.

The play is for both entertainment and education. It also shows the public how terrible this incident has been to Africa and the whole world. “Our participation in the celebration is coming a bit late, but it is an opportunity for us to apologise to the world about our role in this sordid event. This is why the play is telling the whole story of the implications of Human Cargo,” Agbeyegbe stated further, saying, “let the play tell the story.”

Explaining further, the director of the play, Muyiwa Osinaike traced the history of the returnee slaves from Sierra-Leone and Liberia to Nigeria. He said:

As events marking this year’s Black History month take shape, Lagos Theatre Associates unveils its plan to formally make the celebration a nation-wide phenomenon. Edozie Udeze reports on the role of the play, Human Cargo, and why many prominent Nigerians have chosen to be part of this landmark event, meant to highlight the contributions of Black slaves to world history

•Slaves as human cargo

“Surulere is very important to us in this event. The first set of returnees were settled around Shitta Bey Street. The place was purposely created to accommodate them because these were our brothers and sisters coming home after being dislocated from their kith and kin. This is why we have chosen Surulere for our formal take-off this year.”

According to Osinaike, “We need to acknowledge that we sold our fellow Africans as human beings into servitude. Now that it has been widely acknowledged that the bulk of the largest number of slaves came from the West and East of the country, we need also to show our remorse with this celebration, no matter how belated it is. As the director of the play, I can assure you that Human Cargo has addressed all those issues in their proper perspectives.”

One of the artistes, named Ayo, said, “I am moved whenever I see what our people suffered in those

•Osinaike and Agbeyegbe addressing the press

days. It is even more pathetic now with this new visa lottery issue.

Do you know that it is a new form of slavery? Our people who are trooping to the ‘New World’ in this new form have to be careful,” Ayo cautioned.

The play will come up between 8th and the 10th of February at the

National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

After that, it will be staged at the Muson Centre, Lagos, between 15th and 17th of the same month. “It is to offer many people the opportunity of watching and also being part of it all,” Osinaike said. Thereafter, the play will move to Atlanta, Georgia, America, where it

POETRY

B

REAKING stones to songs Not so hard alone With own flesh The poet sows the seed For the street to rise Against the undying sorrows Tomorrow comes And the poet cannot recognize The beings out of his own songs

Breaking stones to songs Fleshing muscle and hands into fists Crying for life outside of dainty Pretty lines of poetry

istence Out of the count of nothing The poet locks self up To fuse the muse into stones Hurled into the street

Seeking open solidarity With other lower beings raking ex-

With whatever force

To disperse the occupying feet For freedom to calm peace And install us back into dying in batches For the poet alone All over to break stones into songs

By AJ Dagga Tolar

will be on stage from the 23rd to the 25th of the month.

The Black History month was begun in 1926 in the USA at the instigation of a historian named Carter Woodson. Woodson, a Black History scholar with a group called Association for The Study of Negro Life and History, had initially fixed the celebration to begin and last within the second week of February. It was so chosen because it marked the birthday of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, two leaders who helped to re-awaken Black consciousness.

In 1976, however, the United States government made it an official national event to last the whole month of February. Essentially, the primary focus was to use it to celebrate Black Americans’ contributions to world history. This is why over the years the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) has been doing so on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria. And interestingly, Lagos Theatre Associates is equally involving CBAAC in this year’s celebration in order to make it more encompassing and colourful.

Other important Nigerians involved in the landmark celebrations include Professor Tunde Babawale, director of CBAAC, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Justus Esiri, veteran actor and Headmaster in the defunct TV serial, Village Headmaster, and many more.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Arts/Reviews

52

London plays host to Nigerian artists From the 4th of next month, Cock Street, a highbrow art arena in Central London, England, will play host to members of Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria in an exhibition that will last seven days. Edozie Udeze had a chat with Abraham Uyovbisere, the president of the guild, on the many issues involved in the show

A

GROUP of Nigerian artists are exhibiting in England. Can you give us a bit of the background into the nature of the exhibition and the people organising it?

The Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria are the ones involved in the exhibition. We have about 24 credible members of the guild and twenty-two of us will take part in a group show coming up in London on the 4th of February. It will be an epoch-making event in the sense that we are trying to open our sensibilities to global art market. We will use the opportunity also to see how works from Nigeria can compete in the global art business and then create the necessary awareness.

The main thing is for us to take our aesthetics out and make sure we can be as good as we can be. It is for us to show that we can compete with the best in the world and to also show that Nigeria art can attract the best attention from art patrons, art collectors and enthusiasts outside the shores of the land.

How did the idea for the show start?

The past president of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria, Edosa Ojuigo

got talking with a lady in London before his tenure expired.

He actually introduced us to the source in England. The woman came visiting to see some of our works here to make her own impression before the exhibition proper. Her visit was to see how we can be exhibited in London and before you knew it the arrangement for the exhibition had begun. We all began to work towards it that as I am talking to you now all the works for the exhibition have been packaged and sent to England. She even sent an email today to remind me that preparations are in top gear and that the venue is in proper shape to take our works.

The exhibition will take place in Cock Street in Central London. Cock Street is the most expensive art arena in London. My joy is that we will be exhibiting our works from the Nigerian Coast in a highbrow area in London, a place where top art patrons and collectors visit a lot. Before now too, the Bank of Industry here in Nigeria, had taken Nigerian artists to London for the Olympics exhibition. That was last year.

The show was a very wonderful one and it was an opportunity to showcase some

of the best works by Nigerian fine artists. It was facilitated by the Managing Director of the bank, Evelyn Oputu, who has been so wonderfully inclined to the art. She is not only a big art patron, but someone who can smell art miles away and promotes it anytime the opportunity arises.

The whole game was actually begun by her. And this is the second time we will be venturing out as a group based on the recognition that our works have been valued in global circle. My believe is that this second time around will be a success story again.

How did you select the works and the artists that will be participating in the show?

Right now it is mainly made up of members of our guild. We have only artists who are studio-based, not any one working in government institutions or working in public establishments. It is for all of us who work and live solely on works produced in our studios. It involves contemporary arts of all genres – paintings, sculptures, prints and so on. Each artist has an average of two to three works and each work must have been done in 2012. The works are totally contemporary and

Words that elevate the soul

By Edozie Udeze

I

N a society where most people live on economic, political and religious precipices, it is only God who can make them look forward to life with hope and enthusiasm. This is so, because it is only God who can give hope to the hopeless, life to the lifeless and console those who are forlorn. And no one can get God’s favours in the things of the world, unless he first of all turns to God in supplication, submission and with unbridled humility.

In this book, God’ fessions – daily confessions of God’s words and promises over your life, Goke Coker uses positive words and apt quotations based on the scripture to draw people’s attention to the inner workings of God’s providence to his people. The author says that this is the first of four compilations of inspired confessions of God’s promises.

In a world fraught with evil and dark-

ness and endemic confusion, this book is a sure banker for not only disillusioned people, but those who love to make positive utterances their watchdog. This is why the author breaks down the chapters into subheadings to enable readers understand the texts and what central messages they contain. It is indeed depth and compelling.

He has, in the opening chapter, entitled God’s Abiding presence, drawn attention to who God is. In it, he makes it abundantly clear that God should, at all times, be the source of our joy. He proclaims thus: “God loves me and honours me with the joy of His presence. I am fulfilled in Him. I am strengthened and success is attracted to me. My faith is strong. I am a blessing to all I encounter…”

The essence of what Coker does here is to show that as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is all day long. And in everything a man does, he needs to rely solely on God, he should at all times be positive and forward-looking.

In order to achieve this, the author relies heavily on positive quotations from the Bible to encourage readers never to allow situations to dampen their spirits. Every day, a man ought to proclaim positivism upon his head and those of his family members. For, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10).

Therefore, believing and confessing are important parts of our Christian work. Whatever happens to us depends largely on what we believe or what we hope for within the confines of God, the creator. And in so

•Some of the works featuring at the exhibition

new. What I am doing is to liaise with the woman who is exhibiting us in England. The woman has faith in us and she has about four blue ship companies that are seriously interested in art works from West Africa. My take is that until the Bank of Industry took •Uyovbisere us out, we didn’t sues about the know we were not properly country, about priced as artists. We will try our people, about also to use this opportunity to who we are. create our own space in glo- Some of the works bal art arena with the help of also dwell on the Bank of Industry. philosophical isThe exhibition will last sues on human seven days during which we life, human behavior and so will be able to see how much on.

Who are the artists behind longer we can go on our professional exposure over there. the guild and what do you reThe period will be loaded with ally do?

The guild is a professional other activities; it is only 15 of our members who will be on body formed by artists who the team to Engl and. The work solely in their studios. works are current and they We also help to increase the dwell essentially on social is- level of art awareness and ap-

many ways, the author makes these clearer to us. He opens each chapter with, “Today, I speak over my life and my household that God’s abiding presence…” and so on and so forth, will be on my household.

Other equally instructive titles are: Divine Perfection, Abundance, Favour, Fruitfulness, Open Doors, Enduring Goodness, Positive Change, Fulfilled Promises and lots more.

In about 90 different themes and subtitles, the author successfully brings out those essential ingredients to power the lives of followers of Christ. Christ has come to raise the hope of the needy, to make his people enjoy abundance of good life and the devil ought not have dominion over them. This book shows the way.

In dedicating the book to the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the author is implicit about the joy of today and the beauty of tomorrow for those who believe.

And man must always ascribe adoration, honour, glory and dominion to God the father, the owner and maker of mankind. As a passionate lover of people, Coker’s huge testimonies about the immense love of God are indeed indescribable. This is what has inspired him to inspire others by setting them on the part to God’s immeasurable glory, blessing, direction and guidance.

It is a book to read to be able to begin to do God’s confessions, to testify that God’s love is always eternal, his glory reigns supreme from age to age, from generation to generation, both now and for ever more. This is the work of Coker as a ‘licensed’ man of God, imbued with the wisdom to enlighten mankind in God’s vineyard.

preciation in the society. Essentially, we are involved in mentoring the younger ones to fit into the world of art.

Some of the members include: Biodun Olakun, Duke Ashidele, Sam Ovraiti, Ruben Ogbuine, Ernest Nwokolo, Olu Ajayi, Edosa Oguigo, Tayo Kwe and many others.

Latifat Balogun talks The Fourth Finger

By Ovwe Medeme

S

CHEDULED for launch in the later part of the year is the book, The Fourth Finger, written by US- based Nigerian, Latifat Balogun, to create awareness on the struggles the African woman faces in terms of defining success and marriage.

A book which focuses on the constant battle to define a successful African woman was published by iUniverse, a US based publishing house, according to the author. The book was inspired by the workings of a society where regardless of their successes women are not perceived as complete without donning a ring on the fourth finger, says Latifat.

The Fourth Finger tells the story of Ahdia, an African lady who is long overdue for marriage. Her parents are so concerned about her not being mar-

ried that they are considering an arranged marriage. Though Ahdia is not against marriage and she understands that her biological clock is ticking, she truly seeks a committed relationship with a man who shares her dreams and her values.

Ahdia knows firsthand that finding a perfect man-her soul mate-is not an easy task and, because her parents were divorced, she realises the impact a failed marriage can have on a couple and their children.

She is careful when approaching the possibility of a long-term relationship. The novel follows Ahdia and the relationships she has experienced throughout her dating years.

The Fourth Finger also serves as a platform for floating Latifat’s pet project called “Free your Mind”.

The project, she says, is focused on creating counselling centers for women of all ages where they can seek psychological advice/help on private matters.

“A whole lot of African women get married out of family pressure without first discovering what they want in themselves, a man, and marriage. They get married. Two years later, they get depressed out of realisation of marrying the wrong man or enduring abuse on different levels in the marriage. Without anyone to talk to about their problem or seek help from, they quit the marriage or become mentally challenged from years of endured/ bottled up pain. The project is focused on providing preventive measures for such women,” says Latifat, a graduate of the University of Maryland, USA.

53

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

INTERVIEW

‘Being a working priest is a plus’ The parish priest of St Peter’s Anglican Church, Lekki, Lagos, Rev. Asoliye Douglas-West, works in the oil industry. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on finding balance between ministry and secular works as well as the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB), among others

W

HAT does the New Year portend for Nigerians, especially Christians?

Once we are alive, it is always optimism. You know, keeping our hopes alive, one has to be on the bright sides of life despite the turbulence of last year. One hopes government will bring out policies that will help to realise their aspirations this year because nothing has really happened in the last two years and this is the peak of this administration. We hope they can stabilise the economy for better things to happen to the people.

What has changed for you since you assumed the priesthood?

So much has changed. There is now increased closeness to God and value of things of God. Each day as I grow in the ministry, I get closer to God. I try to detach myself and allow God to have His way. There is this huge expectation that once you are in the ministry, there should be a turnaround in your life.

There is also an awareness of the responsibility and that is beginning to show in my life, conducts and attitudes, which I can attest to.

I also have greater, eternal joy, which gives me an immeasurable sense of fulfillment.

Are you likely to go full-time any moment from now?

The parlous state •Douglas-West of the economy will

not allow that for now. We cannot tell what the future holds for all. If there is a vast economic improvement soonest, why not, so that one can devote it all? But now that I have responsibilities, I cannot but keep my professional job to be able to sustain my immediate family.

Don’t you feel sometimes that you would have done more if you were in full-time?

That is very most likely from the pure spiritual concept of the ministry. Marrying the two worlds creates distractions and prevents the quality time that one would have given to the ministry. But the economy world is also very important.

You need a lot of finance to do evangelism and the church today is such that you cannot remove the economics from the church. You need a measure of economic independence to do good ministerial jobs. That is the value that some of us offer so that we don’t tax members too much. We are not adding additional burdens to the congregation.

Asides from financial support, what other values are you able to add to the church?

The experiences that I have gained in my professional life are also helping me to administer the church better. I can manage the church and peo-

ple better. The resourcefulness comes to bear and the network of contacts also helps. If I had been a full-time priest, I would have been denied the contacts I am able to get for the church’s benefits. Seeing me as an ambassador gives my parishioners a sense of hope in the workplace. I am able to model and teach them how to be marketplace Christians because I am one. It is a plus from all sides for the church.

Some people believe professional priests like you would thrive better in pentecostal settings. Do you agree?

Not really so. It does not matter where you are. I believe ministry is to serve God and humanity. So, it does not really matter in which clime or setting you are serving. I believe we are all pentecostals.

The most important thing is to be evangelical and I have a clear understanding where I want to be.

Regardless of my professional background, the level of my spiritual understanding dictates and requires me to remain in the orthodox setting which has a strong heritage of discipline and regimen. There is no other denominational movement that can hold claim to superior evangelical orientation more virile than my

brand of orthodoxy.

We are as much divinely spirit-filled and as materially result producing in our approach. By and large, I am spiritually satisfied and materially content where God has located me in His vineyard.

As a professional in the oil industry, what is your take on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)?

I think the bill has been over-politicised, which is why there is so much dilly-dally about it. We should be able to read in between politics and building virile institutions on principles. We should be looking at the global benefits that come from the enactment of the PIB, especially what is in it for us. We should be able to answer if the bill is fair and allows us to derive the best benefits from the resources that God has given to us. We should do away with the parochial interests and politics involved. We should make sure the host communities and the nation get the major benefits and not the politicians. I have had opportunity to flip through the pages of the bill and the most interesting issue is what comes to the host communities. I believe the enactment of that bill will give great relief to the host communities and that is what bothers me most.

NEWS

Gospel artistes bag awards ‘Governors should

L

AST year ended on a bright note for distinguished gospel acts who smiled home with awards at the 2nd edition of the Nigeria Gospel Music Awards (NGMA Awards).

Some of the winners at the event organised by the Academy of Gospel Music in Nigeria include high-flying Frank Edwards who won three awards.

Edwards won in the “artiste of the year”, “best male vocalist” and ‘song of the year” cat-

egories.

Emmanuel Benjamin, popularly known as Eben, won “best gospel rock artiste and the “album the the year” awards.

Other winners include Wole Oni (best music producer); Asu Ekiye (best indigenous contemporary category); Joe Praize (alternative category); Onos (best female vocalist); Henri Soul (new revelation of the year); Femi Oyeleye (best male artiste in the Disapora) and Lyn (next

rated artiste) and Kayode Olusoji (traditional gospel act).

Joe Praize said: “From now on you people should expect the very best of music from Joe Praize.”

Onos described the honour a morale-booster, stating “in 2013 as I am preparing to release a new album and video, excellence will be my watch word. No mediocre works from me henceforth.”

Group seeks restoration of pastoral integrity

A

N interdenominational group, The Concerned Christian for Ministerial Integrity, has called on pastors and other ministers of the gospel to cultivate moral integrity and other virtues exemplified by Christ and the early Church.

The group made the call last week during its three-day Ministers and Workers’ Conference in Lagos with theme “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

Its President, Pastor Samuel Olutoye, said the rot in the Church today was due to the fact that many preachers have derailed from the foundations laid by Christ.

By Vincent Nzemeke

Olutoye, a former President of the Kaduna Branch of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), called on such pastors to rededicate themselves to avert the wrath of God. “What we are seeing in the Church today is the direct opposite of what Christ and the early Church portrayed. Many pastors have derailed from the truth because of societal pressure and the quest for materialism.

“They focus on prosperity messages because they think it is a quick way to acquire wealth. I am using this medium to call on such pastors

to rededicate themselves to God,” he stated.

The General Overseer of Peculiar People’s Ministry, Pastor Taiwo Ishola, also called on Christians to be watchful in their daily lives.

He said even though the proliferation of churches has tainted the image of pastors, there are still genuine men of God who will never compromise the truth of the gospel.

Other speakers at the programme also admonished pastors to emphasise holiness and other aspects of the gospel instead of just focusing on prosperity and other popular messages.

pray against another death’

T

HE founder and spiritual leader of Christ Deliverance Ministries (CDM), Prophet Ekong Ituen, has appealed to the Governors Forum to pray seriously against the death of another member.

Ituen said: “They should declare a solemn assembly with a day of fasting and prayer.

“They should pray against the spirit of sudden death in their midst as some of them will die untimely before the end of their tenure.”

He also predicted that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will lose the 2015 Presidential elections going by the level of division and disunity that an impending crisis will cause.

Ituen spoke last week on what awaits the nation in 2013.

The renowned prophet also urged Nigerians to pray and guard against a severe famine that will rock different parts of the nation.

On security, he warned that there will be more bombing across the nation, stating, “I pray we should not get to the level of Afghanistan.”

He advised President Goodluck Jonathan to be wary of praise singers

•Ituen

By Udeze Edozie

who mean him no good.

According to him: “The President should be more careful with people around him, especially some northern governors, who would not be there for him when he needs them most.”

He urged Nigerians to intensify more prayers to avert disintegration of the country.

54

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Worship FEATURES

F

ROM Monday, February 4th, thousands of ministers and church leaders under the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) will gather in Uyo, the capital of Akwa-Ibom, for the biennial conference of the body.

Though the conference will feature many ministrations and sessions, most of them will be more interested in the closing ceremony when the new national president of the body will be unveiled.

The outgoing president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, whose tenure ends at the conference, many believe, took the bloc within the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to greater heights.

Under him, PFN gained more national prominence, culminating in his emergence in July 2010 as the first pentecostal leader of CAN in a keenly-contested election.

The achievements of Oritsejafor as leader of the body has raised the stakes for those interested in the seat.

Investigations revealed that the leading contenders for the post are: National Secretary, Pastor Wale Adefarasin; National Vice President (South West), Bishop Wale Oke, renowned evangelist, Uma Ukpai and a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), Bishop Felix Omobude.

Culture of secrecy None of them, however, was willing to confirm interest in the seat.

This is because emergence of leaders in the pentecostal body is always well-guarded. Unlike CAN or even secular politics, there is no open campaign in the PFN. Leaders in the body also do not go through election.

Rather, the National Advi-

A

RMED with just N70 and a copy of the Bible, former juju maestro, Rev Idowu Animasahun, walked into Badeku, a sleepy village in the suburb of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, 25 years ago full of hope.

Badeku, like most rustic villages, lacked electricity, pipe-borne water, good roads or any social amenity. Yet, the widely travelled Apola King was undeterred.

He was just consumed with compassion and passion for souls. He was confident the mainly idol-worshipping residents would turn to God. Animasahun, who left behind a glamorous life as a celebrated musician, started a weekly fellowship in the muddy house he was offered on arrival.

The fellowship gave birth to World Hope Ministry, a multi-faceted mission organisation that has since spread roots to other parts of Nigeria and Africa.

As he was preaching, he was also doing good in the village. The enchanted villagers were amazed by the wonders of the gospel, turning themselves in large numbers to the gospel.

Through Animasahun, the first private clinic in the village started. That was in 1998. World of Hope Maternity Centre became a huge succour for the village women.

PFN: Who takes over from Oritsejafor?

•Oritsejafor

By Sunday Oguntola

sory Council (NAC) determines who becomes who in the PFN. The influential body consists of past presidents and notable pentecostal leaders in the country. Though it is considered an advisory body, NAC wields enormous influence over the leadership and composition of PFN. NAC members intervene at crucial moments in the body, making critical pronouncements that go unchallenged.

Sources said members of the powerful organ are already beaming the searchlight on who to succeed Oritsejafor.

It was gathered that Adefarasin remains the biggest contender, having succeeded in stabilising the Lagos chapter of PFN, which was rocked by serious crisis some years in the aftermath of the Evangelist Benny Hinn fiasco.

Adefarasin not only stabi-

•Wale Adefarasin

•Uma Ukpai

•Wale Oke

lised Lagos PFN but also restored confidence in the body, bringing back many members who left in annoyance.

Tales from the camps Those who believe in him say he is the man who can get the job done for now in National PFN. One of them said: “Pastor Wale is calm, cool-headed and reliable. He is the only one that can bring order and sanity to the body.

“Don’t forget he sanitised Lagos PFN and recorded many achievements without being abrasive or rubbing it in on anyone.”

Those against the urbane preacher, however, said he lacks the muscle to assert discipline and impose sanctions on erring members.

According to one of them: “Yes, he is a good man but being good is never enough for a complex organisation like PFN. We need someone who can put his foot down and ensure discipline across

board.”

Unconfirmed reports said he is the preferred candidate with the backing of the incumbent.

Firmness might be Adefarasin’s weak point but it remains the strongest qualification of foremost evangelist, Uma Ukpai. Ukpai, they say, is about the only founding father of the PFN that has not led the body.

“With someone like him, you can be sure we are home and dry. He is a source of inspiration, strength and steel for upcoming ministers.

“He is a man everyone will willingly surrender to because of his stature, disposition and wide contacts,” a source stated.

Those against him, however, said he is too old to lead the body.

“He is an elder that should sit back and watch the younger ones work. He should just concentrate on his crusades and

leave politics for the toughminded,’’ another source said.

Besides, many said he does not have a church, which makes it difficult to lead the PFN. A member of the antiUkpai camp said: “We have a history of choosing church leaders. It would be a departure for someone like him to emerge. Without a church, how can he fund the organisation?”

Going by charismatic and friendly appeal, Bishop Wale Oke of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries Ibadan would easily emerge the new PFN leader. He is also perceived as close to Oritsejafor and government leaders.

But many say he will not get the nod because of undisclosed issues bordering on the past.

For Bishop Felix Omobude, many say he will be a worthy leader, giving his long years of experience

in the ministry and fatherly disposition.

He is seen as a man that younger and older elements in the body will easily submit to. But sources close to him say he might not be interested.

“The man will just face his ministry because he is already winding down after years of service in the vineyard,’’ a competent source stated.

The flamboyant general overseer of House on the Rock, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, is also said to be eyeing the office.

But many dismissed his ambition as misplaced, stating that it is not yet the turn of his generation.

The younger Adefarasin was removed few years ago as the National Youth Leader of the PFN under hazy circumstances.

It is believed that the forces that removed him will never allow the energetic preacher return to any leadership office in the PFN. There are talks the National Vice-President, Rev (Mrs.) Mercy Ezekiel, will also be in contention.

But it was learnt power brokers in the body will never hand over the leadership of the PFN to a woman.

“Mama has done her best.

It is time for her to step out graciously. There is no way a woman will lead us. How will men submit to a woman as the leader?

“Forget gender discrimination. The Bible is clear. A woman cannot lead in the multitude of men in such a strategic body as PFN,” a source hinted.

There is no doubt whoever is anointed by the NAC will get the post. He will surely have many fences to mend before settling down to business.

A missionary’s passion for change

•The Mission Maternity Home

By Sunday Oguntola and Vincent Nzemeke

“There was a government hospital when we came here but it was not functional. On many occasions there were no doctors because of the distance. Sick people couldn’t get drugs and it was becoming a big challenge and that was why we decided to establish a

clinic,” Animasahun explained.

When The Nation visited the clinic, the midwife, Mrs. Olamide Onidare, said the institution takes between 10 and 15 deliveries every month.

She added that even though fees charged at the clinic is low; most of the villagers still find it hard to pay.

“We charge two thousand five hundred for every successful delivery, but most of the women who come here cannot afford it. There is nothing we can do because we are running this clinic to help the villagers and not to make profit,” she stated.

The mission also established nursery, primary and

secondary schools in the village. The nursery and primary school has over 100 students while the secondary school, which was established about four years ago, has about 70 students.

While students in the primary section pay a meagre N2, 500, their counterparts in the secondary section are

charged only N6, 500 every term. Yet, most of them cannot afford the meagre fees.

Twenty five years down the line, Animasahun is impressed with the spiritual and infrastructural transformation in the village.

But he is aware there are far more grounds to cover. If he had all the money in this world, he said he would provide better medical and educational services completely free for the indigent villagers.

Like most mission agencies, funding remains a big challenge.

“It has not been easy for us. We have to subsidise because these are poor people who cannot afford to pay for these services. At the hospital where many of them put to bed, they cannot even pay the token we charge them.

“It is the same thing at the primary and secondary schools. They cannot pay and we cannot afford to send them away because they don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.

He called on government, Christians and individuals to support mission works.

“Missionary work is a collective responsibility. We must show concern for the plight of these people because that is what the gospel is about.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

55

Deal with the peel —PAGE 58

My life and times with Fela Pa Benson Idonije, a veteran broadcaster, was the first band manager of the late Afro King, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti . He spoke with Taiwo Abiodun on how he managed the late musical icon’s band in its formative years, his experience working with Fela and the travails the music maestro went through.

xx

H

E looked at the framed picture on the wall in his living room, nodded intermittently and smiled. In total fulfilment, he pointed at the photograph and said, ”This photograph was taken in 1972.

The white man by the left came from the United States of America to discuss with Fela recording business. That is Fela in the middle and that is me by the right.” Idonije, who is now in his 70s was excited to discuss about Fela.

He recalled the formative years of the abami eda and how he met the late musician: “I was a broadcaster and art critic. I am the only journalist that had written widely on the late Fela. I started managing him [Fela] in 1963 when he came back from London. He was not smoking then and was very gentle, but he became a radical when he came back from America. While there, he became a radical as he had joined a radical movement he was exposed to through a girlfriend of his c a l l e d Sandra. His music also changed at this time. He went to America in 1969 with high life music and jazz, by the time he got there he found out that he was not playing African music. He started playing My Lady Frustration, and that was it!

Fela and the Army Unknown to many, the late Fela had wanted to join the Nigerian Army, confirmed Idonije.

He said the late Fela went for an interview in the Military Barracks in Lagos, just to satisfy his mother

•Idonije

•Fela

who h a d wanted him to join the army then. He said: “It was when he came back from Trinity School of Music in London that we met.

When he came back he had a lot of influence. He had connec-

tions, his mother was an activist, by the time he came back they had already formed a band and a white man was the leader of the Army Band. They wanted to put a Black man and his mother wanted to put her son there. If she had wanted him to be enlisted without an interview she could have done so, but she opted for him to go for an interview in order to fulfill all righteousness.” He added that Fela, instead of going there as a gentleman who needed the job, behaved contrary to that. “When he got there, instead of answering questions he was challenging the authority on their performance. If you want a job you must be respectful; but

when he got there he told the leader and the director of Military Music that they were not good enough. The director was annoyed and shocked by such indictment. So he did not act as if he needed that job.”

Idonije, however, denounced claims that Fela’s songs against the military were because the military refused to employ him.

Idonije angrily enthused that those who did not know the story tried to distort history.

Fuming, he said: “But when he [Fela] died those who did not know about it said he was criticising the government because he was not given the job. Fela’s mother was highly connected and if he had wanted the job he

would not have gone there to criticise them.

He read a lot about Blackism, books on Martin Luther King, Kwame Nkrumah, and all these exposed him the more to Africans and the environment which assisted him in his songs.

I almost burnt the house with my cigarette Seeing the colour of Idonije’s teeth that show signs of long-term smoking, he was asked whether he too smoked Indian hemp as Fela’s Band Manager. The septuagenarian denied ever touching the weed, swearing he never tasted Indian hemp because of its odour. “No, no, I did not smoke Igbo along with Fela, the smell even irritates me. In the first place, I don’t like the smell, maybe I would have smoked it.’’

He, however, smoked cigarettes but gave it up when he found it was not healthy for him as it affected his appetite and could not eat well. Asides this, he said he quit smoking due to two bitter experiences he had. He said: “I was lying down one night and the butt of the cigarette fell on the pillow and the fumes went up, the smoke went up and the whole flat was emitting smoke, while passers bye raised an alarm. Only God knows what could have happened.’’

“Another one was in the 70s .There was a day I closed from work, I used to do shift, and I felt like smoking a cigarette, I was living in Mabuo Street in Surulere then, it was around 1.30am. I woke up and trekked to Yaba to buy the cigarette. Along the way, I was attacked by armed robbers and they removed all the contents of my pockets. They juggled my pockets. They asked me why I had to go out in that dead of the night and that if not that they knew me as Fela’s band manager they would have dealt with me. These two incidents made me to stop smoking.’’

Asked whether Fela behaved like a Czar in the Kalakuta Republic, he replied, “No, Fela was not acting like a king, he was a king in the house, but there was nothing like master/ servant relationship.

He was friendly with everybody.

He ate with everybody and was a friendly man and a father to all.

“In Kalakuta Republic, what he said became a rule that must be obeyed. Again, he did not believe in this yes sir, yes ma. Even if you started answering or calling him yes sir, yes sir, he would tell you to call him by his name and did not need to be called Sir, or Mr. He was not behaving like a king but a commoner.’’

According to Idonije, Fela started wearing only pants in the early 70s. “He started wearing only pant in his house in the 70s, and that was when he became popular. It was after he became more rascally, as he was used to reading revolutionary books and had contact with the late Nkrumah of Ghana who preached Blackism •Continued on Page 56

56

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Life

My life and times with Fela xx

•The late Fela •Continued from Page 55

Idonije said he used to have misunderstanding with the late Fela but insisted that it was all on professional ground, “Well, we used to argue; for instance, he would say he was disbanding his band, but I would say how can you disband? Our quarrel was usually about the band. I would appeal to him again and again that it was not professional for him to be disbanding and disbanding, and he would listen to me. Asides that, we never had any personal quarrel.’’

On the meaning of Koola Lobito, he said, “Fela just loved to give names that have syllables and that there was nothing special in the name; it’s just the EGYPT 80 that Fela said he needed to call it Egypt 80 because he later realised that civilisation came from Egypt and he decided to rename his band EGYPT 80.”

Idonije said he cannot say exactly who Fela was because many see Fela in different ways.

“Fela means many things to many people. If you ask 20 people who Fela was they would give you different impressions.

Many books have been written on the musical icon like the book written

by Teju Olaniyan, and the one Olorunyomi wrote, A bitch of a life, was nice. It was only recently that he updated it which he said are all good proving that Fela was

a man of many parts’’ Fela’s many battles Reminded about the legal wars Fela fought in his life time and how he escaped , the old man scratched his head as if remembering some episodes and said , “all were Military tactics and plans to break Fela’s spirit but they failed because Fela was a strong man!’’

Idonije dwelled on the Judge Odogwu saga of ‘E don beg me’.

He praised Fela for seizing the opportunity to nail Odogu who unjustly jailed him. Hear Idonije: “Sincerely speaking, Fela was innocent of all the accusations against him. Yes, I remember .... when Fela said the Judge that jailed him came to beg him in the hospital where he was receiving treatment. It was true that the Judge went to pay a visit to a patient in the hospital and saw Fela where he was in the same ward, the Judge now went to greet Fela and told him that his hands were tied and that was why he was jailed. And I think Fela capitalised on it that he had begged him, even Odogu did not know that Fela would capitalise on it. It was so very unfortunate for him but it paid Fela at the end of the day , and he was freed’’ .

On the murder, armed robbery charges against Fela , Idonije said ‘’Yes, somebody was

killed behind his house. It was all framed against Fela in order to nail him.They went to court and he was freed. Fela was framed up by the military all in an attempt to nail him’’.

On the Kalakuta Republic that was razed by the Unknown Soldiers , Idonije said with pity that the soldiers who took law in their hands are guilty of all the accusations. He went down memory lane and recounted the incidence : ‘’ I had just left his [Fela] house , and was on my way to my house in Surulere , in fact I had not even reached my house which was not too far from Fela’s when his house was burnt. Soldiers were moving about. Fela’s girls were beaten up, anybody moving near the building was beaten , the whole thing led to commotion and it led to protracted case.

Fela’s mother was thrown down from the window , in the end the government acquired the place the eventually. It was a bad day.

Asked how Fela managed to compose his songs , the former Band manager said Fela’s music was composed from his life experiences , ‘’ All these incidences helped him a lot to compose his music, you know he was a talented musician

so his brutalization helped him to compose his songs , adding ‘’ Fela was not afraid of anybody as he would sing and curse anybody like the late Abiola whom he called International Thief Thief and Obasanjo too.‘’ Idonije threw light into the one of the albums, Expensive Shit, according to Idonije, the military had wanted to nail Fela at all costs ,’’ he was once arrested for possession of Indian hemp and was taken to Alagbon ,when he came back they again wanted to plant it in his compound , so they alleged him that he had Indian hemp in his premises, but when they went there to search they could not find anything .Again ,they repeated their calls but this time they wanted to plant the Indian hemp in his compound and they told him that he had it in his compound and he demanded to have a look, so he could sight it. They showed him and he took it from them and swallowed it .Later he was taken to Alagbon Police station where he was detained and was asked to excrete. But his mother was bringing vegetables for him where he was detained . Later he defecated in the night which was thrown away with the help of the inmates in the night. The fact is that everybody loved Fela and he had the cooperation of them all .

•The late Fela with his friends

Later on the third day they asked him ‘Are you ready to excrete’, but he said ‘’No’’, unknown to the police authority that he had defecated many times . Later he demanded from the police that he wanted to defecate and the police authority was happy , of which he did in the presence of them not knowing that it was not the first shit that he passed . That was why he called it Expensive Shit. They had to announce what they saw , and on the third day he called them that he wanted to pass shit o, the police authority was happy , and after defecating , nothing was found in his faeces!.’’

He threw light on the Coffin for head of state, Fela was not happy that his mother died from the hands of soldiers who threw her down through the window. ’’He was very annoyed and claimed that it was the government that killed her . I could remember vividly when he went to Doddan Barracks with some of the girls with a big coffin. When they got to the gate the soldiers cocked their guns and attempted to shoot, but Fela and the girls dared them, they got to the second, third , and the fourth gate and dropped the coffin .,Fela later praised the girls for their courage.’’

Fela’s 27 wives Defending Fela on the 27wives he married the same day, Idonije said ‘’Well if you know Fela you don’t need to be surprised , here was a man who cannot do without a woman , that is an artiste for you. He said he married them because he wanted to compensate them , and said nobody wanted to marry them as they were calling them names. Somewhere along the line Fela contradicted himself.’’

Asked if Fela was ever afraid.

Idonije said Fela was never afraid.

He did not fear anybody, he was a fearless man. He went to court over 200 times and was always present in courts ‘’, he replied with full satisfaction.

Why I left Fela’s band Asked why he left Fela’s band , the old man said he left voluntarily ,as he did not leave with rancour. His words.‘’ I did not leave because I wanted to leave , when I finished my assignment, I left .And after leaving his band we were still friends till he died. The fact is that I managed him and his band and it was successful. I wanted the fruit of my labour to be visible to everybody , I wanted my work to be fruitful from inception and it was successful. I was the one who organised the musicians and the band and when everything was fruitful and perfectly okay I then left and that was in the 70s.’’

On why it took Idonijie a very long time before writing the book on the late Fela, he has this to say ‘’ I am not just writing it , I have been writing it since, .This book is like updating it, and I have been a living witness and the first Band Manager of Fela’s Musical Band that can authoritatively write on him for I was very close to him and knew everything from the beginning , I mean from the inception to Koola Lobito to Egypt 80. I am not writing it for monetary gains but I want to put some things straight and correct some information about Fela. One day Fela came to our studio while I was still working and asked me to listen to his music, later he formed Fela Ransome Kuti , then Koola Lobito, Egypt 80, Vowed to work with Fela if there is re incarnation Will he work with Fela if he has the opportunity again?, Idonje raised his voice and answered: ‘’If there is reincarnation and I have the opportunity to work with him again I will still go ahead and work with him,’’ he proudly boasted.

57

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

•Continued from Page 25 being progressive in Nigeria.

I’ve never regretted being in PDP. My friends are still my friends. Lam Adesina was my friend till he died. Segun Osoba is still my friend. Bola Tinubu is still my friend and younger brother. When I got married he contributed at that time. These are my personal persons and we still relate as such. Why must they hate me or I hate them because we don’t belong to the same political party? But of course, I have developed a kind of political maturity given me by Awolowo that when I see a good person, I must support that person irrespective of the party he represents.

That explains my support for Dr Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo State even though my party had a candidate in the race.

Babatunde Fashola in his first term was doing well. And when Tinubu was there, I supported him. I told a gathering of PDP leaders once that if I were to vote in Lagos, I will vote for Bola Tinubu because he was performing. It was at the wedding of Jubril Martins Kuye’s daughter that I said that.

So they don’t miss me, I don’t miss them because we are all Nigerians. When my friend Chief Bisi Akande was celebrating his 70th birthday, I wrote a whole column on him. When Lam Adesina died, I also wrote a column on him. So we are friends and I want to believe that politics should not affect our friendship. Let me give you

‘Akande, Tinubu and Aregbesola are my brothers’

“

If they (the parties) are able to form an alliance or a merger, it is good for the country. It is good for democracy. But they cannot make it. There are already issues.

“

T

O residents of Makurdi, Benue State, the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner of “Water, water everywhere...but none to drink” is not a poem but a reality, because the city is surrounded by water but potable water is scarce on their tables.

Gradually, mai ruwas (itinerant water sellers) are returning in droves to Makurdi, the state capital, while water tankers are on the increase to serve big firms and houses. All these are going on despite the 100 percent hike in the price of buying water from Benue State Water Board treatment plant.

Those engaged in the business of selling water are smiling to the bank; making brisk business, and many others are dumping other means of livelihood and joining the water selling business because it has turned out to be the fastest way of making money.

Thirsty populace This is quite understandable, the population of Makurdi and its environs is estimated at two million and water is in constant demand.

Not everyone can afford to sink a borehole or water treatment plant in his compound. It is ironic that the state capital which is located on the bank of River Benue, is divided into two, (Makurdi north and south) with Benue River in the middle.

First time visitors are usually amazed to hear that they have problems with potable water despite the big river that flows through the city to form the confluence in Lokoja, Kogi State.

Getting potable water in Makurdi is as tough as asking a camel to pass through the eyes of a needle! Thus the booming water selling business in the town How did residents of Makurdi find themselves in this problem of acute water shortage which has defied all known solutions more than 35 years after the creation of Benue from Plateau State?

A director with the state water board who spoke to The Nation on the condition of anonymity said, there was a small water treatment plant which used to serve the small population in the past. However, due to increase in the popu-

•Babatope an example, I was seventy yesterday. If you see what Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola did, you will be surprised. We don’t belong to the same party. He wrote me a letter which was read at the ceremony. So that is how politics should be.

Talking about your activities during the last governorship election in Ondo, one wonders why you are yet to be accused of anti-party activities by your party?

Let me give you the reason. Apart from the fact that I appreciated Mimiko for his performance, when we were having the last presidential election, I was the chairman of PDP’s inter party relations com-

mittee. Mimiko and the governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, came all out to say they were supporting President Goodluck Jonathan. I am very proud of that because I related with them. So I said one good turn deserves another. Why must this person support us and we turn against him? So nobody can really say it was anti party activities. I have interest in Abiola Ajimobi and Ibikunle Amosun because they are performing. It is not about party for me anymore. Politically, I am too matured to be streamlined by party affiliation only. Look at Aregbesola, a man who respects elders. I cannot be blurred by political affiliation to the extent of not rec-

ognizing his good deeds.

The opposition is now talking about a mega party that will dislodge PDP in 2015. What is your take on the planned merger of leading opposition parties?

If they (the parties) are able to form an alliance or a merger, it is good for the country. It is good for democracy. But they cannot make it. These are already issues. A section of the alliance talks has said they will make sure Buhari contests the next election. By the time they sit to discuss, contradiction will tear them apart.

Don’t you think the crises within PDP will give the opposition a chance to dislodge it in the next election?

There is no single party without a conflict. Conflicts are meant to be resolved by those who are political practitioners. Every party has its own crisis. For example, look at Ajimobi in Oyo State. I have been following the papers. Some people have endorsed him for a second term already while some people within his party are saying nobody has endorsed him. So it is natural to have crisis. In the PDP the removal of the secretary is not really a major setback for the party. All the party did is to avoid being dragged into litigation over the activities of its secretary who has been removed by the court of law. It is also to give him all the opportunity to go and contest the decision up to the Supreme Court. And when he finishes he will be reinstated. It is not a conflict at all. And when you talk about the BoT issue, it is also no issue at all.

Coming to the Southwest, do you think the PDP can really stage the much talkedabout comeback in the region?

The PDP can stage a successful comeback in the Southwest in 2015 if it puts its house in order. We lost the region because we were completely divided. And if we continue in that state of division the ACN will rout us again. To make any impact in the Southwest, the PDP must unite. There is no magic to it other than sincere reconciliation and unity.

Makurdi: Water, water everywhere but...

Water has become a scarce commodity in Makurdi, Benue State capital. Uja Emmanuel takes a look at the underlying causes of the problem

•Makurdi

lation of residents it has become inadequate.

According to him, successive administrations have attempted to build another until Governor Gabriel Suswam took up the challenge and completed a 100,000 cubic meters water plant commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan recently.

However, the gigantic water project which was commissioned by no other person than the president himself, failed to achieve the desired impact which would have gone a long way to solve the problem of acute water scarcity.

The question on most lips is: where do those selling the water get their supply from?

Investigations by The Nation revealed that the most areas hit by water scarcity are High level, North bank, Kanshio, Gyado villa, Fiidi, Modern Market, Wurukum, Logo 1 and 2.

At High level area where there is acute scarcity and shortage, the itinerant water sellers are in thriving business. They get their supply from boreholes constructed by residents from whom they buy and sell to their patrons.

The mai ruwas buy a truck of water which

contains 10 jerry cans of 20 litres from their suppliers at N50 and resell at N100! A water tanker costs as much as N10,000 depending on the distance, despite the high cost the demand is always on the increase, especially from hotel owners.

A water truck pusher who identified himself as Sani sakid he was forced to leave Minna, Niger State because government has provided potable water everywhere and customers are no longer in demand of his services.

A few others said they came from other northern states because water is already available there.

But as more itinerant water sellers move to Makurdi residents have expressed fear that it constitutes security threats as most of them are suspected to be from neighbouring Chad and Niger where Islamist extremists have killed many people.

On why a state like Benue should experience water scarcity, officials of the water board said for residents of the capital and its environs to benefit from the Greater Makurdi Water Work, new pipes must be laid because the old ones could no longer contain the large volume of water from the upgraded water works.

A housewife, Mrs Mbateren Iorshe, 44, wondered how long it will take government to complete the dying of new pipes. She expressed dismay that government awarded the contract without considering reticulation which is the most important thing to ensure free supply of water.

However, some attributed the scarcity of water to the handiwork of a few who they accused of benefitting from sale of water by water tanker owners and mai ruwa!

The question is: How long will this continue?

58

Your HEALTH THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Deal with the peel T

HOUGH many people are blessed with supple, oily slicks for skin, there are others on the other side of the spectrum that deal with dry and flaky skin on a daily basis.

However, once its hamarttan season, almost everyone begins to slab on multiple layers of petroleum jelly as a defence from dry skin due to the low humidity and cold weather.

At this time of the year, our flesh becomes drier and is more inclined to flake. The heated indoor air and low humidity in cold outdoor air worsens this health issue, causing the top layer of our bodies to fall off, just like old paint.

Dr. Muyiwa Soyombo explains, “Flaky skin is a condition that occurs when the body's natural oily layer on the skin dries out, the skin is unable to produce enough oil and moisture for the body to replenish the amount being lost. It is the extreme dryness that results in the shedding of the topmost layers of most parts of the body.�

According to experts, skin peel can be caused by a number of conditions, some of which are temporary and others chronic.

For chronic conditions, such as psoriasis, no cure exists, however, treatments can be helpful for reducing the irritation.

Highlighting ways in which this condition can be diagnosed, practitioners say it's characterised by intense itching, inflammation, and a fishlike scaling on certain areas of the body. The excessive itching and consequent scratching can result in open wounds that are quite painful.

It tends to be more common on the legs, knees, elbows, and arms where the skin is thinner and more exposed. However, it can also affect the scalp as well as the entire body. Conditions that may cause skin peeling include: Allergic reactions. You can develop a rash on your skin and eventually peel

from repeated contact with something to which you're allergic, such as certain fabrics, latex, detergents or cosmetics.

Less commonly, a food to which you're allergic may lead to skin peeling.

Infections. Some types of staph and other infections plus fungal infections, including ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch, can cause the skin to peel. Also,

After a day in the hot African sun, you may find yourself with itchy, peeling skin. This is not only unattractive, it can also be quite painful. Rita Ohai writes on ways to deal with it.

immune system disorders such as a group of rare skin disorders and toxic shock syndrome can cause skin to peel.

Cancer. Some types of cancer, such as adult non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, can cause a skin rash that can eventually lead to peeling skin. Some cancer treatments like radiation can also affect the skin in ways that lead to peeling.

Age. With aging, the skin has a tendency to become dry and dehydrated which is why elderly people appear to have choppier, rubbery flesh.

Having said all, some people just have a genetic or hereditary tendency to develop flaky skin. But taking too regular showers with harsh soaps and hot water can worsen the ailment.

Tackling the itch F

IRST, you will want to determine the cause of the peeling skin. In some instances, peeling skin may be due to a skin infection or disease.

Other times, peeling skin may be due to allergic reactions. If you suspect this is the case, stop using whatever products may be irritating your skin. In most cases, peeling skin is due to sunburned or dry skin in which case alcohol must be avoided at all cost. Fortunately, there are ways to help control your dry and flaky skin.

1.

Stop the itch At all costs, you should avoid scratching your body when it is peeling.

You can actually do permanent damage to your skin in the form of scars. If you get the urge to scratch, the best thing to do is to use ice to dull the sensation. Put ice in a piece of soft cloth and gently place the cloth on top of the area of your skin that itches. The itch should subside once the ice begins to cool down the skin.

2.

Don't peel it Flaky, peeling skin is more than just irritating and unattractive it can also lead to an infection. Peeling skin can become infected if you scratch or try to forcefully peel the skin. If there is a segment of dead skin that is hanging off and you want to remove it, don't pull on

it, no matter how temping it is. Instead, get a small pair of scissors and carefully cut away just that section of skin. Be sure you are only cutting away dead skin and you don't tear skin that is trying to heal.

3.

Cool it down If you notice a peel, one of the first things you should do is take a cold bath.

The cold water will help your skin cool down and slow the peeling process.

When you are drying your body, be sure to pat dry with a clean, soft towel and avoid rubbing. By rubbing your skin, you can actually speed up and spread the peeling of your skin.

4.

Moisturise Cocoa, aloe vera gel and shea butters are natural materials which can deeply hydrate dry, peeling skin. These natural gels nourish parched skin and aid the skin's healing process. For an added cooling effect, you can refrigerate aloe vera gel for approximately 20 minutes before applying it to your skin. Olive oil is also incredibly moisturising as it will coat the skin, protecting it from further damage and keeping moisture locked into it.

5.

Drink lots of water.

Truth be told, nothing helps your skin as much as a tall glass of water. Healthy skin needs to stay hydrated and drinking a lot of water gives it all the fuel

it needs to repair and revive itself. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water per day to keep moist.

6.

Quit Smoking Have you ever seen the face of somebody who has smoked for years? It often has a leather-like appearance.

Avoid smoking at all costs. The nicotine found in cigarettes causes the small blood vessels and capillaries to become smaller which, in turn, deprives skin of nutrients.

7.

Avoid alcohol.

That means both the kind you drink and the kind you use to cleanse.

Drinking alcohol can cause your body to soak up water from skin. Limit yourself to no more than 2 ounces a day to keep your skin healthy. Alcohol-based cleansing products such as astringents dry out your skin, too. It's best to skip them altogether.

BUSINESS

59

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

T

HE Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) is set to unveil 700 units of houses in Abuja in May, it was learnt over the weekend.

The Managing Director of FMBN, Gimba Ya’u Kumo, spoke in Abuja said the houses were being built at a cost of N1.860billion.

Kumo said the estate popularly called Brick City along the Abuja-Kubwa Expressway was built in collaboration with Urban Shelter Limited.

The FMBN boss said the estate was 80 per cent complete.

Kumo said: “This is one of the few projects that we are partnering with private developers.

“If you take the history of urban development, they are high end developers in this town but when we came in 2010 we asked them for a partnership and we are putting in like N1.860billion to deliver 700 units of housing here.

“This place is less than one year when we started. So this is part of the efforts we are putting in place to deliver houses for Nigerians. The level of completion is lost 80per cent.”

The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Amma Pepple, inspected the project and described the quality of work as good.

Pepple said the government hopes to increase the houses to 1000 units.

She said the project was 100 per cent financed by the FMBN. Pepple said: “The quality of the work is good and the number, already so many, are taken up and we are hoping to have over 1000 units here because we want to provide accommodation for our people.

“Those who bought the first phase were lucky. They were quite cheap. I think having a two-bedroom flat for N5million and then three-bedroom N7million I think is reasonable in an

FMBN to deliver N1.86bn housing estate in May ...Why social housing is delayed— Amma Pepple

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

environment like this. We are the ones who funded it 100 per cent.”

The Minister said social housing will only become reality in the country if the Social Housing Bill pending before the National Assembly is passed into law.

Responding to a question, Pepple said: “I don’t have a social housing project. There is draft Social Housing Bill in the National Assembly which is sponsored by a Senator.

“If you say you are doing Social Housing, it means government must subsidise the building of those houses and you give to those who are in need at a lower cost.

“So the bill has not been passed. When it

is passed then we will know where the money is going to come from to finance those houses.

As long as the bill is not passed we are not doing social housing but we are also looking at other areas of financing since housing must be driven by the private sector.

“When we had the presidential retreat on housing in November last year we talked about everything stifling financing and mortgaging. We talked about other areas maybe using pension funds and unclaimed dividends and the President was interested in those things.

“The issue of where else we can get money to finance the housing sector because we know that there will always be off-takers for those houses but what we need to do to satisfy a majority of our people is to ensure that the houses are affordable to all the groups.

“We are taking care of everybody. But in this country people tend to say what have you done? We have done a lot. If you go round you will see that a lot of projects are coming up.”

Chairman of Urban Shelter Limited, Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, said there was more to do for the society in terms of housing.

Aliyu said: “There is much to do for society, I think whoever can make the contribution to move this country forward should and therefore one should make his contributions.

“I am a retired person and not tired one and I believe I can make a contribution. I therefore decided to found this company since I left the service.

“On the whole we have done well. Maybe about 4000 houses in Abuja from about 1992 to the present we have built. We build houses with a value from N5million to about slightly over a $1million. One bedroom will come to slightly over N5million. Two bedrooms range from about N8million to N11million and then the three bedrooms range from about N14million - N15million.

“But in phase three, we coming up with houses which will be as good as these but because of improved technology and possibilities regarding the elimination of unnecessary structures we are able to reduce the unit cost without sacrificing the quality and the size of the building.

“And we believe that the price will be more competitive even than is one.

It is not often that that happens but we think that we can do it.”

•A prototype of the mass housing project

T

HE Nigeria Customs Service, Area 11 Command, Onne Port, Rivers State, has hinted of plans to partner the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in order to enlighten stakeholders and the general public on the advantages of e-registration, the new system of importing and clearing goods at the ports.

Speaking at the monthly press briefing held at Customs House, Onne Port, the Area Comptroller, Port Harcourt Area11 Command, Comptroller Mohammed Magaji, said the challenges facing the introduction of the Tax Identification Number (TIN) can be

Nigeria Customs partners FIRS on e-registration attributed to lack of willingness on the part of stakeholders to adapt to change.

“The importers are finding it difficult to adapt from the conventional registration (going from one office to the other) to the new one (e-registration) which is online,” adding that the enlightenment programme being embarked upon by the agency in collaboration with FIRS would help to address some of these challenges.

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

Justifying the need for the TIN, the Customs boss said it would help to make cargo clearance more effective, efficient, reduce incidents of fraud, among others, and revealed that the command was able to generate above the required target last year by raking in N6.8billion. The command, he stressed, surpassed the revenue generated for 2011. “This is a feat which has never

been experienced since the inception of this area,” said an elated Magaji.

The total number of seizures in 2012, he explained, was 17 and the total number of containers was 17: 8 40ft. containers and 9 20ft. Containers filled with mutilated rags, garment, second hand clothing, soy bean oil, two stroke engine, generating set, pirated books, motor spare parts, furniture, among others.

60

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

INSIDE BUSINESS

Untold story of Mint’s misfortunes

•The Mint Headquarters, Abuja

“I

N those days, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company was the first choice for prospective graduates.

Working at the Mint then was the best thing that could happen to anybody because of the prestige and fat pay checks. In fact, we were always getting pay rise and allowances at 12 months interval. Money was never an issue. But things took a turn for the worse when politicians began to interfere in the operations thereby impeding the growth of the company.”

The foregoing anecdote is from Bola Sodipo (not real name) a retiree of the Mint, who served the company for 17 years before his exit from the company in the late 90’s.

In the good old days Sharing his experience with The Nation, a former staff of the company, who simply gave his name as Macdonald recalls with glee what it meant to work at the Mint. “Frankly speaking, working at the Mint was a splendid experience. I worked there for about 10 years before I travelled out of the country for further studies in the late 80’s,” he began.

“I can’t easily forget the smell of freshly minted notes which waft through the nostrils. For the period I worked at the Mint, I never recalled going broke or completely hard up. Never! I enjoyed working there and was even hoping to come back after my studies but with the military incursion in politics, I decided against it at the time.”

Expatiating, Macdonald said majority of his contemporaries worked under the supervision of some expatriates from Germany, who were in charge of the intaglio, the printing machine used for producing naira notes.

“Things were done very professionally. The offices were demarcated into two. We had the Currency Division, which prints the naira and the Security Documents Division, which prints visa, checks, security documents and others. As a staff of

To concerned stakeholders, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC (NSPMC) popularly known as the Mint, which has come under public scrutiny lately on account of the rising incident of alleged fraud involving management staff and the rank and file, speaks volume of the decadence in the system. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf examines the issues the Materials Department, you cannot go to the Security Department except with the Chief Security Officer on duty.”

Modus operandi While giving insight on the mode of operations at the Mint, Macdonald said: “Normally we print currency on a daily basis usually on request. They cut the money into size and they account for the finished products and the waste...The materials unit work with the production department.

We cross check figures. All staff involved in the production will not be allowed to go unless figures are harmonised.

“The Intaglio, a German machine is used for printing. This is where they originate the printing.

From there they go to Shipping and Numbering. Before they bring them here they have to account for the rim. A sheet in a rim contains about 28 notes. It must be balanced. No staff will be allowed to go anywhere unless what is declared is equal to the amount of paper released to intaglio, which must be kept at the end of the day. Shipping & Numbering will now ensure it balances with the figures declared...Once the numbers are okay the currency department crosscheck this. This is what is issued. All waste must be accounted for. There was total discipline among staff back then.”

On how requisition for printing is generated, Macdonald said: “Usually, a request might come from the CBN that we need the sum of N2billion between now and Friday.

Once the request is made, the

department responsible for this set to work and tries to deliver to deadline. Even Lagos alone can’t satisfy the printing need...They print in Lagos and Abuja.”

Slide into the abyss Promising as the story of the Mint sounds, how then did things came to this sorry pass?

Macdonald, who was at the thick of the operations before things went painfully awry, offers plausible explanation.

Without mincing words, he says matter-of-factly, “I want to believe that the change in the operations is responsible. Unlike in the past, there was a closed office, now it is an open office so everybody moves freely.

But now the place is an open office.

So, naturally, it leaves room for breaches. How can you explain a situation where those working at the currency and materials department are just within earshot?

“Besides, with the decline in welfare, people are easily tempted to get involved in shady deals of course with the active connivance of others desirous of getting a piece of the pie.”

Cesspool of corruption The Nation gathered in the last three months, a gale of sack has affected over 70 staff including senior and midlevel career officers in Lagos alone over fraud-related offenses.

Confirming this development, a staff of the company who would not be named because he was not authorised to speak said: “The last one that happened sometimes in September, the money was shared

inside the office premises in Lagos.

But the guy hid his in his laptop bag before he was apprehended by the security. He was caught with N1.5million. The last time they were auditing they discovered that over 750, 000 pieces of unfinished notes estimated at about N371 million was missing.”

Poor welfare The salaries of members of staff working at the Mint is not fantastic as they are placed on the civil service scale.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that the average salary of a worker on level 4 leaves nothing to cheer about.

“When you compare the package of an average staff at the Mint, compared to their contemporaries at the CBN, NNPC, DPR, among others, they earn pittance... An average worker on level 4 gets a gross earnings of about N650,000.00,” said a source.

Probed further, he said: “This is why there is a high turnover of staff as people get sack under the slimmest excuse. The place is like a banner peel now. There is no job security there at all. If there were to be job security the incidence of fraud will happen on a minimal scale and not at an alarming rate as we have seen.

“Even if they layoff all the workforce at the Mint today, the problem will persist unless the issue of improved welfare is adequately addressed.”

When The Nation visited the Lagos office over the weekend, scores of retirees who had come on

the invitation of the management to get their pension went home disappointed as they were implored to report back in a few weeks time.

Speaking with The Nation, a cross-section of the retirees narrated tales of woes, an indication that the labour of their past was not being rewarded by their former employers.

Missing N2.1b: Whodunit?

Following the disappearance of N2.1bn of the newly printed N1, 000 notes at the Mint last December, the Central Bank has set up a panel to probe the security breach.

The suspended Managing Director of the NSPMC, Mr. Ehi Okomoyon’s hope of retaining his position are hanging on a thread, as the outcome of the probe will determine his fate.

According to our source at the Presidency, the panel is saddled with the responsibility of unravelling the fraud and proffering solutions to such security breach.

The source said, “The CBN auditors have swung into action and they are the ones handling the audit of the security breach at the Mint.

“By the end of this month, they would have concluded their audit and their report is expected to be submitted in February because they have covered substantial ground in their probe.”

The source craved for anonymity as he was not permitted to speak on the matter yet. He said as soon as the report from the panel is ready, it will be forwarded to the board of the company for further actions.

“Don’t forget that the Managing Director is still on suspension and he won’t be able to interfere with the investigations, and within the next few weeks, the report will be submitted to the board. It is this report that will determine the fate of the MD,” the source explained.

CBN governor Lamido Sanusi Continued on page 61

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

INSIDE BUSINESS

Beyond Talent

By Adetayo Okusanya Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

Take a leaf from Hillary

I •Sanusi

•Okoyomon

Untold story of Mint’s misfortunes Continued from page 60 who is the head of the board has asked the Okomoyon and the Head of Security, Mr. Emmanuel Bala, to proceed on compulsory leave.

The conflicting figures of the actual amount that was stolen at the Mint is a thing of worry, the CBN boss initially said it was N2bn, the management of the mint said it was N900, 000.

Meanwhile, the House of representative, following the inconsistency has decided to set up a committee to investigate the missing funds.

Reacting to the move by the House, the Media Adviser to the company, Mr. Obi Adiele, he said NSPMC was ready for investigations.

Speaking with The Nation, Adiele has denied allegations that the mint has recorded series of security breaches. He however maintained that only two cases were recorded but the perpetrators were caught attempting to steal money. He said a security man was caught attempting to steal N900, 000, and another official was caught with N1.5m.

He said, “The amount reported is false. It was not N2.1bn that was stolen.

What happened was that there was a security breach and one of the security operatives was arrested with about N900,000 in Lagos.

“An investigative audit panel has been set up to find out what really happened and they are still carrying out investigations. Their report will be ready by the end of January.”

It would be recalled that an employee of the Mint was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly trading in fake currency last September.

The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ms Ngozi Braide, had paraded the suspect with Staff No. MSC/4503, before newsmen at the police headquarters, Ikeja.

Braide said that the police was informed by a victim who alleged that he exchanged N900, 000 for US $3, 000 in the suspect’s office located at Benson Plaza, Lagos Road, Ikorodu.

According to the PPRO, the victim later discovered that the naira notes were without security numbers and immediately informed the police.

She said the suspect, who was immediately arrested, had confessed to have stolen the money from his office and told the police that he had been in the business since 2010.

Braide said that one Nissan Pathfinder, with Reg. No. KRD 480 AE and N320, 000 genuine notes were recovered from the suspect.

Ownership structure Established in 1963 as a limited liability company, the Mint is the Nigerian banknote printer with headquarters in Abuja and Lagos, where printing takes place simultaneously.

The Federal Government owns majority shares of 97.06% through Central Bank of Nigeria (77%) and Bureau of Public Enterprise (20.06%) while De La Rue of U.K controls a paltry 2.94%.

According to analysts, the Federal Government’s involvement in the operations of the Mint has remained its greatest albatross.

The way forward, the analysts have argued, is for the Federal Government to completely divest its shares and commercialise the place.

Pray, hope someone is listening?

N the past two months I have had three different prospective clients, in three different industries, approach my team with the same objective in min d. The first prospect, a division of one of the major multinational oil companies, wanted us to facilitate a session on accountability at their staff retreat. Specifically they identified challenges with sharedaccountability and a culture where “someone’s head must roll” when things go awry.

The second, a fast moving consumer goods company, wanted to hold an annual conference themed “Personal Accountability”. They wanted their staff to be motivated to do whatever it took to achieve their individual targets. The belief is that if every member of the team can go the extra mile every day, to sell an extra unit, the entire organization would not only achieve its target, it would exceed it. The third prospect was a community healthcare provider. Their middle management team wanted to incorporate a session on “Personal Effectiveness” into the agenda for their annual strategy retreat. After a ninety minute meeting with them, it became apparent that the underlying issue they wanted to address was the lack of proper accounting of resources, specifically time and funds by members of the organization.

Across the globe, in Syria, Europe, India, United States and Africa, accountability seems to be a burning issue. This past week I was opportune to watch Hillary Clinton on CNN, as she testified at the Senate Hearing on the Bengali tragedy which happened in the later part of 2012. This was the first time I heard the terminology Accountability Review Board (ARB) and it not only struck me, it stuck with me. Apparently an ARB is not a new phenomenon in the US, and one was set up at the insistence of Hillary to look into the events that led to the attack on the United States (US) Embassy in Libya which resulted in the death of four US citizens, including the ambassador. What was most amazing to me was the fact that, between 11 September 2012 and 23 January 2013, a thorough review of the incident had taken place, a comprehensive report had been issued and thoroughly scrutinized, and now the US Secretary of State was appearing before the US Senate to “Give Account”, “Give Answers”, “Identify Lessons Learned” and “Proffer Solutions”. It was a demonstration of what I call the four pillars of accountability, namely Responsibility, Answerability, Transparency and Control.

Several moments stood out during the hearing, for me.

The first was when Hillary angrily rebuked a senator for focusing on the alleged misrepresentation by the white House, of the cause of the attack as a protest turned violent instead of a terrorist attack, rather than on the important task of making the perpetrators “answer” for their crimes against the United States. The second moment was when Hillary took accountability for the incident. It did not matter that her subordinates did not pass on to her what now seems to be very important communication about the poor state of security in Libya, nor the fact that the senate had cut the budget that funded US embassy security across the world. She accepted responsibility not necessarily because she was at fault, but rather because someone has to put an end to the “buck passing” and take on the responsibility of making “course-corrections” going forward.

As I pondered on the system of accountability in US governance and how Hillary gracefully and confidently handled herself, I felt an admiration for her and it all finally made sense to me. Leadership is Accountability, and Accountability is Leadership. I have often written and spoken about the two, but never has it been clearer to me that one cannot exist without the other. Without accountability there can be no effective leadership, whether it is “Personal Leadership” i.e. leading your “self” to achieve objectives or “People Leadership” i.e. leading others to accomplish common goals. Without leadership there can be no accountability. Someone must take ultimate responsibility for creating a vision, fostering harmony and development, making the right decisions and achieving desired results, whether for themselves or for others.

If you take nothing else away from this article, let this one thing stay with you. You will not be a leader in the achievement of the objectives and goals you set for 2013 if you do not play the game of accountability. Take a leaf from Hillary Clinton’s book. To be a great leader, whether of yourself or others, you must submit yourself to your objectives, take active responsibility for getting things done, readily give answers (not excuses) for the outcomes that are realized (both intended and unintended), maintain transparency in everything that you do, and be ready to make decisions, not only about what you must do, but also about what you must not do in 2013.

From me to you, all the best in the achievement of your 2013 objectives! May fortune favour your preparedness!!

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

61

BRIEFS

Aganga, Sada, to host Canadian minister of trade

M

INISTER of Trade and Commerce, Dr. Olusegun Aganga and his counterpart at the Ministry of Mines and Steel, Musa Sada, will play host to Canada’s Minister of International Trade, the Honourable Ed Fast later this week.

The Canadian envoy who is on a two-days official visit is expected to attend a meeting being in the instance of the CanadaNigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC) hosted by Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment tomorrow.

According to a release made available to The Nation Minister Fast is billed to deliver an address at the opening of the Education in Canada Fair in Abuja, including Nigerian Minister of State for Education.

Over 50 Canadian schools and universities are participating in the Fair, it was learnt.

The envoy will also hold a Mining Roundtable with the Minister of Mines and Steel Development as well as hold bilateral talks with a number of governors and the Minister of the FCT.

Konica Minolta launches new range of printing machines

K

ONICA Minolta, the world’s leading digital print solutions company, has introduced its new range of products and applications into the Nigerian market.

The new products were unveiled during the Konica Minolta Digital Print Solutions exhibition which was held at the Syrian Club recently.

Tagged: “Digital Printing: Possibilities & Profitability” the twoday Digital Print Solutions Expo was organised in conjunction with Skysat Technologies Nigeria Ltd., the authorized distributor for Konica Minolta in Nigeria and Ghana, will serve as a platform through which products and applications will be presented to the primary market.

Speaking during the media briefing in Lagos, Mr. Mark Oldfield, the Area Manager, Central Asia, Middle East & Africa for Konica Minolta, described the digital printing possibilities in Nigeria as endless. “Konica Minolta is here to stay. We have come to Nigeria because the digital way is the next big thing in this part of the world and Konica Minolta is proud to be a part of it. The relationship with Skysat Technologies will in no small way develop and boost the economy of Nigeria and for that we are most honoured to be a part of this ride,” Oldfield said.

Speaking in the same vein, Abdusattar Debs, Chairman, Skysat Technologies Ltd., stressed that Konica Minolta comes with a promise to help boost the country’s economy.

Mo Abudu searches for co-host

T

HE search is on for a co-host of Moments with Mo, arguably Africa’s first and only syndicated daily talk show.

The talk show, which has become a household name for featuring the widest and most interesting array of guests, from Presidents, Governors and Celebrities, to unsung everyday people who are doing extraordinary things, will in the coming months, wear a refreshingly different look as it is going to constantly feature a zesty co-host alongside the good old, vintage appearance of the inspirational Mo. Sandra Amadio, Associate Director Programmes, Magazine & Talk – EbonyLife TV, had this to say about the new Moments with Mo. “This is a great chance for hot, fresh and brilliant young people who have been dreaming of being on the hot seat to interview top celebrities. It’s the chance to be in the spotlight alongside Mo to present top celebrities and happening people to a pan African audience, from the younger person’s perspective.”

According to Amadio, “the Show is getting jazzed up with a whole new look and feel and a new co-Host. It’s a whole new Show. You can look forward to seeing Mo Abudu co-Host the show with some of Nigeria’s young top talents. The show will continue to feature interesting, thought provoking and engaging topics that are relevant to a pan African and global audience”.

The new Moments with Mo is one of the enthralling programmes in a compelling bouquet billed for launch on the eagerly anticipated EbonyLife TV channel in April 2013.

Customer wins SUV in DStv Promo

A

CLERIC, Most Reverend Charles Oderinde, Arch-Bishop of the Anglican Communion, has emerged winner of a Renault Duster sport utility vehicle (SUV), the biggest promo prize in the on-going DStv Mega Promo.

The Most Reverend Oderinde emerged in the fourth draw of the ongoing promo, which had earlier produced two lucky winners: Mr. Alloysius Onuoha and Mr Garba Ahmed, both from Abuja, who also won Renault Duster SUVs. Six other subscribers were presented with LCD TVs and Walka 7 mobile TV devices during the fourth round of the mega promo prize presentation held at the MultiChoice office in Lagos last Thursday, even as two more Duster SUVs will be given

away to lucky subscribers as the promo enters its last stage.

Mr. Mayo Okunola, General Manager, DStv, congratulated all the subscribers who have won prizes ranging from DStv Walka 7, 40-inch LCD TV sets, AFCON tickets to the mega prize, which is the Renault Duster SUV, in the DStv mega promo that commenced in November, 2012.

He said MultiChoice is happy to reward its subscribers for their loyalty and that the company will do much more to excite them in 2013.

Thanking MultiChoice for the prize, Most Reverend Oderinde, Arch-Bishop of the Anglican Diocese, Ado-Ekiti, said he did nothing other than pay his DStv subscription one year ahead and that he had been doing that for upward of five years.

62

Business

Fayemi partners ICAN for corruptionfree society

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OVERNOR Kayode Fayemi, Executive Governor, Ekiti State, will be joining Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi , President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), at the 7th Western Zonal Districts’ Conference of ICAN on Tuesday, February 12, to promote a corruption-free society through advocacy of cashless economy.

The conference, tagged, Ekiti 2013, which will take place at the Bimbo Owolabi Hall, Afe Babalola University Ikare Road, Ado-Ekiti from Monday, February 11 to Thursday, February 14, will be declared open by the governor, who is both the Grand Patron and Special Guest of Honour, while Mr. Owolabi, as the chief host, will deliver the keynote address.

The theme of the conference is “Promoting a Corruption-free Society through a Cashless Economy – The Role of Chartered Accountants”.

The lead paper is to be delivered by Professor Taiwo O. Asaolu and chaired by Dr. Olaoye Adegoke, MFR, while the discussants are Mrs. Tope Omage and Mr. Segun Oloketuyi.

NSE organises workshop

I

N its quest to further deepen the capital market and focus on productivity diversity, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has concluded plans to introduce Market Making Initiative (MMI).

As part of activities heralding the kick-off of the Fixed Income Market Making programme (FIMM), a marketwide workshop has been slated for January 29, 2013 to intimate market stakeholders with the rules and operational guidelines of FIMM. According to the Head, Product Management of the NSE, Mr Dipo Omotoso, the workshop will bring together experts in FIMM with other key capital market participants such as broker/dealers, settlement banks, pension fund administrators, insurance companies and regulatory authorities. About 400 participants are expected to take part in the workshop.

Offering an insight into the initiative, Omotoso said that the FIMM programme will operate a ‘hybrid’ market which will allow operators to provide two way quotes and licensed broker and dealers to submit orders as it is currently done. “These quotes and orders interact on the order book to ‘discover’ the best price for a security.”

He explained further that NSE is introducing FIMM programme to enable flexibility and ease of trading, transparency, diversification, additional income stream as well as improved liquidity in retail side of bond market.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

CBN sacks Maduka from Access Board • Fines bank N3m for violating regulations F

OR violating its rules and regulations on granting of loans, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fined Access Bank Plc, the sum of N3million.

In a letter issued by the Banking Supervision Department of the apex bank to Access Bank, the CBN said the sanction was informed by the outcome of a risk based examination carried out on September 30, 2011.

The letter reads in part:” The bank contravened Section 20(1) of BOFIA, 1991, as amended by granting credit facilities to Westcom Group to the tune of N38.4 billion which was above its single obligor’s limit of N36.4 billion.

“Contrary to the CBN cir-

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Kunle Akinrinade

cular No BSD/9/2004 of 16th July, 2004 which stipulates that credits to directors and their related companies shall not exceed 10% of the paid-up capital without the CBN approval, the bank granted to its following directors; Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, Dr. Cosmos Maduka and Mr.Tunde Folawiyo, facilities in excess of ten percent of its paid-up capital without the necessary regulatory approval. Consequently, penalties totaling N3, 000, 000.00 is imposed on your bank for the

above infractions.

Meanwhile, the apex bank, has equally announced the removal of Dr. Maduka from the board of the bank with immediate effect.

This is coming on the heels of a petition by two minor shareholders of Access Bank Plc, Messrs Godfrey Onyeka and Godfrey Obiamalu.

In a petition to the CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, dated January 21, 2013, the duo had accused the bank (Access Bank) of granting loans to Dr.Maduka and two other directors, without fol-

lowing due process.

The petition written by counsel to the aggrieved shareholders, Ime Asanga and Co, reads: “Our clients have become aware of a fraudulent credit facilities made by the bank to three of its directorsDr. Cosmas Maduka through two of his companies namely: Coscharis Motors Ltd and Sure Comfort Limited here in Nigeria, to Mr. Gbenga Oyebode and Tunde Folawiyo. Our clients are desirous of protecting their investments in Access Bank and ensuring that returns on

those investments are not unnecessarily depleted, especially when easier, cheaper and more readily available local remedies are provided for under BOFIA. Accordingly, we have our clients’ instructions to make this complaint to you with a prayer that you invoke the clear provisions of Section 20(6) of BOFIA to recover from the directors of the bank the full amount involved in the obnoxious credit facilities as well as cleanse its Board and Management by removing all the Directors.

‘We’re committed to adding value to our subscribers’

M

•Yemi Keri, Executive Director, ICT Directorate (2nd left), T.U. Okuodoh, Permanent Secretary, (2nd right) and Emomine Mukoro, MD Buyright Africa (left) presenting a laptop to one of the male employees in Benin

Cabotage levies: NIMASA, NLNG settle out of court

F

RESH fact emerged at the weekend that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had withdrew its lawsuit against the Nigeria Liquified and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) was reported to have prevailed on the NIMASA to withdraw the suit.

It would be recalled that NIMASA had taken the management of the NLNG to court following arguments over whether or not the latter ought to pay 2 % cabotage and 3 % freight levies for shipping by Bonny Gas Limited, a subsidiary of NLNG, estimated at over $400million to NIMASA from September 2007 till date.

The case which had began under Dr. Ade Dosunmu, the erstwhile Director-General of the agency and was further pursued by his predecessor, Temisan Omatseye, has been a hotly debated issue and reportedly led to the abrupt exit of Omatseye who has been on suspension in the last two years, sources said.

The Nation can authoritatively report that the matter hitherto under Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court, is presently before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and initially billed for further hearing in February will not be heard as both parties are returning to the negotiation table anytime soon.

The Nation reliably gath-

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

ered from informed sources that the AGF who seemed not comfortable with the turn of events, had issued a directive to the management of NIMASA to have the case withdrawn without further delay in order to settle out of court.

Sources further told The Nation that Adoke had made frantic moves to have the matter withdrawn in court by the NIMASA management under the former DG, Omatseye, since 2010 but could not have his way because the then management insisted that he had to follow the due process.

It was learnt that the minister may have arm-twisted the current management into doing his bidding.

However when our correspondent got across to the Agency through its Head of Media, Hajia Lami Tumaka, she insisted that the matter was still pending in court.

According to her, “The case is still in court and as such I cannot comment and as to whether NIMASA has settled out of court, it is only the Executive management board that can have a position on that.

The case, I understand is coming up for further hearing in February.”

Speaking with our correspondent yesterday, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), the counsel representing NIMASA in the case confided in The Nation that both parties had taken the option of an out-of-court-settlement.

Probed further, the profes-

sor of constitutional law reiterated that the case had been withdrawn but emphasised that due to client-confidentiality he would not be persuaded to give further details on the matter.

Confirming this development, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, Acting General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited, in an exclusive interview with The Nation yesterday said, it was true that NIMASA had indeed withdrew the case from the law court.

While giving insight on what led to the litigation between his organisation and NIMASA, Eresia-Eke said: “Basically not much has transpired between the NLNG and NIMASA. As you know, what happened was that there were some levies and we argued that those levies were not meant for us because of our Act and they (NIMASA) went ahead to court.”

Pressed further, he said: “I think later on, they decided to suspend the whole thing. I believed they did so because they had good intentions and we have no problem with that.”

Expatiating, he said: “My understanding is that they have withdrawn the case and we are going to have a discussion. The negotiations we are going to have would be subject to how they approach us and what the issues might be and we can only respond based on the fact and information we have on ground. It is not what you can conjecture.”

On insinuations that the

AGF may have influenced the outcome of the matter, the NLNG spokesman said the decision to withdraw the case in the instance of the minister was well-intended and may have been taken to actualise peaceful settlement.

The litigation between the NLNG and NIMASA had been ongoing in the past few years.

The Nation gathered that the NLNG management under the former Managing Director, Chima Ibeneche, had asked NIMASA to go to court to contest the NLNG Act, which granted the NLNG and its contractors a tax holiday and several other incentives.

However, following discussions with NIMASA and NLNG, both parties had agreed that the latter should carry out some projects in lieu of payment.

The communiqué issued at the end of the parley in 2009 tagged: “Proposal on Projects that will Assist the Development of the Safety Administration in Nigeria”, addressed 14 critical areas of need namely: purchase of two number surveillance helicopters at the cost of $18.0million; four number pollution monitoring, control boats at $20.0m; five number defender, bullet proof patrol boats at $30.90m; two number offshore patrol boats with fire fighting capability at $30.0m; funding of PICOMMS projects at $26.0m to mention but a few.

But The Nation gathered that the meeting called at the instance of NIMASA to ratify the proposal ended in a deadlock.

TN Nigeria has said that it is ready to implement Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in consonance with the policy of the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The NCC has recently announced plans to flag off Mobile Number Portability in the first quarter of this year.

Speaking at an internal stakeholder forum recently, MTN CEO, Brett Goschen, said the company had been ramping up efforts to make MNP a reality for mobile phone users in Nigeria who are eager to join the country’s most expansive network.

“We have made necessary investment in infrastructure and manpower and we are now finalising the process of making this project a reality,” said Goschen, adding: “We are confident that when the NCC is ready to blow the whistle for the kick-off of this project, we will be ready.”

Goschen disclosed that a series of tests had been carried out on the company’s systems and infrastructure, saying that more tests will be carried out in the days ahead to ensure that the project takes off without any hitch.

“We are excited that customers who wish to join the network with the most coverage of Nigeria will now be able to do so without worrying about losing their mobile numbers. As you know, we have made far more investment in our network than any other operator in Nigeria has done, with the result that we are today the clear leader with effective network coverage of more than 85 percent of Nigeria’s land mass and population.

“We have nearly 100 percent coverage of most major highways in Nigeria and we are gradually moving towards the final laps of a massive, nationwide network modernisation and swap-out exercise that is bound to give the network unequalled capacity and much improved quality of service.

We have no doubt in our minds that mobile phone users on other networks in Nigeria will be eager to port into MTN to avail themselves of these and other benefits they can only find on the MTN network,” he said.

63

CONSUMER WATCH With

JILL OKEKE

jillokeke@yahoo.com, 07069429757

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

Nutrients and where they are found

How will sugar prices crash affect related products?

Continued on Page 64

5 Most Surprising Reasons to Drink Water

14 millionaires emerge in Nokia Asha Millionaire Christmas promo Page 64

Page 64

64

Consumer Watch

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27 , 2013

Five most surprising reasons to drink water •Drinking Water

How will sugar prices crash affect related products?

Continued from Page 63

14 millionaires emerge in Nokia Asha Millionaire Christmas promo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

65

Kano presents N3 million, houses to families of slain palace guards

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH K 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Livewire, not life-wire

D

AILY SUN of January 23 wobbled: “Bluechips (Blue-chip) stocks lift market cap by N45.2bn” The Guardian Editorial of January 22 goofed: “But again, many governors are largely to blame for the failure to deliver on their electioneering campaign promises.”

‘Campaign’ is otiose here—just ‘electioneering’ shows writing classicality as opposed to the extracted sub-literacy!

Last entry from The Guardian: “…the lifewire (livewire) of the healthcare system….”

Let us welcome Sunday Newswatch to this column. Its edition of January 20 showed the new title’s colour: “Bizzare: Ogboni members seize colleague’s corpse” Spell-check: Bizarre. The wrong spelling ordinarily looks grotesque!

“It was a tale of woes for various categories of investors.” Cover story: a tale of woe…. “…on their heydays (heyday) and what retirement is like” Still on Sunday Newswatch: “…among sundry issues in this nohold-barred interview with….” Get it right: noholds-barred interview NATIONAL Mirror of January 17 takes over the baton with a few solecisms right from its Front Page: “2015: ACN, CPC set to merge for better governance—Buhari” We should be talking of good governance—not better governance which will mean that there is good governance by the ruling party: unprecedented corruption, insecurity, social infrastructural decay and visionless leadership egged on by citizen docility!

“N12b pension scam: Court admits banks documents” No news: bank documents/banks’ documents.

“LASTMA deploys more officers to (in) traffic prone (traffic-prone) areas” “…his team’s way of testing the water over his second term (secondterm) ambition.” Not my view: testing the waters.

Now to National Mirror Editorial: “The OAU deserves to be congratulated for (on/upon) braving the stormy Nigerian….” “…we can have a data to tell users of….” Education Today: a datum or just ‘we can have data….’

This is called technical English.

Still on National Mirror infractions: “Varsity part-time enrolment reduce (reduces) in UK” “Ajasin varsity alumni holds (hold) reunion in Lagos” Finally from the Back Page: “…where majority (a majority) of the masses engage in daily struggles for survival as if they are (were) living in a war front.”

“But this time around….” (DAILY SUN, January 16) The politics of Anambra 2014: this time around. ‘This time around’ is sheer American informality!

The Guardian of January 15 from its Front Page to the inside pages fumbled: “Again, hope dims for Eco’s takeoff in 2015" And now the story: “The take off (sic) date of the common currency in the West African Region….” Which one is correct: takeoff, take off and take-off? Of course, the last entry.

“Lagos to quicken processing of Dana Air crash victims (victims’) entitlements” Now to The Guardian Editorial which disseminated two solecisms: “Expectations of a life lived in abundance and reasonable security is (are) a mirage today in Nigeria.”

“They are funding…awards by every (all) manner of men or groups in….”

“The Spirit of Africa will flow through our lands, rise in our sons and unleash their might in (on/upon) the Orange Africa Cup of Nations….’

(Full-page advertisement

by DStv) Finally from Rutam House of improprieties: “Group passes vote of no confidence on (in) leadership” A review of THE NATION ON SUNDAY of January 13 threw up the following gaffes: “Kenya (Kenyan/Kenya’s) president rejects lavish pay for legislators” “…represented Anambra between 1999 to (and/or from 1999 to 2003) 2003….”

“Unforgetable” Spellcheck: unforgettable “Lanre and Modupe Ogunlesi’s love deepen (deepens)” Lastly from the above edition of this medium under our searchlight: “…Obanikoro’s moves have flagged off (sic!) descreet (a discreet—note the spelling and article) campaign for the PDP

ticket ahead of 2015 (the 2015) governorship election in Lagos State.”

There was a mild intervention a fortnight ago on the usage of ‘arrest for/over’. One of my readers who called from the City of Gilgoa, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, pointed out that ‘arrest over’ could be used in uncertain circumstances, while ‘arrest for’ applies to certainties! This uneducated and illogical rationalisation/justification that borders on linguistic sentiment is unacceptable. ‘Arrest’ takes ‘for’. That some incorrigible sub-editors and editors use it regularly does not confer correctness on the phrase.

Let us welcome John Momoh’s medium for the first time: “Keshi says Super Eagles must be discipline (disciplined)” (Channels News@10, January 9) “Reacting on (to) the report that the NFF was yet to get the….” (THE GUARDIAN Sports, January 8) FEEDBACK There is no noun as ‘black marketer’ in the English language as it is called by a majority of Nigerians. A person who engages in an illegal form of trade in officially controlled or scarce commodities is a ‘black marketeer.’ We also have ‘free marketeer.’

(Stanley N d u a g u / A b a / 08092925996) Apologies for my absence last week: Yahoo! messed me up at the last minute by refusing to send my column to the editor because of some technicalities! Once again, the correct versions of my interventions here are usually in brackets (excluding attributions, of course).

An observation from a devout contributor to this column with reference to the edition of two weeks ago: “The report said the country lacks (lacked) Aircraft Hanger (Hangar) Maintenance facilities, to take charge of the maintenance of aircrafts.” First: ‘aircraft’ is non-count. Second: The Guardian of January 8 thinks that its readers are daft by the unnecessary inclusion of the phrase ‘to take charge of the maintenance of aircrafts’! What else would the facilities be doing? The sentence should have ended at ‘facilities’!

‘Hanger’ is for clothing.

(Thanks to Oga Kola for the ‘hangar’/’hanger’ distinction omitted earlier).

ANO State Governor, Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, has donated N1 million and a three-bedroom apartment to each family of the aides of Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who lost their lives during attack on the emir’s convoy last weekend.Presenting the cash and allocation forms to the next- of- kin of the slain palace guards, Kwankwaso said the gesture was aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the bereaved families. His administration, he said, has

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano.

always been compassionate to the families of those who lost their lives in the line of duty.Kwankwaso noted that the gesture of the state government would also be extended to the four other people who sustained injuries during the attack. He explained: “Apart from donating N1 million and a house to each of the three families of the slain guards, government has decided to give four people who suffered injuries the sum of N250, 000 each.”

On bringing succor all indi-

genes of the state who were killed or suffered injuries, the governor said since last January, government has been helping the families of those who lost their lives through a committee headed by respected elder statesman, Malam Magaji Dambatta. He said the government has also directed the Kumbotso Local Government Council to arrange a similar gesture for the families of the late Interim Management Officer (IMO) of the council and his aide, who were also killed during the attack.

Annkio Briggs: I didn’t say govt is disgraceful, shameful

H

UMAN Rights Crusader and Niger Delta Activist, Annkio Briggs, has faulted media reports that she described the Jonathan’s administration as shameful and disgraceful at last week’s 10th Daily Trust annual dialogue in Abuja.

She admitted expressing disappointment with the administration for failure to meet the high expectations

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja reposed in it by the people but explained there was no time she used the derogatory words to express her feelings about the performance of the President.

Briggs stated: “I never, at any time, used those words because I know the weight and implications of such words.

“I had expressed my dis-

appointment in clear terms against the government. What I said is that a lot is expected of this President Goodluck Jonathan-led government and rightly so.

“This is one government that was backed by the people of Nigeria with a lot of expectations. To say two and half years into this government that Nigerians are lost and disappointed so far by this government is an understatement.”

•People clearing refuse during the Environmental sanitation exercise in Benin ...yesterday

NAUTH graduates 70 doctors The new doctors were the centre of attraction at nd University Teaching Hos- the 32 induction ceremony of the institution, pital, Nnewi Anambra which has produced State.

1,540 since 1995.

The provost of the college, Prof Clement HE maiden edition of bird TV. It airs on Sunday from 6:55 am Ezechukwu, charged the Devotion with Pastor Jedafe, a religious broad- and Wednesdays, Thursdays and doctors carry out their Fridays from 6:25 am. jobs with dignity to earn cast sponsored by The Breath The Presiding Pastor of the of Life Ministry, Obanikoro, church, Pastor Samson Jedafe, will respect from the society.

He advised them to Lagos will air today on Silver be the host of the broadcast. work hard and stick to the tenets of medicine.

The vice chancellor, HE death has occurred in Lagos of Mrs. Josephine Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Boniface Solasefun Badru.

Egboka congratulated the Aged 52 years, she died recently after a brief illness.

She was a past president of the Catholic Church Women graduating doctors for Organisation (CWO), ST. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Igbogila their patience and sacriIPaja, Lagos Chapter and a staunch member of the SS Peter and fice.

He tasked them to rePaul and Sacred Heart of Jesus Societies in the same church.

She was buried at the Atan Cemetary after a funeral mass main focused and strive at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Olosa Mushin. to get to the peak of their She is survived by children, sisters, brothers and cousins. career.

S

EVENTY medical doctors have graduated from the Nnamdi Azikiwe

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

Church commences TV broadcast

T

Mrs. Badru passes on

T

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

66 CHANGE OF NAME ADEYEMI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Titilope Oriyomi Adeyemi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Titilope Oriyomi Shokoya. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

OKALA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Afor Manibe Okala, now wish to be known as Mrs. Afor Manibe Okala-Oseni. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OWOADE I formerly known and addressed as Owoade, Saidat Adunni, now wish to be known as Abdulsalam, Saidat Adunni. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AMINU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olayinka Abidemi Aminu, now wish to be known as Mrs. Olayinka Abidemi Thomas. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

RAJI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Raji, Fatimah Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sanni, Fatimah Adenike. All former documents remain valid.

Ajeromi Ifelodun LGEA and general public should please take note.

BADRU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Badru, Rukayat Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinola, Rukayat Ajoke. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC and general public should please take note.

ATOYEBI

CHANGE OF NAME OLADUNNI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladunni Olajoke Olubunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obikoya Olajoke Olubunmi. All former documents remain valid. Ministry of Education Science and Technology and general public should please take note.

OJOMO

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojomo Olayinka Itunuoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odusanwo Olayinka Itunuoluwa. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos and general public should please take note.

OYEGOKE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyegoke, Temitope Adegbemiosla, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oladipo, Temitope Adegbemisola.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AKOMOLAFE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Akomolafe Lucia Funmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obaweya Lucia Funmilayo. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Local government Service Commission and general public should please take note.

FIAGBEY I,formerly known and addressed as Fiagbey Dizfa Hilda, now wish to be known and addressed as Alamudun Dizfa Hilda. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

YAHAYA

I,formerly known and addressed as Dr. Atoyebi Oluwakemi Ebunoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Drs. (Mrs.) Odumusi Oluwakemi Ebunoluwa.

All former documents remain valid.

MDCN and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Mariam Temitope Yahaya, now wish to be known and addressed as Mariam Yahya-Shiru. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

TAIWO

I, formerly known and addressed as MOFOLUWASO SUSAN AJAYI, now wish to be known and addressed as MOFOLUWASO SUSAN ODEWALE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Taiwo Fatimat Ayoni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi Fatimat Ayoni. All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State government and general public should please take note.

TAIWO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Taiwo Fatimat Ayoni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi Fatimat Ayoni. All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State government and general public should please take note.

AJAYI

OGUNLANA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunlana Ayotide Oluwatosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunbanjo Ayotide Oluwatosin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BELLO CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,Lateef Idayat Bose is the same person as Lateef Idayat . All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Bello Mukaila Ishola, now wish to be known and addressed as Muhammed Mukaila Ishola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AKINTUNDE

OLAGUNDOYE

I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Akintude Adeyinka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Akintunde Akinleye Biodun. All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State government and general public should please take note.

OJO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Esohe Uwaila Ojo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Esohe Uwaila Idemudia. All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State government and general public should please take note.

ORJI

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Orji, Chinyere Gift, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onuoha Chinyere Gift. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State government and general public should please take note.

OSUAGWU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Stella Obiageri Osuagwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chimex Akuegbu Stella Obiageri. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

SHOBAYAN I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Helen Ibrahim Shobayan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Helen Gbenga Obisanya. All former documents remain valid. Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and general public should please take note.

AGBARAKWE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Lorrita Uche Agbarakwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lorrita Uche Arinze Egwim.

All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Television Authority and general public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Olagundoye Oluwafemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Femi Doye. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UKAEGBU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ukaegbu Charity Nwadiuto, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ugochukwu Charity Nwadiuto. All former documents remain valid. Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Imo State and general public should please take note.

OGUNSEYE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunseye Bilikiss Dunni now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bello Bilikiss Oladunni. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLADUTELE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladutele Omolola Temitope, now wish to be known as Mrs. Toyin-Mala Omolola Temitope. All former documents remain valid. Universal Basic Education Authority, Akoko North West and General public please take note.

NKASOBI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Eme Patience Nkasobi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Patience Amos Ukpo. All former documents remain valid. Etisalat Nigeria and general public please take note.

NWAGU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwagu Benedict Chikwado, now wish to be known as Mrs. Agugu Benedict Chikwado. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

OBIEKWE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obiekwe Mary Chinasa, now wish to be known as Mrs. Solomon Udofia Chinasa. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, NYSC and general public please take note.

ISONG I formerly known and addressed as Miss Iniobong Jimmy Isong, now wish to be known as Mrs. Iniobong Godsfavour Ebeka. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BOLARINWA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Bolarinwa Damilola Mulikat, now wish to be known as Mrs. Peters Damilola Mulikat. All former documents remain valid.

America Embassy and general public please take note.

OKOH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing Okoh, now wish to be known as Mrs. Blessing Inyada. All former documents remain valid.

Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja and general public please take note.

AFOLABI I formerly known and addressed as Afolabi, Adedotun Adetutu, now wish to be known as Afolabi Ayikoreoluwa Ayinke. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

FAWOLE

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunji Olasimbo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesanmi Olasimbo Victoria. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Fawole Maryam Temitope, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olaniyan Maryam Temitope. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

IGANDAN I,formerly known and addressed as Igandan Olamide Benedicta, now wish to be known and addressed as Omolayo Olamide Benedicta. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OHABUIKE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ohabuike Chidinma Miriam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chukwunenye Chidinma Miriam. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

CHUKWUDIKE I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Akoma Charles Chukwudike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Ahaoma Charles Chukwudi. All former documents remain valid. Local govt. Education Authority Isuikwuato, Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, Umuahia, National and International Ministries and Churches and general public should please take note.

ADEYEMO I,formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Adeyemo Vivian Chukwujindu, now wish to be known and addressed as Okweshi Vivian Chukwujindu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AYIJIMOH I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ayijimoh Shaibu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mercy Oyiza Moses. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BWALA I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Aminchi Daniel Bwala now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aminchi Temitope Adeyemi.

All former documents remain valid.

Concerned Authorities and General Public take note.

CHOMO I formerly known and addressed as Mr Davou Gyang Chomo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Davou Simon Tengwong. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

UDELE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Udele Theresa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojienon Theresa. All former documents remain valid. Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and the general public to please take note.

ORJINTA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Orjinta Queeny Ngozi Scholastica, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UDOH QUEENY NGOZI. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State and general Public should please take note.

SALAUDEEN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Salaudeen Rofiat Aderanti, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ibiyemi Rofiat Aderanti. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

OYEKA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyeka Ngozi Julian, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Okoli-Anthony Ngozi Julian.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ANTHONY I formerly known and addressed as Anthony Prince Ugochukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Okoli-Anthony Prince Ugochukwu.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ANTHONY CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Ugwu Ifechukwu Michael C. are one and the same person as Ugwu Ifechukwu Michael Christian. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. Federal University of Lafia and general public please take note.

IDOWU

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Idowu Anuoluwapo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anuoluwapo Doye. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OGUNJI

OLAWALE I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Olawale Adebayo Onikoyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Olawale Oladimeji Adebayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AMANZE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinyere Stella Amanze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onyeaghala Stella Chinyere. All former documents remain valid. Murtala Muhammed Airport School, Ikeja Bank and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Anthony Gifty Chidinma, now wish to be known and addressed as OkoliAnthony Gifty chidinma. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ANTHONY

I formerly known and addressed as Anthony Chioma Chelsea, now wish to be known and addressed as Okoli-Anthony Chioma Chelsea.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ANTHONY-OKOLI I formerly known and addressed as Anthony-Okoli Chimaobim Bright, now wish to be known and addressed as Okoli-Anthony Chimaobim. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

SOLAGBADE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Solagbade Morufat Titilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs SolagbadeAminu Morufat Titilayo. All former documents remain valid.

Federal University of Tech Mina and NYSC and general public should take note.

SOTUNBO I formerly known and addressed as Miss.

Sotunbo Onayemi Omowunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adediji Onayemi Omowunmi. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ADEYEMO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeyemo Adenike Comfort, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Falokun Adenike Comfort. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADETOLA

I,formerly known and addressed as Adebimpe Adejoke Adetola, now wish to be known and addressed as Peters Adejoke Adetola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

GBADAMOSI

I formerly known and addressed as Adekunle Gbadamosi, now wish to be known and addressed as Kunle Badmus. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ISHOLA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ishola Mojisola Adefunke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Bamidele- Ishola Mojisola. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ADEMOROTI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ademoroti Jolaade Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Sunbola Grace Jolaade Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid.

Ojokoro Micro Finace Bank and general public should take note.

IWEZUIFE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. IWEZUIFE BLESSING OMOLOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OJOFEITIMI BLESSING OMOLOLA . All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME EGBE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Joy Ozoemenam Egbe, now wish to be known as Mrs. Joy Ozoemenam Onumonu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IKPEAZU I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ikpeazu Ihechinyere Doreen. now wish to be known as Mrs Paul Ayebatonye Ihechinyere Doreen.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ETIM

OLADIPUPO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Lucy Ekanem Etim, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lucy Richard Udofia. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Customs Service. and the general public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Oladipupo Bukola Monsurat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Afees Bukola Monsurat. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Okebe Udunma Nwojo. now wish to be known as Mrs. Udunma Ben Onuoha. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

POROYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Poroye Abiodun Caroline, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aduwo Abiodun Caroline. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OJO I formerly known and addressed as Faronbi Ojo, now wish to be known and addressed as Faronbi Oluwatoyin Isaac. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

MERCELLINUS I formerly known and addressed as Mercellinus Aniemeka Udebuani, now wish to be known and addressed as Marcel Chiemeka Udebuani. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ONAKOYA I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Onakoya Adebowale Kafilat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abass Adebowale Kafilat. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OTAYEMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Otayemi Oyindamola Mary, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adekanbi Oyindamola Mary. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ATANDA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Atanda Omowunmi Modinat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adewusi Omowunmi Modinat. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

FRED I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fred Chioma Stella, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ishie Chioma Stella. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ONIYIRE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Oniyire Yemi Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojebode Yemi Elizabeth . All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ADEBAMBO I formerly known and addressed as Miss.Temitope Adebambo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Temitope AderohunmuAdebambo. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ODUMOSU I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Odumosu Adeyinka Adedoyin Obabi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osilesi Adeyinka Adedoyin Obabi.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ONAKOYA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Onakoya, Olabisi Adeola, now wish to be known as Mrs. Oniyesan, Olabisi Adeola. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ERAKPOWERI I formerly known and addressed as Miss.

Erakpoweri Favour Oghenetejiri, now wish to be known as Mrs. Mehlhose Favour Oghenetejiri.

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

OKON I formerly known and addressed as Grace Sunday Okon. now wish to be known and addressed as Grace Abraham Jesse. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OKEBE

EJIOFOR

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ejiofor Sandra Chikaodi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Aroh Daniel Sandra Chikaodi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADEYEMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Lateefah Opeoluwa Adeyemi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Lateefah Opeoluwa Yusuff.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

FAFIOLU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fafiolu, Oluseyi Harcourt, now wish to be known as Mrs. Odurombi Oluseyi Harcourt. All former documents remain valid.

Ogun State Hospital Management Board and general public please take note.

ADEJUMO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adejumo Foluke Susan, now wish to be known as Mrs. Oluseye Johnson Suzan. All former documents remain valid.

University of Jos, Jos Business School, NYSC and general public please take note.

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

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

67

Who’s afraid of CAN leadership?

A

FTER reading Mr. Gabriel Omonhinmi’s write-up captioned “Yardstick for new CAN leadership” in one of the national newspapers on Sunday, January 6, 2013, I became worried about Christianity and Christendom in Nigeria. My worries turned to sorrow after deep enquiries about some of the issues he raised in his article.

My attention was drawn to the write-up by a friend in far away Canada who sought to know what the problem was with Christendom in Nigeria; a body which is supposed to be mighty and unified, now facing threats to its existence. That was how I went in search of the said article.

Having read it and made enquiries, I dare say that an avid reader of some Nigerian dailies will not fail to notice from which quarter the attack on the current Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leadership is coming.

If one does a content analysis of the several write-ups on the current CAN leadership, coupled with the speeches made by certain clergymen, one will not miss the obvious target of their attacks.

It is, however, gratifying that the article in question appeared in one of the opinion pages of the newspaper. In other words, Omonhinmi merely expressed his thoughts on what he felt should be the yardstick for a new CAN leadership. Whether the opinion is valuable or not is another matter entirely. But it is important that the falsehood expressed in his opinion should be corrected so as not to mislead other readers.

In his opening paragraph, he said Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s tenure as the president of CAN, and by extension other leaders of CAN, will expire in February. He further quoted another leading Nigerian newspaper as saying that the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is currently shopping for a candidate as president of CAN. He then proceeded on a wild excursion into CAN activities, hurling unsubstantiated allegations and declaring that “CAN and the Christian body have never had it so bad in the area of integrity”. He listed His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, His Eminence Peter Akinola, former Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, and former Prelate of the Methodist Church, Sunday Mbang, and ended up by saying that during their tenures, “the integrity of Christian faith has never been called to question like it is now and this is the heart of the matter”.

The truth of the matter is the tenure of the current president of CAN will end in February as the writer would want his readers to believe. How did I

By Omobolanle Olaniyan

know this? A sister of mine gave birth to a baby boy a few hours after the announcement of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as the winner of the last CAN election. Being a Catholic, I remember asking my sister to name his son after Archbishop John Onaiyekan because it was my wish that the son became a bishop.

I will never forget her reaction to this innocuous demand when she said she will never give any name associated with the then CAN leadership to her son. She said so many uncomplimentary things which I don’t care to reproduce here. That child would be three years in July. So where then did Omonhinmi get his February date from?

From enquiries, it is the PFN election that will soon take place. But because Omonhinmi’s pay masters are impatient, in their confusion they mistook the PFN elections for that of CAN. What a shame.

If integrity is the quality of being honest and firm in one’s moral principles and everyday interaction with others, then the writer failed to provide any evidence with which he passed judgment on Oritsejafor’s leadership. For now, the allegation that the current leadership of CAN lacks integrity is subjective and self -serving.

Can an interested party to a case determine whether or not his opponent lacks integrity?

If this point of integrity is extended further and one takes a critical look at a man who has been the President of a bloc of CAN for two terms and was validly elected as the President of CAN, a man who has spent 40 years in ministry, can we say such a man lacks integrity?

In any case, when did Omonhinmi and his fellow travellers discover that the leadership of CAN under Oritsejafor lacked credibility? In an election year? How convenient! Would the writer and his friends put whatever is left of their sincerity at stake and say PFN under Oritsejafor has not fared well?

I make bold to say that today, the PFN is one of the fastest growing blocs in CAN, courtesy of the leadership of the bloc under the headship of Pastor Oritsejafor who got cooperation from prominent General Overseers of Churches under the PFN. I am not too conversant with the provisions of the constitution of CAN, but taking a cue from the 10 years spent by late Cardinal Ekandem and the attempt by the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, now John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, to occupy the office of CAN president for a second

Fierce, fearless and unapologetic

•Oritsejafor

term, Pastor Oritsejafor has the constitutional right to run for a second term.

I hope he does because right now he stands out as the voice of voiceless Christians in Nigeria. I pray he doesn’t listen to all that his detractors are saying because it would be suicidal for Christians in Nigeria to have pretenders and sell-outs at the helm of affairs of CAN, having regards to the circumstances Christians find themselves in this country today.

In furtherance of Omonhinmi’s campaign of calumny and attempts to sectionalise CAN in order to accommodate certain vested interests, he wrote: “I am, however, worried when a group of pastors or general overseers begin to see CAN as their personal property. This is not supposed to be the case. These leaders should be reminded that the birth of CAN came about mainly because of the strong push of members of the core Northern Christian Association who were all represented at the August 27, 1976 meeting in Lagos.

“The reason for their push then, for the formation of CAN is not far to seek: the Northern Christian Association saw the formation of CAN basically as a continuation of the battle to liberate itself from the domination of Islam, which the NCA had been involved in since 1948. If this is anything to go by, common sense, therefore, suggests that adequate consultation must be made before a new CAN president emerges”.

From the foregoing, there is a clear

plot by some characters within and outside CAN to balkanise the association along regional lines in order to serve as a basis for their ascension to the presidency of the organisation. It is also clear that the aim of the write-up is to overturn the convivial atmosphere in the Christian body because the logic that triggered these allegations and false history cannot withstand critical inquiry.

The implication of the above quotes is that the leadership of CAN should be restricted to the North. I am forced, therefore, to conclude that a socalled Omonhinmi may have written this piece, but the ones who instigated him are those bent on polarising the Christian body along regional lines.

Call it the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob. Unfortunately, elections are not won on the pages of the newspapers. Certainly, not CAN elections.

Nevertheless, if we agree that CAN was formed by the NCA in order to continue the battle to liberate itself from the domination of Islam the question is: who, between Oritsejafor and some of the Judases of this world, is attempting to liberate Northern Christians from the domination of Islam?

Is it the man speaking stoutly against the domination, or the one that is always wining and dining with the very people being accused of dominating them? The writer cannot continue to approbate and reprobate.

But, probably worse than the venom poured by him is the tepidity

with which some bishops of a particular orthodox group approach issues relating to CAN activities few months to the association’s election.

Now and again, one reads speeches made by them in which they brand “some Christian leaders” as uninformed. In other forum, it is that the bombing of churches and killing of Christians do not have religious triggers. It is their belief that Christians are not being persecuted because, by their calculation, the population of Christians holding political offices at federal level was supposedly more than Muslims.

These reckless statements by politicians in cassock who believe they are the custodians of knowledge is a towering representation of the impunity with which some men of God act in a bid to satisfy their pay masters. Do these people have the moral right to attack the CAN leadership when their only response to the plight of Christians is to dismissively declare that the attacks are not religious? Using this superficial logic to justify actions that are primarily targeted at a particular religion speaks volumes.

If people who have spoken in this manner can now turn around to accuse Oritsejafor and others who have been defending the rights of Christians of shifting from the path set by CAN, and of dividing Christians, it is then pertinent to ask: What is the path set

by CAN? If the writer is truly convinced that one of the objectives for the establishment of CAN is to “serve as a basis of response to the unity of the Church”, has Pastor Oritsejafor not served this purpose? Is he to look the other way when Christians are being killed and their Churches bombed or burnt?

Certain interventions can resolve complicated issues if there are any. But what is happening now is that some of the clerics involved are bent on dividing the body of Christ through smear campaigns and by spreading falsehood with the aim of inciting Christians against the current leadership of CAN. How long will CAN continue to display its helplessness in dealing with members who are attempting to divide the body?

My prayer for the CAN President and his team as they continue to defend the rights of Christians, including those helping the enemies of Christianity in Nigeria, is that the Lord will pull you all out of the net that they have laid, privily, for you; for the Lord is your strength (Psalm 31:4). Do not hate those that regard lying vanities but trust in the Lord (Psalm31:5).

•Olaniyan writes from Lagos

Denzel Washington: I’m tired of being Mr. Nice Guy Continued from page 32

For the opening scene in bed, Washington “wanted my gut to be hanging out. I wanted to get up and my behind be sticking out when I was sniffing coke, smoking cigarettes and drinking. You've got to go there because that's who he is.

There's no cute version.” Washington plays a man in conflict impeccably. He is both a hero and a man on self-destruct. We haven't seen Washington quite like that before.

His eyes light up. “Great. I hope people say we haven't seen Denzel like that.” Once again delighted that neither he nor his character has been pinned down.

“I don't categorise. People want to put you in things. He is a complicated man. It's a complicated movie. You can't just stand on one side or the other.” Washington is chatty, he is jokey, he is relaxed, but he too is complicated. He lives on a sprawling Beverly Hills estate, yet he doesn't go to Hollywood premieres, and he claims to

have no celebrity friends. You never see him in the gossip columns. He's been married to his wife Pauletta for 29 years and 17 years ago they renewed their vows in front of Archbishop Tutu in South Africa.

He doesn't talk much about his wife although he never specifically says he's not going to talk about her. In all he has four children: John David, Katia, and twins Olivia and Malcolm. When asked by Oprah Winfrey if her husband's female admirers bothered her, Pauletta simply said, “No, because, you know why? He's coming home.”

Flight is also a love story, and again we haven't seen Washington in one of those for a while. The scenes between his and Kelly Reilly's characters are intense, troubling and tender. He's never seemed so vulnerable. “Really?”

His eyes open wide. “I didn't think about it as vulnerable. I'm playing the part, so I'm not thinking 'oh, I'm going to be vulnerable'.” Washington often refers to the fact that he wasn't thinking, that he's done something instinctively. Yet on an-

other level he is thinking all the time, and always “on”. “I do have one regret,” he says. “I should have slobbered more and been more pathetic in the scene where he curses her. Maybe I did do it that way and Bob [Zemeckis, the director] didn't use it.” You wonder how far apart these characters are: Washington so sparkly, so professional, and a man unravelling in his own self-destruction.

Has he ever had an addictive personality? “I'm still here! I think we all have some point in our lives where we've gone too far and you have to come back. Any time you've got into a car and you've had too much to drink and you put other people's lives at risk. I'm not going to tell you I've not been guilty of that in my life, especially in my youth. Obviously nothing like this guy, I wouldn't want to be that guy.”

Flight questions how alcoholics survive by telling lies. There is an especially agonising moment where if his character tells one more lie it would save him and

doom him in equal parts.

Has Washington ever had a situation like that where he had to decide if he should lie? “Nothing

•Denzel

to this level. More like if I lied to my mum I might not get told off. I do remember when I was a little kid I stayed out way too late and it's probably why I started acting. I knew I was going to get a whipping when I got home.

“I stopped outside the door of the house and I could hear my mother and father in the kitchen so I actually ripped my shirt, put spit under my eyes, messed up my hair. I was already messed up because I'd been out most of the night.

But I came in,” he puts on a fake sobbing tone, “And I went through a whole business [of how he'd been attacked] and my mother said 'You see, that's what you get for staying out late. Now go in to the bathroom and clean yourself up and come in and sit down and eat'.

And I remember looking into the mirror and thinking, 'Ha, maybe I should try this again'. Maybe while I was in there my mum was thinking 'That little knuckle-head thinking he was fooling us'.” He smiles. “I don't know, but yes, I got away with it.”

68

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2013

69

70

THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

SPORT EXTRA Innocent Amomoh

REPORTING FROM

SOUTH AFRICA Pascal urges Eagles to go for goals

AHEAD BATTLE OF RUSTENBERG

Eagles demand fair officiating against Ethiopia … Arrive Rustenburg today

•Mikel Obi against Zambia player

Mikel begs Eagles to stop Ethiopia

Guinness to deliver world largest jersey to Eagles

STALEMATE AGAINST ZAMBIA

Super Eagles divide NFF board members

By Taiwo Alimi

From Innocent Amomoh, South Africa

Amaechi, Dangote rally support for Eagles

Save Nigeria from shame ...NFF rap Eagles From Taofeek Babalola, South Africa

71

THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

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2013 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Elephants thrash Carthage Eagles

Djokovic, Murray chase Grand Slam records

•Ivorian players celebrating their victory against Tunisia

Azarenka weeps after retaining crown

Igesund expects tight game against Morocco

Messi available for Osasuna game

Odemwingie blasts West Brom fans Iroha slams ‘passion-less' Eagles ...Hails Omeruo, Emenike From Innocent Amomoh, South Africa

Lawal, Akpoborie tip Eagles for quarter finals

FA CUP RESULTS

QUOTABLE "Progressive politics definitely has a chance in Nigeria.

The younger generation, I'm very happy, are taking the bull by the horn."

SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2383

— Chief Ebenezer Babatope in an interview.

G

IVEN the avidness with which the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, is promoting Nigeria’s centenary, his office may have played a major role in conceiving the warped project. It is of course baffling that the office of the SGF seems joyously preoccupied with the project. But whether we are baffled or not, it is expected that Anyim will drive the project stubbornly to the very end, and after that, as is usual with everything Nigerian, he will forget such a project ever existed. In 2010, former Information minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, excitedly promoted what she and other government officials labelled Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee. After so much hue and cry of such grand scale as to be capable of shifting the earth from its orbit, the project ended expensively and anticlimactically with nothing to show for it but an awful taste in the mouth.

We were not better materially, our opinion of our country did not improve a jot, and we made no special effort, real or pretentious, to rededicate ourselves to the Nigerian project. So much for the jubilee.

Somehow, for a centenary project of such manifold falsity, indeed elevated to the level of magical unrealism by Anyim and his helpers, we seem to be preparing for another bout of misdirected energy, for a misdirected objective, and by a misdirected organ of government. Nobody remembers when this genie left the bottle, but it obviously predated President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago last year. That Caribbean country’s leaders had invited the Nigerian president to join them in celebrating their Emancipation Day anniversary. In a reciprocal gesture, Jonathan took the opportunity to invite the Trinidadian prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to Nigeria’s celebration of 100 years of the amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorates by Sir Frederick Lugard. Nigerians were aghast to hear that of all the memorable things in our history, the government felt the most appropriate to celebrate was amalgamation, which, like the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 partitioning Africa among colonising powers, was a humiliating part of our history in which we had no say whatsoever, and which aborted or stultified our political evolution, stymied the quest for nationhood, and almost irreparably damaged our self-esteem.

Whatever psychological satisfaction anyone may derive from amalgamation, it will be intellectually dishonest to assume that this Lugardian fait accompli is not deserving of both analysis and probable revision. Like an alloy with different linear expansivity, amalgamation probably created the template for the dissonance that has undermined and distorted, not reinforced, the efforts to achieve Nigerian unity. If anything, therefore, any appreciation of amalgamation, which by the way was opposed by the political elite in Lagos at the time, ought sensibly to be directed towards designing a national project for its critical examination, not its uncritical acceptance, let alone its celebration. For the same reason that it would be counter-productive to celebrate slavery instead of its abolition, and colonialism instead of independence, it makes little sense to celebrate amalgamation, as if that in itself constitutes a historical or political virtue.

The centenary project shows why the Jonathan cabinet has not been rated among the most cerebral the nation has ever had.

Indeed, it is probably the least reflective, the least responsive, the least patriotic, the least disciplined, and the least studious and scientific. This government’s understanding of the grand ideas of democracy, national unity, and social reforms oscillates between the jaded and the whimsical, and between the unforgivably perverse and the uncritically amateurish. It considers all opposition to its ideas, policies and projects as playing politics. Whether it is criticism of its ineffective handling of the Boko Haram revolt, or the renaming of the University of Lagos, or even the fuel subsidy removal controversy, among other things, the Jonathan government sees the opposition as playing politics every step of the way. It does not see criticism as a second opportunity to reflect on the issues of the day. Burdened by such para-

A most beguiling centenary

•Jonathan

•Anyim

noia, it is little wonder that Anyim has been junketing between Abuja and Lagos selling a project the Jonathan government had no business conceiving in the first place.

In concrete terms, hereunder, according to some newspaper accounts, are Anyim’s three major elements undergirding the centenary project: 1) The initiation of legacy projects such as the erection of a new City Gate in Abuja; Centenary City also in Abuja that will attract investments of about $15 billion from the private sector and generate over 15,000 jobs; a unity square in every state capital; medical diagnostic centres in each of the six geo-political zones of the country; ICT centres in all the universities that are yet to have one; a modern library in a university in each of the zones; police crime laboratories, one in each of the zones; building and renovation of sports facilities in each of the federal universities as well as renovation, naming or renaming of colonial sites in the country; renovation/upgrade of the National War Museum in Umuahia, Colonial History museums in Lokoja and Aba, the National Museum inside the Old Residency in Calabar and establishment of a dialysis centre in each of the zones.

2) Pursuant to 1 above, Anyim told the media that the projects – more like hoodwink – would be private sector-driven. Said he in the typically fuzzy language Nigerian governments have become adepts at using: “Being a private sector-driven project, government will not put any money into it. It is also not a concession arrangement since government will outsource the project to a company that has secured land allocation in accordance with FCT land swap programme.” He adds that the legacy city will “provide strongest social, political and economic tool for se-

curing foreign investment, promoting positive international attention and indeed signalling a new national economic awakening.”

3) Anyim was also quoted as adding: “At our age and experience as a people, we know that there is no country like Nigeria… If we cannot celebrate Nigeria, then it means that we are not proud of Nigeria….We must use the occasion of our centenary celebration to affirm to ourselves that Nigeria is not an accident. Indeed, in the words of Lord Lugard on the occasion of the amalgamation, ‘Nigeria is the product of a long and mature consideration.’ We must celebrate because our unity is the common symbol of our collective existence that has put the nation on the path of development and potential global ascendancy. We must celebrate because without Nigeria, we will not have the largest and most vibrant parliament in Africa, in tandem with other maturing political institutions with deep and rich traditions. We must celebrate because if not Nigeria, we would not be the largest black nation and the seventh most populous nation in the world. We must celebrate Nigeria because if we cannot underscore the essence and advantages of our unity, it means we plan to promote disintegration.”

Now, let us consider briefly some of the facetious and exaggerated remarks of the SGF. First, it is not clear how the Jonathan government hopes its arm-twisting tactics could compel the private sector to embrace what may be to them superfluous projects.

Apart from making annoying guesswork about the number of people to be employed in the legacy projects, is it not even more vexatious that projects which the government should routinely be engaged in, sans

“The SGF is lucky to be working for the equally mystifying and sometimes opaque Jonathan. If he had the tough luck of working for someone else of exceptional administrative and ideological competence, his arguments, which can’t persuade a college boy of average ability, should earn him a brusque dismissal from the cabinet. And not just dismissal, but with a caveat attached to his ample frame warning future governments never to patronise his soaring gifts for rodomontade or indulge his mystical genius for inaccuracies. For a man so apparently incapable of the most elementary syllogism is only gifted in one thing and one thing only: purveying historical fallacies with style and flourish”

any celebration, have been herded into the so-called legacy projects? Do we need a celebration of the amalgamation to build new cities, establish forensic labs, IT centres and industries?

Second, Anyim muttered under his breath that the government would only spend money to cater for that component of the legacy projects that concerned it. And what, may we ask, are those ghostly components that cannot be clearly spelt out, and what amount of money do they hope to spend without sounding like the Aviation minister, Stella Oduah, on the new national carrier? Indeed, item 2 is an infernal lie through and through. With the disreputable manner the government runs the affairs of the country, and having become a captive of vested interests and money power, the private sector has become coterminous with the public sector. There is no line separating the two. Worse, Anyim absentmindedly adds that the legacy city will become a tool for “attracting foreign investment, promoting positive international attention and indeed signalling a new national economic awakening.” Readers should ignore this vexatious untruth. How much foreign investment have they attracted in the past two decades, and especially in the past few years with the rising level of insecurity? As for positive international attention, it is, as the media often say, a figment of his imagination. What is more, to suggest that the legacy city will signal economic reawakening is an abuse of language and a calculated attempt to cruelly mislead the people.

Third, while, for Anyim, the legacy projects in item 1 above serve as incentives to coax approval from us, item 3, with its strange reasoning and absolute non sequitur, is supposed to serve as justification. How on earth could a top official of a government presiding over the affairs of more than 160m people, many of them intelligent, suggest that celebrating Nigeria is an indication of pride in the country?

Absolute nonsense. Unchecked by his own indefensible exaggerations, Anyim proceeds rather absurdly to quote Lugard who described Nigeria as the product of “a long and mature consideration.” In what way was amalgamation well thought out, especially by a man who deprecated the ‘natives’? Was it in the sense of administrative expediency for the British and their economically exploitative tendency? Or was it a carefully considered amalgamation of cultures, religions, political development stages, and social predilections of the peoples of the Southern and Northern protectorates? Let Anyim answer that, if he can.

Then, finally, and still under item 3, consider this unremitting Anyim trifle: “We must celebrate because without Nigeria, we will not have the largest and most vibrant parliament in Africa, in tandem with other maturing political institutions with deep and rich traditions.” Is Anyim really speaking about Nigeria or some other chimera of his boyish phantasy? Then, this one also: “We must celebrate because if not Nigeria, we would not be the largest black nation and the seventh most populous nation in the world.” When, in Anyim’s meaningless theology, did big or size become a virtue in itself? And then the most outlandish reasoning ever: “We must celebrate Nigeria because if we cannot underscore the essence and advantages of our unity, it means we plan to promote disintegration.” In other words, centenary celebration, an indirect celebration of Lugard, underscores unity, and those not persuaded by the gibberish plan to promote disintegration.

Grrrr!

The SGF is lucky to be working for the equally mystifying and sometimes opaque Jonathan. If he had the tough luck of working for someone else of exceptional administrative and ideological competence, his arguments, which can’t persuade a college boy of average ability, should earn him a brusque dismissal from the cabinet. And not just dismissal, but with a caveat attached to his ample frame warning future governments never to patronise his soaring gifts for rodomontade or indulge his mystical genius for inaccuracies. For a man so apparently incapable of the most elementary syllogism is only gifted in one thing and one thing only: purveying historical fallacies with style and flourish.

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